EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Marcaille had to pause and concentrate strangely hard to get the dates together in her mind. "Oh, let me think. Okay, I remember I started studying restoration when I was sixty. It was my goal for that decade. I think it was thirty or thirty-five years after that when I decided to be turned. The incident happened not too long afterwards and I was, uh, cast out. So, I've been a lycan for twenty to twenty-five years." She explained. Of course, the timeframes she was talking about would place her actual age far above what her appearance would suggest.

---

Skuln had to pause to consider the actual feasibility of making weapons for the rest of the Champion's pack. If he was making armor for Kaleeth, he would have to delegate a lot of work to other smiths. "Now that I think about it, you could get some improvements more quickly. We still have some Dwemer weapons in the armory that haven't yet been distributed. And by Dwemer weapons, I mean actual weapons made by the Dwarves however many thousands of years ago. They were just sitting in their armory, untouched for all that time. Some armor too, but it's all been claimed by the people who happened to fit in the suits. And they weren't made for Argonians, of course. Anyways, the weapons are as good as anything made today; I tested a few of them myself. Some cleaning, maybe a good sharpening, and they're battle-ready. And you don't need to thank me or anything. I'm just doing my part for the clan. We already have more apprentices than we can use, so we'll be able to take care of everything no problem. Just, uh, if you ever hear that the Champion ever needs anything forged, let her know that I can help." He said hesitantly. The delivery of his request made his motivation for going through all of the effort he was promising fairly apparent.

Meanwhile, Kaleeth held up her arm in front of her and looked over the gauntlet. "So...how do I get out of this?" She said aloud, to no one in particular.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I actually stopped playing ESO a while back, and I didn't have it on Steam. That time is divided between Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Reading back, I accidentally contradicted something Marcaille said about her past before. Luckily, it can still be consistent. Marcaille has plenty of reason not to be entirely truthful with Ariel immediately. Though, Sabine would recognize the inconsistency.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

So I forget how old I made Marcaille. Do you happen to have it anywhere?

Also, I figured out that I have a combined 2,006 hours on Bethesda games on Steam, which doesn't count how long I played them on consoles.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Marcaille waved her hand to dismiss Ariel's apologetic tone. "There will be plenty of time to work, after today. If I know the Champion, she will probably call for a meeting with the council first thing in the morning. Probably early, so be ready to get up early. Then, we will start working that day. You may experiment with any ingredient you like, if you think it will help to create an antidote. I am sure we will be exchanging quite a lot of knowledge tomorrow. Now, do you have any more questions for me, or should I let you return to your tour of our city?"

---

"That's actually a harder question to answer than you might think." Skuln answered. "It was a lot of effort to get our forges in the state they are in now. There weren't any serviceable Dwemer forges left, so we had to do all the repairs and make new ones ourselves. We made steel equipment at first, but it was obvious that we were going to switch to the better Dwarven metal, since the stuff is literally everywhere. Thing is, not all of us had worked with it before, so there were some, uh, growing pains to get everyone trained up. Especially once some smiths moved in from out of the clan. Had to teach 'em how to smith like Nords, after all. So, our, uh, production capacity has been slowly increasing every step of the way. All of us work together, so I can't actually say I made every part of the suit. I did do the majority of the work on this one, though. This suit took about two months, I think. Might not have taken quite that long, but we botched two helmets. Never made one shaped like that before. Now that we're in our rhythm, though, I'd say we can get a suit like this in a month. For maille or scale armor, maybe a week or two. We have more than enough metal to make plenty of these, but it's more an issue of time. I'd say we need to get as many of our soldiers as possible something like this, but some missions are going to need to be run quicker than that. So, our focus is more on simpler armors right now, but with enough time, we'll have more of these made. Vile's cultists and mercenaries aren't going to have anything like this."

Kaleeth did feel better without the helmet, particularly since she was not wearing the right padding underneath. But, she was also getting a sense of why someone would want to wear something like this. She felt like she had a wall between her and the outside world that, while cumbersome and "unnatural," would make her feel much, much safer when swords and arrows were flying at her. "Well...I've never really been that agile anyways. I'm not that good at outmaneuvering people, and Lorag has always told me to play to my strengths when fighting. And my strengths are...strength. If I wear something like this, then I don't have to worry so much about being fast. I can just focus on hitting them harder. But if you're that busy, then will you even be able to make something like this for me?" She asked Skuln.

