Muttonhawk

The Depths of Deception

In response to Telmeck's comment, Shiva smiled widely and slowly leaned to one side on her chair and reached out to grab the end of Shuo's head spike. It appeared that the alcohol was allowing herself to be assuming of Shuo's personal space. She held it up, but didn't pull on it enough to cause discomfort. "You want to feel it Telmeck? Come and touch it," Shiva suggested, perhaps suffering a miscommunication with Telmeck's words.

"I can't remember what it's like to have one. Mine's been kept cut for years. Also," Shiva broke into another giggle, "It's not a stinger, you fool," Shiva patted the end of the spike lightly with her other hand, "No venom."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Vera's expression sank into that of disappointment and realisation. "Oh, right, of course, um," Vera turned around and slowly placed the apple back in its bowl, "Never mind. I'm not sure why I thought that would be a good idea." Vera remained facing the wall and bowed her head. Her voice seemed to quicken in an attempt to keep it somewhat level. "I think I just need to keep doing things. Just to keep going. I need to make sure that I don't..." Vera shot her hand up to her mouth and bit on a curled finger. A single small, light cough sounded from her that was unmistakably a suppressed sob. She started holding her breath and staying perfectly still, her back to Kaleeth and the door.

"Very well, champion. I will be here for most of the morning if you need anything else." Carana said, glad that the situation was resolved without fuss. Before she turned away, Carana looked up at Safina, "How about you, Safina?"

Safina took a short breath, smiled lightly, and then nodded. "I will be in and out. Hadryn said he has some artifacts he needs me to examine. Oh, and you two," Safina addressed Sabine and Meesei, "Sabine, you've a lot of talent for your age." With that, the two alchemists strode away to mind their own business. Carana didn't go far, having her own projects to work on nearby.

If Sabine wasn't wincing from the stinging cut on her hand, she would probably be pouting at Meesei's surprise lesson being on healing. Sabine was not especially good with healing magic in general. It took a lot of concentration and relied on feeling more than any other senses, more so than most magic she had learned so far.

"Okay," Sabine said to Meesei, charging a yellow glow in her uninjured hand. The glow seemed to flicker and roil for a while before Sabine could get it right. Even then, she was having trouble keeping it stable. "I'm nervous. I don't want to get a sore scar like the last healing lesson."

"Alright, alright," Harriet smiled in acknowledgement to Lorag as Benilada slid on a shield and took a training sword from the weapon racks. Harriet pointed the spear forward with both hands and began her instruction. "So, Remus told me you kept screwin' up in sparring against those with spears, I'm gonna try and help you with that today, darling. Let's try a quick bout," Harriet angled her head towards Lorag, "Big boy here will shout at you after I give you some pointers. He's right in saying they're used in formations by a lot a' people, but you'll need to be able to fight against them whether it's against one or five. What you'll learn here, you can use when you let your friend out of the cage as well. Now, guard up!"

Harriet left no more time after her warning to step up and thrust her spear forward. Benilada was able to block the thrust with her shield, but her stance narrowed as she shied from the blow. Harriet kept up the offensive, thrusting quickly above and below. Benilada had trouble finding any way to advance while Harriet kept her at bay. Shielding was all she could do to stop herself being prodded by the swaddled cloth on the stick. Apart from an ineffective swing at the spear at one point, Benilada did not seem to attack. She just kept losing ground. At first, it seemed like a stalemate, but Harriet had a small trick up her sleeve. With a well placed thrust, Harriet encouraged Benilada's shield to one side to expose her body, then whirled the point around the shield and caught Benilada in the upper leg. "Halt there," Harriet commanded. Benilada had recoiled from the thrust, but didn't move further except to look slightly ashamed.

Harriet brought the spear back and held it vertically against the ground, then put her other hand on her hip. "Come on, Benny, what was that? You're too defensive with this thing. Look, the way to beat a spear is to get past the reach, not to avoid it. Here," Harriet held the spear forward in one hand towards Benilada. "From here, I can get you, right? You can't get me. Now, take a pace and a half towards me, I won't stab you, promise." Benilada tightened her mouth, then stepped forward. Harriet held her spear to one side, but still had it horizontal. "Now, I'm in reach of your weapon, and if I want to get you I have to step..." Harriet took an exaggerated step back and pulled her spear arm back just far enough to hold the point to Benilada, "...aaaall the way back here. If you got up this close, you could probably kill me before I got to this position, right?"

