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Captain Uni@Dervish & @Frizan
26th Sun's Height, Late Afternoon.
~ ~ ~
Try as they might, the guards weren't able to hide the massacre at the Iron-Breaker Mine for long, and keeping the crowd contained was neigh impossible. It was all they could do to keep nerves calm enough before the more belligerant sorts decided to take out their righteous indignition out on whoever they figured were responsible, and the likely candidates were just outside the gates.
Khazki was elevated up on the rock face, having climbed up enough to have a vantage of the bodies and a space away from the gathering crowd that was only a quick ignition from turning into a mob. Khazki had seen crowds like this before in more than one province. It didn't matter what race it made up the bulk of a crowd, mob mentality was probably the single most dangerous and stupid thing in all of Tamriel. People became exponentially dumber as their numbers grew, and it only took one pushy loudmouth to push things off the deep end. It was a good enough reason to keep some space away from those sorts, and Khazki wanted to see the bodies. She would have looked for tracks, but given the amount of feet stomping around the mine, whoever did the deed was well extinguished. The only thing for certain was that the distinctly reptillian imprints an Argonian would leave were conspicuously absent.
Looking up from the laid out bodies that weren't covered yet, she looked to the crowd, scanning faces to see if any looked out of place, or were reacting abnormally.
It wasn't very hard for Sagax to dig up the quickly-spreading news of the incident at the city mines. A few minutes making himself inconspicuous near a bunch of gossipers next to the inn tipped himself and Piper off to the growing mob at the scene of the massacre. As they drew closer, the crowd became thicker and thicker, until Sagax could barely see past the mass of bodies in front of him. They had to get closer, though.
His small size may have kept Sagax from peering over the heads of the mob, but it was a boon in sliding through the narrow openings between the arms of the angry cityfolk. Piper operated with much less finesse, simply shoving her way past people that were too stubborn for her to walk through; thankfully everyone was too interested in what happened inside the mines to give her a piece of their mind. Eventually the two were able to make their way to the front of the crowd, giving them a good view of the crime scene. Guards were marching around the perimeter, and investigators made their way in and out of the opening of the mineshaft.
Tilting his head up, Sagax spied a stranger in quite heavy-looking armor, peering down from a hill at the scene. Were they the culprit, admiring their handiwork? Not likely, but what were they doing then? Perhaps exactly what Sagax and Piper were doing...maybe they would aid in their investigation?
That didn't take long. Khazki thought, staring right back at the two Imperials who seem more fixated on her rather than the mutilated corpses laid out like fruit market stalls. They looked somewhat familiar, or so she thought; humans tended to blur together in groups, although Imperials stood out from Nords thanks to their complexions and angular features. She offered a little sarcastic wave at her new fanclub before turning back to the crime scene. Although she got roped into trying to figure out who a murderer was in a land filled with them, a rather pointless endeavor, she found herself growing warmer to the idea; it was like a puzzle to be solved, and it was a novel idea. The poor bastards who got butchered beneath the earth deserved better than they got, and in interest of not meeting a similar fate down the road, she decided she should try to do right by these folk. She was a guest in Skyrim, an unwanted one, and she had a boss that knew her motivations for being here were entirely self-centered. It didn't hurt to earn goodwill, did it?
"I don't like the look of them." were Piper's first words concerning the mysterious stranger. Words that Sagax did not hear, as he was already making his way back out of the crowd. "What the-Hey! Where the fuck do you think you're going!?" she yelled out as she went back to shoving hapless strangers into each other while chasing her brother down. She eventually caught up to Sagax; he had lead Piper to the rock the stranger was perched on top of. He was already within speaking distance by the time Piper got to the foot of the hill. "Sagax, what the fuck are you do-"
"Good evening to you, friend." Sagax said, greeting Khazki with a warmness one would normally reserve for friends. "You have an interest in the mine massacre too, don't you? My sister and I are looking to investigate, and we would appreciate the help." One wouldn't be able to see Piper's facial expression, as she had donned her helmet, but her frustrated groan gave a clue as to her feelings about the stranger and her brother's naive friendliness.
"Oh yes, a rather large interest in staring at dead bodies. It's a macabre art collection down there." Khazki replied dryly, looking at the Imperial man's face through skeptical slits. "What makes you think I'm investigating? I could just be admiring the view." she replied, drumming her claws on a raised knee, a tapping ring coming from the metal. "What's your interest? Your friend there seems a bit squeemish." she remarked.
"Admiring the view, huh? Bullshit." Piper retorted, her helmet adding a tinny vibrato. She continued before Sagax could interject. "There are three people interested in the murders down there: investigators scoping out the scene, guards trying to keep the peace, and gossiping civilians looking for their next object of conversation. You sure as shit aren't a civilian, and you aren't wearing a guard uniform, so that narrows it down quite a bit, sister."
"We're investigating the recent murders here, and we're thinking the perps were hiding out in the mines...until the workers found them. Poor bastards."
Taking advantage of his sister's pause, Sagax spoke up. "Um, yes, that's the gist of it all. Perhaps if we could get into the mines, we may find a few clues pertaining to the identity of the killers. I'm sure the guards are competent, but fresh eyes may turn up something overlooked! Wouldn't you agree?"
Khazki threw up her hands in mock defeat. "Oh you caught me, nothing escapes your notice, does it Bucket?" the Khajiit replied mockingly. "If you must know, Ashav's paying me 20% less than everyone else to clear the name of the company's resident walking leather deposits before Dawnstar tears itself apart to save the Kamal the effort. So it does seem like we have a similar goal in mind." she looked to Sagex, the more reasonable one.
"So happens I was up here looking to find if there's a way to slip in the mine without drawing much attention, but I'm coming up short. I know the guards are supposed to cooperate with us in finding the killers, but I doubt they're going to want a bunch of paid killers stomping around over the corpses of their friends and family that worked the mines. Part of me doesn't think we'll find anything obvious in the mines, but I can see in the dark. I can see things they might not. So what do you call yourself?" Khazki asked, staring back at the crowd.
