Kevin woke up and slowly and got out of bed. He had only a slight hangover but he was still in awe of everything that had happened yesterday. His friends had stood by him and had given very good advice. He had a big day ahead of him so shower and food before diving in. He had one text from Mat saying good luck.
Fate Online...
As Jacob opened his eyes he smelled his digital breakfast waiting for him. No time to be lazy he had to get going, he had less than an hour before he had to report to the Queen. He saw some pants, a shirt, and shoes with a note pinned to the shirt 'wear these'. He knew how to dress himself but these were a cut above the common clothing.
Name: Ornate Silk Shirt
Description: This clothing is built for comfort and less for utility. Wearing these will increase your Charisma and popularity
Name: Ornate Silk Pants
Description: This clothing is built for comfort and less for utility. Wearing these will increase your Charisma and popularity
Name: Silk Moccasins
Description: This clothing is built for comfort and less for utility. Wearing these will increase your Charisma and popularity
So they wanted to dress him up as a noble...He would rather just gear up and get going, but the nobility and people needed a show. Better him then some power hungry noble. After he got done eating he washed up and got dressed in his pretty boy clothing. Moonlight went on his hip and he stepped outside. He was met by Sgt James and two other Heart Guard. The Sgt saluted "Mylord if you will follow me." With that, he turned and started heading down the hallway. He could hear a low rumble of a large crowd, it took about 10 minutes before he got near the entrance to the Main Hall. "Ready?" the Sgt asked. Jacob simply nodded. James smiled before saying "Relax kid, this isn't your beheading." with that he pushed open the doors. The Hall was lined with the Heart Guard and behind them stood a bunch of Bonded and Commoners, near the dais stood the nobility that was dressed similarly to him. Standing at the top of the dais was the Queen, the Captain of the Heart Guard, and robed figure he assumed the Master of Shadows.
He hated crowds and he hated people staring at him. He took a deep breath and started walking down the hall. He could have sworn he heard the Sgt snicker behind him. He was going to try and kick his ass later. Emphasize on try. He walked down the hall he could hear people whispering, he hated that. The queen's mask of serenity was starting to break, she was almost laughing at him. He finally made it to the end of the dais and went down on one knee. "Rise Lord Longstrider, rise and be recognized by your peers and people. For going above and beyond the call of Duty, for upholding the House of Lightsbanes Honor, and executing the Rebels I hereby appoint you as the Royal Executioner. My people let it be known henceforth an attack on House Longstrider is an attack on House Lightsbane. Bear this Mark so that everyone will know who you are." With that she clipped the Mark onto Jacobs shirt stepped back and started clapping. Everyone took that up, although he could feel some of the Nobles eyeballing him.
With that, he turned and bowed to the crowd before walking away. As soon as the doors slammed shut behind him the Sgt was laughing so hard he fell over. "I fucking hate you, seriously did you guys have to do that? Couldn't you guys just say 'hey congrats here is a title and trinket for your efforts.' Nope, you guys had to go and make it into a show for everyone. I swear I am going to get you back someday just for this." Jacob responded before leaving to go back to his room. He stripped off his clown suit and folded it up and put it on the bed. Regular clothes from now on baby. As he was putting his armor on Isiah walked into the room.
"Glad I caught you before you left, I am sorry for the show but we had to make sure if we any more rats in the house that they know the Queen considers you under her protection. Any aggression toward you will be considered an attack on her. As far as helping to put down the Rebels, you will always have my undying gratitude for what you did. Take this coin, if you ever need the assistance of the Heart Guard, call on us and we will be there. Now as far as further tasks, our deep scouts have notified us of an increased Drow presence. We need you to confirm or deny these reports and figure out if they will be a threat to our existence. Use the Token that the Master of Shadows gave you to report in." With that, the Captain left.
Title Unlocked: Royal Executioner
Description: This title is unique, it can only be bestowed by the head of the Royal House. This title allows you to enter any Houses property as well as question everyone. Abusing this power can result in negative consequences. Title increases the bearers Perception, Intimidation, and Charisma.
