Chapter Summaries

Raymond spent Christmas with Isadora, charged his divine artifact staff with faith from St Paul's Cathedral, and returned to Hogwarts ready to teach a Ministry-commissioned class. After Snape gave him notes containing Sectumsempra and its counter-curse, Raymond turned the spell into a Planeswalker card and resolved to deepen his understanding of magic.

• Raymond dined with Isadora in Diagon Alley, where Snape and Aberforth assessed him and discussed Dumbledore's fears about his potential.
• Raymond drained the power of faith from St Paul's Cathedral to charge his staff, then told Isadora he intended to surpass the gods.
• Raymond spent the rest of the holiday with Isadora before she returned to the wizard's tower, then went back to Hogwarts and showed Snape his prepared teaching notes.
• Raymond dismissed Quirrell's Dark Arts notebook as shallow, and Snape returned it while warning him about the dangerous soul behind Quirrell.
• Raymond found Sectumsempra and its counter-curse in the notebook, converted Sectumsempra into a Planeswalker card, and decided to focus on mastering magic's underlying principles.

Soros explained Magic Scrolls and Spell Tracing to distinguished European wizards, winning their approval and securing a Ministry permit for his research. After the lesson, he rejected Lucius Malfoy’s proposal to join the pure-blood families, revealed Voldemort’s planned return, and persuaded Lucius to work with him to protect the Malfoy family and Draco.

• Ron spread a false rumor that the foreign guests had come to discuss a European Quidditch league, but Hermione explained that they had come to hear Soros teach about Magic Scrolls.
• George gave Hermione a forged admission pass, but Professor McGonagall supplied her with a genuine ticket; Harry later picked the forged pass out of the rubbish and entered the classroom with other students.
• Soros taught the guests about making Magic Scrolls and Spell Tracing, introduced the idea of a Stable Spell Structure, and proposed an international effort to trace spells.
• After the lesson, Soros used Cornelius Fudge’s vanity to obtain a permit to raise dangerous magical creatures for research, while Dumbledore and Snape discussed Soros and Voldemort’s likely attempt to target him.
• Lucius Malfoy approached Soros with a proposal from the pure-blood families, but Soros refused and warned that Voldemort would soon return.
• Soros showed Lucius Voldemort’s notebook and offered to protect Draco; Lucius pledged the Malfoy Family’s service, and the two left to discuss their cooperation.

Raymond confronted Voldemort, who was possessing Quirinus Quirrell, in the Forbidden Forest and fought him to learn more about his magic. Raymond proved too formidable to defeat, and Quirrell was left near death after Voldemort exhausted his body.

• Raymond arranged to obtain a remote mountain home and forest as a secure base, while planning future exploration of Zendikar.
• Quirrell lured Raymond into the Forbidden Forest, where Raymond revealed that he knew Voldemort was hiding in Quirrell’s body.
• Voldemort revealed himself and tried to recruit Raymond, but Raymond rejected him and challenged him to a duel.
• Raymond evaded Voldemort’s curses, countered his Fiendfyre by changing its elemental form, and learned from their spell battle.
• Dumbledore and Snape watched the confrontation from Hogwarts, and Raymond ended the duel after Quirrell’s body began to fail.
• Voldemort ordered Quirrell to kill a Unicorn for its blood, and Quirrell drank it to survive, accepting its curse.

Raymond discussed his encounter with Voldemort with Snape and Dumbledore, then helped Hermione and the Weasley twins standardize potion-making while Harry and Ron dealt with Hagrid’s dragon. After Lucius Malfoy delivered thirty dragon eggs, Raymond showed him Voldemort’s defeat and revealed that Lily’s protective magic had truly saved the wizarding world.

• Snape questioned Raymond about his duel with Voldemort, and Raymond argued that Voldemort’s power relied on fear and could be countered by Muggle weapons.
• Snape reported to Dumbledore that Raymond had gained the advantage, and Dumbledore explained that he wanted to keep Raymond out of Harry’s trial because he was unpredictable.
• Raymond and Hermione began precisely measuring potion ingredients and procedures, while Harry and Ron helped Hagrid send away his dragon and lost Gryffindor points after being caught.
• Ron angrily lashed out at Hermione, who later reconciled with Raymond and joined him, George Weasley, and Fred Weasley in testing standardized potion recipes.
• Lucius Malfoy delivered Raymond thirty Fire Dragon eggs, and Raymond showed him Quirrell’s collapse when Harry touched him, explaining that Lily’s protection had defeated Voldemort.

