EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I understand." Meesei nodded to Fendros and Janius. "It is fortunate that Rhazii was too young to remember anything about Neesa, but you may need to convince him of how dangerous she is. Believe me when I say that I do not relish the thought of her being so close to our families, but I think we should all keep in mind the alternative. If Vile wins, he will ultimately claim their souls. And our own."

While most of the pack was rightfully hesitant to want to be around Neesa, Kaleeth looked more uncertain. "I want to help, but is there anything I could really...do by coming with you?" She asked.

After a moment's thought, Meesei shook her head. "Unfortunately, not likely. If there was any danger from her, you would need magic resistance to help face her, but it would not likely be a good idea to have a 'friendly' conversation with her in full armor. But, I would appreciate it if you could go speak to the council and inform them of what transpired. I am sure we will need to have multiple meetings about all of this, but I suppose they should at least be able to start thinking about it."

With some dread in her eyes, Meesei sighed, then faced Lunise and Sabine. "Well, I suppose we should make sure our guest is settled. Hopefully, there has not already been a disaster."

---

Meesei did know approximately where Lorag would have taken Neesa, since they did have rooms that were usually set aside for guests from other clan, though she did not know which specific room on the floor Lorag would have selected. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, it was not terribly difficult for them to discern where they had gone from Neesa's muffled voice barking out orders through the walls.

If there was some good news, it was that Neesa had not already turned violent. Although, when Meesei and the others stepped in the room, they found she was practically tearing it apart as she examined every detail. She had opened up every one of the Dwemer drawers, cupboards, and other containers, and half of their contents were floating telekinetically around her. She seemed to show no trouble precisely manipulating multiple objects at a time, all while complaining towards Lorag. "Forks? Why are there drawers full of forks? In my room? What am I going to do with a Dwemer fork, much less five of them? And these floors, they simply won't do. I loathe walking on stone barefoot. I shall require a few rugs, and new blankets while you're at it. My preference is in Khajiit quilts, but I suppose Altmer cloth is an acceptable substitute. How much of this are you getting, Orc?"

Lorag, standing in the corner with his arms crossed, replied quite tersely. "None."

Neesa sighed. "Of all the..." She mumbled before her attention finally fell upon Meesei, Lunise, and Sabine. Of course, she did not care to actually greet them. "You Altmer tend to have decent heads on your shoulders, can you remember any of this?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"So, too long, in other words." Meesei commented. "For the most part, we just need her to be content enough not to interfere with the Empire or Dominion. Neesa is irritating, but we can put up with her. Our allies may not be so patient. It would help if we knew more about her. She is an exceptionally powerful and possibly ancient vampire, but we really have no way of knowing how much of what she says is true. If she is really that old, then she likely would have seen or experienced anything we could possibly try to keep her occupied. Novel experiences are probably rare after four thousand years. I would suggest perhaps giving her the freedom to study some of the Dwemer mysteries present in this place, but she dismissed the idea that anyone should study them."

The group's conversation was interrupted when they reached the vault. It was deep underneath the Silent City, in a sturdily built room that the Dwemer might have used for the same purpose. The clan had applied their own enchantments to the door to bolster their security, and as such, Meesei went by herself to store away the axe. She was away for only a few minutes before returning, having thought of no new answers to their problems in the interim.

Ahnasha had been looking uncomfortable for the entire duration of their conversation. She stood somewhat back from the others, her arms crossed and her gaze down on the floor. "Look, I...know it's probably not a good idea to leave Neesa to herself for too long. Never mind how Lorag might be handling her. Knowing him, he might end up either starting a fight, or in bed with her. Not sure which would be worse. It's just that...I really don't want to be around that woman. I hated even having to look at her again. I know that she wasn't the one that hurt Rhazii, but it was because of her and her husband all the same. If you need my help with her, you have it, don't get me wrong. I'd just like to stay away from her if I can."

"That may be harder now that she is here; I doubt she will take kindly to us if we try to restrict where she can go. Nor would she obey if we tried. But, I'll try to keep you two apart." Meesei answered. "Who does feel that they could come with me to speak to our new guest? In any case, I plan to keep this staff on hand at all times. Neesa may be stronger than me, but not with the staff's power on hand."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei considered Lunise's suggestion, though she could not be sure if Neesa's intentions were so straightforward. At least, they knew so little about the vampire that trying to assume her motivations was difficult. She could agree with Lunise that it would be wise to be cautious, however. "At the very least, a vampire cultist's word is not likely to be held in high regard among our allies. Unless she could prove that she gave you compromising information, it would just be the word of a servant of Molag Bal. We would certainly deny that she ever mentioned it. Of course, it would be preferable that she never speak to your superiors at all. Regardless of what you were or were not told, she could be damaging to an already tenuous alliance. Your argument for not speaking to her does make perfect sense, Lunise, and I do agree. But, I do still have a few worries. Unfortunately, it does seem like she has taken a special interest in you, Lunise, and it may simply be because of who you serve. She has been insufferable since the day we first met her, but she became twice as bad the moment she learned you were a Thalmor. If anything she said is true, then she has a genuine dislike of the Thalmor as an organization."

