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

[EliteCommander]

"All Argonians are connected to the Hist, but that does not preclude other races from interacting with them as well." Meesei answered. "There is a ritual which involves the ingestion of Hist sap, the essence of the Hist. It allows one's mind to be joined with the Hist in a way that can scarcely be described. Variants of this ritual can give the participant visions from the Hist itself, but the specific ritual I am referring to can allow another to interact directly with the participant's soul. We used this ritual on Argonians who were hatched away from the Hist, as they were what we considered broken. It allowed us to guide their soul into coming to terms with past failures and other issues in their lives in order to form a bond with the Hist. I do not know if a non-Argonian can form that bond, but that would not be the point of the ritual, in this case. It could help her to come to terms with her past." Meesei said, trying to give as clear of an explanation as possible. It was a difficult concept to explain to someone who had never experienced the mind of the Hist before.

---

"Hmph, don't treat me like some old lady trying to rub away her wrinkles. This is medicine, not some lotion. There's no shame in medicine." Lorag said as he grabbed the bottle, more trying to convince himself than anyone else. He uncorked it and intentionally waved the odorous liquid in Janius' direction before beginning to apply it to his knee.

Ahnasha took the bottle from Janius and eyed it curiously. "It makes everything ache." She answered. "It's not that bad right now, but I'm sure it will only get worse. I'll make sure to save this for when I really need it. I'm guessing it works on more than just ankles; I don't see why it wouldn't. These labels look like they were designed for advertising instead of descriptions. I'll ask her when she gets back."

[Muttonhawk]

"I see." Ariel nodded and curled her lip, "If it will help, then it sounds like a good idea." While she still didn't have a complete understanding of what the ritual would involve, or what might come out of it, Ariel decided to trust Meesei's judgement. The Hist were generally benevolent, as far as Ariel knew, it wouldn't be as if Sabine would be giving up her soul to a being that would lock it away forever.

They continued to walk until the topic subsided. "Now that you offer to answer questions, might I ask you some things about Lycans?" She started cautiously, "I have a few questions about them. I suppose you could say that I've garnered an interest in them on an academic level." She reassuringly but her hand on Meesei's arm for a moment, "rest assured, I won't be trying to find a cure any time soon, but it is..." She lowered her hand, "... an interesting condition."

Ariel went on to ask Meesei a number of different questions about both the physiology of lycans, as well as their behaviour, any effects on lifecycles of hosts, the way instinct plays a part, the amount of control that could be had over one's beast spirit, lycan society in general, and a plethora of other inquiries. Some of the questions may have regarded areas that Meesei either didn't know about or hadn't even thought about. They sometimes resolved to be inconsequential to most lycans, or were more concerned with a scholarly understanding rather than a practical understanding. While she asked all of these questions, Ariel was attentive to every answer, if they were given.

The questions were cut off as Ariel mentioned that they were getting close to the coven. In the distance, there were a few torch lights that illuminated the walls of and old keep. The area was still a mushroom forest, but it wasn't as heavily vegetated as the hunters' cave. In the air, various smells could be perceived by a werewolf nose. Alchemy, fire, ritual. The darkness that was washing over the area as the sun all but disappeared hid host other things. "Keep your eyes peeled," Ariel mumbled in warning, a detect dead spell brightening in one hand, "The coven has sentinels patrolling this wood in the night, they will be sending them out shortly."

---

Chuckling, Fendros wrinkled his nose at the smell of Lorag's ointment. At least it was probably helping his knee. Lorag's condition had continued to improve during the day, by the looks of it. Nevertheless, Fendros couldn't help but feel like it was Lorag getting ganged up on now. He decided not to compliment the young complexion of his knee today.

Instead, he finished his final mouthful of dinner and leaned over to Ahnasha to read the bottle over her shoulder. It did seem a bit strange to have a remedy for ankles in particular. "Maybe that's what her customers complain about the most when need something like this." He said, before cocking his head to one side, "I can't say I've seen my mother pregnant, but both of my parents preferred massages for their aches. Helped with the stress, they said."

"Hold on, I thought you had younger siblings," Janius interrupted, "Wouldn't your mother have born them?"

Fendros sat straight again with an amused grin, "If my mother had conceived that many children in such a short time, she would have been the first ever Dunmer to accomplish such a thing." Fendros shook his head and his smile faded, "no, my brother and sister were adopted." He paused for a moment to look into the fire and wonder what his old family were up to. The way his father and mother would react could have gone either way, but his sister and brother had most likely got past the grief by now. He wondered if his brother had changed at all without him around.

Feeling a slight pang of grief again, Fendros decided to turn the subject. "Lorag, Janius, I don't think I remember asking about your old families. If you don't mind?"

"Nah, I was an only child of a fighter's guild guardian and a courtier, not much to say. I don't particularly miss them." Janius said, staring into the fire without much of any sadness in his voice.

[EliteCommander]

"Hmm, massages, now that's an idea I hadn't thought of. Sounds relaxing. You should really give me one some time, help me conserve these potions." Ahnasha commented, looking to Fendros with a smile as she finished off her meal.

Janius did not have much care for his family, but Lorag was a different story. In his youth, he had been proud of his ancestors and was eager to follow in their footsteps. "You should know my family, lover-boy, you were raised in the same city. My father, Konesh gro-Dalzog, was the best blacksmith in the city. If your parents ever bought any weapons, they probably bought them from him. He was a legion veteran, just like is father, and his father before him. I followed the tradition. After his years of service, he settled down in Cheydinhal. My mother, Gharzal gra-Yurnol, is actually the head of the Cheydinal chapter of the Fighter's Guild, or at least she was when I left. She would be old now, though. She's probably either retired, or dead. Anyway, you had to be around when she was still the head of the chapter. There's no way you didn't know of her."

---

Meesei immediately cast a spell of muffle over herself as soon as Ariel warned her they were closing in. Despite the darkness, she could see clearly over the area, so she took in every detail. She made note of places from which they could approach, or defend easily. Just like Ariel, she cast detect dead to get a sense of where their sentries patrolled. While certainly useful, undead had the disadvantage of being predictable, and obviously not too bright. Still, once they identified a foe, they could be deadly, especially in groups.

