Chapter Summaries

Ian advised the envoys from Meereen and Yunkai to win over Daenerys by securing support from her ministers first, while avoiding any appearance of influencing the Queen himself. He then reviewed reports on stalled gunpowder research and development along the Worm River, and prepared to discuss corruption in the slave promotion system with Cilia.

• Ian told Regh, Mazdahan, and Grazdan that Daenerys had rejected the military proposal because the army was too small and he had acted without consulting her.
• Ian advised the envoys to meet Daron, Cilia, and Dorian the Black Falcon before seeking another audience with Daenerys, and they thanked him before leaving.
• Ian read Adam's report that gunpowder experiments had failed, possibly because of differences in nitrate or magic, and replied that Adam should work on something else while materials remained unavailable.
• Ian read Cilia's report that development along the Worm River was progressing well, sent her the God of Wealth to address her funding request, and decided to discuss corruption in the slave promotion system with her in person.

Femor explained to Leixix why Ian intended to protect Slaver’s Bay and how the Ghiscari cities’ aims had shifted toward conquering Lhazareen after the Westerosi departed. The envoys returned to Ian to protest the ministers’ demands, and Ian began reviewing their terms.

• Femor told Leixix that Ian’s alliance and planned war were meant to protect Slaver’s Bay, while Femor expected to govern the region after Ian left.
• Femor explained that Meereen and Yunkai hoped to defeat Khal Drogo and claim fertile, densely populated Lhazareen once the Westerosi departed.
• The Ghiscari envoys returned to Ian’s study and complained that Queen Daenerys’s ministers had made demands they could not bear.
• Ian examined the envoys’ list of terms and said Yunkai and Meereen would reasonably have to provide supplies after the army crossed the Skahazadhan River.

Ian reviewed the Queen's demands with envoys from Meereen, Yunkai, and New Ghis, appearing to sympathize with their objections while steering them toward accepting the terms. He left them facing Dorian's demands for horses, troops, unified command, and better armor, with Ian positioned to benefit from their need to meet the armor quota.

• Ian read Cilia's demands for supplies and four hundred thousand Radiant Coins, then offered to help the envoys address the terms they found unacceptable.
• Ian read Daron Grafson's shipbuilding, timber, and ship demands, which the envoys accepted as honorable.
• Ian read Dorian's demand for two thousand warhorses, four thousand Riding Horses, and ten thousand Packhorses, and promised to negotiate while stressing the need for cavalry.
• Ian read the troop quotas for Meereen and Yunkai and said he would keep mercenaries in line under his unified command of the alliance.
• Ian read Dorian's requirement that Meereen and Yunkai's soldiers have an armor rate above sixty percent, knowing the cities would need to buy armor from him.

Ian negotiated with the envoys of Meereen, Yunkai, and New Ghis over the terms of their alliance, securing a command council while promising to bargain over trade. After the envoys left, Cilia revealed she understood his trade proposal had been a smokescreen to secure military funding.

• Mazdahan objected to Ian's requirement that sixty percent of the allied troops be armored, but Grazdan accepted it.
• Ian let Mazdahan choose between negotiating Cilia's trade terms and military expenses, and Mazdahan chose the trade terms while agreeing to raise the money.
• Regh, Grazdan, and Mazdahan rejected Ian's sole command of the alliance, so Ian agreed to a council with representatives from the four cities of Ghis.
• Ian promised the envoys he would seek better terms on trade and horses, and they thanked him before leaving.
• Cilia teased Ian about being a true friend and said his trade proposal had been a smokescreen; Ian left the revised terms to her.

Ian discussed his plan with Cilia to expose corrupt promotion officials after the slaves saw the injustice, then received a system reward for completing the initial Robber achievement. He investigated why his earlier seizures had not counted as robbery and prepared to raise his willpower enough to master Skinchanger.

• Ian asked Cilia whether Daenerys had told her to stay away from him, then asked about the officials overseeing slave promotions.
• Cilia confirmed that the officials were corrupt and inferred that Ian planned to wait until the promotion list was announced before punishing them.
• Ian received three Skill Points, five Points, and a Basic Skill Selection Scroll after Corlo's raid completed the initial Robber achievement.
• Ian asked Annie why the seizure of wealth and supplies at Worm River had not counted as robbery, and she explained that the system had classified it as lawful confiscation.
• Ian checked his profile and found that his willpower was 38, two points short of the requirement to upgrade Skinchanger to Master.

