Ja was surprised. Usually most women he tried this on turned him down, almost always with a smack or, even once, a threat to call the guards. "Of course, my friend and I were just settling in. You could join us if you wish." He gestured to the table where Kahl was still sitting. "And there will always be someone here willing to sell some moon sugar, allow me to buy you some." Ja walked over to the waiter and asked for two ales, one of them to have moon sugar mixed in. As an after thought, he also ordered a sweetroll. Perhaps this Argonian would be interested in hiring, as long as he proved himself valuable, or at least not a complete fool.

Kahl sunk in his chair, almost hiding under the table. The presence of new people made him weary. Ja talked to them so well, yet it made him want to just run away. He rubbed the hilt of one his throwing knives...he eyed his makeshift vambracers. Using them to hold his knives was a good idea. He peaked his head up a bit. He looked at the argonian. She had an importance to her, something about her. She was apart of something big, but she somewhat seemed stressed. She looked like she had a lot on her mind. The Breton on the other hand was an odd man. Kahl hadn't seen that many Bretons, and their large size usually made him run away in fear. These two were dangerous...not someone to mess with. He had to talk fast before Ja got back.

"H- H- hi...p- p- please excuse the o- other one....h- he isn't very smart an- and had a few drinks....he will t- t- try to flirt with you."

Kahl ducked back down when he saw Ja' getting closer to the table. He moved around in his seat, the situation made him uncomfortable.

Sharee had to admire the Khajiit's dedication. Moon sugar was expensive, after all, so he was really putting a lot into his efforts. She just hoped she could get some information out of him for her trouble with it all. As he went to get their drinks, Sharee turned to Kayal and Noelle quickly before she moved to the table.

"I'll see what I can get out of this local. You see if you can get anything interesting out of the other patrons, or join me. I don't really care, just don't get too drunk." Sharee said in a whisper to the other two before she walked over to the table the Khajiit had pointed out and took her seat. There was another Khajiit at the table, a younger boy. He wasn't a child by any means, but he looked young, and certainly very nervous. Since he obviously didn't like to talk, she wasn't sure she would be able to get anything out of him, but a timid, shy Khajiit such as himself was someone that was easy to ignore...someone who might overhear important conversations. She couldn't dismiss that he might hold some important information.

"Hmm, that's the idea, I think." Sharee said with a chuckle before leaning in closer to the boy. "Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself? Like your name, for instance. What can I call you?"

Though he didn't find his Typhoon Warriors, Malakaus did find some of the other crew members who vaguely remembered seeing the Bosmer trying to flirt with another wood elf. They didn't know what happened to him, but regardless Malakaus had them go looking for some of the other crew members so he could tell them where to pick up the their orders. There was too many people spread out around the city for him to even try to hope that one of them can rely the orders or even organize them, so he's just going to round up as many people as he can and divide them up. He knew that he'd be ordering around a lot of the underlings from the other officers, but he didn't care. He was doing his job, while they were off enjoying the city. In a way he resented them for it, but he also figured that as long as he remained as a person who is authoritative but also reliable, the crew would come to respect and differ to his decisions. Sharee might be the captain, but at least Malakaus wakes up in time to make sure the ship is holding together.

Since he hasn't gotten into a fight or took any skooma yet, Malakaus quickly got bored. He supposed he could just head to any old tavern or shop, maybe find that forge and get to work. But he didn't feel for either. Ever since stepping into these lands he felt his sword arm get flabby. He was so tempted to just find someone and killed them. Maybe at least try to find someone in their home, so he had a place to hide them, and maybe rob the place. That was what Serge and Sarel was suggesting, wasn't it? Still... Malakaus didn't know what house here was worth hitting. They all looked like huts with nothing worth looting than maybe their skooma supplies. Than it hit him. "I should find that skooma ship." The prospect of getting his hands on all that skooma, this time not having to ration it, made him turn around and head towards the docks.

