Fortress of Baereghel

Lady Ilmdra Do'und gazed out at the over-packed fortress and the thousands of slaves that had been placed within the confines of the fortress grounds. Her cousin, Ranyln Do'und, had informed her that someone was coming to take control of the fortress and its occupants but with the number of slaves currently in her possession she was tempted to tell her cousin to fuck off and do as she willed. Most of the Sister's armies were concentrated further west and north against various enemies of the clan. A new enemy had recently risen her in the south and had captured two fortresses.

"Mistress, there has been no change with the General. The healers can do nothing, they say he will live or die by his own will." the little slave told her before running away. Nadal Despval had limped back here with less than 100 Drow and slaves after his army had been slaughtered within the Narrows. The general had received two wounds while fighting through the attackers and was still recovering.

If he recovered, Ilmdra would declare her independence from the Sisters of the Damned and strike out on her own. She was sure she could get him to swear an oath of allegiance to her personally, but if this new patron showed up all her plans would be for naught. Tomb of Eternal Night

Palace of Night

Jacob sighed as he contemplated the information Darren had received from his former guild. The information was not good, Weighted Chance had nearly 200 members with an average player level of the mid-40s. They had fortified Middlebrough and reinforced the standing army with nearly 800 local mercenaries matching the number of troops Jacob could call upon from Ineford. If the city supported any campaign, then they would outnumber the encroaching forces from Middlebrough. The only good thing was, they usually only had about 50 members within the small city limits.

He could use the Tomb Guardians to augment the forces from Ineford, but he did not want to stretch them to thin. He had nearly 1200 deployed to Bloodhaven, New Dawn, and the Fortress of Midnight. He had another 1000 working on clearing out and bulldozing the Middle City so new construction could go up. That left him with nearly 2000 Tomb Guardians to defend Eternal Night and nearly 200 Heart Guards.

"Are you ok?" June asked as she walked up, Chalxae trailed behind her.

"Not really, it seems no matter what I do, things keep going wrong and trouble finds us. It looks like we are about to start a second war which will include other Immortals on the opposing side. I am trying to figure out how to do it without calling on our allies, but I am not going to have a choice. I am going to have to use them on one front or another." Jacob responded as he sighed before turning toward the two Vampires.

Chalxae walked by, her finger trailing along his stiff shoulders before moving down his arm and grabbing his hand, "You can always call upon the Darguun Clan, it is one of the reasons you got married remember. To solidify your military alliance with them and we know they have no love for them." Chalxae said as she followed his gaze to the guards working on demolishing another building. Engineers and work crews were following and salvaging what they could, but 2000 years of neglect made very little of what they found salvageable.

"Cathrine has gone off to see her parents to request access to the Plague Lords destroyed stronghold. Might as well see if she is willing to come here and talk or should I go and see her?" Jacob asked the women as he contemplated how to ask her to put her peoples' lives on the line for his war. Darkfang Hold

Two hours later a Portal tore open and spit out a squad of the Dawn Guard and Jacob's War Party. A couple of squads of soldiers stood ready nearby but upon seeing who it was immediately relaxed and saluted Jacob before going back to whatever they had been doing. Dolbrug smiled upon seeing Jacob, "You are finally back, my sister has been like a bear with a bad tooth since you left. At first, she had this stupid smile on her face but then someone made a comment about her walking funny and it went downhill from there."

"Where is my beautiful wife anyway Dolbrug?" Jacob asked while looking around before sensing her walking up behind him. She did not look happy and before he could say or do anything she slapped him.

"That was for being gone so long and not contacting me. My uncle has contacted me twice since you left, but my own husband cannot even talk to me once." Sosa spit out before rearing back and slapping Jacob again. Before she could slap Jacob a third time he grabbed her wrist and wrenched her arm behind her back and dragged her into his embrace and thoroughly kissed the irate woman. Sosa slowly succumbed and stopped fighting Jacob causing him to release her arm and picking her up and wrapping her arms and legs around him.

