He has some about Mordor's forces, and if the dragons and Gondor have other allies - though he also notes part of the problem is Khazad-dum can only, alone, commit so large a force; a full mustering would require the Seven Kingdoms to all join an alliance, and the bulk of the dwarven armies lie in the Eastern Kingdoms.

He also has some suggestions - such as that the dwarves of Khazad-dum, even lacking a full muster, should be able to provide engineering support. Roads, siege weapons, field repairs, and the like. Some of the inventions that've been rolling out have military applications, too, even if indirectly, and it's possible the Elric sisters might be able to turn their minds to war. However, new weapons would need to be trained with, and anything that radically alters battlefields might best be introduced only with great consideration...

A question worth exploring, at least. The possibilities must be known to be considered.

Considering things at exhaustive length is, apparently, the point of having Councils.

Does she need to bring this before them herself, or will he be doing that?

"I'll start the Council session, though I'd like either a more thorough accounting or for you to be there to answer questions."

"I will attend as well, then."

"I'll try to get our young inventors in attendance for at least part of it, too."

"As efficient as ever."

"I'd rather minimize how many of these meetings we have to have."

She laughs. "One can hardly blame you."

He smiles, a bit.

He has a few more preliminary questions, but after notes he won't be able to really call a Council session for a non-urgent emergency before tomorrow, especially if they want everyone relevant in attendance (the representatives of the Seven Kingdoms, as well as most of the Ministers).

She will take her leave, and return tomorrow, then.

He'll see her then.

And in the meantime, she will go see the changes wrought upon Khazad-dum in more detail.

The changes are a bit different in different places - wealthier areas, and market areas selling to foreigners, have the heaviest showings of the new technologies. There's clearly been some impact on delicacies - a number of restaurants and the like advertise having cold drinks and food available, especially those catering to the wealthy or in hotter areas of the cities near the forges. There's hints of changes to come - discussions of business ventures to farther flung regions, to import things like fish that spoil readily when not preserved, and one tavern has a few dwarves talking with human ranchers who live nearby about increasing their dairy herds, since milk can now be preserved better.

There's some other interesting changes - most places have seen a marked increase in public fountains, some for drinking but most apparently intended for washing hands and tools. Signs promoting soaps guaranteed to stop certain diseases, and encouraging people to wash their hands before eating, even if they don't seem soiled.

There's more paper apparent, too, soft books being passed between fascinated adolescents, as well as large pamphlets with apparently recent news being sold at a few points.

None of it seems obviously magical, which counter-indicates gnomish involvement. The girls were tall for it, anyway.

Even so, for these changes to be so rapid implies a broad base of knowledge drawn on for its most efficient particles. More than was present in this world before. Whatever the larger outcome of the talks, turning those girls to her side would be a definite win.

She shows up on time for the meeting the next day.

There's quite a lot of dwarves present, arranged around the much larger Council Chamber.

As well as a suit of armor - though no sign of her sister - sitting in the Chamber's guest area.

One is better than none. She takes position near the armor.

Since the meeting hasn't been called to order yet, and Bellona's pretty sure it's gonna be boring anyways, she turns to the other non-dwarf, tilting her helmet a bit. "Hello. You're that messenger people were talking about? With news from Gondor?"

"Yes, I am. And you are one of the two who has been... revolutionizing the dwarf world."

"Yeah! It's been interesting."

"I imagine so."

She hums, and then turns her attention to the meeting as Thorin calls the Council to order.

Undoubtedly she'll be to answer some questions at some point.