Arathia Basin

Jacob watched as the body swung from the crossbeams of the entrance of the outpost. The captain was the one that had lead the forces during the Battle of the Narrows. He had been too busy looting the camp of the fleeing soldiers, instead of following orders. One of his lieutenants had brought it up and the Dwarf had hit him and threatened to kill him if he didn't shut up. "Lieutenant-Commander Ironbark, have all the wounded that cannot make the march been sent back to Ineford?" Jacob asked the Orc as he watched the swinging body.

"Yes, my king. Those who cannot march at nightfall are back at Ineford. We also have a final tally of our losses from last night. Of the forces you brought, High-Captain Gregarious lost 67 soldiers killed and 34 seriously wounded, you know the losses among the Dawn Guard,' Jacob's jaw tightened in anger but he refused to look away from the dying Dwarf, "My cohort lost 23 dead and 15 seriously injured, and Captain Arlan Strongarm lost 33 dead and 45 seriously injured. We have 235 walking wounded that will be fine with making the march. As far as the enemy goes, we have over 300 confirmed killed, 53 Enemy soldiers captured, and 12 mercenaries captured." Lieutenant-Commander Ironbark finished his report.

Jacob nodded as the Dwarf stopped kicking at his eyes rolled back, "Thank you Lieutenant-Commander Ironbark. Make sure your cohort is ready to march by nightfall and pull supplies for at least 1 week." The Orc nodded and saluted before stepping back and watching as Jacob turned to address every single officer from Ineford that was present. "Ladies and Gentlemen, you are under my command as per the treaty between Ineford and the Empire of the Night. That means if you disobey orders and get people killed you will face justice for your choices. NO ONE IS ABOVE REPROACH. High-Captain Gregarious, when the campaign against Middlebrough is over I want every soldier and officer that will fall under my command per the treaty to be turned over to the Legion for training. Officers will be re-evaluated and if they deserve their positions, they will keep them. Know this, those that are under my command will receive promotions based on merit, not on who you know or how much money you have. When you join the Legion, you rise and fall based on your choices. DISMISSED!!" Jacob roared out the last.

High-Captain Gregarious stayed as most of his officers moved off or fled, "Sir, his family will want his body for burial if you will allow it."

Jacob continued to study the swinging body before turning to look at the tall human, "I will allow it. I was serious in the fact I expect the soldiers that fall under my command will be trained up to the standards of the Legion. What happened today will not be allowed to happen again."

Darren moved up as the other man moved off, "That was a bit harsh."

"Military discipline has to be, otherwise people die. Also, that was the King handing out judgment, not me." Jacob sighed he started walking toward the quarters where all the Vampires were being housed for the day. They all needed rest and the army was already bedded down for the day. Sentries and Scouts posted to watch for any other incursions from Middlebrough or hostile Immortals.

"It could cause problems for you down the road. From the Merchant families of Ineford." Darren continued

Jacob snorted at his statement, "Only those of no worth will complain. The families will be split more than likely and those that rise will be loyal while those that sent off worthless family members to the army will be offended. You cannot make everyone happy Darren, but I can save lives in both the short and long-term this way. Plus it will cause even more political infighting within the Merchants Council." Jacob smiled.

"Your political enemies there will be to busy fighting among each other to concentrate on you. You will still be the political number one enemy for the Merchants Council for the foreseeable future though." Darren responded.

Jacob continued to smile, "Yes I know but the actions of that stupid Captain gave me a reason to steal nearly half a Legions worth of soldiers and take them away permanently on the grounds that they are not professional and need training. Ineford will still have to support them, so I save the Tomb money as well." Darren smirked at the last comment, "What? You think it's cheap to feed and equip 6,000 new soldiers. It takes a large amount of money just to get them trained up to standards of the Legion. Then I got to get them some experience so they all don't get killed in their first conflict. Based on the fact that the list of our enemies keeps growing, I am not sure how much time we have until we see a serious conflict, my friend. You also might want to train some other people to take a leadership position so we can field multiple raiding/infiltration teams." Jacob told the Rogue as he headed toward the rooms where all the Vampires were housed.

