[IC] Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros paused and thought, everyone had their eyes on him. He had done much tracking over the past month, and learned more about hunting than ever before. Unfortunately, the only time he had to track a lycan was with Meesei, right at the beginning, and he didn't exactly know what he was doing for much of that incident. Tracking through a city was not something had done before, either. At least the Redguard in the general store had a distinct scent, one he thought he could follow easily. There were plenty of risks involved, he didn't want to disappoint anyone either.

Go on my own and cover more ground, but risk getting found out... or go with someone else and possibly have it more likely that we lose them all. Fendros took a moment to make his decision, but he believed it was for the best. "I think I could track one, but I can't guarantee that I won't be found out." It hurt Fendros' pride to admit such a thing, but he thought it unwise to base his thoughts on pride in a matter where so much was at stake. "I think it'll be safer if I tag along with someone else."

[EliteCommander]

Meesei nodded. "Very well, I will let you decide who to accompany. We can rest here until it is time to move, or you can walk around to familiarize yourself with the town. Just make sure to be back here before dusk. We will need to make sure we can all follow them together once they find the information they are looking for, but I have an idea of how to accomplish that task."

Meesei sat down on the ground and laid her satchel down next to her. Reaching inside, she pulled out the items she would need: a few of the soul gems they had collected on their journey, and two of her bone necklaces. Ultimately, someone would likely need to track the rival pack once they left the city while the rest of them regrouped back at camp, collected their weapons, along with Sabine. While it would be possible for them to track the scent of their fellow pack member to locate the rival clan once more, Meesei did not want to leave anything to chance. She knew of an enchantment which would help guarantee that they would be able to find each other again.

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros weighed up his options. His immediate thoughts went to accompanying Ahnasha, if only because he felt as if he should be protecting and helping her. His rational mind got the better of him, though. A knee jerk reaction of protecting Ahnasha was likely going to only make him a liability to her in this situation. He looked around while Meesei unpacked a number of items for enchanting purposes. Lorag and Meesei are probably the most experienced, Fendros thought, I'm least likely to make a mess of things with their help.

"Lorag, would you mind if I stay with you for this?" Fendros asked. He figured that if Lorag can stalk prey with his build, then Fendros probably wouldn't be too much extra effort to have around, right?

[EliteCommander]

"Heh, you not picking your little catdog are you? Smart, I guess. Yeah, I can babysit you. I'll make sure to keep us from getting spotted by the rival pack, just make sure you have that silver tongue ready if we have to talk to anyone. People around here are more 'receptive' to Dunmer than anything else." Lorag answered. Since he was posing as a bodyguard, he was already armed and armored. When it came time for everyone to return to camp and arm up, he would likely be the one to keep tabs on the rival pack.

As everyone was settling in, Ahnasha approached Fendros and leaned up against the wall near him. "So you're leaving me all alone, then? And here I thought we were getting close." She said sarcastically, with a light chuckle. "It is for the best. Alone, I'll be able to make use of my invisibility. Just listen to Lorag and you'll be fine. You might not think a giant Orc in iron armor could be sneaky, and you would be right, but Lorag can be clever when he needs to be."

[Muttonhawk]

Lorag was blunt as always, but at least he was understanding. Fendros nodded in reply, the mention that his conversational skills would continue to be useful was a small boost to his confidence.

Ahnasha's response came as a relief as well. Fendros returned her grin, and her hyperbole. "But how can I resist Lorag's charms?" Fendros retorted, before leaning against the wall next to her. There was a pause as Fendros looked into the space in front of him. He didn't trust the area to be completely unwatched, so he resisted the urge to take Ahnasha's hand. This lapse in their activity was likely going to be a little frustrating. "Call it the people, the fungus, the danger... I think I'm looking forward to leaving this place," Fendros looked down and chuckled, "I think that's the first time I've felt that way about a city..." raising his head to look at Ahnasha with a concerned expression, Fendros lowered his voice, "Ahna, you'll be careful, won't you?"

