Chapter Summaries

Daenerys told Ian about a mysterious masked woman who appeared in her room and delivered a prophecy. Worried about Quaithe’s magic and threats from other players, Ian learned the basics of Red Priest magic and improved his Greenseer skill.

• Daenerys recounted the red-masked woman’s prophecy to Ian, who recognized it as Quaithe’s words.
• Daenerys realized the woman had appeared in her guarded room and vanished by the window, alarming both her and Ian.
• Ian reassured Daenerys that it might have been a dream, then left to prepare for possible magical threats.
• Ian used a Basic Skill Selection Scroll to learn Red Priest Basics and raised Red Priest and Greenseer to beginner level.

Robert appointed Stannis Baratheon commander of the Royal Army as the assembled lords prepared to fight House Lannister. Mace Tyrell offered the Reach’s support and asked Robert to marry his daughter Margarethe, leaving Robert frowning and silent.

• Robert received Eddard Stark’s report that the Wildlings had taken the Wall’s three castles and were marching south, forcing Eddard to turn back toward The North.
• Stannis and Renly Baratheon presented the forces of the Crownlands and Stormlands, and Robert appointed Stannis Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Army.
• Mace Tyrell arrived with his sons and prominent lords of the Reach, declaring that the Reach would fight for Robert.
• Mace asked Robert to marry his daughter Margarethe, and Robert furrowed his brow and turned away without answering.

Robert publicly rejected Mace Tyrell’s marriage proposal, choosing to honor his promise to marry a minor northern noble and humiliating House Tyrell. In Astapor, Ian ordered Leixix to train the Centaur slaves to obey military formations, hoping to earn them horses without spending the fortune he lacked.

• Varys watched as Mace Tyrell pressed Robert to accept a betrothal before the war ended.
• Oberyn Martell revealed that Robert had promised the queenship to a minor northern noble whose brother, Ser Lorran, served in the Kingsguard.
• Robert confirmed the promise and refused to reconsider, prompting Mace Tyrell to storm out with only his sons and the Redwyne relatives following him.
• In Astapor, Ian told Leixix to organize the Dothraki slaves into squads and companies and reward the first obedient company with Purified water and the right to ride horses.
• Ian reflected that his funds could not cover horses and equipment for his 2,700 Centaur slaves, so he hoped to acquire horses from Dothraki Khalasars instead.

Ian received New Ghis's envoy, Reg Emd, who protested Astapor's use of the name Ghis Legion for an army of slaves. Ian defended his Red God worship and heard the envoy's complaint, leaving the dispute unresolved.

• Ian learned that New Ghis had sent an envoy who wanted to see him, and he ordered the envoy to come to his study instead of attending the council meeting.
• Ian met New Ghis's treasurer, Reg Emd, and explained that he worshipped the Red God because he believed fire held real power.
• Ian asked Reg Emd to state his reason for visiting, and Reg Emd protested that a slave army made up of non-Ghiscari had no right to be called the Ghis Legion.

Ian refused to rename his slave Iron Legion and proposed hiring two New Ghis legions to help conquer Lhazar and defend Ghiscari lands from the Dothraki. While searching Astapor for Quaithe, he captured a player who said the Faceless Men had targeted him for elimination.

• Ian told Regh Emd he would rename his slave legion only if New Ghis provided two Free Folk Iron Legions, and he proposed using them to conquer Lhazar and defeat Drogo's Khals.
• Ian asked Regh Emd to bring an authorized representative from New Ghis and envoys from Yunkai and Meereen to negotiate.
• After a week of searching Astapor for Quaithe, Ian found a suspicious man who had been asking about him, Darren Grafton, and Cilia.
• Ian captured the man after following him to the pyramid and learning he had no accomplices.
• The captive revealed that he was a player ranked last in the latest settlement and that the Faceless Men had targeted him for elimination.

Ian questioned Adam, a captured player who had chosen a bankrupt blacksmith class and survived as the competition’s last-place player. Adam agreed to serve Ian in exchange for protection, and explained how he had escaped the Crossroads Inn trap and ended up in Astapor.