"Oh, my name is Sagax. Sagax Speculatus, and this is my sister, Piper..."
"Fuck's sake, why not just give her our fucking house number and safe key, too?"
"...and I'm under Ashav's employ as well. My sister, though, she's been contracted by the Jarl as an independent." Perhaps Piper could get them inside, Sagax thought to himself. If they knew she was under the employ of Skald, then possibly the guards would be more willing to let their group investigate the mines. The walking mass of steel that was his sister must have been thinking the same thing, as she had pulled out her contract. It seemed to be worth the try. If their efforts ended up in vain, then they would just have to figure something else out.
"I mean, if you're offering..." Khazki mused at Piper's outburst with a bemused smirk. "Well Sagax, Bucket, sounds like you've a better idea than sitting around like a pile of horker shit." she balanced forward, rising to her feet without using her hands. With an exaggerated stretch and kicking out her ankles to work out the kinks, she gestured ahead. "Lead the way and see if the Jarl's writing is legible enough to be taken seriously."
"Right then, fine, follow me then." Taking charge, Piper marched back down the hill and started clearing the cloud for Sagax and Khazki. "Agents of the Jarl coming through! Move! I said get the fuck out of my way!" Piper was smart this time, and pushed her way through the part of the crowd she hadn't already annoyed with her constant pushing and shoving. Eventually the Imperial was able to make her way to the front where she was stopped by a guard.
"I've been hired by the Jarl to investigate the recent string of murders here, and I think the deaths in the mines are connected. Let us through!" It was clear Piper didn't have the word 'diplomatic' in her vocabulary.
"Yeah? And Queen Elisef was my betrothed. You think pushing yourself around for the past half hour and gawking like a child wasn't going to go unnoticed?" The guard sneered. "Get lost, go investigate somewhere that isn't here."
Khazki rolled her head back, mouthing an annoyance at the situation. She looked at the guard, who eyed her with an arguably less trusting gaze than toward Piper. "She might be a loud mouth idiot without tact, but she's telling the truth. My friend here," She gestured to Sagex, "And I are a part of Ashav's crew. We got the shitstick and are supposed to figure out who decided to murder a bunch of people in town. Now I know you guards all have warm and cozy feelings towards cats like me, but face it; I have better senses than you and the sooner you help us find some leads, the less you'll have to watch your townsfolk get butchered. I mean, I get paid either way, but I'd rather earn my pay by sitting on my ass and drinking than stomping around looking for fake Argonians who probably are trying to impress someone and embarass you by making you lot look utterly incompetent. Now can we please get this over with?"
"Why you puffed up furball...we have the situation under control! Any minute now, our men in the mines will turn up something, and we'll solve this thrice-damned murder, and we don't need you, that buckethead, or your lanky whoreson 'friend'! How dare you try to use the poor folks that have died as some kind of...leverage to get me to let you stomp around as you see fit? I ought to..." The guard would have continued his sputtering rant, but he was stopped by one of his more level-headed collegues.
"Torbald! That's enough, man! These folks just want to help, and Talos knows we need every bit of help the gods afford us."
"Don't give me that crap, Rundi! These murders are Dawnstar's business, we don't need a bunch of unloyal sellswords romping around our city and mucking up our efforts. We'll find something soon!"
"Torbald, we've been searching this place for hours, and we haven't found anything. It's a damned winding maze down there, and our boys can't see a thing...we could always use fresh eyes, especially ones that can see in the dark. Besides, if they've been contracted by the Jarl, we'd be going against orders by barring them entry..."
Looking between his fellow guard and the group of mercs before him, Torbald eventually threw his hands up in the air and stormed off, muttering curses all the while.
"Right...sorry about him. He's just on edge. We all are, really, but don't let that scare you off. We're all glad you've agreed to help us. You can head on inside, but watch your step, and I'm not just talking about the pitfalls."
"Thanks. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for what happened here." Khazki said with unusual sincerity, glancing at one of the bodies being covered by an arriving blanket and then at the guard, Torbald, stomping off. "Small town like this, everyone knows each other. I'm sure your friend is just trying to cope best he can. We'll be respectful... and careful." She said, placing a hand on the man's shoulder as she passed into the entrance, her eyes taking a few moments to adjust to the darkness. The smell of dust was prevailant, as was a damp musky smell thanks to the mine's proximity to the coast. Also pugnant was the rusty copper smell of fresh and drying blood. Khazki wrinkled her nose, walking careful as to not disturb anything, and to rely on other senses than her eyes. When the three of them were well past the entrance, Khazki chirped up, "You mentioned you were siblings, Sagex, yet you said you work for Ashav and Bucket's under contract by the Jarl. Tells me you two haven't been together long. What's the deal?"
"Oh, that's an absolutely great fuckin' story. Go ahead, Sagax, tell the nice lady about what you've been doing up here while your poor family was worried sick about you!" Piper's indignation was most certainly not unnoticed by her brother; he could tell she was hurt by what she percieved as Sagax abandoning her and Equa. He hoped he would be able to mend that wound, in time.
"Uh, well, I left home a few months ago to find employ in a mercenary company. Find riches, glory, so on and so on. My sister stayed back home with our mother while I found my way to Skyrim, and eventually into Ashav's company." Sagax purposefully neglected to mention the why of him leaving home to enter into the mercenary life. With the recent article calling for his father's capture and execution, he figured it was a good idea to just keep quiet. "Piper got here not too long ago, just yesterday in fact."
"Yeah, I came down here to make sure this knucklehead doesn't get his dumb ass killed. Those snow demons...don't like the sound of them one bit." Deep down Piper wished they could just go home, that the demons would just go away and never come back. She knew, though, that she would need to spill a lot of blood to set the world right again...if she even could. Attempting to break from her own miserable thoughts, Piper decided to ask the questions for a change. "What about you, Kitten? What are you doing in the oh-so great frozen north?"
