EliteCommander Member

As the others rushed for the exit, Shir determined that it was time for her to join them herself. Her volley of fire had been keeping some of the enemy suppressed, but they were still returning fire, albeit less accurately. Cautiously, Shir began to back up while still keeping up her suppressive fire and focusing on defending herself. Seeing as they were now down to only one opponent, the clones became more aggressive. Two of them were hit, one potentially fatally, when they stepped out into her line of fire, but they did not seem deterred. Their value for their own lives was considerably weaker than their desire to fulfill their orders. As Shir drew close enough to the escape tunnel, she dashed backwards quickly to make it inside. Fortunately, she was not hit during the maneuver, but with how narrow the corridor was, someone still had to keep up a defense until the door was closed. The clones, meanwhile, focused all of the fire they could on the entrance, now completely undeterred by Shir's suppressing fire. Shir dropped the rifle, pulled her shoto to her other hand, and placed all of her focus into defending against the incoming shots. If she was lucky, the passage would close before she was hit.

Ahnasha gave a slight chuckle. "Yeah, as it turns out, mental scarring and night terrors are things that lycans are...uniquely experienced with. With such a large pack, they are bound to have some sort of mages or scholars among them. It would be helpful for dealing with the issues of the freshly turned. But even if they don't, we will find something, somewhere, to help us. Even if we have to travel to every corner of Tamriel, we _will_ find something." She said before interrupting his response with a kiss. Given the amount of resources the Empire put into the appearance of their city, the Arboretum was well-designed to be peaceful and relaxing. The way the plants looked against the elegant white stone of the buildings and other structures certainly carried its own kind of beauty. Given how truly impressive the natural world could be, it was not something that any city could perfectly emulate, but the Arboretum had its own, unique charm. While Meesei simply looked around to admire some of the unfamiliar flowers, Lorag gave a grin and a chuckle at Janius' comment. Given what he knew about the kind of person Janius used to be, and the stereotypically romantic feel of the Arboretum, he made his own assumptions about the kinds of memories Janius was talking about. "Yeah, I'm sure your lizard lover would love to hear _all_ about those." Kaleeth simply looked at Janius with an expectant curiosity, waiting for him to elaborate.

Rareth shrugged her shoulders, though she quickly realized that it would probably be best to sit still. "Hmm, sure, why not? We've known each other for a little over a year. I was a part of a mission that could be seen as a sort of precursor to this joint operations group, actually. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how specific I can get with the details yet. With how new this organization we are a part of is, I'm not sure what is and isn't classified to everyone else. I'll tell you all about it later, if I can. What I can say, though, is that mission is where I met Telmeck." She said, pausing for a moment to go over in her mind what details were and were not public records. "At the time, he was Rothian military, one of the scouts on location. During the mission, he proved himself a cut above the rest of his team, so much so that I recommended him to elevation into the Rahn'Masser. As you can see, my recommendation was approved, and he is now an agent like myself." Once she had answered Shiva's question, Rareth decided to ask one of her own. "Say, how much do you know about the Rahn'Masser?"

Ahnasha laid down beside Fendros, holding Rhazii between them. Even if it was a serious matter, she wanted to avoid turning the conversation to the same kind of depressed, and even painful tone that they always ended up with whenever they talked about it. She wanted to keep at least some kind of good spirit in her response. "You think it's embarrassing for you? Try being me in all of this. It's hard to maintain the image of a strong and independent hunter when you're cowering in fear at your own thoughts." After a few moments, Ahnasha let out a sigh and turned her head to face him. She placed a hand on his cheek, turned his head toward her, then pressed her forehead against his. "Look, once we get to the pack in Bruma...maybe we will find someone there who can. It had plenty of members from all over, and we might just get lucky. Until then, we'll just take the remedy when we can, and comfort each other for the rest of the time." "Well...I guess that makes sense." Kaleeth answered, somewhat unconvinced. "I mean, fighting is a serious and dangerous thing. I don't see how someone could watch it for entertainment, but...I guess they are different from me." She concluded. As the others were starting to walk off, she looked up at the arena one more time. "For all those people, they must have a really big pot for all that gold." She remarked before following. As they approached the statues, only Lorag and Janius actually recognized who they depicted, though Lorag was not exactly interested in a history lesson. Kaleeth of course did not recognize them, but that was to be expected. Meesei knew of the people the statues represented, but she could not actually identify them just by sight. Given her interest in history, Meesei was actually spoke up before Kaleeth could. "Who are they? I have read some Cyrodilic history, but I would not know what most of its important figures look like. Mostly, I can only recognize its Emperors, like Tiber Septim."

