Chapter Summaries

Bericio outlined a plan to seize North Harbor Dock and pressure Volantis into releasing Manios, and Ian approved it despite recognizing how many things could go wrong. Ian then asked Benerro and Melisandre whether visions from the Red God’s flames could be changed and described a vision of the Hand of the Holy Fire fighting the Tiger Guard at the temple.

• Bericio proposed provoking unrest at the docks, capturing the North City Armory, and using control of the grain route to force the Great Council to release Manios.
• Grand Magistrate Palachiro warned that the plan risked a war with Volantis, but he agreed after Bericio argued that threats to the grain supply could deter the Great Council.
• Ian approved Bericio’s plan and ordered the group to prepare quickly, then arranged for Palachiro to walk to North Harbor Dock in chainmail and a red robe.
• Ian asked Benerro and Melisandre whether the future shown in the Red God’s visions could be changed, but neither could answer from experience.
• Ian described his first vision of the Red God’s response: the Hand of the Holy Fire fighting the outnumbering Tiger Guard on the temple steps and in the square below.

Ian realized Magister Malacho and the Golden Company could threaten the Great Red Temple, so he ordered an immediate breakout and revised the plan to seize North Harbor Dock and the North City Granary. As Ian prepared to lead a small force against the North City Armory, Zorg found Belisa Visama reporting no movement from the temple.

• Ian identified the Tiger Guard in his vision as Malacho’s men and concluded the Golden Company might join an attack on the Great Red Temple.
• Ian ordered the forces to break out north immediately, seize North Harbor Dock and the North City Granary, and prevent Malacho’s troops from closing their escape route.
• Ian changed the plan so the Twelfth Tiger Guard Battalion would ambush the Eighth Battalion while he led a small group to raid the North City Armory with Benerro.
• Zorg reached the Seventh Tiger Guard Battalion’s camp and asked Belisa Visama about activity inside the Red Temple.
• Belisa told Zorg that the temple remained quiet and said the Grand Magistrate should already have acted by then.

Zorg learned that the Red Temple rebels had attacked north to seize Volantis’s granary and armory, and he ordered Tiger Guard forces to stop them while relying on the approaching Golden Company. Meanwhile, Ian and Benerro reached the North City Armory and broke in, leaving the battle for control of the district about to begin.

• A messenger told Belisa Visama and Zorg that the Red Temple rebels, including the Hand of the Holy Fire, had left through the north gate and were attacking the Third Battalion.
• Zorg deduced that the rebels planned to seize North Harbor’s granary and threaten Volantis’s grain supply, while Belisa insisted that Manios must die.
• Zorg told Belisa that the Golden Company was approaching Veronsus Town, and Belisa left to inform the senior councilors.
• Zorg ordered the Eighth Tiger Guard Battalion to abandon North Harbor Dock and defend the North City Armory, while other Tiger Guard forces moved north to attack the rebels.
• Ian Corlo carried Benerro on horseback to the North City Armory, where Ian’s mercenaries killed the guards at the gate.
• Benerro melted the armory gate’s inner lock with a spell, and Ian charged inside with his sword drawn.

Ian’s forces seized North Harbor and the north gate of Volantis while the Great Council stalled over how to respond. Ian tricked the Tiger Party army into leaving the city for Veronsus Town, and he concluded that Volantis’s military resistance was weaker than he had expected.

• Bericio’s trusted officer ambushed the Eighth Battalion, recruited its Red God followers, and helped the uprising take North Harbor.
• Ian ordered Bericio to plunder North Harbor and send forces from Veronsus Town south after learning the Golden Company was advancing there.
• Ian’s men ambushed Tiger Guard messengers at the north gate, while Dofas Pennimien blocked a Great Council vote on sending mercenaries to Veronsus Town.
• Ian presented forged orders and genuine Tiger Seals to General Leonidas, convincing him to lead three thousand Tiger Party soldiers toward Veronsus Town.
• Leonidas balked at fighting Bericio’s Fourth Legion, and Ian recognized that Volantis’s forces were far less formidable than he had assumed.

