[IC] Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

[EliteCommander]

There was a few moments of silence as everyone did what they could to think of an approach. Kaleeth proposed an idea first, though she of course had not had much time to think through the details. "Maybe...we can get one of those trinkets like them? An amulet of Talos or something? We could just buy one from that dealer back in the inn. We could send one of us in to act like a Talos worshiper whose in trouble. Maybe say that someone suggested to talk to them. Then, we can ask questions about who to trust and who not to trust."

Colors tilted his head slowly from side to side, being largely uncertain of the idea. "Well, that could work, could not work. It really depends on who these people are. If they're people who help other Talos worshipers, who might have someone sent to them, then it would work fine. But these people might also be in it more for themselves; it might be strange or unexpected for someone to be sent to them for help. Might cause suspicion. Just having one of those amulets isn't enough proof for them. Look, I think we should just find a good time, then go straight up and knock on their door. Tell them we know they're Talos worshipers, tell them we don't care, and tell them we want their help. They won't like it, they'll deny it, but if Sabine tells them what she saw through the window, they'll know they've been found out. And it looks like they're just merchants; not really dangerous themselves. They'll bend over backwards for us to try to keep us from turning them in, not that I'm saying we should threaten them or anything. No need for that. Obviously, they won't trust us, but we don't need them to. Think about it; we don't need to ask them to sell out their friends. We just need to get them to tell us about their enemies. If they have us right in front of them, thinking we might turn them in, then they might not see any harm in telling us about people they hate anyway." He suggested, speaking softly.

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros waved a finger at Colours and spoke just as softly. "You have a point. I'm not used to blackmail, but that is probably the best chance we have." He stopped to look ahead and think for a moment. When he spoke again, he did not look up from the ground ahead of him. "Then again, we will have to bluff a little to convince them that it isn't useful for them to deny it. We could say that we know where he bought it, where he is keeping it, and who would testify against him. Revealing that much information might just make him dispose of the shrine that very night, or at least hide it better." He turned his head to consider the others. "We should plan our approach word-by-word. I suggest that Sabine is the one that speaks."

Sabine's eyelids fluttered in surprise and she looked at Fendros incredulously. "Why me? I would get nervous."

"That's the point," Fendros hinted a smile. "The Thalmor do not employ nervous young Breton women as enforcers, neither do professional blackmailers. Even though I'm Dunmer, a shady Dunmer foreigner isn't the longest stretch for an unscrupulous group of state-funded Aldmeri manhunters. You'll make them second-guess us, hopefully." Fendros turned his eyes to the others. "You won't be going in alone. We'll have the others covering the exits while Colours, Kaleeth, and I will stand behind you. We'll need Colours to keep an ear out for any contacts, and Kaleeth to look like we mean business."

"I do not know if I can do it right." Sabine looked at the ground, a little worried.

Fendros rubbed her shoulder. "We'll teach you. Remember, we only need to get leads, not to put them under our thumb like a protection scheme." Fendros looked to Colours. "By the way, do we have the names of any local Talos worshippers that the bounty hunters caught recently?"

[EliteCommander]

Colors gave Sabine an encouraging look, at least intending to be supportive. "I wouldn't worry too much, Sabine. We probably don't even have to be outwardly threatening towards them. They'll assume that we're threatening them all on their own, regardless of what we do. It might seem a bit mean, but we know we don't intend to hurt them. It's not like we're going to turn them in or anything. I mean, you can probably be outright nice to them, and they'll still be frightened. You just have to ask them if there is anyone they know of in Evermore who claims to help Talos worshipers, but isn't trustworthy. If they can point us to someone who betrays Talos worhsipers to someone other than the Thalmor, then that's all we need from them."

