OOC: So Lore lives (and so does this RP, which is going too slow for comfort) I am going to bring the healer in and have him heal Lore. It should be better that way, since then I can determine how wounded she is. Hope that's alright, Raven...
IC:

The healer rushed in, flanked by two guards. "Where is-" he began, before seeing the altmer lying on the table. He hurried over and laid his hands on her, sliding one under her wounded shoulder, and resting one on her wounded side. "The wounds are deep..." he murmured, closing his eyes. He and Lore began to glow brightly, showing less finesse but incredible power. Lore glowed even brighter than he: magicka, good and bad, affected her very strongly, thanks to her altmer heritage.

The wound on her side healed, leaving nothing but a white mark. The wound on her shoulder left more of a scar, but as the spell intensified, that too disappeared.

Sweating a little, the healer stood back from the golden altmer. In all the fuss, her hood had come loose, showing her lustrous black hair. He waited patiently, hoping that he had acted well enough and quickly enough that the beauty could live. Her chest rose and fell, gaining strength.

The altmer opened her eyes.

---------------------

Lore withdrew slowly from the dark place, as she felt the familiar touch of magic upon on her body, icy cool, but somehow comforting in the best way. She felt all her pains seeping away, and she woke further and further, until she opened her murky blue eyes. She searched around for Burd, a frown growing on her face. She could see the redguard warrior- Jalin- and various soldiers, but not Burd.

She sat up, feeling completely rejuvenated as well as healed. She glanced at the healer, who smiled at her. "Shoulder and side?" she questioned quietly.

He nodded. "Blood loss was terrible. You are lucky in your parents: were you not an altmer, you might have died."

Lore nodded, smiling wryly. "Equal parts blessing and cursed, I think, for magic can as easily kill me."

"True..." the healer said, and turned away towards other soldiers. She suspected he was wondering what had just happened... she sort of was as well.

The golden healer looked at Jalin. She leaned in nearer to him, so that he might actuially hear her voice."Is Burd okay?" she whispered. "Does anyone need healing?"

ooc: I had a whole long post typed up yesterday and then I hit Refresh to keep from getting that Board Message thing that happens when you take too long to post, but it had signed me out and instead of getting my page back with my text, I got the login screen. I've only just gotten the inspiration to re-do it, hopefully better this time.

ic: Fedura felt satisfied that the Shaman knew his place as she finished yelling at him, and set her hands on her hips. She had half expected the man to retaliate at her proclamation of ownership over him, but she didn't anticipate the speed with which that retaliation would come. She tried to duck out of the way of the broadsword, but it was too late by the time she saw it. It struck her across the side of the head and her vision flickered black for a moment. All sense of balance left her and she stumbled backwards into a wall.

The back of her head impacted the wall and that finished what the broadsword strike had started. Her world went dark and she slid down the wall into a crumpled-looking sitting position, a streak of blood running down the wall following her head's course down it. The side of her head bled as well, but neither wound was life-threatening in any way. When she awoke, the headache she'd have would be more than enough to make her wish she'd left the Hurak chained to the wall.
_______
When Iris pecked Karst on the cheek, the Khajiit smiled and nodded. "Love you too, babe." she called sweetly over her shoulder to Iris's retreating form.

Zant chuckled to himself and walked over near her. "Stop trying to steal my girlfriend and get your own, sis." he told her, poking her in the shoulder. Karst stopped washing dishes and crossed her arms over her chest, dripping water everywhere and getting her robe wet.

"Hey, now wait just a minute! I knew her long before you did. You stole her from me. I'm just taking back what's mine." she snapped, narrowing her eyes and sounding upset. Zant recoiled a bit, thinking she might be serious for a split second before the left side of her mouth curled away from her teeth in a small grin. "You thought I was serious, didn't you?" she laughed upon seeing his response, "Am I really that good an actress?"

"You're good at sounding pissed off." he replied, smiling and leaning against the counter. Karst let out an indignant huff.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Karst demanded.

"Why nothing, my sweet and flawless sibling."

"Oh, shut up. You're just being condescending now." Turning, Karst went back to washing the dishes. The Nord at the counter couldn't help but smile at seeing the two banter at each other. Such things were pleasant reminders of normal life in the upside down world the Hurak had left them all in. "I do have something I wanted to talk to you about, though. Coincidentally, it concerns your lovely lassie."

"Oh?" Zant raised an eyebrow, "What about her?"

"Well, seeing you together today has got me thinking.. How long have you guys been together? A decade or so?" she asked casually, not even looking at him.

"Ten and a half years about. Why?" Zant found himself rather curious where Karst was going with this.

"Well.." she drew out the word for a moment, "Have you proposed to her yet?"

Zant was taken aback a bit, but shook his head. "Uh, no.. Why?"

Karst shrugged indifferently. "Just askin'. I mean, I know how much I'd have liked Veyar to propose to me, but alas, my fingers remain unadorned. I just thought that maybe Iris might feel the same. You two make a really cute couple." she explained, then looked over at Zant, "Have you thought about proposing to her?"

Zant smiled. "Well of course I have. She's a beautiful and amazing woman and I love her to death. I'd love nothing more than to have her as my wife. I just.." he trailed off and sighed.

"Just what?" she asked, her voice softening to an almost motherly tone. She put a wet hand on his shoulder and her ears back a notch. "C'mon, you can tell me; I'm your sister. I might make fun of you but I'll always support you." she added, smiling reassuringly.

"I'm afraid she'd say no." he admitted. Karst snickered. "What's so funny?" he asked demandingly. Karst patted his shoulder and smiled.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, I'm laughing at how silly that is." she assured him.

"How so?"

