EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei lightly smiled. "Yes, I suppose you would have. Apologies, I have just been...distracted recently, as I'm sure you can understand. But yes, I would like to see Ariel, I think. Honestly, I would very much like to see the families and loved ones of all our pack before the invasion, but your sister is essentially the only one that enjoys such a unique position among our clans. She would be welcome among any and all of the clans under my leadership."

It was not long before Ahnasha approached from the direction of the portal. Like most of the others present, she was anxious and on-edge, though also excited to see all of her work finally coming to fruition. "The Imperials are finally done with their pointless 'tests'. We can do this whenever you are ready, Meesei."

Meesei paused, though again, she saw no reason to delay, giving a nod to Ahnasha before glancing to Sabine. "If you do decide you want to offer her the chance to visit, I suppose we can do it later this evening. For now...the Hunting Grounds await."

Grabbing the attention of a messenger, Meesei sent him off back to the Silent City to tell Darahil that it was time to activate the sigil stone, at which point the portal would activate immediately, if all went well. This type of portal did rely upon Hircine himself willingly allowing it to pierce into his realm, though Meesei had already communed with him. Hirine was aware of and gave his approval to the plan they had concocted.

Stepping up closer to the portal, Meesei started to shout loudly enough to grab the attention of everyone present from whatever they might be doing. "First group, move to the portal! It will activate in a few minutes!"

Most of the laborers moved out away from the portal and moved over closer to the carts carrying their supplies. On the part of the lycans, the first group they were sending through was fairly small. It just included every adult member of Meesei's pack, Vera, and anyone that Vera had selected to help choose a location for their camp. Meesei had not been involved in choosing who would be the first among the Dominion or Imperials to step through, but she did not particularly care what approach they decided to take. Meesei did not expect any danger in the Hunting Grounds, and both of the other armies had already been warned how to tell their soldiers how to behave. It was true that the Hunting Grounds were not a safe place, but in these circumstances, anyone who remained within a reasonable distance from the portals would be under the protection of Hircine and would not be targeted by any of the creatures in his realm. They were not to stray too far from the portals, nor was anyone to issue a challenge to a lycan spirit under any circumstance, even in jest.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The hesitation from Meesei would likely only fuel Sabine's worry. It was, indeed, quite unlike Meesei to be unable to hide her feelings, but, at the same time, she had never been in this kind of situation before. She stared into the portal for several more seconds before finally giving a calm answer. "You are right. There is nothing wrong with the portal; I certainly trust Ahnasha's abilities, and everyone else who played their part. But, once it is active, there will be no going back. Our path will be set, and our timeframe...fixed. There will be a few days, the second portal will be built, then it will be activated. Just a few days..."

While Meesei was obviously upset, her worry could have been reasonably coming from any number of sources, and without context, her next question might have seemed sudden. "Tell me, Sabine, do you want to allow your sister to visit, for those few days? I understand if you do not want your sister learning about the invasion and leaving her to worry about you, but...I feel we should take the best advantage of these last few days as we possibly can. This is no normal battle we are approaching, no normal mission. It would be easy enough to let her stay for just a few days."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"My officers will trust me, and they will follow my orders. That is all that matters." Meesei remarked. After a moment, she stood from the bed and walked up to Lunise, embracing her without hesitation. She leaned into Lunise, nestling her head into the nape of her neck and closing her eyes. "Not only will you be protecting the sigil stone, but also the camp itself, and all of the wounded that make it back through the portal from all three armies. There is no one I would trust more to protect them."

---

With as much as had happened over, to Meesei, what had been several days, it was somewhat jarring to be back with her clan. She now had a new mountain of worries tearing at her thoughts, but the invasion was still looming. Meesei still had duties to carry out, people to speak to and coordinate, last-minute plans to refine. And she could not simply ignore those responsibilities, regardless of any new turmoil in her life. So, she had no choice but to keep quiet on her concerns for the rest of the day and just focus on her duties. She would just have to take what time she could to speak to her pack, Hal-Neesa, and anyone else she might find to help her in the small handful of days it would take to build their second portal in the Hunting Grounds.

The next day began early for most of the clan. Even if the sun had somehow been visible from within the cavern, they were up well-before it would have risen. The area around the portal had been cleared of any mushroom trees or any other potential obstacles, just to allow them to gather their supplies more conveniently close to the portal, as well as to give them a clear path to cart in the massive enchanted stones that would be constructed into their second portal. These stones were far larger than the ones that comprised their current portal, and when brought together, they would form a portal comparable to a great gate from the Oblivion Crisis. Without such a sizable portal, they would not be able to bring their forces into Vile's realm near quickly enough.

