EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

No need, I happen to have it loaded on another tab. Here you are:

---

"Really?" Aurana's excitement only increased.

"Yes." Janius smiled. "We had some more discussions this morning. I'm sorry for leaving you in suspense last night, I could hardly think with everything that had gone on that day. Anyway, the plan is not especially sophisticated, no tricks, we just need to do two things." Janius looked around the room. "Do you mind if we sit?"

Aurana nodded quickly. "Sure."

She practically darted around, drawing out seating for the group. Harald silently helped too. It was not exactly a lounge, but there were some chairs and stools tucked away.

Janius explained as they moved the furniture around. "Now, by the end of this, we want to make mother and father realise that keeping you trapped isn't doing you any good." Janius clasped his hands together and pointed them at Aurana. "I want to talk to them, for better or worst, but I first would like to know whether you have tried talking to them yourself before."

After a swallow, Aurana's eyes wandered. Her voice lowered. "Well...yes, I suppose. Every few months or so."

"How do you fare?" Janius asked.

Aurana sighed. "They didn't listen to me. I tell them it's unfair, all the other children get to go out. Father says it's dangerous. I tell him I don't care, I'm going mad in here. He tells me I don't know anything, then starts shouting. Then I get scared and go back to my room." She sat on her bed and held her fingers, looking down at them with a frown. "I don't like arguing with him."

Apart from Harald, they were all seated now, either on a chair or the bed. The conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. Jatinha spoke on the outside. "You called for me, my Lady?"

Rhazii's ears twitched and his eyes lit up. He watched the door.

"Come in, Jatinha," Harald said. "We have guests."

The door opened and Jatinha entered with her usual withdrawn posture. However, she and Rhazii exchanged smiles where they she thought she could get away with it.

Harald provided instructions, noticing Aurana's anxious silence. "Tea for our guests, if you would."

Jatinha nodded and scurried away.

Pircalmo's method of boiling water appeared to simply be heating the kettle by magic. It began to sigh and steam, but they could still talk over it.

Lunise looked thoughtfully at a window. "Oh, hmm...twenty-five years, if I remember correctly." She gave Meesei a sideways look. "Father had friends that tutored children and young adults at the time. Being family friends, they were patient enough with me. They even managed to grant me my full general education. Literature, mathematics, geography, writing. The rudiments, as it were. Being knowledgeable, they could answer a great many deep questions on their expertise as well, though things of a magical nature I reserved for mother's visits."

Pircalmo approached and poured hot water into a prepared tea pot. The gentle sound of the hot water was relaxing after the rumbling of the water boiling.

"They might have dragged me into research and discovery, too, though I was far too swept up by the early political movement of the Thalmor by the end of it." Lunise stared at the steam wafting out from the teapot's spout.

"Oh, you were never going to be a scholar like me, Lunise," Pircalmo said. He took a seat opposite the pair. "You were not the type to sit down and read and write for most of your days. You couldn't sit still for that long. If you weren't going to become a justicar, you would have become a gladiator or something."

Lunise grinned and stifled a laugh, before closing her smiling mouth. "You have no idea how much paperwork I have, do you, father?"

"Oh pish and posh. What I meant was you were always going to go out and do something more tangible and important. It's your mother in you. It's your nature to either change the world or else itch incessantly."

Pausing, Lunise's smile faded. Her eyes met her fathers. "Have you heard anything from her?"

Pircalmo was frowning as well. He turned his eyes to the tea and shook his head.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The group shuffled into Aurana's room one at a time. Fortunately, the Aetius manor was a large enough place that the room was not too small to accommodate them all. After Harald closed the door behind them, there was a brief silence, though it was broken quickly by Julan. "We said we'd come help, didn't we? Father has an idea for something that might work, hopefully."

Kaleeth was much less upbeat than Julan, though she had to smile when she saw Aurana's reaction. The girl looked genuinely hopeful about what they could do for her, and Kaleeth hoped that they would not end up disappointing her. She turned her head to Janius, not quite whispering, but speaking quietly. "Do you want to explain everything?"