Karst stopped doing dishes and leaned on the counter, dripping all over it and the floor again. "Well, think about it for a moment. She loves you and you love her. She's even decided to stay with you despite knowing that it could be the death of her, what with your condition and all, so she's obviously committed to ya. As for you.." Karst shifted her position, putting her hands on Zant's arms near his shoulders. "I've seen the way you treat that woman. Assuming you've not changed much since last I saw you two, you're sweet to her and sensitive to her feelings, you're always trying to do stuff for her, you go to great lengths to protect her and.." she cracked an evil grin, "Judging by the sounds she makes at night, not half bad in bed."

Zant blushed furiously. "Well.. uh.. heh.." He itched his ear nervously, trying to think of something to say to that. All he could come up with was "Thanks."

"You're very welcome." Karst informed him, "And honestly, what more could a girl really ask for? Another thing is you can be there for her whenever she needs you. You're there to make her feel loved, protect her from danger and keep her warm at night. I envy her, honestly."

"I.. never really thought about it like that. Thanks. You.. really think I'm that good of a guy?"

Karst nodded. "I do. Call it a hunch, but I think she wants you to marry her as much as you do."

Zant's face brightened and he hugged Karst tightly. She laughed and returned the gesture, putting wet handprints on his back. "Thanks, sis. I.. don't really know how to thank you enough for the encouragement you've given me. Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

Karst shrugged in the embrace. "Just.. be happy enough for the both of us. And if you have any kids with 'er ever, I get to play with 'em."

"Deal. Now I just need to find a ring to give her.." Zant replied, letting go of Karst. The small Khajiit smiled and thumped a fist against her chest.

"You leave that to me. I'll get that bitch the best ring she could ever hope for."

"You're the best, Karst. Thanks. I gotta go think how I'm gonna ask her.." Leaving, he walked to his room, feeling rather elated at the thought of marrying Iris. The Nord turned and walked over to her, leaning on the counter as she went back to washing dishes.

"I wish my sister loved me as much. That was really nice of ya.. uhm.."

"Karst." she finished for him, then stuck out her hand. The Nord took it and was surprised by the firmness of her grip.

"Nice ta meet ya, girlie. I'm Aggrid. Thanks for yer help here, too. Much appreciated."

"Sure. Keeps my mind off of stuff to keep busy." she replied, then went back to washing. As Aggrid went back to his post, Karst smiled to herself, looking forward to seeing Iris's reaction and thinking where she could find or steal a nice ring.

ooc: Sorry about the length. Started having fun with it.

OOC: Karst is such an awesome character. Even though when you get bored, she has ten kinds of hellish breakdowns. It was a good post.

Jalin noticed her leaning forward and leaned towards her as well, listening. Her words were whispered, but clear enough to hear easily. Jalin nodded. "So far as I am aware, Burd is fine. Or at least holding strong. I can't say for certain."

Jalin's face turned stern after this, looking Lore in the eye. "However, I don't advise you go healing people when you yourself have just been brought back from the brink of death. They have healers in their garrison. Let the men set down their drinks, get off their collective asses, and do their jobs." He had looked towards one of the healers who had accompanied the first as he said this, narrowing his eyes.

"In other words, I suggest you start patrolling around Savard's quarters and finding out if anyone needs healing, soldier."
----------------------------
Iris walked through the snow calmly and comfortably, a meager frost shield spell around her body, keeping the cold of the air away from her body. While she was dressed in her Myra outfit now, with a blouse and pants and hair in two braids, it hardly helped keeping out the cold. This was the outfit she always wore around towns, as it was not too revealing to be comfortable around men, and not too restricting to prevent her from acting if the situation required.

When she reached the stone edifice of Savard's quarters, she stopped, looking at the guards. Both of them were standing at attention, but something was different about their posture. Their shoulders were more relaxed and drooping, and their grips on their weapons seemed nervous. She took a step forward, knowing that something was wrong. Something had happened.

"I wish to see what happened." Iris proclaimed, and one of the guards looked at her.

"And you are?"

"Iris Marcy, the spy and courier for the strongholds. I know something is wrong, neither of you look even remotely willing to stay at attention. I wish to see what happened." Iris replied, her voice firm and unyielding. The other guard sighed.

"Savard is dead."

Those three words cause multiple reactions in Iris at once. Fear and surprise filled her heart, which began to beat rapidly, and anger followed after, her muscles tensing as she shoved passed the guards and into the building, seeking out Savard's quarters to inspect the damage. When she arrived, she gawked, covering her mouth with one hand.

Li'Yen was growing a bit bored of his tour of Mountainholm. Although he was impressed with it's size and relative organization, as far as he was concerned, if you've seen one inn, you've seen them all. He had managed to find a smith, who had cleaned and sharpened his shortsword, and the Khajiit now strode through the streets with his hand resting on the pommel of his weapon.

Just as he was about to begin the return journey to his inn (or at least begin the search for it...) he caught sight of Jalin carrying someone, being led by a group of soldiers. It was not hard to pick the hulking, ebony-clad Redguard out. Intrigued, Li'Yen increased his pace, and watched as the man made his way into the barracks. Following in his wake, Li'Yen arrived shortly after Lore had been healed. He poked his head inside, curious to see what had occurred. The face of the Altmer lady looked familar, though he could not place a name to it. He watched as the healer stepped away from her, and smiled when she regained conciousness. Feeling a little more confident that the situation was under control, Li'Yen approached Jalin, and cleared his throat exaggeratedly to garner his attention.

"Erm... hello again, scary Redgu... uh, Jalin. Good to see you are well..." he motioned to Lore "May we ask what caused harm to elf-lady?"

