Chapter Summaries

Unas and Rendaen parted ways with Lincoln’s Ogres and Orcs before marching into Blackrock Depths, where Rendaen gathered tens of thousands of escaped slaves. When Shadowforge City’s Dead Gate shut, Unas’s route back to Flamewaker Island was blocked, and his missing companions’ fate remained uncertain.

• Unas proposed that Rendaen give Lincoln grain and a map of Searing Gorge’s Blackrock Depths strongholds, and the two sides reached an agreement before parting ways.
• Unas returned to Rendaen’s forces, which conscripted escaped slaves and marched toward Blackrock Depths while leaving five hundred troops to guard Backdoor Fortress.
• After skirmishes on the way, Unas reached level 38 and learned Hammer of Righteousness and Seal of Command.
• Rendaen took the mining district, freed more than thirty thousand slaves, and recruited over a thousand surrendered guards.
• Rendaen learned that Shadowforge City’s Dead Gate had been lowered, so he divided his forces to seize farms, mines, and other valuable territory.
• Unas and his companions could not find a reliable route to the underground lava river and worried that the three Night Elf Watchers and Carlos might still be trapped inside Shadowforge City.

Unas led a force of freed human slaves east to seize glow wheat, where they fought the Dark Horde alongside the eastern army. After the battle, Reggie Nunn asked Unas to help the former Stormwind and Lakeshire residents return home, and they discussed escaping through the Burning Steppes to Lakeshire.

• Unas led more than fifteen hundred newly freed slaves east to capture the glow wheat fields, while the Dark Horde attacked the farms from Blackrock Spire.
• Dark Horde slaves rebelled against Rendaen's eastern army, but Unas's all-human force advanced through plantations and fought off enemy squads with his powerful new skills.
• The Dark Horde's main force converged on Unas, whose group endured warlock curses and spells until the eastern army arrived and relieved them.
• Reggie Nunn introduced himself as the slaves' representative and asked Unas to lead the Stormwind and Lakeshire residents home.
• Unas and Reggie discussed a possible voyage from Stormwind City to Lordaeron, then considered escaping underground through the Burning Steppes to Lakeshire.

Unas questioned Reginald Marshal Windsor’s claim and learned why Windsor urgently needed to return to Stormwind City: he suspected Countess Katrana Prestor was conspiring with the Black Dragons. Windsor realized Prestor might herself be a Black Dragon, leaving them with the Countess’s identity as the key to his investigation.

• Reginaen urged Unas to help him escape underground and return to Stormwind City, but Unas refused to break his agreement with Rendaen.
• The man introduced himself as Reginald Marshal Windsor, commander-in-chief of the Redridge Mountains Border Guard, and insisted that urgent military intelligence required his return.
• Windsor explained that Countess Katrana Prestor had obstructed his efforts to defend Redridge Mountains and that he had found Black Dragon writing on a coded letter intercepted from Stormwind City.
• Unas recognized the story and warned Windsor that finding a translator for Black Dragon language would not be simple.
• Windsor recalled Prestor’s unsettling presence and concluded that she might be a Black Dragon.

Unas agreed to help Marshal Windsor expose the black dragon controlling Stormwind, but Angela brought urgent news that Fire Elementals were moving toward Shadowforge City. Unas decided to warn Rendaen and the Dark Horde and use the threat to unite them against Thaurissan, leaving Windsor’s mission on hold.

• Windsor urged Unas to help him assassinate the Countess and expose her as a black dragon, while Unas warned that the plan was dangerous and unlikely to succeed without proof.
• Angela arrived with urgent news, and she explained that the Fire Elementals had moved downstream, forcing the troops on the island to escort the surrendered Flamewakers back through the passage.
• Erigor suspected the Fire Elementals were going to aid Shadowforge City, and Unas agreed that Thaurissan had called on his master for help.
• Unas decided to spread the news and persuade Rendaen and the Dark Horde to stop fighting so they could unite against Thaurissan and the Fire Elementals.
• Windsor reminded Unas of his promise to help him, and Unas asked him to wait while he went to speak with Rendaen.

Unas warned Sena-Spark about the Fire Elementals, prompting Rendaen to arrange a ceasefire and reveal his alliance with the Water Elementals against Ragnaros. After Lava Monsters appeared in the Mining District, Rendaen sent Unas to investigate their source.

• Unas told Sena-Spark that Ragnaros and his Fire Elementals were coming, then went to report to Rendaen at Shadowforge City's north gate.
• Rendaen explained that Ragnaros was trying to pull the Firelands into Azeroth and revealed his secret alliance with the Water Elementals.
• Rendaen ordered both armies to cease fire and said they would attack the city once the Water Elemental army arrived.
• A messenger reported that Lava Monsters had appeared in the Mining District, and Rendaen ordered Unas to find their entrance.
• Unas suspected the Lava Monsters came from the Black Furnace, where he had escaped, and agreed to investigate.

