Blood Haven

Jacob watched the three other leaders, all of them were slightly tense as they sat at the with him as they each reviewed the various papers in front of them. Only leaders had been allowed to enter, no soldiers or War Parties. It was a critical rule that Jacob had inforced. Surprisingly all leaders had shown up with only 10 Warriors each and Jacob had asked Chalxae and June to keep an eye out on the nearby Underdark to make sure no one snuck up on the summit.

If the SIsters struck now, they could wipe out the leadership of all the major powers in the area and might even cause infighting between them. It would devastate all the powers and leave them ripe for invasion. So while the others reviewed the Non-Aggression treaty, Jacob reviewed the pop-up from the completed construction and finished Keep Quest. Spoiler: Spoiler

Name: Stone Overseers Office (LVL 2)

Durability: 3000/3000

Mason Assigned: Magrum Stonehand

Description: The Stone Overseers Office is the upgraded Masons Hut. With this office, two Quarries can be run by a Mason and his apprentice. Production is also increased by 50% of what the Quarries can produce. Level 1 Quarries produce 12 Stone Units a day.

Fort Quest Completed: Stone Value

Description: You have completed a Stone Overseers Office and a second Quarry to ensure that your growing Fortress has enough Stone resources for the future. Your Mason has recognized your efforts and will make sure his fellow citizens of the Fortress of Midnight know it.

Rewards: 1000 Keep Experience, New Motif for the Fortified Hall, see Magrum about other Reward

Rexxar clearing his throat brought Jacob back to the here and now much to the amusement of the others. "Sorry, was going over some information about my settlement and thoughts about progress...Does it ever get any easier?" Jacob asked Braxus as he stared at the older Kobold and the one with the most advanced settlement.

The question made the Kobold snort and laugh, "Not at all. The more advanced your settlement becomes, the more demanding it is. Now onto today's topic, I have no problem with this Non-Aggression Treaty with the Darguun Clan. I just hope they uphold the heart and the word of the treaty. As long as you vouch for her Honor Lord Longstrider, we will sign."

"As will the Bloodfangs, you have proven to be an Honorable ally, Jacob. We will respect your word on the subject." Rexxar added.

Jacob smiled at the two leaders while he ignored Sisa's considering gaze, "Well gentlemen and lady, please sign the treaties so we can get to the second half of this meeting. Chieftan Sisa, since you declined anything more than a Non-Aggression treaty, thank you for your time but please leave after the signing."

"What will be discussed that Clan Darguun cannot hear?" Sisa immediately responded.

Jacob snorted at her response, "Chieftan Darkfang, the meeting will be a discussion between allies and friends. Your clan is neither Ally or Friend to any of our people, so again you will leave after the Non-Aggression treaty is signed."

"If the Darguun Clan was willing to be Allies, would that change anything?" Sisa asked which caused both the Orc and Kobold to reconsider until they heard Jacob laughing in amusement. Based on the look on Jacobs' face, it was not amusement but mockery that made him laugh.

"You are offering an Alliance, yet when I offered a mutual defense treaty you declined and offered a threat instead...I apologize Chief Darkfang for my laughter but I will not be a part of any Alliance with you or your clan until you can prove that you are no threat to any of us." Jacob responded to her comment. Both Rexxar and Braxus nodded at his words and SIsa could tell they would stand beside his decision. Rexxar and Braxus quickly signed the paperwork and offered it to Chief Darkfang who signed the copy. Each leader would get a copy but Jacob would hold the original document and with the signing done, Sisa left knowing she had made a mistake at the original meeting with Jacob Longstrider and it would take something drastic to earn his trust and those that trusted him. "Are you sure this is what is best Jacob?" Rexxar asked as they left the building and walked toward their respective people.

"Best...no. I am not sure if it is what is best, but of the choices in front of me it is the best way forward and we have to take the initiative away from the Sisters. If you or Braxus can see a better way, please tell me. All I see is a war coming to us, we can bring the fight to them or we can sit and wait for them to bring their strength against us. Which choice would you rather take?" Jacob asked the two leaders and both stayed silent knowing he was right but not liking the fact they would be seeing war sooner rather than later.

