Chapter Summaries

Orsaga and Asmodeus discussed the Nine-Layered Hell’s culture of rules, schemes, and political ambition, which they had deliberately shaped for their own amusement. They hoped a Hell Devil might someday overthrow their system, but their constant challenges made such a success unlikely.

• The maidservants and Hell Devils secretly listened to Orsaga and Asmodeus, speculating about their conversation and the Lord of the Nine-Layered Hell’s apparent approval of an attack on the World of Toril.
• Orsaga and Asmodeus accepted the ambitions and disloyalty of the Hell Devils because they enjoyed the intrigue those qualities brought to the Nine-Layered Hell.
• The chapter contrasted the Bottomless Abyss’s direct, chaotic fighting with the Nine-Layered Hell’s regulated hierarchy and scarce opportunities for promotion.
• The chapter described how Hell Devils used deception, betrayal, and other schemes to advance, while also relying on strength, command, research, and flattery.
• Orsaga and Asmodeus hoped a talented Hell Devil would overthrow the Nine-Layered Hell’s rules, but they continued imposing challenges that could crush any would-be rebel.

The Gith Fleet’s enormous advance through the Astral Realm alarmed worlds and factions, many of which prepared to fight or surrender. The fleet continued toward its mission to slaughter a god, while Orsaga’s influence strengthened the Gith even without his direct involvement.

• The Gith Fleet traveled through the Astral Realm with little resistance, and the Gith seized supplies and captives from those unable to escape.
• News of the fleet’s tens of thousands of Astral Ships spread, prompting nearby worlds to prepare for battle or plan to surrender.
• Factions in Sigil City and elsewhere grew wary and ordered their forces to stand ready, while some speculated that the Gith were preparing a surprise attack.
• Some observers noticed the Gith were flying a Holy War banner and suspected that they were targeting a god’s believers.
• The Bloody King was arranging for the Gith to slaughter a god, though other factions did not believe a deity would send mortals on such a mission.
• Orsaga’s influence continued to improve the Gith’s fortunes and combat strength despite his inactivity.

A powerful God Scourge awakened in a hidden space-time fragment and secretly pursued the Gith Fleet. Haqqatar sensed the threat, alerted the fleet, and the God Scourge launched a direct assault.

• A powerful God Scourge awoke in a poisonous swamp and sensed the Gith Fleet passing nearby.
• The God Scourge followed the fleet, tempted by its magical radiance and abundant life energy.
• Haqqatar sensed the approaching enemy through the Slaughterer of All Beings and told Kaleid he would handle the threat.
• Haqqatar ordered all Gith personnel to their positions, and the Astral Ships strengthened their Magic Shields.
• The God Scourge realized it had been detected, abandoned its stealth, and charged at the fleet to break its formation.

The Gith fleet’s Magic Cannons failed to harm the approaching high-level God Scourge, terrifying the fleet. Haqqatar summoned the Slaughterer of All Beings and unleashed a single slash that destroyed the God Scourge and scarred the Astral Plane.

• Gith gunners fired hundreds or thousands of Magic Cannon blasts at the approaching meteor, but the attacks had no effect and seemed to accelerate it.
• A knowledgeable Gith identified the meteor as a high-level God Scourge and warned Haqqatar, while some of the fleet began praying to the Bloody King.
• Haqqatar urged the fleet not to fear and summoned the Slaughterer of All Beings from the Main Ship’s core region.
• Haqqatar swung the artifact once, channeling the fleet’s divine light into blades that cut apart the God Scourge and carved a dark red scar through the Astral Plane.

Haqqatar used the Slaughterer of All Beings to kill a God Scourge with one ordinary slash, leaving Kaleid awed by its power. Haqqatar returned the weapon to its place of worship and continued the fleet’s journey, knowing its power would be restricted in Toril; the chapter also detailed the weapon’s reforged enchantments.

• Kaleid watched Haqqatar kill the God Scourge with a single slash and marveled at the Slaughterer of All Beings.
• Haqqatar sensed the weapon’s delight after it devoured the God Scourge, though he did not understand the reason.
• Haqqatar returned the Slaughterer of All Beings to its place of worship and ordered the fleet onward.
• Haqqatar reflected that the Bloody King had warned him that Toril would severely restrict power beyond mortal limits.
• The chapter listed the Slaughterer of All Beings’ seven enhanced enchantment effects after its reforging with divine power.