Name: Mark of the Executioner
Level: Legendary
Properties: Increases the bearers chances to find Rebel activities by 25%
Properties: Persons that are Loyal to the Crown are 25% more likely to report any covert or overt actions against the Crown that they are aware of
Properties: Increases the Strength and Constitution of the bearer by 20
Description: This Trinket is carved from Mithril in the shape of a man carrying a Bloody Axe on his shoulder. It is the ancient marker that signifies the Position if Royal Executioner and is the physical manifestation of their authority and power.
Name: Favor of the Blood Guard
Level: Epic
Description: This item can only be used one time. Use it to summon a squad of the Heart Guard and the Captain to fight by your side for 5 Minutes (This Item bypasses the Curse)
Quest: Stirring of the Dark
Description: The scouts of the Deep Dark have stated that they have found indications that the Drow have found their way into Vampire Territory. Confirm or Deny these reports.
Rewards: UNKNOWN
Dam, nice little Trinket. Not exactly helpful as far as his class but still nice. He finished gearing up and left the Palace. His Bonded were waiting for him "Ok, lets head to the Library first then we will head out to the Underdark. If you guys got to pick up anything else before we head out, now is the time to get it done." June tossed him a ring before heading off to the Library.
Name: Ring of Homecoming
Level: Epic
Properties: Teleports wearer and any other party member (up too 4) to the location the Ring is bound too. (Current Location: Tomb of Eternal Night), Cooldown is 1 hour and cannot be used any more than 4 times in a 24 hour period
Description: Hansel and Gretel used breadcrumbs to find their way home, you got this nifty little ring.
"How much did that cost June?" Jacob asked. She just ignored him as she continued to walk toward the library. Ok...weirdo. About 10 minutes later they walked into the Library, Jacob flagged down Octavian.
The older looking Vampire came over "Yes Youngling how can I help you?"
Jacob promptly responded "Yes, my friends and I found this hidden door. It has an older form of the Drow language that my friend here can only partially understand. I was wondering if you can translate it fully or have books that can help us finish translating it."
Octavian looked at the paper with the writing " Yes give me about half an hour to translate this. Feel free to look around or just sit down and put your feet up."
About an hour later the Octavian came back, he looked troubled. "I apologize for the delay, but I wanted to make sure my translation is correct. I would be very careful with deciding on opening the door." Octavian responded. Jacob nodded before taking the paper with the translation it said
"Deep in the dark bound by the Spider"
"Guardian of those that have fallen"
"Father of those that Mine the Wealth of the Mountain and seek the Dark"
"Speak his name and free him"
Quest Updated: Lost in the Depths
Description: The Librarian of the Eternal Library has translated the writing on the hidden drow door. He has warned you that opening the door can cause unintended consequences. Decide what to do.
Rewards: UNKNOWN
Ok, what the hell? What did any of that mean, it was confusing. It hinted at something that was behind the door but nothing concrete. He would look it up on the wiki later to see if anything would come of the hints the door had given.
He could not wait to get a mount, 5 more levels and he could train and get mounts for him and his Bound. He would stop by the Bloodfang Clan area on his way out and see if they had anything for him and to see if Brox wanted to tag along or not. As Jacob and his bonded walked out of the city he saw a Caravan approaching the city led by Rexxar Skullcrusher and Brox Bonecrusher. Jacob waved the Chief over and told him about the possible threat and he immediately told his son to accompany Jacob on this mission. With that their party moved away from the city and toward the Deep Underdark.
As they traveled down the tunnel they cleared out any trash mobs. They came across Undead, Slimes, an occasional group of Ocs and Goblins, nothing organized and no drow, not yet anyway. As they came around a bend they heard combat in the distance and the cries of Kobolds and roars of Orcs. Shigna perked up before looking at Jacob, the quiet little Kobold didn't say anything but Jacob knew he wanted to forge ahead. "We go in quick and quiet, eyeball the situation and figure out what is going on. If we can help we will, but I will not get us killed for no reason." Jacob said as he drew his sword and moved forward.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Event Quest: Save the Kobolds
Description: While exploring the Deep Underdark you have come across a caravan of Kobolds that need assistance. They are under assault by a band of Orcs and Goblins, will you help them or let them fall?
