Ceglai had spent most of the trip ranging ahead of the Dunmer's horse, scouting just in case someone hostile was near the road. He didn't really expect to see any bands or anything so close to the city... but it made him more comfortable to be doing something. Besides, he didn't like travelling next to the humans... every time he saw them, he felt a jab of bitterness go right up his spine. He couldn't be losing his temper with them, not if he intended to travel with them. And so, he avoided them completely by acting as a point scout. It was a position he was comfortable with, and he had enough tracking and sneaking experience to be good at it.

He returned to the group when he heard Varus call for a stop. He lingered along the treeline fifteen feet away and readied his bow at Varus's order. He nocked one of his poison-tipped arrows, just in case. If this Argonian was a Guardian, and if all they said about Guardians were true, and if this Argonian decided to attack them... they would need the poison.

As Varus tried to talk the startled Argonian down, Ceglai kept a bead firmly trained on the lizard. When the Dunmer said that they weren't bandites, Ceglai muttered, "Speak for yourself," under his breath.

Then, more loudly, he said, "You shouldn't be standing up. You were just unconscious for, like, eight hours. That's an awful long time for just shock, so you should sit back down until the healer over there can make sure you're okay." He bobbed his head toward Elissandre, but his bow never twitched.

Ceglai was used to being the one to patch people up. But he knew that Restoration magic was more reliable than first aid and alchemy... it was something he'd lamented many, many times. But he had never had the skills or knowledge to teach himself magic.

...could Elissandre teach him?

No. No, he wasn't going to go crawling to a human, no matter how agreeable she acted toward him. He had too much pride for that.

He kept his eyes and bow trained sharply on the Argonian. He knew from experience that a decent fighter could very well waylay an ambush, even if unarmed. He'd lost a couple good friends that way. As far as Ceglai was concerned, as long as the Argonian's adrenaline was up, the lizard was a threat.

Elissandre had easily matched the pace set by the others, but nonetheless welcomed the halt. But she didn't bother with readying drawing her blade when Varus cautioned them about the argonian's possible reactions. Instead she quietly sat on a fallen tree. Bringing to her mind the strands of a paralyzing spell. Which she kept hovering in a corner of her mind, a step away from release. Something she had done more often than she liked during her travels.

As he stirred and threatened, she focused her min a bit tighter, just in case. Which helped her to retain her spell when Ceglai commented about the argonian's health. Sounds like he's got some notion of healing. Maybe we shall compare notes...

She looked straight at the argonian, keeping her face open and even slightly amused. "Do I look anywhere close to the ruffians who knocked you out in that tavern ? We're not bandits. And Ceglai's right, you've been passed out for longer than what I'd expect from simple concussion and after having poured some healing magic into you.". But she kept her spell at the ready.

As the group pulled to a halt, Guy felt a wave of relief rush over him. He was tired and footsore and although he felt he'd covered it up quite well, he just wasn't used to walking this far. Still he'd managed to keep pace along with Varus and Elisandre, thankfully Ceglai had seen fit to scout ahead. Guy could vaguely see the elf's shape in the trees as he made his way over to where Varus had laid the Argonian.

"He's waking up. Everyone stop and get weapons ready."

Guy ignored the Dunmer's commands as he calmly watched the stirring Argonian.
Guardian or not, I doubt that an unarmed man could take on the four of us
At any rate, even if the Argonian did possess such talents, Guy was fairly confident that the lizard would barely be able to stand, let alone fight.

The creature was up like a shot and Guy took half a step backwards in surprise, nearly falling as he overbalanced in an unfortunate pothole. His hand went to his sword hilt though he withdrew it quickly as he realised that the Argonian hadn't moved any further and that the agile lizard was well covered by his companions.
Guy winced at his performance
Amateurish
he hoped nobody would make an issue of it as he readjusted himself, endeavouring to act as though nothing had happened as the others conversed with the Guardian.

