Chapter Summaries

Unas and the vanguard crossed Lordamere Lake toward Bessarius's island after the mages cleared the white fog, only to discover the island was surrounded by a Putrid Swarm. As the swarm attacked their rafts, Gordon shielded the group and burned through much of its first wave.

• Unas worried that the vanguard would drown during the lake crossing, and Gordon reassured him while arranging extra air bladders.
• Archmage Angela and the other mages cleared the white fog, revealing a green Putrid Swarm around the hidden island and confirming that Bessarius was there.
• Tyrosus kept the original plan, and the vanguard donned protective gear, boarded rafts, and received blessings before the mages propelled them across the lake.
• Unas used Sense Undead as the rafts approached the island, where the swarm formed black arrowheads and descended on them.
• Gordon activated the White Obsidian barrier, ordered the rafts to speed up, and swept his flaming greatsword through the swarm, destroying more than half of one formation.

The vanguard crossed a swarm of mutated insects, only to have their rafts smashed by an underwater Undead ambush. As Angela’s magic scattered the attackers, Gordon led the survivors toward shore and turned back to cover the rear.

• Whitemane broke down when mutated insects crawled over her, and the soldiers drove the swarm away with smoke bottles.
• Unas spotted a mass of Undead beneath the rafts, but an iron hook punched through one raft and dragged a soldier underwater.
• Undead attacked all three rafts, forcing the vanguard into the lake as Gordon rallied the soldiers around him.
• Angela sent an undercurrent that blasted apart some of the Undead and pushed the surviving soldiers away from the ambush.
• Gordon gave Darian the white obsidian and told him to protect Whitemane, then turned back to cover the rear with Unas following him.

Gordon and Unas escaped the underwater Undead attack, but the losses left the vanguard shaken. Du'an arrived with a plan to cross Lordamere Lake using a Freezing Array, and Tyrosus ordered the troops to prepare for battle.

• Angela's rafts and depth charges rescued Gordon and Unas from the Ghouls and carried them back to the dock.
• The survivors returned to camp, where they mourned the seven vanguard members killed in the underwater attack.
• Gordon told Unas that the officers had no solution and were relying on the mages after Angela requested help from Du'an.
• Du'an arrived in person and proposed using a Freezing Array to create an ice road across the lake.
• Pulhart identified a shorter crossing point, and Angela and Du'an confirmed they could make the ice road, though doing so would exhaust their mana.
• Tyrosus approved the plan and ordered all troops to prepare for battle.

Angela and the mages created an ice causeway across the lake while Bessarius launched a desperate attack to stop them. The Undead army was frozen beneath the ice, and the soldiers prepared to advance toward the island.

• Unas and Gordon followed the army to the lakeshore, where Angela and Du'an began casting a spell to form an ice causeway.
• Bessarius attacked with Fel fire, falling rocks, the Undead, and an Infernal, but the Argent Dawn's Holy Light barriers protected the troops.
• A golden-winged warrior rammed the Infernal with a siege shield, sending it into the lake, where Angela froze it.
• Angela extended the causeway to the island and unleashed snowfall that froze many insects and drove the rest into flight.
• The completed causeway trapped the tightly packed Undead beneath thick ice, and Du'an teleported back to the monastery while Angela stayed on the battlefield.

Pulhart’s army fought its way across the ice causeway toward the island while Gordon and Unas repelled a Scourge attack on the shore. Gordon then led a vanguard toward the Dreadguard’s lingering presence, with Whitemane guiding them.

• Tyrosus buffed Pulhart’s two hundred men, and Pulhart led the cavalry charge across the ice causeway against the Undead.
• Pulhart and his men killed an Abomination as the narrow causeway bogged the cavalry down in a grinding battle.
• Scourge Hounds and Darkblood Bats attacked the rear, where Unas fought them and reached Paladin level 22.
• Gordon unleashed waves of golden-red fire, clearing a path for the vanguard to break through the beasts.
• Gordon asked Whitemane to locate the Dreadguard, and she led Gordon, Darian, and Unas toward its lingering presence.

