Chapter Summaries

Ian suspected that the Dragonpit and its underground passages connected the treasure quest’s clues, so he led his men to explore the ruins. He arrived at the deserted site and ordered a search for an entrance, while prostitutes and their clients used the ruins nearby.

• Ian reasoned that the Dragonpit fit the clues of ruins, death, and underground, and wondered whether Wildfire tunnels linked it to Flea Bottom.
• Ian learned from Roar and Bronn that deaths were common in Flea Bottom but they had found no ruins there, so he chose to investigate the Dragonpit.
• Ian changed into his commissioned Coat of Plates and led Roar, Keith, and Bronn toward Rhaenys's Hill, followed by Dorian and his men.
• Ian reached the Dragonpit, examined its collapsed dome and closed bronze gates, and ordered his men to find a way inside.
• Ian noticed the area was nearly deserted and heard prostitutes entertaining clients beyond a stone wall.

Ian searched the Dragonpit ruins for an underground passage connected to Flea Bottom, but found no route despite days of exploration. After buying the final clue and realizing the Dragonpit stood atop the former Temple of the Mother, he recognized that the clues pointed to something underground.

• Ian led his companions into the Dragonpit and ordered them to search for an entrance to an underground passage.
• Ian, Roar, Keith, and Bronn explored underground chambers and corridors, but found only empty secret tunnels and rusted armor.
• Ian's group searched the Dragonpit ruins again, found Wildfire jars, and suspected the passage exit might lie beneath collapsed rubble.
• After the player count fell to sixty-seven, Ian spent eight points on the fourth clue, which was marked Sacred.
• Ian recalled that Maegor I had built the Dragonpit atop the ruins of the Temple of the Mother and suddenly understood the significance of the underground clue.

Ian identified buried cellars beneath the Dragonpit as likely remnants of the Temple of the Mother and ordered them searched for the hidden passage. He also learned that a suspicious group had arrived from Pentos and that one of his decoys had been killed by an unseen assailant.

• Ian’s men confirmed that Dragonpit cellars had both Valyrian and Andal styles, and Ian mapped the likely temple cellar clusters.
• Ian ordered his men to clear the buried temple cellars and search them for passages.
• Gransen’s adjutant reported that twelve armed men from Pentos had arrived, entered an inn near Flea Bottom, and sent some of their number into the district.
• Ian told Gransen’s men to keep watching the newcomers rather than attack them.
• Dirty Joke’s messenger reported that Pawn, the decoy in Sellsword Knight gear, had been killed in a house without anyone seeing the killer.
• The messenger blamed the death on the Stranger’s Curse, leaving Ian puzzled.

Ian investigated Pawn’s murder in Flea Bottom and learned that similar killings had claimed other lone mercenaries and wanderers. The killer remained unseen despite surveillance, leaving Ian to wonder whether another ghost was responsible.

• A messenger told Ian that Gold Cloaks had found a string of similar murders in Flea Bottom, all targeting lone sellswords, mercenaries, or wanderers.
• Ian learned that the victims’ deaths showed almost no signs of struggle and that no witnesses had spotted anyone suspicious.
• The messenger explained that Pawn had returned alone to his rented room, while Ian’s men watched the alley but could not see the courtyard itself.
• Pawn’s landlady silently left the courtyard after finding him dead and later returned with a squad of Gold Cloaks.
• The messenger said Pawn had been killed by an axe that pierced his chainmail and cut across his chest, while the Gold Cloaks took away his body.

Ian investigated the killings in Flea Bottom but withdrew the Dirty Joke squad after another player was murdered, while the search for a tunnel beneath the Dragonpit yielded no results. On the eighth day, Bronn returned from Flea Bottom with a captive just as Ian was about to inspect the second-to-last basement.

• Ian reasoned that a skilled player had killed Pawn without being detected, but could not determine how the killer had bypassed the mercenaries watching the courtyard.
• Ian recruited the Dance of the Shiarra's sailors to help clear the Dragonpit basements, paying them fifty Gold Dragons in advance.
• More players died as two newcomers arrived from Pentos, and Ian ordered the Dirty Joke squad to stop laying bait and remain on standby.
• Ian sent Bronn to investigate the claim about Stranger's Curse after connecting Stranger to the system clues about death and divinity.
• Ian reached the second-to-last basement on the eighth day without finding a tunnel, then learned that Bronn had returned with a captive.

