Chapter Summaries

Raymond’s party fought through Graz'zt’s Silver Palace and reached Waukeen’s prison, where Malcanthet revealed Raymond’s many identities and role in the deaths of Waukeen’s other divine children. As the party freed Waukeen, Graz'zt attacked Raymond, who shed his disguise and met the Demon Lord in battle.

• Raymond’s party defeated the Bodaks and four Abyssal Dragonbeasts Graz'zt sent against them, then used Raymond’s dice-rolling trick to choose the correct portals through the Silver Palace.
• After twelve correct choices, Graz'zt questioned Afra, sent Vain to capture Malcanthet’s spies, and went to visit Waukeen with his half-Demon divine child.
• Malcanthet’s Radiant Sister revealed herself in the dungeon, showed Graz'zt the heads of Waukeen’s slain divine children, and introduced Raymond as a godslayer and lord of the New Ninth Layer.
• Raymond joined the party in the dungeon, and Storm Silverhand and the others destroyed Waukeen’s shackles while Graz'zt’s fear magic drove the Succubi to flee.
• Graz'zt charged Raymond with a +5 acid burst greatsword, and Raymond dropped his disguise, transformed Davian’s body, and met the attack with the Fire-Death Sword.

Soros revealed his true identity and unleashed a war against Graz'zt, then summoned the Eldrazi Titans Emrakul, Ulamog, and Kozilek into the Abyss. The Titans began consuming the Triple Realm as the Abyssal Will rallied Demons to fight them, while Soros watched and planned to make the gods seek his help.

• Davian revealed that he had impersonated Soros, then devastated Graz'zt's Demon forces with his dragon form and Leyline Eruption, destroying the Silver Palace.
• Soros summoned armies of creatures and spellcasters, turning his clash with Graz'zt into a sprawling war across Zelatar.
• Soros summoned Eldrazi Larvae as coordinates, and Emrakul, Ulamog, and Kozilek descended into the Triple Realm.
• The Abyssal Will summoned Demon Lords and armies to fight the Eldrazi, but their forces were corrupted, consumed, and gradually pushed back.
• Soros and Nahiri watched the battle from Davian's back, and Soros resolved to wait for the gods to beg him to seal the Titans.

The gods learned that the Eldrazi Titans were nearly impossible to kill, while Oghma discovered that Cyric had completed a dangerous artifact capable of influencing gods. Raymond then warned Asmodeus that the Abyssal war had become a prolonged three-sided conflict, and the Nine Hells planned to recruit Malcanthet and the Succubi with Raymond’s Phyrexian Oil.

• Tyr opened the Council of Gods and welcomed Waukeen, who described how the Eldrazi distorted creatures and turned them into Spawn.
• Oghma explained that the Eldrazi were projections from the Dark Void and said Soros could seal them, prompting the gods to argue over whether to intervene.
• Mask arrived in a disturbed state, read the True Teachings of Cyric, and warned Oghma that Cyric had completed a dangerous Greater Artifact; Oghma sent the book to Fzoul Chembryl.
• Asmodeus declared that Raymond would receive half of the Abyssal layers conquered by the Nine Hells, and Raymond advised the devils to keep their advance away from the Eldrazi’s battlefield.
• Raymond and Asmodeus agreed to bring Malcanthet and the Succubi into the Nine Hells, with Raymond intending to use Phyrexian Oil after Malcanthet signed a contract.

The Eldrazi and Demon armies devastated the Abyss while Tempus decided to court Soros with a War Chains artifact. In Shendilavri, Raymond got Malcanthet to sign a contract making him her lord, then infected her and her subjects with Phyrexian oil, leaving them trapped in a painful transformation.

• Emrakul, Ulamog, and Kozilek drove the Eldrazi war against the Demon armies, while both sides adapted and bred new forces; Demogorgon defeated and devoured a powerful Eldrazi Thrall.
• Tempus discussed intervening in the war and sent Crimson Knight to offer Soros the War Chains artifact.
• With Shendilavri besieged and her forces rebelling, Malcanthet admitted Raymond, who presented a contract offering protection in exchange for her allegiance to him.
• Malcanthet signed the contract, which severed her connection to the Abyssal Will and placed her under Raymond's authority.
• Raymond unleashed Phyrexian oil across the palace and Shendilavri, infecting Malcanthet, her attendants, and the armies as he sealed the plane.
• Raymond restrained Malcanthet on her throne as the oil engulfed her and screams spread through Shendilavri.

