EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

At least at first, Hal-Neesa matched Fendros' expression as she answered. "What, are you concerned for them? Do you suspect me to enslave or enthrall them when they fail me? Do you think that I slay them without thought when they are of no more use to me?" She asked, pausing briefly for a sip of tea as a grin crept across her face. "How many would say the same of a den of werewolves?"

Neesa leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, now speaking more plainly and clearly. "No, the truth is that to earn a place in my court is to earn the right to leave. If someone decides that they no longer want to be in my service, then they may simply leave. No one will stop them, and many have done so through the centuries. If someone consistently fails me and is no longer of use to my court, then they must leave, but unless they betrayed me in some way, then they are not harmed. As difficult as it may be for you to accept it, I do care about my own. The people who serve me have shown that spark of potential to become something...so much greater than most mortals can even conceive of. Something infinitely greater than even myself, at the moment. That potential is...beautiful, honestly. More beautiful than anything else I have seen in my lifetime. I may be an ancient being of near-divine power, but no god nor Daedra can even come close to that potential in every single mortal soul. That is what is going to become of us."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Hal-Neesa leaned in towards Fendros, locking eyes with him without a hint of any of her former amusement. "I do not suffer fools, nor foolish beliefs. And I will not inconvenience myself for them. This thrall will be my property, and I will not be parting with it. Make up whatever story you like, if you fear your people hurting themselves trying to seek revenge on me. Tell them the body was lost, or whatever else you feel like. Just don't trouble me with it. And speaking of thralls..."

Neesa turned her head towards Ahnasha. "Have you prepared my thralls for inspection, or do you still have work to do?"

Ahnasha let out a quick breath. "Right. I will go raise them from the ground. It will just be a few minutes."

Ahnasha stepped outside without delay, leaving the others with Neesa. She paused, taking a sip of the tea Sabine had prepared, then pushing one of the other cups along the table towards Fendros. "Find something to sit down on. It's irritating to have everyone standing around and staring awkwardly. Your wife speaks of you as someone exceptional, Fendros, but if you are, then you're quite good at hiding it. Even in this place, far removed from 'proper' civilization, I find myself annoyed by close-minded fools. It actually confuses me, in a way. The ways of your people, Hircine's followers, are so...close to actually being something respectable. Influence through merit, individual strength and skill, yet still in service to the whole...you know, we are not as different as you may think. I have to admit, there are some among you, like your wife, that have that certain...spark. The potential to be something more. It is something I look for in people, and do find from time to time. They are the types of people I occasionally bring into my court to...foster their potential."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Saras gave a simple nod towards Fendros. "I am glad I do not have to convince you of that. We are in a pivotal time, and we cannot afford controversy. To stain the reputation of your pack now, so close to the invasion, could compromise the morale of our armies."

Again, a silence hung in the air as Saras' eyes settled on Ahnasha. He did not show anger, nor was his tone particularly threatening, but it did carry a cold lack of emotion. "If there is a punishment, it will have to wait until after the invasion has concluded. But, that still does not leave us a resolution to this matter. Our people will want our answer for why our dead have been disturbed."

From the center of the room, Hal-Neesa sat with her arms crossed, chuckling lightly. "Graverobbing...what a petty and superstitious 'crime' that the ignorant get so worked up over. Granted, I am many centuries beyond being willing to sully myself digging around in the dirt, but...that's what servants are for. But, if you care so much about your vaunted 'reputation', just tell them the mean, scary vampire stole their corpses. They already hate me. What are they going to do? Hate me more?"

Neesa did not seem to care about any negative repercussions of accepting the blame for the graverobbing, or indeed, even acknowledge that they might exist at all. Nor did she address the fact that she would be doing them a favor in doing so. "If there is one silver lining to these adventures, it's that they do give me something to laugh at occasionally."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Like I said, my business with her is done once the invasion starts." Ahnasha answered without hesitation. She was either being honest, or a confident liar. Regardless, she let out a long breath and looked back towards her hideout. "Though I really should get back in there. She can actually be patient, but I don't want to wear that patience thin. I know it's not right to trust her, but...maybe it couldn't hurt for you to just try talking to her? As long as you're capable of ignoring some snide comments, she's not completely unapproachable. If nothing else, you might learn more about her, and having more information is never a bad thing, right?"

