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

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine and Fendros both nodded in agreement to their tasks. Firing upon the mercenaries from their own vantage point would do well to cause confusion. Each of them removed their equipment and donned the robes, reequipping themselves such that the robes would not obstruct access. Sabine eyed the two mages assigned to her curiously. They were easier to see than her, but they might have magic to help them in that regard.

While Janius slid into the black robe he was given, making sure to wear his shield, belt and sword on the outside, he listened to the plan as it was proposed. Despite it relying on trusting the mercenaries to trust the cult for long enough to betray them, he had to admit that replacing the prisoners with expendable undead was a clever move.

Sabine, Fendros and Ahnasha's roles had been set, which led Janius to wonder about the rest of the pack. "Would the rest of us serve better to try and sneak around the long way to surround them, or stay by you? Also, if a fight doesn't break out on its own, what is the signal to initiate one?"

[EliteCommander]

Vinaremo shook his head. "No, we require the rest of you to join us for the fight in the courtyard, else we will be too greatly outnumbered. With the others eliminating our opponents' ambush points, we should have the advantage. Now, let us move."

For Meesei, being that she was unarmored, getting prepared was as simple as putting on the robe over what she was already wearing, though she was not very fond of it. Not only did it make her look like one of the cultists, but it felt cumbersome to wear. She would certainly discard it as soon as the fight began. Lorag took the largest cloak they had and wore it over his armor, which made him appear absolutely massive, but given the stereotypes against Orcs, it was actually believable. Kaleeth was small enough that one of the larger cloaks could fit over her rather easily, and since Ahnasha, Fendros, and Sabine were taking part in the ambush, it was not necessary for them to dawn the robes.

It was not long before the group was in sight of village, so they paused to give time for the two ambush groups to get into position. After a few minutes, Meesei, Lorag, Janius, Kaleeth, and the remainder of the cultists would head into the ruins of the town leading the skeletons disguised as prisoners. Ahnasha took the lead to guide Fendros to their target building. Much of the town was ruined, and even the building they were going to seemed to barely be standing. Once they were at its base, she signaled for Fendros to stop, then climbed up the side to peer into the second floor through the cracks in the rotting planks. After a few moments, she climbed back down to explain the situation to Fendros in a barely audible voice. "There are three upstairs. Two are sitting near each other talking, and the third is sitting near the top of the stairs to the second floor. I can take out the two on one side of the room, and you should be able to get most of the way up the stairs without being seen. Once I strike, you quickly, and quietly, take out the one near the stairs. Alright?"

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros nodded affirmatively and began to follow Ahnasha up the building. When he got to the base of the stairs, he pulled out his sword with a leathery scrape and began to creep up quietly. He caught glimpses of shadows through to the top floor and saw for himself roughly where the mercenaries were. He could already smell that they weren't bothered or even alert to anything at that moment. Once he reached the point where climbing any further would reveal himself, Fendros waited for Ahnasha to attack.

On the other side of the ruins, Sabine lead her Argonian teammates around to the back of the building that Ahnasha had pointed out, her ears open to anything nearby. Once they got close enough, Sabine was uncomfortable enough with the crunching that the cultists' shoes made on the ground that she turned to stop for a moment. She brought one foot up and tapped her fingers on the side of it, then spoke in an almost annoyed whisper, "Quiet! Your feet are too loud."

The building itself had been gutted by fire, with the material above its window frames on the outside darkened in a charred flare. Its roof was non existent save for a few collapsed pieces on the outside. Sabine gestured for the cultists to hide themselves while she jumped up and began to climb on the outside of one of the walls. People, she often found, never looked up, so she continued to the top of the wall and poked her head over to see what was inside. The inside of the walls were completely blackened by whatever fire razed the building in the first place. The ground floor was unevenly strewn with rubble and what was left of the second floor had a fairly new looking ladder leading up to it. the second floor was where four figures resided, all armed with bows and light armour. One was standing by one of the window frames as a lookout over the courtyard, one was leaning against the opposite wall facing him with his arms crossed, and the other two were seated and playing some sort of dice game.

This wouldn't be so simple to pull off if it was to be done quickly. They couldn't kill them all at once. However, there were enough to split them up. Sabine climbed down the wall and met up with the cultists, crouching down to explain the plan in the ground. She would have preferred to use body language, like Meesei did in hunts, but she understood that the cultists were probably not used to any elaborate communication of that nature. She drew some rectangles in the dirt to represent the walls in the area, then pointed to the one in the centre, "This is where they are, bowmen. One, two, three, and four." She represented each with a dot in the dirt, "All on the second floor, you can only get up with a ladder, or climbing." She pointed to both Mirisk-Kei and Nuulanth, "You two hide here and here." Sabine pointed to corners that flanked the alleyway that the building exited to. There the cultists could obscure themselves from anyone exiting the building and leap upon any one who came their way. "I will go to the door and get their attention, and lead them out. Kill them quietly as they come past." Sabine drew a line from the door, down they alleyway to the corners that the cultists might hide around. "Then, if there are any left, I will transform, climb up the outside, and kill them." Sabine looked to the cultists to confirm that they understood, though they might have other ideas to add.

