Outside Middlebrough

The battle cries of Goblins and Gnolls filled the air as they charged Jacob's war party. Jacob had led his War Party to the hills south of the town to scout out the mines that had been taken over by the monsters. It was supposed to be a simple scouting of the mines and quarries around the town, but Jacob and his party had been spotted by a patrol. Since then multiple parties of the little green-skinned child-like creatures and the dog like humanoids had swarmed the area.

It was easy to fight them considering the Gnolls, which were at a higher level at 24, so Jacob on his party just had to hold on long enough for them to break. Shignas Firestorm and Snaggletooths Storm Surge abilities were keeping the monsters corraled while Jacob, Thelgrum, Chalxae, and Rory slowly slaughtered their enemies in front of them. Suddenly a wave of fire and earth exploded among their ranks disrupting their continued charge.

Shigna quickly had his Earthen Golem charge forward, Jacob and everyone else quickly followed the large Golems mad dash into the compact ranks of the monsters. The monsters seeing the overwhelming attack quickly fled the area seeking safety elsewhere. Jacob looked around and spotted another War Party, the Immortal leading them waved, "We saw all the fireworks your party was throwing out so we decided to join the party. Good thing we did your little battle could have gone one way or the other." She stated. Jacob had met her during the Regional Boss Battle, she was an Elementalist that was trying to get to level 50 so she could evolve into a War Mage.

Alert...

Through Battle, you have gained...2,328 Experience

Alert...

"Thanks, Ashley, that helped a lot. We were on our way to scout out the mines and quarries, but this is ridiculous. Feel like coming along?" Jacob replied. She nodded as Jacob's party continued to loot and recover from the small battle.

She quickly looked around at her own party and gauged their reaction to the invitation before nodding her head in agreement. "How many mines and quarries do we got to check out?"

"Two mines and three quarries, but I sent Yilme with a couple of other War Parties as back up to check out the Quarries. We are trying to find a diplomatic solution with that Goblin clan, but based on the reaction here... it is doubtful." Jacob told here as his party finished looting. Since they were monsters tied to a certain location the bodies would dissolve within a couple of hours.

"Loot?" Ashley asked as her party moved closer. She and her priest were casting buffs on their party.

"Need before greed, most of the loot is trash so it will go to the guild to be broken down to be used by crafters of the Tomb or Guild. Anything your party needs, grab it. Create a raid group and invite my War Party and let's get this going." Jacob told her as she nodded and quickly formed the raid group. Jacob quickly checked to see if her Shield-Warden could take over being the main tank but he chuckled when he saw Jacob frown and take point again. Jacob had over 1,500 more Hit Points then the Shield-Warden.

Jacob forged ahead once everyone signaled that they were ready, Chalxae and a Wood-Elf looping ahead checking for any remaining pockets of Goblins and Gnolls.

Middlebrough

Iron Mine

Jacob watched as the Gnolls fled but they were running out of areas they could flee too. They were nearing the bottom of the mine and they had killed dozens of the dog like creatures but they had not found anything stronger than a level 30 Gnoll Warrior. It was almost disappointing, but they still had one more mine to clear. Finally, the bottom level appeared, it contained a Twenty Warriors and a couple of priests with a level 32 Gnoll Overseer. 20 Minutes later the bottom of the mine had been cleared and they were making their way to the surface again.

Alert...

Through battle, you have gained...4,729 Experience

Alert...

Well, hopefully, the other mine would be more interesting.

Slate Cavern Fortress

Glagor finally finished up talking with the other Elders with his clan and had tentatively agreed with his assessment of the situation. They had authorized him to get in touch with Jacob and assess the situation to see if he would talk to them about their own situation. The Thinderammers were tired of Slate Cavern Fortress and of its biased King.

So Glagor readied himself to head out with a small escort, hopefully, this would not turn into a blood-bath. Glagor knew his people were secretive, and their reasons were more than justified. Suddenly one of the kings' lackeys appeared ahead of them, "Where you be going Glagor?"

