Chapter Summaries

A yuan-ti bandit force ambushed a company of Isabella Family nobles and killed several of them, including Sir Slark. The attack completed the first stage of a plan connected to Soren, leaving Adele Isabella poised to act as intrigue tightened around Wind Spear Hills.

• The yuan-ti bandits attacked an Isabella Family company traveling near Wind Spear Hills, overwhelming its guards with poisoned weapons and arrows.
• Sir Slark charged the yuan-ti leader but was killed by two high-ranking rogues hidden among the bandits.
• News spread that the yuan-ti bandits had retaliated against the Isabella Family after the local lord crucified one of their leaders.
• With the first stage of the plan complete, Adele Isabella prepared to take the stage under Soren's looming influence.

Solitude City faced floods, refugees, and signs of Fear God and Devil activity as several groups approached. Vivian sensed another Fear God Child near the city but chose to leave him alone and continue with her mission.

• A young Wizard and a nun named Anlina arrived at Solitude City with a girl favored by Lady of Silver Moon, who sensed someone watching from an alley.
• A grim-faced man in the alley recognized the girl as a Fear God Child and decided to report her to a Priest.
• An armed group approaching Solitude City noticed a Lizardfolk scout following them, but its leader ordered the escort to leave it alone.
• After reaching the city, the group's young leader ordered everyone to camp outside the walls and set up defenses.
• Vivian sensed a Fear God Child nearby and wanted to kill him, but Lillian judged him weak and harmless and chose to focus on their mission.

Anlina, a Silver Moon nun and Fear God Child, sensed a powerful sibling in Solitude City before a small explosion and Demon attack struck nearby. Vivian and Lillian visited her, judged her no threat, and spared her, leaving Anlina free to pursue the peaceful life she wanted.

• Anlina sensed an immensely powerful Fear God Child in Solitude City and tried to send them a message of goodwill.
• Anlina and the middle-aged nun joined scholars in Solitude City to search old records for the Church of Silver Moon.
• An explosion destroyed a house near the place where Anlina had sensed the other Fear God Child, and guards and Church of Knowledge spellcasters responded to reports of Demons.
• The middle-aged nun gave Anlina a badge and left to confront the danger, ordering her to stay in her room.
• Vivian appeared before Anlina and introduced herself as a fellow Fear God Child, while Lillian considered killing Anlina but chose to spare her.

Soren learned that Malar, the God of Hunt, had been driven from his divine realm by an Energy Storm and decided to pursue the deity for his Hunt and Tracking Portfolios. He began gathering intelligence near White Horse City and planned to exploit Malar’s many enemies before attempting to strike.

• Soren received a report that an Energy Storm had swept Malar from his divine realm as the Time of Troubles approached.
• Soren assessed Malar’s power, allies, enemies, and Portfolios, concluding that a direct attack would be suicidal but that Malar could be weakened through Intrigue.
• Soren wrote down information about Malar, including his divine rank, domains, worshippers, and favored weapon.
• Soren learned that Malar’s followers, Lycanthropes, and evil monsters were gathering north of White Horse City.
• Soren kept attacking the Church of Fear while Port Nyanzaru quietly sent scouts toward White Horse City to collect intelligence on Malar.

Soren analyzed how deities could restore their divine power during the Time of Troubles and concluded that Malar was using bloody sacrifices and his hunt portfolio to regain strength. He recognized that Malar’s hunger for legendary blood could give Soren an opportunity to exploit.

• Soren considered how a deity’s God’s Realm could replenish divine power, but judged that entering his own realm during the coming Time of Troubles would be too dangerous.
• The Time of Troubles cast deities into the mortal world with their divine power points emptied, forcing them to rebuild their strength through churches, followers, and rituals.
• Soren concluded that Malar was restoring divine power through bloody Sacrificial Rituals and the active effects of his hunt portfolio.
• Soren learned that Malar would answer anyone who offered legendary blood, even if they were not his follower or shared his alignment.
• Soren recognized that Malar’s methods and obsession with legendary blood could be exploited.

