Surface- Valley of Origins

Jacob walked along the Wall that stretched across the mouth of the Valley of Origins, beyond it lay the Golden Plains and the Southern Orc tribes. Before the Vampire nation had been defeated it had been an impressive fortification, 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide but it was broken now. The two fortresses were in disrepair and multiple breaches dotted the length of the wall. Archer Towers and Siege Weapon emplacements dotted its length, but it was a broken fortification and wouldn't keep out a heard of goats, much less an invading army.

"Well, this place was impressive..." Tarren stated. Several others nearby snorted in amusement at the statement.

"No kidding, it anchors to the Blue Cap mountains to the west and the Obsidian mountains to the east. I knew our people were isolationists, but this is way too much even for them." Yilme stated.

Jacob snorted, "We have no idea when they built these fortifications. Those who are really interested in the truth, I would suggest you go to the Library and find out if it predates the war or not." Jacob stated as he watched Shyera circle their position before gliding down and landing on the battlements.

"Jacob Longstrider, I have given my last report to Nadal. I want you to take note though, I found a very odd cave to the south-west protected by old magic. If you do not mind, I need to speak to Snaggletooth before I leave." Jacob nodded and gestured to the nearby Orc who smiled at the Succubus who hugged him and quickly moved off.

"Where is she going?" Darren asked.

Jacob looked at the Rogue, "Home. Long overdue if you ask me, but she needed time to heal and recuperate her strength. So how long do you think it will take to repair the wall and fortresses?" Jacob asked the Engineer.

The burly Dwarf frowned as he continued to look at the various fortifications, "A month to fix the wall and a couple of weeks for the fortresses at least. Work crews are stretched thin though with restoring the docks at the city and the four other fortresses as well. Not to mention all the work ongoing within the city." The Dwarf reported as Jacob nodded and made a few mental notes.

Suddenly a flash of black and orange flames caused Jacob to look and watch as the Shyera conjure a gateway. She fondly kissed Snaggletooth on his cheek before walking through the gate she had made. Hopefully, she would survive her homecoming to the Abyss, but it was not a place for the weak...

Surface- Valley of Origins

City of Eternal Night- Outer City

Jacob waked among the streets and paths of the outer city, work crews were already digging cisterns and wells for future housing. The waterways were still dry but once the outer city waterways were cleaned up, they planned on filling them with water again. The middle city waterways were already full and working, they really did add to the natural beauty of the city. The frames of cabins were already being constructed for new housing and lots for apartments had already been set aside. Jacob could also see outlines where general stores, Marketplaces, bars, Bathing Halls, and Healers would be placed.

"Construction of this district will be completed within one months time, upgrading all the buildings will take a few weeks longer though," Jacob stated as they walked along the streets.

"How many districts does the outer city have?" Sosa asked.

"Nine districts in the outer city, six in the middle, and four in the inner. We are trying to make all the districts in the outer uniform so people can find places easier, the middle city was thrown together rapidly so uniformity is all but impossible there now unless we wanted to rebuild half of what we have already constructed." Jacob replied.

"How long will it be before construction is complete within the city?" Sosa asked while they continued to walk.

Jacob snorted, "With all the reconstruction at the harbor and the valley fortifications, a while." Jacob replied.

"Harbor?" Sosa asked causing Jacob to smile as they mounted the animals and the guards formed up around them.

"That is the next stop on the tour," Jacob told her as they left the city.

Jacob checked the timer on his HUD, he had 20 minutes left on the Fish Breath Potion. He and a dozen other men and women were diving the harbor searching for wrecks and debris. So far they had floated a dozen wrecks, the remains of a couple of piers, some wagons and carts, and dozens of chests, crates, and barrels.

They were currently working on the wreck of a merchant ship, an elemental mage was blowing up leather ballons that were anchored to the hull of the ship. Dozens of balloons were attached to the ship and they were now trying to clear the mud and grime from parts of the hull to loosen it from the bed of the harbor. They had to be careful, otherwise, the wreck would break apart.

Sosa smiled ruefully as one of the Dwarves started screaming and yelling at the sunken hulk before started digging again. Jacob winked at her before digging the shovel into the grime anchoring the ship to the bottom. Suddenly a shark swam by and one of the work crews sent a little Firebolt zipping after it, but it died quickly and did no damage. Jacob ignored the byplay and continued wiping away the mud when the hull shuddered and part of it started to float causing more than one of the work crew to curse.

