EliteCommander

The Depths of Deception

I'll let mutton give a response, he should be on soon.

The Depths of Deception

cqbexpt said
Yeah you should probably expect that lol. 100 Celsius would kill everything.

Except tardigrades.

The Depths of Deception

Nice, glad to have you here. Though, a bit of a detail, the trip from Earth to Pax is much longer than two days. It would be closer to two weeks.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once the pair reached the area they were supposed to search, Zharanthixil stopped and silently observed his surroundings for a few moments. He took a few sniffs of the air and paid close attention to the riverbank, looking for any trace of footprints. He did spot one print, but upon closer inspection, it looked to be just a large crocodile. Finally, he looked back to Janius and spoke up, his tone suggesting that he was doing so only because it was required for the situation.

"I have been told you and your...friends are skilled hunters and trackers. You helped my daughter to kill a wamasu, so you cannot be completely useless. Water will be key for tracking her. I have trained her, and all my hunters, to stay by the rivers if lost. They are purer than the marsh's standing water, so villages are usually settled along them. She may be trying to follow the river to our village, not realizing it is the wrong one. We will continue to go along the river, but be aware that she could have left the river to hunt. Look for any signs of her presence, footprints, ashes from a fire, anything." Zharanthixil ordered.

The Depths of Deception

Rareth spent some time asking the Tempu about the members of this team that had not yet arrived. Of course, he knew little more than their names. In addition to Coin, the Humans on the team were Ashley Munroy, who Rareth recommended, Jayrin Augustin, whose name sounded somewhat familiar, and his bodyguard Dante Newell. It seemed like everyone else was present.

Just after Rareth finished questioning the Tempu, the Masulu soldier Shiva emerged from the suite and addressed them in a far friendlier, more casual tone than she was used to from Sovereignty military personnel. Most of the interactions she had with their military, even after the war, were strictly about business and held a very serious tone. Any sort of levity from Sovereignty soldiers was completely foreign to her, though perhaps that was why these soldiers in particular had been chosen. Hopefully, the other Masulu would be just as friendly.

"Being cold-blooded, I am afraid that would not be good for my health. Perhaps we can talk elsewhere, though. If we are all going to be working together, it would perhaps be best for us all to become properly acquainted. My name is Rareth'Jharn, I am an Agent of the Rahn'Masser. Your name is Shiva, correct?" Rareth responded, giving a polite nod.

The Depths of Deception

To clarify, there are 3 different suites, each with 4 bedrooms.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Zharanthixil left the hut and started preparing immediately, though it was about half an hour before all of the teams were ready. With how important this was to Janius, Ahnasha wished she could come along, but she agreed with Thorantilth that it would be best for her to stay behind, something she had become all too used to. Each of the teams were going to be traveling in groups of two or three, with everyone in the pack, with the exception of Meesei and Sabine, split among different teams. As much as he hated it, he had to admit this group of outsiders were experienced hunters, even in a land that, for most of them, was not their own. His intention was to spread them across as many areas as possible so they could lend a unique perspective to the search that his hunters may not recognize. He could have picked anyone to go with him, though he selected Janius for a reason, even if it was a reason he was being very silent on.

"Alright, you all know why you are here, and where you are to be searching." Zharanthixil said in Jel as they were all collected near the center of the village, not caring that most of the pack could not understand him. "It is not often that I ask you all to help me, instead of the village, but if I was only ever able to ask one thing of you all for all my life, it would be this. My daughter, a caring member of our village, and an individual close to my heart, is missing. If I could ever ask you to give all of your effort to one task, it would be now.. Use these...outsiders to the best of your abilities to help find her. To all of you who are so willing to help me now, I owe you more than I could ever express. Now, let us be off, and may the Hist guide you all."

Turning his gaze from his men to Janius, his expression sharply turned more harsh. "Come, we're leaving." He ordered, walking off into the marsh without so much as checking to see if he was following. It was about another half hour of a walk just to reach the area they were going to begin searching, but the uncomfortable silence between them made it seem like it was taking even longer. Nothing about Zharanthixil's disposition suggested he actually wanted to be around Janius, but they were going to be stuck together for quite a while.