[EliteCommander]

A smile crept up on Ahnasha's face as Fendros explained his concerns. "What's that you say? You actually would rather be out in the wilds than in the city? Fendros, I think you're starting to fit in with us after all. And you don't have to worry about me; the only reason anyone ever sees me is if I want them to. Illusion has many useful properties. With a bit of concentration, I can keep my scent masked as well. You and Lorag will have to be a bit more creative for that, but again, Lorag knows what he is doing."

Meesei picked a secluded spot out of sight of the main road to begin her enchantment. She laid out the bone necklace in front of her, then grasped the soul gem in her hands. Most enchanters in modern times relied on specialized enchanting tables to easily focus the soul energy in the proper patterns onto the item. It had the advantage of guaranteed success, but it was not the only method which existed. There were still some, such as Meesei, who remembered the old methods of enchanting, which could be performed merely with a gem, and item, and a fair amount of concentration. She closed her eyes and charged a bit of magicka into the gem, guiding the dark violet tendrils of soul energy into the bone necklace in the precise pattern she needed to produce the proper effect.

[Muttonhawk]

Janius stopped by them all on his way walking out. "I'm going to have a look around," he mentioned, "I won't be long."

When Janius reached the main streets, he squinted his eyes and started in the direction of the market district. He wanted to have a quick peruse of the books on sale, if there was a bookshop, but he also wanted to familiarise himself with more of the city. It didn't take long to find the markets, but he immediately realised his mistake as he tried to read the daedric runes they used on the signs. With a frustrated sigh, he spend longer than he would care to admit poking his head into various shops to see if they sold books, catching many a rolling eye from the locals. He had an embarrassing feeling that he was playing the part of a typical Imperial foreigner, something very close to the truth.

About the sixth store he tried was one that smelled rather odd before he opened the door. A quick look around quickly revealed what he had stumbled into. Bottles, jars, ingredients. There was even an attractive auburn haired Breton woman over the counter looking at him from across the room. Janius stood dumbstruck for enough moments for the Breton to speak. "Welcome to Montgrave remedies, Imperial. Please, come in." She spoke Cyrodiilic with an awfully familiar voice. In fact, judging not only by her appearance and her voice, but also by the name of the shop, Janius deduced that there was more to this apothecary than Runt had said.

Janius stood still at the door, he became incredibly curious all of a sudden. Why was it that Runt had been so scared? She didn't seem to be different from any other alchemist.

"Are... you alright, sir?" The apothecary started to look confused.

"Er, yes, sorry," Janius composed himself again, "my apologies, I thought you were someone else. Would you happen to know where a bookstore is in this district?" Janius decided to leave this branch of investigation to later, for now he was relieved that he'd found someone willing to speak his language with him in order to get directions.

---

Fendros smiled. "Illusion magic? Seems almost a little unfair," He said through a chuckle. His own parents were never big on illusion magic, so Fendros didn't get much theory of that particular school shoved into his head. He only thought it went as far as fooling others into certain emotions. Affecting their senses as well was new to him, but sounded incredibly useful. "I think I'm going to have a lot to learn from Lorag." Fendros' thoughts went to his own magical abilities, or lack thereof. He tried putting his hand out in front of him and summoning a bound dagger, as he did when he had a spare moment to practice. He found it easier to practice this spell than others, because when it failed it didn't drain his magicka so dramatically, sometimes not at all. It was three times before Fendros could properly pull the blade into Mundus. He inspected the jagged summoned dagger, he was getting better, but it was still difficult.

Dismissing the dagger, Fendros thought of something else to talk about. "So how did you learn your magic, Ahna? Did Meesei teach you, or did you learn before you joined the pack?"

[EliteCommander]

"Meesei helped me to improve, but I taught myself from a young age. Back when I was still learning to hunt, I became frustrate with how easily my prey spotted me. Of course now I don't need magic to hunt, but at the time I thought it would be a good way to stay hidden. I read whatever books on the subject I could get my hands on. The fact that my parents owned a shop helped, as books would pass through their stock from time to time. I could only read them at night, when the store was closed, but it was enough for me. I'm only really skilled in illusion, though. Being able to summon a few bound weapons hardly makes me a conjurer." Ahnasha responded. She sat herself down against the crumbling clay wall of one of the buildings, being careful not to dirty her dress. Like most of the pack, she hardly enjoyed having to blend in within the city. Her upbringing meant she at least knew how, at least.

