Chapter Summaries

Sancho’s party entered Kangaxx’s hidden lair and tricked the Demilich into freeing himself, then detonated the trapped Golden Skeleton. Kangaxx survived and overwhelmed the party with powerful magic, while Abdel transformed into the Slayer; the Succubus girl stepped forward to confront the Demilich.

• Sancho led the party into the abandoned house, where Imoen disarmed the entrance trap and found the stairs to the underground lair.
• Sancho prepared the party with defensive spells and Protection from Soul Capture potions before they descended to Kangaxx’s sealed coffin.
• Sancho tricked Kangaxx into accepting the Golden Skeleton, then detonated the explosives hidden inside it and shattered most of the Demilich’s body.
• Kangaxx healed his damaged Golden Skull and attacked the party with Abi-Dalzim’s Horrid Wilting, while his magical defenses blocked Imoen’s and Viconia’s attempts to interrupt him.
• Abdel transformed into the Slayer and targeted his companions, leaving Sancho’s party facing both the Demilich and the rampaging Bhaalspawn.
• The Succubus girl knocked the Slayer aside and prepared to fight Kangaxx with her enchanted greatsword and infernal power.

Sancho’s party fought Kangaxx, but Abdel’s transformation into the Slayer and Kangaxx’s legendary magic left them near defeat until Raymond arrived. Raymond revealed that the battle had been a trial he arranged, subdued Kangaxx with the Demilich’s Phylactery, and turned him into a Summoning Creature Card.

• Kangaxx summoned a Balor, but Atona killed it with her Order-powered attacks before Kangaxx froze her and killed Minsc with Legendary Magic.
• Sancho freed Atona with a Delayed Blast Fireball, but Kangaxx dispelled her protections and sealed her away with Imprisonment.
• Abdel transformed into the Slayer and attacked his companions while Imoen and Sancho fought Kangaxx, leaving the party close to defeat.
• Raymond arrived with two Liches, returned Abdel to human form, revived Minsc, freed Atona, and told Sancho to learn from his mistakes.
• Raymond cut the group off from the Weave, revealed Kangaxx’s Phylactery, and explained that he had prepared the trial in advance.
• Raymond seized Kangaxx’s ring, sealed Kangaxx and his Phylactery into a Summoning Creature Card, and altered the Demilich’s memories and alignment.

Jaheira met Nalia, who sought help after Isaea imprisoned her and Monsters attacked De'Arnise Keep, while Raymond let the Bhaalspawn take the task. Elsewhere, Alusair began rebuilding Alaor Province, and Szass Tam prepared to seize control of Thay, prompting Dmitra Flass to warn Raymond that civil war was imminent.

• Jaheira met a Harper contact at the Copper Coronet Inn, who urged her to keep monitoring Abdel and described the Harpers’ worsening conflicts in the Northland.
• Nalia arrived seeking adventurers to rescue her father and De'Arnise Keep from Monsters, explaining that Isaea had forged a marriage agreement and imprisoned her; Jaheira agreed to find Abdel and the others.
• Raymond learned that The Hidden had likely seized De'Arnise Keep and decided to let the Bhaalspawn handle the danger while the Imperium focused on construction.
• Alusair began surveying and rebuilding the islands of Alaor Province, planning to increase their population and construct a Wizard's Tower and teleportation portal.
• Szass Tam told Dmitra Flass he would overthrow the Zulkir Council, and Dmitra agreed to support him; afterward, she told Kalaya to warn Raymond that Thay's civil war was about to begin.
• Shelassa revealed that she had absorbed the Spiked Vampire and infiltrated the Zulkirs’ circles, then frightened Kalaya by approaching her as a predator.

The seven Rune Lords infiltrated Thay and planned to use its political tensions to advance Raymond’s interests, while Fzoul Chembryl captured Sentia and discussed adopting Soros’s methods. In the Northland, Ximmon discovered Kurlemos’s plan to turn a captive Silver Dragon into a Dracolich and attack the Harpers’ leadership.

• Ragon, Kaltak Spailser, Pramon "Frostsigil" Lakaishike, Sapphiraktar, Shelassa, Muratell, and Rain infiltrated the Red Wizards under different identities, while Ragon joined Szass Tam openly.
• The Rune Lords imprisoned a powerful demon beneath Eltab City, then bargained with him to kill their enemies while secretly planning to capture him afterward.
• Rain proposed using Demitra Flass’s ambition to seize influence in Eltab Province and intensify the coming Thayan Civil War, and Ragon approved her plan.
• Fzoul Chembryl’s army breached Sentia’s defenses with heavy trebuchets and captured the city, after which Fzoul ordered the ruling families purged.
• Ximmon told Fzoul that Kurlemos and Harred III had helped weaken the Harpers in the Northland, and urged Fzoul to learn from Soros’s approach to power.
• Ximmon found Kurlemos torturing a captive Silver Dragon and preparing to turn her into a Dracolich; Kurlemos planned to use her suffering to torment Kastelan Ferian and attack the Harpers’ leaders.