The Fallen Witch succeeded in transmuting diamond, bringing her and Goria closer to creating Adamantite Golems. Soren agreed to obtain the high-grade Soul Gems they needed and planned to use his Demon Avatar to make them while monitoring Malar.

• The Fallen Witch completed an Alchemy experiment that produced a fist-sized diamond, and Goria asked what she would do next.
• The Fallen Witch said she wanted to produce more diamond for Adamantite Golems to break into the Wizard Tower on the Shadow Plane.
• Goria pointed out that they still needed Quasi-Legendary Soul Gems, which neither Witch could readily obtain.
• The Fallen Witch suggested asking Soren for help, and Soren eagerly took on the task.
• Soren planned to use his Demon Avatar's Charm Monster ability to extract Soul Energy from Quasi-Legendary Demons and create high-grade Soul Gems.
• Soren prepared to pursue Adamantite Golems while also watching Malar's movements.

Soren launched Port Nyanzaru’s census and a subsidized colonial settlement program, using land and financial incentives to attract citizens, merchants, and workers. After organizing the expansion, he unexpectedly comprehended the [Rule] domain.

• Port Nyanzaru announced a census that would register citizens and recognize contributors as Honorary Citizens with access to benefits and official positions.
• The city offered citizens cheap leases, tools, protection, and tax breaks to settle and cultivate land around Port Nyanzaru.
• Merchants and the Temple of Wealth rushed to secure land, bringing substantial investment into the colonization plan.
• Soren approved plans for three nearby towns as the first phase of an expansion that would eventually encircle Port Nyanzaru with twelve towns.
• After finishing his arrangements, Soren received messages confirming he had comprehended the [Rule] domain.

Soren gained the [Rule] domain after issuing an expansion decree, letting Port Nyanzaru’s residents generate additional divine power for him through their recognition of his rule. As merchants began transporting workers and refugees to the city, the chapter showed how Soren’s unwritten protections for even enslaved people set Port Nyanzaru apart.

• Soren acquired the [Rule] domain, which converted residents’ recognition of his leadership into divine power and improved his ability to negotiate.
• Soren sensed countless faint connections from Port Nyanzaru’s residents and gained two divine power points in a day, strengthening his plan to obtain [Alter Reality] and [Alter Space] before the Time of Troubles.
• A merchant ship left the City of Wealth carrying roughly a hundred or two unregistered people, slaves, and impoverished workers bound for Port Nyanzaru.
• The prosperous merchant arranged to send more able-bodied refugees to Port Nyanzaru, where labor was in high demand and workers could eat their fill.
• The chapter described Port Nyanzaru’s unwritten rule against starving slaves and its laws restricting owners from killing them at will.

Soran fought to seize control of the area outside the Gurumba Arena, summoning and dominating a second Fire Demon to defeat the enemy forces. After winning, he made a summoning pact with Kasalon, though the Abyss’s Chaotic Will limited their alliance.

• Soran attacked the demons outside the Gurumba Arena and killed a Four-Armed Marilith with his sword.
• Soran summoned another Fire Demon and used Dominate Monster to overpower its resistance.
• Soran and the summoned Fire Demon defeated the enemy force, killing the Six-Armed Marilith and Nalfeshnee and forcing the survivors to surrender.
• Soran released the summoned Fire Demon’s control and learned that his name was Kasalon and that he came from the nineteenth layer of the Abyss.
• Soran gave Kasalon a bottle of magma dragon blood and formed a pact to summon each other when they needed help.

Soran offered the Neutral Alignment fiends the territory outside Gurumba Arena and half its casino profits in exchange for their help defeating the Demon Goblins. They accepted the River Styx Pact and began gathering troops, while the Abyssal Dragon near Lava Volcano remained an uncertain obstacle to Soran’s rule.