Khazki's lips upturned in a bemused smile at the obvious tension between them. She was ahead of them and looking in a likewise direction, so there wasn't much of a reason for Bucket to lose her shit, as if she required a reason. She sounded suitably worried about the Kamal, however. It was something even the most bitter of rivals could find common ground in. "Spent a few years living in Morrowind, been traveling for the better part of a decade looking for fame and riches, came out this way when the Dunmer decided that anyone who wasn't grey and dull was an enemy of the state. It's too bad; life was nicer out that way than in Coldharbour's gentle cousin." The Khajiit replied, finding a blood pool splashed over the rocks next to the boardwalk, crouching next to it. She ran her fingers along the sleek liquid, feeling its texture and viscosity, taking in its scent. It didn't smell or feel sickly; it was one of the telltail signs of the cruder poisons.
"So ditching your family, huh? I've been there. So if you're so concerned about ditching your family, why'd you chase after a brother that could have been very well dead?" She asked, standing and carrying on, looking for something that stuck out. "Neither of you are going to find anything worthwhile working for a mercenary outfit. Only thing I'm getting out of it is a spot on a boat when those Frost Fucks finally catch up to where I am. At least you two can say the same. Safety in numbers and all that feel-good shit." she mused, feeling somewhat subdued from her verbal sparring the night before. It was hard to keep a skeptical guard up and focus on tracking down signs of the marauders at the same time.
"Oh, trust me, I'd have left any another dumb bastard for the vultures. Sagax is a very special dumb bastard, though. He's family...and family is all you can trust in this fucked up little world of ours. Can't really afford to let one of the few I have left bite the dirt." Piper had a more selfish motive, as well. She wanted that journal translated, to read just what exactly her teacher had wanted her to know. It was a strange feeling, the curiosity that ate at Piper's mind. Her brother was always the more inquisitive one, while she took most things at face value. It was almost unbearable; she needed to get that damn book translated soon, before her own curiosity drove her insane.
"I love you too, Piper. Glad you're here." His voice carried sarcasm, but Sagax's words were honest. Despite his desire for her to have stayed back home, Piper's presence put him at ease. The friends he had made in the company were nice, but Piper was different. They grew up together, knew everything about each other. He could depend on her, and she him. "As for the mercenary life, I don't know...it's oddly fulfilling. It's given me some purpose, and I've been able to meet a lot of interesting people from many walks of life. Not only that, but I feel that I've learned more in these past months than I have in the past ten years. I don't know, maybe it's just that soldiering is in my blood, being raised a Legion boy, but it's not often I find my mind occupied by regrets." Sagax walked carefully as he spoke, wary of any pits, discarded tools...or worse. Torches were sparsely place along the walls of the mine, but it was still fairly dark. He didn't have the trouble seeing that perhaps Piper did, but he was certainly outclassed by Khazki. Khajiit were always so interesting to Sagax. Giant cats that could speak, had unparalleled eyesight in the dark, and made for both incredibly fearsome warriors and the most dastardly thieves in Tamriel.
"He's always been the sentimental type...it's so cute, kind of like a child fawning over a toy or something."
Sagax could only sigh.
``Trusting family, huh? Must be nice." Khazki replied tersely, her tail flicking in annoyance as she reflected on exactly she left behind. It would have almost been too perfect if the Kamal decided to land on the outskirts of Senchal, but she wasn't that lucky. "Glad you're liking marching to someone else's drum and being thrown into potentially lethal situations that someone else decided for you. I'll be hitting the road when I get somewhere that the people are too fat and stupid to realize there's a war on, but until then..." the Khajiit trailed off, reaching what looked like the end of the mine, or at least this branch of it. Something caught her nose, and she crouched down, feeling the ground by where there were two unique bloodstains. Only instead of looking at the blood, she was after something else. Her fingers brushed across something that was certainly off of the other pebles and debris and she picked up what she was looking for; a hardened chunk of ash. "Found something. Ash shell chunks. Thought I caught the scent of something familiar." she told the others.
Both Imperials peered over Khazki's shoulders, trying to find out what exactly she was looking at. It wasn't until the Khajiit had the strange ashen rock in her hands that Sagax and Piper could see what she was talking about. "Ash shell?" inquired Sagax, "What's an Ash shell?" Something familiar? What did Khazki mean by that? "Something native to Morrowind?" said the Imperial, giving his best guess. "Could...could there have been Armigers hiding in these mines?" If Sagax guessed right, it meant that Dawnstar was in terrible danger.
"The hell's an Armiger?" Piper asked. "Sounds like a kind of salad." Well, salad would certainly be much less threatening, thought Sagax.
"Here, I'll show you." She said, reaching over to hand the chunk to Piper. As the Imperial woman reached to grab it, the Khajiit grabbed hold of her wrist, her hand glowing with the pale green glow of alteration magic. Suddenly, Piper's forearm was steadily becoming encased with a shell of hardened ash, much like the rock that Khazki found on the ground. She released Piper, leaving her with a hard coated lower arm. "That's an ash shell, one of those Ashlander specialties they developed in response to their environment, they use it for immobilizing game, victims, and what I think happened was our killer used it to seal up a wound so they wouldn't drip blood everywhere." She explained, mostly looking at Sagex.
"Don't worry, Bucket; it isn't permenant. A particularly determined sort can break out of it with relative ease." The Khajiit assured her with an impish smirk. "So that's what I think we're dealing with, Ashlanders, but yeah, Armigers are likely, too. They're kind of like a vanguard mashed up with royal guard over in Morrowind, putting it loosely." she explained for Piper's benefit.
"FUCKING SHIT!" Piper's bellow seemed to echo for minutes off of the walls of the mines as she began striking the strange stone coating her arm. Eventually she started smacking it against a wall while Khazki explained the Ash shell and the Armigers.