Jalin turned to look at the Khajiit, stunned the cat was even in the room. He hadn't noticed him entering. When the Khajiit asked what had happened Jalin frowned but bluntly gave an answer.

"The Hurak surprised us."

This simple answer would likely startle many of the guards, who probably had no idea of Savard's death. They might as well learn now, so Jalin did not hold back and continued his answer. "They stealthily entered the Stronghold, and killed Savard. We killed any we found."

"What's surprising is the fact that there are assassin classes within the Hurak armies. They have yet to show that kind of intelligence, although I will admit in my fight with them they still held their brutish style. Guards should up the patrols until we have clear orders, Haki has instated me as a new commander, so that is an order." Jalin looked towards the guards as he said this, his voice level.

Arybeth stood next to her brother as Iris entered the building, looking shocked. The memory of Iris showing displeasure at killing even the Hurak flashed before Arybeth's eyes, and she thought how they might be similar in a way.

But neither Arybeth nor Juliek wanted to stay and chat. What could they talk about? Mountainholm had been compromised, another part of Cyrodiil would soon fall to the Hurak. Another leader was dead, and although neither Arybeth nor Juliek had known him well, they both knew what the news of his death would do to all the people who had only recently cheered when he had told them they could continue to resist, and even fight back.

Both Arybeth and Juliek looked downcast as they left the administrative building. Juliek had avoided looking at Iris, whom he considered to seem to be some lower-class wench, while Arybeth had shyly cast her a glance that could have counted as aplogetic.

Outside, they slowly walked across the plaza, silent until Arybeth finally asked the question they both knew to be on the other's mind.

"Where will we go now?" Arybeth had come up with a possible answer already, but she knew it would be difficult to convince Juliek of her solution, after all, she still had to convince herself of it.

"Skyrim", she added thoughtfully, fully prepared for an angry outburst telling her how they couldn't just run away from the Hurak, and Skyrim might just as well be conquered already.

But no such retort came. Juliek simply sighed and silently agreed to consider it for a while before answering.

Li'Yen gritted his teeth, and a low, guttural growl rumbled up from his lungs. The very mention of the Hurak caused his fur to stand on end. All of his previous feelings of optimism were now crushed in one swift blow.

"Dirty Hurak bastards..."

He clenched his fists and began to tremble slightly. Anger and frustration started to boil up inside of him. All of their battles, so much lost, so much bloodshed and still they could barely find a moments peace. The Hurak had taken everything from them, and yet they still sought more. It was at this point that Li'Yen realized that they could never rest... not until every last Hurak was destroyed. Something had to give. Ultimately, one side or the other would have to be wiped from the face of the existence. Only then would the conflict cease. There would be no more rest, there would be no more peace until the final Hurak fell.

His fists still balled up tightly, Li'Yen stood up straight and looked Jalin in the eye.

"We must kill them. All of them. What can Khajiit do to help?"

ooc: I agree about Karst, but it means a lot to hear it from you too.
I do admit she is a victim of my boredom, though. Poor girl.

Anyway, here's hoping my post gets this going again.

ic: Only a few minutes passed after Zant left before Karst finished the dishes. Once done, Karst pulled the plug from the bottom of the basin, allowing it to drain out a pipe into a nearby alleyway, and wiped her hands off on her robe. Aggrid had watched approvingly as she'd washed, dried and stacked every plate, arranged the utensils and dried herself off. Approaching the Nord, Karst smiled.

"Okay, where do I put them all?" she asked, setting her hands on her darkly robed hips. Aggrid couldn't help but laugh at the commanding air and pose the otherwise cute, tiny Khajiit had taken.

"Cupboard, little miss. I showed you where to get a plate so, logically, that must be where to put them back, right?" he replied, smiling to indicate that he was ribbing her. Karst chuckled.

"Forgive me, I'm still a bit groggy. Got drunk last night." she told him as she grabbed a stack of plates and set them in the cupboard before going back for more.

"How much you drink, two shots?" he joked, "Little girl like you couldn't possibly take much more than-"

"Three-quarters of a bottle of Flin." she cut him off, grinning maliciously at the shocked look on his face, "Yeah, [censored] you too." she added playfully, punching the man in the shoulder as she went by with some utensils in each fist.
_______
Upstairs, Zan'Tarre sat on his bed, running things over in his mind and aloud. He'd been doing this for almost ten minutes now.

"Iris, I was wondering if.. no.. Iris, could I have a moment? I wanted to ask you something.." he fell back on the bed and growled in frustration, "Argh! I'm no good at this stuff! I'm almost fifty years old and I can't even ask the woman I love to marry me. [censored]in' hell."

"[censored]in' hell indeed." a familiar, feminine voice said from across the room.

Zant looked up to see Karst leaning on the doorjamb to his room, smiling in amusemant, her hip jutted out from the way she was standing. The Khajiit pushed off of the door and trotted over to her brother's bed, then turned around and fell backwards onto it, landing beside him. "Is it really that hard?"

"Yes, it is! I can't just say, 'Iris, marry me.'"

"Why not?" Karst demanded, raising a crimson eyebrow. Zant knew she was half serious, but also could tell she was antagonizing him. He sighed.

"Because, it's gotta be special. It has to feel just right." he explained. Karst rolled over on her side and shoved him.

"Oh, come on! Dammit, Zant, that woman wants you! All you gotta do is ask and she'll say yes. It's not like you're gonna have to twist her arm."

"You seem awfully sure of this. You know something you're not letting on, don't you?" Zant narrowed his eyes as he rolled over to look at Karst, who grinned in her typical cute-but-evil manner and giggled.

"Maaybeee. Or.. maybe I just have a feeling. I am psychic y'know."

