EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think I'll be heading to bed soon. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With only an occasional wrong turn, both packs quickly found their way back to their old rooms. Both Ri'vashi and Marcaille would be receiving permanent rooms soon enough, but Meesei allowed them to store their belongings in her room for the moment. Everyone was pretty much in agreement that they needed to get the meeting out of the way, and there was no one who seemed interested in sitting out. After dropping off their belongings, they decided to allow Rhazii and Newt to stay in Kaleeth and Janius' room with Leaps. They were old enough to take care of themselves, at least for a while.

Meesei was personally glad to be able to get out of the thick furs she was wearing and down to her normal, more comfortable attire. Despite her insistence that they begin the meeting quickly, she was the last to leave her room, after both Ri'vashi and Marcaille, who Lorag guided to the meeting chamber. She did not remain long, but took the few moments she had to drink another of Sabine's potions. She had not been outright hiding her potions from the others, she still had started feeling some degree of shame at the fact that the had to take them. It made her feel weak and frail to know that her life was being sustained only because she essentially took medicine regularly. She was entirely dependent on these potions in order to keep living her life normally, which did not sit well at all in her mind.

Regardless, it was only a short while before Meesei made her way from her room to the meeting chamber, particularly since they were on the same hall. She was one of the last few to arrive, thought they were still waiting on Oswall and Gallus before they could begin. Or at least Oswall, if Gallus decided he did not wish to join.

As soon as she stepped into the room, Meesei reached into her pouch and produced a stack small stack of parchments, mixed in with a few cut out pieces of animal hide that Meesei had started using after she ran out of paper, then placed them down on the table in front of Vera. "I took the time to write up a detailed report of our mission on our way back from Elsweyr. You may wish to have some copies made of it so you can review it later. Though, do not make too many copies. There is some very sensitive information contained on these pages."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Marcaille gave no particular reaction to Janius' compliment, and instead simply shook Vera's hand, then stepped away from being the center of attention. Pierrette, meanwhile, left to find a few officers to temporarily handle their duties so they could hold a meeting on all that had transpired.

Meesei wanted to take the time to get settled in, but it was also important to give the council all of the news she had as soon as she could. So, she felt it would be best not to get too caught up in relaxing. "Thank you, Vera. Perhaps we can find some rooms in which to offload all of these bags we are carrying?"

"Well, we did keep your rooms for you." Tola responded. "We didn't reassign them or anything. Everything you left in them when you departed should still be there. There was one kid that tried to break into you your room, but we caught him, and handled him appropriately." She explained.

Meesei nodded. "Thank you. You could have used our rooms if you wished, but it is appreciated. I will go there for a few minutes, then head on to the meeting chamber." Once Sabine asked if she should attend the meeting, Meesei nodded to her, then addressed the rest of the group as a whole. "I would encourage everyone to attend the meeting, actually. We will be sharing our report of everything that has happened, so everyone has a place in being there."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

To Vera, Ri'vashi stepped forward and offered to shake her hand. Her time as clan leader had trained her to be able to deal with formal meetings in a more professional setting, and it had never been something she had a particular problem with. Her awkwardness mostly only surfaced in more personal, casual settings. "This one is Ri'vashi, the, um, former leader of the Orcrest clan." She answered. It was a name Vera would recognize since, as the Alpha of the Bruma clan, she and the rest of the council had reasonably frequent written correspondence with all of Tamriel's clans over the last few years."

"To allay any fears you may be having, the Orcrest clan is perfectly fine. We can go over all of the details of our mission's report in private." Meesei added.

Pierrette, another lieutenant in the council, nodded in agreement. "Indeed, I am sure there is much we will need to discuss in our meeting. Of course, we do not have to convene it immediately. You no doubt want to take a moment to rest after your journey, and reconnect with everyone. But, if you want to hold it soon, I can go find some officers to handle our more immediate duties." She offered.

"Yes, please. Thank you, Pierrette. It is best that we discuss my report sooner, rather than later." Meesei responded. Turning her attention back to Vera and the others, she gave a warm smile. "But, regardless, it is good to see you all, and good to be home.

Since she had not yet given her introduction, Marcaille also stepped forward. "My name is Marcaille. I would not say I'm anyone particularly special, just an alchemist."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Alright. Full names are Pierrette Mousara and Tola Corvus.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Found them. A breton woman named Pierrette, and a Nord woman named Tola. The Breton is good with logistics, and the Nord is a negotiator and warrior.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I remember there were two of them, and both their names escape me. I don't remember who controlled them either.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha smiled at Rhazii, placing a hand on his back. "And we're going to be staying home for quite some time." She added, a statement that was at least halfway true. She was just as aware as the others that they would likely need to move the entire clan to escape the danger that the enemy now posed, but they would still be staying with the Bruma clan. In that sense, they would be staying home, regardless of what ruin or cavern they were residing in.

