Chapter Summaries

Shar gathered gods and Demon Lords into an alliance against Soros, while Soros and Raymond prepared to unleash Mind Flayers and the Fourth Calamity’s players across Faerûn and the Outer Planes. The first players began wreaking havoc in the Northland, and the chapter ended with Isadora agreeing to care for a pet for two years before Raymond would consider having a child with her.

• Shar told Cyric, Kostchtchie, Yeenoghu, Lolth, Gruumsh, Maglubiyet, Vhaeraun, and Vain that Soros had discovered their conspiracy, but the assembled gods and Demon Lords prepared to attack anyway.
• Soros searched Magrim’s memories and soul, learned who was conspiring against him, and asked Elder Brain Isadora to send her Mind Flayer forces into the Northland.
• Elder Brain Isadora ordered a Super Tadpole implanted in Magrim and assembled thousands of psionic warships for the coming conflict.
• Raymond and Shaan VII sent players into Faerûn and the Outer Planes, where they began slaughtering monster tribes and provoking trouble in Demon Lords’ territories.
• Raymond let Shaan VII return to Calimport to visit Ayesha and Annie, then reunited with Isadora, who asked to have a child with him.
• Raymond told Isadora to care for a pet for two years before he would agree to have a child with her, and she accepted immediately.

Raymond brought Benu into Faerun and set him to infiltrate the gods' alliance, while Aribeth awoke consumed by rage and pledged herself to the Lord of the Ninth Layer. Across the Northland, players launched a brutal campaign against monsters and hostile tribes, alarming local leaders and prompting Alustriel, Leira, and Kelben to suspect Soros was behind it.

• Millions of Werewolf Goblins witnessed Benu descend as their god, and Raymond instructed him to pose as a new deity and spy on the alliance against him.
• Nemetona reported sending players into Acheron and the Bottomless Abyss, and Raymond explained that he hoped their actions would rekindle conflicts among his enemies.
• Aribeth woke in Raymond's Wizard's Tower, blamed Vancevik for betrayal, and swore to humiliate him by serving the Lord of the Ninth Layer and cheating on him.
• Players massacred monster tribes across the Northland, including a Warhammer party that killed a force of Gnolls, Kobolds, Half-Giants, and Hill Giants with poison gas.
• Alustriel, Leira, and Kelben discussed the growing slaughter, and Kelben concluded that the otherworldly adventurers were likely waging a wider campaign that amounted to a declaration of war.

Raymond’s players reignited wars across Acheron and the Abyss to undermine Shar’s alliance, while Lolth prepared to attack Eilistraee’s city. In the Warhammer Universe, Raymond received deadly creatures from Catachan and ordered a major force sent to aid Roboute Guilliman.

• Jack and the Fourth Calamity players provoked the orcs and goblins into expanding their war, advancing Raymond’s plan to sabotage Shar’s alliance.
• Raymond’s agents intensified conflicts among demon lords, and Lolth ordered her allies to continue preparations against Eilistraee’s underground city.
• A transport carrying Catachan Devils and other dangerous creatures arrived at Raymond’s Spaceport, and he moved the creatures into a secure laboratory for research and weapon development.
• Raymond learned that Roboute Guilliman had sought his support and ordered a hundred-thousand-strong force, two modified Gloriana-class Battleships, and Skulltaker to aid him.

Little Annie terrorized palace maids while Ayesha and Shaan VII discussed her immense power and the threat Soros faced. At Mutahal Floating City, Shaan VII saw new weapons and Godslayers being prepared, then watched the Orks defeat Andariel and claim victory in the Monastery.

• Little Annie used magic to send palace maids flying and transform them, while Ayesha and Shaan VII allowed her to continue and supplied a new group of maids when she asked.
• Shaan VII told Ayesha that Annie’s power came from her connection to the Dark Void and warned that Soros’s enemies were joining forces against him.
• Shaan VII visited Jin-Gitaxias, who demonstrated Catachan Devils capable of killing powerful beings and introduced awakened humans from Sanctuary as Godslayers.
• Jin-Gitaxias and Shaan VII watched Compleated Orks attack Andariel’s forces in the Monastery, where the Orks’ numbers and Waaagh! power overwhelmed the Demons.
• Lakruluutag fought Andariel for hours, defeated her, and raised her severed head as the Orks cheered.