"Latently. It's not like you can read minds.." he commented dismissively, then suddenly sat up a bit and raised an eyebrow. "Can you?"

Karst laughed and shook her head. "No, but what I have is enough. I can feel how much you guys love each other." she told him, then sighed. Her tone became completely serious. "And.. part of it is I really want you guys to be married. If I can't have a happy marriage, I at least want you guys to. And since I can feel your happiness a bit myself when I'm around you guys and you're happy, it.. it makes me feel better about my own situation. I know, that's really selfish, but.. it's the truth."

Zant put a hand on Karst's shoulder and squeezed it. "It's okay. Find joy where you can, right?"

"You're not mad at me for exploiting your emotions?" she asked tentatively. Zant smiled and shook his head.

"No. I honestly feel a little bad about being with Iris in front of you when you're all alone in that sense. Feels kinda of.. I dunno.. mean."

Karst hugged Zant tightly and purred, "It's fine. I want you to be happy. Just because I'm miserable doesn't mean I want everyone else to be. I'd rather be the only one, really."

After a moment of hugging, the two siblings broke their embrace and Karst sat up. Zant looked up at her quizzically. "Where're you going?"

"To piss. Wanna come with? It's great fun." she teased. Zant shook his head and tried not to laugh, but failed.

"Naw, maybe next time. Thanks, though." he replied, chuckling despite himself.

"Okay. You're missing out." she informed him nonchalantly, shrugging as she left. Halfway down the hall the small Khajiit broke into sudden laughter at the whole thing. Zant heard her and laughed himself as he laid down on the bed again.

"I love my sister.." he said to nobody, grinning at the ceiling.

OOC: Sorry, once again, for not keeping this going more healthily. I have a few excuses, but most of them small. For the past few days though, I've been sorting out a few things. Firstly, got mugged about a week back, which resulted in a badly cut right eye and a nearly stolen phone*; and on a brighter note, I'm getting a new PC, which I'm going to build myself, cost me a pretty buck (over ?1000) but it's going to be amazing. Should arrive tuesday.

*I was pleased with how witty I was in the situation, the guy said 'How about you give me that phone', to which I replied, 'How about no?', that seemed to piss him off a bit That phone cost me over a hundred quid, I wasn't exactly going to hand it over to a couple of hooded crackheads.

There is one thing that irks me, I do everything I can for new people, yet no matter how hard I try, they join for a short while and leave soon after. If any of you know any people who you think might be interested in joining, please, tell them to give me a shout. We could do with some new guys. Anyways, with no further ado, let's try and get this thing back into a more healthy flow. Oh yeah, Aula, tell Fedura I'm sorry And don't worry about this RP, s'long as it's got some life left, I'll keep it going, even if it does go scarily slow sometimes

IC:

Soldiers surrounded Savard's corpse as Iris entered the scene, the atmosphere was unsurprisingly solemn and melancholic. Not a single word had been spoken for over a minute now.

"Here, let's get him covered up." One of the higher ranking men said, putting a blanket over Savard's body, but not covering his face. He looked like he was sleeping. "We'll give him a proper burial outside of the castle, on free ground, he would have wanted that." The man's words got progressively quieter as he spoke, trailing off at the end as emotion got the better of him and he only just held back the tears.

He turned to Iris, he knew who she was. He had often seen her speaking with Savard, though he had never spoken with her much himself.

"What now?" He asked, eyes full of several emotions, fear among them.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Not one of the soldiers disputed Jalin's authority, they followed his orders as if he had been a commander for much longer, he had that affect on people. Several of the soldiers rushed out of the building, with healers following. Now that they had left, the room seemed much less crowded, with only a few soldiers still inside.

One of the men looked at the Khajit who had spoken, 'What can Khajit do to help?' he had said. The man laughed bitterly.

"You can't do anything." He replied. "What can we do against such relentless hate?"

Slumping back down into his chair he got out his sword and placed it upon the table tiredly.

"There's no hope anymore."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Shaman was actually relieved that his blow had struck true. He really couldn't do with that woman messing up his plans now, still though, he didn't finish the job on her. She had helped, she had been useful, she deserved to have his mercy, just this once.

A true Hurak would kill her. She's a threat. A voice at the back of his mind told him, the voice that always plagued him. Every day he tried to tell himself that he didn't care, didn't want to be one of them, but it wasn't true; he hated the fact that he wasn't normal, and that was why he struck out at everything and everyone, all that hate.

Time was of the essence, he had wasted a few more seconds thinking to himself silently there like a fool. He could get ambushed at any point by a guard. No, that couldn't happen, he would need all his focus and strength to escape. Turning away from the unconscious woman, he stormed up the stairs into the cold winter weather.

OOC: And ain't my new avatar just the purtiest thing?

Iris' face was morbid as she watched the soldiers cover Savard and carried him off. Savard was... dead. The man who had been the center of the resistance, the very heart of the battle against the Hurak. Bringing up his name was -for half the strongholds she communicated with- the only reason they had agreed to work on Savard's plan and provide warriors for the cause. The only reason for many that their strongholds agreed to fight.

With such a moving, inspiring figure gone...

"What now?" One of the guards asked her, his expression filled with fear-struck worry. Iris returned it briefly, but forced herself to look calm and controlled. Looking fearful merely spread one's fear onto others, and right now that would not do at all. She brushed her hair from her face, still not replying to the man as she thought of an answer.

"We... we have to inform the people. But only after we have set in his place a commander of similar capability, someone they trust to carry on Savard's legacy. We should probably gather all the officers up for a conference." Iris reasoned, nervously picking at the sleeve of her shirt.
-----------------------------
Jalin turned slowly towards the soldier who had spoken, and eyed the sword as it rested on the table and the man sighed. "There is no hope anymore."

