EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Don't shove me." Ahnasha snapped back, shoving Fendros in kind. She was now certainly on edge, and certainly not relenting to him. "What, you want me to play nice with the enemy? Remember, he is the enemy, not just some unwitting mercenary. He knew who he was working for, and he did it anyway. I think it's a mistake to let him go at all. Who knows what he might do after he leaves here? Anyone who knowingly works with Vile deserves whatever we do to them; they started this war, not us.'

Ahanasha clenched her hand into a fist once her mind turned to Rhazii. "If someone stabbed Rhazii, I would kill them. Just like that man probably wants to kill me. Fortunately for me, he can't. Am I being 'fair' to him, no. But this life isn't fair. If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that there is no such thing as fate to make sure everyone gets what they deserve. People just do things, good or bad, and then good or bad things happen to them. There's no rhyme or reason to it. I don't want to be 'nice' to Vile's minions anymore. I just want to kill them all so that we can go back to our lives in peace. Do you really think this war will ever end if we don't?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha's eyes narrowed, making her appear somewhat cross with Fendros. She paused, taking on a more severe expression. "Seriously, Fendros? Are you really going to try to compare what happened in there to what happened to me? I went through a waking vivisection. That man tore open my body like a butchered deer, under the 'care' of mages to make sure I stayed alive, but could still feel everything. That man was a sadistic torturer who was in it just as much for his own pleasure as he was our information. Me? I put a knife in her hand, and I didn't even leave it in that long. Then, I brought in Sabine to heal her right back up. When I was tortured, I was in periodic, terrible pain for weeks, and I still get sharp pains occasionally. Years later. That girl isn't even in pain anymore, and she'll be left with little more than a scar."

Crossing her arms, Ahnasha was intent on standing her ground. "How could you even begin to compare those two? I did nothing permanent to her, and I assure you, I took no pleasure in it. It offends me that you would compare me to him."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha shrugged. "Even if they do go to ground, it is still something of a win for us. We might be moving on back to Blackreach soon, but the Evermore clan can keep the pressure on them with this information. They won't be able to use the same Talos hunters, else they'll be identified. And they won't be able to use the same people in the city who sell out Talos worshipers, since they can keep an eye on them. They'll have to move in new hunters, but then, we can just focus on investigating new arrivals."

Overall, Ahnasha's mood did not seem like it had been affected in the slightest by the interrogation. All that seemed to matter to her was the fact that they had gained the information they sought. She did not acknowledge her willing torture of the child, and just continued to smile. "But, what really interests me is the fact that we can pretty much confirm that Vile isn't working with the Talmor. It makes the situation a lot more confusing, but it is at least a bit reassuring. I would not want to have to make an enemy of the Dominion."

Leaning in, Ahnasha gave Fendros a kiss on the cheek. "We did good."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Just, um..." Jespric started. He was not actually expecting any choice in what his captors did with him. Part of him was still expecting that they would just be executed. But, there was one thought that came to his mind. "I suppose anywhere with a port really. Vile's people are not allied with the Thalmor, so maybe we can hide in the Summerset Isles? I don't much like them either, but we're not Talos worshipers, so at least we'd be safer there. We don't have coin to pay for the voyage, but I guess we can figure something out." he reasoned.

There did not seem to be much left to gain from interrogating the family, so Ahnasha was content to leave them be. There was still potentially something to learn from the others, but it would likely be best to wait to see if the letter could be recovered. As such, she felt she could relax. She stepped up alongside Fendros in an overall good mood. Despite everything, she was smiling. "I think this has gone well, all things considered. Even if we don't learn anything else, I think we already have enough to have made this worthwhile."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Goodnight. Ahnasha can continue making everyone very uncomfortable tomorrow.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Being that he now had a responsibility to answer Fendros' questions, Jespric too had to try to ignore his daughter's whimpers. "When I first contacted them? It was...a year back, at least. I was desperate, looking for any sort of work I could find in a tavern. The barkeeper was sort of my friend, so he tolerated it as long as I was not too disruptive. I eventually started a conversation with an Imperial. A different one from the one back in the fight; I haven't actually seen him again since then. But he was the one that put me into contact with the woman who killed herself. The bartender had vouched for me that I had been a warrior, so we made the deal. "