As the fallen gods stirred up conflict across Toril, Iolam considered exploiting the crisis to restore the Netheril Empire but abandoned plans to challenge the gods. A powerful stranger named Sodda appeared in his lair and introduced himself as an envoy of Koma, the Cosmic Giant Snake.

• The gods’ fall became known among mortals, prompting kingdoms, factions, and powerful individuals to fight over the chance to claim divine power.
• Iolam uncovered signs that ancient beings from the Netheril Era and earlier were still alive, despite stories claiming adventurers had defeated them.
• Iolam considered pursuing a Divine Seat and restoring the Netheril Empire, but recalled the power behind his homeland’s destruction and decided to keep hiding.
• Sodda appeared beside Iolam, introduced himself as a member of the Enir Pantheon, and said he had come on Koma’s behalf.

Sodda told Iolam that The Supreme One had chosen him to become an origin of future vortices of cause and effect, promising assistance and rewards. Iolam was left confused and asked who The Supreme One was and why he had been chosen.

• The chapter explained that the Enir Pantheon had been carried from the dying Dominia Plane into the Multiverse, where the loss of their World Tree left them diminished and quasi-divine.
• Iolam studied Sodda and guessed that he was more powerful than a demigod, then introduced himself as a Netheril Arcanist.
• Sodda said he had come on his lord’s command to tell Iolam that The Supreme One had chosen him for a destiny involving future vortices of cause and effect.
• Sodda promised that Iolam would receive help and rewards, including possible apotheosis or restoration of the Netheril Empire.
• Iolam struggled to understand the announcement and asked who The Supreme One was and why he had been chosen.

Iolam questioned why Sodda had chosen him and who the Supreme One was, then learned that his connection to Koma came through the Nethys Scroll. He realized the scroll might have drawn him into a scheme woven over tens of thousands of years.

• Iolam doubted Sodda's claim that the Supreme One had chosen him, while Sodda insisted he should accept the decision as truth.
• Iolam asked why he had been chosen and requested an introduction to the Supreme One.
• Sodda said Iolam had been chosen because he bore Koma's mark and had proven his talent, then identified the Supreme One as Lady of Pain.
• Iolam asked when he had encountered Koma, and Sodda explained that the knowledge in the Nethys Scroll originated from Koma's race.
• Iolam realized the scroll might have entangled him in a conspiracy spanning tens of thousands of years.

Koma’s Nethys Scroll had spread spell knowledge through the worlds as part of Lady of Pain’s plan, but Iolam mistook it for bait in a centuries-old scheme. After accepting that he could not escape, he asked Sodda what he was supposed to do, and Sodda told him to leave hiding and seek out a god in distress.

• Koma’s Nethys Scroll introduced advanced spell knowledge to the local world, including hidden knowledge capable of harming gods.
• Iolam concluded that Koma had deliberately let the scroll circulate and feared that learning from it had marked him as a target.
• Sodda watched Iolam sweat and wondered why a lich was showing such a physiological reaction.
• Iolam accepted that he was caught in the scheme and asked Sodda what he needed to do.
• Sodda told Iolam to leave his hiding place and find a god in distress, whether as an ally or an enemy.

Lady of Pain watched Orsaga’s growing influence introduce uncertainty into Toril and found the resulting game amusing, though she retained the home-field advantage and remained open to negotiating over Primal Pain. In Scorching Hell, Orsaga laughed at the prospect that Lady of Pain might come to enjoy stirring up trouble as much as he did.

• Lady of Pain sensed Iolam’s muddled conversation with Sodda but accepted it without comment, treating the participants as pieces in her game.
• Lady of Pain observed Orsaga’s power and subordinates creating growing uncertainty in Toril, which gave her a rare sense of amusement.
• Lady of Pain recognized that Orsaga had little chance of defeating her on her home plane, but that negotiation over Primal Pain remained possible.
• Lady of Pain sat down to drink tea as a snake and a wolf waited silently behind her.
• After Asmodeus departed Scorching Hell, Orsaga sensed Lady of Pain’s anticipatory gaze and laughed about finding amusement in their long lives.

Bane, Myrkul, and Bhaal studied the Fate Stone Tablet in hiding while gods across Toril began consolidating their mortal followers amid rising chaos. After weeks of effort, the three Great Divine Powers still could not uncover the tablet’s secrets.

