Muttonhawk

New Game Plus (MuttonHawk and Ontos)

Genuine surprise spread across Cassarah's face. So this man did know of the book she carried, and judging by his comment on the numbers, he knew of its contents as well. Did he have a copy himself once? Before Cassarah could even move to get the book out from her bag, Leneas began with Astech. Cassarah was sick enough of Leneas' belligerence that she let him talk, interrupting only to calmly ask questions to elaborate. Astech turned out to be a particular variety of demon that Cassarah already knew of, but this specimen described was larger than usual. Probably a leader of a raiding clan or something. That was the only way Cassarah could fathom Leneas knowing the demon in such detail. Cassarah had to put Leneas' question on hold while she scratched down the last of her notes on the interview. After a few seconds, she put down her quill and looked up silently. "Um," she swallowed, "I'll just have water." By this point, Cassarah was a little less adverse to the guard's presence, so she decided to honour their agreement. She pulled a thick rectangular leather pouch from her shoulder bag and placed it on the table. Unlacing the leather and pulling it away revealed an old, faded book. It wasn't especially huge, but it was rare and precious as the vast knowledge it held. The cruel, jagged runes on the cover read its title in a common demonic dialect: The River of Steel. "What chapter did you want to see?" Cassarah asked quietly, keeping her eyes on the book cover.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

There was a pause for contemplation by Darahil. He only reacted with a blink to the information that the waterskin was poisoned, but his eyes gave away the information processing. "I will allow you to see the rune, yes," he confirmed, nodding. "As for Jerrick's waterskin, as I said, the only three times I saw him was in the main chamber, at the meeting, and out on the mezzanine. It was only in the meeting that I saw him with his waterskin. It was on the table the entire time. I believe he forgot to pick it up on his way out. In the time I saw him during his class, he had nothing on his person at all due to recently transforming." Darahil spoke without a hint of emotion, but he took on a curious tone and angled his head as he continued. "You suspect the poison may have been administered at those times?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Darahil's lips seemed to tighten as Meesei pointed out the flaw in his story. He looked down and to one side and exhaled audibly through his nose in slight frustration. "I was...unsure whether that was worth mentioning." Darahil took another breath and reassured his posture, "Unbeknownst to all but myself, there is a rune on the locked cabinet that contains the clan's accounts book. It triggers an object in my office to glow when it is disturbed. I was merely checking to see that it wasn't being tampered with. I trusted Jerrick, but normally dealing with the accounts is a joint effort. I was going to ask him about it in the morning." Jerrick closed his eyes in resignation, "Although, given the circumstances, coming up to the closed room where he was alone on the night of his murder might have seemed suspicious. I should have known you might have been there." Once the moment had passed, Darahil looked sternly into Meesei's eyes once more with not an ounce of shame for having withheld part of his story. "As for the class in the main chamber, like I said, they were finishing. Oswall was off on the side of the room where everyone's possessions were piled, dressing himself. Jerrick was talking with a small number of young people, answering questions they had, as I understood. I walked briskly, there was little else to see."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Vera didn't seem to notice what Ahnasha said while she held Jerrick up against herself. For a moment it seemed as if she wouldn't move at all. Eventually she composed herself enough to respond, albeit still sobbing and not facing Ahnasha. "I just want him back," she stammered through her tears, "I don't want revenge, I just want him back..." There continued to be a lack of movement until Oswall and Janius arrived. Oswall's reaction was far less distressing, but still sombre. He strode up to Vera and Jerrick and sighed heavily, bowing his head and holding his hands together respectively. Much like Ahnasha, he seemed to be holding back his emotions. Janius stood back, respectively silent, but he was finding Vera's grief similarly difficult to watch. Vera was in no emotional state to carry her husband's body, so it fell to Oswall, Janius, and Ahnasha to carry his body to a disused chamber that was chilled enough with the mountain air to properly preserve him. They cleaned the dark liquid from his mouth and nose while they were there and laid him in such a position as to hide the violence of his end; peacefully lying on his back with his hands on his stomach. Vera did not want to leave his side, but Oswall and Janius went back to the meeting room to wait for Darahil and Harriet. Darahil did not shift his blank, looming expression, but did not speak with disrespect to Meesei as he answered her. "I awoke in an Ayleid living quarters in the unexplored city, amongst my expeditionary companions. It was early in the morning, we needed the extra time to render rubbings of some inscriptions we were studying before we were to head home. It was myself and four other lycans from amongst my packs. Our objective was study, and to recover more welkynd stones to expand the crop. The rubbings took several hours, but we had already found enough stones. We ventured back up through the depths, taking roughly three hours to return. We were behind schedule, so I headed straight to the meeting chamber. As typical, even if I was less prepared, I was the first to arrive. Apart from Oswall and Jerrick finishing their class in the main chamber, the meeting was the first I saw of the lieutenants. I am unsure what all of their movements were that morning, but it is not something I care to keep track of. The meeting went as normal. Everyone reported back on previous actions, raised issues of note, discussed them thoroughly, and so on. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary apart from your arrival. After the meeting, Jerrick stopped me by the mezzanine as we left behind Oswall. He had a short discussion with me as to whether you and your pack could be trusted. I knew by your ring and the power it held that you were the champion, I gave him counsel to that effect. After our short discussion I proceeded back to the scholar's loft to take a closer look at the rubbings and begin translating them. That occupied all of my time, apart from dinner. I would have had someone bring me a meal, but Jerrick insisted that keeping in touch with the rest of the clan is more important than the research that could benefit it. Of course, for all his insistence, he was not present. I returned to the translations after my meal and remained until I retired for the night. As for the movements of others, I heard there was a duel between your packmate, Lorag, and dear Harriet. I heard that from where I was, it was rather annoying."

New Game Plus (MuttonHawk and Ontos)

Ah, understood. I'll leave you to it.

New Game Plus (MuttonHawk and Ontos)

Hey Ontos, are you still around for this? If you're not feeling it anymore, feel free to say so, I don't mind either way.

Godhood - A Tale of Deities

@SillyGoy? Are you still around?

The Depths of Deception

Fair enough

The Depths of Deception

Mkay. I can see that working. It wouldn't be bad for Shiva's health to have it kept cut short, would it?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I do not like the air of this night," Oswall remarked as he stood up and left the room with Meesei. When Meesei instructed everyone that the lieutenants would remain watched, the reaction was not exactly celebration, but Najirra's smile seemed to silence any objections they might have had. Janius nodded to Meesei and lead Oswall away on command. Harriet stayed seated, staring at a wall in annoyance. By this time, Vera and Ahnasha had reached the meeting room. Vera's reaction to seeing her husband's corpse, still pale and marked with the dark lines of his poisoned veins as well as leaking vile black liquid from the mouth and nose, was an understandable flood of emotion straight to her entire demeanour. She bent her torso and put a hand over her mouth, her face red and tensed into sadness and shock as she rushed up to Jerrick's body and fell to her knees next to him. The closure of knowing may have been important to her, but the outpouring of grief as she pressed his head to her chest and wept was hard to watch. Eventually Jerrick would have to be moved and prepared for burial, but Vera didn't look like she was going to move any time soon. Back in Najirra's chambers, Darahil sat up straight with a face likened to holding needles in his mouth. He held his hands at the knees of his crossed legs and sat higher than Meesei, but he gave no words to her before she began her questioning.