Devaguea worked HARD to get things as peaceful as they had become, and his population slowly spiking was the reward he wanted.<br/><br/>A small plague in Warsworn, a spike of bandits near Numestown, a sudden raid of pirates up into the lake, everything was minor enough to leave to the locals. The sudden arrival of a legion of hobgoblins to Warsworn needed Nordri and Anke to unravel, before he was requested to come down. He had to fight the captain without magic, but he did prove he was at least capable and willing to fight without magic, which earned him more trust with the hobgoblin diplomats that had been escorted down by the legion.<br/><br/>The portents were cursed at but heeded, though honestly the centaurs were the only reason he was moving with any speed. Defenses were quietly brought up, just a step up from peace time to alert level 1. A few more patrols, a bit more drilling, shifts were changed from six on and two off to three and one, just for a couple weeks to stress test how well the level of readiness could be maintained.<br/><br/>Then Devaguea got knocked away from his spot as he mediated early one morning. A quick check showed noting local, though all the casters were in an uproar about whatever he had sensed. Unable to do anything, he kept them at alert level 1 until they knew more. Two days later, he stood down the guards, and got the researchers to work on more... useful knowledge about the newest threat. Personal tactics, preferred minions, did he prefer overwhelming power or unending hordes, things of that nature.<br/><br/>Then four days later, his research team got a frantic message from them, needing to know EVERYTHING about Choral the conqueror, and he needed to know it last YEAR.