EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lorag shook his head. "He kept himself separate from his men. Professional. He didn't want to get mixed up in attachments with his soldiers. It wasn't like I was friends with him; I respected him. We all respected him, at least all of us that didn't care that he was a cat. He commanded that respect not because he wanted to be our friends, or because he was lenient, or strict, but because his actions demanded it. He was like...a symbol of Imperial might or somethin'. I respected him more than my own father."

Tightening his grip on the bottle of ale, Lorag took a drink with an increasingly frustrated expression. "It just doesn't make any sense, any of it. This isn't like him. Vile is a selfish Daedra that deals with selfish people. He appeals to greed, to pride, to people wantin' power and all that. Do'rhajul was never any of that. He served the legion with honor, and a purpose beyond gold. This can't be the same Khajiit."

---

Ma'tanza gave a slight giggle. "A little." She answered as she laid herself back on the bedroll with her hands behind her head. Her gaze focused on the stars above them, which, with the sun setting over the horizon, were growing brighter by the minute. As per usual in the desert, the sky was perfectly clear, so there was nothing to obstruct her view of the moons and constellations.

"You look like you'll be asleep a lot sooner than this one, though. Promise this one that you won't keep staying up like that on her account, though. You need to be nice and alert on a march like this, especially when it comes time to actually treat the wounded. As a healers' assistant, you can't afford to make any mistakes. A potion of healing, and a potion of fire resistance look very similar, but only one of them will keep someone from bleeding to death while they are waiting on a healer." She commented.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lorag finished off the rest of his ale and tossed the bottle aside. He was becoming steadily less reluctant to speak about the current topic the longer the conversation went on, and the more he drank. "It was sometimes hard to see how the pieces of his plans fit together, just being a soldier like I was. I was more focused on bashin' in the traitors' skulls than seeing what my commander's grand plan was, but...there were a few times that I saw enough. I guess one of 'em would be after that dragon attack. We were on the way to Fort Kastav, in the Pale. It had been a point of contention between us and the Stormcloaks; we'd gone back and forth on the place a few times, and built up the defenses more every time it changed hands. I don't think the Pale itself was all that valuable; it was a mountainous, frozen wasteland, mostly. But, Dawnstar had a port the Empire could use to bring in more supplies, and that fort was a decent staging ground to mount attacks on Winterhold and Eastmarch."

With a brief pause, Lorag started to eye the bottle of ale Gallus was holding. "Anyway, we were meant to lay siege to the place, but that dragon had cut us down too much for that. Do'rhajul, though, he didn't back down. He came up with a plan, and didn't tell most of us what it was until it was already happening. In the dead of night, he had a portion of our troops get down in the snow, cover ourselves in it, and start crawling towards the fort. It was dark, and he had us stop just behind a small hill as close as we could get without bein' seen. I was one of 'em. He had the alchemists make us some kind of potion to help with the cold, but that was still the coldest I think I've ever been. Knowing how many supplies we lost to that dragon, it might've just been flavored water, to trick us into thinkin' we were warm. Still, it was better than Do'rhajul's job. See, Fort Kastav was a prison for war captives, since trying to escape into that frozen wasteland was practically a death sentence. So, we dressed up some of our Nords in some Stormcloak uniforms we'd taken from enemy patrols, then had them escort some more of our soldiers as "prisoners" straight up to their fort. Do'rhajul made himself one of the prisoners. It was too dark for them to read the orders we forged from the top of the walls, and they thought the group was too small to be a threat if it turned out to be a trick, but...they were wrong. As soon as they were inside, they overpowered the gate guard to keep the gate open. Now, I couldn't see from where I was, but I heard the stories about the fight. Unarmored, and with a sword undersized for his body, our commander put himself at the front of the defense to hold the gate, with every Stormcloak in sight bearing down on them. We charged as soon as we saw the signal. Stood up out of the snow, ran straight through a volley of arrows, and stormed in straight through the open gate to reinforce them. By the time I got there, Do'rhajul had taken an enemy shield and claymore, and kept leading the attack from the front, all while in prisoner rags."

