Rossarm shook his head. "Any dedicated formation of competent fighting mages will suffice. My experience with mixed-role sections has only ever resulted in avoidable collateral damage."

"I've got plenty of places I could put you," Gro-Tagnud said. "But so does Teroiah and Ri'vashi. Have you lead men before? How many?"

"I have lead [i]mer,[/i] not men," Rossarm responded. "A troop of twenty Dunmer mages."

Teroiah quirked her head. "You're really considering putting a stranger in a ranking position, General?"

Gro-Tagnud snorted. "I never said that. I'm just getting to know his experience."

[hr]
"Hmm, interesting," Janius said under his breath, but he decided to drop the thought. It was a reasonable coincidence that the Hist would tell Kaleeth and Julan the same things. He instead refocussed on Julan's thoughts.

"Son, I will be honest with you," he began. "Your mother and I brought you here so you could learn about your heritage. Especially given how...well, this tribe would be much harder for you to find if something should happen to Kaleeth in the upcoming invasion. I know that you were never fully invested in getting the tattoos. I apologise if you didn't want to, and I apologise that we were not fully clear on what they were." Janius raised his brow. "But this visit, overall, is important for you. It's easy as a lycan to see yourself only as a lycan. Separate from any other community. From any other identity. It's especially easy when you are born a lycan and did not have a previous life to leave, like myself and mother had. This place? This place is a part of you as much as it is a part of your mother. If it were only about being a part of the Hist, there would be no Argonians at all, let alone tribes like this. With those marks, now you have a reminder that you're not just a lycan."

Janius put a hand on Julan's shoulder. "All the same, don't worry about pretending to be anyone you're not. We'd much rather you discover what you are. Understand?"