Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I can go," Uthri offered, beginning to stand up. Official meetings like this were not her speciality.

"Wait." Gallus waved Uthri down, "I...actually think it prudent to wait for another hour at least," Gallus brought his hands up to his chin. "I would suggest letting the guards finish searching the clanhome unimpeded than with a crowd streaming in. Someone could get out in the confusion."

However the situation was resolved, Gallus rubbed his forehead and took a deep breath. "Alright, I think the pressing decisions have been made now. Perhaps we should slow down for the moment." Gallus lowered his hand and looked to Ri'vashi, "I think we may have caused a bit of chaos by just walking in. With all the frayed thoughts, a danger we face is rash decisions driven by a lack of information. Shall we recount the events of the past few weeks to you, if only to make sure you have all the information available, Ri'vashi?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Everyone took a seat, whether they were part of leadership or not. Gallus was one of the first to be seated, so he weaved his fingers together on the table and opened up the discussion. "There are three main points we need to cover, in which order I will allow Meesei and yourself to choose. There is the matter of the stronghold of Vile's forces in the region, it was located by us and we require numbers to attack it and eliminate further threats to the packs and clans of lycans in Elsweyr." Gallus tilted his head, "The second is the matter of this impostor and what has happened, but I think it may hold merit to focus on the last point first..."

Gallus looked to Ri'vashi, now with less of a joking tone, "I take it you have been informed of the encampment to the east? Beyond the hills? Those are all lycans. They are the remnants of the Senchal clan after they were attacked. They had been in hiding for months by the time we found them. They need shelter, but they also still have a cohort of warriors which will be necessary to destroy Vile's stronghold."

It was then that Gallus leaned back into his chair, "Like I said, you and Meesei can decide what to talk about. We may also require an update on the situation of your clan. As well, it may answer questions if we were to recount everything since we landed in Elsweyr, but it is a long story."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

After a few more minutes of waiting, Gallus and Fendros each seated themselves and traded glances with passers by or those who came to see what had happened. It was tense and a little frustrating that this incident had arisen; they had expected to be discussing the Senchal clan with the oeader by now.

Thankfully, their wait ended well before their patience ran out. The clan leader eventually emerged to receive them properly. It was strange seeing that tall Cathay woman sounding so apologetic, but given Meesei's display, it would have made sense for anyone to do the same.

"As much as I enjoy redundant apologies, there is much more important business still at hand." Gallus said sarcastically as he stood up along with Meesei. He had already introduced himself twice, so he wanted to leave much of the rest of the discussion to Meesei and Ra'kalesh. There was, however, one more immediate issue. "Perhaps we should find a more private meeting space?" He suggested to Ri'vashi and Meesei.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Uthri decided to sit down as well, leaning forward and rubbing the side of her head. Fendros was still too on-guard and looking around to the faces around him to want to settle just yet, but he did respond to Ahnasha.

"That is a nice feature, yes," Fendros even curled his toes over the grass briefly, "Not expected, but nice. I wonder if they found the place like this, or if they carried seeds all the way out here?" Fendros looked to the waterfalls and the tree in the centre, "This place seems more like it was designed for such a garden. It's nice."

---

Ma'tanza's contact did not go unnoticed. Tzirret seemed to bring his head up halfway and turn to look up at her. He returned the smile unconsciously and kept her eye contact for a while. Eventually, Tzirret's self-consciousness in front of everyone else overtook his affection and he looked around. The moment was brought to an end, but at least he was out of his cocoon again. In that, Ma'tanza succeeded.

Eventually, the conversation continued on as it usually did. As Bheja had set a precedent for the crude jokes of the day, his love life was brought up time and again. Despite the amusement and the awkwardness of it, Tzirret didn't mind what came around. He anticipated the night ahead no matter the subject of talk in the circle of friends.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

No problem.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Gallus walked up to the unconscious impostor, standing away from the pool of blood, and crossed his arms. "I imagine she'll shift back soon. Good job, Irenya." Gallus turned his head to the severed arm and raised an eyebrow, "Now here's an interesting question. Will the arm shift back, too?"

The rest of the group stood around unsurely. There was not much else they could do but wait until the leader came back.

"On the bright side, at least we finally found the Orcrest clan," Uthri said, uncomfortable with just standing around given the circumstances. "I would say that the people waiting outside would be glad to hear it. It has been a long journey. And no one died, as well. Perhaps it's just our luck balancing out here with this...incident."