Kashya and Akara began evacuating Rogue Encampment as Compleated Orks spread across Sanctuary, while New Phyrexia’s leaders discussed their plans and rivalries. In Faerûn, Raymond empowered the fallen Aribeth, who returned to Neverwinter and maneuvered Lord Nasher into summoning the suspected plague conspirators, Deszel and Vancevik, along with Dumbledore.

• Kashya warned Akara that the Orks had overwhelmed the monastery and were spreading, and Akara ordered the refugees to flee south toward King's Port and the Skovos Isles.
• Shaan VII and Jin-Gitaxias discussed how Sanctuary’s immortal Angels and Demons would fuel the Orks’ growth, while Sheoldred brought captured Naaru to Jin-Gitaxias and asked for a chance to join Raymond’s new war.
• Raymond explained his rule over the Sword Coast Empire to Aribeth, then equipped her with powerful infernal armor and sent her to Neverwinter to pursue revenge.
• Aribeth told Lord Nasher that Deszel and Vancevik had conspired in Neverwinter’s plague, then persuaded him to summon them and Dumbledore instead of ordering immediate arrests.
• Deszel mistook Aribeth’s fall for proof that his allies had won her over, while Vancevik was stunned by her transformation and Aribeth noticed Dumbledore’s interest in him.

Aribeth exposed Deszel’s role in the Neverwinter plague, but Deszel kidnapped Lord Nasher, letting Aribeth seize control of the city for the Imperium. Elsewhere, Raymond received six compleated Sons of Superman as guards and took Little Annie into his care after discovering she had been tormenting palace maids.

• Aribeth revealed that Deszel had helped spread the plague and that Magrim was captured, while Dumbledore confirmed he had known Deszel’s identity.
• Deszel attacked Lord Nasher and escaped through a magical ring, leaving Nasher captive in a cult fortress alongside demons and other allies.
• Aribeth became acting lord, brought Imperium forces into Neverwinter, and exposed Vancevik’s affair before telling him she was taking revenge on him.
• Sheoldred presented Raymond with six compleated Sons of Superman, and Raymond kept her assigned to oversee the forces in Azeroth.
• Raymond dispelled Little Annie’s Transfiguration Magic, discovered she had turned maids into animals and fed them raw meat, and took over her upbringing.
• Raymond gave Little Annie rules and assigned the six Sons of Superman to serve as her personal guard.

Aribeth chose to defend Neverwinter while the enemy gathered, as Lolth’s forces launched a major assault on Eilistraee’s underground city near Dragonspear Castle. The city’s defenders were pushed toward defeat until a beam of moonlight empowered them and a sword-wielding figure appeared.

• Arian Zhend reported the enemy buildup and the threat from the Underdark, and Aribeth decided to wait for an attack rather than strike first.
• Tyro warned that Dragonspear Castle and other Underdark passages faced possible invasion, while the Imperium prepared its forces.
• Drow assassins attacked Dragonspear Castle, killing hundreds and destroying supplies, before Qilué returned underground to organize the defense.
• Liriel learned that the enemy had captured two fortresses and joined Qilué in defending the city as Orcs, Goblins, and Driders attacked.
• The attackers used protective magic and Driders to breach the defenses, killing Drow children and forcing the defenders back.
• Silver moonlight descended over the defenders, strengthening them as a sword-wielding figure danced at its center.

Eilistraee’s followers survived Lolth’s assault when mind flayer nautiloids abducted most of the invading army, while Raymond’s players wiped out a vast Monster force in the High Forest. The chapter ended with Raymond confronting Gruumsh’s avatar after teleporting the players away.

• Lolth’s drow army entered the underground city and attacked Eilistraee’s followers, who struggled despite divine blessings and Qilué’s and Liriel’s efforts.
• Mind flayer nautiloids stunned and abducted most of the invading army, allowing Qilué to order the city secured and Eilistraee to heal survivors as Lolth withdrew.
• Vera Malandis and Alustriel witnessed Warhammer Universe players destroy the Monster army with chemical weapons and poison gas.
• Gruumsh sent down an avatar and attacked the players’ colonel, but Raymond blocked his spear with an Artifact.
• Raymond mocked Gruumsh and teleported the players away, leaving the two of them poised to fight.