Ian Corlo persuaded Leonidas to move the Sixth Legion to Veronsus Town and separate its Red God believers, while Zorg’s plans in Volantis unraveled. Magister Dophus concluded that Malacho had secretly orchestrated the rebellion to seize power and sought an alliance with Nesisso.

• Ian told Leonidas that Malacho wanted the Sixth Legion to defend Veronsus Town while the Fourth Legion went to Volantis, and advised him to organize the Red God believers into separate units.
• Zorg’s mercenaries looted the Great Temple as he learned the Great Council remained deadlocked, his contact with the Sixth Legion was missing, and the rebels had looted North Harbor.
• Zorg decided to seek Magister Dophus’s support, but he was knocked unconscious by a nobleman before he could enter Dophus’s study.
• Dophus’s son reported that the rebels had seized the southern district armory and that the Sixth Legion’s camp outside the city was empty.
• Dophus accused Malacho of engineering the rebellion and betraying the Elephant Party, then ordered his son to summon Nesisso so they could join forces.

Ian took control of Volantis’s abandoned western districts while the Tiger and Elephant parties tore into one another, then learned that the Elephant Party had arrested Magister Malacho under the mistaken belief that he was conspiring with the rebellion. With the Golden Company holding back and the Volantis fleet due to arrive, Ian arranged formal negotiations for three days later.

• Ian found that the Volantis council army had withdrawn after the Elephant Party families ambushed and destroyed Malacho’s First Battalion of the Tiger Guard, and he took over its abandoned defensive line and equipment.
• Ian armed nearly thirty thousand believers, rejected a direct assault on the Black Wall, and received three thousand reinforcements from Bericio Valerose’s Fourth Legion.
• Ian used his recovered hawk to scout the city and learned that the Golden Company had occupied Veronsus Town but was not advancing toward Volantis.
• Dophus Pennimian’s son accused Ian of conspiring with Magister Malacho and threatened that Malacho and Manios would remain in custody unless the rebellion surrendered; Breakbones nearly cut out the envoy’s tongue before Ian stopped him.
• Ian concluded that the Elephant Party had misread the rebellion as a Tiger Party plot and ordered Breakbones to invite the Great Council to negotiations three days later.

Bericio Valerose escorted Magister Nysiso Visama to Ian Corlo’s residence after exposing and mocking his secret attempt to negotiate with the Ghiscari. There, Nysiso unexpectedly encountered Aelius Chihida, leaving both men to greet each other awkwardly as if their meeting were a coincidence.

• Bericio told Ian Corlo that Slaver's Bay’s fleet had landed on Volantis’s east bank, and Ian promised to show him a grand spectacle at dusk.
• Magister Nysiso Visama secretly crossed the river to seek terms with the Ghiscari, whose seizure of his family’s ships and assets had also led to his son’s arrest.
• Nysiso’s guard attacked a Tiger Guard captain after the captain addressed Nysiso by name, and the captain killed the guard with his Morning Star Mace.
• Bericio arrived, had the Tiger Guard captain taken away, and used the journey to Ian’s residence to remind Nysiso of his past role in rejecting Bericio’s horse-breeding proposal.
• Nysiso entered Ian Corlo’s residence and unexpectedly came face to face with Aelius Chihida in the reception hall.

Nysiso Visama, Aelius Chihida, and Dophus Pennimian were summoned together by Duke Corlo, exposing their attempts to negotiate separately. Ian Corlo pressed Dophus over his actions against the Ghiscari Delegation, and Dophus ended by offering House Pennimyn’s loyalty to Ian Dary.

• Nysiso Visama arrived at Duke Corlo’s reception room and found Aelius Chihida waiting, leaving both men uneasy about their secret negotiations.
• Dophus Pennimian arrived, and the three magisters realized Duke Corlo had deliberately arranged their simultaneous visits to expose their disunity.
• Dophus was invited to meet Ian first, while Aelius objected and then watched him leave with the guard.
• Ian reviewed House Pennimyn’s Summer Isles trade ties as he waited for Dophus, whose fleet and connections could aid Ian’s plans for the islands.
• Ian confronted Dophus over Volantis’s actions against the Ghiscari Delegation, and Dophus defended his opposition to attacks on North Harbor and his role in stopping Malacho.
• Dophus knelt and pledged House Pennimyn’s loyalty, honor, and authority to Ian Dary.

