EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Peiter shook his head. "No, I...don't think I should be there. That's not my place." He answered, matching her tone. Though, it was uncertain if he was being genuine. He had not completely finished his meal, but gathered up what remained and quickly took his leave as Meesei and the others were starting to walk away. It seemed like he did not want to give her any time to try and persuade him.

The guard could not be very expressive in his armor, but what Janius could see of his face showed that he was uncertain. "It's...hard to say much about them really. Most of them were Imperial, I think. One Altmer. He seemed to be the leader. At least, he was the one talking to us. They approached calmly, said they did not 'intend harm', and surrendered immediately. They said they wanted to talk to you specifically, Champion. They haven't tried to do anything to us yet, but we're still assuming they're dangerous. We have their hands bound, and are keeping them under guard."

"Excellent, it is good to be cautious." Meesei responded. "But in this case, I believe I have been expecting our visitors. I have already called for a meeting with the Alpha and her lieutenants, so I would like you to have our visitors escorted to our meeting chamber. Under guard, of course."

The warrior looked even more confused than before, but he was not about to question Meesei's order. "Of course, Champion, right away."

From there, Meesei and her pack split from the warrior and headed up to the meeting chamber. Vera and her lieutenants, along with Ri'vashi had evidently been waiting for a while. Pierrette had been considering sending someone to find Meesei before they arrived. Meesei explained what was happening quickly, though it was only a few minutes before the warriors arrived with their intruders, so they could see them for themselves.

It was hardly standard procedure to bring a group of prisoners straight to the clan's leadership, so most of the warriors looked to be on edge, though all four of their robed guests seemed perfectly calm. The Altmer among them took a step forward, and did not so much as react when the guard to his right took a step forward as well and tightened his grip on his spear. Meesei, who was sitting at the head of the table, acknowledged the Altmer with a nod. "I am Hircine's Champion. I hope you can forgive the nature of the welcome you received, but I believe you should explain your reason for being here."

"It is my understanding that you have been expecting us, Champion of Hircine." The Altmer man answered, still without much of a hint of emotion. "It would be best to get straight to our business. It is not us who has an interest in speaking with you shifters, but rather the one we serve. If you will unbind my hands, I will give you what you need." He explained. The Altmer held his hands up in front of him, which were tied together by rope at the wrists. Meesei gave a nod to the guard beside him who, albeit reluctantly, untied the knot as requested.

Without any further words, the Altmer reached into the large satchel he was carrying over his shoulder and produced a rather sizable black book. It was rough looking, with a symbol printed onto the front too worn to make out from across the table. However, it was not until he placed it down at the center of the table and opened it that its true nature became apparent. The book was almost like a portal, from which a writhing mass of tentacles and floating eyeballs emerged. It filled the entire space above the table, and was contained within an ever shifting green and black aura. The eyes looked in all directions, at every one of the onlookers, though the largest, double-irised eyeball at the center of the grotesque being focused directly on Meesei. The first reactions of the guards was to raise their weapons towards the monstrosity, but none dared to make an attack. Meanwhile, each of their black-robed visitors dropped to their knees to bow before their lord. It spoke in a deep, almost gurgling voice. "I...am Hermeus Mora. Guardian of the unseen, and...knower of the un-known."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Indeed, the timing of this is too convenient to be simple coincidence." Meesei commented, nodding to Fendros. "I suspect that whoever these visitors are knew when we would return, though I do not know how. We certainly were not followed. Hircine himself may have had a hand in this. Regardless, I cannot say exactly who these visitors will be; Hircine was not specific. He rarely is. But, it is not as if our clan receives many visitors, so they should not be difficult to recognize. Hircine did say they would be coming this morning, so we should not be waiting too long."

The group continued their breakfast, now with almost all of them showing some anxiety. Whoever these visitors would be, Hircine himself had seen fit to warn beforehand of their arrival. He did not commune often with Meesei, so any time he did had to be important for one reason or another. At the very least, Meesei was not wrong when she guessed they would not be waiting long.

Shortly before most of the gorup had finished their breakfast, two of the clan's Nord warriors in full steel armor came walking into the dining hall. Warriors generally did not wear full armor except when on guard, or during training, so they had most likely come straight from one of the guard posts. Meesei and her pack were close to the entrance, so it did not take long for them to spot her. The taller man spoke up, standing as if he were at attention. "Champion, we encountered a group of four intruders entering the cave. We thought they might just be lost travelers at first, but they knew we were here. They surrendered themselves to us immediately; we searched them and found no weapons, or any of that gas, but they're all wearing the same kind of black robes, so they might be mages. They...asked for you specifically, Champion."