Something about that statement, about the man having given up, lit a fire in the Ansei. He was losing hope because of this? When he was in a stronghold in which so many lives relied on him?! Images of his Swordsinger comrades fighting beside him flooded his mind as the ebony man stepped towards the soldier with determination. Images of them all, side-by-side, first and second level with Shehai and metal in their hands, standing unwavering upon the dune of sand between Sentinel and the Daedric Gate's maw. The surging rush of Daedra pouring out in numbers incalculable, a vanguard to a machine so massive and hideous it could have only been of demon design.

They could have lost hope then; even Second-Level Ansei wielding the Shehai could discover death. But no, they had held fast on a hopeless battlefield, they had even charged into the coming horde. There was anger and pain in the memory that arose, and for once it showed plainly on Jalin's face as he stopped in front of the man.

The next movement was quick, and if the man could have foreseen it he still would have been powerless. One hand grabbed the man by the neck and thrust him into the wall behind as the other snatched his sword from the table and spun it around one finger, closing around the handle, and pointing the blade at the man's throat just underneath where his armored thumb was. His grip on the man's neck was enough to restrain, but not choke.

"Are you a soldier, or a coward?!" Jalin literally spat in the man's face. "Last I checked you were a soldier! A soldier! There are people out there, people who are depending on you, and your comrades. But who are they supposed to depend on, if the very men that protect them have lost hope and the will to fight?!" His voice had risen over the course of the last sentence, but he had not moved the sword or his grip. But his voice was more level when he spoke again, and his anger seemed to have lessened. "The Hurak can be killed. They are mortal. So long as you are able to kill your enemy, there is hope no matter the odds. But when you give up hope, you give up that ability to kill your enemy. When you give up hope you also give up what gave you hope. When you give up hope you lose everything, and become a burden to those who still have it."

He retracted his hand, allowing the soldier to slide off the wall to the floor, and looked down at him. "If I ever see cowardice and hopelessness from you again, I will kill you." Jalin said coldly, dropping the blade on the floor near the man. "Because the Hurak will have already defeated you, and my blade is likely to be more merciful." He turned away from the man, then looked to Lore and then the Khajiit. "Return to your residences for now, and I will be sure to inform you when I have information from Haki." He said calmly, before leaving the building.

"Yes." The guard replied to Iris. "That'll work. It will be done in the hall room downstairs, there should be enough room, I'll gather everyone I can find."

Hurriedly he walked over to a few of the other soldiers, Savard's body was still inside of his room, though covered. "There is to be an emergency meeting." He told a few of them. "Gather all of the higher ranking soldiers in the castle, tell them to head to the hall room in the main keep. Be quick."

He then cast a glance back to the corpse of their leader, and sighed. "We'll give him his burial after, when everybody else knows what is happening. I hope to the gods that everyone can handle this."

Haki, one of the main generals in the army, had actually walked up the stairs now. His face was a picture of sorrow and dread at what he might see.

"He's really dead?" He asked hopelessly, not even paying notice to the Hurak bodies littered on the floor. One of the guards nodded and gestured towards the covered up body. "Damn..." His hand came to his forehead, where he rubbed his brow.

"We should set up a meeting between the commanders, tell them-"

"It's already being done sir." One of the men interrupted, as others hurried away to gather the officials.

"Good, but you, wait-" Haki stopped one of the men as he hurried past. "Look for a large redguard in Ebony armour, impossible to miss. I want him at the meeting too."

"Yes sir."

Lorenna's voice had, of course, gone unheard amongst all the chaos, so, in her usual loner's manner, she drifted out of the room, just in time to see Savard's body carried out. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched him carried away, a connection still between them as she felt the shadows of her healing spell and potion leaving with him.

She hadn't liked Savard, but she'd respected him as the saviour of Mountainholm. And, even as her instincts had warned, his time as leader was over. This was all about to end.

I've always had this instinct for when something terrible is about to happen, when things are about to change... she thought. Ever since they drove us from Chorrol, I've had this instinct... this terrible knowledge that I can do nothing about.

It worried her, that her instincts were so often right. It meant that there was something truly wrong with the world- and she worried something wrong with her.

As Savard's corpse was taken, Lorenna shed no tears. She was not a crying woman- she had seen too much hardship for that. But she did feel an overwhelming sense of sadness. For the menfolk who would inevitably die defending their families from the Hurak hordes. For the children who would be forced from the city only to watch their mother's [censored] and killed. And for Burd- who she suspected she might never see again. Not if Mountainholm had fallen. She would have to wander off on her own again- the only way she knew how to survive. And then to wait for the next brief moment of happiness that would be stolen from her.

She was just a healer with no voice. She would not be called into whatever emergency meeting they planned to hold. She would not be figured into their great plans. She was nothing more than a refugee to them, the amazing, world-changing thoughts, ideas and plans that always whirled around her mind nothing more than a dream that would never be realised. But there was something she needed to do. Raising her hood once more to hide the sheets of her silken hair, she turned and disappeared into the shadows as she walked away. She broke out of the building into the freezing night air.

She would find the Shaman. She and he had much to talk about.

Juliek was still undecided, as they continued to walk across the snowy plaza. Cyrodiil was their home, their inheritance. The land, the air, the water, the animals and peasants- all were their property. But it wasn't greed that kept Juliek clinging to lost wealth, but duty. They didn't merely own the Heartlands, they were responsible for it. How could he simply run from this danger in the hour of need? Hundreds of years ago, the founder of the Derenthelm line, Isgrim the Bold, had fought the Ayleids for this land. His actions, his valor and violence, his strength and will to sacrifice himself for Human rulership had earned them their rightful place in Cyrodiil. Could Juliek Domitian, decended from Isgrim and named after the great Cyrodiilic prince, abandon that legacy?