• Adam told Ian he had chosen a bankrupt blacksmith class to test whether a terrible character brought good luck, but it left him struggling to complete his first Main Quest and unable to exploit the disrupted plot.
• Adam revealed that he had been a doctoral supervisor at Aachen University of Technology, forced into the competition by rebels who had taken his wife and colleagues hostage and wanted the prize money for weapons.
• Adam gave up on winning and asked Ian to keep him alive in exchange for his service, and Ian accepted while assigning Yada to watch him.
• Adam said he had never met his allies because he fled the Crossroads Inn after suspecting a player had set a trap there.
• Adam explained that an optional quest had taken him from Volantis toward Yunkai, where he received notice that the Faceless Men had targeted him and decided to seek Ian’s help in Astapor.

Ian devised an elaborate Unsullied security system to protect Adam from the Faceless Men and moved him into the upper floors of a pyramid. Worried the assassin might target others if the defenses held, Ian summoned Yada to help test the selectable-mission bug.

• Ian decided to protect Adam so the player count would remain above twenty, Bounty Mission Three would be delayed, and Adam could help with industrial development.
• Ian examined two Unsullied and concluded the Faceless Men could not convincingly disguise themselves as castrated soldiers.
• Ian cleared the pyramid’s top three floors, stationed selected Unsullied there, stocked the floors with food, and moved Adam and his documents into the guarded quarters.
• Adam vomited after Ian explained the Unsullied would inspect one another’s bodies to verify their identities.
• Ian worried that the Faceless Man might attack him or someone else if it could not reach Adam, so he summoned Yada to help test the selectable-mission bug.

Ian tightened security against the Faceless Men in Astapor, then learned Daenerys was angry about his new slave system and the capture of thousands of slaves. As he went to meet her, Ian recognized that he needed a better intelligence network.

• Ian ordered the Unsullied to guard a restricted area for three months and to kill anyone who tried to enter, including Ian himself.
• Ian tested the Unsullied captain’s obedience, escaped their alert perimeter, and met Duncan, who said Daenerys had sent for him.
• Ian learned Daenerys had heard about the Five-Tiered Slave System and the new slaves captured at Worm River, and that she was angry.
• Ian ordered Duncan to investigate who had leaked the news and considered creating an intelligence organization.
• Ian reached Daenerys’s room, where Mondo invited him inside without announcing him.

Ian explained that his Five-Tiered Slave System gave slaves a path to better treatment while keeping them formally enslaved, and Daenerys accepted his reasoning. She then confronted him about why he had not proposed to her, pressing him into a corner after drinking wine.

• Ian arrived while Daenerys was bathing, waited in the antechamber, and met with her after she dressed.
• Ian sent Daenerys's maids away and explained that the slave ranks would let slaves earn treatment comparable to free people or nobles without alerting other city-states.
• Daenerys asked whether Ian planned to marry her to a Westerosi lord, and Ian denied ever intending to use her marriage as a political bargain.
• Daenerys demanded Ian's real reason for not proposing, and Ian said she was still too young.
• Daenerys reminded Ian that she had nearly married Drogo and backed him into a corner, her wine-scented breath revealing that she had been drinking.

Ian decided to turn the maid who had been reporting to Daenerys into his informant, then returned to coach Daenerys on a performance for the Ghiscari delegations. He persuaded her to postpone their wedding and help convince Slaver's Bay's other city-states that their army intended to leave for Westeros.

• Ian rejected Duncan's suggestions to execute or identify the loose-tongued maid and ordered him to make her report information that favored Ian's rule.
• Ian told Duncan he would stay with Daenerys to coach her for a performance aimed at the delegations from Slaver's Bay.
• Ian argued that a wedding in Astapor could make neighboring city-states suspect their army intended to conquer Slaver's Bay, and Daenerys proposed a Ghis wedding followed by a wedding of the Seven in Westeros.
• Ian convinced Daenerys to cooperate in the performance and promised they would marry after taking Meereen.

Ian survived an assassination attempt by a Faceless Men disguised as him, then lured the assassin into an ambush outside the pyramid. The captured assassin was left in the Unsullied’s custody.

• An Unsullied captain and his guards attacked Ian as he approached Adam’s quarters, forcing him to fight his way out and flee into a secret passage with a wounded leg.
• The Faceless Men disguised himself as an Unsullied officer and searched the pyramid for an escape route while guards sealed off the exits.
• The Faceless Men knocked out two guards and jumped through a window, where arrows fired by Ian and two Dothraki archers struck his thigh.
• Yada severed the captured assassin’s hand and foot tendons and ordered the Unsullied to bind him.
• Ian told Khal Drogo that he had deliberately left the window as an escape route to trap the assassin.

