Chapter Summaries

Soros received Amn’s reward for defeating the Marilith Lord and negotiated political and trade support for his planned campaign against the Arcane Brotherhood in Luskan. After securing information about the Red Dragon Firkraag and his lair, Raymond prepared to pursue him and the Holy Avenger Carsomyr.

• Soros accepted a gift from the Council of Six and promised to protect Athkatla, then attended a victory banquet at Cor Delryn’s estate.
• Anomen met Soros and learned from Grand Master Wesslan that he would likely become an apprentice knight within two months.
• Aran Linvail arranged a trade deal with Soros and warned him about the conflict between Cyric’s followers and Bane’s followers in Zhentil Keep; Raymond advised the Shadow Thieves to avoid the city and asked them to find an ancient Red Dragon.
• Raymond told the Council of Six that he planned to conquer Luskan, and they agreed to provide political backing and at least fifty supply ships after the war.
• Fid delivered a note naming Firkraag and mapping his Windspear Hills lair, and Raymond decided to pursue the dragon and Carsomyr.

Arklem Greeth learned too late that Luskan’s attack on the Nelanther Isles had provoked Raymond, whose forces destroyed the pirate fleet and seized Mintarn. Raymond then used Ganier to ignite conflict between the Red Wizards and the Zhentarim, leaving the Red Wizards’ leaders to decide how to respond.

• Ximmon warned Arklem Greeth to stop the war, but Luskan’s fleet had already sailed, so Arklem sealed his tower and began another attempt at becoming a Lich.
• Vanessa and the other Liches summoned a Primordial Dragon Turtle, which destroyed or captured Luskan’s fleet, and Vanessa turned veteran pirates into undead while sentencing newer pirates to forced labor.
• Vermees attacked Mintarn, defeated its defenders, and took control of the port with Oddity’s help.
• Vanessa’s forces purged Mintarn’s mercenaries, and Raymond questioned Ganier to learn that the Red Wizards’ upper ranks had tacitly approved her operation.
• Raymond ordered Ganier to send her forces against the Zhentarim’s intelligence network, then planned to release her and let the Red Wizards deal with the resulting conflict.

Raymond’s forces prepared to invade Luskan while infighting shook both the Arcane Brotherhood and Thay. The Arcane Brotherhood’s tower lords rebelled against Arklem Greeth, who escaped their attack, leaving the leadership contested.

• The Arcane Brotherhood’s four tower masters secretly agreed to kill Arklem Greeth and seize control after their fleet’s defeat.
• Raymond watched Vermees defeat Huendal, claimed a rare fire-elemental treasure, and ordered Huendal taken to the Wizard’s Tower alive.
• Vanessa sent Mintarn’s residents north toward Luskan aboard a fleet, while Raymond directed her to monitor the Zhentarim and preserve neutrality.
• Szass Tam learned that Ganier’s enclaves were attacking the Zhentarim and saw the upheaval as an opportunity to consolidate power in Thay.
• The tower masters and four allies killed Arklem Greeth’s senior assistant and attacked Arklem Greeth, but he escaped through a single-use teleportation device as they began competing for his vacant position.

Lord Nasher and Raymond maneuvered against Luskan while Arklem Greeth accepted a Devil's bargain to become a Lich and reclaim power. Raymond's forces destroyed a Red Wizard enclave in Baldur's Gate, where Sarevok began pursuing his own plan to become a god.

• Lord Nasher kept Neverwinter's coalition facing Luskan across the river, explaining to Aribeth that Soros's trade deal and the chance to end Luskan's threat justified his political alliance.
• Nefitis offered the wounded Arklem Greeth a Lich transformation and help reclaiming Luskan in exchange for Soros's soul, and Arklem signed Archduke Dispater's contract.
• Raymond warned Ximmon to keep the Zhentarim out of the Luskan conflict, then ordered Habasar Drin's Liches to attack the Red Wizard outpost in Baldur's Gate.
• Habasar Drin and the Liches demolished the enclave with an Iceberg Crash spell and killed its defenders, alarming Duke Silvershield and Duke Eltan.
• Sarevok offered to investigate the attack while secretly seeking worshippers and power to claim Bhaal's vacant throne and become a god.

After Raymond’s fleet left the Whale Bones Isles for Luskan, Arklem Greeth returned to the Arcane Brotherhood’s tower with infernal forces and began reclaiming it. Meanwhile, Red Wizard Zulkirs, Manshoon, and the Brotherhood formed a conspiracy to capture Soros, prompting Alustriel and Kelben to rally Mystra’s Chosen as the fleet approached a trap.