Raymond altered Kurlemos’s dragon eggs, sent him powerful allies, and dispatched Davian to monitor the Bhaalspawn. He then manipulated Jace and Nicol Bolas to delay the War of the Spark, acquired an ancient Artifact, and left Amonkhet after observing Oketra.

• Raymond explained that he could transform Kurlemos’s cursed dragon eggs into a new evil subspecies, and Kurlemos asked him to raise a son and daughter for use against Kastelan Ferian and the Dragon Paladins.
• Raymond sent Agatha and Varys to assist Kurlemos against the Harpers and Scarred Klauth, while Davian went to monitor the Bhaalspawn near the Marching Mountains.
• Raymond modified and hatched the eggs in Zendikar, then met Jace Beleren and persuaded him and his allies to pursue Tezzeret and the Planar Bridge on Kaladesh instead of investigating Amonkhet.
• Raymond deceived Nicol Bolas with reports about Ugin and Azor, demonstrated Melira’s ability to counter Phyrexian Oil, and received an ancient magical staff as a reward.
• After Nicol Bolas left Amonkhet, Raymond observed Oketra overseeing trials at her temple and then planeswalked away.

Raymond had Mystra upgrade the artifact staff, then tested its immense power before vowing to keep building strength against Nicol Bolas. Meanwhile, Kurlemos set a conspiracy against the Harpers in motion, and Elminster and Storm Silverhand rode toward the High Forest; elsewhere, Abdel’s party prepared to enter de’Arnise Keep, where Mind Flayers threatened Nalia’s family.

• Raymond returned to Faerûn, gave Midnight the artifact staff, and she repaired it with Dweomerheart metal, seven gemstones, the Weave, and Silver Fire.
• Raymond tested the upgraded staff by flattening a mountain peak and vowed to accumulate power before confronting Nicol Bolas.
• Kurlemos forced a tortured Silver Dragon to become a Dracolich and ordered her to lure Elminster and Storm Silverhand toward the High Forest.
• Elminster and Storm Silverhand learned of an injured Silver Dragon and rode east from Longsaddle, while Harred III offered rewards to provoke Scarred Klauth into attacking Mirabar.
• Abdel’s party found corpses and heard Psionic whispers outside de’Arnise Keep, and Sancho proposed entering through Nalia’s secret passage using mind-shielding potions.

Sancho led the assault on the Mind Flayers beneath de'Arnise Keep, using an Undead army to counter their mental powers and killing Dhesia Kane when the Mind Flayers tried to negotiate with hostages. He sent Lord De'Arnise into a rage-fueled charge toward the Elder Brain, and the chapter ended as a powerful Psionic Blast struck the party at the chamber entrance.

• The newborn Elder Brain revealed that it had kept Lord De'Arnise and Dhesia Kane alive to lure Nalia and adventurers into the keep, while Isaea was killed after betraying his family.
• Sancho split the party to clear the keep, then Viconia raised the slain Monsters as Undead and led an army of them against the Mind Flayers below.
• Sancho's group learned from a captured Yuan-ti that a newborn Elder Brain led a colony of about twenty Mind Flayers, and they advanced through the dungeon with their Undead army.
• A Mind Flayer offered to negotiate using Lord De'Arnise and Dhesia Kane as hostages, but Sancho killed the negotiators and Dhesia with Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting.
• Sancho gave Lord De'Arnise a potion that drove him into a murderous frenzy, then told Nalia that her father had charged toward the enemy after Dhesia's death.
• Nalia and the others joined the fight to clear the passage, but a powerful Psionic Blast from the chamber ahead shattered Undead and hurled Imoen into a wall.

Sancho’s party killed the Mind Flayers at de’Arnise Keep, but the newborn Elder Brain escaped and was captured by Raymond and Shaan VII, who discussed their campaign in another world and the threat of Dendar. Meanwhile, Klauth attacked Mirabar over stolen treasure, and a Harper archer brought him crashing down as hidden watchers observed the battle.

