Jacob Longstrider opened his eyes, he had refused to check his communicator before coming back to Fate Online. He would know questions would be asked by his friends and he couldn't answer them. He had one more day to plan what he wanted to do before he had to face his friends, then he wouldn't have a choice. He had called Marc as soon as he had logged out, they had already red-flagged the Wiki page for the Bloodfang Clan. It would list the location of the clan as UNKNOWN which would cause rumors that it was a fake clan but the info would be updated with the release of the Vampire update. Other hardcore types would not accept that and it might even grab the attention of the top 10, which would be bad in the long run. His friends would have to wait until Friday though, time to grab his Bonded and head into a dungeon dive. They should already be awake and grabbing any equipment and upgrades he needed. He just had to check the equipment he had won from the Spider Queen run.

Name: Ring of Attack X2 (June and Brox)

Level: Common

Properties: Increases damage by 3%

Description: a Basic copper ring that slightly increases the Damage that you deal

Name: Minor Mana Ring X2 (Shigna and Snaggletooth)

Level: Common

Properties: Increases your Mana Pool by 50

Description: a Basic copper ring that slightly increases how much mana you have

Name: Minor Ring of Might X2 (Brox and Jacob)

Level: Common

Properties: Increases strength by 1

Description: a Basic copper ring that slightly increases wielders strength

Name: Webwood Bow of Power (June)

Level: Rare

Damage: 35 - 45

Properties: Damage Increased by 5%, has a 10% chance of target being wrapped in webbing the target will then be bound for 10 seconds

Description: This bow has been soaked in the web of spiders for hundreds of years and now it cannot wait to bind what it hits (Say hello to my lil friend)

Name: Staff of Concentration (Snaggletooth)

Level: Uncommon

Damage: 30-40

Properties: Increases mana regeneration of wielder by 10%

Description: This common wood has been soaked in mana for a decade, now it helps its wielder in recovering it. (Chug, Chug, Chug)

Name: Vital Iron Chainmail of Dodging (Jacob)

Level: Rare

Properties: +15 Armor, +100 to Health, + 3 to Dodging level

Durability: 75/75

Description: This common shirt of armor was created for the front lines Soldiers to help them survive longer against their enemies. (Float like a butterfly...well just work on that for now)

Everyone got at least one piece of equipment and with the Dungeon coming up they could be the difference in living and dying. Brox would be joining them as well, hopefully, he would integrate with the group otherwise they might wipe. For him, it wouldn't cause too many problems, for his Bonded it meant permanent death. He also had potions for everyone had picked up a couple of special ones just in case he needed them, but those were his Aces that he would keep for the rainy day.

As his party made it into the Bloodfangs Camp, several clan members acknowledged his approach. He asked around where he could find Brox, several Goblins and Orcs laughed and pointed at a rundown tent. He stepped into the tent and immediately noticed Brox...asleep. WTF, he had told him they would be getting up early and on the road. He had warned him they would spend at least half the day on the road...Jacob quickly walked out of the tent grabbed the nearest pail of water went back in and dumped it on the sleeping Orc, Brox immediately woke up and roared at Jacob. "What happened...did you get caught in the rain? Well if you had been up and ready like I told you it would not have rained on you. We have been up for over an hour, we still have a long walk ahead of us and we need to get going now. Here are two rings and a couple of health potions, those are only for emergencies. Now grab your gear and move your ass before I simply start kicking it because you are too weak to move." was Jacobs response before leaving the tent.

With that, he and his party left the Bloodfang camp, about 10 minutes later they were approaching the outer wall and a gate that led deeper into the Underdark. Behind his group he heard someone running he quickly turned around and saw Brox. "Did you really have to do that? My whole clan was laughing at me and my father was pissed. Why did you do that?"

Jacob just looked at him before responding, "First you are an adult, not a child. You were warned that we were going to be leaving early and you choose to ignore my warnings. If I cannot trust you to simply wake up on time, how can I trust you in battle? Second, you are not one of my House, you are an Ally but respect works both ways. Your father gave his word, I expected you to honor that. So far you have failed. I hope you won't continue to disappoint me."