Meesei put down the last scraps of her meal, then brought herself up to her feet. "Well, it is good we did not have to wait too long, I suppose. You can all join the meeting as well." She said to her pack. "No doubt whatever these visitors have to say will affect us all."

Most of Meesei's pack started to stand as well, or quickly finish off the last of their food. Though, Peiter showed no interest in moving. He was not part of their pack, and highly doubted that it was his place to be a part of any important meetings.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Ssarak was in his room, dressing himself in his thick winter attire. He tended to forego leather in favor of appropriately thick furs during this time of year. They were not particularly necessary indoors, but he disliked stepping outside even briefly without something to insulate him. Being Esyire meant that he was less tolerant to the cold than most other races. His natural body temperature was rather high, so it took more effort for his body to maintain that temperature when the air cooled. Nevertheless, his experience this year was not quite as bad as it had been the previous, and he suspected that it would only get easier as time went on.

The previous few months had continued to be a time of intellectual growth for Ssarak. His private lessons with Satori had become so ingrained into his schedule by this point that he could hardly even consider filling that time with any other kind of task. It was mostly due to his military background that he was able to maintain such singular focus on his magic in perpetuity. He had further improved with his strengths in focused concentration, and continued to fine-tune those skills. Normally, Ssarak was the type of person who would want to diversify his skills to allow him to handle a variety of situations. It was why he had trained with multiple weapon types growing up, and was still maintaining his physical conditioning. However, in this instance, he had a particular interest in aspects of psychomancy related to focused concentration. He had an interest in learning of the intricacies of the mind and how it functioned. It was the kind of knowledge that could only be obtained with detailed concentration on a singular mind. It was something that had interested him for a while, but now, he had a new, more personal reason to pursue it. With how close they had become, Meirin had shared more details of her past with him. She had told him of the demon attack on her home in the past, but now he knew that its effects had reached far past that moment, and well into the present. It was because of that demon attack that Meirin now had her problems with sleeping, More troubling was that her medicine was becoming less effective, causing her to need more, which had been adversely affecting her health. The attack had done something to her mind, something he wanted cured before something terrible happened to her. But, being a psychomancer, he was in a position to at least try to do something. Psychomancy could manipulate the mind just as vitamancy could manipulate the body. Psychomancy in general was generally associated with its more harmful, manipulative effects, but it could heal just as well. If Ssarak wanted to heal her mind, he would need to improve his understanding as much as possible.

While Ssarak had certainly been making progress with his magic, there was something else he had heard that was a more present concern. New missions had been posted on the notice board in the courtyard, and he did not intend to ignore them. As with any skill, magical training needed to be tempered with real-world experience, and there was no doubt that the missions would be important. Once he was dressed, Ssarak stepped out of his room, though he did not go far. He was fairly certain that Meirin was in her room, so he stopped and knocked on her door. “Are you there, Mei?” He asked simply.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Say, @Ryonara, just checking since I accidentally interrupted something last time, did you have any scenes planned for Meirin after this last skip? In this case, I think it makes sense that Ssarak would want to ask Meirin to join him on a mission. Specifically, the follow up to the Djarkel escort mission they went on previously.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With the major issues addressed, the meeting eventually came to a close. Meesei did not wish to reopen wounds that had only recently closed, so she did not say anything to dwell on Irenya. As the others were reading her report, she took only a moment to pull Darahil aside and request that he keep Sabine supplied with the ingredients she would need to make her potions. Meesei had included in her report that she had been gravely injured in the fighting, but did not go into detail on the fact that she required continued treatment. She did not want word of her physical condition to spread around the clan, so she asked that Darahil remain discreet.

---

The clan had not changed a great deal since they had left on their mission, so Meesei and Gallus’ packs settled in once again fairly quickly. By the day after their arrival, Ri’vashi and Marcaille were given their own rooms. Marcaille was introduced to the rest of the scholars, and started their work on the soul-tearing gas with Sabine and the other alchemists. The gravity of their work meant that there was little opportunity for Marcaille to actually get to know the scholars in any casual sense, but she was sociable enough with her peers. For the moment, there was no talk between Marcaille and Ahnasha about their necromancy lessons, but given the importance of finding an antidote for the gas, Ahnasha certainly was not going to complain. Meanwhile, the clan’s officers, particularly those among their warriors, were informed of Ri’vashi’s role among them, and she took the time to meet each of them. It would obviously take time for them to adjust to the modification to their leadership structure, but they had been through such changes before.

It was three days after the group’s return to the clan, and Meesei’s pack had returned to their custom of eating their breakfasts together in the dining chamber, though now with one or two new guests. Peiter decided to spend his time with Sabine that morning, so he was with them as well. Their circle of friends had been quite stirred up by their return. They had been excited to see them, of course, but Peiter also should have expected that they would focus on his arm. Luckily, the fact that he and Sabine were now mated gave them something else to focus on after a while.