After returning to Faerûn, Soros prepared his wizard tower as a secure hub, approved Vanessa’s planned war against Luskan, and supplied her with a vast enchanted suitcase for transporting goods and armies. He also met Abala Swiftshadow, a captured Tabaxi from Maztica, hired him as a subordinate, and took him to the wizard tower to assess his abilities and equip him.

• Soros returned to Faerûn, renovated his hidden house into a fortified wizard tower, moved the portal there, and gathered supplies from Earth.
• Vanessa told Soros that Luskan and the Arcane Brotherhood planned to attack the Nelanther Isles, and Soros approved a war while arranging to visit Waterdeep and other northern cities.
• Soros gave Vanessa an enchanted suitcase filled with goods and explained that it could transport living creatures, including an army.
• Soros strengthened Vermees by converting several Red Dragon eggs into her power and warned her to guard the tower against threats from the Underdark.
• Bernard reported the trading company’s profits from Maztica and presented Soros with the captured Tabaxi Abala Swiftshadow.
• Soros offered Abala paid work, freed him from the cage, and took him to the Copper Coronet Inn for a meal before leading him to the wizard tower for assessment and equipment.

Rois gathered a team in Waterdeep and secured Kelben’s cautious approval for a possible campaign against Luskan, then led his companions into Undermountain and took control of the Githyanki outpost at Starport. The chapter ended with Raymond ordering Eron to indoctrinate the outpost’s children with ideas of freedom so they could undermine Githyanki society.

• Rois chose Fangus, Alena, Riet, and Korgan to join his journey, then traveled with them and Abala to Waterdeep.
• Rois showed Kelben his enchanted iron balls and asked whether Waterdeep would intervene if Luskan were conquered; Kelben said intervention was unlikely but warned him about the Zhentarim.
• Rois left Kelben and led his team through Skullport and Undermountain to reach Starport on the sixteenth level.
• Rois and Eron drugged the Githyanki and their Red Dragon allies, captured the magic ship’s crew, and brought Starport under Rois’s control.
• Rois dismantled and studied the magic ship before reassembling it, then gave Eron a booklet and ordered him to turn Starport’s children against the existing Githyanki system.

Raymond led his party into Undermountain’s seventeenth floor, Deep Sea, where he rescued a Dragonborn adventurer and discovered that the Mind Flayer leader, Issemidon, was raising a Neothelid. Raymond unleashed his undead army to clear the tunnels and reached the barriers around the monster’s lair, where the Neothelid waited.

• Raymond raised Abala’s pay and gave them a necklace protecting against mind control before the party entered Deep Sea.
• Abala rescued a juvenile Flumph, and Raymond arranged for it to become Isadora’s familiar.
• Raymond freed Asasla Lagraslakna from a trap that had petrified her, and she reluctantly joined the party after Korgan mocked her Silver Dragon great-grandmother.
• Raymond used a summoned Mind Flayer to open a sealed door, then learned that Issemidon was secretly cultivating a Neothelid.
• Raymond summoned an undead army, and his party helped it defeat the Mind Flayers and their controlled slaves near the Neothelid’s lair.
• The party cut off the Psionic Generator’s power, passed through the force barriers, and saw the enormous Neothelid coiled in its pit.

Raymond and his companions fought a Neothelid and then a group of Mind Flayers, but the Heartbreaker leader trapped Raymond in a psychic illusion and escaped with the others. Raymond freed himself, tracked the Mind Flayers to their Nautiloid, and learned they wanted his help against the Githyanki while secretly preparing to become an Elder Brain.

• Raymond's undead army attacked the Neothelid, and his party joined the fight until Silver Fire killed the worm, though its psionic attacks left several companions incapacitated.
• A Heartbreaker and more than a dozen Mind Flayers arrived, and Raymond and Abala killed the ordinary Mind Flayers while the leader trapped Raymond in a virtual version of the Yawning Portal Inn.
• Raymond recognized the inn as an illusion and broke free, but discovered that the Heartbreaker had escaped with his companions and the other captives.
• Raymond followed the Mind Flayers' trail through their machinery and pods to a damaged Nautiloid guarded by two enslaved Brass Dragons.
• The Heartbreaker offered to return the captives if Raymond helped destroy the Githyanki, while the Flumph hatchling revealed that the Mind Flayer leader was preparing to transform into an Elder Brain.

Raymond freed two Brass Dragons and defeated Issemidon by exploiting a Mind Flayer spy, then seized the Nautiloid and began preparations to turn Issemidon into an Elder Brain under his control. After freeing the enslaved adventurers, Raymond learned that a powerful Sun Elf Arcane Archer had lost his memories, leaving the Elf’s identity unknown.

