EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As she was listening to Fendros' description of events, Ahnasha guided him over to the bed so they could sit down together. She expected that had some legitimate business in visiting her, so she was not surprised that they had made some progress. She hoped that the rest of the pack were having as much luck in their own tasks.

"I've had some progress too, fortunately. I was given a lead on a mercenary who was reported to have worked with the Talos hunters at some point. I talked to him to try to get some information on his former fellow hunters. He wasn't particularly loyal to them or anything, but he was a really 'manly'-type Nord. I had to challenge him to a fist fight to get him to tell me anything; Kaleeth probably would have liked that. Anyways, I have a list of names, but by themselves, they don't mean much to me. It would probably be too difficult to try to break in to Evermore's Census office, so I'll need to use another method to learn more about the names. There's a village out to the west of town that the mercenary told me about. Supposedly they had a contact there they always reported to. I might be able to interrogate him, or go through his things, to learn more about some of the hunters." Ahnasha explained.

Ahnasha's expression turned somewhat regretful. "Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to be able to help with the ambush. The village is a ways to the west, and I need to find this contact as soon as I can. I need to set out tomorrow morning, and I probably won't be back in time to help you. But, if I am able to learn more about these hunters; who they are, where their families live, and that sort of thing. Then, well, we might be able to take advantage of that to interrogate them. If you know the route that this Viper is going to be taking them, then we can probably pick a spot nearby for us to meet up after you deal with the ambush. Anyone you capture, we can interrogate together." She suggested.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Fendros?" Ahnasha said towards the door, carrying some definite surprise in her voice. "Um, yes, come in." She said, though she walked over and opened the door for him regardless. She beckoned him inside, then wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a kiss as soon as the door was closed.

After her affectionate greeting, Ahnasha stood in front of him with her hands on his shoulders. "Meesei did mention you might stop by at some point, but still, I wasn't expecting to see you tonight. How's your mission going? Were you wanting to coordinate with me, or are you just looking to visit?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

There were no other comments or objections from any of the others, so they ended the meeting to allow everyone to get some rest. All that remained was for Fendros to see if Ahnasha was in the inn that Meesei had mentioned during their briefing. The inn was in a bit of a nicer part of the city, near the markets. It was more expensive, with a less "undesirable" crowd. There was an innkeeper still awake who would give a far more friendly greeting to Fendros as he entered than the one at their inn. Though, he would not need to speak to him to find Ahnasha, as her familiar scent would lead him upstairs to the door of her room.

Inside her room, Ahnasha was somewhere between preparing for her next day, and preparing for bed. She was undressed, but had both clothing and equipment laid out on and around her room's table. She had both regular city clothing, and a more rugged set of leather armor and a sword setting at the ready. Ahnasha did not normally wear armor or carry large weapons, but if she had reason to imitate an adventurer or some other warrior, then having armor could help make that image convincing.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Colors appeared slightly uncomfortable as he spoke up. "I would certainly love to be there to support you all in this endeavor, but I fear that I would be of no service to you. Your expert tracking ability would be far more valuable than any advice I could provide, and I would likely just get in the way otherwise. But fear not, I can keep myself useful by watching after all of the belongings we leave here. You may rest assured that no thieves shall even get near touching them."

Ignoring Colors' enthusiasm for his minor task, Kaleeth had one, more relevant question to ask before she decided to retire for the night. "There is one question I have. Meesei mentioned that Ahnasha is also doing something in the city and might be able to help us. Maybe one of us should go talk to her tonight and see if she has learned anything helpful? We know what inn she is staying at. Even if she hasn't learned anything, she might at least be able to lend her bow to the ambush." She suggested.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth, before the meeting, had been collecting together what she felt would be useful to bring, but she did have some concerns about equipment for herself and Sabine. Provided their allies could keep pace and keep track of them, they would have them to come to their aid when and if they were ambushed. However, there would still be a short time where herself and Sabine would need to be able to survive on their own. "I won't be able to bring all of my armor and equipment. It would probably be suspicious of me to show up dressed like a soldier. I could probably justify a sword by saying it is my 'brother's', but I won't be able to have my armor when we are ambushed. Sabine, you can protect me with one of those shield spells, right? Until I can transform?"

