18+ Hands of the Sorrowful Knight

[Simus]

Alice smiled at the preoccupied and disheveled Dunmer as he bowed his head to her. He was strange and seemed ill at ease with himself but she liked him. He seemed someone who carried a heavy burden and who wasn't always in control of what he did or saw. Alice could relate to that and looked upon him kindly whereas most others here, including Titus saw him as too strange to have anything to do with. He was also looking wistfully at her and that was flattering. She gently took his hand and smiled up at him. "I'd be happy to have you along. Always nice to have some company while stalking prey after all. Though since I'll be invisible I daresay I'll be shadowing you. What's your name by the way? Mine's Alice."

Titus silently scoffed at the other Imperial. He wasn't a fool for going his own way. Alice would do that if not for that Dunmer volunteering to come with her. He was a fool for thinking he could scour the entire village with no backup, and for insulting this old man who had done nothing but offer to help them. Their argument was a stupid waste of time but Titus had to side with the Breton on this one. At least from a logic standpoint, his smell was anything but relaxing. He walked over to the other Imperial and pushed a hard glare into his personal space.

"Listen up Oh Master of Sneaking About. This isn't an adventure book where you can just turn back a few pages if you die, then start again knowing exactly what's in front of you. This is real life with real monsters who will eat your head off, assuming they can stomach your ego, and where none of us really know what's in this village. Or what or who could be watching us right now. You wanna slink around alleys like a skeever and stab zombies that's fine by me, but at least try to stay close to us. I don't want to be here any longer than I have to and having to behead your rotting corpse is going to make me and us stay longer."

Titus then readied his skyforge steel battleaxe and took up the rear of the group. "I'll cover our asses and flanks. Our mysterious leader should probably take point. Looks to me like he's got all the answers."

Alice sighed internally. Titus usually had good intentions but his follow through tended to start fights. She really, really hoped she wouldn't have to fix any of their heads today, or his. That would take at least an era.

 

[Pufftuff]

Vladier couldn't help but admire the Imperial's gusto, but he knew it fool hardy as well. He smiled avoiding all but laughing at this young mans misplaced heroism. "This old man, is much more capable than he could know." He thought to himself. But it was no sweat off his back if this man wanted to get himself killed.

"Listen up Oh Master of Sneaking About. This isn't an adventure book where you can just turn back a few pages if you die, then start again knowing exactly what's in front of you. This is real life with real monsters who will eat your head off, assuming they can stomach your ego, and where none of us really know what's in this village. Or what or who could be watching us right now. You wanna slink around alleys like a skeever and stab zombies that's fine by me, but at least try to stay close to us. I don't want to be here any longer than I have to and having to behead your rotting corpse is going to make me and us stay longer." Vladier couldn't help but agree with what this man was saying.

The male twin then readied his skyforge steel battleaxe and took up the rear of the group. "I'll cover our asses and flanks. Our mysterious leader should probably take point. Looks to me like he's got all the answers." Waiting patiently waiting to hear what Kvothe had to say before they left, the fairly light rain turned to a downpour. He could feel the evil growing, "Whatever we are gonna do we need to do it soon." he said soaking to the bone luckily the dark just made him stronger. The Breton then turned back to the Khajiit, "Very well if you are to cover the Bosmer you need to learn this spell," pulling out a tome with much scribbling on it. Vladier turned to the page and showed the Khajiit. "it's much different than a normal invisibility spell you cast on yourself, think of it more of a Fury or Fear spell. You need to channel a lot of magical energy and control the surrounding beings minds to not see an area." He looked at the Khajiit and asked. "Think you can handle it? If your as good as you say you are should be a fairly simple transfer."

 

[EpicVakarian]

It seemed as though the group was opting for Vladier's invisibility rather than my protection. I accepted this; I could always throw up the ward if we needed it later. But for now, I decided to use this as an opportunity to get to know Titus better.

"I'll hang back with Titus. If you need the ward later, I'll put it up, but until then, I'll help Titus guard the rear." I looked at Titus out of the corner of my eyes and gave a little smirk. It was strange, looking down at a man who was older than me. I wasn't short, but Titus was particularly short; just reaching five feet, nearly a foot shorter than me.