"If it is Ashlanders, then these murders weren't just for murder's sake. If they were just scouts then they would want to be as inconspicuous as possible." Thinking back to Windhelm, it was remarkable to Sagax just how similar the two situations were. There was at least a shaky peace between the inhabitants, but then someone died, and then riots erupted. They were still at the murder part of the pattern so far, so maybe they could stop the chaos before it happened, giving the Kamals a nasty surprise if they assaulted Dawnstar: a unified populace completely ready for them. "We need to oust these killers as fast as we can, that much is very clear."
"Yeah, no shit, genius!" Piper had finally stopped swearing long enough to enter the conversation, it seemed she was able to break out of the stone surrounding her arm. "I read what happened at Windhelm, it doesn't take a gods-damned Moth Priest to put everything together. Well...when you've got all the info, anyway."
"All right, admit it, Piper, you're only able to figure it out because I told you about the Ashlanders last night."
"Shut up! I said 'when you've got all the info', didn't I!?"
Khazki let the two squabble for a bit, amused at the sibling rivalry that seemed to take precidence over the fact they were standing where around 8 workers died within the past couple hours. "If anyone had any sense in their thick Nord skulls, no one would be in Dawnstar when, not if, the Kamal arrive. Windhelm has massive walls and limited entry options, and from what I'm hearing even the fresh forces were ousted and forced to run for the hills within a few short days. What do you think Dawnstar has going for it?" The Khajiit asked rhetorically, picking up another piece of hardened ash, realizing that the guards outside would probably like to see it... well, more like need to.
"I believe its people have the will, spirit, and grit to beat back the Snow Demons. That's what Dawnstar has going for it. Windhelm had its walls, yes, but it was taken entirely by surprise. The Kamal attacked from what seemed like the Aether, their ships rolling in through the fog, hammering the city walls until they crumbled."
"Are you shitting me, Sagax? You need an army to fight off an invasion! You need troops, resources, and battle plans. What is willpower and spirit going to do?" Why couldn't her brother just face reality? All the belief and faith in the world wasn't going to beat back the Kamal, or any enemy for that matter. The gods weren't going to help, and there were no heroes to charge across the battlefield and secure easy victory. "When the Kamal get here, Sagax, we're fucking leaving, even if I have to drag you by your damn ear!"
"You need to learn to believe in people, Piper. They're capable of amazing feats, and every one can be more surprising than the last. Tamriel will prevail over the Snow Demons, I'm certain, now that we know just what we're up against."
Piper stared at Sagax for a few moments, her expression and whispers blocked by the hunk of metal over her head. It wasn't entirely clear what she thought of her brother's words, but one could only assume she disagreed vehemently. "Let's just...get these rocks back to the guards, tell'em what we think."
"People are also capable of slitting your throat for scraps of food, or your coin purse. They also tend to want other things if you happen to be a woman walking alone on the road, so don't put too much stock in the power of friendship and belief when people watch what happens to a body after sudden trauma, or when they get even the slightest bit hungry. Only thing separating us from the wolves is we agree to pretend to be civilized up until the point it no longer benefits us to play by the rules. Bucket's right; you don't want to put your theory to the test, or you're going to find out that the Kamal aren't the worst monsters you need to worry about." Khazki said, nodding at Piper's suggestion they return. They found what they came for.
The trio emerged from the mine's entrance and into the blinding morning light to the same chaos they left behind. Khazki found the same guard who permitted them entrance, handing him a chunk of the ash. "Whoever did this was probably Dunmer. They were using a spell that originated in the Ashlands." she explained to the guard.
Rundi looked over the stone, turning it over curiously. "The Ashlands? That's the place with all of those whacked-out tribals, right? Worship sand or whatever." Beckoning over Torbald, the guard showed his colleague the group's find. "I told you they'd find something...take a look at this. Cat says it's from Morrowind."
Without missing a beat, Torbald started up his irritable grumbling again. "Of course it'd be good-for-nothing grayskins! We need to report this to the Jarl immediately. Unfortunately, we have orders to keep these mines locked down, so I suppose you lot get the honor." Looking over to Khazki and the others, Torbald left some friendly parting words before returning to his patrol. "We'd have found this eventually...don't feel special because you sniffed out a few stones."
"He's right...well, about the first part. You should make your way to the Jarl, or whoever it is you report to. This is one hot piece of evidence you all have come across...watch your backs."
"Always do." Khazki assured him, beaconing the siblings to follow her out of the sectioned off crime scene. It didn't necessarily get them closer to finding the killers, but at least they had an idea of what they were looking for. She handed the chunk to Piper via casual toss. "You're reporting to the Jarl, aren't you? Have fun. I'm going to see if the Argonian camp has anything that's relevant to what we're looking for." she said.
Flinching slightly at the sight of the Ash shell soaring towards her, Piper fumbled with it for a second before finally getting a good grip. "Yeah, you do that. I'll take this to the old gray-head running this shithole, maybe he can do something with the information in his infinite wisdom."
"After we're done over there, we can take the stone to Ashav, spread the word around about what we found. We'll have these killers in chains yet!" There shone again Sagax's great optimism, as if he was entirely oblivious to the possibility that the murderers may get off completely scot-free.
Khazki shrugged as she turned to walk off, deciding to let the man have his moment of hope. "Sure. You'll be the Hero of Dawnstar. I'll even let you take the credit." sticking a pair of knuckles under her chin, the Khajiit pressed until her neck cracked. "Just... yeah." she said, deciding against stating the obvious of be careful. Sagax seemed like he was too innocent for the hard, cold world in which they lived, and Khazki had seen so many promising people cut short from the most unassuming of circumstances. The killers probably knew that people were closing in on them; they wouldn't hesitate to put a stop to that. With a wave, she began to walk off. "See you later. You both owe me a drink."
"Yeah, yeah, we'll be fine, Kitten." Piper said as she beckoned to Sagax. "Come on, we've dawdled enough already."