Unas and Gordon pursued the fleeing Dreadguard through a forest, where a supernatural mist separated the group and trapped Gordon in a vision of Stratholme and Arthas. Unas awakened from his own vision in time to evade Gordon’s attack, but Gordon remained under the spell and charged him again.

• Whitemane lost her sense of the Dreadguard, and Gordon ordered Earl to lead the soldiers back while he, Unas, Darian, and Whitemane continued the pursuit.
• A white mist appeared, and Gordon discovered that Unas, Darian, and Whitemane had vanished; he then rode toward cries for help and found himself in a vision of burning Stratholme, facing Arthas.
• Gordon attacked Arthas in the vision, while Unas woke in bed, remembered his transmigration, and broke free of his own illusion.
• Unas returned to the forest just as Gordon thrust his greatsword at him, and he dodged the attack with an acrobatic leap.
• Unas blocked Gordon’s next strike with Verigan’s Fist and realized Gordon’s cracked sword might give him an advantage, but Gordon charged again.

Unas, Whitemane, and Darian fought the Dreadguard after its nightmare spell turned Gordon and Darian against their companions. They drove the demon into the woods and pursued it, while Whitemane stayed behind to tend to Gordon despite her broken thigh.

• Unas broke Gordon's greatsword and struck him with Verigan's Fist, while Darian warned him of the Dreadguard's fireball.
• Whitemane bound and dispersed the fireball, then used a word of power to knock Gordon unconscious.
• Darian shot the Dreadguard and charged after it as it fled into the woods.
• Whitemane told Unas to help Darian, and Unas rode after him on Black Wind.
• Darian told Unas that he had hit the demon and suggested they track its sulfur smell.

Unas and Darian tracked the Dreadguard into the woods, where it ambushed them and nearly killed Darian. An unseen archer helped break the demon’s hold over Unas, and Unas killed it before rushing to see whether Darian could be saved.

• Unas and Darian searched for the Dreadguard, but a magical trap exploded beneath Darian’s warhorse, Starsteed.
• The Dreadguard seized Darian, stabbed him with Firekiss, and used purple beams to freeze Unas in place.
• An unseen archer shot the Dreadguard with a frost-covered arrow, freeing Unas and disrupting the demon.
• Darian stabbed the Dreadguard in the chest as it transformed into two bats, and the archer shot one down.
• Unas learned Hammer of Justice, stunned the remaining bat, and smashed the fallen Dreadguard’s head.
• Unas took Firekiss and ran to Darian, hoping he could still be saved.

Unas was rescued by the Undead Dark Ranger Enya Xingyu, then faced Whitemane’s accusations after Darian died. He resurrected Darian in exchange for Whitemane agreeing to be his girlfriend, and the group set off back to camp.

• Enya Xingyu recovered her arrow and warned Unas that he would not thank her for long before vanishing into the woods.
• Whitemane found Darian dead and accused Unas of causing his death, then agreed to his demand to be his girlfriend if he resurrected her brother.
• Unas cast Resurrection and healed Darian’s fatal wound, bringing him back to life.
• Whitemane acknowledged that Unas was favored by the Holy Light and promised to honor their agreement.
• Unas summoned Black Wind, and the group used three horses to carry Darian, Whitemane, and Gordon back to camp while Unas walked.

Unas joined the Argent Dawn’s assault on the island as Tyrosus’s forces pushed Bessarius’s army back. Bessarius unleashed a ritual that summoned eighteen Infernals, scattering the knights and leaving Unas fleeing without his horse.

• Unas returned to the lakeside, handed command of the reserves to Earl, and advanced with them onto the island.
• Unas joined Erigor as the reinforcements strengthened the Argent Dawn’s attack and Tyrosus reached the hill below Bessarius.
• Bessarius cast Scorching Hell, sacrificing the battlefield’s dead to gather Fel and summon eighteen Infernals.
• Tyrosus ordered the knights to scatter as the Infernals’ meteor strikes devastated the battlefield.
• Unas’s horse was struck down, so Erigor pulled him onto his mount and carried him beyond the barrage; Erigor said Angela had already returned because her mana was exhausted.

