[i]Here be a collab between [@Mortarion], AKA Tsleeixth, and [@Frizan], AKA Sagax[/i]

Sagax regarded his guest warmly, getting up and looking Tsleeixth in the eyes...as best he could, anyway. The argonian stood taller than Sagax, even if only by a few inches. He took Tsleeixth's hand, shaking it firmly and confidently; Sagax was well aware of the racism argonians faced, especially in Skyrim, and the last thing he wanted to do was convey any sort of animosity towards his comrade. "Well met, Tsleeixth! No, I don't believe we have. In fact, I just got here. I'm Sagax. I guess you could say I'm very green; never seen much actual combat." Sagax was almost immediately drawn to the beastman's scarred eye and the signs of burning on his chest. He gave a guess that Tsleeixth was no greenie like he was. He also noticed blood on Tsleeixth's mouth and sleeve; he couldn't tell for sure, but it looked fresh. "Huhm...are you wounded, friend? Or did a skinning go wrong?" He asked the latter question with a hint of amusement in his voice. He knew how messy skinning an animal could get, and he was glad he hadn't been asked to perform the act himself, though he found that the facial expressions of some people when the blood splashes on their clothes were pretty comical.

"Well met Sagax, a pleasure to meet you, and don't worry aboutbeing green, we all have to start at some point" Said Tsleeixth with a friendly smile "I mean, I started wandering Skyrim by the time I was 20, so I do understand how you are feeling" He said, giving the young man a friendly pat on his shoulder. He noticed Sagax's eye wandering to the scar over his eye and the burnt marks on his chest, which didn't bother Tsleeixth much but he tensed slightly when he asked him if he was wounded andlookeddown, noticing that there was still blood in his sleeve and touched his lips, feelingsome blood on them still "Shit!" He and cleaned the rest of the blood on his lips with his sleeve and then grabbed a nearby tankard, pouring it's content overhis sleeve to wash away the blood as best as he could. Once he had calmed down a little he looked to Sagax in the eyes "Bloodlung, that's why I had blood on my sleeve and on my lips" He said, he knew that Sagax was asking him out of curiosity -evident by the amusement in his tone of voice when he asked him if a skinning had gone wrong- and as such tried to calm down "My apologies, I don't want Ashav or anyone else to known that I have it" He said in an apologetic tone "Hope I didn’t startled you, thoughtI had already cleaned the blood" He explained to the young man. 

"Bloodlung, huh?" In truth, Sagax wasn't familiar with that particular disease. Rockjoint and Witbane were the major threats back in Cyrodil. "Ah, don't worry about that, it wasn't exactly startling, I was mostly just curious." He understood Tsleeixth's plight. If the company knew, they would probably boot him out under accusations of being an unreliable combatant, and the argonian probably wouldn't have many places to turn. Besides, Tsleeixth looked very combat-capabable to Sagax, despite the illness. "Don't worry, the company won't hear a word of it. We need everyone we can get, and you seem like a really nice person to have around." Tsleeixth's musings on his early days made Sagax wonder if he could get as far as he did. "And, yeah, I suppose you're right. We gotta start somewhere. Though I would dare say that I haven't even started yet." Sagax unsheathed his shortsword and toyed with it, spinning it by the grip like a baton. "I haven't even used this thing yet, and my armor's barely got a scuff on it. I'm not saying that I'm relishing the battle ahead or anything. Honestly, I'm rather nervous, but I'm certain we'll all get out of it fine..." He stopped messing around with the sword and placed it on the table next to him. "I guess I'm just looking forward to a chance to prove my worth. Something that'll make people say 'Wow, I can't believe Sagax pulled that off' after we all get back to camp." He laughed to himself as he looked over at the rest of the people in the camp, most of whom were combat veterans. "Though I think I'll have my work cut out for me! Hehe."