Middlebrough

Aaron Swiftdeath watched as the few survivors of his guild worked to load carts and wagons. Aaron only had a dozen members currently in Middlebrough as most of his people were still recovering from Ressurection Sickness. The few remaining officers were talking and probably planning of stripping him of guild leadership even if they survived. His former allies had already cut and run now that Middlebrough was about to be turned into a war zone.

Of the army that had marched south, 200 Soldiers, 75 Mercenaries, and 8 Immortals survived the attack last night. When Ineford and their allies showed up, Middlebrough remaining forces would be destroyed quickly and the new Governor they would place in power would probably put a KoS order for Weighted Chance members. So, Aaron and the few remaining members that had not been sent to respawn were working hard to get everything loaded and mobile before that happened.

Governor Parris had declared Marshal Law and flooded the streets with what remained of his soldiers which numbered close to 800. The remaining mercenaries had demanded double of what they originally agreed on, up front or they were gone. The Council of Elders had been placed under the 'protection' of the Governor for the time being. Aaron snorted at Parris obvious ploy to desperately hang onto power, but his time was almost up. Maddox had finally returned from the little errand Aaron had sent him on, "Well?"

Maddox shook his head, "Both Winters and Jenny have both dropped from the guild. Both have taken a dozen with them and those that stayed were driven off. So both the Black Keep and Salken Mines operations have been compromised." Aaron cursed at Maddox and the situation. Both Jenny and Winters had been some of the first to signup with Aaron when he founded Weighted Chance and now they were some of the first to leave. Also taking the crews they were working with hurt, but the revenue from the Dungeons was worse.

"Ok, put a contract out on both. 50 Gold each for Jenny or Winters and 50 Silver for any member of their crews. Kill conformation is mandatory for claiming the Bounty. I will add them to the KoS list for the guild as well." Aaron spat while he thought and he could see Jax smile at him. The fucker had brought a 10 man crew with him when he joined Weighted Chance and he had undermined Aarons leadership multiple times. He would not miss a chance to try and overturn his authority with the guild and try to take it from him this time.

Arathia Basin

Jacob watched as the Legion led the army, they were followed by the Dawn Guard then the soldiers from Ineford. The mounted troops and various other scouts were already out and about riding on the flanks or scouting ahead. The supply train was boxed in between the Dawn Guard and the soldiers from Ineford ensuring the safety of the hundred little things every army needed.

Only a hundred soldiers remained at the outpost to keep it secure and safe from raiders and invaders. It would be the first outpost the Jacob planned to have throughout the basin, but not the last. Those were plans for another day, first, they had to deal with Middlebrough and finish the Sisters as well.

Stronghold of Gahlin

Guest Wing

Mistress Nightshade looked at the formations of various War Slaves and Drow as the moved and trained. She remembered when She and other of the Council had led an attack on this fortress over a decade ago. They had nearly burned it to the ground to take it from Clan Darguun, but in the end, they had driven the clan from the Stronghold and claimed it for the Sisters of the Damned.

She had stood here when this Stronghold had been filled with 20,000 War Slaves and Drow Warriors, now it barely housed 6,000. The Clan was dying and she had no idea how to stop it. Lolth was silent and refused to assist them in any way. Now she was under orders together as many War Slaves and Warriors as possible without weakening the western fortresses too much. Mistress Nightshade snorted in disgust if she took to many and any fell to attacks it was her fault, if she took to few and failed at capturing her objective, it was her fault. What was worse, two of the western fortresses had come under siege from forces of Clan Darguun. 6 Outposts had been wiped out as well in the last week. So she decided to gather enough supplies to feed her small army for 3 weeks, and once the supplies arrived she would depart with what she had gathered and taking 1,000 War Slaves from the Stronghold of Gahlin. She knew the remaining Council members would complain, but they could do little.