Half the crew immediately scrambled to keep the hull anchored and intact while the other half scrambled to clear the other half of the hull. The shark was back attracted by the frantic activity and the work crews were distracted firing off ineffective Firebolts until one of them sent a gust of air that slammed into its flank temporarily stunning it. Suddenly the back half of the hull lurched upwards breaking free of all the soil, the workers anchoring the forward sections released their holds on the hull as the ship slowly rose to the surface where other workers would start moving it toward the shore to be broken down and destroyed. Jacob smiled at Sosa as the work crew shouted and cheered, time to get out of there and dry.

Surface- Valley of Origins

City of Eternal Night

Palace of Night- Control Room

Jacob looked at the map of the Valley of Origins and all of the fortifications within, Fortress of Sara'Bella, Fortress of Draydon (Wall), Fortress of Artanges (Wall), Fortress of Saelmere, Fortress of Caestshire, and the Fortress of Sevenberg. Each fortress and the Wall was highlighted red and non-operational at the moment. No troops had been deployed to any of the locations other than to escort and secure the areas for the workers restoring the fortresses.

Every day the crews would portal to the location with an escort then come back, no permanent garrisons had been stationed at any of the locations...yet. "So, what will you do about the garrisons once those forts are operational?" Nadal asked as the looked at the map.

Jacob frowned and his eyes flickered to the Golden Plains...before settling back on the 6 forts and the Wall. "For now we will need to expand the Dead Legion but I think we need to start actively recruiting at Ineford, Anchorhead, and Eternal Night. I know our manpower is stretched thin here, but we need more Legions."

Nadal nodded his head, "How much will you expand the Dead Legion by?"

Jacob frowned and brought up the interface for the Bone Barracks and checked the available resources. With all the corpses from the battle against the Twin Fang War Horde and taking the Fortress of the Fallen, the resources that the Bone Barracks contained was nearly overflowing. The skeletons of the various monsters inhabiting the ruins had unlocked some interesting choices in what the barracks could produce.

"We will double the current size of the Dead Legion to augment the forces that will garrison the valley. The Home Legion is stretched thin as is, so we will use either the First or Second Legion to garrison the fortresses of the valley. Until the fortresses are repaired though, its a problem for another day." Jacob replied as he changed the display to bring up the four dungeons that had been discovered.

"Excuse me, but do you think it wise to create so many of the Undead and put them on display. The surfacers are not like the Underdark people, they will not take the creation of an Undead army lightly." Nadal stated.

Jacob nodded, "I know, but I do not see any alternatives. If you do, please enlighten me." Jacob prompted as he brought up the information on the dungeons. Nadal frowned but said nothing in response to the prompt.

Dungeon Name: Time Ravaged Grove of the Ancient Ones

Age: Ancient

Level Range: 40-43

Recommended Party Size: 5 or 10

Dungeon Name: Ruins of Der'asla

Age: Ancient

Level Range: 42-47

Recommended Party Size: 5 or 10

Dungeon Name: Ruins of Khul Darum

Age: Ancient

Level Range: 40-43

Recommended Party Size: 5 or 10

Dungeon Name: Field of Blood

Age: Ancient

Level Range: 50-55

Recommended Party Size: 25 or 50

The Ruins of Khul Darum was the closest dungeon to Eternal Night, directly east of the city abutting the Obsidian Mountains and less than a day away. The Time Ravaged Grove of the Ancient Ones was the north-west of the city, almost to the Wall and five days ride. The Ruins of Der'asla was to the north-east 3 days ride, and the Field of Blood was just south of the Wall, nearly 6 days ride away.

The Field of Blood was a raid that centered on an old battlefield where ghosts and other Undead ran rampant, and it would be a while before the Seekers could tackle it. The Ruins of Der'asla contained rogue Wood-Elves that wanted to enslave the Eternal Forest and Ruins of Khul Darum contained Drow and Duergar. The Time Ravaged Grove of the Ancient Ones was the interesting one that contained Treants and other forest beings that had gone mad due to the gods cursing the land.

Jacob smiled, it was time to go Dungeon diving and he could clear two Ancient dungeons over the next couple days...it was going to be fun. Jacob nodded to the Drow before leaving, time for some dinner and alone time with Sosa.