Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Okay," Carana said weakly, still staring at the trama root, "I won't even pretend to understand, but it looks like you know what you are doing." Along with Carana, Juteem was looking at the plant with one hand supporting his elbow and the other supporting the underside of his chin. His expression was more contemplative. It looked like he was about to ask something, but he stayed silent. Carana finally looked to Meesei properly, "I'm surprised, really. I thought the champion would be more..." she paused and itched at the back of her head, "...well, not a mage, to be true, much less with magic like that. Look, we could always use the extra help up here. Darahil pretty much runs this section, however. He knows the most about magic than any of us. I think you should talk with him if you can help." Carana held up a hand before Meesei could respond, "I-I know he may come off as cold, but his heart is in the right place. Now," Carana glimpsed to Sabine, "Did you need any more ingredients?" Sabine double checked the pouch she had been filling with what she needed, then looked up and shook her head. While Janius and Fendros smiled along with Ahnasha's speculation, Hadryn squinted one eye and hummed sceptically. "I don't know if Najirra would call for your Lorag. He is very good at helping people with their problems, but he doesn't call for people who don't want help unless they become a problem to themselves or other people. I don't know how he tells, though, I swear he can hear the thoughts of everyone in this ruin." "I would believe it if he left his room more often, he doesn't even come out to hunt with the full moons," Theresa added. This made Fendros and Janius turn their heads in disbelief. "Wait, how would he do that? Wouldn't his beast spirit force him to hunt?" Janius asked. "Najirra is very old, and so is his beast spirit," Hadryn answered, "His entire being knows that his hunting days are over. Normally such people die of starvation in the wild, but he keeps himself fed and that seems to be enough for him."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"We could always use more gatherers and traders, I suppose, but I don't think that's champions work, is it?" The Bosmer, Carana was distracted enough by finding ingredients not to mind Meesei's wandering. However, when she spotted what Meesei was doing out of the corner of her eye, she faced her palms forward and rushed over to her. "Ah-ah! Wait! That's Trama root! It's expensive and fragile and..." Canara was somewhat pacified when she saw that it had grown with Meesei's magic, but was utterly confounded by the event. "Huh? How did you do that?" She asked with a face of shock. "Oh, Oswall is certainly old. Not as old as, say, Najirra, but still old. He's not an Orc, mind," Fabian responded, "As for Harriet, she would be, what? Twenty-nine? Thirty?" Fabian looked to his friends. "About that, I believe," Theresa confirmed. "Right, well, in any case, I don't think she needs to worry yet." Fabian shrugged, "Of course, if your friend is worrying now, who knows what Harriet is hiding from everyone else?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The Bosmer woman did not immediately respond to Meesei. In fact, her pause made it seem like she either wasn't listening or was pretending that Meesei wasn't there. After a few moments of silence, she looked up from the parchment she was writing on with a cross expression. "Well Jerrick can come here himself and..." The woman's eyes caught Meesei's ring and her brow raised as her mouth hung open. "Oh..." she stood up frantically, making more noise that she needed to with her chair. The Argonian man shot a curious glance at the ruckus. The woman began to walk over to a cabinet by the wall, "Terribly sorry. Terribly, terribly sorry. I wasn't expecting the champion to come up here." She was about to open the cabinet by habit, but stopped her hand mid-reach and turned her head to Meesei and Sabine. "Normally, it's Darahil who gives permission for this sort of thing, but technically Jerrick has the authority as well." "Wait, you are the champion of Hircine?" The Argonian man turned to Meesei properly with an astonished expression, "This is a surprise. I did not know you were in our home." The Bosmer sighed, "Of course you didn't know Juteem, you've been up here all day with your Ayleid trinkets. This is why you should take more breaks." "My research is important!" Juteem said defensively, crossing his arms, "I would have found out eventually, Carana." Carana rolled her eyes and made a futile sound by exhaling between her lower lip and her front teeth. "Anyway," She turned her attention to Sabine and Meesei again, "What do you need?" As asked, Sabine stepped forward and listed off a few ingredients, all of which would be required for a scent masking ointment. She listed a couple of ingredients that she already had, but that was out of nervousness. Carana obliged by finding each of the ingredients and removing them for Sabine. Janius didn't have any qualms about explaining Lorag to Kaleeth while he wasn't here. "That's because he doesn't want to be overpowered by timid little you, Kaleeth. You have more raw strength than him, I'd wager." "Hmm, I actually hadn't thought of that, but I suppose it makes sense," Fendros said. Now that the opportunity to probe about Oswall had arisen, Fendros faced Hadryn and spoke. "Would Oswall be in it just for the fight as well?" Despite Hadryn being the more experienced in the clan, Theresa was the one who answered, turning attention towards her. "Well, Oswall is a Nordic warrior through and through. I think he would fight to prove he is the best. Being that Harriet is his rival in that regard, defeating Lorag could validate him in that way." "Oh? Do you know him?" Fendros asked. Theresa shook her head, "Not really, but I'm friends with his son. Oswall wants to instill the same attitude in Gallus, but he's a different person." Theresa dipped her head sympathetically, "I think he just wants his son to rise up the ranks like he did." Fendros leaned an elbow on his knee. "You say he rose through the ranks, when did he become a lieutenant?" Theresa twisted her mouth for a few seconds, then looked to Hadryn. "I believe it was twenty five years ago." Hadryn said for Theresa, "He joined when he was an adult, but he has always looked upwards."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