Fendros' question to Colors came with a mixed response. "Um, well, sort of. I have some names of people who were probably Talos worshipers that have gone missing, but for most of them, I can't know if they were taken by Vile's people, or the Thalmor. Though, there is one that I can say that probably wasn't taken by the Thalmor, since it happened at the same time that a lot of the local Thalmor operatives were tied up in that skirmish with one of Vile's outposts. It's technically possible that the Thalmor could have gotten her, but it seems more likely that Vile's people did. Vile's hunters are actually more active in this area than the Thalmor, so they have more people that could have done it, even with part of them in that skirmish."

[Muttonhawk]

"That'll have to do." Fendros clasped his hands behind his back as he walked. "If we have enough names, it is more than likely that any Talos worshipper would recognise them. We can incorporate them into our confrontation and it'll help us look like more than average blackmailers."

Sabine wasn't completely convinced of her abilities, but she was pacified by Fendros and Colours' combined encouragement. "What time are we going to talk to them?"

"Tomorrow," Fendros responded without a thought. "It's getting late as it is and we can use the rest of tonight and tomorrow morning to work out what you are going to say."

Sabine didn't give any more acknowledgement than an unsure hum.

[EliteCommander]

Sensing Sabine's discomfort, Colors gave her a pat on the back as they were walking back in the direction of the inn. "Don't worry Sabine, I can help you out plenty with that. I have a...certain way of talking to people, and it shouldn't be hard to walk you through the details. You'll probably have to improvise some, but I know you'll be fine, with my guidance."

The majority of the group headed straight back to the inn, apart from Kaleeth. Since Fendos intended for her to show "that they meant business," she decided it would be best for her to be armed and armored for the confrontation. As such, she split from the group and left the city to return to camp. She would stay there for the night, collect her belongings, and meet back up with them in the inn the next morning. It left them with six in the inn, so they would at least be able to split the rooms evenly.

True to his word, Colors was eager to help Sabine devise her plan for the next day. He requested that she join him at one of the corner tables in the second floor of the inn. At this time of night, many of the patrons had gone home, so they could speak in reasonable privacy. Although, Sabine ended up having to wait a minute or two for Colors to arrive after she took her seat. When Colors did join her, he had two mugs in hand, one of which he placed in front of Sabine as he took his seat across from here. "Have a drink; I insist. It's a local ale. Breton I figured you might want to have a taste of your people's homeland, as it were. Besides, it's best not to be stressed for these sorts of things. Or ever, really. Stress never helps anyone. So, just to start, what do you think would be your ideal way to approach this man?"

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros had no problems with Kaleeth fetching her equipment. She would stick out like a gleaming metal sore thumb, but it would do well for her to discourage resistance by the shopkeeper.

Back at the inn, Fendros left Sabine in Colours' hands while he briefed the others on their roles. He mentioned that he would talk with Sabine afterwards, perhaps in the morning, to make sure that her approach would work.

Sitting hunched in her seat, Sabine took her mug in both hands and stared into the foam at the top of her ale. She didn't really feel like a drink, but looking at the fizzing bubbled helped her to focus somewhat. She began quietly. "I do not exactly know. Fendros suggested that I start with hints about our business rather than tell them directly why we are there. Should I start with the names you talked about?"

[EliteCommander]

Colors gave a noncommittal shrug before taking a swig of his own drink. "To be honest, there's quite a lot of ways to go about this. What Fendros suggested is certainly a way to do it. Ease into it so you don't startle him as much. But it's far from the only way. Now, if you start with those names, he'll know what you're talking about immediately, and it will scare him. Start listing off Talos worshipers without declaring your intentions? That would give someone like him a fright. The real first question to figure out is not what to ask first, but how you want to go about getting the information. Scaring him, making him use the information he has to bargain against a...perceived threat on his life, that could get us the information we need. Or, we could go the route of being honest. Well, as honest as we can be. Try to convince him that we're not a threat and that you just want his help. He still won't really trust us, of course, but as long as we don't ask him questions that would incriminate him or his friends, I'd give good odds of him cooperating. Decide how you want to persuade him, and I can give you all the help you need."