Daenerys secured an alliance with the four Ghiscari cities, and Ian learned from the Volantene merchant Bericio that Khal Drogo was likely preparing to march on Slaver’s Bay. Bericio described the Dothraki’s faith in prophecies from the Dosh khaleen, leaving Ian to question their explanation of the defeat at Qohor.

• The Ghiscari envoys won approval from their cities, returned to Daenerys, and signed an alliance on terms that included four Iron Legions from New Ghis.
• After the envoys thanked Ian and departed, the Volantene merchant Bericio arrived in Astapor with news of the khal.
• Ian intercepted Bericio’s request to meet Daenerys and invited him to report what he knew.
• Bericio told Ian that Drogo had returned to Vaes Dothrak to seek a prophecy before marching south, and that the Dosh khaleen always predicted victory in foreign wars.
• Ian pointed out that the Unsullied had defeated the Dothraki at Qohor, while Bericio claimed the Dothraki blamed Mott Qao’s defeat on failing to consult the Dosh khaleen.

Ian learned that Drogo was likely on his way to Slaver’s Bay and used Eon to demonstrate Daenerys’s dragon to a Volantis merchant, securing Volantis’s respect and potential support. By the sixth month of 197, no new Faceless Man had attacked Adam, though Ian still could not dismantle the eunuch defenses.

• Ian questioned Bericio about recent reports and learned that Drogo had likely left Vaes Dothrak for Slaver’s Bay.
• Ian invited Bericio to see Daenerys’s dragon and brought him to the terrace atop the Ghis Pyramid.
• Eon startled Bericio before obeying Ian, convincing the merchant to regard Ian as a dragonlord.
• Ian asked Bericio to report the dragon to Volantis’s triarchs and promised access to Lhazareen slaves after Drogo’s defeat.
• By the sixth month of 197, Adam had gone eight months without another Faceless Man attacking him, while Ian remained unable to remove the eunuch defenses.

Ian raised Skinchanger to legendary rank and planned to use a brainwashed human NPC as a remote duplicate in Westeros. After drawing an unsuitable Dothraki Bloodrider, he found a Hand of the Holy Fire as a possible target.

• Ian spent Attribute Points and Skill Points to raise Skinchanger, then used two Skill Upgrade Scrolls to reach legendary rank.
• Ian reviewed reports of war spreading through Westeros and planned to send a duplicate there once Slaver's Bay had temporarily settled down.
• Ian reasoned that a brainwashed system NPC could be ordered not to resist his attempt to Skinchange into a human.
• Ian chose Ogo, a Dothraki Bloodrider, from his first S-Class card but ruled him out as a target for his plan.
• Ian opened another card and found a Hand of the Holy Fire after the Unsullied Spear Master and Direwolf Warrior appeared again.

Ian chose Corlo as a human Skinchanging target and practiced controlling his body, struggling to move both bodies at once. After a week, he sent Corlo to Meereen to gather intelligence and map the city, while considering how to use one of his avatars in Westeros.

• Ian chose Corlo, the Pirate King, as his human Skinchanging target after ruling out Yada and Keith.
• Corlo agreed to let Ian take control of his body, and Ian successfully Skinchanged into him.
• Ian practiced controlling Corlo and found that one of his bodies had to remain still for the other to move freely.
• Ian stopped controlling the falcon and orange cat while he trained, accepting reduced surveillance of Astapor.
• On the seventh day, Ko Ian Lu boarded a ship for Meereen, where Corlo would meet the Champion Gladiator and spend two months mapping the city.

Euron Greyjoy arrived at Astapor aboard Silence and announced that he had come for Queen Daenerys. Meanwhile, Ian discussed his plans to secure Kayser Pass by winning over the Finley Tribe, leaving the proposed delegation as his next step.

• Astapor's harbor guards spotted Silence and sent a customs officer aboard to learn its purpose.
• Euron Greyjoy introduced himself as Silence's captain and said he had come for Queen Daenerys.
• Ian described the Lhazareen region and reviewed the detailed map and intelligence he had assembled for a campaign there.
• Ian proposed sending another delegation to the Finley Tribe to take Kayser Pass without a fight, since his forces were not yet prepared for mountain warfare.

Ian’s war council discussed securing the Finley Tribe’s cooperation, enslaving Lhazareen tribes that resisted, and coordinating the forces and funds needed for the coming war. New Ghis’s Iron Legions had assembled but planned to reach Meereen in two batches because its navy could not transport them all at once.