Ian used the threat of divided loyalties to make Magister Dophus Pennimian surrender power and commit himself to the Emperor, while Count Daron Grafson secretly steered him toward Ian’s plans. Dophus left believing he had secured a place in Volantis’s new order, and Ian prepared to receive the other two Elephant Party leaders.

• Ian relied on the rivalry among the three Elephant Party leaders, intending to bind Volantis’s nobles to his rule rather than purge them.
• Dophus swore loyalty to Ian and agreed to transfer the Tiger Guard’s Second Battalion and the troops outside the city to General Bericio Valeros.
• Ian demanded that House Pennimyn surrender control of its Volantis–Summer Isles fleet to Count Daron Grafson, and Dophus reluctantly agreed.
• Ian implied that Dophus should eliminate Magister Malacho Megar, while Daron suggested that Dophus could earn the Elephant Party’s magisterial seat by proving his loyalty to the Emperor.
• Dophus agreed to Ian’s demands, believing Duke Corlo was trying to block the Emperor’s plans, and Daron escorted him out.
• Ian praised Daron’s performance and instructed him and General Bericio to receive the Visama and Chiheda representatives, with Bericio playing the villain and Daron the good man.

After taking control of Volantis, Ian collected the rewards for Main Mission Three and discovered that Main Mission Four demanded far larger populations and armies. He considered whether to recruit Adam to help reach the point target, then recognized a young woman heading to the wounded soldiers’ residence and realized who she resembled.

• Ian killed the unconscious Zorg and learned that Zorg had given nearly all his resources to the King of Chayona, so he summoned Machiro to investigate with a Fire Illusion.
• At Volantis’s Great Council, Dofas, Nysiso, Elios, and Palachiro formally submitted to Ian, who was recognized as Valyrian Emperor and appointed two magisters.
• Ian received the rewards for occupying Volantis and completing Main Mission Three, bringing his points to 3,135.
• Ian inspected Main Mission Four and found objectives requiring him to rule millions of people, command and eliminate hundreds of thousands of Grade B soldiers, and become supreme monarch over several regions.
• Ian considered adding Adam to his alliance to gain more points, but postponed the decision.
• Ian saw a young woman carrying a wooden case toward the wounded soldiers’ residence and recognized who she resembled.

Ian investigated Talisa Megar and reconsidered how television-series characters might fit into the world’s original plot while reviewing intelligence about Westeros. Concerned by the King of Chayona’s unexplained actions, Ian asked Machiro for a vision, but the flames showed only dense fog, which Machiro identified as Water Magic.

• Ian learned that Talisa Megar was a nurse and the granddaughter of Malacho Megar, then reasoned that her presence in Volantis did not conflict with Jeyne Westerling’s role in the original plot.
• Ian reviewed reports that Myrcella Baratheon and Shireen Baratheon had been crowned, and that the Stark family remained safe in Winterfell.
• Ian concluded that the King of Chayona might be avoiding a blockade or battle because he was occupied with something more important, and summoned Machiro to investigate.
• Machiro performed a fire vision about the King of Chayona, but Ian saw only dense fog.
• Machiro said the fog was Water Magic.

Ian learned that Chayona’s mists might conceal ancient Valyrian blood sorcerers and a powerful source of Water Magic, then decided to infiltrate the ruined city to investigate the King of Chayona. His thoughts about R’hllor as a nonhuman will earned him a special achievement, leaving him surprised that his theory was correct.

• Machiro explained that Chayona’s powerful Water Magic had blocked his attempt to observe the target, and he confirmed that ancient Valyrian blood sorcerers might be sealed beneath the riverbed there.
• Ian questioned Machiro about gods and the Mother Rhoyne, then stopped when he realized he might shake Machiro’s faith.
• Machiro said he could locate the source of the Water Magic if he entered Chayona, and Ian decided to travel there in disguise because he lacked the forces to invade openly.
• Ian chose members of the Hand of the Holy Fire, a devout captain, two Champion Gladiators, and Magister Malacho’s two sons as companions and sacrifices for the expedition.
• Ian considered that R’hllor might be a will focused on ending the Long Night, and a notification awarded him the achievement “Exploration of the World of Ice and Fire (2/7).”