"We will save capturing a skeleton for when we leave. For now, we need a good way in. How many entrances do you know of? Are there any hidden ones they may not be expecting? I don't expect to actually reach the gas now, but we need to at least get a general idea of where it is." Meesei asked in an almost inaudible voice. As much as she liked to be in control of the situation, she had to put a lot of faith in Ariel for this. She would be guiding her through the coven's lair, so she would have to trust the Breton's judgement. As always, however, she would approach with caution, and did not intend to go anywhere from which she had no quick way to escape.

[Muttonhawk]

Smiling back to Ahnasha, Fendros nodded. "Okay, I think I remember how. You'll have to help me out, maybe my memory will be refreshed if you give me one as well." He grinned with a hint of mischief. The idea of a bath tonight was becoming an attractive prospect now. First, though, he listened to Lorag.

Fendros licked his teeth of the last of the spices, trying to remember. "I knew that the blacksmith was an orc, but I never knew that the coot was your father. He probably would have made my sword then, it was a birthday present from father." It was then that his face became suddenly surprised and fearful as he recalled another detail, "Gharzal gra-Yurnol! Oh I wish I didn't remember her..." Fendros put he fingertips of one hand on his temple, before motioning to Lorag, "No offense intended, but your mother was the scariest woman I know. She retired a only few months before I came to the pack, she had a lot of energy for her age." He sighed through his lips as he recalled what images he had of the old Orc chapter head, "I've never seen a fully armoured man get thrown by the collar further than that she-orc pelted him." Fendros shuddered. After a pause, he wondered how he hadn't seen Lorag amongst the citizenry of Cheydinhal before. To be fair, he didn't go off the winery that often before joining the Fighter's Guild, so he was probably on duty during that time.

Laughing a little, Fendros rose from his seat. "The world seems a lot smaller now. I didn't even know those folks had a child, but you've got their look now that I think about it." Fendros gestured to Lorag's face, seeing some resemblance of his former chapter master, even with Orc features being very foreign. Then he turned around towards the pool and leaned down to place his hand on Ahnasha's shoulder. He leaned down further and gave her a kiss on the side of the head, before squeezing the back of her shoulder gently with his hand as if examining it. "Your shoulders are a bit tense. A massage is very nice in a bath, if you would like one now." He said quietly.

---

Ariel kneeled down, clearing away some detritus to get to the bed of soil underneath. With her finger she took a few moments to roughly draw the layout of the keep. "The front gate is here," She whispered as she pointed to a spot between two turrets on the drawing, "they normally keep that closed, but there are also sally ports here and here, they are locked and alarmed at this time of night." She gestured to one spot which appeared to be a gap in the wall. "Under here, though is a culvert that runs under the wall. The grate can be disintegrated, it's just made of steel and they don't lay so many runes around because of the water and the rodents. That's our best bet." She brought Meesei's attention to the inside of the wall, "I'm unsure where exactly they would be making the gas, but there are a number of places to look. These five towers," she pointed to five of the six turrets that made up the keep, "are still mostly intact and inhabited, but like most old Imperial forts, there is a considerable space constructed underneath them. The sixth tower is collapsed, but enough of it still stands that it is too tall to climb. The sentinels have regular patrol routes through the keep, so just keep close and I'll make sure we don't run into them."

Ariel then cast another spells in her off hand. A muffle spell, just as Meesei had done, but the casting was completely silent. After that, she took out one of the potions she carried in her pockets and carefully drank its content. After blinking a couple of times, she seemed to take in more details of her surroundings. "Right then, let's make our approach while this night-eye lasts." She said, waving for Meesei to follow as she made her way at an angle to the keep sufficient to avoid being seen by the slouching metal shapes that walked the walls and strode in groups around the forest. They were easy enough to avoid by the time they got to the culvert, which had a small mossy creek leaking out of it. Trying to make as little noise as possible, Ariel checked her surroundings and crawled into the small archway that was the culvert and charged red disintegration magic in both hands. "Can you disintegrate these? Do the other side." Ariel whispered, before grabbing two of the bars and rusting them away with her spell. Even though the bars were yielding, it was a slow process. Ariel had to stop and try to detect any patrols nearby from time to time. They seemed safe so far.

[EliteCommander]

"Hmm, I left for Skyrim with the Legion the very moment I turned old enough for them to take me, so I never knew what happened to them. It's good to know she's not dead, at least. I imagine she about wishes she was, though. She was never one to to just lounge around and do nothing. She'll probably take every excuse she can to pick up an axe and fight until the day she dies." Lorag said, reminiscing over his past. He wasn't a sentimental person, but there were a few things that could call up emotions within him.

Ahnasha leaned her head back and smiled at the suggestion of a bath. "Agreed. I'm aching all over, I think a bath would be...perfect." She said, grabbing his hand and allowing him to pull her up to her feet. She walked over to the other side of the chamber with him and undressed herself before slowly lowering herself into the water. The temperature was the same as before, so at least whatever was heating it was a reliable source of energy. She worked herself into the water slowly until she was sat down with the water up to her shoulders, then quickly dunked herself under completely so she could get her head used to the heat. When she resurfaced, she looked around for a good place for her massage. The depth of the pool varied considerably. On the side closest to the camp, it was deep enough that sitting down would bring the water to her shoulders, but on the far side, it was only a few inches deep at most. Ahnasha walked over to the other side and laid down in the shallow end on her stomach. She crossed her arms in front of her and rested her head on them so she could keep her head above water, then turned to look at Fendros.

"You still get excited to see me undressed, don't you?" Ahnasha commented with a grin. "It's the look in your eyes that gives it away...among other things." She chuckled.