"We know Jacob Longstrider, it does not mean we like the fact that we are placing our people on the road to war. My people just got done defeating a rebellion and Rexxar is still consolidating his position among the Clanless within this area." Braxus stated. Jacob nodded at the Kobold before he responded.

"I understand that that is why my people will bear the brunt of the initial part of the conflict. It will buy us all more time to consolidate our positions in this area and strengthen all of us. I expect this short campaign should buy us at least a months rest if not more time before they launch a counter attack. Now I have to go to Eternal Night, do you have any other questions?" Jacob asked the two leaders. Both declined as their people opened portals to go home, "Don't forget we all have those communications stones if any of you have updates about the SIsters or anything related to our Alliance reach out." Both leaders waved as their Warriors and Mages led their leaders to their respective homes. Fortress of Midnight

Main Hall

Jacob shuddered thinking about having had to drop more money into the Pit but he had to hire more people and now the Fortress had a High Elf Healer with two apprentices, another herbalist to work with Ganeagit Cragforge, another Animal handler to assist with the Void-Wolfs and the Anglo-Backs. According to them it would take them about a week to acclimate to their new home but they had more than enough food for such a small herd, they just requested a Pen to be built to help contain the creatures.

"Mylord, you were right. We need water reserve built up and with the trouble with the city I do not know how long we can...trust that they will continue to supply us with food and water." Eiloma said as he walked up to the High Elf Vampire. She looked like her old self mostly, and she was doing her job again.

"I already looked at the blueprints on my interface, Wells will take a day to build and a Cistern will take two days to build. Once the current queue of minor jobs has been cleared out, I will look at what we need and see if we have time to construct them yet. Right now the City Admin Building will take a week to construct, when will we be able to build two Major Construction jobs at a time?" Jacob asked the Seneschal.

"Once the fortress has accrued 15,000 experience a second Minor slot is unlocked and when the fortress hits 20,000 a second Major slot is Unlocked. We will not Unlock any more construction slots after that until the fortress hits Level 2. I have had complaints from the two Engineer Apprentices that Master Gaver Spriglesproket sleeps a lot when he is supposed to be working and when he does work he is verbally abusive. One of the Apprentices has asked to be transferred to work for Master Jigibs." Eiloma stated as she looked at her notes.

"I went by the city, the environment is a little frosty but still tolerable. Here is a list of Unbonded that I hired and that need to be interviewed. I will go talk to Master Spriglesproket now and deal with the problem." Jacob said as he turned and headed out of the Hall. The foundation of the new City Admin Building was well underway at the direction of Jigibs when Jacob walked by heading for the R&D building. He could swear he heard the Goblin chuckle as he entered the building. The Gnome was sleeping with his feet up on a desk while the two apprentices worked discussing the current Blueprint, the Saw Mill. He motioned for the two apprentices to remain quiet while he stalked up behind the sleeping Gnome and ripped the chair from under him. He let out a yell and cursed as he stood up, his eyes bulged as he stared at Jacobs glowing red eyes as the Vampire picked him up and slammed him into the desk.

Both apprentices openly laughed, "I am sorry Master Spriglesproket did I wake you from your nap? I am sorry that I woke you when you are supposed to be watching over these two and make sure they do their jobs and do it correctly. You are supposed to be teaching them. Since they are doing your job, they will get your pay for this week. One of you requested to work for Master Jigibs, consider the request approved. He is actually working outside right now." Jacob heard the retreating footsteps as one of the apprentices ran out while the other cursed at being left behind. "You are going to watch the Master here, if he falls asleep on the job or verbally abuses you again, please let me know. Master Spriglesproket if you do either of those things, you will be terminated without pay do I make myself clear?" The old Gnome quickly nodded his head while the remaining apprentice smiled nastily at the Gnome as Jacob left the building.