An Unlikely Alliance
26th Sun's Height, Late Afternoon.
~ ~ ~
Try as they might, the guards weren't able to hide the massacre at the Iron-Breaker Mine for long, and keeping the crowd contained was neigh impossible. It was all they could do to keep nerves calm enough before the more belligerant sorts decided to take out their righteous indignition out on whoever they figured were responsible, and the likely candidates were just outside the gates.
Khazki was elevated up on the rock face, having climbed up enough to have a vantage of the bodies and a space away from the gathering crowd that was only a quick ignition from turning into a mob. Khazki had seen crowds like this before in more than one province. It didn't matter what race it made up the bulk of a crowd, mob mentality was probably the single most dangerous and stupid thing in all of Tamriel. People became exponentially dumber as their numbers grew, and it only took one pushy loudmouth to push things off the deep end. It was a good enough reason to keep some space away from those sorts, and Khazki wanted to see the bodies. She would have looked for tracks, but given the amount of feet stomping around the mine, whoever did the deed was well extinguished. The only thing for certain was that the distinctly reptillian imprints an Argonian would leave were conspicuously absent.
Looking up from the laid out bodies that weren't covered yet, she looked to the crowd, scanning faces to see if any looked out of place, or were reacting abnormally.
It wasn't very hard for Sagax to dig up the quickly-spreading news of the incident at the city mines. A few minutes making himself inconspicuous near a bunch of gossipers next to the inn tipped himself and Piper off to the growing mob at the scene of the massacre. As they drew closer, the crowd became thicker and thicker, until Sagax could barely see past the mass of bodies in front of him. They had to get closer, though.
His small size may have kept Sagax from peering over the heads of the mob, but it was a boon in sliding through the narrow openings between the arms of the angry cityfolk. Piper operated with much less finesse, simply shoving her way past people that were too stubborn for her to walk through; thankfully everyone was too interested in what happened inside the mines to give her a piece of their mind. Eventually the two were able to make their way to the front of the crowd, giving them a good view of the crime scene. Guards were marching around the perimeter, and investigators made their way in and out of the opening of the mineshaft.
Tilting his head up, Sagax spied a stranger in quite heavy-looking armor, peering down from a hill at the scene. Were they the culprit, admiring their handiwork? Not likely, but what were they doing then? Perhaps exactly what Sagax and Piper were doing...maybe they would aid in their investigation?
That didn't take long. Khazki thought, staring right back at the two Imperials who seem more fixated on her rather than the mutilated corpses laid out like fruit market stalls. They looked somewhat familiar, or so she thought; humans tended to blur together in groups, although Imperials stood out from Nords thanks to their complexions and angular features. She offered a little sarcastic wave at her new fanclub before turning back to the crime scene. Although she got roped into trying to figure out who a murderer was in a land filled with them, a rather pointless endeavor, she found herself growing warmer to the idea; it was like a puzzle to be solved, and it was a novel idea. The poor bastards who got butchered beneath the earth deserved better than they got, and in interest of not meeting a similar fate down the road, she decided she should try to do right by these folk. She was a guest in Skyrim, an unwanted one, and she had a boss that knew her motivations for being here were entirely self-centered. It didn't hurt to earn goodwill, did it?
"I don't like the look of them." were Piper's first words concerning the mysterious stranger. Words that Sagax did not hear, as he was already making his way back out of the crowd. "What the-Hey! Where the fuck do you think you're going!?" she yelled out as she went back to shoving hapless strangers into each other while chasing her brother down. She eventually caught up to Sagax; he had lead Piper to the rock the stranger was perched on top of. He was already within speaking distance by the time Piper got to the foot of the hill. "Sagax, what the fuck are you do-"
"Good evening to you, friend." Sagax said, greeting Khazki with a warmness one would normally reserve for friends. "You have an interest in the mine massacre too, don't you? My sister and I are looking to investigate, and we would appreciate the help." One wouldn't be able to see Piper's facial expression, as she had donned her helmet, but her frustrated groan gave a clue as to her feelings about the stranger and her brother's naive friendliness.
"Oh yes, a rather large interest in staring at dead bodies. It's a macabre art collection down there." Khazki replied dryly, looking at the Imperial man's face through skeptical slits. "What makes you think I'm investigating? I could just be admiring the view." she replied, drumming her claws on a raised knee, a tapping ring coming from the metal. "What's your interest? Your friend there seems a bit squeemish." she remarked.
"Admiring the view, huh? Bullshit." Piper retorted, her helmet adding a tinny vibrato. She continued before Sagax could interject. "There are three people interested in the murders down there: investigators scoping out the scene, guards trying to keep the peace, and gossiping civilians looking for their next object of conversation. You sure as shit aren't a civilian, and you aren't wearing a guard uniform, so that narrows it down quite a bit, sister."
"We're investigating the recent murders here, and we're thinking the perps were hiding out in the mines...until the workers found them. Poor bastards."
Taking advantage of his sister's pause, Sagax spoke up. "Um, yes, that's the gist of it all. Perhaps if we could get into the mines, we may find a few clues pertaining to the identity of the killers. I'm sure the guards are competent, but fresh eyes may turn up something overlooked! Wouldn't you agree?"
Khazki threw up her hands in mock defeat. "Oh you caught me, nothing escapes your notice, does it Bucket?" the Khajiit replied mockingly. "If you must know, Ashav's paying me 20% less than everyone else to clear the name of the company's resident walking leather deposits before Dawnstar tears itself apart to save the Kamal the effort. So it does seem like we have a similar goal in mind." she looked to Sagex, the more reasonable one.
"So happens I was up here looking to find if there's a way to slip in the mine without drawing much attention, but I'm coming up short. I know the guards are supposed to cooperate with us in finding the killers, but I doubt they're going to want a bunch of paid killers stomping around over the corpses of their friends and family that worked the mines. Part of me doesn't think we'll find anything obvious in the mines, but I can see in the dark. I can see things they might not. So what do you call yourself?" Khazki asked, staring back at the crowd.
