Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I shall not occupy you any longer then." Darahil stood up as soon as Meesei went to address those in the corridor. He walked past an awkward pause between Gallus with his friends and Meesei's pack. His footsteps were the only sound while Gallus considered Meesei's answer.

After some uneasy curling of his lips Gallus looked up to ask once more. "Can we at least know about Jerrick?"

Before Darahil walked completely into the the pack's chamber, he stopped by the gate and looked at Gallus with his scowl unmoving. "We're fine, Gallus. Move along."

Gallus' face told that he detected the white lie immediately, but rather than let his worried cause an outburst, he took the news for what it meant and put both his hands up. "Alright, I'll tell them about an announcement. I can't guarantee that they will all remain patient." With that, Gallus turned and lowered his arms, "Come along everyone." His friends followed him back down the hallway.

Only Tzirret glanced back over his shoulder for a moment before thudding against someone walking in the opposite direction. He stumbled back and looked up to see the face of Grolak, the man in charge of the rations, looking down at him with some surprise. Tzirret was paralysed with fear for a few seconds before the Orc pushed him to one side to shoulder past him. The Bosmer master boyer, Caldris, followed closely behind Grolak. Tzirret only then realised that he was falling behind his friends and ducked away to catch up.

Grolak gave a respectful nod to Meesei as he and Caldris came into sight. "You sent for us, champion?"

"Your activities are getting attention out there," Caldris added.

The Depths of Deception

Despite the drunken night being a real risk to Shiva's position on the team, it turned out not only to be worth it, but a cherished memory. The team felt like friends to her now, even the no-nonsense Shuo. Additionally, she was surprised how well Telmeck seemed to take finding out about her criminal history. It was a little easier to relax now.

When Shiva woke up the next morning with arguably less of a hangover than the was expecting, she sighed and laughed slightly to see Shuo spread across the carpeted floor. She sort of wished she hadn't fallen asleep on her cot so quickly, else she might have been able to help him into his bed and prevent the inevitable aches he would have.

As was expected, the rest of the journey back to Pax was business as usual. Shiva kept up her training regime and spent much of her spare time reading. There was occasionally time for socialising, but they were far from on a holiday, so her teammates were more often than not as busy as she was.

The day that the ship reached Pax was the same day that everyone in the team was to be called to a meeting. It sounded like a formal debriefing more than anything. Shiva had spotted Shuo laying out his ArmSpecWar dress uniform for the occasion, so Shiva decided not to make the same mistake as last time. Her dress uniform was far less decorated and certainly displayed a lower rank than Shuo's, but she kept it as prim and polished as any soldier.

Shiva emerged to meet the others in short order, brushing off one last ball of lint from her sleeve as she walked. She took a deep calming breath in anticipation. "Alright, time to be formal."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Uh...well..." Fendros became somewhat flustered. He had hoped that the secret would hold out for at least a few more days, especially since it sounded like Meesei was so close.

"...We are still investigating a possible spy or spies in the clan." Janius stepped up and saved Fendros from his stumbling with some quick thinking. "We have to keep things secret in our meetings, I'm sure you understand." Janius gave a diplomatic smile to Gallus and his companions.

Gallus exhaled through his nose and eventually nodded in acknowledgement, but he wasn't done yet. "Alright, well that makes sense, but what of Jerrick? Some people are saying that he was killed or removed from power. Can you tell us what has become of him?"

Back in the storage room, Darahil glanced to the door, then leaned in to speak to Meesei quietly in turn. "My latest expedition was to a low and cramped living quarters. From first inspection it appeared to be a slave's quarters, perhaps previously inhabited by ancient Cyrodilic humans. There were carvings there wrought by human hands, not magic, which may be of historical significance depending on what they translate to. I understand you are learned, so you may confirm the research yourself by looking over the materials so long as you do not upturn my office into disarray. If you want testimonies,aAll my alphas know of this topic; the alchemist, Carana; the healer, Wendryn; and an arcane scholar, Rozar. Rozar's pack accompanied me in my expedition, so they might confirm this as well." Darahil's eyes flicked to the voices outside, "Now, I believe you have visitors to deal with."

The Depths of Deception

It would be nice to actually have an active human player on the team again.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I do not recall observing anyone leaving the meeting room after myself and Jerrick except for Vera, who exited shortly after us. I moved on from the mezzanine before seeing Harriet come out." Darahil seemed to have neither a reaction to the information Meesei provided, or interest in confirming that Harriet was the poisoner. To him, the entire exchange was to be finished quickly. "Immediately after the meeting, when I proceeded to the scholar's loft, Marlin and Safina, some packmates of mine, were practising their telekinesis as I walked in. You may confirm with them that I proceeded to my office and did not emerge until dinner. After dinner, I'm afraid that I passed unnoticed to my office and bedchambers, at least, to any whom I could recall the names of all of my packmates were either still eating dinner or were elsewhere with their tasks. None disturbed me during my work except for the rune being triggered. I do not recall any of the lieutenant's alibis except for Harriet and her duel with your packmate."

Outside of the room, Fendros leaned against the wall of the hallway nervously. He wanted to converse with Janius, Sabine, and Lorag, but nothing they could say would go unheard by the lieutenants in their room. It was tense enough to think of smalltalk in any case.

"Hoy!" A familiar voice sounded from down the corridor. Fendros and Janius turned towards it to see the son of Oswall, Gallus, along with his charge, Tzirret, and a couple of unknown people, likely his packmates.

Fendros immediately pushed off the wall and raised his hands to stop them. "Ah, apologies Gallus, Meesei and the lieutenants are busy right now."

