EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Well, it is not something that will happen soon, certainly." Ahnasha said, moving immediately back to the topic of visiting Cheydinhal. "Moving to Skyrim is going to take a while, I can already tell. We're going to have to move everyone in small groups to get them to the Riften clan. Hopefully, wherever they have made their home is somewhere convenient. After that, we're going to have to clear out an entire Dwarven ruin to get everyone in safely. Scouts can give us a sense of what we're up against, but I'm guessing it going to take a good-sized force to actually make it safe. Can't say I've ever fought a Dwarven automaton before; do arrows even work on them?"

Ahnasha let out a sigh. "Well, that's a problem for later. For now, I think I'll take you up on that offer. Read some more letters. Llarasa is a good person, more than I expected when I first met her. I will write to her as well, let her know how I have been faring. Maybe share a few embarrassing stories about you..." She chuckled. "We just have to be careful about how we handle things when we finally do visit. The last thing we want to do is bring any harm down on her through our visit. We should make sure your parents never know that she has been communicating with you. Or even that she knew you were alive."

---

For a few moments, Kaleeth stood in place across from Janius, breathing deeply and trying to focus. She had already been through a few fights, so she was starting this one with some fatigue, and moderately beaten. She was bruising from the hits she had taken, and not all of the blood on her had even dried.

Finally, Kaleeth was ready to fight, though she did approach their match with some degree of patience. Janius had taken to Ra'kalesh's training better than she had, but she had still learned something. Her instinct was still to overpower her foe with force, but she was no longer clumsy about it. She took a few steps towards him, watching to see if he was going to initiate. He remained defensive, so she took the first attack.

Kaleeth wound back as if she were going to take a swing, then suddenly lunged low in an attempt to tackle him at his waist. She was knowledgeable enough about fighting to know that she would have the advantage in a grapple, so that was what she was going to try.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Ssarak rubbed his chin as he looked over the map, noting any apparent places of interest. "Hmm, I was wondering what became of the information we uncovered. It is good to see that our work has not gone to waste; or at least, not yet. It will be a diplomatic mission, you say? A few years ago, I would have told you that I was entirely unqualified, except perhaps as a bodyguard, but now, I believe my abilities are strong enough to be of some use. I just hope the other students who join us on the mission are as...cool-headed as us. I would not want someone like Alaira anywhere close to this task."

Being rid of his serious demeanor for a moment, Ssarak grinned towards Meirin. "Though, there are still some things with which I will need your help. If it is a diplomatic mission, I should look the part of a diplomat, but I am not as well-versed in Djarkel fashion as yourself. I do not suppose you have anything in my size, do you?" He joked. "You may need to help dress me up as a 'proper' member of Djarkel high society. With your help, I may not look completely like a fool."

Ssarak stood up from the bed, letting out a breath towards the door. "I suppose I should go speak to Lucilia right away, before the mission is filled completely. I would not want to miss the chance to join you. I may be able to convince her to give us something to purchase proper clothing, if she has not thought of that already. Besides that, I believe I am going to have quite a few questions for you about Djarkel over the next few weeks."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha read through the letter in silence; although, other than the fact that Fendros had hid it from here, she did not find anything objectionable with the letter itself. Indeed, it seemed to cover every angle she could think of where something could go wrong. She supposed she had not read any of the other letters in the chest, but as a first impression, she did not see anything wrong. It still confused her as to why he had been so secretive. "Using aliases; that was smart. It would not surprise me if Monderyn went through her belongings if he suspected something was out of the ordinary. Looks like she is still trying to keep the letters secret from your parents, though. These letters do still seem risky, but to your sister instead of you. Let's just hope she is good at hiding them. I wouldn't want any harm coming to her over it; I remember that she was a good person."

Turning her head to Fendros, Ahnasha placed down the letter beside her. "Unless any of the other letters have something you wouldn't want me to see, I don't really see what was so important that you had to keep it a secret. It does look like your father isn't in the best shape. How old is he? Given how old you are, and how long Dunmer live, he couldn't be that old. Unless he did something really bad to is leg, I imagine he will recover eventually with healers. Though, I imagine that being injured would make him less likely to try something stupid if we happened to visit."

---

Kaleeth at first started to chuckle at the buzz of activity around them from those who had overheard them. Janius had said nothing to show that he was agreeing to the fight, but they were planning for it all the same. Kaleeth was not sure what she wanted to do, until the second person stepped up and denied that she was strong enough to hit her own mate. It was true that she did not like the idea of hurting him, and the thought of him being as bloodied as some of her opponents was not an appealing one. They had sparred many times in the past, of course, but this kind of fighting was something different altogether. Her physical strength had very obviously been proven to the clan, but she did not want them to think of her as weak-willed either.

"I can hit you just as hard as I hit anyone else. I'm not afraid. Come on, we should fight." She said, standing up to her feet and offering him her hand. "You can hit me, right? No going easy on me?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha had been taking some time to relax before Fendros sought her out. As one of the few people aware of the details of the clan's future plans, she of course had some responsibilities to help prepare for their departure. She had recently ordered some of the hunters to take a full account of all of their arrows, bows, and other ranged weapons. Since she had only recently returned to the clan, she could pass it off as her settling back into her role in the clan.

Fendros wanted to show Ahnasha all of these letters he had apparently been writing to his sister. It still made no sense to her why he would want to keep something like that from her. It was a security risk, granted, but as long as he was appropriately vague, it could be safe. She still felt some anger thinking about it, but it was tempered by thoughts of her own secrets. She had kept an entire necromantic laboratory secret from him, and had still not spoken to him about it.

