EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei too elected to wait patiently, taking the opportunity to observe her surroundings. It seemed like quite a few of the cultists were apathetic to their presence, which she supposed made sense due to the fact that they did occasionally send representatives from one of the local Black Marsh clans to exchange information with the cult. It was not as if they never had contact with them. However, the fact that the Champion's pack was directly present likely had clued their leaders in to the fact that their business was more serious than usual.

Fortunately, the pack did not need to wait until the entire dinner was concluded, as Neesa, Llarvan, and a few others merely finished up a brief, but obviously confidential conversation before motioning for the pack to approach. Llarvan had the more serious expression of the pair, and a more keen eye towards Meesei's companions.

"So, the 'Champion' comes to us in person, and with one of Vile's trinkets. Suffice to say, I doubt this is a social visit." Llarvan commented. "Well, ally, speak your business."

"Of course." Meesei replied, waving a hand towards the Axe in Kaleeth's hands. "I shall not waste any of our time. As you see, we claimed an artifact of Vile. From what we have learned, something made from the blood of a Daedra, when empowered by another god, can be used to weaken the Daedra that created it. We seek your aid in communing with Molag Bal to request his power for our strike on our mutual enemy."

The reactions of Llarvan and Neesa were quite opposed to one another. While Llarvan stared at the Axe in serious contemplation, Neesa soon started to laugh. "You wish to commune directly with lord Molag Bal? Strangers in service to another Daedra, entirely ignorant of what it means to serve our lord. I sometimes forget how naive mortals can be."

Meesei supposed it was too optimistic for her to have hoped to secure their aid without any resistance; it seemed like Neesa, at least, did not want to allow them an audience with Molag Bal to begin with. "I assure you, we have no intention of disrespecting either you or your lord. However, I must speak to him. If you have no wish to assist us directly, then all I would ask, on behalf of our alliance, is information on how to commune with him on our own."

"Hmm, oh, no, you misunderstand me, child." Neesa replied, her grin becoming almost pernicious. "It is hardly any effort at all for me to help you. In fact, this will be far too entertaining for me to even consider stopping this audience from occurring. Why, it may even be more amusing that watching Vinaremo fail to transform himself into a bird. Come, husband, we should give our allies exactly what they desire. We can even lend them our altar."

Llarvan hummed a moment and returned a more subtle grin towards his wife. "I suppose so. I will have the altar prepared; it should not be long."

As the Dunmer stood up from his seat, Neesa motioned at the table around her. "In the meantime...care to join me for dinner? It is such a coincidence that we are having so many guests so soon. We just had a wonderful evening with a group of traders all the way from Leyawiin that got lost near our home. The Imperial in particular was such a treat." Neesa commented as she telekintetically levitated what appeared to be a raw human heart from a plate to her right and pushed it towards the pack, as if to offer it to them. In particular, she seemed to be offering it to Lunise, oddly enough.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The pale Altmer did not acknowledge anything that the pack said or did, even if they were to try and speak to him directly. The only thing he cared about was that they followed him through the corridors. Thanks to the flooding, they were as difficult to wade through as the swamp outside, until eventually they came to the point where they were waist-deep in water, and ahead of them was another ramp downwards. Once more without a word, the Altmer cast an alteration spell upon himself, then submerged into the next hallway.

Meesei took a moment to stop and cast a water breathing spell onto Lorag, but otherwise did not linger. The extent of the flooding was hardly surprising to anyone who had lived in the marsh. She and the rest of the pack followed behind the Altmer, swimming through the submerged hallways. Although, given the weight of their armor, it could hardly be called "swimming" for Kaleeth, Janius, and Lorag. For the most part, they had to walk along the floor, which forced the irritated cultist to slow his pace.

The pack was underwater for about a minute going through hallways that seemed to always angle downward, until they finally started to climb back upwards again. They were, of course, designed in such a way as to specifically allow water to collect in the halls along the outskirts of the underground complex so that it could drain back outside through specially designed stone pipeways. As the group headed back upwards, they emerged from the water into a hallway that was almost surprisingly dry. From there, it was just another minute before the Altmer guided them to their destination.

As the Altmer had alluded to before, he had taken them to a large dining chamber, with several, quite full tables. Meesei would not have been surprised if most of the cult was present. About half of the plates contained perfectly normal food, by Black Marsh standards. The only dish among that half that was uncooked was the trodh. However, the other half of the cult dined on raw, bloody mortal flesh, or simply drank from bottles of pure blood. Of course, for lycans, it was not terribly off-putting, given their general acceptance of cannibalism. The only detail that might have made the pack uncomfortable was the fact that this cult's victims may not have been as deserving of their deaths.