• Raymond used Mordenkainen's Disjunction to free the Brass Dragons, then helped them and his iron spheres bring down the Nautiloid.
• Issemidon used enslaved adventurers to attack Raymond, but Raymond’s disguised Mind Flayer ally stabbed him with a poisoned dagger, freeing the captives when Issemidon passed out.
• Raymond captured or killed the surviving Mind Flayers, turned the two dying Brass Dragons into Planeswalker cards, and took control of the Nautiloid.
• A Mind Flayer informant revealed Issemidon's plan to become an Elder Brain, and Raymond ordered him to begin a modified ritual that would preserve Issemidon's knowledge while erasing his consciousness.
• Most freed adventurers left for the surface, while Raymond confirmed the Brass Dragons survived and questioned the Sun Elf Arcane Archer, who admitted he could not remember who he was.

Raymond turned the Mind Flayers’ collective brains into a newborn Elder Brain, moved their Nautiloid to his base, and arranged to investigate the amnesiac Sun Elf Lantis. Meanwhile, Irenicus learned Soros was heading toward Neverwinter, while Bodhi’s blasphemous encounter with Amaunator’s Saint ended with the Saint’s disappearance and a sinister pregnancy.

• Raymond recruited the nameless Sun Elf Arcane Archer, who chose the temporary name Lantis and agreed to follow his orders.
• Raymond oversaw the Mind Flayers’ ritual, which fused their brains with Issemidon’s into a newborn Elder Brain, then moved the Nautiloid to his base beneath Athkatla.
• Raymond told Kelben about Lantis, and Kelben agreed to ask Evermeet whether a noble family had lost a descendant; Raymond also left magical creature eggs for Halaster Blackcloak.
• Halaster told Kelben that Soros had created an Elder Brain from Issemidon’s brain and praised his appetite for magical knowledge.
• Bodhi told Irenicus that Soros was headed toward Neverwinter, prompting Irenicus to leave in pursuit of him.
• After Bodhi pressed herself against Amaunator’s Saint, the Saint vanished and apparently corrupted her, leaving Bodhi terrified and unaware that a sinister life was growing inside her.

Raymond secured Neverwinter’s support for his planned war against Luskan by showing Lord Nasher the prosperous Nelanther Isles and agreeing on a military alliance. As Raymond’s party headed toward Silverymoon, elite Orc champions ambushed them, and two powerful Orcs advanced on Raymond after he repelled a charging attacker.

• Raymond led his group into Neverwinter, where Aribeth escorted him to Lord Nasher for a private meeting.
• Raymond described his plans to purge Luskan’s pirates and ruling factions, and Nasher agreed to consider supporting the campaign after seeing the Nelanther Isles for himself.
• Raymond teleported with Nasher to Ioma Island, where Nasher saw the thriving port and agreed that Neverwinter would help tie down Luskan’s forces during the war.
• After touring Neverwinter, Raymond set out for Silverymoon with his party and encountered an ambush by armored Orc champions devoted to Gruumsh.
• The party fought the Orcs while Raymond searched for the hidden attackers, and a powerful Orc Fighter protected by a divine spell charged at him.
• Raymond struck the Orc Fighter with a stored Bigby’s Crushing Hand spell, but the attacker survived and approached with an Orc Cleric, while Raymond prepared more cards for the fight.

Raymond defeated the Orc attack, survived Gruumsh’s attempt to intervene, and unleashed a plague on the Northland Orcs in retaliation. Meanwhile, Bodhi concealed her mysterious pregnancy by arranging a demonic sacrifice in Athkatla.

• Lantis, Korgan, Riet, Abala, and Alena helped Raymond’s group overwhelm the Orc forces, while Lantis wounded the charging Orc Fighter with an enchanted arrow.
• Raymond unleashed a devastating Spell Catastrophe that killed the Orc Cleric and left the Orc Fighter barely alive, then tortured him for information before killing him.
• Gruumsh confronted the gods protecting Raymond, but Oghma, Midnight, Talona, Corellon, and Moradin forced him to withdraw his battle avatar.
• Raymond discovered that the Orc Fighter’s cursed spearhead had gained the power to disrupt the Weave, then created an Orc-specific plague and sent infected falcons toward Orc encampments.
• Talona praised Raymond’s retaliation and ordered Ulrika to kill the Devils’ spies approaching him, while warning her not to seduce him.
• Bodhi discovered she was pregnant despite being Undead and arranged for Demon worshippers to summon a Marilith at Amaunator’s temple, hoping the ensuing destruction would hide her mistake from Irenicus.