Raymond completed the transformation of Shendilavri with New Glistening Oil, made Malcanthet its ruler, and moved the layer from the Abyss into the Nine Hells. With Asmodeus arriving to inspect the results, Raymond prepared to discuss a new system for governing the reborn layer.

• Raymond observed New Glistening Oil transforming Shendilavri’s demons and corpses into conscious Phyrexian beings, then tested Oil No. 6 on a newly compleated incubus.
• Malcanthet emerged from the oil transformed, and Raymond appointed her lord of Shendilavri before tearing the layer from the Abyss and leading its defenders against the Abyssal Will’s forces.
• The Crimson Knight delivered Tempus’s War Chains to Raymond, offered his Chosen status, and promised to keep Shendilavri’s transformation secret.
• Asmodeus drew Shendilavri into Raymond’s New Ninth Layer, where the transformed population became Devils and Raymond created Deceiver Devils, Indulgence Devils, and Insect Devils.
• Asmodeus praised Malcanthet’s new approach to temptation and agreed to discuss Raymond’s plans for governing Shendilavri at the palace.

Raymond gained Asmodeus’s approval to establish his new system in the Ninth Layer, signed a resurrection contract, and received four additional planes as well as a flood of souls. Asmodeus ordered Zariel released and sent to serve Raymond, and she was freed but remained wary as she learned of her new assignment.

• Raymond explained that his wealth-driven laws would keep other Archdevils unstable, draw mortals and angels into corruption, and preserve his absolute rule; Asmodeus approved the plan and accepted Raymond’s offer of half the proceeds from contracts made there.
• Raymond signed Asmodeus’s contract, causing the Ninth Layer to expand into five vast spaces, and countless Lawful Evil souls poured in through a rift.
• Raymond claimed the souls came from a world he controlled and asked Asmodeus for Zariel; Asmodeus agreed to send her in exchange for Raymond’s future military support.
• Raymond offered to use Phyrexian Oil and remade armies against the Eldrazi, while Asmodeus agreed to provide Zariel and battlefield debris for his war effort.
• Asmodeus dismissed Martinet’s concerns about Raymond’s power, ordered Zariel released, and instructed Martinet to observe her transformation; the other Lords of the Planes instead increased their attacks on the Abyss’s upper layers.
• Martinet brought Asmodeus’s order to the Bronze Citadel, where Bel released Zariel and returned her weapons; Zariel learned she would serve as a lord of one of Raymond’s affiliated layers and waited for Martinet to explain who Soros was.

Raymond oversaw the Ninth Layer’s rapid industrial expansion and demonstrated Phyrexian Oil’s power by transforming Zariel into a white Praetor loyal to him. Zariel ended the chapter as Raymond’s armored, fanatically devoted general, while Martinet learned the secret of the oil and swore to keep it.

• Raymond and Malcanthet expanded the Ninth Layer into a vast construction site and developed Phyrexian Oil mobile terminals that could spy across planes.
• Martinet arrived with Zariel and Bel, while Bel delivered battlefield corpses and wreckage in exchange for Raymond’s promise of military support.
• Zariel challenged Raymond to prove his strength, and Malcanthet defeated her and began her Compleation with Phyrexian Oil.
• Raymond made Martinet sign a confidentiality contract after explaining the oil’s transformative power.
• Zariel emerged as a white-armored Praetor, knelt before Raymond, and pledged to serve as his sword.

Zariel destroyed a Demon fortress and began building a Phyrexian army in Karakatus, while Asmodeus ordered Martinet to recruit exiled Archdevils for Soros. Raymond expanded his rule by appointing Lonier to develop the Ninth Layer’s food industry and restoring Egrys to win his loyalty, then left Malcanthet in charge of the layer as he transferred his consciousness to a duplicate.

• Zariel slaughtered Sseth Innek and other Demons, turned their souls into sacred, battle-ready beings, and returned to Raymond for new orders.
• Raymond gave Zariel one million Lemures and authority to build an army in Karakatus, where she began transforming Devils into heavily armored war machines.
• Martinet reported Zariel’s transformation to Asmodeus, who ordered him to secretly recruit twelve exiled Archdevils and send them to Soros for Phyrexian Oil’s baptism.
• Raymond appointed Lonier to oversee food production and dining across the Ninth Layer, then restored Egrys to Pit Fiend form and sent him as an envoy to Dispater.
• Raymond explained to Malcanthet that Gramill was meant to serve as a ritual sacrifice against Belial, entrusted her with the Ninth Layer’s affairs, and transferred his consciousness to a duplicate.

Raymond relaxed in his Wizard's Tower while Shaan VII and Waukeen secretly planned to take control of Amn for Soros. Raymond identified a Cyricite plot against Zhentil Keep, granted Vermees an Infernal Heritage, and watched Atona awaken with Divinity and new Divine Magic.