---

Meesei followed Ariel's lead and moved up to the grate alongside her. Since they could both tell exactly where the patrols were at all times, it was easy enough to avoid them, especially while under the effects of muffle. As Ariel was beginning to disintegrate her side, Meesei pulled her magicka potion from her pouch. She had not completely recovered from her efforts at healing magic from before, so she would need the boost. She quickly drank the potion, then charged a spell of disintegration as well. The spell she cast was concentrated and intense, as it cut through the metal bars at around twice the speed of Ariel's spell. As soon as the grate was free of its housing, they gently lowered it to the ground and crawled inside. Once they were both inside, Meesei turned around and raised up the grate once more. She held it roughly in the position it was in before as she gripped one of the bars in her hand, charging more destruction energy into it, this time in the form of a fire spell. It was concentrated enough that it did not give off much light, and hot enough that it welded the two bars back together, though just barely. It would hold it in place, but a short disintegration spell, or a good kick, would dislodge it once more.

Meesei followed Ariel's lead through the tunnel and into the keep. This time, Meesei used a detect life spell, while Ariel focused on detect dead. The only way they were going to be caught off-guard is if the coven somehow had Dwarven constructs roaming the halls. "You know the layout better than I. Which tower do you believe is the most likely?" She asked in a whisper.

[Muttonhawk]

As Fendros disrobed and lowered himself into the bath, he found his eyes wandering again, though not stealthily enough for Ahnasha not to notice. He tilted his head forward and smiled, "I can't help it, sorry, you're too beautiful," he responded, sarcastically putting on a tone a fault as he walked over to kneel down beside where she lay. "Now, where do I start?" He rhetorically asked as he probed her up and down the surface of her body for where her muscles had especially tightened up. Even though she looked relaxed, Fendros could tell that she was obviously very stressed, as certain muscles felt more solid and restricted than normal. It was no surprise with what they had talked about this afternoon. That was to say nothing of the yet unresolved matter of lifespans that she had been thinking about for so long, and probably still had in the back of her mind. All in all, Fendros had forgotten just how honest one's body could be to tell what one was feeling.

He decided to start high, rubbing his thumbs over the base of her neck until the tension started to loosen. "Let me know where the knots are, I'll untie them," Fendros said gently, working his way outwards to the space between her neck and her shoulders.

---

When Ahnasha and Fendros left the campfire, Janius' own thoughts went to relationships, though his mind was more focussed on the temporary kind. "Hey Lorag," He said after a few moments, leaning back and looking at an inconsequential spot on the ceiling, "What do you think of Ariel? Kind of sweet, isn't she?"

There was a pause for a moment in Sabine's rhythmic grinding that almost caught everyone's attention, but it resumed as quickly.

---

Once they were through the culvert, Ariel took Meesei's arm rather suddenly and slinked up to the wall of one of the towers, putting her finger up to her mouth and looking into the main courtyard. They remained for a few moments, the sickly grinding of bones accompanied the clomping of boots as two hunched skeletons in helmets and rawhide marched by, not having their glowing eye-sockets in the direction of their hiding spot as they patrolled. Each of them carried a wooden shield and an iron mace.

Now that they had a moment, Ariel checked her surroundings. The place hadn't changed much from the last time she had been there. Apart from the one she was up against, there were five more towers visible from where she was standing that were conjoined by walls, forming a skewed hexagon shape. Some of the walls were partially collapsed, but they all still denied entry. The furthest tower from where they were standing looked like a great meteor had knocked it down. It was a short stump compared to the others, and much of its rubble was still strewn in the central courtyard. On top of each of the towers and walking along the intact walls were sentinels, but no lit torches. The courtyard itself had a few lit torches. The foundations of an old central keep, the floors and a few sections of pillar, were the only remaining evidence of a central building that had once stood there, but now was replaced by plants and a number of strange artifacts and formations that looked important to the rituals of witches.

Once the sentinels were out of earshot, Ariel poked her thumb against the tower they were up against. "This is one of the laboratories, we'll check here first," She whispered with a serious expression. With that, she skirted along the wall, checking for any more sentinels as she went. This tower had a door with no visible light emanating from its base, and a check for life and death yielded nothing else of merit. Carefully, Ariel opened the door. It was pitch black inside, but her night eye potion alleviated that problem. While there were a few ingredients that were used in the gas present in the assembly of glass and ingredients, there was no direct evidence of the gas being made in this room. There were other floors they would need to quickly check though. Ariel raised her palm to Meesei to get her to stay where she was, then pointed to her own eyes and mouthed "Keep watch." She stepped inside, the downward stairway was caved in long ago, but there was additional equipment upstairs that warranted checking. She leaped up the stairs three at a time until she could poke her head over to look at the next floor. Still nothing out of the ordinary, they must have set up in another area. The top floor was the roof, and that had nothing she needed except for a sentinel, so she instead made her way down again to Meesei. "Nothing, let's try the one on the right from here. It's a storeroom tower."

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha smiled and closed her eyes as Fendros began. She had never received a massage before, so she didn't quite know what to expect. After he started, however, she certainly couldn't say she was disappointed. Even she hadn't realized how stressed she had been before. Sure, she had a lot to worry about, but right now, her focus was on nothing but the relaxing feeling coming over her body. She didn't respond verbally when Fendros asked where to start, but the light purring sound she made indicated he was doing something right.

"This...is the best decision I have ever made in my entire life." She finally said, "Other than taking those first drinks with you, of course."

---

Lorag shrugged as he laid back on his bedroll. "I don't know. She's a reformed Breton witch who used to torture lycans, but is now helping them. That's about as much as I think about her. Well...I have been wondering if she knows how to brew alcohol with all that alchemical knowledge. I could use...wait. I can't believe I've been here this long and haven't checked. These hunters had to have something to drink laying around here. Janius, check their supplies over there, see if there's something in the crates." He said, his voice displaying actual excitement.

---

Meesei nodded, not wanting to make any more sound than necessary. Even with one collapsed, they still had quite a few to check, and she sincerely hoped that it wasn't in the last one. Meesei waved for Ariel to take the lead, then followed close behind her with detect life ready in her hands. They continued on slowly and cautiously through the hall to the next tower. It wasn't that far of a distance, but with how slowly they had to move, it took some time. As they were about to round a corner leading to the tower, Meesei's spell caught the presence of life nearby. Without a word, she grabbed Ariel's shoulder and pulled her into the shadows behind a stone support near the wall. Both of them cast invisibility over themselves and waited in complete silence. An old Breton woman passed by carrying what appeared to be a satchel full of notes. Thankfully, she passed by without noticing the pair in the shadows, allowing them to slip by into the next tower. Just as before, the first floor didn't appear to hold anything of interest, but that did not mean there was nothing in the tower. Once again, Meesei nodded to Ariel for her to begin her search while she kept watch. Meesei still had plenty of magical energy remaining to use detect life and death, but if they continued for too long, or she had to rely too much on invisibility, she would become drained.

