EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha would likely tell Fendros that they could hold a small ceremony in Cheydinhal, or just outside of it. Perhaps find someone willing to perform Dunmer ceremonies between him and a Khajiit. Though, she may or may not have ulterior motives to try and get him to meet with the rest of the family.

I think Peiter and Sabine might start to see more of each others' flaws as things settle down. Peiter's mental state won't be as much of a factor, but he isn't always going to be so over-the-top affectionate as he was when things were fresh. If they are separated for a period of a few months, he might not want it to continue either. Being a part of Meesei's pack would take Sabine away from the clan rather frequently.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The meeting would probably take place in a month's time, IC. I reason that would be enough to bring in the rest of the clan, clear away rubble, and secure enough of Blackreach for them to come and go safely. At the same time, Meesei would have brought in any scholars on the Dwemer from clans across Tamriel to study the place.

For Ahnasha and Fendros, if I'm remembering correctly, Ahnasha has been encouraging him to go to Cheydinhal to see his family. She might suggest to him to go to Cheydinhal, ostensibly to see his sister and allow her to be a part of the wedding.

As for the trip to Black Marsh, I don't think Meesei would find it necessary to enlist the help of another pack, since they are not undertaking a dangerous mission. Just a visit to Thorn, mostly. That said, she would have no objections if Sabine requested that Pieter come along. Pieter himself would be improving in terms of his mental condition, especially once he focuses on training magic. However, I think that "new love" feeling would start to wear off between them. Even in good mental health, Pieter does have some flaws.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I feel it is about time for us to skip ahead. There would be quite a bit for them to do in Blackreach to make it livable, and there would be certain discoveries they would make once Meesei brought in the relevant scholars and experts. But, we can summarize most of it. I feel like I want to bring us to a scene where Meesei is holding a meeting with the other leaders to recap and present some of the scholars and other experts are working on. I also kind of want to have a chance to go into Saras' background. Perhaps have a conversation with him.

Then, there are other things we've had planned. Ahnasha and Fendros would have their wedding, maybe go to Cheydinhal. Meesei and probably Sabine would go to meet with Ariel. Kaleeth and Janius could piggy back onto that trip if we wanted to do a thing where Kaleeth re-visits her home. When do you think we should do these things, and in what order?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Could be automatons." Ahnasha reasoned. "Physically, they are powerful, and they obviously wouldn't eat the bodies. They could deliver these sorts of wounds, especially a centurion. Though, this particular room would be pretty tight for one of those to maneuver around with all this rubble."

Meesei nodded. "It is a strong possibility. We have not yet seen any evidence of automatons active in this citadel, but that does not mean they are not present. I do not know why there would be men, mer, and Falmer all present to fight against them, but it would be consistent with what we have observed. Although, these skeletons are all years old, at least. It is also possible that whatever killed them has long since moved on. Still, be on your guard."

Exploring the first chamber, Meesei's group found several rooms branching off from the main chamber which, based on the ancient stone beds, were bedrooms. They had obviously been used for that purpose since they were built by the Dwemer, but they also seemed to have more recent tenents. There was rotten food on the tables, along with more modern bags and other items. Again, all of the skeletons they found were Human or Elven, instead of Falmer.

There was certainly a mystery as to what happened in the ruins, particularly since one of the Human skeletons they found was killed by an arrow not of Falmer make, but it was a mystery for later. Since each of the side rooms were dead ends, the group continued on up the stairway and came across another lift. Just as before, Meesei's pack was the first to test it, and as she had guessed, it was a much shorter lift that carried them up to the high platform they had seen from below when entering the ruin.

Stepping out onto the platform, even Meesei could not help but to be impressed with the sight before them. They were slightly above the glowing orb hanging above the citadel, so they had an excellent view across a large portion of the cavern. It was like a forest of glowing mushrooms separating grand and ancient Dwemer structures. She could even see, ever so faintly in the distance, the entrance they had used to enter the cavern. Although, there also appeared to be other potential entrances, some even closer to the citadel.

