Kiss. "My hero."

Kiss!

Gather their things, then to the docks?

Works for her.

Luckily, Windhelm does fairly brisk trade with Solstheim - it's easy enough to book passage in a reliable ship, with a captain who doesn't ask questions.

A fortunate attribute.

Lace stays pretty near the center of the boat the entire trip, looking vaguely queasy.

Poor baby. Elana offers what comfort and distraction she can.

Most wonderful girlfriend.

(They do get there fairly fast, even if it feels like an eternity to Lace. Raven Rock is a good sized port town under the control of the Chimer. They're not particularly inclined to question anyone coming from Windhelm.)

Then they can find their next ship to Morrowind proper with a minimum of fuss.

They're going to Vvardenfell ultimately; still, wanting to rush gives them a minimum of options - and it's easier to hop boats, Windhelm to Raven Rock, Raven Rock to Blacklight on the mainland, Blacklight to Balmora on the island of Vvardenfell - where the Red Mountain dominates. The Dwemer are mostly concentrated in the center of Vvardenfell, and it's fairly easy to find out that Endusal is the main place raw materials are being shipped to - north, inland from Balmora, up the main road - but there's rumors of another, newer Dwemeri facility or mining operation farther up the slope, past Endusal.

"That's probably where we want to end up," Elana says. "Though security will certainly be much tighter."

She nods. "It's possible he moves between the two places some, too... I doubt they take overland routes for transit, but if we can catch him in Endusal we might have an easier time - though he might not keep all his notes there."

"Doubtful. And a mer like he will not be easy to hypnotize, so we cannot count on getting him to tell us where he keeps his notes."

"Well, we'll destroy as much as we can. Hopefully at least delay them."

"If we don't manage it completely this time, I can come back with more power later."

She nods. "As long as it doesn't go off before we finish, yeah, we have wiggle room."

"Shall we begin our reconnaissance, then?"

"Sure."

Down the road they go; it's a fairly long way to Endusal from Balmora, rising up the slopes of the massive dormant volcano. Still, there's just enough traffic they're likely unremarkable, and the external towers of Endusal are visible from a distance, the above ground portion of the settlement ringed by a wall with a single gate.

"Tight control of the entrance, even aboveground."

"They're paranoid..." She squints. "Their guards seem well trained. They're keeping the perimeter under constant line of sight of someone - all their guards have a designated area, they're pacing just enough to stay alert, and each of them can see at least two others... That type of coverage is expensive, too. And their kits look well maintained. Still... This isn't a modern military operation. They don't look well provisioned enough to keep that up everywhere, so it might be more intermittent automation patrols inside."

"Sneaking in might be hard though - we might be able to manage with invisibility, but if they're paranoid enough they might have a way to trump that. Guard dogs, on the low tech side."

"They are taking in supplies. Tagging along with a caravan would get us through the gates."

She nods. "They'll be watching the merchants, but not as closely. We should have openings to slip away."

"Yes."

"Hypnotize the merchants into thinking we're one of them, then?"

"Or two, as the case may be."

Grin. "Sounds simple enough, as these things go."