Real World

North American Alliance- Greater New York Conglomerate

Black Spire

Kevin waited patiently, Juno was hooked into BlackRock's systems and would alert him the moment he could log in. Everyone else would be joining in as well, hopefully, all the new Tech would work out. "In five minutes, Fate Online will be back up and running, I would suggest you get in your Pod and finish up any last-minute calibrations. I will forward any messages, calls, or notifications to your Avatar. Good luck Kevin." Juno stated and Kevin nodded as he headed for the office. Time to get busy with the shitshow.

Surface- Valley of Origins Region

Empire of Night- City of Eternal Night

Jacob minimized all the popups as Catrhine barreled into him and causing them both to flop into the bed. Jacob smiled as he hugged her firmly and kissed the top of her head. "I missed you too dear one," Jacob told her as she continued to hug him.

"I don't like the fact you leave this world. I understand you can and why you do, but I do not like it." She stated as she looked at him. Suddenly he received a message from Marc.

Kevin/Jacob

The first of the new Vampires will be spawning in five minutes, Goodluck!!

Marc

Jacob dismissed the message and gave Cathrine a deep kiss, "I have to get going, all the new Immortals are going to start arriving soon and I want to be there to watch over everything. I love you and will catch up with you later, ok?" Cathrine nodded as he made his way over to the armor stand and equipped everything. All his quick slots were gone until he got a belt. His regular leather gloves he put on, offered no benefits whatsoever and were considered paddings like his shirt and pants. Jacob dismissed the information as he brought up his Character Sheet. Spoiler: Spoiler Name: Jacob Longstrider (Leader of House Lightsbane)

Title: Oathmaker, King of the Empire of Night, Heir of the Blood Lord, Liberator

Guild: Seekers of the Dawn

Level: 58

Experience: 0/29,000

Base Class: Warrior

Primary Class: Blood Knight

Advanced Class: Defender

Utility Class: Shadow Magic

Gathering Profession: Mining (Adept 20/150)

Crafting Profession: Smithing (Adept 10/150)

Alignment: ---

Fame: 2,350 (Level 2- "Your that guy...right...Ok then")

Infamy: -

Constitution: 124 (+554)

Strength: 124 (+544)

Agility: 124 (+58)

Dexterity: 10

Intelligence: 15 (+242)

Wisdom: 15 (+242)

Luck: 110

Charisma: 80

Intimidation: 70

Health: 7,680

Health Regen: 169.5

Stamina: 7,580

Stamina Regen: 210.5

Mana: 3,970

Mana Regen: 107.75

Physical Damage: +77.8 (+35) to Base Damage of Weapon(s)

Spell Damage: +25.7 (+19.5) to Base Damage of Spell(s)

Critical Strike Chance: 1% (+5% All, +1% 1-Handed Swords, +5% Shadow Magic)

Experience Bonus: 200 (Per Kill)

Skill Points: 114

Skill Points: 49

Utility Points: 3

House Lightsbane: Increase Experience gained by 200 Per Kill, Reputation gains increased with Empire of Night and Allies are doubled, Merchant prices are decreased by 5% within the Empire of Night

Jacob groaned, the new system had gutted his health, at least he had a bunch of Skill Points to drop into his stats. He would worry about it later, he had to gather up an escort and get out of here. Jacob kissed Cathrine one more time before leaving.

Underdark- Unending Abyss Region

Empire of Night- Fortress of Midnight

Jacob glared at the four survivors. The three locals they had attacked were being corraled away while the Immortals were being restrained by a group of Wraiths that had alerted him of what they had been doing. Jacob looked at one of the Legionnaires, by his rank he was a Captain. "Captain, gather up these...things and get them to the Keep. Assemble all the Immortals that have spawned so far and corral them in front of the keep. If they resist, kill them. They will face my judgment for what they attempted to do." Jacob was furious, they had been in the process of trying to feed off of and rape the three women when Jacob had interrupted their fun.

Less than fifteen minutes later, the four bound and gagged Immortals were standing on the wall of the keep and looking down. The ropes around their neck would stop them from landing below, "Immortals of the Empire of Night. For those who think you can come here and do whatever the fuck you want, you are wrong. The Empire of Night has rules and laws, if you break them, you will be punished. These four were part of a group that thought they could eat, rape, and probably kill some locals because they are Vampires.' Jacob gave them a feral smile before he started kicking them off the ten-foot wall. The ropes went taught quickly and the Immortals started choking to death. Jacob stared at the crowd as they watched the hanging, 'These four are being executed for their crimes. If you break the laws of this land, you will be held accountable for your actions." Jacob stated as he hopped off the wall. and into the courtyard below.

The crowd immediately started to break up, if people spun this a certain way it would be bad. Jacob sent a message to Marc letting him know what had happened as he walked through the fortress. After that, he sent a quick message over Guild and officer chat to send some more people here to help.

An hour later, everything was running smoothly. Guards and Legionnaires were escorting all the new people around the fortress and at the top of the hour, a new surge of people arrived as the new patch went live in the next time zone. "I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!!!" Darren mused as he went through his character sheet.

"What's wrong?" Jacob asked.

"The new system they introduced for Stats has me worrying about my DPS since we are all busy monitoring all the newbies or helping with the registration for the tournament, it does not allow us time to test out anything." The Rogue replied and Jacob nodded in understanding.

