Recaps

Li Ang survived the struggle for Imperial Port, helped Alina secure Bacchus, and returned east when the Gatu people invaded. He negotiated a trade pact with Zakar that ended the immediate threat but began reshaping the Gatu economy around goats and dependence on imported goods.

• Li Ang defeated the Snake Worship Cult near Buyulin Village, but Agason’s betrayal left him wounded before Agason died and Alina gained a chance to purge her opponents.
• Li Ang exposed Malbert’s possession of Ares and trapped Malbert and Kavala in his soul space, then helped Alina deceive Caspar and reclaim Imperial Port.
• Wendy returned with reinforcements, and Li Ang forced Caspar to write Alina a letter of fealty before the kingdom prepared Marius’s funeral.
• After Risadiran reported a Gatu invasion near White Deer Fortress, Li Ang returned east and sent Raphael to approach Zakar’s people.
• Li Ang met Zakar, offered gifts, and proposed a trade zone at Fletcher where the Gatu could exchange sheep for supplies instead of raiding.
• Li Ang bluffed that he had trapped the Gatu force, secured Zakar’s withdrawal and a promise of twenty thousand sheep, and sent troops to confront the force at Kewen Village.
• Li Ang appointed Leofric to command the eastern region, investigated Charles’s role in the Gatu plan, and negotiated a goat-for-goods market with Zakar at Fletcher.
• Zakar defeated Judas and absorbed his tribe, while the Gatu people submitted and began trading peacefully as Li Ang’s trade arrangement pushed them toward goat raising and dependence on imported goods.