[Muttonhawk]

While hardly a professional, Fendros was glad that what few things he had remembered about massaging appeared to be effective. He breathed a chuckle though his nose at her comment. The 'best decision' was not something he could have predicted to turn out like this. "Who would have thought, right?" Fendros repeated what Ahnasha had said several days ago when they were under the mushroom tree near Vos.

He began to explore behind and around her shoulders, freeing the tension from those areas as well. As the tightness softened at his touch, he noticed how Ahnasha's upper body was distinct from anyone else Fendros had rubbed the back of before, testament to all her practice with a bow. He felt like he was getting to know her all over again with the features he found.

"What do you think would have happened if, you know, we didn't drink so heavily that night?" Fendros asked idly. He didn't want to ruin the atmosphere, but he wondered whether it was truly happenstance that brought them together, or whether they would have fallen for each other anyway.

---

"Yeah," Janius agreed, getting perspective back into the situation. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to trust her enough to make a move on her.

"You didn't? I thought..." Janius looked at Lorag quizzically, then got up and searched where he was pointing rather enthusiastically. Lifting the lid from one crate, he rifled through it's contents. It was mostly sacks of grain and vegetables. Looking through a few other crates and barrels yielded similar results, until the fifth one he found froze him on the spot. Four small kegs lay next to each other in the crate, they were branded with a daedric symbol that Janius didn't recognise, but it was Dunmer booze of some description. "Aww..." Janius said through a grin, "Look at that, tucked in tight, they're so cute." Carefully, he put the lid of the crate on the ground and lifted out one of the kegs. He had to look around for a mallet and a spigot in order to actually draw the liquid, but that wasn't too hard. He brought the all the items with the keg and dropped them near Lorag. "Put the spigot in, I'll look for some mugs." He turned and tried to search through various utensils for drinking vessels. "It's our lucky night! I'll bet there's a nice ale in that." He announced through the cave.

---

Meesei had saved them just in time. The familiar face of Old Georgia strode by them as they went invisible. Normally that woman had a keen eye, going about her preparations for a moon ritual.

Ariel ducked into the tower just as before. The first floor needed a closer look, as most things were in crates. Lifting one of the crates revealed it to be tightly packed with the gas flasks, padded with straw. It was enough to know that this tower was going to be a target. Stepping up to the second floor yielded a similar number of crates and barrels, but Ariel knew for a fact that this was used more for ingredients and other miscellaneous items. On her way down, Ariel didn't spot a stray rock that she accidentally kicked. She halted and cursed every sound that the rock made as it rolled down the old stone staircase. Some footsteps began behind her and she immediately cast invisibility on herself and went against the wall, looking either way. The footsteps stopped and scraped forward as the head of a Dunmer woman poked out of the door to the second floor room and looked around curiously. Dagmar, Ariel thought as she held her breath. The Dunmer woman in a black robe proceeded out onto the staircase and craned her neck to look down it, but seeing no immediate disturbance, she shrugged silently and went back into the storeroom.

Ariel exhaled and descended the rest of the stairs, being careful this time to not hit any loose objects. Once she reunited with Meesei, she beckoned her inside and lead her to a spot to hide behind the crates on the first floor. "We'll wait here for a moment, then we'll head underground from this tower to the next," Ariel whispered, "these crates, they have gas. The laboratory they are using to make it would probably be nearby."

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha heard Janius mention that he had found some alcohol, though it didn't really matter to her. For the health of her child, she needed to abstain from drinking until it was born. Lorag, on the other hand, was visibly ecstatic over the find. The moment Janius dropped them next to him, he let just a bit of the liquid flow from the keg. It wasn't labeled with anything he could read, but a quick sniff gave him all the information he needed.

"Sujamma, I haven't had this in years." Lorag said, anxiously awaiting his drink. He looked at Janius, cracking a satisfied smile. "What are you waiting for? Get us some mugs over here."

---

As Fendros moved from her shoulders to upper back, Ahnasha felt nothing but ecstasy come over her, as if all of her stress was melting away. It took her a while to even form a response for Fendros. "Well, I wouldn't be experiencing the sensations of Aetherius itself right now. Still, I like to think we were fated to be together. Maybe it just wouldn't have happened as quickly. There's no point in worrying about what-if's, though. I love you here and now, and I don't see that changing. For now, just...go lower."

---

Meesei was dead silent when she heard a noise come from Ariel's direction. She was ready to react to anything, but it seemed as if Ariel had managed to remain hidden, as she came back down soon enough without being spotted. As they hid away behind a crate, Meesei nodded to Ariel, again not wanting to make any unnecessary noise. In the time that they were waiting, another of the witches passed by, but they were hidden well-enough to remain undetected. Once the coast was clear, Meesei followed Ariel underground, through a path to the next tower. The only living things they encountered along the way were rats, but their destination was another story. From their place in the shadows, they could see beyond the pathway into what appeared to be an underground room underneath one of the towers, and from Meesei's life detection spell, she could see that there was someone inside. Even more interestingly, from their angle, they could see what looked like alchemy equipment. Meesei did not want to speak while they were so close to one of the witches, so she simply tapped on Ariel's shoulder and looked at her expectantly, awaiting confirmation on her suspicions.

[Muttonhawk]

Janius raised an eyebrow as he searched. He hadn't had Sujamma before, in fact he had only heard about it in passing. He had no idea what it was made from. Still, Lorag seemed happy, so it can't be that bad. "I'm trying, Lorag. These hunters organised their belongings like the Council of Twelve organises their... aha! Here we are." Janius turned around with a smile, holding four pewter mugs by the handles, pulled from another crate filled with various cutlery and crockery. Without wasting any time, he briskly walked back to the fire and handed the mugs to Lorag. "Well, pour us round then." Janius said, before standing up and raising his voice for Fendros and Ahnasha to hear, "hey, Fjori and Holgeir, we found some drink, want some?"

