EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Alright, goodnight, then.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once on the deck, the slavers halted the group, then opened up a hatch leading down below. As the stairs were not exceptionally wide, they were led single file down, first to the crew deck, then to the deck on which they were intended to spend their entire journey. It was a deck that was dark, with only small amounts off light filtering in through the floorboards above, and almost entirely empty apart from two support columns near the center. The slavers shouted for them to stand precisely in rows, exactly where they were told. On the floor beneath them, there were chains attached to the floorboards, which could then be attached to their shackles. Once they were all in position, the slavers attached the chains to the shackles of every other Khajiit to keep them securely in place. Once all of their "slaves" were secure, the crew members headed back up to the upper levels. As much as the members of their clan among them would have liked to stay to comfort their captive brethren, they were forced to follow as well.

What became immediately apparent once they were locked into their positions was how little room there actually was. To say that they were shoulder-to-shoulder was no exaggeration. Those who were at the edge of the group did have some room to move, but the chains kept those in the middle from moving too far. And, it was made worse by the fact that they were all wet from having to wade through the water, and given that nearly all of them were Khajiit, they would all be wet for some time. Nevertheless, the captives all started to settle in as best as they could. Overall, sitting down was more comfortable, but it made the issue of space even worse. They had almost nothing in the way of leg room, so they had to accept that their legs would be pressing against those around them.

A few minutes after she sat down, Ma'tanza began looking around the large, compact group more and more nervously. "Tzirret...do you see M'ibasa anywhere?"

Above deck, the slavers were loading the last of the Senche into their cages. They all had iron collars that were indeed enchanted, though only with simple illusions. Their crates of supplies and equipment would be loaded next, during which time all of the clan's "slavers" would be required to pack away any weapon larger than a knife. It was a measure meant to protect Orub's crew, though being unarmed would matter little to a clan of lycans.

Since Meesei was already unarmed, she looked briefly to Colors and Gallus nearby. "I believe I will head down to our room now...dear." She said, barely able to get out the word without a break in her tone. "Feel free to visit if you like, Gallus."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sorry for any delays. I get home late on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I'm rather tired.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. "I'll be fine. I just need to keep these two close, and well-behaved. When it comes time for us to break out, I'm not going to join the fight if I can help it. There are far more of us than necessary to overpower them. I'm just going to keep the children safe."

With a reluctant sigh, Ahnasha reached down, then snapped the shackles around her wrists. However, as soon as she looked back over to Fendros, she leaned in and gave him a long, drawn out kiss. "You just take care of yourself. Oh, and make sure you get onto the same ship as me. I don't want to be caught on another ship from you for the next week or two.

Just as Fendros had said, the ships were not far behind him, but the clan was in position and ready by the time the vessels came into view. The ships sailed as close to the shore as was reasonably safe, stopping with one in front of the other. The crews of the ships threw ropes over the edge and sent a few of the slavers down to make sure their "cargo" was ready, though it took another ten minutes for those still on the ships to actually prepare them for boarding. Since there was no dock, a normal ramp could not be used to get aboard. However, the slavers were prepared in that regard. They had brought with them two, extra long loading ramps, which had to be assembled on the deck, then carefully lowed down into the water. Their length allowed the incline to be reasonable enough to climb, though it would still require the "slaves" to wade out about waist high into the water in order to board.

The Khajiit, apart from the Senche who were bound separately, were all bound to one another in a single, long chain, so the slavers had sent down a particularly strong Cathay-raht with a few tools to break the chain in the middle, in order to separate their cargo into two groups, for the two ships. Fortunately for Tzirret, the midpoint was far from himself and his new friends.

Once they were ready, the Orc leaned out over the railing on his ship and shouted out his orders down below. "Alright, let's get this moving! Slaves first, then the rest of the cargo."

With that order, the slavers, both those from the clan playing that role, and those that had been sent down from the ships, started to guide the two groups onto the ramps. The Senche would be loaded last, after the bulk of the clan was below deck. For all of those acting as slaves, they had been told to speak only Ta'agra when around the slavers. Although, they would still need to watch their words, as many of the slavers were likely knowledgeable in the language. The largest reason to restrict them to that language was to further sell the illusion that they were mostly captives from nomadic Khajiit tribes.

Peiter, and the others acting as slavers, had been told to show no kindness to the clan. As much as he disliked it, Peiter put on an impatient, angered glare at the clan as he helped to shepherd them into the water. He prodded a few of them with the blunt end of his spear if they started stepping out of line, though he put in not a single bit more force than necessary.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Peiter did his best to put on an encouraging expression. "Yeah, I think we'll just be maintaining this ruse through one night at most. And, once that's over, we'll be making sure these slavers cannot do anything like this to anyone again. So...there will be some good to come out of this." He reasoned.

Ma'tanza looked down at her bindings and let out a sigh. "Yeah, at least there's that. It is awful to think about all the people who get put into bindings like these, but are never able to break out. All the actual slaves out there that are forced to work like animals for people who don't care about them. At least we'll be doing something to make that even just a little less common. And, we'll be able to get to Orcrest in no time. It will all be worth it." She said, though by her tone, it seemed like she was trying to convince herself more than anything.