"I understand completely, I still have not had a chance to distribute my stats, but it gutted my health. I haven't even looked at the costs of all my Abilities and Skills yet." Jacob replied and Darren groaned as he flipped over to a new page as Jacob and the others laughed.

Surface- Valley of Origins Region

Empire of Night- City of Eternal Night

Palace of Night- Control Room

"Ok, so did anyone figure out why the Shadow Syndicate hit Middlebrough?" Jacob asked Nadal, Darren, and Ezekial.

"Why no, but we managed to track their movements. They had broken up into groups of five to ten and filtered through Uldon and Ordgan, we assume they all assembled somewhere north of Middlebrough because the Southern Orc Tribes that live close to the road between Middlebrough and Uldon reported several large groups of Immortals heading south. Those few who signed up, were notified that they were barred from the competition and the whole guild I assume earned a Hated status?" Ezekial inquired and Jacob nodded that he had done so.

"Where did the survivors of the attack end up?" Jacob asked as Cathrine leaned into him, her arms wrapped around his waist.

"Either they fled west towards Anchorhead, where they were killed on sight, or they fled towards the Golden Plains and the Orc Tribes there destroyed them," Darren added and Jacob nodded.

"Any word from Salinda and Ingson about the troops they were supposed to recall? How is the siege of Athesas going?" Jacob asked and the Strategic map lit up and switched the formed Free Cities Alliance territories.

Nadal stepped forward, "The armies from Salinda and Ingson have been recalled and withdrawn from the siege of Athesas, but it has not broken the siege. Cliphis stubbornly hangs on even though without those additional forces, the only way they can win is by waiting Athesas out unless they get reinforcements from somewhere else." The Drow stated.

Jacob nodded his head, "Have they said anything about accepting my offer to make them Client States yet?" Jacob asked and Ezekial shook his head.

Underdark- Unending Abyss Region

Empire of Night- Fortress of Midnight

The Slighted Knight

Ailis lay back in the small tub, she had earned enough money from quests and a short grinding session to rent a room and get a bath. It was going to take her a long time to get used to being a night owl though. She was sure the first time she stepped into the sunlight, it would be a harsh reminder of why Vampires were not active during the day time by choice. Several messages from some of her friends and her sisters' playthings were waiting for her, but she deleted most of them. She considered sending a message to Jacob but was hesitant. If her sister was trying to worm her way back into his life, she didn't want to be anywhere near them when it happened. She dismissed her thoughts as she brought up her Character Sheet and checked out the new Skills she had acquired.

Spoiler: Spoiler Name: Stealth

Level: 2 (30% Progression to next Level)

Description: I am the darkness, I am the shadows, I am the whisper on the wind.

Benefit 1: 10% Decrease chance of being seen

Benefit 2: 5% Decreased chance that people will hear you

Cost: 40 Stamina per Minute, Speed is slowed by 50%

Cooldown: 5 Seconds

Name: Backstab

Level: 1 (50% Progression to next Level)

Description: Peek-a-boo, I stab you!!

Benefit 1: Base Damage (X5) with Knives, Base Damage (X3) other weapons

Benefit 2: Critical Hit Chance increased by 15%

Cost: 100 Stamina

Cooldown: 1 Minute

Name: Aim

Level: 2 (60% Progression to next Level)

Description: Eye see you!!!

Benfit: 1: 2X Zoom

Cost: 20 Stamina Per Second

Cooldown: 5 Seconds

Name: Flanking

Level: 1 (85% Progression to next Level)

Description: I stab you here, I stab you there, I stab you anywhere!!! HAHAHA

Benefit 1: +5 Increased Base damage while attacking an enemy from the side or behind

Benefit 2: Critical Hit Chance increased by +1% while attacking an enemy from the side or behind

Cost: Passive, N/A

Cooldown: N/A

Name: Acrobatics

Level: 2 (50% Progression to next Level)

Description: I am BATMAN...damn this is a long...way...down...ahhhhh

Benefit 1: Less likely to break bones from falling from heights

Benefit 2: During combat, it's easier to roll/tumble/jump away from an enemy

Cost: Passive, N/A

Cooldown: N/A

Name: Dodge

Level: 1 (50% Progression to next Level)

Description: I float like a butterfly!!!

Benefit 1: +5% chance you will Dodge an attack

Cost: Passive, N/A

Cooldown: N/A

Name: Light Armor

Level: 2 (50% Progression to next Level)

Description: Robes or leather, as long as it's not metal.

Benefit 1: Increase Base Armor by 2 (Per Piece)

Cost: Passive, N/A

Cooldown: N/A

Name: Unarmed Combat

Level: 2 (25% Progression to next Level)

Description: It does not matter if you are using feet, legs, hands, arms, or your forehead, anything can be a weapon in a fight.

Benefit 1: Increase Base Damage by 2

Cost: Passive, N/A

Cooldown: N/A

Name: Dagger(s)

Level: 2 (50% Progression to next Level)

Description: Daggers are wonderful for gutting animals out in the wild, or that annoying drunk that cannot carry a tune in a bucket. Just don't go all Jack the Ripper on us, please.

Benefit 1: Increase Base Damage by 2

Cost: Passive, N/A

Cooldown: N/A

Not bad for the first day and most of it was spent in a training area and very little real combat Ailis thought as she dismissed the information and got out. She was already halfway to level three, she wondered how she was supposed to replace all the gear she had been lent if she didn't get out of the fortress, but doing the quests haad given her an edge on her skills.