But he just couldn't see how his stubborn refusal to accept the inevitable would deliver them from the very brink of doom.

<->

While Juliek was lost in his tormenting mental struggle, Arybeth was looking around, feeling uncomfortable with the silence. Suddenly her eyes caught something that made her jump: The Hurak shaman. He was just exiting the dark hole that must have been the entrace to the dungeons.

"Not again...", Arybeth sighed. How could this be? Surely he had to be guarded... But Arybeth could see no sodiers around, and then a thought hit her:
"They're gone to investigate that Hurak attack..."

So nobody was around to make sure the shaman was taken care of. But Arybeth knew she could, as his magicka wouldn't hurt her as much as it did other people.

Deciding she had no reason not to prevent even greater danger to Mountainholm, Arybeth pushed Juliek's shoulder to ger his attention, and ran off towards the shaman.

Only when she had passed most of the distance, and was barely twenty feet from him, did her attempt to draw her sword remind her of an oversight she'd committed earlier: In her hand, she held a wooden sword.

"Oh no."

ooc: Yay, Raven's back! But.. holy hell, you got mugged?! Glad you could maintain some poise and I'm very glad you only got a cut across your eye and not.. well.. through your eye or.. something else more vital. Here's hoping you feel better and heal fully. :foodndrink:

And I'm sorry, but I simply must lawl at Arybeth's misfortune.

ic: After leaving and squatting in a nearby alleyway to relieve herself amid the dishwater she'd been working with a moment earlier, Karstine wandered off into town, a bit cold in only boots, pants and a robe, but not wanting to walk across town to Juliek's house again. For all she knew, the bastard was still there and would complain at her like a crabby old woman and accuse her of more things that were both not true and that he knew nothing about. Just thinking about him got her pulse going and she scowled. If he smarts off at me again, I don't care if he's a cripple, I'm gonna [censored] him up.

As she walked, she tried to think of something else to get her mind off of Arybeth's miraculously more annoying sibling and it settled on the Hurak Shaman and she wanted to go see if he was awake. She had some things she wanted to ask, as well as wanting to torment him some. He was likely in the dungeons here, if they had any. A small grin graced her furry face as she thought of the budget dungeon Mountainholm likely had. Probably little more than a couple bricks and some chains, I bet. she laughed in her head, the laughter becoming audible when she added an image of the giant Shaman stuck in a cell far too small for him, knees tucked to his chest so he'd fit and a put-out look on his fearsome face.

That laughter died abruptly, however, when she looked up and saw three things she could've gone all day without seeing, all in one place; Arybeth, Juliek and the Shaman walking free, a broadsword with a bit of blood on it in his hand. She uttered a four-lettered expletive and drew her blades from her sides. Upon seeing Arybeth's armament, Karst sighed in annoyance and shoved the silver Wakizashi into the noblewoman-turned-warrior's arms with nothing more than a disapproving grunt. Switching her shortsword to her left hand, she thrust her arm forward and her fingers splayed out at the end of the motion, lightning bursting from the tips with a sonic crack towards the Shaman. Through use of the gift Odeen had given her, Karst armed her empty hand with a shortsword of ice and stepped in front of Arybeth defensively, not saying a thing. If the Shaman attacked, she knew she might -maybe even very likely would- die, but it beat seeing someone innocent die, even if she didn't like them.

EDIT: Had a thought. If you were trying to kill off Arybeth and Juliek, Shaman can just flick her aside like a bug/knock her out.

OOC: New computer came, and is now fully setup, just the internets giving me all sorts of trouble. And I actually felt fine after being mugged, phoned the police about it obviously, and they were very, very not helpful. 'What do you remember about the incident?' - 'hmm, let me think... I remember... oh yeah, GETTING MUGGED!!!' Anyways, been busy trying to get a friend of yours (Aula) into the RP, so yeah, here goes:

IC: The Shaman noticed the two women attempting to confront him, and he might have considered fighting them right there and then, but it would waste too much time - no, he had to keep going.

It was then, at that very moment as he turned round the corner, that he collided headfirst into another person, a guard, returning to the prison. The collision left them both on the floor winded, but the Shaman dealt with the pain, and picking himself up he grabbed the soldier by the throat, picking him up and swinging the broadsword towards his throat, stopping inchest away from actually slicing it. He kept the soldier between him and the two women, but now he couldn't run, and took a couple of steps towards them, as they were still about a dozen yards from him.

"Ah, ah aaah." He said in a confident, arrogant tone. "Come any closer and this poor little man's head goes tumbling off - now, we don't want that, do we?"

In fact, the angle and distance between sword and neck would render actual decapitation a near impossible feat, the Shaman knew this, but the imagery was all the better when it actually involved a headless body on the floor. Thinking about this even made himself smile, that crooked, freaky smile that never quite looked right on his face.

"What you gonna' do?"

Lore raised her eyebrow as she came onto the scene. Though she had not expected this, she did not seem surprised. Hurak were resourceful creatures, and presumably if they could break in, they could also break out. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Hello," she said from behind him, her face expressionless once more. "I see you've gotten free." She seemed somewhat bored. "In the prison or out of it, no matter. I need to speak to you. She glanced at the other women. "And if you let that man go alive, I see no reason why we shouldn't do the same for you." Her whispery voice was hard to hear, but somehow she expected that the Shaman would have listened out for it.

OOC: *sigh* all I wanted was my chars to be run through with a claymore a bit, is that too much to ask? :violin: And now I have to deal with a hostage crisis instead. Did I mention I hate hostage situations in RPs?

