Jacob and his War Party had been traveling about 10 minutes down the main passage away from Blood Haven and his home when Chalxae un-stealthed in front of him. The Rogue had been scouting ahead to check for ambushes and to see what was near our new home "Master, there is a small cavern right off the main passage that you need to see. Keep on your current path and you will see it easily." She stated before she darted off again. Dam Drow was going to give him problems, he just knew it. Why did she insist on calling him Master when he had told her to use his name.

Either she enjoyed calling him that or she did it to annoy him..."Jacob, I can sense a well of Mana and Life ahead, maybe that is what she is referring too." Snaggletooth stated from behind him. Good, they finally found something and not just more darkness and rock. Jacob picked up the pace eager to see what the Rogue and Shaman had been referring too.

The cavern was quite beautiful and about as big as a baseball field. It was an underground grove of trees, Dark Oaks Grove to be specific. All the trees glowed with an internal light, imagine a grove of oak trees that glowed like black lights and you can imagine what Jacob was seeing. Every single one averaged about 10 feet tall and the largest had grown out of a pond and it stood at nearly 20 feet high. The pond had to be a Mana Well because it glowed with its own light as well. "Well we just found out the first resource, as long as we don't over harvest the grove, we will have a steady stream of Dark Oak wood to use and export and I am sure we can also use the Well also." Jacob stated to his companions. All of them were in a little bit of awe of the grove, although Dark Oak was the most common tree that grew in the Underdark, it was still rare. Jacob quickly marked the coordinates of the Grove on his map, the proximity of the Grove would allow his people to access the natural resource without facing much threat.

After that they continued on their journey through the Underdark, they found the first fork in the road just 15 minutes later. It was in a small cavern, the tunnel branched off three ways and his rogue was sitting on a boulder waiting for them. It was a natural choke point and someday he would place a small outpost here but those were thoughts and plans for another day. "Thoughts people, which way should we go? Suggestions, feelings, anything your gut telling you please speak up." Jacob asked his party. Shigna and Snaggletooth looked at the left tunnel, then at each other and then pointed at it. Neither June nor Chalxae added anything to the discussion. So Chalxae darted off down the tunnel and the rest followed her. It proved to be an annoying 30-minute walk because they found several doorways...but they could not pass any of them. Every time they were told the same dam thing. "Welcome to 'Unknown' until this region has been claimed by a Fortress no one shall enter here"...Three doorways and every single one looked like they led to mines. Shigna stated he could sense the metals in them, one was Silver, one Iron, and one Platinum with some Titanium Jacob was sure they would all be one-off dungeons as well since none of them had been mined in a very long time if ever. So an hour wasted to discover they had resources that were just out of reach...

One branch down and two to go. Jacob and his Bonded agreed that they would not explore a branch no-further than one hour away from the central fork. So off they went down the right-hand branch, 45 minutes later the tunnel dumped the party into a cavern the size of a football field with a large mana pond in the center. Chalxae was standing at the mouth of the cavern just looking in with both daggers drawn "Something evil lives in there, do not die here." she told Jacob before walking away. Jacob looked all over the cavern mouth but he found no writings or warning so he drew his sword and stepped into the cavern. Nothing lashed out and the cave mouth did not collapse, woohoo maybe his luck was turning around at last. After walking around the cavern for about five minutes and giving the pond a wide berth, Jacob started walking closer to the pond. Big mistake, something started crawling out of the pond. If you have ever seen Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, it looked a lot like that popped out in front of Durins Door, but the one in the movie was prettier and nicer. As Jacob ran away, well like he was going to get eaten he Analyzed the monster before he left the cavern....hot dam he found a raid monster. How the hell was he going to down a raid monster...

Elite Pit Fiend Boss

Name: Cornugon

Level: 50+

Health: Unknown

Mana: Unknown

Skills: Unknown

Abilities: Unknown

Dammit if they could down the boss, they could use the cavern to grow food...Well, he flagged it and made a note that it was off-limits for the immediate future. Two paths cleared and one to go, hopefully, this one would not lead to some monster that he couldn't kill or doors that could not be unlocked.

As they made their way through the Underdark, Jacob once again found the scouting rogue standing by a cave entrance. This one hade Runes and a name are written in multiple languages around it. Cave of Damnation. Well, that's an ominous Dungeon name Jacob thought as he approached the entrance and touched the identity stone to pull up the information on the dungeon. Spoiler: Spoiler

Name: Cave of Damnation

Age: Ancient

Level Range: 20 - 25

Description: Once long ago, an Orc shaman of the Gem'Lock Tribe inhabited this cave. As time passed he feared for the safety of his tribe so gave up the way of the Shaman and walked the Path of the Warlock. He sacrificed dozens if not hundreds in his quest for power and to create an army to protect his people. Eventually it was said that the Old Warlock summoned something he could not control and that it killed him and all that is left of his is the army of demons that he summoned that are now bound to this cave.

