EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Useful information perhaps...unless she is holding back." Meesei commented after Teroiah. She did have a feeling that this duel might serve to teach them just as much about Neesa as Rossarm. The more capable Rossarm was against her, the more they would learn about the both of them.

Hal-Neesa did not keep up the same pattern for long. She was not making any verbal commentary on his performance, but she evidently learned enough to proceed to a new challenge. She pulled one hand close to her chest as magicka surged into it. Her whole hand seemed to burn with a bright blue flame, all the while, her ward held strong against any response Rossarm might have. After only a second or two, Neesa let loose a wave of blue flames that spread out across the floor in a cone in front of her, overtaking Rossarm's wall of flame. It spread quickly towards him, and unless he could evade quite quickly to the side, he would be left with nowhere safe on the ground to stand.

---

Julan still gave Rhazii nervous glances, holding his arms crossed over one another as if it would somehow hide his tattoos. He slowly nodded to Lorag. "I, um, guess I can help uncle Lorag. I don't think I have anything I have to do."

By this point, Julan finally noticed that Narsi was someone who was there with Lorag and Rhazii, and not someone who just happened to be standing nearby. He did not know her, and given his continued discomfort regarding his tattoos, felt more nervous than usual around stranger. "Oh and, um, hello. I don't recognize you; are you new to the city?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

For as fast as Rossarm was in casting his spell, Hal-Neesa was even faster in defending against it. Meesei did not even see her cast her ward, yet it protected her all the same. She wondered if the vampire had somehow imperceptibly prepared it ahead of time, or if she could be as fast as she seemed.

Regardless, Neesa showed no outward strain to her defenses. Granted, Rossarm's attack had been especially quick, rather than especially strong. She held one hand out straight, bolstering a ward to its full strength. At the same time, she formed more of the dark crystals, but did not launch them all immediately. Rather, they floated around her, as if waiting to be used. And indeed, Rossarm did not have to wait long. Instead of a single attack, Neesa now varied her strategy. She struck his ward with a powerful strike from an exploding crystal, then followed it an instant later with a lightning bolt of more modest strength, much like the one Rossarm had attempted on her. After that point, she followed through with another crystal, to be followed by another lightning bolt. All of it alternating and repeating to afford Rossarm little opportunity to recover the strength of his ward. Of course, overwhelming a mage with rapid strikes was hardly a new or unique idea, but Neesa's crystals were powerful. A direct defense would likely be unsustainable.

---

There was another few seconds of silence between the three of them before Lorag finally acknowledged Rhazii's stare. "What?" Lorag replied, evidently unphased by Narsi's brusque response.

Both Lorag and Narsi were perfectly content to wait in silence, but fortunately for Rhazii, Lorag had been correct about the sort of rush that Sabine was in. Through the gate, at the bottom of the stairway outside the city, they could see Sabine's returning portal, and the fact that she was not the only one to step through it. Janius, Kaleeth, and Julan were all right with her.

Once Sabine and the others were through the gate, Lorag was right there to meet them. He approached Janius and Kaleeth first, and did not bother with pleasantries. Despite clearly noticing Julan's tattoos the moment he set his eyes on him, Lorag did not make mention of it. "Janius, Kaleeth, care if I borrow Julan for a while?"

At the same time, Julan found himself caught off-guard by the sudden sight of Rhazii, as he had not expected his brother to be right inside the gate. He was not wearing much more than his loincloth, so Julan's new tattoos were easily on display. He had been going through his head all the while that they had been waiting for Sabine trying to figure out how to explain it to Rhazii, but in the moment, he froze up. He did not recognize Narsi, and did not even notice her at the moment.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sorry for not replying sooner. On Rossarm's end, it is simply a magic duel. Neesa would be testing him with various spells, attacks, and strategies. Her first spell is simply an attack for him to defend against, and she invited him to attack her. The spell is one I lifted from ESO, so something from the Second Era. It's a dark crystal that explodes, and is fairly heavy hitting.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Hal-Neesa entirely ignored Teroiah, instead focusing her attention on Rossarm. She stepped a short distance away, just to the other side of the training area, and faced him. Her formal dress and jewelry did not make her seem particularly prepared for combat, but she proceeded regardless. "I know what qualities to test in a mage, how to test them, and what to look for. I am not going to give you a defined set of tasks or challenges. Part of this is testing your capacity for observation, decision-making, and of course, capability to act on those decisions. You will need to figure out what I am doing, and react appropriately. And all the while, I want you to do your utmost to stop me. Essentially, this will be a magic duel, but with more...structure. At least on my part. Hopefully, our audience will be intelligent enough to figure it all out on their own, so I won't have to bother explaining it later."

A grin crept across Neesa's visage and a distinct, though not exceptional magical charge could be felt around her. "Just be aware that I am not going to be as kind nor careful with my approach as the Thalmor would have been. I am not going to be trying to kill you, so if you somehow manage to get yourself killed despite that, then I doubt you would have been too useful to us anyway. Oh, and don't worry about holding back..." Neesa said, bringing up her hand in front of herself and forming a dark sphere of magicka just above it. "...you won't hurt me."

