EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Marcaille continued examining Meesei for a short while longer until she finally found a place to target her magic within Meesei's heart. Naturally, working on a beating heart was a delicate procedure, so extracting the silver she could find was painfully slow. Regardless, she could keep up the conversation, with a few pauses to focus on her healing. "Yes, there is a great deal of ancient magic that has been lost in Tamriel. You should know that, considering your Alpha. Your ritual earlier today, Champion, was not like any I have witnessed before. I almost wish I could have been there to see it. Of course, many of those in my coven just made themselves into vampires. When it comes to life extension, I think that's just cheating. The old magics may not be pleasant, but at least you have to earn it."

Marcaille took interest when Fendros started to question Sabine about her upbringing, and she mentioned her coven. She was not using her sight to heal Meesei, so she looked to Sabine curiously. "Oh, so you were raised a witch as well? It has been quite a while since I have come across another woman of the wilds. Which coven did you belong to? The Beldama, Wroth, Kykos, Glenmoril like myself? Some covens have always been more in touch with the old ways than others."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Marcaille chuckled. "Oh, you probably don't want to hear all of the little details of that. Would take too long, anyway. Regardless, it's an effect of the old magic. I'm from High Rock, originally; the mountains near Skyrim. I've been in this clan since it was founded by Ennond. I was born into a coven, or stolen as an infant, more likely. They raised me for most of my childhood, taught me of magic and alchemy. Until they decided it was time to make a sacrifice to lord Hircine, and I was chosen for that honor. Luckily, our lord decided it was more sporting to turn it into a hunt. Old hag probably didn't expect she'd be the prey, though. Ah, anyway, I'm rambling. I've still been keeping their traditions alive. Magically, at least."

While the others were talking, Meesei closed her eyes, letting out a long, deep breath. She felt weak, more frail than she had ever been. And, at the same time, there were constant pains scattered across her body. She did not wish to trouble the others at the moment, but she felt worse than she looked. All she could do for the moment was to keep her magic flowing through her body, and do her best to at least attempt to extract what silver she could. Unfortunately, that effort was slow. Worryingly slow.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Alright. I don't have anything more specific to say with Meesei before moving on to morning.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Alright, goodnight.

Say, when do you think would be good to skip to morning?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Marcaille weaved her way between everyone in the tent, careful not to accidentally bump into anyone who looked injured, and pulled up a chair on the other side of the table next to Meesei. She placed her hand on Meesei's side, which began to glow faintly. For the moment, she was merely examining Meesei's body to determine the best way to continue treatment. She raised her eyebrow at Fendros' question, though she did not quite understand what he was intending to ask about.

"Who, Jo'fasa? Oh, you don't need to worry about him. He is no apprentice, not anymore at least. He may not be the most experienced healer among us, but he is perfectly capable. He is nearing his thirtieth year, and has been studying Restoration for about fifteen of those. He still has quite a way to go to catch up to me, though. I have been healing for, oh...fifty-five, fifty-six years by this point. I do not like to brag, but in this case, I hope it comforts you to know that your Alpha is in the best hands we have." Marcaille answered, generating even more questions about her age in the process. Ahnasha was particularly intrigued. If she had been studying restoration for fifty-five years, then she would at least be in her sixties or seventies, and she certainly did not look to be that old.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lorag pulled out one of the potions and stepped up to Kaleeth. "Yeah, and from what I remember, some of those cuts came from silver too.' He commented as he handed off one of the potions to her. She was somewhat reluctant to take a potion that someone else might need, but upon the insistence of the others, she accepted it.

Since Kaleeth had a potion, Ahnasha was the one other than Meesei that Sabine would want to help. She rubbed her injured shoulder lightly for a few seconds after Sabine made the offer, then nodded. "I should probably get your help, actually. A Senche trampled, me, dislocated my shoulder. I'd like to be able to use a bow as soon as possible, in case we need to defend the camp."

Meesei did not give much of an outward reaction to the news of Do'ajee's death, though that was mostly because the many other tragedies they had faced in the attack had been dulling her to the pain of the losses.

A few moments later, another individual stepped into the tent, this time a Breton woman. Surprisingly, she did not appear uncomfortable to be walking in on a pack potentially giving their goodbyes to their leader, but she was at least polite. "Forgive me. I am Marcaille, the clan's lead Restorationist. I know I am probably intruding, but I want to stay with the Champion for tonight. Remain with her, try to help her survive as best as I can. Even if the chances aren't good, I would rather try than not." She explained. Oddly, the other healer had described Marcaille as an old Breton, but she appeared to be reasonably young.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Hopefully so." Ahnasha commented, regarding the gas. "With that kind of weapon, this war could become a lot shorter if we can develop no way to fight it. Any clan relying on strength instead of secrecy to defend itself could be wiped out almost without effort...like Bruma."

Kaleeth shifted uncomfortably as the conversation moved to the gas. She had not seen its effects firsthand, but Meesei's description of it was utterly terrifying to her. "Do you...think they have much more of it with them? There are still a lot of us here to defend the camp, but with that gas...would they really need a lot of soldiers?"

Meesei thought back on her memory of the attack as she considered Kaleeth's concern. "It is possible, but they did use quite a lot of the gas as we were escaping. They attempted to bring down the entire keep and fill it with gas. Then, tried to trap us in the courtyard and gas it as well. If we are fortunate, their supply will be low."

