For a while, Gallus didn't say anything. He pressed his fist to his lips worriedly as he tried to think through what could happen. After a few moments and some involuntary pacing, he slid his fist under his chin and responded. "I guess...we could explain away to ambush that drove them off the first time. We could say that was nothing to do with us. As for when they get here...hmm."

Gallus brought an arm up near his head and spun his hand an a gesture of hurrying thoughts as he continued to pace. "I am just trying to think what they would do with the story we give them. I can't see them just walking off. If they were soldiers, with officials, they would more likely order us to move elsewhere so we don't get caught in the desert, or try to keep us camped in one place so they can work out what to do properly. They might even spread the news to Orcrest. If we're lucky they might even escort us there-...this is a mess."

After another three paces, Gallus spun and pointed a flat hand at Meesei, "How about we justify why we are going to Orcrest? Along with the other people in the slave ship - explaining the abundance of other races - most of our group used to be a wandering tribe here? There is less of a chance that they will question that."

"Uhm..." Half of Tzirret's face soured up and he ran a hand over his head. His ear flattened and sprung up again under it. He wasn't looking forward to a dump of information about anatomy so soon after a similar amount about magic from Irenya. Nevertheless, it seemed necessary. "This one would not know where to start," Tzirret admitted, "It all seems like so much." Tzirret's face relaxed and he faced Ma'tanza curiously, "Is there not a...set of techniques, just to start with healing? Just simple things that do not require Tzirret to know everything?"

Tzirret was just drawing parallels to how he started to learn spear fighting, so he was willing to accept that the learning approach would not be the same with healing.

"Yes, that could be made believable." Ri'nakhad commented. "It could go with the story of us being escapes slaves, just trying to get back home. Orcrest is slightly more distant from our ships than a city like Rimmen, but if we were all captured from near Orcrest, we would naturally want to return home. Although, it would be convenient for us all to have been taken from the same place. Perhaps we could say that some of us were taken from cities and towns near Dune as well. Orcrest is closer, and would be a stop along the way, so our destination would still be sensible."

Meesei nodded. "That is a good point. Hopefully we will not need to confront them at all, but it could be helpful to paint ourselves as victims. If nothing else, it may prevent hostility. The ambush may present an issue, if they still blame us. But, we may be able to explain it with fear. Perhaps the slavers who captured many of us posed as soldiers, or guards? That would naturally make us wary of any soldiers tailing us. It could be a believable excuse, we do need to keep our options open. We cannot turn back, or have them take us anywhere but Orcrest. If they are not sways by our words, we need to decide what to do to keep the clan safe."

"Ma'tanza...doesn't think so, unfortunately." She answered regretfully. "There are really simple things like learning how to properly bandage wounds, but those also don't take all that much practice. And, even then, you do need to know which wounds to prioritize. If someone is badly hurt, you have to be able to treat them in such a way that you keep them alive and stable for as long as possible, so you want to treat the wounds that are going to bleed the most. But, starting out, it isn't really all that complicated. Like, picking which wounds to get to first. You can easily point to Ma'tanza's head, or probably her heart and lungs, but can you, say, point out the largest artery in this one's body?"

"Alright," Gallus agreed, though still with some distress, "We have our story. I think it best that Ri'nakhad tells it. He is most likely to be the leader of a wandering tribe." Gallus paused to take a deep, slow breath and forcefully release it through pursed lips. "If they do not believe us, I think the worst that could happen is that we try to capture them. They will come in force, but I believe we have the numbers to force surrender. Killing them outright would not help us any further, but...I do not know. If it comes to that, I think we will be well and truly compromised. This will hinge most closely on our explanation."

With a huffed laugh of dark humour, Gallus had a thought. "If the werevultures can carry Senche, perhaps we can just make them fly away a distance."

Tzirret looked at Ma'tanza blankly for several seconds. He was desperately trying to scrounge through his knowledge, but was drawing nothing. Giving the front length of Ma'tanza's body a quick look over didn't help his memory either. In futility, Tzirret rubbed one eye as if covering himself. He spoke softly, a little ashamed, "This one does not know what that is. He only ever learned very simple things about the body."

