EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sensing Sabine's discomfort, Colors gave her a pat on the back as they were walking back in the direction of the inn. "Don't worry Sabine, I can help you out plenty with that. I have a...certain way of talking to people, and it shouldn't be hard to walk you through the details. You'll probably have to improvise some, but I know you'll be fine, with my guidance."

The majority of the group headed straight back to the inn, apart from Kaleeth. Since Fendos intended for her to show "that they meant business," she decided it would be best for her to be armed and armored for the confrontation. As such, she split from the group and left the city to return to camp. She would stay there for the night, collect her belongings, and meet back up with them in the inn the next morning. It left them with six in the inn, so they would at least be able to split the rooms evenly.

True to his word, Colors was eager to help Sabine devise her plan for the next day. He requested that she join him at one of the corner tables in the second floor of the inn. At this time of night, many of the patrons had gone home, so they could speak in reasonable privacy. Although, Sabine ended up having to wait a minute or two for Colors to arrive after she took her seat. When Colors did join her, he had two mugs in hand, one of which he placed in front of Sabine as he took his seat across from here. "Have a drink; I insist. It's a local ale. Breton I figured you might want to have a taste of your people's homeland, as it were. Besides, it's best not to be stressed for these sorts of things. Or ever, really. Stress never helps anyone. So, just to start, what do you think would be your ideal way to approach this man?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Colors gave Sabine an encouraging look, at least intending to be supportive. "I wouldn't worry too much, Sabine. We probably don't even have to be outwardly threatening towards them. They'll assume that we're threatening them all on their own, regardless of what we do. It might seem a bit mean, but we know we don't intend to hurt them. It's not like we're going to turn them in or anything. I mean, you can probably be outright nice to them, and they'll still be frightened. You just have to ask them if there is anyone they know of in Evermore who claims to help Talos worshipers, but isn't trustworthy. If they can point us to someone who betrays Talos worhsipers to someone other than the Thalmor, then that's all we need from them."

Fendros' question to Colors came with a mixed response. "Um, well, sort of. I have some names of people who were probably Talos worshipers that have gone missing, but for most of them, I can't know if they were taken by Vile's people, or the Thalmor. Though, there is one that I can say that probably wasn't taken by the Thalmor, since it happened at the same time that a lot of the local Thalmor operatives were tied up in that skirmish with one of Vile's outposts. It's technically possible that the Thalmor could have gotten her, but it seems more likely that Vile's people did. Vile's hunters are actually more active in this area than the Thalmor, so they have more people that could have done it, even with part of them in that skirmish."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

There was a few moments of silence as everyone did what they could to think of an approach. Kaleeth proposed an idea first, though she of course had not had much time to think through the details. "Maybe...we can get one of those trinkets like them? An amulet of Talos or something? We could just buy one from that dealer back in the inn. We could send one of us in to act like a Talos worshiper whose in trouble. Maybe say that someone suggested to talk to them. Then, we can ask questions about who to trust and who not to trust."

Colors tilted his head slowly from side to side, being largely uncertain of the idea. "Well, that could work, could not work. It really depends on who these people are. If they're people who help other Talos worshipers, who might have someone sent to them, then it would work fine. But these people might also be in it more for themselves; it might be strange or unexpected for someone to be sent to them for help. Might cause suspicion. Just having one of those amulets isn't enough proof for them. Look, I think we should just find a good time, then go straight up and knock on their door. Tell them we know they're Talos worshipers, tell them we don't care, and tell them we want their help. They won't like it, they'll deny it, but if Sabine tells them what she saw through the window, they'll know they've been found out. And it looks like they're just merchants; not really dangerous themselves. They'll bend over backwards for us to try to keep us from turning them in, not that I'm saying we should threaten them or anything. No need for that. Obviously, they won't trust us, but we don't need them to. Think about it; we don't need to ask them to sell out their friends. We just need to get them to tell us about their enemies. If they have us right in front of them, thinking we might turn them in, then they might not see any harm in telling us about people they hate anyway." He suggested, speaking softly.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

In the moments following Sabine jumping down to the street, there was some movement from inside the window. Kaleeth followed Sabine's lead to bring herself out of sight. A few shadows danced around the window, but as the rest of the group had already gone through the effort to make themselves inconspicuous, there was nothing for them to see when they peered out onto the street.

Eventually, the shadows moved away from the window, and Kaleeth joined Sabine to regroup with everyone else. Out of caution, they did not simply walk straight across the street to the others, but instead met up a short distance down the street, out of sight of the house. In keeping with his usual energetic nature, Colors was the first to eagerly question Sabine.

"So what did you see? You get a look at what he bought from the dealer?" Colors questioned.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth lifted Sabine up as steadily as possible, though Sabine would have to rely entirely on her own balance on the way up. Since Kaleeth could not see her, she was not able to re-adjust to make it easier for Sabine to stay upright. Once she was up on the wooden support, she would need to shimmy along the wall carefully until she reached the window. There was little room to place her feet, so there was also very little room for error. A fall would not be terribly dangerous unless she landed at an unlucky angle, but it would be loud.

