Chapter Summaries

An Ice Leopard family attacked Delvin Town, killing and wounding more than a hundred people before centaur knights drove the beasts away. Roland set out in a rage, but Omsk calmed him and made him recognize that his impulsive departure had scattered the Knight Order.

• Lance and ten Woodland Warriors defended Delvin Town from seven adult Ice Leopards while civilians fled.
• The Ice Leopard family withdrew when centaur knights arrived, and Badel treated the wounded while Lance requested help from Roland.
• After learning of the casualties, Roland furiously ordered Omsk to gather the knights and Priests and rode toward Delvin Town.
• Omsk stopped Roland, warned him against letting anger rule him, and pointed out that the rushing knights had become scattered and disorganized.
• Roland apologized after realizing his rash departure had left the Knight Order vulnerable.

Roland arrived at Delvin Town and learned that a large group of Ice Leopards had attacked it, leaving many civilians injured and the town badly damaged. After healing Lance and the Woodland Warriors, he pursued the beasts north with the Knight Order and found their tracks.

• Roland found a breached section of Delvin Town’s wall and asked Lance what had happened.
• Lance explained that a large group of Ice Leopards had attacked, while Roland sent Priests to treat the townspeople.
• Roland healed Lance and the injured Woodland Warriors, then ordered the Knight Order to hunt the beasts.
• Omsk led Roland north, explaining that the Ice Leopards had likely come south as winter approached and prey grew scarce.
• Omsk found Ice Leopard tracks, and Roland ordered the Knight Order to continue the pursuit.

Roland and Omsk tracked the beast horde north using Omsk’s Light Shadow Time Domain, then encountered Ice Leopards and fought to stop them from escaping. Omsk and the Knight Order killed several beasts and split up to pursue the rest.

• Omsk used Light Shadow Time Domain to reveal traces from the past twenty-four hours and confirmed the beasts had gone north.
• Roland and Omsk followed the trail until the vanguard Knights smelled blood and sensed the beasts nearby.
• Ice Leopards attacked with icy spikes, and Omsk protected Roland as the Knight Order charged.
• The Ice Leopards scattered, so Omsk ordered the Knights not to split up and killed one with his lance and sword.
• The Knight Order trampled another Ice Leopard, while Omsk sent the Knights after nearby beasts and pursued those fleeing farther away.

After the knights killed the seven Ice Leopards that had attacked Delvin Town, Roland prepared to return with a surviving cub he had found and decided to tame. He left with the cub wrapped in his cloak, while Omsk planned to find it milk in Delvin.

• The vanguard knights carved up the slain Ice Leopards and searched their remains for useful materials and magic crystals.
• Omsk presented Roland with an intact Ice Leopard corpse, and they confirmed the beasts were responsible for the deaths in Delvin Town.
• A vanguard knight brought Roland an Ice Leopard cub, which pounced onto his face before Omsk restrained it.
• Roland discovered the cub was female and, after seeing the system's taming interface, wrapped it in his cloak and decided to take it home.
• Roland ordered the group to return and asked Omsk to find the hungry cub milk when they reached Delvin.

After a magical beast attack left dozens dead and injured, Roland arranged compensation and care for the survivors while struggling with the kingdom’s inability to protect every settlement. He left Delvin that night, unwilling to face the grieving residents, and ordered Lance to comfort them.

• Roland reassured a frightened girl while collecting goat’s milk for the snow leopard cub, then promised her father the kingdom would explain the attack.
• Lance reported that fifty-one people had died and seventy-seven had been injured, and Roland ordered the Priests to care for the wounded and set compensation for victims’ families.
• Roland and Omsk discussed the shortage of troops and the limits of protecting towns, while Roland insisted that every subject had the right to live.
• Roland rode away from Delvin with the snow leopard cub, telling Omsk he was not ready to face the bereaved residents and asking Lance to comfort them.
• Omsk ordered the Knight Order to escort Roland back to Flowing City, then went to find Lance.

Roland brought a snow leopard cub home to Nyx, who named her Snowball despite learning that the beast’s kin had caused a terrible tragedy. At Lulong Fortress, Apophis Breo resolved to restore his ancestors’ glory by earning command of an army himself.