[EliteCommander]

While Fendros crept up the stairs, Ahnasha took another path. Just as she had a moment ago, she quietly and carefully climbed up the side of the building, then shimmied along a narrow ledge around the building, taking care not to come within view of the neighboring building, which also contained archers. A large section of the wall facing the courtyard on the second floor had collapsed so she was able to, under the cover of invisibility, climb inside.

Ahnasha's footsteps were near completely silent as she walked straight up on the pair of archers in their makeshift chairs in the corner. One of them leaned forward and squinted his eyes at the shimmering in the air in front of him, but by the time he realized what it was, it was too late. In a single motion, Ahnasha conjured up a bound dagger in each hand and thrust them into the throats of the two Argonians seated before her. The blades severed their vocal cords, eliminating their screams before they could escape their mouths. Her invisibility had dissipated as soon as the daggers formed in her hands, so the last mercenary in the room could no doubt see her, but that was where Fendros came in.

As soon as Sabine mentioned the noise, both cultists cast muffle on themselves, which made each step completely and utterly silent, regardless of how clumsy they might be. The concept of taking orders from an outsider, let alone a little girl, was offensive to them, but she was at the least agile enough to scout out the second floor without being seen. Once Sabine returned and explained her plan, the Argonian female, Nuulanth, did not seem entirely convinced. She gave her response in as low of a whisper as she could muster. "Yes, but how do you plan to lure them out without raising the alarm? If you are spotted, they will no doubt shout out about intruders as they chase after you. You heard what Vinaremo said about losing our element of surprise."

[Muttonhawk]

The quick footsteps indicating a struggle was Fendros' cue to come in. He had a fraction of a second to register the important details of the scene while he moved. Ahnasha had bound weapons in the throats of two of the mercenaries, while the last one was just distracted enough for Fendros to approach behind him, hold a hand over his mouth, and run his sword through his middle. There was a muffled attempt at a shout and some twitches of struggle, but just before the last of the mercenary's energy left him, Fendros pulled out the soul trapping dagger from its sheath on his belt and ran it across his neck, leaving his sword embedded in him. Slitting his throat was probably more than what was required to kill him at that point, but Fendros had to make sure that the enchantment would take effect.

As the man slumped to the ground, a faint stream of misty light flowed from his body and into one of the gems Fendros carried. The light lasted only for a few moments. "That's one," Fendros whispered. He then took his sword, wiped both his weapons clean, then put them away. They had one tower, now they had to make sure the other was clear once the fight started.

Sabine didn't seem to react to Nuulanth with anything more than a silent stare at the map she had drawn. She had to admit that the plan would depend on the mercenaries not recognising Sabine as being on the cultists' side, but if these mercenaries are ready for such tricks then her plan would fall through. However, it still remained that there were four of them. How else would they be able to do this? Perhaps she would have to try something to make her look less of a threat and let them be more in control. They wouldn't raise the alarm over a young girl, would they? But they might just try to bind her on the spot, and if she ran then, they might raise the alarm. Sabine twitched her mouth, then rummaged through her potion bag to see if she had anything useful for the moment. She pulled out a small paralysis potion that would only last a few moments, but it gave her an idea.

"Can you get up the ladder and kill three before they make noise? If I sling this at one of them from the top of the wall, he will be unable to move for a few moments. It will work more than a stone from my sling, because that not kill him right away. If you can turn invisible, it might help." Sabine proposed. She had intended to use such potions against the cult if they were betrayed, but in this instance, she had to use all resources available.

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha dispelled the daggers in her hands and quickly moved the bodies away from any windows that might be visible to the building next door. Keeping low, she moved over to Fendros as she took stock of their surroundings. "If I didn't need to stay hidden, I might have tried to trap those two." She commented. Ahnasha remembered learning soul trap when she first started studying conjuration...though it had been many years since she attempted to cast it. Regardless, they would have time to take souls. For now, they needed to make sure they were ready for the ambush.

Ahnasha pointed out of the building to the courtyard below. "That is where the meeting is going to take place. We have a good angle from here, but we have to make sure to shoot down the archers on the next building over first. They are hiding out on the roof, or I would suggest taking them now. You can take a look at them through the window to make sure you know where they are, but be careful not to be spotted.

"Now, that sounds a bit better." Nuulanth responded. She turned to the other cultist and gave a nod. "Mirisk?"

The vampiric male, Mirisk-Kei, held out his hand and produced a faint green glow. "I believe a spell of silence might work here. It does more than just block magic, and I doubt these mercenaries are magically inclined enough to resist it. Still, we need to be quick. Nuulanth can take the ladder, and I can get another way up. Can you climb up the side after you take out the one on the wall?" He asked. As he spoke, he reached down to a pouch on his belt and produced what looked like the hilt of a blade. It was obviously dwemer in origin and appeared to be quite old, like something one would find in a museum. With the press of a button, a blade sprang out of it, turning it into a decently sized dagger.

[Muttonhawk]

It was without any protest that Fendros nodded to Ahnasha, acknowledging the situation with the first two mercenaries. He doubted they would miss out on the chance to find more people to soul trap before the day was done. Fendros took up a position against the wall that hid him from the second tower. He leaned to have a quick look at the other archers, but only spotted one. No matter, if there were others, they would show themselves when the 'exchange' took place. Making sure to hide any movement behind his wall, Fendros took out his bow and readied an arrow. "And now we wait."