Meesei let out a sigh, rubbing her hand over her temple. "I am conflicted. It does seem to be the safe choice to speak to her without you, Lunise, but I worry what will happen if she catches on that we are intentionally keeping you away from her. She certainly does not shy away from starting trouble, and that might just motivate her. Nessa...the way she acts is strange. It is like she is...bored, almost. As if she is more concerned with keeping herself entertained than dealing with the threats we face, and like whole war we are fighting is no more than an irritant for her. Her arrogance is obvious, but it is hard to imagine anyone taking an invasion of Oblivion so lightly. But I do wonder if we can use that to our advantage? If we can keep her mind occupied with other things, entertain her, in a manner of speaking, then she might be less likely to cause trouble for us elsewhere."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lunise's comments said aloud much of what Meesei had been thinking about internally. Hal-Neesa seemed as strange as she was insufferable, and Meesei had difficulty reading into her intentions. Indeed, Lunise's observations also stirred up a few more questions in her mind. She motioned for the others to step in closer so they could speak more quietly as they headed indoors. "The Ayleids? I thought her phrasing was strange, but I suppose it would make more sense if she was being literal. But if her life goes all the way back to the Alessian Slave Rebellions, then she would be over...four thousand years old. At least. You are right that it is hard to believe."

Meesei paused as they moved through two large Dwemer doors, and she stayed quiet while they passed close to another group of lycans. It went without saying that they needed to keep this conversation private. Meesei would need to meet with her council as soon as she could, but their first task was to get the axe to their vault. It needed to be locked away securely. "But...it cannot be denied that she knows far more than we would have expected. The way she spoke about the Thalmor; it implies that she somehow learned of their ultimate goal of destroying Mundus, and supposedly returning themselves to divinity. It required a high-ranking Thalmor defector for us to learn of it, so I am not sure how she would know. And the way she phrased it was strange as well. She said the Thalmor would 'doom mortals to eternal imperfection.' That seems quite the opposite of becoming divine. Do you think it would be worth questioning her about it?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I'm sure they can talk again later, if you want to move us to a new one. Neesa certainly has no inhibitions about saying what is on her mind.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Hal-Neesa gave a brief huff. "Typical. Too stubborn and thick-headed to see what is right in front of you. Though, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, given your youth and inexperience. Sometimes, it almost physically pains me to know that people like you have the same potential as myself. If your leaders don't end up throwing it all away, of course."

Again, Meesei found Hal-Neesa's words to be somewhat bizzare, considering her personality. She did not seem to be the type that would willingly admit to anyone's potential, much less for it to be equal to her own. Regardless, Meesei saw the look that Lunise gave her, and she had no particular desire to engage Neesa in conversation, regardless.

"We should get you situated here." Meesei finally interrupted. "We can deal with all of the details later, once I have spoken to my council."

Hal-Neesa quickly disregarded any response Lunise might have had as she turned her attention to Meesei. "Yes...I will require your finest room available. I had little hope for what that would mean coming here, but I suppose the fact that you are squatting in a Dwemer city will make it somewhat more comfortable."

"Well, I am afraid our finest rooms are already taken, but..." Meesei began, though she was quickly interrupted.

"Then kick them out." Neesa demanded, narrowing her eyes. Meesei was about to open her mouth once more when Lorag stepped up alongside her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Look, I'll handle this, Alpha. You've done plenty already today; take a break." He suggested.

Meesei took in a long breath and took a moment to calm her mind. She doubted Lorag was keen on dealing with Neesa either, so he was probably offering purely out of sympathy for her. She agreed to Lorag with a silent nod while Neesa, without a word, snatched her bag out of Janius' hands. She started to leave without comment, though not without a few more judgmental glances towards Lunise.

Somehow, Meesei was looking even more uncertain about the situation than she had been before the axe was empowered. She had anticipated that Molag Bal's help would come with a price, but she had not expected that the help itself would be the price. "So..." Meesei began, though her words trailed off into uncertainty.

Ahnasha watched with no shortage of suspicion with every step that Neesa took away from them. "I don't think I need to say how much I don't like this."

Kaleeth had preferred to stay as quiet as possible with Neesa around, but she finally held up the axe, clutching it close to herself. "At least we have this...right?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei acknowledged Fendros and Ahnasha with a nod as they approached, though she had to keep one eye on Neesa and Lunise at all times. Logically, she doubted that either of them would be willing to resort to violence, considering that Molag Bal himself had instructed Neesa to serve cooperatively with them, but that did not stop Meesei from being worried. To give Meesei a chance to focus, Lorag stepped in close to Fendros and spoke at a whisper. "The short of it is that we got the axe empowered, with too many strings attached. Alpha managed to beat the vampire in a duel to get the Daedra's help, but then he made her tag along with us. You, uh, can see how well that's going."

