EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sorry for the delay. I'm about to head to bed.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Name the Pahmar?" The Imperial repeated. Leaning forward slightly, she looked over S'ajira carefully, but nothing in her expression indicated that she recognized her. Looking around at her allies, she gave a nod to them, prompting them to try and recognize the Khajiit. A good thirty seconds passed, and most of the group simply had to shake their heads. There was one Khajiit, however, who just kept staring at the Pahmar, seemingly in deep thought.

"This one...thinks he has seen that one before. But...he's not sure." The Khajiit said.

The Imperial woman let out a sigh. "Look, there were a lot of people in the Senchal clan, Pahmar included. None of us know everyone personally, you're going to have to give us more to go on than that. Is there anything identifying about her other than her name that you can give us?" She requested.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The Imperial did not budge from her position, but again, she did not grow any more aggressive. She brought her spear into a slightly more relaxed position, though it would be easy to bring the weapon to bear quickly. "Maybe. If you know what that is, then you might know why I need to be absolutely sure of who I'm talking to before I say anything. You said you're part of the war effort. Does that mean you're from one of the clans? If so, which one? And who are these 'others' that you're with?"

S'ajira too was now a bit more comfortable with relaxing her guard, given how this Imperial was speaking. Leaps, meanwhile, was certainly on his guard, but no one was acting quite aggressively enough for him to attack without being told. S'ajira wanted to have some kind of assurance that they weren't being tricked, so she quickly scrawled a few more words on the ground, then lightly nudged Sabine's side as she pointed to them: Ask if they know me.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The Imperial woman still did not order an attack, but neither did she lower her own weapon, nor take on any less of a firm tone in her answer. "Easy, we're lycans, like you. We weren't sure of your scent at first, given that Vile's minions have been known to fake it, but that werewolf up in the tree settles that fear. Even so, we have to be as cautious as possible; we can't afford not to be. Now, lower your weapons so we can talk. Does your pack act alone, or are you a part of the war effort?" She asked.

Obviously, S'ajira had no weapons to lower, so she was able to simply remain at the ready. This group was claiming to be lycans, which, if it were true, would mean they were likely members of the clan. Looking around, S'ajira did not immediately recognize any of their faces, but that in itself did not necessarily mean they were lying. The clan had many members, and she only personally knew a fraction of them. However, it was possible that they might know of her. S'ajira's pride was of a reasonably high rank in the clan, and it was not exactly common for bipedal Khajiit to marry Pahmar, so they may have at least hear of her through gossip before the attack.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Peiter was not certain what Sabine was doing at first, until he caught the scent in the air. He did not recognize it himself, but according to Sabine, it was something called a durzog. Based on her reaction to it, he assumed they were some sort of predator. He quickly grabbed up his halberd and took up a position with the others, though it was not long before Uthri recommended that one of them take the children up to safety in a tree. It would take them down one fighter, but it would make sure that the two defenseless children were out of danger. "Alright, I'll do it. Just be careful, alright."

After quickly stripping down and finding a place for his belongings, Peiter shifted into his werewolf form, then scurried up onto one of the lower branches of a nearby tree. He reached down so that Uthri could hand both of the children up to him, then kept them securely under his arm as he climbed up a few of the closer branches. They were not too particularly high, but they were high enough that he felt confident that the creatures could not get up to him quickly. He could have gone higher, but it would have required more acrobatics than he would be comfortable attempting with the children in his care.

The scent grew stronger until they could start to hear sounds in the forest. Although, they were quite faint, and they likely would not have picked them out had they not been listening specifically for movement. Peiter, given that he had a vantage point, hoped to be able to spot them to warn the others of which direction they were approaching from, but even he was having trouble seeing these durzogs. A few times, he spotted movement out of the corner of his eye, only to see nothing when he focused on it.

Eventually, the sounds became rather close, and Peiter was able to spot the source. However, when he did, his eyes widened in surprised. "I think I see...wait, that's not..." He began, but was interrupted when the intruders revealed themselves. On three sides of the camp in an arc around them, about six or seven beings emerged from behind bushes and trees, but they were not durzogs: they were mostly Khajiit, with a Human and an Orc among them.

"Lower your weapons; this need not turn to violence." The Human, an Imperial woman, demanded firmly, though without shouting. Around them, three of the Khajiit had bows nocked, but not drawn, the Orc had a javelin that was in a position to be thrown, though was not currently aimed, and the rest were armed with spears.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Hmm, that's unfortunate. It just seems like something that would be useful." Peiter commented. "I mean, if Vile's followers can do it, then it must be possible. It would be nice if we could get something that would give us the same kind of advantage over them."

Though he was still watching the process, Peiter was still at a loss for the purposes of the steps Sabine was going through in creating her concoction. For one with only a passing knowledge of alchemy, it seemed like it would be as simple as just following a recipe, but he had a feeling that was not the case. "Anyway, what are you making, and what kind of potions do you already have made right now? Even if it's not turning into lightning, you must have some impressive potions, I'd imagine. It is you, after all."