While they found a place out of the way, Sabine was anticipating getting an earful of protest from Meesei for engaging with people without letting her know. The bad conclusions got worse when Sabine considered if Freida and the others were actually bad people. That didn't seem right, though. They weren't acting strangely, they were being nice and just making conversation. The worries diminished somewhat when Meesei instead instructed Sabine to make a scent masking agent. If the clan had the right ingredients, there would be no reason that she couldn't mix something up like that. "Okay," Sabine said at almost a whisper. Given the investigative reasons that she and the rest of her pack were here, she could understand the secrecy. She just hoped that she didn't look nervous enough to give them away as she followed Meesei to the scholar's rooms to collect ingredients. "Ahuh," Hadryn said slowly, still looking at Leaps. "If you're wondering if he's house trained, we have managed to train him to relieve himself only into a pile of cloth that we set up when indoors." Janius looked to Leaps as well, who now seemed to have given up trying to wriggle free, "Despite being excitable, he's surprisingly intelligent. At least he is receptive to the same training as a dog. That's all I really have experience training. Actually, in many ways he behaves like a pup." Fabian leaned closer, "Intriguing...how long would he take to reach full size?" "No idea, but we do know that they live a long time," Janius replied. Theresa seemed slightly surprised by Ahnasha's response. "Only three months? He has a healthy weight about him, then." "He's a Cathay," Fendros mentioned, having picked up on the conversation. Theresa nodded with a realisation spread across her face. "Ah, right, the moons. Of course. I've heard as much from Najirra before." She regained her smile, "Well, he is still beautiful." The previous small crowd that went to watch the fight started to stream back into the dining hall now, bringing a volume of conversation and laughter. From the general tone of conversation, it was a short but powerful fight. Some mentioned Harriet's promise of a rematch, which brought about an almost tangible anticipation. This caught Theresa's eye. "It sounds like your friend, Lorag, put on a good show with Harriet. I wouldn't be surprised if Oswall challenged him as a matter of pride, now."