Now, it was no doubt that just about all these ships had skooma in it. This was Elsweyr. What he needed to know was which one had the most skooma in it. And the best way to find that out was to hit up a skooma den. Finding those wasn't too hard, at least not for Malakaus. One of the things he hates about the Thalmor was their restrictions on Skooma. While not illegal as far as Malakaus bothers to know about Dominion law, he knew that ever since they started taking a harder grip on the Khajits, skooma prices have gotten higher due to the difficulty of shipping moon sugar. It was much more regulated, meaning that getting it out as skooma was almost impossible, though likely nothing that Khajits haven't already found a way around. Most dens use unique marks, similar to Shadow Marks used by certain thieves guilds, to represent certain locations about Skooma dens. The marks were always scratched into surfaces, either using claws or your nails, so finding them was difficult as the scratches were thin and shallow. Malakaus knew three; one mark basically marked what place was a skooma den. Another mark identified that the location near the mark was where someone would sell skooma or other narcotics. And the last one he knew marked the place as a trap; the guards have either seized or set up a supposed den to find Skooma users. The last mark always superseded any other marks; if you find them first, you don't trust any of the other signs. Usually they're made close to other marks so people know where to look, but at the same time if the trap location knew anything about the marks, they might hide or otherwise fudge the truth. It could get really confusing sometimes, as the marks always have to change as the guards discovered more and more about them.

Malakaus's search did bare some fruit as well. He found many locations were dealers operated and even found one herself. A prostitute by the way she dressed and flirted with Malakaus. Of course, she'd sell him her body or the skooma, as long as he was willing to pay. He considered killing her for the skooma, but decided that he needed the information. Plus if all ends well, he could search her up later and they could share the spoils once the job was done. Her and a few others maybe. The khajit was rather reluctant to tell, but after Malakaus bribed her with a bit of left over septims and an implied death threat, she pointed him in the right direction. He soon found himself in a place that even he knew he didn't fit in at; High Elf Neighborhood. He could tell by the design of the houses, which were vastly different than from what most of the other homes in Khenarthi's Roost. He suspected that the khajit had tricked him, but after finding the building she mentioned, he also found the mark identifying that the location was a skooma den, and no marks suggesting that it was a trap. Still, one couldn't be too careful. He prepared his mind to fight, to be alert and to strike first. He entered the den.

The smell of the burning poison hit his nostrils, a refreshing scent from the bile and salt normally present in the ship. It was dimly lit, but not to the point that you couldn't make out faces if you looked. But most of these patrons likely couldn't their right foot from the left, so it practically made most of them blind. Unlike most dens Malakaus enters, this one didn't look like it was set up by vagrants who stole old worn clothes and stuffed them with wet hay to make furniture. this place had couches made of fine velvet and exported furs, it even had carpets and pillows that showed the highest quality of craftsmanship. A single butt cushion could likely get him at least two bottoms of skooma if he traded it to someone. There didn't seem to be many here, and those who were was fast asleep, or knocked out from their drug use. The attended was sober and present however, and adding to the oddity of the place, she was a redguard. Malakaus tried not to think too much about the absurdity of the situation given the subject matter, though it didn't make him any less paranoid. He walked up to the counter, looking imposing, but the Redguard woman did not show any fear in her.

"Welcome to the Lazy Kitty. Are you here for drink or for company?"

"A bit of both. I'll take what this gets me."

Malakaus handed the redguard woman a small bag of coins. it did have a sum of septims in it, but also a(n Empty) vial of skooma. She took it and made no indication that she was aware of what he had did, though she did show him to his booth. It was a fairly small one, could fit maybe four or five people. Malakaus sat down and nearly melted out of his armor. The seats were warm, but not that awkward warmth like someone had just been there for a long time, or that it has been baked in the sun. It was a warm that came after a summer's breeze, to remind you of the duality of hot and cold, that it's not an option between pleasure or pain but a choice of either/or. Also the air was filled with smoke from the skooma, so Malakaus was a bit baked at the moment. Soon a skimpily clad human (He didn't really notice any outward signs of if she was Imperial, Nord, or Breton) came by with a platter. She laid the platter onto a small table near the couches, and she herself took a seat next to Malakaus, curled up near him. She didn't seem to mind the fact that he was still in full armor, though it did prevent him from feeling her breast pressing against his arm, regrettably.

"You're the first client to come in today. A strong manly orc like you must have come from far away to come visit us. How may I serve you?"

"It has been a long way. I've come to get something to ease the weary and... Find a job. But first..."