• Soran summoned the Neutral Alignment fiends to the Magma Tavern and proposed trading the territory outside Gurumba Arena for their military support.
• Soran promised the fiends all the surrounding territory except the Magma Tavern’s street, along with half the casino profits after the arena reopened.
• The fiends accepted Soran’s River Styx Pact, and the high-tier Hag proposed hiring more mercenaries in Blood Town.
• A Lesser Rutterkin pledged to gather at least five hundred of his people and travel to Pandemonium for support.
• Soran recognized that his forces needed the fiends’ guards and mercenaries to defeat the thousands of Demon Goblins inside Gurumba Arena.
• Soran considered whether to ally with the Abyssal Dragon at Lava Volcano or have his true body kill it.

Old Jack reported suspicious activity in Port Nyanzaru while Soren learned where Malar was hiding and prepared to act against him. Goria then discovered signs of a young Shadow Dragon near the Wizard Tower, prompting Soren to prioritize capturing it.

• Old Jack warned his contact that the merchant Enderly seemed suspicious, then visited the Temple of the Sea.
• Soren received reliable information that Malar was north of White Horse City near the Elven Forest and the Barren Highlands.
• Goria found Shadow Raven feathers, blood, and a small Shadow Dragon scale near the Wizard Tower.
• Goria reported the possible young Shadow Dragon to Soren, who decided that he and the two Legendary Witches would capture it first.

Rainbird reflected on how the Demon invasion had changed Port Nyanzaru’s view of its Drow Warriors, then sensed Dragon Fear inside a restricted building. The chapter ended by celebrating the city’s battle-tested guards and survivors, while leaving the source of the Dragon Fear unexplained.

• Rainbird accepted breakfast from Lucina, the Half-Elf girl he had saved during the Demon invasion, and said he wanted to marry her if she would have him.
• Rainbird led a squad to guard Port Nyanzaru’s restricted buildings, where only Lord Soren, the two Witches, and Young Miss Vivian were allowed inside.
• Rainbird and the other guards sensed an invisible presence inside a building, and Pedro recognized it as Dragon Fear.
• The chapter recounted the Warriors’ many battles and described Port Nyanzaru’s survivors as part of the city’s enduring strength.

Soren brought a young Shadow Dragon to Port Nyanzaru and tasked the High Priest with taming it completely. He then returned to his study to continue planning how to deal with Malar, favoring his two remaining strategies over seeking allies.

• Rainbird and Zagud sensed someone approaching the restricted area, and Rainbird recognized the arriving High Priest.
• The High Priest entered the warehouse and found Soren and Goria with a chained young Shadow Dragon.
• Soren entrusted the Shadow Dragon to the High Priest, who said taming it should be possible but would take time.
• Goria teleported away to study Adamantite Golems and the book's account of a Supreme Golem.
• Soren considered recruiting the Princess and several goddesses to fight Malar, but decided that alliance would cost too much and risk alerting his enemy.
• Soren concluded that his other two plans were more reliable and considered putting both into motion.

Soren learned that Vivian was absorbing the weakened Church of Fear and decided to help her build it into a foundation for ascending to godhood. He sent clerics to assist her in the Wind Spear Hills, leaving the plan’s execution and Vivian’s response unresolved.

• Philrid struggled to manage the wyverns, velociraptors, and shadow ravens in the stockade and asked for more help.
• Soren received Vivian’s report that she was gathering leaderless Cult of Fear members under her identity as the Godsbane of Fear.
• Soren considered how the Vampire God Child had pursued the Fear portfolio and concluded Vivian would need more than cultists to become a true god.
• Soren ordered the temple’s high priest to send clerics to the Wind Spear Hills to help Vivian control and complete the Church of Fear.

A brief disruption to the Weave revealed that the Goddess of Magic had fallen to the mortal world, signaling that the Energy Storm and the Time of Troubles were drawing near. Soren warned Goria and the Fallen Witch to prepare for a possible collapse of the Weave, while spellcasters across the world began searching for ways to face what was coming.

