As Kevin opened his eyes, he was in a white room with a desk a couple chairs and sodas. He pulled himself off the floor and sat in one of the chairs. Slowly Marc, the Dev that Kevin was working with, phased into being. "Well look who is all grown up and claiming his first Fortress. Congrats, but remember low profile. Also claiming it in the name of the Tomb of Eternal Night....if we hadn't been monitoring you, the whole world of Fate would have been aware of that announcement. We almost didn't get it confined to the Region, and we only got that because Adam and Eve allowed that much. It seems they are taking a bigger interest in you then we realized. Have they contacted you?" Kevin nodded his head. "That is interesting, but officially they have never contacted you. Got it." Kevin quickly nodded his head and Marc continued "Good because the Overminds are not supposed to be interfering or watching over players like that at all. So, if any other Devs or players ask, the official word is you have never even heard of Adam and Eve. Now back to you, you are doing ok, you squashed the rebels at court. You got your first fort, your starting to build your house. You found your second dungeon, not a bad kid. Don't get stuck in fortress mechanics though and forget to level yourself and your companions. You got two military Allies and you are in favor of the Queen and claiming and expanding her territory will only make her happier. Keep it up, founding a guild would help but without any other players around you, it is a moot point. Keep expanding and exploring the Underdark dude. Also, if you need to reach me for any reason, I sent a link that will contact me if I am at work and my number to your POD as well if I am off work. Good luck"...with that the white room dissolved away.

What application do you want to initialize? Fate Online

Welcome Weaver, do you wish to continue down the path of Jacob Longstrider? Yes/No

Acknowledged. Remember the only Fate is the one you make, but every choice has a consequence. Fortress of Midnight

Personal Quarters

As the world swam back into focus, he noticed a couple things. One he was no longer in the hall, two he was laying in a bed, three several notifications were still waiting for him to clear, and four he was not alone in the bed...that was a new one, he did not remember going to bed with anyone as Jacob. He remembered claiming the Fortress of Midnight, a large flash of light, and then the white room with Marc. How did he get in bed, much less with anyone!!! Jacob slowly opened his eyes and all he saw was a back of a head, with long light almost white hair and an ear...a Drow...ohhh shit, what the hell happened Jacob thought, then the situation became worse when he heard the door open and he heard Eiloma Silverleaf start talking "Is he alright you two? Everyone is concerned about Jacob and everyone is waiting for him to eat, what are you doing in here......Oh my."

Jacob stared at the High Elf and started shaking his head "It isn't what it looks like I swear."

Eiloma started blushing and then looked away "It looks like you are in bed with not one but two Drow and you are all naked. I am not blind and none of you are married so you all can do whatever you want, but can you not wait until your guests leave, it's rude to keep them waiting just because you want to enjoy yourself. Now get out of there and get dressed."

Jacob blushed and scrambled out of the bed and started pulling on clothes, that is when the two drow women 'woke up' and started making cat calls and commenting on his cute ass, which led to all three women laughing at him. Jacob glared at his Seneschal, which bounced right off her. "Well mylord you wanted to talk to us, and since you decided to make such a profound Oath, we decided to take advantage of your lack of coherence. I covered so that June and Chalxae could bring you back and figure out what was wrong with you. I did not expect them to do this to you. Now what was it that you needed to speak to us about, hurry up we need to go back and start the meal." the High Elf explained.

"I wanted to make sure that you all understood that I hired all of you because of your skills and your brains. I did not hire you because I wanted to start some harem. I value all of you for what you have done and what I will hope that you will continue to do. If any of you wish to leave I will break the Bond and see you back to the Tomb. I will not make any of you stay if you do not want to." Jacobs statement caused the Drow to burst into laughter again, while the High Elf smiled before responding

"June figured that out after the first night she had with you and didn't command her to...entertain you. She made sure that both Chalxae and I knew within the first hour of us being hired. Now stop being the bumbling nice guy, your guests are waiting for Lord Jacob Longstrider." With that, she turned and left with the two Drow quickly followed on her heels. Although Chalxae did blow a kiss and wink at Jacob on the way out. Jacob quickly gathered himself and followed the women out and back into the main hall.

Loud applause greeted him as he returned. The food and alcohol were already being served and everyone was enjoying their time. Jacob noticed that all his bonded were at his table, with Guard Captain Thardan Dulkam, Foreman Jigibs, the Mason Magrum, and for some reason, Thorgron Shadowsteel had also joined at his table. Jacob was glad to see the Duergar, he was going to offer the sturdy warrior the position of Captain of the Guard and offer to make him a minion. Jacob was also thinking about asking the carpenter to join the table, but he had no idea who it was. "Eiloma, can you tell me who the Carpenter is that has done all the woodworking of the hall?"

She nodded and quickly pointed at the nearest table, "The Wood Elf right there is known as Jason Willows. The Drow, Elise, is his wife and the two children there belong to them." The Drow immediately sensed their attention. Jacob nodded his head and razed his drink in admiration toward the couple. The woman immediately drew her husbands attention so that he saw what Jacob was doing. Jacob mouthed the words 'thank you' which the Elf just dipped his head slightly before his attention was once again grabbed by his children. The Drow simply smiled and returned back to eating. After about an hour, everyone started drifting away, people were tired and needed sleep. As much as they had done, more still waited for them tomorrow. Jacob asked Jigibs to give him a tour of the interior.