Ian received the seventh monthly settlement rewards and spent points on Gold Dragon chests to replenish his treasury. The next day, he reviewed Adam’s engineering plans and learned that gunpowder could not be made in this world, ruling out many of Adam’s proposed technologies.

• Ian kept the captured Faceless Man alive, and the seventh monthly settlement passed without any new player deaths.
• Ian received 30 points for recruiting 10,000 high-quality soldiers and 60 points, 6,888 Gold Dragons, and a selectable S-Class NPC for ranking first.
• Ian spent 100 points on five Gold Chests, adding 50,000 Gold Dragons to his funds, and allocated two Attribute Points to willpower.
• Ian considered how to earn more Attribute Points and Skill Points, but fell asleep without finding a solution.
• Ian received Adam’s crossbow, siege-device, and metallurgy plans, along with a decades-long technology development roadmap.
• Ian realized gunpowder could not be made in this world, leaving many of Adam’s proposed technologies unusable.

Loras urged Renly to prepare to claim the Iron Throne after Robert, arguing that Renly had the stronger political and military support. The chapter ended with Kingsguard Lorran warning Lyanna that other players might be backing House Tyrell.

• While shaving Renly, Loras criticized his rejection of a Tyrell marriage alliance and invoked Tywin Lannister’s response to Aerys II’s insult.
• Loras argued that Robert’s sons and daughter were unavailable as heirs and told Renly he should become king, proposing that Myrcella marry Garlan.
• Renly objected that Stannis had the stronger legal claim, but Loras argued that the Royal Army depended on the Stormlands and Reach.
• Loras said preparations should begin before Robert’s death, alarming Renly that the Tyrells might act against his brother.
• In the Red Keep, Lorran told Lyanna he suspected other players were backing House Tyrell.

Ian received Yunkai envoy Grazdan mo Eraz and used a lavish dinner and heavy drinking to learn Yunkai’s position on his proposal. Grazdan revealed that Yunkai’s masters feared Ian’s army and Five-Tiered Slave System, which was encouraging unrest among their slaves.

• Ian learned that Grazdan mo Eraz, a Yunkai Good Master, had arrived and decided to meet him over dinner.
• Ian considered Grazdan’s lesser-noble name and his possible interest in gaining higher status, but kept his aims secret.
• Ian welcomed Grazdan and served him a lavish Slaver's Bay dinner with Arbor wine.
• After drinking heavily with Ian, Grazdan said Yunkai would contribute fifty thousand gold marks if Ian gained support from New Ghis and Meereen.
• Grazdan told Ian that the other Good Masters feared his army and the Five-Tiered Slave System, which had fueled more slave uprisings and escapes in Yunkai.

Grazdan learned that Femor planned to use Astapor’s new system and army to pursue conquest after Ian left, and he decided to keep Ian from helping him. Meereen’s envoy arrived two days later, intending to persuade Yunkai and New Ghis to send Ian against Drogo’s Khalasar.

• Ian told Grazdan that Femor planned to secure Astapor under the Five-Tiered Slave System and hoped to change his title from 'mo' to 'zo,' alarming Grazdan.
• Grazdan concluded that Femor might eventually threaten Yunkai, but could not challenge Ian while the Westerosi controlled Astapor.
• Grazdan resolved to support Ian’s request in negotiations so Ian would fight Drogo’s Khalasar and weaken his army, then helped send the sleeping Ian to rest.
• Two days later, Mazdahan zo Lorak arrived from Meereen with orders to persuade the other envoys to send Ian to fight the Khal.
• Mazdahan planned to spare no expense to make Ian go to Lhazareen, but worried that Yunkai and New Ghis would resist for their own reasons.

Envoys from Yunkai, Meereen, and New Ghis debated Astapor’s Five-Tiered Slave System while waiting for Ian at Punishment Plaza. Ian’s newly equipped Unsullied marched into the plaza in overwhelming numbers, leaving the envoys to reconsider the strength he meant to display.