Name:Kilrethill
Race:Dunmer
Gender:Male
Age:36
Class:Agent
Class Skills:Illusion, Marksmen, Sneak, Security, Mercantile, Speachcraft, Acrobatics

Physical Description:young, grayish blue.
Eye Color:the only Dunmer eye color DUH
Hair Description:medium lose
Hair Color:black

Current Clothing/Armour:wide black pants, Pilgrims leather Footings(custom enchant 7 Willpower) Green Mageweave Cape(cape from OOO. Enchanted 5% mage rest.)
Current Weapon:Soul Hunter(enchanted artic bow from OOO to soultrap)
Other Posesions:LOTS of keys and azura's star and very little gold

Bio:?

Personality:|:

Current Location:Gathering peeps to take on a great gate.

Other:

OOC: G.E.C.K, I didn't approve your character sheet and u didnt pm it to me. You need to get my approval before you can play.

IC:

The argonian looked at Varus surprised. "How did you know I was a..." he said, trailing off. The argonian noticed the brenton witdraw his weapon and then stumble. He's untrained. If worse comes to worse, I can disarm him, take his blade, and defend myself The argonain thought. but, oddly, he didn't feel compelled yet to attack these people.

"A Guardian? the bandits we rescued you from fessed up to us. You were hunting them. And yet, they got you. For a guardian, thats pretty amatuerish." Varus said as the Argonians face flushed red with anger.

"Well obviously you want something with me! or you would've left me for dead!" The argonain yelled. The argonian began to feel weak, his head began to throb. He staggered, putting his hand on his head.

"Ungh... What do you want form me?" The argonian asked. Varus removed his hand from his sheated blade and strode towards the argonian, laying his hand on the argonian to stabilize him and then looking the argonian in the eye.

"Information on the Guardians. Who are you, what are you, and why do you protect us?" Varus said. the argonian was about to speak, when he heard something. The sound of horses and yelling.

"Raiders... We can talk later. Ellisandre! Take care of him! Make sure he stays healthy! The rest of you, stay hidden. If its the remainder of the bandit gang from the tavern, they will probably track us here. If not, they pass by fine." Varus pushed the argonian, but not forcefully, towards ellisandre.

"I can fight! Im a Guardian!" The argonian yelled.

"An Injured one. and I think your much better to Tamriel alive, not dead." Varus said, moving behind a bush and laying his hand on his blade as the sound of horses drew nearer...

Elissandre agreed with Varu's suggestion. She wasn't eager to face the newcomers. They might be a merchant escort, but didn't sound like one. Neither the pace of their horses nor their yelling sounded right for that. They remembered her of the Raider Clan she hand tangled with in Hammerfell. A vivid and very bad memory. I don't think they're from the tavern, they weren't horses there. Maybe the caravan's escort, but that wouldn't be profitable way to use them and they don't sound anywhere ike that.

She took the argonian's hand and prodded him toward the bushes "I don't think you're anywhere close to fit enough to take on a bunch of riders. Who might even be Legion or the like, with a right to go barging on that road."

Not being sure they would have enough time to find a hiding spot, Elissandre once again turned to her magic, focusing her mind on the power of Illusion and a hint mo mysticism. Weaving the strands of magic around the two of them in a cloak of invisibility, with a hint of soul sight to let them see each other. The spell was rather powerful and drained deep into her power, but it should hold long enough to let the newcomers ride by.

Once out of the path she added in a whisper "That spell should hold long enough to let them pass. When they're away I will make sure you don't have anything broken and you can tell us more about the guardians. They seems to be my sort of peoples, but there's so much rumors and nonsense floating around that I'd rather get first-hand information."

Ceglai was somewhat annoyed when the two humans didn't follow Varus's advice and draw their weapons. Hadn't they ever fought people before? Didn't they know that the number one rule of fighting was to never put your weapon down until either you or your opponent was dead?

Or maybe that was just a rule of banditry. Either way, Ceglai figured it was a useful one. Some of the most powerful people his band had ever ambushed had been spellcasters, and there had been this one Khajiit acrobat who had cracked three seperate spines before they'd been able to put it down.

