EliteCommander

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

My to do list:

1) Sleep.

I'll respond tomorrow, if Lucius hasn't already. I'll still likely be able to respond, even if he has.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I did not see her, nor did I seek her out." Meesei answered truthfully, allowing Sabine to hug her for a few moments before she finally let go. "We have something much more pressing to deal with right now, however. We located a rival pack who are currently on their way to finding our quarry as we speak. Lorag is following them right now. Gather whatever you need quickly, we cannot afford to delay."

Meesei immediately moved on to preparing herself, not allowing the conversation to continue partially to avoid speaking about the apothecary, and partially because what she was saying was true. They needed to return to Lorag, and they needed to do so quickly. If they kept up at least a jogging pace for most of the way, they should be able to catch up. Each of the pack members gathered what weapons, armor, or supplies they would need in a fight. Meesei and Ahnasha changed into their normal attire, while Sabine distributed the proper types of potions to everyone. Everyone received at least one health and stamina potion, while Meesei and Ahnasha also received a magicka potion. She gave Janius an agility-enhancing potion, and Fendros a potion that would enhance attributes that aided in marksmanship. She kept others which would be useful in her own bag and would distribute them when needed.

Once her preparations were complete, Meesei stood at the edge of camp, grasping the bone necklace in her hand. The range on the enchantment was not unlimited, but Lorag was still close enough that she could still get a sense of direction from it, albeit a bit weaker. She turned back to the others and looked over the group. "Is everyone ready? We will need to keep up a quick pace to catch them."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha laughed along with Fendros, though as they were leaving the city, she realized something that caused her to be a bit surprised with herself. Being around Fendros made her act...differently than normal. At any other time, there was no way she would start joking with the others during a mission, even in the most innocent or harmless fashion. When it was time to be serious, she was always serious, and yet she had broken her own rules without even realizing it. Honestly, she rather liked that being around Fendros could put her so at ease, but she needed to be careful not to let it cloud her judgement. After all, this was a serious mission with serious consequences. She needed to be at her best.

Meesei listened to the others give their accounts of what their targets had discovered, which had thankfully been more helpful than what she had managed to do, though it was nothing she had not gathered from the conversation they overheard. "As you heard before, the Altmer learned nothing. I tracked him for a while, but was beset by a group of drunken vagrants as I was following him. I dealt with them, but lost the Altmer in the process."

"I followed the Cathay-raht. He ended up talking to an old and...mentally questionable human. They ended up talking in circles for a while before the human gave him anything useful. Honestly, I do not know why they are trusting the information he gave them. The Khajiit did mention that he had spoken to some of the Human's friends, so perhaps he was part of a larger group? They might know more about him than we do...or at least they might believe they do. Who knows who in that city is in the pocket of our quarry. They could be heading into a trap." Ahnasha added.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha had moved ahead of the rival pack and activated an invisibility spell near the city gate to wait for them to exit. After they passed, Ahnasha remained, watching the road and waiting for her own pack to arrive. Just as she thought, she saw her friends following behind shortly afterwards, far enough from the other pack so as not to be suspicious. They were passing close by her when Fendros asked his question, so she heard clearly enough to understand. She grinned slightly. It was no surprise to her that Fendros was the one to bring up his worries first.

Maintaining her invisibility, Ahnasha joined with the group and walked up directly beside Fendros. "I haven't, have you?" Ahnasha whispered, dispelling her invisibility as she spoke and giving an almost inaudible chuckle.

The group had been forced to wait for a considerable amount of time before exiting the city walls in order to avoid being seen by the rival pack. As a result, they were well out of sight by this point, but fortunately, their scent trail was very much fresh. Without the city to dilute their scents, they would much more reasonably be able to follow it. Meesei nodded to Lorag once they were out of sight of the gate guards and he split from the group to track the other pack. Once the rest of them returned to the camp to arm themselves and collect Sabine, they would be able to use Meesei's enchanted necklace to regroup with Lorag, who hopefully would have found the rival pack by that point.

Elder Scrolls: Terror of the Padomaic

"You don't need to worry about me, I've fought and killed in far worse conditions than this. Besides, I'm an alchemist; my potions will keep me more than active enough for the fight. I might not be awake for the celebration afterwards, but I'll be at my best for the event itself." Sharee said. Despite her response, she gladly took the flask, opened it, and sniffed its contents. She had a feeling the man was just wanting to get in good with his captain, and while she didn't really care about his gift, she did rather like the sound of being called "captain."

"You're right about this thing's strength, I'll give you that. I could make better, with the right ingredients, but I guess I can't be picky." She commented, putting the cork back on the flask and slipping it into her pack. "You're a mage, right? Your robes make that obvious. Tell me, what can you do? Give me details; I'd like to know a bit more about who I'm stepping into this with. Besides, I need to know where I should put you in the attack."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

After what seemed like an eternity, the Cathay-raht managed to convince the old man to divulge his information. Evidently, the password he was looking for was simply "password." Once the Khajiit handed over the payment, the man informed him of a camp to the northeast of the city which could hold their target. The Cathay was all too eager to leave, along with Ahnasha. She hid herself away while the Khajiit exited the alley, then shadowed him as she had before.