Meesei had a slight grimace on her face at the mention of Senche. "Right, Senche are not common candidates for slaves. We were able to convince the slavers, but the soldiers may still find it suspicious. But...they could be believable rescuers. We could explain that some of those among us are warriors that helped to free us. They could perhaps be warriors of one of another desert tribe who wanted to stop the slavers before they themselves were targeted."

"Ra'jorr could pick a selection of his warriors to fill that role, yes. He will also give the order that we are to kill only as a last resort. As strong of a force as we are, the Aldmeri Dominion can field far, far more soldiers than all of Hircine's followers in Tamriel." Ra'jorr added.

"That is alright, it's why you're learning." Ma'tanza said reassuringly. She pointed to her heart, then traced her claw a few inches above it. "Right about here. It started at the heart, then heads up, branching up into the neck and into the arms. It also curves down along the spine and splitting off into your legs. There are all sorts of branches along the way, but right here above the heart, that's where it is the thickest. If it is punctured there, it needs instant attention. If not, the person can die in seconds. Ma'tanza has never treated anything like that, though. People with those kinds of injuries usually don't make it to a healer, unfortunately. But, there are other important arteries. You probably know about the jugular, and where it is in the throat. But, there are also two arteries going into your arms that can cause you to lose blood almost as quickly if they're cut." She explained, pointing them out on her own body.

Ma'tanza stopped and looked around for a few moments for anything she could use as an example bandage. Unfortunately, their lack of cloth meant that she had little to work with. "This one wishes she could demonstrate technique, but she doesn't have anything to bandage with. Anyway, if you see anyone cut in those places, you'll want to keep pressure on the wounds until they can be magically closed. This one will show you were all of the thickest arteries are, hold still." She instructed. This time, she started tracing her fingers along Tzirret's body to point out his arteries.

While Gallus had actually been referring to the Senche Khajiit amongst the soldiers, once again the miscommunication between himself and Meesei brought up other important details to consider. "Right, this is...this is getting more complex than I would like. If it is the case that Ra'jorr and his friends could pose as part of our escort, he should be present with Ri'nakhad when the soldiers arrive. But..." Gallus growled to himself slightly, annoyed at all the angles, "...How did these warriors go out to see and find us? What are the details? I should think that it would make the most sense that they were set upon on the southern coast, similar to how we did it. But that means we still stole ships..." Gallus looked to the Elsweyr natives, "How ardent are the Dominion about cooperation with their authorities? Would we be blamed for commandeering the slave ships for ourselves? Would that be grounds for them to apprehend us?"

Tzirret paid close attention to Ma'tanza. At first, he was a little confused, but he nodded heavily and made a silent "ah" once he realised that arteries were like what he knew to be veins; the vessels that carry blood in the body. While it was a technicality that veins and arteries were different, Tzirret was ignorant of that fact.

"So, they branch out from the heart into smaller ones? Like little rivers?" Tzirret asked to clarify. He was finding this interesting already, especially as Ma'tanza pointed out where the big arteries were in his own body. "This one always wondered if there was a pattern to them. They do not seem consistent under his own skin, and on the skin of humans and elves." Tzirret pulled a quick smile when he found the pulse of the large artery under his arm. He looked to Ma'tanza curiously once she was done pointing them out. "Is it the same for Argonians? You said they are different."

Meesei thought about Gallus' suggestion for a few moments, but she ultimately felt that it might create more issues than she was comfortable with. Taking over the ships out at sea would leave many possible destinations between there and Orcrest. "It may not be necessary to say that we were rescued at sea. There would be fewer complications if we claimed we never made it on board the ships. Or at least, that the ships did not make it far before being boarded. Instead of being put on the ships in the south, we could say that we were loaded onto them in the Larsius River. But, our rescuers set upon and boarded the vessels while they were still constrained by the river. Once we were free, we dumped the bodies, then lives aboard the ship for a few days before deciding to make our way to Orcrest with the slavers' supplies. In that case, the only things we would really be 'stealing' would be the supplies aboard the ships. In the Empire, the property of bandits and other outlaws is not protected in practice. Is it the same in the Dominion?" She asked, to which Ri'nakhad nodded in response.

