EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Colors held his hand over his chest. "Why, you offend me. My honor is, well..." He began, but was not able to keep a straight face for long. "...well, perhaps honor isn't the right word. Then I promise on the immense debt of gratitude that I owe, and will always owe, you and your pack."

When Sabine pointed to the pastry, Colors a simple shrug. "Perhaps, though I am not particularly in the mood for it. You may have it, or you may not. Perhaps it will just be a decoration for our table?"

Though Sabine had asked about the pastry, Colors was quick to move on to a new topic, after starting on his new drink in earnest. "Since we are without means to partake in any misbehavior right now ourselves, perhaps we should settle for simple stories of debauchery instead? I am sure you must have some tales from your live worth sharing. I would be eager to hear."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Colors' good spirits did not fade in the slightest with Sabine's hesitation. Instead, he just chuckled. "Well, it's not like you shall remain drunk all night. These drinks would wear off well-before the morning, with a good night's sleep. And with you here, it wouldn't even affect us in the morning. I mean, you did just finish telling me how you have been curing hangovers since before you left your coven, yes?"

Colors still did not make any mention of the pastry, nor did he even look at it. He did not suggest that she take a bite, nor did he as her to ignore it. It was simply sitting there. "You'll come to no harm from it, nor will anyone else. As much fun as it might be, I do agree that it would not be wise to get into too much trouble tonight, in the midst of a mission. We'll not even leave the inn. Just some drinks, stories, and the...pleasant company of friends. You have it on my honor that we'll do nothing to interfere with our purpose here in Evermore. Now, without any risks like that, can you really say that there's a good reason not to enjoy yourself? So, a toast?" He asked, raising his cup up towards her.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It really depends upon one's definition of bad.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Finishing off the last of his drink, Colors started to laugh quite genuinely. "That is what you consider crazy? Oh, Sabine, Sabine. You are one of the most important people among any of our clans, but it saddens me to hear of how dreadfully dull your daily life must be. Oh, the stories I could tell you about my time making the rounds through Tamriel's ports...defacing statues with paint and undergarments in the middle of the night, stealing pigs and letting them loose in the middle of the count's court, climbing out of lovely women's windows before we found ourselves discovered. All sorts of experiences I wouldn't trade for any amount of gold. I mean, after all, does anyone's accomplishments really matter in the end if they can't say they enjoyed the life they lived?"

Colors pointed his finger at Sabine. "You deserve some excitement. You deserve to be able to let loose, to give in to all your desires and not have to keep yourself so contained. You need to...misbehave every once in a while. You can still fulfill all your duties, carry out all your research, but feel free to have some fun too."

Colors reached into his satchel and pulled out a pastry, not unlike the one he had showed them heading into town. He placed it in the middle of the table, but made no comment about it. He simply left it there without a word as he stood up. "I'm going to get us some more drinks, and I'll hear no arguments about it."

It took Colors only a few minutes to return after he left, with two more drinks in hand. Both came in tall cups, though the one he placed in front of Sabine was different this time. "Here you are. A local wine; a pretty reasonably strong staple of Evermore, according to the bartender."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Colors was close to finishing his drink. Despite the fact that their current topic was not exactly uplifting, he was still keeping his spirits reasonably high. "Yeah, it would be hard not to miss them after spending so long there. They took me in when I had no one else. Everything after that battle, after you went your separate ways, it was hectic. Tumultuous. Losing Do'ajee, Ri'kalesh taking over the clan, but we all stayed as a pride even through it all. It just ended up that my place in the clan would take me away from them all. But, I do at least have my crew, and unlike others I've had, I'm going to have them for a while. But, I do think I at least kind of know what you're going through now. Back before I became a lycan, my crew was a lot more fluid, so to speak. I never really knew from one voyage to the next who would be staying on, or who would be moving on to some new job. People were always getting replaced, hired, kicked off the ship. There were few I could really rely on to stick with me. I guess it's kind of the same for you. You have for pack, but everything else in your life is kind of hectic."