Glagor sneered at the fool, "It would be Master Ironbreaker or Elder Ironbreaker boy, and when does an Elder need to report where he is going to anyone?" Glagor smiled as he continued forward shouldering the fool out of the way. A few nearby Thunderhammers would report what had happened to the other Elders of his clan, hopefully, nothing would happen before they got back.

Stronghold of Gahlin

The portal slammed shut as Mistress Del'Carn led her small party through the portal and into the inner Stronghold. She had been ordered to hold the remaining territory as long as possible, but with the remaining forces at her disposal, she didn't think it was possible.

To the south, the Fortresses of Torment and Bloody-Edge were all that remained between the Sisters of the Damned and their new enemy. To the west two fortresses were currently under siege and based on their troops garrisoned there and their supplies, they would fall to Clan Darguun within days. The last remaining fortress between the Stronghold of Gahlin and Clan Darguun was the Fortress of Dark-Flame. Gahlin had a little over 3,000 troops, the remaining fortresses had nearly the same amount and she was considering abandoning them to the encroaching enemies.

"Report? Suggestions?" Striding into the strategy room Del'Carn asked.

Ranyln Do'und turned from the map, "The fortresses that had been under siege have fallen. Neither army is moving forward though, Clan Darguun will take some time digesting what they have conquered. Less than 300 survivors fled both fortresses and are now at the Fortress of Dark-Flame."

"And your suggestion on strategy?" Del'Carn asked causing Do'und to wince before responding.

"You will not like it, but we should leave skeletal garrisons to the fortresses to the south and shift the majority of our strength to the Fortress of Dark-Flame and here. Slow down our southern enemies by sending as many slaves as we can to those two fortresses. It will slow them down because they have been liberating any slaves they have come across reports say. So they will take care of those weaklings before moving on." Ranyln Do'und laid out his strategy.

"What do you mean?" Del'Carn asked.

"We watch the approaches for any signs of enemy troops when they show themselves we shift as many slaves to those fortresses and then abandon them to the enemy troops. They will stop their advance to care for them and ignore us for a time." Ranyln Do'und replied.

"Thus, the strain on our resources are lessened while theirs are increased. A risky strategy...possibly the only one that will win in the long run. See that it is done." Del'Carn replied as she began reading the reports from the west and ignoring him as he left.

Middlebrough

Silver Mine

The distant explosions rocked the cavern overhead as Jacob and four others of his War Party held the line against waves of Goblins trying to get inside. This mine had been different, they didn't just have to clear it out, they had to hold the mouth against reinforcements while the other raid members travelled below to destroy the Goblin clans Totems that had been erected throughout the mine.

Every time that Ashley destroyed one, more Goblins would appear and try to fight their way past Jacob and his smaller party. Rory bellowed out a as his oversized mace smashed limbs, ribs, and skulls. Jacob chuckled as the young Berserker slew dozens of the low-level creatures but if Ashley didn't finish quickly they would swarm them and the remaining raid members would be hit from behind.

Suddenly another set of explosion from below rocked the cavern and the endless stream of low-level Goblins stopped attacking and fled.

Alert...

Through battle, you have gained...5,392 Experience.

Alert...

Secret Quest Complete: Driving back the Swamp

Description: For the better part of a year, the Goblin clan Half-Seer Tribe, left the Black Swamp and took over Middlebroughs Mines and Quarries. Today your actions and the actions of your party have driven them back into the Black Swamp.

Rewards: 20,000 Experience, 10,000 Kingdom Experience, The people of Middlebrough are now friendly with the Empire of Night and are less likely to rebel

Regional Alert..

The Goblin clan...Half-Seer Tribe...have been driven back into the Black Swamp by Immortals of the Seekers of the Dawn.

Regional Alert...

Guild Alert...

Members now deal an additional 1% damage against Goblin Kin

Guild Alert...