With a chuckle, Colors took another drink of his ale. "It's a shame he's married. If he wasn't, just looking at your beautiful face would probably be enough to get him to trust you." He added.

[Muttonhawk]

Without lifting her head, Sabine turned her eyes up to Colours. Her dubious look overshadowed an amused quirk of her lip. Colours had been making such comments since they met him here, but now they were getting tiring. "Please do not overstep, Colours," she warned gently.

In a pause to think, Sabine lifted her ale to her lips. The drink was more refreshing than she had expected. "So, I just say that we are looking for Talos hunters that are not Thalmor? Just tell him why we are there? Will he not just deny knowing?"

[EliteCommander]

"Overstep what? I am afraid I'm not quite sure what you mean." Colors responded. With him, it was actually difficult to determine if he was being legitimately honest in his confusion. Regardless, he continued to answer Sabine's questions without hesitation after another drink.

Colors nodded his head. "Aye, if you want to go the route of trying to get him to trust you, then being up front from the start is probably your best bet. Just approach him, calmly, and ask to speak to him in private, if we're not already in private. Then, open up with a sort of declaration of facts. Tell him that you know he worships Talos. Tell him about what you saw in the window if necessary, then reassure him that you aren't an enemy. Naturally, he won't believe you, so you'll then tell him that you are not going to ask him to say anything that will incriminate him, his friends, or his family. Luckily, that's not a lie in our case. You can keep reassuring him that you do not need to know the identity of anyone he would want to protect. You want to be firm, but calm. Peaceful. You can really play up the notion that w have a mutual enemy. Now, I can't guarantee it will work, but if it doesn't there's nothing stopping you from taking a more aggressive approach to threaten to turn him in. But, well, from what I remember about you, Sabine, I know you probably don't want to do that if you don't have to. It's a really admirable thing about you. You know I'm not one of those lycans that looks up in awe at you, but I'm not ashamed to admit things like that make me look up to you and your pack. It's just more of...respect for me, instead of hero-worship."

[Muttonhawk]

Colours' brushing off of Sabine's comment made her let the issue go while he explained. She was not especially confrontational about matters of herself by habit, even after all this time.

Nonetheless, Sabine was attentive. She nodded at some points of Colours' explanation with a small frown. "I...think I understand now," she said when he was done. "I will try to make him help us without scaring him too much. At first, if I can." She took another sip before lowering her mug to the table and shrugging. "Well, thank you. You know us and we just want to help." She glanced up at Colours and returned to frowning at her mug, rolling its handle between her fingers. "It is not always like that. We have to fight a lot. We do not do investigation like this very much."

[EliteCommander]

Colors responded in an understanding tone. "I know you do what you have to. But you don't set out to hurt people who don't deserve it. I mean, it's not like Vile's people are paragons of morality or anything. We didn't start this war, so it's their fault if they end up dying while trying to fight it. I know it's really easy for me to say this, but try not to let it burden your conscious too much. What you do, what your pack does, it helps people. A lot of people."

Colors was halfway through his drink by this point, and not intent on slowing down. There were always more details about the confrontation the next day that they could try to hash out, but he had given his general advice. He had other topics he would prefer to discuss. "I expect you get a lot of compliments from people in the different clans, but I also expect they're not really complimenting you. They're complimenting your legend; the version of you that gets spread around in stories. Honestly, I can't say I know what that's like. I mean...I'm used to people spreading stories about me, but they're not usually, uh, positive in nature. My point is, the high praise has probably wore thin on you, but I want you to know that you're definitely deserving of some reasonable, realistic complements on the work you do. Try not to forget that in all the other noise. Now, aside from all that, how has life been treating you? Outside the war and all that. I mean personally. Did I hear Kaleeth right when she said you learned to turn into a bird or something? That must've been an exciting thing to study."

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine could only assume that Colours was being sincere enough at this point. The change of subject made her let out an amused breath from her nose and give a small smile without looking up. "The person I work with alchemy alongside is very old and talented. Knows a lot about old hidden magic. We have taught one another different things. Mostly her teaching me, though." Sabine's smile widened. "Shapeshifting is very unintuitive. I have practiced it a lot, but getting it right is still something I am learning."

