EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Hiritus shrugged his shoulders. "I can honestly say I have no idea. I haven't heard anything about a gas, so you probably know more about that than me. If you're going to be joining us, one thing you should probably know is that we have compartmentalized information. Everyone knows only what they need to know. If someone is captured and ends up breaking, they can't do that much damage. I personally don't know much of anything about what's going on down south. Of course, there's always general information and rumors going around about our efforts across Tamriel. It's pretty easy to piece together that something big is coming. We've been hunting for people, specific people, from all over. People who aren't lycans, and don't seem to be involved with them at all. Not to mention, Do'rhajul himself specified where exactly we should take your warriors once we tricked them to follow us, which is strange seeing as he normally doesn't directly manage our forces up in Orcrest. He has his subordinates for that."

By this point, the pair were well out of sight of the stronghold, and Hiritus' initial resolve to escape was wearing down now that they were in less danger. In between two of the dunes, he suddenly stopped and dropped down to his knees, then turned around to sit down. "I...need a minute. Ah, these legs are sore. Say, could I get some of that water you brought along?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Hiritus followed Gallus' direction regarding the wind, trusting him to know more about lycans' tracking capabilities than even himself. Though, as they were walking, he laughed at Gallus' comments regarding his plan. "Ha, do you really think we would throw together such a haphazard plan as that? Especially considering how difficult it was to find someone who both looked something like your Champion, and was willing to accept a deal from Vile. Maybe your former master might have tried some idiotic tactic like that, but we prefer our plans to make some semblance of sense. No, it was some sour luck that she and her entourage showed up that day. We were close too. We were meant to pull most of their forces out of that stronghold, take them halfway across Elsweyr to exhaust them for an ambush, then follow up with a clean sweep of that place. Obviously, you ruined that plan. We can finally report back on the location of their hideout, but that's not going to be an easy siege. That escape tunnel you took us through will be useful, but if they figure out we took it, they'll probably reinforce it."

Shaking his head slightly, HIritus gave a huff before continuing. "Anyway, that would normally be a big problem for us, but in this case, we're coming away with something that might be even better. Taking out an enemy stronghold is important, sure, but that lizard has been a thorn in our side for too long, since she took out our previous General. She has had some success in fighting us, so her successor might not be as effective. If they can even get a successor. I'm sure there are plenty of ambitious, power-hungry lycans out there just waiting for an excuse to try to claim that mantle, and without the ring to act as a symbol of power...I'm hoping there will be blood. Of course, even if they do get another good leader, it won't matter. From what I understand, General Do'rhajul plan will pretty much be a guaranteed victory. Even moreso now."

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Hey @Freeshooter92, you present?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Hiritus gladly downed the potion once he stood back to his feet. He leaned over with his hands on his knees, panting as if exhausted. He needed rest, but the need to at least get out of sight of the stronghold pressed him to start walking at a minimum. The potion had not yet taken effect, but his condition would start improving the longer they walked.

"Well, I haven't exactly been able to arrange a meeting from my cell in the past week, so we'll just have to head to the safehouse and see who's there. It's in a farmhouse just outside the city, to the north. The owner is one of ours, and we've expanded his basement to be a more useful hideout. Like I said, though, we can't go directly to Orcrest if we want to throw off any pursuers. Hopefully, this wind will cover our tracks before they find them." Hiritus explained.

Orcrest was to the northeast, but as they were taking an indirect route, Hiritus started to guide them due north. He was gritting his teeth in pain as he walked, but if nothing else, he could not be faulted for a lack of dedication. Despite the pain, and his overall weakness, he was putting every bit of effort he had into escaping the clan.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As soon as Hiritus' blindfold was off, he immediately covered his eyes, then lowered his head to allow his eyes to adjust at a somewhat reasonable pace. Eventually, he was able to look out over the landscape to get a sense of where they actually were. "Right, cover distance. I would say we need to head straight to Orcrest, but there's no way we can outrun those flying beasts of theirs. We'll have to take an indirect route to the city to keep out of their sight. I hope you thought ahead enough to bring some supplies."