Ahnasha sat down on a crate beside the chest and took the key. She did not know what to expect from the letters, but for Fendros it had apparently been enough to cause him guilt. "So these letters...what were you talking about in them?' Ahnasha asked as she opened up the chest, then the first of the letters.

---

Kaleeth sat down on the floor cross-legged, and short of breath. She gladly took the water, though she was just as keen on washing it over her face to clean the blood from her scales as she was drinking it. She tended to win her fights, but that did not mean she escaped unscathed. She had bruises and small cuts all over, a bloodied nose and what would likely become a black eye. Even her loincloth was scuffed up and torn. Overall, it was exactly what she expected for the day.

"Exhilarating." Kaleeth finally answered. "I don't even know if I feel the pain any more; it's just...energy. It's a satisfying challenge. What about you? Do you think you'll ever fight me?" She asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I forget, did Fendros mention the existence of the letters to Ahnasha before?

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Once Meirin opened the door, Ssarak gave her a quick hug and smiled at her kiss. ”Good morning, love.” He said, raising his brow once she mentioned her mission. ”Ah, so you have already found a mission to take on? That is actually why I was coming to speak with you; aside from the usual reasons, of course. Though, I have not actually looked at the notice board yet, I was just going to ask you to join me.”

Ssarak stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He took a seat at the foot of the nearest bed, since the chairs were a few sizes too small to support him. Even the bed creaked under his weight. ”I believe it goes without saying that I would like to join your mission. Tell me about it; which teacher assigned it, and what will we be doing?” Even without having the faintest idea of the requirements of the mission, Ssarak was certain he would be joining her. There was no kind of danger, or even tedious boredom, which could convince him not to accompany her. The only thing which might cause him to take on another mission was if it were for some reason forbidden for him to join. Even then, he would do whatever he could to convince the appropriate authority to reconsider. There were, of course, the obvious reasons for his desire to remain with Meirin, but there were more serious concerns that kept him from being willing to part with her for an extended time. A few weeks prior, he had begun using his psychomancy to explore the deepest reaches of her mind, searching for whatever it was that had caused her mental issues. Being apart for too long would mean that he would be making no progress on helping her.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei will, at the very least, be taking Sabine. I was also thinking about Kaleeth perhaps trying to visit her parents. Though, that's not as important.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

At this point, I think we have started what I am loosely calling a timeskip. Skips between scenes will probably be more abrupt than usual, so we can actually get through all of these scenes in a reasonable time. Next would probably be the warriors heading to the ruin to scout and clear it out.

Afterwards, I'm thinking we can do two of the planned events at the same time. Meesei will be wanting to recruit a certain master alchemist and will be making the trip to Black Marsh personally. That would be time for Gallus to make the same trip, I think. They're going to different parts of the marsh, but it would be convenient for them to take the same ship there.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ri'vashi shook her head lightly at Oswall. His concern would normally be merited, but she had a feeling that, since he had not witnessed the soul-tearing gas for himself, its power had not truly set in for him. "You have to remember, at this point, numbers no longer grant us much advantage like they used to. Even a small group of Vile's servants, equipped with the gas, could decimate any organized formation. Moveing everyone together would, well...it would be placing all of our kwama eggs in one basket. As impersonal as it may seem, moving our people separately reduces the potential harm an enemy patrol can cause."

Meesei, meanwhile, could not answer with the kind of confidence that Vera likely wanted. For a few moments, she looked ahead silently in thought. "I do not think it is possible to say anything with certainty. Anything could happen from one day to the next. But, we do not have many options. Every day we spend deciding is a day that Vile's forces draw closer to attacking this place. We have to act, quickly, and I can say that this is the best option we have available to us right now. We should send out a messenger to the Riften clan as soon as possible. Today, preferably. It is tempting to be slow and patient with a decision like this, but we cannot afford the time."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With Vera's response, the Altmer showed actual emotion for the first time in the form of annoyance, even anger. He crossed his arms, sneering at her. Regardless, after a few seconds, he closed his eyes and let out a lengthy breath. "I can...accept waiting a single day. But, I will warn you that we will not wait any longer than that."

Despite the Altmer's frustrations, neither he nor his companions gave any resistance to the guards taking them away. After their guards left the chamber, the council quickly began its discussion on the many, many questions and concerns this meeting had created. Meesei likely shared most of their concerns, though she at least had a few answers. "Under normal circumstances, I would not trust Mora's motivations. He is not a malicious Daedra exactly, but he is selfish, above all. If he does anything for us, then it is for his own benefit." She said, eyeing the Black Book suspiciously. "But, I cannot deny the vision I received. Hircine knew that Mora would be coming here, and he told me to treat them as allies. I trust our lord above anything else, so we have to trust that Mora is being genuine. And, that also tells us that, whatever Vile is intending to do with the power of our souls, it is enough to concern the Prince of fate. We will have to find some way to evacuate our people to this place. There is no direct water route from here to Whiterun or Windhelm. We wound have to travel to the Imperial City, all the way to the south of Tamriel, then around Black Marsh and Morrowind. In this case, it would be much quicker to take a direct route. But, we do not have to do so alone. We can send word ahead to one of the clans of Skyrim for assistance. I believe the Riften clan is closest."

"If this one may." Ri'vashi began, looking closely at the map. "We do need to move everyone, but not necessarily at the same time. It is hard to say exactly how much time we have before Vile's forces attack us here, but we do have some time. If we start soon, we can move everyone in smaller groups to the Riften clan, to get everyone across the border. They could pose as merchant caravans, which would also let us move our valuables. We would have to deal with some taxes, but they would be able to move across normal trade routes, so it would be safe."