At the head of the very center table, sitting in elaborately decorated chairs were the familiar faces of Hal-Neesa and Llarvan Samarys, the "lord and lady" of the cult. Although, Neesa hardly even seemed to notice when the pack entered until the Altmer announced them. "Lord Samarys, lady Neesa, our...you seem to have been right about our guests."

"Yes...our guests." She replied, immediately quieting down the room. She gave a long, silent stare towards all of them as she placed down her bottle of blood. "Who are they again?"

Llarvan turned his head slowly to his wife. "The lycans, I believe. I think that one is their leader."

"Right. The 'Champion' as they say. Just...wait over there by the door, I will get to you all in a moment." Hal-Neesa instructed, surprisingly dismissively.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Ssarak could not help but to smile as he breathed in the fresh air through the window beside him. At least on the surface, the land seemed to live up to the reputation it held. He would not want to stir up any debate by speaking his thoughts aloud, but he felt that he preferred it to the destination of his previous mission. This festival seemed like something he might actually enjoy far more than the parties he had attended in Djarkel. For one, his clothes were far more comfortable than the strange attire he had worn to fit in among the Djarkel nobility. Not to mention, it was much more bright and vibrant in color. The oranges and reds of his tunic stood out against his black scales. He had with him his blade, though it was currently in the form of a simple knife that any common person would carry as a tool.

Also helpful was the fact that they were not really on an “assignment” at all. They had no tasks to perform, or objectives to complete. They merely needed to enjoy themselves in a way that reflected well upon the College. Just being present and avoiding causing trouble would suffice.

”I would call myself excited, yes. It reminds me of my first time in Feldor.” Ssarak commented. ”It might not have been as vibrant or colorful as this place, but to a young Esyire who had never seen more than a somewhat large collection of huts and small buildings, it could not have been more alive. Though, I cannot say I have been to a festival like this before. Does anyone have any ideas in mind for what they intend to do first?”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei nodded in acknowledgement to Sabine. "I see. Teleportation, portals, they are forms of magic that are very old, and mostly lost to time." She said, giving an intense look towards the xanmeer. "But some mages may have never forgotten."

With a sigh, Meesei started to step towards the structure. "But Janius is right; there is no turning back. I am glad to have you all with me for this."

Trudging through the water made the approach to the xanmeer somewhat slow. It seemed like the area had flooded recently, given how high the water was on the stonework. Meesei did not doubt that the ancient xanmeer were designed to withstand such a common event, and if that failed, she was also fairly sure the cultists would have solved the problem in their own way. Nevertheless, the water did appear to have risen into the entrance of the stepped pyramid.

Just as they reached the entrance, the group would be able to hear the sound of footsteps in water echoing out from within. Meesei stopped where she was and prompted the others to do the same. Moments later, an Altmer stepped around the corner in front of them. He was wearing dark clothes that, just like himself, were completely drenched, though he did not acknowledge that fact in the slightest. For anyone with a particularly good memory, his pale face might have been familiar. "Hmm, so she was correct; we do have guests. Given your...method of arrival, there are only a few people you could be. Let me see, that smell...yes, so the dogs have returned, then. I suppose we can just skip the pleasantries, I am not in the mood. You wish to see the lord and lady, yes?"

Before Meesei could even open her mouth to speak, the Altmer interrupted her and turned back inside the xanmeer. "Of course you do. Come, come, follow me. I am sure they will be glad to interrupt their dinner for you."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

After everyone confirmed that they were ready, Sabine was able to create a portal to the xanmeer without issue, or at least it would seem so as the portal was being made. It was not until the moment she crossed through the threshold of the portal that she would feel that something was...off. The feeling was unlike anything she had experienced with any portal she had made in the past, even when he was just learning the spell. It was as if her connection with the location she had pictured in her mind had been, for an instant, disrupted. She, and everyone else in the group, would be able to pass through safely, but the place they arrived was not the one that she had chosen.

Instead of being indoors, the group arrived in the swamp, knee-deep in water, outside of the xanmeer. The fog that perpetually surrounded the cult's home was just as thick as Meesei remembered, so they could only barely make out the silhouette of the structure. Since she had not created the portal herself, Meesei was not immediately aware that something was wrong, though she had not expected to arrive outside.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"That is true, but the staff can create a portal very quickly. Though, you do make a good point. Using the staff's ability to absorb magicka may be the wisest option. You could absorb the attacks of the cult leaders and use the power to quickly create a portal, should we be attacked. Those two would be the most dangerous opponents, though their cult should not be underestimated. They seem to be almost exclusively magic users, from my memory." Meesei replied.