Leaning forward onto the table, Colors had a smile that was both encouraging and confident. "But, you don't have to let that discourage you too much. I remember very well how I dealt with that. I remember almost every time we went to port, I would find a promising looking tavern near the docks. A place filled with sailors in just the same kind of position as me. We'd have our fill of mead, ale, or whatever else they had on tap, and on those nights, strangers could become the best of friends. Some of the best times of my life happened with people I knew I'd probably never see again. We all knew that we wanted to get the most out of the break we had, so it didn't matter if we didn't even know each others' names. Made it easier for us to find trouble, but it was the kind of trouble you end up looking back fondly on for years to come. Even if you can see your friends all the time, you can still find ways to live your life on the road. The opportunities might be rare for you, but that's all the more reason to jump on them when you find them. What would you say the craziest thing you've done over the last few years has been?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Colors responded in an understanding tone. "I know you do what you have to. But you don't set out to hurt people who don't deserve it. I mean, it's not like Vile's people are paragons of morality or anything. We didn't start this war, so it's their fault if they end up dying while trying to fight it. I know it's really easy for me to say this, but try not to let it burden your conscious too much. What you do, what your pack does, it helps people. A lot of people."

Colors was halfway through his drink by this point, and not intent on slowing down. There were always more details about the confrontation the next day that they could try to hash out, but he had given his general advice. He had other topics he would prefer to discuss. "I expect you get a lot of compliments from people in the different clans, but I also expect they're not really complimenting you. They're complimenting your legend; the version of you that gets spread around in stories. Honestly, I can't say I know what that's like. I mean...I'm used to people spreading stories about me, but they're not usually, uh, positive in nature. My point is, the high praise has probably wore thin on you, but I want you to know that you're definitely deserving of some reasonable, realistic complements on the work you do. Try not to forget that in all the other noise. Now, aside from all that, how has life been treating you? Outside the war and all that. I mean personally. Did I hear Kaleeth right when she said you learned to turn into a bird or something? That must've been an exciting thing to study."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Overstep what? I am afraid I'm not quite sure what you mean." Colors responded. With him, it was actually difficult to determine if he was being legitimately honest in his confusion. Regardless, he continued to answer Sabine's questions without hesitation after another drink.

Colors nodded his head. "Aye, if you want to go the route of trying to get him to trust you, then being up front from the start is probably your best bet. Just approach him, calmly, and ask to speak to him in private, if we're not already in private. Then, open up with a sort of declaration of facts. Tell him that you know he worships Talos. Tell him about what you saw in the window if necessary, then reassure him that you aren't an enemy. Naturally, he won't believe you, so you'll then tell him that you are not going to ask him to say anything that will incriminate him, his friends, or his family. Luckily, that's not a lie in our case. You can keep reassuring him that you do not need to know the identity of anyone he would want to protect. You want to be firm, but calm. Peaceful. You can really play up the notion that w have a mutual enemy. Now, I can't guarantee it will work, but if it doesn't there's nothing stopping you from taking a more aggressive approach to threaten to turn him in. But, well, from what I remember about you, Sabine, I know you probably don't want to do that if you don't have to. It's a really admirable thing about you. You know I'm not one of those lycans that looks up in awe at you, but I'm not ashamed to admit things like that make me look up to you and your pack. It's just more of...respect for me, instead of hero-worship."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Colors gave a noncommittal shrug before taking a swig of his own drink. "To be honest, there's quite a lot of ways to go about this. What Fendros suggested is certainly a way to do it. Ease into it so you don't startle him as much. But it's far from the only way. Now, if you start with those names, he'll know what you're talking about immediately, and it will scare him. Start listing off Talos worshipers without declaring your intentions? That would give someone like him a fright. The real first question to figure out is not what to ask first, but how you want to go about getting the information. Scaring him, making him use the information he has to bargain against a...perceived threat on his life, that could get us the information we need. Or, we could go the route of being honest. Well, as honest as we can be. Try to convince him that we're not a threat and that you just want his help. He still won't really trust us, of course, but as long as we don't ask him questions that would incriminate him or his friends, I'd give good odds of him cooperating. Decide how you want to persuade him, and I can give you all the help you need."

With a chuckle, Colors took another drink of his ale. "It's a shame he's married. If he wasn't, just looking at your beautiful face would probably be enough to get him to trust you." He added.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Think I'll bring us to a conversation with Colors. He might be a bad influence. Or just harmless. I can never decide half the time.