---

There was no mistaking that Pircalmo was a more...traditional Altmer. Regardless, Meesei took her seat at the table as well at the chair beside Lunise. Pircalmo was not incorrect when he said that Meesei could be interested in his work, though she had interest for several different reasons. Meesei was, of course, always willing to learn more about the world. Even a biased source could provide useful information. However, she did not quite know how to feel about Pircalmo's experimentation, based on the information she had. It was perfectly possible for a live subject to be a volunteer. The proper application of restoration, or even other magical and nonmagical methods, could be used to effectively examine a body. Meesei herself had done so many times during her practice and training. It was also possible for one to be far more cruel, and Meesei did not yet have any way of knowing in what way Pircalmo operated.

While they were waiting for their tea, Meesei wanted to take care not to draw too much attention to herself and distract from Lunise. Based on Meesei's impressions of Pircalmo so far, that would be quite easy to do if she started to talk about his work. Perhaps there would be time before they left where it would be appropriate for Meesei to speak more freely. Instead, Meesei decided to speak to Lunise and perhaps spur along some conversation. 'For how long did you study here, Lunise?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Knowing that the secret was out, Julan nevertheless remained silent. He knew that his parents were going to learn the truth, he just had to hope that visit itself would convince his parents that they had done the right thing. If not, Julan had already been thinking of some excuses and arguments. For instance, they never would have learned about Aurana, and they never would have had the opportunity to help her.

Kaleeth raised her brow with Herald's recognition of the children, but she did not give too much of an obvious reaction. It was clear that Janius' suspicions about them the previous day had been correct. Regardless, that was not something they were going to be able to deal with until after they finished their business with Aurana and the rest of Janius' family.

With how friendly Harald was being, it was difficult for Kaleeth not to smile. "My name is Kaleeth. I'm...well, you would say I am Janius' wife." She answered. It was true that they had never been through any kind of wedding ceremony, but she knew enough of Imperial culture by now to know that it would make everything much easier to refer to herself by that title. Practically speaking, it was hardly different than the truth.

---

Meesei gladly stepped forward to shake Pircalmo's hand. His first impression was a polite one, which was refreshing in comparison to what she might have expected. Still, Lunise had given her something of a warning about meeting him, and she would not be surprised if she experienced its meaning before the end of their visit.

"Greetings, and it is a pleasure to meet you as well. In my current work, it is somewhat rare for me to meet another with whom I share a scholarly interest. The practice of Restoration demands an acute knowledge of the physical and magical nature of the body. Many different bodies, when considering all of the Tamrielic races." Meesei responded. Being that they were in an educational institution, and Pircalmo himself was a scholar, Meesei felt that it would make her more easily relocatable to him if she presented herself as a scholarly individual as well. However, since this visit was about Lunise, and not her, she did not want to do anything to capture Pircalmo's attention for too long. Lunise needed the time to visit her father. Although, she had to admit some genuine curiosity in his work. Just looking around at his workspace, she could see that he likely had a great deal of knowledge on Tamriel's living creatures.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With no arguments from the children, or Ahnasha, the group once more set out of the castle and towards the Aetius manor. Julan was undeniably nervous about his parents learning the truth about the previous night, but luckily, the fear he was showing could easily be passed off as anxiety about the inevitable argument that was to come.

Nothing but silence filled the air during the entire walk out of the castle. There was, of course, noise and chattering from the servants and guards beginning their days, but that was easy to ignore when all of them were so heavily absorbed into their own thoughts. For Julan, he honestly wished that the walk was longer, as it only took them a few minutes until they were standing outside the manor itself.

"How do you want to get Aurana's attention? Do you think it will be safe to just knock on the door?" Kaleeth asked.

---

From what Meesei could observe around her, the majority of the college's grounds seemed to exemplify Altmer culture, and their pride in it. It was striking to her how much it reminded her of Ayleids and their cities. It was perhaps not surprising, considering that both the Altmer and the Heartland High Elves drew their heritage from the Aldmer. Although, Meesei could also not help but to feel disappointed in the fact that, much like the ancient Ayleids, all of the beauty around her covered a darker side to these people. It was the culture of Elven superiority that had allowed the current Thalmor leadership to maintain their power, and justify their actions against the rest of Tamriel. It was the belief in Elven superiority that was ultimately threatening the very world they lived in. It was hard to imagine that there would have been a Great War at all without the feelings of disdain towards Tamriel's other races that the Thalmor encouraged among the people. Meesei still had hope that it might one day change. Perhaps if the Thalmor's leadership could be ousted and replaced, their lies exposed, then the Altmer could come to realize that they had been manipulated. Or, even if they did not admit to being manipulated, they might at least harbor enough resentment for their former leaders to reject the goals they had once given the Dominion. Still, Meesei knew that there would be hundreds of years of propaganda to overcome. Even Lunise, who knew the truth beyond any shadow of a doubt, had some difficulty accepting it.