"Wait," Benilada held up a finger from her sword handle, "How do I to get that far without getting stabbed, though?"

Harriet's eyes widened. She grabbed and shook Benilada's shield momentarily. "With this!" Harriet hissed, "And these!" She added, gesturing to Benilada's legs. "Most of all, though, you use this," Harriet put a hand on the top of the padded cap that Benilada was wearing. "Take's practice, but parry, step up, follow through, understood?"

Benilada nodded apprehensively after a short moment.

"Before we try again, have you got anything to add, legion trainer?" Harriet asked Lorag.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

So, I'm heading interstate for a few days. This and study may slow down posts for a bit.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Well, I know that now might not be the best period of time, but after all...you know." Vera was clearly trying to move on quickly, "W-what I'm trying to say is that if anyone in your pack wants to learn as well, they're free to join in as well." Vera smiled and firmly nodded.

Thankfully for Vera's emotions, Kaleeth had another question to move the conversation along. Vera placed a hand on her chest and laughed, before shaking her head and clarifying, "Oh, no no no. Most learned beforehand, mainly those who turned after being educated. I'm not the only teacher, though, and there are also those who don't want to learn to read and write. They make their own lives harder by doing so, but it's their choice." Vera looked blankly ahead for a while, even the slight pause was not at all relaxing for her. "Say, do you like apples? It's a bit of a tradition for teachers to have apples." Vera stood up and walked quickly over to a shelf on the other side of the room that housed a bowl full of deep red shiny circular shapes, "Sometimes I like to partake for breaks like this." Vera plucked out one of the apples and turned around to show Kaleeth.

Carana actually looked to Safina and looked puzzled. Meesei's question had left her unsure. Sabine seemed to understand with more clarity and her eyes went wide. Behind Carana and Safina, Sabine hurriedly drew her dagger from her belt and stepped up to the flask. Without any hesitation she held her knife with one hand on the handle and the other on the blade, held them over the flask, then pulled. The dagger didn't make any sound louder than Sabine's sharp intake of breath as it cut shallowly into her hand, but it was the quickest way for droplets of Sabine's blood to hit the mixture in the flask.

Safina noticed the movement out of the corner of her eye and gasped at the scene. Carana was similarly shocked when she realised what happened as well.

Sabine slowly retracted her bleeding palm and looked to Meesei guiltily. "It is infected now. It will work."

Knowing that sympathy wasn't a particularly appreciated Orcish sentiment, Harriet gave an acknowledging nod to one side to hear about Lorag's parents. At least as Harriet finished her stretch, Lorag had something else to say.

"Eh, Malacath might be part of the problem," Harriet began, "I mean, the strength and independence thing is all well and good, but what got me annoyed was all the 'vengeance' this and 'we've been wronged' that when it was for stuff that really didn't matter." Harriet glanced past Lorag and started to stand up. Benilada, a lithe but certainly not fragile looking Dunmer woman with training pads similar to Gerald's, was walking towards them. "We'll have to continue this chat later. Time to keep training." Harriet gave Benilada a grin as she closed in, "Alright, Benny, time to cover that weakness you have against spears. Get yourself a weapon and toss me a training spear from the rack."

Benilada didn't seem nearly as nervous as Gerald did. If anything she seemed slightly annoyed at Harriet mentioning her weakness in combat. "Yes, alpha," Benilada said clinically.

To this, Harriet swung her head and exhaled sharply. "For goodness sake, Benny, I told you once, I told you a hundred times, call me Harriet. You don't need to title me to give me respect."

"Oh, right, sorry," Benilada at least seemed a bit more human in her response before she passed Harriet a spear with a small swaddled cloth instead of a point.

"You got any tips for this one, Big Boy? She's a little greener than Gerald."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Well, you aren't doing too badly so far," Vera looked down at Kaleeth's tablet and sat down beside her. "Learning to read and write isn't too hard once you get into the basics. Reading and writing well, however, that takes practice, like you said. As long as you have a willingness, it's no problem at all, really. And living day to day, it can be very hard without knowing how." Vera looked up at Kaleeth, and nodded encouragingly, "You could keep attending my lessons as long as you're here, if you wanted. You're certainly not the first adult to do so. Can others in your pack read and write?"

