Muttonhawk

The Depths of Deception

How many people are still with us? Raise your hand in the OOC if you are.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Well, the game's not over, but it's a wash. At least it was entertaining. G'night!

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

There was a moment where Fendros looked down and wished Lorag wasn't correct. With all his life ahead of him, Fendros frankly found it unnerving to imagine his body deteriorating in only his third decade. Those thoughts made him wonder what he would do in such a short time. What he always wanted to do, he thought, or as close as he could manage. In that way, it was understandable that most Orcs would strive to die fighting. Fendros moved his eyes up to Lorag again, continuing to repress sympathy for the sake of his own mood and hopefully keep him open about this. "Was there anything you wanted to do, then? Are you..." Fendros paused, and the certainty wavered in his tone, "...are you going to look for a warrior's death as well?"

Sabine smiled when Reads-Many-Tales introduced herself. "I like reading as well. But, I don't get many books. I mostly read about alchemy." Sabine's smile faded, she didn't quite want to leave the conversation hanging, so she quickly thought of another question. "You said true stories. You mean like history?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The AFL grand final is on...about now, actually. I'll be off for a couple of hours.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Fendros' previously cross face softened to something more neutral. He knew that offering Lorag sympathy would probably just irritate him, so it took a few seconds to even come up with a response. "...So it is that," Fendros said, mimicking Lorag's tone, "You're afraid of growing old, aren't you? Is it that you've started to notice it?"

Even though she probably should have saved the few coins she had, Sabine looked about herself and found another coin in her purse, then held it forward towards the girl. "You can give him one of mine if you like. I wouldn't want him to yell at you for not doing so." Given how odd it seemed to Sabine to not trade names yet, Sabine did so before the girl could respond, "Also, what is your name? I'm Sabine."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

So he had stories as well as music? Hopefully he would have one to tell later. "It's very beautiful music. Do you listen to him very often?" Sabine asked the girl. Sabine didn't really think hard about what she asked, she just wanted to talk if this girl was willing to. The question was the first one that came to mind.

Fendros was not having any of Lorag's excuses. He stopped them both and his tone became cross out of impatience, "No. No, Lorag. You are not fooling anyone." Fendros chopped his hand across the air in front of him, "Forget the conman. You are acting out of character all of a sudden, and something's wrong. If you don't tell me, you'll have to explain to everyone else why you decided to bring attention to ourselves over a matter of pride with some cheap street swindler. Even you wouldn't that normally, I know it. So tell me what's really wrong." Even if Lorag was technically a higher authority in the pack, Fendros wasn't going to ignore the issue if Lorag's personal safety was on the line.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

When they found the music again, Sabine's curiosity as to its source was renewed. There were just as many people gathered around, so she had to wander until she could find a gap and squeeze her way though to a point where she could see. It was times like these that she wished she was taller. She managed to get a view without too much trouble, and she beheld a male Redguard sitting on a crate playing a lute. He looked slightly older than Lorag, and had only a short carpet of black hair covering his head that was beginning to grey. His clothes suggested no particular wealth or poverty, but his music was enchanting. It wasn't strumming alongside prose like Imperial bards, but rather, melodies that seemed to flow without an end. People on the edges of the gathering came and went quickly, obviously having other business, but Sabine stayed staring and listening. The musician glanced up and saw Sabine staring, but simply gave her a quick smile before his eyes returned to the frets. The song eventually approached an end and the people around the man clapped, most tossing coins into the small wooden box that Sabine hadn't spotted until then. Remembering what Meesei said, Sabine frantically fished out a coin and squat down to place it in the box as well.

Once the man began to play another piece, Sabine looked either side of herself and found a girl who looked about her age, except Argonian. After a nervous swallow, Sabine considered speaking. Would it be rude to speak while the musician was playing? Maybe if she whispered it would be alright. Still, it took her a few seconds to get over the anxiety. "Um...excuse me?" Sabine said quietly to the girl, "Who is this man?"

Successful in pulling Lorag away, the swindler pursed his lips and put the ring back in his pocket, walking off to find another mark. "Lorag, who ever said you were useless? You're acting strangely. What on Nirn has gotten into you?" Fendros himself didn't know whether to be angry or confused until the pieces fell together in his mind. "Wait..." Fendros raised a hand, angled his head, and creased his brow, "What do you mean 'not yet'?" Fendros became worried that Lorag was covering up some kind of condition that might not have been affected by lycan disease resistance. Aging crossed his mind briefly, but it was hard to imagine Lorag succumbing to that. Whatever it was, it was causing Lorag worry. Even if he didn't like admitting weakness, it was showing. Fendros' expression became less cross and more sympathetic, "Lorag, if something is going on, you need to say it."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As Sabine gave the form a quick look over, the address suddenly made sense. The name of the shop, the name of the road, the district, then the city. It was meant to help find the shop. There was a signature line where Sabine roughly printed her name, then it seemed that everything was in order. She replaced the quill then pushed the form towards the woman behind the counter, who took it quickly and skimmed over it herself. "This is everything. Your letter is delivered by end of week, and will be travel through swamp roads to Thorn as fast as possible."

