EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The pulling of the lever caused the platform beneath them to rumble with the turning of gears within for a few seconds before the four gears attached to the tracks on the walls started to turn, pushing the lift downwards. It was encouraging, at least, that the lift did not immediately collapse upon being activated, and even better that it was taking them deeper into the ruin at a reasonable pace. Although, Kaleeth was practically shaking, and even Lorag looked uncomfortable as he kept his eyes firmly on the gears.

Aside from the ancient, working Dwemer mechanisms, anther detail that Meesei’s pack might find themselves surprised about was the fact that they had taken on another passenger. Without a single sound nor obvious motion, Saras had managed to step onto the lift unnoticed during the confusion as Sabin pulled the lever. His motivation for doing so was unknown, and he spoke not a word until Meesei noticed and addressed him.

“Saras, I ordered you to remain and prepare the soldiers to reinforce us.” Meesei scolded.

Saras gave little in the way of an emotional reaction, and stood in an almost dignified manner with his hands behind his back. “Actually, if I may, you ordered Ri’vashi and Hjergir to stay behind. You made no mention of myself. Besides which, I have been studying these ruins since your first messenger. I would not wish to leave your pack in the dark while you wait on a lift.”

---

"Yeah..." Peiter said simply, though he let out a sigh. Conceptually, he understood that he could still be useful, even in his position. Over the past few months, his self-doubt, while it had not been entirely diminished, had been lessened. He had seen mages like Sabine perform feats that, with the right magical knowledge, Peiter could replicate with just as much ease. The fact that he still had years worth of studying ahead of him was daunting, but he knew it was a possibility. These were concepts he consciously understood, but that did not mean there were not still problems on his mind.

"I just...I don't know. Really, I doubt anyone will question anything I do again. I guess they just don't expect me to do the same quality of work as them, so they just accept whatever I do and fix the problems themselves. I've seen it happen; seen people ignore mistakes that I make. They're probably just trying to be nice, I know, but it makes me feel awful." Peiter explained.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Both Meesei and Lorag did not hesitate to step onto the lift at about the same time, following the actions of their packmates. Kaleeth was certainly afraid of the ancient machinery, but she followed Janius' lead all the same. Ahnasha, being the one to suggest a volunteer in the first place, was not going to stay behind while the rest of her pack pressed on, though her form of encouragement to Fendros was to simply grab his hand and pull him onto the lift with her.

Ri'vashi and Hjergir were the next to show their willingness to step forward, but Meesei held out her hand towards them to stop them. "No, we should not send too many of us. You should stay here and divide the warriors into defined groups for the lift. If there is danger at the bottom, we will need reinforcements as soon as possible."

While it was clear that both of the two had objections to Meesei's order, both Ri'vashi and Hjergir also understood it enough that they would not argue it. They stepped back, allowing Meesei's pack alone to be the first to take the lift. They all fit comfortably on the lift without any crowding, so all that remained was for someone to pull the lever.

---

For the most part, Peiter simply looked confused with Gallus' question. "Um, not really, I don't think. I did used to be a farmer, so I do know how to properly grow crops. I didn't...enjoy it all that much, but I know how to do it at least. Most other things would probably take more practice, though for the most part, I don't really think I know what all my options are. There are the obvious ones like healing and enchanting, but I don't know what else I can really use magic for. There's all kinds of stories, like mages that can turn iron into gold and such, but I don't really know what is true or not."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei shook her head. “I am afraid not. It is a form of magic I would like to know, but it has not been practiced for hundreds of years. We could send it down without any of us having to be on it, but…” Meesei began, looking around with some uncertainty at the elevator shaft around them. “I do not know how we would send it back up without someone being down there. I would guess that the Dwemer would have a way to do so, but I do not know what that would be. I do not see any other levers.”

Ahnasha spoke up, though even she seemed uncomfortable at her own suggestion. “We could just send one volunteer to test it, but we have already seen that this ruin has automatons everywhere. Like Ri’vashi said, whoever goes down there first could be in danger. I…just wish we could figure out how to get the lift back up without anyone on it, but there’s no telling how far down that thing will take us. Too bad we didn’t bring any werevultures from Elsweyr, if they could even get up that shaft.”

---

Peiter stopped throwing his knives for the moment, instead stopping and watching Gallus’ technique. He had never seriously practiced with knives before, so he had never learned the proper way of handling them. Although, he was paying more attention to the conversation than trying to improve his skills. When Gallus started asking about the specifics of his plans with magic, he shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know really. I’m not even sure I know all the things that mages can do. I mean, healing is always an option I guess. That’s what Tzirret is doing, and it’s what a lot of other mages do when they don’t know what to learn. Everyone likes a healer, and there will always be a demand for them. I just wonder if there’s something else I can do. Maybe there is some way to use magic to help plants grow better, or…make things. I don’t know, maybe enchanting? I should probably learn something to defend myself with, but I still don’t want to be fighting again.”

