EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

While some of the others looked at least somewhat concerned by Sabine's suggestion, Ahnasha actually began to laugh. "I think a dragon might have a problem with the whole 'underground' part of a Dwarven ruin. If we find a dragon down there, I'll eat a shoe."

Ahnasha's remark was enough to get Lorag to laugh. "Well I've got a new plan: dragon-hunting."

Saras was silent on the jokes, but allowed the others to finish before giving his own answer. "The scouts have already confirmed that the upper parts of the ruins contain automatons. There is evidence that it might have once held a camp of adventurers or bandits, but the automatons have since reclaimed that area. They are generally effective at keeping out intruders from above ground, unless they are too organized. But, what concerns me is what might exist below. Across Skyrim, there are creatures known as the Falmer. The remnants of what used to be Skyrim's Snow Elven population. They were defeated in a war with the invading Nords of Atmora in ancient times, and driven underground, likely into the hands of the Dwemer. Scholars do not know what happened after that, but whatever it was, it corrupted them. Now, they are blind creatures, hardly any different from the goblins you may be familiar with. They tend to be found in the deep reaches of caves and Dwemer ruins like these. From all accounts, Dwemer automatons do attack them, but they have had millennia to carve out their homes underground. Just because there are machines in upper Raldbthar does not mean there may not be a more dangerous foe below. They have tamed giant, poisonous insects called chaurus, which will fight for them if threatened. As well, they use their tough, chitinous shells to make weapons, armor, and structures. It is crude craftsmanship, but still effective enough to kill you."

Once his warning was given, Saras' tone became at least a bit less severe. "The Falmer would be more threatening to us than any automaton but a centurion, but we still have more than enough forces here to deal with them. As I said, they are no better than goblins. I have never had to face the Falmer personally, but I did used to have to deal with the goblins that once infested Mournhold's sewers. The most organization they are capable of is forming crude, but deadly raiding parties. Against an organized military force, they would attack and be cut down in waves, as long as we are cautious to prevent ourselves from being outmaneuvered, they are not intelligent enough to outsmart us."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei raised her head up from the small flame she was maintaining in her hand long enough to grin at Janius. "You know, I am fairly certain the warriors were briefed on this before we left. I am not the only source of wisdom in the world." She joked, though it did not take long for her to become serious once more. "Anyways, you are correct that automatons are not common foes. Usual strategies may not work on them, and there is a lot of misinformation on how to deal with them. For instance, one popular book claims that frost magic can shut down the steam powering them. At an extreme temperature that might be true, but practically speaking, a frost spell will not cool them enough. Essentially, they are immune to frost, though fire and lightning can both be effective. It would require a very intense spell to directly melt the metal, but as automatons are powered by steam, they are already rather hot. Fire spells can cause them to overheat and fail. Not to mention, explosive fireballs can knock loose their components. Lightning can also destroy them, though I am not entirely sure of the manner in which it harms them. Otherwise, simple blunt force is the best way to deal with them. A hard enough impact can destroy their internal workings and either destroy them entirely, or render them inert. On a Dwemer sphere, for instance, targeting their joints or head is the best option. Swords, on the other hand, are not very useful, for obvious reasons."

"That is mostly true, though not entirely." Saras added. He tended to keep his distance from others, literally and metaphorically, but since they were discussing the mission at hand, he was more than willing to step into the conversation. "A blade is certainly not recommended, but in an emergency, it can be used. There are parts of the joints on Dwemer machines that have to have gaps by necessity. One can jab a dagger, or other blade, into these joints to destroy them. In particular, there is a gap on the back of a sphere's...'neck' that can destroy the sphere entirely. Unlike Dwemer machines from Morrowind, those in Skyrim have soul gems that give them 'life.' I believe such an attack severs the gem from the rest of the machine. But mostly, our numbers will give us a decided advantage. These automatons can be likened to town guards. They are effective at 'policing' the ruin from troublemakers like lone adventurers, but they were never meant to hold up against an army. In an organized formation, we should be able to simply smash them from the relative safety of our lines. Not my preferred approach, but effective."

Kaleeth reached down beside her and picked up her mace that was resting against her bag. She had a sword with her, though by the sound of things, she would not need it. "So...I can just hit them really hard?" She asked. Aside from her weapons, she was wearing a chain shirt and leggings underneath her thick travel cloak. It was effective light armor, especially against blades, but she still did not feel as safe as she had in her old, wamasu scale armor.

