EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"It will be cramped, I don't doubt, but it will get better once we take over the crew quarters." Colors commented, somewhat reassuringly. "All of the non-Khajiit will need to look the part of slavers. Just look tough, basically. If not armor, then at least some more 'civilized' wilderness clothes. The biggest problem I can think of right now is what to do about the non-Khajiit children. It isn't exactly common for slaver bands to bring their families along, you know?"

There was a few moments of silence at the table as they thought about that particular issue. Much of this plan relied on giving proper appearances, else the slavers could possibly flee with their ships before they could be boarded. And, any non-Khajiit children would be out of place, unless they too were slaves.

"Hmm...is there any way to justify those children being among the slaves as well?" Meesei asked Colors.

Colors scratched his head in thought. His expression was at first worried, though it did become more encouraging the longer he considered the question. "Well, the specific contacts I have in mind don't really care about race. Some of them are Khajiit themselves. It's just about the gold for them, so if we said we did some pillaging along the way, maybe took the children from some caravans while we were making our way south, I doubt they'd be too suspicious. In fact, they've done the same thing before. They might start putting things together eventually, but we'd have turned on them by then."

Meesei nodded. "Good. It will only be temporary, so no one will need to remain in bondage for long. Ri'nakhad, are you comfortable enough with this plan that you would agree to it?"

Ri'nakhad was silent, and instead looked to his council. Miranor seemed hesitant, but eventually nodded. "If it means we will all get to Orcrest safely, then I can agree."

Jo'akith held a similar expression, but he too agreed. "As long as we ensure none of those slaver scum survive, Jo'akith will help with this plan."

"Ra'jorr and his warriors have the strength and humility to play the role of both slave and slaver. He is worried about our civilians, but will do everything he can to allay their fears." The Pahmar added.

Ra'kalesh was perhaps the most uncomfortable at the table when he spoke, as his thoughts brought him back to very unpleasant memories. "Ra'kalesh and his pride have experienced the terror of bondage in all too recent of memory, but...for the sake of the clan's safety, he can put on this illusion."

Ri'nakhad gave a final nod. "Then it is decided. This is the course we will follow. There will be many details to plan, and we will need to move the clan closer to Senchal, but with Hircine's blessing, we will face no losses in this journey."

---

The first to notice Tzirret and the others approach out of their group was Bheja, as he was facing towards them. In addition to his loincloth, he was wearing several pouches, along with a knife on his hip and a spear leaned against the log next to him. In all likelihood, he was going to head to training shortly. He waved at Tzirret, and looked curiously at Peiter and Sabine. Seeing as there were non-Khajiit present, he spoke in Cyrodilic. "Ah, hello Tzirret. Are these members of your pack?"

Ma'tanza had been facing the other direction, so she only turned around once Bheja pointed him out. While Bheja looked like he had been up for a while, she had likely only woken up a few minutes prior. Her fur was bedraggled, and she gave a yawn before she waved and spoke up. Notably, she had not yet gotten dressed, so her full proportions were plainly visible. "Good morning." She greeted. M'ibasa was sitting next to her, though he was simply looking up at them, wondering what they were actually saying.

La'khay stood slightly back from the others and simply observed. She actually felt proud of Tzirret for following her advice, even moreso when she saw who it was he had befriended.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Colors nodded to Gallus. He had seemed at least somewhat nervous being at the meeting, but once he was asked about something he actually knew about, he felt more comfortable speaking. "Yeah, I've seen it. And no, I've never traded in slaves before. No matter what you think of my...profession, even I was above that. Still, I saw what the ships were like. The slaves were stripped of everything: clothing, belongings, dignity. They were chained up below decks to each other, and to the ship. They were tightly packed, shoulder-to-shoulder when standing. The whole scene left a bad taste in my mouth. For the clan, we will probably need at least two ships for transport, but that won't be a problem for the contact I have."

