EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Colors spoke up to answer Fendros before Malithus could say even a word. The others at the table were a Breton man and woman, an Orc woman, and a Redguard man, which he pointed to in sequence. They were all dressed for the city, though the Redguard man was visibly armed and armored with chainmail. "That's Rolaan, Nelise, Shurgrag, and Arthon, if I remember right. And, well, I suppose you all have picked up on it by now, but these are the legendary Fendros, Sabine, and Kaleeth. With all of us here, I think this mission is pretty much guaranteed to be a success."

Malithus had finally recovered from his initial shock, so he finally brought himself to speak. "We should probably set off for Evermore soon. Would you like for one of us to collect your equipment and supplies?" He asked.

---

Saras maintained his position, his posture just as upright and proper as the Imperial. He waited until they were completely finished speaking before turning his attention to one of the warriors to his left. "If you could, please, fetch us some chairs. And perhaps a table." Saras requested.

While he was waiting on the furniture to be brought to them, Saras did not delay in answering the agents. "The Champion is not here right now. You may find my honesty suspect, but I can assure you that I speak the truth. She would be the first to speak to someone as important, and potentially dangerous to us, as yourself. She tends to take a hands-on approach to many matters, as whatever reputation you have gleaned of her has no doubt told you. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you how long it will be before she returns. Traveling can be as unpredictable as the tasks she undertakes. But, I am someone whose word carries weight among us. My authority is the greatest here, without the presence of the Champion. So, rest assured that I can answer your questions and make binding decisions. We do not want trouble with the Empire, so I would ask, what is your business here?"

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Don't worry, I don't think Lucius has moved the diplomacy mission since you were last on.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Oh, I am so sorry to hear that." Colors responded sympathetically towards Sabine. Being Argonian himself, he was perfectly familiar with Naming Days, so he made no comment on Kaj-Julan. He was able to put together the pieces in his mind out of the context. "Well, and at least Peiter is still safe and sound. And you I know to be a very strong, and might I say, ravishingly beautiful woman. Hopefully we will all have time to meet together and catch up after this very strange mission. Really, Talos worshippers? No one has explained to me yet why that makes any sense."

Kaleeth shrugged. "I think that's the point, right? For us to figure it out. I don't think anyone in the clan has been able to make it make sense. Even Meesei didn't understand when she learned."

Colors nodded. "Maybe they're all just on skooma. Or touched by Sheogorath. Either way, I know of some people in the city we can talk to. That is my job, after all. We might need a bit of coin to pay off a few people, but I already had my good friend Malithus here take care of that. I guess now I know why they approved the expense so quickly. If the Champion wants a mission done, it gets done."

---

Following the initial confrontation with the intruders, the warriors guarding the entrance followed all of the steps of their instructions. They went through the motions of debating with each other on what to do, until the commander agreed to take them, under guard, to a place where they could talk. They sent a runner ahead to collect Saras, as well as more warriors to guard the intruders. They were taken no farther than the first chamber of the caves, which they had styled into a room where hunters would take their kills to be skinned and the meat stored. There was currently a skinned elk hanging from the ceiling on one side of the room, and no proper furniture. They had only animal hides laid out on the ground on which people could sit somewhat more comfortably.

In only minutes after they were brought into the chamber, two more packs worth of warriors and mages filed in as well, meaning that the Imperials and their Justicar were severely outnumbered. Saras entered the room shortly afterwards. He looked no different from many of the others around him, so he felt the need to say something to indicate he was the leader they wanted to speak to.

"So, your descriptions were not...inaccurate. You are Imperial, or at least you bear their armor. Forgive me for being blunt, but I know you can understand why I would want to know, right away, why you have come to our home. What is your purpose here?" Saras asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Colors grinned, placing a hand on his own chest as he leaned slightly forward. "I am a perfectly upstanding and productive member of my clan. Of everyone's clans, really. It just so happens that being a so-called 'scoundrel' is my job."