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Based on his post history, I'm guessing the account was compromised.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Just as before, the automatons were destroyed with minimal injuries across the warband. The spiders had delivered some painful, but non-lethal shocks across the front line, but the warrior who had been hit with the stray bolt in the beginning was the only one with any real visible injury. Sabine was treating him as the rest of the warband was making their way into the room from the chamber behind, and seeing as it was not a silver wound, it would not be difficult to heal. Regardless, they had plenty enough soldiers that there was no reason to rush his recovery. When Hjergir approached to check on his wounds, he pointed to another of the warriors nearby. "Take him back up to camp, then get back in a hurry." He ordered.

Once Sabine was relieved of her healing durty, Meesei's pack formed back together, with Ri'vashi and Hjergir, to continue to lead the way into the next hallway. It was narrower than the chamber, but fortunately, there was also not much resistance apart from the occasional spider. They passed by some partially collapsed walls and rubble, but the hallways were intact enough that there was nothing to impede their progress. Although, it did serve to point out some concerns they would need to deal with once they began to inhabit this place. Dwemer machinery and ruins were amazingly durable, having survived for thousands of years, but they had still been worn down somewhat by time, and their walls could still collapse. They would need to find ways to repair damaged sections of the ruin to ensure they remained structurally sound and safe to live in. Luckily, Dwemer stonework was no more complicated than any other building and would not require any advanced knowledge of Dwemer machines to repair.

As they continued along, they did encounter a set of double doors on the right side of the hallway, but luckily, Saras identified them as the trigger for a spinning blades trap before they attempted to open them. Hjergir decided to leave behind a group to carefully open them and disarm the trap in case it led to another passageway, while the rest of them continued on to investigate the hallway. They continued on for a few more minutes, making their way through a few more chambers before they found a set of stairs leading up to a set of alcoves, along with another set of stairs leading to another hall. The alcoves were all dead ends, but the other hall led to a relatively small, circular room with a single lever at its center and four gears attached to tracks on the sides.

"Hmm, I believe this is a Dwarven lift. Like a pulley operated lift, but much larger, and powered by steam instead of people pulling on a rope. A complicated piece of machinery, but if it works, it should take us down deeper into the ruin." Meesei commented.

Ri'vashi looked around at the lift with an uncertain expression. "Assuming it does work and doesn't collapse with us on it...it still might be dangerous. The lift is pretty small compared to our warband and can only hold so many of us at once. If there is any danger at the bottom, the first group down will have to deal with it alone."

---

Peiter let out a sigh, mostly to himself. "Don't exaggerate. I have helped, but I'm not a great help. It's always going to be a struggle to do basic things. I can't get away from it, and I know that now. I just have to accept it for what it is and do whatever I can."

Once Gallus had retrieved his knives, Peiter took aim at the tree once more. "I guess I can try learning magic. It's one of the few things I can still do. I'm not that good at it, but I guess I have time to practice."

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

I think you accidentally listed one of your headers in your post as Meirin instead of Myrn, @Ryonara

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Although she could not move from her position, Ahnasha still had plenty of options. Spotting Fendros' target, she loosed an arrow immediately after him. Fendros' arrow damaged the sphere's crossbow arm, while her arrow staggered it back. Seconds later, Saras landed an arrow on one of the struts that served as part of its "legs." Still, the sphere remained functional, so the three continued their volley. They stopped any progress the machine could make towards their frontline, and eventually, one of their arrows struck the automaton's "head." Evidently, the impact knocked something important loose, because it collapsed backwards, completely disabled.

Following the destruction of the sphere, Ahnasha conjured a flame atronach in front of their shield wall. It was summoned into the oil fire, but that was obviously not an issue for that particular kind of atronach. Upon Ahnasha's instruction, it focused its fireballs on their left flank. Overall, despite the fact that they were facing quite a few automatons at once, the threat was still not that great. There were several dozen warriors holding that room alone, with many more behind them. The only major injury which had come so far was the bolt that found its way into a warrior's leg, and Sabine was already treating that. In all likelihood, this fight would end soon with only a few shocks from Dwemer spiders.

---

Peiter still felt nervous leaving the caverns through the inn. He knew that the clan had devised a clever system for hiding themselves, but he still could not help but to be tense being around non-lycans so close to the clan. Still, once they headed out into the forest, he became more comfortable. He took a dagger and made his first throw towards the tree, which, of course, missed terribly. He was far less accurate with his left hand than he had ever been with his right. Granted, he had been improving on many tasks with his non-dominant hand, but accuracy was not one of them. "I'm glad we have somewhere to stay now. Moving everyone over from Cyrodiil was tense. It's almost hard to believe that we had to give up our home. That Ayleid ruin housed us for years, and now it's probably almost completely empty. I know we were taking everything valuable."