For now, however, they had to focus on establishing their forward camp in the Hunting Grounds. Meesei's pack was gathered at the portal for its first activation, and they would be among the first stepping through once it was active. Being that they were not heading into battle, they were no more armed nor armored than usual, which held true for most of the other lycans present. The Imperials and Dominion personnel might have been on-edge, but the lycans had no reason to fear Hircine's realm. In addition to the mages that were already working on the final preparations activate the portal, they also had a multitude of laborers that would start work on their forward camp as soon as they were cleared to step through. Being that it would be far too impractical to establish three entire, separate temporary camps any meaningful distance from one another, the lycans, Dominion, and Imperials would essentially be sharing the same camp over the next few days. At the very least, they were going to be forced to be much closer to one another for a few days than they had been for the last few months. From her clan, Meesei had selected Vera to take on the responsibility of overseeing the construction and administration of their forward camp, for several reasons. Not only had she been the clan alpha since before they migrated from Bruma, but Meesei knew she was a patient and level-headed woman, which would almost certainly be necessary if she was going to have to coordinate with both the Imperials and Dominion.

Meesei, on her part, had little left to do but to wait for Ahnasha to signal her that they were ready to open the portal, then send a messenger back to the city. The sigil stone that would be powering this portal was being kept nearby inside the Silent City itself, as there was no reason to keep it physically near the portal. The magical connection between them would not weaken unless the stone was brought much farther away. Darahil was the one who was tasked with activating and monitoring the sigil stone. Meesei's pack might have noticed that she seemed distracted the entire morning, though that might have been understandable given that they were about to journey to the Hunting Grounds itself. She had not yet told them about her visit to Artaeum or what she had learned about herself, though she did intend to. She did not feel it would be right to keep it from them. For now, though, she stood staring at the inactive portal, unable to hide her worry.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once they were safely in private, Meesei began to focus on forming a portal back home. It felt almost bizarre to think about, but even after their stay in Artaeum and their visit to Pircalmo, they were still heading back to the clan early. The Psijics' influence over time was truly spectacular, and now, Meesei found herself wondering what other kind of Psijic spells were just waiting to be unlocked within her mind.

Given the nature of Lunise's concerns, Meesei decided to open the portal directly into Lunise's quarters so they could have a guarantee of privacy. As soon as they had stepped through, Meesei allowed herself to sit down and rest at the foot of Lunise's bed. "I understand. I would have a difficult time keeping out of it as well, in your position. Neither of us are the type to simply stand by and do nothing when we are needed. I wish you could be right there alongside me for the entire battle, but your mother may still be correct. Still, I do want to give you the chance to help. Perhaps you might help coordinate the defense of our forward camp in the Hunting Grounds? You are a Justiciar, you are qualified, and I could request your help specifically to serve as a liaison between my forces and any Dominion soldiers that remain in the defense. It is much the same job as you have been performing since you were assigned here, so it would hardly seem unusual. And it is important. If you recall from the Oblivion Crisis, the primary strategy for destroying an Oblivion Gate was to enter Oblivion through it and remove the sigil stone on the other side. In this case, we are going to be the invaders, and that strategy would work against us. If our portal closes, then everyone who went through it would be sent back to the Hunting Grounds immediately. Our invasion would be over, just like that. Hal-Neesa does not seem to think that the Daedra will attempt that sort of cleverness. According to her, the Skaafin, like the Dremora, are far more direct in their approach. If they see a problem, they try to kill that problem, in her words. Still, I do not want to leave our portal without a good defense."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I gave a summary of Meesei's answer.

I think we can move on to the activation of the first portal, if you want. I imagine there would be a lot of people there, since they would need to start right away on establishing their base camp and beginning the construction of the second portal in the Hunting Grounds. However, I don't think the whole of their armies would be deployed at that point. The Imperials and Dominion might be on-edge, but the lycans would not be worried about entering the Hunting Grounds.

I could do the skip as well, if you want. Meesei and Lunise might need to first decide what exact role Lunise is going to play in the invasion.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Indeed, you are correct that my role involved me closely with the care of our eggs. Although, I should preface this by saying that many customs can be exceptionally different between each and every tribe of Saxhleel. For instance, most tribes have several Treeminders, but in my village, there was only one at a time to bear that title. That said, I was not the only one responsible for our eggs. Were that the case, it would be all I would have time for. My role entailed being a spiritual and arcane leader for our tribe. Now, as for the specifics, I should probably address a small misconception the second author you referenced made in regards to our bonding rituals..." Meesei began, leading into an answer even longer than Pircalmo's question.

While Pircalmo's "one" question could have easily been overwhelming, Meesei quickly proved herself more than able to answer it. She followed along effortlessly with more complicated magical concepts, and naturally tied them in to her people's lifestyle and development. Although, as Lunise might have feared, she did admittedly become carried away at times, in the interest of wanting to give a perfectly clear answer.