The Depths of Deception

It is rather late now, but I'll be sure to post tomorrow as soon as I can. Perhaps some of our characters can actually start talking to each other, since they are all together now. Hail is back from his trip now, so I'm guessing he will post soon enough. After we all finish with introductions and such, I can move us to the meeting, then the first mission.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Zharanthixil's expression did not change at all, as Janius' quick acceptance likely only served to stop him from growing angrier. "As I said, I have not simply been doing nothing the past few days. While on our hunts, myself and my hunters have been scouring the area, especially in the direction my daughter left. Any trail she left behind was likely washed away, and my hunters have at least confirmed that she is not in the most likely areas surrounding the village, but I know this place. I was raised in this part of the marsh, I trained here, I hunted here, I have thrived here. This marsh is my home, and I know it better than any other but the Hist themselves. The marsh is a vast area, and she could have traveled far in the time she has been gone, but if everything I learned hunting in the marsh holds true, I know how to find her. We cannot follow her trail, but I can make a guess at her behavior. When in danger and under stress, people do not behave very differently from creatures. If she is still alive, and she is merely lost or confused, I can take a few guesses on where she could have gone. If she lost her bearings, she would have tried to follow the river back here. If she followed the wrong river, however, it would have sent her away from the village. There are only a few places where it would make sense for her to make that mistake in that area. If I am right and she did not veer away from her chosen path after following it, then there are not too many places she could be."

Zharanthixil's eyes moved over each of the pack members, his eyes silently judging them. "I am going to send several teams to each location I suspect she could be. All of you are going to join them. Except for the cat; Thorantilth insisted that she be able to stay behind. And you..." He said, turning his head to Janius. "...are coming with me."

Elder Scrolls: Terror of the Padomaic

"Well, it looks like we have options." Sharee said, letting go of the bannister and turning around to face the others. "We need a crate of skooma, and we need it before that slave ship leaves the harbor. According to Kahl here, that ship should have enough skooma on it to give us a nice profit. Maybe not as much as the Miriam, enough. Depending on how often the Miriam makes this run, and how quickly we can get this ship outfitted once we get the funds from this job, we might be able to hit the Miriam later, but for now, let's focus on the slave ship. Taking on bandits for any skooma they might have would, obviously, require some fighting. Plus, we need to find them, though at least this option get's us the least confrontation with local authorities. Serge, I want you to have a few men ask around town about any outlaws in the area. Have them pose as bounty hunters or something. Another choice, as Noelle suggested, is to just make it ourselves. Since we don't have any coin to buy it, we would have to steal the moon sugar. I think it is pretty close to harvest time, so we might be able to take it straight out of the fields. However, that sugar is this islands lifeline. You can bet they keep their fields guarded. If we want to go down that path, we will need to evade or take down some guards. Sarel, I'd like you to scope out the fields to make sure the canes are mature enough that we could get some sugar out of them, and to see which ones are the least guarded. Another choice could be to intercept a crate bound for the Miriam. It might be the most risky strategy, but it would take the least work. It would be essential that we stay undetected on that, 'cause the Miriam certainly has some friends in the port authority that could make our lives difficult. Not to mention the fact that we will need to time the theft well. We would want to take it shortly before the slave ship plans to leave, to make sure the Miriam's crew doesn't have any time to investigate. Noelle, I want you to keep tabs on the Miriam and see if you can identify when they are expecting to haul in any more crates of skooma."

Given that they now had a solid course of action, Sharee could count their first day on the island as a success, but there was one more thing that needed to be dealt with before they could all retire for the night. "Now, before I dismiss you all, there is one last piece of business we need to address. Noelle, if you would be so kind as to wait under the mainsail, we can get your punishment over with. I will be right back in a moment."

Sharee grabbed one of the ship's sailors by the shoulder as he passed them by. "You, I want you to get the word around that everyone should get above decks immediately. And yes, I mean everyone. Now go!" She ordered. The surprised sailor responded with a simple "Yes, Captain." and proceeded below deck to start on his new task. Meanwhile, Sharee returned to her cabin so she could collect her whip.