Ahnasha was already moving towards the door as she finished speaking, and did not wait before returning inside. Though, it was hard to tell if anything at all had happened since they stepped outside. Everyone was silent, and in almost the exact same spots as when they had left. The only thing that was even somewhat different was that the air now smelled like both dead flesh and tea.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Hmph, now you're just being paranoid." Ahnasha remarked, seemingly unfazed by the scenarios Fendros suggested. "Don't get me wrong, you're right not to trust her completely. She is definitely self-serving, but that doesn't mean she's always going to be malicious. I made a deal with her, a fair exchange, something we both benefit from. She doesn't betray or hurt people just for the sake of doing it. There has to be a motivation. And even if there was one, she wouldn't be free to act on it right now. Don't forget, she's not here out of the kindness of her heart; she's here because her master instructed her to be here. Molag Bal has his own designs for Vile, and Neesa can't defy him. Right now, Molag Bal's orders for her mean she has to cooperate with us. After this is all over, you might have a point, but I'm not going to be training with her then. I'm just taking advantage of what I can learn from her while she has to cooperate."

Ahnasha reached out and took Fendros' hands in hers. "I thought you would have been happier with this. I'm not going to be performing necromancy in front of our friends and allies. We're not going to have to deal with everything that would cause; we'll still be able to live in the clan and keep our positions. What happened back in Cheydinhal with me and Rhazii, I...I just know now that I want, more than anything to make sure that both of us come back safely. We need to end this war, and make sure that we can stay together as a family. We deserve it, and Rhazii especially deserves it. That's why I'm going to avoid using identifiable necromancy, and why I so badly want this training. If I'm not going to use half of the skills I have, then I need something to make up for it. The stronger I am, the more of a chance we both come back from this."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Well, you don't have to worry about this deal anymore." Ahnasha remarked. "In fact, you don't have to worry about the whole graverobbing problem either. I have enough thralls now, once I finish that one, at least, to fulfill my end of the deal. That's the whole reason Neesa is out here with me: to inspect them. If she finds them acceptable, then I'll be training with her more all the way up until the invasion."

Ahnasha did not seem to be giving much thought to the suggestion to keep her distance from Hal-Neesa, as she certainly looked excited by the prospect of more training. She was practically smiling already. Honestly, I know two hundred thralls sounds like a lot, but I think I've been getting the better end of this deal. Since I was already a master conjurer, there haven't been many barriers for me to learn the kinds of spells she's been teaching me. It's not all strictly just conjuring up daedra or otherworldly creatures; I've also learned ways to applying conjuration energy, mixed with principles from other schools, in ways I just never would have thought of. Daedric magic, not just summoning. Honestly, I'm looking forward to testing my new power against someone who can challenge me. Maybe I could challenge your father to a friendly training duel. Maybe he'll be proud for his daughter-in-law to best him."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Maybe...but I couldn't have known you wouldn't tell anyone else, and even if I can trust that you would help me, I coudn't trust that anyone else wouldn't have stopped you. The fact of the matter is, I had to get those thralls for Neesa. We can debate all day if some other choice might have worked, but it was my health and well-being on the line if I failed to live up to my agreement. I decided not to take any chances with my life. Maybe you don't agree, but I'd hope you can at least understand why I did it when punishment from Neesa was the alternative." Ahnasha explained, gesturing in the direction of her hideout.

Ahnasha brought one hand up to her shoulder and placed it on Fendros'. "And I didn't hurt any of our own doing it, living or dead. I promise that. I know there are all sorts of cultures here with different ideas for what is necessary to do to the bodies of their dead to let their souls pass on and all that, but I'm telling you right now, it's all just superstitious nonsense. Trust me, there's no one else in our clan that understands as much about the souls of the dead than me. If nothing else, you can believe that. Unless there is something to hold back the soul in this world, it will pass on just fine to the next no matter what rites you do or don't put the body through. I won't say the rites are pointless, but the common thread between most of them is that they make it harder for necromancers to do their work. That's most likely why those traditions were started, not because the souls need it. I hope that doesn't offend you, but it is true regardless. Sure, there are some necromantic techniques that can take advantage of a lingering connection between the body and soul to pull the soul back into this world, but I didn't do any of that. I just took some creatures' souls and bound them to some dead flesh and bones. All of the souls of every body I took are still perfectly fine in the Hunting Grounds."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha huffed, almost looking like she was about to laugh. "Do you honestly think that your father was close to besting her? Is that what you took away from that fight? She was testing him, Fendros. She allowed him to hit that blood shield of hers as hard as he could, and it showed no signs of failing. All that she said was that she 'felt' it. I do agree, we could probably best her together, but I don't think that she's afraid of any of us."