Eventually, the conversation started to stray enough from the original question that Lunise could have reasonable cause to interrupt them...after about half an hour. Their conversation on the treatment of their eggs inevitably involved their common religious beliefs on Sithis, which led into Meesei giving a more historical account related to Sithis. By Meesei's claims, the ancient Argonian civilization that built the Xanmeers fell not out of some kind of internal strife or external pressure, but because of a fundamental change in their religion. The Hist, according to Meesei, revealed to their ancient ancestors that their views on Sithis were wrong. Instead of a force of destruction, he came to be seen as a force of pure, unbiased change. Instead of building temples that attempted to remain unchanged by time, their civilization shifted into one that focused on being able to bend to the currents of change. It was a compelling and rare account of their history, and by Meesei's own admission, she felt that her people cared too little about history in general. However, Lunise would be able to firmly say by this point that it was time to move on.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I've never been to New York myself, it's quite far away. I don't know what would be interesting to visit that isn't too "touristy". I've always wanted to visit an upscale sushi restaurant, but that's more something I would want to try on the west coast. The fish is better there.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Are you in New York yet? You said you are going on holiday, so my guess is that you are going to New York City. From what I have been told, the rest of the state does not have much else to do. At all.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei grinned towards Lunise. In truth, Pircalmo had reacted pretty much exactly as she had expected. While he was looking for parchment, she closed up and took the book he had given her, deciding to take him up on his offer to borrow it. Pircalmo had already helped her more than she had expected, and being that he was Lunise's father, she did fill the need to repay that gesture. She did understand Lunise's concerns, but she did feel that she could spare at least some time. "We can spare at least a few minutes I would say, Lunise. If Nytala sent us back at the proper time, then we still should have hours before we are expected."

Despite Meesei's own assurances, she did give a reluctant sigh as she returned her attention to Pircalmo. "Although, Lunise is also not incorrect. Nytala gave us both a great deal to think about, and much to do in a short time. I expect that I am going to be getting in touch with many contacts and calling in many favors over the next few days."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Even in the midst of such a serious and important conversation, Meesei gave a subtle smile as she started to thumb through the pages of the book Pircalmo gave her, looking for anything that stood out to her. "Hmm, Thorn? Is that so? Well, I will certainly not turn down any potential source of information. I will say that my clan has studied our condition extensively, though...this does remind me of one individual who has more knowledge of lycan souls, specifically, than anyone else I have met, and perhaps in all of Tamriel. Someone I may need to speak to soon, I think."

Meesei gave a slow, somewhat somber nod. In Apocrypha, she had obtained Ayleid research notes on some rather cruel experiments performed by the Wild Elves on some of their Argonian slaves, so she was familiar with what Pircalmo referred to. Ironically, it gave Meesei more insight into the nature of her own being than she would have otherwise, even with her knowledge of restoration. "As a Saxhleel, my connection to the Hist is certainly, fundamentally strong, but not insurmountable. Lycanthropy draws me closer to Hircine, for instance. What I wonder is if I could more intentionally and directly bind my soul to the Hist? Or any other entity, for that matter. If my soul would be torn apart if not bound to something, then perhaps it is as simple as binding my soul to something other than this body? something more...permanent. Although, I cannot think of a way of doing so without ending my life. It might be that I will be forced to choose when I die, and I do not know if the Daedric wolf spirit I am also bound to would interfere with such an effort. That bond is also not insurmountable, granted. I do know how to cure lycanthropy and separate the beast from the soul, but it may still be a complication."

Meesei's mind was practically buzzing with questions and uncertainty, and she did not expect that Pircalmo had an answer to most of it. Certainly, her problem was a difficult one to even begin to address without the sort of lengthy, detailed research that Meesei may well not have time to carry out. She knew that she could not and should not expect any one person to have the whole answer. "I do realize that I have been asking you questions that fall outside your expertise, but I do thank you for your efforts to help. I know it may not seem like it, but you have helped already. I do feel like I have some...direction, now. Any ideas you still might have, even if you are not sure they are pertinent, I would be glad to hear. But, you do not need to worry if you cannot think of anything else. I am already grateful."

While Meesei did force herself to smile, it was at least convincing. "And this need not be an entirely one-way conversation. I did not come here expecting all of the answers, and I do feel it would be somewhat rude of me to come to you expecting something for nothing. At the very least, I do want to return the courtesy you have shown me. Knowing you are a scholar, I do have to wonder if there is any knowledge I possess that would be helpful to you? If you are curious about the Saxhleel, I was once a Treeminder, early in my life. And now...well, I am sure you can imagine by my unique situation that I have had many unique experiences."