~Sometime later~

Malakaus came out of the den, uncertain of how long he's been there. He walked with a slight limp, not due to any injuries, though occasionally he shifted his undergarments for some reason. His time spent in there was pleasant, even though he didn't get to take as much skooma as he wanted. He needed to remain sober so he could remember the location of the vessel with the large shipment of the skooma. While he didn't get any names, he knew that: It was always a different ship bringing in and out the skooma, the Skooma itself was packed in fish and cheese barrels, and that the crew were not mere ship hands, but often seasoned pirates. Even the youngest amongst them have at least been on the seas for five years, most of them have been sailing the oceans their entire lives. The ships, while different, are also usually regulars; it's unlikely for newly made ships to be sent on illegal skooma runs, and older ships who have built a more noble reputation makes it easier to ship out the skooma since they don't have any records of smuggling. And lastly, they chose to smuggle the skooma in trade goods that are neither in high demand or rarely brought, preferring an average amount of shipping. This allows them to actually make a side of legitimate sales if for some reason they can't sell the skooma. He still didn't know much of the finer details, like who would captain the ship, what it was called or looked like, or even if that ship was here. Presumably it was since Sharee brought them here.

Malakaus wandered through the streets aimlessly, forgetting his current task to enjoy the view of the high elf architecture. While he hates the Thalmor and it's Aldmeri Dominion, he still has respect for High Elf craftsmanship. While he'd never admit it while sober, he knows that the idea of a lighter alloy who's durability could content with heavier metals are typically superior. Mainly due to the Durability/Mass/Weight scale. Elven metals like the ones that the High Elves use are less durable than Orcish, but are lighter, thus can be used in higher amounts to cover more area. And while Orcish metals can be sturdier by equal weight, they're often either less in quantity or spread thinly, lowering quality. And if numbers were to come into play, min-maxing comes onto play; Malakaus absently minded thought that armor quality could be judged by it's armor rating. For some arbitrary reason, he considered 567 to be the max amount of "Armor Points" a given set of armor can give. With this in mind, the obvious goal between the battle of Light and Heavy is who can reach that goal most efficiently. To Malakaus, he thinks this answer is light armor; either due to because that, with the possibility of infinitely improving a set of armor, doing so on a lighter set would be more efficient than heavier armor, unless weight is somehow beneficial, but often it's not. Even if there was a certain cap to which Light Armor cannot surpass, it still is more efficient, it will become "Good enough" for means of convenience. Sure it doesn't hit 567, but if that Elven Armor could hit 547, that's still much higher than your standard military officer armor. And unlike heavy armor, it probably won't weigh three times your body weight. Maybe half.

As he was wandering around higher than an adventurer defeated by a giant, Malakays ran into trouble. Thalmor trouble. These weren't agents like their Justicar; just rank-and-file soldiers who were on patrol. And they didn't seem to take kindly to the fact that an orc was in their part of the city. Malakaus knew this because of the look on their faces and the gleam off their swords. Malakaus smiled and cracked his knuckles. "This will be fun..."

Ja walked back to the table with the ales and set the one with moon sugar in front of the Argonian and sat across from her. "My friend here is Kahl. He was just in a... spot of trouble, he's still recovering. Pretty handy with a blade he is though." Ja took a sip of his fifth or sixth drink within a few hours, he couldn't remember. "Now, you know this one is named Ja'Ranjo, but before I divulge what I might know, I would like to know a little bit about yourself and your companion. I like knowing who I'm giving information in case they could come back and damage me if I share something I heard wrong." Ja sat his ale down and put his elbows on the table and put on his professional manner, something he learned from years of bargaining with ship captains and guards. "Now, what can this humble Khajiit do for you?"

Sharee gladly took the ale and took a drink. She was quite familiar with moon sugar and its effects and had built up somewhat of a tolerance to it. Not as much as the average Khajiit, but it was something. Still, in a few minutes, the euphoria would set in, though she didn't expect it to interfere too badly with her judgement. Setting her drink down in front of her, she leaned forward, this time towards Ja.

"You mean other than buying me expensive drinks? Well, hypothetically speaking, let's say I had a..scholarly interest in the refined version of moon sugar, the refined and illegal one. Let's say I wanted to find it, a lot of it. More than just for...personal use, if you catch my meaning. I am wondering if you would happen to have such knowledge, and what I would have to do to get said knowledge from you?" Sharee asked. She did not yet give out her name, and probably wouldn't unless he kept asking about it. Overall, she didn't trust this Khajiit for a second. Given how bold he was to approach her, she suspected him to be a swindler, so she had no intention of paying anything upfront for any information he gave her, if he gave information at all. With all the expenses they were having to incur, there was not much gold left at her disposal. She needed to save every septim she could, and even then, it would be cutting it close. She was completely reliant on their next target being a success, else she would have to just sell the ship and abandon the whole thing.