Letting out a sigh, finally showing some regret in her expression. "And look...it wasn't my first choice to take bodies from the graves. I haven't had any problems for most of the time I've been making the thralls because of all the resources we have down here. An abundance of soul gems from the cavern, and plenty of ways to get bodies. The biggest portion of the thralls out there are Falmer or chaurus. Sometimes I could retrieve bodies from our missions and use them. But ever since the Imperials and Dominion began moving in their troops, the Falmer have moved themselves practically to the edge of the cavern. They're just too far away for me to hunt, and since we've been preparing for the invasion and not going on missions, I can only justify hunting on the surface so often. I didn't have the two hundred thralls I agreed to give, so...maybe I got a little desperate. But would you be the one to tell Hal-Neesa you weren't going to honor a deal?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha held her arms out wide. "Because of this. This reaction, this arguing. You'd never agree to it, no matter how much sense it makes. I mean, really, honestly, do you think Neesa needs me in order to be a threat to us? She could already force our automatons to turn on us with just a few words, some thralls aren't going to make a difference. And do you think she doesn't already have even more than this hidden back at her xanmeer? Besides, with all I've learned, I could probably handle these thralls myself."

Ahnasha had started pacing, and did not pause long enough for Fendros to speak before continuing. "And you know, she's not even that bad. She comes off as hating everyone, but that's not exactly it. She just doesn't care, not about us, or most anyone else. But there are people she cares about; people who've earned it. She doesn't like investing in people unless they've shown they're worth her time, but she does have some kind of...vision for the world. For herself, and the people that she sees potential in. For those people, there's a lot to gain from knowing her. I'm not sure I understand it all myself, but I think she wants to see mortals reach our highest potential. Our destiny, as she sees it."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Technically, I haven't relinquished control of them yet, but..." Ahnasha began, only hazarding a brief glance at Fendros before returning her gaze to the horizon. "Exactly two hundred. That was the agreed-upon number. Like I said, I've been at this for a while. Before she agreed to join us, even. I started pretty much as soon as we decided on this invasion. I already had a few thralls hidden away here then, but I thought we could use more. Imagine having a whole battalion of undead servants. Soldiers as fearless and expendable as the Daedra. I know it doesn't win us the battle on its own, but it was the way that I, alone, could do the most in my ability to help."

Finally, Ahnasha turned to face Fendros. Now that she was speaking her reasoning aloud, she was growing more confident in it. "But just think about it, I can't lead those thralls into battle. None of us can. How do you think the clan would react to me leading a small army of undead? How would your father feel about it? Even if we got through the battle without incident, things could never be the same for us after us. Hal-Neesa, though...no one will question it if she commands them. I know that she's not going to be fighting directly alongside us the whole time, but at least they'll still be useful this way. At least they'll be drawing the attention of daedra who might otherwise be fighting us. And what I've learned from her...she's been training me in conjuration, not just necromancy. I feel like I've learned more from her than I could have accomplished in decades on my own. The kinds of magic that my eyes are now opened to, well...let's just say Meesei isn't the only one with lost, ancient knowledge anymore."

Sabine had hardly finished speaking before Hal-Neesa continued, this time in a far more demanding tone. "Well then it seems like you'll just have to go farther. Send teams to Vvardenfell, Solstheim, and the Alik'r. Vvarenfell has historically been less populated and developed than the rest of Morrowind, so there have been less explorers to plunder the ruins. The same is true of Solstheim, and, obviously, the Alik'r desert is less explored. Its sands can even swallow some ruins entirely. I can give you a complete map of all Dwemer cities in the regions, including some that may yet be undiscovered. Well...at least as best as I can from memory. Your teams might have to dig around in the sand a bit, but unless you're planning on going and kidnapping a Greybeard, it sounds like you're probably not going to find what I need in Skyrim."