Ri'vashi stood up shortly after Gallus, shaking her head at him. "Don't worry, Ri'vashi wouldn't have slapped you; she might have broken something. No, she would just get one of your old trysts to do it for her."
---
Even for complete outsiders like Ariel and Rukeewei, the clan did eventually present them with a routine that they could become accustomed to. Ariel, of course, had her work on the antidote almost every day. Meesei granted any and all requests for supplies, tools, or other resources that she made, regardless of how important or trivial they might have been. Meesei's priorities were rather clear in that the search for the antidote took precedence over all other concerns. No expense was too great, nor any mission too much of a risk if it meant furthering the cause of nullifying the soul-tearing gas. Rukeewei certainly had a hard time adapting, but it was actually Lorag that managed to help him make the first steps by proposing the idea of giving him something familiar to work on. Namely, they allowed Rukeewei to have the resources to brew alcohol for the clan, and serve it as well. It gave him some purpose in the clan, as well as being something familiar for him to do. It was nothing like running his own inn, but it allowed him to fill out his days without bothering his wife while she worked. The feeling that he was not happy with the clan never went away entirely, but he did grow more content with the situation. At the very least, he stopped being afraid of every new person he met.
In the year that followed, Ariel and Rukeewei were able to make the clan their home, but the time did eventually come to pass that they were to return to their real homes in Black Marsh. Fortunately, Ariel's time in Skyrim did bear fruit. It was not the complete solution that Meesei had been hoping for, but it was a promising start. It was a solution that provided some hope that they might one day triumph over Vile's forced. It was an antidote; a working antidote without any harmful side effects aside from mild dry mouth. It prevented the soul-tearing gas from interacting with a lycan's beast spirit at all, and therefore prevented it from having any effect whatsoever. Ariel could get it to last for about a day and a half, though she was confident its duration could be improved with further research. Unfortunately, it was not enough to end the threat of the gas, for it required some significantly rare ingredients that could not be easily acquired or farmed. The greatest issue was a particular root that was found only in a few realms of Oblivion. Clavicus Vile's realm was not the only source, luckily, but it took skilled conjurers quite a lot of time and effort to acquire it. There was simply no way to distribute enough to protect their soldiers, much less the non-combatants of a clan. Overall, it allowed them to make attacks against Vile once more, but nothing large enough to seriously threaten any enemy stronghold.
Despite Ariel's research being only a partial success, Meesei granted her the full reward for her efforts and gave her the means to communicate with the Blackreach clan should she decide to continue her research from Thorn. Upon Saras' insistence, Ariel was also taught how to code her messages to reduce the danger of them being intercepted. Ariel and Rukeewei's departure from the clan was certainly an emotional affair, considering how long they had been a part of it by that point, but they had their lives to return to and could not stay forever.
Even after multiple objections from her council and the clan's leadership, Meesei had elected to start using Hermeus Mora's Black Book not long after they had returned from Black Marsh. To her credit, she did maintain some restraint into when and how she used it. In an effort to prevent herself from becoming "addicted" to the pursuit of knowledge, she gave herself strict limits on how long, and how many times per week she could enter Apocrypha. As well, she forbade the book from being taken out of the clan's vault, by her or anyone else, and she would only read it with someone to watch over her. As such, she did not bring it with her on the missions she and her pack undertook. In the two years after Ariel's initial arrival, the Champion's pack undertook multiple missions directly attacking Vile's followers. Obtaining the antidote to the soul-tearing gas made them even more bold and aggressive in their attacks. Through training experience, and multiple trials-by-fire, Meesei and her pack grew in skill both as individuals and a cohesive group. They were not invincible by any means, but they were steadily growing to live up to the potential that Meesei said she saw in them. The potential she claimed Hircine saw in them. One mission took them all the way to Hammerfell, but the simple issue of travelling made it impossible for them to personally handle all of the important problems and other missions that arose with other clans across Tamriel. However, Meesei claimed to have a potential solution to that problem, after a session in Apocrypha. So confident was she that she gave the order for one of the Morrowind clans to mount a potentially dangerous expedition into the ashen wastes of Vvardenfell in search of something in particular. But, she did not give any unnecessary details to anyone outside her council.
While the war with Vile always loomed over them, there was still plenty of time for the more mundane, and even joyful parts of their lives to maintain importance. Newt, according to Kaleeth, was reaching the age and maturity where it was time for him to receive his name. He had grown into a personality enough that he could actually meaningfully receive one. She had waited for months, but after a shipment of Hist sap arrived from one of the clans in Black Marsh, they were finally ready. Kaleeth spent over a week preparing for the ceremony, though most of that was just ensuring in triplicate that she knew how to carry it out correctly. There were no Argonian priests in Blackreach, so she had to make due with what she knew and could learn. She invited every one of their friends to attend if they wanted, but was very insistent that the ceremony not take place in the city itself. Naturally, there were no Hist Trees for them to use, but Kaleeth was intent on at least having the ceremony in some place that felt "natural." The giant mushrooms surrounding the city were enough like a forest to fulfill her preferences, and it had been years since any major threats had come close to the city.
Kaleeth had taken the time to stitch together something that at least resembled the traditional garb of her village. It was not exceptionally different from her normal loincloth and hides, but she was decorated with more bone jewelry and feathers. Newt was dressed similarly. They were all gathered just outside the gate to the Silent City waiting for the last few people to arrive. Kaleeth was nervous and excited in equal measure, much moreso than Newt himself. Everything that would happen during the ceremony and its importance had been explained to him, but he simply needed to just go along with whatever his mother told him. Newt was with Rhazii and their other friends from the clan, while Kaleeth looked on alongside Janius. She put her arm around him and smiled, but also looked as if she might start crying. "This is such a big day for our son, such a big day for us. I never would have imagined what it would be like to have a hatchling growing up like this. Though he won't be a hatchling after today, really. Still a child, as you would say, but no hatchling."
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