Tsleeixth relaxed a little bit when Sagax said that he wouldn't tell anyone of his disease "Thank you my friend...I mean, I don't think Ashav would kick me out, or at least I hope he wouldn't, but I do am sure that there are people who would certainly ask for me to be kicked out, perhaps a nord who's name starts with a D but I am rambling at this point" Said the argonian, laughing a little at himself. He smiled a littlewhen Sagax said that he hadn't even started yet andlooked as he showed him his short sword "Well, by the looks of it you do seem to have some combat training" He said and reached for his belt, taking his steel sword andplaced it on the table "This is the weapon with which I started, and the onlything I had before leaving was reading too many books about heroes and too many foolish ideas in my head" He said, laughing a little since the imperial man reminded him of himself when he was younger "But, really, don't worry, I am certain that you'll fare well in the battle, you just gotta keep a cool head and not take too many risks, I know you want to prove yourself but sometimes it's best to prove oneself over time than with one heroic act" He said, smiling a little, hoping that he was helping Sagax in some way "Hmm, but that is enough about the battle ahead, don't you think?" He asked, chuckling softly "So, with that in mind, why don't we talk aboutsomething else for a little while?" He said, relaxing a little as he placed his hands on the table and ran his thumb over the old steel sword.

Reflecting on Tsleeixth's advice briefly, Sagax started to think that maybe he was pushing himself harder than he ought to. His comment on the heroics brought him back to Piper's words and how scathingly she'd scold him over his foolish haste. Sagax couldn't help but smile at the scene playing in his head, he just couldn't help it, he'd done the same many times before as Piper threw every seething word she could conjure up at him. She absolutely HATED it, and that's mostly why he would just keep smiling despite how much his mother would tell him to quit 'antagonizing' Piper. "Yeah, you're probably right. No sense in just charging ahead like a glory hound. I certainly wouldn't want to grow to be like a certain nord we all know and love!" Placing his sword back into its sheath, Sagax sat back down. "Hmm, I agree. We'll be dealing with it soon anyway, no reason to harp on about it. Besides, I'm sure we'll hear ALL about it from that particular nord when it's all said and done." Tsleeixth's comment about his literary forays intrigued him. Sagax had only read books on history and philosophy during his schooling, none very exciting. The only historical account that had ever really drawn him in at all was a recollection of Jagar Tharn's clever usurping of the emperor, and even that was written in the drab monotone most commonly ascribed to Imperial recordkeepers. "So, do you still like to read in your downtime, Tsleeixth?"

Tsleeixth laughed a little when Sagax mentioned that he didn't want to grow like a certain nord in the camp "Hmm, agreed" He said, stilllaughing a little bit as he picked his sword and put it back into it's sheath. He was a little surprised when Sagax asked him if he likedto read in his downtime "Hmm, yeah, I still do" Hesaid, smiling fondly as he recalled fond childhood memories "Yeah, I loved to read as a child, guess the habit followed me all the way from child to mercenary" He said, chuckling a little "And you, do you like to read in your downtime Sagax? Or you occupy your free time with other hobbies?" He asked the young imperial, although he was a little distracted since he was still reminiscing of his childhood a little "Hmm, hey, if you don't mind me asking, what brought you to this line of work?" He asked Sagax after he had answered his question, pondering on the why of the young imperial's presence in the camp "Don't get me wrong, I am certain you'll make a fine mercenary, but I am wondering what brought you here" Hesaid, smiling a little "Sorry if the question makes you uncomfortable, it's just that I was reminiscing a littleabout my own childhood and remembered why I became a mercenary, and that led me to getting a little curious as to why you where here" He said, hoping that he hadn't offended the young man

"Me? Well I....uh....I do...erm..." Sagax actually struggled to think of anything that he did that could be considered a hobby. He picks locks, but that probably isn't classified as a 'hobby'. The closest thing he could think of is his affinty for scaling things, climbing. "Well, I guess I like to do a bit of climbing. Mountains, walls, trees, it doesn't really matter. If I can get a grip on it, I can climb it. I liked scaling the temple and the big manors back in the Imperial City when I was a child. I'd usually end up scaring my sister half to death but I got a lot better at it over time. Though I can't really practice my hobby out here..." Sagax waved his hand at their surroundings. "Even if I did try to climb whatever hills there are around here, I'd probably end up getting my head taken off...and not by arrows, but by Cat-Kicker as he'd end up making up some asinine reasoning for why I shouldn't be scaling the hills around here." Sagax rested his legs on the empty seat next to him. "As for reading, it's mostly been boring recountings, and even then that was many years ago when I was being tutored as a child. I haven't done much reading since then." Tsleeixth's last question caught Sagax slightly off guard, but he figured it was going to come eventually. Someone like Sagax, a small, thin Imperial who hadn't seen a lick of combat doesn't just up and join a mercenary company an entire province away just because. "Well...remember what I said about not being a glory hound? That's actually what I am, now that I think about it. Though I'm not seeking glory for glory's sake. It's part of a plan I've come up with...a very convoluted plan with a low chance of success, but I'm sticking to it. You see, my father, who was the captain of the Imperial Watch at the time, was falsey imprisoned for a crime he didn't actually have any hand in. I'm going to try to gain recognition from the Elder Council, and free my father. That's why I'm here." Sagax relaxed himself, leaning back in his seat. "First step: Survive this attack. Pretty simple, I'd think!" he said with a chuckle and a self-assured smile.