Wait... spellcasters. His eyes flickered over to the woman. She was a spellcaster, wasn't she? Her first instinct upon meeting them had been to cast a Calm spell. Chances were she was doing something like that now. She looked helpless in her current position... but, again, one should never underestimate a spellcaster.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other Breton do some sort of stumbling thing. He glanced over at the man to see what in Kynareth's name that was about. The Breton's expression was just a bit embarrassment, but mostly bluster. The Bosmer wanted to let loose a sharp word (and maybe an arrow, for good measure) at him, but the Argonian was speaking again.

Yada yada, what do you want from me... blah blah, let's all treat you like a prisoner with rights, because that's what civilized folk do. The Bosmer kept his bead trained on the Argonian.

He made an annoyed growling sound when Varus called out that there were riders coming, but nonetheless whipped his bow toward the noise and sank back into the treeline. This was the third such fight since sunup; while he'd gotten a nice break for a while there, he was ready to throw himself head-first into a bedroll and let everything wait until tomorrow morning.

More worrisome, though, was the lightness of his quiver. He wasn't entirely sure how many arrows he had left... but the phrase "fewer than I need" seemed about apt. Then again, he didn't dare turn and run this time. No matter how many people there were, he had to stay and fight. He wouldn't get a third chance to travel with a team. If he ran out of arrows, he'd just have to get a bit scrappy.

He clung to the shadows behind a thick tree trunk--one that had lost all its branches and leaves years ago--and waited, letting himself fall still except for the darting of his eyes.

He cursed when Elissandre and the Argonian disappeared--magically, no doubt. Yeah, that was fine a dandy for hiding from the riders, but it obscured them from Ceglai too. He could very well send arrows right at them without knowing it!

Okay, worry about that later, and trust that the healer can heal any hapless arrow wound short of the mortal kind.

His hand dived down into his bag, digging around until he found a salted strip of mutton. He popped it into his mouth, grinding it deliberately between his teeth to milk the most magical vitality out of the meat. If there were as many as there sounded like clamboring through the forest, they'd need all the advantages they could get

Name:Auric VonStriker
Race:Imperial
Gender:male
Age:32
Class:Inquisitor
Class Skills:Blunt,Long Blade,Heavy Armor,Atheletics,Speech Craft,Restoration,Conjuring,Destruction,Marksman

Class Description:After the War an imperial lord set up a private research and investigory faction called the inquisiton,these people wandered the countryside,keeping an eye on the elves to make sure none usurped. The Inquisitors are cruel,emotionless Enforcers and Investigators

Physical Description:6'2 230 lbs Auric is tall and well built,with short croped black hair and a strong face
Eye Color:Grey
Hair Description:short cropped
Hair Color:black

Current Clothing/Armour:Silver plate with clockgear style engraving,with heavy chains that attach from shoulder to shoulder,and two more that cross in the back of his legs. And over that he has a thick black linen robes that are ripped
Current Weapon:A heavy silver Warhammer,and a smaller crusader style warhammer,A Heavy cross bow and iron bolts
Other Possesions:A medium sized bag of gold,2 weeks water and food.A few minor restore health potions,and a few minor restore magicka potions

Bio:Auric was born in High Rock to Imperial parents. He spent his childhood running with bandits and other various Misfit groups,at age 20 he joined a private service called the Inquisitors for the money and security.

Personality:Cold,Callculating,He is coolheaded,with a nice side that he reserves for those close to him.

Current Location:Outside of a small manor in Cyrodil

Other:A Grey Gelding Named Florence



OOC:im just joining and im unsure of everyones position,if i make a mistake in trying to get in please tell me O.O




IC:The large man sat beside a small fire,a rabit sat on a spit,roasting with quiet crackles. Behind the large man a small structure,charred remains of a manor,believed to have been burned down by mer bandits. Auric waited for the food to cook in silence. The horse tethered to a nearby tree whinnies softly,And Auric scans his surroundings quickly,the food is allmost roasted.The heavy chains attached to his armor rattles softly as he shifts to pull the meat from the spit,gingerly he begins to peal the meat off and place it on a peice of cloth. he begins to eat in silence savoring the juicy meat. All the while he keeps his eyes on his surroundings,his smoke grey eyes seeming to take in every small detail. He knew what he had to do,ride out to the local Bandits,figure out which group did it,then supress the mer for there actions. Auric Knew that what he did was racist.And that what he was going to do wouldnt be done ifi t was a band of Nords.And that the crazy old man he worked for could very well be the devil.But what could Auric do?He had been working for the man for years. Auric sat pondering his moral issues in silence.All apetite lost.