---

Assuming that Janius was talking to them, Fendros replied in turn, "Later, Janius."

The lower back held some stress as well when Fendros complied with Ahnasha. Here, he wasn't so confident, but that was probably because the last person he had massaged in this area had a painful twinge in their back, inadvertently cause Fendros to inflict pain rather than pleasure, but that was probably not the case here.

Ahnasha's answer was comforting. It was true that he probably shouldn't worry about what could have happened at this stage. Looking back though, he could see it being the case that he may have fallen for her anyway over a longer period of time. Maybe from his position, there didn't seem to be any other possible outcome. Love is wonderful for skewing one's perspective. He didn't much care though. The here and now was pretty good.

---

With their last encounter, Ariel was especially wary. Dagmar wasn't normally awake at this time of night, so they either had a change of routine, or she would be helping on a big project. Such as the suppression gas, Ariel concluded.

It was Meesei who brought her attention to the next room. They had refurbished the place into a specialised laboratory, Ariel could tell that much immediately. There were tables and tables of similar equipment, all condensing a purple gas into liquid to seal into familiar looking flasks. This was it. Or, at least, the final stage of production. Ariel wagered that the other stages were in the same tower on the higher two floors. Ariel beckoned Meesei to backtrack into the storage tower rather than trying to sneak past the witch in the well lit laboratory. There were probably more witches on the other floors that would only increase the risk.

One they emerged, Ariel poked her head out of the storage tower door and immediately stepped back, closing the door again. She held her hand up to Meesei in order for her to wait as she charged her detect dead spell. The courtyard sentinel patrol was passing by again. Once they were safe, Ariel furtively entered the courtyard again. In the centre of the courtyard, she could see a small number of witches setting up something. The moonlight ritual. Ariel went back inside and addressed Meesei quickly.

"We're going to have to run for the ruined tower." She whispered as she took out a magicka potion from her pocket, "Make yourself invisible." Without waiting for confirmation from Meesei, in a rather rash decision, she disappeared herself and started to move. She kept low and ran in an arc around the walls, passing the gas production tower on the right, past the closed gate and toward the ruined tower. Once inside, she hid behind one of walls in the crumbling rooms with a missing ceiling and became visible again. Catching her breath, she hoped that Meesei would make it. It wasn't only being invisible for so long that was a risk, it was the distance they had to cover past all of those witches with glowing candlelights hovering over their heads as they prepared their ritual.

[EliteCommander]

Lorag gave Janius a quick nod before taking a drink. "Heh, good one. My names are better, but still." He raised his mug in the air as if he was giving a toast. "Let's drink to, uh...drinking! Yeah, drink to drinking; that's a toast I can get behind." He said with a laugh as he turned towards Runt. "Hey Runt, you got a taste for this Dunmer stuff?"

---

Ahnasha was still in a state of bliss. She was relaxed in a way that she wished would never end. Her tail twitched and wrapped around his leg, and she looked back at him once more. "I'm going to have to find some way to return the favor to you; this is amazing. Of course, you seem to be enjoying it as much as I am. Well...maybe not quite as much. My back hasn't felt this good in a while. It's been sore for weeks. But please, continue. Wouldn't want to stop you now." She said with a sly grin.

---

Meesei carefully observed each place they passed as she followed Ariel. It seemed the grate would be the best place for them to enter during their raid, and she had mapped out in her mind a few potential pathways. Although it could potentially be possible for them to torch the laboratory here and now, that likely would not be a wise idea. Not only would they not have an escape plan, but they would not be able to deal with the people who knew how to make it. They would need a distraction from the rest of the pack to stop this operation once and for all.

After a few moments of examining the courtyard, Meesei followed suit and cast invisibility over herself. Since both were still under the effects of muffle, they moved completely silently along the walls. Their invisibility was especially effective in the shadows, and despite the candlelight spells, they were able to find enough of them to move past unseen. Once in the ruined tower, Meesei pressed herself against the wall next to Ariel an dispelled her invisibility.

"What is our next destination? Do you believe there are any more targets to locate, or should we take our leave?" She whispered.

[Muttonhawk]

"To drinking," Janius agreed, knocking his mug against Lorag's before taking a sip. "Mmm, that's different." He commented. He still had no idea what the drink was made from, but he didn't mind it so much. "An acquired taste I think," he concluded, before taking a proper swig.

In response to hearing her name, Sabine raised her head from the ingredient she was dicing in front of her, beady eyes gleaming from the campfire. She looked at Lorag, glanced to one side, back to Lorag, shook her head blankly, then returned to her work. At least it was some kind of response, normally silence would be her best respectful sign of disinterest.

"Have you ever had any flights of fancy up in Cheydinhal, Lorag?" Janius asked casually, leaning back again. "You know, lady friends. An Orc like you would have got around a bit, right?"

---

It became a bit awkward to move as Ahnasha wrapped her tail around Fendros' leg, he had to make sure he didn't set his legs down too far with his kneel or else squash her tail. Thankfully he didn't need to move back too much. "Well, I could always try to teach you how to massage. It's not too difficult once you've had enough practice." Fendros suggested, "I scratch your back, you... well, maybe not like that, considering your claws." He chuckled at the thought.

Once he was confident that there wasn't much more work to do on her back, Fendros carefully unwrapped Ahnasha's tail from around his leg so he could shuffle down to her legs. Does the tail get sore too? He pondered as he leg it go to wander with the mind of its own it seemed to have. He treated the legs differently to the back. Rather than rubbing with his thumbs, he grasped the circumference of her leg in one spot with both hands, squeezing her calf with the heels of his palms, starting close to the ankle. After a few moments, he let go and grasped a higher spot. He continued this process up her leg. The legs were not where her anxiety had tightened up her muscles so much, but with the traveling and hunting, not to mention the combat, there was probably relief to be had. It was also slightly playful to see how she reacted to the massage moving up her thighs.