Tsleeixth was a little surprised when Sagax said that he liked to climb, chuckling softly when he mentioned that he liked scaling the temples and manors back in the Imperial City but snickered when he mentioned Cat-Kicker making some asinine reasoning as for why he shouldn't be scaling "Tell me about it, Dumhuvud always has some idiotic comment to throw around. I remember that the first time Ashav and him found I was a conjurer was to say something along the lines of "conjure me a warm bed now!' or something equally idiotic" He said, laughing a little bit, and listened as Sagax said that he had only read boring recountings but only when he was a child "Ahh, I see, hmm, must have been pretty boring, though I wouldn't know myself, didn't had much of a formal education" He admitted to the young imperial. He looked as Sagax seemed a little startled by his question about why he was in the mercenary company, and was about to apologize to him when he began telling him his reasoning for becoming a mercenary. He listened to the whole story without interrupting and once Sagax was done he stayed silent for a while, pondering on it "You are very brave" He said, breaking the silence "And I do think that your goal is very admirable, I do believe you when you say that your father was falsely imprisoned, and I can understand your reasoning since I became a mercenary wanting to become a hero too" He said, giving the man a smile "But, have you thought on the fact of the Elder Council listening to you?" He asked him "Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to dissuade you, but do you think that the Council would listen to you, a man who's heroics were performed in a military company while in distant Skyrim? I think your best bet would have been to enlist in the Imperial Legion, or join a troupe of adventurers in Cyrodiil" He said, thinking partly to himself.

"In any case, I'd also recommend you to save money, as a backup plan, try and see if you can get the Elder Council to release your father through legal means or, at worse, through a few well placed bribes" Said the argonian, frowning slightly before letting out a sigh, his tail twitching slightly "I know it's not ideal, but it's best to try and have a back-up plan in case" He said to Sagax. 

"I see where you're coming from, Tsleeixth," said Sagax, swinging his legs back under the table, sitting up straight. "...but I don't believe the Legion would have me. Even if they did, I would most likely be 'blacklisted', and kept as a mere foot soldier. I'd never gain in rank, and my deeds would be ascribed to someone else. As for adventurers...I don't know, they've always seemed so...temporary. It would start out all fine and dandy, sure, but evenutally issues would rise up, and with no real leader like there is here, things would just keep escalating. Differences in ideology, morals, all those things would just drive us apart. Here? We know who the enemy is, we know who we're getting paid to fight, and we all know we can only get paid if we work together and do our best to come back from the battles." Sagax continued on as he idly kicked some rocks away behind him. "Adventurers by their very nature are drifters. They may not always agree on where to go, and so, they split apart, sometimes to never see each other again. I want adventure too, but I'm not an 'adventurer'..." His face contorted into mild contemplation. "If that makes any sense. I want a more permament band of companions, people I know I can fight with and turn to when the odds start weighing against me. These mercenary organizations are, from what I've seen, more permanent than the title implies. Everyone wants a little glory, money, but they also want allies, and the more reliable the source for all of these the better. These companies are a great way to get all of these...ah, but I'm rambling, excuse me." Sagax took out a single gold coin and flipped it between his fingers. "As for bribes...I don't believe in them. Do it right or don't do it at all, that's my outlook." He continued playing with the coin, watching it almost as if he were hypnotized, but he was still politely listening for Tsleeixth's response.