Elsewhere in the growing mass of Khajiit, Ahnasha was knelt down next to the shackles she would be putting on, with both Rhazii and Newt in front of her. She had saw Fendros come back a few moments ago as well, so she knew he would be seeking her out shortly as well. She put a hand on the shoulders of both Rhazii and Newt and looked back and forth between the two with a gaze that was serious, but hopefully reassuring. "Okay you two, I need you to make sure to stay right next to me the whole time, alright? No running around, and especially no talking to any strangers. I know it might get boring, but it's only going to be until tomorrow morning at the latest. When you see me transform, I want you to follow and stay right next to me. I'll make sure you both stay safe."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ma'tanza silently nodded, accepting Tzirret's hand to stand up with him. Having everyone gathering themselves in such a small area would have made it difficult for them to find her friends, but Bheja and Qa'habi were among the first to start making their way to the shackles. They all met up together, though even among Ma'tanza's friends, there was a certain amount of tension in the air. The all looked at the shackles with varying degrees of anxiety. Interestingly enough, it seemed to be Tzirret this time who was the most calm about this particular aspect of the plan.

Taking in a deep breath Ma'tanza picked up a set of shackles, then closed them around her wrists, causing them to lock immediately. Now, they would not be removed until she next transformed. Tzirret was directly to her left, Bheja was doing the same to her right, and Qa'habi was just beyond him.

As they were binding themselves, Peiter made his way over to the group and looked around until he was able to pick Tzirret's face out of the crowd. Both he and Sabine would be playing the role of slavers. It was not something he was comfortable with, but it was what he needed to do to make all of this believable. "So, um...are all of you comfortable? Well...as much as you can be?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Oh, Ma'tanza gets a lot of those comments, yes. Not so much in the past few months, but when we were getting new members, she got a lot of compliments and jokes. Though, usually the same ones. It is strange how people think that the first joke that pops into their mind is one that Ma'tanza has never heard before." She explained. Since they were finally finished, Ma'tanza walked over and took a seat on the ground at the edge of the clearing.

With Tzirret's next question, Ma'tanza raised her brow curiously. "Won this one's heart? She has had a few accidentally take her wrap, but never her heart." She chuckled. "No, Ma'tanza does get a lot of compliments, but most of them aren't really interested in her. They would probably leave her once they had what they wanted. She admits she did try to be with one of them before, but he wasn't very interested in what Ma'tanza had to say, and just wanted to touch her a lot. The closest anyone has came to 'winning Ma'tanza's heart' was Qa'habi. We were together for a few months last, and Ma'tanza was happy with him, but...he just called it off one day. This one never really understood why; he just kept saying that it wasn't Ma'tanza's fault. It was strange, but we're still friends."

Shortly afterwards, Ma'tanza noticed the commotion that was starting to pick up around them. One by one, the clan's Khajiit were starting to make their way towards the shackles. "Oh, it looks like it's time for us to...shackle ourselves together." She said nervously.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Just got home. I'll respond shortly. I think I'll have Fendros arrive back in my next one, as I assume those two scenes were not happening at the same time. He would tell everyone to start getting into position, right?

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Ssarak was surprised when Tyrael instructed them all to go ahead and start following him into the catacombs. Only a few students had arrived to join in the mission, and Ssarak had been expecting more. He knew that Tyrael was only using volunteers, instead of conscripting students to help, but he had thought there were more students in the College willing to accept such danger. It was only once another student, who identified herself as Myrn, came running up behind them that Ssarak realized Tyrael was simply leaving without them. For a matter of life and death such as this, Ssarak certainly did not approve.

As for the catacombs themselves, Ssarak was not terribly worried as the group was moving through. They had a foul smell and were filled with the bones and corpses of the dead, but he did not feel greatly threatened as of yet. His armor would easily protect the majority of his body from the diseased vermin Tyrael mentioned. He needed only be cautious of his wings. It was not terribly likely for him to be infected if it was just the membrane which was bitten, but there were other parts of his wings which were vulnerable. At the very least, they were not accessible from the ground.

Once the group came across the strange corpse, which Tyrael identified as a ridge hound, the atmosphere became much more tense. Evidently, creatures from the Ravine had made their way into the catacombs underneath the College. They did not need an explanation to know why that could be danger to those above. Tyrael instructed them to split into groups, and for Ssarak to join him.

With a simple nod, Ssarak drew his blade from its scabbard and held it in a two-handed, ready position. Currently, the weight was very light and close to the hilt, so the two-handed grip was not necessary, but it would allow him to swing faster in an emergency. He followed attentively behind Tyrael, allowing enough distance that both of them could swing freely if they were ambushed.

Mass Effect: The Face of Injustice

My intent is to give Shadowman a chance to intro himself as well. Although, I'll move on if that starts taking too long.