"Indeed." Saras answered simply. "Let us just hope that automatons are all that this ruin contains."

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Ssarak hummed at Meirin. ”Well, I really do not wish to risk Lucilia filling the mission before we have a chance to speak to her, but…” He began, giving a quick glance around them. There was no one around to pay attention to them, so he gave her another, brief kiss. “I have such a difficult time saying no to you. We can get some breakfast, see if we can find anyone we can trust to join us. There are some of our friends who I believe would be well-suited to diplomacy. Others…would be objectively terrible. Hopefully this time, Lucilia actually has the presence of mind to consider the personalities of the students she allows on the mission, especially considering how delicate it could be.”

Once the pair made their way to the dining hall, Ssarak looked around for anyone they knew. There were indeed a few friends around, though Ssarak elected to at least get his breakfast first. As usual, his meal reflected his meat-heavy diet. He had a sizable cut of pork, with a side of mutton and an egg from an animal he had never actually heard of before, and a cup of herbal tea, since he was in the mood for something more interesting than water. He took his seat beside Meirin, though he refrained from any physical shows of affection that were too obvious, regardless of how tempting it might have been. He knew Mei was uncomfortable with public displays of affection, and he could understand her reasoning. It was only exceptional moments in which he would consider anything more than a quick hug, or a wing around her shoulder.

”So, who do believe may be a good fit for this mission?” Ssarak questioned.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei’s pack located the Riften clan in much the same way they had originally found the Bruma clan. There were scouts in the city itself, so it was just a matter of sniffing them out, literally. Although, it look longer for them to make the trip to the clan itself, since it was hidden closer to the northwestern part of the hold. Like many lycan homes, it was underground, but the way it was accessed was rather unique. There was an inn and trading post on the way to Ivarstead at the base of one of the hold’s southern mountains, which was owned and operated by the Riften clan. Through the basement of the inn, there was a hidden tunnel leading to a system of caves that housed the clan. The inn was open to normal travelers, so there had always been concerns among other clan leaders that having the entrance in such a public place would be a security concern, but the clan’s Alpha was insistent that it actually made them safer. In several letters, he had assured Meesei that the basement was only ever “rented” to lycans, and it allowed them to hide in plain sight, as it were. Anyone entering or leaving posed as normal travelers, and since there were no normal guests staying for more than one night at a time, no one noticed any inconsistencies between who was entering and leaving. It did free them of the burden of making sure that no one was followed to the entrance, and if need be, there was a secondary exit to the caves which they used on occasion. The Riften clan was smaller than the Bruma clan, but their methods seemed to have served them well.

Interestingly, the Alpha of the Riften clan was actually a Dunmer named Saras Arnan. He was a middle-aged man and a former refugee from Mournhold, though he was not very open about his past. He was a serious, severe individual, but just as willing to help the Champion as any other clan leader. After explaining the situation, and their overall plans, he quickly began making preparations to receive the members of the Bruma clan. His clanhome would not be able to hold all members of both clans, but the clan did have access to farms and other properties around the hold that could accommodate the rest. The fact that they would be bringing people up in groups, instead of all at once, was also helpful. Regardless, Saras decided that, instead of waiting for the entirety of the Bruma clan to arrive before taking any other action, it would be best to get their new clanhome ready as soon as possible. Not all of the Bruma clan’s warriors had yet arrived, so Saras offered his own warriors to compensate.

It was someone difficult to move a sizable military force across Skyrim without being noticed, but Saras was surprisingly adept at maintaining secrecy. He knew how to avoid patrols when necessary, or to split up their forces into smaller groups while still maintaining communication and coordination between them. Raldbthar was located high in the mountains west of Windhelm, and was not an easy trek in any case. At the very least, the majority of the Riften clan’s warriors were Nords accustomed to the harsh conditions, and those from the Bruma clan were acclimated to the cold. Though, the climate in the Jeralls was not as severe as these mountains. All of Meesei’s pack was present, apart from the children and Leaps. Their wamasu was becoming old enough that he could help in combat short of major battles, but he still could not deal with the cold. Meesei intended to create an enchantment that would help him overcome his cold-blooded nature, but it had not been a priority. Anyone in Gallus’ pack who intended to help fight was also present, though that did not include Peiter. No matter how much encouragement might have been given to him, he made it clear that he never intended to fight again as long as he could avoid it. As well, both Ri’vashi and Saras had accompanied the warriors.