Carana pinched at the skin on her temple and gave a worried look. "I should have known. If there is one thing that Vile's followers are doing if this poison is theirs, it is driving us to madness with trying to figure it out. Very well, Safina?" Carana lowered her arm and looked up at her assistant, "Fetch a human heart and a pint of human blood from cold storage. We'll need them."

The next while consisted of a friendly discussion between Sabine and Carana regarding whether to use a human heart or liver for the test. It contained as much jargon as before and they had set up the test with the heart before they even knew they had come to an agreement. Curiously, Sabine's anxiety seemed to fade off and turn into a sure confidence as she spent time talking about alchemy. The threat of the clan falling apart if she said the wrong thing was all but gone from Sabine's mind. As they worked, there were a few other scholars that came and went from the loft. They gave curious glances, but didn't cause a disturbance.

An hour of precise frost and fire spells later, the four in the scholar's loft beheld a large flask filled with a thin mix of blood and water. Suspended in tendrils of ice was a fresh heart that had been administered the poisoned water. "There," Carana breathed once the poison had been added, "Now all there is to do is watch and wait. This will likely take a while."

"Cheydinhal? Hah! I should have known. We sometimes get Cheydinhal Orcs coming by, they've all got the same...hmm, how do I put it?" Harriet lifted a finger and pressed at the front of her mouth in thought, "I dunno, you all got somethin', I think it's the way you talk." Harriet waved the thought away dismissively, "Anyway, so your mother was the warrior and your pa was the smith? I tell you, from the perspective of a stronghold girl, that's just weird. At least you had your parents teachin' you," Harriet stood up and began stretching her arms, "My parents weren't too keen on me worshiping Hircine instead of Malacath. The clan had plenty of teachers when I joined it, though." Harriet tensed her face, then released her breath through her nose, "Your parents still around?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Vera did not spend her entire time simply talking to the entire class. It wasn't long before she had briefed them all enough to get stuck into practising what was taught. On command from Vera, the younger children stood up and quickly retrieved a lump of chalk and a stone tablet from the shelves on the side of the room. Vera had given them a few letters to practice on and they were all soon sitting with their heads down, occasionally looking to one side to talk with their friends. Although it wasn't obvious at first, Vera had noticed how rapt Kaleeth was with the lesson that she retrieved a tablet and chalk for her to try as well. Kaleeth probably had a more coordinated hand than the children, but it was probably better than sitting and doing nothing.

A couple of hours later, Vera spoke up and the volume of the children faded. "Okay class, it's time for a break. Everyone is to be back in fifteen minutes," Vera had to speak up over all of the children suddenly rushing to stand up and get to the door, "Do not stray far! I will call you back in as always!"

Once the children had put away their tablets and left, giggling and talking amongst themselves, they could be heard playing in various rooms surrounding the classroom. Vera smiled at the door and approached Kaleeth. "They have a lot of energy. It's good for them to expend it a little, else they never pay attention." Vera peered down at Kaleeth's tablet, "What do you think of Cyrodilic writing? I probably should have asked if you had learned it before."

As time progressed in the alchemist's loft, so increased the frequency of disappointed sighs. It seemed that the tests that Safina, Carana, and Sabine had devised were all still yielding the strange black substance that Sabine's tests were producing. Carana scratched her head and turned to Sabine and Meesei. "This poison must have been made by otherworldly means. I have never encountered something so...so..."

"Stubborn?" Safina suggested.

"No, more like...hmm,"

"Elusive?"

"Sensitive," Sabine said plainly, speaking her mind.

"Sensitive, yes," Carana waved her finger in agreement, "Every test we try makes it almost trip up some kind of trap and denature into this putrid ichor. The only thing I can think to do is what Sabine suggested at one point; make a potion to act as a fake human body and fool the poison into working naturally. Observing how it works will give us much better hints as to its properties." Carana paced with her hands on her hips, "It might take all day, though. Would that suit you, champion? Also, might I ask where you found such a poison?"

To any green fighter, Lorag's words might have been blunt and impactful, however, Harriet grinned and chuckled instead. "Am I teachin' Gerald or are you tryin' to teach me?" She slowly shook her head and stepped to face Gerald again, "If I was tryin' to kill him before he killed me, I wouldn't take on a handicap. This's more fun. Now, put up your weapon kid, lesson's far from over."