• Leixix reported that the Finley Tribe had rejected three offers because it would not submit or kneel, so Ian proposed an equal alliance in exchange for passage through its lands and military support.
• Ian told Femor that the plains tribes would either surrender and receive slave status based on their rank or be defeated and enslaved under hostile tribes.
• Ian offered all mountain tribes supplies for winter and an end to slave-taking, with the freedom of captured tribal members, and said any objecting city could take and hold Kayser Pass.
• Cilia reported that Yunkai had delivered the first 150,000 Radiant Coins of its 400,000-coin pledge, while Meereen had delayed its payment.
• Cilia reported that New Ghis’s four Iron Legions had assembled and would travel to Meereen in two batches before joining Ian’s army.

Ian planned the army’s advance toward Meereen and assessed the Dothraki’s possible routes, rejecting a risky decisive battle at Hesh. He left the final battlefield undecided between a narrow river valley and Meereen’s walls.

• Ian announced that he would lead the first wave toward Meereen with four legions, crossbowmen, and Khal Quogo’s Khalasar, while Dorian and the Imperial Guard stayed in Astapor to protect the Queen.
• Ian ordered the remaining legions to follow a month after the first wave departed.
• Ian explained the Dothraki’s three possible routes and identified their likely advance along the Skahazadhan River as the greatest threat to Meereen.
• Ian predicted that Meereen and Yunkai would urge his army to occupy Hesh and draw Khal Drogo into battle there.
• Ian refused to fight at Hesh and said the final battle would take place either in the narrow Skahazadhan River Valley or beneath Meereen’s walls.

Ian prepared to draw Drogo into a decisive battle and accepted Femor mo Nackroz's allegiance, promising him Slaver's Bay in the future. When Euron Greyjoy arrived seeking Queen Daenerys, Ian recognized the dangerous pirate and began arranging to capture him.

• Ian told the council he would resolve disputes over his battle plan, then dismissed the meeting and spoke privately with Femor.
• Femor half-knelt and pledged allegiance to Ian, who accepted him and promised that Slaver's Bay would eventually belong to the Nackroz family.
• Yada the Water Dancer reported that Euron Greyjoy had arrived in Astapor and requested a meeting with Queen Daenerys.
• Ian ordered Yada to disarm Euron and double the guards before bringing him into the hall.
• Ian described Euron's ship and raided merchant vessels to Femor, then asked him to find the surviving sailors.

Euron arrived in Astapor after surviving a storm in the Smoking Sea and discovering Oros, where he found a dragon egg, the Dragon's Horn, and other treasures. Hearing that Daenerys ruled Slaver's Bay with dragons and armies, he went to meet her, hoping to claim her and become a dragonrider; he reached Ian's pyramid with gifts.

• Euron recalled how his first two expeditions into the Smoking Sea failed, while his third carried him through a storm to Oros.
• Euron found a dragon egg, the Dragon's Horn, Valyrian Steel armor, and other treasures in an ancient dragonlord's estate, then escaped the Smoking Sea.
• After losing a supply ship, Euron resupplied at Vaaros and learned that Daenerys had arrived in Astapor with dragons and a large alliance.
• Euron killed a sailor who mocked the reports, then massacred Vaaros Harbor's defenders and took the supplies he needed.
• Euron decided to visit Astapor, where he saw the Queen's guards and banners and imagined taking Daenerys and her dragon egg for himself.
• An Unsullied captain summoned Euron to Ian, and Euron carried his gifts toward Ian's pyramid.

Ian arranged for Euron Greyjoy to be disarmed and tried in Astapor for raiding merchant ships and killing their crews. As the trial concluded, Euron offered Ian a secret in exchange for a chance to live.

• Unsullied guards confiscated Euron's weapons, searched him and his attendants, and allowed them into Ian's hall.
• Euron demanded to see Queen Daenerys, but Missandei explained that Ian represented her in her absence.
• Ian blocked Euron's attempt to leave as fighting broke out outside, then revealed that Euron was facing a trial in Astapor rather than being judged by the queen.
• Femor mo Nackroz heard sailors testify that Euron's ship, the Silence, had raided their vessels and slaughtered their crews.
• Euron denied leaving survivors, challenged the trial as a sham, and offered Ian a secret in exchange for his life.