---

After jolting in place when Meesei appeared, Ariel sighed in relief while she caught her breath some more. After a swallow, she whispered back to Meesei, "Well, we know one place they are making it, and one place where they are storing it. The other two towers are for lodgings, more rituals, and the hagravens' loft. They might have set up some things in there." Ariel paused, considering their next movements. "We could take a peek in the tower with the lodgings to see if there are any more flasks being made, but I'm not sure. The hagraven's loft, there's no sneaking to be had in there. Oh! And there's also the remains of the lower levels of the keep, we... hold prisoners down there." Ariel's face became apprehensive about that prospect, even more so when she took a quick look at the witches setting up in the courtyard, "The door is very near to the ritual circle, however. That wouldn't be a good idea to try to sneak in. In my opinion, anyway." Ariel closed her eyes and took one more slow breath to calm herself, pouting while she exhaled. "I think I have enough information, though, what do you think? Should we look in one more tower, or go straight for one of the sentinels outside of the keep?"

[EliteCommander]

Lorag took another drink. "Sujamma's a taste I acquired long ago. A lot of Dunmer in Cheydinhal. It's made from sujamma berries I think; they had to import those. I got a taste for a lot of Dunmer spirits, really. Greef, mazte, shien, they're all great. I know the ingredients for about all of them, I just wish I understood the process enough to make them." Lorag sighed and lowered his head in exaggerated sadness. "It's the only thing I regret in life."

When Janius asked about his history with the women of Cheydinhal, he gave a chuckle. "Heh, I can see where your mind is tonight. I was about sixteen or seventeen when I left for Skyrim with the Legion. Before that, I was known around town as a strong, skilled, and handsome young warrior who was doing his duty for the Empire. What do you think happened? I always ended up sticking with Orc women though, but there are also a lot of Orcs in Cheydinhal, so that wasn't a problem. Honestly, I never considered other races as 'possibilities' until well after I left; 'cause of my father, mostly. He wouldn't have liked it."

---

Ahnasha rather liked the idea of learning to give a massage as well as Fendros was, though as she glanced down at her claws, she wondered how they would complicate things. Being stabbed by multiple sharp objects was not a pleasurable experience for most people; perhaps there was some sort of other technique she could use. "I'm certainly up for it...after you finish with me, of course. Just...try not to get mad if I accidentally stab you a few times. I wouldn't trade these claws for anything, but...they have their downsides. I'm sure it will be worth it to make you feel as good as I do now. I can only imagine how amazing this will be in a few months when my aches get really bad. I've been pregnant for a month already, so...just about six more months to go before it's time." As Fendros' massage moved higher up her thigh, she looked back at him, meeting his gaze with a grin. "Higher." She commented, allowing her tail to brush up against him once more. The fur on it was thicker near the end than it was at its base, so it would feel rather soft to the touch.

---

"Let us go, we have what information we need. Anything more is an unnecessary risk." Meesei whispered in response. Ariel silently agreed, then led them back in the direction of the culvert they entered through. Whatever ritual they were performing caused there to be quite a bit of activity in the keep, but it also served to help distract the witches. Still, it was a slow process to backtrack all the way to the tunnel they entered through. Conserving magicka meant they needed to hide motionless in the shadows several times, only using invisibility when absolutely necessary.

Given how sizable the keep was, it was fortunate that Ariel still knew her way around. She had spent most of her childhood in the place, after all, so it would likely be difficult to forget its layout. Meesei was unsure of how much time had passed when they finally made it back to the tunnel leading to the culvert. Meesei used a short spell of disintegration to take down the grate, then reattached it with another fire spell once they were both outside. From this point, Meesei took the lead in guiding them away from the keep towards a nearby hill, just beyond the patrols of the undead sentinels. Meesei stopped and laid down on the ground, peering just over the hill at the keep. The sentinels were patrolling the forest in front of them, so there were plenty to chose from. They just needed to isolate one, then strike quickly so it could not alert the others.

"We need to take one of the sentinels aliv-, uh, undead. I am no expert in conjuration, but with a mix of illusion and the conjuration magic I do know, I believe I can take command of one of them so that it follows my orders. I just need time to concentrate on and examine it, which means we need to immobilize one of them. I could paralyze it, but I need to conserve the energy I have. Let's find one that is alone, then you paralyze it. We'll disarm it, drag it somewhere safe, then I can get to work. Alright?" Meesei suggested.

[Muttonhawk]

Janius smirked at the names for the different Dunmer brews. Maybe it was just their language, but 'greef' sounded like a drink for particularly bad nights.

"Huh," Janius replied to Lorag, pondering being sent off at an age that he would have considered young to be sent off to war. Then again, this was Lorag. "My father didn't seem to mind most of the time, that was probably because he was often away with work. He didn't even know what I got up to. I doubt he would have liked to hear the full story, though." Janius laughed, letting the drink relax him. "May as well enjoy this one..." Janius said, before finishing his mug and leaning forward to pour himself another, "a nice drink once you get past the aftertaste." He leaned back again and swirled the drink in his hands like he was scrutinising a wine, and enjoying himself with the parody, "'tis like biting into a raspberry that turns into a dead rat in your throat." He drank again, not particularly caring.

"I wonder when Alpha and Ariel are going to get back?" Janius said without so much concern as annoyance, "How long's a scouting run going to take?"

---

Induced by a combination of Ahnasha's antics and her tail making him ticklish, Fendros smiled back and complied. It wouldn't do if he wasn't thorough after all. Just before he reached the top of her leg, however, he paused, then teasingly resumed at the base of her other leg. Ascending this time, though, he would see what he could get away with...

---

Finally outside, Ariel listened, then shook her head. "The outer patrols are always in groups of three, we'll need to find one of those groups and distract it with something, then catch one of the stragglers," Ariel said, "it shouldn't be too hard, they'll get excited by something as small as an errant magelight. If you could cast one in the direction away from the keep when one of the patrols passes by, drawing them out a little further, I could paralyze one and hide it away, we just need to find a good spot to pull such a thing off..."

With the terrain being as thickly vegetated as it was, it wasn't too difficult to find a place with a couple of appropriate hiding spots close enough to one of the patrol routes. With Ariel finding a spot underneath a bush where she could drag one of the sentinels once she caught it, and Meesei in a similar bush in a divot nearby, all there was left to do was to wait.