"Hmm, that's a new one. An Argonian wanting to get a hold of some skooma." Ja took a sip from his ale and looked around to make sure no one was trying to eavesdrop. He lowered his voice and nodded to Kahl. "I know a good bit. Well, my friend here knows more than I do, actually, but there is something I need to know before I tell you. I don't need money, I've stolen about two thousand septims. What I'm looking for, and my friend as well, is transport. If you will give us a ride, even if it means we do menial labor while on board, then we will share what we know." Ja leaned back and held his bottle, pretending to read the label to give the Argonian a chance to think.

Noelle left the ship shaking. Good thing she was alone, as she didn't want to seem weak for being talked down to by Sharee. Still... Fifty lashes? That was going to hurt. Noelle had been cut a few time by blades, even had her ribs broken by a warhammer, but she had the magic armor to protect her and healing spells to undo the damage. She wasn't sure if Sharee was going to allow Noelle to do either with this punishment; it'll set a bad example for the others to see that Noelle could easily bounce back from the punishment. But it wasn't the physical punishment that Noelle worried about; it's that Sharee is going to tell everyone of her Illusions. Granted, everyone who's seen her in action knows that she is rather skilled with Illusions, but what they don't know is that a lot of them are enthralled by her due to her magic, such as most of the crew working in the Infirmary. If Sharee tells the crew of what she did to her, others might start wondering if they've been tricked by Noelle too. Some were, and others will seek ways to counteract her magic. That's going to be troublesome if she does need to use the illusions on them for some reason.

Noelle tried to only focus on her work, but her punishment, and all that it implies, was stuck on her mind. "I need to find a way around this... Get on Sharee's good side the right way, or maybe try to convince her to forgive me..." Immediately was thinking of using her magic to enthrall the entire crew to her side and more or less overthrow Sharee. But not only did that seem rather extreme, the mana she'd need to do something of that scale was massive and well beyond her ability. Noelle only wants to get out of her punishment, not take over the ship. She could try to manipulate the other officers to taking her side, but how? With magic? That's what got her into this mess in the first place. Besides that, she didn't exactly have much to use to manipulate them. She could always use her body, but that strategy requires time, time that Noelle didn't have right now. And trying to escape now was out of the question; even if she'd be a free woman, where would she go? She'd be stuck here, with no one to help her. She'd have to use her magic to steal and make a living, and she'd much prefer to have stable housing.

Noelle thought about every way to get out of her punishment but soon something caught her eye. She had been walking around aimlessly this entire time and she's now lost. "Dammit." Noelle would have to ask for directions now. She looked around but the city was oddly vacant. She heard people in their houses, but when she'd go up to a door and knock no one seemed to answer. "If I had a detect life spell I could just use that..." Noelle had to retrace her steps, but she had been so deep in thought that soon the trail ran cold. She was more lost than before. The buildings around here didn't even look like the ones near the docks. If she didn't know better she would think she had arrived in an entirely different city. Noelle continued to look around and did spot someone. Some people actually. Someone familiar. "Malakaus?"

She could see the orc and two elves, both in armor and looking ready to fight. Noelle honestly didn't care much for the orc, but right now he was her only "friend". And she wanted to ask him why he was here and for directions. Hoping to quell the fight before it really begins she shot off a powerful calming spell towards them. It exploded in a large cloud of green magic. She knew for certain that the two elves had been effected since they sheathed their weapons and smiled like fools. She didn't know what had happened to Malakaus but she approached anyways. "I'm sorry gentlemen, my friend here just happened to be lost. I'll make sure that he finds the place he needs to go to. Thank you for your assistance anyways." The two guards walked away leaving Noelle and Malakaus on the street.

"Now, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting materials for the ship or something?"