• Rego Zo Emd told Grazdan mo Eraz that Punishment Plaza had doubled in size, and Mazdahan zo Lorak learned that Astapor no longer needed public executions to deter slaves.
• Grazdan defended the Five-Tiered Slave System as a way for slaves to police one another, but Mazdahan condemned it as cowardly and invoked the authority of the old Ghiscari conquerors.
• Grazdan realized that Yunkai’s noble Wise Masters would likely reject his arguments for adopting the system and fell silent.
• Mazdahan complained that Ian had kept the envoys waiting, then restrained himself from insulting Ian because he needed Ian to persuade New Ghis to help stop the Khal outside Slaver's Bay.
• A well-drilled, heavily equipped Unsullied legion marched into Punishment Plaza, prompting Mazdahan to marvel at its strength and Rego to dismiss it as insufficient to defeat New Ghis.
• Grazdan pointed out that more than ten thousand soldiers already filled the plaza and warned Rego that many more were still gathered at its entrance.

Astapor displayed its disciplined slave infantry and Dothraki cavalry to the envoys, and Regh explained how Ian Dary’s military strength had cornered Meereen. The envoys were then told that Queen Daenerys had canceled the talks and could either host them or let them return home.

• The envoys watched Astapor’s newly equipped slave soldiers enter the plaza and learned that the Dothraki cavalry could maintain disciplined ranks.
• Mazdahan estimated the assembled force at twenty-two thousand infantry and five hundred cavalry, while Regh dismissed the idea that numbers alone could match the Dothraki.
• Grazdan asked the envoys to discuss their cities’ interests, and Mazdahan stated that Meereen would not allow Khal Drogo into Slaver’s Bay.
• Regh explained that Ian’s forces made Astapor difficult to capture and left Meereen choosing between supporting Drogo or relying on Ian.
• Duncan arrived and announced that Queen Daenerys had canceled the talks, offering the envoys hospitality or the chance to return home.

Daenerys received envoys from New Ghis, Yunkai, and Meereen and refused to let Earl Dary deploy troops against Khal Drogo. The envoys tried to persuade her to join the fight, but she stood by her decision to preserve her forces.

• Missandei announced Daenerys’s titles and introduced the three Ghiscari envoys without naming them.
• Regh interrupted Mazdahan and steered the audience toward the proposed military operation, hoping to secure New Ghis’s interests.
• Daenerys admitted that Earl Dary had requested troops but said she had rejected his request.
• Missandei explained that Daenerys believed she owed Slaver’s Bay help because her side had brought Khal Drogo there.
• Regh argued that defeating Drogo would protect Astapor and allow Daenerys to train soldiers safely, but Daenerys again refused to commit her troops.

Daenerys refused to send troops against Khal Drogo, so the three envoys sought Earl Dary’s help in changing her mind. They found Ian drunk after a public reprimand from the Queen, leaving their negotiations uncertain.

• Daenerys dismissed the envoys’ arguments and reaffirmed that she would not send troops to fight Khal Drogo.
• Mazdahan, Regh, and Grazdan discussed their cities’ motives and decided to seek an agreement with Earl Dary.
• Grazdan suspected that Daenerys and Ian might be manipulating the three Ghiscari cities, but had no proof.
• The envoys found Ian drunk in his wrecked study, and Yada said the Queen had publicly reprimanded him.
• Regh concluded that Ian remained on their side but that Daenerys’s firm position would make their request difficult.

Grazdan explained to Regh that Queen Daenerys’s public quarrel with Ian was genuine, and the envoys met Ian to discuss the canceled alliance. Ian claimed Daenerys’s opposition was firm, though he had not yet found a way to persuade her.

• Regh questioned why Daenerys had allowed the envoys to inspect Astapor’s army after refusing Earl Dary’s request to deploy troops.
• Grazdan said Daenerys had publicly rebuked Ian for making the decision without consulting her, and he explained Ian’s family’s longstanding loyalty to the Targaryens.
• Grazdan insisted the quarrel was not staged, since the public rebuke would have seriously damaged Ian’s authority if it had been an act.
• An Unsullied summoned Regh and the other envoys to Ian’s study, where Ian apologized for the alliance’s cancellation and expressed regret that they could not help oppose the Dothraki.
• Ian said Daenerys would not agree to the operation, but admitted he had not yet found a way to persuade her.