EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ra'jorr avoided returning Lunice's glare, and managed to maintain at least the illusion of respectfulness in his response. "If you require a fine as compensation for their actions, we can pay it. It would be fitting that the gold we have acquired be put to good use within the Dominion." He answered. Although gold was always a useful resource, they did not have particular need of what they were carrying at the moment. The gold they had recovered from the slavers was no small amount, and likely would be able to cover the fine, but it was not much compared to what the Orcrest clan would have available.

Again, Ri'nakhad gave a simple nod to Lunice. "There are no fugitives among Ri'nakhad's clan, and the others are simply victims of those vile slavers. We would be glad to be accompanied by your men; it would bring great comfort to this one's people to know that there are professional soldiers among us. Ri'nakhad has no issue allowing Orcrest's authorities to perform whatever processing is required, especially if it helps bring those slavers to justice." He answered. Given that the clan was perfectly capable of overwhelming even the full force of soldiers present, there was not much worry that the soldiers would be able to stop them if they decided to divert from Lunice's plan. He would simply need to discuss with the Champion on whether or not they would go through with the processing.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ri'nakhad nodded respectfully as he listened to agent Lunice's question. It was not a question they had specifically planned to answer, but it was not difficult for him to come up with a believable excuse. "We would have, but you have to understand that we are far from our home. Ri'nakhad's tribe never ranged this far north. We did not know where to find your outposts, or your guard houses. And, we were afraid to go searching through the forest. We did not know if the slavers in the stolen armor were still in the area, or if they would be returning. We were already frightened just to stay with the ship for as long as we did. This one intended to report the slavers as soon as we reached our territory north of Orcrest. Ri'nakhad knows who he can trust there."

Once Ri'nakhad finished speaking, Ra'jorr decided to give a comment on another matter the agent had mentioned previously. His amulet lit up, projecting its ghostly voice. "In speaking of the slaver imposters, Ra'jorr would like to apologize on the behalf of his scouts. When they saw the soldiers trailing us, they were frightened that the slavers had discovered our escape and were tracking us. The arrows they fired were meant as warning shots, but Ra'jorr reprimanded them all the same. After all we have been through, they were simply afraid."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Being both an Elsweyr native, and the least threatening among them, Ri'nakhad was the one to answer the Thalmor agent. Despite her agitation, he spoke calmly, but with signs of the fatigue that an old man in his supposed position would be feeling. "This one is Ri'nakhad. This is his good friend Ra'jorr, and their names are Meesei and Gallus. The ships you found, you are correct in saying it is where we came from, and you are also correct that they were slave ships. We were the slaves. Most of those you see here are members of Ri'nakhad's tribe. This one can assure you that he is not immigrating, for he and his tribe has lived here their entire lives." He explained, switching to Ta'agra for his final statement. His accent was unmistakably indicative of an Elsweyr native.

"Our territory ranges between the Oases to the north of Orcrest." Ri'nakhad continued. "It was there that we were taken by the slavers, with hardly a chance to resist. They wore armor just like the soldiers you have with you; stolen, in all likelihood. They approached our camp and requested that we consent to a search. They claimed that they were on a manhunt for a fugitive that had escaped from Orcrest. We had never had any problems with Anequina's soldiers, so gladly consented, but...it was a ruse. They took hostages before our warriors could even raise their weapons, and demanded our surrender. We agreed, and were taken captive. They brought us northeast, to those ships you found, and loaded us aboard like...livestock. The ones who took us, the impersonators, they left us with another group, mostly Dunmer. We can only guess that they intended to bring us to Morrowind, but we were saved by the actions of Ra'jorr, and his warriors."