Walking back over to the table, Colors pulled out a few chairs, then took a seat himself. He gave his attention to Sabine as he answered her. "Well, my orders first came from Ri'kalesh, after he became clan leader. You know how I used to be a smuggler? Well, I've taken up the trade again, just in service of the clans now. I help move valuable and delicate goods between clans, among other things. A lot of things, actually. I do quite a few jobs. When I'm not moving goods, I use my, uh, intuition to help build out contacts for clans that don't have many of them. I'm pretty good at finding business associates that don't ask a lot of questions. Nowadays, I take orders from all kinds of different people. Mostly clan leaders, and the spymaster. The one I'm guessing is in your clan. He doesn't give his name to lower level agents like me, but he and his people use anyone they can for their plans. We don't usually see the results, but at least I know I'm helping."

Colors started to lean back again in his chair. "I never thought I would see you all again. Though I guess with how much I travel, and the fact that there are only so many clans, I was bound to run into you all eventually."

"What about the rest of your pack...or, um, pride?" Kaleeth asked. "Are they here too?"

Colors shook his head. "Sadly, no. My skills never really fit in too well with theirs. Ri'kalesh became clan leader, so he can't really travel that much, and the others were more at home there. La'khay considered joining me for a while, but the life of a smuggler wasn't really for her either. A pride, or pack, usually doesn't stay together forever, though, so I can move past it, and remember them fondly. I can't complain too much, though. I mean, I have my own ship now! With my own crew. It's not anywhere around here, of course. Most of my crew is protecting it at the coast. Or, at least, it better be well-protected. I'll have my first mate's head otherwise." He chuckled.

Colors motioned his hands towards the trio. "But what about you all? How are the rest of your friends, and your pack? How is Ahnasha? Janius? Peiter?" He asked.

---

Saras, overall, was hardly unprepared for surprises. He had a notion of the ideal way he would like events to play out, and he would try to push them in that direction, but he had been given plenty of time to plan contingencies. Their cave had two exits, and the second was not close to the primary entrance. They had secured their escape route, which he had ensured was well-hidden, and was not since used to avoid drawing attention to it. He had at his disposal numerous, disciplined soldiers that had been drilled on the progression of contingency plans that Saras had established. They had defensive fortifications, ambush points, and if necessary, they had prepared a controlled collapse of the cave to ensure they could have a safe and speedy escape. He had enough warriors armed, armored, and ready to hold against an attack through the narrow caves, and those who were posing as non-combatants could ready themselves quickly to reinforce them. Saras himself had styled himself as the clan leader, though he was dressed in simple furs like most of the others.

Even once what were presumably the agents were detected alarmingly close to the caves, Saras remained calm. They were prepared, and they were on alert. Even skilled mages could not conceal a force large enough to outright overpower the defenses they had established. It was just a matter now of allowing the confrontation to proceed. Saras, if he was to keep up the illusion of a normal clan, could not be waiting at the entryway for them to arrive, but he had his best soldiers on that task. They were permitted to defend themselves if absolutely necessary, but they were not to incite hostilities. Saras wanted to speak to them if possible, and preferably on amicable terms.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Colors had not been paying close attention to the door when they entered, but he certainly sat up when he heard Fendros' voice. "Is that...by the Hist, it is! Fendros? And Sabine and Kaleeth too?" The Argonian nearly knocked over his chair as he stood up to his feet. The clothes he was wearing were a simple pair of breeches and a slightly worn doublet, both in earthen colors of the local Breton styles. Though, it looked like he had sewn on quite a few extra pockets, and he did not look to be armed at all. As he approached the three, arms outstretched, Malithus was simply dumbstruck.

"Wait...the lizard actually know..." Malithus began, but he could not even begin to finish his thoughts before Colors continued with his enthusiastic greetings.

"This is wonderful; simply wonderful. It is great to see you all. I've not angered anyone...this time. Honest. I'm still a part of the, oh what is it now? Torval clan. I mean, I technically am, I guess. Haven't seen them all in an awful long time. But I was sent here; not by Ri'kalesh directly, and not this clan specifically, but I am following orders. Anyways, what are you doing here? You've practically become legends since we parted. Are you the special help Malithus mentioned?" Colors asked.

---

With the approval and support of Ri'vashi, and the clan's council, Saras set to work on his plan immediately. The Penitus Oculatus agents were going to be closing in on the area of Raldbthar, so the first task was to clear it of any trace of their presence. He had his most disciplined, detail-oriented men on the task, as the secrecy of their home was paramount. Using the attunement sphere, they sealed that entryway to Blackreach and left automatons as guards, just like any other Dwemer ruin. They had captured and controlled every known entrance to Blackreach over the years, so they could reroute any patrols or trade caravans through the other exits with minimal disruption to their normal operations.