"Oh, my name is Sagax. Sagax Speculatus, and this is my sister, Piper..."
"Fuck's sake, why not just give her our fucking house number and safe key, too?"
"...and I'm under Ashav's employ as well. My sister, though, she's been contracted by the Jarl as an independent." Perhaps Piper could get them inside, Sagax thought to himself. If they knew she was under the employ of Skald, then possibly the guards would be more willing to let their group investigate the mines. The walking mass of steel that was his sister must have been thinking the same thing, as she had pulled out her contract. It seemed to be worth the try. If their efforts ended up in vain, then they would just have to figure something else out.
"I mean, if you're offering..." Khazki mused at Piper's outburst with a bemused smirk. "Well Sagax, Bucket, sounds like you've a better idea than sitting around like a pile of horker shit." she balanced forward, rising to her feet without using her hands. With an exaggerated stretch and kicking out her ankles to work out the kinks, she gestured ahead. "Lead the way and see if the Jarl's writing is legible enough to be taken seriously."
"Right then, fine, follow me then." Taking charge, Piper marched back down the hill and started clearing the cloud for Sagax and Khazki. "Agents of the Jarl coming through! Move! I said get the fuck out of my way!" Piper was smart this time, and pushed her way through the part of the crowd she hadn't already annoyed with her constant pushing and shoving. Eventually the Imperial was able to make her way to the front where she was stopped by a guard.
"I've been hired by the Jarl to investigate the recent string of murders here, and I think the deaths in the mines are connected. Let us through!" It was clear Piper didn't have the word 'diplomatic' in her vocabulary.
"Yeah? And Queen Elisef was my betrothed. You think pushing yourself around for the past half hour and gawking like a child wasn't going to go unnoticed?" The guard sneered. "Get lost, go investigate somewhere that isn't here."
Khazki rolled her head back, mouthing an annoyance at the situation. She looked at the guard, who eyed her with an arguably less trusting gaze than toward Piper. "She might be a loud mouth idiot without tact, but she's telling the truth. My friend here," She gestured to Sagex, "And I are a part of Ashav's crew. We got the shitstick and are supposed to figure out who decided to murder a bunch of people in town. Now I know you guards all have warm and cozy feelings towards cats like me, but face it; I have better senses than you and the sooner you help us find some leads, the less you'll have to watch your townsfolk get butchered. I mean, I get paid either way, but I'd rather earn my pay by sitting on my ass and drinking than stomping around looking for fake Argonians who probably are trying to impress someone and embarass you by making you lot look utterly incompetent. Now can we please get this over with?"
"Why you puffed up furball...we have the situation under control! Any minute now, our men in the mines will turn up something, and we'll solve this thrice-damned murder, and we don't need you, that buckethead, or your lanky whoreson 'friend'! How dare you try to use the poor folks that have died as some kind of...leverage to get me to let you stomp around as you see fit? I ought to..." The guard would have continued his sputtering rant, but he was stopped by one of his more level-headed collegues.
"Torbald! That's enough, man! These folks just want to help, and Talos knows we need every bit of help the gods afford us."
"Don't give me that crap, Rundi! These murders are Dawnstar's business, we don't need a bunch of unloyal sellswords romping around our city and mucking up our efforts. We'll find something soon!"
"Torbald, we've been searching this place for hours, and we haven't found anything. It's a damned winding maze down there, and our boys can't see a thing...we could always use fresh eyes, especially ones that can see in the dark. Besides, if they've been contracted by the Jarl, we'd be going against orders by barring them entry..."
Looking between his fellow guard and the group of mercs before him, Torbald eventually threw his hands up in the air and stormed off, muttering curses all the while.
"Right...sorry about him. He's just on edge. We all are, really, but don't let that scare you off. We're all glad you've agreed to help us. You can head on inside, but watch your step, and I'm not just talking about the pitfalls."
"Thanks. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for what happened here." Khazki said with unusual sincerity, glancing at one of the bodies being covered by an arriving blanket and then at the guard, Torbald, stomping off. "Small town like this, everyone knows each other. I'm sure your friend is just trying to cope best he can. We'll be respectful... and careful." She said, placing a hand on the man's shoulder as she passed into the entrance, her eyes taking a few moments to adjust to the darkness. The smell of dust was prevailant, as was a damp musky smell thanks to the mine's proximity to the coast. Also pugnant was the rusty copper smell of fresh and drying blood. Khazki wrinkled her nose, walking careful as to not disturb anything, and to rely on other senses than her eyes. When the three of them were well past the entrance, Khazki chirped up, "You mentioned you were siblings, Sagex, yet you said you work for Ashav and Bucket's under contract by the Jarl. Tells me you two haven't been together long. What's the deal?"
"Oh, that's an absolutely great fuckin' story. Go ahead, Sagax, tell the nice lady about what you've been doing up here while your poor family was worried sick about you!" Piper's indignation was most certainly not unnoticed by her brother; he could tell she was hurt by what she percieved as Sagax abandoning her and Equa. He hoped he would be able to mend that wound, in time.
"Uh, well, I left home a few months ago to find employ in a mercenary company. Find riches, glory, so on and so on. My sister stayed back home with our mother while I found my way to Skyrim, and eventually into Ashav's company." Sagax purposefully neglected to mention the why of him leaving home to enter into the mercenary life. With the recent article calling for his father's capture and execution, he figured it was a good idea to just keep quiet. "Piper got here not too long ago, just yesterday in fact."
"Yeah, I came down here to make sure this knucklehead doesn't get his dumb ass killed. Those snow demons...don't like the sound of them one bit." Deep down Piper wished they could just go home, that the demons would just go away and never come back. She knew, though, that she would need to spill a lot of blood to set the world right again...if she even could. Attempting to break from her own miserable thoughts, Piper decided to ask the questions for a change. "What about you, Kitten? What are you doing in the oh-so great frozen north?"