Guy watched with interest as Varus spoke to the Argonian. It was fascinating he thought, how composed the Dunmer seemed in the face of the lizardman's anger. Guy himself was already beginning to tire of the creature's grating, raspy voice. He shifted his weight onto his left foot, his right felt tender after the stumble. It was strange, he thought, to any observers the group would look more like highwaymen than anything else, waylaying the Argonian; who seemed to be becoming more and more agitated, despite having to lean on Varus for support.

“Who are you, what are you, and why do you protect us?”

Guy perked up at the sentence, the Guardians had always been a mysterious group and he felt… privileged to be in on the secret. Seconds later however, he was scrambling through the scrub, and trying hard to keep the clinking of his chainmail to a minimum lest the he been heard.

He quickly managed to find a hiding place in the dense forest; a bush, nestled in the damp shade of an Oak, though still quite close to the road. He was hiding from what sounded like a group of riders, he could hear the clack-clack of hooves on cobbles from where he lay as the group approached.

Varus hid in the bush and listened as the horses grew closer. He could hear several horses, 5 maybe? More than Varus wanted to deal with anyways. He felt his heart rate rise slowly as the horses drew closer ominously...

Then, one horse nieghed. Several shouts of profane words and yells filled the air, Varus thought he could even hear weapons bieng drawn. the curses, though, soon transsferred into shouts of pain. Shouts of confusion amidst the wild nieghing of horses. The, after but a minute or two, silence. Not even horses galloping off. Just an eerie silence. Varus kept his place. Somethings tracking us... a guardian to get his lost kin perhaps?

Yes, that had to be it. It was the only explanation, and it made sense. This guardian must've been assigned to watch the young argonian, and this mission must've been some rite of initiation for him. All the more reason for Varus to remain hidden...

Varus felt cold steel cover his mouth and pull him back. In a flash of a second he was thrown against a tree with a thud. Varus groaned, I underestimated him... Varus thought, a pang of regret that he did not think that the Guardian knew his position earlier came over him. Varus looked up to see a man, nord maybe? He was wearing steel armour that certainly looked nordic, and the blade that had old nord runes imbedded on the grey steel. But it was the golden coloured beard, the long hair, and the square face that gave it away to Varus that his assailant was truly a nord.

"Where's Heiji?" the nord asked, holding the blade at Varus's forehead. Varus remained calm, having been in many life or death situations in his carrer.

"With Ellisandre, a healer. The bandits we saved him from beat him up badly. Of course, you already know all that, don't you?" Varus said. The nord seemed suprised by Varus's blunt, calm response, also implying varus knew he had been following the group. this gave Varus his chance. Varus grasped the nords wrist in the Nords suprise, gave a sharp twist, and disarmed the nords blade. He dropped the blade on the ground as soon as he disarmed it though.

"I don't like having someone point a sword at me, even a guardian. Follow me, I'll get the Argonian." Varus said. the nords face was red with embarrasment and anger at Varus, but picked up the sword, sheathed it, and followed the dunmer.

"Ellisandre! Heal up the argonian and bring him to the road!" Varus shouted as he stepped out into the clearing. Varus looked at the nord.

"I suppose your comrades have already gotten to the rest of my group?" Varus asked. "The Bosmer and the brenton in chainmail are bieng ambushed as I was, correct?"

The nord continued to show anger with Varus, "I'm a guardian, I don't have to tell..." the Nord trailed off as Varus laughed.

"I'm no fool. Just spit the truth out." Varus said, calmly drawing his blade a little to prepare himself in case the nord loose it.