• Nalia threw Force Beads at the Mind Flayers after finding her father dead, and the party fought the Elder Brain and its remaining servants.
• Sancho blocked the Elder Brain’s Plane Shift with Dimensional Anchor, but the Elder Brain unleashed a Psionic Blast, escaped, and taunted the party.
• Raymond and Shaan VII captured the Elder Brain after its escape, discussed their plans for it and the conflict around Nazarick, and Raymond sent scouts to investigate Chult.
• Klauth attacked Mirabar after tracking stolen treasure to the city, while the Sparkling Stones Committee argued over how to respond.
• A Harper Elf Arcane Archer shot Klauth with an enchanted arrow, bringing him down among the buildings, and more than ten Harpers moved in as an unseen observer watched.

Klauth slaughtered the Harper leaders in Mirabar while Ximmon and Harred III watched, and Kurlemos’s ambush kept Elminster and Storm Silverhand from intervening. With Storm captured and the Harpers’ distress call reaching him, Elminster faced an impossible choice before finally attacking Kurlemos with Silver Fire.

• Klauth killed Glais with Disintegrate, then trapped the Harpers in Fire Storm and killed several more as they fought back.
• Ximmon and Harred III watched the battle from hiding and revealed that Kurlemos was occupied keeping Elminster and Storm Silverhand away.
• Klauth killed the Harpers’ Archdruid, Cleric, and one Archmage, while Ximmon killed the fleeing Archmage and Harred III’s forces hunted the surviving Harper leaders.
• Kurlemos and his allies ambushed Elminster and Storm Silverhand near High Forest, stripped away Storm’s protections, and imprisoned her while Kurlemos held Elminster at bay.
• Elminster received the Harpers’ distress signal and agonized over choosing between saving Storm and returning to Mirabar before Kurlemos taunted him about the Harpers.
• Enraged by Kurlemos’s accusations, Elminster raised his hand and fired an arrow of Silver Fire at him.

Elminster was defeated politically and forced to recognize that the Harpers had lost their foothold in the Northland, while Raymond halted the violence and explained his plans for gradual unification. Kurlemos then seized Klauth’s territory, and the Northland’s expansion brought prosperity to its towns at the cost of its wilderness peoples, while Waukeen’s power grew.

• Kurlemos absorbed Elminster’s Silver Fire Arrows with Spell Absorption and forced him into a defensive standoff.
• Harred III revealed that the senior Harpers in Mirabar had been killed and provoked Elminster into attacking him, but Elminster stopped short of killing him.
• Raymond freed Storm Silverhand, admitted that Harred III had led the operation, and explained that he intended to unify the Northland gradually through economic and military ties.
• Elminster accepted the Harpers’ defeat and returned to Shadowdale with Storm Silverhand, while Kurlemos and his allies turned on the Cult of the Dragon.
• Kurlemos defeated Klauth, took control of his lair, and subjugated much of the Spine of the World.
• The Northland’s towns prospered as development displaced and devastated many Druids, Rangers, and Elves, while Waukeen’s divine power rose toward the greater rank.

Waukeen moved her divine realm to the Ninth Layer of Baator and allied with Asmodeus, promising to help the Devils in exchange for aid against Graz’zt. Meanwhile, Soros used Glasya’s forces and a deception involving Gramill to prepare for Firna’s takeover of the Fourth Layer.

• Waukeen separated her realm from Brightwater, joined it to the Ninth Layer, and received a lavish welcome from Asmodeus.
• Waukeen and Asmodeus formed an alliance, agreeing that the Devils would support her revenge against Graz’zt as the Blood War approached.
• Asmodeus learned that Soros had taken control of the Sixth Layer through his authorization and was influencing the Fourth Layer’s struggle without openly declaring his side.
• Soros kept Belial uncertain while Glasya cooperated with him, and he accepted a Pain Gem sent by Belial as a gift.
• After Gramill delivered Firna’s message that she wanted to kill Belial, Soros sent her to persuade Belial that she had won his support while Glasya prepared her army to appear to attack Firna.
• Gramill teleported to the Fourth Layer to carry out Soros’s plan, while Glasya mobilized the Sixth Layer’s forces.

Kazla accepted Soros’s plan to publicly join Belial and turn against him at the decisive moment, while Raymond used Glasya’s staged military mobilization to distract the other layer lords and expose spies in her court. After the spies were captured, Raymond gave Glasya intelligence on her subordinates and advised her on ruling the Sixth Layer.