Kingdom Quest Complete: Resource Rampage

Description: You and your guild liberated the mines and quarries of Middlebrough opening them up for exploitation by the people of Middlebrough and your Empire. Keep vigilant, your enemies will watch and if you do not protect what is yours, they can and will take it back.

Rewards: 50,000 Kingdom Experience, Resource Nodes of Middlebrough are open, Increased political and Economic stability in Middlebrough

Kingdom Alert...

The resource nodes of...Middlebrough...are now available for exploitation.

Middlebrough can now export...Iron, Silver, Stone, and Marble.

Kingdom Alert...

Slowly the remaining raiders emerged from the depths covered in blood, guts, and rock dust. "Ashley thank you for all your assistance today, I can honestly say I don't think we could have done it without you or your War Party." Jacob told the other Vampire who blushed a little bit.

"So, is it like this all the time?" Ashley asked as they started walking toward Middlebrough.

"You mean dealing with the day-to-day stuff Fate throws at me?' Jacob asked her and at her nod he continued. 'Pretty much, it is one shit-show after another. Something tells me though, it's about to get a whole lot more interesting though." Jacob told her as he picked up the pace to a jog. He needed to inform Governor High-Tower that both the mines and quarries were now free and could be used again. He also needed to find out what happened on Yilmes' half of the mission before heading back to the Tomb.

Suddenly something caught Jacob eye causing him to jerk to a stop and study the area, "Chalxae!!" Jacob called the Rogue over. She followed his pointing finger and after a moment nodded and smiled before dashing off. "Ashley head back and please inform the Governor that both the mines and quarry are free of outside influence. Ask him to work with the garrison commander to have soldiers escort and watch over any workers. We will be back ASAP." Jacob called over his shoulder as he and his war party followed Chalxae at a more sedate pace.

Alert...

Entering Tainted Ruins...True Death resides within.

Warning...Immortal your Avatar can be destroyed within...Warning

Alert...

Jacob cursed as he slowly made his way inside the ruins. As soon as Jacob stepped within the ruins the first time and read the warning he had immediately backed up and ordered everyone to buff before proceeding and informed everyone what lay ahead for him.

It had all the horror story from the start, hanging skeletons, low lying fog, roots overgrowing everything, but the one thing that really freaked Jacob out was the Soul Stone centered in the room covered in dried blood with a half-dozen chained skeletons too it. Jacob took a pic of it and sent it to all the guild officers immediately.

Both Chalxae and June were looking at everything but no one was touching anything at all, Jacob felt that there was either a hidden raid or dungeon here and he didn't want to trigger it. The constant beeping of his inbox finally grabbed his attention though, everyone warned him not to mess with anything. Darren's message was simple 'GET OUT NOW!!!' so Jacob quickly followed his friends advice and corraled his party out of the ruins to respond to them freaking out.

Opening Guild Officer Chat...

'What?' Jacob

'You had a warning, right?' Darren.

"You think its one Darren?' Tarren

'The Devs said long ago that they only created so many of them. This place is remote and since our illustrious leader's luck runs in the insane range, it wouldn't surprise me.' Darren

'That would be so cool!!!' Yilme.

'Yes, I had a warning about Avatar death, anyone care to explain?' Jacob

'Ok, when Fate was launched the Devs warned everyone that the world would include one-off Dungeons and Raids that would scale to the highest Immortal entering. The thing is though if you died, you lost your avatar. No resurrection what-so-ever. They are high-risk, high-reward kind of situation and the only ones to ever not be wiped and succeed were the Titans. From what the Shadow Daggers found out they lost 30 people doing it.' Darren responded

'So why don't people just try again if they wipe?' Jacob

'It's a true one chance dungeon/raid. Only one group can enter, succeed or fail it doesn't matter. The entrance will collapse after anyone enters so...' Darren

'So, don't go in. Don't activate it. Stay away...Got it.' Jacob

Jacob sighed as he closed the chat window and started jogging for Middlebrough again. The day had been going so well he thought...