While Shuo went off to the bridge, Rareth started off in the direction of the infirmary with Shiva and whoever else wanted to follow. As was standard, a medical team was ready to meet them in the hanger, so the medics did spot her wound fairly quickly. Of course, they did insist on taking her to the infirmary and treating her themselves, but she was just as insistent on walking there under her own power and allowing Shiva to be the one to heal her. She explained it was because Shiva had already been treating her injury and was already familiar enough with it to heal it quickly, which was partially true, but mostly, Rareth found that she actually preferred magical healing to more traditional methods. Rareth was still definitely sore, and she could feel a partially broken rib biting into her, but it was not too difficult to hide the pain. Once in the infirmary, the medical staff guided her to an empty cot, then reluctantly allowed Shiva to take over. Rareth's armor could be removed in sections, but due to the blood, the infirmary staff was insistent on taking and sanitizing it, so she just went ahead and removed the entire suit. The now-visible wound was closed, but obviously very bruised, which indicated there might still be some bleeding underneath. "Alright, I'll let you get to work." Rareth said as she laid down on her back, still breathing slowly and carefully.

Ssarak Dyreackthanose --- Most of the guards were still angry, which was perfectly understandable, but the robed man seemed much more calm. Unfortunately the amount he demanded in reparation was far above reasonable. It was possible that it was simply a high first offer which could be haggled, but in any case, it was far too much for them to pay. It did, however, open up an avenue of conversation that could get them through witout further violence, as the promise of gold could, even a smaller mount, could significantly lower the weary guards' willingness to fight. Lyn had also revealed herself, which was concerning, but as long as they were still negotiating, Meirin would have time to get her back into the wagon. "I understand your anger, as I would share it in your position, but you know that a bloody nose and bruised neck is not worth three years pay. The idea of reparations, however, is not unreasonable. OUr friend was out of line. It was her judgment, her mistake, and it should be her consequences. I can offer all of her gold for the transgression. It is not three years pay, but it is a price we are actually capable of paying. This is gold on top of the normal toll, for your own use. It goes to yourselves, not your superiors, and most of all, it comes at no risk to you. You need not fight well-trained guards to obtain it;, you can just have it at no risk to your own lives. Just free gold, with no more hassle. Alaira, give me what you have so I may count it." Ssarak said. He had a few ideas in mind for his counteroffer. For one, it offered something of a sense of justice, as it punished specifically the one who harmed them. For some, seeing somone who had hurt them suffer could make up for a lesser monetary reward. As well, it was an offer that took advantage of some of their fears. Even just by appearances alone, most of the caravan guard looked to be in better shape than the bridge's guards. Fighting the caravan guard would be a significant risk to their lives, and what Ssarak was offering allowed them to recieve extra payment with none of that danger. Ssarak made sure to look across each of the guards as he made his offer so that they knew he was talking to them all, as even if his words did not convince every single one of them, he could possibly divide their opinions.