• A battle between two Sages destroyed most of a frontier city, killing or injuring nearly all its residents, while newcomers arrived to claim the abandoned land.
• Gods emerged in Sage Form and began organizing their believers and mortal forces, as turmoil benefited some churches and harmed others.
• Bane, Myrkul, and Bhaal hid in an underground palace and studied the Fate Stone Tablet they had stolen.
• After dozens of days of intense study, Bane admitted he could not decipher the tablet and suggested they might need a knowledge-related divine portfolio.
• Myrkul and Bhaal also gave up their study for the moment, saying they had no clue where to begin.

Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul failed to uncover the Fate Stone Tablet’s nonexistent secrets and agreed to seal it away for monthly study. After his partners left, Bane considered their fragile alliance and the chance the gods’ fall to the mortal world offered to devour one another.

• Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul found no useful information in the Fate Stone Tablet and decided they needed to reappear before their followers and other gods grew suspicious.
• Bane proposed that the three gods seal the tablet in the Underground Palace and meet there once a month to study it for five days.
• Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul agreed that their divine sparks would jointly secure the seal, which only all three together or someone stronger could open.
• After Bhaal and Myrkul left, Bane reflected that he had partnered with them for ambition rather than friendship and that each wanted to devour the others.
• Bane recognized that the gods’ fall into the mortal world created a rare opportunity to attack his partners, though the tablet theft still bound the three together.

As gods appeared in Sage Form, the Stability Faction and Trouble Faction took shape, while ambitious mortals secretly began pursuing godslaying. Orsaga, Lord of the Scorching Hell, encouraged the rush to the Netheril Empire Ruins, bringing the archaeology craze to its peak.

• Tyr urged everyone to avoid stirring up trouble until they found the Fate Stone Tablet, while Bane called for them to seize the chance to advance by fighting.
• Followers of the gods erupted into conflicts as evil god cults caused unrest and Orthodox God churches struggled to contain it.
• Ambitious nobles and powerful figures secretly embraced godslaying, seeing the fallen gods as a rare chance to rise to power.
• People flocked to ancient sites such as the Netheril Empire Ruins, hoping to find Karsus's godslaying magic or secrets for recreating the Floating Cities.
• Orsaga, Lord of the Scorching Hell, invited people to search the Netheril Empire Ruins for its treasures, driving the archaeology craze to its peak.

Iolam returned to the Netheril Empire’s ruins to seek a god, while dismissing the treasure hunters and believing the sealed Land of Pollution held nothing worth recovering. Elsewhere, Orsaga told a mage that the information he sought was at the center of the ruins, likely in the hands of the Felin Demon Sunflowers.

• Iolam disguised himself and surveyed treasure hunters digging through the ruins, but avoided attacking them because their numbers and possible allies made it too risky.
• Iolam reasoned that he had already gathered most Netheril legacies and that the Land of Pollution was too well guarded for outsiders to enter.
• Iolam headed toward another part of the ruins to look for a god.
• A mage traded collected souls to Orsaga and pressed him for information about a hidden object.
• Orsaga said the object was at the center of the ruins and should now be in the hands of the Felin Demon Sunflowers.

Orsaga sold multiple ambitious buyers a way to breach the barriers around the Felin Demon Sunflowers, while promising the trapped Sunflowers that their release was near. He left both sides ready to act for his benefit, setting up a likely meeting inside the sealed ruins.

• After learning where the Felin Demon Sunflowers were sealed, the mage despaired at the danger of entering their territory and could not think of a way to reach the treasure.
• Orsaga told other buyers he could break the Salen Sprites’ barriers, then charged them for instructions on how to do it.
• Orsaga sold the barrier-breaking method to multiple buyers, who began planning expeditions to the dangerous sealed land.
• Inside the ruins, the Felin Demon Sunflowers held a hundred-year sacrifice to the Bloody King, slaughtering their own kind.
• The Bloody King appeared in the altar flames and promised that the barriers would soon be destroyed and the Sunflowers released.
• The Felin Demon Sunflowers rejoiced and their Power of Faith grew as Orsaga prepared to profit from both outsiders and his imprisoned followers.

Orsaga arranged for treasure hunters seeking Netheril Empire Heritage to enter the region, where their ambitions and strength would benefit both him and the trapped Felin Demon Sunflowers. He ordered the Sunflowers to preserve the Nethys relics until they escaped, while leaving the treasure hunters’ fate in their hands.

