EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

For Dar-tzesa her pain had mostly died down at this point. It did flare up from time to time, but after a week of healing with lycan regeneration, any physical cause of her pain was gone. Now, most of her sobs came from the hopelessness of her situation. She had fallen into extreme depression, and did not even acknowledge Gallus and La'tahne when they entered.

La'tahne, meanwhile, was shocked upon seeing the state of the Argonian prisoner. Her eyes widened, and she brought her hand up to her chest with an exasperated expression. "Divines...this one thought that was just a rumor."

Standing uncomfortably to the side, La'tahne was silent until Gallus spoke to her. Hesitantly, she leaned in and carefully looked over the woman's face. "It...looks like it will. Her face already looks so close already. The right color on the scales, all the major features..." She began quietly, before looking up at Gallus with some confusion. "But...there is no way she will be fooling anyone with that kind of injury."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

La'tahne's ears perked up as she was brought out of her thoughts by Gallus' question. She seemed distracted by something, but rather than something that worried her, it appeared as if she was in a perfectly good mood. "Oh, face sculpting? It is...mostly physical. Most face sculptors do know some healing, but that's mostly just to keep our subjects comfortable and help them heal up quickly and properly afterwards. It wouldn't matter how much we reshaped their face if we gave them horrible scars afterwards. Though, we can also create scars if we need to. La'tahne thinks that is a silly thing to actually want, but she did have a warrior ask her to give him 'intimidating' scars once. We can also use a combination of magic and alchemy to change the tone of a person's skin, the color of their fur or eyes, the color of their hair. Remove or add blemishes. With enough skill, anything can be changed. The majority of our work, though, is sculpting bone. Our bones are what give our faces their shape, their features. Change that, and the skin above will follow suit."

Smiling, La'tahne thought back on her apprenticeship in Torval. "Really, face sculpting is an artform. Like painting or, well, sculpting. The name really does say it all. We model the face like fine marble into something of beauty. She could give you her services if you like." She offered, pausing as she turned her head to look at him. Without giving warning or asking permission, she reached out her hand held it under his chin as she examined his features. "You probably don't need it, though. Your face is already a work of art as it is."

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

For myself, I think I need something from Rtron on the shapeshifter, and whether or not the rather small form she chose is being knocked into the wall by the wing gusts. Although, I'm not sure if he's waiting on a response from Free to see if Grey protects the Naga from the bones.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

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

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Yes, we need her face to look enough like mine to fool someone who both has met me, and knew her." Meesei continued. "I know little of what is involved in face sculpting, but would that be possible?" She asked.

La'tahne shifted in place somewhat uncomfortably. She had her hands clasped together on the table in front of her with a fair amount of uncertainty in her expression. "That...may not be easy. It is definitely possible, for certain. This one's former mentor would have been able to do that without a second thought, but this one was only an apprentice, and she is out of practice on top of that, but...it is something La'tahne has done before. Never on an Argonian, granted, but the concepts are all the same. You will have to be present to serve as a model, and this one would be more comfortable if we also had a healer on hand. La'tahne did learn some restoration as a part of her training, but such detailed work will require her bring the impostor under this one's knife for much longer than usual. Even so...La'tahne cannot guarantee it will work, but she will do everything she can."

Meesei looked to La'tahne reassuringly. "That is all we ask. If you fail, we do have other options we can try. We should start preparing as soon as possible. Ri'vashi, we should prepare a room and get any supplies she may need. Gallus, could you go with La'tahne to let her see the impostor, and to retrieve her from her cell and bring her to us? I would like to hold her separately from the rest of the prisoners from this point on. Just be sure she is gagged before you move her."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

La'tahne took her seat at the table, next to Ri'vashi and across from Gallus. She had a slight hint of nervousness in her body language, but was doing what she could to hide it. Regardless of the supposed casual nature of the meeting, she sat with the proper posture and mannerisms of upper Aldmeri society.

"This one knows the names of the Champion, Meesei, and of course her clan leader, but she does not know the name of the handsome Imperial before her." La'tahne answered.

Given that they had already been delayed, Meesei did not waste time getting to business. "His name is Gallus, an alpha from Bruma accompanying my pack. We may need your skills in face sculpting in order to deceive one of the prisoners."

