EliteCommander

Ashes [EliteCommander and Vesuvius00]

Tarentek dropped down from the doorway once he had reached a nice, even number of pull-ups. He started to stretch out the rather sore muscles in his arms as he greeted Onyx. "Welcome back. My day has been a bit dull, but...encouraging all the same. I feel...good, great even. It seems my recovery has gone a bit faster than I thought, because I am feeling almost as good as normal. I had a nap this morning, but I've spent most of the day exercising; testing myself. It will take some physical conditioning to get back to my peak, but I wouldn't call myself injured any longer. Once my escort has been assigned and I've had the time to properly teach everyone how to behave in Tel Nof, then I will be ready to head for the city."

As Onyx was preparing her meal, Tarentek started untying the objects he had been using as weights and putting them back in their proper places. "What about you? From your tone, I'm going to guess that your ritual went well."

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Ssarak stood at the entrance of the cave, his eyes unable to see more than a few feet in as he stared into the darkness. Darius was right to be cautious, as they did not know what they would face once inside. It would be much easier to drag them out into the light and into an ambush. There were multiple ways he could think of to force them out of the cave, but they had to be cautious in their approach. They did not yet know if the bandits held captives, but just as Darius suggested. Ssarak's magic might hold the answer to that problem.

"Alaira, could you handle the bodies and keep an eye out for reinforcements? Myself and Darius can handle the cave." Ssarak requested. He kept his tone neutral, but his reason for selecting Alaira was motivated by sympathy. It was obvious that she was not comfortable with the cave, but he knew her well enough to know that she would not admit her fear.

As for his next task, Ssarak needed to concentrate. He rested the haft of his weapon on the ground, gripping it with both hands as he lowered his head and closed his eyes. "I will see what I can sense. I may be able to listen for their thoughts, for the senses they are experiencing, to learn what lies below." Ssarak reached out with his magic, ignoring Darius' thoughts and avoiding Alaira's to see who else he could find. It quickly became apparent that some of the bandits on the surface were merely playing dead, but they were no threat at the moment, so Ssarak ignored their voices so he could listen for the presence of anyone or anything new.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I am not saying it is guaranteed, but it is possible that Harriet was acting of her own free will. There are ways of testing for such magical interference, and I intend to perform those tests before any kind of punishment is given." Meesei answered. She was glad that they seemed to be receptive to her explanation, but she had to be careful not to go too far. Convincing them that Harriet could have committed the murder would not be greatly useful if she also created a panic that there could be traitors everywhere. Fortunately, the actual likelihood of being able to magically influence a large number of people was quite slim.

"As for who could be under Vile's influence, it is not likely to be widespread. Gaining control of another's mind is neither a quick nor easy process, so fortunately, it is not practical on a wide scale. It can take days, or even weeks to gain control. From my understanding, Harriet is hands-on as a leader and will undertake missions outside of this ruin. If she was away for an extended time at any point, that is a possibility. Alternatively, there are ways of imbuing an object with magic which can influence an individual's mind over time. If someone spends enough time near the object, usually while sleeping, they can be influenced. Again, this is something that is not easy to do over a wide scale. If Vile wished to influence multiple people in this clan, he would need to smuggle in multiple objects, but that would be more easily detectable. An example from history would be Vvardenfell, in Morrowind near the end of the Third Era. Using the magical properties of corprus disease as a vector, the ancient being Dagoth Ur spread his influence across the island. For those that he wanted to influence in a less obvious manner, he created small statuettes imbued with magic that would influence the minds of those near them. However, even with the power of a dead god at his fingertips, Dagoth Ur could not influence all of Vvardenfell. Instead, he had individual agents spread across the island. If Vile wished to be effective, he would not concentrate all of his agents in one place. One traitor has been enough to sow chaos among this family." Meesei explained.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Sounds like Althalus could use some fire, right on the wound. That would take care of the bleeding.

The Depths of Deception

You can go ahead and post now if you like, Balmung, in order to get back into it. We're in a meeting about our next mission.

Ashes [EliteCommander and Vesuvius00]

Tarentek spent time exercising each part of his body, making sure to allow himself plenty of time for rest so as not to overexert himself. He wanted to know if there was any part of himself that was particularly weakened or had not recovered fully, but it seemed like his healing had been spread evenly over his body. Moving through each of his normal exercises, he had encountered no unexpected pains or other surprises. He could not directly test his mind, but he had not noticed any loss of ability when it came to problem solving. In Amman, Tarentek liked to exercise his mind as well as his body. In the courtyard of Amman's university, there was a sort of public recreation area which was usually the site of large gatherings each day. Among the frequent events in the courtyard were tests of mental ability produced by students or professors who had the time and desire to interact with the public. Not all in the city took advantage of the opportunity, but Tarentek could be found in the university courtyard nearly every day.