After lifting her head level and taking another drink, Sabine continued. "There is not much to say about life outside the war. I mostly research with the other scholars, other alchemists." Her tone shrank a small amount. "I see my old friends sometimes. They are mostly making their own lives, though. More stable than me. I do not mind this life, but I miss them awfully."

Sabine finally turned her eyes back to Colours directly. "Do you miss your friends back at your home? Your pride?"

[EliteCommander]

Colors was close to finishing his drink. Despite the fact that their current topic was not exactly uplifting, he was still keeping his spirits reasonably high. "Yeah, it would be hard not to miss them after spending so long there. They took me in when I had no one else. Everything after that battle, after you went your separate ways, it was hectic. Tumultuous. Losing Do'ajee, Ri'kalesh taking over the clan, but we all stayed as a pride even through it all. It just ended up that my place in the clan would take me away from them all. But, I do at least have my crew, and unlike others I've had, I'm going to have them for a while. But, I do think I at least kind of know what you're going through now. Back before I became a lycan, my crew was a lot more fluid, so to speak. I never really knew from one voyage to the next who would be staying on, or who would be moving on to some new job. People were always getting replaced, hired, kicked off the ship. There were few I could really rely on to stick with me. I guess it's kind of the same for you. You have for pack, but everything else in your life is kind of hectic."

Leaning forward onto the table, Colors had a smile that was both encouraging and confident. "But, you don't have to let that discourage you too much. I remember very well how I dealt with that. I remember almost every time we went to port, I would find a promising looking tavern near the docks. A place filled with sailors in just the same kind of position as me. We'd have our fill of mead, ale, or whatever else they had on tap, and on those nights, strangers could become the best of friends. Some of the best times of my life happened with people I knew I'd probably never see again. We all knew that we wanted to get the most out of the break we had, so it didn't matter if we didn't even know each others' names. Made it easier for us to find trouble, but it was the kind of trouble you end up looking back fondly on for years to come. Even if you can see your friends all the time, you can still find ways to live your life on the road. The opportunities might be rare for you, but that's all the more reason to jump on them when you find them. What would you say the craziest thing you've done over the last few years has been?"

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine continued twiddling at the handle of her mug with a frown. "The craziest thing?" Sabine repeated, glancing to Colours and back to her mug. "Um..." She had to take a few seconds. It was hard to think of anything. "After a hunt, in beast form, a few months ago we were in a snow drift. Ahnasha and me got into a snow fight. I had never done that before. That is all I can think of outside of the war."

Sabine looked ahead and took a drink. It sounded rather childish once it had left her mouth. "We do not do many other interesting things when travelling. I do not really find taverns and make friends like that."

[EliteCommander]

Finishing off the last of his drink, Colors started to laugh quite genuinely. "That is what you consider crazy? Oh, Sabine, Sabine. You are one of the most important people among any of our clans, but it saddens me to hear of how dreadfully dull your daily life must be. Oh, the stories I could tell you about my time making the rounds through Tamriel's ports...defacing statues with paint and undergarments in the middle of the night, stealing pigs and letting them loose in the middle of the count's court, climbing out of lovely women's windows before we found ourselves discovered. All sorts of experiences I wouldn't trade for any amount of gold. I mean, after all, does anyone's accomplishments really matter in the end if they can't say they enjoyed the life they lived?"

Colors pointed his finger at Sabine. "You deserve some excitement. You deserve to be able to let loose, to give in to all your desires and not have to keep yourself so contained. You need to...misbehave every once in a while. You can still fulfill all your duties, carry out all your research, but feel free to have some fun too."

Colors reached into his satchel and pulled out a pastry, not unlike the one he had showed them heading into town. He placed it in the middle of the table, but made no comment about it. He simply left it there without a word as he stood up. "I'm going to get us some more drinks, and I'll hear no arguments about it."