Bout after bout went on between Gerald and Harriet. Each time, Harriet would give advice and encourage Lorag to do the same. Harriet started off winning each bout, but some hits to the hand and the arm developed into a couple of well placed moves on Gerald's part. Gerald had improved noticably in just a few hours.

Eventually, Harriet put her wooden swords away took a seat on the floor to catch her breath. She sat with her forearms on her raised knees and her head rolling side to side. "Alright Gerald, find another partner and keep practising for the rest of the morning. Bring over Benilada, I'll work with her next."

Gerald gave a quick thanks and walked off, nursing the many bruises he had inflicted.

"So...you seem a bit more uptight when it comes to training," Harriet looked up at Lorag and uncorked her waterskin, "D'you learn everything you know about fighting from the legion?" Harriet took a swig of water while she listened.

The Depths of Deception

Leeeeeeon. Where are you, buddy?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

An unexpectedly busy weekend was just had. I'll respond tomorrow if I can.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I see, so you were nomadic, then? That would make sense," Vera responded while she gave Kaleeth's tattoos proper consideration. "I guess one difference is that everyone in the clan is a hunter in some capacity. That's really because we have to be, though. Our beast spirits don't feed themselves. If you got tattoos for a trial to become a hunter, you must be good at it." Vera smiled, "Maybe we should start trials like that, it might make for some stronger hunters."

Vera looked forward and her smile started to fade for a moment. She didn't speak or even appear to listen for a few moments. After another swallow, she held her chin up and regained her smile. "We're almost there."

A short distance later, Vera came upon a room that was bubbling with childish voices on the inside and from a few short figures waiting outside. As soon as the children outside saw Vera coming, they skittered inside. Vera and Kaleeth found the room to be relatively spacious and well lit. At the sides of the room were shelves of roughly cut slate tablets, pieces of parchment, old books, buckets of chalk pieces and other stationary. The children, roughly fourteen in number, were sitting cross-legged on thin carpets spread on the stone floor. Their ages seemed to be spread between five and seven years old at a guess. They either wore furs or thoroughly repaired regular clothing. They were collected together, but not in any formation except to face one of the walls of the room. The wall they faced was blackened somehow, likely with a paint or a tar. There were markings on the wall make by white chalk, evidently from the previous lesson.

"Good morning, class," Vera announced on her arrival.

The class droned slowly in unison, "Good morning Missus Vera."

Vera held out a hand to Kaleeth and beckoned her in front of the children. Some of the children whispered quietly amongst themselves, but they were quiet enough that Vera and Kaleeth couldn't make out what they were saying. Vera spoke again once Kaleeth was next to her, "This is Kaleeth. She is going to be joining us for a while, everyone say hello to her."

"Good morning Missus Kaleeth."

Even though the end to Kaleeth and Vera's previous conversation seemed abrupt, the lesson started in earnest and didn't look like it was going to pause for a while. Vera found Kaleeth a chair to observe as she continued teaching the children about the Cyrodilic alphabet and how to properly write the characters. The older children were run through some spelling drills instead.

Sabine was still unsure, but she turned slowly back to Carana and began to explain what tests had been done already to the poison. The language they were speaking had so much alchemical jargon mixed among it that it barley seemed like Cyrodilic at all when heard. Even Sabine had to clarify what some of the words Carana was saying actually meant, but there was either a translation in Dunmeris to be had, or simply a concept that Sabine had found herself but was yet to find the name for. It took perhaps a solid twenty minutes of discussion, with Safina chiming in occasionally with her own insight, before they devised some tests that Sabine had not yet attempted. This would continue to be a busy morning.

Back in the main chamber, Harriet smirked at Lorag's critique, but didn't take her eyes off Gerald. She considered responding right then and there, but Gerald thrust his sword forward in an attempt to catch her while distracted. Harriet was far from it. She crossed her swords and sidestepped, catching Gerald's sword and redirecting it harmlessly past her. Harriet attempted to follow up by stepping up and slashing at Gerald's arm, but Gerald had already brought his sword back around his head to strike at Harriet's other side. With an uncanny lightness to her feet, Harriet's step forward floated back as if it was not committed at all. In an instant, one of her swords was in position to check the incoming strike with a resounding clack and the other was already prodding the padding in front of Gerald's stomach. He recoiled and coughed loudly in surprise, shrinking back a couple of steps. It was clear that Harriet had one that short bout.