• Shaan VII told a Cowled Wizards Guild operative to capture Selze Salemquante alive, then explained to Waukeen that he intended to secure Amn for Soros and unify the region under him.
• Vermees brought Raymond a ring identifying the gathering near Zhentil Keep as followers of Cyric, and Raymond warned Fzoul Chembryl about the Book of Cyric and the possible arrival of Cyric's avatar.
• Raymond revealed his devil form to Vermees and branded her with an Infernal Heritage, transforming her into an Infernal Red Dragon.
• Raymond decided to develop the Mind Flayer-brain Oddity into a Brainstealer Dragon, then found Atona's cocoon cracking as Divinity fused with her.
• Atona awoke, told Raymond she had gained the Truth Knight profession and Divine Magic, and embraced him after he gave her a Cold Iron Holy Symbol.

Fzoul Chembryl and Manshoon prepared to use Cyric’s fanatical worshippers as sacrifices to revive Bane, while Fzoul maneuvered to eliminate Manshoon and gain control of Zhentil Keep. Ximmon chose to seek Raymond’s protection instead, and Ashmi arrived at the Wizard’s Tower to negotiate a deal and offer to spy on Ximmon.

• Fzoul Chembryl and Manshoon summoned Bane’s followers, learned that Cyric’s worshippers would reach Zhentil Keep within half a month, and agreed to use them as sacrifices to revive Bane.
• Fzoul Chembryl revealed his deal with Soros and asked Ximmon to recruit Clarisse as a spy beside Manshoon.
• Ximmon told Ashmi he planned to pledge himself to Soros, then sent her to negotiate and gave her Manshoon’s spell list and a restorative Ioun Stone as gifts.
• Ashmi reached the Wizard’s Tower, where Fangus mistook her for a threat, attacked her, and captured her with help from the Worg pack.
• Raymond ordered Fangus to return Ashmi’s belongings and heard her offer the Zhentarim’s intelligence network in exchange for his protection.
• Ashmi offered to secretly monitor Ximmon for Raymond, while Raymond recognized that she had interests of her own.

Raymond forced Ashmi to sign a Devil Contract, then prepared to exploit the Dark Sun Church’s weakened defenses. Meanwhile, Shaan VII’s forces captured Selze Salemquante, whose granddaughter Vera arrived with the heads of her family and demanded the promised position of family head.

• Raymond exposed Ashmi’s past and mind-read her, learning that she sought power and revenge after Drow massacred her Moon Elf tribe in Cormanthor.
• Raymond threatened Ashmi with Ximmon’s retaliation and made her sign a Devil Contract, then gave her Mobile Terminals to deliver to Ximmon.
• Atona reported that Athkatla’s Dark Sun Church sites were nearly empty, and Raymond told her to wait until the struggle for Zhentil Keep was decided.
• Shaan VII’s forces ambushed Selze Salemquante’s carriage, disabled teleportation, overwhelmed his guards with Undead, and captured him and two Cowled Wizards.
• Shaan VII revealed that Zeranora was his disguise, that Soros knew of the infiltration, and that Waukeen had joined the operation against Selze.
• Vera Salemquante arrived with the severed heads of her relatives and asked Selze to make her family head as he had promised.

Vera helped Shaan VII seize control of the Salemquante Family, while Raymond witnessed Phyrexian Oil’s capabilities and learned that players had transformed Westeros and the Free Cities through firearms, warfare, and exploitation. The chapter left Raymond confronting the players’ devastation as Slaver’s Bay began shifting toward production and reconstruction.

• Vera told Shaan VII that she had massacred her family to secure her inheritance, and Selzer accused her of murdering their relatives.
• Vera gave Shaan VII the ancient contract binding the Cowled Wizards Guild, and he revealed that Primus of Mechanus had issued it.
• Shaan VII tortured Selzer until he surrendered control of the contract, then turned him into a Vampire and ordered Vera to serve Soros.
• Vera blamed Selzer for the massacre, joined the Council of Six, and helped establish the story that he had become an Undead and slaughtered his family.
• Raymond demonstrated Phyrexian Oil to scientists in the Floating City and reassured them that it could not replace human creativity.
• Vanessa showed Raymond how players had introduced firearms and modern warfare to Westeros, exploited its people, and begun organizing production in Slaver’s Bay.

Raymond ordered Diary to restrain the players’ destructive behavior and turn Westeros into a secure base, offering him Phyrexian Oil as a reward. As the players prepared to seize power in King’s Landing, Diary transformed Sansa Stark into a vampire and urged her to take revenge on Joffrey.

