EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I would like to know both, but we can begin taking action once we know if there is a poison." Meesei commented to Sabine before looking to Fendros. "For now, just arm yourself and be ready. If we find the traitor, I am hoping to detain them. If the water is free of poison, we will all go to confront Vera. If not...well, this will be more complicated. We will need to determine where Jerrick got his water, and who might have been able to poison it. Vera would still be a suspect, but at that point, she could be innocent. We only know that it is one of the lieutenants. Kaleeth, if there is a poison, I want you to stay here with Sabine. The rest of us will go find Lorag, then confront the lieutenants. As much as I would like to identify the traitor before they know about it, that may not be possible if he was poisoned through the water." Just as Sabine indicated, it was under half an hour later that Sabine finished her tests. Meesei was watching anxiously, waiting for the results. "Was your test successful?" She asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It was a slow task for Ahnasha to search through Vera's belongings, as she had to keep her movements very gradual. Unfortunately, there was not much that obviously stood out. Much of what carried a fresh scent was either clothing, or paperwork. In fact, the only thing she saw that could be a poison was a bottle of perfume. If that was not it, and she was the poisoner, then she must have already rid herself of the evidence. In any event, she decided it would be best to get her hands on that perfume, a task made complicated by her need to remain silent. She moved herself low to the ground, to the point that she was essentially laying down, and brought herself as far out of Vera's line of sight as possible. Slowly, she moved her hand over the bottle, then grasped it, which momentarily disturbed her invisibility. Part of her became visible only for a brief moment before she stabilized the spell, but with Vera being asleep and no noise being produced, the likelihood of detection was still minimal. With the perfume in hand, Ahnasha slowly started backing away to the edge of the room near the exit. From there, she would keep watch over Vera for as long as the welkynd stone would sustain her. "Ahnasha is following Vera, who I suspect to be the poisoner. However, until this water is tested, I cannot be sure. Now has anyone seen Lorag? I would like for us all to be together in this." Meesei asked, watching Sabine anxiously while at the same time trying not to pressure her. Kaleeth had woken when Meesei had first started speaking. Sabine had informed them of Meesei's plan, so she understood what was going on, but she had not expected that Meesei and Ahnasha would fail. She started to prepare immediately, which to her meant grabbing her weapons. This time, she knew exactly where her mace was. "I...don't know where Lorag is. I don't think he was here when we all got back, was he?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha crept into Vera's room at a pace slow enough that she was scarcely moving. Her scent was still masked, and her movements were cautious enough to be inaudible. She was not going to find any evidence by remaining stationary, however, so she had to look around the room. The welkynd stone was making it easier to maintain her invisibility, so she had some time to look around. She wanted to find what items had the freshest scent of Vera's to see what she had touched most recently. With her scent being everywhere, however, she had to get close to each item in order to check. Meesei lowered her head solemnly. "Jerrick is dead. He was poisoned by the traitor." She said in a more quiet tone as she pulled the waterskin from her bag. "This is the only thing he has consumed all day. Sabine, I need you to test it for poison. Make sure not to use it all in your test, just in case. If it is clean, then I know who the poisoner was. Everyone else, just...be ready. I want to identify and confront the traitor before Jerrick's body is found." Meesei handed off the waterskin to Sabine, then looked around the room once more. "Where is Lorag?" She asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei did not say anything through Jerrick's final words, instead allowing him the chance to say everything he could. Only once he finally passed did she release him and halt her magic. She lowered her head solemnly, letting out a depressed sigh. She had failed to protect him. Had she known he had been poisoned, Sabine might have been able to work up a cure in the hours they had. Even Argonian blood could be made into a cure, if properly refined to not be rejected by the body. Unfortunately, Meesei had no way of knowing. All she could do