Ma'tanza nodded, though she had to take a few seconds to think of the actual specifics of what was different. "Yeah, there are all sorts of little differences in how everything is placed between Argonians, Humans, and Khajiit. Argonian jugulars are closer to about right...here, for example. They also have entire body parts that Khajiit do not. Argonians have their gills, which Ma'tanza thinks look and feel rather strange. Though, even stranger is this thing that the Humans have. You can't see it on the outside, but it's a small organ, like tube branching off of their intestines. All of them have it, but no healer can actually figure out what it does. Sometimes it will completely burst, to the point that a healer cannot restore it, but they can remove it and the person will be just fine. It doesn't make much sense to Ma'tanza."

The answers seemed to settle Gallus somewhat. He curled his lips and nodded. "Very well, as long as they don't go looking for the bodies, or try to retrace the warrior's trail - oh it'll probably be cold by now."

Gallus straightened up and addressed everyone a little more clearly, repeating what was discussed. "So, that will be the plan? We are to pose as slaves, most of us from a desert tribe. We were rescued by Ra'jorr's forces on the banks of the Larsius, stayed there for a day, then packed up and set out for Orcrest." Gallus looked to the ground, "Okay, this sounds reasonable enough. We may work out details after this, then propagate it amongst everyone." Gallus' eyes went up from the ground, glancing to each person present, but his head was still bowed, "Are there any more details? What happens if they try to steer us elsewhere despite our insistence?"

What Ma'tanza described was something that Tzirret had never heard of before. "A tube that bursts? And it does nothing else?" Tzirret looked sceptical for a while, but he could not admit to knowing better. "How strange," Tzirret remarked, flicking up his tail to one side almost unconsciously, "Maybe it is where their tail is? Tzirret has always wondered about that."

Gallus' last point was something that worried Meesei, as it was not something she could think of a solid solution for. She had ideas for some excuses, but nothing definitive. "At this point, we have gone far enough that Orcrest is the closest city to us. I would hope they would not want to force a group of escaped slaves through a longer journey than necessary. But, it is something to be concerned with. We cannot be diverted from our course, even if it means subduing our pursers by force. That is a last resort, however. Let us hope they are not decided that we should join them. Even more than that, let us hope we can avoid them altogether."

Ma'tanza shook her head. "No, it would be in the wrong spot, off on their side. Funnily enough, they do have a little stub of a bone on their pelvis where the tail would be if they were Khajiit, or Argonian. It's under their skin, so you can't see it on the outside, but if you press on the right spot on their behind, you can feel it. It's like they started to grow their tail, but it stopped before it could be seen. Ma'tanza does not understand why; it seems like it would be as useful to them as it is to us. Anyway, once you learn how to observe the energies of the body, you can use restoration to examine the body in greater detail. Though, it would also be helpful to get a cadaver to cut open, so you can actually see the parts with your own eyes. If we would have thought of this back on the ship, we could have used one of the slavers. Until then, you can just examine everything you can see and feel from the surface."

Gallus took a breath, bringing his head up straight again, "Well then. If we are in agreement, we shouldn't waste any more time. Let's gather the clan up and make and announcement."

"Actually, Tzirret has cut up animals before. Things he has hunted." Tzirret seemed to lighten up, "It is not the same as a human or a Khajiit, but he remembers seeing many things. Gallus could name all of the organs, but Tzirret never remembers what they all do." Tzirret tilted his head, "This one does not know the next time he will do so, but maybe you could teach him when he next butchers a quarry? The animals would be similar, wouldn't they?"

Ma'tanza hummed lightly. "Well, there are some similarities, yes. It could help for some very basic instruction, at least. It may be a while before we can do anything with a corpse, though. This one thinks all of our meat is already butchered, and there aren't many suitable creatures out here in the desert. Ah, but we'll figure out something, Ma'tanza is sure."