• Orsaga reflected that he had told both the treasure hunters and the Felin Demon Sunflowers the truth, though he made no promises about how events would turn out.
• The Felin Demon Sunflowers praised Orsaga and pledged to obey him, and he told them to wait until they escaped and recovered before receiving a mission.
• Orsaga warned the Sunflowers not to eat the Nethys relics before their escape, then ended his connection to the Sacrifice Ritual.
• The Sunflowers wondered what Orsaga meant and decided to save the relics for now.
• Orsaga expected the treasure hunters to reach the Sunflowers and considered it acceptable if they became food that restored the Sunflowers’ strength.

Cultists acting on an evil god’s orders performed a blood ritual in the Netheril Empire’s ruins and used the god’s power to break through a weak point in the barrier. The purple lightning and the sound of shattering glass alerted nearby treasure hunters, who rushed toward the site, leaving the Cultists’ next move uncertain.

• Ambitious groups gathered around the Netheril Empire’s ruins, but the crowds of adventurers delayed their attempts to breach the barrier.
• An evil god ordered his Cultists to claim the Netheril inheritance quickly so it could help him eliminate rival gods.
• The Cultists killed treasure hunters on a slope deep in the ruins and used their corpses to prepare a ritual.
• The Cultists’ leader began prayers that drew the distant god’s power to their location.
• Purple lightning pierced the barrier with a sound like shattering glass, drawing nearby treasure hunters toward the site.

The Felin Demon Sunflower Race awoke when Cultists breached the barrier and began marching toward the exit, while countless factions rushed toward the same breach. Iolam witnessed the Sunflowers unleash their stacked Magic Siphon, draining the surrounding land and adventurers and leaving a field of corpses.

• The Cultist leader ordered his followers to enter the widening breach and complete their mission quickly.
• The High Priest commanded tens of thousands of starving Felin Demon Sunflowers to escape the Land of Despair, and they advanced toward the exit.
• Iolam sensed chaotic magical energy near the breach and sent a summoned creature to scout the area.
• Iolam recognized the Felin Demon Sunflowers as the beings responsible for devastating the Netheril Empire and saw them use their Magic Siphon abilities together.
• The Sunflowers drained energy and Life Force from the land and nearby adventurers, killing many and forcing Iolam's summoned creature to flee.

The Felin Demon Sunflower High Priest led his people away from the opened barrier while Iolam returned to search the ruins for Netheril’s legacy. Meanwhile, the Gith Fleet reached the World of Toril and began entering through its World Barrier, ending with the fleet safely inside the world.

• The Felin Demon Sunflower High Priest reluctantly abandoned the Life Force he sensed to the south and led his people away before the Salen Sprite Race could recapture them.
• Iolam watched the fleeing Felin Demon Sunflowers, then changed course and entered the barrier to search the ruins of Floating Cities for Netheril’s remaining treasures.
• The Gith Fleet arrived near the Astral Plane after a voyage without casualties, and Haqqatar ordered it to approach the coastal regions of the World of Toril.
• Haqqatar and Kaleid oversaw the fleet’s careful passage through the World Barrier, prepared to invoke the Slaughterer of All Beings if anything went wrong.
• The Gith Fleet crossed into the World of Toril and saw its heavy cloud layers and abundant free energy.

Tens of thousands of Astral Ships appeared above the Sea of Fallen Stars, terrifying pirates, fishermen, and townsfolk below. Haqqatar prepared to explore the region as the First Aerial Cavalry Legion assembled, revealing that it was only one part of a much larger force.

• Three fishermen tried to escape when a pirate ship pursued their boat, while the pirates mocked them and closed in with their enchanted ship.
• A pirate noticed the sky darkening and looked up, causing the crew and the fishermen to see tens of thousands of Astral Ships covering the sky.
• Haqqatar surveyed the coastline and ordered the First Aerial Cavalry Legion to accompany him in exploring their future territory.
• An Ancient Dragon Stage Red Dragon emerged from the Main Ship and lowered its head for Haqqatar to mount, while dragon and draconic-beast cavalry flew out from other ships.
• The chapter revealed that the displayed aerial cavalry was only one-tenth of ten legions, with land and marine cavalry and their Magic Beasts aboard the Astral Ships.