The party of six arrived at the Bruma Guildhall and was immediately greeted by Jeanne Frasoric. The Guildmaster was a friendly sort, although not very intelligent. She had clearly gained her position as the leader of the Bruma mages through quite a few favors, not earning it.
"Welcome, welcome," she quickly hailed the Wild Cards. "I thank you for coming."
"The gold was motivation enough," Isaiah told her. He was blunt as he had no desire of becoming another friend for her to leech off of.
Being just intelligent enough the Cards were here for a job, period, Frasoric got to business but still wore her beaming smile. "Normally we would have called the Fighters Guild for reinforcements, but Arch-Mage Traven does not wish for us to take sides in the feud between them and the newly established Blackwood Company." She added quickly, "I completely agree with him." Disagreeing with the Arch-Mage would clearly result in a loss of favor. Ryan shook his head.
"What is the situation?" Pryde asked his superior who he obviously did not think of as such.
"Hindaril has the Armor of the Atronach," Frasoric said clearly not knowing what it meant.
"Who will we be working with?" Isaiah asked the oblivious Guildmaster before anyone else could say a word. Osis knew very well the complications this entailed, but was intent on keeping his composure.
"Well, you've already met Ryan," Frasoric started, still keenly ignorant of the situation. "This is Volanaro, Orintur, and Druja," she said pointing at two Altmer and an Argonian respectively.
The newly acquainted mages and Cards introduced themselves to one another, all while attempting to keep from Jeanne anything was out of the ordinary.
"I would like to arrange a war meeting," Isaiah said. Jeanne opened her mouth to speak. "I want only those to be involved with the battle to attend," Isaiah finished firmly before she could say a word. Frasoric closed her mouth and frowned for the first time.
"I'll ready my room for the meeting," Jeanne said after recovering her blissfully stupid grin.
Isaiah whispered something in Makenna's ear just loud enough for him and only him to hear it. Makenna nodded just enough for Isaiah to notice and placed a glowing purple hand on his shoulder.
Jeanne herded the Cards and mages into her room. Before she could follow them however, Isaiah slammed the door. "Silence the door," Isaiah told Makenna.
The Dunmer launched a green ball at the door. The room was now soundproof and Jeanne frustrated. Volanaro, Orintur, and Druja chuckled, but the Cards and Ryan remained solemn.
"May I?" Alderich asked addressing Isaiah.
Osis nodded.
"We are the Wild Cards," Alderich began. "This is our leader, Isaiah Osis, a ranger," hand open toward the Imperial. "I am Alderich, a swordmage. My brother Makenna, a mage. Thurod gro-Monk, a warrior. And Alfonso Furey, another warrior." Alderich shifted his hand to each in sequence. "Our... hostess... seems to be blissfully unaware of the situation. Because of this and the annoyance it would be if allowed in this room, Jeanne will be discluded from this meeting." All present nodded in agreement. "We know Ryan," he continued, "but, for the purposes of strategic planning, we will need to know your skills," indicating the two Altmer and Argonian, "and perhaps a demonstration of them."
"Well, ah, I'm a mage," spoke the Altmer named Orintur. "From Cheydinhall, specialize in Alteration." As he said this his hand began to glow blue. He tapped Jeanne Frasoric's desk drawer with the hand, which was tightly locked. Four tumblers were heard clicking into place and Orintur slid open the drawer.
"An expert no less," Makenna said counting the tumblers.
"I prefer shield spells, but there's no way for me to properly demonstrate here without risk of injury," Orintur finished.
Alderich nodded at the Argonian female.
"I am Druja from the Skingrad Guildhall," she said. "I am an expert in Destruction magic."
"Show me," Makenna told her.
The Argonian's hand glowed red and she held it above Makenna's shoulder. He nodded and Druja lowered her hand. "Cast the simplest light spell you have available to you," she requested.
Makenna held up his hand. He was clearly concentrating very hard on the spell, but could only manage a very dim glow. "I cannot manage it," he said finally lowering his hand. "That is a powerful drain Illusion spell," he complimented her.
Druja smiled an Argonian smile.
"My turn I guess," Volanaro said, "I and my friend J'Skar here are both illusionists from right here in Bruma."
The rest of the group looked at each other confusedly. Volanaro was referring to this J'Skar as being present, yet he was not visibly so.
As the rest were about to question Volanaro, a Khajiit suddenly appeared next to him. Thurod grabbed the cat by the throat and held him against the wall. Alderich drew his dwarven blade and pressed it to the Khajiit's chest above his heart.
"While I am impressed by your reaction times," Isaiah said calmly, "you are going to have to release J'Skar."
Alderich and Thurod looked at each other then back at the Khajiit. Thurod loosened his hold and Alderich sheathed his sword.
"You knew he was there?" Alderich asked his leader.
"Of course," the Imperial replied, "Makenna used a detect life spell on me."
"If he had had a malevolent agenda, Isaiah would have had an arrow between his eyes," Makenna added.
"I take it you wish to join us in the fight against Hindaril?" Osis questioned the uninvited but not unwelcome guest.
"That is correct," J'Skar replied.
"Given the circumstances, I will not refuse your help," Isaiah said in a serious tone but clearly happy to have his assistance. J'Skar nodded in appreciation.
"Now," said Ryan, "shall we get down to planning?" He paused to think about his wording of the upcoming sentences. "Hindaril has Apotheosis, the Armor of the Atronach, and control of the Atronach Altar, we know this." All in the room whispered agreements. "This will allow him to summon not only Atronachs, but their immensely powerful Monarch cousins as well. We... may not be able to defeat such monsters. The Arch-Mage has given us permission to destroy the staff, armor, and/or altar to banish them. It is unknown to the Guild the procedure to do this, but we do know it can only be done by one born under the sign of these Daedra. There is only one person here who fits that description," he said staring directly at Alderich and drawing the others' attention to him as well.
Makenna spoke first after a long pause. "Let me guess, it will have adverse effects."
"There lies the dilemma," the Breton replied, "we really do not know. It could have any kind of consequence, but we are unaware of what they may be. That is why we would like to avoid the destruction of the artifacts. If it has unforeseen... mortal... consequences, we do not wish to put your life in danger Alderich. The decision is yours."
"Well..." Isaiah said in deep thought, "in light of this, you are my second for this mission Alderich. You will command Makenna, Fons, Ryan, and Druja. They will help you during the mission, however you decide to go about it." Alderich nodded, seeming unaffected that the burden of this decision was made his. "I will command Thurod, Volanaro, Orintur, and J'Skar," he finished.
The five Wild Cards and equal number of Mages Guild mages then began the strategic planning of the assault of Frostcrag Spire.