Raymond arrived in Silverymoon, warned Alustriel that he planned to exterminate the Northland’s Orcs in revenge, and discussed his coming war against Luskan and the Arcane Brotherhood. As a plague devastated Orc tribes and freed their captives, Alustriel invited Raymond to bathe with her.

• Raymond led Fangus and the others across Silverymoon’s Moonbridge, where Alustriel appeared and welcomed him.
• Raymond told Alustriel that Orc Gods had attacked him and that he intended to wipe out every Orc in the Northland.
• A plague spread among Orc tribes, killing thousands; freed slaves escaped, and Talona’s agent Ulrika disguised herself among them to guide refugees toward civilization.
• Raymond told Alustriel he had allied with Nasher to attack Luskan and the Arcane Brotherhood, and she agreed to remain neutral if trade resumed after the war.
• Raymond described the conflicts likely to divide the Northland after its common threats disappeared, and Alustriel admitted she would not use his proposed solutions.
• Alustriel invited Raymond to bathe with her, and he followed her into the palace bathhouse.

Raymond refused Irenicus access to the charged Artifact scepter, then returned to Athkatla and created a Death Slayer from Bhaal’s heart. As Vanessa prepared to attack Luskan, he warned Raymond that Mintarn might have allied with the pirates.

• Raymond told Alustriel that he had no political ambitions and discussed Silverymoon’s government and stability with her in the baths.
• Irenicus asked to study Raymond’s Artifact scepter, but Raymond refused and demanded five Fire Genies in exchange for other knowledge about the gods; Irenicus went to the Elemental Plane of Fire to find them.
• Demon worshippers sacrificed captives in Irenicus’s underground temple and summoned Monahil, who transformed two followers into half-demons and ordered them to gather materials for a teleportation orb.
• Raymond and six liches used Bhaal’s heart to animate a stitched corpse into a Death Slayer, which Raymond kept under his control.
• Vanessa reported that the organization’s fleet and undead army were ready to attack Luskan and the Arcane Brotherhood, and warned that Mintarn might have joined forces with Luskan’s pirates.

Raymond ordered an investigation into Mintarn while crafting a sword-shaped spellcasting weapon, as Red Wizards seized the island and plotted a surprise attack on the Nelanther Isles. Meanwhile, Soros’s plague against the orcs elevated Talona to intermediate divine power, and she recruited Loviatar as her servitor deity; the chapter ended with Monahil opening a portal for an Abyssal army and preparing to seize Athkatla’s sewers.

• Raymond ordered Vanessa to investigate Mintarn and warned that mercenaries in his territory would be fined, expelled, or killed if they returned a third time.
• Grandmaster Ganier revealed that Red Wizards had killed Tarnheel Embuirhan and taken Mintarn, then ordered its forces to prepare a surprise attack on the Nelanther Isles alongside Luskan.
• A spy planted by the liches overheard Ganier’s plan and teleported away with the intelligence.
• Lord Nasher learned that a plague was killing orcs across the Northland and suspected Soros; the news increased fear of Raymond, expanded Talona’s worship, and helped Talona rise to intermediate divine power.
• Talona offered Loviatar protection in exchange for becoming her servitor deity, and Loviatar accepted; Shar then observed the alliance and checked on Bodhi’s pregnancy through a mirror.
• Monahil opened a portal to the Bottomless Abyss, brought more than three thousand demons into Athkatla, and ordered them to occupy the sewers before launching an attack the following night.

Demons overran Athkatla’s sewers while Bodhi’s attempt to hide her role in the invasion led her to seek Raymond’s help with a mysterious pregnancy. Raymond forged the Artifact Countertide, learned the truth about Bodhi’s schemes, and forced her to swear allegiance before he set out to deal with the demons.

• The demons destroyed Irenicus’s sewer base and the Shadow Thieves’ holdings, while Bodhi ordered her vampires to spread news of the invasion and investigate Soros.
• Bodhi experienced visions of a deformed infant inside a black sun and realized that her abdomen was mysteriously swollen.
• Raymond completed the Artifact Countertide, concealed it in a scabbard, and made it into a Treasure Card to protect it from destruction.
• A vampire girl reported the demonic invasion to Raymond, who controlled her and learned that Bodhi had helped summon the demons.
• Bodhi asked Raymond to examine her pregnancy and confessed that the immortal worshippers and Amaunator’s Saint had vanished after she encountered the Saint.
• Raymond demanded Bodhi’s allegiance and access to Irenicus’s research; she submitted, and he left to deal with the demons.

