Surface- Crescents Plains Region

Empire of Night- City of Athesas

Jacob and Lord James Devinshire walked along the streets and the old lord pointed to various shops and businesses. Atheses was a very powerful city and the largest member of the Free City Alliance before its fall. Now it was the lead Client State of the Empire of Night. "So the siege left minimal damage to your city, that is good. Make sure your Seneschal itemizes everything and have it sent to Cliphis, Governor Conrad will make sure any reparations will be taken from Cliphis treasury." Jacob told the large man.

"I was told the Lady WInters was Governor of Twisting Hills Region." Lord Devinshire stated.

Jacob frowned and shook his head, "The former Governor was removed after committing Treason. Governor Mona Conrad has been appointed Governor of the Region now." Jacob told him.

"I see, well I will make sure she receives the information promptly. Can I ask how many prisoners did your people capture from the battle south of the city?" Lord Devinshire asked carefully.

"Lord Devinshire, we captured no prisoners, their army was decimated and if there were any survivors I am sure they have been or will shortly be hunted down. Now moving on, the soldiers from Yadpool that surrendered to you, they will be turned over to us and sent home. Yadpool has elected to join the Empire and as citizens of the Empire, they have a chance to start over. Do you have any objections?" Jacob asked the large human.

The older man frowned, "No, from the moment they showed up it was more apparent that Cliphis with the backing of the Slavers Union probably bullied them into capitulation. Those men and women are not our enemies. Athesas will not have a problem with them being released to go home."

Unknown Location...

Screams filled the chamber as Grimlock looked at the container holding the Lady of Chaos. The last time he had been here, only a dozen chains had encompassed the container. Now dozens of new chains stronger and more powerfull were wrapped around it. "I apologize Grimlock, the new toy your brought me has been infinitely entertaining. I will hold off on having fun with it until you depart. Feel free to continue."

"Yes Lady, as I was saying we have stopped recruiting Immortal and corrupting dungeons. All the Chaos Warped have been moved to our hidden stronghold around the world. Our hidden agents know to remain dormant and to keep their heads down and that we will contact them again in the future when you are free again." Grimlock stated keeping his eyes on the ground.

"Yes, we have to stop our plans that have been in motion for the last hundred years because your brother broke a Binding Oath that had ramifications for me.' Chaos stated as new screams filled the chamber. 'For now, my pet, concentrate on consolidating our holdings in Jingoon. Do not press the locals there any further than you already have. I will instruct your brothers to follow your example on the Abyssal and Heavenly Planes as well. I am sure the Celestials will try to push them back but between the armies they have and the reinforcements you can send them, they should be able to hold. I should be free in two possible three years. Until then, I will amuse myself with Alexi and thoughts of what I am going to do to this Jacob Longstrider when I get ahold of him. Now go my pet." Lady Chaos commanded and Grimlock quickly left.

"Now Alexi, feel free to cry, scream, plead, beg, it will not matter because it will only be me and you until I get free of this CURSE PLACE!!" Chaos screamed in frustration as her power lashed out at the bound and bleeding Chaos Lord.

Underdark- Black Basalt Region

Empire of Night- City of Gahlin

Outer City

Ailis lounged waiting for Mistress Illith to appear with her reward. Downing the merchant had been relatively easy, tracking him down had been the hard part, but once found...It had also been a service to the Empire, Immortals, and Locals to get rid of him. "Ahh, the woman of the hour. Have a round on me." Mistress Illith stated as she sat down and placed a drink in front of her. Ailis eyeballed the drink to the amusement of the Drow.

"It's not poisoned if that is what you are worried about. You are in good standing with the guild and have given us a boon in killing Peter Shortdigger. You have also smoothed things over with the Merchants Guild with eliminating him. So we owe you thanks, not death sister." Mistress Illith informed her.

Quest Complete: Dagger in the Underdark

Description: Peter Shortdigger a former member of the Merchants Guild, has been selling sub-par goods to fellow Merchants, Immortals, and stores. You hunted down and killed him. Congratulations on being a cutthroat.

Success: Slay Peter Shortdigger and get away without getting caught

Failure: Fail to slay Peter Shortdigger and/or get caught

Rewards: 750 Experience, Rank Increase within the Assassins Guild, 10 Gold, Increased Reputation with the Merchants Guild, Increased Reputation with the Empire of Night.

Alert...

Your Rank within the Assassins Guild has increased from Initiate too...Dagger.

Alert...

"Well, now that you are a full member, you are probably wondering what the difference is? You will have more contracts available, more items you can purchase, you can even call upon your brothers and sisters to help you in a fight if you are desperate, but remember nothing is free. Congratulations Dagger, may your knives always be sharp." Mistress Illith stated before raising her cup and downing it before leaving Ailis to her thoughts.

Surface- Valley of Origins Region

Empire of Night- City of Eternal Night

Palace of Night- Holding Cells

"Hello Tiffany, how is your day going?" Jacob asked as he walked into her cell.

The broken and downtrodden women refused to look in his eyes but did respond, "Boring, I have four walls, a ceiling, and floor to look at all day. How was yours?"