On the platform, there was a single stone throne overlooking the ruin beneath them, which Meesei leaned herself against. "This place somehow seems even larger than before from up here. I cannot pretend it would be easy for us to settle here, but...it is probably the most defensible home I could imagine. I doubt there are many people in Tamriel, if any, that even know of this place. If there were, there would be scholars coming from all corners of Tamriel to study it. There is no telling what we could learn from it, what resources we could find. Provided there are no dangers lurking within, this citadel would be a secure enough position, and the Falmer seem to avoid it. If we can secure the closest exit, we can begin bringing in people and supplies to further fortify it. This could be our safe haven, though I have no doubt it will be a long process to make it so." Meesei commented to the others.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei scanned the area around them, still finding no hint of life other than fungus, and the warband itself. The sent of Falmer was much weaker atop the citadel than it had been at any other point in the cavern. It was weak enough that it was almost easy to forget they were present at all. "It is difficult to say. It could be danger keeping them away, or something else we are yet to see. Regardless, it looks like there are several buildings to explore, so we should split the warband and clear it all at once. Our numbers will not be as useful in confined spaces anyway."

Once again, the warband split into three gruops, headed by Meesei, Ri'vashi, and Hjergir respectively. Meesei's pack lead her group into the tallest of the structures, which actually seemed to connect to a part of the cavern's ceiling that hung down to meet it. Stepping inside, Meesei prepared herself for an ambush or other dangers, but just as before, they were met with only bones and the constant hum of Dwemer machinery. The first room they entered was particularly badly damaged, with rubble scattered all around the room. It did not look like it was in imminent danger of collapsing, but it would certainly need to be repaired if they intended to settle in the place.

Immediately to the right as they entered, Lorag spotted something which caught his eye. Against the wall, there were two skeletons, one Falmer and one Human .In itself, that was nothing unusual, but it was the way in which they were arranged that he found interesting. "Huh, that's weird. Look at these two; both dead against the same wall, with a lot of shattered bones. Looks like the Falmer had the back of its head caved in, and the ribs of the Human are really shattered. I'd say something smashed the both of them against the wall hard enough to cause the majority of the damage. 'Course, that would mean they were both attacked by the same thing." He observed.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

I'll post it up as a memory at the start of my next post. Or you can. Whichever one of us posts first, I imagine.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"It is possible." Meesei mused, just around the same time that Hjergir's group had circled around to their side of the citadel, leading more people to circle around the dragon skeleton. Meesei looked up the stairway at the citadel above, searching for a hint of life. "A centurion would certainly have the strength to kill a dragon, though I would expect a dragon to be able to outsmart one. Regardless, if there are automatons here, we need to be on our guard. These skeletons are years old, so it is curious that the Falmer have not returned here in all that time. There must be a reason for it. Leave the bones for now and form up; we need to investigate this citadel."

Upon Meesei's order, the warband's ranks reformed at the base of the stairway, then they proceeded in formation up to the top. The stairs were wide, but they were still somewhat vulnerable while climbing them. Fortunately, they were not attacked as they ascended to the top. In fact, all that they found upon entering the courtyard of this citadel was more bones. Mostly, there were Falmer skeletons, along with the hollow, broken shells of chaurus. Though, curiously, they also passed a few Human or Elven skeletons with signs of similar injuries. However, there were no armor or weapons on the bones as one might expect had they been warriors.

The citadel was the size of a town, and was well-lit by the orb above them. There were plenty of Dwemer buildings they needed to explore to determine if it was safe, but just looking around, it was easy to see that it was a large and easily defensible position.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Yeah, I think it's going to be done pretty soon. I'm just waiting on your next response.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As more of the warband rounded the corner behind the pack, the buzz of conversation quickly spread among them as they circled around the dragon's skeleton. Since Meesei's pack had happened upon the skeleton first, they gave them space to examine it.

Ahnasha shrugged her shoulders, and could not help but to let out a brief chuckle at the apparent ridiculousness of the situation. "Underground dragons...no crazier than anything else we've seen, I suppose."

Saras was initially confused as to why the others were turning to him for answers, as he had no particular expertise on dragons, but he supposed that he had lived in Skyrim longer than anyone else present. "Well...as far as I know from the tales from the bards and scholars, Alduin raised quite a few dragons from the dead back in 201, during the Civil War. I...suppose if the bones were buried deep enough, maybe he raised it down in this cavern instead of on the surface? I, um, honestly do not know; this really does not make any sense."

Ri'vashi seemed to be concerned when Sabine started to try to pry a tooth from the skeleton. "Are you...certain you should be doing that? Dragons are ancient and powerful creatures, correct? Do they have any magical properties that might be broken by damaging the skeleton? Or even dangerous?"

"I do not believe so." Saras answered. "There are fewer dragons now than there were at the height of the crisis, and I personally have only ever seen the flying in the distance. But, from my understanding, once they are dead, there is nothing special or sacred about their bodies, other than the impressive strength of their bones and scales. The Dragonborn is reputed to be able to take their souls, even after death, but again, I do not have experience with that."

