Underdark- Forelorn Depths Region

Fallen Obsidion Kingdom- Southern Border

Entry Hall- Border Outpost

It was a long uneventful night, the few people that were Geomancers, had repaired the two breaches in the wall before going to sleep. It wasn't as good of a job as an Engineer, but it would help if they fell under siege. Jacob was tempted to leave some of his party to secure the Outpost, but he didn't want to leave anyone behind. So after 8 hours and everyone getting at least six hours of sleep, they pushed on.

The 'highway' eventually split, one road went east and the other west. The road itself was a constant fight forward, but the further they went from the previous two Outposts, the thinner the Mind Warped Guardians and Mind Warped Champions (Elite) groups became.

The western road led to another Outpost swarming with Mind Warped Duergar and a Drider Boss, Loru the Spinner. 45 minutes later the Drider gave up the ghost. Beyond the Outpost was another collapsed tunnel, so it was a dead end. At least they wouldn't have to worry about any counter-attack from that direction.

A short lunch break and they started pushing down the eastern tunnel that after ten minutes it dog-legged to the north again. A small choke point and a few squads watching it were the only hindrance as the raiders pushed further north. The third Outpost had the normal amalgam of Mind Warped Guardians, Mind Warped Champions (Elite), some Drow and Duergar as well. Othilk the Elder was a Beholder that roamed the small Outposts grounds, similar to Elite Pit Fiends with optical abilities. However, Beholder had far more rounded magical abilities, while Pit Fiends had a few overpowered abilities.

Since the Beholder was roaming and not staying stationary, they were going to have to tackle the Boss with two groups of Mind Warped Guardians. Suddenly waves of magic and arrows slammed into the ranks and the Beholder as the raid unleashed their firepower on the ranks of the defenders. While Jacob was pulling the Mind Warped Guardians away from the oversized eyeball, the first tank ended up Charmed. The second tank quickly moved up to take the aggro of Othik.

The Shield Warden grunted as an Ice Lance slammed into the Shield Warden followed by Whirl Wind. The Shield Warden plowed through the magic and slammed into the Beholder as the other tanks started peeling off the escorts. Next, the Beholder used Rain of Fire around itself, the nearby Rogues immediately dropped back. The tank had to just endure the punishment as he continued to hack and slash at Othilk.

Underdark- Unending Abyss Region

Fortress of Midnight

Long lines of Orcs, Elves, Humans, Dwarves, and some Duergar practiced weapon and shield drills. Thousands of recruits filled the cavern as General Hune and Captain-General Nadal Despval walked among the ranks. The next batch of recruits would not arrive until after this batch was done with training.

The former slaves and all the volunteers from the Southern Orc tribes would be done in two weeks. It would expand the Empire of Nights military by four Legions. If the tribes held up their oaths, they would muster another four Legions within another two months. The Empire would become strong enough to push into the Free Cities to the north and hold any gains.

"Do we have any potential officers?" Despval asked.

The other Drow shook his head, "Plenty with the potential to be low-level officers, anything higher than Lieutenant Commander...Possibly a small handful, but not General. You might have to promote someone from another Legion." Hune responded.

Despval frowned, "That could create some animosity among the recruits and a sense that we don't trust them. However the learning curve for senior leadership is measured in lives, so I would rather have a few hurt feelings."

Underdark- Forelorn Depths Region

Fallen Obsidion Kingdom- Southern Border

Entry Hall- Border Outpost

Jacob ducked behind his shield as Othilk cast Cone of Cold, cold winds slammed into him and pushed him back.

Battle Alert...

De-Buff Frost Bite: Movement Speed reduced by 50% (Duration 1 Minute), Stamina Regeneration reduced by 25% (Duration 5 Minutes)

Battle Alert...

Jacob tried to shake the cold off but it felt like a thousand little pinpricks all over his body. Jacob activated Shadow Strike and Power Slash, a wave of Shadow Magic broke over the Beholders body and caused it to float backward. Its main eye glared at Jacob as blood flowed from its wounds. Jacob quickly Analyzed the floating Eyeball.

Name: Othilk the Elder (Unique)

Level: 45 (Mini-Boss)

Health: 21,348/200,000

Abilities: Charming Gaze, Ice Lance, Cone of Cold, Fire Ball, Rain of Fire, Scorching Blast, Unknown

Another eye swiveled and faced Jacob, a spark of Fire emerged and blasted Jacob in the face.