Unas led a force back to Black Furnace and discovered that the Smelting Room’s lava pool connected to an underground lava river upstream of Flamewaker Island. After crossing the river through a swarm of Lava Monsters, Unas and his companions reached the bank, while the rest of the rescue force remained behind.

• Unas returned to Shaft Gate Hall, sent the Black Furnace slaves to wait above, and led the main force down the shaft.
• Unas guided the group to the Smelting Room, where they drained the lava pool and found a passage leading to an underground lava river.
• Huoye and Angela sent Fire Elementals to scout the river, but Lava Monsters killed them after Angela’s Water Mirror revealed the route upstream of Flamewaker Island.
• Huoye gave Unas the Crimson Diamond, which created a powerful fireproof barrier, and Unas led a team through the lava passage.
• Lava Monsters attacked the team in the river, so Unas drew them away while the others rushed to shore.
• Unas escaped the monsters and reached the bank ahead of his companions.

Unas led the troops through a lava tributary, discovered it connected to the main river leading to Flamewaker Island, and found the spatial passage home still open. He chose to honor his promises to Rendaen and Windsor before returning, and Rendaen arrived to assess the enemy’s movements.

• Unas’s forces defeated the Lava Monsters and explored the tributary, where Angela and Huoye concluded that the route to Flamewaker Island lay upstream and then downstream along the main river.
• Unas led the army upstream, ordered them to eliminate the wandering enemies, and sent Fire Elementals ahead to scout the main river.
• Unas’s scouts found Flamewaker Island and confirmed that its spatial passage remained unobstructed, but Unas decided to help Rendaen and Windsor before going home.
• Unas reached level 39, learned Crusader Strike, and ordered the troops to rest while Angela used her Fire Elemental to tell the others they were safe.
• Rendaen arrived through the U-shaped crevice, and Unas took him to observe the Fire Elemental creatures moving along the lava river.

Rendaen devised a plan to drain lava from the secret passage so troops could cross, while the Water Elementals and Thorium Brotherhood arrived to help prepare for the attack. Unas and Marshal Windsor returned to the cavern beneath Venomspider Gorge, where Nightmoon welcomed Unas home, but the rest of his companions had not yet arrived.

• Rendaen learned that the Water Elementals and Thorium Brotherhood had reached Backdoor Fortress and planned to use a sealed, pump-drained pipe to clear the lava passage.
• Orphest offered the Thorium Brotherhood's smithing skills and a high-temperature solvent, while Unas and Erigor paid him ten thousand gold coins upfront for another suit of armor.
• Unas and Marshal Windsor returned through the lava river and Spatial Rift to the underground cavern beneath the crystal mine in Venomspider Gorge.
• The guards welcomed Unas, and Windsor believed Unas's account after seeing the cavern and meeting its people.
• Nightmoon greeted Unas warmly, and he introduced Windsor while explaining that his other companions would arrive later.

Unas returned to the base, ordered its forces to prepare as a reserve army for the fight in Blackrock Depths, and inspected the growing mushroom farm. He then traveled back to the forge in Blackrock Depths with Nightmoon and found the Thorium Brotherhood laying steel pipes while the elite squad waited for events to unfold.

• Unas returned to the base, heard Qiaosen's report, and ordered the soldiers to prepare for battle without requiring them to risk their lives for the Dark Iron Dwarves.
• Beryl greeted Unas, and he and Nightmoon visited the Mushroom Cave, where Master Oakleaf reported that the mushrooms could mature in less than two months.
• Unas instructed several centurions to prepare for battle, then went to the Red Stone Stele but could not reach Haikesi.
• Unas, Nightmoon, and Windsor traveled through the Spatial Rift and dodged several waves of Fire Elemental creatures on their way back to Torbjorn's forge room.
• The three found the Thorium Brotherhood laying steel pipes and met the resting elite squad, while Unas meditated to ease his mental fatigue.

Unas and the assembled forces waited in the Black Furnace as Water Elementals flooded Blackrock Depths and broke through the Dead Gate. Rendaen’s army advanced toward Shadowforge City while Duke Hydraxis led the Water Elementals into the city.