Sabine looked at the spell that Mirisk-Kei charged in his hand. She didn't know that there was a spell for silencing people. She only thought it was an alchemical effect. It would definitely make their job easier. She looked at Mirisk-Kei's face and nodded to his question. "There is no roof. I was going to climb up and sling the potion at him from the top of the wall, climbing on the outside. Should I do something else?" Sabine asked.

[EliteCommander]

Mirisk shook his head. "No, this plan is sensible. If you are up on the wall, you can jump down after your throw to help eliminate the rest, while we come up from below. Let's get into position. We will attack the moment you strike."

With their plan set, Mirisk and Nuulanth slowly crept into the first floor of the building, over to the ladder the mercenaries had set up to reach the second floor. As planned, Nuulanth climbed partially up the ladder, completely silently thanks to her spell of muffle, while Mirisk took a position just beside the ladder where he could see the ledge above him. He readied a spell of silence in his left hand, as well as a certain telekinetic spell in his right. While he wasn't as skilled with it as his Masters, it would suffice to get him to where he needed to go.

The main group waited as long as they could to allow the others to get into position, but eventually had to start their walk into town. Vinaremo and his group took the lead, while Meesei, Lorag, Janius, and Kaleeth guided the disguised skeletons just behind him. As they neared the courtyard, their angle did not allow them to see if the others had yet succeeded, but since the rest of the mercenaries had not yet revealed themselves, they might have a few minutes yet.

[Muttonhawk]

With nothing else but another nod, Sabine stood up, replaced the paralysis potion into her bag, and quickly made her way to the edge of the building. The two cultists appeared to move to take up their own position, so she wasted no time in climbing up the wall the same way she did before. After about half a minute, she had reached the top, braced herself such that she was leaning against the wall with her feet holding on, giving her use of both her hands. It was then only a matter of taking out her sling, placing the potion in it, and taking one last peek over the wall. The mercenaries hadn't moved but it seemed as though the one leaning against the wall was having a heated conversation in jel with one of the seated ones.

Sabine spun up her sling, and released the potion, hitting the flask against the side of leaning one's face. As the flask shattered, the potion found his skin and took effect immediately, lining his body with a green sheen. The initial shock of the impact was stuck onto his face as he stood perfectly still, then slowly slid down the wall as his balance failed. By the time the other mercenaries realised what just happened, Sabine had already ducked down and was fishing for another stone in her satchel, but they would have two more problems to worry about by now.

In the courtyard, Janius scanned the buildings around them to see if there was any more movement they could spot. It was really no wonder that an ambush would be set up here. There were so many places to hide that a small army could come out at all sides to surround them. Janius hoped that the actions of Sabine, Ahnasha and Fendros could give them the edge they needed. One last time, he checked on Kaleeth to see how she was faring. He stayed close to her and the pack, just as they mentioned.

[EliteCommander]

As soon as he heard Sabine's potion smash above him, Mirisk was the first one up. He jumped while using a burst of telekinetic energy to propel him upwards enough for him to reach the second floor. It was a very primitive form of levitation, something he had learned from Lady Neesa, along with the spell in his other hand. Silence was usually meant to prevent spellcasting, but in this case, its more...literal effects were what he was after. Overall, it was a rather draining spell, especially since he needed it to cover a wide enough area to encompass all of the mercenaries. He had to put most of his magicka into it, but it was successful, and each of the four mercenaries suddenly found themselves surrounded in a glowing green energy. Since Sabine had attacked from the opposite direction, all of the hostiles had turned their heads away from him, providing him the ample opportunity to strike. Once more, he drew his dwemer dagger and brought it up to the neck of the nearest mercenary on his left. When he activated its mechanism, the blade shot out straight into his neck.

At the same time, Nuulanth climbed up the ladder and set her sights on the nearest foe to her. Before she even brought herself completely up to her feet, she launched an ice spike into his chest for a clean kill. Vinaremo had not been lying about her ability to stay hidden, as her spellcasting was particularly silent. Given that there were four hostiles, she stood up and quickly tried to find the last, but what she saw caused her eyes to widen with sudden fear. Instead of looking up to Sabine, one of the archers, whether out of foresight or simple confusion as to where the attack came from, had looked to the ladder. His bow was drawn and aimed square at her head. She was saved only by the swift action of Mirisk, who put the last of his magicka into a burst of telekinetic energy that stumbled the archer back, directly under Sabine. It did not stop the bow from firing its arrow, but it did change its course. Instead of penetrating through her skull, it pierced through her right shoulder. She was knocked back to the floor and had to hold her hands over her mouth to keep herself from screaming out in pain.

