EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Probably so, I guess.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"The last sighting put them near the city of Hegathe, though that has been at least a week ago." Azayn clarified. "With how quickly you all move, they have had a hard time pinning you down."

Meesei appeared understandably concerned. They had known for a while that Do'rhajul had formed a team to hunt them, but this was the first time that knowledge had been confirmed by their own sources. Not to mention, they were somewhat alarmingly close. "I am not so certain that the General would have been able to discern our goal. The Axe is not a terribly well-known artifact, and even Vile's own followers may not know of its location. Daedra do not have a great deal of control over their own artifacts when they are in Tamriel, usually. But even if they do not know where we are going, that will not stop them from tracking where we have been. If we are forced to stay in one location for too long, they may be able to find us, and we may have to confront them. Although, I would much prefer to avoid them, since we do not know their true strength. The best way to do that would be to find what we are looking for quickly. Do you have any information in that regard, Azayn?"

Azayn nodded. "Yes, I have a better description of the person you are looking for, as well as the identities of some of the people he has associated with. Unfortunately, our target may have left the city, but he has friends who are residents. Wait in this tavern long enough, and you will find them."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"You may call me Azayn." The Redguard answered. "From all we know about the General, he was recruited based on his own, personal vendetta against our kind, and not because of any particular reverence to Vile. Even as Vile's goals change, his may remain the same."

Ahnasha huffed. "Seems strange that he would hate us so much, considering he is a werewolf."

"Doubt he's too happy about that." Lorag interjected. "He was a proud Imperial soldier, wholly dedicated to his men. And he was completely devoted to the cause. Then, all the sudden, he gets turned into a lycan and ends up havin' his entire life snatched away. He had a lot more to lose back then than I did, and, well, he did. If he's got it in his head that it was Hircine's fault, then I get the anger. Not to mention, he's a dedicated man. When he joins a cause, he's in it for the long haul. To a point, I guess. The man I knew wouldn't be trying to destroy Tamriel, so I'm pretty sure he don't know about that."

"Regardless of his motivations, you still may have to deal with him." Azayn commented. "He has a few companions that we are reasonably certain that we have identified. A few of Vile's long-time servants, some individuals with local notoriety in different places in Tamriel. No doubt, they are the best he could acquire."

Azayn put his cloth bag onto the table and pulled out what looked to be a small journal. "I do have some notes on a few of them. One is a reclusive Nord who used to live deep in the mountains of the Reach. He was a hermit, or perhaps a monk who gained a reputation in Markarth for helping lost travelers and protecting them from Foresworn attacks. We do not know much about his early history, nor does what we do know about him make him seem like a Vile cultist, so his motivation is unknown. Two of them are a pair of Orc brothers. Twins who became known as arena champions among some of the Orc strongholds in the Wrothgarians. At least for their version of an arenas. They may not be cultists exactly, but they may have made deals with Vile to put them in his service. Another is a Breton who was formerly a Daughter of Wroth, one of the witch covens in High Rock. She did not have any local notoriety, but she is one of Vile's zealots, through and through, and may indeed be one of their highest leaders in Tamriel. Her name is Arinette, and she was one of the first of the enemy that we identified after Saras assumed his current role. There are others beyond that, but we do not know anything of value about them. All we can say is that, if the General selected them, they must be dangerous."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The Redguard raised his brow. "A cutpurse? Hmm...doubtful that it is related." He commented.

The agent took a few moments to look around the tavern at each of the patrons before speaking particularly quietly. "I do have information on our...quarry. But, I also have a warning for you. Something troubling that we have been following up on these last few weeks. General Do'rhajul is here, in Hammerfell. He is been spotted in several places, places that you have visited. There is little doubt that he is tracking all of you, specifically. He is traveling with a rather diverse group of individuals, slightly larger than your group. I was told by Saras before I started on this mission that you learned of the fact that the General had formed a team to hunt you all specifically, yes? If so, they is likely those very specialists. We have tried to learn as much about his companions as we can, though we know much less about them as we do the General himself. Regardless, as difficult as you all are to track, he is following your trail, slowly but surely. I would recommend keeping as low of a profile as possible."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei grinned towards Rhazii. "I am hoping we will not need to be in the city that long, but if we are, you can enjoy the city as you like. As long as it does not interfere with the search, of course. I know these kinds of searches can be filled with downtime."

It did not take too long for the barmaid returned with their drinks, which helped the pack to pass the time until another figure finally entered the tavern. It was a Redguard whose eyes quickly focused on the corner of the room, to the pack. He was dressed in the same kinds of robes which were common to desert travelers, and which the pack was mostly wearing. He did not make any comment before walking casually, but purposefully towards the group and immediately sitting down in the empty chair that Meesei had left next to her.

"Champion." The Redguard said quite softly to acknowledge that he was their contact.

Meesei returned a quick nod, then leaned forward onto the table to get closer. "Is this still an appropriate meeting location?" She asked.

"Yes, it should be quite fine. I have not had any issues in the city thusfar. But...have any of you run into any trouble?" The Redguard asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei nodded in agreement. "I doubt we will need to worry about the guards. In all likelihood, they will simply write off the event as an oddity. There are plenty of innocuous explanations for unusual strength. We should just focus on our business in the city."

After a minute or two, a barmaid came by their table to take their orders for drinks. Not wanting to draw any more unusual attention to themselves, many of the pack at least ordered something to justify their presence in a tavern.

