Muttonhawk

The Depths of Deception

Welcome back, Balmung :)

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Grolak wrinkled his nose and wave a hand in front of him dismissively. "Nah, I don't need any more thanks. I'm just glad you came along when you did. Lotsa bad could have happened without someone helpin' to keep things together." Grolak opened his palm, "But hey, if you need me to talk during the trial, I'll do it."

The master of the rations looked around idly for a moment, double checking that no one was listening. He lowered his voice and leaned forward anyway. "If anyone asks, I'm not this agreeable. I look out for the clan and all, but I gotta maintain the whole 'strict orc' thing, alright?" With that, Grolak leaned back to his regular posture. "D'you need anything else?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I'd checked just about everywhere and was about to leave when I trod on a loose bit o' stone," Grolak put a hand on his hip, slipping a thumb behind his belt for support, "Normally the ruin has big solid slabs unless of damage, but a closer look made it seem cracked out deliberately. I had to find a kitchen knife to pry the cover off, but this was underneath it. Seemed like a decent hiding place. Nothin' else was in there with it, though." Grolak raised an eyebrow. "How do you think it got there? I mean, how did Harriet get it?"

The Depths of Deception

Shiva at first found it rather jarring that all the pomp and circumstance had them with not a word of dialogue with the representatives. It was a relief to hear that those in the team that she had befriended would remain together. Hopefully the new blood, whoever they were, would be similarly friendly.

Ghirn's unofficial debriefing was especially interesting to Shiva when the point of the rebel's spontaneous deaths came up. It was a detail that had bugged her ever since she got off the station. From the way Rareth and Ghirn talked about it, it appeared to be some kind of implant. Shiva wondered the cruelty of whoever had inflicted such fates upon the rebels if it had not been voluntary as they suspected.

Beyond the other questions, Shiva found the confidence to step forward once she had a clear opportunity. "How long will we be staying?"

The Depths of Deception

Woo!

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Grolak gave Meesei a slow nod as she approached and pushed off the wall he was leaning against. He looked upon the loaves of bread nearby upon being addressed by Meesei, but wasn't so slow as to need any further reminding. He jerked his head towards the door to the main chamber before answering. "Come to the ovens, the fresh ones always go fast and I think the baker wants to meet you. He's a religious type."

With a quick gesture, Grolak started walking with Meesei following. Whether the clan had ovens or not, Grolak did not head there. They ended up at a quiet corner of the clan's indoor crop system. Their conversation was hidden from the naked eye by soon to be harvested corn stalks. Before saying a word, Grolak reached into his tunic and quickly pulled out something that make a glass clink on one of his buttons. Once in view it was clearly a vial, but the metal stopper brought pause to its mundane appearance. The top of the stopper had etched a fine depiction of a snarling face with sharp teeth and horns that curled back from the forehead.

"Like I said, a religious type," Grolak commented as he held the vial forward for Meesei to take. "I'm pretty sure I know what this little guy means."

Upon closer inspection, the tiniest drop of a black liquid had gathered at the bottom of the vial. It was thick, and left a thin dark streak wherever it flowed.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Whether it was in guilt or just sadness, Vera lowered her eyes and sighed as well. "It was not always this way. Divided as such." She took a slow breath in to give her thoughts words, "It has only been in the last few months. Before, our clan was still large for a lycan community, but it was small enough that we could know everyone by name. These great numbers have made it harder and harder to have everyone relate to one another." Vera put a hand on Caleb's shoulder, "The children, those that grow up here, they seem to know the most people. Others, however...it is difficult. We had all known this problem as leaders, but our efforts to change it had proven ineffective. We're just not used to managing so many at once. The shrine to Hircine is indeed neglected. Many of our number are indifferent towards him. Some even have a resentment towards him for bestowing lycanthropy on them. Too many in this clan are here because we simply have no other place to go. You probably weren't even taken there on your tour of the ruin."

Far from letting the disappointing situation slow her mind, Vera squinted her eyes at an idea. "Meesei, you are Hircine's champion," Vera looked at Meesei when she addressed her by name for the first time after their introduction, "Do you think trying to create loyalty to Hircine might help keep this clan together? How would we do such a thing?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Hmm, well I suppose for summary, Meesei will not find any substantial evidence that points to a possible poisoning at another time. The second result for the test lands the time of poisoning roughly during the meeting again. If Grolak was instructed to search Harriet's room at the time you say, you had better talk to him about the results. There's also the matter of Oswall deciding Caleb's punishment, but whether you wanted to do that before or after the trial is up to you.

The Necromancer's Curse

Yeah, I was just waiting for one more character post from anyone. I know @Tricheus and @Aurus both have things to respond to.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Though he paid attention, Caleb had no response to Meesei. He just held his arms around himself, brought his shoulders forward and tried not to cry about the trouble he had caused.

Vera curled her lips for a moment. She understood that her child would need to be punished, but she had more to say. "There may be a problem," Vera said, starting slowly, "Normally the punishment for grievously wounding another member of the pack is banishment. Caleb is young, so his sentence may not be as harsh. I know that Oswall would not be so cruel as to exile him. The clan's reaction, though..." Vera wiped her cheek and looked at Meesei directly. "Galsek might make the argument that we framed him, and the clan need only look at us to see that we might have offered Caleb leniency for speaking out against him. It may help to have Harriet denounce him, but even Harriet doesn't have to acknowledge that is was Galsek who put these ideas into Caleb's mind. I think it might be better to not announce a name, but mention there is a traitor who is poisoning minds before the trial. We might demand they come forward for punishment. The clan is more likely to view any influence from Galsek with suspicion from then on." Vera looked to one side and gestured, "Perhaps the others might have thoughts as well."