It looked as though the plan was sorted for now; Majir-Dar and Valin on one rooftop, Alice and the Dunmer on the other side. Kvothe would lead the way through the streets. Me and Titus would follow behind him, with Vladier between us cloaking all three of us. The Imperial man would sneak around the buildings and take the Draugr by surprise. It seemed a solid plan. I readied up, making sure I was stood beside Titus. This would be a good opportunity to see who he was exactly and how he fought. I might even be able to learn some more about what I thought of him; I wasn't entirely sure myself.

 

[CapObvious]

The touching of hands between the two of them sent a small, warm feeling through his fingertips and to his hand. Not surprising, it had been years since he had physically came into contact with anyone. But something about this young woman told him that she wasn't just anyone.

Then she spoke to him, and that alone almost proved him correct.

"I'd be happy to have you along. Always nice to have some company while stalking prey after all. Though since I'll be invisible I daresay I'll be shadowing you. What's your name by the way? Mine's Alice."

Alice? That was certainly an interesting name. But this was certainly an interesting woman. She seemed competent, sharper than the finest arrow she carried in her quiver. But he could also sense a gentleness, something Dolmas didn't really understand.

Dolmas could already tell he liked the woman, and that he would not regret joining her.

Still no sign of Valen or the wolf. But he knew they would be back. They didn't have a schedule to keep or anything, and Dolmas certainly wasn't complaining.

Dolmas smiled at her again, and spoke as kindly as she had to him. "A pleasure, miss Alice. You may call me Dolmas."

Their introduction was interrupted however, as the old man shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Look you little whelp!" The Old man demanded, stepping slowly toward the hooded imperial. "I've been dealing with undead crisis since the best part of you was dripping down your mothers leg! The undead, especially with a curse of this magnitude, if you go off alone you're just gonna be one more corpse we have to cut through!"

The imperial, looking a little surprised by the old man's anger, started pouring out all of his hot air.

"Little whelp! Say, old man, didn't you ever hear of the adage that wisdom comes with knowledge, not with age? Maybe you had better stay with the group, so you have someone to cover you while you advance upon the hordes of death on your cane, but I assure you I'd do just fine," "Maybe I'm not old enough to have the wrinkles of a Dragur, but I have been dealing with undead, quite literally, since I was 'dripping down my mother's leg'. You know nothing of it."

And here come's Valen. You should let him go on his own, you bag of bones. I would be more than happy to cut him to pieces. Better sharpen your blade though, Dolm. I doubt it can cut through the man's ego. OR his thick skull.

Looks like the two of them agreed for a change.

If he becomes trouble, I'll let you have the honors.

Ignoring the rest of the argument, which now dragged in Alice's brother, Dolmas stepped over beside Alice. He didn't want to encourage Valen to make a reappearance, knowing that if he let him out once, it could make things much, much worse.

After the brother ended the argument, rather bluntly he thought, the group started to form into its parties, starting with the bubble woman. Dolmas looked to Alice and nodded toward the rooftop. "Ready to go?"

 

[The OP3RaT0R]

A dark-haired Imperial warrior, looking to be the twin of the Imperial woman who had tagged along, moved in close to Astius and glared. The man was more than a head lower than Astius, who could have laughed as this man blustered up into his hood; he held no ill opinion of the vertically challenged, but this just managed to tickle his usually dormant sense of humor. The man was well-built, granted, but his efforts to convey his message through loud noises and an image of superior combat expertise did little for Astius. "Listen up Oh Master of Sneaking About. This isn't an adventure book where you can just turn back a few pages if you die, then start again knowing exactly what's in front of you. This is real life with real monsters who will eat your head off, assuming they can stomach your ego, and where none of us really know what's in this village." Surely they'll prefer your sense of self-righteousness, Astius thought as he looked down at the stern warrior. Does this fool think I don't grasp the gravity of this situation?

"Or what or who could be watching us right now. You wanna slink around alleys like a skeever and stab zombies that's fine by me, but at least try to stay close to us. I don't want to be here any longer than I have to and having to behead your rotting corpse is going to make me and us stay longer."

Do I have to speak more slowly? I DID say I would offer support. With the Imperial's departure from his personal space to the rear guard, Astius set to waiting for the signal to break for the alleys, impatiently testing his hidden blade, shnk, shnk, shnk, shnk.