IC: Juliek looked up, startled. What he saw seemed to have come from every nightmare he'd had since Arybeth had disappeared years ago:

Arybeth facing an enemy she couldn't hope to defeat, and Juliek unable to aid her.

Something told him it was his fault for teaching her to fight, as it had allowed her to live her life independently, away from the safety of their family's keep. But another part of him remembered only too well how false the promise of protection had been.

"Is this fate?" To him, it seemed as if Oblivion had allied itelf with all the divines to force them to give up.

And yet, as much as he wanted to protect Arybeth from harm, he could not bring himself to stand up to the shaman with his puny little shortsword. He stood there as if petrified, looking like a memorial of Cyrodiil and it's demise, akin to the Ayleid statues that depicted a warrior departing nirn. Only he wasn't dead, only frightened beyond his own death.

When Karst took the challenge in his stead, he suddenly felt affection towards her, and regretted his earlier judgement of her.

<->

Arybeth felt something being pushed into her arms, and upon realising it was a sword, dropped the wooden one in its favor. The silver weapon was certainly not to her liking either, being both heavy and short, but it was certainly more suitable for this situation.

But Arybeth had no time to thank Karst, as the Shaman decided not to play fair anymore. Well, if he ever had, anyway.

With the weapon of her choice not available, Arybeth's bravery was considerably diminished, and the shaman had certainly improved his bargaining position. But his mobility had to be constrained now, so he was less of a threat to anyone but the hostage.

Weighing her options in what little time the shaman had needed to confidently assert his arrogant opinion of the situation, Arybeth wordlessly circled him, trying to cut off his escape route, but staying away from him, lest he felt compelled to carry out his threat.

ooc: Heh, see, I realized that's what you might be doing like.. a day after I posted (note my edit). Sorreh.

And Raven, I know you've been working with Saitiyo. He can't seem to make up his mind who he wants to use. I've talked to him on MSN and I told him I wanted to slap him.

Semi-unrelated note: I really miss DarkNova50 and Lance..

ic: Karst was unaware of the approval she was getting from Juliek, instead focused on the Shaman ahead of her. When he picked up the soldier, she gulped, but maintained an air of determined indifference. Although she was only wearing pants, boots and a warm robe, she looked as ready for combat as she would have in full armor. At Lore's entrance, Karst strained to hear the woman's tiny voice, then growled when she did.

I can see several reasons not to. she thought bitterly in response to Lore's statement, some of those going through her head, His damn race is responsible for bringing my life to ruin yet again and he killed hundreds, maybe thousands of innocents. Why should we give him anything besides a sword in the guts?

But Karst saw what the Altmer was doing as she was complaining in her head. Diplomacy, trying to gain trust for the sake of all involved. Besides, they could kill him later, right? I'm a mother, goddammit.. I shouldn't even be here. the thought invaded her head suddenly and she faltered a bit. She remembered Ra'Veldas at home and Veyar far away, people she'd somewhat tried to force out of her head for the sake of her own sanity. Her attention flickered visibly for a moment, an exploitable moment if the Shaman wanted to attack, before she could get herself back into position.
_______
Zan'Tarre sat up after lying immobile with a stupid grin on his face for a few minutes, stretching and listening to the crackling complaints of his aging and abused joints and groaning. "Hell.. I'm getting too old for this crap. I should've settled down and had kids a long time ago." he muttered to himself, then laughed, "And then what? I don't even know if I'd be any good as a father.. Ugh."

The Khajiit walked, Daedric-clad feet thumping on wood, downstairs where he saw Odeen playing with the ice weapon he'd created forever ago. Zant snorted at seeing it. At least it doesn't talk anymore.. he grimaced at the thought of some of the things it had once had to say, the perverted thing. What was its name again? Carshick? Crassicks? Corkicks? Cor.. Corshanx. Yeah, that's it. Corshanx. Walking over to Odeen, he set one boot on the empty bench across the table from the Argonian and laughed gruffly. "Why do you look so put out? At least it doesn't talk anymore. I know it pissed you off."

Odeen looked up and let out a longing sigh. "I wasn't thinking about that. I.." The lizard put his snout down and let air out his nostrils before inhaling through his mouth. "I was wondering.. what.. what I was like, you know.. before."

Zant raised an eyebrow. "Before?" he asked quizzically. Odeen nodded in solemnity.

"Before the amnesia. Before the Crisis. Before.." he paused and shook his head, his voice lowering,"..everything that I can remember. I.." Odeen suddenly thumped his fist on the table and let out a curse and a hissing growl, something that startled Zant. "Damn it!"

The warrior cat leaned in and put a furred set of fingers around Odeen's leatherclad ones, and the fist fell apart, his palm going flat on the table. "Are.. are you all right, Odeen? I've.. never heard you growl or swear before.." The worry was plain in Zant's face as Odeen looked at it and he sighed.

"I.. As much as I will ever be, Zant. I'm sorry. I don't want to be a burden or a worry to you."

Zan'Tarre smiled and squeezed the mage's hand in his own. "You're not. Hell, if it wasn't for you, I may have never seen my sister again. You'll never be a burden to me." he tried to reassure, and it seemed to work a bit, "What's eating you?"

A moment passed, then Odeen looked up with a look that conveyed deep confusion and longing for an answer. "Ever since I met her, I've felt like I knew her. From where, I don't know, but.."

"Who?"

Odeen sighed apologetically. "Karst. I feel like we've met before, somewhere else, sometime else. Sometime before I lost my memory. But.. it's hopeless." He lifted his hand and turned it this way and that, moving his fingers inside the gauntlet, "When Corshanx left, he took my memories with him.. or.. maybe he never had them to begin with. I can't tell. I'm just.. frustrated. Both by that and.. by these feelings I've got about Karst."