Tsleeixth listened as Sagax gave his counterargument to his idea and the argonian had to admit that he raised various valid points. He chuckled softly when he noticed that the young imperial man began to play with a coin but was still polite enough to pay attention to whatever he was going to say "I must admit, you raise various valid points" He began saying "On your comment on the Imperial Legion, you are probably right but you could also go under a pseudonym or a false identity as well" Pointed out Tsleeixth before letting out a soft chuckle on the comment that Sagax mad on 'adventurers' "Hmm, true enough, I concede defeat. I suppose I suggested the idea because, well, when one generally thinks of adventurers one remembers the Nerevarine, or the Dragonborn, the Hero of Kvatch and so on, but like you say bands of adventurers don't work like in the books one reads" Said he argonian, letting out a soft sigh "But, when it comes to mercenaries...I do think you put much faith in the organization itself. Ashav has gotten a good thing going here, that's true, but even so you can see tensions, look at Dumhuvud Cat-kicker for the prime example" He said "I'll propose you a hypothetical situation, let's say that Ashav were to die in the attack on the redoubt and Dumhuvud declares himself the leader of the company, what do you think would happen? The way I see it, there would be two outcomes" He said, thinking for a little "Either many people would stay in memory of Ashav, but quickly disperse and break the company due to Dumhuvud himself, or someone would challenge him, and in that case the group would most likely separate itself and a conflict would ensure. In any case, the group as it is now would break" He said, lacing his fingers as he propped his elbows on the table "The ugly truth here is that, while you can, and usually will, make friends inside a mercenary company, as childish that might sound, what binds our loyalty is most of the time coin" He said.
        
Tsleeixth rubbed his eyebrow slightly, letting out a soft sigh "So, while your point on mercenary companies usually wanting the same is spot on, the loyalties, for lack of a better word, that bind such groups are more often than not easily broken" He said "As for your comment on the bribes, I did say that it wasn't ideal, I wouldn't want to take that option myself, but I do think that it's a possibility that it's always best to keep in mind" Said the argonian, chuckling softly and let out another sigh as he waited for Sagax's answer while he pondered what he had just said.

Sagax listened intently to the argonian, glad to hear that his own viewpoints weren't just being thrown to the wind. He started to be become visibly angry, though. Not at Tsleeixth, but at his hypothetical of Cat-Kicker taking over the company and inevitably causing a divide, which would set back Sagax quite a bit. The worst part is that Sagax knew that such a hypothetical was entirely possible, and could come to pass very soon. The man began gripping the coin in his palm so forcibly that his hand began to shake. "He'd ruin....EVERYTHING. For EVERYONE..." he said to himself under his breath. Sagax came too far to be stopped now, and he sure as hell wasn't going to go sulking back to the Imperial City like a beaten dog in a storm. Eventually Sagax closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and let the coin fall to the table with a clank. A calm smirk grew across his face as he sighed. "Well...we're not going to let that happen now, are we? Coin is what binds us, and no Ashav, no coin, because Cat-Kicker would laugh in our faces if we asked for fair pay." Throwing the coin back into his bag, Sagax looked Tsleeixth right in the eyes. "But...enough about that. How do you like Skyrim, Tsleeixth?"

Tsleeixth looked at how Sagax reacted to his hypothetical situation of Ashav dying and Cat-Kicker taking control of the company, and the anger of the young imperial man worried him a little, specially when he said that they 'wouldn't let that happen' something that gave the argonian an uneasy vibe, although he guessed -and hoped- that Sagax meant making sure the attack on the redoubt went as planned. He was slightly unnerved when he saw a calm smirk grow across Sagax's face, and wondered if his little tirade on the nature of mercenary companies hadn't had a detrimental effect on the imperial man. He eased a little when Sagax asked how he liked Skyrim "Boy, I have been living here longer than you, my family came here when I was six, so Skyrim is as much my homeland as it is of the nords, no matter what those idiots with a 'Skyrim for the nords' attitude say" Said he argonian, chuckling softly. He stayed chatting with Sagax for a little while but eventually went back to his tent,though Sagax opted to stay at the table, after biding farewell to his young friend, wanting to inspect his equipment one last time before the scouts returned.