Ian returned to Meereen for his coronation and overruled a proposed list of noble rewards, stripping most figures of individual oaths and investitures. Before the ceremony, Daenerys pressed him on whether the empire was ready to abolish slavery, but Ian postponed answering as he entered to acclaim from the crowd.

• Ian left his party hidden along the Rhoyne and returned to his main body in Meereen to attend the coronation.
• Ian reviewed the oath and reward list, canceled most investitures, and ordered the excluded nobles to swear fealty alongside mercenaries and pirates, behind the slave soldier representatives.
• Ian explained that New Ghis, Tolos, Essos, and Lhazareen leaders had not earned the authority their proposed rewards would grant them.
• Daenerys reminded Ian of his promise to abolish slavery and asked whether the time had come, but Ian deflected her questions and postponed the discussion.
• Ian entered the Pyramid of Grace, where the assembled nobles and other attendees cheered him as Emperor.

Ian was crowned Emperor and granted titles and offices to his followers and newly surrendered nobles. After returning to the Great Pyramid, he accepted Daenerys’s apology and switched back to Corlo to continue sailing toward Chayona.

• The religious leaders knelt before Ian and presented the crown, sword, and scepter, which his Royal Slaves placed on him as the hall acclaimed him Emperor.
• Ian enfeoffed his followers in order of merit, value, loyalty, and factional balance, appointing Femor zo Nackroz Duke of Khoslak, Hominas Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Roar First Marshal among others.
• Ian ended the ceremony early and returned to the Great Pyramid, where Daenerys apologized for her earlier behavior.
• Ian learned that Cilia had spoken with Daenerys about the timing of freeing the slaves and did not pursue the matter further.
• Ian switched back to Corlo, gathered the resting crew, and resumed the voyage toward Chayona.

Ian Corlo and his companions entered Chayona’s sorcerous fog to find the King of Chayona, but lost their aerial vision and could not sense magic. They planned to push onward toward Heart’s Palace, where Machiro believed he could summon a clear vision, despite the danger posed by the Shroud King and the Stone Men.

• Ian Corlo and his companions traveled north along the Rhoyne, avoiding river pirates with Ian’s aerial vision.
• The old captain explained that Chayona’s fog had become less deadly since the King of Chayona killed the Shroud King and united the river pirates.
• Ian ordered the boats into the fog and told Machiro and Melisandre to prioritize their own safety over his avatar.
• Ian’s falcon failed to fly through the fog, and Machiro and Melisandre could not sense magic within it.
• Ian rejected Machiro’s proposal to use a sacrifice for a vision, so Machiro suggested they travel to Heart’s Palace instead.
• The old captain explained that most Stone Men were blind and sluggish, and that the Warriors could fight them if their skin stayed covered.

Ian and his companions sailed into the magical fog around Chayona, where familiar ruins appeared in the same order as in Tyrion’s account and a Bloody Hand ship attacked them. After Melisandre sensed several kinds of sorcery in the fog, Ian suspected they had entered a dream and activated his Dream Dungeon Activation Scroll to test the idea.

• Ian recognized a submerged statue and temple ruins that matched sights Tyrion had seen while sailing in the opposite direction through Chayona.
• Melisandre said the fog’s magic was growing stronger and contained Water Magic, blood sorcery, and other powers she could not identify.
• Ian ordered his group to fire on an approaching boat, and they fought off its Bloody Hand river pirates before the second boat flipped the enemy vessel.
• The pirates who fell into the river went still and vanished beneath the water, while Ian’s boats continued onward through the fog.
• Ian reasoned that Chayona’s impossible route might be a dream and opened the Dream Dungeon Activation Scroll in the Auxiliary System.