 

[Valin Oakthorn]

Valin almost laughed when the dunmer had offered to move along the other rooftops. The dunmer didn't seem the sort to climb, in fact, Valin wanted to see him climb the building just for laughs. The woman interested him though, there weren't a lot of archers in skyrim, and especially not a lot of good ones. He would watch and see just how she fared.

Even more interesting to the ranger was the dagi at his side. One of his most trusted members of his pack was a dagi. Valin knew just how skilled they were at climbing and magic. The ranger definitely was not disappointed with the skill set of his partner compared to the woman's.

The bosmer turned to the khajiit, who was not far from him. "Alright, if we're going to work together, we had better know each other's names. I'm Valin." The ranger almost added on that he was an alpha of a pack, but he wasn't so sure he could trust the people around him with this information.

Valin was trying to ignore the argument going on between an older fellow, and another who wished to leave the group. Valin knew it was foolish to go off by yourself, but what did it matter to him. If the man died, it meant one less person that the ranger would have to talk to. Anyone foolish enough to make choices like that deserved to die, as far as Valin was concerned.

 

[Majir-Dar]

"Very well if you are to cover the Bosmer you need to learn this spell, it's much different than a normal invisibility spell you cast on yourself, think of it more of a Fury or Fear spell. You need to channel a lot of magical energy and control the surrounding beings minds to not see an area. Think you can handle it? If your as good as you say you are should be a fairly simple transfer."


Majir-Dar's eyes widened in awe. It was the kind of awe one feels when the obvious has just been pointed out to them. Majir-Dar nodded his head as he spoke, "Yes I can handle it, quite spectacular I might add. I think I see a few ways to make it better but we can work all that out later."

Majir-Dar then heard a muscular, tanned Bosmer speak. He was wearing leather armour matched with a curved Bosmeri bow. The mer reminded Majir-Dar of home, of his people, of his forests, and of his family. The mer said, "Alright, if we're going to work together, we had better know each other's names. I'm Valin."

"I am Majir-Dar, nice to meet you. Did you live in Valenwood or the Tenmar Forests? You remind me very much of my homeland," He said this with a bow. He bent his back and moved his tail over his head. While waiting on Valin's response, Majir-Dar had to stop himself from laughing at the argument between the Imperial and the others, but he managed to control himself. His favorite bit was when the old man said, "I've been dealing with undead crisis since the best part of you was dripping down your mothers leg!" Majir-Dar thought about casting an area affect calm spell but wasn't sure how anyone would feel about that. On one hand it would end the argument, on the other they may get angry at him (after the calm spell wore off of course).

 

[Valin Oakthorn]

Valin was rather shocked that the khajiit had been so polite. Valin nodded kindly, accepting the bow. "Yes, actually. I live in Valenwood with a group of... associates, and, in fact, one of them is a dagi, much like you." The ranger said, weaving his words, just so. He wished to avoid direct mention of his lycanthropy, but not seem impolite. Valin was rather happy to speak to someone like this, though he was careful not to let his guard down. He had, after all, just met the khajiit. "It's nice to meet you Majir-Dar. I'm glad to have you as a partner." Valin said, hoping to become somewhat of an acquaintance with the dagi.

Valin turned his nose slightly up, he hoped to use sent to aid them, but the death seemed to overwhelm. No matter what he tried, the scent of rotting flesh masked the rest. He was however able to pick up Majir-Dar's and figured that might be useful during the invisibility use.

There seemed to be a bit of downtime at the moment. Valin decided to be proactive while he spoke to his partner. He reached to his side and opened a small pouch. He pulled out a small vile with an odd liquid filling just two thirds of the bottle. The ranger then pulled out some red flowers that he had found back in Valenwood, the pack had taken to calling them fire blossoms, but Valin doubted that was their true name. The bosmer crushed the flowers in his hand, and dropped them into the vile. A small reaction went off and the flowers seemed to turn to sparks within the liquid that was now tinted red.

Valin dipped a few of his arrows in the vile, he doubted any regular arrows would kill a... whatever they were fighting... in a single blow. Fire seemed to be rather effective to them though.