Malakaus was about to start breaking elf faces when something shot out at him. He raised his arms and got into a defensive stance expecting to be knocked off his feet, or at least getting hit by a great force. Instead he just felt... Oddly invigorated. He couldn't place the cause until he looked around and saw Noelle. He's seen her a few times in the Infirmary and has sent enough crew members to get patched up by her, either because they got hurt on the job or made him angry. He himself hasn't made too many trips down there and the only time he sees her is when he has to be in the same place as with the rest of the officers. This was important because she just made him lose a fight. He didn't even answer her question and instead started yelling at her. "Oi, you damn poncy bitch! I was going to crush their faces!" Malakaus walked away in disgust. He still had the lingering feeling of skooma on him, but right now it only served to make him irritable rather than energetic. He'd occasionally look over his shoulders both to see if Noelle was following him and if he should just turn around right now, charge at her, and tackle her into the bushes and beat her to death for taking away his chance at fighting those elves. If he had taken more skooma this is what he would have done, but right now his anger told him to get away from Noelle rather than destroy her. Also somewhere in the back of his mind he remembered that he needed to find more Skooma on a ship, and was now struggling to try to remember the other details about the skooma ship.

Kahl sat up in his seat. He mustered up what little confidence he had. Kahl slammed his fist onto the table. He had the opportunity to take down someone who tortured him his whole life, then he had work on something he had experience in. He wanted it, and wasn't gonna let Ja throw it all away.

"Damn it Ja! Stop speaking for me! I don't want a ride! I said I was looking for work, and i've found it you drunken fool! Look I know where you can find what your looking for, but under one condition. The captain, is mine!"

He felt better for speaking up. But he still felt like it may have not been the right thing to do. But he wanted the captain dead, and he wanted him for himself. This was his one and only chance. He rubbed the pommel of his dagger, he was itching to get the wet with blood. Killing seemed to calm him, he didn't have to talk. No one was reling on him, it was his own litttle world. It felt better than a skooma high to him. That's he wanted to help the argonian and this is what had to do.

Sharee clasped her hands together and rested her head on them with a devious smile. "Well, isn't this just getting so interesting? Have a personal vendetta, do you? Maybe a quest for revenge? Our goals may take us to the same place, but first, I need some details. This skooma, where is it, and how much is there? I have the manpower to deal with whatever opposition, but the more information I have, the better chance you have of getting your revenge, or whatever it is you want."

All of Sharee's attention was now on the younger Khajiit, since he was less drunk and being altogether more helpful. She didn't care about whatever personal quest he had, she just wanted a good profit, but if he was helpful enough, she wouldn't mind letting him carry out an execution. She took another drink of her ale just as the euphoria from the moon sugar was starting to set in. She closed her eyes and grinned, though she needed to be careful not to completely zone out from the Khajiit's answer.

Ja sat the bottle down, knowing the focus was shifted away from him and that he was now being ignored. "Ja'Ranjo knows he is a big fool, but this fool can fight. At least let me fight with you. I need to get out of here, out of this tavern. All I'm doing is drinking and it's doing nothing for me!" Ja jumped up, grabbed the bottle, and left the tavern. Once outside, he lobbed the bottle as far as he could. After watching it land on an unsuspecting stroller's head, he walked in the direction of the docks, hoping to find a skooma dealer to help alleviate his sudden, alcohol-induced sense of boredom.

It didn't take him long to find a dealer, but Ja realized that he left all his money back at the tavern. With a sigh, he continued on down the street and walked along the docks. There seemed to be nothing to do today, and drinking definitely wasn't an option. He could go back and apologize, showing he had some sense of self control, but that didn't seem to be a good idea either; if he had angered the Argonian with his outburst then she might attempt to retaliate, and a fight was the last thing Ja wanted. Then he noticed a Thalmor dock authority figure who had a coinpurse strapped to his belt. "If I can get a hold of that, I can go and get some skooma." This was enough to get him crouching beside the Khajiit and reaching a hand out to take the money. However, Ja was still drunk and misjudged how far the coinpurse was, and bumped his hand against the Khajiit's side. The Thalmor turned quickly and looked at the would-be thief. "What are you doing?" "Ah shit," Ja thought. "This is going to be fun to explain."

"It's on a boat, see I was a part of their smuggling group, a slave at birth. There is a lot of it! A LOT OF IT!."

Kahl leaned back in his chair his dream coming true. Ja had ran out, probably getting himself into trouble, but what did he care. He ordered a piece of bread and bit into it.
He watched the breton move about from tables, was he looking for more poeple? Where these people new? Did they not have a group? So many questions ran through his head. He had to break the smile.