"Why must 'civilized' women wear these annoying dresses. I cannot think of anything more impractical." She complained. "You would not believe how difficult it was climb on the rooftops in this thing. I wish I could just toss it in a fire or something."

[EliteCommander]

"Meesei helped me to improve, but I taught myself from a young age. Back when I was still learning to hunt, I became frustrate with how easily my prey spotted me. Of course now I don't need magic to hunt, but at the time I thought it would be a good way to stay hidden. I read whatever books on the subject I could get my hands on. The fact that my parents owned a shop helped, as books would pass through their stock from time to time. I could only read them at night, when the store was closed, but it was enough for me. I'm only really skilled in illusion, though. Being able to summon a few bound weapons hardly makes me a conjurer." Ahnasha responded. She sat herself down against the crumbling clay wall of one of the buildings, being careful not to dirty her dress. Like most of the pack, she hardly enjoyed having to blend in within the city. Her upbringing meant she at least knew how, at least.

"Why must 'civilized' women wear these annoying dresses. I cannot think of anything more impractical." She complained. "You would not believe how difficult it was climb on the rooftops in this thing. I wish I could just toss it in a fire or something."

[EliteCommander]

"Meesei helped me to improve, but I taught myself from a young age. Back when I was still learning to hunt, I became frustrate with how easily my prey spotted me. Of course now I don't need magic to hunt, but at the time I thought it would be a good way to stay hidden. I read whatever books on the subject I could get my hands on. The fact that my parents owned a shop helped, as books would pass through their stock from time to time. I could only read them at night, when the store was closed, but it was enough for me. I'm only really skilled in illusion, though. Being able to summon a few bound weapons hardly makes me a conjurer." Ahnasha responded. She sat herself down against the crumbling clay wall of one of the buildings, being careful not to dirty her dress. Like most of the pack, she hardly enjoyed having to blend in within the city. Her upbringing meant she at least knew how, at least.

"Why must 'civilized' women wear these annoying dresses. I cannot think of anything more impractical." She complained. "You would not believe how difficult it was climb on the rooftops in this thing. I wish I could just toss it in a fire or something."

[EliteCommander]

"Meesei helped me to improve, but I taught myself from a young age. Back when I was still learning to hunt, I became frustrate with how easily my prey spotted me. Of course now I don't need magic to hunt, but at the time I thought it would be a good way to stay hidden. I read whatever books on the subject I could get my hands on. The fact that my parents owned a shop helped, as books would pass through their stock from time to time. I could only read them at night, when the store was closed, but it was enough for me. I'm only really skilled in illusion, though. Being able to summon a few bound weapons hardly makes me a conjurer." Ahnasha responded. She sat herself down against the crumbling clay wall of one of the buildings, being careful not to dirty her dress. Like most of the pack, she hardly enjoyed having to blend in within the city. Her upbringing meant she at least knew how, at least.

"Why must 'civilized' women wear these annoying dresses. I cannot think of anything more impractical." She complained. "You would not believe how difficult it was climb on the rooftops in this thing. I wish I could just toss it in a fire or something."

[Muttonhawk]

The apothecary paused, then nodded. "Ah, the signs, right," She replied, walking out from behind the counter and up to the door, she wore a simple brown robe, a few stains down the front but nothing out of the ordinary. "I sometimes forget that not everyone learns to read the daedric runes. The bookshop is over the street, just there." She pointed to the building directly opposite from where they were standing. Janius turned his head to face it and felt like hitting himself on the head. He could see books stacked up through a window.

Without Janius noticing, the apothecary plucked a loose hair that was resting on Janius' shoulder while he was distracted, then held her hands behind her back when he faced her again. "Thank you, miss...?" Janius asked.

"Ariel. Will that be all, sir?" The apothecary said. She seemed to be much more patient than most people in the city.

Janius nodded and smiled, "yes, thank you." He strode out of the apothecary and over to the bookshop.

