Chapter Summaries

Dark Blade-Andri told the Drow that Soren wanted them to fight for him and help attack a Native tribe, while promising supplies and a place to live. After the Drow discussed the danger of fighting Spirits, Soren ordered his men to watch them and considered how to secure their loyalty.

• Dark Blade-Andri told the Drow Warriors that Soren wanted their service in exchange for provisions and permission to settle in the camp.
• A young Drow Warrior said fighting Native people was familiar to them, but Dark Blade-Andri revealed that Soren planned to attack a Native tribe.
• The Drow Warriors warned that Spirits were difficult to kill without supernatural weapons or Spellcasters, and Dark Blade-Andri said Soren was confident he could handle them.
• An older Drow Warrior suggested ambushing the tribe during the hunting season, when the Natives would likely be focused on migrating herds.
• Soren ordered Scarface to watch the Drow and reflected that their missing female Drow and Spellcasters could signal decline or reluctance to cooperate.

Soren trained with a Heavy Crossbow until Dark Blade Andri suggested his attributes made him better suited to a bow. After testing Andri’s Elven War Bow, Soren began to reconsider which ranged weapon best suited him.

• Soren practiced White Raven Tactics and tested his accuracy with a triple-shot Heavy Crossbow.
• Dark Blade Andri praised Soren’s shooting and argued that his strength, Dexterity, and stamina made him a natural bow user.
• Andri brought Soren a +2 Elven War Bow and a quiver of arrows to try.
• Soren fired thirty arrows rapidly at three targets, hitting the bullseyes with twenty-seven.
• Soren studied the arrow-filled targets and considered that Heavy Crossbows might not be the best ranged weapon for him.

Soren received a powerful Elven War Bow from Dark Blade-Andri and prepared to attack the native tribe that night. He planned to target the Spirits first, while Vivian eagerly prepared to join the expedition.

• Soren accepted Dark Blade-Andri's +2 Elven War Bow, which had Armor Piercing and other weapon effects.
• Soren considered using poisoned arrows made with the natives' poisoning techniques to strengthen his ranged attacks.
• After learning that preparations were complete, Soren ordered Dark Blade-Andri to ready his people for an attack that night.
• Soren's forces gathered aboard warships to approach the native tribe by river.
• Soren reminded Vivian to prioritize her safety and focus on killing the Spirits, then told her they would set off by sea shortly.

Soren led 121 elite fighters to approach a native tribe by night and secretly eliminated its hidden sentries. After confirming the area was clear, he returned to his group around one in the morning, ready for a surprise attack.

• Soren brought pirates and Drow Warriors ashore ten kilometers from the native tribe and left the rest of his men at camp.
• Soren entered Stealth and moved ahead alone to search for hidden sentries while his group waited nearly three kilometers away.
• Soren killed a Tier 3 native sentry with a Backstab and concealed the body beneath grass.
• Soren searched the area and killed two more hidden sentries, including one concealed in a tree.
• Soren returned to his group near one in the morning after confirming there were probably no more sentries nearby.

Soren led the Drow Warriors and elite pirates in a nighttime assault on the native tribe while he and Vivian targeted the Shaman Priest. The raid left many natives and several pirates dead, and Soren ended the chapter facing a huge Brown Bear that he recognized as a Bear Spirit.

• Soren ordered the group to advance, and Vivian enhanced the attackers with Haste and cast Draconic Might on him.
• Soren and the others entered the tribe after Vivian killed a sentry and Soren subdued another, then split up to attack the Shaman Priest and the Chieftain.
• Dark Blade-Andri led the Drow Warriors toward the tribe’s center, where they killed many natives and suffered only three injuries while the pirates took heavier losses.
• Soren and Vivian approached the Shaman Priest’s courtyard, where Vivian sensed a strange aura.
• A huge Brown Bear appeared and attacked Soren, who identified it as a Bear Spirit after his blades had different effects against it.

Soren fought a powerful Bear Spirit while Vivian entered the house to confront the hidden Shaman Priest. After trading blows and landing several attacks, Soren was stunned by the Bear Spirit’s Legendary warcry as an explosion shook the house.