• Unas ordered the troops to prepare for battle after tremors signaled the arrival of the Water Elemental army and its enormous wave.
• Unas told Luther to bring his troops down into the Black Furnace as seawater flooded the fortress above.
• After the Water Elementals broke through the Dead Gate, Rendaen ordered the army to advance, with the Boiling Water Corps leading toward the lava river.
• Unas led his troops right toward Shadowforge City while the vanguard fought Fire Elementals near Flamewaker Island.
• Rendaen’s vanguard reached the breach beneath Shadowforge City and engaged the Fire Elemental defenders.
• Duke Hydraxis stormed into Shadowforge City with the surging seawater, scattering the defenders behind the Dead Gate.

Rendaen’s forces breached Shadowforge City with a flood of seawater while Unas and his companions entered through the breach, freed gladiators, and headed toward The Grim Guzzler to find Firekiss. At the bar, they encountered Plugger and a Succubus, and Unas asked to pass through the back door.

• Duke Hydraxis’s Water Elementals captured a Dead Gate and flooded Shadowforge City, weakening the Fire Elementals and aiding Rendaen’s assault.
• Unas contacted the Blood Elf mage on Flamewaker Island, then entered Shadowforge City behind the Dark Iron Dwarves.
• Rendaen led the main force against the city defenders while the slave army spread out to free slaves.
• Guided by Nightmoon, Unas freed more than two hundred human and Dwarf gladiators from the arena, and they joined his party.
• Unas’s party reached The Grim Guzzler, where Plugger and a Succubus teleported away from their attacks; Unas asked Plugger to let them through the back door.

Unas and his soldiers passed through Plugger’s bar and reached weapon merchant Fran’s fortified home in the wealthy district. A girl named Anxi arrived under a white flag and offered peaceful surrender on behalf of Master Butler.

• Unas paid Plugger in gems so his seventeen hundred people could pass through the bar, and they each took a drink.
• Unas followed Selena to the back door, where a steel combat golem let the group through.
• Unas led his soldiers through the wealthy district to Fran’s fortified residence without being attacked by the slave owners.
• As Unas prepared to break down Fran’s iron gate, a girl named Anxi came out carrying a white flag.
• Anxi told Unas that Master Butler would meet any demands if they could coexist peacefully.

Unas’s forces captured Fran’s home, freed its slaves, and searched unsuccessfully for the hidden vault containing Firekiss. After the vault’s magic lock blocked them, Unas redirected his anger toward Blackbeard’s nearby residence.

• Unas learned from Anxi that Fran had fled to the Imperial Palace and left Firekiss hidden in his vault.
• Fran’s household sent gold and a letter asking to remain neutral, but Unas demanded surrender and threatened to drown the defenders.
• Huoye and Angela broke the fortress’s defenses, and Fran’s butler surrendered along with more than two hundred guards.
• Unas’s troops freed the slaves and looted Fran’s home, but Angela and Huoye could not open the vault’s magic lock.
• Unas arranged for the weakened gladiators to rest at Fran’s home, then agreed to lead the attack on Blackbeard’s residence.

Unas and his soldiers raided Blackbeard’s home, broke into his vault, and seized his wealth. He spared Blackbeard’s life but let the former slaves brand him and his family in revenge, while Darian objected to the treatment of the children.

• Huoye heated Blackbeard’s gate and Angela cooled it, allowing Unas’s soldiers to break in and defeat the defenders.
• Blackbeard surrendered and opened his vault, where Angela and Huoye examined the magical lock while Unas questioned him about its security.
• Unas looted the vault’s gold, silver, and jewels, burned Blackbeard’s property records and slave contracts, and ordered his family dragged out.
• Unas branded Blackbeard’s forehead with the family emblem, then invited the former slaves to brand the other family members as well.
• Darian objected that the children were innocent, but Unas rejected his appeal to chivalry and said no one was innocent.

Unas’s forces looted the wealthy district, captured the West District barracks, and grew into a slave army of more than ten thousand before returning to support Rendaen. With Angela’s water magic helping Unas’s soldiers attack the city guards through the steam-filled commoners’ district, the allied forces began pushing toward victory.

• Unas’s group looted more than a dozen slave-owning households, freed over a thousand slaves, and learned that the Water Elementals were winning while Rendaen remained encircled.
• Unas and the other slave army leaders captured the West District barracks, freed thousands more slaves, and assembled an army of more than ten thousand.
• The slave army chose to support Rendaen and marched back into the commoners’ district, where seawater and steam made fighting increasingly difficult.
• Unas asked Angela to clear the steam, and she used an Ice Barrier to cool the area before her group attacked the city guards from behind.
• Angela and Huoye combined their magic with Unas’s assault, while Rendaen ordered an all-out attack that pushed the allied forces toward victory.