now was to work to keep the clan together. Despite what Jerrick said, Vera was still a suspect. Just because he did not detect a poison did not mean one was not present. Some could be completely tasteless and invisible. It was possible Jerrick simply did not want to believe his own wife would betray him. Regardless, she grabbed the waterskin and made sure it was secure in her bag. Since she had not seen such a poison before, she decided to bring it to Sabine to have it tested in a more controlled manner. If the water within was the only thing Jerrick had consumed that day, then it could help determine Vera's guilt. If it was clean, then she was almost certainly the poisoner. If not, they would need to determine who could have poisoned the water. In any case, she needed to act quickly to make the most of the time they had. "Ahnasha, go track down Vera, just to be safe. Do not confront her, just follow, and remain hidden. Watch everything she does and look for evidence to prove or absolve her of guilt. I will have this water tested for poison. Take the welkynd stone. It still has some energy, if you need to remain invisible for long. Now hurry." Meesei ordered, to which Ahnasha quickly complied. Before leaving the room, Meesei gave one last look to Jerrick's body. She would ensure he received a proper funeral. Since it was nighttime, the halls of the city were far less crowded and it was simpler for Ahnasha to follow Vera's relatively fresh scent. She maintained invisibility by splitting the cost between her own magicka, and what remained in the welkynd stone. Her feet were near completely silent on the stone floor, and her entire form was scarcely a shimmer in the air. As she drew closer to Vera, she kept all of her senses attuned to anything that might be important. Meesei headed back to their room, where most of the pack had retired for the night. She did notice that Lorag was not present, but she could deal with that later. For the moment, she shook Sabine awake, though the volume of her voice indicated that she intended to wake everyone. "Wake up; I need you, all of you."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei had sampled each of the items Vera brought, and as minutes passed, her body gave absolutely no reaction, nothing that would indicate a poison was present. Vera had not attacked while she was present, and she had not poisoned the food, so Meesei though that she might be innocent...for a time. After a few hours, Jerrick suddenly and rapidly deteriorated in condition. Meesei was certain that no one else had entered the room, so she could not begin to imagine what was happening. However, she did not hesitate in her response. The moment she saw what was happening, Meesei leaped down, using telekinesis to soften her fall. Placing a hand on Jerrick, she began inundating him with restoration energy aimed at inhibiting the poison. Slowly, she guided him down to a stable position on his back to prevent him from suddenly collapsing. At the same time, she reached into her bag and pulled out the welkynd stone. She placed a hand on the stone and started to drain its considerable reserve of magical energy into herself. From this, Meesei was able to produce a healing spell more impressive than any she had cast in her life. Both of them started to glow with a light, amber aura, while tendrils of restoration energy filled the air around them. Even so, Meesei did not know if she could save him. Whatever was killing him had progressed to what was presumably its lethal stage, and she did not know how to counteract it. Whether or not she could save him entirely, she might at least be able to keep him alive a bit longer. "I...don't understand. None of the food was poisoned, and you didn't eat it anyway. Tell me, if you can, has anything else happened to you today? Vera barely touched you, just a..." Meesei's words slowed and her eyes widened with a potential realization. "...kiss. Jerrick, did Vera have anything on her lips?" By this point, Ahnasha had jumped down as well, and was currently frozen in place, wondering what she could do. She had no healing talents, so for the moment, she just waited for direction from Meesei. "Huh, no." Lorag said, quickly dismissing the idea that he was mated with Meesei. He was now awake enough and collected enough to understand what was going on. "Just...look. I'm not lookin' for some...relationship or something like the rest of my pack. If you're wantin' some kind of mate to 'settle down' with, you can forget it." Lorag said sternly, before suddenly shifting his entire attitude and putting on a grin. He reached out, grabbed a loose part of her clothing, and yanked her in closer to him. "But if you just want to prove you can handle me, I'll take you somewhere private right now and prove you can't."

