An Invitation From Eastal

An Invitation from Eastal (イースタルからの招待状) is the 11th episode of the Log Horizon anime. It covers Game's End, Part 1 chapter 1.

Plot
Two Earthlings are hunting; the son recollects stories of younger Adventurers doing amazing feats, the father loathes the adventurers' disconnect with the land. They then notice a colossal movement over the forest, and decide to inform their village.

Invitation
With Akiba now bustling with activity, Naotsugu and Akatsuki take Touya and Minori under their wing for training. As Shiroe also starts experimenting with his scribe subclass, Marielle starts craving to visit the beach. This gives Shiroe the idea to hold a summer training camp for new players under level 40. The advertisement is post at the Silver-leaf Tree, an opportunity that excites the flamboyant Rundelhaus Code, as well as Minori, who wants to train her skills to make up for Shiroe's rescue.

Emissaries of the Eastal League of Free Cities arrive at Akiba to invite the Round Table Alliance to a meeting and a formal ball. Having already anticipated this contact, Shiroe informs Krusty that it would be a prime opportunity to learn more about the People of the Earth, but they must be careful not to get deep into politics. The RTA decides to send Krusty to represent the combat guilds, Michitaka for production guilds (to his loss), and Shiroe for his knack of analysis.

They set off the following month, along with Henrietta, Akatsuki and Takayama Misa. At the same time, the training camp also sets off to Choushi where they end up having fun at the beach. Marielle and Minori also speak to the residents as part of Shiroe's suggestion that they learn as much as they can about the world. He reckons that the most important concern is how much the People of the Earth have changed since the Catastrophe. They are no longer programmed NPCs, and so far they aren't even issuing normal quests like "Get the Magic Bag", an indispensable expansion of inventory.

The Round Table representatives arrive at The Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice and meet with Duke Serjiad Corwen during the opening ball. Krusty converses with him about government, asserting that the RTA should be recognized as a single body, despite their similar structure with Eastal. Shiroe observes that both the Adventurers and Earthlings are wary of each other. Finally, Princess Rayneshia graces the dance with her presence.

Naotsugu announces to the trainees that they will head into the Ragranda Forest dungeon for party training the next day, unsupervised.

Trivia

 * In the light novel, the prologue is significantly drawn out to highlight character depth for People of the Earth.
 * The Ocypete is first mentioned in Nyanta's newspaper when he meets Shiroe, then later when the production guild masters decide who will stop development to go to Eastal.