Rewards: Unknown
Less then 5 minutes later they came upon the scene of the battle, it was in a smaller cavern. About 12 Kobolds and four Earthen Golems were facing what was a force about 40 Goblins and Orcs. Most of the Kobolds were wounded and two of the Earthen Golems were falling apart but half the Goblins and Orcs were down. Looking at the battle was an Orc in a robe with six Goblins standing around him. Dam spellcasters "Ok people this is what we are going to do, we are going to take out that Orc spellcaster. That should pull some of the group that is assaulting the Kobolds. Any questions...ok buff up and hit it hard." Lifes Endurance, Firepact, and Aura of Stalwart Malice and ready to hit the Orcs.
The Orc Warlock (level 14) was casting something nasty but Energy Blade interrupted the spell and the Orc was damaged by the backlash. Energy Storm and every Goblin (lvl 4-6) were suddenly screaming, the Orc tried to run away but Jacob cut one of his hamstrings. Suddenly Firebolts and arrows suddenly started slamming into the Goblins and Brox joined in with the fun with the Storm. A minute later all the Goblins were down and Jacob had gotten a blast of Hellfire to the face. Reeling away from the Warlock was the only reason he saw six Orcs and Goblins rushing them from behind. "Brox finish the Warlock, help out with these ones as soon as you can." With that he cast Charge followed by Aura Blast, Jacob was desperately fighting off 6 Orcs and Goblins with no support. Energy Storm was on cooldown still for another minute, so all he could do was block, dodge, and parry until help would arrive. 30 seconds and half his health later Brox arrived, with him Firebolts and arrows slammed into the Orcs and Goblins. They screamed and died but they did die and with that, they charged at the remaining Orcs and Goblins that had been assaulting the Kobolds. 2 minutes later the last of the Orcs and Goblins were bleeding out and dying.
Snaggletooth was casting Healing Winds on the Kobold survivers while he checked over their injuries. Shigna and June were collecting the loot from the kills they had made, so Jacob made his way over to the Kobolds to check on them and Stormcaller. "Thank you for your assistance Blood Walker. It has been some time since we have seen one of your people and I have never seen one of you outside Eternal Night. Why did you assist us?" the Kobold asked.
"One you needed help, two my bonded showed interest in helping his Kin, and that is all the reasons I needed to help you," Jacob responded.
The Kobold looked around Jacob and at Shigna, his eyes narrowed at him but beyond that, he did not make any comment about his friend "Very well, thank you, Blood Walker. I appreciate your assistance, I am Draxus Earthcracker of the Earth Splitter Tribe. You and your people are welcome to accompany us back to our home."
Jacob pondered before responding "Thank you, but I am on a mission for my people currently to asses a threat. When we are on our way back I will stop by for the introduction. Ok?" Draxus nodded and flagged the location of his settlement on his map before moving off with his people.
Event Quest Complete: Save the Kobolds
Description: You choose to save the band of Kobolds instead of letting them die. They will remember this.
Rewards: 500 Exp, Increase reputation with the Earth Splitter Clan and Introduction to the Chief of the Earth Splitter Clan
Jacob rounded up his party and went down a side tunnel opposite of what the Kobolds had taken. Less then 30 minutes later he located the outpost manned by Duergar and Orcs.
Entering Outpost Blood Haven-This is a Safe Zone
Safe Zones: are places you can bind your resurrection point too, a basic General store, banking, and Inn services will be provided. The Safe Zone is a neutral area and no blood feuds or duels are not allowed if the Outpost becomes attacked by an external force you are required to assist the defenders. Enjoy your stay.