• Raymond warned Vanessa to limit her undead forces, then sent the fleet toward Luskan after learning Arklem Greeth had been overthrown and Neverwinter’s coalition was mobilizing.
• Arklem Greeth completed his transformation into a lich, reclaimed the lower levels of the Wizard’s Tower with the succubus’s infernal reinforcements, and confronted the rebellious tower masters.
• Aznar Thrul arrived and proposed that the Arcane Brotherhood and the devils cooperate with the Red Wizards to capture Soros and seize his powers; the succubus agreed in exchange for Soros’s soul.
• Manshoon decided to join the effort against Soros, while Alustriel warned Kelben that the Zhentarim, Red Wizards, and Arcane Brotherhood were conspiring against him.
• Alustriel set out to contact Storm Silverhand and other allies, while Kelben teleported to Shadowdale to seek Elminster’s help.

Raymond’s forces defeated Luskan’s army and attacked the Arcane Brotherhood’s tower, drawing out the Red Wizards, Manshoon, and other powerful enemies. He turned the ambush around with a vast army of reinforcements and began fighting Manshoon during Time Stop.

• Eric led cavalry and infantry in a surprise attack on Luskan’s army, which the Neverwinter coalition joined to crush the defenders.
• Eric met Lord Nasher and the northern towns’ representatives, signed trade agreements, and set out for Luskan while the coalition kept the prisoners.
• Raymond’s fleet seized Luskan’s harbor, and his Liches breached the Arcane Brotherhood’s Wizard’s Tower with powerful magic.
• The incubus, Manshoon, the Red Wizards, and the tower masters emerged, but Raymond summoned a huge force of allies and declared that his enemies were surrounded.
• Raymond used Time Stop and Mordenkainen’s Disjunction to disable many enemies’ magic items, then his forces attacked and captured or killed their followers.
• Manshoon and Aznar Thrul cast Time Stop, but Raymond remained unaffected and attacked Manshoon with an artifact capable of dealing pure magical damage.

Soros overwhelmed Manshoon, Aznar Thrul, and their allies in Luskan, then seized the Mythallar after Raymond used Silver Fire to kill Manshoon and stop Aznar from detonating it. As Rain’s Greater Ruin devastated the opposing forces, Szass Tam and Mystra’s Chosen arrived, including Storm Silverhand, and the battle remained unresolved.

• Soros exploited his immunity to Time Stop to badly wound Manshoon and Aznar Thrul, who warned their allies not to use the spell.
• The Incubus presented the Mythallar and demanded a ceasefire, but Raymond refused and killed Manshoon with a bolt of Silver Fire.
• The Zhentarim fled as Soros’s forces pursued them, and Raymond used another Silver Fire strike to kill a Red Wizard while Aznar tried to detonate the Mythallar.
• Raymond made the Mythallar vanish with a card, then Rain cast Greater Ruin and devastated the Red Wizards and Arcane Brotherhood forces.
• Szass Tam arrived after breaking the teleportation ban, and Kelben, Alustriel, and the other Mystra’s Chosen appeared with Storm Silverhand.

Soros defeated Manshoon and forced Szass Tam to accept the Red Wizards’ withdrawal from the western coast, then captured the remaining Arcane Brotherhood and began taking control of Luskan. The chapter ended with Soros’s forces suppressing the city’s criminals and Skaven while the Chosen of Mystra discussed his Creature Card ability.

• Alustriel explained that the Harpers had uncovered Manshoon and the Red Wizards’ plot, while Storm Silverhand urged an attack and Szass Tam denied involvement.
• Soros demanded that Thay surrender its western coastal enclaves, and Szass Tam accepted after Vanessa used her cursed dagger to turn a captured Circle Master into an undead spellcaster.
• Soros and Storm Silverhand agreed to exchange magical knowledge, and the Red Wizards returned to Thay stripped of many magical items and tattoos.
• The Incubus surrendered but Davian knocked her unconscious, allowing Raymond to turn her into a Creature Card; Raymond also captured Arklem Greeth and the remaining Arcane Brotherhood.
• Raymond explained the limits of his Creature Cards to the Chosen of Mystra, then ordered his forces to seize Luskan and crush its criminal gangs, pirates, and Skaven.