After a couple of minutes, three lumbering armoured skeletons lazily walked by, their gait making them look deceptively tired. Once they were in just the right spot, Ariel signaled Meesei to create a distraction to lead them away. With her other hand, Ariel charged a green spell, ready to release on the closest Sentinel.

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha was curious to see what Fendros would do next, but when he moved straight to the other leg, she gave an exaggerated huff and turned her head in sarcastic disappointment, as well as swiping her tail lightly across his face. As he continued up her other thigh, she rested her head on her arms once more and waited to see what would happen.

---

Lorag chugged the rest of his mug and gave Janius the most serious look he could muster. "Well, I just happen to like the taste of dead rat. Goes well with human hearts." He said, finally breaking down into a laugh before moving on to answer his question. "I'm sure they'll be back eventually. Maybe they'll just blow those witches up while they're there and save us the trouble. I hate fighting mages, and a witch coven sounds like there would be plenty of them. We can all have drinks once they're here, though I don't think we have anything for Alpha. Probably a good thing. Knowing our luck, we would wake up with a parasitic Daedra having impregnated you or something. Not that you wouldn't make a great mother. He joked, again staring at Janius with a serious expression.

---

Meesei was utterly motionless in the brush, waiting in silence to spring their ambush. Undead thralls were not known for their intelligence, but they had to make sure their kidnapping did not seem like an attack. She needed to form her distraction in a way that could be interpreted as something else. After a few minutes of silent waiting, a patrol walked by, just as Ariel had predicted.

Meesei needed to act quickly, but precisely. She charged a weak magelight in her hand, then cast it at just the right angle that it would be visible in just the periphery of the skeletons' vision. The light was just strong enough to be noticed, but died away almost immediately. By the time the sentinels had turned in its direction, it was gone, but its effect had already taken hold. The skeletons had spotted something and now needed to investigate. Once the undead soldiers started to move away, Meesei braced herself to dash out as soon as Ariel paralyzed their target. They would need to be quick to move it to a safe position.

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros laughed at Ahnasha's reaction. Thorough meant covering all tasks. Speaking of... he thought to himself as he made his way up her other leg.

"Ahna, you've got a lot of stress pent up... here," he leaned closer to whisper to her, "... and here." His hands continued their work, "... maybe here..."

---

Bursting out in a protracted, constricted exhale that turned into a loud, hearty laugh, Janius shook his head. "Then I'd have, -what?- Some beast with crab-claws giving me a massage over in the spring," Janius replied through his mirth, one hand in the air opening and closing its fingers like the pincer of a mud crab. "I think our fathers' apprehensions might be well founded in that regard!"

Now settled into a good tipsy mood, Janius took a little longer to settle down his laughter. "Yeah, I have a feeling that staring down a crowd of ladies that makes it their business to..." Janius moved one hand in a circular motion, trying to think, "well, to do whatever witches do. It won't exactly be a walk in the forest." Janius said, he brought his mug up to his lips, then stopped right before. "At least we won't have to worry about the gas." He said into his mug, before continuing his drink. "D'you know anything about witches, Lorag?"

---

At first, Ariel was worried that Meesei had cast her light a little too wide for the skeletons to notice. But as one of them turned their heads and carried his alert to the others in his group somehow, it seemed as if Meesei had actually cast it in just the right spot to not garner an alarm. Perfect! Ariel quietly pushed a bolt of green magic that flowed through the air in a helical shape before making contact with one of the skeletons. The entire sentinel gave off a white sheen for but a moment, then froze in place while its companions walked on obliviously. Slowly, it began to fall backward. Ariel, realising her mistake, scrambled up behind the creature to catch it, but it didn't look like she would make it to it before the sentinel hit the ground with noise that would alert the others.

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha closed her eyes, thoroughly enjoying everything Fendros was doing. For a moment, she wondered how she ever got by without him. Up until recently, everything about life seemed so simple. She thought she knew everything she wanted, but Fendros had complicated all of that, in a good way. Despite the troubles they would face, Ahnasha couldn't see her life being even a fraction as good without him than if he were there. Opening her eyes, she could think of nothing to say, but looked at him with the brightest smile.

---

Since Janius had placed the keg next to him, Lorag was easily able to refill his mug. For most people, it would not be expected that they could finish an entire keg of alcohol in one sitting, but with Lorag, that logic was seriously questionable. "I know they like magic way too much. They tend to worship these obscure gods no one's ever heard of, and they always seem to get wrapped up in vampirism or lycanthropy. I don't know why, but it always seems to be Bretons that make these covens, like those Reachmen up in Skyrim. You always get these rumors that they have the cure for lycans or vampires, usually some alchemical concoction that would take three years or something to the ingredients for. Who knows, maybe it's true, but from what the Breton girl said, this coven obviously hasn't."

---

Under the effects of muffle, Meesei dashed out towards the skeleton as soon as it started to drop, but she too was not physically close enough to catch it. Fortunately, she was able to reach out with telekinesis to slow it enough so she could catch the back of its skull before it hit the ground. Without saying a word, Meesei grabbed onto its shoulders while Ariel took the legs, then they carried it up over the hill safely out of sight. The other two would certainly notice the loss of the third eventually, but since they lacked any real ability to reason, it would be up to the witches themselves to notice the loss of one of their sentries. It was possible that they could notice before the loss before they returned to attack the keep, but hopefully, they would attribute it to wild animals or monsters. Vvardenfell was a dangerous enough region, so it couldn't be too uncommon of an occurrence.

Meesei and Ariel set the skeleton down on the other side of the hill. While Ariel rid the being of its weapons, Meesei laid her hands on the being to examine its energy. The paralysis spell would not last forever, so time was of the essence. She did not claim to be a master of Conjuration, but she knew enough that she could apply her knowledge of illusion to the problem. In this, the method of teaching her father had used to teach her magic was particularly useful. In Imperial society, they used the concept of different schools of magic to divide magic into different, similar elements, but those schools were merely manmade constructs. In reality, all magic was connected, and that is exactly how Meesei learned to approach it. She did not even know that the "schools" of magic existed until she started to have contact with other cultures outside the village. As a result, her knowledge of magic could only loosely be classified. While she did not have a great deal of knowledge on summoning or necromancy, she did know how to manipulate the mind using magic. While most illusionists would not be able to directly influence the mind of an undead creature, Meesei had practiced before with just that concept.