Ian discovered that the Chayona fog had drawn him into a Nightmare-difficulty dream instance, where his dream self was replaced by his real body and best equipment. With Melisandre identifying the fog as a borderland between dream and reality, the group entered ancient Chayona and settled in an inn, leaving Ian to explore the true dream.

• Ian read the instance rules and realized he could abandon the dream, but stayed after considering the danger of falling asleep again in Chayona’s fog.
• Ian’s appearance and gear changed to his real body wearing Euron’s Valyrian Steel armor and carrying a Valyrian Steel Sword, and he told Melisandre and Machiro that they were inside a dream.
• Ian’s group reached Heart’s Palace, where Melisandre sensed that the fog was a borderland formed by overlapping dream and reality.
• Melisandre’s insight cleared the First Scene, and Ian’s group entered the vivid dream of ancient Chayona, the City of Festivals.
• Ian led his group across the Bridge of Dream into the western city, warned them to conceal their faith in the Lord of Light, and paid for rooms at an inn.

Ian used Melisandre’s ruby necklace to contact the Lord of Light from within Chayona’s dream, restoring the Red Priests’ powers and learning that ancient forces had fought there for a thousand years. He concluded that a player was disrupting the balance between Prince Gerron’s Rhoynar side and the surviving Sorcerer Dragon Kings, and resolved to find him before he could threaten Volantis.

• Ian decided to investigate the Second Scene rather than risk abandoning the Dream Instance and being pulled back into Chayona’s dream.
• Melisandre told Ian she could not sense the essence of the dream because her connection to the Lord of Light had vanished.
• Ian took Melisandre’s ruby necklace and used his Greenseer magic to open a path for the Lord of Light’s power into the dream, restoring Melisandre’s and Machiro’s abilities.
• Ian learned that two powers had been locked in conflict for a thousand years and that the Lord of Light’s desired sacrifices were present in Chayona.
• Melisandre and Machiro reasoned that Prince Gerron or a Rhoynar god had overcome the sealed Sorcerer Dragon Kings, and Ian concluded that the player he sought was responsible for upsetting the balance.

Ian’s group discovered that the dream’s second scenario had ended, but instead of advancing, the dream’s magic grew stronger as the Lord of Light empowered the Sorcerer Dragon Kings beneath the Rhoyne. A dragon erupted from the river, and the dream returned to pre-Doom Chayona, leaving Ian and his allies facing awakened dragonlords and Gales’s ruined plans.

• Ian waited for the dream to advance after clearing the second scenario, but Melisandre, Machiro, and Ian discovered their magical powers had grown stronger.
• Gales abandoned his ritual beneath the Rhoyne as the river overheated and a giant dragon burst from the water, then fled toward Heart’s Palace.
• Gales realized Darren might not be responsible for the dragonlords’ awakening and considered that Ian could have entered the dream.
• Ian and Melisandre watched a wall of river water swallow the dragon, and Melisandre explained that the Lord of Light had empowered the Sorcerer Dragon Kings.
• Melisandre explained that the dragonlords’ resistance had returned the dream to pre-Doom Chayona, freeing its magic from the weaker rules of the Rhoynar ghosts’ peaceful kingdom.

Ian investigated the upheaval in Chayona and realized the peaceful city was a separate dream from the war-torn Chayona, then cleared the Nightmare Instance. He and his companions returned to the Rhoyne River, leaving Ian unsure how to re-enter the dream and reach Scene Two.

• Ian learned Old Rhoynish, improved his abilities, and discovered that the mercenaries in peaceful Chayona knew nothing of Valyria, the Andals, or dragons.
• Ian and Melisandre concluded that two versions of Chayona existed in the dream, with the true conflict and the Sorcerer Dragon Kings elsewhere.
• Gales fled through the burning city toward Heart's Palace as dragons and Rhoynar water mages fought above Chayona.
• Ian realized that the peaceful city was actually Scene Three and that the system had sent him there after he cleared Scene Two.
• The system declared Scene Three cleared and awarded Ian ten Attribute Points, five Skill Points, and the Shell of the Old Man of the River, then returned him and his companions to the pole boat on the Rhoyne.