Much to Storm's suprise , meetings no longer had to be held in his study.
Due to the increase in manpower, Grombrim had his dwarves expand the tunnels and an entire war room was constructed for these kinds of meetings.
A long table with over 12 seats dominated the center of the room and was covered with all manner of maps of not just the surrounding area, but also of the wider continent.
Storm was currently admiring the room.
"Seems you've been busy, Grombrim!
This is fine work!
Any other additions I need to know about?"
"A few. I'll give you a tour of the place after we're done here." Explained Grombrim.
"I assume the village outside is your doing as well?" Asked Storm.
"We all pitched in, but the initial idea was mine!
The tunnels were getting too cramped and we can't tunnel fast enough through the mountain, and the mountain isn't large enough to accommodate everything.
We can only tunnel so much, before the network starts endangering the other rooms and increases the risk of cave-ins.
So we've had to make urgent adjustments.
Especially when the Gnolls joined us up here." Explained Grombrim.
"What are the Gnolls doing here anyway? I assigned them to watch over Twin Rivers?" Asked Storm.
Everyone fell silent for a moment while they waited to see who was going to break the bad news to the notoriously temperamental dragon in the room.
Finally after a tense silence, Razor broke the news.
"I'm afraid there has been a 'development' in Twin Rivers.
2 weeks ago, a large group of hunters were spotted escorting a large wagon train towards Twin Rivers.
Defending it would have taken too many losses, so we ordered the Gnolls to fall back to here.
The hunters have now rebuilt Twin Rivers into a large fortified outpost and Wagon convoys have been making regular shipments through the area."
The atmosphere was tense as everyone waited to see what Storm's reaction to the news would be.
Storm was silent for a moment, before he answered them.
"We need to retake the settlement. " was his only reply.
"Storm! Is that ruin really worth the trouble?
We barely used it last time we held it?" Asked Razor.
"We can't risk them reinforcing the Hidden hunter's base!
We need to cut them off and starve them out!" Replied Storm.
Storm began sharing everything that they had uncovered in Arcadia with the rest of the council.
He took out the maps he found and placed it on the table.
"Would you be able to figure out where the base is by using this?" Asked Storm.
Razor pulled the maps closer and began studying them closer.
After a moment, she pulled a larger map of the surrounding area and began comparing landmarks.
After a moment, she pointed a claw at a winding river on Storm's maps.
"I suspect this is the Serpentine River, that would make this mountain the Mortis mountains."
Mortis mountain was arguably the biggest mountain range on the continent.
All manner of myth surrounded it's origin.
The most commonly accepted one was that during the first war against the humans, a particularly titanic dragon by the name of 'Mortis' made his lair there.
A black scaled dragon that was infamous among humans and magical creatures alike for his morbid interest in the arts of necromancy.
He raised an army of the dead and intended to sweep over the human forces and turn it into a land of undeath.
He had no concerns with using non human corpses fo his army either, eventually things got so dire that the dragon council of elders moved against him.
Working together, they sealed him in his own fortress and laid his army to rest in the caves.
Myth held that the dragon was still trapped somewhere under the mountain along with his army of undead, ready to answer his call and resume their war against mankind.
Dragons and humans alike avoided the mountains, fearing that it might be cursed.
"I don't like that the humans are scratching around Mortis's tomb.
Especially since their leader just so happens to be a Lich, another powerful creature skilled in necromancy.
If the myths are true, and Mortis's army really does exist, then we can't risk him using that army for his own plans." Said Kalipso
"Agreed! The route to the mountains are in pretty poor condition.
It seems we might have to retake Twin Rivers after all.
It's the only path to the mountains that doesn't have rivers or cliffs blocking the way." Said Grombrim.
"What are the condition of our forces? Have we been able to expand our numbers?" Asked Storm .
"We have, the gnolls have had several successes and some smaller groups of beastmen have joined up with them.
Several dragons have also volunteered from the Wyrm Tooth mountains clan and have been reinforcing us.
Grombrim has managed to set up a small iron mine deeper in the tunnels and we've been using the money we make from selling it to recruit additional troops.
We've also secured the services of a clan of Rakasha called the Sha-Batti." Explained Augustus.
Rakasha were a race of 10 foot tall Tiger beast-kin that were widely known for their skill at arms.
Like orcs, they put heavy emphasis on martial training and combat.
Honor dictated their entire society and fighting style.
They never refused a challenge for single combat and greatly respected those that could best them in combat.
To be dishonered was the greatest shame a Rakasha could experience and often led to them committing suicide, rather than live with the shame.
They rarely worked with none Rakasha , unless someone managed to best one of their chieftains in single combat, so their addition was a large surprise for Storm.
"How did you get them to join up with us!!? I thought Rakasha didn't work with outsiders?!" Asked Storm.
"They volunteered, believe it or not. Based on what I've heard, the Sha-Batti chieftains are unconventional.
"Chieftains? Don't you mean Chief?" Asked Storm.
Augustus shook his head.
"Chieftains. They are ruled by 2 twin brothers. I've seen them in action, they always fight as a pair and they complement and shield each other in battle.
I'll introduce you to them this afternoon.
You can discuss the terms of our cooperation with them then." Explained Augustus.
"How many troops do we have in total?" Asked Storm.
"About 550 in total.
Most of them are Gnolls and beast-kin. " Explained Augustus.
Storm grimaced.
"Don't worry!! What we lack in numbers, we'll make up in quality." Exclaimed Grombrim.