 

[Simus]

(OOC: By the way, I've edited Titus' height to 5'6" from 5'0". That seemed a little unrealistic for a guy. I'd appreciate it if you guys edited any appropriate descriptions. Unless of course you think he's fine where he is.)

"Let's go." Alice said, easily climbing to the roof of a house via the flower beds, windows, and other handholds. Such climbing presented the men with the opportunity to look up her skirt but her bodysuit protected her unmentionables so she wasn't worried. It would be a good way to pick out the pigs of the group anyway. After getting her footing and giving the shingles a few good taps with her boot she looked down to Dolmas. "Roof is stable! Come on up!" She squatted down on the roof and extended her right arm to help him up if he needed it. Despite what he said about being a good tracker he didn't look very climby.

Titus saw Lyanna's little smirk and returned with his own. She was a very interesting woman and he was looking forward to getting to know her. She seemed to reciprocate his interests. He did have one worry though. If she was part of the Vigil, and she had the bearing, she probably wouldn't look kindly on his being a werewolf. He was in no rush to tell her as a result, but he would have to tell everyone sooner or later.

I'll wait until a quiet moment to tell her, along with everyone else. I like this girl and I don't want to scare her off. Hopefully I won't have to shift today. At least not until nightfall when the wolves come out.

 

[CapObvious]

"Let's go." The young woman said, as she made her way for the first building.

Dolmas watched as Alice gracefully climbed up to the roof, using every hand and foot hold to her advantage. Dolmas continued to be impressed by the woman, now adding her agility to the nice sized list. Dolmas couldn't help but smile to himself as she reached the top.

Where do they make women like this?

Alice felt around the top of the roof with her boot, no doubt making sure it could hold the the two of them. As many of the buildings were either on fire or falling apart from decay, Dolmas was glad to see that this one was up to his satisfaction. After another minute or two, Alice calls from the top down to him. "Roof is stable! Come on up!" She then knelt down to the edge of the roof and held down her hand, probably to help Dolmas up.

Whether Dolmas would need it or not was anyone's guess. He prayed that he wouldn't make a fool out of himself in front of the others, especially the bosmer and khajiit that were going to be climbing the opposite side. The bosmer seemed to be taking glances at Dolmas as he prepared to climb, probably hoping for a good laugh.

Dolmas wouldn't give him the chance.

Dolmas rubbed his hands together and grabbed at the supports, lifting himself unto the next hold, and the next. He was no climber, and certainly not a acrobat, but he wasn't clambering and flailing like a child afraid of heights either.

Noticing Alice's hand as it came back into view, Dolmas decided whether he needed it or not. He could certainly climb up the rest of the way without trouble. But blatantly ignoring the help seemed rude, and foolish. With luck like his, Valen would make his hand lose grip and let him fall, just for giggles.

Damn it Dolm, you always see me coming! You're no fun.

Taking the safe way, he grabbed Alice's arm and used it as leverage to lift himself up the rest of the way, until he was standing on the edge looking down at the others. He looked back to Alice and nodded his thanks.

The height made Dolmas feel a slight rush, and as he looked to the other rooftops, he saw that he could navigate them easily He almost felt at home.

If Dolmas wasn't careful, he might actually enjoy having the wolf's reflexes.

He lowered himself and inched his way to the other side, to get a better visual. The smoke was even thicker there, however, and Dolmas almost choked. He edged back to the other side, waiting for the others to get ready before going on.

 

[Valin Oakthorn]

Valin had just finished dipping his arrows when the dunmer began to climb up. He did better than the ranger expected, but it was still rather fun to watch. He figured that he might as well take to the rooftops as well. He turned to the building, opposite the one they had climbed.

The building looked to be an old shop or in. Some barrels were stacked up, he would start there. He saw a shop sign, and then a flower bed attached to a window. Then he would be only a jump up from the roof.

Valin dashed towards the barrels, stepping quickly on two of them, he leaped towards the sign. The sign, its marking now burnt off swung as Valin's foot reached it. Jumping, his hands found the flowerbed, and the ranger grabbed on. He looked down, fifteen feet, he decided against falling. Pulling himself up, he readied himself. He jumped up and back, it be tough to recover from a miss here. His fingers barely found the overhang and he swung himself up. There were holes in the roof, it worried him but things seemed fine.