Neesa started simply enough, though the actual spell that Neesa cast was not one that Meesei had seen nor heard of before. It was as if she formed a dark, solid crystal of pure magicka, which she launched straight at Rossarm.

---

"The girl's my daughter, and you're going to help train her." Lorag answered without skipping a beat, nor with any particular emphasis or weight on the fact that he had a daughter who was suddenly among them in the city. He also did not give Rhazii too much time to process the answer before continuing with his explanation. "We're just going to wait here a bit to see if your brother ends up coming back from Black Marsh today. Sabine teleported down to her sister's place to see if Janius and them had got back to Thorn yet. Apparently Sabine's pretty busy today, something having to do with that vampire, so she's not going to be sticking around down there to visit."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

At first, Neesa's only reply was a brief few seconds of laughter, followed by an almost friendly pat on Fendros' shoulder. "Oh, don't worry, mutt. I'm not going to smite him for his insolence, or some such overly-dramatic nonsense. No, you really do have no idea how much I enjoy this. Besides, you have all taken the time to gather here, and clearly you think that this is important enough to delay my work..."

In an instant, Hal-Neesa's entire demeanor shifted. She grabbed a hold of Fendros' collar and yanked him close, her glowing eyes piercing straight into his with the most direct display of rage that she had shown so far. "...so I will be merciful enough to overlook the fact that you neglected to inform me sooner."

Neesa shoved Fendros away and regained her composure just as quickly as she had lost it. "We might be able to use him, but that is far from being able to say that we need him. One mortal will not decide the war; the greatest advantage I see to having him here is that he is rather handsome." She grinned.

Despite the rather bizarre turn of Neesa's statement, Meesei kept her focus. "Whether we can or cannot succeed without him, it is a simple fact that exceptional individuals can turn the tides of a battle through their own influence. I seem to recall you, during one of your last meetings, regaling us with a tale of how your commanders would personally challenge important enemy targets and decide the outcome of your battles almost by themselves."

Hal-Neesa gave a different sort of grin towards Meesei. Her feelings were hard to decipher, but she at least had not turned to anger again. "Hmm, using my own words against me? Bold."

The vampire strode up to the center of the training area, rather close to both Rossarm and Teroiah. "I am certain you will not measure up to them, but I suppose you may at least be tested. I am guessing that the Altmer was about to perform that task? That will no longer be necessary, Thalmor. You may have a seat."

---

Lorag was out in the courtyard of the Silent City. He had planned on using the training area outside, but even through the crowd that was gathering, he could see that the Champion and some of the others had appropriated it. On most days, he would have wanted to see what was going on, but now, he was not in the mood to deal with it. He had other concerns on his mind. As soon as he had learned that Fendros and Ahnasha had returned, he took the time to find not them, but rather Rhazii. As soon as he had tracked down the young Cathay, he "politely" insisted that he follow Lorag for reasons that he left vague and likely confusing.

Nevertheless, Lorag headed across the courtyard with Rhazii in tow, towards an area close to the front gate, where Narsi was waiting. The moment he reached the girl, he gestured to the Khajiit beside him. Being that he was as large or larger than many of the adults in the city, Rhazii hardly appeared to be a child to anyone unfamiliar with Cathay. "Okay, this is one of the boys I told you about. His name's Rhazii, and I expect it'll take you longer to best him than it will his brother." Lorag explained, though he offered no explanation to Rhazii for who the Orc girl was or what he was talking about.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Yeah, makes sense. I think I have it in my head how I'm going to arrange it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think he would have been gone a few weeks.

And I...think the timelines are still matching up.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Did you have anything specific in mind for what Lorag and Narsi would be doing? If so, you can take us to it. Otherwise, Lorag would be wanting to introduce her to Rhazii and Julan, since they are the ones he wants her to challenge.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Under different circumstances, Meesei might have been willing to appease Neesa, but unfortunately, their public surroundings placed her in a touch situation. To simply capitulate to Neesa in front of others would make her seem weak, and at an inopportune moment. She would have to stand her ground. "I am sure your concerns are important, and as I said, I trust Sabine's judgement. You will have what you requested, but right now, this is what I am doing."

Hal-Neesa gave an aggravated grunt and turned away, now focusing entirely on Teroiah and Rossarm. She stepped halfway into the training area, casting her judgmental gaze just as strongly on Rossarm as he had on her. "Yes, and what is it you're doing here? Did you get a new dog and are seeing what tricks it knows? Hmm...no, I don't sense his blood is tainted like yours. Just another mortal child. I suppose you think he is special then, 'Champion'? Tell me, Dunmer, do you think you are special enough to interrupt my work? Or do you think these people are fools just as much as I do? The 'Champion' is a lap-dog to Hircine, and the Thalmor serves some of the most foolish masters to have ever walked Dawn's Beauty. Why do you even want to be here?"

---

Nothing about Zharanthixil's attitude was particularly warm or friendly, but it seemed apparent that was simply not his way. Regardless, he showed respect towards Janius, even if it was somewhat uneasy. After a few words with Julan, he took his leave. Once Thorantilth finished his work, the rest of the village would be doing the same.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I don't have anything specifically in mind for Black Marsh, I'm thinking we can get back to Lorag once Julan and Rhazii both are back home.