Meesei clasped her hands together, looking straight ahead with a severe expression. "If so, then that is what we will have to attempt to recreate. Fortunately, it is not an illusion we will have to endure for too long. Once we are out at sea, and safely away from any Dominion patrols, or means of escape for the slavers, then we can turn and capture the ships. Although, we may not be able to bring enough clothing and bedrolls for everyone. I am certain that any cargo we bring aboard will be searched, and it would be suspicious if we brought enough for all of the 'slaves' to be comfortable. Hopefully, we will at least be able to craft enough bedrolls from the leather and cloth we scavenge from aboard the ships. Everything else, we should distribute to the children, elderly, and if necessary, wounded first."

"Ri'nakhad..." He began, giving a heavy sigh as he looked down at the map once more. He traced a claw across their new planned route, comparing it to the one they had proposed before. "...may see the wisdom in this plan. Being able to keep this one's clan safe and supplied during the journey is his greatest concern. Ri'nakhad recognizes that it is not as dangerous as it would first seem to submit ourselves to such captivity. The chains they would give us would not be designed for lycans. We could escape at any time, and on a ship, they would be no match for us. This, Ri'nakhad recognizes. But, there may be some in the clan who will not. To submit not only one's self, but their family and children to such conditions, even for a short time, is an understandably terrifying prospect. This one wants you to understand that."

---

La'khay was leaned in towards Sabine, giggling along with her through her explanation. "All day, you say? My, the energy of youth; it makes this one jealous. La'khay is glad to have helped you experience it. She is certain she can give you the advice to make the next time better. Just find her after breakfast."

Meanwhile, Peiter chuckled at Tzirret's brief taunt. "Well... the 'race' was fun, regardless." He responded, scarcely keeping himself from laughing. When Tzirret mentioned that he had actually went off and made new friends on his own however, it certainly piqued Peiter's interest, and brought La'khay back into the conversation. She was about to find a way to ask him about it, but he actually brought it up himself.

La'khay looked over to Tzirret with a genuine smile. "You went and made friends? That is great news; it had been terrible seeing you always look so alone and anxious. La'khay imagines they would be around here somewhere, maybe you should introduce them?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Gallus' explanation of his plan created some surprised glances between the lieutenants, and even Ri'nakhad. It was not something that any of them had come close to considering. "You want us to...act like slaves?" Miranor said, almost exasperated with widened eyes.

Meesei simply nodded calmly. "Slaves and slavers, yes. I have been putting thought into the story we could tell to the scum we hire. We could act as if we captured the majority of one of the desert's wandering tribes. As such, all of the Khajiit members of the clan would play the role of slaves, while everyone else would play the role of slavers. They would be transporting all of us, along with our supplies. We could promise them a portion of our...stock, as payment, which they could keep upon delivery. We could trade them weapons and armor as well, if necessary. It does not matter what we promise them, since we will be turning on them after departure. Their equipment, supplies, and ships themselves will be ours. It is not a comfortable ruse to enact, I understand, but it solves both our time and supply problems. With us covering most of the distance by sea, we can cut what would be multiple months of travel down to less than one. We will still need to barter with the clan's resources to buy the supplies we need, but according to your report, it should not be difficult to do so."

"This one does not think this ruse will be easy to carry out." Jo'akith commented. His gaze went over to Ra'jorr for a few moments before continuing. "We have Pahmar among us, not to mention Senche. Those are not Khajiit who are taken as slaves; they are too dangerous. How could we ever convince them that the clan's members are legitimately slaves?"

"I have also been considering that issue." Meesei answered. There were some aspects of the clan that would be unusual for slaves, for which they would need to provide suitable explanations. "My thoughts are that we can say we have a special buyer for them among the Telvanni. Their wizard-lords are known for being eccentric at times, especially in their use of magic. Whether or not it is actually possible, it would be believable for us to say that a Telvanni wizard would be willing to attempt it. Of course, we will also need to have chains and other bindings to make their captivity seem reasonable. Mentioning threats towards their family would also explain why they are passive. But yes, overall, we will need to do everything we can to make the ruse as believable as possible while out at sea."

Miranor let out an uncomfortable sigh. "Alright, saying we do attempt this...plan, what would we need to do to make it believable?"