He looked down and nodded at the dagi. This would be the real show. Valin had seen dagi who were considered "poor climbers" reach branches just as easily as Valin, who had been practicing for years. The dagi in his pack seemed to make a game out of climbing higher than the rest. One could say Valin almost get excited to see the skills of the breed. "Come on up, the overhang is pretty sturdy." He called down to his partner.

 

[Majir-Dar]

Majir-Dar watched as the woman, Alice, and the Dunmer, Dolmas, climbed up their building. Alice seemed agile, and well explored in the art of climbing but the Dunmer looked quite clumsy (especially to Majir-Dar). He watched Alice as she climbed and noticed he could get a good look up her skirt, however he refrained himself from doing so. He didn't want to be pointed out as a lecherous fool... yet.

Majir-Dar then turned his focus to his new, Bosmer comrade, the mer was dripping arrows in a vial. It was probably a poison, as he doubted Valin would put a potion on his arrows. When he had finished with his tedious (but rewarding) task of poisoning his arrows, he dashed towards a building. It looked like it used to be a shop or inn, but it was rather decayed at the moment. That, however, wasn't the main attraction, Majir-Dar watched on as Valin climbed the building. The mer was an obvious expert in the art, and looked quite talented. Majir-Dar then saw Valin give a nod and say, "Come on up, the overhang is pretty sturdy."

Majir-Dar nodded back to Valin and studied the building as he ran. The building looked odd compared to most other Skyrim architecture, but easy enough to climb. As Majir-Dar closed in on the shop, he jumped and latched onto a support beam. He ran up the pole using his sharp claws and strong arms, he reached the roof in nearly half the time it took Valin.

Once on top of the roof, he spoke to Valin, "You climb well comrade, it seems the forests have treated you excellently. As we climb and get closer to the undead I'll start casting the invisibility spell. It should help protect you as long as you don't do anything foolish. Not saying you will of course, just a word of warning," Majir-Dar readied the spell in one hand but refrained from casting it. As casting it now would only be a waste of his magicka reserves.

 

[Valin Oakthorn]

Valin watched as Majir-Dar climbed the building with ease. There was an innocence to his climbing, he didn't seem boastful or proud, he just simply climbed.

Majir-Dar gave Valin a complement, about his climbing. Valin smiled and thanked him. The ranger pulled his bow off his chest and knocked and arrow. A while ago, a crossbow user had advised him to make a few notches in certain parts of the bow. The worked well, he checked that they were still intact, and then quivered his arrow.

He moved the bow back around his body. As we climb and get closer to the undead I'll start casting the invisibility spell. It should help protect you as long as you don't do anything foolish. Not saying you will of course, just a word of warning," Majir-Dar said to Valin. The khajiit was a kind man from what Valin could tell. He was careful not to say anything that could be thought of as even somewhat offensive. Valin like that about him.

"Ok. How far will the corpses need to be to see us." Valin asked. He needed to know if he would be taking out an archer every time he saw one, or if he could avoid the waste of arrows.

 

[EpicVakarian]

Titus smirked back at me, and I winked. I couldn't help but notice he wasn't entirely focused on me, as if he was battling with something inside his own head. I was curious as to what it was, but I let it be for now. Instead, I turned to Kvothe.

"Shall we be off, then? Everyone else is in position, its just the four of us that need to move."

 

[Kir the Silent]

Kvothe listened to the conversation stoically. He heard their suggestions, their available skills, and even a few arguments. He remained silent as it continued like this for a few minutes. He even closed his eyes at one point to 'see' through another point of view. His ebony eyes opened and observed his companions. Each had their own reasons and motivations for continuing along, but he didn't mind.

He knew that they had taken the first steps down a dangerous and dark road. There would be no turning back. They would have to rely on each other...or die together. They thought the wards and illusions would allow them to move unhindered. They were wrong. As he opened his eyes, he heard the woman speak to him.

"Shall we be off, then? Everyone else is in position, its just the four of us that need to move." She said turning to face him.

This plan was there best move, but it was not without it's danger. He looked up to her and smiled slightly, "Very well. Everyone should stay within sight of one another. If everything goes off without a hitch, we should be at the temple in ten to fifteen minutes."

