EliteCommander

Elder Scrolls: Danger of Discovery (EliteCommander and Luna)

I just posted it. A bit of an ambush to show how much of novices they really are.

Elder Scrolls: Danger of Discovery (EliteCommander and Luna)

The rest of the day proceeded much like every other step of their journey: slowly and exhausting. Nevertheless, they were making progress. They were hungry and tired, but Blankenmarch was close enough to keep them motivated. By some miracle, it seemed like they were going to be able to reach the town that day. It would be after nightfall, but they could deal with the darkness if it meant food.

By the time they were about an hour away from the village, it was dusk, and the sun was close to setting over the horizon. Fortunately, the moons were bright in the sky, so they would likely have enough light to at least get them to the village. Overall, things seemed to be going well for the moment, but as they reached a bend in the road, it quickly became clear that fate did not intend to be kind to them. From their hiding places behind a tree, three individuals stepped out in front of them and blocked the way. They all wore some type of leather armor, and were all quite armed. Two of them, a Nord woman and a Khajiit male, carried a few blades, ranging from longswords to daggers, as well as a mace hanging from the Nord's belt. The last was a Bosmer man with a bow in his hands. He had an arrow nocked, but not drawn.

"Well, what a fine evening this is, wouldn't you agree?" The Nord woman said in a sarcastically friendly tone. She kept her hand on her blade and looked quite sharply at Swims and Veria's weapons. "Why don't you just keep those weapons sheathed now, alright? Draw them, and you might find yourself getting well-acquainted with an arrow from my friend here. We're in a hurry, so I'm going to skip all the banter and just cut to the chase. Give us a hundred gold, and you pass with your lives. Refuse, and we kill you. Simple, right?"

Swims had been training for months to learn how to fight, and he had saved up for even longer to buy his equipment, but despite all of that, he immediately felt afraid. He felt he should be able to fight them, but everything in him was telling him to just give them what they wanted. Unfortunately, with only about thirty gold between the two, he couldn't actually meet that demand.

"But...we don't have a hundred gold." Swims responded though he wasn't sure what kind of mercy to expect from highwaymen.

Sure enough, the Nord did not seem impressed. "Oh really, then I guess we'll just have to take-." She began, but just as she started to draw her mace, the Khajiit beside her nudged her elbow and whispered. "Boss, the patrol."

The Nord bandit grumbled and seemed disappointed, but regardless, she let go of her sword's hilt. "Fine, because I am feeling so generous, give us fifty gold and you can go."

At this point, Swims was very visibly afraid, being unable to meet even the revised demand. "We don't...we don't have fifty gold either. But...surely we can give you-" He began, trying to reason with her, but the Nord bandit was too impatient to listen. This time, she fully drew her mace and glared threateningly at them.

"You lying little lizard, we don't have time for this. We'll just take the gold from your corpses!" She shouted, causing Swims to instinctively raise his shield and look to Veria with fear in his eyes.

Shadows in the Moonlight

As he had been taking a few minutes to relax, he hadn't noticed that Stevie changed before she spoke up. When he looked at her, he smiled and gave quite a pleased expression. "Hmm, you look beautiful, I have to say. You buy that recently? Anyway, we could have some lunch, and I'm guessing you also want to go for a swim? I do have a portable charcoal grill in the trunk. We could take it over to the lake and set it up there." He suggested. Standing up, he walked over behind Stevie's chair and started to rub her shoulders while looking down at her with a smile. "But it's your choice, I'm willing to try pretty much anything at the moment."

Elder Scrolls: Danger of Discovery (EliteCommander and Luna)

I have an idea of what can happen next to advance the overall plot.

Shadows in the Moonlight

With Stevie holding the other side, Sam was finally able to make some progress on the tent. "Really? I'll have to remember to congratulate her when we see her. My mom is a bit too old for that, though that is probably a good thing, in all honesty. She is a very kind and loving person, but I don't think my parents could afford to take care of another child. Besides, I think she is more than satisfied with her three children." He commented. Stevie of course knew his siblings, though given that he was the oldest by a few years, Stevie had always spent more time with Sam when they were growing up rather than his brother or sister.

After a few minutes, the pair finally finished pitching the tent, which was the last thing they needed to do for the moment. They would need to make a campfire before nightfall, but they still had plenty of time for that. For the moment, Sam simply took a seat in one of the folding chairs they brought along to relax for a moment. "I think that's everything for now. So, what should we do first?"