---

La'khay grinned widely at Sabine, patting her back as she hugged her. "Ah, La'khay knew he would love it, and give you some love because of it." She whispered to her with a chuckle. "You simply must tell La'khay all about it. Is he skilled? How long did it last? Do you want some advice?" She asked, not even hesitating to delve into the array of personal questions. Though, for La'khay, it was very easy to believe that she did not even see the questions as being personal at all.

Peiter could not help but to smile with Tzirret's question. He was a bit curious to see his friend's reaction if he were to actually hear the truth, but he was not certain if Sabine would appreciate him mentioning it. She had not given him the full story when he asked a moment ago. He shot a glance to Sabine, who seemed preoccupied talking to La'khay, then returned his gaze to Tzirret. "No, it was a...test of endurance. Rather exhausting, overall." He answered.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As they would need to head up to the meeting soon, Meesei was quick to get through her breakfast, just as Gallus had been. She was just finishing her venison when Gallus approached. Looking up towards the ropes she stood up from where she was sitting. "As long as I know he has a contact, I can wait until the meeting. Which, actually, should be starting not too long from now. Evidently, the catalog of the clan's supplies was finished late last night. I may as well head up to the meeting hall right now; just check on Colors and make sure he is not going to be late." She recommended before heading off to the outpost.

It was about half an hour before the meeting began, with Colors being the last to arrive precisely at the scheduled time. Apart from Do'ajee, everyone who had attended the previous meeting was still present, though this time, the Ri'nakhad and his lieutenants had already prepared a series of maps and other documents at the table. Everyone took their seats much as before and allowed Ri'nakhad to start them off. A few of the lieutenants gave curious glances to Colors, wondering why he was present, but they assumed it was at the Champion's request.

"Champion, Gallus, Sees-No-Colors, good morning. We were able to complete the full catalog of our resources yesterday." Ri'nakhad explained as he grabbed a stack of the papers and slid them over to Meesei. "You may review them if you like, but a summary is that we may have enough resources, but only just. We will need to sell all of the non-essential supplies we have, and perhaps some of the essentials. There is no question that we will need to have our carpenters make those finished goods for sale. Even then, we will need to sell some weapons or armor to give us a reasonable amount of food."

Meesei spread out a few of the documents in front of her, though she answered as soon as Ri'nakhad was finished. "If that is the case, then it encourages me that an alternative plan we were able to create yesterday may work. The idea was actually Gallus', if you would like to explain." She said, gesturing to Gallus.

---

La'khay arrived for her breakfast a few minutes later than most of the others, as she had trouble finding some of her clothes just outside the camp. After getting herself a bowl of soup, she saw both of the two youths she had aided the previous day sitting near one another. She was curious enough to want to check up on them both, so she decided to take her seat near to Sabine. Jo'rashaad was also reasonably close on her other side, though he was preoccupied talking to his daughter.

A minute or so after she began her meal, La'khay leaned over to Sabine and whispered to her. "This one sees your hair seems back to normal. That's faster than La'khay would've thought. How did everything go with your mate after this one left? Did he love is as much as she said he would?"

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

No, he doesn't have that weird freeze breath thing.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

<Snipped quote by EliteCommander>

SSARAK STRONG, NO NEED ANYTHING OTHER THAN PANTS AND HAMMER.

@Freeshooter92

Please, Ssarak has class, and skill, and maybe some intimidating muscular strength.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

In the months following the year’s opening feast, Ssarak’s life experienced many changes, though this time, most were actually for the better. His training had brought him well into the intermediate stages of psychomancy. In addition to the normal classes, he had continued seeing Satori for private lessons to further increase his mastery of his blood. His wards had improved, his telepathy was more refined, and he had improved in the illusory tricks that could help protect him so he could work on breaking through enemy wards. The concepts of emotions and how they affected the mind were more familiar to him, which had been particularly useful in giving advice to Mar over her own struggles with emotion. He had progressed well in all of the abilities one would expect from an intermediate psychomancer, but one area in particular in which his private lessons had helped him improve was in his focused concentration. It was difficult for him to say why exactly, but the particular type of training for that aspect of his blood seemed to come more naturally to him. The concept of focusing all of his effort onto one, or a small number of tasks, of pushing himself to and beyond his limits, was something he had done for years in his physical training. To transfer those concepts to mental training was not as difficult as he had feared. In focused concentration, his abilities could be considered to be at expert level.