---

Once they had a reasonable course of action, Meesei, Ri'nakhad, and Ra'jorr gave the announcement about the soldiers found tracking them. Understandably, it created some worry among the clan, but the fact that they already had not one, but several plans on how to deal with them did help to give some confidence in the clan. They explained the details of what the bulk of the clan should do, while Ra'jorr selected warriors who would be posing as rescuers. Despite the delay, they set out as soon as they could just as they would have normally, as their first plan was still to avoid confrontation entirely.

The next two days proceeded near identically to the first few, apart from the heightened patrols keeping an eye out for any approaching soldiers. The desert was just as hot, just as dry, and just as uncomfortable. Some of the clan were becoming more well-acclimated to the new climate, but it was still far from being comfortable for most. They prepared a plan for what they would do in case of a sandstorm, but unfortunately, the weather remained almost perfectly calm both days.

It was late afternoon on the second day, and they would be setting up their camp within a few hours. This time, there were no rocky areas anywhere in sight around them, so they settled for one of the small valleys between two of the dunes. It would keep their camp at least somewhat hidden from view, while their own lookouts could use the dunes as vantage points.

The clan marched ever onward. The very real threat of Dominion soldiers bearing down on them made tensions run high. The fact that it was dragged out by two more days only made matters worse.

In the bright afternoon sun, warning came from the distance before it could arrive by messenger. A cloud of brown dust rose up from behind the clan, drifting upwards and to one side with the soft breeze. It was getting closer.

Also from behind the clan was a sprinting Senche, one of the clan's scouts that was rotated out from hauling supplies due to the need for fast communication. The walking clan noticed him quickly as he frantically ran through. Anyone who did not notice him in time was showered with sand as he leapt clean over them or dodged around them. Without regard to covering the clan leadership's lower half in sand, the scout slid to a halt in front of Ri'nakhad, Ra'jorr, Meesei, and Gallus. He had fear in his eyes as he caught his breath.

Everyone's attention was immediate, so the scout quickly scraped aside some sand to get a flat surface and wrote down a number in Ta'agra glyphs: 24. Another word followed, but it was unclear in the loose, dry sand: mounted. Once the scout looked up to confirm that all had read them, he scraped the sand aside and wrote one more short word: elf.

"I take it our noble protectors are approaching?" Gallus asked with a frown.

The dust seemed to be getting faster as time went on. Keen lycan ears could hear the thudding of hoofs in the distance. They would only have two minutes or less.

Once the warning was given, Meesei's reaction was immediate. She shouted her orders, which they had thankfully prepared for in the past few days. "Everyone! Stop, wait between these two dunes. Ra'jorr, gather a force of the same size, we will wait atop the dune behind us for their approach. All of the other warriors will wait in reserve with the clan. Ri'nakhad, you will need to come with us to meet the Dominion soldiers. Stay close to myself and Gallus. If something goes wrong, we will protect you."

Though they had little time, the clan had been preparing for this eventuality for days. Since the majority of the warriors coming with them on the dune were armored in some way, Meesei quickly grabbed one of the robes they had kept as emergency city clothing, just so she would be dressed for the encounter. She then walked up to the top of the dune with Ri'nakhad following directly behind. With the time it had taken for Ra'jorr to shout at the nearest warriors, including S'nishi and a few other Senche, and for Meesei to quickly dress herself, they could already see the soldiers fast on their approach. Overall, it was much less warning than Meesei had been hoping for, but they had their plan. Now, they just needed to follow it.

The clan seemed to act as they had been told, though there were many worried looks and some brief shrieks of fear. Meesei could hear the coughing and crying of Rhazii in the crowd, probably having gotten sand in his mouth in all the commotion, but he could be spotted in Fendros' arms as everyone took up their positions. The scout that had delivered the warning scurried off with the warriors.

As loathe as he was to deal with the heat, Gallus wore his light armour that day. This was less for the purpose of looking appropriate and more for the eventuality of combat. It was the last thing that he wanted to happen, but he needed to be prepared to fight and command. He stood beside Meesei with his hammer on his belt and his hands clasped behind his back. He was sweating profusely for multiple reasons, but had a stoic expression.