But even as he said this, he knew it wouldn't be so simple. He felt a shift in the wind, the secrets it whispered to him. Something was very wrong...and they were headed right for the center of it.

He turned and began walking down the ruined streets. Gore and corpses were beginning to litter the paths they walked, but they were simply at the edge of the massacre that awaited at the town's center. The sky began to darken and the coming rain was soft, but ominous. Thunder rumbled, signalling the march of this unlikely band of companions.

 

[Majir-Dar]

Majir-Dar answered Valin's question, "I'll start casting the spell as soon as we sight an undead, but depending on their position, you may not have to shoot everyone of them. I will leave that to you," Majir-Dar began running across the rooftops, the buildings were all fairly close, the only real challenge was jumping over the odd chimney here and there. Even those were easy in comparison with what Majir-Dar was used to climbing on. The buildings they were climbing looked decayed and ruined. One looked like it was on the verge of collapse, but they were all surprisingly stable. Majir-Dar had to commend the Nords on their architectural abilities. He eventually slowed his pace, remembering that he was supposed to be following, not leading.

He studied his surroundings as he ran and climbed. There were corpses everywhere, Majir-Dar could smell their horrendous reek. It filled his nostrils and he thought that it would remain there long after it should. The bodies themselves were piled unceremoniously everywhere, and the blood around them seemed unproportianate to the amount of bodies. The wounds on the corpses were terribly catastrophic, they all looked jagged, like a rusted butter knife sawed its way through their flesh and through their bones.

Majir-Dar wandered how long it would take to get to the chapel. He hoped to learn this place's secrets then leave as quickly as possible.

 

[CapObvious]

As soon as Kvothe began the march, Dolmas began moving his side along. He had recalled Alice saying that she would be invisible, and would be shadowing him instead of the other way around. He took that to mean that he lead the way.

Dolmas turned his head and nodded to Alice. "Guess it's time to go."

Without another word, Dolmas began traversing the rooftops, at a pace slower than the other party. Dolmas wasn't in the greatest hurry, as it took everything in him to focus on the rooftop ahead, and not on the smells of rotting flesh and fire overwhelming his senses.

Dolmas heard that all too familiar growl in the back of his mind, saying something about the bodies. Dolmas could barely make it out, and when he did, he gagged.

"Lunch." The growl suggested.

Dolmas took a look over to the other set of roofs, to see how the the other team was moving, as well as to focus on something less morbid. The bosmer and the small khajiit were making great progress, making their dashing across the rooftops look like child's play. Dolmas envied their expertise greatly. Maybe he would ask for pointers when they made it out of here.

If they made it out of here.

Then he took a look to the ground team, just to be sure that they weren't fighting off hordes of undead without him. They were alright, from the looks of it. Weren't any creatures lurking behind them. No matter how good things were at this point, Dolmas couldn't relax. Something was wrong.

This is way too easy.

As Dolmas and Alice pressed on, the body count increased rapidly, each one looking even grislier than the last. Unattached limbs lie about in disarray, blood spattered on every surface, some of the people had even been disemboweled, and left to bleed out while something had gorged on their innards.

What on Nirn...?

Dolmas attempted to refocus on his task, which was to keep an eye out for the ground team, as well as the young woman behind him. But the images of the people he had seen kept appearing in his mind's eye.

"Those poor bastards..." He whispered under his breath.

He thought again of Alice, and wondered how she was taking what they were seeing. He spoke without looking back, as he didn't know if she had already cloaked herself, making turning to look at her pointless.

"You alright, back there?"

 

[The OP3RaT0R]

"Very well. Everyone should stay within sight of one another. If everything goes off without a hitch, we should be at the temple in ten to fifteen minutes."

Good luck, Astius thought as he followed suit with the others in the group who were taking to the roofs or were hiding. He sprinted off immediately, spotting a shadow cast by a shop near the gate. The town had been surprisingly quick in its growth into a city, and already had large buildings built together in a coherent style - gone were the small wood and thatch homes of the village of Rorikstead. The Imperial easily melted into the shadows, moving swiftly and silently from building to building. He looked over and was able to spot the Bosmer and unique breed of Khajiit across the main avenue, and he heard the Dunmer on the roof above him.