Euron Greyjoy offered Ian the secret of reaching the ruins of Valyria in exchange for a fleet and freedom, and Ian confirmed that Euron’s dragon egg was genuine. The Ghiscari trial ended with Femor sentencing Euron to death, while Ian’s interest in the egg and Euron’s fate remained clear.

• Euron claimed he could read the Smoking Sea’s storm patterns and find the ruins of Valyria, offering to explore them for Daenerys in exchange for a fleet.
• Femor had a guard verify Euron’s chests, and Ian confirmed that the golden, flame-patterned stone was a dragon egg.
• Ian told Euron that he would seek a pardon and the title of Duke of Pyke if Euron survived Astapor’s trial.
• Femor refused to spare Euron, citing the deaths of Ghiscari sailors and the Harpy’s provocation, and sentenced him to death.
• Femor ordered Euron’s immediate execution, and the Unsullied moved to carry it out.

Ian had Euron executed, but black slime leaking from the corpse drove people in the hall into madness and forced Ian to destroy it with Dragonflame. The slime was incinerated, and Ian found Femor still sane, though the lasting effects on the other nobles remained uncertain.

• Euron was killed by the Astapor executioner, and Ian asked Femor for permission to claim the corpse for burial.
• Black slime flowed from Euron’s corpse, and Ian ordered the Unsullied to burn it as the people in the hall began attacking one another.
• Ian killed an attacking Unsullied and decided he could not abandon the Astapor nobles, but the chaos and mental pressure overwhelmed him.
• Ian used Skinchanging to send Black Dragon Ion through the pyramid wall, where Ion burned the slime, Euron’s corpse, and the nearby Unsullied.
• Ian confirmed the slime had been incinerated, ended his Skinchanging, and found Femor still sane while the nobles lay exhausted.

After Euron died, Ian suspected the black slime on his body was connected to the legendary Drowned Ones, and the system confirmed he had discovered the species. He then learned that the Silence had surrendered and inspected Dragonbinder and the treasure taken from the ship.

• Ian told Femor that he had known Euron was a monster but had not expected the terrifying black slime inside him.
• Ian guessed the slime was related to the Drowned Ones, then received a system achievement confirming their discovery and awarding him 30 points.
• An Unsullied officer told Ian that the Silence had surrendered after its crew learned Euron was dead.
• Ian followed the officer to inspect Dragonbinder and the chests recovered from the ship.
• Ian found Old Valyrian ornaments and utensils in the first large chest and expected the treasure to ease Cilia's financial concerns.

Ian inspected the wealth recovered from a Dragonlord's residence and the nautical charts taken from Euron's room. After learning Daenerys wanted to see him, he realized that losing his Skinchanging connection with Corlo had ruined his plans to prepare for taking Meereen and went to meet the Queen.

• Ian found a lightweight suit of Valyrian Steel armor, a chest of gemstones, and roughly three hundred thousand Old Valyrian gold coins among the recovered treasure.
• Ian examined Euron's nautical charts, noticed a detailed map of the Thousand Islands, and ordered the maps preserved.
• An Unsullied told Ian that Cilia had transferred the silver coins to the treasury and escorted Daenerys back to her quarters after the demon dragon's attack.
• Ian realized he could not reestablish his Skinchanging connection with Corlo before his army reached Meereen, leaving him unable to scout the city or prepare his plan to seize it.
• Ian set aside his regret over Euron's missing corpse and told the Unsullied to take him to Daenerys.

Grazdan mo Eraz and Yazdan zo Quagz discussed Ian Dary’s approaching army and his proposed battle plans against the Dothraki. Yazdan agreed that Ian’s preferred battlefields would better protect Yunkai, but refused to persuade Yunkai’s Grand Marshal, leaving Grazdan without support.

• Grazdan mo Eraz and Yazdan zo Quagz watched Dothraki scouts enter Yunkai and discussed Ian Dary’s armored cavalry.
• Grazdan told Yazdan that Ian favored fighting either in a Skahazadhan River valley or beneath Meereen’s walls rather than in Lhazar.
• Grazdan argued that those battlefields would give the coalition a better chance and spare Yunkai from invasion if the army lost.
• Yazdan agreed that Ian’s plan served Yunkai’s interests better than Meereen’s, but said he would not appeal to Grand Marshal Yakhaaz zo Yazak.
• Grazdan realized Yazdan had no personal reason to help Yunkai, and his hopes of winning Yazdan’s support sank.