"Big Boy, you legionnaires have no imagination, you know that?" Harriet quipped. Despite the validity of Lorag's comments, Harriet was using a technique that she had obviously developed enough to be an equivalent alternative. She wasn't as nonchalant towards Gerald, "As for you, use your reach more, kid. The end of your sword is as good as the part closer to your hands."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Vera raised her brow and answered in a matter-of-fact tone, "Actually, it's less of a problem than you might think. Come along," Vera began to walk, turning her body to wave to each of her pack. Some regular farewells followed Vera and Kaleeth out of the dining chamber. "It really depends on the individual as how hard it is to adjust to our life, but it seems to mostly be shaped by how they cope with the trauma. Being turned into a lycan is a terrifying experience at the best of times, but most people have to unwillingly separate from their family and friends. There are some who..." Vera pushed the backs of her hands out in front of her in a repelling sort of gesture, "...are outwardly angry, there is often a period of rebellion for them before they learn to release pent up emotion and accept themselves. There are also those who try to stay calm and attempt to run away. That's trouble where we have to track them down before they perish in the wilds or hurt other people. Many people, however, find the structure of being assigned simple tasks to be relaxing, regulating. Calming, even. Those are the people that go into a sort of depression if they aren't driven on. In all cases, with support, consistent structure, and most importantly patience, they soon find themselves a place. Other culture shock is sort of ironed out along the way."

The pair were about halfway to the room in which Vera held her class. With a glance, Vera turned the inquiries onto Kaleeth, "You say that the clan is like your village? I don't know much about Argonian villages, what's it like living there? If you don't mind talking about it, of course."

Carana swiftly nodded and rushed up the rest of the stairs. "Yes, I can give it a try if you like! What do you have?" The woman that Carana left behind stood with a puzzled expression at the proceeding, but Carana turned back to her at the top of the stairs to clear things up. "Safina, come along, you know what Darahil said. Come up and help." Carana was about to address Sabine when she realised that the Altmer woman had not been properly introduced. Carana smiled and started with a quick gesture to her friend, "This is Safina, by the way. She's been my charge for about a month now. She knows a spot of alchemy as well."

Safina, evidently nervous with beholding such an important figure at Meesei, crept up the stairs quietly and nodded in greeting.

"Now," Carana levelled her eyes with Sabine, being roughly similar height, though shorter than Sabine by just half a hand, "What do you have?"

Sabine fished around her shoulder bag and pulled out a vial of the poisoned water, as yet untested. "It has a poison, a slow poison. My tests haven't been working."

With confirmation via body language, Carana lightly took the vial from Sabine's hands and took a close look herself, swirling it around and holding it to the magelight that illuminated the room. "What tests have you done?" She asked.

Before answering, Sabine looked to Meesei for confirmation. A wave on anxiety had burned across her mind shortly after mentioning that the vial contained a poison. She was unsure how much she was meant to share with Carana.

"Hmph," Harriet imitated Lorag's grunt, then closed the last few steps to Gerald the Redguard Warrior. "Throw me a couple of wasters, Gerald," Harriet ordered. Gerald didn't say a word and rushed to a nearby weapon rack that held wooden weapons. He tucked his sword under his other arm and tossed two wooden short swords, one at a time and hilt first in Harriet's direction. They were well aimed enough that Harriet caught them out of the air with ease. "And pick the mace or the sword, Gerald, you look ridiculous."

Gerald spoke up for once, trying to be casual but visibly perspiring from more than just his workout. "Why do you use two swords, then?" His voice was higher than his appearance suggested.

Harriet pointed both her wooden swords in front of her, "One, because these are twin weapons; two, you train hard to use them both at once; and three, I'm you alpha, so what I say goes. Pick a weapon, kid."

With a sigh, Gerald put his off hand mace back on the weapon rack and held his sword in both hands. It was a longsword, not for use with a shield, but certainly effective in skilled hands. His previous 'weapon drills' were seeming more like they were just showing off.

"Guard up," Harriet dropped into a combat stance with her weapons and began to pace carefully towards Gerald's reach. Gerald twitched in feints to keep Harriet at bay, but it would only be a moment before they would be at each other in melee.