[Muttonhawk]

With the events that unfolded before her, the archer was at such an angle that slinging a stone at him was impossible. Sabine had to make the quick decision to spring herself up and over the wall, letting go of her sling as she fell. She landed on top of the mercenary and sent them both sprawling onto the ground. On one hand, the mercenary wouldn't be firing another arrow, but on the other, Sabine had to wrestle to keep the man from reaching his own blades or getting up. However strong Sabine was, she didn't have the mass to hold the man down. He was able to lift himself to his knees while Sabine kept his head pressed to the floor with one knee and tried to restrain his arms. She managed to get one arm twisted, but the mercenary quickly pulled out a dagger from his belt and thrust up roughly to where Sabine's lower back was. Noticing the shift in movement, Sabine was just able to move one arm to deflect it, but caught a deep cut to the side of her arm before she was able to grab the offending wrist. She gritted her teeth to bear the pain and to restrain her own screaming. She had to kill him now, before he made any more noise. In a quick movement she released his twisted arm, pulled out her own dagger and pushed it into his throat. The free arm was winding up to try and strike Sabine, but the shock of being stabbed caused him to try and pull at her arm in an effort to keep the blade from going any further. His eyes glazed over in front of her and soon his grip loosened.

Sabine couldn't stop yet, there was still the paralyzed one. She looked to him, pulled herself to her feet, then leaped upon him and cut his throat. She stood up, breathing quickly and shaking as she just started to notice the warm blood running down her arm. Adrenaline still ran through her, but she knew that the pain would soon come. Now she just had to check on the cultists. With wide eyes, she looked to Mirisk and saw that he was fine, then approached the edge of the floor and looked down at Nuulanth, arrow sticking out of her shoulder and all. She wouldn't regenerate like Sabine would, so she had to be healed immediately. Sabine made her way down the ladder two rungs at a time and knelt down beside her. She would probably have her own magic, and Mirisk might help, but Sabine still started to look for a healing potion in her satchel. She would just have to be careful not to get her own blood on Nuulanth's wound.

[EliteCommander]

Mirisk walked over to the edge, near the ladder as he took one of his magicka potions from his satchel. After seeing what state Nuulanth was in, he immediately downed the potion, then climbed down and knelt beside her. While Sabine was grabbing her potions, Mirisk put his hands on either side of her face and looked into her tear-filled eyes, trying his best to appear calm.

"Listen, dear, try to stay calm. It doesn't look that bad. Hurry with that potion!" He whispered forcefully. Keeping her eyes locked on him, she nodded slowly and placed one of her hands over his. "If you don't have any bandages, cut off a part of her robe. Just don't try to remove the arrow until you're ready with...oh xhuth!" He exclaimed, quickly ducking down by the window. At first, he thought it was the mercenaries he saw, but when he peered outside again, he saw that it was Vinaremo and the others. Still, if they were now at the meeting place, then the mercenaries probably wouldn't be long. "We need to hurry, the mercenaries will be here any minute." He warned.

[Muttonhawk]

Hurried along by Mirisk, Sabine quickly found a skin full of a healing potion, then began her work as fast as she could, wiping her dagger clean. It was unfortunate that neither cultist was using magical healing, as that was what Meesei normally did while Sabine assisted in healing. They would just have to make do with what they had. Sabine started by cutting strips from Nuulanth's robe, taking her entire sleeve. She cut off one section of the sleeve to use as a bandage, and used the rest to bundle up and use to absorb the blood. Both were put aside for now.

Sabine had to work one handed around the wound to make sure their blood would not mix, so cutting her robe where it obstructed the arrow was difficult. Once Sabine had some space to work with, he guided one of Mirisk's hands to the base of the arrow and instructed him with a firm whisper, "Hold open," She looked to Nuulanth, "Don't scream." Sabine then guided Nuulanth's hand back over her mouth, held the other side of the wound open with her cleaner hand, then slowly pulled the arrow from Nuulanth's shoulder, making sure the broad head didn't damage her flesh any more than it already had. Blood quickly inundated the area on and around her shoulder. Once the arrow was clear, Sabine tossed it aside, opened the potion, used her (now only relatively) clean hand to wipe some of the blood away, and poured some the potion over the wound. The next instruction Sabine gave Mirisk came after guiding his hand to hold the swaddled fabric onto her wound. "Hold closed." Frantically at this point, Sabine began to wrap the cloth against Nuulanth's wound with the makeshift bandage she made before, tying it closed tightly.

Nuulanth had lost a lot of blood. Sabine didn't know whether she was a vampire, or whether that would make any difference, but her potion would only do so much to help her recover. Before she forgot, Sabine placed the potion skin up to Nuulanth's lips, trying to get her to drink the rest. "Don't touch your lips too far up the bottle neck. My blood is on it." Sabine said quickly.

[EliteCommander]

Meanwhile, in the courtyard, the main group waited at the meeting place for a few minutes before the mercenaries finally showed themselves...and it was indeed only the mercenaries. They had over twice the number of the main group, but the noble was nowhere in sight. Instead, the one leading the force was a lieutenant in the mercenary organization. To Vinaremo, it was disappointing, but not unexpected. The lieutenant's men had a sort of uniformity about them in that they all had the same symbol on their armor, either painted on or sewn into the cloth, but it was obvious they all bought their own armor. Similarly, the mercs came in all different shapes and sizes, with some being heavy warriors, other archers or rouges, and one or two mages. More threateningly, however, were the weapons Meesei noticed them carrying. The metal some of them were forged from looked like silver, which was deadly to lycans and undead alike. They would need to be cautious.