Do you wish to enter?? Yes or No

Well, HELL TO THE FUCKING NO. They were not strong enough yet, and he was pretty sure they had found the one that got away earlier. Nice mid 20s dungeon though, and not too far from his new home. Between the rebel Kobold fort and this dungeon, he had found two repeatable dungeons so far. It being Ancient would mean if they cleared it first they would rack up some nice bonuses too.

After another twenty minutes of travel, the abruptly ended in a cavern. Jacob and his party were at the bottom of a grotto. Dozens of chambers dotted the cave wall and from his vantage, he could see three tunnels leading from the cavern. Littering the ground were the remains of hundreds if not thousands of Orc and Goblins. Weapons and Armor were broken and shattered so whatever had happened this tribe had not gone quietly to death. Well, this was a great ending to a scouting mission. Chalxae was standing near a mound of bones, a crude sign had been posted. "Here lies the remains of the Gem'Lock Tribe, slaughtered in the name of my Master" the name had been scratched out and Traitor written instead.

Quest Alert: Justice in the Depths

Description: Long ago the Gem'Lock tribe inhabited this cavern. They were betrayed by...Unknown...a powerful Shaman of the tribe that feared the Underdark and went down a dark path. Eventually, he became so twisted and evil that he attacked his own people and slaughtered them. Find out the truth of his madness and put his soul to the final rest.

Clear the Cave of Damnation: Incomplete

Rewards: Exp, Unknown

At least he had a story now behind everything, even if it was a sad one. What had happened and why had this Shaman betray his people and slaughter his tribe. The questions would have to wait as it was time to head back and check to see how everything had been going back there.

A little over an hour later they were finally back. His companion immediately left to go clean and eat, Jacob still had to check in with his Seneschal and make sure everything they discovered was recorded and to make sure that certain areas of the Underdark were off-limits for now. He quickly found Eiloma Silverleaf and updated her on everything his War Party had found, her response was it would be nice if they had some maps and if they had a Cartographer they could produce some. A cartographer was one of those people that could make maps and was not essential at this point in time to the survival of his fortress or people at this time. He knew he would have to hire one eventually, but at this time it was way down on the list to get done. Jacob told his Seneschal to make sure Thardan Dulkam knew about the off-limits areas so he could warn the Tomb Guards. Eiloma was excited about the possibilities of having mines close by but agreed once he did unlock the areas he would have to go in and clean out whatever had taken residence in them.

Next, he checked in with his Foreman Jigibs, the Goblin was happy they had managed to tear down most of the Ziggurat with only one wall left that would be completely torn down in the next hour. Jigibs also informed him that he had taken an assessment of the wall and that between the Unbounded and Guards that they should get the basic wall completed within four days without any archer towers and only one gate. He would anchor the walls to the sides of the caverns to strengthen the wall unlike what the Sisters had done. He also wanted Shigna to check the foundation to make sure it was secure and deep. So between the Fortified Hall and Wall, he was looking at about a week's worth of work before the bare bones of the Fortress were even complete. After that, he needed housing, smithy, warehouse, barracks....and the list went on.

After he was done talking to the Foreman, an older Orc that was just a bit taller but twice as wide as Jacob walked up to him. "Lord, I am Torgun Urgran the Smith that you brought along for this project. I wanted to take this time to thank you for bringing me along and giving me a chance. Although I cannot make the best products with just a mobile smithy, I will do my best." Torgun introduced himself.

Jacob just smiled and shook the Orcs hand in greeting "We have plenty of work to do here Torgun, and those that prove themselves and want to join my house will be offered the Blood Bond or employment. I know we don't have a lot of raw resources, but we found three mines today and once we have finished the Fortified Hall we can claim this area and unlock access to them. Do you have enough raw materials to create what you need for both the Fortified Hall and the wall?" Jacob asked the outgoing Orc.

Torgan took a moment of time and thought about everything he had to make for the construction efforts and what he had to maintain to keep them going "For the Hall, yes absolutely and maybe with the wall. We will be cutting it close. The sooner you secure a steady supply of raw resources the better. Until then you could always raid one of the settlements of the clanless and steal any raw ore and weapons they have laying about. If you have a map I can mark the location of several camps that I am aware of." the Orc responded.

Jacob winced before he responded, "I do not have a map, but just give me the coordinates and I am sure I will be able to find them." Torgan looked doubtful but still told him the coordinates before he left.

Quest Received: Supplying the Smith

Description: The Smith Torgun has requested that you bring him weapons and/or raw ore from the camps of the clanless Duergar, Orcs, and Goblins to make sure that your bidding settlement has enough materials to get by until you open the mines.

Requirement: 0/20 Weapons and/or Pieces of Ore

Rewards: Exp, Increased Resources for your settlement, Unknown

Not a bad haul for the day. They had discovered several resource locations for his settlement, a unique raid monster, a repeatable dungeon with an attached quest for the first run, and a resource gathering quest. Time to eat and log off then discuss everything he learned from his friends to get their insights about what he found.