Jespric gave no more resistance to the questioning. He explained every important detail he could recall from his work with Vile. He explained that their primary goal was to hunt Talos worshipers, and from his experience, there was no other motive to their ambushes. They would usually captured the worshipers, but only so they could interrogate them to find more. He described some of the ambushed they carried out, who they targeted, and gave away some of the people he knew they worked with, in addition to Viper. However, the entire time, he maintained that he did not actually know the reason for why they were hunting Talos worshipers. He said that someone like the Imperial woman would have known, but the grunts like himself did not need to. It was a detail that Ahnasha quite wanted to know, but even she did not think further torture would be helpful. It seemed most likely that he genuinely did not know.

"Okay, so I can accept that you might not have been told the reasons for doing what you were doing. But, I'm sure you can help us figure it out. Did you notice anything about your employer that might have given a clue? Did she work with the Thalmor?" Ahnasha asked.

Jespric shook his head. "Oh, Divines no. We were not friends to the Thalmor. We might have been working for the same goal, but they have always been hostile to us. I don't think the Thalmor care at all for Vile, and I don't think they care that he wants to kill Talos worshipers too. I swear I don't know any more, but...listen, one of the other people you captured, he was a courier. He arrived just before you did, and he held off on delivering his letter until after dealing with what we thought were more Talos worshipers. It was meant for our leader, I think. The Imperial. He, um, he's a sneaky sort. He managed to get the letter out of his pocket and drop it through a gap in the wagon on our way over here. It should still be on the ground on the path we took here, unless the wind picked it up. I think he did it right when we came into view of the lake, so not too far back. Maybe that letter will help you? So, um, will we be able to go after this?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Fortunately for Fendros, Jespric's bravery and bravado turned out to be far more empty than he would have liked them to believe. The sight of his daughter's pain melted away his resolve before their eyes. He had to shout over his daughter's screams to even be able to answer Fendros. "O-okay. I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything. Just stop; stop hurting her. By the divines, stop hurting her. I'll answer any question you want, just...get her away from my family."

Once Jespric agreed to capitulate, Ahnasha yanked the knife out of the table, and out of the girl's hand in a quick motion. It was painful, but less so than if she had done it slowly. The girl, still screaming at the top of her lungs, ran immediately to her mother, clutching her hand close to herself. Elinenne was speechless at the events that had unfolded so quickly before her. She held her arms tightly around her daughter, unconcerned by her own pain.

"I'll go get a healer for them." Ahnasha announced, looking directly at the man. "Remember, this could have been so much easier, and so much more painless. Do not give us any more trouble." She warned. Ahnasha stepped into the other room for just a few moments to collect Sabine before returning. No doubt, the screaming had already given away what was happening within the room to some extent. Ahnasha did not leave entirely, but she did remain distant, observing from the doorway.

Jespric could hardly collect his thoughts overall, so he started off with a question. "So...what exactly do you want to know? What questions should I answer? I know some about my employers, but I don't know everything."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Jespric eyed the gems cautiously. "What in Oblivion are those rocks? They don't look like soul gems." He asked.

Elinenne was holding her hand up over her reddened face, with tears still in her eyes. "They are soul gems, Jespric. Black soul gems. They can take human souls."

Despite all the threats and appeals to reason, Jespric had essentially gone into denial. He was panicked, and perhaps not thinking clearly. It did not help that the Imperial, or another of Vile's faithful, had likely conditioned him to expect the kinds of threats and deals that he was being offered. It would take a lot of effort to overcome his pre-conceived ideas about his employer's enemies. "I've heard enough of this. I know what kind of liars and manipulators you are. The deal was that I pay the debt, and not betray him. That was it. They didn't say I couldn't fail, they didn't say any of that. I've maintained my end of the deal, so he'll keep his. I haven't said a word to betray him, and I won't say a word. None of us will. If you kill us, we'll all be together in Aetherius."

Ahnasha leaned forward onto the table, barring her teeth at the man. "Do you think I'm bluffing, is that it? Do you think that if you raise your voice and show how tough you are that I'll just have to leave you alone? You, all of you, are completely at my mercy."

"I think, I think..." Jespric began, raising up his head to lock eyes with Ahnasha. "I think you're a damn stupid cat and a coward that gets satisfaction out of hurting the weak. I think your flea-bitten hide isn't worth the mud on my boots, and I think my employer is going to end up making a rug out of it."