Given how active he had been, Tarentek was able to eat his lunch early. He prepared a simple dish of baked fish and mixed vegetables, as he was not quite in the mood to prepare anything more complicated. Instead, he took advantage of the motivation he presently felt and returned to his exercises. This time, he found a place just above one of the interior doorways which he could grab onto for pull-ups. As he trained, his mind shifted to the mission ahead, and the specifics of what he would need to do in order to prepare Onyx and the rest of his escort.

Star Wars - Scum and Villainy

Our employer might already know about it. As far as everyone else, not sure if you should tell them. It would help them know how to react.

Ashes [EliteCommander and Vesuvius00]

At first, Tarentek tried to pass the time by returning to bed and taking a nap. It was nice to rest, but he could only sleep for so long, and he wasn't the type who enjoyed lounging around lazily. As he got up out of bed, he started to notice how much better he was feeling; almost to the point that he was back to normal. Honestly, he was probably ready to leave on his mission at any point now, though he still felt it would be worthwhile to give his escort some training on how to behave in Tel Nof before leaving. Of course, he would need to know who the escort would consist of before he could do that.

For the moment, Tarentek decided to test his recovery through training. If he was back to normal, then he had some ground to make up with his exercise routine. He cleared out a space in the floor of the main room and, after stretching his muscles, started out with sit-ups, broken up by points where he could rest and rehydrate. Tarentek did not have quite his normal endurance, but enough exercise would bring that back to normal over time. Afterwards, he looked around the den and gathered up any relatively heavy, non-fragile items he could find and tied them together into weights. Back in Amman, they used bags of sand for their exercise routines, but currently, Tarentek felt it might be best not to bring an excess of sand into Onyx's home, which would inevitably end up spilling out all over her floor. She would not appreciate that, likely.

Despite the soreness and pain in his body, Tarentek's mind felt almost relaxed now that he was exercising again. It had been part of his daily routine ever since he had joined his people's military. Many times, he found the routines to be annoying, or at least boring, but he could not have guessed how much he would miss something as simple as exercise once he became physically unable to do it. The weakness he had felt during the past few weeks had been both mentally and physically devastating, but now, he could not be more relieved that he was so close to being back to normal.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei gave no ground, figuratively or literally. She maintained her calm, but serious demeanor, despite the accusations of the Orc. She did not give in to emotion, but she was also careful not to sound too detached, as she needed the clan to be able to identify with her. "I understand why you would accuse me; you do not have all of the information on the events surrounding the murder. I wish I could share everything with you all right now, but there are some pieces of evidence that cannot be revealed before the trial itself. People are...afraid, understandably, and they may not be able to will themselves to see the full picture before acting. There is, however, some I can share."

Meesei glanced around for a moment at the crowd. At the very least, their attention was focused on her, instead of each other. Now, she just needed the words to at least partially pacify their fears. "I can tell you why I am not suspected in this tragedy. Jerrick was warned of his murder by our lord Hircine. He was warned that it would come after my arrival, but not by me. He told me of this. Myself and my pack tried to save him, but the traitor had already struck. In the brief time we had, however, we planned ahead. Jerrick wrote letters to certain individuals explaining all I just said, and more. He included stories or memories which proved the letters were from him. I regret I cannot tell you their identities right now. As the attack on Oswall has shown, they would not be safe. However, you could ask any of the lieutenants and they would tell you the same. Even Harriet herself does not dispute this. I know that she is your leader, and it is hard to believe that one so close to you could have done something so heinous, but I urge you to try to think about the possibility. The only reason it is Harriet I am accusing is because the evidence has narrowed the suspects down to only her. Based on the evidence, she was the only one with opportunity. I do not know Harriet in the same way as all of you, but I do know the depth of our enemy's depravity. Clavicus Vile is devious, and cunning. There exists magic that can warp a person's mind, to bend their will to match the caster's designs. Simple forms of this are the common calm, fear, and frenzy spells which I am sure you have heard of. But Clavicus Vile is a Daedric Prince with access to power beyond that of any mortal; he could craft far more insidious, more permanent magic. I cannot yet say if the traitor has been influenced by the enemy, but it is not a possibility which can be discounted. Harriet could be a victim in this, someone who might be saved." Meesei explained. It was not impossible that Harriet could be the victim of magical influence, though that is not something that one could simply accomplish in a few hours, even a Daedra Lord. She did not yet have any evidence that Harriet was not acting of her own free will, but it was possible, and if Harriet's followers could believe that Harriet could be a victim as well, then they might be able to believe her capable of committing the murder.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

The only problem with that I see is that we know there is only one exit, but our characters don't. Otherwise, Ssarak would suggest leading them into an ambush. He wouldn't want to smoke them out because, for all they know, there could be captives down there. I'm not sure if there is a slave trade in Djarkel, but I can think of multiple reasons bandits would want to take prisoners.