"Hopefully." Ahnasha said once more. It was just another concern to add to their list of worries. "What about that shield? Does it mean that Peryite has sided with Vile?"

"Possibly, but there is no guarantee." Meesei answered. "Peryite could have gifted it to him as a part of an alliance, but there are many other ways he could have come about it. He may have simply performed a one-time task for the Daedra and received it as a reward. Or, he simply could have had it recovered through conventional means. Daedric artifacts do frequently change owners without the intervention, or even knowledge, of the Daedra. While powerful, many of them are still physical items like any other. They can be lost, stolen, sold, and so on."

Shortly afterwards, Lorag returned from outside bearing a small sack. "Okay, so I have potions, but there's one problem. Healing supplies are apparently runnin' a bit thin right now, with all the wounded and such. Healer said that only people who are badly hurt, or have silver wounds should take potions for now. Anyone else'll have to suck it up, deal with the pain, and let their regeneration handle it."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Shortly after Lorag left, the others began to settle in as best as they could. The tent was somewhat cramped, but it was not the lack of space that was making most of the pack uncomfortable. Meesei was not sure what she could say to calm the minds of her family, and was glad when Fendros gave them something to at least converse about.

Meesei nodded. "Yes. The enemy was not expecting me to cross the gap, so it was easy to remain undetected once inside. I fount my way upstairs, and followed the sound of fighting to Ra'jorr, and Do'rhajul. The General was leading the defense himself; he wore Imperial-styled armor, carried a silver longsword, and bore the legendary shield, Spellbreaker. It was the last of those which spelled my defeat. The fight started out well at first. In that chamber, Ra'jorr's forces greatly outnumbered those of the enemy. Do'rhajul commanded his soldiers quite competently, but there was simply no way they could hold against us. We steadily pushed them back, with myself and Ra'jorr fighting the General directly. But, he was an exceptionally skilled opponent. Even with me keeping his attention with a spell, he killed Ra'jorr outright. Even so, we still would have been victorious. We pushed them back to the far end of the chamber, with only a handful of soldiers left to defend the General. Then...the gas arrived."

There was clear discomfort in Meesei's expression from her recollection of the gas. The screams of the unfortunate lycans who had their souls ripped from their bodies were still vivid in Meesei's mind. Even if she did not survive the night, she was thankful she had not shared that fate. "A pair of soldiers brought it up in a barrel. It spread rapidly once Do'rhajul released it. Upon breathing it in, every lycan began to scream in pain. They collapsed to the ground, terrified. It...seemed like their very souls were being ripped from their bodies. All except for myself, and Do'rhajul. He drank a potion before releasing the gas, likely an antidote. As for me, I believe it was Hircine's Ring which protected me. Both the suppression gas and this new weapon target the combined soul of a lycan and their beast spirit. Since the Ring grants complete control over that soul, I believe the Ring's magic overpowers that of the gas."

"As for the fight after the gas was released, the General dismissed the rest of his soldiers. He did not seem to think they would be able to help him against me. I fought him alone, but...he was too strong for me." Meesei explained.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei shook her head towards Janius. "No, the thought has not really crossed my mind. One of the prominent attributes of eternity is that there will be quite a lot of time for me to think of questions...when that day comes. For now, I am more concerned about this moment; I foresee myself maintaining healing spells for quite a long time tonight. And of course, I would much rather spend my time talking to you than speculating on my future."

With Meesei's insistence that the others deal with their own injuries, there were a few who actually started paying attention to them for the first time. Ahnasha had been favoring one arm since being trampled by the Senche, and when she rubbed the back of her neck, her hand returned with fresh blood. The wound she had received at the beginning of the attack had not been severe, but it had been closed by her regeneration and reopened a few times as she moved around during the fight. Kaleeth, meanwhile, had even more obvious wounds. She had picked up a few bruised, and some superficial cuts from the time she spent transformed, but her largest wound was received when one of the enemy thrust a steel sword straight into her abdomen during their escape. Since it lacked silver, the blood had already clotted; however, the wound was one wrong movement away from reopening. Lorag had received his own set of bruises, but his armor was hiding any trace of them. He was still having a difficult time facing Meesei, so he let out a sigh and looked towards the exit of the tent. "I'll, uh, go see about some potions or somethin'."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei closed her eyes for a few seconds and allowed herself to simply breathe for a few moments, and focus her healing magic onto herself once more. Opening her eyes again, she addressed Fendros first. "You can tell anyone that might want to speak to me that I am awake. I will speak to anyone who comes to me, but I do not want to compel anyone to come to me if they do not desire it. I understand situations like this can be...uncomfortable. Otherwise, try to get some rest, and tend to your own health. I can see a few wounds on you all that look to have been left alone. I know you worry for me, but consider it my request that you worry about yourselves as well."

For Sabine, Meesei gave her a comforting hug. She spoke softly, in that distinctly motherly tone that tended to surface during their more tender conversations. "Sabine, you can help me in whatever way you feel is best. If you want to spend this night with me, I will enjoy your company. But, my advice to the others applies to you as well. Before you worry about me, you need to tend to yourself. I do not need magic to see that you were hurt in the fight. Your face was bleeding, broken nose, perhaps? You took a few more heavy blows, at least three to the chest, a few to the stomach. Nothing made with silver, but that just means it should not take too long to tend to. You treat yourself, then I will let you help me however you like."