The Argent Dawn battled Bessarius as the Dreadlord used decoys, venom, and explosive Gargoyles to keep Tyrosus from reaching it. With the Paladins’ aerial assault faltering, Sylvanas Windrunner offered Tyrosus her help.

• Tyrosus led a charge through the Felguards, but Bessarius trapped him with a bat clone and killed or wounded nearby warriors with its venomous mist.
• The Argent Dawn rallied as the enemy’s spells waned, and Priests banished three Infernals while the vortexes above grew larger.
• Tyrosus, Pulhart, and Korfax attacked Bessarius from the air, but its barrier and self-destructing Gargoyles forced Korfax and Pulhart to return to the ground.
• Tyrosus fought Bessarius alone as the Dreadlord evaded him until an unseen Sylvanas Windrunner offered to help.

Tyrosus joined forces with Sylvanas and the Banshees to attack Bessarius, who was driven from the sky and forced to flee. Bessarius tried to break through Pulhart and Korfax, but the Banshees caught him again as his attack left him rigid.

• Sylvanas offered Tyrosus help in exchange for Lordamere Lake, then attacked Bessarius with the Banshees’ song.
• Bessarius lost control of his summoned gargoyles, which turned back and exploded around him, allowing Tyrosus to strike him with the Arcanite Reaper.
• Bessarius used his substitute-death trick and invisibility to escape, but Sylvanas disrupted the Banshees’ song and exposed his true body.
• Bessarius fled toward the hill, but Pulhart and Korfax intercepted him while Tyrosus pursued from behind.
• Pulhart threw his shield and retreated, while Korfax used Divine Shield to counter Bessarius’s attack; Bessarius was left rigid and the Banshees caught him again.

Tyrosus and Korfax nearly killed Bessarius, but the Dreadlord detonated his Fel energy and escaped as bats. Tyrosus survived his fall, and Erigor and Unas joined the fight as the Argent Dawn routed the enemy and pursued the remaining bats up the hill.

• The Banshees bound Bessarius, allowing Tyrosus and Korfax to strike him, but Bessarius exploded and escaped as bat clones.
• Tyrosus shot down most of the bats with Holy Wrath, then collapsed from exhaustion and fell to the ground.
• Erigor and Unas helped treat Tyrosus, who ordered the soldiers to keep fighting; a Priest arrived to heal him.
• Erigor and Unas rode into battle separately, with Unas summoning a forbidden Skeletal Warhorse.
• The Banshees disrupted Bessarius's control over his forces, and most enemy troops surrendered or stopped fighting.
• Erigor learned that the remaining bats had hidden beneath a boulder on the hill, then he and Unas charged up the mountain path.

Unas fought with Pulhart’s forces to seize the mountain summit and helped wipe out Bessarius’s Felguards. After discovering Bessarius was hiding in a deep hole, Pulhart questioned captives and ordered a descent into the lair.

• Unas joined the assault on the mountain path, and Pulhart’s Power of Justice smashed through the retreating Felguards.
• Unas reached level 23 during the fighting, and his desperate attacks helped him become the first soldier to reach the summit.
• The Argent Dawn forces joined Tyrosus’s battered group and killed the remaining Felguards, while Unas discovered that Bessarius was likely hiding beneath a boulder.
• Pulhart ordered the hole sealed and questioned captives, learning from Marcus Thornton and Yomode Stonebrow that the hole was Bessarius’s lair and that dwarves had helped survey its tunnels.
• Pulhart kept Yomode and ordered torches prepared so the soldiers could enter the hole and pursue Bessarius.

After Pulhart withdrew from the cave because it was too narrow for him, Erigor led a smaller group inside to hunt the weakened Bessarius. At a fork with no clear clues, the soldiers split into two groups, and Unas chose the left passage for his.

• Pulhart retreated from the cave and assigned Erigor to pursue Bessarius with a smaller group.
• Erigor led the soldiers and dwarves deeper underground, where they reached a chamber with two passageways.
• Yomode Stonebrow could not determine which passage was more likely to lead to Bessarius, and Hans warned that splitting up could be dangerous.
• Erigor divided the soldiers into two groups and put Unas in command of one.
• Unas chose passage number one, the left-hand opening, for his group.

