EliteCommander

The Depths of Deception

With their next assignment now official, Rareth and Telmeck spent the next few hours preparing. They gathered their weapons and armor into Rareth's dropship, prepared their residences for an extended leave of absence, and took care of any other last minute planning before they left. Once ready, they took Rareth's dropship into orbit, then requisitioned an FTL carrier in which to dock the dropship to take them to Pax, as ships the size of a dropship could not be equipped with an FTL drive and be fully effective in combat at the same time, due to the space required for said drive.

Even at faster than light speeds, space travel could take a considerable amount of time, depending on the destination. With the territories of the Rothians, Humans, and Sovereignty taken into account, the settled portion of the galaxy had a radius of about five thousand light years around Pax in any direction. A few ships and probes had been to other parts of the galaxy, but there was really no reason to settle any farther away when there were still countless unexplored worlds within the known regions of the galaxy. To get from the farthest end of the settled region of space to the other would take about two months of travel, though the trip from Rothia to Pax was about two weeks. Contacting any sort of external network was impossible in FTL, but there was enough saved on to the ship's computer to keep the pair entertained for the duration of the journey.

Rareth and Telmeck awoke to an alarm indicating they were about to drop out of FTL. The autopilot would handle the approach all the way up to the point where they would need to contact docking control, but nevertheless, Rareth brought herself out of bed to get in the pilot's seat. With the level of clearance she had as a Datius, she was able to bypass most security checks and get to Concord rather quickly. All the docking authorities had to do was to tag her dropship with a device that signaled it was authorized to fly in civilian airspace, as armed vessels were not normally allowed in atmosphere.

Once they were cleared, Rareth proceeded to fly them straight to the building in Concord that they were set to meet the Assembly representatives charged with overseeing this joint team. Different departments and branches of the Assembly had their own buildings across the city; this one in particular was dedicated to the Bureau of Joint Intelligence. She was able to obtain a landing pad in a kind of external "hanger" on the building itself, so it was easy enough for them to take an elevator down to the lobby and record their arrival in the Bureau's systems. Since the meeting was not scheduled for two more days, they were instructed by the automated system to wait in the lobby for a representative to speak to them.

Rareth sat down on one of the chairs that was appropriately sized for a Rothian and took a look around at the lobby. Some of the buildings on Pax always struck her as rather odd. It was made with a mix of architectural and design styles from all races. This one in particular had Rothian materials, Sovereignty structural design, and Human aesthetics. It was meant to make all races feel more comfortable, but mostly, it just made all races feel slightly uncomfortable. Most of the buildings on the planet were not like this, of course. They were built with only a single style; it was only the government buildings that had such a wierd amalgamation of cultural designs.

Elder Scrolls: Terror of the Padomaic

EliteCommander said
I would like to let reganza post, but I will soon if he cannot. .

I just realized I did not do this. My semester has started up and I got a bit distracted, my bad. I'll be sure to post soon.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei had to pause for a moment to think. It was within her capability to read Cyrodilic writing; it had been part of her education growing up to interact with outsiders. However, she was not especially good at reading in that language, not like in Jel. She knew how to spell her name, of course, but she had to think for a moment. "I believe it is spelled M-e-e-s-e-i, in Cyrodilic. It...has been a long time since I have had to read Cyrodilic, much less write it. I admit I am rather out of practice. If you are having trouble, perhaps Janius or Fendros can help?" She suggested.

Kaleeth closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, then nodded to Janius. "Yes, talking has helped. I have not made my choice, but I know what I am going to do. I want to commune with the HIst, and...Hircine, if I can. I know you said it would be very hard, and I know it probably won't happen, but...I want to try. I could use the village tree to commune with the Hist, but I think it would be better for me to go into the marsh and be among them. I can be alone, meditate, and find a tree with sap to drink. When I am there, I can try to hunt something to sacrifice too. I know you would probably want to come with me, but...I need to be alone for this. If I can at least commune with the Hist, I know I can make this choice. I am going to leave tonight, maybe tomorrow in the morning. I will need to tell my father and mother what I want to do. I am...not excited for that. I do not think it will take more than one day. You can...you can wait that long, right?" She asked nervously.

The Depths of Deception

My semester starts tomorrow, but I'll make sure to post before the end of the day. I hope Leon responds before then, but I'll make sure to move on regardless.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Oh, yes, of course." Ahnasha answered, not used to Sabine asking her any sort of questions. Usually when she needed something, she would ask Meesei, who would then ask whoever was appropriate. "I believe I still have some supplies left in a bag next to my bedroll. There should be enough ink for a letter."

Ahnasha glanced over to Fendros beside her. He might not have known Sabine for quite as long as the rest of them, but he had known her long enough to be impressed. The success of the ritual seemed to put everyone in an upbeat mood. "I certainly bet Ariel will be happy to hear about this." She commented as they walked along.

