The Tale of 2 Fortresses: Montrose was all alone. Everyone had left him. His guild master had left and traveled to other lands having given up on these lands. His family, friends, and acquaintances were all gone to other lands and Montrose was keeping up the good fight for nothing...so far as he could tell. Often, he received dispatches from the afar lands asking him to join the others, but he was hesitant to leave his keep on the beach. He knew his coins meant nothing in this distant land. He would have to start from scratch. He knew he should just go as there was nothing for him where he was, but he was hesitant to change. The leaders of this land, full of hate and spite, had tried to destroy his homes and town decorations. There was simply nothing for him there...so with that resigned knowledge, he set forth to new lands with the newbie shirt upon his back. Upon reaching the new lands of Renaissance, Montrose was greeted by old friends and his guild master Pirul immediately set him up in a cozy log cabin while he worked upon establishing himself. He farmed day and night and helped Pirul whenever he could. One day Pirul called upon him and others to help him battle for the Fortress of Haart Valley. Montrose's shadier alter ego showed up with only 70 Magery. It was a lot of running about, chopping of heads, and general Tom Foolery, but the day was won and Pirul had his Fortress in Haart Valley...and Montrose had a lot of fun helping. Montrose then decided to start saving up for his own decent home, but spots were scarce. He was swimming in money like Scrooge McDuck on account of his incessant farming, but had no where to build. One day while strolling through the woods, he happened upon a spot that had recently decayed. Squatters were abound, but he managed to get in the way and place a home. Then ensued a long negotiation with "Bankshot" whom Montrose secretly referred to as "Brick". Eventually, a deal was reached and Montrose owned TWO large keeps side by side. Now wait a minute! I thought this was a tale of 2 FORTRESSES? Cool your jets, child. I'm getting there. So Montrose's money pit was now exhausted after building two large keeps...and low and behold, another spot was opening up nearby! Montrose called upon his pal Cyrano de Ultima and together they managed to get this 3rd large keep spot. Ole Cyrano ended up with one of the 2 keeps and everyone was even...but Montrose was still broke as a joke... Along comes TWO castles near the Yew Gate that were IDOC. Everyone was busy looking at the shinies elsewhere, but Montrose was one for the long game and had no interest in those shinies. He did, however, have one little problem. He was still broke. He called upon Pirul who was busy on a mission in distant lands and would not be able to help until it was too late. He said that he was broke, but one Dalavar owed him a large sum of money. Working through back channels late into the night, Montrose was able to obtain the money from Dalavar at Pirul's request. He then waited patiently and when the time came, placed houses in BOTH castle plots. As he sat there staring and wondering at his good fortune, Blaise ran up. Blaise sat there. ...and sat there... ...and sat there some more... Ole Montrose just enjoyed the looming silence. I mean, when is Blaise EVER silent, right!? Blaise then ruined the blessed moment, cursed loudly, and ran into the woods sobbing never to be seen again. Montrose was now heavily in debt. He worked tirelessly to upgrade these homes to fortresses while paying Pirul back. Eventually, he did it and was rather burned out and took a break. Many were upset at the homes not being used, but as was said earlier....Montrose plays the long game. He eventually caught his second wind and came back and set to work creating a library for everyone to use and that's how it is today. And that's the tale of the 2 Fortresses and how the hard work and perseverance of Montrose (with a helping hand from Pirul and a bit of luck) made it happen. That, folks, is how you get yourself a fortress.