Jacob slowly pulled away but did not let her go, "I missed you too, I apologize for not contacting you sooner, but I had a short campaign on the surface and had to deal with some bandits and Immortals. I just got back home yesterday and I only got free today of responsibilities. I could use your advice on some things and I am thinking about requesting your peoples' assistance." Jacob told her as he held her aloft.

Sosa studied Jacobs face and eyes before nodding, "Dolbrug can you request the cooks to prepare some food for my husband and his party. We will have a working lunch, you can tell us your problems and we will see if we can help you." Dolbrug saluted Sosa and smiled at Jacob before darting toward the Chief's Hall.

Sosa tried to disengage from Jacob but he would not let her down yet, "You are going to pay for slapping me later little one." Jacob told her as he placed her on the ground while trailing his lips up her neck and ear causing Sosa to shiver in anticipation. About 45 minutes later Jacob finished updating his wife and her brother on everything that had changed over the last week. She could see why he needed help and why he was hesitant to call on allies to assist in either conflict. "Your plans for the surface are ambitious and due to the remoteness of the basin you will remain undiscovered from all the major powers for a while. Yes, you need to expand your military and if this traitor within the Sisters is willing to support you, you will be able to expand your military. It takes time and money to train an army though. Do you think you can hold off the Sisters and your new enemies in Middlebrough long enough to attain new recruits and train them?" Sosa asked.

Jacob considered her words, "After the First Legion captures the Fortress of Baereghel, if my allies can reinforce my position there, I can free up some of my troops to train new recruits and reinforce Inefords position in the basin. We might even be able to take Middlebrough if I can free up enough troops." Both Sosa and her brother nodded in acknowledgment to his statement but Jacob did not know if they agreed with his viewpoint though.

"Just don't overextend yourself, otherwise you will lose everything you gain quickly," Sosa said as she considered Jacobs words. "Are you going to allow these traders to come here?"

"I wasn't sure if you would be ok with it, but if you are I will put Darkfang Hold on the map information I plan on giving them. I do not plan on giving them any location information on the Tomb or the fort of Blood Haven." Jacob told her in response.

"That is prudent brother and security wise it is fine if you give these traders our location information," Dolbrug responded.

Sosa had a thoughtful expression on her face, "I would suggest you ask the Rexxar and Braxus for no more than 100 warriors and magic wielders each since you are opening a trade route for them they should have no problem with that. We will send double that and yes it will include Shamans and Druids. As long as you have a Portal Pad at this fort it will be easier to reinforce, just make sure I have the portal coordinates in case they need help."

Jacob nodded his head before narrowing his eyes at Sosa before suddenly reaching across the table and pulling her out of her seat causing her to gasp in surprise. Jacob quickly stood and threw Sosa over his shoulder kicking and screaming at him until he smacked her ass, "We will be back in about an hour or so. Probably longer though" Jacob called out as he walked out of the hall and toward the private quarters while Dolbrug and Jacobs War Party laughed at his antics. Hollowed Tombs

House of On'tel Estate

Ishmael and Anastasia looked at their daughter in surprise at her request, "You want the Council of Nine to authorize Jacob and his War Party authorization to enter our lands and access to the Plague Lords Fallen Stronghold. The Nine and I will more than likely to say no, we defeated them and sealed away their stronghold but things they made are still within the fallen fortress. Powerful creatures and experiments that we did not touch, fearing we could unleash something worse then what we destroyed. Now you want us to allow this boy access to the same dangers we feared."

"I understand father, but the Plague Lords acquired two rings that are heirlooms for the Vampires and from the information Jacob acquired points that the Plague Lords kept them in their stronghold. If he does not gain access to the fortress he will never regain them." Cathrine implored her father knowing that if the diplomatic path failed he would probably try to sneak into the fortress without the Nine's permission. If they found out, it could set back their relations and everything they had gained since their marriage would be lost.

"All I can promise is to bring your husband's request before the council, I cannot promise the access he is requesting though," Ishmael told his daughter before