As Jacob reentered the Hall Eiloma looked him over and frowned in disappointment, "I do not see any blood, I am going to assume you allowed the old shit to live?" Eiloma asked as she rolled her eyes.

"Yes he is alive and his pay for this week is split between the two Apprentice Engineers. One of them is now working for Master Jigibs while the other is very happy to make sure that Master Spriglesproket will actually work from now on." Jacob responded as he headed toward his office. "The Non-Aggression treaty and Alliance Treaty were both signed and Chief Darkfang tried to wiggle in on the Alliance Treaty but I told her to take a hike." Jacob summarized the meeting with the three other leaders as Tathlyn joined them.

"Be careful mylord, Clan Darguun knows how to hold a grudge and I am sure she will not forget what happened today." the Drow advised and Eiloma nodded at his advice.

"I know, but she is the one that threatened us. I wasn't going to invite her into bed with us after she just threatened us. If she wants to be more then just neighbors, she will have to earn that trust." Jacob defended himself and his choices.

Tathlyn nodded at what the young lord said, "I am not disagreeing with your choice, I am just advising caution. You might need their assistance someday and they might deny it just to spite you. Now how did the other leaders like the fact you are setting us on the warpath?"

"About what I thought, they overall didn't like the fact we are heading that way after just signing an official treaty but...we do not have a choice. I would rather fight them piecemeal instead of fighting a large army. Right now their strength is spread out, we can fight that but if they marshal into one army we are screwed. If they receive more Battle Banners we are screwed. We have to push them out of the area now while they are still weak. We cannot let them gain a bigger beachhead in this area if we want to succeed. They did like that we are going to be shouldering responsibilities for the raids and the fact that we will be buying more time to build up our strength." Jacob reported to Tathlyn. Who nodded and smiled.

"Well your initial campaign is planned out, but the question is how the Merchant Lords will react and will they join you in your war against the Sisters. We cannot afford to have left them behind without either a treaty or having them subjugated." Tathlyn stated.

"Yes, and I will make a play after Darren has completed his mission, not beforehand. I promised one of their leaders that I would try the diplomatic route first. If that fails, it will be war instead. That is a worry for another day, right now we need to take out those first two outposts, recruit more for the Dawn Guard, and what do we do if Talia tries to pull me from power?" Jacob asked.

Both elves looked at each other before Tathlyn took the lead, "If the Queen tries to pull you from power, I am assuming you will not go quietly, you will have to declare your independence from the Queen. It will mean two wars though so be prepared and you will not be able to call upon your allies because it will be an internal matter. So until you have gained more strength I would say, bide your time and do as she wills for now. After you have gained enough strength...That will be a discussion for another day. Hopefully, she will not rock the boat and will allow you to continue in your own way. Now, what will you do about the betrothal? Do you plan on upholding it?" Tathlyn asked while glancing at Eiloma.

Jacob contemplated just that, he could refuse the marriage but then it could make the Hollowed Tombs an enemy, or he could uphold the deal the Queen made...."For now, I will stand by the situation, I have no idea what plans and the Queen made or the Timeline. Next time I see Mikael, I will ask him and we cannot afford to have the Hollowed Tombs as an enemy no matter what right now." Tathlyn nodded at the statement while Eiloma frowned and looked away. "Ok, I plan on heading out tomorrow and we should be back in a little over a week. Do you guys have anything to add otherwise I would like to call it a night." As the Drow and High Elf-Vampire filed out of his room Jacob brought up his Skill Trees to see if he wanted to purchase anything else from them...

Alert...

Starting at Level 10, you accrue 3 Skill points every 5 levels. Skill trees are automatically Unlocked at level 30 for Base, Primary, and Advanced Classes. You have...11...Points left. Note, once Skill points are spent they are forever lost.

Alert...