Khazki's lips upturned in a bemused smile at the obvious tension between them. She was ahead of them and looking in a likewise direction, so there wasn't much of a reason for Bucket to lose her shit, as if she required a reason. She sounded suitably worried about the Kamal, however. It was something even the most bitter of rivals could find common ground in. "Spent a few years living in Morrowind, been traveling for the better part of a decade looking for fame and riches, came out this way when the Dunmer decided that anyone who wasn't grey and dull was an enemy of the state. It's too bad; life was nicer out that way than in Coldharbour's gentle cousin." The Khajiit replied, finding a blood pool splashed over the rocks next to the boardwalk, crouching next to it. She ran her fingers along the sleek liquid, feeling its texture and viscosity, taking in its scent. It didn't smell or feel sickly; it was one of the telltail signs of the cruder poisons.
"So ditching your family, huh? I've been there. So if you're so concerned about ditching your family, why'd you chase after a brother that could have been very well dead?" She asked, standing and carrying on, looking for something that stuck out. "Neither of you are going to find anything worthwhile working for a mercenary outfit. Only thing I'm getting out of it is a spot on a boat when those Frost Fucks finally catch up to where I am. At least you two can say the same. Safety in numbers and all that feel-good shit." she mused, feeling somewhat subdued from her verbal sparring the night before. It was hard to keep a skeptical guard up and focus on tracking down signs of the marauders at the same time.
"Oh, trust me, I'd have left any another dumb bastard for the vultures. Sagax is a very special dumb bastard, though. He's family...and family is all you can trust in this fucked up little world of ours. Can't really afford to let one of the few I have left bite the dirt." Piper had a more selfish motive, as well. She wanted that journal translated, to read just what exactly her teacher had wanted her to know. It was a strange feeling, the curiosity that ate at Piper's mind. Her brother was always the more inquisitive one, while she took most things at face value. It was almost unbearable; she needed to get that damn book translated soon, before her own curiosity drove her insane.
"I love you too, Piper. Glad you're here." His voice carried sarcasm, but Sagax's words were honest. Despite his desire for her to have stayed back home, Piper's presence put him at ease. The friends he had made in the company were nice, but Piper was different. They grew up together, knew everything about each other. He could depend on her, and she him. "As for the mercenary life, I don't know...it's oddly fulfilling. It's given me some purpose, and I've been able to meet a lot of interesting people from many walks of life. Not only that, but I feel that I've learned more in these past months than I have in the past ten years. I don't know, maybe it's just that soldiering is in my blood, being raised a Legion boy, but it's not often I find my mind occupied by regrets." Sagax walked carefully as he spoke, wary of any pits, discarded tools...or worse. Torches were sparsely place along the walls of the mine, but it was still fairly dark. He didn't have the trouble seeing that perhaps Piper did, but he was certainly outclassed by Khazki. Khajiit were always so interesting to Sagax. Giant cats that could speak, had unparalleled eyesight in the dark, and made for both incredibly fearsome warriors and the most dastardly thieves in Tamriel.
"He's always been the sentimental type...it's so cute, kind of like a child fawning over a toy or something."
Sagax could only sigh.
``Trusting family, huh? Must be nice." Khazki replied tersely, her tail flicking in annoyance as she reflected on exactly she left behind. It would have almost been too perfect if the Kamal decided to land on the outskirts of Senchal, but she wasn't that lucky. "Glad you're liking marching to someone else's drum and being thrown into potentially lethal situations that someone else decided for you. I'll be hitting the road when I get somewhere that the people are too fat and stupid to realize there's a war on, but until then..." the Khajiit trailed off, reaching what looked like the end of the mine, or at least this branch of it. Something caught her nose, and she crouched down, feeling the ground by where there were two unique bloodstains. Only instead of looking at the blood, she was after something else. Her fingers brushed across something that was certainly off of the other pebles and debris and she picked up what she was looking for; a hardened chunk of ash. "Found something. Ash shell chunks. Thought I caught the scent of something familiar." she told the others.
Both Imperials peered over Khazki's shoulders, trying to find out what exactly she was looking at. It wasn't until the Khajiit had the strange ashen rock in her hands that Sagax and Piper could see what she was talking about. "Ash shell?" inquired Sagax, "What's an Ash shell?" Something familiar? What did Khazki mean by that? "Something native to Morrowind?" said the Imperial, giving his best guess. "Could...could there have been Armigers hiding in these mines?" If Sagax guessed right, it meant that Dawnstar was in terrible danger.
"The hell's an Armiger?" Piper asked. "Sounds like a kind of salad." Well, salad would certainly be much less threatening, thought Sagax.
"Here, I'll show you." She said, reaching over to hand the chunk to Piper. As the Imperial woman reached to grab it, the Khajiit grabbed hold of her wrist, her hand glowing with the pale green glow of alteration magic. Suddenly, Piper's forearm was steadily becoming encased with a shell of hardened ash, much like the rock that Khazki found on the ground. She released Piper, leaving her with a hard coated lower arm. "That's an ash shell, one of those Ashlander specialties they developed in response to their environment, they use it for immobilizing game, victims, and what I think happened was our killer used it to seal up a wound so they wouldn't drip blood everywhere." She explained, mostly looking at Sagex.
"Don't worry, Bucket; it isn't permenant. A particularly determined sort can break out of it with relative ease." The Khajiit assured her with an impish smirk. "So that's what I think we're dealing with, Ashlanders, but yeah, Armigers are likely, too. They're kind of like a vanguard mashed up with royal guard over in Morrowind, putting it loosely." she explained for Piper's benefit.
"FUCKING SHIT!" Piper's bellow seemed to echo for minutes off of the walls of the mines as she began striking the strange stone coating her arm. Eventually she started smacking it against a wall while Khazki explained the Ash shell and the Armigers.