• Mammon, Dispater, and Levistus mobilized their forces after Glasya assembled troops, heightening fears of another devil civil war.
• A Phyrexian-completed Succubus recruited Kazla to Soros’s plan, ordering him to swear allegiance to Belial and backstab him at the crucial moment.
• Kazla pledged loyalty to Belial and brought his Spined Devil Legion to Phlegethos, where Belial welcomed him as a personal guard and confidant.
• Raymond revealed that Glasya’s troop buildup was a deception, then ordered the arrest of six spies in her court.
• Glasya interrogated the captured spies, learned that rival lords had infiltrated her court, and received Raymond’s investigation of her officials along with advice on managing subordinates.

Firna’s forces defeated Belial through a coordinated betrayal, and Kazla stabbed him with Phyrexian Oil that transformed him into a ravenous monstrosity. As Soros and Zariel arrived to recover him, Soros sent the transformed Belial crashing into Mammon’s invading army.

• Firna ordered an all-out assault on Belial’s forces, while Kazla waited with the Barbed Devil Legion for the signal to betray him.
• Firna drew Belial onto the battlefield and revealed that Gramill had lured him into a trap; Kazla’s legion attacked from behind as other Devils defected.
• Kazla stabbed Belial with a weapon filled with Phyrexian Oil, which consumed and rebuilt his body into a monstrous creature.
• Firna freed Gramill and rewarded Kazla with command of a new legion as she began consolidating control of the Fourth Layer.
• Soros and Zariel arrived to recover the still-resisting Belial, but Mammon’s army entered the Fourth Layer before they could act.
• Soros launched Belial into Mammon’s army, where the transformed Archdevil devastated the advancing troops and began devouring them.

Raymond and Zariel crushed Mammon’s intervention in the Fourth Layer, while Firna secured power and Belial was captured for Phyrexian study. After Raymond met with Asmodeus to discuss the Nine Hells’ war preparations and vast wealth, Asmodeus sent him back to the Ninth Layer, where Raymond considered developing similar planar dominion.

• Belial’s mutated Phyrexian body devoured Mammon’s vanguard, and Zariel warned Mammon that Firna had won the Fourth Layer and he must withdraw.
• Mammon agreed to retreat, and Zariel stopped Belial’s rampage before taking him to the Ninth Layer for study.
• Firna purged Belial’s supporters, consolidated rule over the Fourth Layer, and publicly praised Raymond, who ignored her advances.
• Raymond met Asmodeus in Malsheem, where they discussed Belial’s transformation, the need to gather souls for the coming Blood War, and Asmodeus’s immense treasure reserves.
• Asmodeus sent Raymond back to the Ninth Layer and warned him that Irenicus was preparing a war to cross the boundary between mortal and divine.
• Raymond wondered whether he could develop Asmodeus’s ability to teleport targets anywhere within a plane by using Land Card connections to transform his surroundings into the Nine Hells.

Irenicus advanced his alliance with Menzoberranzan against Suldanessellar while Raymond revealed the next stage of his plan and confronted Lolth over her control of the Drow. Lolth then offered Raymond a deal on behalf of the Abyssal Will: end the Eldrazi war and restore the Blood War in exchange for the Nine Hells ruling the Abyss’s upper layers and two additional conditions.

• Menzoberranzan’s matron ordered captured Surface Elves sacrificed, but Irenicus killed their leading Cleric after the Elf recognized his former name, Thalres, and accused him of betraying Queen Ellesime.
• Raymond visited Irenicus in Lolth’s temple, confirmed that the Bhaalspawn would reach Ust Natha soon, and described the planned confrontation at Suldanessellar.
• Irenicus left to exploit Adalon’s attachment to her unborn dragon egg so he could force the Primordial Silver Dragon to yield.
• Raymond challenged Lolth’s objections to his support for Eilistraee’s followers and warned that he could destabilize the Drow’s faith; Lolth backed down from the dispute.
• Lolth negotiated for the Abyssal Will, offering the Nine Hells control of the Abyss’s upper layers and two extra conditions if Raymond ended the Eldrazi war and restored the Blood War.

Raymond negotiated with Adalon for her soul in exchange for recovering her stolen Dragon egg, while Lolth received a dangerous book containing the Abyss’s secrets for Soros. Soros then upgraded his gauntlet and sent Sancho and Imoen to prepare for their pursuit of Irenicus into the Underdark.