The bookshop was understated, but it had a surprisingly comprehensive range. While inside, Janius flipped through a few books that looked interesting, but mostly he mulled over what he had just witnessed. He would have to tell Meesei as soon as he returned. After viciously haggling down and eventually purchasing a book recounting the battle of red mountain, Janius spend some time getting to know the street layout of the city a bit better before heading back.

---

Fendros stifled a laugh as he followed Ahnasha down and seated himself against the wall. His mind flashed back to his little sister saying those exact words at one point, of course without the detail of climbing on rooftops. That was not something that she would have wanted to tell her nanny. "I think you'll get that wish soon enough," Fendros commented, "for what it's worth, it looks pretty on you." Fendros meant it even if the dress was nothing special. Perhaps it was just Ahnasha's peeves amusing him.

Fendros cast his eyes over to the enchantment Meesei was performing nearby. She looked like she was concentrating too hard to warrant asking her what she was doing. Instead, Fendros tilted his head toward Ahnasha. "What is it that Meesei is enchanting into those necklaces?" he asked.

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, but it probably wouldn't be a good idea to ask right now. That kind of enchanting requires a lot of concentration. Being born, or hatched, or whatever, into a remote and little known tradition of shamans does have its advantages. She has knowledge of plenty of types of old magic that most of the world has forgotten, or never knew. She doesn't know everything about magic, of course, but you can certainly surprise opponents if you can cast magic they've never even heard of. Nature is something that is particularly malleable to her, which I suppose makes sense. Argonians born in Black Marsh are connected to those godlike trees, the Hist. They're bound to nature to begin with. She can tap into the energies of living things or...something. I don't really understand it myself. She has tried to explain it to me before, but I just got lost. I think there is a reason few know how to perform that magic."

[Muttonhawk]

"Hmm," Fendros chewed on the inside of his cheek, trying to make sense of it. "The only time I'd heard about the Hist was when my father told me about Argonians when I was a child. He had this delusion that we were going to somehow lobby the emperor to have slaves working on our estate again, just like old times." Fendros tried to recall, "He called the Hist a hive-minded, interloping force, something that gave the slaves hope. He thought the Hist were just another treacherous set of daedra. He held them in contempt, as you can probably understand. My father held most things about Argonians in contempt. If the Hist enable mages to perform such magic as Meesei can, then I'm surprised our Morrowind estate didn't get overrun faster." Fendros rubbed the side of his head to scratch an itch, he thought of a theory in that moment, "This magic of tapping into life energies, it sounds similar to absorption spells from the restoration school. I've never heard of it being innate in anyone, though. Does the Hist have a hand in teaching the magic, do you think?"

Fendros didn't quite know what to make of the big picture while Ahnasha explained it, being something so far gone from his understanding of magic, this connection with nature and such. It was still interesting to try and put the pieces together.

[EliteCommander]

Meesei had completed her enchantment and had taken interest in Fendros and Ahnasha's conversation, as it was of something she had a great deal of knowledge about. She discarded the now-destroyed soul gem fragments and packed away the enchanted necklaces, then approached the pair sitting by the building.

"I believe I may be able to answer that question better than Ahnasha." Meesei said, taking a seat in front of them. "The short answer would be: yes and no. I know, aspects of the Hist are rarely simple enough to be explained briefly. In the instance of the magic I believe you are referring to, the Hist did not grant that knowledge to me. I had to learn it just as any other mage would. These old ways of using magic, however, are traditions passed down through many generations. Our connections with the Hist give us a different way of seeing the world than that of other races. It allowed the earliest of my kind insight into the forces that shape the world which they would not have otherwise seen. They used that insight to study and discover aspects of magic which they then passed down, eventually to me. Argonians are not the only group with unique knowledge, of course. Any group with strong traditions and any manner of isolation can harbor unique forms of magic. The Psijic monks are the best example I can think of. The HIst are helpful for keeping such traditions alive, however. Their relationship to Argonians is often hard to understand from an outside perspective, as your father's beliefs would demonstrate. They sound like rumors that were corrupted through generations of retelling."