---

Ma'tanza nodded briefly. "Oh, Ma'tanza just found a bigger cord to hang it around her neck. Well, it's more of a rope; this one just took the cord you had and tied it to a rope around her neck. That seems to work fine."

Seeing Tzirret's rather exhausted demeanor produced a yawn from Ma'tanza. She was not as fatigued as him, but she did feel like laying down to relax. She pulled away from Tzirret briefly to reach into her tent and drag her bedroll outside, just in front of the tent. Sitting down on the bedroll, she reached back and started to unwrap her torso. "You do look really tired. This one hopes you don't have to work this much every day of the march. Ma'tanza doesn't see how anyone could do that."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It's about time for me to go to bed. I'm feeling rather tired, my Mondays are pretty long. I'll respond tomorrow. After next week, though, my semester will be over.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lorag grunted. "Like he'd have ever told me that. He was our commander, a real professional. With his men, everything was strictly business, by the...well, I'd say by the book, but he pretty much wrote his own book. From the time I was assigned to his battalion, to the time I was turned, he never lost a battle against the Stormcloaks. Only time he went through what you could call a loss was when a dragon ambushed us on the way to Fort Kastav, but...well, there wasn't much anyone could've done about that. Lost a good chunk of our force, but he lead us to a victory all the same. So yeah, unless you can get us a dragon, I don't got any surefire way of taking him down."

"We will find a way." Meesei commented, leaning forward towards him. She showed no interest in the ale for the moment, as it would not have any pronounced affect on her anyway. "We just need to get an idea of how he thinks. He was Imperial-trained, correct? Do you think he will employ those tactics."

Lorag hummed briefly as he thought. "Well, yeah, but nothin' like what you would read in some book. He took established Imperial tactics and built on them. Always in different ways; he was adaptable. He liked to set up his men by the book, but would mix things up when it came time to follow through on the attack. I guess at the very least, I'll be able to tell you the things he won't do."

---

Ma'tanza moved herself closer to Tzirret and put her arm around him. "You don't know them, Ma'tanza doesn't think. This one' mentor, Niryana, her assistant and her other apprentice are looking after him. Her assistant isn't a fighter, and her other apprentice is too young to join us. Her assistant is sort of a strange man, an Ohmes-raht that wants to be an author, of all things. But, he is a kind person. Her other apprentice is a Bosmer boy, but he is only a little older than M'ibasa. Honestly, Niryana's assistant will probably be watching after both of them. Ma'tanza trusts him to take care of M'ibasa, but like she said, it's his own worrying that concerns this one."

After letting out a deep breath, Ma'tanza turned her head to Tzirret and attempted to smile. "But, it won't help to dwell on it. We should just try to relax." She said before giving him a quick kiss.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei elected to join Gallus in the tent with Lorag. Being that she was the individual he trusted the most, she felt it would ease his mind further if she was present. Ri'vashi, meanwhile, decided to remain outside since she did not know him nearly as well, and to avoid crowding the tent.

Inside, Lorag was laying down on his bedroll with a half-empty bottle of ale in his hand. He was only vaguely paying attention to the world around him until Gallus called out his name. Letting out a sigh, he sat up lazily and stretched out the muscles in his arms. Lorag groaned as he stared at the bottle Gallus was holding before, with a hint of reluctance, motioning for Gallus and Meesei to sit down. “Whatever, as long as you’re sharin’ it with me.”

Lifting up his own bottle, Lorag downed a quarter of its remaining contents at once before returning his gaze to the other two apathetically. “So, you want somethin’. What is it?”

---

Ma’tanza shrugged her shoulders. “This one doesn’t know. She might be with the other warriors, or other Senche, or Bheja. Probably Bheja. She wouldn’t be hard to find if Ma’tanza wanted to look around.” She answered, though Tzirret’s following question gave her more pause.