• Raymond proposed a contract to help Adalon recover her Dragon egg, and she agreed to sell her soul if the terms protected the egg and its future hatchling.
• Ulgurshek gave Lolth a book containing the Abyss’s origin and forbidden knowledge, agreed to Raymond’s demand to control the Blood War’s scale, and suggested Soros might be his kind.
• Lolth left to find a safe place to deliver the dangerous book to Soros.
• Soros installed the Pain Gem in the Tyrant’s Iron Fist Gauntlet, and the resulting blast destroyed his workshop before he restored it with Time Reversal.
• Soros told Sancho and Imoen to prepare to follow Irenicus into the Underdark and warned them about the dangers of entering a Drow city.

Raymond sent his party toward the Underdark while searching for the buried Imaskar secrets, but a summoning ritual drew his projection, Soros, from Toril to Greyhawk. After meeting Mordenkainen and joining a caravan, Soros remained unaware that Lolth had failed to deliver the Book of the Abyss and would need to arrange another meeting.

• Raymond explained to Sancho and Imoen why the Bhaalspawn had to grow stronger, and said they could escape Bhaal’s influence by redefining their relationship with killing and death.
• Raymond revealed that Abdel had borrowed a book about Drow women, prompting Imoen and Sancho to leave and warn Jaheira before the party departed for the Underdark.
• Raymond transformed the party into Drow and teleported them near Ust Natha, then hired adventurers to search the Raurin Desert for the Palace of the Purple Emperor and Pandorym.
• Drow priestesses led by Matron Eclavdra tried to summon a Demon Lord in Greyhawk, but the Circle of Eight interrupted them before Soros’s projection arrived.
• Soros learned that he was in Greyhawk, left the cave, and joined a passing caravan, while Mordenkainen recognized him and set out to handle the matter personally.
• Lolth tried to make a Wax Demon open the Book of the Abyss, but it mutated and attacked her, so she covered the book again and began planning another way to meet Soros.

Raymond investigated the disappearance of the caravan leader and found a secret stronghold of Iuz’s followers, where he rescued the captives and confronted the Demon Demigod himself. Iuz offered to prove his usefulness, leaving Raymond to decide whether to spare him.

• Raymond learned that the caravan leader and his party had vanished, then joined the old driver and a laborer to investigate the stream.
• Raymond followed the tracks to a cave guarded by Orcs bearing Iuz’s symbol and silently killed the guards before entering.
• Raymond killed the Orcs and their human priest during a sacrifice, then freed the caravan members as Iuz’s statue unleashed a corrupting supernatural force.
• Iuz appeared before Raymond with two monstrous fungal creations and identified him as the Devil Crown Prince Emperor Soros.
• Raymond challenged Iuz to give him a reason to live, and Iuz offered to provide whatever Raymond wanted.

Raymond negotiated with Iuz, reassured Mordenkainen that he had been forcibly summoned to Oerth, and helped expose Isado’s betrayal before the traitor died and was claimed for Baator. Meanwhile, Soros investigated a Netherese mine and revealed a new Mythallar to Owo, proposing to build a Floating City.

• Raymond agreed to cooperate with Iuz in exchange for information and support, then met Mordenkainen, accepted his ring, and secretly altered it before returning to the caravan.
• Raymond stopped Isado from holding Annie hostage, and the caravan leader left the traitor wounded in the wilderness, where Dire Wolves killed him.
• Isado’s soul was drawn to the River Styx and marked for the Ninth Layer by Soros, leaving him terrified of the punishment awaiting him in Baator.
• Soros discussed a newly discovered Kadarin Magic Stone mine with Owo, who explained how its fragile stones should be mined and protected.
• Soros produced a new Mythallar and proposed building a Floating City in the old lands of Netheril, astonishing Owo with his access to powerful magic.

Raymond led an expedition into the Raurin Desert to locate the Imaskar Empire’s capital and prepare to open Pandorym’s Crystal Prison. After his party killed a Brown Dragon and excavated its lair, they uncovered a buried stone archway that appeared to lead into the ruins.

• Raymond arranged for Owo to oversee construction of a new floating city while he disguised himself as a Mulhorandi noble scholar and traveled east to investigate the Imaskar Empire’s lost capital.
• A Brown Dragon defeated a group of Fire Genies, but Raymond’s adventurers and mercenaries ambushed and killed it after it returned to its lair.
• Raymond rewarded the dragon-slaying party with gold, water, and wine, then told its leaders to protect the expedition while the workers excavated nearby.
• Raymond’s scouts found extensive ruins beneath the desert, and he directed the slave laborers to dig near the Brown Dragon’s lair while concealing his true objective.
• After several days of excavation, the workers uncovered an eight-meter-tall stone archway beneath the sand, with a passage beyond it partly buried.