Ri'nakhad gestured to the Pahmar-raht beside him. "He is the war chief of our sister tribe. His scouts found the slavers as they were taking us, and without hesitation, he brought as many of his warriors as he could spare to come to our rescue. He followed us all the way to the ships, waited until most of the slavers had left, then boarded she ships to free us. The others with us, the non-Khajiit, they were already captives aboard the ships when we were taken on board. From the stories this one has heard, they were taken from many places. Some from Anequina, some from elsewhere. After we captured the ships and dumped the bodies, we stayed for a few days. There were some disagreements, but most of us, aside from a group of Argonians who headed east to...Bravil, this one thinks, decided it would be best for us all to stay together. This one agreed to take them to Orcrest. We trade with the city, and know people who could help them get back to their homes. Ri'nakhad knows it was not the nearest city, but the slavers had enough supplies on their ships to make the journey." He explained, briefly glancing back towards the clan. "Unfortunately...an excess of clothing was not among those supplies."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei looked over each of the soldiers as they drew closer. They were all well-armed, and well-armored. Much of their equipment was made from the light, but strong moonstone alloys commonly used in Elven armor, but in a Khajiit style. Their horses, and even the Senche possessed similar armor, making the group an effective cavalry force. At their head was a small group of elves: Thalmor, in all likelihood. The Elves possessed even greater quality equipment, apart from the one who appeared to be the leader. In Meesei's experience, that identified her as likely being a mage. Overall, the soldiers were cautious in their approach, but also seemed to be confident. The force that Ra'jorr had gathered to met them on top of the dune was of equivalent size to theirs, but unbeknownst to the soldiers, they were still far outnumbered. The majority of the clan's warriors were still among the clan itself, and of course, they did not know of their lycanthropy. If the worst came to pass, the mounted soldiers would not have the speed advantage they would be expecting.

The soldiers eventually stopped a fair distance away, but close enough that the Thalmor's shout could be easily heard and translated for Meesei and Gallus. Naturally, she wanted to speak to their leadership, which was an encouraging development, at least. It meant that they did have the option of resolving this diplomatically. Meesei and the others had come to the decision beforehand that they would not present themselves as having only a single leader. Instead, Ri'nakhad would act as the leader of the captured Khajiit tribe, Ra'jorr the leader of the Khajiit rescuers, and both Meesei and Gallus as the representatives of the other captives that the slavers had taken. As such, all four of them began to step forward. Meesei made a point of helping Ri'nakhad walk down the relatively steep dune as they approached the Thalmor. Making one of them appear as more of a helpless old man would hopefully make them all seem less threatening.

Once they were standing before the Thalmor woman, Ri'nakhad was the first to speak. "Greetings. We are the ones who represent these people." He said in Cyrodilic, for the sake of Meesei and Gallus.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It's time for me to get to bed. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once the warning was given, Meesei's reaction was immediate. She shouted her orders, which they had thankfully prepared for in the past few days. "Everyone! Stop, wait between these two dunes. Ra'jorr, gather a force of the same size, we will wait atop the dune behind us for their approach. All of the other warriors will wait in reserve with the clan. Ri'nakhad, you will need to come with us to meet the Dominion soldiers. Stay close to myself and Gallus. If something goes wrong, we will protect you."

Though they had little time, the clan had been preparing for this eventuality for days. Since the majority of the warriors coming with them on the dune were armored in some way, Meesei quickly grabbed one of the robes they had kept as emergency city clothing, just so she would be dressed for the encounter. She then walked up to the top of the dune with Ri'nakhad following directly behind. With the time it had taken for Ra'jorr to shout at the nearest warriors, including S'nishi and a few other Senche, and for Meesei to quickly dress herself, they could already see the soldiers fast on their approach. Overall, it was much less warning than Meesei had been hoping for, but they had their plan. Now, they just needed to follow it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ma'tanza hummed lightly. "Well, there are some similarities, yes. It could help for some very basic instruction, at least. It may be a while before we can do anything with a corpse, though. This one thinks all of our meat is already butchered, and there aren't many suitable creatures out here in the desert. Ah, but we'll figure out something, Ma'tanza is sure."