Unas and Rendaen’s forces defeated the city defense troops, while Duke Hydraxis’s Water Elementals routed the Fire Elementals in the north. Rendaen took control of Blackrock Depths and turned to its remaining threats as Unas urged him to focus on the Dark Horde, the Imperial Palace, and the Molten Core.

• Unas and Angela joined Rendaen’s main force, and Rendaen learned that Unas’s group had looted the wealthy district.
• A messenger reported that General Angerforge had surrendered, and Rendaen sent the general to order the remaining city defense troops to lay down their arms.
• Duke Hydraxis’s forces defeated the Fire Elementals, while the Boiling Water Corps withdrew to the underground breach and faced a standoff with pursuers from the Molten Core.
• Rendaen took control of Blackrock Depths, incorporated the surrendered troops, blockaded the Imperial Palace, and arranged for Water Elementals to channel floodwater into an underground canal.
• Marshal Windsor left with twenty Stormwind soldiers to retrieve a letter from the Redridge Mountains, while Unas urged Rendaen to focus on Blackrock Depths’ major threats instead of administrative chores.

Unas urged Rendaen to attack the Imperial Palace before threats from the Dark Horde and Molten Core could grow, but Rendaen refused to wait for his siege engines. Unas led the freed humans to the Black Furnace and mines, then secured the hidden tunnel while the Water Elementals prepared to become Boiling Water Elementals.

• Unas warned Rendaen that delaying an assault on Thaurissan could let the Dark Horde and Fire Elementals undermine their victory, but Rendaen insisted on waiting for siege engines.
• Rendaen told Unas that Duke Hydraxis planned to transform his followers into Boiling Water Elementals to attack the Molten Core.
• Unas took more than three thousand freed humans to the Black Furnace and nearby mines, put Frank in charge of mining, and assigned Luther and the soldiers to guard the mines and Smelting Room exit.
• Unas scouted the passage beyond the Black Furnace and found the Fire Elementals focused on the breach beneath the city and the Water Elementals' seawater flood plan.
• Unas ordered the group to block the U-shaped tunnel with rubble, then settled with them in the Smelting Room to rest.

Unas went to The Grim Guzzler with Erigor and Darian, where Dark Iron Dwarf officers confronted him over the wealth he had looted. The Succubus, Plugger, the bar guards, and an iron combat golem intervened as the dispute threatened to become a fight.

• Unas set out for the city with Erigor and Darian after Angela insisted that Darian accompany them.
• At The Grim Guzzler, Darian resisted entering, but Erigor dragged him inside.
• Plugger welcomed Unas and offered his signature brew, while Selena teased the Paladins and showed she knew Unas's name.
• A drunken Dwarf officer demanded that Unas pay the officers' tab, and Unas insulted him and rejected the demand.
• The Dwarf officers rose to fight, but Selena shattered a thrown mug with her whip as the guards and iron combat golem moved to intervene.
• Plugger ordered everyone involved in the disturbance to leave the bar.

Unas paid Plugger for information about demon curses and true names, hoping to find a way to deal with Bessarius. Plugger explained that high-ranking demons had true names but could not tell Unas how to discover or control one, leaving him without a solution.

• After the Dwarf officers left, Unas asked Plugger to show him the cellar and questioned him about Fel and demons.
• Unas gave Plugger diamonds in exchange for information, and Plugger said killing the demon that cast a prophetic curse was the best way to remove it.
• Plugger explained that a demon could be completely controlled through its true name, which he had created for Selena using the True Name Dictionary.
• Plugger said high-ranking demons such as Dreadlords generally had true names, but discovering one required prophecy, detection, and divination skills.
• Unas asked how to control a high-ranking demon without those methods, but Plugger could offer no other way, leaving Unas still searching for a means to deal with Bessarius.

Unas bought Plugger’s black necklace, which could sense his missing mentor’s matching necklace within a hundred kilometers, then stayed overnight at the bar after drinking with Erigor and Darian. The next morning, Unas discovered that the woman in his bed was a Twilight cultist, offered her a chance to leave the cult, and departed with his companions.

• Plugger offered to sell Unas his necklace after refusing to leave the Grim Guzzler and help search for his mentor, and Unas bargained him down to five thousand gold.
• Unas asked Plugger how he had suppressed the Fel, and Plugger said resisting its temptation and drinking wine had helped him.
• Unas returned to the bar’s main room, where Erigor teased him and Selena continued to fluster Darian before Plugger opened the Hundred-Year Golden Elixir.
• Unas woke beside a scantily clad woman, learned she was a Twilight cultist, and offered her a gold coin and a way to leave the cult.
• Unas found Erigor asleep and Darian exhausted, then the three washed up, paid for their drinks and lodging, and left the bar.