"No, no, that's fine," Gallus smiled and raised a hand reassuringly, halting his advance a short distance from Fendros. "Look, everyone is talking, whispering about something going wrong. The lieutenants have been acting strangely, my father especially, and all these private meetings are strange." Gallus angled his head and took on a more serious tone, he at least didn't seem threatening right now. "Look, we don't like secrets here. What's this all about? Is Jerrick really away visiting some village?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Darahil sat as if he were a statue with his hands lightly clasped on his lap. He wasted no time in giving Meesei a scowl faced answer. "Yes. He was finishing up his lesson and was drinking while replacing his clothing."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Without so much as a nod, Darahil proceeded inside.

Fendros' eyes followed Darahil until he was out of sight, then quickly addressed Meesei. "Right, well, Darahil is certainly very fond of his research apart from some minor enquiries of some of the scholars, he barely talked to anyone. When I asked about his research, he gave brief answers, but I got the feeling that he didn't appreciate the distraction. Still, he held himself as if he was in almost constant contemplation. After lunch, we proceeded up to the meeting room and asked me if I was capable of identifying magic. I told him that I wasn't particularly good at it, but he still directed me to the cabinet with the ledgers and other records. I found a rune that was connected to something else, I couldn't gather what it was for exactly, but Darahil explained that it made something in his office glow and to let you know that it was still there. Darahil went over the accounts as Jerrick did before to check if anything had changed. Only one thing caused him concern; it was this discrepancy that one of Harriet's packs had made. He was rather cross about it and went to confront Harriet immediately. It was a loud clash, but brief. I assume Lorag let you know about it?" Fendros paused and curled his lips as he recalled the awkward situation. He was thankful that it didn't escalate further. "Anyway, we waited for dinner after that."

After his recollection, Fendros sniffed and thought quietly for a few seconds about the mezzanine. "I did see activity up there while you were telling the tale. Just a few things, I didn't think to keep a close eye up there." Fendros brought his fingers to his forehead and shut his eyes to help remember. "The first people I saw were Darahil and Jerrick. They were talking, I couldn't hear. The next I noticed was Vera coming out and taking Jerrick out along the mezzanine, Darahil stayed. I didn't notice Darahil leave. He just disappeared eventually. I think he just walked off without me noticing." Fendros nodded and opened his eyes, "That's all I remember seeing, sorry. Was there anything else you needed?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Oswall might have been described as being taken aback my Meesei's shift in tone. It was jarring, but Oswall retained his composure beyond sitting up straighter and raising his chin defensively. "There will be no problem if there is no plotting," Oswall said in a low voice that spoke of restrained anger of his own. He stood up and walked out slowly, salvaging his pride given the circumstances.

True to Meesei's prediction, Darahil and Fendros had turned up shortly before Oswall's questioning had finished. Fendros barely even had time to familiarise himself with the current situation at Meesei's chamber, but he seemed more concerned with speaking with Meesei first. "There's a concerning amount of strange looks and whispers around, Meesei," Fendros said quietly without any ceremony, "I think some information may have come out."

Darahil stepped up and eyed Meesei and Fendros in turn. "Indeed, such behaviour is only characteristic of this clan when it is in fear," Darahil spoke more confident, matter-of-fact tone, as if he knew that no one of consequence was in earshot. "It would be wise to prepare explanations at this point, champion. Let us keep this meeting brief, for your sake as much as the clan's." The Altmer's warning was cold, hard, and short on urgency on his part.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Understandably, the second question made Oswall look to Meesei with a furrowed brow of confusion. His eye flicked to a wall momentarily before he answered from the beginning. "Well, for my alibi, I'll tell you that my packs can confirm that I was at breakfast, my students can confirm that I was teaching with Jerrick, the other lieutenants and your pack can vouch for me being at the meeting and the dining hall for lunch, and for the rest of the day..." Oswall took a moment to breathe in, "My pack lead by Loseira can vouch for me assisting their skinning duties. Then it was dinner, and finally I spent some time with the grindstone at the forge to hone my weapon. You can ask Xander about that. The man never leaves the forge for long. It is as if the fires were his child. I can give you specific names and where to find these people if you desire. Everyone else's specific alibis are unknown to me, but I might tell you what I remember of their movements."

Another lengthy breath in gave Oswall a moment longer to recall the skinning. "The animals I skinned with Loseira were a doe, a wild cat, and two rabbits. There were plenty of other rabbits in the catch, as well as a boar and a goat, but I was not required for those." Oswall leaned on one hand and resumed his confused expression, "What on Nirn has that to do with the crime?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei had Oswall's utmost attention as soon as he was called to the storage chamber for questioning. He took a seat and sat up perfectly straight. At first, he held is arms crossed, but his brow raised slightly and his tightened shoulders relaxed as he was told that he was no longer a suspect. He sighed in relief and inhaled to talk, but waited for Meesei to finish.

"The training session?" Oswall lowered his hands to his sides one at a time and pulled one side of his mouth in thought. "I remember him quaffing from his water skin like a calf on a teat by the end of the session, and then continuing to sip up until the meeting. Despite not hunting or doing a lot of fighting, being in wolf form always leaves one drained."

Oswall looked down and shook his head while sighing through closed lips, "Gods, I was worried about possible framings. Whoever this traitor is has a hand in wanting our clan shattered after all. So, this means it was either Harriet or Vera, hm? I'm not sure which I would be more disappointed in. At least if it were Darahil you could argue that he saw some truth about Jerrick that we would rather not have heard, as he normally does. Harriet or Vera, though...they can be opinionated, but it is unthinkable to think them capable of this."