The next task was to prepare a location to serve as their decoy clanhome. He spent quite a lot of time pouring over past scouting reports maps, and questioning locals in the clan to finally settle on a good location. It was a moderate-sized cave system in the mountains to the north of Raldbthar. Caves were, naturally, common places to hide for any group looking to stay away from the Empire's attention, lycans included, so it was a believable lair. Ri'vashi had previously sent a force to clear the cave to make way for an outpost within, but later settled on a more favorable location elsewhere. So they knew it would be safe, and had multiple exits. It was not too close to any of the clan's holdings to accidentally draw attention to them, and most crucially, it was just close enough to civilization that it would be believable that local Nord hunters might witness lycanthropes in the area. When it was time to spread the rumors, Saras made use of his extensive experience with information, and misinformation, to ensure that they were convincing. The rumors he spread did not even point to the exact cave they were inhabiting, so as not to appear too convenient. The Penitus Oculatus agents would have to search the area to find the correct cave, but Saras knew they were capable enough to complete that task. His best scouts were on constant alert for anyone approaching. If the agents were talented enough, they might avoid the scouts, but they would make sure that no large enemy force would be able to approach without being detected.

The caves themselves had been furnished in a way that was consistent with lycan clans as they had been before they were organized under the current Champion. Everyone within was a trained warrior or mage, but many of them were masquerading as non-combatants to further the illusion that this was their clanhome. When Saras knew that the agents were closing in on the area, he personally made his way to this decoy clanhome. For a situation as important and delicate as this, he trusted only himself to resolve it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I guess I should move forward the scene to enact Saras' plan?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"It is unlikely." Meesei answered to Sabine. "These teams do not hunt lycans, so I would not expect gas or silver. They will still be dangerous, but not specifically to us. We will send you with some doses of the antidote regardless, but avoid using them unless you know it is necessary."

The Breton, Malithus, gave a nod towards Fendros. "We have a member of my pack who has done interrogations before. But, if we capture them, we can always just bring them back to be interrogated by an expert."

"I wish you luck." Meesei continued. "I do not have a great deal of specific instructions for you, so feel free to work of your own initiative. Ahnasha has a task in Evermore as well, and she may uncover something that could help in an interrogation, so you can meet with her if you want to try to interrogate your prisoners yourselves. You will probably be able to find her around a place call the Bleeding Dragon Inn while she is on her mission. Whatever you decide, I trust fully in your leadership, Fendros. I have my own mission that I should begin, so Malithus, feel free to introduce them to your pack."

"Right away, Champion." Malithus answered. After they were dismissed, the Breton led the trio out of the chamber and through the somewhat confusing caverns towards his pack. This was not the first time Meesei had assigned her pack to different missions, and it was not the first time that Fendros had been in charge. Meesei had made it no secret to Fendros in recent years that she greatly respected his abilities and felt that his natural potential was far greater than most others. She claimed him to be an adept learner and talented leader, in addition to his combat ability. It was high praise from her, which usually came with greater responsibilities.

Malithus was already dressed in what appeared to be blue and green mage robes. It was perhaps a bit thick for the warm, humid underground caverns, but they would be heading to the city soon enough. Perhaps it was because she was a fellow Breton or a fellow mage within the Champion's pack, but he seemed to stay closer to Sabine as they walked along. Eventually, he mustered up the courage to speak. "So you are...the Sabine. It will an absolute pleasure to work with you, ma'am. I guarantee my pack will not let you down. It is just rare to meet a mage of your talent. And I...well I look forward to it."

The anxiety within Malithus started to show through his tone and the pace of his speech. With that anxiety, he continued on speaking without giving much room for a response. "Just, um, there is one person we'll be working with that I would recommend you be cautious with. He is the one who is supposed to have these contacts in the city. Now, I can't deny that he has helped our clan before; he apparently knows what he is doing. But, I haven't liked him since he arrived at our clan. He's a scoundrel, simply put. He's selfish, he's a coward. Don't expect him to help in a fight. Worst of all, he's obviously a habitual liar." Malithus chuckled. "Would you believe that when he showed up here, he went around boasting that he was close, personal friends with the Champion's pack? With your pack. Him? It's ridiculous. He just now got back from doing something in the city, so he doesn't know you're here. I can't wait to see the look on his face when you all set him straight; perhaps it will force him to be more respectful."