Despite being so obviously out of place at the college, Meesei did not show a hint of being shy or timid, regardless of what those around her might have expected from her. Being that she was with Lunise, she was meant to be presenting herself as someone that was associated with the Thalmor in some way. Obviously she was not a member of their organization, but she could have been working with or for the Thalmor in any number of ways. As such, she would have to have some sort of official reason and permission to be present at the college, so she needed to carry herself in a way that made her seem confident in her right to be there. Fortunately, Meesei had over a decade of experience putting on a confident public persona.

By the time they had reached their apparent destination, Lunise's uncertainty had grown to overtake her. Given where they were, Meesei refrained from comforting her physically, as she had before, but she still spoke up quietly to attempt to reassure her. "The best lie is often the one closest to the truth. I know you cannot share everything with him, even if you would like to, but you came here because you wanted to see him. You had the means and opportunity to come here, so you did. That is true, and I am sure he understands that a Thalmor Justiciar may not be at liberty to discuss her current assignments, even with family. If you have to introduce me, you might introduce me as a...diplomat. I suppose I am currently operating in that capacity at the moment. Now, if you are needing to justify the more personal reasons for your visit, well...as I said, the best lie is often closest to the truth."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha crossed her arms, looking up at Rhazii and tapping one foot on the ground as she inwardly debated his request. There was no particular reason for Rhazii to be there, but she knew he wanted to. As long as he caused no harm, she did not have any specific problem with it. "Hmm...you are not really part of their family, as Janius' parents will see it. But, I do know you made some friends last night as well. Janius and Kaleeth will be there, but...okay. I will say that I will allow it as long as you promise not to cause any trouble for them. That means you will probably need to stay out of their conversations, as this is a family matter for them. As long as Janius and Kaleeth have no objections, I will not stop you."

---

"Hmm, so an educational institution. And a reputable one, based on appearances." Meesei commented as she started to follow Lunise. She expected that the best course of action for her, at least for the moment, would be to remain passive and not start any conversations if she could help it. This visit was about Lunise, not her, so she could take a step back for the moment. Being accompanied by a Justiciar would likely mean that there would be few willing to question them. As unorthodox as it likely would be for an Argonian in foreign clothing to be wandering the halls, an agent of the Thalmor carried a kind of respect within the Dominion almost like the respect that her own pack carried in her clans.

Meesei stuck close, just beside Lunise. They had not yet encountered anyone, so Meesei felt free to observe the architecture in greater detail. It was quite clean, and all of the artwork she saw in this hallway alone was of high quality. Just the statue at the end of the hall appeared to have taken many man-hours to carve, and that was only in a single hallway in the building. She wondered how many similar pieces existed throughout the building. She was interested to know how many hundreds of years the college had been in operation. No doubt it had been expanded and built upon during that time, which might have accounted for some of its apparent lavishness.

"I suppose you intend to see your father. Is there anything I should know about him beforehand?" Meesei asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As worried as Julan was about the details of what was about to happen, he did not hesitate to nod in acceptance of Janius' offer. If his father met with his parents, then there was no escaping the fact that they would learn what he and Rhazii had truly done the previous night. He hoped that the meeting itself would convince his father that they had done the right thing, so they would not be punished. At the very least, he wanted to be there to be able to defend himself in the moment.

"I'll come, definitely. I know it won't be a real nice visit or anything, but...maybe I can help?" Julan suggested. "And it's not like he can hurt us or anything. All he do is just get real mad, and we can just ignore that if we want, since he's not in charge of us."

While Fendros was absorbed into his training with Sabine, Ahnasha was free to respond to the fact that Kaleeth and Janius had joined them. There was little question as to what their visit was about, even before she heard them talking to the children. As such, she took a break from watching Fendros to walking over and joining the conversation.

"I see you've come to a decision. You sure on everything you want to do? You need any help?" Ahnasha offered.