The Depths of Deception

Rareth gave a chuckle. "I think your memory might be a bit fuzzy on that, or who knows, maybe it's mine that's off? There was an awful lot of adrenaline pumping through me at the time. I remember the Masulu teleporting onto me to get me with that spike. I think it was a telekinetically enhanced blow, though I resisted with my own telekinesis. The others tried to shoot him, but he teleported away. Honestly, though, it's doubtful he'll survive long with the fleet sweeping the station." Once Shiva was finished with her healing, Rareth brought herself up to her feet and started to stretch out her muscles. Nothing felt wrong, which was good, though the anesthetic was still having an effect. "Well, I'm still kind of numb, but everything seems in order. I think I will go get a shower as well, maybe a nice meal. Just remember, if you can, meet me in my quarters later today. I have something I'd like to say then." Rareth glanced quickly over to Telmeck. "Also, what are your plans?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei waited for a few minutes after Vera left, using detect life to ensure no one else was nearby. Once everything was clear, she focused on Jerrick's plate, then lifted up a sample of each type of food telekinetically. It was difficult to grab on such small objects at such a range, but with enough focus, Meesei had relatively little trouble bringing up a sample of each to her. She took special care when lifting his drink up to her and only ended up spilling a small amount of the liquid inside. She even pulled up the cutlery Vera brought him; she had read "A Game at Dinner," and was not going to take any chances. From there, she set the samples out before her, then took bites of each, sampled his drink, and even touched her tongue to the cutlery to see if they had been poisoned. Whether or not the potential poison had a taste, she could focus inward with restoration on her own body's energies to determine if a poison was present. If there was, then her body would react immediately to neutralize the poison. Lorag seemed stunned, and somehow even more confused than when he was shaken awake. At one moment, he was tired and groggy, and now he was tired, groggy, and had Harriet wrapping her arms around him. He heard exactly what she said, but had a hard time believing it. "Uhh, wait...what?" He commented.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As soon as the door opened, both Meesei and Ahnasha tensed up. It was Vera, Jerrick's wife, who was honestly the last person Meesei wanted to see that night. She was the person that Jerrick knew best, but who was also the one most likely to be successful in killing him since he trusted her. Indeed, if she was the traitor, she was going about it perfectly. A poison in his meal would kill him without any chance of fighting back and allow her the time to set up the scene however she wished. Unfortunately, neither of them could strike based on the suspicion alone. It was also perfectly reasonable that his wife would bring him a meal, especially if she noticed he had not eaten. Meesei watched from above, ready to unleash her magic at a moment's notice. She just had to hope that Jerrick could see the danger. Poison was a strong possibility, so he needed to avoid eating the meal at all costs. If he thanked her and allowed her to leave, Meesei could test the meal herself. She was immune to almost all poison, and Vera, if she was the traitor, would have no reason to prepare for poisoning an Argonian. If Vera became too insistent that he start eating immediately, that would certainly raise suspicion in Meesei's mind. She just needed to be careful. If Vera was not the traitor, then accusing her could cause problems. Even so, if it looked like he was about to eat, then she decided she would telekinetically force the food from his hand. She had one idea in mind of how to preserve the ambush if Vera turned out to be innocent. Lorag grunted with the kick before reluctantly sitting up and returning Harriet's sneer. "You better have a good reason for wakin' me up.' He grumbled, slowly bringing himself up to his feet. "I know you're not used to it, bein' in the 'inner circle' and everything, but I don't take orders from you."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As Meesei predicted, her own preparations did not take a great deal of time. Once she obtained a large enough parchment, she enchanted a scroll of invisibility quickly, and Sabine was just as efficient with her ointment. As the day drew closer to night, Jerrick finally came by and gave the signal. As quickly as they could, Meesei and Ahnasha applied the ointment, then left the room under the cover of their own invisibility spells. Since Ahnasha did not have quite the magicka reserve as Meesei, she used the welkynd stone as a source of power along the way to prevent her from fatiguing herself, in the event they needed to intervene quickly after arriving. Meesei and Ahnasha were entirely silent and unseen as they made their way into the meeting room. Jerrick might not have known they were there, had Meesei not approached once she checked to make sure they were alone to drop