Ahnasha was not entirely sure how to approach Fendros' question. She knew that she couldn't handle talking about their experience in-depth, but it wasn't as if she could avoid it entirely. Obviously, it was the memory of seeing her in a mutilated state that upset him, but why the pig organs brought it back up in his mind was not something she could answer for sure. She had a guess, but really no way of knowing if she was right. "If you're wondering why it bothered you and not me...I can't say I know for sure. Maybe it's because I've been hunting for a lot longer than you. I've been skinning animals since I could hold a bow, so it's just something that is natural to me. It's routine, like maintaining hygiene. You picked up the skill a lot more recently. I have more trouble if something reminds me of, well, _me_ being in that state. Maybe there is a way to...work through it or something? You've skinned and cut up animals since our...ordeal, so maybe if you keep doing it enough, you won't have this problem again?" Ahnasha reasoned. After they reached their room, she closed the door behind them and took a seat on the bed. "I just wonder what is going to happen the next time we cut up a person." The reaction to seeing the arena was mixed among the pack. While the structure itsel was impressive, Meesei had little interest in it. She was aware of the different kinds of bloodsport that was reputed to take place inside, and while she did not have a particular problem with it, she was not greatly interested. Lorag seemed to look at its walls with more interest, but without gold to bet, there really was no point in watching a fight. Kaleeth, however, looked confused at the cheering coming from inside. In her village, fighting was not something done for entertainment, but rather training, so cheering for one seemed peculiar. "Why are they cheering like that? It's almost like they're happy."

Ahnasha did not move away from Fendros, as she was not intent on going with the others. Instead, she grabbed his hand in hers and looked at him with some concern. "I'll come with you. I wouldn't mind relaxing, and it's not as if the city is too exciting without coin to spend. I'm sure the others will be able to get the last ingredient with the coins I saved on the last one." She said. It was hard to say if Fendros wanted to be alone or not, but she hoped he would not mind her joining him. If he insisted, she could go with the others to help bargain, but she felt like she wanted to spend some time alone with him, something that had been nearly impossible aboard the ship. Meesei gave an understanding nod to Fendros. She looked forward to the day that they would be able to dedicate the time they needed to finding a way to help both him and Ahnasha, but until then, these temporary measures like the potion would have to suffice. However, she did not know how easy it would be to get the other ingredient with the coins they had, as she had little knowledge on the specifics of mercantile. As such, she turned to Sabine questioningly once Ahnasha indicated that she wanted to join Fendros. "How rare is the other ingredient we will need? Do you think it will be more expensive than the mushroom?"

Cqb, did you still want to post before I do?

Kaleeth was at least familiar with the concept of crime. As much as her village worked together, the people within were not perfect. They had their own forms of laws, and when someone broke one of those laws, they did face punishment. They did not have prisons like Janius described, but she understood the concept. With all of the people in the city, even if only a few of them were criminals, she could imagine that even the prison would be crowded. Although she was curious, the other parts of the city seemed far more appealing. "So this garden, the... Arboretum, it is a place made just to be beautiful? That sounds wonderful. With how big and impressive this city is, I can only imagine that their garden would be just as amazing. We should make sure to go there. And that University sounds like a place Meesei should go, with how much she loves magic. The arena...well, I don't think I want to go there. You said it is there just for people to fight in it? Why would anyone want to do that? It sounds awful." Kaleeth said as they were walking along after Janius gave Fendros directions to another apothecary. However, it was not long before something seemed to go wrong with Fendros, causing the group to duck out of the crowd into a nearby alleyway. Ahnasha did not have to guess at what was wrong. The things that gave her issues were different from what bothered him, but the effects were the same. She had been killing and skinning creatures for far longer than Fendros, so their experiences did not cause that to trigger her memories. However, they had not killed and eaten a person since their ordeal, and she was not quite certain how she would handle that. However, for the moment, she just wanted to help keep him calm. She said nothing, but instead shifted Rhazii to carry him on her hip, then wrapped her other arm around him once they were out of sight of most of the crowd. She remained silent as she stared into his eyes sympathetically, doing her best to remain calm in the hopes that he adopted her mood.