---

"This land, or this building specifically?" Meesei asked as she looked around the room. It was dusty and did not look like it had been used in some time, though it still had a certain beauty to it. The architecture in Alinor tended to be pristine in a way that reminded her of the Ayleid ruins her clan had once used as a home. The beauty of it was more apparent when she gazed out of the window down onto the garden outside. Meesei could not yet know the purpose of the building they were in; perhaps it was a private residence, a government building, or a hall for a guild of mages. In any case, they were certainly in a wealthy area, and Meesei would likely want to follow Lunise's lead.

"I shall admit, I did not anticipate you bringing us somewhere indoors. Not that it was dangerous, by any means. As you saw, the spell is able to correct for obstructions...somewhat seamlessly." Meesei commented. "At any rate, the portal was not subtle, so any mages in the building may have felt a magical charge in the air, if they were paying attention. I will follow your lead, naturally. So, what is this place, exactly?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It was a short walk to the courtyard, and fortunately, they did not have to do any more searching to find the children. They still were not permitted to go anywhere else outside the castle, so there was likely nothing else to do for them that would be more exciting than watching Sabine and Fendros train. It was also not a private location, and there were guards posted in the courtyard as well. The majority were simply passing the time observing Sabine and Fendros as well, but they would have to keep their presence in mind when talking to the children.

Julan noticed his parents before they approached, so he practically sprung up from where he was resting to meet them halfway. His mind had been filled with thoughts about the plans they had made the previous day, so naturally, his first thoughts were that it could finally be time for them to finally visit Janius' parents together. He was excited enough that he ended up being speechless when he finally reached his father. He simply looked up expectantly at Janius, wide-eyed.

---

While Lunise was visualizing the destination, Meesei concentrated on finalizing the spell. Lunise's image of their destination did not need to be identical to the location's current state. It needed only form a strong enough connection to the location to give her spell an anchor point to latch onto. Evidently, the structure of the area that Lunise imagined was close enough to reality to form a connection, as Meesei was able to feel the final piece of the spell fall into place. Meesei closed her eyes and exhaled as she slowly pushed the glowing orb slightly away from them, held her hands out in front of her, then charged another surge of magicka through them as she spread them apart to finally open the portal itself.

The portal itself bore a resemblance to a conjurer's portal when summoning Daedra, except red in hue and with more tendrils of energy swirling around it. Unfortunately, they could not see through the portal, so Meesei still did not know exactly where they would be going. "Okay, just take my hand and walk through with me. It will close immediately afterwards, so we need to go through at the same time." She explained as she reached over to grab Lunise's hand. It was not strictly necessary for them to be in contact as they walked through, but it would help to ensure they both went through at the same time.

Since it was draining to keep the portal open, Meesei stepped through with Lunise fairly quickly. The portal had opened approximately where Lunise had envisioned, but there had happened to be something obstructing the exact location that Lunise had imagined. As a result, the portal had opened a few feet back...and a few feet in the air. It was a short drop, but it surprised Meesei enough that she fell to her knees as soon as she walked out of the portal.

Meesei stood up quickly and dusted off her dress. "Oh, I see. In case of an obstruction, I need to consciously invert the..." She began before interrupting herself as she turned her attention to Lunise beside her. "...right, sorry."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth nodded. "Okay. If anything unexpected happens, I will be ready to take him away. If I had to guess, I would say that Rhazii will probably want to come as well. He seemed to like talking to Aurana last night, and the Khajiit. Jatinha, if I remember. Your parents might see it as a...strange family, but hopefully they will give us a chance to explain everything. Well, to give them a story about everything, at least."

"Since Julan already told Aurana a story about us, we should probably stick with that one, right? He said we all work with the Penitus Oculatus, which I guess we can make believable." Kaleeth asked.

---

"Hmm, I always preferred warm colors anyway." Meesei commented, her tone fairly neutral.

Meesei stepped out into the middle of the room to give herself more space. "This room is as good as any other, so I suppose we can begin. I will start the spell, and you can add your own raw magicka to it if you would like to help. I can give it the proper shape. It will take a minute or two for me to complete the spell." She explained as she extended her hand out in front of her and began charging magicka through it. Quite a lot of magicka, in fact. For most mages, the spell she was casting would be beyond their ability to cast without some other source of magicka. However, Meesei's magicka reserves were far greater than most, which Lunise would be able to determine fairly quickly.