"If it is Ashlanders, then these murders weren't just for murder's sake. If they were just scouts then they would want to be as inconspicuous as possible." Thinking back to Windhelm, it was remarkable to Sagax just how similar the two situations were. There was at least a shaky peace between the inhabitants, but then someone died, and then riots erupted. They were still at the murder part of the pattern so far, so maybe they could stop the chaos before it happened, giving the Kamals a nasty surprise if they assaulted Dawnstar: a unified populace completely ready for them. "We need to oust these killers as fast as we can, that much is very clear."
"Yeah, no shit, genius!" Piper had finally stopped swearing long enough to enter the conversation, it seemed she was able to break out of the stone surrounding her arm. "I read what happened at Windhelm, it doesn't take a gods-damned Moth Priest to put everything together. Well...when you've got all the info, anyway."
"All right, admit it, Piper, you're only able to figure it out because I told you about the Ashlanders last night."
"Shut up! I said 'when you've got all the info', didn't I!?"
Khazki let the two squabble for a bit, amused at the sibling rivalry that seemed to take precidence over the fact they were standing where around 8 workers died within the past couple hours. "If anyone had any sense in their thick Nord skulls, no one would be in Dawnstar when, not if, the Kamal arrive. Windhelm has massive walls and limited entry options, and from what I'm hearing even the fresh forces were ousted and forced to run for the hills within a few short days. What do you think Dawnstar has going for it?" The Khajiit asked rhetorically, picking up another piece of hardened ash, realizing that the guards outside would probably like to see it... well, more like need to.
"I believe its people have the will, spirit, and grit to beat back the Snow Demons. That's what Dawnstar has going for it. Windhelm had its walls, yes, but it was taken entirely by surprise. The Kamal attacked from what seemed like the Aether, their ships rolling in through the fog, hammering the city walls until they crumbled."
"Are you shitting me, Sagax? You need an army to fight off an invasion! You need troops, resources, and battle plans. What is willpower and spirit going to do?" Why couldn't her brother just face reality? All the belief and faith in the world wasn't going to beat back the Kamal, or any enemy for that matter. The gods weren't going to help, and there were no heroes to charge across the battlefield and secure easy victory. "When the Kamal get here, Sagax, we're fucking leaving, even if I have to drag you by your damn ear!"
"You need to learn to believe in people, Piper. They're capable of amazing feats, and every one can be more surprising than the last. Tamriel will prevail over the Snow Demons, I'm certain, now that we know just what we're up against."
Piper stared at Sagax for a few moments, her expression and whispers blocked by the hunk of metal over her head. It wasn't entirely clear what she thought of her brother's words, but one could only assume she disagreed vehemently. "Let's just...get these rocks back to the guards, tell'em what we think."
"People are also capable of slitting your throat for scraps of food, or your coin purse. They also tend to want other things if you happen to be a woman walking alone on the road, so don't put too much stock in the power of friendship and belief when people watch what happens to a body after sudden trauma, or when they get even the slightest bit hungry. Only thing separating us from the wolves is we agree to pretend to be civilized up until the point it no longer benefits us to play by the rules. Bucket's right; you don't want to put your theory to the test, or you're going to find out that the Kamal aren't the worst monsters you need to worry about." Khazki said, nodding at Piper's suggestion they return. They found what they came for.
The trio emerged from the mine's entrance and into the blinding morning light to the same chaos they left behind. Khazki found the same guard who permitted them entrance, handing him a chunk of the ash. "Whoever did this was probably Dunmer. They were using a spell that originated in the Ashlands." she explained to the guard.
Rundi looked over the stone, turning it over curiously. "The Ashlands? That's the place with all of those whacked-out tribals, right? Worship sand or whatever." Beckoning over Torbald, the guard showed his colleague the group's find. "I told you they'd find something...take a look at this. Cat says it's from Morrowind."
Without missing a beat, Torbald started up his irritable grumbling again. "Of course it'd be good-for-nothing grayskins! We need to report this to the Jarl immediately. Unfortunately, we have orders to keep these mines locked down, so I suppose you lot get the honor." Looking over to Khazki and the others, Torbald left some friendly parting words before returning to his patrol. "We'd have found this eventually...don't feel special because you sniffed out a few stones."
"He's right...well, about the first part. You should make your way to the Jarl, or whoever it is you report to. This is one hot piece of evidence you all have come across...watch your backs."
"Always do." Khazki assured him, beaconing the siblings to follow her out of the sectioned off crime scene. It didn't necessarily get them closer to finding the killers, but at least they had an idea of what they were looking for. She handed the chunk to Piper via casual toss. "You're reporting to the Jarl, aren't you? Have fun. I'm going to see if the Argonian camp has anything that's relevant to what we're looking for." she said.
Flinching slightly at the sight of the Ash shell soaring towards her, Piper fumbled with it for a second before finally getting a good grip. "Yeah, you do that. I'll take this to the old gray-head running this shithole, maybe he can do something with the information in his infinite wisdom."
"After we're done over there, we can take the stone to Ashav, spread the word around about what we found. We'll have these killers in chains yet!" There shone again Sagax's great optimism, as if he was entirely oblivious to the possibility that the murderers may get off completely scot-free.
Khazki shrugged as she turned to walk off, deciding to let the man have his moment of hope. "Sure. You'll be the Hero of Dawnstar. I'll even let you take the credit." sticking a pair of knuckles under her chin, the Khajiit pressed until her neck cracked. "Just... yeah." she said, deciding against stating the obvious of be careful. Sagax seemed like he was too innocent for the hard, cold world in which they lived, and Khazki had seen so many promising people cut short from the most unassuming of circumstances. The killers probably knew that people were closing in on them; they wouldn't hesitate to put a stop to that. With a wave, she began to walk off. "See you later. You both owe me a drink."
"Yeah, yeah, we'll be fine, Kitten." Piper said as she beckoned to Sagax. "Come on, we've dawdled enough already."