---

Once they had a reasonable course of action, Meesei, Ri'nakhad, and Ra'jorr gave the announcement about the soldiers found tracking them. Understandably, it created some worry among the clan, but the fact that they already had not one, but several plans on how to deal with them did help to give some confidence in the clan. They explained the details of what the bulk of the clan should do, while Ra'jorr selected warriors who would be posing as rescuers. Despite the delay, they set out as soon as they could just as they would have normally, as their first plan was still to avoid confrontation entirely.

The next two days proceeded near identically to the first few, apart from the heightened patrols keeping an eye out for any approaching soldiers. The desert was just as hot, just as dry, and just as uncomfortable. Some of the clan were becoming more well-acclimated to the new climate, but it was still far from being comfortable for most. They prepared a plan for what they would do in case of a sandstorm, but unfortunately, the weather remained almost perfectly calm both days.

It was late afternoon on the second day, and they would be setting up their camp within a few hours. This time, there were no rocky areas anywhere in sight around them, so they settled for one of the small valleys between two of the dunes. It would keep their camp at least somewhat hidden from view, while their own lookouts could use the dunes as vantage points.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Yeah, though I'm just now entering into a game with some friends, so it may be a bit.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Gallus' last point was something that worried Meesei, as it was not something she could think of a solid solution for. She had ideas for some excuses, but nothing definitive. "At this point, we have gone far enough that Orcrest is the closest city to us. I would hope they would not want to force a group of escaped slaves through a longer journey than necessary. But, it is something to be concerned with. We cannot be diverted from our course, even if it means subduing our pursers by force. That is a last resort, however. Let us hope they are not decided that we should join them. Even more than that, let us hope we can avoid them altogether."

Ma'tanza shook her head. "No, it would be in the wrong spot, off on their side. Funnily enough, they do have a little stub of a bone on their pelvis where the tail would be if they were Khajiit, or Argonian. It's under their skin, so you can't see it on the outside, but if you press on the right spot on their behind, you can feel it. It's like they started to grow their tail, but it stopped before it could be seen. Ma'tanza does not understand why; it seems like it would be as useful to them as it is to us. Anyway, once you learn how to observe the energies of the body, you can use restoration to examine the body in greater detail. Though, it would also be helpful to get a cadaver to cut open, so you can actually see the parts with your own eyes. If we would have thought of this back on the ship, we could have used one of the slavers. Until then, you can just examine everything you can see and feel from the surface."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei thought about Gallus' suggestion for a few moments, but she ultimately felt that it might create more issues than she was comfortable with. Taking over the ships out at sea would leave many possible destinations between there and Orcrest. "It may not be necessary to say that we were rescued at sea. There would be fewer complications if we claimed we never made it on board the ships. Or at least, that the ships did not make it far before being boarded. Instead of being put on the ships in the south, we could say that we were loaded onto them in the Larsius River. But, our rescuers set upon and boarded the vessels while they were still constrained by the river. Once we were free, we dumped the bodies, then lives aboard the ship for a few days before deciding to make our way to Orcrest with the slavers' supplies. In that case, the only things we would really be 'stealing' would be the supplies aboard the ships. In the Empire, the property of bandits and other outlaws is not protected in practice. Is it the same in the Dominion?" She asked, to which Ri'nakhad nodded in response.

Ma'tanza nodded, though she had to take a few seconds to think of the actual specifics of what was different. "Yeah, there are all sorts of little differences in how everything is placed between Argonians, Humans, and Khajiit. Argonian jugulars are closer to about right...here, for example. They also have entire body parts that Khajiit do not. Argonians have their gills, which Ma'tanza thinks look and feel rather strange. Though, even stranger is this thing that the Humans have. You can't see it on the outside, but it's a small organ, like tube branching off of their intestines. All of them have it, but no healer can actually figure out what it does. Sometimes it will completely burst, to the point that a healer cannot restore it, but they can remove it and the person will be just fine. It doesn't make much sense to Ma'tanza."