Kaleeth, meanwhile, was holding Newt in her arms, wrapped in so many furs that his face was hardly even visible. "I think I like the desert better." She commented, shivering. Of everyone in their group, Newt fared the worst in the cold, except for perhaps Leaps. The wamasu was wrapped as warmly as he would allow and was following close alongside Meesei, who was maintaining a flame in her hand to warm the both of them. Meesei had been considering creating some enchantments to help Newt and Leaps deal with the cold. Since they had mostly remained in their clanhome until recently, it had not been an issue, but if they wanted to start bringing Leaps in particular outside more often, he would need something to reliably keep his body temperature up.

Heading into the cave, the group actually came across someone sooner than expected. It appeared that a new guard post had been added in their absence to give another line of defense, so the first people to greet them were two, heavily armored warriors. They were already standing at attention as they approached, so Meesei had been right in assuming that they would be spotted by a sentry. Security, at least, had not degraded in their absence. They both seemed to be in a particularly good mood upon seeing the Champion's and Gallus' packs, which was encouraging. They had not been in contact with the Bruma clan since their departure, so they were really not sure of what state the clan was in.

The packs passed through two more guard posts before they entered the Ayleid ruin proper. Ayleid ruins did exist in High Rock, where both Ri'vashi and Marcaille were from, but since neither had seen one of the ruins in person before, they were both interested in the strange architecture. For everyone else, it was the wave of warm air which greeted them that was the most comforting, at least until they walked far enough down the hall to reach the first minor chamber, which was an armory for warriors and hunters heading in an out of the ruin. Pretty much all of the clan's leadership was there to greet their returning Champion and her companions.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The meeting between Gallus' pack ended on an at least somewhat acceptable note for Peiter. He still did not like the idea of Gallus pursuing this foolish idea, but the fact that they would be talking about it later meant that he could calm down for the moment. The sun set shortly afterwards, and one by one, everyone in the camp started to get to sleep.

---

By this point, everyone had become accustomed to long treks across the desert. At no point was it "easy", but they knew how to adjust their habits to make the trip as pleasant as possible. They knew how to keep themselves from overheating, while still protecting themselves from the sun. They knew exactly when to eat and drink to keep themselves from feeling consistently thirsty, which was helped by the fact that the Orcrest clan had given them more than enough supplies for the journey. Moving across the desert was as uneventful and repetitive as ever, which quickly became boring for the children in particular, but they were at least safe.

Thanks to the smaller size of their group, they moved more quickly in general and were able to reach the forest with plenty of supplies to spare. At a town near to the border, they were able to sell their camels, carts, and the barrels they had been using to store water, in order to purchase boats to bring them upriver to Bravil. They purchased three, and though it would be cramped, it would be enough to get them and their supplies to the city. They had to be cautious crossing the border; however, using the same strategy Colors had used to get the clan across before, it was fairly easy to sneak a much smaller group into Cyrodiil. The river was slow-moving enough that they were able to row themselves upstream until they finally reached the city. From there, they sold the boats quickly at a slight loss, then found a ship willing to take them as passengers to the Imperial City. It was not a long voyage, so the price was reasonable, and it left them with plenty of coin to hire a carriage or two to take them the rest of the way to Bruma.

After the Imperial City, the group's journey back to Bruma was almost identical to the first time they had made it months prior, except they were not attacked by highwaymen this time. Over the course of their journey, Peiter had shown slow, steady improvement to his mood. He was not depressed as often, and he was more willing to spend time with others, particularly Sabine. Although, he still had not even suggested any physical intimacy. He was by no means cured of his problems. He was more distant from everyone, physically and emotionally, than he had been before his injury. Ri'vashi and Marcaille, meanwhile, had become more open with the others during their travels. Ri'vashi was already quite familiar with Meesei and Gallus, but she had not previously spent a great deal of time with the members of either of their packs. After many long nights around campfires, however, she started to open up, no doubt under the influence of Gallus' advice. She could still be considered somewhat shy and distant, but it was a step in the right direction. Marcaille, on the other hand, had no particular anxiety about being social, but she also was not very open about private matters. She had no problem describing her past as it pertained to magic and alchemy, especially towards Ahnasha. However, she was largely silent on more personal matters.

Eventually, the time was finally upon the group to return home, or for Ri'vashi and Marcaille, meet their new clan. They had reached Bruma, and had quickly started on the path up the mountain. It had been many months since had seen snow, or felt the cold, and while it was not an entirely welcome sensation for some of them, it did bring back memories. When they finally came upon the entrance to the cave leading down to their home, even Lorag gave a subtle, satisfied smile. They had no doubt already been spotted by a sentry, so they were expecting that there was already a welcome ready for them inside.

"Seeing this cave again...it is almost surreal." Ahnasha commented.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think we can do most of these. Though playing all out as scenes would take some time, we could do a few simultaneously. Newt's naming day would probably happen after a few years, for which they would need to obtain some hist sap. I don't have anything in mind for the journey back to the Bruma clan, but I can summarize how things have gone in general once they arrive. The day of the arrival we should probably play out in a scene, so we can get caught up on how things have been going for the Bruma clan for the few months that they were gone. I have a very important scene that will happen a few days after that, which will definitely stir things up. Things will probably be chaotic in the clan for a while, but a lot of the things in your list can be done after they can settle down.