EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth tried her hardest to keep her breathing silent. At the very least, she was keeping the volume below that of the nearby stream, but the wamasu was already suspicious of their presence. It had their scent, and they were in its nest. The beast would do anything to protect its eggs, so it was very alert at the moment. Both she and janius were hiding behind the rocks, so she couldn't see it, but with a beast of its size, even its sniffing was easily audible.

The wamasu's heavy footsteps reverberated through the entire cave, so it was easy to tell that it was very close to them, probably right on top of the ogre's body. The beast shifted around the cave, first checking on its eggs, then continuing to search for the intruders. Several long, tense minutes passed as the creature searched. Kaleeth held on tightly to Janius, unconsciously searching for any form of comfort. She could feel his heart beating just as fast as hers, and with good reason. She had never been as close to death as she was at this very moment, a thought that struck fear in her very soul. She looked Janius in the eyes, with tears in her own. She did not want to die, and wished she hadn't been so stupid as to suggest setting foot in the cave.

When Kaleeth looked away from Janius for a moment, she noticed a dead silence in the cave. She had not heard the wamasu leave, but neither did she hear it shuffling around any longer. Had it laid down to rest, perhaps gone to sleep? They would need to wait a while just to be safe, but perhaps they could sneak out? She decided to take the risk to peer around the rock, but before she could even make a movement, her worst nightmare became reality. The wamasu's large scaled head appeared around the corner, its eyes meeting theirs. They had been spotted.

The wamasu immediately let out a growl, then lashed out and tried to crush them in its jaws. Fortunately, the narrow width of the cave saved the pair. Its wide body could not squeeze far enough into the cave that its head could reach them, even if it cut it very close. Its jaws snapped down with unbelievable force mere inches from their heads, causing Kaleeth to let out a frightened scream. Fear had overwhelmed her, and she was practically sobbing by this point. There was a brief glimmer of hope when she noticed that the wamasu could not reach them. No matter how hard it pressed against the cave's stone walls, it could not get any closer to them. After a few moments, however, she felt a charge in the air. Electricity started to arc across its scales, concentrating in its mouth. It would take a few moments to charge, but once it unleashed its storm of lightning, what could they do? She had no wards or magic to block the lightning. She felt powerless to do anything to stop it.

---

Meesei gladly hugged Sabine. She looked at her with a smile and a proud expression. "You did well, Sabine. I know the Trial of Heart can be a difficult one, not because it is physically difficult to complete, but because of the emotional conflict it can create. I did not think for a second that you would fail, though. You are not a person who would leave someone to die like that. Now, I am sure you are tired from all that running. Would you like to return to the common quarters and rest, or perhaps stay and talk? If I am not mistaken, there is more we can tell you about the Trial of Body."

Thorantilth nodded in agreement as he chimed in. "Indeed we can. The last trial is much more straightforward than the previous two. There are no puzzles or tricks, it is just the merits of the trial itself which provides the challenge. We can tell you anything you like to help you prepare."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I'm almost finished with this, it shouldn't be long.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It is pretty late here at the moment, but I want to give you at least something to respond to. I'm going to try to write at least a response for Kaleeth before going to bed. I don't think I could write a good one for both right now.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth moved as silently as she could alongside Janius. Just as she had been trained to do, she did her best to keep herself more silent than her surroundings, in this case the stream flowing alongside them. Without it, their footsteps would quite obviously echo throughout the cave, so she was glad it was there. Nevertheless, she was growing nervous. Her breathing grew more heavy and irregular, but at least her hands were steady enough. She had her bow ready and an arrow nocked so she could fire as quickly as possible, if need be.

The pair needed to move slowly through the cave to make sure their eyes stayed adjusted to the darkness. They could still see the light of the entrance behind them, so it wasn't complete darkness, but it was growing more difficult to see. The smell of ogre grew strong and unmistakable, but once they were close enough to the end of the cave, Kaleeth saw something she did not expect. There was indeed an ogre, but it was lying on the floor of the cave on its back, quite dead. Walking up to the body, she could see that there were large chunks bitten out of its flesh, with bones and bits of organs strewn around it. Kaleeth quickly grew concerned. It had not been dead long enough for it to be a scavenger that mutilated the body, and there were few creatures in the marsh that could take down a fully-grown ogre. Even worse, a loud, echoing sound suddenly sounded out behind them, from the entrance of the cave. As Kaleeth turned to look at the source, she spotted a small form just to her right in the shadows. In such low light, she had to lean in to get a good look, but once she did, she gasped and had to physically cover her mouth to stop herself from screaming.

"I stupid! I stupid! I stupid!" She said in a frantic whisper to Janius. "We should not have come in here. Dead ogre must have masked scent. In the corner, the eggs, this is..it is wamasu nest. We need to get out, quickly!"