• Soren recognized the enemy as a Totem Bear Spirit and sent Vivian to attack the hidden Shaman Priest while he held it off.
• Vivian blasted open the house’s front wall, protected herself with defensive spells, and flew inside.
• The Bear Spirit battered Soren into a wall, leaving him heavily injured, but he escaped its next attack using shadow magic and Slayer Form.
• Soren stabbed the Bear Spirit from behind, then used Vampiric Touch and Shadow Assassination to damage it and recover some of his injuries.
• An explosion erupted inside the house, and Soren sensed that Vivian was still unharmed despite encountering a trap.
• The Bear Spirit used its Legendary Warcry, stunning Soren with a sonic attack.

Soren and Vivian fought Bear Spirit together, and Soren gained Divine Rank after killing it. The chapter left him with 11 Divine Rank and the Faint Divinity talent, which granted him +1 to all attributes.

• Bear Spirit's War Howl disoriented Soren and its blow left him badly injured, but he summoned an Earth Elemental and a Shadow to hold it back.
• Soren switched to a bow while Vivian used Transmute Rock to Mud to trap Bear Spirit and followed with a barrage of spells.
• Soren and the summoned creatures attacked Bear Spirit until Soren killed it with a Decapitation Attack.
• Bear Spirit's body dissipated, leaving behind a rare crystal of concentrated Elemental Energy.
• Soren absorbed Bear Spirit's Divine Essence, gained 2 Divine Rank, and mastered the Faint Divinity talent, which granted +1 to all attributes.

After killing Bear Spirit, Soren gained Faint Divinity, new resistances, and telepathy, while his demonic power and Slayer Form’s bloodlust intensified. He saw the tribe’s defenders threatening his pirates and ordered Vivian to help him suppress them.

• Soren reflected on the origins of Demons, Devils, and Asmodeus after Faint Divinity changed his aura.
• Bear Spirit’s body vanished, leaving a crystal, and Soren gained Faint Divinity, three resistance Feats, and Telepathy 10 feet.
• Soren’s new divine power fused with his body, but his Slayer Form still craved more kills.
• Vivian landed beside Soren after killing the Shaman Priest, whom Soren recognized as an elderly Gnome.
• Soren ordered Vivian to help him subdue the tribe as its people resisted and his pirates risked being surrounded.

Soren’s forces captured nearly a thousand natives after destroying their tribe, then prepared to transport them as slaves to his camp. With the island under his control, Soren gained labor and room to develop, though he abandoned the tribe’s farmland because it was poorly connected to the sea.

• Soren’s forces subdued the native tribe, captured eight or nine hundred people, and gathered the tribe’s valuables.
• A one-eyed pirate reported twenty-six dead and forty-two wounded among Soren’s men, while three Drow Warriors had died.
• Soren ordered the captives transported to camp, with women and children sent first, and demanded that any who resisted be killed.
• Soren ordered the ruined village burned, and the enslaved natives were led onto the warships as their homes went up in flames.
• Soren claimed the island as his foothold in the Overseas Islands and decided to abandon the tribe’s mature fields because the River did not connect conveniently to the sea.

Soren urged Dark Blade Andri to revive the Drow’s ancient Dark Arts so they could control their captives and survive, while Vivian and Lillian realized Soren might be a Godsbane who could absorb Divinity. Dark Blade Andri remained wary of returning to the Drow’s cruel traditions as Soren pressed him to consider them.

• Pirates brought the first native captives to camp and locked them in cages while Vivian watched without sympathy.
• Lillian told Vivian that Soren had fused the Bear Spirit’s Divinity directly, prompting them to wonder whether Soren was a Godsbane.
• Soren asked Dark Blade Andri to restore the Drow’s Dark Arts, arguing that their methods of punishment and control would help them survive and manage the native captives.
• Dark Blade Andri hesitated, fearing that reviving the Drow’s cruel practices would draw his people back into their former ways.

