EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The group walked the short distance from the camp to the beach, climbing down the small outcropping of rocks onto the sand. The beach itself was rockier than many, but there was enough sandy areas that they could use it like any other beach. As well, the larger, smoother rocks allowed them places to leave their belongings where they would not be covered with sand when they went to retrieve them.

As Kaleeth removed her armor, it revealed the full and impressive extent of her tattoos, which Ariel had not yet seen, but for Ahnasha, doing the same revealed that prominent scar down the center of her body. In a passing glance, the scar looked like it might have been made by a deep and serious cut from a blade or other weapon, but upon closer inspection, one could make out the much more faded remnants of the two additional, horizontal cuts below her collarbone and above her waist. The positioning of each of the injuries was too precise for it to be believable that they occurred in combat; instead, they hinted at a much more deliberate placement of the blade.

While most of the others waded out into the deeper sections of the water, Ahnasha sat down in the shallow area by the beach and carefully set down Rhazii next to her. She picked a spot where the water came up to just above his hips when sitting, and made sure to keep her hand on him to keep him from falling over. He had been in water before, but only when they needed to carry him across one of the many rivers the pack had to cross on the way to Thorn. This was the first time Rhazii had a chance to actually play in the water, but of course, the first thing Ahnasha had to do was to keep him from eating a handful of sand once she placed him down.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei shook her head in response to Janius' question. "No, nothing harmful or permanent, anyway. We can breathe salt water, though it does feel...strange. I do not think I could explain the sensation adequately, especially considering that you cannot actually breath water in the first place. Still, I have swam in the ocean before, so I can confirm that it is safe." Meesei explained. Honestly, she found it curious that Argonians could survive in both salt and fresh water, as that was not the case for most aquatic creatures. A gift of the Hist, she supposed, considering that they were the ones who made them with the features and abilities they had.

"Well, if it is safe, then does anyone want to swim with me? The only reason we have swam in the last few weeks was to cross rivers and such; we haven't really been able to relax." Kaleeth suggested

Ahnasha shrugged her shoulders. "Why not?" She responded, glancing over to Fendros. "Rhazii might like to sit in the water in the shallows, as long as one of us is there with him."

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Hey Lucius, we should probably get to doing a collab soon for the caravan master bit. If you are doing other things first, don't worry about rushing though. I had to get up at 4 in the morning today to go to the hospital (not for me, I'm invincible, obviously), so I'm pretty tired at the moment.

Also, I approve of the dragons.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ariel's explanation of her finances reminded her of her parents' own financial woes early in her life. They had purchased their shop in a similar manner, though that was years before she was born. By the time she was old enough to retain memories, they were nearing the end of their payments, but she still remembered how stressful it could be for them. Slow months in their business could easily cause arguments between them and general high tensions in the home, though there were also cycles of increased business that made up for those months. Still, Ariel's plan of diversifying her products seemed to be a good one. With how much time she had left on her loan, anything to bring in new customers would be a step in the right direction. "Perhaps the next annual festival will improve your profits, especially if you can win any competitions with your potions." Ahnasha recommended.

"And if it is any consolidation, Black Marsh cities tend to be built where they are to avoid flooding. That isn't to say it cannot happen, but I do not believe it will be as severe as you fear." Meesei added before Ariel noticed Kaleeth.

She was distracted by the waves at first, but when Kaleeth heard her name, she quickly turned her head to Ariel. "Oh, no, I haven't. The Treeminder described it to me when I was a hatchling though. He said it was like an endless lake, and I agree. I also agree that it is very salty; I tried to taste it just to see before you got here. It was...awful. I think it is still wonderful, though. I know there is a lot of water in Black Marsh, but here...there is just so much more. I would bet that all the water in all the lakes and rivers in Tamriel would not be more than this ocean. I wonder, is it safe to swim in it?" She asked.

The Depths of Deception

Rareth tossed her own fusion grenade along with the grenades from the others. With each one, she used her telekinetic abilities to divert them precisely in the direction of their enemies, being careful to keep them away from Shuo, who was closest to the enemy. Since they had suddenly changed course in flight, most of the rebels could not react quickly enough to avoid the blasts, namely the group of six which were largely eviscerated by Shiva's grenade.

Although there were yet more rebels left on the opposite half of the passageway, their path to their destination was clear. All they needed to do was to make a run for the door. Rareth rushed forward quickly, taking up a cover position near one of the containers ahead of them which would protect her from the remaining hostiles, who were now in a position to flank.from behind them. "Run for it, get tot he door! Shuo, help me cover." She shouted. If Shuo could keep any pursuing hostiles suppressed on the left side of the passageway, then Rareth could hold them on the right, since they would need to close in on her in order to get an angle on her allies.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As Ariel described it, the jewel seemed like quite an interesting relic, especially since it now seemed to have some power to it. She would have liked to examine it further, but iit was doubtful that Juseich would permit such a thing at this point. "The Psijics, theirs is an order I cannot say I know a great deal about. Although, I doubt there are any on Tamriel who know a great deal about their order. The power they are reputed to command is immense. Most likely, it is good that they do not take sides in Tamriel's politics or warfare." Meesei speculated.

Ahnasha too wanted to get away from the prior topic, though she attempted to do so by bringing up something else. "Speaking of that loan, how long do you believe it will take for you to pay it off in full? I'm not sure of what level of profitability you have in your store, but you said you have at least a few regulars, right?"