• Roland returned home with a snow leopard cub, and Nyx cuddled it before Roland asked a maid to wash and care for it.
• Roland told Nyx that the cub’s kin had caused a tragedy and warned that the cub could grow into a destructive magical beast.
• Nyx named the female cub Snowball, and she and Roland joked about the cub’s appetite and growing size.
• Apophis Breo stood on Lulong Fortress’s walls with Caslo and showed him a golden Junlin Lion emblem.
• Apophis Breo declared that he needed an army to restore his ancestors’ glory, while Caslo warned that he would have to earn his success without relying on His Highness.

Apophis Breo trained a private force of two hundred soldiers at Lulong Fortress, alarming Ajax and Caslo, who reported it to Roland. Nyx urged Roland to tolerate the Junlin Family’s ambitions and let Apophis Breo help pioneer new lands, leaving Roland unsure but inclined to let events proceed.

• Caslo handed Apophis Breo an umbrella before Apophis stood in the rain and watched the north in silence.
• Ajax and Caslo discussed Apophis Breo’s two hundred armored private soldiers and worried that his actions challenged the nobility’s rules.
• Caslo decided to report Apophis Breo’s army to Roland, while Ajax comforted him.
• Roland read Caslo’s letter and questioned how Apophis Breo had recruited so many soldiers at Lulong Fortress.
• Nyx told Roland that the Junlin Family’s return was inevitable and advised him not to interfere with Apophis Breo’s ambitions.
• Roland considered the Junlin Knights and soldiers, and Nyx urged him to let Apophis Breo pioneer new lands on the kingdom’s behalf.

Roland discovered that Duke Apophis Breo had stationed 200 Junlin Valiant Warriors in Lulong Fortress and confronted him through a letter. They reached an understanding that let Apophis keep the force while agreeing to move it out of the royal fortress.

• Roland checked the system and learned that Apophis Breo commanded 16 Junlin Knights and 200 Valiant Warriors.
• Roland recalled the Valiant Warriors’ powerful but poorly protected fighting style and wondered whether Apophis’s troops matched the ones he knew.
• Roland wrote to Apophis, hinting that he knew about the unauthorized force in Lulong Fortress and asking him to explain it.
• Apophis realized that Caslo had reported the troops and that General Reno had known about them for some time.
• Apophis replied that he had raised the militia to restore his ancestors’ glory and promised to move them out of the fortress.
• Roland and Apophis tacitly treated the force as militia, allowing Apophis to keep his troops while Roland upheld royal authority.

Roland asked Lafitte Antony about the Golden Dragon egg and learned that it lacked vitality and needed rare materials to hatch. After Lafitte described the egg’s history and the lost materials, the system completed Roland’s quest and restored the egg’s vitality.

• Roland summoned Apophis Breo to Flowing City to discuss his expansion, and Apophis left Caslo in charge of the southern gate.
• Roland asked Lafitte Antony about the Dragon Royal Family and showed him the ancient dragon egg.
• Lafitte identified the egg as a Golden Dragon egg and said Golden Dragons could not become Dragon Knights.
• Lafitte explained that the egg lacked vitality and that hatching it normally required rare materials lost to history.
• The system completed Roland’s quest and restored the egg’s vitality, making it hatchable.

Roland learned how to hatch the revived Golden Dragon Egg and began watching over it while considering the challenge of becoming a Golden Dragon Knight. He then received Apophis Breo and rebuked him for going too far with the nobles’ schemes, and Apophis apologized.

• Roland asked Lafitte Antony how to hatch the revived Golden Dragon Egg, and Lafitte placed it in a fireplace to keep it warm for about half a month.
• Lafitte advised Roland to stay near the egg so the hatchling would bond with him, while warning that Golden Dragons were difficult to conquer and contract with.
• Nyx encouraged Roland as he worried about the dragon’s inherited memories, and Roland considered negotiating with dragonkind if he could not become its rider.
• A guard announced Apophis Breo’s arrival, and Roland told him to wait in the reception hall.
• Roland confronted Apophis Breo over pushing the nobles’ schemes too far, and Apophis apologized for acting hastily.

Roland granted Apophis Breo permission to establish a frontier territory, assigning him the Old Pass to defend and develop. Apophis agreed to wait until spring and recruit settlers under Roland’s conditions, while Roland and Nyx were pleased with the arrangement.