After 1,056 Native Warrior captives were brought to camp, three of Soren’s men vanished overnight, and a Shadow Rift revealed an intact Wizard Tower in the Shadow Plane where ruins stood in the Material Plane.

• Soren transported 1,056 Native Warrior captives to camp and ordered them divided into guarded groups.
• Three of Soren’s men disappeared without a trace, so Soren ordered a search of the camp and its surroundings.
• At dawn, a Shadow Rift appeared and Soren saw two mangled pirate corpses inside it.
• Soren entered the rift, drove the corpses back into the Material Plane, and escaped before the passage closed.
• Soren spotted an intact Wizard Tower in the Shadow Plane, near the ruins where he had found the Mutated Plants.

Soren sealed off the area where a Shadow Rift had connected his camp to the Shadow Plane, after discovering that it led to an intact Wizard Tower and that three pirates had vanished there. Vivian warned him that the tower’s defenses might be beyond their abilities and suggested inviting Goria to investigate.

• Soren found two dead pirates and one cursed survivor after the Shadow Rift vanished, then ordered the area sealed off.
• Adele-Isabella failed to meet Wizard Lucian and left him a box and a letter from her master.
• Soren calmed the frightened camp, assigned tasks to his pirate leaders, and kept work going under increased guard.
• Vivian asked Soren what had happened, and he told her about the Shadow Rift and the Wizard Tower.
• Vivian advised Soren to invite Goria because she might be able to unravel the tower’s secrets.

A Half-Elf first mate led pirates to intercept three cargo ships on the Eastern Route, while Soren considered the dangers of a possible Arcane Empire-era Wizard Tower and discussed inviting Goria to the Overseas Islands. The chapter left the pirates closing in and Soren hoping Goria would join them.

• The Half-Elf first mate ordered his pirates to raise the Black Flag and pursue the three cargo ships, intending to capture their craftsmen.
• The cargo ships noticed the pirates and began preparing to meet the attack.
• Soren suspected the Wizard Tower near Goria might be part of an Arcane Empire-era Twin Towers Masterpiece, guarded by Magical Construct Golems.
• Soren and Vivian agreed that Goria's knowledge could help them investigate the tower, and Vivian said Goria would likely come to the Overseas Islands.
• Soren hoped to keep the people he cared about close as the Time of Troubles approached.

A Silver Moon Stalker and a Druid discovered a village massacre and identified Devils as the likely culprits. Meanwhile, the Half-Elf first mate captured three Eastern Route ships, found a rare Catgirl among the Slaves, and realized the cargo was exceptionally valuable.

• The Silver Moon Stalker and the Middle-aged Druid investigated a silent, burned village and found its inhabitants massacred.
• The Silver Moon Stalker found a fragment of skin and concluded that Devils had appeared, so the pair hurried to alert the council.
• The Half-Elf first mate inspected the captured ships’ Slaves, including skilled craftsmen and eastern Gladiators, and ordered them taken to Port Tyler.
• The Half-Elf first mate discovered a young Catgirl in a cage and ordered his men to bring her back as a gift for the young lady.
• A Monocle-wearing manager reported that the three ships carried valuable Eastern Route goods worth over fifty thousand Gold Dalers, surprising the Half-Elf first mate.

Soren reviewed the information he had gained from entering the Shadow Plane and learned that reaching 25 Dexterity had granted him the Epic Dexterity racial feat. After two nights of waiting with Vivian, he saw the Shadow Rift open again on the third night.

• Soren inspected the slaves and went to the site where the Shadow Rift had appeared.
• Soren reviewed his prompts and learned that further progress toward Shadow Domain required higher Rogue levels and a connection to the Shadow Plane.
• Soren gained Epic Dexterity, which gave him an Epic Bonus on Dexterity checks and permanently increased his Dodge ability by 2.
• Soren and Vivian waited through two nights without seeing the Shadow Rift appear.
• On the third night, Soren watched a widening crack reveal a dim, gray world beyond it.