The warband had made camp at the base of a stairway leading up to the main entrance of Raldbthar. Their force was about half the size of the one they had used to attack Vile’s stronghold in Elsweyr, which was likely going to be far more than they needed to clear a Dwarven ruin. According to their scouts, there were traps and automatons within, but nothing that would realistically be able to overcome an organized military force. The defenses that remained in most Dwarven cities were not meant to hold off armies. They could be a deadly to small groups of adventurers, but their warriors would have the automatons outmaneuvered, and outnumbered. Regardless, the leader of Saras’ warriors was making sure they were ready for a tough fight, just in case. He was a grizzled Nord werewolf who reminded Meesei of Oswall. Though, to be fair, several Nord warriors in the clan reminded her of Oswall. He was formerly a Stormcloak commander in the Civil War, but had evidently abandoned politics long ago. He no longer even had any reverence for Talos.

Both Meesei and Kaleeth were huddled close to one of the fires in camp. They had already made their plans for how to approach clearing the ruin, so all there was to do was to wait for the rest of the warriors to finish arming themselves. Meesei and her pack intended to be on the frontline, just as she was going to be on many missions from this point on. Saras was also sitting around the fire, though he kept much more to himself. He wore dark leather armor underneath his travel cloak, and seemed to prefer shortblades, since they were the only weapons he was carrying.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think I will. I might not finish tonight, since I need to start getting to bed earlier, but I will try.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Hmm, I'm not really sure that I want to go into detail on them meeting with the Riften clan. It would obviously be important for them to do so, but I don't think it is overall important to the story. I think it would be best to get straight to delving into that Dwarven ruin. Now, I doubt you would want to extend out your post that much, so if you like, I could write out the rest of the summary to get us there.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

They would probably start sending people up pretty regularly along different trade routes. A month or two, maybe? I'm not exactly sure what is reasonable. I don't think the actual distance to the Rift is that far, they just have to take a pass through the mountains. We can skip to that whenever.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Well, we do have quite a bit to get through, I think. Maybe we could do a scene between those two after the next big event, which I think would be delving into that ruin in Skyrim, after everyone has been moved up there.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"He already has a sibling." Kaleeth commented, placing her hand gently onto Janius' shoulder. "He and Rhazii are as close as brothers. Really, it's a lot the same way here as it was in my village. Hatchlings were raised by the whole village, so everyone became family, in a sense. Since blood relationships are so rare in lycan clans, I guess it makes sense that the same thing happens. Anyway, I think Newt will be happy growing up just as things are now. I don't regret having him for a second; like you said, it's the most rewarding thing I've ever done. It's just...I want to be safe, you know? Plus, I'd like to know what we're in for with Newt before we do anything else. He's still only a few years old.

Kaleeth lowered her head, staring down at the water. "Really, I just regret that my parents won't be able to see him. I know they'd love to meet their grandson. I think even my father would smile if he saw his cute little face, no matter what he thinks of you. Even if I could just let them know that they even have a grandson to begin with, I would be happy. But, I can't send them letters like Sabine does with her sister. No one delivers to nomadic tribes in the middle of the swamp. I asked."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth had expected Janius to start laughing along with her, so when he did not, she quickly took on a more serious, if confused expression. "Um...no, not really right now. We already have Newt, and you know how much work he is. With the war and all the other stuff we have to worry about...I just don't think we can do that right now."

Shifting her position in the water slightly, Kaleeth cringed from another sharp pain from her bruised chest. It was hardly the worst pain she had ever felt, but it was a bit distracting. Regardless, she was not trying to drop the topic. She was almost concerned as to why Janius was bringing this up now. "What made you ask about this?"

---

Peiter seemed reluctant to be pulled away from their passionate embrace. He glanced towards the door for only a second before looking back up at Sabine. "I, uh, don't think so. It's still midday. We're fine." He answered quickly. It was certainly true that Gallus' pack were rarely in their room during the daytime, as they all usually had something to be doing. But, the fact did still remain that they had nothing protecting them. But, even so, Peiter wrapped his arm around Sabine and pulled her close for another kiss, then started to pull at her remaining clothing once more. It was somewhat unusual for Peiter, as even he had been more cautious in the past, but it was possible that it was simply his inebriation making him more willing to take risks.