Kaleeth looked down at the axe in her hands. She knew her responsibility was, in reality, not too difficult or complex, but it still made her nervous to hold the artifact. It was such an important object that losing it could quite literally doom them all. "I just hope we don't have to fight anyone. We don't have any other Daedric allies to power up the Axe."

Meesei hummed a moment in thought. "Perhaps, though if Molag Bal's reputation is any indication, even killing his followers may not erase the possibility of him helping us. He certainly cares little for them; he might actually be impressed by a show of competence on our part."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei stood up and took a few steps over towards the Axe on the table. "Ideally, none of you will need to do anything. We are meant to be...allies, after all. But, events may not play out ideally. If something should go wrong, our priority is simply survival. The Staff of Magnus should provide the advantage we would require to escape. Hal-Neesa or her husband may recognize it, so Sabine, I would like for you to wield it. Hopefully their attention will be focused too much on me to notice. However, should we need to escape, we will have to make sure that the Rueful Axe stays with us. If they should have the Axe and turn on us, then we will need to fight them only as much as is required to reclaim it. After that, we should stay close to Sabine so she can create a portal for us."

After handing off the staff to Sabine, Meesei picked up the Axe in her hands and held it out to Kaleeth. "And I believe you should hold the Axe. No one will be wrestling it from your grasp."

Kaleeth accepted, giving a firm, determined nod as she gripped the haft of the weapon. It was heavy, but otherwise did not feel much different from any normal axe, at least on the surface.

"Otherwise, we just need to avoid offending our hosts." Meesei continued. "They are a cult of vampires and necromancers. Not pleasant to be around, but we have to show respect for their power. Interacting as little as possible with them would probably be best. Though, take care not to seem too 'passive' or 'weak.' If all goes to plan, then we are going to be communing with Molag Bal himself. I doubt the Prince of Domination holds much respect for mortals he does not consider worthy. In fact, I doubt he holds much more respect for those that are worthy. But, he is as angered with Vile as we are, if not moreso. As long as he believes our alliance will be beneficial to him, he may yet help us. Sabine, you remember the xanmeer, yes? You should create the portal when you are ready."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei probably would have needed to convince her it was best to stay behind, but she might still feel guilty about it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Despite returning immediately from her meeting with the Legate General, it was still several hours before Meesei was close to ready for her mission to Black Marsh. To avoid word spreading about what she intended to do, Meesei went to each person that was to accompany her and told them in-person to meet her in her chambers. She had no wish to hide anything from her own pack, so she did inform Fendros and Ahnasha of what she intended to do, but she also made it clear that they were free to remain in Blackreach, due to their rather horrifying experiences the last time they met Molag Bal's cult.

Meesei was patient in waiting for everyone to arrive; she had specifically told them not to rush, and to make sure they were ready. She had approached Lorag, Janius, Kaleeth, Sabine, and, after their conversation the previous night, Lunise to join her. She was sat on a cushioned stone chair in her room, with the Staff of Magnus sitting across her lap. Though, it was the Rueful Axe on the table nearby that perhaps drew more attention. This was the first time since they acquired it that it had actually been taken out of their vault. The entirety of their plan hinged upon that Axe being empowered for use against its very creator.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"If the Dominion had sent their reply, perhaps I would. But, they have not yet done so, and I will either succeed or fail by the end of today. Unfortunately, I cannot simply bring enough forces to ensure my safety since I need to remain...diplomatic. I am merely informing you as a show of good faith, and so that you can plan ahead for the worst. Certainly, I do not intend to perish." Meesei replied.

Once she had collected all of the documents, Meesei stepped more towards an open part of the room and began the process of collecting her magicka for a portal. With all of the practice she had creating them, she was able to complete one about fifteen seconds sooner than she had been before. "And I believe I should get going now. I would rather arrive before sundown. One way or another, you should have news of the results in the next few days."

---

Kaleeth shrugged. "It's what worked for me, but you're not me. You might try doing something you've never tried before, if you want to figure out how to develop your skills. Personally, I never feel safer than when I'm in a suit of armor. You might try borrowing one for practice if you want to try that. Though, Ahnasha has told me that you've picked up magic pretty well too. Maybe you could try fighting like an armored battlemage? Really, it should be whatever you're the most comfortable with. But, the most important thing of all is to keep trying. It's not going to seem like you're accomplishing much of anything for a long time, until you suddenly find yourself holding your own more than you thought you could."