"You said we would be meeting with your employer." Vinaremo remarked.

"And you said we would be meeting with your leaders, but it looks like we both lied, doesn't it? Now, can we just get down to business? You send over the prisoners, then I'll have my men bring out yours."

"Very well." Vinaremo answered, motioning for Meesei and the others to release the "prisoners." Meesei stepped forward first with her arms on the shoulder of the skeleton, with the others following close behind. To keep up appearances, she told the skeleton to walk straight forward while she and the others released them to join the mercenaries. They then stepped back to rejoin Vinaremo's group as quickly as possible, just to make sure they were not too close to the mercs when their deception was discovered.

"Good, good...now I will give you one chance to surrender. We have you surrounded, we have silver arrows, and as soon as I give the order, you all will..." The lieutenant began before suddenly being interrupted by Vinaremo.

"Yes, yes, you are very intimidating." He said sarcastically as he quickly reached for the scroll his masters had given him. At the same time, one of the mercenaries removed the execution hood on one of the skeletons, causing him to jump back in a sudden, frightened reaction. "Sir, these aren't-"

Before anyone could finish speaking, Vinaremo released the magic in the scroll. It disintegrated in his hands, sending outwards a veritable explosion of fog and wind, just the same as what surrounded the cult's xanmeer. The chaos that it caused sent the mercenaries into temporary disarray and allowed the skeletons to injure or kill a few of the hostiles around them before they started fighting back. Now, the main group had a solid front against the mercs while the skeletons fought from inside their ranks. The mercenaries still outnumbered them by a significant margin, but with the two groups in the vantage points on both sides, they would quickly find themselves surrounded.

"I'll take that as the signal." Ahnasha remarked, summoning up her bow and moving over to the window. As fortune would have it, there seemed to be only two archers on the neighboring building. The fog did not reach all the way up to their roof, but they still had to take a few moments to find their targets through it, which allowed them the time they needed to finish them off. Ahnasha's first arrow was a complete surprise to the Bosmer archer. He was lucky enough to protect his head with an accidental movement of his arm, but when the glowing arrow pierced through his flesh, the shock still knocked him down regardless. Before he could regain his bearings, however, she was easily able to follow through with a second shot, this time straight through his chest.

[Muttonhawk]

"Right!" Fendros agreed, peering out of the window facing the opposite roof and drawing his arrow. He released shortly after Ahnasha did at the second mercenary he saw, but the impact of Ahnasha's first arrow was warning enough for the second mercenary to duck and weave away from Fendros' initial shot. Fendros drew another arrow and stayed aiming until the mercenary poked her head out. She was fast, though, and released an arrow without much time to aim before ducking back behind cover. Fendros pulled back behind the wall and heard the arrow whizz through the window and clack against the opposite wall. Quickly, he stepped and tried another shot. The folly of the last archer was trying to shoot again once Fendros had taken cover. She didn't have time to pull back and aim fully before Fendros did. Shortly after releasing his arrow, Fendros saw it fly straight to where the mercenary squatted and witnessed its shaft angle upwards as her head did, before her body slumped back.

Fendros drew another arrow and aimed at the tower for a moment. "Was that all of them?" He asked, "I'll need to get down to the courtyard if we are going to trap any more of their souls."

In the courtyard, Janius wasted no time in pulling back his hood to reveal his helmeted head, drawing his axe, and holding his shield out in front of him in a defensive posture. It was tempting to go into the fray and kill as many as he could while the mercenaries were disorganised, but he knew that he had to protect the pack and the cultists. Besides, the cultists were the ones with offensive magic on their side.

Trying to wrest some control from the situation, a nearby stocky Nord in heavy looking steel armour charged towards the cultists with a large lustrous sword in two hands. "Silver," Janius breathed. Janius shuffled his position and feinted at the Nord to stop his charge. Clearly enraged, but not without some self-preservation left, the Nord slowed and brought his attention to Janius. He swung down heavily at Janius' shoulder, causing Janius to step back and deflect the blow with his shield. The Nord hit hard, and was fast enough to reel back and swing at Janius' side before he could retaliate. Janius blocked this blow as well, then closed the distance between himself and his assailant and chopped at his middle. The Nord tried to step back, but wasn't fast enough. Janius' axe hit him with a muffled metallic thud and the Nord stumbled backwards with a large scratch on his cuirass for his troubles. Janius would have finished him off if not for the spear wielding, more nimble-garbed Argonian stepping up to strike. The Argonian thrust his spear at Janius with only just enough time to deflect it. He was forced back again while he struggled to be everywhere at once.

In the building on the other side, Sabine was beginning to look incredulous at Nuulanth's wounds. "The potion, it's not...It's supposed to help more." Sabine's mind tried to find a solution. Was it poison? Argonians are not supposed to be affected by poison as harshly as this, perhaps she was a vampire, and...Sabine scuttled over to the arrow she had pulled from Nuulanth and held its head up. She tried wiping away the blood that was left on it and winced as the contact with her skin burned her. She pulled back her finger and looked at the redness now on it, then turned her head to Mirisk. "Is Nuulanth undead, or a lycan?" She asked.