Lorag, as per usual, had been rather quiet compared to the others, but while he wasn't quite as emotional about this reunion with Ariel as the others, he did not want to go through the whole night without so much as speaking to her, so he decided to start getting involved in the conversation. "Yeah, wouldn't want you getting kicked out of the city after all the trouble it took to get you here."

As the conversation had shifted away from Sabine's earlier question, Kaleeth's gaze shifted back over the endless expanse of water only a few feet from where she was sitting. While her expression did not show the awe she experienced upon first seeing it, the ocean still filled her with a sense of wonder.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Given her weakness for history, Meesei was almost eager to talk about the xanmeer itself, especially since it diverted away from the more unpleasant aspects of their experiences. "Yes, xanmeers are temples built by the first Argonian civilization. Most seem to be temples to the Hist, as one would expect, though much history from that time has been lost, so any other purpose they had is unknown. They are actually not all that uncommon in Black Marsh. I recall from my childhood that our village tended to pass by a few of the ruins, and while Thorn does not have one, I believe a few Black Marsh cities, like Lilmoth, contain the ruins of one. However, I had never seen one in as good of condition as this one. The outside looked just as ruined as any other, but it was the catacombs underneath the outer structure that contained the most interesting features. One of the reasons that I say their leaders must be eras old is because the catacombs were exceptionally well-maintained. It seemed like they had been lived in almost since they were originally created. The carvings were clean, and in perfect condition. Had we not been otherwise occupied, i would have loved to study them. Interestingly, most of their furniture and decorations seemed to have been influenced by Black Marsh, Morrowind, and Cyrodilic cultures, and not always from this era. Still, they did not damage the stonework, merely cover it. It could be that their leaders have a respect for history as well, though I am simply speculating on that. In any case, walking through some of the less decorated sections of those catacombs made me feel as if I was stepping back in time. I feel one could learn quite a lot from that place."

As much as Meesei respected the works of scholars, she recognized that any kind of study of the cult's lair would remain in her imagination. If either Neesa or Llarvan had an interest in history as Meesei suspected, then they likely would have recorded every bit of information they could gather from their home, and were probably not intent on sharing it. In any case, the topic reminded her of another question she had occasionally found herself thinking about since they returned the Thorn. "Also, speaking of learning, I recall that last time we were here, one of the officials in charge of your loan showed us a strange magical item. Do you know if she ever learned any more about that?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei could tell Fendros and Ahnasha were becoming more uncomfortable upon the mention of the cult, but she had no intention of forcing either of them to talk about their experiences. She could give all of the explanations herself, if needed. Even if it wasn't necessarily a pleasant topic, she felt that Ariel would want to know about it.

"It was." Meesei said, nodding affirmatively. "Hircine wished for us to arrange...not so much of an alliance, but a mutual agreement not to attack one another. In that, we were actually successful. When we first received the task, I had a hard time believing we would be able to deal with them peacefully, but they did not directly harm us in any way. They lived up to every agreement they made. Certainly, they were not a...pleasant group, but their leaders were pragmatic. There were two of them, an Argonian woman and her husband, a Dunmer, both of which were vampire lords. Many of their underlings were also vampires, though not all of them. They were all mages, however, mostly necromancers. I would not say they were kind to us, but they were civil, and as I said, they caused us no harm. It was the task they set us on which caused us issued. I do not wish to bring up bad memories in much detail, but we ended up fighting against a mercenary organization serving as vampire hunters. Some of us were harmed in the process, but I do not think it would be best to talk about that. If you have any question about the cult itself, however, I could answer them. Even if they are not a pleasant group, from a scholarly perspective, they were actually quite interesting. I do not know for certain, but I believe their leaders were several eras old. There was quite a lot of history in the xanmeer they called home." Meesei commented. She decided not to focus on the more traumatic aspects of their task, and instead make it seem more like one of the interesting destinations along the pack's journey. Hopefully, it would make Ahnasha and Fendros more comfortable with the conversation.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei too found Janius' nervousness amusing, though she considered the situation a bit more seriously, as a child was a serious matter. It was not likely an issue that was going to go away, but during their dinner with Ariel was not the best time to discuss it. The topic moved to their travels, and Meesei was willing to discuss it in greater detail now that they were in a more private location. She thought back to their travels in the inner marshes for any events that might be interesting to Ariel, but there was not too much which was worthy of a story, honestly. Between Meesei and Kaleeth, they knew quite well how to navigate even the thickest parts of the swamps, so they could avoid danger unless absolutely necessary. Since she had never seen the inner marshes, however, Meesei reasoned that Ariel might be interested in hearing a basic description.

"Unfortunately, we spent most of our time trying to avoid anything too 'interesting,' since those things tend to be dangerous. I can tell you that the inner marshes' reputation is well, deserved, however. There are quite a lot of creatures, and a few plants, that would be more than happy to make a meal of you. Not to mention that the rivers flood regularly, something that made our journey a bit more...annoying. As for the most interesting sight we saw, I would say it was the swamp leviathan. We kept our distance, but it is hard to miss one of those. Fully grown adults are massive, perhaps even the largest creatures in Tamriel. Had we been able to kill the leviathan, we would probably be able to buy our own ship. Such prey was well out of even our reach, though. I feel no shame in saying we would not have a chance of slaying such a beast, not without a much larger hunting party. Beyond that, I would not say we encounter all that much more which was interesting, thankfully. Most of the stories we have come from the cult of Molag Bal we contacted." Meesei explained.

The Depths of Deception

Kyelin said
I can do one tonight, just been slack :S

Alright. I'm kind of busy at the moment anyway, so I can wait.