Meanwhile, Hal-Neesa stopped her smiling for the first time since they started speaking, perhaps disappointed in the fact that Lunise had stopped giving in to her goading. The vampire finally took her hand off of Lunise so she could cross her arms. "Hmph, what, do you not appreciate my story? Are you suddenly now so reserved about the knowledge you gain? Well, it was a trick question regardless; I learned nothing of value from those slaving despots. Sure, I thoughts I did at the time, and for hundreds of years after, but all I really should have taken out of it was how little I mattered. If you want to be worth anything, you have to earn it. No, I was hatched a pathetic weakling who couldn't free herself on her own. I could only thank Alessia that I managed to live long enough to make something worthwhile out of myself."

Meesei raised her brow at the curious choice of phrasing that Neesa used; it was not how she expected a worshipper of Molag Bal to speak, certainly.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Neesa did not move her hand, nor did Lunise's words seem to have much affect on her aside from amusing her further, based on her grin. "You are lucky. I would be offended, were it not for the fact that I find your ignorance so funny. Indeed, you truly have no idea exactly how ignorant you are; how much the nature of this world, or myself, elude you."

The group reached the Silent City in a short time, though Neesa was too engrossed with her conversation to pay much attention to it. She has showed some reaction upon arrival, but she was considerably less awestruck by the cavern than most visitors. As they headed up the stairs and into the courtyard, they were spotted by Ahnasha and Fendros, who had been awaiting their return. It was unusual enough that they were walking into the city, instead of taking a portal to the courtyard as Meesei would usually have done, but the sight of Hal-Neesa was something that neither of them had certainly expected. And of course, Neesa paid little attention to them as well, even after they approached.

"Perhaps I should grace you with the honor of hearing some of my story?" Neesa continued. "It is a tale that could fill multiple libraries, but it might help you understand how wholly outmatched you are in this little exchange. And, if your skull is actually a little thinner than a daedric helmet, you might manage to learn something. Oh, but perhaps I should not be so hard on you. After all, you were disadvantaged from birth by being born into the Dominion. You don't look like you could be much older than the current iteration of them, at least. We actually have something in common, you know, with our disadvantaged births. Surprised? No, I wasn't always the superior being you see before you; I was once a naive, pathetic weakling of a mortal, hardly worth anyone's attention or respect. I was hatched in the city of Silyanorn, as a slave to Elves. Do you know what that is like, Thalmor? Being a slave to Elves? What one might learn from that experience?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Oh, I knew you would be a fun one." Hal-Neesa grinned, staring Lunise in the eyes with her long fangs on display. "I shall ignore the fact that you brought a Thalmor into the heart of my home without my permission, mutt. Even I must admit, a relationship with the Dominion is not what I expected from you lycans, though I should hope that you are not so stupid as to give any actual support to the Dominion. Trust me when I say that every Dominion, from the first to the current, have been collections of some of the most vile fools to have ever walked on Nirn. There have never been any beings, not Molag Bal or Mehrunes Dagon, not Dagoth Ur or Clavicus Vile, who have posed a greater threat to the future of all mortals in every part of Aurbis than these idiotic Thalmor. They are children who understand just enough to make some of the stupidest mistakes possible."

As if it were her intent to anger Lunise as much as physically possible, Neesa stepped up beside Lunise and placed a hand firmly on her back while maintaining constant eye contact. "But I doubt you are smart enough to believe me, nor do you even understand how it is your masters intend to doom all mortals to eternal imperfection."

Despite her immensely insulting attitude and quite intentional goading, Meesei found herself most surprised by the implications of what Neesa was saying. It seemed to be that, somehow, the vampire already knew of the Thalmor's plot to destroy Mundus and return Mer to their supposed divinity. Something that they had made great efforts to keep secret for the time being.

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

Delni took in a few deep breaths, her eyes closed, and her mind clouded in fear. She was sat in the corner of the room, which was lit only by whatever lights the group had with them. She had her knees pulled up to her chest and her datapad in her hands, the light from which allowed her to see Boqo laying on the ground next to her. From everything they could tell, he seemed to be fine; he had awoken briefly, but was now resting.

It took a while for Delni to start concentrating on what the others were discussing, which was what she had been thinking about to begin with: how to escape. Naturally, it was everyone's priority at the moment. The Hutts were going to be outraged by the bombing on their property, and Delni had lived on Nar Shaddaa more than long enough to know how bad things could become when the Hutts were angry. Considering that they had all been wrapped up in a fight out in the open, she worried that they would not care about the fact that they were uninvolved in the actual attack on the Hutts.

"I...well, Boqo has a ship. A fast one too, but I mean...you saw what happened when that crazy dark jedi escaped in that shuttle. They tried to shoot them down immediately, and we won't have an army of TIE fighters helping us. I, um, I sent a message to my sister. Maybe we can try getting help from the outside? Let me check..." Delni began, her voice trailing off as she picked up her datapad once more. However, her expression became increasingly more worried, and her desperate button-pressing more rapid. "Can anyone else get a connection to the holonet? It's not working for me now."

Regardless of what they tried, no one else would be able to establish a connection with anything but local devices, since all communications out of the district were now being jammed.