Ma’tanza stared down at Tzirret’s hands as she answered. “Ma’tanza is worried about M’ibasa. She knows he won’t be hurt physically or anything, but he has never been alone like this before. Well, we left him in good hands, of course, but he doesn’t know them as well as he knows us. She just knows he will be so worried while we’re away.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei's tent was located alongside those of the rest of her pack, on the other side of camp, so she had a few moments to share what she knew about Do'rhajul. "I know only the basics of who he is. Or was, rather. In all the time that has passed since Lorag knew him, I have no doubt he has changed considerably. According to Lorag, Do'rhajul was his commander in the Legion. He is a Cathay-raht, and a careered soldier. He led a battalion stationed at a fort in...the Pale, I believe, during Skyrim's civil war. I did not ask a great deal, but he was evidently a very effective tactician. Lorag thought he died along with the rest of his patrol when they were ambushed by werewolves in the mountains."

After a few minutes walk, the trio reached the tents of Meesei's pack. Turning to the other two, Meesei began to whisper. "We should take care in how we approach him. He has had some time calm down since the meeting, but it may still be a sensitive issue." She explained as she leaned down to the bags pushed up against the side of the tent. Digging into the bottom of one of Lorag's bags, she produced an unlabeled bottle of ale, then handed it to Gallus. "It may help to share a drink with him."

---

"Hmm...well you are one of the healers' assistants. Ma'tanza thinks it might make sense to give you a lot of the busy work. They probably don't want the healers to exhaust themselves doing all that; otherwise, we might make a mistake trying to treat someone. This one doubts they would just give you work for no reason." Ma'tanza reasoned. With a grin, she reached over and placed her hand on top of Tzirret's.

"This one is sure that what you are doing is very helpful. Anyway, this one's morning went well. Ma'tanza doesn't like that she won't be able to see her little brother for so long, but she is glad he is safe. S'nishi is more used to all of this, with her being a warrior." She explained.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei, at the current stage of their journey, was no less busy than usual. Once the warband settled into a pattern, she could perhaps get some respite from her responsibilities, but for now, there was still much organization and planning for her and Ri'vashi to do. Ri'nakhad, regardless of how much he would have liked to lend his leadership talents on the march, had stayed behind in the stronghold. As an old man, he knew he would be a burden if they encountered any trouble along the way. As usual, Ra'jorr was leading the Senchal clan's warriors, and had joined the others in the planning.

Though they still needed a definitive plan of attack on the stronghold itself, that would not likely be possible until they were in range to scout the stronghold once more. For now, Meesei supposed that Gallus was right. "Yes, I do believe there is more he can tell us. He did speak to me before about this General, after our meeting. He answered some basic questions about his description, training, and such, but I did not want to press the issue at that time. He may be at least...marginally more comfortable speaking about it now. Though, it is difficult to say. Lorag is not usually an emotional individual, so seeing him so deeply affected by this is concerning. We can go speak to him now, if you like. I am sharing a tent with him; he should be there now. I believe he is drinking some ale he stole from the kitchens before we left."

---

Ma'tanza was sitting outside her tent when she saw Tzirret approach. She actually appeared surprised when he mentioned how busy he had been on the first day of their march. "Really?" She asked, cocking her head to the side curiously. "Ma'tanza hasn't had to do anything other than walk today. Well, and make sure all her potions were stored in the right place, but she did that before the march started."

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

I'm here, can't do much. I think I need an @Rtron to continue. I should pick one up at Home Depot.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

We can probably have the timeskip soon. There isn't anything about the traveling itself I think we need to cover, but I suppose there is a scene or two we could do before the fight. I recall you wanted to have a discussion with Lorag about the general.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei laughed lightheartedly, placing her hand on Colors' shoulder. "Colors, I have full confidence that you can handle that yourself. I am afraid that I do not currently intend to turn my praise into an aphrodisiac. Still, you do have my gratitude for all of the help you have given to your clan. Now, try not to anger too many of the Orcrest clan's women."

After giving her farewells to the remainder of Ra'kalesh's pride, Meesei moved on to find Ri'vashi and Ri'nakhad. Kaleeth set down Newt and, after a bit of convincing, persuaded him not to attempt to chase after them when they left. Leaps, luckily, was more keen to stay with the children than to follow Janius and Kaleeth, so they would not need to restrain him. As the minutes passed, more and more of the warband had given their farewells and were ready to depart. Soon, they would be setting out on the long road to the forests east of Corinthe.