As the thudding of the hooves became louder, the murmuring of the crowd quietened, replaced by the residual sounds of shuffling as they organised themselves. The base of the cloud of dust was now clearly lead by a number of armoured figures. Most were compact desert horses in light armour, roughly eighteen of them in total. Mounted atop them were humanoid Khajiit of various size, but all garbed in glinting golden moonstone armour, crafted with overlapping and flowing bands. They all wielded shields and lances, but they were not lowered to attack. Those familiar with Anequina would recognise them as professional soldiers of the kingdom - the equivalent of the Imperial Legion. Three more were armoured senche with similar golden barding, galloping alongside the horses. Suthay bowmen were astride the large intelligent cats. The three final figures stood out ahead of the group. They were mounted on similar armoured desert horses as the others, but those mounted upon them were taller and clearly not Khajiit. Two were guards, covered in ornate and incredibly expensive green glass armour and held purple bound weapons. The one in the centre simply wore a light material robe that was flapping in the breeze; it was dark, detailed, and trimmed in gold. The uniform of a Thalmor official. Fortunately, none of the riders had weapons poised to attack.

When the approaching party spotted the clan, there was a shout and they all slowed to a halt. The Thalmor trotted forward slightly with the bodyguard following closely and looked upon the clan's fearful eyes with scowl. The horse beneath shook its head and snorted out some sand. A short moment's silence followed, before the Thalmor waved a hand and shouted something behind her. It was a powerful feminine voice, saying something that sounded like the Ta'agra phrase to approach slowly. The party did just that until they were roughly within one hundred and fifty metres of the clan.

The Thalmor and her bodyguard trotted ahead again, but this time it was not to inspect the situation. Her voice boomed forth in Ta'agra, seeing the majority of the group ahead to be Khajiit. "Let the leader of this group come forth!"

Gallus moved along with Meesei and Ri'nakhad. Whenever they approached more closely, they saw that the official and her bodyguard were all of course High Elves. The bodyguard had visors obscuring their faces, but the official had her hood blown back in the wind. Her callous blue eyes were lined with age and experience, a hard mouth told of little patience for the desert that made her forehead glow. Her straight, long, shiny blonde hair was pulled back quite tightly into a bun. Unlike all her companions, she wore no weapons at all.

Meesei looked over each of the soldiers as they drew closer. They were all well-armed, and well-armored. Much of their equipment was made from the light, but strong moonstone alloys commonly used in Elven armor, but in a Khajiit style. Their horses, and even the Senche possessed similar armor, making the group an effective cavalry force. At their head was a small group of elves: Thalmor, in all likelihood. The Elves possessed even greater quality equipment, apart from the one who appeared to be the leader. In Meesei's experience, that identified her as likely being a mage. Overall, the soldiers were cautious in their approach, but also seemed to be confident. The force that Ra'jorr had gathered to met them on top of the dune was of equivalent size to theirs, but unbeknownst to the soldiers, they were still far outnumbered. The majority of the clan's warriors were still among the clan itself, and of course, they did not know of their lycanthropy. If the worst came to pass, the mounted soldiers would not have the speed advantage they would be expecting.

The soldiers eventually stopped a fair distance away, but close enough that the Thalmor's shout could be easily heard and translated for Meesei and Gallus. Naturally, she wanted to speak to their leadership, which was an encouraging development, at least. It meant that they did have the option of resolving this diplomatically. Meesei and the others had come to the decision beforehand that they would not present themselves as having only a single leader. Instead, Ri'nakhad would act as the leader of the captured Khajiit tribe, Ra'jorr the leader of the Khajiit rescuers, and both Meesei and Gallus as the representatives of the other captives that the slavers had taken. As such, all four of them began to step forward. Meesei made a point of helping Ri'nakhad walk down the relatively steep dune as they approached the Thalmor. Making one of them appear as more of a helpless old man would hopefully make them all seem less threatening.

Once they were standing before the Thalmor woman, Ri'nakhad was the first to speak. "Greetings. We are the ones who represent these people." He said in Cyrodilic, for the sake of Meesei and Gallus.

