EliteCommander

The Depths of Deception

I'll try to see if balmung is going to post, but I'll respond tomorrow (today?) regardless.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Just to clarify, the knife the noble is using isn't actually silver.

I think I'll be going to bed now, goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once the Argonian healer confirmed he was not lying, the noble gave a smile, holding himself back from cutting into her any further. "Ah, now that is an answer, and your honesty is rewarded with my mercy. You see, you cooperate, and your...well, you're more than friends aren't you? Anyway, you give answers, I don't hurt her. Now, a child you say? Well, I must congratulate you. I am not a father myself, but I do like the idea of becoming one someday. If your child is being held by those monsters, then we can help each other. I don't care about you lycans, i just want the vampires dead. If you give me the information I need to mount a successful attack, then I can have my men rescue your child, then I can let you go in return for your help. Your little family can go on its way. Does that sound like a deal? I think it is quite fair."

Ahnasha wished she could shout out her thoughts at the noble, but all she could do was bare her teeth and scowl. She did not believe him for a moment. Once he had what he needed, Ahnasha believed he would just kill them outright, along with Rhazii once they attacked. Without her voice, however, Fendros was the one making all of the decisions.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Very well. Just remember, her suffering is your choice." The Argonian responded as he took the knife and sliced it down the center of her torso, from her collarbone down to just above her waist. Ahnasha still could not scream, but she winced from the pain and clenched her teeth, trying to distract herself from it. She expected a sizable amount of blood, but only a small amount flowed from the wound. The Breton, as it seemed, was quite talented in restoration. He was keeping her both from loosing too much blood, and from feeling the effects of her adrenaline. As a result, she felt the pain all the more intensely.

"You know, it is amazing what the body can survive, especially with a healer or two on hand." The noble said as he made another cut near her collarbone, this time horizontal and overlapping with the first. "Men, mer, these cats, we are all exceptionally hardy creatures. It takes the loss of quite a lot of blood before we will lose consciousness, which, by the way, my friend here is really good at keeping inside of the body." He made another horizontal cut intersecting the bottom of the first cut, then paused to look back up at Fendros. Ahnahsa had tears in her eyes and was squirming from the pain, but she was doing her best to stay strong and look as if she could handle it. She didn't know how many more cuts he could make before he would have to stop, and she hoped he was exaggerating the skill of his healers.

"I can keep going, or you can give me a bit of information. How about this, instead of my first question, why don't you tell me why you are so willing to help those vampires? Why are you okay with letting your friend suffer for them?" He asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The Argonian noble's expression remained serious, and notably unsympathetic. He looked to his healers and gave a slight nod towards the table with the torture implements. "Set her up on the table, and be cautious of her strength." He ordered.Stepping up in front of Fendros, he pressed his knife up against Fendros' throat to the point where it just barely broke his skin. "I am going to get the information I want, or I am going to have some fun with your friend here. Those are the only outcomes. You have until we are done setting her done setting up to decide which it will be."

The two healers moved tools on the table to the side and slid the table itself up next to Ahnasha. Once it was in position the noble drew his silver blade and pressed it up against Ahnasha's neck. "If you try anything, I will end you before you can take in a breath." He threatened. As quickly as they could, the healers removed the chains from their clamps on the ceiling and quickly moved to reattach them to clamps on the floor, all while forcing Ahnasha to lay on her back on the table. Though her ankles were still bound, this was somewhat of an opportunity for Ahnasha to act, but having her throat impaled by a dagger only a few minutes before gave her little doubt that the noble would finish her if she tried to resist. The blade he wielded was certainly silver, as she could feel the metal burning her flesh as it was pressed against it. So caught up in fear was she that she could bring herself to do nothing as the healers secured her chains to their anchors on the floor. Once again, she was bound, unable to move, and at the noble's mercy. She was dreading whatever he intended to do her, but she was still resolved to protect Rhazii. In her mind, his safety was worth her suffering. For the moment, she just hoped Fendros felt the same way. The healers took their positions once more as the noble sheathed his sword and grabbed his knife. He stood on the side of the table opposite Fendros so that he could see his every reaction to Ahnasha's impending torture.

"Now that we are ready, you have one final chance to answer my question. Do you know the layout of the cult's lair?" He demanded, hovering his knife over Ahnasha's flesh.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"My thoughts exactly. I don't care if those vampires, Neesa and her husband, can kill all of these mercenaries themselves, if they get into the xanmeer, then they might..." Ahnasha began, but she cut herself off when the door to their room suddenly unlocked. It appeared they would not have the luxury of time when it came to their interrogation. The first person they saw enter the room was a familiar one, the Argonian who seemed to be leading these mercenaries. He was wearing a now clean set of fine clothing, which was evidence of his wealth. Behind him was the Breton from before, now in clothing more becoming of a mage, and a similarly dressed Argonian woman. Likely, they were healers, if the noble's intentions were as Ahnasha feared. The healers began lighting the torches in the sconces along the walls to illuminate the room while the noble walked over and grabbed a knife from the table.

