Surface- Iron Hills Region

Empire of Night- City of Ordgan

Jacob and a dozen other men and women strained to hold the frame as others scrambled to nail it into place. When this building was completed, it would be a new inn to replace the old one burned down. Jacob has assured all the people who had lost a home or business that the buildings would be replaced out of the Empires pocket. Between the executions and paying for all the reconstruction, Jacob had earned a great deal of goodwill from the citizens of Ordgan. Surprisingly there had been less than a thousand slaves within the city, but almost two hundred Slavers Union personnel and mercenaries. All of them were now assigned to various work crews throughout the Empire of Nights Underdark holdings.

"So this is what you do when not conquering cities?" a voice asked nearby causing Jacob to look around. He could see it was an older man he had meet once flanked by two Legionnaires.

"Lord Grimgar, how can I help you?" Jacob asked as he signaled the foreman that he was moving away.

The older man fidgeted as Jacob studied him, "I come with an offer of an alliance between the Free Cities Alliance and Lord Devinshire." Lord Grimgar stated as Jacob studied the older man and shook his head.

"No, an offer of an alliance would be between two equals. The Free Cities Alliance is fractured. You have signatory cities falling out of the Free Cities Alliance in favor of the Slavers Union and their backing, you want our assistance to bring some of those members back into line and maybe use us to crush your holdouts which would leave us weakened. Maybe weakened enough for you to push out of the Free Cities. So no." Jacob told the old man as he pulled a flask of water from his inventory and started drinking it as he studied the man.

Lord Grimgar frowned, "What do you want in return for your Empires assistance?" Jacob frowned at him as he closed the top of the flask and shoved it back into his inventory.

"We are not mercenaries for you to hire Lord Grimgar. Please do not insult me again. Now if your cities swore an oath of allegiance and joined the Empire, then I would have no choice but to defend my cities and my citizens. Again that would require binding oaths of all the Free Cities Alliance members, not just one or two. Your soldiers would belong to the Empire and not the individual cities as well, Lord Grimgar." Jacob stated as the older man paled at every word Jacob said.

"You think the Free Cities will submit to the Empire of Night after we spent a hundred years fighting for independence from the northern kingdoms." Lord Grimgar sneered at Jacob causing his escort to step forward to grab him but stopped when Jacob signaled them to stand down.

"First off, the northern kingdoms fought over your cities and people to fund both their coffers and expand their armies in their endless wars. The Empire is not selfish like the northern kingdoms. We offer peace, stability, unity, and protection from threats of both internal and of the external nature. With the Empire, the Slavers Union will be crushed and slavery will be ended throughout the Free Cities. Slavery is illegal within the Empire and we can punish those who profit off of it and those who assist them Lord Grimgar. Think about it and take my proposal back to Lord Devinshire, I am sure he will need the assistance sooner rather than later. Last I heard, eight cities now have withdrawn from the Free Cities Alliance. Good day." Jacob stated as he turned and left.

"What was that about?" Darren asked as he dropped out of Stealth nearby.

Jacob grunted as he shook his head, "The remains of the Free City Alliance trying to get us to defeat their enemies. I told Lord Grimgar if they wanted the Legions to fight with them, they would have to join the Empire. So what is the latest news?"

"Well, let's see, Arang'mor is in an all-out civil war. The Orcs of Blackfang Hold and the Dwarves of the Dark Iron Thiag are fighting more than skirmishes. The High Elves of Daran'thia have sealed their borders for some reason. The Nation of Rolling Sands out east has successfully attacked and conquered half a dozen independent cities back east and is consolidating its hold on three regions. Surprisingly the Drow of Zeren'gor have done nothing, which makes everyone nervous because they are Drow and they are supposed to be up too something." Darren stated as they walked the streets.

"So everything that could turn to shit, has turned to shit. How about the Wood Elves of Loren'thia? I know they are reclusive but they are usually a stabilizing force of the northern nations." Jacob prompted the Rogue who frowned and remained silent as he panned through his interface.

"Nothing, they are doing absolutely nothing. They have not sealed their borders, but they don't move to assist anyone. The smaller nations are each eyeing the larger ones like they are starving wolves getting ready to take a bite of a nice juicy steak...What the fuck is going on? There has not been this much conflict in the northern kingdoms even during the first year that Fate Online was released." Darren stated as he continued to work his interface.