The chamber that Malithus soon guided them to was larger than the last, with a long table at its center. His pack had already been preparing themselves to leave, but what would certainly draw their eyes the most was the "scoundrel" that Malithus had described. He was perhaps one of the last people they would have expected to meet all the way in High Rock, but sitting back in a chair with his feet propped up on the table was the Argonian, Sees-No-Colors.

---

Saras let out a long, slow breath as he thought, not so much because he did not know the answer as because he needed to think of how to describe it. "That is a difficult question to answer with our current information. Ultimately, we cannot trust these agents at their word, regardless of what they say. They will likely be adept liars. Their goal will be to further the Empire's interest, and large, organized groups like ours are not within their borders are not within their interest. In times of peace, I would consider the Empire an unquestionable adversary. However, the looming threat to the Empire from the Dominion does complicate matters for them. They simply cannot afford to dedicate too many resources to fighting us. Their armies are magnitudes stronger than anything we could even hope to face, but from my estimations of our strength, we could cause enough damage, and give the Empire enough problems to, in turn, give the Dominion a very real advantage over the Empire. That is what we have to bargain with, if it comes to that. We would need only make ourselves too costly of an enemy to make for them. Although, ideally, we want the Empire to know as little as possible about us. We could make our clans seem small, but evasive. Too slippery to catch, as it were. That would also make us seem costly to hunt. The location we decide to lead them to, I can have agents modify it to seem like a more lived-in home. Ri'vashi can have some of her warriors disguised as non-combatants to make it seem like our true clanhome. When they approach, we can make it seem as if our scouts simply spotted them on approach, rather than it being a trap for them. They may not expect such an elaborate ruse. If they are already aware of our capabilities, then this will not help, but they also will not learn much of value about us."

"And, if the worst comes to pass, we can kill them and make it seem like the natural dangers of travel." Saras added.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The curious and perplexing information that the werebear scouts had recovered was more than enough to convince Meesei to divert their focus away from their original task. They would still be delivering the contents of their carriage to the Evermore clan, but Meesei would have to delay her tasks afterwards until after they had properly investigated the recent discoveries. They returned to the outpost with a cart full of supplies and valuables, and a small group of prisoners. However, after handing off their salvage and ensuring the wounded werebear was being tended to, Meesei had her pack depart for Evermore as quickly as possible.

The pack had already moved past the worst of the Wrothgarian mountains, so it did not take too many days to make the trip from the outpost to their destination. The Evermore clan was located in the Bankorai region of High Rock, to the direct north of Evermore. The region was on the border of Hammerfell, and the Alik'r desert, but there was still plenty of greenery around them. Like every clan, in Tamriel, the Evermore Clan relied on secrecy for protection, so they had moved from their previous, above-ground home in the mountains to one in a series of underground caverns. The primary entrance of the only cave system they could find with enough space to accommodate them happened to have its main entrance situated in a cliff face behind a waterfall. It was inconvenient in the sense that anyone entering or leaving the clan would be immediately soaked, but it was far from civilization and reasonably secure. Not to mention, it would give Rhazii and Kaj-Julan something to play in during their stay. There were several waterfalls in Blackreach, but none close to the Silent City. Even Leaps seemed to enjoy laying under the falls.

After their arrival, Meesei had met with the clan's leadership and spent the next day making plans for how they would investigate the recent discoveries. After about a week of sending out scouts to the city and the surrounding areas, they learned enough to develop their plan. They would need to act quickly, and in multiple locations, so Meesei had to divide up her pack based on their skills to handle different tasks. The largest of the groups consisted of Fendros, Sabine, and Kaleeth, all of whom she had called into the small, damp, but well-lit chamber that served as a planning room. Meesei, the Orc that led the clan's warriors, and another Breton were standing around a table with a map of the local area when the last of the three entered the room.