La'tahne gave a quick nod. "Ah, yes, of course. Face sculpting. Well, it was to be La'tahne's profession before she was turned. She was an apprentice to the sculptor for the Thalmor advisers to the Mane himself in Torval. Unfortunately, there is not much of a need for those services in the clan, so La'tanhe has taken on her other hobbies as a way of helping the clan. This one's skills are...not like those of her former master, she is afraid. But...what is it that you need her to do?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The three left the prisons, though Ri'vashi offered to find La'tahne herself to allow Meesei and Gallus to go ahead and make their way to the meeting chamber. It took about fifteen minutes for Ri'vashi to return to the meeting chamber with news that La'tahne was on her way, but it took about half an hour more for her to actually arrive.

As La'tahne stepped into the chamber, the cause of the delay was rather clear. Unlike most everyone else in either clan, she wore a dress that looked like it belonged in a city. It had bright, warm colors like orange and yellow, and was rather form-fitting and provocative like the garb of a dancer. She wore ribbons of cloth draped around her shoulders and tied around her tail, along with various kinds of homemade jewelry, and even a gold and ruby necklace. All of her visible fur was finely groomed, and near perfectly cleaned. Upon the sight of her, Ri'vashi let out a sigh and ran her hand down the side of her face.

"La'tahne...this is not a formal meeting. You did not have to prepare your appearance as if you were going to a noble's court." Ri'vashi said with some degree of frustration.

"Why clan leader, you could not truly expect this one to go to a meeting with the Champion herself without looking her absolute best. You did not say you needed her in a hurry." La'tahne responded defensively.

Ri'vashi gave another sigh. "It was...implied."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As Gallus was speaking, Ri'vashi was obviously in thought. She had her ears lowered, and her arms crossed over her chest with her chin resting on her hand. She had a thought in her mind on a potential option they could take, though was not absolutely certain that it would work. "Do you believe a face sculptor may be of use?" She asked.

Unfamiliar with the concept, Meesei looked to Ri'vashi questioningly. "I am afraid I do not know what a face sculptor is. Would they be able to alter Dar-tzesa's appearance?"

Ri'vashi nodded. "Yes, she would. This one does not believe they exist in the Empire, or at least aren't as common, but they are popular among the elite of the Dominion. Particularly in Alinor, but there are practitioners of the art across the Dominion who serve those who can pay. Ri'vashi does not know exactly how it works, but they can change one's facial appearance to be anything within reason. Our gardener, La'tahne, was an apprentice to a face sculptor in Torval. I know she did not complete her apprenticeship before she was turned, and she does not have quite the range of abilities as a proper face sculptor, but since Dar'tzesa looks so much like you already..."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ri'vashi nodded to Gallus. "Well, there are three ways to exit the stronghold. The first would, obviously, be the main entrance. Second is the hole leading to the outside at the top of the main chamber. The scaffolding along the walls leads all the way up to it, and it can be used as an exit, but in this case, it would be hard to justify why you are bringing a prisoner all the way up there. The last is an emergency exit that was built into the stronghold before we arrived. It is a tunnel leading about midway up to one of the other hills. There is a rock doorway that blends into the hill, with a mechanism built into the hillside to lower it from the inside. You will need to be careful sliding down the hillside, but it seems like your best option."

Meesei continued on the topic of how to fool the Imperial into believing her death. "I could part with the ring, yes. If necessary. We do still have the forgery that Dar-tzesa was wearing, if there is another way to convince him. However, I do wonder if any of those body parts would be enough to convince him? He does not seem to completely trust you, and he is well-aware that we have access to an impostor of myself. Do you think he may consider that kind of deception? Perhaps there is a way we could make something about Dar-tzesa look more like myself?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The three were silent until they had made their way into the empty cell and slowly closed the door behind them, being sure they had its key first. Regardless, Meesei spoke silently, just to be safe. "So, it seems we need to determine how to kill me. This does complicate matters, but I am sure we will be able to find a solution. We need a way to make sure he is convinced of my 'death.' If it takes any time or effort to persuade him, he may not trust you. As well, we will need to determine a believable way for you to sneak him out of the stronghold. We have to make it look like a challenge. Too easy, and he could start suspecting the truth."

Ri'vashi nodded. "This one can make sure the guards along the way know of the plan. Did you have an idea for how specifically to get him out of the stronghold, Gallus?"

---

Ma'tanza curled her lips and looked up towards the exit of the room. "Yes, this one should probably have a lesson or two with her mentor too. She was too busy to train with Ma'tanza yesterday, so she will probably be wanting to make up for it today."

Bheja stood up and stretched briefly. "Well, I guess we can all meet up later then. We can get together by the tree in the main chamber, then see where we can go from there."