"So...what are you? A pirate? I'm up for that, i'm sure my skills would apply very well. I assure you I know my way around a ship."

Kahl cracked a smile, leaning into his chair, he found his new life and it was going to be fun.

"What I am and who I am does not matter right now. Maybe you will learn later, but for now, what I want you to do is to take me to the docks and show me which ship it is. I also want to know when it arrived and how long it has been here. If you want your revenge against that scum of a slaver, I need to know everything about that ship and its crew. Information is more powerful than any blade, so I want all of it." Sharee responded to the Khajiit. Normally, she would spare a target ship's crew if they surrendered and handed over their valuables. It was easier that way, with less casualties on her side, but she was not particularly fond of slavers. She had no qualms about executing at least the captain or rather, letting the Khajiit do it, provided he was helpful enough to earn it.

Sharee didn't finish off her ale and instead corked the bottle to save it for later. She did not want to overwhelm her system with the sugar while she had things to do. The small amount she had already consumed would make it hard to concentrate. Standing up, she looked down at the Khajiit expectantly. "Come on, let's get moving. Try not to draw attention to us when we are down by the docks."

Collab between Lucius Cypher and Ryonara

Malakaus walked away from Noelle in a huff. She could imagine why; he was high on skooma and wasn't thinking strait. She was more surprised that he didn't outright attack her, but right now wasn't time to care about that. "Malakaus!" Skooma addition wasn't something that was new on the ship, and more often than not she had to deal with crew members going through withdraw. She also had just the thing to deal with those who were tripping out on skooma too, which she was going to use on Malakaus. A small ball of herbs and roots. It could be eaten whole, put into tea, even just garnished on someone's food. Taste horrible though, not like the sweet taste of moon sugar.

As Malakaus turned around Noelle pitched the medicine towards the orc's mouth. In case he thought of it as an attack, she also shot another calming spell at him. She wasn't sure why it didn't work the first time, but this one was much more potent. "Now, will you tell me what you're doing here?"

Malakaus gagged as the medicine went down his throat. Didn't even get a chance to gag. "Arg! Wretched whore! I'll tear your throat out!" Malakaus roared and turned towards Noelle just in time to see a ball of light flying towards him. By the time he could see he wasn't really sure what was going on. He was staring into the sky with a headache like he got whacked in the head by a really, really big rock. "Ug... What in Oblivion happened?" He got to his feet and notice Noelle looking really angry at him. He scowled at her and get himself ready for a fight, at least mentally. "Noelle? What are you doing here? What happened?"

Sighing Noelle massaged her temples. "Not like this is going to get any worse..." Taking a breath to calm herself, she began to explain what she wanted. "I want to know what you're doing here. You smell like skooma, so I'm guessing that you went and got some. Now I'm wondering why you came here of all places, a high elf housing community! You nearly got yourself into a fight with some of the guards!" Noelle began to yell, but than quieten herself. She shouldn't be too loud here. "Follow me and explain yourself. Quietly."

Malakaus and Noelle walked back towards the docks as he told her what he knew. "Sharee's got a job for us to keep our eyes out for a ship exporting skooma. Lots of skooma. They're bringing it out through fish and cheese barrels, they bring it in new ships every time, and the whole lot of the crew are pirates too. Aside from that though, I didn't get much else. No descriptions of the ship, no members in particular, don't even know if they're docked yet." Malakaus was feeling a lot more clear headed now than he was before, but his mouth tasted like rocks. He wished he had something to eat. "Why you want to know? You're not thinking of going after the ship yourself, are you?"

"Of course not, you fool. I'll be bringing my own crew too. But it's not as though I expect that will be enough. Seeing that I already found you, I might as well ask you to assist me as well. You know, since you're part of the crew." Honestly, Noelle just wanted to get something done so that Sharee would look kindly on her. Taking a haul of Skooma, right when they arrived into port? Surely that would be something that Sharee would consider to be good enough to forgive her for... Past transgressions. "We just need to find the right people to talk to is all. Let's start with the vagrants, they usually have eyes and ears in the right places."