Raymond secured Luskan’s recovery, allied with Storm Silverhand against the Red Wizards, and learned how sequencer magic worked. As he discussed Northland’s future with Kelben and Alustriel, Manshoon faced a poisoned, weakened Zhentil Keep and a challenge to his leadership from Fzoul Chembryl.

• Raymond oversaw Luskan’s reconstruction, freed farm slaves, and credited Vanessa’s bureaucracy and the liches’ oversight for the city’s recovery.
• Storm Silverhand praised Raymond’s rule, and he explained his plans to use undead labor while revealing that poison had devastated Zhentil Keep and Darkhold.
• Raymond and Storm Silverhand formed an alliance against the Red Wizards, and she taught him that sequencers stored spells or borrowed them from other casters through the Weave.
• Storm Silverhand returned to Aglarond, and Raymond told Kelben and Alustriel that he had gained the secrets of sequencer magic and raised the question of whether the Lords’ Alliance still had a purpose.
• Manshoon learned from Ximmon that Darkhold had fallen, Zhentil Keep’s forces had suffered devastating losses, and Fzoul Chembryl was challenging his leadership.
• Manshoon ordered Ximmon to threaten Inner Circle members into abandoning Fzoul Chembryl and commanded that dead soldiers be raised as undead instead of burned.

Ximmon and Fzoul Chembryl secretly agreed to approach Soros and exploit Manshoon’s defeat, while Fzoul considered cultivating Soros as a tyrant. In Athkatla, Raymond secured Amn’s fleet and trade routes, then discovered that Bodhi’s rapidly growing mass was tied to corrupted divine power and her visions of a Black Sun.

• At Darkhold, Ximmon told Fzoul Chembryl about Soros’s power and Manshoon’s defeat, then proposed making peace with Soros and offering Manshoon as a bargaining chip.
• Fzoul Chembryl agreed to cooperate with Ximmon and revealed his plan to draw Soros away from Mystra and cultivate him as a tyrant.
• Raymond negotiated with the Council of Six in Athkatla, trading sugar for Amn’s warships, shipyards, and control of its maritime trade security.
• Raymond and Vanessa visited Bodhi beneath Athkatla’s Graveyard District, where they found her immobilized by a huge mass drawing power from the Shadow Weave.
• Raymond identified corrupted divine power in the mass’s residue, and Bodhi revealed that she had been dreaming of a Black Sun and still bore a burn from touching it in a vision.

Raymond took Bodhi to another world, removed and sealed the Shar-influenced Atropal growing inside her, and turned Bodhi into a Creature Card to protect his plans. After storing the seal and returning to Faerûn, Soros prepared to hunt Firkraag with a disguised party, while learning that Isadora had dangerously enhanced her psionic powers.

• Raymond brought Bodhi and his allies to a hidden castle in the United Kingdom, where the Liches prepared a sealing ritual and he used Daystar to cut open Bodhi's abdomen.
• The Atropal emerged, attacked Raymond and the Liches, and revealed that it regarded Shar as its mother before Raymond sealed it in a scroll.
• Raymond and the Liches discussed where to keep the Atropal and agreed to prepare an expedition to reclaim a Floating City in the world Raymond had destroyed with a plague.
• Raymond stored the sealing scroll in the Doomsday Bunker, turned the weakened Bodhi into an LV7 Creature Card, and returned to his mage tower in Athkatla.
• Soros agreed to take Fangus and Isadora on the hunt for Firkraag and learned that Isadora had implanted Mind Flayer tadpoles to strengthen her psionic abilities.
• Soros disguised himself as a novice Cleric and told Fangus and Isadora to prepare for the journey to Firkraag's lair.

A Shar-worshipping Darkmoon Monk ordered Talona’s followers to investigate Soros and Bodhi while Raymond led a party toward Firkraag’s lair. After Raymond’s companions exposed and punished two would-be attackers, Firkraag learned of the party’s approach and prepared to lure them into his lair.

• A Darkmoon Monk instructed Talona’s worshippers to investigate Soros’s disappearances and find Bodhi, suggesting they use Raymond’s coming hunt for Firkraag to test him.
• Raymond traveled to Trademeet with Isadora, Fangus, and Fid, then recruited two Fighters whose plans to drug and assault the women were uncovered by Isadora.
• Raymond explained that he had kept the Fighters as cover while approaching Firkraag, and he agreed that Fid could deal with them once they were no longer useful.
• At the Windspear Hills, Tolles and his accomplice poisoned the party’s food, but Fangus revealed her Werewolf form and Isadora seized control of one attacker, leaving Fid to drag both men away for torture.
• Firkraag’s Wizard reported that six adventurers were approaching, and Firkraag ordered Goblins to plant a map that would lure them toward his lair.

