City of Sylfemel

Central Tree- Council Chambers

Oloric of Sylfemel stood before the Council of Eldest, all nine members had been listening to his report for the last hour as he told them everything he had seen, heard, and talked about while in Ineford. The Eldest was the first to respond, "Based on your observations of this Jacob Longstrider and of Dudrik of Ineford, are they a threat to our people and the continent of Arakon?"

Oloric snorted, "Every nation and every people are a threat if they wish to be so. Do I think this Jacob Longstrider is a threat to our people and our way of life? No, I do believe he will strike at people who become threats to his own. He has offered a Non-Aggression treaty in good faith as well as the Evergreen Woods as our borders. He has asked for nothing in return." Mutterings followed as the council members talked among themselves as the Eldest continued to stare at him.

"What of the man himself? What is your impression of this Jacob Longstrider?" The Eldest asked causing the Council to quickly turn from their own talks to listen to him once again.

Oloric contemplated his thoughts before responding, "He is a man driven, a man who is trying to better himself. A man who has darkness within but walks in the light who is willing to do almost anything for his people. He also trying to find himself in the world as well as trying to redefine his people image within it. What matters though is that we judge them on the choices and path they make, not the history of what might have been." The Eldest smiled and nodded as the doors were opened and a Sentinal rushed in. He bowed to the council and handed a scroll and letter to him. Oloric opened the letter after checking to see what the scroll was.

"Well, what was so important to interrupt a Council meeting?" The Eldest asked.

"Jacob Longstrider has requested my presence at a meeting. He assures my safety and well being, refreshments and food will be provided. If I want to bring an escort, it's fine as long as I do not bring more then 10. The meeting is set for tomorrow. If I refuse to attend, it will not effect our peoples standing with his." Oloric replied as he finished reading.

The Council was abuzz now, "The choice is yours Diplomat Oloric if you choose to go inform the captain and an escort will be provided. Oloric nodded his head in acknowledgment before bowing and leaving. Before the door opened through the Eldest spoke again, "I am sure we will have a response for you before you leave if we will agree to sign a treaty." Oloric nodded but did not turn back.

Tomb of Eternal Night

Palace of Night- Master Suite

"So, they agreed to the meeting?" Jacob asked Darren as he sipped his tea. Darren was drinking blood, he had been gone most of their night and looked exhausted. As soon as they finished this talk Jacob would order him to rest at least 12 hours.

"Yes they agreed to the meeting, they want me there though. I think its too much of a risk for you to be there. If they decide to grab you or both of us, we would be screwed." He replied as he looked at the contents of the goblet as if trying to find answers there.

A long drawn out moan erupted from the master bedroom causing Jacob to blush and Darren to chuckle, "Umm, yeah go get some sleep and think about everything you discussed with them and come back and do a more thorough report when you are fully awake. I recommend 12 hours of sleep at least." Jacob told him as he tried to ignore the sounds coming from the bedroom.

"Yeah, I will do that, why don't you go deal with your horrible problem of too many horny women." Darren chuckled. Jacob rolled his eyes as he watched the exhausted Rogue leave as he turned to deal with his own problems.

Real World

Greater New York Conglomerate

BlackRock HQ

The board meeting was well underway, all the heads were present and the room was secure enough that even the White House was jealous of their Tech and screening process. "As of now, the Software and Hardware are ready, the coding has been checked out, the patch is ready to launch we just got to pull the trigger." The man overseeing the newest content patch of Fate Online reported before the board. With him was the Supervisor for Long-Term Immersion tech that was going to launch with the patch.

"How about the long-term immersion pods? How is the feedback from our batch of test subject?" The CEO asked as he looked at his notes that were popping up on his tablet.

"The Tech is solid so far, the subjects are entering the last week of the two-month test. We will get the results from the biological and tech side within 48 hours after subject Alpha is pulled out. At which point our plan is to do a 3-month test and when we receive the results from that test the government will sign off and we will be ready for public launch." The Doctor replied.

The CEO nodded, "How long between the 3-month test and Government approval?"

"No more then a week to a month?" the Doctor replied.

The CEO narrowed his eyes then shook his head, "Too long, get a line from us to the government so they can monitor 24/7 with us. I don't want to give them any excuses to delay the launch of Long-Term immersion. Also, give them the results from the 1-month test and we will give them the results from the 2-month test 24 hours after I get it. Understand Doctor?" Both men nodded and quickly left the room. They would be inspected by security promptly after leaving the room, but it was improbable that either was a mole for another company. "Mark, how is Kevin doing within Fate? Can we get an update?"

Mark sitting in the back of the room waiting his turn to report quickly stood to address the board, "Steady, the conflict with the Sisters of the Damned is about to heat up again. His foothold on the surface is secure and in a strategic place. Interesting enough is he is building up a military based on the Roman Legions which will give him an edge in both the short and long terms. Hey managed to kill a fallen god Hyperion as well as destroy the Titans last Greater Alter on the mortal plane. He has taken a hard line against slavery, that will eventually put him at war with most of the independent City-States as well as the eastern Kingdoms whose economies are built on the backs of slaves. On a bad note, someone managed to kidnap him in game." Immediately dead silence filled the room.

"Do we know where he is? Do we know who ordered it? What do we know?" The CEO asked as he put down his tablet and fixed his whole attention on Mark.