The official looked down her nose at the four in front of her. One eye twitched in confusion at the assortment. "And greetings to you, Khajiit," she said lowly, not with venom, but with impatience. "Several days ago a patrol of mine found two abandoned ships on the banks of the Larsius river. There were no useful supplies within except for large piles of shackles and chains. These were slaver ships. Few dare to come to Elsweyr these days, fewer still via Cyrodiil, so you can imagine this strikes me as odd. The aforementioned patrol followed the large swathes of tracks south into the desert as fast as they could. They were not heading for the nearest city. Again, odd."

The official was interrupted for a moment by her horse, backing off a couple of steps. It smelled the true nature of what was in front of them. The official pat its neck and calmed it, but did not change her stony expression. "A short time into their search, they were ambushed. None of them were wounded, but such blatant disregard for authority is not only odd but punishable." She placed the tips of her fingers on her chest, "Now, here I am, having rode out of my post with a force to apprehend the criminals and investigate the situation," Her fingertips waved out to the direction of the clan, "And what do I find?" Her eyes grew wider as if something had snapped, "I find a tribe's worth of all forms of intelligent animal and elf, wandering the desert without clothing-" she gestured with a shooing motion at each of the leaders, "-led by an old cat, a bog snake, a quadruped, and an Imperial who looks smarmy enough to execute on the spot for espionage!"

Gallus involuntarily took a small step back.

The official, perhaps realising that she had lost her temper, took out a handkerchief and dabbed her glistening forehead. Her tone was lower and more levelled as she continued. "Perhaps it is the desert heat, but I have half a mind to accuse you all of immigrating illegally, acting with the intent of harbouring spies, and putting you all to death right here. Fortunately for you, I would rather have a better explanation so I can get back to my outpost and enjoy a cool drink. You will have my name, you may call me agent Lunise, I would have yours, as well as the reasons for all this nonsense before the end of five. Minutes. Exactly."

Being both an Elsweyr native, and the least threatening among them, Ri'nakhad was the one to answer the Thalmor agent. Despite her agitation, he spoke calmly, but with signs of the fatigue that an old man in his supposed position would be feeling. "This one is Ri'nakhad. This is his good friend Ra'jorr, and their names are Meesei and Gallus. The ships you found, you are correct in saying it is where we came from, and you are also correct that they were slave ships. We were the slaves. Most of those you see here are members of Ri'nakhad's tribe. This one can assure you that he is not immigrating, for he and his tribe has lived here their entire lives." He explained, switching to Ta'agra for his final statement. His accent was unmistakably indicative of an Elsweyr native.

"Our territory ranges between the Oases to the north of Orcrest." Ri'nakhad continued. "It was there that we were taken by the slavers, with hardly a chance to resist. They wore armor just like the soldiers you have with you; stolen, in all likelihood. They approached our camp and requested that we consent to a search. They claimed that they were on a manhunt for a fugitive that had escaped from Orcrest. We had never had any problems with Anequina's soldiers, so gladly consented, but...it was a ruse. They took hostages before our warriors could even raise their weapons, and demanded our surrender. We agreed, and were taken captive. They brought us northeast, to those ships you found, and loaded us aboard like...livestock. The ones who took us, the impersonators, they left us with another group, mostly Dunmer. We can only guess that they intended to bring us to Morrowind, but we were saved by the actions of Ra'jorr, and his warriors."

Ri'nakhad gestured to the Pahmar-raht beside him. "He is the war chief of our sister tribe. His scouts found the slavers as they were taking us, and without hesitation, he brought as many of his warriors as he could spare to come to our rescue. He followed us all the way to the ships, waited until most of the slavers had left, then boarded she ships to free us. The others with us, the non-Khajiit, they were already captives aboard the ships when we were taken on board. From the stories this one has heard, they were taken from many places. Some from Anequina, some from elsewhere. After we captured the ships and dumped the bodies, we stayed for a few days. There were some disagreements, but most of us, aside from a group of Argonians who headed east to...Bravil, this one thinks, decided it would be best for us all to stay together. This one agreed to take them to Orcrest. We trade with the city, and know people who could help them get back to their homes. Ri'nakhad knows it was not the nearest city, but the slavers had enough supplies on their ships to make the journey." He explained, briefly glancing back towards the clan. "Unfortunately...an excess of clothing was not among those supplies."