Raymond defeated and beheaded Gruumsh’s avatar in the High Forest, then explained that the Orc Pantheon and several other powers opposed him while his allies outnumbered his enemies. Shar secretly continued her plan to bring Dendar into the world, and the battle’s aftermath left the Orcs furious and their truce with the Goblins in jeopardy.

• Divine Power and Quasi-Divine Power collided in the High Forest, causing devastation across the region and injuring Vera Malandis, while Alustriel helped her recover near Lost Peak.
• Raymond analyzed Gruumsh’s abilities, revealed that he could absorb Divine Power, and taunted the Orc God about his lack of dependable allies.
• Gruumsh attacked Raymond, but Raymond overwhelmed him with the Void Sword and Rainbow Force-Field magic, destroyed his artifacts, and beheaded his avatar.
• Raymond told Alustriel and Vera Malandis that numerous gods and Demon Lords opposed him, then warned them that Shar was likely preparing a conspiracy and teleported away.
• Shar watched the aftermath and resolved to proceed with her plan to bring Dendar into the world while the other gods watched Flame Peak.
• News of Gruumsh’s defeat spread through Faerun, and the Orc God later broke his agreement with Maglubiyet and attacked him, renewing Orc-Goblin tensions.

Raymond examined Talona’s magically enhanced Catachan Devils, then discussed Shar’s schemes and his plans to unite against the Orc Pantheon. Talona secretly conceived a child with Raymond and enlisted Loviatar in a plan to expand their pantheon, while Cyric began plotting to plunge Cormyr into civil war and seize Alusair’s unborn child.

• Raymond praised Talona’s evolved King Toads, whose explosions could devastate huge areas and gravely wound a deity’s avatar.
• Talona warned Raymond that Shar had met with Silvanus, and Raymond outlined plans to ally with Corellon and Moradin, manipulate Bane against Maglubiyet, and punish Cyric.
• After Raymond left, Talona revealed that she had joined her divine essence with collected life essence to conceive his child, and she proposed building a pantheon across the multiverse with Loviatar’s help.
• Midnight and Azuth discussed how to expand the Weave’s access to other magical environments, while Midnight demanded that Talos release Jebidiah Tulan and warned that Shar remained the greater threat.
• Cyric sent his Cormyr followers an Artifact to stir rebellion over Alusair’s succession and revealed to Shar that he wanted to capture her unborn child as a weapon against Raymond.
• Shar declined to help Cyric, who vowed revenge against Raymond, Midnight, and Kelemvor while Shar intended to use the resulting chaos to bring Dendar back and extinguish the sun.

Regent Alusair faced a succession crisis after Duke Shafa vanished and then abducted King Ahsan V, claiming he meant to protect the king from her unborn child. Shafa’s coup triggered fighting in Suzail and a kingdom-wide civil war, while Cyric’s followers revealed they had manipulated him to destroy the Obarskyr family.

• Filfaeril told Alusair that Shafa had disappeared, and Caladnei confirmed through magic that he was alive but could not locate him.
• A maid reported that Shafa had taken Ahsan V from the Royal Palace, prompting Alusair to seal the palace and order her guards to secure it.
• Shafa gathered his officers, claimed Alusair’s child was fathered by Emperor Soros, and forced them to join his coup by threatening their families.
• Shafa’s followers revealed that Cyric had manipulated him, and they planned to make him kill Alusair and provoke the Imperium into war.
• Shafa’s troops clashed with forces loyal to Alusair near the Royal Palace, while rival nobles attacked political enemies and the conflict spread across Cormyr.
• Cyric watched the resulting slaughter and chaos from a noble estate.

Alusair led the Regent's Guard in a charge that shattered Duke Shafa's rebels, but Cyric ambushed her and tried to take her unborn child. The child awakened a vast shadow power, stopped Cyric's attack, and spoke to Alusair as she remained inside its protective grasp.

• Alusair ordered the Royal Palace gates opened and led the Dragonblood Warhorse charge, killing or scattering hundreds of rebels and forcing many soldiers to surrender.
• Alusair pursued the fleeing rebels, but Shafa's hidden attackers surrounded her and Shafa broke his leg when he kicked her belly.
• A hidden spellcaster's Implosion spell had no effect on Alusair, then killed the caster, and Cyric appeared and demanded her unborn child.
• Cyric attacked Alusair, but a Regent's Guard member blocked his dagger with a Vibranium shield, and Alusair drove him back with her sword.
• Cyric plunged his sword toward Alusair's belly amid the spreading darkness, but a shadow hand stopped the blade as the unborn child took control of her body and manifested as a giant dark form.
• The child told Alusair, "Do not be afraid, Mother. It is me," and Alusair recognized the voice.