"I think its time for me to talk to an old man," Jacob stated as he headed for the Keep to gather up his escort. It was time to head home and check on everything there. Brox had been named temporary military governor because he didn't trust any of the remaining nobility in the city and none of them could step up and fill the role of Steward, so the General was in charge for now.

Surface- Valley of Origins Region

Empire of Night- City of Eternal Night

Inner City

Jacob entered the Cathedral of Balance, the few Priests and Acolytes in attendance took note of his entry, but largely left him alone. That was their purpose to keep the Cathedral clean and prepared for anyone that entered, not to bother anyone that came. "Hey old man, I need to speak to you sooner rather than later." Jacob softly called out.

"Old man?' Balance stated as he appeared next to Jacob, 'I don't know if I should be offended or honored that you feel comfortable enough to say that. How can I help you, Jacob?"

"I am trying to figure out what the hell is going on and why everything that can go wrong is getting fucked up. War is springing up all over the north and east. Is this Chaos or is it just inevitable conflicts finally starting?" Jacob asked the Primordial Power.

The old man sat down next to Jacob with a sigh, "More than likely it is her agents working behind the scenes inciting things, but since it is not her directly...we cannot do anything. The gods should be doing something but they are to busy fortifying their power bases to take notice of the greater events.' Balance said with disgust. 'This is why the Titans were created in the first place, but since they were overthrown by the gods. The ones that should be doing something, do nothing instead and hope that they can survive what is coming."

"So why are they not fucking with us, the Empire of Night?" Jacob asked as he sat back.

The old man frowned before shrugging his shoulders and disappearing.

Surface-Storm Break Bay Region

Empire of Night- City of Anchorhead

"How many ships were captured, how many escaped?" Jacob asked as he watched as the wrecks of ships were floated. At least a dozen of those occupied the harbor currently.

Governor Saltrake frowned, "We took no prisoners and offered no surrender, but with pirates, you cannot expect such things. We sunk eighteen vessels and at least six escaped. The shipyards were damaged but they are intact and the current construction was undamaged."

Jacob frowned, "How often does this happen?" Why would even pirates raid a city? It was too heavily fortified compared to remote fishing villages. Another odd thing was Jacob thought that pirates worked alone, odd to say the least.

"If I am right, these were pirates from the Lost Islands off the coast to the west. All pirates there serve the whoever is the current Pirate Lord, and the Pirate Lord is always allied with the Slavers Union.' Governor Saltrake stated while frowning. 'As far as how often does this happen, this is the first time in nearly a century that a large raid attacked us here. I am inclined to think the Slavers Union is sending us a message."

War Quest Issued: Scourge of the...Two Seas

Description: Pirates of the Lost Islands have raided your port of Anchorhead. Teach the Pirate Lord a lesson and discourage further raids on Imperial Lands.

Capture or destroy: 0/20 Pirate Vessels

Capture or Kill: 0/500

Rewards: 150,000 Experience, 100,000 Kingdom Experience, 500 Gold, unknown

Jacob frowned, a war on two fronts would be bad, but if I was in charge of the Slavers Union, sacrificing a disposable ally while gaining control of the Free City Alliance...Yeah, they would be willing to do that. If that was the tune they were singing, Jacob had to change the music or end one dance quickly. "How long until the current construction at the shipyards is complete?" Jacob asked the Governor who immediately accessed his interface.

"Two weeks to finish current construction and another two weeks at least to train the crews on the ships," Eadwin stated as he turned to face Jacob who was frowning.

"See if we can do anything to speed this up Governor and I expect those two squadrons of Light Triremes to deploy and start on their patrols. This is why they were constructed, not to stay safe at dock. Is that understood Governor." Jacob stated while glaring at the man who paled a little before nodding and moving off. Jacob kept his eyes on the retreating mans' back. The two squadrons in question had been commissioned over a month ago, they should have been out patrolling the waters around Anchorhead and the trade route between the city and Aramore, not sitting at dock collecting dust. Jacob made a mental note to have Ezekial look into it as he looked at the freshly commissioned Bireme's that floated untouched in the harbor. The medium-sized warships would make up the backbone of the Empires growing naval powers. Getting into a naval war with the pirates was not something Jacob wanted to do, but the Slavers Union might have just pushed them into it.