Raymond and his companions fought their way into Firkraag’s lair and found the Ancient Red Dragon guarding his treasure. Raymond revealed his identity, trapped Firkraag with Dimensional Anchor, and began the battle by dropping Davian and Vermees onto him; Vermees was badly wounded before Raymond intervened.

• Fid silently killed the Goblins sent by Firkraag, and Raymond learned that the dragon expected them to enter his lair.
• Raymond healed Tolles and left him and the other tortured warrior beside a stream, then led the group to the ruins of King Strohm III.
• Raymond’s party defeated Orcs and Hobgoblins inside the ruins, and Fid revealed that the Shadow Thieves had once agreed to split the tomb’s treasure with Firkraag.
• Fid guided Raymond, Isadora, and Fangus through a shortcut into Firkraag’s lair, where they found the dragon asleep atop a pile of treasure.
• Raymond revealed his identity and cast Dimensional Anchor on Firkraag before the dragon attacked with fiery breath.
• Raymond dropped Davian and Vermees onto Firkraag through a portal, and Vermees was badly wounded before Raymond healed her and urged her to train.

Raymond stopped Firkraag’s attempt to summon an army by transforming him into a Construct, then fought the Mechanus forces with a giant magical machine. After the battle, Firkraag was left captured and helpless as Vermees and Davian rejected his offer to betray Raymond.

• Raymond threatened Conster and offered him a better deal, while Isadora used Modify Memory to make Conster order the mercenaries to attack Firkraag.
• Firkraag cast Wish, summoned Constructs from Mechanus, and signed their agreement; they began transforming him into a Construct.
• Raymond attacked the Constructs with a lightning tower and transformed into a Blue Dragon to absorb and return their lightning.
• The Constructs combined into a giant steel creature, and Raymond entered his unfinished crab-shaped K'liquish Device to fight it.
• Rust Monsters distracted the steel giant, allowing Raymond to crush the Spherical Construct and destroy the remaining Mechanus forces.
• Firkraag tried to recruit Vermees and Davian, but Vermees refused to betray Soros and Davian declared his absolute loyalty to his master.

Raymond defeated Firkraag, transferred the Red Dragon’s power and soul to Davian, and exposed the false agreement that had led Conster to betray his master before killing him. After settling the aftermath and distributing Firkraag’s treasure, Raymond prepared to fuse Carsomyr with Daystar and create a holy sword usable by someone who was not a Paladin.

• Raymond finished clearing the Constructs with the K'liquish Device, then drained Firkraag’s life and magic into Davian, who swallowed the Red Dragon’s soul and became a more powerful follower.
• Raymond told Vermees to train before she could earn a chance to devour a powerful dragon, while Conster emerged expecting Raymond to honor an agreement that Isadora had fabricated by altering his memories.
• Conster tried to escape, but a Winter Wolf, Fangus, and Fid attacked him; Raymond dispelled his escape magic, and Fid killed him, explaining that the Shadow Thieves had wanted revenge for his role in Firkraag’s attack on them.
• Raymond offered Fid sanctuary if she kept the day’s secrets, healed Fangus, and promised to help her become an Arcane Archer; Vermees then shared Firkraag’s treasure and received four magic items in exchange for training.
• Raymond examined the Holy Avenger Carsomyr and told Fid he would fuse it with Daystar so that non-Paladins could wield the resulting holy sword.

Keldorn and Wesslan discussed the exploitation of Werewolf Goblins in Amn and Raymond’s growing influence before Keldorn agreed to travel north and establish a Knights of the Radiant Heart branch in Luskan. Raymond then allied with Fzoul Chembryl and Ximmon to target Cyric, opened a portal to reclaim the Floating City, and left Isadora behind; she began a dangerous plan to clone herself and amplify her psionic power.

• Keldorn questioned the use of Werewolf Goblins as livestock laborers, and Wesslan explained that the Knights lacked legal grounds to intervene.
• Wesslan told Keldorn that Soros had agreed to let the Knights establish a branch in Luskan, and Keldorn agreed to travel to Neverwinter first.
• Raymond admitted Ximmon and Fzoul Chembryl into the Wizard’s Tower, where they agreed to cooperate against Manshoon and discussed provoking Cyric into conflict with the other gods.
• Raymond and the Liches crossed a dangerous portal toward the Floating City, leaving Isadora behind when the opening closed.
• Isadora used her Familiar’s images of Neothelid breeding to devise a plan to clone herself and make the clones compete for psionic power.