"Now, I could start off with introductions, but you know why you are here and what this place is. You know I want information from you, and you know what I will do to obtain it. I think that much is obvious from the...setting." The noble began. "So, I will start by saying that there is a version of this conversation that allows you to live. That is the version where you helpfully tell me everything I want to know. I do not know why a pair of lycanthropes would be working with those vampiric vermin, but that is not what I am interested in at the moment. To give a bit of background, we know where their lair is under that xanmeer, and we know the full effects of that fog covering the area. We know we cannot approach stealthily from above, so we have devised a way around that issue. As luck would have it, there are rootworm tunnels that pass awfully close to that xanmeer, and we have the equipment to dig straight in from below. We'll get into things like their numbers and kinds of defenses later, what I want to know right now is layout. I want to know where everything is in this place. I want to know where the cultists go, where they sleep, and where their leaders are."

Once the torches were lit, the noble moved to stand directly in front of Ahnasha, while the healers walked up behind her and each placed a hand on her shoulder."Now, first question, do you know where the things I just described are in their lair? Oh, and before you answer, I have an interesting piece of information for you. Did you know that the body has a subtle, but detectable reaction whenever you tell a lie? Because my healers do, and they know exactly what to look for, so I would avoid doing that. Now, answer."

Ahnasha's initial plan had been to lie about everything, but what the noble was saying was not unbelievable. In fact, she thought she recalled hearing of the same thing before from Meesei, though it had been a while. Regardless, she was silent for a good few seconds trying to come up with a response, but finding nothing. It did not help that both she and Fendros were rather familiar with the layout of the cult's lair, as they had made a point to learn it just in case they needed to escape. As a result, she looked up at him...then spit on him.

"I see." The noble commented. At first, it seemed like he was going to turn to question Fendros, but then he suddenly and violently impaled the knife in his hands through Ahnasha's throat. She was unable to scream as she began to choke on the blood gushing out of her neck. It was a wound that would be quickly lethal, and one that surprised even the healers, who were quick to act as soon as he removed the blade from her throat. They both focused entirely on closing the wound to prevent any more blood loss, then mended together the arteries and veins to ensure bloodflow to her brain. Their healing was effective, but the one thing they were sure not to do was to numb her pain, so she could still feel every horrifying sensation. The noble, however, did not stop his attacks.

"Tell me...what...I want...to know!" He shouted. Between each breath he delivered the strongest punch he could manage, alternating between her face and stomach. Her fur hid the bruises, but he broke her nose entirely, causing blood to pour down her face and mix with what was already on her neck. He would have continued had the Breton not interrupted.

"Sir!." The Breton shouted to grab his attention.

"What?" The noble questioned angrily, his fist already reared back for another strike to her head.

"Sir, she cannot respond. You severed her vocal cords and it is going to take more time for us to heal them." He explained.

"Hmph." The noble grunted as he lowered his fist and turned to face Fendros. Ahnasha was thankful for the respite, as, even if she could not speak nor scream, she was very visibly shaken. When her throat was cut, she saw her life flash before her eyes. Never had she been as close to death as she had just then. The beating afterwards was certainly painful, but it was not that which put the tears in her eyes. Having her death come so close was a mentally scarring experience.

"Well, I cannot have my prisoners unable to answer me, now can I?" The noble said to Fendros. "I'll admit, I have a tendency to become too...enthusiastic with my interrogations. But, I have an idea. You see, your emotions betray you; I know you care about this cat. So, instead of using this knife to carve up you, I'll carve up her instead. If you answer my questions, and answer them truthfully, I will stay my hand. Otherwise..." He said, his voice trailing off as he motioned for the Argonian woman to go to Fendros to monitor him for lies. "Now, do you know the layout of the cult's lair?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

When Ahnasha finally awoke and her eyes slowly opened, she was unsure how much time had passed, but the situation she found herself in was none too encouraging. She was hanging just a few inches off of the ground with chains binding both her hands and feet. Fendros was bound similarly not far in front of her so that they were directly facing one another. Both of them had been stripped down and placed into this dank stone dungeon, but she had a feeling that they would not be left alone forever. Looking around, the only other thing in the room besides themselves was a wooden table with bloody torture instruments resting on top of it.

Ahnasha's first thought was to find some escape, but looking closer at her chains was disheartening. Not only were they heavy and secured strongly into the ceiling and floor, but there was a secondary set of larger bindings hanging around her arms and legs. If she were to transform, she would likely break out of the bindings around her wrist and ankles, but the secondary set were large enough to keep her bound, even as a werewolf. Evidently, their captors had determined that they were lycans. Magic was her next thought, but again, they had already accounted for that possibility. As much as she tried, it seemed as if she could not access even the smallest amount of magicka, likely because her chains were enchanted to suppress it.