Meesei could not determine where the Altmer had gone and was forced to abandon her search. Enough time had passed that the others in the rival clan had either found information, or were returning to their own meeting point. Hopefully, Lorag and Fendros had been able to track one of the lycans, as they were the only ones she could easily locate. Taking the enchanted bone necklace from her satchel, she clutched it tightly in her hand and allowed it to guide her in the direction of her pack member. She was, of course, cautious in this process and payed close attention to the people around her. It would be unwise for her to openly approach Lorag and Fendros while they were stalking the other lycans, after all. She continued to mask her scent via illusion and eventually grew close enough that she spotted the rival clan. Remaining out of sight, she used the necklace to hone in exactly on Lorag and quietly joined their group.

After a short time, the Altmer leader and another of the rival pack joined with the rest of the group and exchanged the information they had gathered. It seemed as if the leader had little luck in his search, but the others had gained some indication that the Orc's camp lay to the northeast. The last of their pack took quite a while to arrive, well after nightfall, but when the Cathay-raht returned, he confirmed their suspicions, producing a rough map that indicated the approximate location of the Orc's camp. Now, there was nothing stopping their rivals from leaving in search of their quarry.

Ahnasha followed the Cathay back to his pack and hid herself around the corner in the shadows, under the influence of a chameleon spell. All of the lycans she had observed earlier were present, so it was pretty much a guarantee that at least some of her own pack members were nearby as well, watching from the shadows. She could not catch their scent on the wind, though it would not exactly be a good thing if she could. Still, it would be easy enough to locate them. All she would need to do would be to watch the city gates after the rival pack left the city. Her friends would need to pass through the gate at some point.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha listened in on the conversation, peering ever so slightly around the corner to get a look at the pair. The old man the Cathay was speaking to was some type of human, perhaps Imperial or Breton, with thick grey hair and a bushy, unkempt grey beard. He looked up at the Khajiit with a sort of haze over his eyes and a slight grin over his face.

"Oh, now this is a sight I haven't seen before: a big cat!. How exciting! What does the big cat want with me?" The human said, with small laughs dotting his sentences.

The Cathay did not seem nearly as amused as the old man, returning a serious expression. "Do not play games, you should know of this one. A few weeks ago, our associates spoke with a few of your...friends, regarding some information. You offered to sell the information, and we took some time to decide. We wish to take the deal."

The old man cackled for a few moments before finally giving his response. "Yes, yes, I was told about a big cat I might be meeting...but how do I know that you are the right big cat? What's the password?"

"Password? We were given no such information. However, we have been here for weeks, and this one has not seen a single other Cathay-raht in the city. There are none others here besides this one." The Khajiit said, obviously annoyed.

"Weeks? Ha! I've been here half my life. I might as well be a Dark Elf. Oh, I wonder if...never mind. Not important." The Human retorted, his voice and mannerisms beginning to hint at some mental instability.

The Cathay-raht crossed his arms and glared at the man. "So, you've been here for years. Have you ever seen a Cathay-raht before a few weeks ago?"

"Big cats like you? Nope."

" So you admit that this one is the only Cathay-raht in the city?"

"Yep,"

"Then will you give us the information?"

"No."

"How does that make any sense?" The Khajiit asked, now yelling with visible anger.

The old man gave a dismissing wave to the Khajiit and stood up slowly from where he was sitting. "You see, I know that there was only one big cat in the city. But, how do I know that you don't know that I know that? You could use the fact that you know I know it to trick me into thinking you're the one I know I saw, even when you know that you're not the one I know." He said, making motions with his hands as if they were actually helpful.

The Khajiit cocked his head to the side and stared at the man for a few moments. "...what?"

The man let out a sight, genuinely disappointed that the Khajiit did not understand. "Look, no password, no information."

The Cathay, obviously still confused, took a few steps back and put his hands up in front of himself. "Just...you were told to expect a Cathay-raht, correct? A 'big cat'."

"Yeah."

"You know you had never seen one of my kind until a few weeks ago."

"Indeed"

"You know you were told to meet someone meeting this one's exact description."

"Quite."

"With how far Vos is from the Khajiit homeland, you have to recognize that the odds of another Cathay-raht arriving at the exact same time as us is almost none, right?"

"Probably."

"So will you give the information?"

There was a pause of a few seconds as the man stared up at the Khajiit. "...what's the password?"

Both the Cathay-raht and Ahnasha let out a sigh simultaneously. It seemed this was going to be a long conversation.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Ssarak found himself nervous, still believing that much could go wrong in approaching Mar. Perhaps he was being too cautious. After all, with how far along Mar's pregnancy was, she was certainly not in peak physical condition and might realize the risks involved with lashing out at someone. Regardless, Ssarak still did not wish to offend her. The Nagas' customs were entirely alien to both Human and Esyire cultures, so neither he nor Annabeth had any real idea of what expectations they had for social interaction. Perhaps he would be able to convince Annabeth to present the gifts to Althalus, instead of Mar? He was Human, and much more friendly and approachable than Mar. Allowing him to take the gifts would serve the same purpose with less risk.

Just as Ssarak was about to speak up, Annabeth rounded the corner at the same time as another individual, who ended up falling to the ground as a result of the impact. Upon closer inspection, Ssarak saw that it was his roommate, Leith. He seemed unharmed as he stood up and dusted himself off, and Annabeth had managed to keep her footing, so there was no cause for concern. "Good morning, Leith." Ssarak added after the two introduced themselves.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

It's rather late, so I'll respond tomorrow.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

I don't think any race I would create would add anything that isn't already here.