Meesei had been acting noticeably strange since the moment they sat down to eat. She was not quite nervous exactly, but was definitely holding some anxiety. However, once she was sure that everyone was present, she explained herself fairly quickly. “Last night, Hircine communicated to me in my dreams. We are to receive visitors this morning. I do not know who they will be, but I believe they will be of help to us. I have already sent word to Vera to prepare for another meeting.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

You think I should do a skip ahead a few days to the next event?

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Hmm, unfortunately, I don't think we're going to have a lakeside BBQ in the dead of winter.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

How much of a timeskip will this be, exactly? I cannot remember entirely what point we're at in the story. I think more time has actually passed IRL than IC.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei was pleased that the others already had options in mind, but she was careful not to lock herself into their suggestions. "Those are all certainly leads to follow, and options to consider, but I am not looking for the best experts among the people you know. What I want is the absolute best lycans, or those who sympathize with lycans, in Tamriel. That means we will need to coordinate with other clan leaders to determine who is truly the most skilled for each role. As Champion, I will be on this council in a sense, but not in a specified role. It is possible that I could be qualified to be the battlemage among them, but I believe that my duties as Champion are best fulfilled leading from the front, as it were. Myself and my pack will be taking on many more missions against Vile than we have been. I will take part in council decisions when I am able, but these should be people I can trust to lead without me."

Now that Meesei had explained her plans for the future, there was much work for them to accomplish, and she did not expect that it would be finished anytime soon. First and foremost, they needed to find a new home for their clan, and warn every other compromised clan to do the same. That would delay them in finding members for this new council, but with at least Ri'vashi present, they could handle their short-term defense against the inevitable enemy offensive. "Now, I do not believe there are any other pressing matters regarding the whole clan. I would encourage you all to read my report in detail, particularly regarding the enemy general Do'rhajul. There will be much work for us to do. Do you have any further questions for us, or does anyone have anything they would like to report specifically which I have left out?" Meesei asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei gave a nod in response to Vera. “There were no other great tragedies to befall us, no. It is unlikely that the Senchal clan will have the strength to be independent for the foreseeable future, but they will be safe among the Orcrest clan. However, during the attack…well, strictly speaking, it is good news that we learned of this, but it is troubling all the same. We uncovered information that very well may answer the question of why Vile is waging this war to begin with. You know how the number of lycans in Tamriel have been increasing drastically for years, even before the conflict began. I had always thought it might have been the response of feral lycans to new threats, or even the influence of Hircine himself to bolster his forces, but it seems the truth is more sinister. The enemy has been capturing people, turning them to lycans, then releasing them into the wilds where we can find them. Our numbers, the strength of our growing army, has been fed by the very enemy we have been fighting. The documents did not explain their motivations precisely, but everything we have learned seems to point to one answer: our souls. Lycan souls are stronger than those of other mortals, and for a Daedric Prince, souls grant power. To what end, I do not know for sure, but Vile wants our souls to fuel his power. He wants many, many lycan souls, but we are inherently difficult to keep prisoner in large numbers. So, he had his followers start creating more of us, release them, then start this war to gather us all together. We have formed clans larger than have ever existed in known history. All of these lycans concentrated into one place…we are the perfect target for this soul-tearing gas. I believe my pack and I delayed its creation four years ago when we halted their production of the suppression gas. But, now they have finally perfected it. They have built up our numbers like farmers planting a field, and now it is time for them to harvest. They call it the ‘Culling’, according to a prisoner Gallus interrogated. But, I do think there is still some hope. Because of our attack, we learned about their new weapon before we should have. They are not yet ready to mount a coordinated attack on all of our clans at once, so we have given ourselves time to react.”

The news Meesei was explaining was certainly grim, but she still had her plan. They had been playing into the hands of their enemy for years, but she aimed to turn that to her advantage. “To that end, I am going to be making some rather drastic changes to our leadership, and I am not referring to this clan in particular. If we are to fight against Vile, all of the clans will need to be able to coordinate, so I want to create a new council to coordinate them. This council will not be a part of any particular clan, but will be leading our overall strategy. This is why I have brought Ri’vashi. You may know her reputation as a warrior, and I can assure you it is well earned. She is a brilliant military leader, and as of right now, will be taking over the role I have been serving in planning our military strategy. I will need more, though. More leaders; people who can organize every aspect of our operations with the greatest efficiency. I want the most talented people we can find. Secrecy is going to be our greatest tool moving forward, so we are going to need a…spymaster. One who can make sure we remain undetected. We will also need a criminal, and I am not referring to a simple thief. We will need an experienced crime boss to make sure the income we receive cannot be traced to us. For any role we need filled, we need to find an expert.”