EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei calmly let go of the trama root, leaving it somewhat larger than it was before. She continued to inspect some of the other nearby plants, though she had no need to give any more demonstrations. "Before my turning, I was the Treeminder of my village. It is a title that can mean different things depending on the village you visit, but for mine, it was something close to what you might consider a shaman. My duties were not only to care for our Hist tree, as the title implies, but also to be the magical authority, and a leader for my clan. Since the day I hatched, my father gave me my instruction in the arcane. Our traditions involve magic that the rest of Tamriel seems to have forgotten, or never knew to begin with. It is magic that compels me to understand the forces that shape nature, from living to nonliving. Restorationists are only concerned with people, or animals, but plants, fungus, they are all just as alive as us. Their forms, their energies, are drastically different, but there are elements of magicka that connect everyone and everything. Of course, it would be...impractical for me to personally visit every plant here to stimulate its growth, but I know other methods of achieving the same end. It would take time to implement, however." Ahnasha shrugged her shoulders. "Personally, I think Lorag is becoming paranoid over his age far too early. I mean, he is not even yet in his late thirties, much less his forties. I think he is just worried that it will only be a few years before he starts to see limitations from his age, so he doesn't have too much longer to be in his prime. I think he is just as strong and fast as he has ever been, but I wouldn't be surprised if he has been tricking himself into thinking he has been getting weaker. The mind can do some strange things. If Harriet hasn't been worrying about it, it's probably because she knows she doesn't need to be. Maybe Lorag should go see Najirra? I would love to see how that would play out." She commented with a slight chuckle.

The Aesteria Chronicles

Ignis was only vaguely listening to Adonai, but neither was his attention greatly focused on rising tensions in the room, which were boiling over close to the breaking point. No, his attention was on something a bit more simple, and perhaps more selfish. He was watching the cook eagerly, hoping that the meal being prepared was one Helen would enjoy. If he were to tell that to someone else, it might sound perfectly selfless, empathetic, and even sweet, but his desires did eventually come back to him. Being a spirit, especially one as ethereal as himself, Ignis did not need to, and indeed could not, eat. It did not seem that food would matter in the slightest to him, but while he had no ability to consume the food, what he could do was feel, not directly, but vicariously through Helen. If she opened her mind to him to share her feelings and emotions, he could experience through her what he could never do on his own. It was not uncommon for him to take on almost a pitiful demeanor and personality to ask Helen to share her feelings, almost like a puppy begging for scraps of a meal. To most of his summoners, at least at first, that desire seemed like nothing but a quirk of his personality, or something akin to a hobby. However, the closer one became to him, the easier it was to see how much such a seemingly simple gesture meant to him. Ignis' attention was piqued upon the bell from the cook, but it seemed she had been paying more attention than himself to the argument that was brewing around them. She wanted him to head over to Alan and keep an eye on the situation. Normally, he would have no problem fulfilling the request, but now it was a bit disappointing. Based on her tone, she probably did not want him distracted, so he wouldn't get to enjoy her meal. Nevertheless, he did not want to upset her, so he had no choice but to comply. "Alan? Oh, yeah, I can, uh, I can do that. Sure." Ignis stammered out in Helen's mind. Taking his leave of Helen's body, Ignis floated across the tavern as an invisible cloud of heat. He could not be seen through normal means, so he was free to get in close to Alan's table. In particular, he found he liked to hang around Alan's spirit, Seru. Being a spirit of fire, she was quite pleasurably warm, and he was quick to absorb the excess heat into himself. It was not much, overall, but if he did need to break up a fight, he would take every little bit of energy he could get. He did not actually have too great of an idea of what was going on since he had not been paying attention, but since Helen told him not to hurt Alan or his friend, he assumed he was supposed to be on their side. In any case, he supposed that, even if he couldn't enjoy a meal, something exciting might happen.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei would have to get used to receiving these reactions, at least for a while. The longer they remained with the clan, the more accustomed to her presence they would become, she reasoned. Still, she maintained the same, calm demeanor as normal and continued with the conversation as Sabine pointed out the ingredients she needed. "So Darahil would be the person to speak to about this sort of request? I will keep that in mind. Jerrick is simply who I asked. I do not wish to take any more than your clan can reasonably afford to give, so I will make sure to bear in mind your leaders' recommendations on your stocks." Meesei commented. To divert attention away from the items Sabine was requesting, she started to pace around the room, looking in detail at the plants, Ayleid artifacts, and books surrounding her. It helped that her interest in their research was quite genuine. Scattered on the tables were enchanted ancient elven jewelry and weapons, rubbings of Ayleid carvings, several welkynd stones, and even an artifact Meesei believed was called a varla stone. Even if they were more common, the stones interested her in particular. Their functions seemed so simple, and yet none had yet been able to replicate their production. As tantalizing as the magical