[b][h2]Duskwood[/h2][/b]

The experiments didn't stop at Jitters. They couldn't. A single experiment performed on a single subject only provided a single point of data and if they wanted to make sure they could weaponize the worgen curse properly, they were going to need to better understand its nature. 

Bautic had made a point of limiting the activities of the Defias in Duskwood in order to fade into the background a little bit; The Night Watch of Darkshire were the local law enforcers and they were already under siege by a wide variety of enemies, up to and including the wildlife itself. They were also not above hiring mercenary services in order to enforce their besieged town and strike out at their foes. Such a strike force had marched on Roland's Doom to assault the Worgen there rather recently. 

By staying quiet in regards to causing Darkshire itself problems, Bautic intended for the Night Watch to either be ignorant, ignore or forget that the Brotherhood had a presence in Duskwood at all. They were already stretched thin with the enemies who were actively causing them problems as it was without intentionally picking a fight they didn't need too. Having this breathing room served Bautic nicely, since it meant that he had a secure place to allow his students to grow stronger in the art of necromancy while he performed his experiments in peace.     

This did mean that getting fresh test subjects was a logistical challenge, since any act that directly drew Night Watch attention to the Defias needed to be avoided... or at least covered up. Abducting travelers, caravan merchants, adventurers and even members of the Night Watch while they were on patrol were doable, but no witnesses or evidence could be left behind. Thankfully, the practicing of necromancy provided a useful tool to help hide their activities. 

Not only was the addition of undead forces in the raiding parties a boon towards numbers and thus being able to cut off routes of escape, but having a acolyte forcefully bend some of the corpses at the Raven Hill Cemetery under their control and leaving evidence of them behind at the ambush sites painted the picture that it was the undead of Raven Hill and their necromancer masters that were behind any disappearances reported. 

Fell had made making contact with him a rather [i]difficult[/i] affair. It was unfortunate, but hopefully having the Night Watch put pressure on him would open him up to the idea of making alliances in the near future. Or he could just get himself killed and the graveyard claimed afterwards. Personally, Bautic didn't care which outcome happened, but adding another master of life and death to the fold wouldn't hurt.

Some test subjects could also be claimed from neighboring proviences like Westfall or even Stranglethorn Jungle, through such options had their own logistical and security issues. 

The experiments themselves had started simple; Discovering how the  worgen curse spread was a relatively simple affair, through Bautic was somewhat surprised to discover that death seemed to make the curse itself inert. While a dead worgen remained a worgen, its ability to spread the curse further via its blood or other bodily fluids died with them. The infectious samples had to be drawn from a living worgen. 

Thankfully they had managed to capture one before the experiments even started... and once the process of creating other worgen was achieved they were able to make replacements when the beast expired. 

Step 2 of the experiments, in which the Worgen Curse would be combined with the Plague of Undeath in one fashion or another, was currently hindered by a lack of the latter. The Lich King had been contacted and the lack of plague to use in these experiments was going to be corrected as soon as possible, but it was going to take time. With the lands of Lorderan and the surrounding kingdoms in their current war torn state, while possible, was dangerous in that there would be a risk of interception or tail. The samples would have to come from Northrend itself; Safer and more secure by far, but time consuming. 

If nothing else, Bautic would be able to continue teaching the new generations of necromancers as he prepared the Defias for its truth destiny.