Bronn captured a mercenary who Ian recognized as a player searching for the treasure chest, and Ian uncovered the prisoner’s alliance and past operations. The prisoner claimed to know the chest’s location, but Ian refused to accept his conditions.

• Bronn explained that he had caught the prisoner in Flea Bottom while investigating the Stranger’s Curse rumor and learned he was one of the mutinous mercenaries.
• Ian sentenced the captive player to death for rebellion, but the prisoner begged to speak privately and asked Ian to join his alliance.
• The prisoner said his alliance had three members and significant resources, but Ian deduced how they had eliminated players in Pentos and divided their forces in King’s Landing.
• The prisoner revealed that he knew where the treasure chest was and tried to set conditions, but Ian told him he was not in a position to bargain.

Ian forced a captive player to reveal that the treasure was hidden in an underground temple dedicated to The Stranger in Flea Bottom, then prepared an operation to secure it. He left for the Dragonpit after discovering he had earned the Butcher achievement for personally killing three players.

• The captive offered to reveal the treasure’s location in exchange for an alliance and safe passage, but Ian pointed out that his allies were already under surveillance.
• The captive said the treasure was in a long-demolished underground temple in Flea Bottom, where the shrine to The Stranger had been preserved; he had learned of it by paying the owner ten Gold Dragons.
• Ian confirmed the location fit the system’s clues, then killed the captive despite promising to let him go.
• Ian ordered Roar to assemble the men at the Dragonpit, sent Dirty Joke to locate and guard the temple, and directed Glason to watch the captive’s allies near Silent Sisters Street.
• Ian checked the system and learned that he had earned the beginner Butcher achievement, three Skill Points, five points, and a Basic Skill Selection Scroll for personally killing three players.

Ian prepared his men and took command of the coming assault on a hidden Stranger's Temple in Flea Bottom, confident that his resources gave him the advantage over the hostile players. Meanwhile, Esther entered a house where he could observe the gathering and planned to identify and kill the player leading them.

• Ian armed his forces, gave some men spare armor, and put on Jonoso Darey's Kingsguard plate armor.
• Ian rejected disguises and decided to confront the Pentos player alliance directly, judging that its forces and resources could not match his own.
• Ian refused Captain Corlen Sasmong's attempt to demand more payment and told him that his sailors would remain assigned to intercept enemy reinforcements.
• Esther entered a house on Flea Street and watched the scattered players gather, suspecting that the treasure was nearby.
• Esther decided to find the player among the gathering and kill him to claim his points.

Ian found the hidden treasure chest in the sanctuary, collected the gold and Valyrian Steel Greatsword, and rewarded his allies, prompting Dorian and the Black Falcon Mercenaries to swear loyalty to him. As Ian’s group left the sanctuary, a fishing net suddenly fell over them.

• Ian led the mercenaries through the empty sanctuary, where they discovered a chest hidden in a recess.
• Ian opened the chest, found thousands of Gold Dragons and a Valyrian Steel Greatsword, and completed Bounty Two.
• Ian paid Koren, gave Bronn a share of the gold, and offered gold bars to Dorian.
• Dorian swore allegiance to Ian, and the Black Falcon Mercenaries knelt and pledged their loyalty.
• Ian and his group left the sanctuary, but a fishing net fell over them as they reached the surface.

Ian and his allies were ambushed by Gold Cloaks equipped to capture armored fighters. After Ian killed one attacker and tried to help Keith, a Gold Cloak knocked him down and raised a Hammer-Spear for a final blow, leaving Ian convinced death was near.

• Ian saw the Gold Cloaks trap his party in a fishing net and kill the sailors with crossbow bolts and Hammer-Spears.
• Bronn escaped the net, freed Roar, and fought several Gold Cloaks while others closed in on Keith.
• Ian cut himself free and killed a Gold Cloak with his Crested Sword, but lost the sword when another attacker forced him back.
• Keith yanked the net toward himself, pulling nearby Gold Cloaks off their feet, as Ian tried to reach him with his dagger.
• A Gold Cloak struck Ian's helmet and Breastplates, leaving him dazed on the ground as the attacker raised his Hammer-Spear for another blow.