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha looked out the window down at the courtyard for a moment, then shook her head. "No, we will be more useful up here. We can take the souls of the injured if there are any after the fight." She answered. Ahnasha readied her bow and started picking out targets. Although the fog made it more difficult, it wasn't quite as thick as back at the xanmeer, so she was able to pick out the mercenaries' forms. "Aim for the back of the group, at the archers and mages. That will be the most helpful." She advised.

Behind the building Ahnasha and Fendros were using, another group was going unnoticed. They were quiet, cautious, and patiently taking stock of their situation. They were far from unskilled, so until they revealed themselves, they would remain unseen. To them, this...situation was far from ideal, but it was not unsalvagable.

As the fog rolled over the area and the fight broke out, Mirisk looked back to Sabine and shook her head. "No, she is mortal. Just...we need to get to a better vantage point, back upstairs." He suggested, rushing back over to her. "Come on love, can you stand? We don't want to be down here if they rush this building."

Nuulanth was still breathing erratically, but nodded nonetheless. She groaned as Mirisk helped her to her feet and up the ladder. The pain from the wound stung more than she anticipated, so she dropped down and leaned up against a wall as soon as she made it to the second floor. Mirisk was quick to kneel down beside her again, but she shook her head and tried to push him away. "No, get to the window and give them support. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Mirisk asked, reluctant to leave her side in such a state.

"The bandage is stopping the bleeding enough, I'll be fine. Just protect Vinaremo and the others." Though reluctant, Mirisk agreed and dashed over to the second floor window to lend a hand with his own spellfire.

Though they were in chaos for a short duration, the lieutenant was quick to back of from the frontline and rally everyone back into formation. As he shouted out orders, one of his few mages demonstrated that these mercenaries were not incompetent. The Redguard mage cast a spell of turn undead at the skeletons in the middle of their lines, causing each of them to suddenly try to run away. This, of course, allowed the silver wielding warriors fighting them to get in several easy strikes each. Despite their armor, the silver from the weapons allowed them to cut down the undead thralls fairly easily, so the mercenaries were able to focus their efforts. Both Meesei and Vinaremo's group were able to get a few spells into their ranks while they were disorganized, but the shield bearers moved quickly to the front. While not enchanted, each of them bore tower shields to provide as much protection as possible.

Meesei's group was taking on the left flank, while Vinaremo's handled the right. There were a few that rushed to engage Janius and Kaleeth to her left, but she had to focus her attention on the three sword and shield bearing foes advancing on her and Lorag. Meesei opened with a storm of lightning that arced to each one in front of her, but unfortunately, their shields were insulated so that the lightning did not actually pass into them. Meesei was not deterred, however. Even if her opening attack was ineffective, she still had many, many facets of magic to try against them.

[Muttonhawk]

Taking Ahnasha's advice, Fendros looked for targets near the rear of the mercenaries' rapidly recuperating formations. He had less arrows than there were enemies on the battlefield, but there were always the arrows of the dead archers to use if he needed them. In any case, he would have to make his shots count. His eye was first caught by the Redguard who turned the skeletons around. Naturally, it seemed that these people were prepared to fight the undead and spellcasters. Fendros lined up his shot carefully, then released an arrow aimed at his neck. With all the chaos down below, it was hard to predict movements from this distance and angle, but it was a better set of conditions than if they were on the ground with them all.

Sabine dropped the arrow. If the wound wasn't closing with just that potion she provided to Nuulanth, and she wasn't vulnerable to silver, then the arrow might have simply caused more damage than Sabine had estimated. All in all, she wasn't used to treating wounds without the assistance of magical healing as well, at least not wounds as bad as this. At least Nuulanth could still breath.

Not wanting her to sit dying, Sabine pulled out another flask from her satchel with a weak regenerative effect and pushed it in to Nuulanth's hands. "Drink this as well. Don't die," Sabine said plainly, though with a hint of sympathy after witnessing her and Mirisk's apparent relationship. Having done all she could, Sabine backed away and went to pick up her sling. All the chaos of the battle was making her uneasy, and when she grasped her sling in her hand, she had to scrunch her eyes shut to not yelp at the pain in her left wrist. It would heal quickly, having not been silver, but it still hurt. She might have mitigated the pain with a potion, but she only had one left on her person after treating Nuulanth. All the rest were in the hands of the pack. Nevertheless, she was still able to pick targets across the courtyard and attempt to hit them with slung rocks. Shots to the head were most effective.

The main fight was starting to shift in advantage now that the skeletons were out of the picture. Janius saw them forming up and rallying. After fending off the spearman for a moment longer, he stepped back and withdrew behind his friendly lines, Giving Janius to step back as well. The previously off-balance Nord had been overcomitted and was felled by a powerful firebolt from one of the cultists. Janius stood by Kaleeth again and kept his eyes on the advancing shield wall. There were too many to flank them, and the initial destruction spells against their surfaces proved fruitless. Janius even tossed a fireball of his own into the mix, but apart from halting one of the shield bearers for a step, no damage was done. They soon came close enough that the long spears that stuck out between the shields began to threaten them. Janius had to rely on his neighbours for protection from other spears, but from his front, he was able to trap one spear under the beard of his axe and snap off its head under his own strength. They were only a few paces away from the weapon reach of the shield bearers themselves. When that happened, the real melee would begin.