Skuln nodded confidently. "Don't you worry about that. You two are with the Champion's pack, so you're always the top priority. You all do the toughest missions, right? So it only make sense that you'd get the best equipment. I can make your armor, and if you want any weapons replaced with better quality metal, then we can do that too. This Dwemer stuff, it holds an edge better than steel. It's harder, more durable. It doesn't rust, and it doesn't take near as much maintenance."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Marcaille shook her head. "No one in the coven died, unless you count the horse. Anyways, like I was saying, Ennond was Ri'vashi's father and our leader at the time. He had really good training and instincts to keep us safe. This was way before all of this business with Vile, before lycan populations in Tamriel started exploding. So, our clan was a lot smaller then. Still, he was charismatic and capable; great leader. Eventually, though, the Thalmor started closing in on him, looking for former Blades. He didn't want to put the clan at risk, so he offered to leave, but it was pretty unanimous that we wanted him to stay. So, he pulled one of the most brilliant moves I've seen and had us pack up our clan, straight across Tamriel to Elsweyr. We were right in the Thalmor's backyard, and it was the last place they thought to look. He died of old age a while back and his daughter took over. Though, she really wasn't in charge all that long before the Champion showed up and both me and Ri'vashi ended up coming here."

Although she was not terribly detailed, Marcaille had answered Ariel's question. "I wish I would have been able to come to this place sooner. It's a boon for pretty much any kind of scholarship. I'm not a historian, but I'm sure they like it here, learning all about the ancient Elves that built it. There's soul gems everywhere in the rocks, and there are ingredients here that I don't think can be found anywhere else. All those glowing mushrooms out there have a lot of potential for poisons; they're probably part of what the Falmer make their poisons from. Oh, and take a look at this."

Standing up quickly, Marcaille walked over to a metal drawer next to her alchemy lab. Opening it allowed the distinct hum it had been muffling to become audible to the others. From the drawer, Marcaille produced a potted nirnroot plant, which was dark crimson in color. She placed it down in front of Ariel to invite her to examine it. "Have you ever seen a nirnroot like this? There are plenty of them in the cavern, usually around water, like most nirnroot. I have hardly even begun to learn its properties, with how busy I tend to be working on the cure."

---

Kaleeth took a few steps, a few forward and one to the side, while looking down at her feet to try to get a feel for the armor. "It feels...weird, honestly. Not really heavy, just weird."

Skuln was quick to interject, perhaps in defense of his work. "Oh, well, that suit was made for someone a bit taller, with a bit, uh, less pronounced hips. I can assure you that you would hardly even feel a suit made just for you. My craftsmanship is the finest, especially with all the tools I have to work with. My forge is well-made, and this metal...well, it might not be Skyforge steel, but I will admit that the Dwarves had a knack for metallurgy. No one has ever been able to figure out how to actually make the metal since they disappeared, but luckily, we have more of the metal than we could need down here. I mean, the spoons are made from Dwemer metal, for Hircine's sake." He laughed.

"I don't really know a lot about armors. Or at least metals." Kaleeth admitted. "But I've never really wore armor like this. Except Lorag, we've always just wore light armors."

Skuln huffed. "Yeah, well things aren't like they used to be. A lot of lycans seems to like to be hunters, and rangers, and those kinds of things. That's fine for when you're just a pack surviving out in the woods, but right here, right now, that's not what we need. We're in a war, right? Well wars aren't fought with hunters, they're fought with soldiers. We need to train soldiers, and we need to give them equipment befitting soldiers. A suit like this will keep you alive when it comes time to meet the enemy head-on."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Marcaille nodded casually, despite how dumbfounded Ariel appeared. "Of course. For one with the proper training, such as yourself, it should not be difficult to learn with instruction. I can teach you the process, and believe me, it is a process. Hircine did not make his gift easy to take away; I wouldn't feel too bad about failing to create it before. I wouldn't have been able to. Though, I should also point out that you should refrain from telling any others in the clan that a cure is indeed available. That is not the kind of information you want to go spreading around here. Even if we could afford to lose as many of our number as would want to be cured, we could not even come close to having enough resources to meet the demand for cures. That would be a sure way to cause chaos. Now, as for my history with the clan...that is actually a bit of a long story. I had something of a falling out with my sisters in our coven in High Rock. It was rare for one of us to want to become a lycan, but it was allowed. However, I did underestimate how hard it would be to control being a wereboar. I lost control once or twice, but I still didn't want to be cured, so they made me leave. I would have been allowed to come back after I gained control, but then I found Ennond's fledgling clan. He was Ri'vashi's father. Do you know her; have you met Ri'vashi yet?"

---

Kaleeth certainly enjoyed the heat in the room, but at the same time, was not entirely comfortable around the forges. The air tended to be very dry, which was not particularly comfortable to an Argonian. However, it would take a while for that to really start bothering her. She gave Janius a curious look. "Oh, well he saw me training without armor, so when we were eating, he offered to make me some. So he offered to make me...armor, I guess? We didn't really talk about anything specific. I knew it wasn't going to be long before we were leaving. He never mentioned anything about gold, so I'm sure it will be fine. His job is making armor, right? So he isn't really going out of his way for me, he's just doing his job."