Alusair’s unborn child emerged as the Dark Prince Greya after devouring Cyric’s avatar, while Raymond rejected Shar’s offer of an alliance and helped Alusair plan to use the failed coup to consolidate Cormyr. Raymond then took King Ahsan V away from Duke Shafa’s family, leaving them to flee before Alusair’s forces arrived.

• Caladnei watched the colossal dark entity battle Cyric’s avatar, while Raymond and Shar observed from the shadows and Raymond rejected Shar’s proposal to become allies.
• The dark entity devoured Cyric’s avatar, and Alusair gave birth to a teenage boy who absorbed Cyric’s power and took the name Greya.
• Raymond urged Alusair to use the rebellion as a pretext to crush Cormyr’s nobles and strengthen centralized rule, and Greya agreed to stay with Raymond and learn about the Multiverse.
• Raymond visited Duke Shafa’s home, revealed himself as Soros, and persuaded Catherine to hand over the infant King Ahsan V, promising to send him to another world for adoption.
• After Raymond departed with Ahsan V, Shafa’s wife killed the household servants, disguised corpses as her family, and fled with her children.

Grea’s campaign restored Cormyr’s control over its territories, but Shar lured him toward an Artifact by engulfing Tifanton in darkness and drawing it into the Shadowfell. After Grea killed Shade Prince Lamolek Tanshur and drove off the other factions, Elminster and Storm Silverhand entered the city to confront Shar’s plan and were attacked by Shadowfell creatures.

• Alusair’s forces crushed resistance across Cormyr, and Grea led his growing army toward Tifanton after retaking Arabel.
• Shar sent a lightless Artifact to Tifanton, plunging the city into darkness, cutting off communications, and trapping its residents in a Wild Magic Zone.
• Grea reached Tifanton and killed Lamolek Tanshur, then slaughtered the forces that tried to flee before warning the survivors not to invade Cormyr again.
• Fzoul Chembryl and Ximmon withdrew their spies and fled, while Grea rejected Elminster’s offer of help and entered the darkness alone.
• Elminster and Storm Silverhand followed Grea into Tifanton, discovered the city had nearly merged with the Shadowfell, and fought off packs of shadow mastiffs and other creatures.

Greya claimed Shar’s artifact, ignited his Planeswalker’s Spark, and traveled to meet Raymond, who explained Shar’s love for him and introduced him to his sister Annie. Raymond then left to oversee Ahsan V’s adoption on Earth, promising the Ancient One that he would protect the world.

• Greya killed Shar’s veiled emissary, absorbed the darkness-and-nothingness artifact, and ignited his Spark as Tifanton rose into the air and its shadow creatures were purified by sunlight.
• Greya traveled to Mutahal Floating City, met Raymond’s magical duplicate Diary, and went to find Raymond and Annie.
• Raymond told Greya that Shar loved him and advised him that changing a deity required reshaping her faith; Greya then met Annie, and the siblings began fighting and playing together.
• Raymond asked Diary to watch the children and find Greya guards if he wanted them, then traveled to Earth to attend Ahsan V’s adoption.
• The Ancient One questioned Raymond about Ahsan V, and Raymond explained that he had sent the former king to Earth for a new life and would protect the planet.

As the Tesseract triggered an alien invasion, Nick Fury’s research facility was overrun by Loki and the Chitauri, and Earth’s forces suffered devastating losses. Nick Fury recognized the scale of his mistake and prepared to activate the Avengers Initiative and seek Balthazar’s help.

• The Ancient One discussed her impending death, the risks facing Earth, and the newly awakened spellcasters with Raymond, who said he would intervene in the coming war and suggested sending the spellcasters to S.H.I.E.L.D.
• At S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Nick Fury and Coulson watched Iggwilv’s apprentices train, and Fury ordered Coulson to build and lead a separate magic department.
• Maria Hill reported that the Tesseract was out of control, and Iggwilv warned Nick Fury that his research had drawn an enemy invasion.
• Loki emerged through a wormhole with Chitauri soldiers, seized the Tesseract, and took control of Hawkeye after S.H.I.E.L.D. agents escaped the laboratory.
• Loki’s forces broke through the facility and devastated the responding Army and air force, leaving Nick Fury to consider activating the Avengers Initiative and requesting Balthazar’s aid.