[Muttonhawk]

"Yes, well, I'm not sure if there was a truthful form of that story passed to my family to begin with." Fendros said. It was a new concept to see magic as different from the cut-and-dry theory he was taught, but he didn't deem it impossible that there was different magic in the world than he was used to. There were certainly stranger, and harder to understand, things that have happened. Though, he didn't exactly know who these 'Psijic monks' were. Perhaps he would find out later, for now he was more interested in the Hist. "So these 'Hist', these godlike trees. What are they if not Aedra or Daedra? I've never really known what exactly they were."

[EliteCommander]

Meesei chuckled. "You ask a harder question than I believe you realize. To explain what exactly the Hist are in words is difficult, if not impossible, at least in this tongue. To truly understand them, you would need to commune with them directly, to join your mind with theirs. As shaman of a tribe, I have performed that ritual before. I will give the best explanation I can, however. They are neither Aedra nor Daedra, just as Sithis is neither of those things.They were the first living things on Nirn after if was formed by the Aedra, but they are so much more than simply old trees. I may not worship the Hist anymore, but I can still respect them. The grain of truth in your father's story is that the Hist are akin to a hive mind, in a sense. They are all separate, but all connected as well, both metaphorically, and physically by their roots. Before hatching, Argonian eggs in Black Marsh are lain near the Hist in what are called hatching pools. They are allowed to take in the Hist's sap, which binds the Argonian to the Hist's mind. Argonians can be hatched away from the Hist's influence, but they will not be bound in the same way. In most cases, upon an Argonian's death, their soul is returned to the Hist to be reborn. The Hist retain the collective memories of all Argonian souls to ever flow in the rivers of their mind. Their wisdom is nothing short of godlike...though like most gods, they hardly ever give direct answers. Even when they recalled Argonians to Black Marsh before the Oblivion Crisis, they did not give a reason, they simply acted. One cannot argue the results, however."

[Muttonhawk]

"Indeed," Fendros' expression became a little distant at the mention of the Argonians uniting, and to the invasions that followed. He never had an attachment to his homeland like his parents did, but the bitterness of that time had influenced him though his upbringing. He didn't know whether it was contradictory that he was interested in knowing more about what he believed was the reason for his family's displacement, but he also wasn't sure whether such a contradiction mattered. It took a moment to remember that his home wasn't with his birth family anymore, he no longer had an obligation to think how they thought. Besides, if anything such a tie to their ancestors makes Argonians share a commonality with Dunmer. But if Meesei cannot return to her original home either...

"Meesei, I remember Runt mentioning to me, and reading about it elsewhere, that it is our fate as lycans to join Hircine in some kind of eternal hunting ground. If you are bound to the Hist, what then is your fate when you pass away?" Fendros asked. Perhaps Meesei has been denied joining her ancestors as Fendros has been to his.

[EliteCommander]

Meesei's lowered her head slightly, her expression growing a bit more sorrowful. His question was something she had been trying to find a definite answer to for years, but as all things in dealing with the divine, definites were a rarity. "I wish I could tell you I knew for sure, but apart from communing with an Argonian in the Hunting Grounds, I do not believe there is a way to know. I would like to think that Hircine's claim over my soul is stronger than that of the Hist. My interactions with Hircine so far would seem to indicate so, but I have never received a definite answer. Perhaps if I were to return to Black Marsh and commune with the Hist once more, I could receive my answer, but I do not know if I will ever be able to make such a pilgrimage. My duties to Hircine and my pack are far more important than my own fears."

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros nodded. So she has had similar concerns. Not knowing for sure must be even more terrifying, he thought. In a way, Fendros felt as if he wasn't so saddened by his fate because he believed that he could somehow find a way to release the curse, but he had become so attached to the pack, especially Ahnasha. It refreshed his own fears that he felt when he wrote the letter to his brother a month ago. Now, his previous hope had been extinguished for reasons he could never have predicted. Or had it? Perhaps he would at least get an audience with Hircine before he died, to at least stop the denial.

Looking over to Ahnasha, who had been fairly quiet, Fendros became curious what her perspective was. "Is there an afterlife from Khajiit culture, Ahna? You said you've served Hircine all your life, but, what are your thoughts?"