Since Skuln was just checking a nearby storage room, it did not take long for him to return. He leaning in through the doorway and motioned quickly to Kaleeth. "Okay, it's ready. Come here and you can see what you think."

"Oh, okay. I'll be right back soon." Kaleeth answered, looking quickly to Janius before heading out to the nearby room. It took some time for Kaleeth to get herself equipped; perhaps longer than Janius would have expected for a set of chitin armor. However, that was quickly explained when she finally did return. It was not chitin armor that Skuln had given her, but rather a full suit of plate armor. Its style was distinctly Nordic, but it was made for an Argonian out of Dwemer metal. The plates clanked together loudly as she walked towards Janius, since the suit did not exactly fit her properly, but it still made her look almost like some kind of Argonian knight. The helmet, while large on her head, was perfectly shaped. It was a full-faced helm, though had large enough holes for her eyes to give reasonable peripheral vision. She also held a large, round shield that again had Nordic-styled engravings, but was made from Dwemer metal.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Well that was a bit longer than I expected. Or than it perhaps needed to be.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Marcaille laughed. "Yes, that would solve the problem, but that would just be cheating, no? I do know a cure for lycanthropy, if you think that would help make an antidote. Vampirism too, though I doubt that would help anything. Those were passed down from the sisters of my coven to me, so I cannot claim to have created them myself, sadly. They could have learned the cure from Hircine himself, for all I know."

Marcaille was not one to boast on her own, but as the conversation shifted more towards her, she had no problems talking about her capabilities. "I have a varied set of magical and alchemical talents. I've had many, many years to learn. I cannot even say that alchemy is my favorite aspect of magic, but it is undeniably important. Pretty much everything has some kind of latent magic just waiting to be released. Magic in an integral part of the very fabric of our world, so it makes sense that it would be so connected to everything."

---

The other couple had no problem agreeing to watch over Newt while Kaleeth and Janius headed over to the forge. Kaleeth knew that she was not going to be walking away with a completed set of armor that day, so she did not expect to be occupied for more than an hour or two before the blacksmith could get everything he needed from Kaleeth, such as her measurements.

Kaleeth had not often needed to visit the forge, so it took a bit of effort for her to actually remember where it was. Luckily, she had Janius to help her find it. Still, it was quite a bit busier than Kaleeth remembered from before they left. The clan had dedicated an entire building to various forms of craftsmanship. Since the clan, internally, did not have a normal economy, it was the closest thing to stores that the clan had. There were blacksmiths, tailors, alchemists that were not involved in research, and due to the over-abundance of soul gems in the cavern, enchanters that any member of the clan could make use of. Members of the clan were allotted a certain amount of resources based on their needs and roles within the clan; although, if had the gold to pay, there were hardly any craftsmen that would not do extra work for pay.

With the size of the clan, they had several forges that were in use near-constantly. Not only did they have need of armor and weapons, but also a small city's worth of forged tools and building materials. Fortunately, they also had no shortage of blacksmiths. Not all of them were experts, but they could meet the current demand. Kaleeth searched around with Gallus until they found a particular Nord working one of the forges. He was a hairy-looking Nord, apart from his bald head, wearing a standard blacksmith's garb.

"Hello Skuln." Kaleeth said on their approach. He was absorbed in his task for a few more seconds before he looked up at her. While some Argonians had trouble being recognized by Humans that lived far from the marsh, Kaleeth's tattoos made her immediately memorable.

"Huh? Oh...Kaleeth? I didn't know you all had come back. Do you need something...uh, ma'am?" Skuln asked, obviously caught off-guard.

Kaleeth nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, do you remember when we talked last? Before I left. You said you could make me some armor, and I was wondering if you could...do that? Maybe you could make something out of chaurus shells? Those beast tamers must have raised a lot of those by now, with how many eggs they lay."

"Oh, of course. Right, you wanted armor." Skuln rubbed his chin in thought. It took a few moments for him to respond, since he had not been prepared to speak to Kaleeth to begin with. However, when the right idea came over his mind, his expression turned to one that almost looked as excited as Kaleeth's. "Actually, I think I have something for you. Well, not for you, but something you can look at. I've been making armor non-stop for the warriors, and I recently made something for an Argonian. It's not completely your size, but you could try it on, and if you like it, I could make another just for you. How does that sound?"

Kaleeth smiled. "Oh, I would definitely like to try something right now."

"Great, I'll, uhh..." Skuln began, giving a glance to his forge. "I'll be back soon."

Skuln pulled a piece of metal out of the forge and set it aside on the stone before hurrying away out of the room. Kaleeth hoped she was not interrupting anything important, but he had not complained. "He seems excited." She commented.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think Civ-type games would be one of the few we could feasibly play together without any meaningful impact from latency.