Mark took a drink of water before responding, "We have no idea who ordered the kidnapping, we know the intermediaries though and we have flagged their accounts for observation for now. Currently, Kevin is fine and safe, he was freed by an Avatar and he managed to make it back to his people without any major incidents."

"Which god interfered?" another board member asked.

Mark took another drink, "It was not a god that interfered, but an Avatar of Light. He was carrying the Tome of the Heavens when he encountered the caravan that was bringing Kevin to the drop off point. The Avatar attacked the caravan and freed Jacob and all the slaves and then accompanied him until he was safe with his own people." Crickets...

"It has been nearly 5,000 game years since an Avatar of the High Heavens or the Abyss walked the mortal plains. Interesting that the Abyss did not interfere one way or the other." another member responded. "We need to be careful, we don't need a Holy War on top of the war that is coming to Fate. We have all seen the footage of what happened to the world the last time the Abyss and the Heavens fought on the mortal plane, it took the mortal races nearly 2,000 years to recover."

"If it either side makes any moves towards war, ask Adam and Eve to step in and give players quests to mitigate the war before it starts. The War the Empire of Night is going to bring is going to rearrange everything as is according to our current projections." Another director put in.

"Agreed, how is Kevin doing at reviewing and editing his feed, when will be ready to launch that?" the CEO asked Mark.

"He started editing his feed this week and we are going to launch it 1 week before the Rise of the Vampire expansion is launched in 3 months time. Hopefully, it will give him enough time to rebuild the Tomb of Eternal Night and build a solid foundation for the Empire." Mark responded.

"Do we know where the old King is yet?" the CEO asked and it was a question Mark could not answer.

Mark sighed and shook his head, "We have no idea where he is and the developer that worked on both the core programming as well as the quest line no longer works for us so we cannot ask him. He died of cancer 2 years ago, all his coworkers loved or hated him, but all agreed he was brilliant and that the Rise of the Vampire scenario was the best one we put into the game."

The CEO drummed his fingers on his desk before nodding and dismissing Mark, the last thing he heard before the conference doors closed was something about Project Lazarus.

Blue River

Kalthas Bridge

Jacob watched as the tent was put up and various people set up tables and chairs. A squad of the Dawn Guard was present but also 100 of the Tomb Guardians as well as providing security for everyone. Jacobs War Party was less than 10 minutes down the road and Rangers were deployed an hour to the north and south. "Relax Darren, everything will be fine. If not, we will know two more groups to our enemy list and not to trust." Jacob told him as he paced back and forth,

"I know but we cannot win a war with the Shadow Daggers, they would destroy us," Darren said as he continued to pace back and forth.

Jacob nodded, "True, we cannot afford to go to war with them, but they cannot go to war with us even more so. Our position within our faction is our best protection. They cannot afford to alienate the new Vampire faction, thus unless they send an idiot we will be fine. Plus they have no idea where our home is or where the Empire of Night is based and we only have one town on the surface. We are as secure as we can be." Darren reluctantly nodded then nearly stumbled when Jacob shoved a cup with wine in it toward him, "Have a drink, sit down, and relax some."

Suddenly with a crash of thunder a portal opened and disgorged a steady stream of Wood-Elf Sentinals and Oloric of Sylfemel. The escort quickly looked around at the immediate area before nodding to the diplomat who approached the open air tent. The bonfires continued to crackle and pop as they illuminated the surrounding darkness. "Thank you for the invitation Jacob Longstrider, I did not expect it so soon after our last meeting. I am both surprised and pleased that you would invite us here. Care to enlighten me why we were invited?"

Jacob smiled at the Elf while walking toward a nearby table and sitting down. "We are waiting for one more party before we get started. We have food and drink if you or your escort want or need either. Otherwise, feel free to sit down and relax and tell me how your Council of Eldest took my proposal." Jacob replied as he saw the Elf move within the tent. The Sentinels took up positions nearby watching for external and internal threats.

Suddenly another portal opened and belched out a single person before snapping shut. The man appeared drunk and was cursing whoever had thrown him through the portal as he recovered from his rough landing and stood. Seeing everyone present he started to mutter and walked our way. That's when Jacob noticed Darren's reaction to the man, he was tense and shadows had started to accumulate around him as he had activated a skill. Jacob noticed the Sentinels start tensing so Jacob grabbed Darren's wrist and started and yanked him down to his eye level, "You are embarrassing yourself and me. Get control of yourself and relax. Who is he? Why are you so worried all of a sudden?"

"Sorry, that man is the head trainer for all Assassins for the Shadow Daggers, he is extremely dangerous Level 175 last time I saw him. He taught me everything I know, so I know him being drunk is just a facade to throw us off. He is also one of the few within the guild empowered to make decisions for the guild outside the ruling council. He can also probably kill every single one of us here without taking too much effort. He is no real diplomat though." Darren replied as he continued to stare at the man. Jacob was sure the Wood-Elves had heard them as well.

"Will he be offended if I am blunt?" Jacob asked causing both Oloric and Darren to snort.

Darren smiled, "Be blunt and honest. He will appreciate it. I am sure he is expecting you to be obtuse so he will not expect it. Just please don't insult the man." Jacob nodded as the man entered the tent and headed for the food and drink immediately.