---

With Ma'tanza's comment, brief realisation seemed to cross Tzirret's face before his eyes lit up. "She is?" He half-breathed-half-mumbled. A giddy smile crept up his face, but it was interrupted by M'ibasa's question. With that, Tzirret's eyes widened as well and his head cringed down in embarrassment.

"Yes, um..." Tzirret forced a cough and he looked into the space ahead of himself. After a swallow, he made a quiet comment, "This one does not even think half of those things would be possible unless Ma'tanza was a Senche-raht herself..." Tzirret began to stammer as he spoke to clarify, "N-n-not that we are going to do those things. N-no. Um...Tzirret just thought that the...um...the view would be nice." His eyes flicked to M'ibasa and then back to space, "...The view of the sunset."

Tzirret hadn't realised that his shoulders were rising and his head was sinking as he spoke. By the time he finished, he looked like he was trying to hide from the world. "He will be quiet, now," Tzirret murmured.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Yes...clearly..." Uthri said finally in a stilted fashion. "Let us just hope that no traitors escape to spread the word."

Beside the group, Gallus began to shift back into his Imperial form. While this turned heads for a moment, Fendros asked, "What about us, now? Should we wait until the others are found or get to business right now? I don't think we've even been properly introduced to the clan leader." Fendros glanced over to the Cathay woman, "Is that her over there in the cloak?"

"Most likely," Gallus rejoined the group, bending his neck this way and that to loosen up. "Ah, perhaps it was not the best move to transform there. Still..." Gallus clapped his hands together, "We ought get ourselves a full update on what that impersonator has already done, first and foremost."

---

"Mhm, Qa'habi is correct," Tzirret sat up again, "Gallus came by Tzirret's tent a while ago to say that he was going with Meesei and some others into the hills. Meesei said she recognised the area and was going to look for the clan." Tzirret gave the hills a sideways glance as well, "This one cannot be any more sure than Meesei is that the clan is out there, but Meesei is not often wrong."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With the immediate danger dealt with for now, the group's attention diverted to Meesei directly. This was with the exception of Gallus, who was seated with his eyes closed in an attempt to calm himself back to his regular form.

Fendros noticed the regret on Meesei's face, but his shock had not completely worn off yet. "That was...impressive, in the purest meaning of the word." Fendros said, looking to the oozing arm laying on the floor. He did not lie; he doubted that he would ever forget what he just witnessed. "Are you alright, Meesei?" He looked to her again.

---

Tzirret looked a little crestfallen. "Er, well, only if it is no trouble...and, yes, if the clan is found...of course..." he added quietly.

The best he could interpret from Ma'tanza's surprised reaction was that she wasn't very enthusiastic. It had taken this long for Tzirret to muster the courage to try and organise an activity for just the two of them, much less actually gaining the opportunity with how busy the clan's journey both made them. He hoped he hadn't made a mistake, but unless Ma'tanza added to her answer, only the sunset itself would tell.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Alright, I've got a few things to do in town. I might get another post or two in, but it'll be slow.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The battles that Fendros, Uthri, and Gallus had witnessed before had their fair share of gore. They had seen limbs hanging by threads, organs spilled from cut bellies, bodies contorted in various ways, even Fendros and Ahnasha had their own horrid experience in torture. The scene before them, however, could not have been tempered completely by all of those memories. Never had they seen a werewolf's arm brutally torn off at the shoulder. The sounds of the flesh and bone, along with the howling pain made it hard to watch, much less listen to. Nevertheless, the fight was over. Meesei could not have made it clearer who the real champion was, such was the custom of Hircine's hounds.

"Irenya," Gallus turned his wolfish head to the Dunmer, now unconcerned by the soldiers. He nodded in the impostor's direction. "Keep her alive. Let Meesei worry about the clan."

The words were the only immediate ones from the group. The entire space was bereft of any speech after the display.

---

"Mm, getting out of this heat will be a relief," Tzirret agreed, "Hopefully the Orcrest clan live in caverns in those hills, like home. Those would be cooler than out here."

Some moments passed where there was no apparent movement in the conversation. Tzirret didn't really have much more to add himself, so he laid back with a smile and tried to create a magical light again. He had succeeded in making a weak, flickering light and was trying to refine it, but the novelty of showing it off had faded days ago. Now it was just practice.

"Um, Ma'tanza?" Tzirret began curiously, lifting his head from the ground slightly. He seemed a little nervous again, but he knew he wasn't going to find a spare moment with her alone to ask. "Did you want to...watch the sunset from the top of one of those hills tonight? If there is no sandstorm, of course."