"Also, we should probably try to give ourselves any other advantage we can that won't stand out." Kaleeth continued. "Maybe you can brew a useful potion or two to put in our waterskins to quickly drink when needed, without having to go through our bags? Something defensive that could keep us from getting hurt for long enough that the others can come help us. Or maybe some flasks that explode in fire to help separate us from our attackers?" She suggested.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It was not too long before Colors rejoined the others, thankfully without needing to be collected by either of them. While Colors was indifferent at that point, Kaleeth could not have been happier to have been leaving the brothel. It was not the kind of place she wanted to be spending any of her time, for any reason. Colors was both impressed with the initiative Sabine had taken, and apologetic for not having been there. He claimed not to have heard what Sabine said, though there was no way to know if it was true.

The amount of coin they needed to spend to pay the fare was not trivial. They had been given coin for bribes, but it would take nearly all of what they had to pay for Sabine and Kaleeth to be escorted into what would hopefully be a trap by Vile's hunters. Viper had given few details in their first meeting, but once they returned the next morning to give payment, he knew they were serious, and was much, much more forthcoming. In two days time, they were to meet in a specific inn in the same general district as the brothel. They would meet with two of Viper's men, who he had described to them, and would be led along a specific path out of town. He assured them that the Thalmor would have no presence along their path, and they would be able to meet with a wagon outside the city walls. From there, they would be taken to meet up with a larger escort farther from the city, who would put them on their way to Daggerfall. If it was a trick, it was most likely that they would be ambushed outside the walls.

The group was back in the inn, this time in one of the rooms in the basement. It was cramped but they would be able to make their plans for turning the ambush around on Vile's hunters.

"It might be best for a small group, maybe one or two, to follow them when they're in the city. Once outside the walls, we'll be able to have the space to maneuver and keep our distance, but we'll need to be careful not to give ourselves away before getting there." Malithus recommended. "We know the path, so the rest of us can be in hiding outside the walls until you leave, then shadow you until the ambush."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Viper nodded. "I'll make sure to be here tomorrow morning, just after sunrise. And the morning after that, in case you need some more time. When you do pay me, I'll tell you exactly when and where you need to go to meet my people. I'd start packing if I were you, just don't bring too much. Anything you can carry on your person is fair game, but I'll not bring any extra wagons for you."

The man quickly finished off the last of the skooma in his bottle, then let out a long, satisfied breath. "Now, unless you want to pay your fare by joining me in one of those stalls over there, I don't think we have anything else to talk about. Get me my coin, and I'll get you out of here safe and sound. Thalmor won't so much as touch you."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Viper gave a grin, though from a man like him, it was not precisely comforting. "Elves nipping at your heels, then? I can do something about that." He said, taking on a more serious expression when he turned his head to Kaleeth. "And whose the lizard? She don't strike me as one of his faithful."

Kaleeth had been preparing in her mind how to respond to Viper for as many of his questions as she could think of, so it did not take her long to respond. "She is my friend, and has been for many years. They're not really after me, but I don't want to abandon her to the Elves. My...brother figured out that you might be able to help us. He brought us here."

"Oh, and where's this brother now?" He asked.

Kaleeth looked somewhat awkwardly down towards her feet. "He's...with one of the women."

Viper gave an amused huff. "Hmm, my kind of man. But to the point, I'll need a day or so to get things set up, but I can get you on your way in two days. Cost is five hundred gold, per person. Non-negotiable, and payable up front only. If you can get that gold to me by tomorrow morning, I can get you out on your schedule."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Huh, who's this?" Viper muttered as Sabine started to speak. He turned partially to face her from the stool on which he was sitting. "Hmm, straight to the point I see. Daggerfall? Guessing you're not looking just for a wagon. Also guessing you're desperate, else you wouldn't be here."

Turning back to the bar a moment, Viper took a drink from his skooma bottle. "Okay, you've got five minutes of my attention. Make it count. If you've got the coin, I could get you to Akavir if you wanted. If you've got the coin. Now, you runnin' for debts, a personal score, or religion?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth looked at Viper from a distance, through tried to make sure it did not look like she was looking at him. The last thing they wanted was to attract the wrong kind of attention while they were so close. It was hard to tell if Colors had even heard, or chose to hear, Sabine, since he did not respond. So, Kaleeth did not want to rely on him.

"Yes, maybe we should just go talk to him ourselves?" Kaleeth suggested at a whisper. "He doesn't look like he's doing anything important right now, so I think we have a chance. We don't really know what he'll be doing soon enough. The cover is that I'm your close friend trying to get you out of town, and was brought here by my brother, right? We can probably handle him ourselves."