“With all due respect, Lord-Commander,” the black and red dragon began, his slit eyes drilling into the human’s much smaller ones. “We can’t keep letting ourselves be humiliated like this. We dragons didn’t allow ourselves to fight alongside the naka’duskael just to become a punching bag for the undead.” Temerac rested his claws on the map in front of the human. As accurate as an adult dragon can, he points to a few spots on the map.

“We have to lead a charge back against them and let them know we are not to be trifled with. Maybe we’ll discover some more of their research in the process; Gaileach is as stumped as any of us as to the Aegis’ connection to the rift. We don’t even know which of their factions is doing this!” He bares his teeth, the frills on his head lifting.
Lord-Commander Jatell simply strokes his chin in thought. Temerac has always been a hot-headed fellow and his threats were usually always hollow - at least to him, anyway. He wasn’t sure how immune any subordinates would be to Temerac’s frustrations.

“Temerac, we can’t simply charge blindly into the Eastern Deadlands; that’s suicide! We need some sort of plan,” Jatell retorts, frustration creeping into his voice. Technically, the Empire never has to fight back; they have been holding off the assaults thus far. Morale, however, has been running low from the repeated beatings and the close call with the Blight Anchor digging its rot into the Selen Forest. The Gifted are restless and the Empire itself is on edge.

Temerac is no different. He keeps staring down Jatell, having little care to their vast difference between their ranks. Who cares about insubordination when you’re nearly three times as tall as your commander with teeth the size of his hand? “Exactly. So we make a plan. What are you waiting for? Another attack? Another near loss? I don’t want more surprise attacks.”

Jatell presses his fingertips together and draws a deep breath. Patience is a virtue. “What do you suggest, Temerac? Do you have any plans of your own that could be viable?”

The dragon sits and stares for a moment, as if caught off guard. He grits his teeth and grunts a short ‘no’. “But I might know who does,” he grins, teeth gleaming. “The Gifted have been on the frontlines for the longest time against this fight. They may know the best tactics in this situation, not us, who have been stuck in these camps and forward bases.
“Reklar is one of those undead grunts’ leaders, right? No, no, not the highest leaders like the Lich King - he’s a general. He might know something about their plans. Why don’t we ask the Gifted to pay him a visit, hm?”

Jatell considers this for some time before sighing. “Alright, fine, ask the Gifted to interrogate Reklar - a blighted monster about ten stories tall. See what kind of response you get. In the meantime, I’ll concoct a real plan to strike bac-”

The black tail just barely misses Jatell’s chest, knocking the desk with the map over as the frustrated sergeant whips around to stomp back towards his post by the gates.

The Lord-Commander sighs. He’ll get over it. Moving to right his desk and recover his map, he makes a mental note to figure out a way to reprimand the grumpy lizard.

Details:
When: Saturday, the 15th of October at 8:00pm CEST/2:00pm EST/11:00am PST
(Timezone not listed? Use this converter.)
Where: Begins at the Eastern Outpost.
Goal: Depends on the decisions of the Gifted.

Details: The Gifted are also done with being humiliated and attacked in their homes! In the beginning, the Gifted are given the choice to converse and decide between a few plans of action. They may choose to try to get information from Reklar, capture an Aegis researcher (whereabouts unknown), or escort a Gifted researcher into the deadlands to find more possible explanations for the portals and the branching out of the Aegis. The Gifted may also try and propose their own plan of action to trump all others.

Whichever route they choose, they may lead themselves into the deadlands to try and accomplish their goal. Of course, this will not be easy nor will the path be perfectly clear - watch for hints and cryptic directions given out by the environment!

Who knows what may lie in wait beyond those black blighted borders...