At the edge of camp, Leaps could still smell something, but its source was still unknown. Wild animals approaching their camp was nothing new, so it was what S'ajira's mind immediately went to. Likely, if a predator approached, it would back off as soon as it saw the size of the group, but that did not mean she wouldn't still be cautious. She walked over near Leaps and raised her snout in the air to see if she could catch whatever he was smelling on the wind. There was no movement or sound coming from the forest, and no indication that there was actually anything nearby other than the scent. However, it was steadily growing stronger until it was readily detectable by anyone in the camp. As well, it was becoming identifiable. For those who had never been to places like Elsweyr or Morrowind, it could be difficult to identify, but for those who had, it was getting closer to being the scent of durzogs.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Peiter got up and walked over closer to where Sabine was working to get a better look at all of the ingredients. He was careful not to touch anything, particularly since he did not know what, if anything, was dangerous, but he tried to observe the process she was going through. "So you can get pretty much any magical effect, but without using magicka? I can see why you would use it over actual magic, I think. Can you make poison gasses? You know, something like the suppression gas that Vile's followers used on the werelion clan? Thinking about it, I wonder if it's possible to make a gas that would only affect non-lycans? I'm not really sure how it all works." He questioned.

S'ajira was visibly frustrated with Leaps' reaction, but she was not sure if becoming aggressive over it would actually help matters. With how leaps was acting, he might just think that she was accepting of his desire to play fight. For now, she decided just to ignore him entirely in the hopes that he would give up. She turned away from the wamasu, walked over to Uthri, and laid down on the ground beside her. S'ajira brushed her paw across the ground to clear an open area of dirt, then extended her claws and quickly began scratching a few words into the dirt: Maybe. See how he reacts.

For a few moments, a light breeze blew through the camp. It was perfectly normal, except for a very faint scent that, if one paid close attention, could be detectable. It was weak enough at this point that it would be easy to miss, and difficult to identify, but it was present, and out of place.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once Peiter had ground up the remainder of what was in the bowl, he set it down in front of him and observed the fading light within. "Well, it can do more than I thought. I wouldn't have imagined that you could make a potion that makes a ball of light. The only ones I've ever used have been for simple things, like healing and stamina. What kind of effects can you create? Do you make mixtures like poisons for your pack to use?" He asked. He had known for a long time that Sabine was an alchemist, but he had never really spent time watching her work.

Leaps' insatiable curiosity was not something that S'ajira greatly minded at first, but it was now to the point where her patience was growing thin. Once more, the wamasu was approaching her for attention, so she decided to hold her ground more firmly. While Leaps would eventually grow to a massive size, he was currently cnotably smaller than a fully-grown Pahmar. She raised up her head to make herself appear even larger, then looked down at him while baring his teeth. She did not start growling yet, but was attempting to give the signals that he should leave her alone.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Now that Peiter understood what was going on, he looked into the mortar with more interest. Upon Sabine's suggestion, he started to grind together the parts of the plants that he had not yet touched. Just as before, they started producing a dim light. Although, he did not feel any closer to understanding how it worked. He supposed that there was some way to make the light brighter, and to store the effect in a potion so that it would not create the light immediately, but those steps were probably a lot harder than just grinding together two plants.

"I didn't know alchemy's effects could be so...visible. I don't know if I really understand it, though. It just seems like magic to me. Though, I guess it really is magic, isn't it?" Peiter commented.

"Oh, thank you." La'khay said to Tzirret as he started to walk away, though her expression turned to concern once he was looking away. His behavior had been strange, to say the least, and she was beginning to worry about what might be the cause. Nevertheless, they still had their responsibilities for the moment, so those concerns would have to wait until they had found the clan. Everyone was close to being ready to begin the search, so they would be departing within a few minutes, leaving Uthri's group to watch the camp.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Crush them together? Alright..." Peiter responded, not sure exactly where she was going with it. Perhaps she just wanted him to help while she worked on a different part of the potion? At any rate, he took the mortar and pestle and started to do as she asked. He was grinding the ingredients together fairly mindlessly at first, but after about thirty seconds, he noticed something in the periphery of his vision. Looking down, he saw something that appeared to be magic in his hands, and immediately panicked. He jerked back, and nearly dropped the bowl before catching it in mid-air.

Once the surprise subsided, Peiter finally examined the light in the bowl, which was quickly diminishing. "It's...a light?" He stated questioningly.

S'ajira looked over the now still and seated wamasu with a firm glare. She did not appear overtly threatening at the moment, but she was sure to convey to Leaps that she was not in a playful mood. She did not growl, but instead looked up to Janius and pointed her paw at the sun, then off to the west. Over the past week or so, they had learned a few of her signs. This one was her general sign for something happening in the future. She intended to convey that she would become aggressive later, if necessary.

La'khay was a bit surprised to see Tzirret sit down next to her. They had not spoken all that much over the past few days, apart from when they were alone at night. She raised her brow curiously as she turned her head to him. "Yes...La'khay likes to wear jewelry when she can. Not so much in the wilds, but in the cities and with the clan. She likes anything that is beautiful. Why...do you ask?" She questioned.