At first, Brox was stunned, then mad, then shamed "I apologize Lord Longstrider. You are absolutely correct, we are allies, and I failed both my clan and you with ignoring your warnings. It will not happen again." Jacob smiled and continued to walk out with his four companions, Brox took up a position next to Snaggletooth and the talked in low voices as they walked out of the Tomb and into the dark. Entering the Deep Underdark (Area LVL: Varies)...

Ok, most Cities, Areas, or Zones had fixed levels, usually, Areas with varying levels were only for Raids which made limited sense. The Tomb of Eternal Night was probably meant as a Raid, but everything had changed when he had accepted the Race change. It had become a Faction City after that, but the surrounding area was not changed. "Ok guys depending on what we find, we will either go around what we find or destroy them. It all depends on what we find. We are going to go in like we did yesterday, slow and steady I will decide if we can take on the enemies or if we are going to go around. The location of this guy is to our east, June since you were the last out one out here do you know anything about the monsters out there?"

June continued to scan the dark while responding "No Sir, I came from the West. Out there were random Undead, Slime Monsters, Feral Vampires, Rogue Drow, and an occasional Wild Rock Elemental. It could be the same to the East or not." Jacob nodded before activating his Aura and casting Blood Pact on Snaggletooth before leading them further into the darkness.

Less then 10 minutes later they found a campfire, it had 6 Goblins around it and an Orc. The Goblins were lvl 1-3 and the Orc was lvl 5. One of the Goblins were standing sentry the rest were getting drunk, make that 5 Goblins now. One of them pissed off the Orc, it promptly cut off its head. "June any chance you can take out the sentry with one shot?"

She rolled her eyes before responding "Just say when." Jacob nodded and reminded everyone, wait 10 seconds before engaging. With that he crept to within range of his Charge ability, he targeted the Orc and activated Charge. As his shield slammed into the surprised Orc he cast Aura Blast. He was surrounded by scrambling and screaming Goblins. The sentry was down though, but shortly he would be surrounded by the Goblins, even at their levels they could kill them given time. Good thing Brox didn't give them time, he slammed into two of them with a roar and Firebolts and Arrows came with him. Less then 10 seconds after that, the battle was done, time to loot and scoot.

About 30 minutes later (and about 2 dozen packs of Goblins/Orcs later) they found their first undead. Four skeletons and a Ghoul, great undead always smelled. The skeletons were level 5 and the Ghoul was level 8, these packs were going to hurt. Another half out later they had finally fought their way out of a cavern, Jacob was the only party member not to gain a level but he would kill a couple mobs and he with finally be lvl 9. The tunnel they were in was a good 20 ft across and high. Slimes and minor Wild Rock elementals dotted the landscape all were lvl 1 to 3. They were about 10 minutes out from the Dungeon when he stopped, he felt something was off about this part of the tunnel. One part was too uniform as if constructed, so he took a closer look. As he approached the wall he noticed writing on the wall, he asked his companions to take a look to see if they could decipher the writing. Only June stayed on continued to stare before responding, "This writing is Ancient, at least 2000 years old maybe even 3000. It's old Drow dialect that is no longer taught or in use. I can only make out about 1/3 that is written. Sometimes in our scouting, we will come across places like this. It is a magical doorway, what is behind it I don't know. It could be a treasure or great evil that even our people feared. Without the proper code to open the door, we will never know, and it could take days or even weeks to decipher what that code is."

Secret Quest Found: Lost in the Depths

Description: During your travels of the Deep Underdark you and your party found an ancient Drow door Hidden in a tunnel. You were warned by your Bonded, June Moonshadow, that doors like that contained Treasures or Great Evils even the Drow feared. Will you open the door or not?

Rewards: UNKNOWN

Accept: Yes/No

Oh, hell yeah. Come to daddy, I need my precious. He tagged the location on his map for exploring later and continued on to the Dungeon entrance. What he saw there did not make him happy, there was a small resting area with a fire. The "Safe" zone was usually in front of or near the entrance of every dungeon, that was to be expected, but no shimmering curtain of magic could be seen. This meant it was a One-Off Dungeon...Shit that usually meant it would be hard. He really wanted a starter dungeon for future baby vampires, oh well guess he would have to find another starter dungeon. Either way, time to rest and eat. Stormcaller produced some of the spider meat he had gotten yesterday, his cooking wasn't that bad. Tasted like deer jerky, and decreased all poison damage by 50% for 30 minutes and gave him a well-fed status that increased his health, stamina, and mana regeneration for the next 30 minutes. After that, one last equipment and potion check before heading in.