• Spellcasters throughout the world briefly lost their connection to the Weave and their Spell Slots, while Soren sensed that the Deities' Faith Network had also been cut off.
• Soren told Goria and the Fallen Witch that the Goddess of Magic had fallen and explained that an Energy Storm from the Sea of Chaos was forcing Deities out of their realms.
• Soren warned the two Legendary Witches that the Weave might collapse and urged them to consider how to cast Spells without it.
• Legendary Archmages gathered in Wizard City's council hall, while the Eye of the North summoned the Witches of the North Tower.
• Spellcasters in the Legendary Domain began searching ancient books about the Age of Arcana as the Goddess of Magic's location remained unknown.

Ugly Monkey investigated reports of strange changes in Death Valley and found it transformed into a lush, life-filled valley. Recognizing the event as a miracle beyond the intelligence network’s classifications, he decided to report it to Lord Soren.

• Ugly Monkey traveled across the Redridge Wastelands to investigate the unusual changes reported in Death Valley.
• Ugly Monkey noticed tracks left by other visitors and slipped past a group of Druids to reach the valley first.
• Ugly Monkey found Death Valley covered in flowers and green grass, while the surrounding land remained barren.
• A High-tier Druid and the other Druids knelt and praised the transformed valley as a miracle of life.
• Ugly Monkey discovered a hollow at the valley’s center where the vitality was strongest and decided to report the miracle to Lord Soren.

Soren investigated the transformed Death Valley, suspecting that a deity with a Life Portfolio was responsible. He used Alter Form to disguise himself as a rugged hunter and set out to personally plot against the God of Hunt-Malar.

• Soren ordered agents and southern forces to investigate Death Valley's sudden transformation, which he believed might have been caused by a deity.
• Soren considered how divine conflicts and the Time of Troubles could threaten the mortal realm, and noted that the God of Hunt-Malar was desperately trying to recover his divine power.
• Soren used Alter Form for the first time, changing his appearance into that of a rugged northern hunter.
• Soren prepared to personally target the God of Hunt-Malar and considered using his Demon Avatar if necessary.

Disguised as Soros, Soren traveled south through the Duchy of Rosado while avoiding divination and watching for threats to Port Nyanzaru. He reached Amber City, the starting point of his journey, and found it in decay.

• Soren disguised himself as Soros, offered a gift at the Temple of the Sea to hinder divination, and left Port Tyler for the south.
• Soren visited the Naga High Priestess and noticed that her divine aura had grown stronger.
• Soren crossed the Duchy of Rosado, where he detected signs of Dispater's worshippers and decided to investigate them later.
• Soren continued south and arrived at Amber City, where he found the city in decay.

Soren revisited ruined Amber City, where he saw the lingering poverty and discovered that Anylia had returned to run a temple and care for orphans. He left an uncut diamond in the temple’s donation box and continued toward White Horse City to assess the ancient red dragon there.

• Soren walked through Amber City’s ruined districts, visited Heath’s grave, and gave Copper Dalers to beggars.
• Soren found Anylia running the Temple of Morninglord and supporting children by taking adventuring jobs.
• Soren left an uncut diamond in the temple’s donation box, and the acolyte discovered it after he departed.
• Soren left Amber City and continued toward White Horse City to investigate the ancient red dragon.

Soren traveled toward White Horse City through a region battered by monster attacks and met a high-level Swordmaster in the growing settlement of Golden Creek Town. He then found a group of travelers fighting Bulettes, including a Feral Druid, a priest of Ilmater, and a Monk of the Broken Ones.

• Soren saw abandoned settlements and passed through Golden Creek Town, where displaced people had built defenses and formed a militia.
• Soren recognized the young Swordmaster he had met before, exchanged a nod with him, and continued toward White Horse City.
• Soren found a warning sign about Bulettes and heard a nearby group fighting the creatures.
• Soren rushed to the fight and identified a Feral Druid, a priest of Ilmater, and a Monk among the defenders.
• The defenders held off the Bulettes while Ilmater's priests used their healing abilities to support the group.