Unfortunately, the time to escape had passed, as the wamasu had returned to its home, following the scent of intruders. Looking back up at the entrance, they could see its silhouette in the light, raising its nose to the air as it followed their scent. With how large it was, there was no way they could get past it in such a narrow cave, and Kaleeth knew it. "Oh no, no time. Maybe...I don't know." She whispered, looking around frantically for some kind of option. Her eyes followed the stream down to the point where the cave narrowed like a cone to its smallest point, certainly too small for a wamasu to fit its sizable body. As quickly as possible, she rushed to the very end of the cave and laid down, sliding feet first into the narrow part of the cave and trying to position herself behind some rocks to break line of sight. "Quickly, hide here!" She whispered frantically to Janius, seeing no other way to survive but to stay out of sight.

---

"Stop!" Shaleer-Za's voice rang out, and was quickly echoed in Cyrodilic by Thorantilth. "You have completed the Trial of Heart."

Once Sabine had stopped moving, Thorantilth let go of his son, who stood on both legs as if nothing was wrong. The treeminder charged a green ball of magicka in his hand and started to wave the energy over his son's leg. "Hold still while I remove the illusion." He ordered, allowing his magic to weave through Tuxeek's leg until there was no trace of anything being wrong. After he was finished, he stood up and began to interpret for Shaleer once more.

"To commune with the Hist, one must show that they are of a pure heart, which you have demonstrated excellently. Even with the stakes as high as they were, you showed a willingness to sacrifice your own well being for one who is, essentially, a stranger, with no guarantee of reward, and indeed, no request for it. You showed the wisdom in your judgement to select the path that led to your success, the path to return and aid another. I apologize for any stress the deception may have caused you, but you have demonstrated the strength of your character. Through the first two trials, you have shown your wisdom, and your heart. Now, all that remains is to show that your body is strong enough to undergo the ritual. You will need to be in good health for the Trial of Body, so it will be held tomorrow, after you have had a chance to rest and recover." Shaleer explained.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Yes, I know the cave." Kaleeth answered silently. "It is not big. No turns, no chambers, just one straight path, leading down. It is pretty wide, enough for the ogre, but it gets narrower near the end. There is a stream going through it, into a hole at the end of cave." There really wasn't much detail she could draw, but she complied and used two claws to draw a narrowing path and tried to convey that it sloped down.

"Hmm, it is small space, and ogres are strong, but...if we go in, we will have our backs to the entrance. We could always back up; the cave is not wide enough for it to get around us. We can back it into a wall, but it can not. The stream makes noise, we might be able to sneak up on it. We could try to lead it out, but then we will not be able to surprise it. It will be ready. Should we try to sneak in? Do you think it is too dangerous?" Kaleeth asked.

---

Tuxeek seemed surprised that Sabine was able to carry him as well as she was, especially at the speed they were going. It seemed Human girls were stronger than he thought. He said little on his way back and mostly seemed to be focusing on blocking out his pain. They moved at a fair pace, but even so, it took longer to get back than it did for Sabine to run to the halfway mark. Thorantilth, Shaleer-Za, and Meesei were all still at the starting line, and all except Meesei seemed surprised that Sabine was returning so soon. The moment she came into sight, Thorantilth walked forward to meet them, then dropped down on his knees to accept his son from Sabine. He looked down at Tuxeek with a concerned expression, then looked Sabine in the eyes. "What happened?" He asked simply.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth nodded, then answered in a barely audible whisper. "Yes, but..." She began, taking a few steps toward the nearest body of water. She examined the muddy shoreline for a moment before pointing to a disturbance in the mud, which appeared as if something had slid across it. "...it is in the water. Very difficult to find underwater, and dangerous. Even Saxhleel do not fight crocodiles in the water. Need to get them to shore, or surprise it with an arrow."

Standing up, Kaleeth raised her snout in the air to try to catch the scent she detected earlier. With how overwhelming some more mundane scents were, it was very difficult to gauge distance or direction, but she thought there might be an ogre nearby. Perhaps it would be easier to go after a crocodile, but an ogre would provide far more meat, and would be a more challenging kill; certainly a better way to prepare and train her skills. She brought herself lower to the ground, then, with a subtle motion, signaled for Janius to follow. Without a breeze, she couldn't really use his advice, but she drew upon everything the Master-Hunter had been teaching her to move silently, and try to hone in on their prey. Some of the foliage did look like it had been disturbed relatively recently, and as Janius mentioned, there was some evidence in the mud that something had passed by.

As Kaleeth was familiar with the area, she had a suspicion of where their prey might be after they drew closer. They came upon a large hill with a steep cliff on one side, and a cave leading a short distance underground. She had explored the cave as a child, so she knew its layout. Her father, however, had stopped her from visiting it due to the fact that creatures sometimes used it for shelter, which she had a feeling was the case in this situation. She hid in the foliage within sight of the cave, then looked to Janius next to her. "See that cave. Ogres are smart, they like to use them for shelter. What do you think, should we look inside?" She asked.