As the spell progressed, a red orb of light started growing in the air in front of Meesei. It's energy much resembled that of the propylons Meesei had created. After a minute, that energy was swirling around the orb in a way that made for an appealing light show. "Okay, I should be ready now. I need you to place your hand into the orb, then envision your destination in as much detail as possible. Just be careful where you place us, as the perspective from which you are recalling the destination will be the exact place that the portal sends us. I will have no way of knowing the destination you give until we arrive. Really, you could be sending us anywhere in the world. So, I suppose I will have to place my trust in you." She said, looking over to Lunise with a lighthearted grin.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"That makes sense." Kaleeth said with a brief nod. "I will follow your lead. Though, I'm sure they will want to meet me too...for better or for worse. I just hope that us being there doesn't distract too much from Aurana's issues. No matter what emotions they are, your parents will have to feel something strongly after seeing their long-dead son alive again. But, if we don't show up there ourselves, we probably won't be able to accomplish anything for Aurana. It's just a difficult situation from every angle."

Reaching over, Kaleeth placed her hand on Janius'. "But whatever the problems are, I'll be there with you. Just...do you think we should let the children come too? I know Julan wanted to meet his grandparents, if he hasn't already."

---

Meesei breathed out a quick laugh. "Indeed, but I suspected you would come by today. I was not certain of where exactly in Alinor you intended me to bring us, so I wanted to be prepared. It is my understanding that Alinor has a certain higher standard for fashion than Bravil, correct? Granted, I would venture to say that most places in Tamriel have higher standards than this...city."

Meesei had already prepared herself to open the portal to the Summerset Isles. The magic was, in principle, exactly the same as the magic she had used to create the propylon network. After all, the propylons were, at a basic level, simply enchanted stones. And an enchantment was just a spell bound to an object, so the magic did not necessarily require an object in order to be cast. In fact, Meesei had opened portals briefly when she was learning how to make the enchantment; she would just need to apply that knowledge over a longer distance. "As for how we are going to make this journey, I can open a portal to anywhere in this plane of existence, and perhaps some others. But, there is a limitation in that I have to be able to...connect to the destination, so to speak. I need to be able to understand the destination, so practically speaking, I have to either be able to visualize the destination myself, or cast the spell with someone who can visualize it. While I have committed a few locations in Alinor to memory, they are probably not close to where you wish to go. So, all I need from you is to select a destination in your mind and visualize it when it is time. Well, I also would not mind it if you added some of your own magicka to the spell, to make it easier on me. It can be rather draining." She explained.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It was later in the day than the pack usually awoke. Kaleeth and Janius mostly had the mess hall to themselves, since the guards had their meals hours ago. Even so, not everyone had slept particularly well. Kaleeth had been awake in bed for an hour or so the previous night thinking about their plans for the next day, but she had a feeling that Janius had been awake for even longer.

Kaleeth shook her head. "I tried, but I don't think that anything that would work with my parents would really work with yours. They're too different. I think your ideas might be the best...if you don't mind your parents being angry at you. I guess if we say we'll take the blame, then Aurana should be confident enough to speak out for herself. But, we might not want to try to take any blame unless they get really angry at her. If we try to take the blame away from her, then they might just ignore anything she said."

---

Since the rest of her pack all had somewhere else they either needed or wanted to be, Meesei had simply remained in the barracks they had been given. Janius and Kaleeth intended to deal with his parents, Sabine, Fendros, Ahnasha, and the children had all gone to the courtyard for training, and even Lorag stated his intention of discussing with Marod how some of the information they had recently learned might change the details of the strategy they had been taking against Vile. With all they had to worry about, no one had so much as questioned what Meesei intended to do for the day.

As opposed to her usual attire, Meesei had put on the nicest dress she could acquire in preparation for her planned trip to Alinor. Provided that Lunise decided to follow through with their plans, Meesei was not entirely sure of exactly where she intended to take her. But, she hoped that her clothes, despite not being in an Altmer style, would be enough to allow her not to stand out even more than she already would. It was blue with green embroidery and, as it was not exactly her size, fit around her rather tightly. Overall, she did not appear as a noble by any means, but she could pass as someone in the merchant class.

When Lunise finally entered the barracks, Meesei stood and greeted Lunise with a smile. "Ah, good afternoon."