"Not too bad. The siege around Athesas has been lifted and the army of Mercenaries and from Cliphis was annihilated. Lord Devinshire was happy to see that his city is finally free. I will take a couple of days and consult some people, I will have your sentencing in a couple of days at most. Do you understand?" Jacob asked the woman.

"I understand. Was my father there?" Tiffany quietly asked.

"No, we are still hunting him. Do not worry, if we find him I will let you know." Jacob told her before turning and leaving.

"So you blacked out...Got anything to say?" Cathrine prompted causing Jacob to wince and glance at Gloria. The Vampire bowed and quickly left the room.

"What do you want me to do? I have responsibilities. I can't just ignore them. Please don't say anything about my health around Gloria. I am sure the Eight Families will know within a couple of hours now. I don't want to give them anything to declare me as incompetent as Emperor." Jacob replied after Gloria left.

"Gloria is loyal to us," Cathrine replied causing Jacob to snort.

"I was sure Tiffany was loyal too until she wasn't. I am certain she is a spy for the Houses. Friendly yes, but her loyalties lay with them, not us. Now, where do you want to go to dinner?" Jacob inquired and based on Cathrine's frown Jacob knew she wasn't done with their talk yet.

"There is a new restaurant in the Middle City I want to try out called Sunlight of all things, but people say its good. We will discuss this later, you understand that." Cathrine responded causing Jacob to smile and pull her in for a kiss before nodding.

Surface- Bronze Rock Region

Nation of Duran'thia- Outside the City of Dera'Kan

Fallen Estates of Loranan

Ava collapsed under both Mana and Physical Exhaustion De-Buffs. The Spirit in front of her looked at her in contempt, "This is what the Loranan family has come too. I am glad I am dead but I am sure the others are rolling in their graves. How do you expect to get justice for our family when you cannot even fight me in a duel!!"

Ava gave the spirit the middle finger before standing on shaking legs, "Well Jedidiah was right, you have heart I will give you that. Raw power is not everything girl, finesse and how you use your spells, will when far more battles then raw power. We are done for the day, go and rest we will continue your instruction tomorrow." The spirit said before fading away.

Ava stumbled out of the graveyard and too her makeshift camp. Other spirits around her ignored her as she went by. She was family and had the permission of the head spirits to stay here for her training. What family secrets lay within the estate she did not know, the spirits that lived here were determined to see her trained properly in battle magic before letting her have any family secrets or letting her leave.

"Ahh, the Champion of the hour!!" Jedidiah called out as she entered the house.

Ava glared at the spirit, "Fuck you, this was supposed to be a quick trip to the southern border, now we have been here for weeks training. What secrets did you want me to find?" Ava replied glaring at the Spirit causing it to frown.

"When you can go toe-to-toe in a fight with one of your combat instructors we will finish up here and move on. I would suggest you eat and get some sleep." Jedidiah said before disappearing wherever he went, Ava's cursing following him.

Surface- Storm Break Bay Region

Empire of Night- City of Anchorhead

Commander Treadwill and the two other commanders looked at the map of the Lost Islands Region. They had finally punched through the pirate patrols and were openly sailing around their home islands. "So Commanders as you can see, the Island of Andport is the southernmost, we plan on invading that island and taking it first. Once we do, we will move onto the two islands too the north. Commander Treadwill of the Barracuda and Commander Hopwill of the Dauntless will provide close escort and fire support for the transports. Commander Smithson of the Unbroken and Commander Renee of the Bloodforged will patrol the nearby area and prevent any counterattack. Questions?" Captain-General Nadal informed them.

"How much resistance are we expecting on land and sea?" Commander Hopwill asked immediately.

"Andport is the least fortified island and port of the three Islands. The last patrol close too those waters reported two dozen ships docked or at anchor in the harbor. From what little information we have, there is anywhere between five thousand to ten thousand defenders and locals living there. How accurate this is, we do not know. The harbor has two Siege Towers fortifying the mouth of the harbor, each has six Ballista with overlapping fields of fire. We are going to strike at the harbor directly while landing troops on the southern portion of the island. There is a small cove their that could easily hold four transport ships at a time. The forces there would start landing an hour before the main assault on the harbor. Once the assault on the harbor commences, the forces we landed will strike." Nadal replied as he highlighted each area.

"Do you want us to capture those ships, or destroy them?" Commander Treadwill asked as he studied the layout.

"Capture if possible, but if the cost to capture them is too high, destroy them. The priority is to capture the harbor then the island itself. Anything else is just a bonus." Nadal promptly replied.

"When are we going to launch the invasion?" Commander Renee inquired.

"Two weeks at least. We have to marshall the supplies, troops, and ships. Commander Renee and Smithson will be heading north too Stormsurge in the next couple days and will take the bulk of the transports currently here at Anchorhead with them. More transport ships will arrive in the coming weeks, Commander Treadwill and Hopwill will provide escort for the transports launching from Anchorhead. If everything goes well, it should take thirty-six hours to load supplies and troops on all the transports once everything is in place." Nadal finished.

"How many Legions will be escorting?" one of the Commanders asked.

"The initial invasion force will be two Legions...Ok, let's start hammering out a tactical plan." Nadal stated as he brought the display to center on the harbor of Andport.