It took Colors only a few minutes to return after he left, with two more drinks in hand. Both came in tall cups, though the one he placed in front of Sabine was different this time. "Here you are. A local wine; a pretty reasonably strong staple of Evermore, according to the bartender."

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine grinned and giggled at Colours' rant. She couldn't know whether he was simple being a lying scoundrel like usual or whether what he claimed actually happened. Either way, it sounded entertaining. She also returned his look as he insisted that she let loose. She was not entirely convinced, but did not immediately reply.

However, the pastry shocked her to silence. It smelled of moon sugar. Sabine stared at it and her smile faded. The prospect of letting loose tonight, in the middle of a mission, did not sit well with her. The more she stared at the pastry, the more anxious she became. She was only brought back into reality by the wine that was placed in front of her. That gave her something else to stare at.

"Oh, it is?" Sabine said for lack of anything else that came to mind. "Um. Colours..." Sabine slowly slid the wine away from her on the table. She hadn't even finished her ale. "I am not sure it is such a good idea that I...'misbehave' tonight. I need to be ready for tomorrow."

Sabine did a poor job of obscuring how uncomfortable she felt about the situation.

[EliteCommander]

Colors' good spirits did not fade in the slightest with Sabine's hesitation. Instead, he just chuckled. "Well, it's not like you shall remain drunk all night. These drinks would wear off well-before the morning, with a good night's sleep. And with you here, it wouldn't even affect us in the morning. I mean, you did just finish telling me how you have been curing hangovers since before you left your coven, yes?"

Colors still did not make any mention of the pastry, nor did he even look at it. He did not suggest that she take a bite, nor did he as her to ignore it. It was simply sitting there. "You'll come to no harm from it, nor will anyone else. As much fun as it might be, I do agree that it would not be wise to get into too much trouble tonight, in the midst of a mission. We'll not even leave the inn. Just some drinks, stories, and the...pleasant company of friends. You have it on my honor that we'll do nothing to interfere with our purpose here in Evermore. Now, without any risks like that, can you really say that there's a good reason not to enjoy yourself? So, a toast?" He asked, raising his cup up towards her.

[Muttonhawk]

It wasn't since the coven, it was since she had been in her pack. Sabine shook her head, but that did not interrupt Colours' words.

After Colours' reassurances, Sabine looked at her drink again. She stopped and blinked slowly. "We will stay in the inn?" Sabine said, looking to Colours. "Your honour is not very strong Colours, but..." She reached and took her ale mug, still half-full. "Maybe just one extra drink."

She knocked Colours' wine cup with her mug and spread an unsure smile. She swigged down the rest of her ale to catch up.

The pastry was still a concern, one that Sabine stared at once more. She pointed to it and looked at Colours. "What about that? Are you going to eat that tonight?"

[EliteCommander]

Colors held his hand over his chest. "Why, you offend me. My honor is, well..." He began, but was not able to keep a straight face for long. "...well, perhaps honor isn't the right word. Then I promise on the immense debt of gratitude that I owe, and will always owe, you and your pack."

When Sabine pointed to the pastry, Colors a simple shrug. "Perhaps, though I am not particularly in the mood for it. You may have it, or you may not. Perhaps it will just be a decoration for our table?"

Though Sabine had asked about the pastry, Colors was quick to move on to a new topic, after starting on his new drink in earnest. "Since we are without means to partake in any misbehavior right now ourselves, perhaps we should settle for simple stories of debauchery instead? I am sure you must have some tales from your live worth sharing. I would be eager to hear."

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine pursed her lips. She resolved that the pastry would continue to be a decoration.

The sudden blush that flew up Sabine's cheeks was joined by a nervous laugh and a quick breath in through her nose. Just the one drink was already coursing through her lightweight figure and making things more humorous. "I really have not. I am dull, remember?" She took the wine and gestured to Colours. "You start, if you really want to talk about things like that."