"The unknown familiarity?" Zant offered in attempted helpfulness. Odeen shook his head.

"Romantic.. feelings." he said slowly, emphasizing the first word, "Confusing and troubling feelings for a woman already in love, already taken. She's.." he started, then trailed off with a sigh, his snout lowering. "Nevermind."

Zant shrugged, not wanting to pry. "O.. okay. If you need anything, just ask, 'kay?" Odeen nodded and then went back to staring intently at his hand. Zant shook his head and headed outside. I hope everything works out in the end here.. he hoped bleakly as he stepped out into the drifting powder.

Iris looked to Haki as the men headed off to gather the officials, worry plain on her face now that she didn't have to hide it from the populace. She wrapped her hands together, biting her lip, before just collapsing onto the floor with legs splayed out and head in her hands.

Under her breath she was cursing as she fought back tears, rocking softly in place and finding something soothing in the action. "They always... always... just when we think we are safe, they come and destroy it all...." She spoke in a hushed tone, finally looking up to the Commander again.

"What will happen to us now, you think?"
-------------------------
Jalin had already walked out of the building near the dungeons and was walking down the street, towards he frankly had no idea where, and was long gone by the time the Hurak Shaman had escaped and held a hostage. If he had known of the situation, he probably wouldn't have been too much of a use anyways. He was never good in hostage situations.

They were too delicate.

Instead he was fuming in his mind, walking through the snow-covered streets to blow off steam. That soldier. Something about that one soldier had simply enraged him. The fact the man would have given up hope, given in and surrendered! Surrender was NEVER an option.

He was interrupted by the approach of a guard, stopping to look at the man as the soldier saluted. "Sir, commander Haki would like you in Savard's quarters for a meeting." Jalin simply nodded, and headed off after the guard, following him through the streets he'd accidentally gotten lost in.

OOC: That Odeen moment is something I've been wondering from the very beginning, and I think you are taking advantage of it in Zelric's absence. Good on you.

ooc: Whenever I do something more than a couple lines of dialogue with Odeen, I check it past AMZ. He liked it.

And how dare you accuse me of taking advantage of people. *plots having Karst steal from someone*

Sorry for the meaningless ooc post.

Seeing Iris like that killed Haki inside. Seeing her, one of the most influential women in the fortress, one of the strongest people he had ever known, reduced to tears like this brought his spirit crashing down. He felt on the verge of breaking down himself, and his huge chest expanded as he sighed sorrowfully.

"I have no idea." He told her truthfully, going down on one knee so he was at her level. "We'll pull through. We always have, it's just how we live here, [censored] happens, I-" His voice cut off as emotion overpowered his throat for just a moment, he had to take a deep breath before continuing. "Savard was a great man. We both know that. Everyone out there knows that. Reokacing him will be impossible... but for now, we just have to do whatever we can to retain order. This meeting will be the first step towards that. You'll be there; right?"

His voice was barely a frail whisper as he finished talking, a whisper that very, very few people had heard from the soldier. His eyes were watery and his voice was weak, it was having a huge effect on him right now; anybody could figure that out.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"And if you let that man go alive, I see no reason why we shouldn't do the same for you."

The Shaman smiled and turned slightly towards her, raising his eyebrows at her. None of this mattered, he was just waiting. Giving himself time to mentally prepare for what he was about to do, half of his mind was completely blocking out all that was happening here - while the other part remained subcounciously aware.

"Hey cat lady." He said towards Karst. "Catch."

In one quick motion the sword flashed across the man's throat, just where the armour slitted open to allow breathing. The blood erupted from the deep cut, and then with force not seemingly possible from a human he propelled the guard - fully armoured as he was - towards Karst, the man actually physically lifting off the air with the force of the throw towards the woman. He was definitely dead, but that didn't stop him being about to crash straight into the woman.

It wasn't enough though, he turned to Arybeth, blood on his sword and chest.

Come on. He silently spoke, staring at her in the eyes with cold blooded concentration. COME ON!

As Karst faltered, the Shaman took advantage of it. The Khajiit looked up at him as he addressed her as 'cat lady,' just in time to be hit by a soldier. The man hit her, knocked her down and fell on her with a crunch. Karst's eyes widened as the breath was knocked out of her and two of her ribs cracked under the man's weight. She tried to scream but there was no air in her lungs to do so with. Blood poured from the soldier's throat onto her neck and chest as he died and in a few seconds, his eyes rolled back in his head and he stopped coughing and spluttering.

Under the now dead soldier, Karst gasped painfully for breath, each attempt bringing pain from her injured ribs and yielding very little air. After about thirty seconds of pointless gasping she managed to kick the corpse off herself and let out a pathetic little cry of pain. "Help.." she squeaked breathlessly, tears in her eyes from the cracked bones and lack of air.

OOC: I love it when people ignore that I have a fighting character. *sigh* I feel SOOO out of place.
IC:

Even as the Shaman slashed the man's throat, Lore was preparing a spell. The magicka seemed almost to be pulled through her skin into her heart, filling her body with its cool flow, before she expelled it in one bright, shining moment of spellcasting.

"Freeze," she whispered, watching the cloud of paralysis shoot towards the Shaman even as she chased after it, daggers drawn and electricity crackling from their enchanted surfaces. She intened to chat with the Shaman, and now was the time. She was hardly surprised by his antics: killing was what Shaman did.

Dimly, she heard the body hit Karst, and her healer's sense informed her of her injury, but there was enough people there to free the woman while she had her chat with the Shaman.