Battle Alert...

De-Buff Burn: 50 Fire Damage (Duration 30 Seconds)

De-Buff Scorched: Stamina Regeneration reduced by 30% (Duration 5 Minutes)

Battle Alert...

A half dozen arrows slammed into the exposed eye as Jacob downed his last Small Healing Tonic. A Knight slammed into Othik and drove the Beholder away from the recovering Jacob. Waves of magic and arrows pursued the Beholder as it danced around the Knight.

When the Othik hit 5% he bounced off the ground and started screaming as all its eyes started to whirl all-around before settling and staring at Jacob and all those nearby. "Well, well, it seems you have some power. You have fought and destroyed four of my favored toys. What shall I do to you in return??? You destroy my pawns and kill my toys, this is the most fun I have had in centuries. If you can survive my attempt to retake what you have stolen, I will allow you to keep it." Suddenly the Beholder screamed as blood flowed freely from all its eyes as it collapsed.

Regional Alert...

The Border Outpost(s) has been freed from the 'Ones' influence and forces, it is now a safe and secure place.

Regional Alert...

Alert...

Through battle, you have gained...245,731 Experience

Alert...

Alert...

For slaying Loru the Spinner you have gained...24,000 Experience

For slaying Othilk the Elder you have gained...24,000 Experience

Alert...

Regional Alert...

The forces of the 'One' are in route and will arrive at your Outpost in one hour, defeat the Horde and the area will be yours.

Regional Alert...

Quest Issued: Survival of the Fittest

Description: The 'One' is sending a counter-attack to retake the fallen outposts. Defeat the oncoming Horde mindless drones and the One will leave your new territory alone. (If you believe this guy)

Rewards: 100,000 Experience, Unknown

A countdown flashed in existence at the corner of his HUD, "Do an inventory of potions, redistribute so everyone has some. Geomancers, get to work on the wall and seal up any breaches. Rangers and Scouts, I want any traps that you can build to litter the tunnel coming from the north. Warriors, work with Assassins too create some poisoned Pit Traps Anastasia, can you think of anything else?" Jacob started to call out.

The Arcane Archer flagged down a Battle Engineer and the two War Mages they had in the raiding party. She quickly started talking with them as others went to work. Jacob immediately unequipped his armor and weapon and pulled his pickax from his inventory as he headed toward the north/south tunnel.

45 minutes later almost all the work was done, a few things were still under construction, but overall they were as prepared as they could be. Everyone was resting, snacking, or just relaxing before the madness began. Jacob was busy checking the straps of his armor and making sure everyone was ready. All the archers would be posted on the wall or central building, from either place the archers could strike at the oncoming enemies.

The Mages were split similarly, the melee types were split among the walls and courtyard. Jacob was hoping the wall would hold against the physical assault, but until the enemy forces arrived...Darren had taken a few Rogues to scout out the tunnel and would report in as soon as they sighted the enemy force.

Suddenly the raid channel lit up as Darren's small group spotted the massing forces. They only spotted Mind Warped Drones, hundreds of them were massing for the attack and Darren was pretty sure he saw something bigger in the back of the enemy formation.

Darren and the other scouts ran back as quickly as they could leaving them tired and nearly drained of Stamina, but they got back five minutes before the first of the Mind Warped beings emerged from the tunnel. Anyone with long-range Aoe spells started targeting the oncoming horde and poured magic into the Mind Warped beings.

Then the archers started adding their arrows to the mix, then the horde hit the first of the traps. Explosions, large pits, exploding boulders, expanding fields of ice, clouds of acid and poison struck killing dozens. Jacob started blasting the weakened horde with Shadow Bolts adding his meager Magic to the fray.

The few Mages and Archers assigned to the central building added their meager firepower to the ongoing battle. Suddenly the horde slammed into the wall, some of them started to climb the wall while others struck the stone walls with their weapons. Every weapons strike dropped the wall by one or two durability, but with a growing number of enemies doing it, the durability of the wall was dropping quickly.