Peering into the window, Sabine could see a softly lit bedroom. It was as well-furnished as one might expect of a merchant's home, with a large bed, several pieces of sturdy furniture, and even a medium-sized bookshelf. The man had gone right upstairs as soon as he had returned home, and fortunately for Sabine, she had managed to get a look inside in just enough time to see something valuable. He had moved a dresser next to his bed aside to reveal a metal safe built into the wall. It was somewhat difficult to see from Sabine's angle, but she could make out the man storing in the safe a carved stone statuette in the shape of a sword being driven into a platform: a simple shrine to Talos. Afterwards, he sat down on the edge of his bed with the other Breton in the room, a woman who was presumably his wife. The fact that he soon pulled her into a kiss would essentially confirm that suspicion.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Doubt that kind of shapeshifting was ever widespread. I know it is something practiced by the Glenmoril witches, though. In Morrowind, a few of them appear to you in game as ravens.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Marcaille would teach any member of the Champion's pack anything they wanted to know. Particularly after work on the cure stopped taking up so much of her days. She's naturally not the type to be completely subordinate, but she believes helping the Champion's pack to be worth her time. The only real question would be if Sabine would have wanted to learn.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With as many of them as they had working together to tail the Breton, they were able to follow him in a way that prevented any one person from being in his line of sight too frequently. It required considerable coordination to make sure no one made any missteps, but Fendros seemed to be up to the challenge. While they were following him, they found no signs of anyone else doing the same, so unless there was another group even more adept at staying hidden that them, or they were the only ones to have currently picked up on this lead.

As the Breton's garments suggested, he did not stay in the lower class district for long. Instead, he headed into a market district, and eventually into a tailor's shop that likely doubled as his home. The two teams Fendros had split the group into converged and observed the shop from the outside, carefully. It was past dark and there were not many people on the streets, but if a group of their size was caught taking close interest in a shop after dark, most people would assume the worst.

After a minute or so, the candles they could see glowing through the ground floor windows were extinguished, but not long afterwards, another was lit in a window on the floor above. There was nothing obstructing them from peering through inside, except for the fact that it would be difficult to climb up. Not impossible, by any means, but the horizontal wooden beams on which one could stand protruded from the wall only slightly. The group could help to boost one person up, but they would need to be careful not to lose their balance.

Colors crossed his arms as he looked up at the window from across the street. "I'd like to find a way to look inside, see if this guy is really the one we're looking for. But...we probably also don't want to be seen climbing up some shopkeeper's house. That would look pretty obvious from the outside. Need a way to look in without being noticed."

"I could climb it. Maybe not in this dress, but I remember climbing harder things than that back when I lived in Black Marsh." Kaleeth commented. "But, it would be easy to see me."

Pondering a moment, Kaleeth looked to Sabine curiously. "Sabine, I...don't suppose Marcaille ever taught you to do that thing where she turns herself into a crow? Or some kind of bird?"

Malithus seemed confused. "Into a bird? Like those stories of witches in the wilds that can turn themselves in to ravens? That's not just a myth?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Yeah, didn't have any specific conversation in mind at that point. Though, I believe Arthon and Nelise stayed back at camp to watch their belongings.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

While the investigation was certainly not starting out as most of the group likely suspected, it was not an entirely unwelcome change of pace. There was considerably less risk in lounging around a tavern having drinks and holding idle conversation than the pack's usual missions. In the hours they spent waiting, Malithus and the members of his pack who were with him shared more about themselves, in appropriately covert terms. They were not the strongest pack in the Evermore clan in terms of fighting ability, but they were among the best suited in the clan for more subtle work. It was the usual case that clan alphas would assign their most talented packs to aid the Champion's pack.

Color's information, fortunately, did not seem to be incorrect. At least, they were able to easily confirm that part of it was correct. Occasionally, someone from the tavern would walk through the door next to the bar, with no reaction from the bartender. Generally between ten and twenty minutes later, they would emerge. Some would stay in the tavern and rejoin their own acquaintances, while others would just leave straight away. But, in every case, they would have the distinct scent of moon sugar or skooma emanating faintly from them. It could be a challenge even for a lycan's sharp senses to discern the smell depending on how well-sealed the substance was, but between the six of them, at least a few of them would always catch the scent.

It was growing rather late in the evening. It was past nightfall, though there were still patrons entering and leaving the tavern in perhaps even greater numbers than before. As had happened several times that day, a Breton man who had been in the room for about half an hour slipped into room they were watching. His clothing made him appear somewhat better-off than the majority of the patrons, but that was not entirely unique in the district. A few of those that had visited the black market dealer looked like they had some coin to spare. However, after this one returned to the main room, everyone at the pack's table looked back and forth at one another, but none of them gave the nod to indicate that they had picked up a scent. This was their first potential success, and it would be up to Fendros to decide how to respond. The Breton left the inn almost immediately, so he would have to decide quickly.