artifacts were, Meesei believed she could grab more attention by walking over to the ingredients growing in the planters scattered around the room. They each used a similar set up as the food crops the clan grew, but on a smaller scale. "Although...I wonder, when I find myself with more time, if I might be able to help improve your stores." She said as she approached a planter with a sample of trauma root growing within. The root was alive and growing, but as the Morrowind-native plant thrived in ashen soil which the clan could not perfectly simulate, it was not terribly healthy. Meesei placed her hand around one of the thorny roots, her hand glowing with a form of magicka that did not perfectly match the commonly accepted "schools." To a mage, it would feel like a derivation of restoration, which was not entirely false, but this was magic that seeped into the energies of nature itself. The root contorted and grew as she lifted it up to inspect it more closely. Again, what Ahnasha remembered abou the lieutenants was matching up with what they were hearing. There were still others to ask about, but those would probably be best saved for a different group to avoid suspicion. Regardless, she continued with her own comments. "If Oswall was an adult when he joined, and has been a lieutenant for that long, he must be getting up in age. He might be older than Lorag. Orcs have an...unsettling view of age. They tend to want to die before they grow old and feeble. Personally, I think Lorag will be a strong warrior for a long time yet. After all, lycans' bodies are hardy; we're not immortal, but we can stay healthier for longer. Still, I do worry about what Lorag will do when he gets to that point. I wouldn't guess Harriet is old enough yet to start worrying about age, right?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei and Sabine did not stay still for long, as she could detect others drawing closer. In such a crowded place, it was hard to find places to be alone, at least in the main areas or the passages between. There were likely some unused rooms away from the main chambers, but anywhere else, it was hard for a private conversation to remain private for long. Once downstairs, Meesei had to ask around to refresh herself on where exactly the alchemists would be. It was not long before they found their way to the proper chamber. Looking around, it was easy to tell this would be a place Meesei would like to spend time. Not only were there collections of ingredients and planters with strange and unique plants growing within, but also supplies for enchanting, shelves worth of books, and other kinds of research materials. Meesei had been told there were an entire group of scholars in the clan, but there were only two in the room at the moment, a Bosmer woman, and an Argonian man. Both seemed engrossed in their own studies, and based on what they were doing, the Bosmer seemed to be the alchemist. As they approached, Meesei paid attention to something notable. It could have been something from the concoction she was making, but the Bosmer's scent was not quite what she expected from a werewolf. She was definitely a lycan, but it was possible that her form was different from any Meesei had encountered before. "Excuse me, might I have a moment? We have come to restock our supplies of ingredients, and I would appreciate help finding the right ones. Jerrick has assured me that there should be enough to satisfy my pack's needs. We do not need much." Ahnasha laughed. "And I have no doubt he would accept. He's always looking to prove himself. I wonder which one won the fight? I imagine either one would create just the same stir from the crowd. If you're right about how Harriet views violence, I'm not sure I know which would be better for him." Taking note of the other conversation, Kaleeth decided to add her own input. "Lorag will fight anyone. I don't know if it is winning he likes, or just fighting itself. I think he would say fighting. He likes to say he is a "true Orc." Though...he doesn't seem to like fighting me, for some reason. Janius does most of my training."

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Meirin was quick to catch up to Lyn, so there was no risk of her escaping and becoming lost. Therefore, Ssarak turned his focus back to helping end the battle. The pale guard was already dead, or close to death, and the blood-soaked necromantic entity that was Lyn's toy gave a strong hint as to why. Darius had the other guard completely at his mercy, but from his shouting, he seemed suicidally defiant in the face of death, which was especially strange, considering the situation. Regardless, the largest threat was still the robed man. At first, he seemed to be fighting Alaira, but just as he was about to take off to flank him, he noticed something that stood out in the water, something that was the same color as the man's robe. It did not take long for Ssarak to make a guess as to what was happening, as he knew well the capabilities of psychomancers. The robed man had either created a doppelganger to distract them for his escape, or had chosen the especially bold strategy of making a doppelganger escape to trick them into chasing. Normally, Ssarak would have just let the man run away, but even if Alaira was fighting a doppelganger, it could still be a threat to her in particular. Psychomancers' magic could still be cast through doppelgangers, and he was not sure how much more Alaira could take. This entire fight was her fault, but as much as she deserved to be punished, Ssarak did not wish her to perish. Alaira might not be able to see the escaping psychomancer from her perspective, so he needed to chase down and, at the very least, distract the psychomancer. Unfortunately, Ssarak could not exactly swim in his armor, so he needed help. "Darius, in the water! The psychomancer is escaping. He is still a threat to Alaira." Ssarak said telepathically, knowing that the Human could end his fight at any moment. Provided Darius was capable of swimming, he could get to the robed man; Ssarak just needed to slow him down. Getting a running start, Ssarak took off and flew just over the water after the psychomancer. Since he did not know how much effort it would take to break the man's wards, Ssarak focused on bolstering his own wards while giving chase. He was quick to catch up, then swoop down right over the robed man, swinging his hammer beneath him. He did not intend to kill, but it might be necessary to protect Alaira. As well, he readied himself to quickly pull up, if needed.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