• Raymond confronted Diary over his encouragement of firearms and noblewomen’s capture, and Diary explained that warfare would weaken feudalism and let the players build a centralized realm.
• Raymond offered Diary a dose of No. 3 Phyrexian Oil if he controlled the players and helped establish a secure base and a new Soul Well; Diary accepted.
• Diary traveled to King’s Landing, where the Shadow Guild controlled the streets, Jack and his clerics forced the city to worship Bennu, and Jack’s team allied with Nex’s guild to divide territory and share wildfire secrets.
• Cersei discovered she was pregnant by one of the men who had assaulted her, while Joffrey ordered his attendant to strip Sansa Stark.
• Diary intervened, turned Sansa into a vampire, and told her to take revenge on Joffrey and her other enemies.

Raymond showed Shaan VII the Worg Legion and agreed to supply him with fifty thousand ordinary Werewolf Goblins, then discussed reshaping Amn's magic and commerce with Waukeen. Waukeen accepted an alliance with Raymond and supported his plans against Cyric as they learned that Kezef had been released and was hunting Mask.

• Shaan VII praised Raymond's Worg Legion, but Raymond warned that its uncontrollable violence made it unsuitable for a civil war and agreed to send him fifty thousand ordinary Werewolf Goblins instead.
• Raymond told Shaan VII that he would reorganize the Cowled Wizards Guild, loosen restrictions on magic, and use his Liches to bring its leaders into line.
• Raymond visited Waukeen, who rewarded him with the Greater Artifact Flow of Wealth and asked about his plans for Amn.
• Raymond outlined plans for fairer market competition, a unified coastal market, and airship transport, then invited Waukeen and her faithful to invest in his new city in the Ninth Layer of the Nine Hells.
• Raymond and Waukeen formed an alliance, and Waukeen agreed to support him against Cyric alongside other gods.
• Waukeen warned Raymond that Kezef had been released and was hunting Mask, prompting Raymond and Waukeen to mock the God of Thieves.

Vera Salemquante arrived at Lake Castle and pledged herself to Soros, who tasked her with breaking up the Council of Six’s alliance and advancing his plans for a unified western trade zone. Raymond then arranged a loan for Sir De'Arnise and went to Darkhold, where Ximmon reported that a plot to revive Bane and strike at Manshoon was nearing its decisive stage.

• Ibi Paren welcomed Vera Salemquante to Lake Castle, where she waited for Soros and endured his deliberate interruptions during their meal.
• Soros tested Vera’s patience and learned that she had joined the plot against her family because she resented being denied the inheritance she had earned; she accepted his task to divide the Council of Six’s remaining families and weaken monopolistic merchant associations.
• Vera inferred Soros’s broader plan to create a unified commercial zone across the western coast of Faerun, pledged the Salemquante Family to him, and left after briefing him on Amnian politics.
• Raymond offered Sir De'Arnise a loan of twenty thousand gold coins on the condition that he become guardian of Nalia if Sir De'Arnise died without a will.
• Raymond met Ximmon and Ashmi in Darkhold, warned Ximmon that he could reclaim the Phyrexian Oil Mobile Terminal, and learned that Manshoon and Fzoul Chembryl were preparing a mass sacrifice to revive Bane while Dark Sun’s followers advanced with an evil divine book.
• Raymond ordered Ximmon to alert him when fighting began, then left; Ximmon returned to Zhentil Keep to gather intelligence, while Ashmi comforted him.

Raymond and Oghma watched Cyric’s Book of Cyric convert thousands of prisoners into fanatics and discussed stripping Cyric of most of his portfolios. Oghma then gave Raymond an unformed Solar, whom Raymond forged into the powerful Nature Servitor Nemetona, before taking him to meet Jergal in the Fugue Plane.

• A skull-masked Cyric worshipper used the Book of Cyric to rewrite prisoners’ minds and convert them into Dark Sun fanatics.
• Raymond told Oghma he planned to weaken Cyric by stripping away his portfolios while leaving him the portfolio of lies, then distributing the others among rival gods.
• Oghma gave Raymond the remnant core of a dead god, explaining that it could develop into a Solar.
• Raymond forged soul energy and green mana into the Solar, named her Nemetona, and gave her powerful equipment and abilities.
• Oghma invited Raymond to visit Jergal, and Raymond sent Nemetona to his mage tower before traveling with Oghma to the Fugue Plane.