Lunice listened to Ri'nakhad's words, then stood for a moment in consideration, blinking and frowning. She slowly dabbed her handkerchief on her forehead once more as she responded. "Allow me to confirm for clarity," she said very slowly, "A band of slavers posed as soldiers and took your tribe captive, marched you across this desert to the ships, passing by my patrols, and your friends freed you before they could escape." She sniffed, "This all seems consistent enough, but there are a few matters still at hand. We will start with the first in my mind. While you were staying by the ships for a few days, why did you not report this to the nearest guard house? The stolen equipment needs to be retrieved now, not only to reacquire any missing resources, but as evidence."

Ri'nakhad nodded respectfully as he listened to agent Lunice's question. It was not a question they had specifically planned to answer, but it was not difficult for him to come up with a believable excuse. "We would have, but you have to understand that we are far from our home. Ri'nakhad's tribe never ranged this far north. We did not know where to find your outposts, or your guard houses. And, we were afraid to go searching through the forest. We did not know if the slavers in the stolen armor were still in the area, or if they would be returning. We were already frightened just to stay with the ship for as long as we did. This one intended to report the slavers as soon as we reached our territory north of Orcrest. Ri'nakhad knows who he can trust there."

Once Ri'nakhad finished speaking, Ra'jorr decided to give a comment on another matter the agent had mentioned previously. His amulet lit up, projecting its ghostly voice. "In speaking of the slaver imposters, Ra'jorr would like to apologize on the behalf of his scouts. When they saw the soldiers trailing us, they were frightened that the slavers had discovered our escape and were tracking us. The arrows they fired were meant as warning shots, but Ra'jorr reprimanded them all the same. After all we have been through, they were simply afraid."

It looked as if Lunice was going to shout Ra'jorr down for speaking out of turn, but her glare barely hid a glint of surprise at Ra'jorr's amulet. In that, she lost the momentum to interrupt him before he finished speaking, but still glared.

"Quite." Lunice said through her teeth, "I was about to proceed to that matter." Lunice then shifted to speak professionally again, "In the interest of time, I shall request the last matter be dealt with as well. First of all, Ra'jorr, I require all the individuals who opened fire upon my men. They must be punished according to the law of the Dominion, either by jail or fine, else be put to trial. In addition, Ri'nakhad, I shall have a section of my men accompany your tribe and their guests to Orcrest. All of you must be taken to the city to be processed accordingly." Lunice's glare stared daggers into Ri'nakhad's eyes, "I trust that none of your number will be found to be fugitives, but if there are any, you shall be held responsible for harbouring them. Your insistence on speaking Cyrodilic for your companions puts them under enough suspicion as it is. Do I make myself understood?"

Ra'jorr avoided returning Lunice's glare, and managed to maintain at least the illusion of respectfulness in his response. "If you require a fine as compensation for their actions, we can pay it. It would be fitting that the gold we have acquired be put to good use within the Dominion." He answered. Although gold was always a useful resource, they did not have particular need of what they were carrying at the moment. The gold they had recovered from the slavers was no small amount, and likely would be able to cover the fine, but it was not much compared to what the Orcrest clan would have available.

Again, Ri'nakhad gave a simple nod to Lunice. "There are no fugitives among Ri'nakhad's clan, and the others are simply victims of those vile slavers. We would be glad to be accompanied by your men; it would bring great comfort to this one's people to know that there are professional soldiers among us. Ri'nakhad has no issue allowing Orcrest's authorities to perform whatever processing is required, especially if it helps bring those slavers to justice." He answered. Given that the clan was perfectly capable of overwhelming even the full force of soldiers present, there was not much worry that the soldiers would be able to stop them if they decided to divert from Lunice's plan. He would simply need to discuss with the Champion on whether or not they would go through with the processing.