Bronn rescued Ian from a Gold Cloak, and Keith and Roar fought off the attackers as Bronn tried to retreat with Ian toward the basement. A hidden Gold Cloak knight turned Bronn aside and charged straight at Ian.

• Bronn killed the Gold Cloak attacking Ian and helped the Black Falcon Mercenaries carry Ian toward the basement entrance.
• Keith took Ian's Valyrian Steel Greatsword and killed three Gold Cloaks in a swift attack.
• Keith drove back the Gold Cloaks surrounding Roar, who fought despite a wounded leg and killed two attackers.
• More Gold Cloaks joined the siege as the trapped sailors and mercenaries were hunted down.
• A Gold Cloak knight in black plate armor fought Bronn, then charged at Ian.

Ian and his companions retreated into the basement after Roar took a grievous wound protecting Ian, leaving them trapped by the Gold Cloaks. As Roar lay dying, Ian remembered the Blessing of the Supreme Shepherd and decided to spend 20 points to try to save him.

• Ian faced a Gold Cloak knight, but Roar intercepted the knight's mace and was crushed by the blow while stabbing the knight beneath the arm.
• Bronn attacked the wounded knight, then Keith, Bronn, and Dorian led the surviving mercenaries and sailors back toward the basement.
• Ian ordered the men who had fled earlier to help carry him and Roar downstairs, and they returned to The Stranger's shrine.
• Roar coughed up blood and fell silent, while Bronn and Keith said he was unlikely to survive without medicine and a maester.
• Ian remembered the Blessing of the Supreme Shepherd in the Tier 2 Mall and chose to buy it in hopes of saving Roar.

Ian used a purchased magical ointment on Roar’s wound, then fainted while Bronn and the others held off the Gold Cloaks. After waking, Ian deduced that a player commanding the Gold Cloaks had been secretly killing players and targeting their group, leaving Ian’s companions to hope he could find a way out.

• Ian bought Blessing of the Supreme Shepherd and spread the ointment on Roar’s chest wound.
• Keith stopped Bronn from waking Ian and signaled that they should hold the basement entrance until Ian awoke.
• Ian woke after half an hour and reasoned that the Gold Cloaks’ player commander had used informants to hunt isolated players and track stronger groups toward the chest.
• Ian realized the Gold Cloaks could smoke them out with flammable materials, but could not understand how their commander had gained control of a detachment so quickly.
• Bronn told Ian that Keith believed he could get them out, even if he had to dig a hole, and the basement’s occupants turned to look at Ian.

Ian found a hidden tunnel behind the wall of Stranger's Temple and led his group toward the Dragonpit, escaping the besieged basement. As they traveled, he realized his greed and overambitious plans had repeatedly drawn him into danger, and resolved to change if he survived.

• Ian felt air moving through a crack in the eastern wall and ordered the mercenaries to search it for a passage.
• 'Black Falcon' Dorian found a loose stone, and Keith broke through the thin bricks sealing a tunnel that Ian identified as leading to the Dragonpit.
• Ian secretly stored the chest's gold in his system inventory, checked Roar's improving condition, and had a mercenary carry him as the group entered the tunnel.
• Ian recognized that the tunnel offered only a fifty-percent chance of survival because one Dragonpit basement remained buried beneath rubble.
• Ian reflected that greed had made him pursue too many gains and conflicts at once, and vowed to restrain himself if he survived.

Ian escaped the dead-end tunnel by opening a hidden stone door and set off Wildfire that destroyed the Gold Cloaks pursuing him. In the Red Keep, Varys told Petyr Baelish about the deaths and Dragonpit explosion, and Petyr agreed to investigate while denying any knowledge of the affair.

• The Golden Cloak knight ordered his seventy Gold Cloaks to attack Ian and his seven men in the tunnel.
• Ian's men escaped through a hidden stone door, and one threw a torch into the tunnel as the door shut, igniting Count Rossart's Wildfire.
• Varys asked Petyr Baelish for two thousand Gold Dragons to fund assassins targeting two young dragons, and Petyr agreed to provide the money.
• Varys told Petyr that more than forty bodies, including Gold Cloaks, had been found after a clash in Flea Bottom and that the pursuing unit captain had vanished.
• Petyr connected the incident to the Dragonpit explosion and said he would investigate, while Varys wondered aloud how Duke Arryn had died.