Raymond and Oghma secured Jergal’s cooperation in a plan to strip Cyric of his Divine Portfolios and replace him with Kelemvor as God of Death. After returning to the Wizard’s Tower, Raymond found that Nemetona had subdued Vermees and resolved to prepare the Nature Servitor for battle.

• Devils rescued souls on the Fugue Plane and persuaded many to sign contracts with Raymond’s Ninth Layer of Hell.
• Oghma revealed that Jergal was preparing Kelemvor to become the new God of Death, and Raymond argued that Kelemvor would restore Order to the Fugue Plane.
• Raymond asked Jergal to delay his move against Cyric so it could coincide with a larger effort to strip Cyric of his Divine Portfolios; Jergal agreed.
• Raymond learned from Oghma that Jergal might be dangerous and that Amaunator’s fall may have involved Jergal and the Dark Goddess.
• Raymond returned to the Wizard’s Tower and found Nemetona had bound Vermees after the dragon provoked her.
• Raymond explained Nemetona’s strength to Vermees and then took Nemetona and Atona away to prepare the Nature Servitor for battle.

Lord De'Arnise accepted a loan from Lord Soros to save his family’s finances, unaware that Isaea and a Mind Flayer’s conspiracy had helped cause the crisis. Meanwhile, Soros expanded his airship venture and watched Cyric send an avatar against Zhentil Keep, leaving the city’s fate uncertain.

• Lord De'Arnise signed a contract accepting twenty thousand gold coins from Lord Soros in exchange for making him Nalia’s guardian if Lord De'Arnise died without a will before the debt was repaid.
• Isaea conspired with Garris, who was secretly working for The Hidden, and a Mind Flayer ordered the organization to ally with Sarevok and use Doppelgangers and Tazok’s bandits to seize influence in Baldur’s Gate.
• Soros launched an airship route from Athkatla and arranged for Saranda Olam’s church to operate passenger services and help fill the airships with cargo.
• Soros and Nemetona observed about eight thousand followers of Cyric surrounding Zhentil Keep, and Cyric sent an avatar to demand the city’s surrender.
• Soros sensed the conflicting divine powers within Cyric as Vermees and Atona trembled at the god’s madness.

Cyric’s attempt to convert Zhentil Keep failed, and his attack on the city triggered a battle that enabled Bane to return. With Bane restored and Kelemvor ascended as the new God of Death, Raymond helped turn the gods against Cyric, who ended the chapter surrounded and stripped of power.

• Cyric used the Book of Cyric to try to convert Zhentil Keep, but Fzoul Chembryl revealed that the city’s faithful had been prepared to resist it.
• Cyric attacked Xvim, and their clash destroyed Zhentil Keep’s walls as Cyric’s followers launched a brutal assault on the city.
• Sacrificial arrays and Bane’s worshippers’ prayers empowered Xvim until Bane emerged from him and reclaimed his portfolios from Cyric.
• Raymond and Nemetona joined the conflict, while Raymond arranged for Jergal to strip Cyric of his death-related portfolios as Kelemvor ascended.
• Midnight and other gods arrived to condemn Cyric, while Atona stole the divine books and Vermees looted Zhentil Keep amid the fighting.
• Bane, Kelemvor, Tempus, and the assembled gods agreed to confront Cyric, leaving the Prince of Lies surrounded and furious.

Cyric declared war on the gods and tried to destroy his avatar, but Raymond dragged it into the Dark Void and preserved much of its divine power. After the gods agreed to convene and discuss Cyric’s trial, Raymond received the remaining Nether Scrolls, negotiated over divine portfolios, and impressed Bane enough to become his Chosen and receive three powerful artifacts.

• Cyric denounced the gods, declared war on them, and began swelling with divine power as his avatar threatened to explode.
• Tyr, Ilmater, Torm, Bane, and other gods shielded Zhentil Keep while Selur struggled to stop the city’s uprising from becoming a wave of cruelty.
• Raymond used Tempus’s War Chains to drag Cyric’s avatar into the Dark Void, then collected a Divine Power Core from the resulting explosion.
• Tyr and the other gods agreed to meet at the Pantheon in one week to discuss Cyric’s trial, while Midnight gave Raymond the remaining Nether Scrolls and left with Kelemvor.
• Talona asked Raymond to help Loviatar obtain the Attrition, Decay, and Fatigue portfolios, and Raymond agreed to consult Jergal before seeking out Fzoul Chembryl and Bane.
• Raymond described tyranny as inherent in societies built on hierarchy and power, prompting Bane to name him his Chosen and grant him the Tyrant’s Crown, Tyrant’s Iron Fist, and Tyrant’s Scepter.