With that reassurance, Ri'vashi grabbed her mace and attempted to use it to knock loose the tooth Sabine had been working on. She started out working delicately, but quickly realized that she needed much more force to do anything at all to the bones. She hit the tooth harder and harder until she delivered a full-force blow to a single tooth. She was finally able to knock loose one of the teeth, and without even cracking it.

"If that's what it takes to get a tooth out of this thing, what actually managed to crack this thing's skull?" Ahnasha commented. "You think this thing got into a fight with all these Falmer? That would explain the bodies."

Lorag looked over the scene skeptically. "Eh, I'm not so sure about that. None of the Falmer skeletons looked to be scorched, or frozen, if this was one of those frost dragons. And some of the bones look like they have been hit by somethin' more precise than giant jaws. Not to mention, there really aren't that many markings on the dragon's bones. I know they are tough, but if it was fightin' a small army of elves, I'd expect to see marks and scratches all over the skeleton. Places where arrows pierced through, and that sort of thing. But, it looks like most of the wounds are on its head. It looks a lot like the bones of prey taken down by one hunter, or a small team."

"Who takes on a dragon alone?' Ahnasha commented, shrugging incredulously.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I see." Saras answered to Sabine. "I have never known of such a thing before, even among Morrowind's Dwemer ruins. This place does not seem natural, and I am not referring just to the Dwemer ruins and machines. I suspect there is no other place like it in Tamriel. And if it can provide us any advantages...it may be worthwhile to bring more lycans here. There is enough space for far more than a single clan, provided there are enough escape routes."

Kaleeth simply shook her head when Janius asked about healing. Even with as much pain as she tended to endure in her beast form, it was curious that she rarely seemed motivated to deal with it. She simply continued to cast her gaze around the cavern. "It is...big. I feel like I could forget I...am underground."

Ahnasha was notably more skeptical than Fendros. She did give a nod, but still looked around cautiously. "Yes, well...let's not get ahead of ourselves. This place is impressive, but we don't know if it's a good home yet. If we can't deal with the Falmer, this will all be just a waste of time for some pretty scenery."

---

The trek through the cavern lasted several more hours, during which time they passed by several Dwemer structures, and ended up in minor skirmishes with a few smaller automatons. There was some discussion along the way of investigating some of the locations they were passing by, but once they could see the source of the light ahead, Meesei was sure that it was a place of importance. It seemed to be a sort of Dwemer citadel that towered over the area around it, extending up at least halfway to the top of the chamber. Above it hung the massive glowing orb, like an underground sun with a glow that could be seen far around the chamber. Meesei could not begin to guess how it was constructed, or if it served a purpose other than providing light, but she hoped they would have a chance to study it.

Curiously, once the warband drew close enough to the citadel, the scent of Falmer almost seemed to fade. It was still in the air, but there was no hint of fresh Falmer scents in the area around the citadel. What was more, when they reached the base of the structure, they found the traces of a past battle. There were Falmer skeletons, and pieces of chitin armor and weapons scattered around, half-buried in the dirt with fungus growing around them. The remains were obviously years old, and considering that they had not seen a single Falmer skeleton throughout Raldbthar or the rest of the cavern thusfar, they could assume that the Falmer tended to the remains of their fallen. If these bodies were still skeletons, then, Meesei reasoned, the Falmer had likely not been present at the citadel for quite some time.

The warband had to search the base of the citadel for stairs, or some other way to head up to the structure proper. Meesei and Ri'vashi's groups headed around in one direction, while Hjergir's searched the other. Meesei's pack led the way, and once they rounded a corner to the citadel's east-facing side, they did indeed find a set of stairs; however, the remains they discovered nearby were far, far more interesting.

Resting at the base of the staircase was what was unmistakably the skeleton of a dragon. Some of the bones were scattered around, but for the most part, they were in a single, recognizable form. Like the Falmer skeletons, there was moss and fungus growing on the bones. But, they were far less decayed than the other skeletons, perhaps due to the sheer durability of dragon bones. It would take time and focus to piece together what happened, but the large crack in the dragon's skull made its cause of death obvious. In fact, there were few other markings on the bones that could have originated from a battle.

Naturally, a good portion of the group were astonished at the find. Ahnasha walked up close to the skull and looked over the remains with her eyes wide. "Okay, this...does not count, Sabine."