Do’Karth was pleasantly relieved to have had the first skirmish of the mission pan out as relatively simple as it was, and the fierce dwemer constructs were dismantled with surprising ease for something made of metal and impervious to pain, which is more than could have been said for Leif and Elmera, both of whom were wounded in the fighting. Despite their differences and mutual loathing due to their decidedly non-mutual understanding and respect over Sevine’s affections, he did not wish to see the man killed and maimed, and if the situation between them weren’t so awkward and hostile, he would have offered to mend his wounds. He would if he were asked to, but the man deserved his space.

The khajiit felt for Elmera, the dunmer woman who made a rather strong first impression based on her cold and efficient debut for handling the argonian situation in Dawnstar, she was injured pretty badly and he’d likely have to attend to her puncture wound when the area was secure. She’d have to guard the lift, likely alone, and Do’Karth felt there was a real chance they’d come back and discover her slain, just like the two dead Armigers they stumbled across, and no one deserved to die alone in an increasingly hostile ruin. He offered her a sympathetic nod, and carried on with the rest as Edith ordered them forward. 

While no one else in the group could see in the dark as well as Do’Karth, he easily made out the forms of the four people approaching, lightly armed and surprisingly having an Imperial in their ranks. They seemed rather casual, given the circumstances, and he listened to their conversation, gauging intent. The khajiit assumed anyone encountered in the ruins were hostile and not to be trusted, given that the island was occupied by the very same enemy that assaulted them on the coast days prior and were reputed to be allied with the Kamal, a combination that did little to engender affection for their well-being. Worst case scenario, these interlopers would play the victim under the pretense of slipping away and warning their masters, the best case scenario was they were forced to be here, although this was unlikely as they were all armed, unsupervised, and talking about pay.

It did not sit well with Do’Karth, and he was an individual who quickly dismissed his near-devouring via Charrus hours after the fact as something that wasn’t worth musing about.

The mercenaries broke into a bunch of hushed whispers that Do’Karth was not paying attention to as he continued to eavesdrop on the approaching adversaries to determine anything useful from their dialog, gleaning that they reported to a boss. If they could find this person and subdue them, they’d have a huge advantage to discover what they were up against and what the dunmer were doing here…

Suddenly, the wanderer was aware of a half dozen sets of eyes on his back and he turned around to find everyone staring back at him, expectantly. He felt the fur on his neck standing on end as he caught the gesture for him to go forth, likely to talk with the four unknowns with weapons, considering he was the only one without any form of armour and was sworn to an oath of not taking anyone’s lives. 

It was a plan so insidious, Leif must have concocted it. Much like their past few days involved ships that wanted to murder him, nearly getting roasted alive by his close ally and possible friend while facing giant frost demons that laughed at puny attempts to defend against their hulking martial ability and then subsequently fleeing from their mounts that looked kind of like a prolapsed rectum with legs, nearly falling to his death down any icy shaft while balls of glowing death killed off sailors he didn’t know the names of and land only promising more death by fanatical dunmer warriors and horrors from the deep, Do’Karth decided that the world was trying its damnest to have him killed off.

[I]This one should have just stayed on that raft on the lake in Colovia.[/I] he thought with a shake of his head as he stepped out, holding his staff with both palms open to show his lack of hostile intent. A quick glance at the expectant faces behind him made the khajiit wonder what made his companions pick the only member of a much maligned race by dunmer and Nordic eyes who spoke as if he himself were talking of another person, had a visage of any number of alpha predator wildcats that were known to eat people alive and was a self-professed illiterate who had such a lack of conviction when he spoke to others whom he was not close with that he failed to ask his boss to not send him on a godsforsaken ship instead of in the woods where he had the better chance of success. 

In all, it was an awful plan that he felt was supremely unqualified for. “S’rendarr, keep this one safe…” he muttered, hoping his god was actually paying him some mind this day.

He stepped out into the open, in full view of the four unknowns. His heart was pounding, and his mouth was rather dry. Still, he managed, “Greeting, this one comes to sp-”

Immediately, Do’Karth was validated in his fears and the common knowledge that everyone hates khajiit on principle as the now confirmed hostiles did not even bother to speak as they simply decided to act upon their curiosity of if khajiits did in fact make nice rugs. A an arrow whizzed by his ear before smashing into a ornately carved wall, a pitted and ugly looking knife managed to tug against his sash off of his left flank with its hilt before clanging on the floor, and the crossbow bolt passed so close between his legs, he felt himself shrivel up on fear and his tail reflexively flicked to the side as the projectile smacked into the stone floor.

“Thanks, S’rendarr.” He said, turning his weapon to the attackers who had displayed impressively abysmal displays of marksmanship and now opted to try and get physical. One khajiit was surely no match for four of them, right?

Bringing his staff behind his back so he could quickly lash out on either side, Do’Karth looked forward to embarrassing them twice in a matter of moments while feeling simultaneously vindicated and slighted by having his suspicions confirmed. “Perhaps this one should inspect your weapons for flaws? Bring them closer so khajiit might have a look!” he taunted, counting down the seconds until they were in range.