_Castle Tarentum was not a place to relax, and it hadn't been for several years. Today was no exception. As a overly energetic Ronovi feverishly stepped into her office, she found Stanson Rend already waiting, along with Scion Altera.

"Any update on the quarantine in Yridia II?" she demanded as she briskly sat down at her desk, instinctively reaching for a glass of whiskey before realizing there was none there.

"It was done hastily, madam," Rend replied. "But unfortunately, it was not enough to stave off the plague from traveling elsewhere. An infected patient happened to flee in his fighter to Yridia IV, and already we're getting reports of Rakghoul activity along the borders of Messina. However, every other reported victim on Yridia II has been treated or eliminated, if necessary."

"Is the Marquis of Messina supplied with the proper antidotes?"

"Affirmative," the Ethnarc replied. "Anshar has been distributing the serums accordingly, though given the speed that the virus has been traveling, it may not be enough for one person to play doctor."

"And what about Yridia IX?"

"All ship travel has been temporarily stalled due to the emergency."

"It'll definitely bruise the economy for a while," Scion commented, and he was promptly countered with the sound of a fist slamming down on the table.

"I don't give a damn about the economy for now. If everyone becomes a Rakghoul, then there'll be no economy to bruise, now will there?"

Ronovi took a deep breath before rising from her chair. Her fingers traced the shelf where she normally kept her liquor, but surprisingly, she wasn't in the mood to be inebriated today. Maybe the image of screaming civilians as they underwent the hideous transformation to Rakghouls killed any appetite for food or drink.

"Stanson, you are to appear on hologram to the populace to alert them of the problem and ask them to remain calm," the Quaestor ordered. "I want the Reckoners to be on patrol in Eden, as well as Yridian police around the spaceport. If any ship lands, every passenger and crew member must be checked. If there are any victims, they must be transported immediately to the Mystics Asylum, where Bloodfyre and Dr. Steiner will tend to them."

"I never thought you considered the Sinners to be medical employees," Rend remarked sardonically.

"I don't. But for now, they're located where we have everything we need to manage our control on Rakghouls. I trust them," Ronovi said. "Who is responsible for the outbreak, however, is different."

She didn't have much time to think about that, but it bothered her to the point of anger. The reason Tarentum had been granted the power of summoning Rakghouls was because Muz had trusted the dark clan at the time to be responsible with said power. Now someone, or something, had caused an epidemic, and the blame would solely fall on Ronovi as the Prince. And now, as the comm station nearby crackled with static, she knew Muz was not the only one who'd have a bone to pick with her.

"Ma'am, we've just received word of several ships stopping at the Yridian checkpoint. They appear to hold the emblems of Taldryan and Naga Sadow."

"Oh, Hell, what do they want?"

"Answers, apparently. At least, that's what one of the officers reported back."

Ronovi frowned, though she had a sick feeling about why they were here. She looked at Scion and Rend, purposely keeping the transmission on so the officer could hear.

"Prepare the throne room for me," she said. "It appears that we have unexpected guests."
_

Tarentum-Taldryan-Naga Sadow Feud

What you just read is Part Two of the prologue for the upcoming feud (or cooperative event, if you want to be more accurate, though feud is an easier word to use) with Taldryan and Naga Sadow; you can find Part One of the prologue in Shaz'air Taldrya's recent Quaestor report (the first paragraphs written by yours truly).

We have just received approval from the Grand Master himself for this event to go forward and we couldn't be happier. The tentative date for the event is still in January, though we have not set a specific day. It really will depend on the status of each house's summit and availability over the next couple of months. Apparently, as long as it doesn't run into April, we're all set.

The structure of the event is still planned out the same way I previously explained it; for four to six weeks, each house will be participating in two events per week, one event for each opposing house. For example, Tarentum would perhaps be squaring off with Naga Sadow in fiction and Taldryan in gaming one week, while in the same week Taldryan would be facing off with Naga Sadow in ACC while competing with us in aforementioned gaming. The judging system is also still the same, as each Quaestor will judge the events their houses were not participating in before the scoring is reviewed by an outside DCer as part of a two-step judging process.

I really hope you guys are as excited for this event as I am. Taldryan and Naga Sadow are two houses we haven't really worked with in a long time, and it'll be interesting to see if perhaps our fictionally "neutral" relations will change due to this feud.

Operation Plain Sight

Operation Plain Sight officially ended today, with Chapters Five and Six being released to wrap up the storyline. According to our judge, Taigikori, there were loads of submissions to each event in Week One and Week Two (though some of you apparently were submitting to Week One events during Week Two...huh?). That is fantastic and I can't wait to see how many of you Tarenti participated. After all, I really tried to push you guys to show Arcona what we're made of.

After the grading is done, we will be utilizing a point system to determine three overall winners, who will earn specific merit medals for their work. Zandro and I pretty much agreed on 5 points for each first placing, 3 points for each second placing, 2 points for each third placing, and 1 point just for participation. Taigikori may take a little time to grade due to his entire family dealing with stomach flu, so just be patient while we get this done.

I would like to publicly thank Zandro and Wuntila for being such amazing leaders to work with while we pulled this all together. The process of compiling Operation Plain Sight fiction and events was relatively painless, and we all cooperated very well with each other to give you guys a great event to participate in. I'd also like to thank my Aedile Scion for his continued dedication; even though his new job has narrowed down his scope of free time, he is still around helping me out, giving advice, and continuing to be an efficient second-in-command.

Thank you, everyone, for making this event successful!

Battle Team Updates

The battle teams have been particularly quiet since the Operation Plain Sight event, and I am hoping to see activities restart in the units. Nichos and Bloodfyre are both very talented, hardworking leaders, and I do not want to see battle teams fall by the wayside should we continue larger vendettas and feuds. The teams are not only technically important, but they are also fictionally important, so we are going to attempt to establish teams as they would act in specific situations Tarentum is faced with.

Remember, if you are interested in joining either of our battle teams, e-mail me and the BTL of the team you wish to become a member of.

Time to Relax?

I purposely planned out Operation Plain Sight to be a quick event so you guys can enjoy your holiday break and your time with family and friends. With Christmas approaching and New Year's hot on its heels, I know many of you will be very busy. I do plan to run some Tarentum-specific holiday events, so you have a little something to do while waiting for relatives to come to dinner or while trying to do away with post-present-opening depression.

So I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas (or a Happy Holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas) and hope it's not too stressful and full of cheer and happiness. And remember to keep your eyes out for more Tarentum developments as we move on to 2011.

Keep on rockin', Tarentum.