Darkfang Hold

Jacob walked among the press of bodies, a solid ring of Dawn Guard and warriors from Clan Darguun keeping most of them at bay. "So Eiloma, you have had a little over a day to catalog most of these people. Please tell me we are not just picking up dead weight, will they be productive members of society?" Jacob asked as he continued to walk and look at all the former slaves. Members of Clan Darguun were working among them, healers, councilors, others just talking to them and getting them used to interacting as a person.

"Honestly, it will be a mix of both productive members and dead weight. High-Chief Alog Tor'akon did pick the best and brightest and offered them membership into Clan Darguun. Most of them took the offered spots, but not all. A solid core declined the invitation to stay with the group and when they heard most would be going somewhere else, even more, jumped ship. With all the reconstruction going on at Eternal Night, we need a boost to general labor, these people will provide that once they fully recover. A couple hundred of them will probably signup to join the Legion as well." Eiloma reported.

Jacob looked at her, "What is the bottom line? How many overall? How many craftsmen? Break it down for me please."

Eiloma nodded her head before pulling up information she had cataloged from her inventory, "The number of former slaves is 2,379. Of those, a little over 100 are craftsmen of Adept to Master, a little over 400 women, children, or elderly, and the remainder are fit for General Labor. I know Chief Darkfang said they could care for them for up to a week, but I would not recommend it."

Jacob snorted, "We cannot support them at this time. If we bring them to Eternal Night we might emphasize MIGHT, have the food but we do not have the shelter yet. I made a deal to bring in additional food with the Gilded Handz but the first shipment won't be delivered for another 3 days.' Eiloma gestured around them. It was a poor camp and Jacob could easily see both diseases and other problems would quickly become prevalent and Clan Darguun would either meet them with a sword or eject them from the Hold. Jacob cursed, 'I know Eiloma, I feel for them. This is one of the reasons why I started the campaign against the Sisters, but our resources are not endless and the Thunderhammer Clan could decide to join us any day adding more strain to our limited resources."

"So, are you going to be able to take them sooner?" Sosa asked while looking around them. SHe looked sheepish and maybe a little ashamed at the living conditions her people were providing for people who literally had nothing.

Jacob sighed and growled in frustration, their food production was stretched to the max at their current levels. Even with the Gilded Handz providing some relief with their shipments, their production rates were going to have to increase. Jacob pulled up the Kingdom tab and brought up their current production rates. Spoiler: Spoiler

Food Production...

3X Mushroom Farm (LVL 2): 1,000 Units of food (each) every 10 Days

2X Mushroom Farm (MAX LVL): 1,500 Units of food (each) every 7 Days

9X Anglo-Backs Herds: 500 units of food (each) every 3 Days

4X Wheat Farms (LVL 2) 5,000 Units of food (each) every 90 Days

4X Corn Farms (LVL 2) 5,000 Units of food (each) every 90 Days

Jacob hissed, it would take a couple of days to upgrade the Mushroom farms at New Dawn, but he had no idea what the food reserves were like in Middlebrough. He would send a message later and check with the administration building to see if they had the plans for MAX LVL Wheat and Corn Farms, but it had been 2,000 years since Eternal Night stood on the surface of the world, if the plans still existed they would be buried in some dark corner. Yet another thing that had to be prepared for.

"Eiloma, make sure the Max Level mushroom farm plans get to New Dawn and check with the Administration office and see if we have plans for Max Level Corn and Wheat Farms. Also send a message to the current Regent of Midnight, see if they have room to make a Mushroom Farm. Send a message to the Governor of Middlebrough, see if they can spare any food. In 24 Hours, we will tell you when we will take them, Sosa. Hold on that long please.' Jacob finished listing orders for Eiloma before turning back toward the Portal Pad. 'Sosa, I am going to enjoy punishing you for all this later!!!" Jacob called over his shoulder and making her blush.

Blood-Scorched Fort

Main Keep- Conference Hall

Jacob and his War Party had been getting ready to go dive into one of several nearby Dungeons when the alert went out from the wall. A group of Drow had been seen approaching, a patrol had gone out and they had simply delivered a sealed envelope, that was a message to Jacob, and a small sealed package. Both a Rogue and a Mage had gone over both and they confirmed that neither one was trapped in any way they could find so Jacob started reading and hoping.