Together Noelle and Malakaus looked around the docks for beggars and the homeless. They asked them if they knew anything about the skooma smugglers. Not all of them were willing to talk at first, if it Malakaus's intimidation didn't get them talking, Noelle's illusions did. They shook down the entire docks before they managed to get a good lead. The ship was docked, and and it was called the Miriam. A ship made right in Khenarthi's Roost. They seemed to be shipping produce from the locals. Fish and cheese. "Sounds like what we're looking for. I already called most of the crew to meet me not too far away, I can get them-" Noelle interrupted him with a snap of her fingers. Malakaus glared at her. "I'm not a dog. What do you have to say?"

"We still need to get our own ship repaired and renovated. Even if we manage to take over that ship, we don't have enough crewmen to staff that, and ours. Plus raiding the ship while it's still in port is a bad idea; you heard the beggars. This ship, even though it's a smuggling vessel, is here for what the locals believes to be legitimate business. If we attack them now, not only would we have to deal with the crew, but also the local guard, and just about anyone who see's us in the act. No, we have to take the ship out at sea, where no one can witness."

Rolling his eyes, Malakaus was going to finish what he was going to say. "Or... We can use that magic of yours to trick the crew into letting ours onto their ship. And than we just rob them blind; as long as you make sure your illusions keeps the smugglers fooled, me and the rest of the crew can carry off as many cases of skooma as we can. All we need to do is wait for the right moment when the Miriam is being lightly guarded. Course, we need to find the Miriam first. Another thing you're going to need to do; figure out where the Miriam is, and I'll get the crew ready to rob the ship."

Noelle thought about the orc's plan. There's a lot of holes in it, certainly. For starters, if these pirates were as seasoned as Malakaus said they were, some might have ways to fool her illusions, like Sharee did. And there was still the matter of their own ship; just where were they going to store all that skooma? There might be some space in the lower levels for a couple of barrels, but the Miriam was likely carrying nothing but skooma, being a merchant vessel. Their own boat was a stripped down Imperial War Ship. Even if they could take the skooma, Noelle doubted that they would have enough space for all of it. Still, the orc did have a point that they needed to find the Miriam first. But she didn't want to proceed any further without a good plan. And maybe talking to the others about it as well; last thing Noelle wants to do is anger Sharee by being missing when she was needed most. "Fine... I'll go find where the Miriam is, and find the rest of the crew. We should try to keep it small, maybe just your crew and mines?"

"Good enough for me. I'll meet up with you later." Malakaus went back to the meeting place where he told where the crew should show up. There was a good amount of them there, though he could tell that it wasn't everyone. Still, his Typhoon Warriors were there. He thinks Noelle's group was also present, though he didn't really care about them. He gave them their orders, but told his Warriors and Noelle's people to stay put. "Typhoon Warriors on me. The rest of Noelle's crew stay here as well. She has some words for you." Malakaus didn't have to wait long, which was good. If all goes well, they'd pull this heist off without a hitch. Granted, he hoped he could at least punch someone in the face or maybe knock them overboard, but all things will come to him within time.

Getting into the Dock Office was fairly simple. If it was staffed by more magic savvy people she might have had to use her words, but mostly she just used her Charisma Spell and practically everyone thought she was suppose to be there. She tried to make sure no one saw her face at least by putting her hood up and keeping her head down. Once she got the document she opened a window and sneaked out from there. By the time the khajits would even wonder who that breton was, Noelle would have already been out of the docks. She found Malakaus and some of the crew, making eleven people. "I have the information. It's here alright, and not too far away. Even the captain is out it says, apparently dealing with some of the local merchants for more trade. But before we do this, I want to know a plan. Me just charming everyone isn't foolproof, and I want some sort of backup." Noelle looked at her people. She hated to admit it, but she knew they weren't suited well for a large robbery like this. the Khajits might be useful to open doors and such, and the Imperial for moving the barrels, and... She wasn't sure what the altmer would do. But if they're all she had, she didn't have much hope that they could get this done. Malakaus's group didn't look much better; two orcs for hauling the skooma, two Argonians for some sneaky operations, maybe the bosmer could keep watch? "Well? What's your plan?"