---

When Sabine grabbed Tunxeek and pulled him out of the bush, he moved easily enough, but when he was out in the open, it revealed a rather gruesome-looking sight. His right leg was terribly bloody, with dozens of cuts and gashes. It looked like something had grabbed a hold of his leg with a mouthful of teeth and would not let go, tearing his flesh to shreds in the process. There was no indication of where the creature was or why it left, but there was no scent of a predator in the area. He looked up to Sabine with tears in his eyes, unable to form words for a few moments until he finally managed to say "help" in a soft, strained voice.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Might be difficult for me to write this without giving Tunxeek too much dialogue. I'll try, though.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Lamias do not attack our village, and we do not attack them, but if someone is alone in the marsh, they might get attacked, then eaten. The lamias are not like us, but...they are not...not like us. It is hard to explain. I think we have talked to them before, but it is better to avoid them. Safer that way." Kaleeth explained. She had to admit, she did not like the current state of affairs with the lamia, but there was nothing she could really do to change it, not at the current point in her life.

Eventually, the pair got to a point that Kaleeth recognized, so she became more quiet, and readied her bow. "Okay, we are close now. Let's keep a look out for prey, and predators." She explained, raising her nose to see if she could catch a scent on the wind. The marsh was a dynamic place, so it was often hard to track prey with how much it changed. Even scents could be suppressed by the marsh, though not to the extent as signs such as tracks. Nevertheless, she could get a general direction of where she thought a scent might be coming from, though it was vague at this point, and distant. It smelled sort of like a mix between an ogre and a crocodile, so it was possible that both were in the area. She started moving along more quietly, but still felt safe enough at the moment to ask another question in a lower voice. "Do you have advice for tracking I might not know?"

---

By the time she reached the halfway point, Sabine was rather far from the village. At the speed she was running, she was making excellent time, so she had a bit of time to spare for her choice when the path diverged. One path, marked by a blue ribbon, seemed to lead to a shallow river. The area beside the river was very uneven and hard to walk on, but the river itself came up only just above Sabine's ankle, at the present point, at least. It was possible that the river could deepen later. The other path, marked by a red ribbon, was completely dry, at least by Black Marsh standards, but had thick reeds as tall as Sabine's shoulders. Those were the only two marked paths, but there was one other thing of interest at the intersection. Just as there had been one villager at the quarter way mark to observe her passing before returning to the village, there was another at the halfway mark. This time, however, he was not standing on the sidelines watching for her to pass, he was laying on the ground partially obscured by a bush, crying out for help in a pained, familiar voice. It was Tunxeek, and as Sabine ran closer, he looked up at her with a look of pain and desperation.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth kept her nose to the air to watch for the scent of predators, though until they reached her hunting grounds, she was not especially looking out for prey. Until then, there was no problem with her talking to him and explaining a bit more about the marsh. "There are many creatures we can kill. There are usually many hackwings flying around, but they are fast, hard to hit. You have to sneak up on them when they rest, or eat. Voriplasm are easy to kill, but really hard to move, and to cut up right. They have this...stuff in them that...what is the word? It is...what your body does to food. It melts skin and flesh in a few seconds, then they drink it up. You have to drain that stuff before moving it. I think these hunting grounds are far enough from the inner marsh that we might see alit or kagouti, maybe. They usually aren't here, though. I know I can kill things like those, but there are other dangerous things we need to watch out for. Wamasu sometimes hunt here too, so we need to keep away from those. A tribe of lamia also lives here. I think I could kill one, but I would not want to. They are smart. They don't make weapons or build things, they do not have a...a civ-ill-i-zay-shaun, but they can talk. Not many know Jel, but they are still smart. I just wish they did not always attack strangers."

---

"The difference in the paths is that one will allow you to pass the trial, while the others will lead to failure. I'm sorry, but you have to judge these paths for yourself. I cannot give much description on what you will face." Thorantilth interpreted for Shaleer. Meesei placed a hand on Sabine's shoulder and looked down at her with a calming expression.

"I cannot say much about the trial as well, but what I can say is that you will not need any specific knowledge of the marsh to pass. All you need is your good judgement, which I trust in completely." Meesei added.

Shaleer-Za walked over to a marked spot on the edge of the village and conjured up a small ball of light just above her hand. When she started, it would pulse at a regular interval to help her keep time. "When you are ready, walk up to this line, then start I will start your time as soon as you start running. Be sure to keep up a good pace. If there is anything you do not wish to carry to cut down on weight, leave it here and I will make sure it is returned to you."

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

i suppose I could post, though I'm a bit lost on what to do next. What would we be doing at the forge, Konan and Ryonara?