A few tense moments passed as Meesei studied the magical energies which formed the mind of the skeleton. As a thrall, its thoughts were radically different from any person or animal. Everything revolved around serving its master, so naturally, Meesei worked to replace its master with herself. It took a few moments, but after Meesei was confident she had succeeded, she took her hands off of the skeleton and allowed the paralysis to dissipate. The skeleton sat up, looked to Meesei, then stood to its feet, waiting on her command.

Meesei breathed a sigh of relief, then looked to Ariel. "Good, it worked. Now let's get this construct back to the cave so that I may examine it further."

[Muttonhawk]

In reaction to the sentinel beginning to stand up on its own, Ariel prepared a fire spell in one hand, unsure what Meesei was practicing. Somehow, she appeared to have command over it. Ariel wasn't sure whether to be confused or impressed. She didn't need to speak though, Meesei had their trip back in mind. "Oh, right, yes. Let's go."

On the entire trip back, Ariel kept a close eye on the skeleton as it lumbered along with them. It wasn't that she didn't trust that whatever Meesei had done was successful, she just wasn't used to being next to the sentinels for so long after being exiled. "That was a very... creative spell you cast, Meesei," Ariel said, her interest piqued, "if I may, where did you learn magic?"

The rest of the journey back was rather uneventful. Ariel kept a close eye out for the dangerous creatures of the land, but between the skeleton that was accompanying them, and the way Meesei seemed comparatively unconcerned, she was more distracted by other things. They came across the cave rather easily, which Ariel thought was a relief, as even with the tracking vial, locating the place was hard enough. Especially as her night-eye faded away. Unaware that Meesei was tracking their own scent back anyway, Ariel put it down to luck.

They got through the hole in the cave in without much trouble and emerged into the main chamber. They were both a little filthier than they were when they left, but Lorag and Janius were visible in the campfire light. Sabine emerged from the shadows and sat down by the campfire as well, having taken the time to finish the next batch of resisting potions.

Janius, revealing in a swaying manner what the contents of his mug was, waved and greeted them first. "Hello! The scouting party return-..." His face changed from a smile to a serious concern as he stood up and charged a fire spell in one hand. "Behind you!" He shouted in warning, reacting to the armoured skeleton which marched in behind them both.

[EliteCommander]

Meesei and Ariel spent some time conversing on the way back to the cave, mostly about their prior magical training. Ariel seemed to find it interesting to know how Meesei's father had approached teaching her magic, while Meesei found a more practical use in knowing what kind of skills the witches likely possessed. Otherwise, nothing else of interest happened until they made it back to the cave.

As they walked back into the chamber with the others, Janius responded with understandable hostility towards the undead servant walking in behind them. Just as usual, Meesei retained complete composure and simply used her mental link with her thrall to order it to stand behind her, placing herself between Janius and the skeleton. "Hold, Janius. This thrall is under my command. We captured it from the coven's lair and hope to find a way to use it against them."

As much as Ahnasha hated it, Fendros' massage eventually had to come to an end. For a while, they moved back over to the deep end of the pool and relaxed in its warmth, holding each other closely. Ahnasha did not keep track of how much time was passing, but eventually they heard Meesei and Ariel approach. She was not too interested in turning around at first, but as soon as Janius shouted out, her gaze snapped over to the chamber's entrance. Fortunately, Meesei was quick to clarify the false alarm, so the tensions fell just as quickly as they had risen.

"Maybe we should join the others, dry ourselves off at the campfire. I'd like to know what on Nirn Meesei plans to do with a skeleton. Still, we definitely need to do this again soon, except next time you can teach me your secrets so I can give you a massage just as...thorough as mine was." She suggested as she moved to climb out of the water.

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros' attention was diverted by Janius' shout as well, thankfully the alarm was a false one. It was a little eerie to have a walking skeleton in their presence though. While it was nice sitting in the pool, Fendros nodded in agreement to Ahnasha. He was curious about the situation as well. He also smiled at her proposition, "I look forward to it."

"Alright..." Janius replied slowly, not knowing that Meesei was capable on what he considered to be necromancy, but not protesting all the same. He extinguished the spell in his hand and sat back down, regretting the small amount of Sujamma he had spilled in his alarm. "I take it th'scout went well, then?"

"Yes, we found the areas that they are making and storing gas." Ariel responded brightly, "Meesei was definitely right, if I had blundered in there without a plan, or any sort of diversion, I definitely would have been caught."

Not wanting to embarrass Ariel further by way of Lorag at breakfast, Fendros dressed himself in his leather loincloth before joining Ahnasha by the fire. Judging by their moods, getting back in one piece wasn't Ariel and Meesei's only accomplishment tonight.

While they were talking, Sabine had crept up to the skeleton without attracting much attention. Recalling old memories, she looked up at its glowing eyes, and the two had something of a staring contest.

Janius' face brightened along with them, now that the threat was no longer present. "Well, come and join us! We found some Suja-whatsit over in the back there. Lorag and I have been en-"

Sabine interrupted Janius by placing both of her hands flat against the rawhide that covered the skeleton's ribcage and shoved it backwards. Back before she was locked up, the sentinels would normally stumble and regain their balance before proceeding as if nothing happened. With her strength now, though, Sabine had managed to push the creature to the point where it stumbled back further, colliding with the rows of broken crates that had held the flasks.

A few moments after the skeleton had made the most noise against its surroundings, it slowly returned upright and walked back to where it had been standing. Sabine, facing away from them, held her hand up to her mouth. Her shoulders hunched and began to shudder. Tiny noises escaped her nose, in sync with the movements of her shoulders. Behind her hand, Sabine hid a wide smile.

"Is she... is she giggling?" Fendros asked, craning his neck as if it would help to see her face better.