"It's a two part plan. We'll split it up between your team and my team. Your team is going to serve as the distraction; use your magic to convince everyone that you're some sort of dock worker or something. Have your khajits put on some Altmer robes. If the crew of the Miriam are smart, they'll try to slow you down. If they're smarter, they'll let you on, knowing that they've hidden the skooma so well that you wouldn't find it. That's were we come in." Malakaus held out one of the amulets he had enchanted for his crew. The other two orcs showed their, the Argonians didn't need it, and the bosmer sold his. He tried not to look guilty. "I'll be inside the dock's water. With what I know about ships, I can break into the hull and create an opening for us to smuggle the barrels through. We'll weigh them down with chains from our own ship and smuggle them under the water. Your team just has to make sure no one goes to investigate. We'll take your imperial too, we could use the extra muscle. Fletcher! Give the imperial your amulet." The bosmer looked scared and stuttered that he didn't bring it. Malakaus took a deep breath, turned towards the bosmer, and knocked him out with a single punch. He drew his blade and was going to slice the wood elf open, but his team managed to calm him down. He sheathed his blade but left Fletcher knocked out on the ground. "Useless... Fine, it will just be us five. You know what you have to do now, right?"

Noelle wasn't the least bit surprised that Malakaus knocked out one of his own, she also wasn't surprised that Fletcher had seemingly sold an amulet that Malakaus gave him. But back to the business at hand, Noelle figured that the plan could work. All they'd have to do was procure some robes, and with Corrira, maybe they could pull this off. "Gaius, you stay near but out of sight, in case things turn ugly. I can get use some robes easily. Here's the location of the Miriam. What's going to be our signal?"

"No signal, me and my Typhoon Warriors will just go right after yours. Don't worry, we'll be able to see you."

"Alright than, let's go."

This was a horrible idea and Noelle knew it. She and her group still went off to take some Thalmor Robes, though they only managed to get one. It was good enough since she didn't plan on using it; Malakaus's idea was about as sound as trying to suffocate a dragon with your body. With any luck, the orc won't be so impatient will just sit at the bottom of the docks waiting for her signal. If he wasn't, hopefully he gets himself killed or arrested so she won't have to deal with him anymore. All she wanted form Malakaus was what he knew, and now that she had it, he was no more use to her. "Let's go find Sharee."

Using her Clairvoyance spell Noelle managed to track Sharee down to a tavern. No surprise that she'd be in there, but when noelle peeked inside she saw that Sharee, along with Kayal, was talking to two other khajits. Noelle wasn't sure if she should interrupt the conversation or wait for Sharee. She told her crew to just mingle in the tavern since she needed to talk to the captain. Once they were near by but also out of the way, Noelle decided to go talk to Sharee. The captain just stood up as though she was about to leave when Noelle walked up to her. "Captain, I found out the location of the ship we're looking for. One of them anyways."

On the way out of the tavern, Sharee was stopped by Noelle, which would have annoyed her had she not actually been talking about something important. Sharee looked around for a few moments, then motioned for her and the Khajiit to follow her outside. She spoke in a low whisper to her to at least try to avoid anyone overhearing them. "Good. This Khajiit here says he knows where a ship is as well. He is going to take us to the docks and show us. We'll see if the one you found is the same as his. Did you notice anything else about the ship? Size, defenses, type of cargo it's using as its cover? I want every bit of information I can get before we commit to a mark. And make sure, above anything, to not draw attention to yourself if you go looking. Unless we're really lucky, we're going to have to wait in the city a few days before the ship leaves. If we are forced off the island before then, this job is as good as over."

As they started nearing the docks, Sharee stopped for a moment and looked at the Khajiit. "Lead on." She ordered.

Kahl nodded, he made his way down the road. He followed the mental map he made in his head. He weaved in and out of back roads. Taking turns every few minutes till he got to docks.

"That's the one." He said pointing to the ship. The crew was loading boxes. The ship was rather large, the hull lined with cannons and reinforced with steal. The flag was a red moon on a black field. The average crew member was outfitted with a cutlass and bits of armor. The race's varied. A fifth of the crew were slaves and there were about 25 people on board at the time. The others counting barrels and crates.

"That's your gold mine right there. But I said. The captain's mine!"

Sharee was quite adept at remaining inconspicuous while observing the ship. She only gave it passing glances to look at it directly, while keeping it in the periphery of her vision the rest of the time. She walked around the docks with the others with an air of confidence, which was enough to convince most people that was supposed to be there. All the while, she was making note of what defenses she could see from their vantage point.

"If you prove yourself useful, you'll get whatever you want. Noelle, is this the same ship you saw, or a different one?" Sharee asked, trying to piece together all the information she had available. The plan was still to hit their target shortly after it left port, but they would only get one shot at it, so they needed to pick the right target the first time.