Now Entering: Fortress of the Forgotten

Description: The Fortress of the Forgotten is the home of the old ally of the Vampire people, Abraxxus. He was a powerful Arch Lich until he was sent away, over time he lost much of his strength. Now he is but a shell of his former self, end his reign and claim his fortress.

Woohoo, time to clear two quests in one go. He had found a home for the Bloodfangs and now he just had to clear out all the pesky Undead. "Buff em if you got em." Jacob called out, Lifes Endurance and Firepact were cast, Jacob renewed Blood Pact and they set off. It should be a normal Tank and Spank, time would tell if he was wrong or not. An hour later the Battlements had been cleared and all the outer buildings as well. It was normal lvl 8 Skeletons and Lvl 9 Ghouls, for the most part, the lvl 10 Bone Captains sucked though. They organized the random undead and gave them order, they also buffed the undead near them with an Aura ability that increased the damage and defense of those around them.

Once the outer areas were clear they moved to the inner courtyard and cleared the battlements there. They found the first mini-boss, a level 11 Guard Captain that was flanked by two Ghouls. The fight against him had been close when the Captain had kicked him down the steps of the central Fortress. That had resulted in him losing Moonlight and his shield, he immediately rolled to his feet and drew his dagger but before he could rush up the steps Brox ran at the Captain and shoulder charged him down the stairs too. The Captain didn't survive the fall-through, one boss down due to stairs...Loot and Scoot.

The main hall of the fortress was lit by braziers lining up on either side of the main walkway. Sitting on the throne was a Bone Lord (lvl12) Dregus Lifetaker, 2 Ghouls, 1 Skeleton, and 1 robed Skeleton. The Robed Skeleton had no name though so it was not the Lich they were after. "Welcome to my hall, it has been so long since I was able to entertain anyone. If you had not been lead by a Vampire I might have let you go, but you are therefore you are all going to die."

As the Bonelord was getting up Jacob triggered Charge and slammed his shield in his face, the Bonelord was stunned, so he took a second to use Power Slash on the Mage to make sure he had its attention then he cast Aura Blast before backing away and leading the melee fighters away from the throne. "Brox kill the Mage," Jacob commanded as he backed himself in the wall as Firebolts and Fire Arrows slammed into the undead backs. Brox roared in response and charged at the Mage. He activated Enrage and he grew in size slightly as his damage output increased and started slamming his axes into the mage. Jacob triggered Double Slash on the Skeleton, both Shigna and June were concentrating their fire on that one to try and down it fast so they could move on to the Ghouls. Jacob triggered Aura Blast again since it was off cooldown then activated Power Slash on the Bonelord. He tried to cut off its leg but even though it cut through the Armor it did not cut through the bone.

The enemy mage finally died and the melee Skeleton went down as well, two down three to go. He could hear Shigna chanting as he cast Earth Spear on the Bonelord. It punched through the back of the Bonelords leg and pinned him to the floor, leaving the Bonelord with 2000 life. Dregus Lifetaker screamed in rage and pain, Jacob darted around the Bonelord and into the open. Jacob threw a potion behind him as he laughed, as soon as the potion opened up the floor opened up and spewed fire everywhere. The potion had cost 5 Gold, but he had thought it had been worth it.

Heart of Fire

Potion: Creates a 7 ft circle that damages everything in the radius. Does 75 Fire Damage per sec for 30 seconds.