The Depths of Deception

Getting a wee bit concerned about this.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I had a few things on today. I only had time to check my emails this morning before leaving, and it's a bit late to write a coherent post now. I'll get a post up tomorrow.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Looks like you get to put up our 2,000th IC post. High five, man.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Jerrick wasted no time once he and Meesei parted ways. He looked to no other person on his way up to the scholar's room to retrieve some stationary for preparing his letters. There were always enough people in that area that there was no risk of being taken unaware. The girls were gathered in a circle, seated on a small patch of hides. "...could help you get the frizz out of your hair, if you wanted, Sabine. It would itch less after we're done, and it'll make you look pretty!" Freida, the Nord girl, was talking to Sabine when Meesei approached. Sabine was about to nod her head in agreement when Meesei interrupted. With that, Sabine turned around, going from shyly smiling to a concerned frown. Even though Sabine wanted to stay, Meesei's tone did not leave room to negotiate. Sabine turned to face her new friends and farewell them with an unsure voice. "I...have to go. Excuse me..." The girls were surprisingly understanding. "That's okay," Freida said with a smile. Now facing Meesei properly, Sabine stood up and followed her away. The girls could be heard starting a new conversation amongst themselves once they were far enough away. By the few words that Sabine was able to pick up, they were talking about her. She wasn't sure whether to be nervous or excited. Lorag's pride didn't exactly heal Harriet's as she stood up and cracked her head side to side. In the time it took her to get up, the portion of the crowd that had cheered at the end of the fight had begun a chant. "Lor-ag! Lor-ag! Lor-ag! Lor-ag!" Even scanning her glare along the crowd didn't diminish their chants. Harriet moved to don her clothes before she even acknowledged Lorag's question. "You like the idea of an orc having that title? Then take it. You beat me this time." Harriet finished lacing her breeches before she continued, marching up to Lorag and prodding him roughly in the centre of his chest with a challenging grin, "Don't think this is over yet, big boy. Not even close." Harriet didn't even put on the rest of her clothes yet, she just turned and marched off with her garments under one arm. "So that's what the creature was. I was trying to place it," Fabian said, smiling at Leaps, "I never thought I would see a wamasu in my entire life." Leaps himself struggled in protest to having his name called while being held forward in such a restrictive manner. After accepting that he wouldn't be let free again, he decided to hold his head towards Hadryn, sniff curiously, and then chirp at him. "Leaps-On-Elves, eh? I could never guess how he got such a name." Hadryn said, smiling as well but holding one arm up. Clearly, he was not very comfortable with the creature. "I think he likes you," Janius said, chuckling at Hadryn's reaction. Whether it was a misheard command to Leaps, or whether he was somply fed up with being held, Leaps redoubled his efforts to be free from Kaleeth's grasp. Hadryn wasn't encouraged by Leaps' behaviour. "Is he...house trained?" Having realised that she had probably heard as much as she was going to hear about Kaleeth thus far, Theresa turned her curiosity to Ahnasha and Rhazii, forking to a new conversation while the previous one went on next to them. "So Ahnasha, I must say, your child is a sweet little thing. Travelling with a baby must be difficult. Is it a boy or a girl? And how old? If I may ask, of course." Fendros wasn't sure which conversation to pay more attention to at this stage. He was actually wondering whether they could turn the subject back to the leaders. Maybe he was being too serious, maybe it would be nice just to get to know some people for the first time in months. If anything, he should be embracing the concept of finding new friends without having to worry about lycanthropy.

New Game Plus (MuttonHawk and Ontos)

There seemed to be little that Cassarah could do as she was directed into a smaller one of the few rooms in Sheera's home. "Wait, hold on! I thought we were going to talk! Missus Solomon!?" She paid no heed. The door shut behind the two and Cassarah's brow curled worriedly. She placed a hand to her forehead and wondered how this day could diverge any further from what she had planned. "Okay," Cassarah sighed, putting her staff on the counter next to her, finding a seat opposite Leneas, and retrieving some parchment, ink, and a pen from her shoulder bag. Leneas, what a rural name, she thought. When she finally brought herself to look up at him, he was blushing like a forge. People didn't really blush around Cassarah unless she insulted them enough to make them furious. Unless this Leneas character had so much pride that he would explode from Cassarah's regular behaviour, that meant that perhaps he...Cassarah couldn't bring herself to think that far into it. The guy was probably just not used to being around girls. Leneas' question reignited Cassarah's suspicions that the guards were after her, so she was cautious. "Well, Leneas, what can you tell me about this Astech?" Cassarah asked in a tone that sounded less like she wanted to be rid of him and more serious and professional. Leneas' answer would decide whether he actually knew about demons or was involved in a sting to make her admit her business in town.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Understood. We'll use a signal..." Jerrick held his chin and hummed in thought for a moment, "If I mention anything about 'bed bugs', let that be your signal to head to the meeting chamber. Make sure to mask your scent before you set foot on the mezzanine." Jerrick pushed off his barrel and shook his arms free, eager to get out of the cold, "I'll go and write my letters now. If anyone asks, we were discussing ideas for how to deal with Hircine's servants. It's mostly the truth, after all." Jerrick began to walk out of the larder, but stopped at the door. "Oh, and Meesei. Thank you for your help." Harriet maintained her deadly look, only faltering to take a quick peek at the rest of Lorag's body. "Glad you enjoyed yourself, now do you wanna let me stand up?" She said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. She was clearly disappointed to be bested, but if she enjoyed the fight, she was hiding it. The initial reaction from Hadryn, Theresa, and Fabian was disbelief. It was not clear exactly for which reasons, but it could have been one of many. By the way Hadryn glanced between Kaleeth and Janius, his opinion was more likely finding their pairing hard to swallow. Theresa was the one to answer first. "That's...that certainly sounds like a long story," Theresa said, "so you are a native of Black Marsh? Black marsh...I couldn't even imagine that far away." She addressed the rest of them, "How far have you travelled, exactly?" "I am more curious about how you two killed a wamasu. I have never seen one except in pictures and descriptions." Fabian said. Hadryn let his curiosity be heard as well. "There are many questions I would hear answered, but I will refrain for now. The last time there was a werecrocodile in this clan, he was only with us for a short time. A year, maybe. He left because he was a more independent spirit. That was twenty three years ago."