• Roland warned Apophis Breo that an Orc invasion threatened his men, but Apophis insisted on pursuing a frontier fief.
• Roland ordered Apophis to wait until spring, gather supplies and family groups of settlers, and recruit no more than a thousand people.
• Roland offered Apophis a fully equipped Imperial Outpost if his territory’s development earned approval.
• Roland assigned Apophis the Old Pass and charged him with holding the route from the western lands into the Northern Territory.
• Roland told Nyx that he had gained a loyal frontier vassal, then lamented the cost of sending more than a thousand people away.

Roland learned that ten of Thorin’s Dragon Hawk Knights had flown southwest, and he feared Balin was in danger in Moria. Balin had been ambushed by Orcs at Mirror Lake, and the battle had escalated until the Orcs nearly reached Moria’s West Gate, prompting him to ask Thorin for help.

• Roland was interrupted by Hongshao, who reported unusual movements among the dwarves’ Dragon Hawk Knights.
• Yun Feng told Roland that ten Dragon Hawk Knights had headed southwest, and Roland concluded they were going to Moria because something had happened to Balin.
• Roland sent Omsk to ask Thorin what had happened to Balin and warned Yun Feng that another Balrog might be in Moria.
• Balin’s soldiers suffered more than a hundred casualties after Orcs ambushed them at Mirror Lake while he searched for a dwarven ring.
• Balin led his soldiers back to recover their fallen, beginning the Battle of Mirror Lake against Orcs from the Misty Mountains, Gundabad, and Dol Guldur.
• As the Orcs nearly reached the West Gate, Balin asked Thorin for help, and Thorin sent the Dragon Hawk Knights as the vanguard.

Kili told Roland that Balin had been ambushed and gravely wounded near Mirror Lake, leaving Moria in chaos as the Orcs threatened the dwarves’ reclaimed homeland. Thorin prepared an army to fight for Moria, while Roland agreed to guard the north but refused to join the battle.

• Kili reported that Orcs had ambushed Balin near Mirror Lake while he searched for the dwarves’ Ring of Power, leaving him unconscious from a poisoned arrow.
• Kili said Moria had lost its leader and fallen into disorder, and Thorin was furious about the attack.
• Kili asked Roland to send his Dragon Knights after Thorin assembled three thousand soldiers to march on Moria.
• Roland warned Kili that the dwarves’ small population could not afford another devastating battle, but Kili insisted they would not abandon their people or homeland.
• Roland told Kili that his army would guard the north for the alliance but would not take part in the fighting at Moria.

Roland learned that Thorin had taken the lead in a Dwarven expedition to retake Moria after Balin was ambushed and the Orcs threatened the underground city. Although Roland told Yun Feng he had only promised to protect Erebor, a system mission appeared, requiring him to help the Dwarves defend it.

• Kili told Roland that Thorin and Dwalin would lead the army while he and Fili stayed behind.
• Roland learned that Balin had been severely wounded at Mirrormere and that the Orcs had driven the Dwarves of Moria underground.
• Yun Feng warned Roland that Thorin's expedition could trigger another Battle of Azanulbizar and suspected Roland had promised military support.
• Roland told Yun Feng that he had promised only to protect Erebor, not to join the fighting.
• The system issued Roland a special mission to help the Dwarves defend Erebor as Dwarven forces marched toward Moria.

Roland triggered the main quest, The Birth of an Emperor, and began arranging defenses while refusing to join the war between the Orcs and Dwarves. Meanwhile, Thorin marched toward Moria despite Thranduil’s warning, as the battered Dwarves struggled to hold its eastern gate.

• Roland received the Imperial Blood Rebirth mission and its rewards, then ordered Caslo and Ajax recalled and told Omsk to watch the south and protect their allies.
• Yun Feng restrained Roland, mistaking his grin over the quest rewards for possession, and warned him not to send exhausted soldiers into another battle.
• Roland refused to enter the Orc-Dwarf conflict and promised to notify the White Wing King that the Kingdom would support its allies.
• Thranduil warned Thorin against marching to Moria, but Thorin rejected his advice and led the Dwarven army onward.
• Ori and Oin led the wounded Dwarves in driving the Orcs back from Moria’s eastern gate, while Ori wondered where their reinforcements were.

Balin led Moria’s surviving Dwarves in a desperate defense of the East Gate, then collapsed in grief at the devastation and loss of life. Dáin Ironfoot arrived at Flowing City with twelve hundred soldiers seeking help to cross the river and join Thorin’s forces, while Roland promised to protect Erebor.