The Battle Engineer started dropping grenades into the packed ranks below, the small explosions scythed through the ranks leaving bloody and broken bodies behind. War Mages started channeling Chain Lightning into the remains of the first wave that had pushed past the traps. Jacob Analyzed the nearest enemy.

Name: Mind Warped Drone

Level: 15

Health: 327/2,000

Abilities: Unknown

They were trash mobs, but enough trash mobs could down even the most powerful players, and the Seekers were not there yet. The first of the invaders crested the wall and Moonlight whipped out, the Drones head went one way and the body went another. "They are trash mobs, harbor your resources," Jacob yelled out as he moved from one group to another. Moonlight sheering through necks, arms, opening huge wounds on the body.

"We got a Boss incoming!!! Fomorian, level 45, two hundred and twenty thousand health. It's in the back and driving the Drones forward." One of the Archers called out.

Jacob ducked a swing of an ax and triggered Hemorrhage, a wave of critically wounded Drones died as their arteries exploded. Over a dozen died within moments, over two dozen were left bleeding out and giving Jacob time to look at the new boss and Analyze it.

Name: Grulag the Devastated (Unique)

Level: 45 (Mini-Boss)

Health: 212,381/220,000

Abilities: Unknown

Explosions as multiple spells slammed into the Fomorian and the area around it. The thing was caught in the radius of a dozen AoE spells. Grulag kept pressing forward through the offensive spells despite losing nearly 3% of his health per second.

"Drop all AoE just outside the wall, cut all long-distance attacks!!" Anastasia called out to the Mages.

Shouts of acknowledgment went out quickly as the Mages shifted their targeted areas closer to the Outpost. The Archers will still thining out the oncoming ranks of enemies, but more and more of the Mine Warped Drones were making it too and onto the wall.

The three War Mages dropped Lightning Novas just outside the wall. They delt 75 DPS for 1 minute and slowed movement speed by 50% for the duration. Ice Storms and Meteors quickly followed slamming into the ranks of the enemy killing dozens as Grulag hit the minefield and traps slowing the Fomorian. Suddenly one of the Pit Traps gave way and the Fomorian roared in pain as it face planted and the snapping of bones drowned out the clash of arms and explosions of magic.

Jacob quickly Analyzed the monster again, he was down to less than one hundred and fifty thousand health and due to the broken leg, he was suffering under a couple of large De-Buffs causing even more slowing effects and open wound effects. Suddenly half the Mages and Archers targeted the Boss pouring as much firepower into the Fomorian as they could.

Regional Alert...

The Horde sent by the 'One' has been defeated. The Entry Hall is secure.

Regional Alert...

Alert...

Through battle, you have gained...187,249 Experience

Alert...

Alert...

For slaying Grulag the Devastated you have gained...24,000 Experience

Alert...

Quest Completed: Survival of the Fittest

Description: Through preparation and overwhelming firepower you defeated the Horde sent by the one.

Rewards: 100,000 Experience, Teleport and Portal Restrictions are removed from the Entry Hall

Quest Completed: Ancient Secrets of the Obsidion Kingdom (Stage 2)

Description: You expanded your foothold and secured the Entry Hall from the forces of the 'One'.

Reclaim: 3/3 Outposts

Defeat Puppets: 3/3

Difficulty: Hard

Requirement: Level 50, Party of 50

Rewards: 90,000 Experience, Ancient Secrets of the Obsidion Kingdom (Stage 3)

Quest Issued: Ancient Secrets of the Obsidion Kingdom (Stage 3)

Description: You have gained a foothold within the Obsidion Kingdom, now expand your control and capture the outlaying Fortress of Thongulor to bolster your foothold and provide you with a better defensive position from the 'One'.

Capture the Fortress of Thongulor: ---

Difficulty: Hard

Requirement: Level 50, Party of 50

Rewards: 100,000 Experience, Ancient Secrets of the Obsidion Kingdom (Stage 4)

Alert...

You have gained 1(52) Level

Constitution, Strength, and Agility have increased by 2, Intelligence and Wisdom have increased by 1.

You have gained 2 Characteristic Points and 1 Utility Point

Alert...

"Well that was fun, anyone has a Portal Anchor?" Jacob asked the recovering raid members.

Several of the Rogues raised their hands and Jacob pointed to one randomly and the others went back to work looting or hunting for treasures.