That's alright. I was spending most of my time on the Hardline Beta anyway.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei was a bit surprised to see that Sabine did not seem to want to leave, but unfortunately, the situation did not give her the luxury of allowing her to stay. As they were walking through the main chamber, Meesei gave her an apologetic look. "I am sorry I had to pull you away from them." She said sincerely, saying no more until they stepped out of the chamber and into a stairwell to a lower floor. Once it seemed they were alone, Meesei used a spell of detect life to make sure no one was in range to hear, then spoke quietly. "We are heading to the clan's alchemist to restock your supplies. I do not have time to explain in full, but I need you to make something to mask a person's scent, at least enough for myself and Ahnasha. It is also important that no one other than our pack knows you are making it, so make sure to get more than just what is required for that one concoction. I promise I will explain it all once we are back in our room. For now, just do your best not to seem suspicious." Lorag did not pay too close of attention to the crowd. As much as he liked impressing others, this was more for him than anyone else. He just trusted that the show was enough to satisfy them. Harriet's next challenge produced a chuckle from him. "Oh, lookin' forward to it. I think I can show you a few more moves." He said. His tone was good-natured, if arrogant. Once Harriet left, he gathered up his own belongings, trying no to stumble. His cuts were starting to close up and he could see a bit clearer than right after the hit, but the fact remained that he could not bounce back from a fight like that as quick as he used to. Still, he had his skill, and he had not yet lost that much strength. For the moment, however, he just started to head back up to the pack's room before anyone could stop and talk to him. "I...don't know what that means." Kaleeth said with a confused expression. She had no idea what it meant to train something for a house. Moving on, she turned Leaps towards herself and smiled as she stared at his black, beady eyes. She held him so that his legs could not actually touch anything but air so he could not easily escape. "We named him Leaps because he kept jumping on Fendros. He is very excitable. I don't think it will be that way forever, though. It will take a long time, but eventually, he will get bigger than...what is an animal you would know? A horse, like the ones that pulled our carriage. He will get even bigger than those, or maybe even bigger than the carriage itself. And they can shoot lightning from their mouths." Ahnasha was a bit surprised that Theresa could not tell that Rhazii was a boy. Although, now that she thought about it, she had found herself wondering the same thing from time to time when she saw a small Human or Argonian child in Leyawiin. Regardless, she had no problem in answering. "His name is Rhazii, and he is...oh, how long has it been even? Let's see, it was a few weeks to get to...then we stayed there for a few days...then a few weeks to Thorn, so over a month there. Another month at sea, then just over a week to get here, so just under three months, I think? It can be hard to keep track of time while traveling, especially in Black Marsh. There is a reason it is called Black Marsh; the swamp is very thick, and it always seems darker, especially in the deep swamps. It's easy to lose your sense of time."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei nodded. "Very well. Just keep in mind that it will take a few minutes for myself and Ahnasha to get to a secure place to apply Sabine's concoction. If all goes well, we can get to work on actually tracking down Vile's servants tomorrow." She said with a smile, and a hint of an optimistic tone. Once out of the larder, Meesei headed straight back to the main chamber. It was less crowded than before, but she had heard Harriet's challenge as they had left the chamber, so she figured that was where the crowd had gone. She spotted Ahnasha and most of the others conversing with another group, while Sabine was still with the group she had joined during Meesei's story. She would need to speak to Ahnasha and the others later, but for the moment, she approached Sabine. "Apologies." Meesei said, looking over the group of young lycans before focusing on Sabine. "I need to talk to you for a moment. Come with me." Lorag gave a slight laugh. "Yeah, I guess." He said before releasing her arms and slowly bringing himself up to his feet. He felt his joints pop as he stood, but even that couldn't bring him down from his current mood. "I still got it." He muttered almost inaudibly under his breath. He started stretching his muscles and doing what he could to show no reaction to the pain pulsing across his body from the numerous cuts he sustained. "You're a lot bigger than I thought you'd be. You the toughest one in this clan? I like the idea of an Orc havin' that title." "We've travelled...to here, from Black Marsh." Kaleeth responded, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly as she tried to find another way to phrase it. "I don't really know how you would even measure a distance that far. We went through Thorn, got on a ship and sailed...west, I think? We went to the Imperial City, the biggest place I've ever seen. Then we came straight up here. It took well over a month, but Meesei says that was fast for that distance. But the wamasu, I can tell you more about those." She said, her tone becoming a bit more confident as she held up Leaps in front of her. "This is a wamasu; a hatchling. We killed the mother and I was going to cook one of her eggs, but it hatched. We named him Leaps-On-Elves."