Sabine gave a small smile to the woman, out of gratitude, and the small victory of sending a letter for the first time. "Thank you," Sabine said.

"It is nothing, young one." The woman replied, before turning to Meesei, "Thank you for your custom."

With their business with the courier concluded, Meesei and Sabine exited the shop and stepped back into the noisy market. There was a short moment before Sabine spoke up about what was on her mind since she had witnessed it. "Meesei? I've...thought about what I want to do." She looked down the market street back the way they came, "There was music on the way here. Could we go back to listen?" There was no guarantee that the street performer they passed would still be there, but it had piqued Sabine's curiosity enough.

Seeing anger in his mark didn't deter the swindler at all. He responded with the same tone, "Sir, I am sure this is your ring. It fell out of your pocket just now."

Fendros had stopped and turned around as soon as he heard Lorag's bellowing. What was worse was that the conman was not standing down.

"I am sure this belongs to you," the conman continued.

Before Lorag had the chance to react with violence, Fendros stepped to him and grabbed him by the arm. "Lorag," Fendros gave a serious look and tone, then shook his head while continuing, "He's not worth it. Please." Sensing something troubling, Fendros lightly tugged on Lorag towards an alley out of the way from the crowds so they could talk. Hopefully Lorag would drop the issue and move away.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lorag was definitely hiding something, that much Fendros knew. However, if he wasn't going to be open about it, Fendros didn't know whether he really wanted to press the issue. For now, Fendros just looked forward again towards the markets. If Lorag continued to behave oddly, or drag people around in an unwarranted fashion again, Fendros would have to try again.

On the way there, Fendros noticed as many eyes on them as on the way to the tavern, even a gang of cheaply clothed young men talking in the street all turned their heads towards them. Lorag seemed to be a good preventative measure, though. No one gave them any trouble. The market itself wasn't difficult to find once they retraced their steps to the main road. It was crowded enough that they probably wouldn't spot Meesei and Sabine if they were around. "Was there anything you might be looking for while we're here, Lorag?" Fendros asked while they walked. Given how conflicted Lorag looked with his money at the tavern, perhaps he was saving it for something else.

Before Lorag could respond, a jumpy figure came up in front of the pair; a dark-green Argonian man with a wide grin. "Excuse me, did you drop this ring?" The man spoke in practiced Cyrodilic and presented a silver ring between his thumb and his forefinger. Fendros gave a shallow and frustrated breath. This was a scam that had made the rounds of Cheydinhal and other Imperial cities for years. It would only end up with them being accused of stealing the ring. Fendros started to move away, ignoring the man.

Sabine approached the counter and ran her finger across the words of the form. There wasn't really anything special that she had in mind, it was just a letter. She looked at Meesei and shook her head. "Just safe delivery," she mumbled. Without thinking, Sabine picked up a quill from the counter and slowly wrote Ariel Montgrave in the first field, but then let the quill hover over the next one. "Meesei, what do I write...?" She pointed to a field labelled Address.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Woah, wait- ah! Hold on- what's the rush all of a sudden?" It was unexpected to Fendros that he would be dragged out of the tavern in any case, but with Lorag grabbing him by the arm, sounding a small amount of protest was all he could really do to resist. Once they were outside, they began at a brisk pace to the markets. Lorag gave his typical Lorag dialogue, but everything else wasn't quite right. With a confused and concerned expression, Fendros leaned himself forward slightly while they walked to look Lorag in the face. "Lorag, is something wrong? You seem on edge."

Meesei and Sabine wandered through the market district with their eyes peeled. A few things caught Sabine's eye, from the interesting to the downright exotic. She knew that she probably would find much to buy, but she thought that if the stall owners weren't too busy, that they might be ones to talk to. Sabine was unsure, though. She didn't want to anger them by talking all the time and not buying anything. In one portion of the street, a small number of people were gathered around something beyond Sabine's vision. Behind the people was the music of a stringed instrument playing. They walked on by without finding out who was playing the music, but Sabine noted it for later.

There wasn't much more walking before Meesei stopped Sabine and lead her into a building beside them. The door had a sign above it depicting a standing Argonian with a bag, paddling a canoe in the middle of some markings that Sabine didn't know how to read. On the door itself, however, was some Dunmeris that Sabine roughly understood to be "Tzik-Chiun Best Delivery". Sabine would have walked right past it had Meesei not pointed it out. This was apparently the courier.

When the door opened, it rung a small bell, much like Ariel's store. The storefront itself was slightly cramped in comparison to the rest of the building, but over the counter, packages, manifests, wooden pidgeon-holes, and strongboxes explained the purpose of reserving the rest of the room. Over the counter, a female Argonian with black and tan scales, as well as many spines protruding backwards from her head looked up at the two with a smile. "Good day. What can I help you with?" She asked in Jel. Sabine stayed silent, neither understanding the woman, nor how to ask for her letter to be delivered. Normally Meesei did this kind of thing anyway. In the resulting pause, the woman made an awkward expression, then tried heavily accented Cyrodilic, "Um, can I be helping you?"