Janius could feel his heart beating hard. A battle on this scale was bigger than the slayers' lair near Vos. This was probably the biggest battle he had ever been a part of.

[EliteCommander]

Given the range and visual obstructions, Fendros' arrow didn't quite hit the Redguard in the neck, but where it did hit was pretty much as good. The arrow impaled itself diagonally through his torso; a shot that was not necessarily instantly lethal, but was very likely to cause his death within a few minutes. Down in the courtyard, it was hard to tell exactly where they were aiming, but it was easy to tell that the arrows and spells coming from Ahnasha and Sabine's groups were aimed at the mercenaries, indicating that they had been successful.

On Vinaremo's flank, they had expected the skeletons to last longer, so they weren't quite prepared for the mercenaries sudden advance. One of his men ended up being bashed down by a tower shield and quickly run through with a silver spear. Their charge was only halted when Vinaremo fired two ice spikes into the flesh of the mercenary executing him, then blasted a wave of fire across the others, forcing them to halt and hide behind their shields for a moment. Most of the mercenaries were hiding safely behind the line of shield-bearers, waiting for them to advance close enough to charge, though there were some archers in the back trying to fire through the fog over their own forces.

While the two other cultists backed up to provide support from a distance, Vinaremo and Orskan held their positions on the right flank. "Orskan, do it!" Vinaremo shouted, looking to his friend with a nod.

As the shield-bearers once again started to advance, Orskan subtly made use of his own magic, reanimating both the slain cultist and the mercenary who killed him. With the mental link between them, he instructed the undead mercenary to guard the cultist while he struck from behind. At the same time, Vinaremo cast a shield spell, then conjured up a most interesting weapon: a bound two-handed katana. He stood in the stance of a practiced combatant with magicka pulsing through his being while he waited for his opportunity to strike. Meanwhile, Orskan used bursts of telekinetic energy to deflect any arrows that got to close and had a ward ready to block enemy spells.

On the pack's flank, the mercenaries were advancing in a similar manner, but Meesei's strategy to stop them was a bit different. She was no necromancer, but her knowledge of the forces of nature and the magic involved with it could sew chaos among the most organized ranks, specifically her knowledge of the element she was most attuned with: lightning. There were some, relatively unknown spells that she knew which she rarely had reason to use, but now was one of those times. The mercenaries raised their spears at her as she walked towards them, but stopped in their tracks once she activated her first spell. It was lightning form, which was like a combination between a shock shield spell and lightning cloak. Instead of surrounding her with lightning, it looked as if her flesh became lightning, even if that wasn't quite the case. The spell provided her with some protection against physical and lightning attacks, as well as sending out smaller arcs of electricity in a radius around her...not to mention that it made her appear like the electric-Argonian version of a flame atronach. Meesei ran at the shield line and, just before reaching the tips of their spears, made use of another old spell, bolt escape. It allowed her a form of short range teleportation in which she transferred herself straight through them in a bolt of lightning, then reappeared on the other side, which put her in range for her lightning form to minorly electrocute the enemies around her. Not only did the spell cause a fair amount of surprise, it also electrocuted those she passed through. While not strong enough to kill or seriously injure them, it was sudden enough to stun and drop them to the ground. She repeated the spell again to escape the mercenaries' lines, this time passing through the spearmen in front of Janius and Kaleeth. The majority of their enemy's front lines on their flank were now stunned on the ground for a few moments, which gave them the perfect opportunity to strike.

Unfortunately, even through the fog, The mercenary lieutenant was an observant and quick-reacting commander. For the right flank, he shouted out and warned his front line about the reanimated corpses behind them, then ordered ordered a few men to shift to that side, surround, and eliminate the thralls before they could be a threat. On the pack's flank, he directed the archers behind him to fire a volley in their direction, forcing them to block and evade long enough that they could not take advantage of the opening Meesei created before they recovered.

Back up on the hill, Ahnasha had been more liberal with her arrows than Fendros, since she could just summon up more when needed. It was difficult to aim accurately through the fog, but she managed to hit at least three archers in the back. It was hard to tell if the hits were lethal or not, but any hit from an arrow would be debilitating at least. She noticed how organized the mercenaries seemed to be, and more importantly, she could see why. Even from her position, she could hear the lieutenant shouting out his orders. As luck would have it, though, she and Fendros had a good line of sight on him.

"Fendros, you see that officer down there? It looks like he is directing them. We need to take him out. Get ready, and let's hit him with a volley together." She suggested.

On the other side of the battlefield, Mirisk too saw how effectively the lieutenant was leading. He glanced to Sabine beside him and pointed him out in the crowd. "We need to eliminate that one; he is directing them far too well. How accurate are you with that sling?"