Normally, Meesei would opt to leave Sabine alone whenever she was doing something, but this time, she felt that it might be a good idea to join her. She would not bother her while she was actually concentrating on writing, of course, but she wondered if she and Sabine would be able to just...talk. As mundane as it seemed, it was something they had never really done before.

Kaleeth walked beside Janius. Leaps had actually began to follow her around whenever she set him down, so she was no longer required to carry it at all times. The good mood of the others seemed to be rubbing off on her, but she was a bit more distant than everyone else. She was of course happy to see that it all worked out for them, but she did not want to intrude on their celebration, since she did not know most of them very well yet. Given how shy Sabine had been, Kaleeth had not really spoken to her at all since she arrived, so she knew next to nothing about her. Nevertheless, she did feel comfortable commenting to Janius about the situation. "I am guessing this is much different from normal? I have not really heard her speak much before now. She seems happy though; I am glad the ritual worked for her."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei was glad to see Sabine so lively. It was even more noticeable than when Ariel was around. Meesei's mood was being elevated along with Sabine's, to the point that, even with the clouds overhead, the world seemed more vibrant. They walked safely away from the eggs and joined the others. Only Meesei really understood what was going to happen before the ritual, so the others seemed quite surprised with the change. Even Lorag gave a silent grin at the sudden turn of events.

Ahnasha looked down at Sabine, a bit in awe. She never shouted, not in fear, anger, or in this case, happiness. "Wow, Sabine, the Hist really did help you, didn't they?"

"It was not only the Hist. They opened up the memories, but it was Sabine who had to overcome them. The Hist needed only to facilitate the confrontation between her, and her past." Meesei commented. Her attitude was hopeful, and lighthearted. While it was true they had serious matters to attend to, such as getting to Stormhold, they could spare the time to relax. "So, Sabine, on such a fine day as this, what do you want to do now?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei awoke before Sabine, as the Hist decided to release her from the vision while they were showing Sabine the impact of her final choice. She sat next to Sabine and returned her smile when she awoke. Meesei grabbed her hand to help her sit up, then wrapped her arms around her to give her a hug. After the years of silence and pain, Sabine could finally move on. There would certainly be struggles ahead, but now she could focus on them, instead of having to mend the wounds of her past.

It was difficult for Meesei to find the proper words to follow such an experience. Their souls had been joined in the root, their minds experiencing the same memories. Meesei had saw Sabine's most painful memories, and had helped to guide her past them. It was difficult to say exactly how she would change, but there was no question that it would be for the better. "How are you feeling, Sabine? Any more troublesome memories to deal with?." She said with a smile.

The Depths of Deception

I tried asking Leon if he could tell me what his character would do, then I could make a summary post, but I haven't got an answer. I may need to do that anyway, as I do not want to go too long without activity.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The events that unfolded after Sabine's choice were not what Meesei expected, though it did make sense. Sometimes, one could not actually change the future, nor could they accurately predict the effects of their actions. Fate and destiny were complicated concepts, if they even existed at all. Often times, all one could hope to do when faced with regret was to learn from their mistakes and move on. Sometimes, one's life could be bettered by fixing a mistake, but in many cases, it is both one's successes and failures that make a person who they are. In this case, for Sabine, her only mistake was blaming herself for a situation that was complicated beyond her control. Hopefully now, she could see that holding on to that part of her past was not worthwhile.

The next memory was not one Meesei expected, but it was one she recognized. She remembered when Sabine first joined the pack. She was afraid, not only of the members of the pack, but of the world in general. Even with her saying nothing, her actions demonstrated that she was not well. It seemed strange at first to think that Sabine would be a productive member of the pack. She was small, inexperienced, physically weaker than the others, and too shy to speak to. Everything she displayed to the outside world painted her as a potential liability. Any other pack concerned about their survival would have refused to accept her at the time. Even Meesei had her doubts when she first joined, but there had been...something about her that she could not place, something that made her curious about the little girl. Her empathy for the lost girl's situation, combined with her gut instinct, caused her to accept her into the pack: a decision she certainly did not regret. Still, there were moments early on where Meesei questioned the wisdom of her decision.

"It has been a slow and subtle change, but seeing this now, it is easy to see how different you have become. All the pain was fresh on your mind here. I remember trying to talk to you for months and getting barely a response. I admit, there were times where I wondered if you would ever improve at all, or if I would ever even learn your name. I believe this was the first time I asked. At this point, I believe that I assumed it was the shock of being recently turned that caused you to retreat within yourself. As your last memory showed, however, one cannot predict the future. I have noticed that each memory so far has been a small, seemingly insignificant moment, but each played a role in a larger picture, in something you cared deeply about: your sister, the coven. This was but one of many times I tried to speak to you. For me, I learned little more than that you were quiet. But for you, what would you say they meant to you? Or rather, what did you want them to mean?" Meesei asked, her expression carrying much of the same curiosity and concern that the version of her in the memory also had.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Goodnight.