The two Ghouls came stumbling out of the circle of fire, but the Bonelord was pinned within the circle for now. Jacob slashed his sword across both of them to keep their attention off him as Brex slammed into their flank. The first Ghoul quickly went down under the concentrated fire of the four companions, the second wasn't doing much better when Dregus Lifetaker finally broke free of the Earth Spear. He crashed into Jacob and both went down hard, the Bone Lord was a hot smoking mess with less than 500 life left. Jacobs sword arm was pinned so he headbutted the undead and Brox kicked him off of Jacob. Brox kept swinging his axes on the downed opponent until Dregus Lifetaker kicked him away. Jacob watched as Brox literally flew away from the Bonelord due to his strength, this pissed Jacob off so he used Power Slash as the Bonelord was getting up. Dregus Lifetakers head flew in one direction his body fell another. Jacob and Snaggletooth rushed over to the downed Berserker, he had a slightly stunned look on his face but other than that he was fairly unhurt.

After Brex got up, Jacob looted Dregus Lifetaker corpse before they continued to look for the Lich Abraxxus. Behind the throne was a set of stairs leading down into the basement. He noticed a couple things immediately, one it was a huge Alchemy Lab, two Abraxxus was not there by choice. He was sitting on a stool mixing chemicals and ingredients chained to the floor. Ok...that was odd.

Dungeon Boss

Name: Abraxxus

Race: Lich/Human

Class: Necromancer/Alchemist

Level: 12

What to do, the guy was chained to the floor. Who knew what he did willingly or unwillingly. The Lich looked up at the intruders "Oh thank the Gods, please tell me you have come to kill me. I am tired of slaving away for that damn Bonelord. He is so boring, only wanting Skeletal Warriors or Ghouls. Nothing ever new or fun!" Abraxxus pleaded before he noticed a Vampire led the group when he noticed Jacob he started gathering necrotic energies in his hands and muttering a spell incantation.

"Wait, please stop I am just trying to understand the situation." Jacob pleaded.

Although he stopped the spell he did not let go of the energy, "This is all your fault. Your people sent me away, WHY DID YOU SEND ME AWAY!!!!" the Lich screamed in anger.

"What do you know about the end of the war?" Jacob asked.

"I was sent away after the second year the City of Eternal Night had been under siege. The King sent me away, I could have stayed and fought." Abraxxus sounded sad as he responded.

"Ok, first off at the end of the Siege then King was captured and the City and its remaining inhabitants fell under a Curse placed by the Gods themselves. If you had not been sent away, you would be dead or cursed. Second, the Tomb of Eternal Night is less then a day away, if you want to go you can. I am sure the inhabitants will welcome you. I really don't want to kill you, the King spared your life and protected you for a reason. I don't want to take that life away."

Abraxxus considered the Vampires words before releasing the necromantic magics "Agreed, if you get this chain off of me I will join you as your Minion. Those at the Eternal City have known of my existence for a very long time and they have never tried to free me or end my existence. Do you accept?"

"Yes," Jacob responded before casting Blood Binding on the Lich.

Quest Completed: Enemy or Frenemy

Description: You spared the life of the Lich Abraxxus. Due to this and explaining why he was sent away 2000 years ago has earned his loyalty and will join your House as a Minion. Abraxxus was once a powerful Arch Lich, master of Necromancy and Alchemy. Although he retained his knowledge of Alchemy, he has been greatly weakened as a Lich and Necromancer

Rewards: New Minion Abraxxus, 500 Experience, Abraxxus Laboratory (Unlocked after acquiring a fortress)

Achievement Unlocked: Minions 1

Description: Increases Minion productivity by 5% and loyalty by 5% (Everyone needs an Entourage)

Quest: House Minions

Description: Another building block of a Vampire House are the Minions, you have gotten lucky and acquired the experienced Minion Abraxxus. Do not underestimate the utility of such beings, never forget if you lose their loyalty they will just leave your house (if you are lucky) or if you are not lucky they will lead a rebellion.

Completion: 1/3

Rewards: Unknown

Abraxxus went over to one of the shelves and pulled out a box and walked over to Jacob and opened it. Inside was a human skull that glowed "My lord this is my Phylactery, my spirit is bound to it and as long as its intact I cannot truly be destroyed. Keep it safe my lord and I will always return to you. When you are near your fortress simply open this box and I will assemble myself." With those words, Abraxxus dissolved into motes of light and flew into the skull and the lid slammed shut. Ok...Army building and Fortresses. He would keep the Phylactery safe until he could let his new minion out again. He could let Isiah and Talia know that the concentrated undead attacks were done.

