Azura stood unconsciously at attention as she stared out through her window in her bedroom in the quarters of her keep. She, the daughter of a simple sailor was placed in command of Portsmith Keep before her eighteenth birthday.

At the time she had been thrilled, nervous, and uneasy. Apparently not without good reason. The newly built keep served to protect Port Smith and its surrounding farms. It was also the first line of defense for the temples of Habbakuk and Mishakal in the Coastlund Forests. The keep itself sat on a busy caravan crossroads and part of the south approach was blocked by a hill.

To the north and to the south the roads were plagued by Gypsy raiders and other bandit groups that regularly accosted passing shipments, making re-supplying the keep expensive and time consuming.

To sum up, she had been awarded a pivotal keep with not enough man-power and many problems to solve.

---

Azura studied plans for a possible lookout tower on the hill to the south closely. The keep needed some way to get an eye on approaching groups. After examining the plans skeptically she glanced at the architect, Sir Albrecht – a knight nearly 10 years her senior.

“Sir, the best way to build it without waiting for the next shipment is to cut down the trees surrounding the hills and use the lumber.”

“Wouldn’t the trees be better left for cover?” She asked softly.

Albrecht shook his head, “Not really – they obstruct the view. Not much point in building a lookout tower if the soldiers and knights we put up there can’t see everything.”

She frowned thoughtfully, “It would also make them easy targets.”

Albrecht shook his head again, “That is why I designed it the way I did – anyone up there will be able to duck if any sort of projectile is fired at them.”

Azura nodded, gaze again falling to the plans in front of her. “How long would it take to build?”

Albrecht paused, calculating quickly, “Depends on how many men and women you assign to the work, Sir. 50 could get the job done in one week. But I would caution against taking too many away from their current duties. We are already stretched very thin.”

“And will be even thinner shortly.” She muttered. She had other problems to address – not the least of which was the bandits on the roads – and needed the Knights to seek them out and eradicate said bandits.

She leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling thoughtfully. “We could ask the villagers and the temples…perhaps get the numbers you need to get the tower built in a week if we petition the locals for help.”

“Do you think enough would turn out?”

Azura shrugged, “It never hurts to ask.”

---

A missive sent to the Mayor of Portsmith and the heads of the temples of Mishakal and Habbakuk:

Greetings,

I, Azura Atosh, have recently been granted the honor of commanding Portsmith Keep. In an effort to improve the security of the Keep and its surrounding areas, several initiatives are underway.

One such effort that is quite urgent is building a lookout tower on one of the hills to the south of the Keep. We at the Keep were hoping to gain your aid in this matter. We need several volunteers over the course of a week to a month to clear the area of trees and build the actual structure.

Once such a structure is built the Keep and its Knights will be better able to sight approaching hostile forces and warn the surrounding civilian areas. We hope that you and your people will be agreeable to aid us in this.

We thank you for your possible assistance.

Knight-Commander Azura Atosh

Alexy Reynn happened to be entering the Temple of Habbakuk at the same time as the message bearer. After hearing of what was needed she readily offered her assistance.

The attack on Goodbay has shown us that we do not know when war will be near, it may strike at any moment in any form. I humbly request to assist in this endeavor in any way I can. I will pass the message on to Valandil as well and I'm sure he will be honored to help. This will aid all of our cause and will not take much from us. We are protected for now by the rangers and dragons.. but reinforcing them by having a watch tower will gain us much needed time to rally forces should the enemy be sighted. Send notice back to your commander that I will heed the call and be ready when construction begins.

Amia read the letter sent from the Portsmith Keep carefully. She passed it on to several of the ranking clerics and the new warriors. After consultations with her advisors she composed a quick message:

The Clerics and Acolytes of Mishakal bid you welcome to your new post Knight-Commander. We recognize the importance of your Keep in securing our safety - not just from the Dragon Army, but from the persistent thieves and bandits that plague this area. As such, the Temple residents would be thrilled to aid you in the construction of a watch tower.

We cannot spare a great number at the moment, we are in the middle of a great deal of change and our numbers are not what they used to be. We will send whatever aid we can. Please notify us when you wish to begin this project.

In the mean time, may the Light of Mishakal guide you in your endeavors.

Amia Murael