Ahnasha gave a long sigh as the stress from their encounter was finally dying down. She hoped the rest of their stay in Sentinel would not be so confrontational; she had heard the city was an interesting destination to visit, so if they did have to stay for any length of time, it at least would not likely be dull. "It will be such a relief when we finally have a solid location for the axe. Though, I don't know if we should expect to find it quickly. We may end up needing to stay in the city for a while. If nothing else, that will let you and your brother learn more about the Redguards." Ahnasha commented, looking to Rhazii. "You two are probably some of the most wordly children on Tamriel, with as many places as we travel. I wonder if there are any local warrior guilds that would allow you to spar with some of their apprentices? The Redguards do have a warrior culture, so it would not surprise me."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The guard gave Julan a few moments more of a stare before focusing his attention back on Janius. "Just give me your account of what happened, step by step, then you all can go on your way."

Since they were the closest to the thief, Janius and Kaleeth gave their recollection of what happened, including the Breton woman approaching Janius. Kaleeth was not sure if she was involved or not, and she was not terribly confident that she would be caught, even if she was. But, Kaleeth was far more concerned with just moving on and getting the attention away from the pack.

Thankfully, the rest of the walk to their destination was uneventful. The altercation had likely caused every pickpocket in the district to lay low until the guards were less on-edge. They made their way into the tavern where they were to meet Saras' agent, which was the same tavern that the Redguard they were tracking was known to frequent. Unfortunately, the pack was unable to see anyone wielding the Rueful Axe among the tavern's patrons, though even the most optimistic among them did not expect to find the axe so easily.

The tavern did not appear to be too seedy of a location, though it was somewhat secluded. It was a small business, located in the basement of another shop, with only a single room open to patrons. The pack found seats for themselves between two of the corner tables and were finally able to take a moment to catch their breath before someone would come around to take their orders for drinks.

"That was more...eventful than I would have preferred, but at least we are here now. Our contact should be here within an hour or two." Meesei said quietly. "Is there anything to be concerned about with that thief? Was anything damaged in your bag, Janius?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan rubbed the side of his head and groaned. "I'm not bleeding or anything, I think. It's not worse than...other things." He answered. In truth, his head felt like it was spinning, but he still felt the need to look strong in front of his family, so he did not let on to how sore his face felt. Kaleeth, naturally, was just as concerned about Julan as Janius, and just as angry at the thief. It was only through years of patience and tempering of her anger that she did not start kicking the thief while he was down. However, she was growing more concerned about the curiosity and confusion of one of the guards. Everything had happened quickly, so few people had time to pay attention, but Julan had inadvertently demonstrated a feat of strength far beyond anything natural to an Argonian of his age.

The thief himself was even more confused, as he had only now begun to process what had happened. He was bewildered that he could have been stopped in his tracks by someone so young. He had given up on resisting by this point; his partner had slipped away as soon as the guards were called, so there would be no one to help him. He allowed the guard to stand him up onto his knees and start tying his hands behind his back, glaring at Julan the entire time. "There's something...not right about that lizard." The thief stated accusingly.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

One of the advantages, or disadvantages, depending upon the perspective, of a highly militarized city in wartime was the increased presence of guards. There was a tall Redguard in a city watch armor who had witnessed the entire ordeal. The guards were all heavily armed an armored, so the thief's original plan had relied not upon avoiding being spotted, but simply upon slipping away before the much slower, less agile guards could hope to catch or identify him. However, being delayed, even for only a few seconds, would allow the guard plenty of time to react, and Janius was ensuring that he was going nowhere. Not to mention, the screams of pain from Janius' effortless twisting of his joints made the scene quite obvious to everyone around them.

The guard who had witnessed the attempted robbery quickly grabbed the attention of another nearby guard and hurried over to the scene of the altercation. He had his hand on the hilt of his sword, though it was still in its scabbard. He shouted, not necessarily threateningly, but loudly and firmly enough to clearly be heard over the crowd. "Release him, Imperial. The Sentinel guard will handle this from here." One of the guards commanded.

The other Redguard had something of a suspicious look in his eye, particularly as he looked down at Julan. The young Argonian was not showing as much of a pained reaction as a normal child of his age would to such a heavy strike, due to the fact that his regular transformations gave him a higher than average pain tolerance. "The boy is...much stronger than he looks, isn't he?" The Redguard commented as his partner was moving to arrest the thief.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The Breton kept up with Janius, placing a hand on his shoulder to keep his attention. "Oh, but are you sure? I am certain you shall not regret it."

The woman's bold and somewhat rude insistence had caught Kaleeth's attention as well. She doubted that whatever she was selling would be worth it, so she hoped to try to help Janius politely get away from her. However, it was that attention that the woman really wanted, as it provided the brief distraction her partner needed.

With their eyes focused on the woman, another Breton man was able to close in on Janius and quickly snatch one of the bags around his waist; the one most likely to contain a coin-purse. He ended up snapping one of the straps in the process, so it was rather obvious what had happened.

The thief almost would have been clear to run away through the crowd, but Julan had ended up turning back as well, wondering why he was no longer walking alongside his parents. This allowed him to see the man rushing up to his father, and gave him the chance to react, even if it was not the most well-planned reaction. As the man was running past Julan, he reached out and grabbed a hold of the bag as well.

"Hey, that's not yours!" Julan shouted. Being a full grown and fairly strong adult, the Breton expected to be able to just jerk the bag out of the young Argonian's grasp with ease. However, Julan's size was deceptive to his true strength. The Breton found himself halted in his tracks by an Argonian half his size, tugging on a cloth bag. The thief's success relied upon acting quickly, and the few seconds that Julan had delayed him were already dangerous. Panicking, the Breton backhanded Julan across the face to try and force him to let go so he could sprint away.