He slipped around a corner and surveyed the side street he found himself on. It seemed equally scarred by gore and the debris of fighting as the main street; no one had escaped the plague of the undead, it seemed. Astius was nothing if not impeccably objective, but it was just thanks to that objectivity that he felt such anger toward what might have caused the wholesale slaughter of the civilians who lay dead all around him. He didn't care what dark force the others feared, it would have to pay.

 

[Valin Oakthorn]

Valin followed after Majir-Dar. Jumping from roof to roof. This is where Valin could exceed the khajiit. In past years, Valin speant his time on rooftops, and knew how to navigate nordic rooftops easily. He took off, vaulted over chimney, used rises in roofs to jump to others. He saw Majir-Dar stop ahead of him as they had moved quite farther than the group.

Valin scanned the other roofs. He saw a few corpses and made note of their locations. He hoped the others would handle themselves well.

There was a distinctive lack of undead, there was something wrong and Valin knew it.

Valin walked up next to the khajiit and reached into his pocket. He pulled out two leaves. He handed one to Majir-Dar one. "Here, chew this. It helps the nose. Should help decipher smells from the stench of dead bodies." Valin said in a somewhat hushed tone. He popped it in his mouth and crushed it between his teeth.

 

[Simus]

"I'm ready whenever you guys are." Titus said as the group started to move out. Lyanna winked at him and he smiled. When and how to disclose his lycanthropy was bothering him and he didn't know any of these people well enough to gauge how they'd react but Lyanna was a nice distraction. She was about six inches taller than him but he didn't mind. That just meant she had plenty to get a hold of if things got frisky.

Down boy. The pretty Nord girl is not an object with which to get your pole wet. Alice's voice buzzed in Titus' head. Their father had instructed them in the use of a simple illusion spell that allowed them to talk to each other telepathically if properly linked. Alice used it extensively as a way to covertly communicate with their father or anyone else due to her primary role as a scout and sniper. Titus had never been comfortable with magic use and grudgingly accepted this spell despite its obvious practicality so he only used it when really necessary. Anyone sufficiently trained in illusion, alteration, or mystic magic could hear their communications or even disrupt them but it required concentration and knowing what to listen for. Kavothe was probably in this category however and that didn't ease either of the twins.

Relax will you? It was just a passing thought. I'll behave myself. Why are you in my head anyway? Shouldn't you be scouring the rooftops?

Just making sure you're awake. Besides, your left eye makes a funny squint when I talk to you.

That's because your constant buzzing makes my head rattle. Do you have any idea how annoying that is?

Do you have any idea how boring your thoughts are? How's it look down there by the way?

What is it with you and looking under every metaphorical rock you find? It smells like death down here. Are you seeing these bodies?

Probably better than you. Titus, something terrible happened here. Some of these bodies look like they were sawed apart with a steak knife. The permanent screams, the severed limbs, all the blood...

I know sis. The stench of death is everywhere. I can't smell anything else. Our fellow Lycan probably can't either.

There's another Lycan here?

Yeah. Valin. The Bosmer just across the street.

He's a werewolf!?

Well yeah. Can't you smell him? No...no I suppose you can't. Yes, he's a werewolf and that old Breton's a vampire. They seem okay for now but keep your eyes open.

I will. Thanks Titus. I'm glad you and your nose are here.

"These poor people." Alice whispered to Dolmas when he asked if she was all right. She had seen some terrible things in her young life but this was nothing short of a massacre. Whatever had done this had slaughtered the entire town and it had clearly enjoyed it. They came up to a large pile of mutilated organs, limbs and corpses surrounded by a cloud of flies. The pile was crowned with four fat little bodies skewered onto a huge ebony spear like a kabob. The white body of a Nord baby, the yellow body of an Altmer baby, the gray tabby fur of a Khajiit kitten and the green scaled body of an Argonian hatchling. Alice gasped in horror and her breathing next to Dolmas became heavy as she struggled to control her tears. Muffle spells only quieted her footsteps and if she started crying then her invisibility would be moote.

Alice? Alice listen to me. I know what you're seeing. I can smell it. All four of them. I know it's horrible but you need to suck it up. If you start carrying on you'll compromise us. We can both cry later, I promise, but now isn't the time. Focus, Captain Psyrakon.