Soren and Vivian entered the Shadow Plane, where they encountered a dangerous Skeleton Undead near an ancient Wizard Tower. Soren resisted its paralysis attack, but Distorted Shadows surrounded them as Vivian warned him of the growing threat.

• Soren waited three days for the Shadow Rift to appear, then entered the Shadow Plane with Vivian.
• Soren spotted an ancient Wizard Tower and warned Vivian that Distorted Shadows were nearby.
• Soren heard movement beneath the soil and prepared as a mutated Skeleton Undead crawled from a mound.
• Soren attacked the Skeleton Undead and resisted its Ghoul Touch paralysis effect with a successful Fortitude Save.
• Vivian began casting and warned Soren that Distorted Shadows had appeared all around him.

Soren and Vivian fought Distorted Shadows and a Skeleton Undead near the outskirts of a Wizard Tower, then discovered that the tower might belong to an Arcanist. The chapter ended with Soren finding a hidden box inside a hollow wall and preparing to open it.

• Vivian attacked the Distorted Shadows and Skeleton Undead with Spells while Soren used protective magic and Haste to fight them.
• Soren killed several Distorted Shadows despite their Shadow Erosion, and Vivian's Ice Storm helped clear the remaining enemies.
• Soren and Vivian searched the battlefield, collected three crystal fragments, and continued toward the Wizard Tower.
• Vivian sensed a legendary Mythal ahead and warned Soren that the Wizard Tower might have belonged to an Arcanist.
• Soren found a hollow space in a dusty building's wall, uncovered an exquisite box, and prepared to pick its lock.

Soren uncovered a hidden compartment in the ruins and found an ancient Spell Scroll that Vivian identified as Melf's Minute Meteors. Soren recognized it as a rare 3rd-level Spell capable of penetrating a Deity's defenses, and the chapter left him delighted by the discovery.

• Soren noticed a hollow section in the wall, broke it open, and found a locked box inside.
• Soren smashed the box's rusted lock and found two gemstones, an empty Crystal vial, and a Spell Scroll.
• Soren gave the Diamond and red Agate to Vivian, then asked her to decipher the scroll.
• Vivian recognized the Spell's name as Melf's Minute Meteors but could not understand much of its cipher text.
• Soren identified Melf's Minute Meteors as a rare God-slaying Spell that could pierce a Deity's law field.

Soren found a scroll of Melf's Minute Meteors in the ruins, then discovered the remains of a Balor near the Wizard Tower and judged the place too dangerous to enter. He and Vivian stopped to wait for Goria, while Vivian noticed strange, cultivated Man-Eating Plants ahead.

• Soren explained that Melf's Minute Meteors could penetrate powerful defenses and carefully stored the spell scroll he had found.
• Soren searched the ruined buildings with Vivian, found no other hidden compartments, and headed toward the Wizard Tower.
• Soren spotted a Balor's skeleton preserved beneath a glass-like dome and concluded that the tower's owner had been a powerful Legendary Arcanist.
• Soren decided he and Vivian should stop and wait for Goria rather than risk triggering the Wizard Tower's defenses.
• Vivian noticed strange Man-Eating Plants arranged like a garden in what appeared to be the front yard of a grand mansion.

Soren and Vivian followed a side path around the misty garden and discovered a ruined kitchen, where an Earthbound Spirit attacked them. Vivian’s spells revealed and challenged the spirit, and Soren struck it with Icetail as they resisted its fear magic.

• Vivian spotted a path around the mist, and Soren carried her to examine it before they cautiously followed it along the garden.
• Soren and Vivian found a relatively intact house that they suspected had been the Wizard Tower’s kitchen.
• Soren knocked a chair aside and uncovered the remains of a halfling, which triggered an Earthbound Spirit to appear and attack.
• Vivian cast Protection from Evil, Detect Undead, and Hold Undead, but the spirit resisted the control spell and charged her.
• Soren struck the spirit with Icetail and Shadow Assassination, while he and Vivian resisted its Cause Fear spell.
• Soren resisted the spirit’s Dominate Person and swung at it again with Shadow Assassination.