Ian fled King's Landing with a small group and reviewed the rewards he had gained from the fighting, then called Dorian over to speak with him. Meanwhile, Rebecca entered Littlefinger's brothel, where Petyr and Varys confronted Jenoss Slint with evidence of his corruption.

• Ian sent most of the mercenaries to wait on River Road, then left King's Landing with Dorian, Roar, and two companions.
• Ian reached House Rosby's castle and checked his system messages, learning that his subordinates had killed two players and that he had killed a Gold Cloak player.
• Ian reviewed his updated status, items, wealth, and forces, then called Dorian over to speak with him.
• Rebecca descended Rhaenys's Hill and entered House Shataiya, Littlefinger's brothel.
• Petyr and Varys questioned Jenoss Slint about the Gold Cloaks killed in Flea Bottom, then Petyr presented evidence of Jenoss's embezzlement and bribery.

Varys exposed Jenosh’s corruption and implicated him in the attack at Stranger's Temple, prompting the Imperial Council to arrest him and appoint Ser Jeyne as commander of the City Watch. As Jenosh’s allies faced a crackdown, Rebecca offered the Gold Cloak captain on River Road access to Jenosh’s hidden money in exchange for helping her flee.

• Varys told Jenosh that evidence connected him to the attack on smugglers at Stranger's Temple and to rewards taken by Gold Cloaks under his command.
• Jenosh realized his mistress's brother and a trusted subordinate had died, then tried to leave the Red Keep before Lord Stark could investigate him.
• Littlefinger announced that the Imperial Council had removed Jenosh and appointed Ser Jeyne as the new commander of the City Watch.
• Rebecca told the Gold Cloak captain on River Road that Jenosh had been arrested and offered to reveal his hidden money if the captain took her with him when he fled.
• The captain accepted Rebecca's offer, unaware that she regarded him with contempt and cunning.

Ian sailed from Duskwood City toward Pentos, learned that his family’s enemies had suffered losses but that Ser Veld had claimed Castle Darry, and prepared an explanation for the delay. At the first monthly settlement, Ian ranked first and received points, Gold Dragons, and two A-rank NPCs.

• Ian sailed aboard the Black Oyster with Daron Grafton, who told him Gulltown had fallen and his father and brothers had been captured.
• Daron told Ian that Ser Veld had betrayed Simon, Lyman Dare was dead, and King Robert had granted Castle Darry to Ser Veld.
• Ian told Daron he had gone north to handle secret business and earned about thirty Gold Dragons, then rented a sailors’ room for his group.
• Ian stayed awake for the first monthly settlement and learned that 44 players remained alive.
• Ian ranked first on the points leaderboard and received five points, 888 Gold Dragons, and two selectable A-rank NPCs.

Ian selected two veteran sellsword knights as his reward, continued recovering and training during the voyage, and prepared to arrive in Pentos. The chapter ended with Ian refusing another fish soup as the ship neared port.

• Ian rejected the Unsullied and Tiger Guard options and chose the Veteran Sellsword Knight profile twice to fit his cover story.
• The system assigned Duncan and Mondo to Ian and arranged for them to meet him at the port in Pentos.
• Roar recovered, and Ian resumed full-time training aboard the ship, relearning basic sword techniques in four days.
• Ian endured a punishing blunt-sword sparring session with Roar on the voyage's final day.
• Ian refused the old captain's fish soup, and the captain told him they would reach Pentos by the next morning.

Ian and Daron arrived in Pentos hoping to meet Governor Illyrio, but they were turned away because Illyrio had stopped receiving purported Westerosi nobles. They considered attending his merchant banquet, but Daron lacked the ships or wealth required to qualify, so he proposed asking his merchant-guild friends for help.

• Ian spotted Pentos and planned to visit Governor Illyrio with Daron, who knew one of Illyrio's residences.
• Pentos's guards rejected Daron and Ian, citing Illyrio's orders against receiving Westerosi nobles.
• Daron explained that impostors had made Illyrio distrust visitors claiming to be Westerosi nobles, and admitted he did not know where Illyrio lived.
• Ian suggested attending Illyrio's monthly merchant banquet, but Daron said applicants needed three merchant ships or an ocean-going galleon.
• Daron proposed asking his friends in Pentos's merchant guild to help them.