Over the next 30 minutes, the Goblin went over every nook, corner, and cranny of the building including his office that was attached to the master suite. The office also contained the secure area which he could unlock at any time the Goblin said. Magrum added that he had created a stone chest as well that waited within that he could store a few items inside. "Well my lord, that is pretty much it. With you claiming the fortress you will have access to the construction queue. Just add whatever you want to be built in the order you want. Remember though, if we do not have the resources to build it, we will have to come back to it later." with that Jigibs bowed out for the night. His Bonded quickly followed suit while Jacob headed for his office to store some of his more sensitive valuables. As he approached the wall the Goblin had indicated before a prompt popped up asking if he wanted to access the secure area behind the wall and bind it to him. Yes, please. I small flash and the Motif that was above the entrance of the hall appeared before him as the wall slid up and away. Before Jacob were several shelves, an open weapons rack and armor rack and the stone chest Magrum had made for him... The Tome for the Order of Blood Knights and most of his money went into the chest. The coins he had acquired were placed on the shelves and the suite of armor he had acquired at the old Chapter House went on the stand. Before he closed the secret area he inspected the armor for the first time. He was impressed and intimidated by it.

Name: Master Armor of the Blood Knight

Level: Unique Armor Set

Requirements: Level 40, Const 80, Str 80, Master of the Order of Blood Knights Rank

Properties: Armor Rating +250

Properties: Increases Const and Str by 40

Properties: Increases Blocking, Dodge, and Parry by 10

Properties: 15% of the damage dealt with the bearer of this armor is redirected back to the attacker

Durability: 300/300

Description: This armor has been handed down from one Master to another of the Order of the Blood Knights. It has taken some of the power of every Master that has ever worn it and will protect its bearer. If a false master tries to wear it, the armor will drain the false master of his/her life.

Nice armor that could only be unlocked by the Master of a specific Order of Knights, and if he failed to be recognized by the Armor he would be killed. On the other hand, it was a complete kick-ass set of armor but he was a long way off from unlocking.

After that Jacob headed off to bed. While laying down he started to sift through his remaining system alerts and he still had to check out the Fortress Sheet which was next to his character tab now.

Alert...You have garnered the attention of the Primordial power of Balance. If you uphold your oath and stand by the meaning as well as the word, you will receive unexpected gifts and allies on the path you have chosen. If you become an Oathbreaker or turn your back on the Oath you took, you will be punished......Alert

Primordial Powers are beings that existed before the Gods themselves walked the lands, take care that you do not anger them.

Awesome, he somehow took an oath and he had no idea how he did it or what he would be compelled to do while under it. Next time he went to the city he would ask the Librarian Octavian, he would know something for sure. System message that since I had a fortress that I should have a guild too...Yeah, not going to happen in the back end of nowhere right now at least. Alert that the Fortress Interface was unlocked, Just some more 'Blah' alerts that didn't really matter and two quest prompts.

Fort Quest Issued...

Quest Issued: Fortify your Fortress

Description: Now that you have built the central building of your Fortress, you need to protect it. Build a wall and one military-related building.

Rewards: Fort Experience, Unknown

Quest Issued: Budding Settlement

Description: Now that the heart of your fortress is complete build at least two buildings that will support the locals.

Rewards: Fort Experience, Unknown

Name: Fortress of Midnight

Owner: Jacob Longstrider

Kingdom: Tomb of Eternal Night

Level: 1 (Frontier Fort)

Experience: 1000/50000

Population: 157

Morale: Fair

Defenses: N/A

Fortified Hall (LVL 1)

Durability: 10000/10000

Description: This building is one of the most basic buildings that one can construct in order to make a Fortress. Minimal resources are needed to construct them, but this building offers little in amenities. It houses the bare minimum but due to its nature it can evolve into other more powerful and useful buildings and is not locked within one evolutionary path.

Bonus: Due to the Royal Executioner Motif raised above the main entrance of the Hall, all Rebels against the throne of the Tomb of Eternal Night that enter within the confines of the Hall will suffer constant damage (1% every 10 minutes) and will suffer from the loss of all luck. Due to the use of Stone used in making a Ziggurat all defenders of this hall will have an increased rate of mana regeneration (+5%) but due to being exposed to large amounts of Death Magic all defenders will also receive additional damage from wielders of Death Magic (-5% resistance to Death Magic).

Primitive Rock Quarry (LVL 0)

Durability: N/A

Description: This quarry is not oven a basic quarry by modern standards and will not be able to produce much stone for your settlement. Until you improve it, this will not change. See Mason about upgrading Quarry.

Defensive Wall (Incomplete, LVL 1)

Durability: 2000/50000

Description: This wall is the most basic in design.

Bonus: Due to the use of Stone used in making a Ziggurat all defenders of this wall will have an increased rate of mana regeneration (+5%) but due to being exposed to large amounts of Death Magic all defenders will also receive additional damage from wielders of Death Magic (-5% resistance to Death Magic).

Mason's Hut (LVL 1)

Durability: 0/1000

Properties: Production of Quarry party increased to 8 blocks a day

Description: This is the basic building that will support the quarry you have. Until you upgrade the Quarry, this building cannot evolve. See Mason about upgrading Quarry*

Construction Queue: Due to the level of your Fortress, you can only have 1 major and 1 minor construction underway. (Fortress will gain 250 Exp for Major Construction, 100 Exp for Minor Construction)

Major (1): Wall (Duration-3 days)

Minor (1): Mason's Hut (1 day)

He only had two buildings and a primitive quarry listed under his fortress sheet, the building queue listed dozens of possible buildings but due to resources and the limitations of his fort he could only build so much. He would need to start harvesting more resources if he wanted to expand so tomorrow he would talk to his Senchal about getting some loggers working on the Grove of Dark Oak while he led his party to the Mines to see if they could Unlock them. So he wouldn't waste the minor construction slot, Jacob added the Mason's Hut, besides allowing Magrum to increase his production rates but it offered no bonuses and could not evolve, yet. Time to log off and get some rest, tomorrow he would have to explore some mines.