The nord seemed about to strike, but the sighed. "Yes, I came with 2 others. They most likely ambushed your friends as well. We left the healer alone, since she had Heiji. But my comrades did not kill your friends. They are alive, unless they did something stupid. so, you bring me the argonian, and I'll give the order to free your friends. If now, I will take them by force." The nord stated, grinning that he now again had the upper hand.

"Fine. I do not wish to make enemies with the guardians. Ellisandre! Get out here quickly!" Varus yelled.

Under the cover of both her magic and the tree and bushes who crept each year closer to the road Elissandre waited for the unknown riders to either pass or fight. But they never did. From what she could overhear they just stumbled onto something unpleasant. Maybe even lethal.

For a while nothing happened then she head Varus asking her to come out with the argonian. With him, or more accurately bossing him, was a steel-clad man. His built and golden beard made it obvious he was a nord. Elissandre waited a few second, asking the argonian ? Heiji if the nord was truly who he said - "Is he telling the truth ? The big guy is really a friend of yours ?"

Once Heiji had confirmed the nord warrior was indeed one of the guardian, Elissandre relaxed. "Then let's go out in the open before someone lose patience.". While joining action to words, by walking out, she felt the mantle of her invisibility tear apart, it's magic gone. Good timing on my part. But let's not get too trustful of these guardians. She once again called forth the magic in her mind, readying the blinding light she had already used, though this time she prepared to unleash it all around her. Not that she planned anything untoward, but she prefered to keep a way out tucked up her sleeve.

Ceglai tensed as the sounds of pursuit went eerily silent. The only reason that would happen was if someone was sneaking up on them. But no matter how hard the Bosmer listened, he couldn't hear any sounds of approach above his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

He gave a muffled yelp as a leather-gloved hand clamped over his mouth yanked him backwards into something warm and made of leather. Warm breath ghosted across his left ear, and a soft, female Redguard voice whispered, "Don't move, and I won't snap your neck."

Like Oblivion I'll stay still!

His bow had clattered to the ground when he'd been grabbed, and his captor's other arm was wrapped intimately around his torso, expertly pinning his arms to his side. The Bosmer therefore fought with what he had: feet and teeth. He jerked his head forward and clamped his canines onto the Redguard's thumb, worrying it slightly to break through the leather. At the same time, he kicked out with his heels, trying to catch her in the kneecap.

She moved her legs out of the way, but couldn't dislodge her hand from his jaws without dislocating something. As her grip around his arms loosened, he started to reach backward to grab any part of her he could get a grip on. However, he didn't have time.

The restraining arm disappeared, but he knew where it had gone a moment later, when a fist connected sharply with the back of his head. He went limp for a moment, his head ringing. A foot swept his legs from under him, and he returned to lucidity flat on his back. He caught a glimpse of a lithe, leather-clad Redguard standing over him. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Told ya not to move." Then, with a wink, she rapped him soundly across the temples, and the world slipped away.

His last, startled thought before unconsciousness swallowed him was, ...what just happened?

Guillaume lay tense, from the sound of things those horseman had been dispatched. Fast. He didn't like to think what kind of creature could have dispatched a group of armed riders with such ferocious and to do it so quietly that he couldn't hear a thing now as he strained his ears for the slightest noise. Yet the only thing he could hear was the swish-swish of the wind in the trees and a few bird calls, far off to his right.

Slowly however, he became aware of a pattern forming in the wind, nothing more than a slightly louder rustle than normal, slightly off time from the ebb and flow of the air currents. He listened closely. There was definitely... something. Crracckk. A twig snapped to his left and Guy was on his feet in seconds, weapon drawn yet still crouched low. The next thing he knew, he was on his knees, his feet swept from beneath him by a strong blow. He rolled to try to recover, moving quickly to his feet, just as he'd been taught. He arrived upright, sword held for-. Guy stared stupidly at his empty hand as the longsword glittered in the dappled light. The man before him rammed Guy's sabre into the dirt point first, taking pains to keep his longsword levelled at the dumbfounded Breton. Guy's aggressor was wearing full plate and had taken a rather nonchalant stance as he said,

“I hear standing's bad for your health, if you just sit down now, nice and slow, you'll find it'll add years to your life”

If helmets could grin...