As Loki’s attacks plunged Earth into chaos, Nick Fury survived a Security Council attempt to remove him and rallied the Avengers to hunt Loki before a larger Chitauri fleet arrived. Meanwhile, Raymond ended the dangerous clash between Greya and Little Annie, and Greya departed for Tifanton after receiving advice about the City of Shade.

• Loki scattered his forces across the globe to sow chaos while he hid with the Tesseract, and Nick Fury faced blame for the invasion before the Security Council allowed him to remain in command under supervision.
• Nick Fury told the Avengers that Loki and the Chitauri posed a far greater threat than the scattered attacks, while Iggwilv warned that a huge fleet could follow and said Raymond was on Earth.
• Raymond asked Greya and Little Annie to make peace while containing their unstable sphere of energy, then separated their powers with his Planeswalker’s Spark.
• Greya left for Tifanton after Raymond suggested he seek the undead Archwizard Owo’s help against the City of Shade, while Little Annie remained upset and tore at her Plush Bear.

Raymond negotiated with Odin to protect Asgard during Ragnarok while the Avengers struggled against the Chitauri and failed to capture Loki. Thor confronted Loki, who escaped and met Little Annie, then brought her back to his secret base.

• Raymond told Little Annie to handle her rivalry with Greya herself, and she went on a magical shopping spree while he waited for Loki to open the invasion portal.
• Odin arrived and questioned Raymond's intentions toward Earth; Raymond offered a binding contract to help Asgard survive Ragnarok, and Odin began reading it.
• The Avengers struggled against the Chitauri until Balthazar and Sarevok entered the battle and quickly defeated the soldiers.
• Loki escaped the Avengers after disabling Tony Stark's armor, but Thor struck down his aircraft and confronted him; Loki used an illusion to get away.
• Little Annie met Loki in a nearby alley, questioned whether his invasion made him a villain, and accompanied him to his secret base.

Loki and Hawkeye prepared to open a wormhole over New York while the Avengers raced to stop them, and the Security Council accepted a dangerous soul-backed loan from Baator to fund Earth’s defense. Thor and Tony confronted Loki at Stark Tower but discovered that Little Annie had chosen to stay with him, and JARVIS revealed that she was not an ordinary child.

• Hawkeye convinced Loki to open the wormhole in New York, and Loki agreed to the plan as Little Annie calmly asked for a kingdom made of cake and honey.
• Thor explained that the Chitauri’s sudden technological advances threatened the universe, and Balthazar warned the Avengers about devastating weapons and a wider alien war.
• Dr. Banner tracked the Tesseract to New York, and the Avengers mobilized while Tony and Thor flew ahead to confront Loki.
• Balthazar demanded four billion evil souls for Earth’s protection, and Nick Fury brought Devil banker Alvis before the Security Council, which signed Baator’s soul-backed loan contract.
• Thor arrived at Stark Tower and found Loki drinking with Little Annie, while Tony’s attempt to take her away failed when she refused to leave Loki.
• JARVIS reported that Little Annie had consumed a dangerous amount of alcohol without ill effects and that his sensors could not detect her heartbeat or body temperature.

The Chitauri invaded Earth through the Wormhole and devastated New York before Raymond’s allied fleet arrived and overwhelmed them. Little Annie revealed her formidable powers, escaped from Stark Tower when she sensed Raymond searching for her, and was intercepted by him in midair.

• Loki’s Tesseract opened a Wormhole, and the Chitauri fleet destroyed satellites and devastated New York with orbital weapons.
• Little Annie twisted a Chitauri commander and his soldiers to death, then sent her enchanted bear to fight Hulk.
• Raymond’s fleet arrived from Baator, destroyed and captured Chitauri ships, and began turning some of them through Phyrexian Oil.
• Raymond and Odin completed their alliance, and Raymond criticized Odin’s tyrannical rule before Odin departed.
• Raymond discovered Little Annie had disappeared and sent drones to search for her, while she fled Stark Tower on an arcane dragon with her bear.
• Raymond appeared in front of Little Annie as she flew toward the Atlantic Ocean and asked where she thought she was going.