"Excellent, we are all here." Meesei began. "As I mentioned before, we are going to need several teams to investigate several leads at once. Fendros, you will be in charge of your group. You, Sabine, and Kaleeth will lead a group of the clan's soldiers and other agents to locate a group of the enemy's supposed Talos hunters."

Meesei motioned to the Breton beside her. "Malithus says he has someone with contacts in the city who can potentially set you on the trail of some of these hunters. We want to learn their motives through any means necessary. Capture and interrogation would be preferred, but from all our reports, these teams are all zealots. They do not use mercenaries like some of Vile's other forces, so they may fight to the death. In that case, any orders or other documentation you can recover would be appreciated."

---

Saras waved a hand towards Oswall. "I believe he is correct. The Penitus Oculatus are certainly capable, but they can not perform miracles. They have the same limitations as us, so they will not be able to move a large force without our scouts being able to locate them. From what my agent has informed me, there are only three of them. Those three are likely to be very capable, but they are still mere mortals who are vulnerable to overwhelming force. If we do decide to confront them, we can simply send a force large enough that any sane person would surrender. They will be alert and perceptive, but so will my agents, and my agents have the advantage of enhanced lycan senses. As long as we are cautious, the greatest risk that we face is to let them know that we exist at all. At present, we cannot confirm what they do or do not know about us. If these agents have only limited knowledge of us at the moment, then by confronting them in this way, the agents will learn that we possess sophisticated organization and spies of our own. However, we are unlikely to be able to learn much about them if we do not confront them. Unless, of course, the coded letter my agent recovered contains useful information. Although, I cannot give a definite answer as to how long it will take to decode."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I can move Meesei's pack on tomorrow. It's time for me to head to bed for now. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lorag gave a shrug. "Alpha and Sabine, from a military view, are force multipliers. Their magic takes anything we do and, uh, multiply it. And we've just gotten plain better. We've got better equipment, and we've been fighting them so long that we know everything they're gonna do before they do it. Just, uh, like our lizard battering ram here, don't get cocky. Never forget what happened in Elsweyr; they've got some competent people on their side too."

Ahnasha chuckled. "Is that caution out of you, Lorag? You really are growing that 'old warrior' wisdom, aren't you?"

Lorag crossed his arms and grunted. "I ain't old."

"Right, well, I think it's just experience." Ahnasha continued. "We've done ambushes like these so many times that we hardly even have to plan them anymore. I know what pretty much all of you are going to do when pretty much anything happens. I suppose that lets us react better."

---

The Breton woman was still quite nervous to talk to the Champion, but Sabine was a bit more relatable to her. "I'm, um, Laurianne." She answered briefly. Regardless of her anxiety, she did show some relief at Sabine's reassurances.

Meesei had applied a spell that would last more than long enough to keep Laurianne's arm from getting any worse on the way back to the outpost, and probably for the rest of the day. With attention from the healer of the outpost, her arm would be able to recover after the stunted regeneration from the silver wore off. So, Meesei placed her finger at the top of the gash and slowly traced it down the arm, closing up the skin just underneath her claw.

---

Saras shook his head. "Unless we make a series of terrible mistakes, the only people who will find this place are those we allow to find this place. My agent believes that the agents are going to be searching the caves and ruins in the area of Raldbthar soon. I recommend having a few of my agents sweep through Raldbthar and remove any and all traces of our presence there, and we can have automatons solely guard the place. These Penitus Oculatus agents number only three, and they are spies, not frontline warriors. Even if they did manage to get all the way to the bottom of Raldbthar, we can use the attunement sphere to seal the path from the city down to Blackreach. Without an attunement sphere of their own, they would not even know the pathway exists. We can manage without that exit from the caverns until this situation is dealt with. But, this is, of course, may not be something that is wise to ignore. If these agents are aware of our capabilities, then Oswall may be correct. Otherwise, they are simply following any lead on lycans they can find and learning as they go."

Saras leaned forward, clasping his hands together in front of him. "In either situation, we have the option to confront them on our terms. They are following rumors of lycans, so we can give them rumors of lycans. I can have agents plant a rumor in villages near to their path of lycan activity at a location of our choosing. We can select a place sufficiently far from any entrance to Blackreach to ensure our headquarters' security. Then, we can capture them and learn more about them."