Lord Longstrider,

I have completed the mission you have given me, even better then you would hope. The Matriarch, Alinthia Der'Gal, is desperate to see victory against one of her enemies and has made a grave mistake. She has dispatched me with Mistress Dal'Carn, another council member to oversee the remaining holdings of the Sisters of the Damned in the south. We currently reside within the Stronghold of Gahlin and with my advice, Mistress Dal'Carn will be leaving skeleton garrisons at the Fortresses of Torment and Bloody-Edge. In addition, before they sight your armies, we will pack as many slaves into each to slow down your advance.

Contained within the package that accompanies this letter, are the layouts of the two Fortresses, the Stronghold of Gahlin, and a map of the Underdark between your territory and the Sisters of the Damned. Portal Anchors have been placed near the two fortresses but not at the Stronghold yet. Nearby patrols would quickly uncover them and destroy them.

Once you have conquered these last few places, the Sisters of the Damneds power base in the south will be broken, my plan is to openly join your ranks when you take the Stronghold of Gahlin.

Your willing servant,

Ranyln Do'und

Brox whistled as he looked at the layouts and map, Jacob had doubted the Drow, but it looked as if he had been wrong. Jacob wished they didn't plan on jamming any more slaves down their throat though, the Empire of Night was about to choke on all the incoming migrants. "Ok, we need to start making plans including if everything goes wrong and we need to besiege those fortresses. I will talk to Darren about getting a team of scouts together to check out those two fortresses. According to these maps, the anchors are placed several hours out of each Fortress so no patrols will come across them. With all the training going on General, what is your recommendation on continuing the campaign against the Sisters?" Jacob asked the Orc who immediately stopped studying the map and layouts.

"With the Legions training nearing completion, the First and Second will be prepared in just over a week. The Third another week after that, but you wanted the Tomb Guard trained up to Legion standards, that will take an additional couple weeks to one month. We will not know for sure until they begin the training process. I would say, wait until they have completed training and get the Clan Darguun refugees settled first before even considering it." Brox finished.

Jacob looked at the only other occupant in the room, Nadal Despval, whose lips were turned into a frown and the Drow said nothing but jerked his head slightly in agreement. Jacob was surprised the man did that much but he also had requested his presence to confirm that the information was good and not a bag of lies. "Then we will wait, we are already over-stretching our resources as is taking in the Clan Darguun refugees. Hopefully, we have the time to waste." Jacob said as he wheeled toward the door. Apparently, Jacob would not dungeon dive today, time to update the guild council, his advisory council, and get back to work on the middle city.

Tomb of Eternal Night

Middle City- Reconstruction Zone

Jacob watched as the new Barracks were going up, and the standing ones were being expanded. All the Long Houses were being upgraded as well, everything to increase the housing the middle city could take was being done. 16 work crews, working around the clock under the watchful eyes of the city Engineers, who were nervous because the King was watching everything and everyone.

"You know, they might work faster if they don't think you are breathing down their necks. It is one thing when you come down here to help out when you are here looking at all the work being done, its another thing." Snaggletooth stated nearby. Jacob smiled sheepishly at the Shaman, before nodding and started walking toward the Inner City, the Heart Guard followed closely.

The Portal Pad was being watched by 100 Tomb Guardians and two squads of the Heart Guard backing them up. Darren, Chalxae, and some of the best Rogues and Rangers were currently scouting out the portal anchors for the Fortress of Torment. If everything went as planned they would be back within the next hour. As Jacob made his way back to the palace a low rumble filled the cavern, Jacob could feel the earth shifting beneath his feet but nothing was happening to the buildings around him and no boulders or stalactites came crashing down. When everything settled Jacob turned to the nearby Heart Guard, "I assume some of you were here when the City was transported here and have been here since then, how often do earthquakes like this happen?" Jacob asked the older Vampires.

"I have been my King, and for the first century the cavern was slightly unstable, but since then...nothing. This is new, I would suggest you bring in some of the Elementalists from the Earth Splitters, see if they can figure out what's going on." one of the Heart Guard quickly responded.