Taking another throw, Peiter did actually manage to hit the tree, but the dagger spun too far and hit with the handle. "So what's this Dwarven place going to be like?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once the oil caught fire, it spread through the room ahead of them quickly. Although the automatons did not have too much of a sense of self-preservation, whatever the Dwemer used to animate them gave them at least enough sense not to stroll directly through a wall of flames. Most had to move towards the edges of the room to go around, but a sphere and a spider had been caught in the middle of the oil before Sabine spell. The spider's components melted and exploded into a ball of lightning before it could even escape the fire, and the sphere did not fare too much better. The intense heat had caused it to quickly begin overheating, so while its metal exterior was only barely damaged, several of its pipes burst from the steam pressure, causing it to almost fall apart before them.

With flames engulfing the center of the room, the automatons were pushed to the left and right flanks, led by Ri'vashi and Hjergir. The warband was now facing more automatons than they had before, but the concepts were still the same. They still outnumbered the machines severely, so they maintained their formations behind their shield walls. Hjergir was targeted by one of the spheres, and while the machine's blade delivered more of an impact to his shield than he had been expecting, he was able to hold up his guard and allow a soldier beside him to deliver a blow on the machine's sword arm with the spike on his axe.

In the center of the formation, Meesei's pack could not do much to reposition and help their flanks. Their formation was too tight to move to the sides, and the space ahead of them was blocked by fire. However, they had to be calm, as this kind of fighting was all about patience and opportunity. The automatons would only be a threat to the warband if they made mistakes, so it was better to wait until they had openings instead of trying to make the openings themselves. The center group could not move effectively to help in melee, but those with range could still be perfectly helpful. Meesei stepped forward into the frontline and targeted one of the spheres off to the left. She let off a few, quick thunderbolts one after another, stalling the machine completely in its tracks.

---

Peiter, all things considered, was in an average mood. It has been over a week since Sabine and the others had left for the ruin, so he was starting to settle into mundane tasks around the clan. There were more ways than he had been expecting that he could help around the clan, and he did his best to avoid focusing on the things he could not do. For the last few weeks, he had stopped drinking as much as he had in the Bruma clan, not out of a lack of desire to do so, but for the mere fact that he had a hard time finding alcohol. Although, now that he was settled into the Riften clan, that could change.

When Gallus approached, Peiter did not bother arguing. He had little else he could be doing, so he actually appreciated the chance for a diversion. "Eh, sure. I'm not really doing anything else."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sure.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei practically growled at the Dwemer spider when it jumped into the middle of the group. Baring her teeth, she responded with a bolt of lightning that caused it to temporarily lose its balance, and left it an easy target for Sabine's flames. The small machine overheated fairly quickly, leading to a few pops from the pipes bursting within it. Both Meesei and Sabine quickly put up their wards, protecting them, and everyone behind them, from the shock burst the spider released upon its destruction. Although, Kaleeth was standing off to the side and ended up taking another shock.

Kaleeth shouted briefly from the pain, then kicked the remains of the automaton. "Stupid machine. I don't feel bad for them anymore."

Ri'vashi curled her lips as she looked down at the spider. "Danger seems to lurk everywhere in this place. Fendros is correct that this next room would be the perfect place for an ambush with traps. Granted, these automatons obviously do not seem capable of strategic thought. Regardless, we should approach cautiously. Ri'vashi, Meesei, and Hjergir can take the lead to divide us into three flanks once we are inside. This one will go left, Hjergir can go right, and the Champion can take the center. Each of us can watch for traps as we move forward, so as long as we are alert, and no one advances beyond us, we should be safe."

Meesei nodded. "Agreed. Let us form up, and get these doors open."

With no further hesitation or distractions, the warband got into position behind Ri'vashi, Meesei, and Hjergir. They stood spaced apart from one another on their appropriate flanks, one step ahead of the formation. Two warriors moved to the doors and pulled them open as quickly as they could for the warband to move through. With the size of the doors, however, it still took long enough that anything in the room was alerted to their presence before they could rush inside. Meesei moved straight forward with her ward raised, and her eyes to the ground ahead of her. There were no traps exactly, but she spotted what seemed to be pools of oil on the floor ahead of them. If her memory served her correctly, Dwarven oil could be quite flammable in the right conditions. Just like Meesei, Ri'vashi and Hjergir encountered no traps on their flanks, so the warband was free to form the frontline around them. However, the automatons within the room were already responding.

At first, all that was in the chamber were two Dwemer spheres and four spiders. They unpacked themselves and started rushing towards the frontline. However, the intrusion also caused a series of pipes along the walls to open up. They were pipes that allowed automatons to move quickly through the ruin, and evidently, several of the machines had simply been waiting within. Four more spheres, and three more spiders emerged from the pipes. Most of the spiders began with electric attacks, while five of the six spheres raised their crossbows towards the formation.