Elder Scrolls: Danger of Discovery (EliteCommander and Luna)

Swims grinned when Veria stood up, even more so when she hugged him. "Agreed, most definitely agreed. We might be able to catch something, though we'd have to be pretty lucky. for that. Animals are always so good at running and hiding. I guess we should probably try to learn more about tracking. I didn't really think about that being important before; fighting just seemed more practical."

As much as Swims would have loved to repeat last night's events once more, they really did need to get moving quickly. The pair were hungry now, but it wasn't too unbearable. By the next day, however, that would definitely change. Reluctantly, he stood up and pulled away from her. "I suppose we should get going. Even if we can't kill anything, a nice warm dinner awaits us in Blankenmarch." He said, though not before looking her over from head to toe once more and giving her a satisfied grin. He gathered up his clothes and put on the pieces of his armor one by one. As usual, because of how cumbersome his armor was, it took him longer to get ready than Veria, but nevertheless, it wasn't too long before he was ready to move. He put on the backpack that contained his share of their dwindling supplies and looked at her with an almost enthusiastic smile. "So, ready to go?"

Shadows in the Moonlight

Sam helped to unload a few more things he would need to set up the basics of their campsite, then started setting up the tent while Stevie continued to unload a few of the other things they would need for the day.

"Yeah, I'm...not really sure how to go about starting a transformation at will, honestly. We know a few things that can cause it, but I don't know how we can make it happen on our own, or if that's even possible. Maybe we will have to provoke it every time, or perhaps as we grow more familiar with it, we'll learn how to start it on our own. Either way, we can't forget that's why we're here. We have to figure out how to get some control over this before next week, when our parents arrive." He commented. He was able to get the tent unpacked and mostly put together, but it was the last part anchoring the supporting rods into the ground that always gave him trouble. "Hey, could you hold the other side for a second so I can get this tent pitched?"

Blood Act I: Auxilary Tale - Ssarak's Story (Private Party)

Hey Lucius, do you think we will be able to collab that first post soon?

Elder Scrolls: Danger of Discovery (EliteCommander and Luna)

Swims awoke when the sun's light met his eyes at dawn. It did not seem to matter that they did not have proper bedrolls when he was allowed the comfort of holding Veria in his arms. After a few minutes, he was finally awake enough to slowly sit up and stretch out his muscles, being careful not to awaken Veria. He wanted to let her sleep for a bit longer, as they would need their energy in order to make any real progress. They did not have any food to eat, no way to get any substantial breakfast, but at least Blankenmarch was not far away. They could likely reach it in the next day or two.

Swims was seated on a nearby rock when Veria finally started to stir. He had not yet dressed himself, though he did not feel any particular pressure to do so with Veria. He felt absolutely comfortable around her, more than with anyone else. "Good morning, my love. It looks like it's going to be a nice, clear day for travel. If we move quickly enough, we might even get to Blankenmarch by nightfall."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Almost immediately after Janius spoke, one of the nearby patrons, another Argonian male, turned his head and looked up at him slightly baring his teeth, indicating that he did indeed speak Cyrodilic. "Who are you calling unsavory, softskin? We're not deaf, ya arrogant...what are you, an Imperial? Typical."

The obviously inebriated man stopped a moment to examine the rest of the pack, which caused him to scoff. "Humans, an Orc, cats, a Dunmer, what is this, some kind of fair? You come into our tavern, walk right up to us and start throwing insults, you better hope you're trying to tell a bad joke."

By this point, the entire table the man was sitting at, as well as a few others from different tables, had their eyes on Janius. One of the man's friends leaned over and nudged his elbow to grab his attention. "Are you really surprised? I'm more impressed that it's not the Dunmer tryin' to dis-respect us this time."

"I guess he's smart enough to keep it to himself. These Imperials aren't known for their smarts. I think they should all get outta here before someone gets hurt." He commented before casting his gaze back on Kaleeth, just as he had when she stepped into the tavern. He gave a grin, then glanced back to his friend beside him. "Except for maybe her, she can stay as lonnng as she wants." He added, generating a laugh from both of them.

While Kaleeth just looked confused, Meesei turned around and let out a sigh. Having just finished paying for their rooms, she did not want to get kicked out of the tavern already. Hopefully, Janius would be able to diffuse this situation.