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Hmm, so only one of the entrances would be quick to escape through; good to know." Meesei commented. When Jerrick asked how long her preparations would take, she went over in her mind what she needed to accomplish. First, she needed the required materials, which also meant going and explaining the situation to Sabine. Making the invisibility scroll would not be difficult once she had the soul gem and a scroll, and Sabine would not take too long on a relatively simple alchemical concoction. After that, she would need to explain the plan to the others, then wait for nightfall with Ahnasha. "My preparations should not take too long. I will go find Sabine as soon as we are done here and we will collect the ingredients. I cannot imagine it taking her more than half an hour to finish with the concoction. As for myself, it will take me about the same amount of time to create the scroll, once I have the soul gem. Perhaps you could have someone bring me one? Just say that I requested them for...an enchantment, to help track our enemies. Also have them bring me a ring or amulet as well. I will not need it, but it will help ward off suspicion. Beyond that, you just need to write your letters, and make sure there is a welkynd stone in the meeting room for tonight. I cannot recall if there was already one in there or not. I will just need to know exactly what time you will head to the meeting room. Myself and Ahnasha will sneak in with our scents masked at that time. I do not want there to be any time where you are alone without us." Meesei answered. As soon as Harriet started shifting back to her normal form, Lorag followed suit. He felt invigorated from the fight, as well as a little dizzy from the blow to the head. Both of them were bloody and bruised, but for lycans, it was nothing that wouldn't heal. He still had her pinned once back in his Orc form, so he looked down at her with a satisfied grin. "Ah, that's more like it. Training in my pack never gets this...bloody." He commented, though he was too distracted to notice anything about her expression. Ahnasha paid particularly close attention to how long the Dunmer said Harriet had her position, but from what she remembered, it seemed to match up perfectly. Indeed, everything they were saying about Harriet matched with everything they had seen or observed about her. She could not think of a way to ask any more questions about her that would seem natural before Theresa directed a question at Kaleeth. "Oh, well...it is a long story, really." Kaleeth answered, trying to hold back her nervousness. "We met in Black Marsh, in my village. Meesei and all the others came there to speak with the Hist for Sabine. I had never seen anyone that wasn't an Argonian before, and I started to talk to Janius. He was quite nice to me. He helped me kill a wamasu...then we became mates. Then, I went to see if I could...commune with Hircine to help me decide what to do. Then...I don't know what happened. When I woke up, I was a werecrocodile." She explained, through her abbreviated explanation likely left many more questions than answers.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

From what Meesei could recall, the Meeting room would be an adequate location to stage an ambush. Anywhere they could hide which would not arouse suspicion for Jerrick to spend some time in would work, but as he said, they needed to make sure they remained completely undetected. "I believe I can obtain something for that. There are alchemical solutions to mask a scent, but it could cause suspicion if I were to ask for that directly from your alchemists. However, Sabine is a skilled alchemist, she just needs the ingredients. I can go with her to your alchemists and request to restock her supplies. For the Champion, I am sure they would be willing to part with supplies, but if not, I will say I asked you for the supplies. We have arrived here after a long journey, so that would not be a suspicious request. As for the ambush itself, I believe myself and Ahnasha will hide in the meeting room with you. If there is not sufficient space for two of us to hide normally, one of us can use a welkynd stone to maintain an invisibility spell for an extended duration. How many entrances are there to the meeting room, I cannot quite recall?" The struggle which Lorag and Harriet had locked themselves into was starting to head into his favor. He knocked her straight on her back, but she had one heavy swing ready for him. Lorag saw it coming, and he could have evaded, but that would mean giving up his position. Instead, he angled his head down to keep his eyes out of the way, and took the hit. The claws raked across the top of his head, forming cuts as they went, and the force of the strike nearly knocked him off-balance, but he stayed in control, and more importantly, he was able to get on top of her to pin her. He attempted to put as much weight as he could on her arms, then get his jaws around her throat. If it worked, he could force a submission. "Well...yes and no." Ahnasha responded, trying to think of how best to describe Lorag. "He's prideful, obviously. He hasn't said anything, but I think it really gets to him that Kaleeth here is physically stronger than him, especially since it certainly doesn't look like she should be. If one of us were to beat him in a fight, he probably wouldn't stop training until he beat us twice as badly. But, he's also incredibly loyal to Meesei. He knows she can best him, and he seems to accept it. It probably helps that our pack is much smaller than this clan. Meesei listens to us, but ultimately, she has the final say on all our decisions. She is a wise woman, and we all trust her. We don't really have the...politics of this clan. If Harriet and Oswall get along that poorly...I imagine that might get trying at times. I think I recall Oswall saying he had been in his position for a long time. How long has Harriet been a lieutenant, and how long did it take to get like this?"