"Fendros, are you awake? This isn't good, I think they figured out what we are." She said, her tone hinting at the fear swelling up inside of her. Outside the iron door, she could hear footsteps and muffled voices; she just hoped that they weren't interested in an interrogation just yet.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lorag looked like he was about ready to start shouting at Vinaremo, but that did not prove necessary, as Meesei came running back down the hill shortly afterwards. She was fatigued from the sprint, but managed to get out the reason for her rush before having to stop and catch her breath. "Ahnasha and Fendros...they have been captured."

Lorag growled, drawing his hammer from his back. "Captured, what? Then what are we waiting for, let's go get 'em. Where are they?"

"I do not know for certain." Meesei answered. "I found footprints near their building that led out of town. I followed them to what appeared to be the tracks of three wagons. Unfortunately, their trail ends where it crosses a stream; I believe they have a way to cover their tracks. There is one thing, though; their scent is still in the air. It seems like they tried to cover it, but they did not anticipate lycans. I will not lie, depending on how far away it is, it could take all night, but I believe we can track them."

Vinaremo discarded his anger once Meesei explained that her friends had been captured. He did not care about their lives, of course, but in this event, he saw an opportunity to put an end to their enemy entirely. "Captured, you say? This is good. We have not been able to locate their hideout thusfar, but those wagons will lead us straight to them. We shall return to the xanmeer and inform our Masters of this development. The force in their lair will likely be even larger than the one we fought here, so we will need a few extra bodies, perhaps some more thralls."

Lorag placed his hammer back into its resting position, but he did not seem pleased with Vinaremo's suggestion. "Not a chance, we can't just wait around while they do Hircine knows what to them. We need to find them, now!"

Meesei lightly shook her head. "No, he's right, Lorag. I saw qutie a few sets of footprints, and there are undoubtedly more in their hideout. If we want to stand a chance of rescuing them, we will need more than just us. I will return to the xanmeer with them. The rest of you should follow the trail and see if you can locate their hideout. As I said, it may take time to track the scent to their destination, but it's the only chance we have. If you find it, we can all meet here to stage the attack." She said before shifting her gaze to Vinaremo. "Is that an acceptable plan?" She asked, though her tone did not make it seem like a request.

"It will suffice, just make sure you find them. Our masters will not appreciate us bringing a large force out here for nothing." Vinaremo warned. "Now come, let's hurry."

Meesei started to follow Vinaremo, but turned back for a brief moment as she walked away. "Don't worry, we will save them. I will not rest until we do."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Despite her fatigue from the battle, Meesei ran after the wagons' tracks. They looked fresh, so it was possible that she might catch up to the source. With how many footprints she saw, it was unlikely that she would be able to rescue them alone, but she at least would be able to track them to wherever they were taking them. Unfortunately, it wasn't far out of town where she saw the tracks cross a shallow river, then...nothing. It was as if they entered the river, then never crossed to the other side. Likely, they had some way of covering their track as they went along, perhaps a mage or something of that nature. It would have been hopeless, but Meesei still caught a trace of their scent in the air. It was obvious that they tried to mask it, but these mercenaries had not been expecting to fight lycans. Whatever they used to hide their scents was not strong enough to fool a lycan's nose. There was still hope, but it would take longer to track them down, and Meesei needed to return to the others for help. Once again, she started sprinting back towards the town, as she had already been gone longer than the others would have expected.

Kaleeth's answer was hardly decisive. She simply did not know how she would cope if they were required to stay in the cult's lair for an extended time, but she was vehemently against feeding on the corpses to satisfy her beast. The focus of their conversation shifted away from Kaleeth not because she seemed to improve, but because the group started to notice how long Meesei had been gone. In particular, Vinaremo seemed to be growing more annoyed. He didn't know who was in charge in Meesei's stead, so he just questioned them all in his frustrated tone. "What is taking your leader so long? Did she get lost walking up a hill? We will leave without her if this takes too much longer."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth did not look up at Janius when he approached and instead just started shaking her head. "No! I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want to. I can't stand the thought; I don't want to feed it. I can't be that monster again. I just...I just need to get out of here, away from all of this." She pleaded. Kaleeth looked up for only a moment before wrapping her arms around him and pressing her head to his chest. Perhaps if she could overwhelm herself with his scent, she could forget about the bodies? "Please, don't make me do it again."

Meesei found it worrying that she did not see Ahnasha or Fendros on the way up to their building; even more so when she saw the footprints outside. After rushing upstairs and finding the building empty, she sprinted back outside and followed the footprints out of the town. There were many sets of footprints, enough for seven to ten people, and once she reached the point where they had boarded their wagons, she saw even more. Walking over to the beginning of one of the wagon trails, she knelt down next to a print that appeared to be made by someone who was barefoot. She examined it more closely and saw that there were impressions of claws in the mud at the end of the toes. "Oh no." Meesei said audibly in realization of what had happened.