the scroll of invisibility on his desk. "Remember, once the assassin has been revealed, use this to escape. We need not even kill the traitor here and now. Once they are identified, they are powerless to tear this pack apart as long as you live." She said at a nearly inaudible whisper in his ear. As for readying the ambush itself, Meesei was quick to determine the ideal hiding spot. As was common for Ayleid chambers, there were decorative columns, four in all, that went almost all the way up to the ceiling, but not quite the entire way. Normally, they would be quite difficult to climb without a ladder or rope, but with some strong telekinetic assistance from Meesei, both she and Ahanasha were able to climb to the top of two of the columns. Ahnasha climbed one closer to the entrance, while Meesei picked a spot nearer Jerrick. It was a hiding spot that served multiple purposes. For one, it allowed them to attack from an unexpected angle. Ahnasha could drop down to block the exit, while Meesei moved in for the kill. She had not been able to use the welkynd stone in the way she expected, but she still had it in her bag and could use it as a source of magical power if needed. The other purpose to hiding atop the columns was to put them as far away from Jerrick as possible while still being able to help him quickly. The traitor had no way of knowing that his or her intentions were known, so it would be unlikely that they would be on special alert for a trap, but just in case, being on top of the pillars could keep them out of sight from detect life spells. As powerful as they were, they only worked within the caster's field of view, and an assassin would have to look quite high up, away from Jerrick, in order to see them. Their plan was set, and they had made all the preparations they could. All they could do was wait for whatever was to come. Darahil's arrival outside the door put Meesei and Ahnasha at the ready, but for the moment, he seemed to leave when requested. There were no guarantees in this ambush, but they had pushed the odds as far in their favor as they were capable of. Lorag groaned as she was shaken awake. He had gotten a fair amount of sleep, which allowed him to heal considerably from their bout earlier. He no longer felt dizzy, just groggy and annoyed. "Ah, what is it?" He asked on reflex before his eyes focused enough to see who had awoken him. "What, you lookin' for another fight already?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei shifted her gaze from the plants to the enchanted lights above them. She began to smile ever so slightly with the surprise in Carana's voice. "Some of the most powerful beings in history have been mages. Perhaps I have a certain bias, but it is my thought that a mage can achieve more than one with simple might, especially if the mage can incorporate more mundane tactics as well. Once the clan has been secured against our enemies, I will be sure to speak to Darahil. This place is greatly interesting to me, in particular its magical artifacts. I believe I would like to contribute to your research, and perhaps learn from you as well." Since Sabine was now restocked, they were free to leave. After exchanging goodbyes, Meesei and Sabine left the chamber and traced their way back towards the main chamber. They needed to head up to their room for Meesei to be able to speak freely, but first, she diverted them in the direction of Ahnasha and the rest of the group. She needed to explain the plan to the others as well, but unfortunately, there was simply no way Meesei could think of for them to contribute. Any more than herself and Ahnasha would not be able to hide for the ambush, and there was nothing she could think of that they could help outside the ambush. If they tried to keep watch on the lieutenants, they might intimidate or otherwise delay the traitor. The most they could do was to be ready to deal with the aftermath of whatever transpired. Meesei did not want to call away all of her pack at once, so for the moment, she could settle for bringing Ahnasha with her. "Excuse me, but might I borrow you for a moment, Ahnasha? There are some ideas I would like to discuss with you regarding tracking the enemy. Come with me; you can leave Rhazii with Fendros, if you like." Meesei requested in a calm, polite tone. Given the nature of the investigation she had left the others with, she did not need to give any hints for the others to know that any request she made was important. "Oh, I didn't know he was that old. He sounds like he must be a mage, though I don't know what kind of magic..." Ahnasha began before being cut off by Meesei's voice behind her. She did not have any idea what Meesei wanted with her specifically, but given the situation, she was not about to question it. "Oh, sure." She commented as she quickly handed Rhazii off to Fendros and stood to her feet. No doubt the others had to be curious as well, but there had to be a reason Meesei was calling on her specifically. Perhaps it was to avoid making what they would be talking about seem too important? In any case, Meesei was quick to take the lead, so Ahnasha had only time for a short goodbye before following.