Ahnasha gripped the hilt of her dagger tightly enough that it looked like she was going to break the steel in half. She became angrier and angrier throughout Jespric's little speech until it reached the point that her expression shifted to actually being calm, almost blank. Until this point, even Fendros likely thought that the harshest of Ahnasha's threats were simply a bluff; an act to coerce the man into talking. But, there was something a bit darker than that in Ahnasha. There was a willingness to commit cruelty that, up until this point, had only ever been directed at their enemies. In this case, it might have been brought out only by anger, but it was still there.

"You are going to tell us everything you know. Right. NOW!" Just as she shouted, Ahnasha stabbed her dagger straight down, not into Elinenne, but straight through the middle Aneitta's right palm, piercing straight through it and pinning the hand to the table. Immediately, she gave a horrifying scream that could be heard easily outside the cabin. As an instinctual response, Elinenne, who was not bound by ropes, tried to lunge at Ahnasha, only to be backhanded to the ground and left with a broken nose.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As frightened as he was, Jespric was also remaining stubborn in equal measure. "They said you would make deals. They didn't say you would be monsters, but they said they had enemies. You're lying to me, just trying to press me for information. Even if you weren't it wouldn't matter. My deal goes beyond life. My...if I don't pay of my debt, or if I die after betraying him, he gets my soul. My family's souls. Whatever suffering you have in store for me isn't worth it.'

By this point, Eleninne was almost in shock. "Our...souls? Jespric, are you mad!? Why would you do such a thing?"

The man lowered his head. "It wouldn't have been hard to pay off the debt, if this hadn't have happened."

Ahnasha tapped her foot on the floor impatiently through the end of Jespric's explanation. "You probably think your 'resolve' is brave, but I can guarantee you it is very, very misplaced. If you're worried about your souls, then you should be worried about me. My first thought when I heard about these two ladies was to take their souls. Just ask the Dunmer here. A necromancer like myself has great use for them." With her free hand, Ahnasha grabbed Eleninne's long hair and pulled back her head, exposing her neck. She held the dagger forward, though did not yet press it to the woman's neck. All the while, their daughter was whimpering beside her.

"It would be very easy to kill her. Don't make me-" Ahnasha began shouted back, sneering at Ahnasha.

"You...lie! You expect me to believe some cat just happens to be a necromancer? I think you..." He started, but Ahnasha was quick to shout back even louder.

"Shut up!" Ahnasha shouted again, but this time she let go of Eleninne's hair in order to slap her across the face. "You will only speak when we allow you to speak."

Jespric's eyes widened briefly in surprise. "But, she didn't say anything!"

"I don't care." Ahnasha responded flatly.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Jespric was just as silent as the woman and her daughter had been when they first came in the room. Just like they had, he avoided eye contact, and was entirely unresponsive until Fendros said his wife's name. At that point, he looked up at her with confusion, and a bit of anger. "You weren't supposed to tell them who you are, woman!" He shouted at her.

Eleninne let out a light sigh. "They know what we look like; it didn't matter. I think they know a lot about us. Let's just...tell them whatever we can so we can go home."

"Dear, I...I can't do that. You know I can't...you know what they'll do to us." Jespric responded.

More and more, Eleninne showed some desperation in how she was acting. "Does it matter? These people can hurt us right now. We can just...run away. Go somewhere far away where they can't find us. They won't go to the ends of Tamriel to chase our debt over a sword and a horse."

Jespric shook his head. "No, you don't understand. It won't matter where we go. We won't be able to hide. And...it doesn't matter what these people do to us. What they do to us will be worse if we say anything."

Ahnasha found the man's comment to be a good place to interject. "It actually does matter. Contrary to what your employers may have wanted you to think, neither Vile nor his agents are omnipotent."

"Wait, Vile? What are you..." Eleninne began, but Ahnasha did not allow her to interrupt.

"Shut up." Ahnasha snapped. "As I was saying, Vile is not all powerful, else we would not be fighting him. And I can say that, most assuredly, I am very capable of causing you just as much, if not more harm than Vile can." She said, pulling her dagger from its scabbard on her belt. Though, she did not do anything with it for the moment.