Raymond returned to Plantia Floating City with several Liches and began preparing to reclaim it, but first secured a foothold in the supply city of Herl. There he found survivors in an underground settlement and discovered that Valena, Astar’s descendant, had a region of her brain sealed by necromantic magic.

• Raymond and the Liches cleared a mage tower of undead, activated its defenses, and learned that reaching the Central Tower required taking control of the intervening mage towers.
• Raymond proposed capturing Herl as a supply base and testing whether anyone had survived the plague, then used a coordinate disc to bypass the Floating City’s barrier and fly there.
• Raymond and the Liches defeated the undead guarding Herl’s warehouses and found food and supplies, then Raymond spotted signs that living survivors were secretly taking provisions.
• Raymond followed a hidden passage to an underground settlement where one or two hundred survivors lived, and he recognized their food distributor as Valena, a descendant of Astar.
• Raymond told Valena that Astar had died, rendered her unconscious, and discovered that Astar had sealed a region of her brain with necromantic magic.

Sorin rescued refugees in Plantia Floating City, launched an assault against its undead lords, and rested after the Diary confronted him about his state of mind. In Luskan, Bruenor secured a major trade agreement with Eric, while Drizzt observed the city’s new rulers and discussed the changes with his friend.

• Sorin used Dominate Person on Valena to persuade the refugees to leave their tomb, then fed and protected them in the warehouse.
• Sorin sent Constructs and undead through a spatial rift to attack Plantia Floating City, where they fought the undead lords’ forces as he prepared to draw the lords into battle.
• The Diary told Sorin he was dangerously tense and needed rest, and Sorin lay down in his former mage-tower room.
• Bruenor met Eric in Luskan and agreed to give the city priority purchasing rights to Mithral Hall’s mithral, adamantine, and gemstones in exchange for supplies and transport.
• Bruenor met Drizzt in a tavern, and Drizzt said Luskan’s reforms made him optimistic despite the violent purge and undead labor force.

Drizzt agreed to map the route to Menzoberranzan after Yelinya offered him freedom in Luskan on Soros’s behalf, while Ulrika hunted devil spies and left Corinna in Drizzt’s care. Talona and Loviatar then discussed Soros’s possible plans for Bane and Talona’s hopes of gaining his support for her ambitions.

• Yelinya told Drizzt that Soros wanted a map of the Underdark and Menzoberranzan, and Drizzt agreed on the condition that he could meet Soros and hear his promise directly.
• Ulrika exposed and killed disguised devils and half-devils in a Luskan tavern, then warned them to tell Archduke Dispater not to overreach.
• Ulrika asked Drizzt and Bruenor to look after Corinna while she continued her mission, and Drizzt agreed to teach the girl how to use armor and weapons.
• Yelinya told Ulrika that Soros planned to ally with Fzoul Chembryl and help kill Manshoon, prompting Ulrika to report the news to Talona.
• Talona and Loviatar considered whether Soros intended to help Bane revive and discussed Talona’s desire to gain part of the Death Portfolio with Soros’s support.

Raymond led the assault to seize Plantia Floating City, defeating the intelligent undead spellcasters who controlled its Central Tower and using a copied Starfall to counter Isidore’s devastating spell. After the city’s barrier fell, the Liches reached the Earth Vein Heart, and Raymond began showing them the Central Tower and its magical systems.

• Raymond rejected negotiation with the undead Archmages and ordered a final assault on the Central Tower, while the Liches deployed Constructs and Zombie Giants and attacked with cooperative magic.
• Raymond broke the undead spellcasters’ protective barrier, fought Isidore and the others, and used Echoing Resonance to copy Starfall and make the two comets collide.
• Raymond and the Liches defeated the remaining undead spellcasters, including Isidore, and began clearing Plantia Floating City while Raymond drained energy from the Central Tower’s barrier.
• The barrier collapsed, the Floating City descended, and Vanessa and the Liches entered the Central Tower and found the Earth Vein Heart.
• Raymond revealed that the Mages’ Council could gain control of the Central Tower by electing a supreme leader under the Magic Protocol, then took the Liches to explore the tower and its Supreme Codex.