Common Warrior Skill Tree

Spoiler: Spoiler Tier 1

Name: Shield Bash (Rank 1 Purchased, Next rank Unlocked at level 35)

Description: Slam your shield into the face of your enemy causing them 200 Damage and causing them to be stunned for 3 seconds. (This attack requires a shield, Instant, Cost 100 Stamina, Cooldown 1 Minute)

Name: Sword Mastery (Rank 1 Purchased, Next rank Unlocked at level 35)

Description: Anyone can swing something with a sharp edge, with this Skill you gain instinctive Intermediate Knowledge on how to use a blade (Increases Damage of 1-Handed Swords by 5%, Passive)

Name: Pack Mule (Rank 1 Available for Purchase)

Description: Decreases the weight of all items in your inventory by 3% (Passive)

Blood Knight Skill Tree

Spoiler: Spoiler Tier 1

Name: Hemorrhage (Rank 1 Purchased, Next rank Unlocked at level 35)

Description: A Blood Knight is a master of Blood and at a cost of 25% of your life, you can command the enemies blood around you to burst major arteries (Deal 300 Damage) and cause bleeding (20 DPS for 15 Seconds) throughout an enemies body. (AoE up to 10 feet, Cost 25% of Health, Cooldown 5 Minutes, Upgrading will decrease cost and increase damage)

Name: Blood Rain (Rank 1 Available for Purchase)

Description: The Blood Knight can absorb the life of failed enemies to fuel his health. (5% of defeated living enemies health is absorbed by the Blood Knight, Passive)

Name: Blood of the Originals (Rank 1 Available for Purchase)

Description: You can trace your lineage back to the very first Vampires and other Vampires will treat you as such. (Doubles the Social Gains while dealing with other Vampires and Halves losses, Passive)

Defender Skill Tree

Spoiler: Spoiler Tier 1

Name: Armor Mastery (Rank 1 Purchased, Next rank Unlocked at level 35)

Description: This ability negates some of the weight of Heavy armor so the wearer may move faster during battle. (Decreases armor weight by 25%, Passive)

Name: Strength of the Brotherhood (Rank 1 Available for Purchase)

Description: When fighting with other Defenders, your strength of Arms and Armor will always be more than any foe. (Increases Damage and Armor Rating by 5% when fighting with other Defenders, Passive)

Name: Renowned Legion (Rank 1 Available for Purchase)

Description: All Defenders are known for Honesty, Honor, and Integrity. Uphold these standards and you will always benefit from the Legions Reputation. (Increase Social Gains and Decreases Social Losses by 10%, Passive)

Jacob looked over the Skill trees and was mostly happy with his choices. With what had happened recently he was thinking about purchasing Blood of the Originals just to help negate the losses he was sure he had suffered. The social rep was one of those stats no one could quantify but saw real effects on the world around them. With the chilly welcome the Inner City was giving him he bowed to the voice of reason on bought the stupid passive with Blood Rain. Anything that would help ensure his survivability was welcome. That left him with 9 points and Jacob looked at Strength of the Brotherhood, but it only went into effect when other Defenders were around and only effected Defenders.

Dark Oak Grove of Midnight

Heart of the Grove

Andria looked up as he entered the Grove, "I knew you would come. The question is did you want to fuck me or did you do it because you didn't want anyone else to fuck me?" Andria asked as she laughed. Jacob let the cloak drop to the ground as he started to remove his clothing, "Shut up. The Fortress of Midnight is my responsibility and I could not ask anyone else to endure this."

"Oh yes, you must endure it mylord. Don't fool yourself, men have killed to have a chance to have a night with me and I had to trick and beg for you to come. Don't act like you do not want this." Andria stated as she looked on as Jacob removed the last of his clothing. "Part of you does not think this is a burden," Andria said as she bit her lip and approached the lord.

Jacobs' eyes started turning bright red, "I said be quiet. I might have to endure the sex, nothing in our agreement says I have to listen to you talking ." Jacob snapped as he growled and pulled her into his embrace. He hated the fact she was right, but he needed her help and he would do much to ensure his people would survive and thrive. If he didn't he would never have touched the Dryad, he chose who he had sex with and he hated he was blackmailed into it.