Unas’s party encountered Enya Xingyu in Banshee form, who told him there were many people at the end of the middle branch. Choosing to rescue them, Unas led his team into the middle opening, but they found another chamber with five paths and no sign of the captives.

• Unas detected an enemy approaching and ordered the Argent Dawn soldiers to aim at the left tunnel.
• Enya Xingyu appeared as a Banshee, stopped the soldiers with her scream, and told Unas she had found no trace of Bessarius but had seen many people at the end of the middle branch.
• Stonebrow told Unas that human women and children had been taken into the caves, and Unas suspected Bessarius intended to consume them.
• Unas let the group vote, and most chose to rescue the captives rather than return to Erigor.
• Unas led the group into the middle opening, where they found an empty chamber with five paths and no clear route forward.

Unas led his company through branching caves, choosing a passage after interpreting a mushroom and glowing moss as signs from someone seeking help. Meanwhile, Allen prepared an undead ambush for the intruders, but watched in alarm as they retreated before reaching it.

• Stonebrow showed Unas a Purple Lilac Mushroom that had grown instantly, and Unas chose the passage where they found it.
• Unas noticed glowing moss beside another cave entrance and led the company through it, believing someone was guiding them toward the prisoners.
• Allen recalled how his mentor drew him into the Cult of the Damned and how he helped overthrow the lord who had wronged his family.
• Allen became Bessarius's cook and mess hall manager, preparing prisoners' souls for the Dreadlord and hiding from the approaching enemies.
• Allen sent undead subordinates to ambush the intruders, but they suddenly stopped and retreated, leaving him to wonder whether they had discovered his trap.

Unas led his soldiers into the dungeon, fighting through the Undead and discovering the imprisoned women and children. A prisoner recognized Luogeluomaxiduo and called out to him.

• Unas detected around a hundred Undead, raised Sense Undead to Lv2, and ordered his soldiers to block the passage with rocks.
• Unas and his men charged through the iron gate and defeated the Undead guarding the torture chamber.
• Allen watched the battle through his subordinates' eyes, recognized Unas as a Paladin, and retreated deeper underground.
• Unas found an iron grate in the floor, opened it, and led his soldiers down into a dungeon filled with silent prisoners.
• A prisoner called out, saying Luogeluomaxiduo had finally come.

Unas freed the prisoners and led them out of the dungeon, where he met Beryl Bladesong, a Night Elf seeking revenge on a necromancer. He agreed to help her find the necromancer, and Beryl led him toward the target.

• Unas opened the cages, calmed the prisoners, and told them the Argent Dawn Knights had defeated the Dreadlord.
• Unas led the weak prisoners toward the surface while the Undead remained behind the intact stone wall.
• Beryl returned to Unas and used nature magic to locate the necromancer she wanted to kill.
• Beryl asked Unas to help her take revenge for the people the necromancer had tortured, and he agreed.
• Beryl introduced herself as a sixty-two-year-old from Darkshore and led Unas toward the necromancer.

After recounting how pirates and Bessarius’s forces had tormented her, Beryl led Unas’s group after the necromancer to avenge her fellow captives. Korfax joined the pursuit, and the group ventured into an ancient, mural-lined passage while continuing to search for their target.

• Beryl told Unas how she had been abducted, sold, imprisoned by Bessarius, and had used Nature Spirits to help Unas before resolving to avenge her murdered fellow captives.
• Beryl sensed people following them, and Unas waited in a defensive position until Hans arrived with Korfax and his soldiers.
• Korfax criticized Unas for risking his soldiers but agreed to help pursue the necromancer, and the two groups continued together.
• Hans told Unas that Korfax was nicknamed “Brute” and often ignored orders, while Korfax’s sudden cough silenced their whispered conversation.
• The group reached smooth cave walls covered in writing and murals depicting a giant defeating monsters, and Unas wondered what the ancient site had to do with Bessarius’s tunnels.