In his personal life, Ssarak spent as much as he could of what free time he had with Meirin. Although, considering how busy his days tended to be, that amount of time was only just at an acceptable level for him. Much of that time was during his daily exercised, which Meirin had continued to join in. Otherwise, he simply took the time to be with her when they were both available. One of the negative effects of his full schedule, however, was that he had few opportunities for earning coin. His basic needs were taken care of, but he could do little else beyond simply maintaining his present lifestyle. However, during his last mission, he had discovered a strange sword with runic markings. Upon bringing the blade to Val, she informed him that they were slots where runes could be placed, all three of which were empty. Since the sword had no other importance, he had been able to keep it, and have the runes applied. Given that he did not have the coin to otherwise upgrade his equipment, he decided to select runes that would maximize the blade’s versatility. The first two were easy for him to decide upon; they were runes which allowed him the ability to manipulate the mass of the blade, and to change its form, much like with shapeshifting in vitamancy. With that, his blade could adapt to have the properties of any melee weapon he could use, or even properties not found in standard weapons. The third, and most recent rune applied was a rune of demon bane. It had been a more difficult choice, but considering that he had accepted a mission delving into the Ravine of Demons, and the greatest enemy of the College, Kudd, had an army of demons, it seemed as if it would be a good choice. Since he now had his sword, he had been able to sell both his poleaxe, and even his dagger, to allow for the purchase of a simple metal shield. Although, it left him with little left over.

Currently, the mission upon which Ssarak was about to embark was not one he necessarily wanted to be on, but one that he felt that he needed to be on. He would have much preferred to join Meirin on Lyn’s hunt, both to help Lyn, and to spend more time with Mei. But, the importance of what they would be doing on this mission had drawn him to it. Not to mention, the wealth Tyrael was offering would give him the gold to perhaps do something he had been wanting to do for a while now. It would be dangerous, but he was as prepared as he could be.

Ssarak stood at the ready, nearby to Tyrael. He was in his armor, helmet included, with his sword sheathed at his side with a lightened weight and his shield on his back. It was not the place he would carry the shield if he wanted to use it quickly, but he did not tend to use the shield unless a great deal of protection was needed, since his armor served much the same purpose. Having both hands free allowed him more options in how he could use his blade. He had with him bags with the basic supplies the College had given him, along with items he already had, such as water containers and the blanket off of his bed.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

@Fallenreaper, @Lucius Cypher, I have another question. Since Ssarak is doing a mission for the college, and doesn't have Ravine-delving supplies of his own, what kind of supplies would they give him for the mission? Ssarak would not have the coin to purchase anything beyond what he is given.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

That's fine. Unless you have any more you would like Tzirret to do, we can do a skip to the next day in the next one if you like. The meeting with Meesei, Gallus, Colors, and the clan's leaders would be happening in the morning, of course, but we could also have another scene going, if you have any ideas for one. We could have everyone else gathered at breakfast with the clan, so anyone could be having a conversation, like Tzirret and La'khay about his promise, or just talking with his new acquaintances.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Without the context of their conversation M'ibasa seemed a bit confused at the sudden words of encouragement. He cocked his head to the side and shrugged his shoulders, looking at him strangely. "Um, okay. Thanks." He said quickly before returning straight back to the water.

Despite M'ibasa's confused response, Ma'tanza smiled, expressing more genuine gratitude. "Thank you for helping." She said, leaning in and giving him a quick hug in thanks. Stepping back into the water, she laid down and floated on her back once more, followed shortly by the rest of her friends.

"Maybe...it is time to relax now. That means no tackling anyone anymore, M'ibasa. Especially the clan's guests." She warned, prompting a groan from the young Khajiit.