[Muttonhawk]

Janius was prepared to take the initiative and slam the shield bearer in front of him off balance once in reach, but he was surprised and momentarily blinded by Meesei's lightning-wreathed form bursting forth from behind the lines. Janius almost lashed out in defense before he recognised the shape as Meesei. Behind her, many of the mercenaries fumbled over their own feet, some outright falling over as they lost control of their nerves for a moment. Janius saw the opportunity and ran forward to take it, felling the nearest shield bearer in front of him by a swing to his neck. So focused was he on taking advantage of the situation that he didn't see the archers levelling their arrows towards him and the lines behind him. He needed warning.

Fendros loosed another arrow towards what looked like another mage. A miss. He stopped before shooting again to look down Ahnasha's arm, trying to spot what she was pointing out. The officer looked like he was the one barking out the commands. If they could kill him, the mercenary lines would soon falter. Fendros nodded firmly, then drew another arrow aimed in the commander's direction, "Alright, on your count," Fendros said.

Mirisk's target was a difficult one for Sabine to pick out at first, but as soon as she saw the commander, she placed another stone in her sling. "I could hit him if there weren't so many people running in front of him, but I will try," Sabine said without being sure. She spun up the stone and released it, the trajectory right to the commander's head. Before it reached him, though, the commander shifted without warrant and the stone whizzed behind him, finding the shoulder of an armoured mercenary nearby. The stone glanced off the mercenary's pauldron and left not only a jarring blow, but a sizable dent. Regardless, the commander was still up. "Make him still!" Sabine raised her voice in frustration, then readied another stone.

[EliteCommander]

"Janius, archers!" Meesei shouted as Janius was executing one of the, but it was clear that there was no way he would react in time. Meesei teleported herself in front of him and forced away the first of the arrows with a burst of telekinetic energy. The second flew straight past her, but was close enough to her that her lightning form actually arced to it and threw it off course. The third, however, Meesei blocked with her own body. It impacted in her torso directly over her right lung, but to this, her lightning form proved a lifesaver. It provided resistance enough that the arrow only pierced an inch or two before coming to a halt on her rib. She was able to remove it quickly, but regardless, the silver burned her flesh and shot pain through her body. It was enough to distract her as one of the mercenaries she had stunned rose from the ground with her spear trained on Meesei's throat. Lorag rushed to defend, and even Kaleeth could overcome her fear to try and help when Meesei was in danger, but only Janius was truly close enough to help in time.

"I...don't know if I can hit him with paralysis from here. It is very draining to make it cover an area and..." Mirisk began, interrupting himself with a hiss. "Bah, let's just hit him with everything we have!" He shouted in frustration before unleashing a torrent of fireballs in the commander's direction. Some missed, some hit the mercenaries around him, and few found their marks melting through his armor.

"Fire." Ahnasha's voice sounded as soon as she had a bead on their target. Simultaneously, they fired the lieutenant. It wasn't surprising that the first volley missed, but Ahnasha was more than happy to follow up with another, and there were enough arrows on the bodies of the archers around them to let Fendros spend a few more shots than usual on this target. On the second round of arrows, Fendros' shot pierced through one of the more lightly armored spots near his ankle, which made him a considerably less agile target. Frantically, he raised his shield in their direction and blocked another from Fendros after that, but then a stone from Sabine hit him in the back and threw him off balance. He tried to find a direction to run, but nowhere seemed safe. As he tried hobbling to the back of his forces, a fireball slammed into his back, turning the metal of his armor a bright orange, which once of Ahnasha's arrows was easily able to pierce.

"It looks like we tore him to pieces from all sides." Ahnasha commented. "They're without leadership, now we just have to..." Ahnasha's words were interrupted when she suddenly found she could no longer move her lips, or indeed, any part of her body. Both her and Fendros were now like statues, encased in an area paralysis spell that was fired into the room from the window behind them. They fell to the ground in the same positions they had been standing as the group that had been skulking outside rushed upstairs. They had the same symbols on their armor as the mercenaries below, with the exception of one. He was a black scaled Argonian with no horns and red feathers who looked entirely out of place in the battlefield, as his clothes were expensive and only slightly muddied by the marsh. He wore fine jewelry and looked to be entirely unarmed.

"Looks like I got them, sir. Should I finish them off?" A Breton man asked as he stood over their frozen bodies with a shortsword in hand. With the medium armor he was wearing, he did not look much like a standard mage, though he obviously was to have paralyzed them.

"No, this fight isn't going as planned, and they might be useful to us. Tie them up and bring them to the wagon. We're leaving." The finely-dressed Argonian ordered. The others in the room, about seven in all, were each well armed and armored with crossbows and blades alike. They crowded around them with weapons at the ready as the Breton gathered up the rope to bind them.

"Unless you wish to meet an abrupt end, do not try anything. I know not if you are one of these foul vampires, but the silver bolts in these crossbows will kill just as well as steel if you are not. Do not so much as lift a finger against us, or you will find yourself with a new hole in your skull." The Argonian warned.

Ahnasha was the first to be bound, but even after her paralysis was dispelled, she did not resist. They were far outnumbered in close range with enemies armed with silver. Even if she took out one or two, there was no way she could best seven at once. Transforming wasn't a better option, since it took enough time that they could riddle her with crossbow bolts before she could take her werewolf form. Once the Breton was done tying her arms behind her back, he moved on to Fendros. Hopefully, they would have a better chance at escape later on.