The gradient of the hill immediately beneath the escape tunnel was too steep to simply walk down, so Hiritis had to carefully sit himself down, then slide down the hill to the point where he could walk again. Although, his walking was just as shaky as it had been when he first left his cell. He moved slowly at first, but Gallus quickly and easily overtook him. He tried to speed up his pace to keep up, but within only a few seconds, he lost his footing and tripped over a rock onto his hands and knees.

"Ah...you know, you really didn't make this easy for me with all that 'entertainment' you had with me over the last week. Don't suppose you've got a healing potion in any of those bags?" Hiritus asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The pair continued through the stronghold along the planned path, encountering a few more of the guards. Some were more convincing than others, but none were overtly obvious about the deception that was taking place. Ri'vashi had specifically selected the guards they were passing for their confidence and speaking ability, so there were no obviously bad actors among them. A few had nervous expressions that might have betrayed their thoughts, but with Hiritus blindfolded, it was irrelevant.

Eventually, Gallus managed to bring Hiritus past the last set of guards they planned to encounter, and beyond the parts of the stronghold that people normally frequented. They had encountered a few early-risers on the way and received a few strange looks, but none of them were going to attempt to interfere with anything that one of the Champion's companions was doing. They were not far from the escape tunnel at this point and would be able to make their exit without any difficulty.

So far, there was not so much of a hint that Meesei, or anyone else, was following them. It was exactly as they planned, though that also meant that Gallus would have no confirmation that his reinforcements were still following at any point during or after the escape. He would simply have to trust that they were able to keep up with him successfully.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The guard physically straightened up his posture, followed shortly by the other. He spoke up quickly, though still with nervousness in his tone. "Right, of course. Sorry sir. This one was...just following his orders. He did not know that any of the prisoners were meant to go anywhere."

There was some hesitation from the pair of guards, after which they shuffled to the side just loudly enough that the prisoner would be able to hear them. However, the guard did not yet allow them to pass without comment, as he did not want to make it seem that they had been able to pass them too easily. "Do you...want an additional escort, sir? To help watch the prisoner?" He asked.

Throughout the encounter, Hiritus followed Gallus' instructions to the letter and remained perfectly silent. He kept his head lowered towards the ground, except when Gallus forcefully lifted it up, and focused solely on keeping his footing. It was actually taking him noticeable effort to remain standing, due to his general weakness.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sorry for the delay, it has been a long day.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once out of the cell, Hiritus followed Gallus' commands without question. Granted, with his blindfold and gag, it was not possible to determine what kind of emotions he might be experiencing. Even with Gallus' encouragement, he was moving slowly, and with considerable difficulty. He had not walked on his own in over a week, and he had been beaten enough in that time that he was not in good condition overall. Nevertheless, he moved along wherever Gallus directed him without protest.

The first set of guards they encountered was a pair of Ohmes-raht, who were speaking casually to one another as they approached. Their conversation died down as Gallus and Hiritus drew closer, as one might expect when something of note happened on a guard's watch. One of the men held up his hand at Gallus, and moved to stand in front of him and block his path. Since Hiritus was blindfolded, it was not entirely necessary to give the right visual cues to sell the deception to the prisoner, but the guards seemed to be cautious enough to do so anyway.

"Hey, what are you doing with this prisoner?" The guard asked before giving an intentional pause. He looked closely at Gallus' face, and even widened his eyes slightly as if he had realized something. "Um...sir." He added uncomfortably.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Hiritus was not certain what was happening at first, as he was asleep when Gallus first entered the room. He was just starting to come to consciousness when Gallus threw down the head in front of him. As he leaned his head forward towards it, his eyes widened with pure, genuine shock. "What in Oblivion?"

As soon as one of his hands was unshackled from his chains, he pulled down his gag briefly. "You...actually did it? It's her, it's actually her. And here I thought you were a liar. It seemed like such an obvious trick, but there she is. I have to be dreaming."

Hiritus did not resist as he was being re-bound, and did not expect to be able to talk for much longer. Evidently, Hiritus had not completely bought into Gallus' earlier deception, but seeing Meesei's face on the head was easily enough for him. The quality of La'tahne's work was enough that any inconsistent details were small enough to be undetectable to anyone that did not know Meesei well.

"Take it with us. We'll need proof of the deed. But...how'd you pull that off?" Hiritus asked.