Nice, a safe place to rest and a resurrection point that was relatively close to where his quest was. They made their way inside to get rid of all the trash they had acquired from the Fight against the Orcs and Goblins. While they were on the way out a Duergar flagged him down "My lord I am Oren Stonebreaker, I was told by my superiors that you would be coming out here to confirm or deny the reports of Drow moving into this region. I was wondering if I could bother you with a request, we have seen an increasing number of undead in these tunnels. If you can, please widdle down the numbers and if you can find out what has agitated them please so we may deal with it."
Quest: Undead Unrest (Stage 1)
Description: The nearby Outpost commander has notified you that undead has increased and have been attacking locals. Wittle down the numbers and try to find out why their numbers are increasing and why they are so agitated. Report back to the Outpost commander what you find.
Undead Killed: 0/20
The reason why the Undead are agitated: 0/1
Rewards: Experience, Silver, Unknown
Woohoo, at least he had another quest now to support his whole trip out here. With that, they left the outpost and within 10 minutes they encountered the first of the Undead. It was a group of three Skeletons (level 8) and two Ghouls (level 9). All were glowing red with an Enraged buff and attacked his party on site. Less then 3 minutes later, the dead were down again. This time permanently. About 50 groups of undead, 2 Elite monsters later (Undead Bone-Knight and Undead Lich) Jacob and his party came upon a large cavern.
Now Entering Zone: Fortress of the Damned
Description: This half completed fortress is being constructed by the Drow clan Sisters of the Damned. Slay the occupants to claim the Fortress and Land.
A fortress was half complete, a ziggurat was in the center with a black diamond floating above it with occasional pulses of magic coming from it, surrounding it was 4 liches channeling magic into it with a fifth robed figure directing them. Climbing all over the fortress completing the construction were hundreds of Orc, Goblin, Kobold, and Drow!!! Outside the furthest wall were dozens of Undead. Jacob took a couple of screenshots of the various areas and the banner that flew over the fortress. He would send it to his friends later after he logged off for the night to see what suggestions they could offer. Whatever was happening here would not be fixed today.
Quest Updated: Undead Unrest (Stage 1)
Description: You have found a half completed fortress where Liches and a Drow faction are working together. Report back to Oren Stonebreaker and figure out what the next step will be to counter the growing threat to the region.
Rewards: Experience, Silver, Unknown
Quest Updated: Stirring of the Dark
Description: You located the reported Drow incursion and discovered a bigger threat then was realized. Contact the Commander of the Heart Guard and let him decide the next step.
Rewards: Unknown
Activating the Scroll of Recall he had purchased at Blood Haven Outpost a swirl of light surrounded his party and he was transported to the safe area. Before he went to go talk to the Commander of the Outpost he pulled out the Far Speaking Coin to talk to Master of Shadows."Report?" was the response.
"My party and I located a Ziggurat, a half-completed fortress, and a Drow Clan. They have hundreds of Drow, Orcs, Goblins, Kobolds, and Undead at the location. What are your orders?" Jacob responded to the question.
"Stand by we will update you with your orders ASAP." was the prompt response. After that, he went to track down the Outpost Commander and update him on the Undead.
He found Oren quickly and he felled him in on everything including the Drow threat. "I had no idea it would be this big of a threat. Thank you for your assistance, I am sure the authorities will demand an attack on the fortress but until those orders come through we can not do anything. Rest and prepare I am sure within a day or two the order will come down."
Quest Completed: Stirring of the Dark
Description: You reported back to the Master of Shadows of the growing threat of the Sisters of the Damned clan. They will respond back soon on the decision the Queen has made ASAP
Rewards: 250 Exp, Increased Reputation with the Master of Shadows
Quest Complete: Undead Unrest (Stage 1)
Description: You have eliminated some of the undead in the nearby areas and found what was causing their numbers to increase and become to be agitated. Oren Stonebreaker is sure that the Queen will issue the orders to destroy the Fortress of the Damned soon.
Rewards: 500 Exp, 50 Silver, Undead Unrest (Stage 2)
Time to go see the Kobolds and see what kind of relationship I can earn from them.