Raymond and Athkatla’s factions prepared to fight a Demon invasion while he slaughtered Demons in the sewers and spread a plague through their ranks. After reaching Planeswalker level 10, Raymond gained powerful new abilities and sensed that he had become a player in the divine struggle over Bhaal’s legacy.

• Raymond revealed that he knew Shaan VII’s identity, agreed to work with her against the Twisted Rune, and refused to help her pursue Iryklathagra.
• The Council of Six gathered Athkatla’s factions after Aran Linvail reported that Demons had occupied the sewers and opened a portal to the Abyss.
• Raymond cleared the Government District sewers, captured several Demons, and ordered an Elite Succubus to spread a deadly plague among the lesser Demons.
• Lesser Demon Lord Monahil learned that Raymond’s plague was killing her forces and decided to wait by the portal to ambush him.
• Raymond reached Planeswalker level 10, gained Servant Card creation and Forced Leyline Energy Extraction, and discovered the Dark Void’s connection to his Spark.
• Raymond gained control over the Divine Power bestowed on him and prepared to confront the gods as a player in the struggle over Bhaal’s Death Portfolio.

Raymond led an assault on Irenicus's secret base beneath Waukeen Promenade, using Bodhi's knowledge to bypass its defenses and seize its treasures. He recovered Irenicus's research on Saints and divine power, which gave him ideas for fighting divine avatars.

• Yvette offered divine protection against the sewer plague, and Shaan VII, Wesslan, Arkanis Gath, and other leaders assembled an elite force to enter the sewers and confront the Demons.
• Vermees divided Raymond's army between the Temple District and Irenicus's base, while Raymond joined the assault and summoned Warren, Davian, and the Elder Eye to drive back the Demons.
• Raymond led a squad through Bodhi's secret portal into Irenicus's base, captured the Dryads and Water Nymphs, and attacked the Demons beyond a portal with the Death Slayer and Davian.
• Raymond's forces defeated the Demons and looted Irenicus's stores before reaching his private chamber, where a tortured copy of Ellesime revealed the location of his hidden notes.
• Raymond dismantled the protective ward, found Irenicus's research on Saints, and learned how divine power and spiritual strength affected battles against avatars.

Raymond joined Athkatla’s elite force in the sewers, where they defeated an ambush and confronted the Lesser Demon Lord Monahil at an ancient temple. Monahil’s forces overwhelmed the defenders, and the battle continued as Raymond’s allies engaged her and Korgan landed an accidental, humiliating blow.

• The Cowled Wizards used Cooperative Spellcasting to devastate the demons’ first ambush, but a giant snake’s Blood Sea water killed several fighters before Vermees and Raymond’s followers arrived and helped defeat it.
• Raymond told Shaan VII that the demon invasion was tied to Monahil, a lieutenant of Shaktari, and the force continued through the sewers to the ancient temple of Amaunator.
• Monahil revealed her demon army and attacked the expedition; Raymond’s Physics Holy Orbs slaughtered lesser demons while she tried to seize him and he turned into spirit energy.
• Monahil’s powerful melee attacks killed and wounded many defenders, including Keldorn’s friends, while Raymond sent his summoned creatures and golems into the fight and protected himself with spells.
• Davian transformed into a red dragon to grapple with Monahil, and Riet hurled Korgan at her; Korgan landed on her face and accidentally farted, enraging the Demon Lord and making Raymond and Alena laugh.

Raymond and Soros defeated the invading demons, sealed the Marilith Lord Monahil inside a crystal ball, and closed the portal to the Abyss. After the battle, Soros offered Davian the chance to become a follower with unlimited potential, and Davian accepted with a solemn oath.

• Raymond transformed into a giant armored fighter and, with his Imp, overpowered Monahil and severed all six of her arms.
• Raymond and Shaan VII sealed Monahil inside a crimson crystal ball, while Soros claimed the crystal as his spoils and refused the Lathander high priest's demand to take custody of it.
• Soros raised his Creator class to LV15 and let his summoned creatures attack the demons before removing the orb that sustained the portal and closing it.
• Wesslan and Keldorn reported the heavy casualties, including the deaths of most of their knights and soldiers, while Davian recovered from his wounds.
• Soros asked Davian whether he wanted to become a follower with unlimited potential, and Davian accepted, pledging himself as Soros's sword and shield.