• Balin refused to rest and rallied the Dwarves to fight the Orcs at Moria’s East Gate.
• After the Orcs were defeated, Ori told Balin that fewer than two hundred could still fight and fewer than a thousand people remained; Balin broke down and collapsed.
• Dáin Ironfoot arrived at Flowing City with the Ironfoot Army and supplies, urging Roland to help him reach Moria.
• Dáin explained that Thorin had led most of his forces to Moria and asked Roland for river transport for twelve hundred soldiers.
• Roland agreed to ferry Dáin’s army across and promised to guard Erebor, though he could not join the battle.

Balin was gravely wounded as the Orcs overwhelmed Moria’s defenders, while Thorin’s exhausted company struggled to reach the city. The Dragon Hawk Knights arrived at the East Gate and unleashed Dragon Breath on the Orcs, discovering that Moria’s defenders were still resisting.

• Balin was trampled beneath the fighting, and Ori and Oin found him badly wounded and carried him deeper into the caves.
• Oin rallied the remaining Dwarves to keep fighting as the Orcs continued their assault.
• Thorin urged his company to hurry toward Moria, but Dwalin stopped him to let everyone rest; a raven then reported that Moria’s Dwarves had retreated to the East Gate and needed reinforcements.
• The Dragon Hawk Knights spotted the Orcs crowding Moria’s East Gate and prepared to attack, despite uncertainty about whether the city had fallen.
• The Dragon Hawk Knights poured Dragon Breath onto the Orcs, burning hundreds, while an Orc commander ordered his soldiers to kill their own wounded to stop the flames from spreading.
• A Dragon Hawk Knight saw that Moria had not fallen and that Dwarves were still resisting.

The Dwarves and Dragon Hawk Knights fought to hold Moria’s East Gate as Balin lay gravely wounded, while Thorin’s army struggled to reach them. The Orcs deployed Heavy Crossbows, leaving the Dragon Hawk Knights in danger as Thorin remained far away.

• Balin’s Dwarves held part of Moria’s East Gate against the Orcs while Dáin’s Ironfoot Army and other Dwarves moved to join the battle.
• Commander Yad found Balin badly injured, and Ori and Oin argued with him over the heavy losses suffered by the defenders.
• Yad led the Dragon Hawk Knights out of the caves to avoid being trapped by the Orcs.
• Thorin and Dwalin’s force trudged along the Gladden River, with Thorin worrying that Balin needed reinforcements.
• The Orcs brought out Heavy Crossbows, and the Dragon Hawk Knights realized their position was becoming dangerous.

Thorin and Erebor’s dwarven army arrived at Moria’s East Gate to find Balin gravely wounded and the defenses close to collapse. Thorin led the dwarves into battle, where they broke through the Orc vanguard and moved to destroy the Heavy Crossbows.

• Yade reported that the East Gate Hall had likely fallen, Balin was severely wounded, and Heavy Crossbows had hindered the defenders.
• Thorin sent the exhausted Dragon Hawk Knights to rest, then rallied the dwarves to rescue their kin and fight the Orcs.
• Thorin led the dwarven army in a charge that smashed through the Orc vanguard.
• Dwalin killed an Orc commander and smashed a Heavy Crossbow bolt with his warhammer, which was left dented.
• The dwarves spotted the Heavy Crossbows and sent their war machines into action.

Thorin’s dwarven army fought the Orcs outside Moria while dwarven reinforcements gathered and Orc forces marched to join the battle. Balin learned that Moria’s defenders were nearly wiped out, leaving the city’s fate uncertain.

• Thorin led his dwarven army against the Orc vanguard, whose strength had been weakened by the Dragon Hawk Knights’ harassment, and Dwalin warned that the banner of Fortress of Gundabad was missing.
• Thorin told Dwalin that an unseen force was following them and urged his soldiers to break through the Orcs’ blockade of Moria.
• Dáin received a raven’s message that Thorin had engaged the Orcs but could not enter Moria, while dwarves from the Blue Mountains marched east to join the fight.
• Amoras urged the forces of Dol Guldur to attack the gathered dwarves, but Sernal warned against provoking the Dragon Knights, and Khamûl sent 5,000 ordinary Orcs to support Fortress of Gundabad.
• Balin asked a female dwarf about the battle outside Moria and learned that nearly all of the city’s defenders had been wiped out.