Fortress of the Forgotten: Cleared

Description: You have cleared the Fortress, you defeated the Bonelord Dregus Lifetaker and recruited the Lich Abbraxxus as a Minion. The fortress can now be used by you or your allies, do you wish to use this Fortress for yourself or for an ally?

You have chosen to transfer the Fortress of the Forgotten to the Bloodfang Clan.

Quest Completed: Home away from Home

Description: After clearing the Fortress of the Forgotten instead of keeping the fortress for yourself and your House, you gave the Fortress to your Allies: Bloodfang Clan.

Rewards: 500 Experience, 100 Gold, 1 Item from the Vault of the Fortress of the Forgotten

With that Jacob headed to the Vault that was located next to the Alchemy lab. The Vault had gold, weapons, armor, precious jewels, all sorts of things, but buried under a couple of bags of gold was a small chest. Jacob opened up the chest to see what was inside, after eyeballing what was inside he immediately closed it and letting everyone else know this was what they were going to take. What was inside would not help him in the short-term, long-term wise it would prove invaluable.

"Ok people lets head back. We got to let Rexxar Skullcrusher know that we have found a new home for the Bloodfang Clan and drop you off, Brox. I also need to let Captain Isiah about the threat being eliminated, I might have to deal with some political shit when we get back so you three please keep your heads down and stay out of it." Jacob said. With that, they headed back to civilization. Skullcrusher was very happy about having a new home for his people that they could call their own, he was already organizing his people for the exodus. Some would stay to help with the defense of the Tomb, most would not. His bonded headed off to drop off armor and take care of any errands they needed to take care of while Jacob headed back to the palace for a well-earned bath and meal.

Time to get rid of all those pesky notifications.

Though Constant Fighting you have gained 2 levels (Current 10)...

Achievement Upgraded: War Party 2

Description: You led your party in over 100 battles and you all are still alive (Increases War Parties attack and defense +6%) a party that kills together, stays together

Achievement Unlocked: Undead Bane 1

Description: When fighting undead you deal 5% more damage (Shawn of the Dead doesn't have anything on me)

Achievement Unlocked: Dungeon Diver

Description: When in a dungeon you gain 1% more experience (Its time to Deep Dive)

The Following Skills have upgraded...

Block: +1 (lvl 9)

Parry: +2 (lvl 5)

Dodge: +2 (lvl 7)

Aura of Stalwart Malice: +2 (lvl 4)

Blood Letting: +2 (lvl 5)

Abilities Unlocked Name: Energy Blade

Level: Epic

Cost: 100 Stamina, 30-second cooldown

Properties: Ranged blast of energy (Base damage of Sword x4)

Description: This blast of energy is channeled through the sword you are wielding at a target at a distance of 4 ft minimum and 15 ft maximum. The blast can be modified by the properties of the blade itself causing unknown changes

Name: Energy Storm

Level: Legendary

Cost: 300 Stamina, 10% of health, 5 min cooldown

Properties: Blood Knight is surrounded by energy of various forms (death, life, fire, etc...), does 50 DPS for 30 seconds

Description: The Blood Knight surrounds himself with destruction and death. This attack ignores all armor and 10% of the damage dealt to all sources is absorbed by the Blood Knight as health.

Awesome, two kick-ass abilities but the second was a gas hog...where was Isiah or Talia. Jacob had sent one of the guards to notify both that he was back and that he needed to talk to Isiah immediately. Where were they?!?!?! He heard a distant explosion...WTF

ALERT!! ALERT!!

EVENT QUEST: Protect the Queen

Description: Rebellion in the Palace is happening. You don't know who or why, but the Queen has supported you since day one.

Rewards: Unknown

ALERT!! ALERT!!

EVENT QUEST: Down with the Queen

Description: A coup is happening, assist them and help put down the Queen.

Rewards: Unknown

Make your choice and decide the Fate of Queen Talia...

Why?? Seriously Why?? This is why I hate politics. Jacob grabbed his sword and left his room to decide the Fate of one Queen.