Chapter Summaries

Soren identified the creature in the Insect Hive as an Insect Broodmother descended from a Dream Chrysalis and carrying a Godspawn bloodline. After waking Eastern Dancer Butterfly and Di from its dream domain, he warned them away from the Legendary creature and prepared to fight it himself.

• Soren used his divine power to wake Eastern Dancer Butterfly and Di from the Broodmother's dream domain.
• Di spotted an Alchemical Stone among the crystals in the hive, and Soren wondered why it was needed to seal an Ancient Evil Creature.
• Di tried to draw the Broodmother's attention and take the stone, but its Psionics barrier knocked her back and shattered part of the wall.
• Soren told Eastern Dancer Butterfly to leave and warned Di not to act rashly because the Broodmother was a Legendary creature with a Godspawn bloodline.
• Di urged Eastern Dancer Butterfly to go ahead, while Soren decided he needed to fight the Broodmother because it possessed Divinity.

Soren, the Demon Avatar, and Di defeated the Broodmother by breaking the crystals that powered its Psionic Shield, while Di retrieved the Alchemical Stone that had sustained its life. Soren killed the rapidly aging Broodmother and discovered it had possessed divine rank value.

• Soren and the Demon Avatar attacked the Broodmother while Di struck through its Psionic Shield with her martial techniques.
• Soren broke through the shield and realized the Broodmother drew power from the pale-purple crystals, so he and Di smashed them to weaken it and reduce the hive's radiation.
• Soren sent Di to retrieve the Alchemical Stone, and the Broodmother began aging rapidly as soon as she removed it.
• Soren killed the Broodmother before it died of old age and gained five points of divine rank and one point of divine rank value from its corpse.
• Soren concluded that the Broodmother had accumulated divine rank value over centuries and that the insects might have unusual origins.

After Soren killed the Broodmother, he discovered that Butterfly had gained a trace of its dream-related powers and found a legendary Dream Stone that granted the [Dream] Domain. Ti and Butterfly left with the alchemical stone to aid the Eastern Realm, while Soren stayed behind to shut down the golems and claim as many as he could.

• Soren noticed that a trace of the dream chrysalis bloodline's power had flowed into Butterfly.
• Soren retrieved and identified the Dream Stone, learning that it could grant the [Dream] Domain and cast a powerful dream spell.
• Ti thanked Soren for helping secure the alchemical stone and explained that she and Butterfly needed to return urgently to the Eastern Realm.
• Soren let Ti and Butterfly depart, then prepared to find the ruins' energy core and collect the golems.

Goria studied the core structure of a tower spirit while the Fallen Witch invited her to investigate strange metal on the Astral Plane. Soren then summoned the Fallen Witch to an unstable Arcane Empire Elemental Furnace, where she tried to shut it down as he went to hold off the approaching golems.

• Goria examined an energy core extracted from High Magical Energy Armor to learn how Arcane Empire golems gained feats.
• The Fallen Witch told Goria she had made progress studying strange metal and invited her to the Astral Plane; Goria agreed to go in three days.
• Soren accidentally triggered a dangerous reaction in an underground Elemental Furnace after its control lever broke.
• Soren teleported to the Laboratory, took the Fallen Witch back to the furnace, and warned her that it might explode.
• The Fallen Witch began trying to shut down the furnace while Soren rushed outside to stop the approaching golems.

Soren and the Fallen Witch shut down the Ancient Ruin’s [Elemental Furnace], stopping the golems and allowing the group to salvage its technology and constructs. After three days of transporting their haul, Soren left with hundreds of golems and the story of the War of Golems had changed.

• Soren fought the advancing golems, discovered an adamantite golem with the [Expertise] feat, and tried to disable it intact.
• The Fallen Witch shut down the [Elemental Furnace], causing the golems to stop as their remaining energy faded.
• Soren and the Fallen Witch arranged a Teleportation Array, then Goria arrived with golems to help transport the crystals, furnace components, and other salvage.
• Soren prioritized adamantite golems for transport while dealing with insect attacks; he also found a Dragonbone Golem that the insects had destroyed.
• Over three days, the group stripped the ruin of valuable materials and found the dead companions of the Eastern Dancer Butterfly.
• Soren tallied their haul as 9 adamantite golems, 127 iron golems, 215 stone golems, and 72 clay golems, while Goria and the Fallen Witch continued studying the salvaged technology.

Soren arranged for Port Nyanzaru to gain a citywide system of Magic Lamps powered by a magical energy pipeline. The citizens soon accepted the lights as part of daily life, and the city continued its gradual transformation.

• After the Elemental Furnace research began, Soren left Goria and the Fallen Witch to study it and turned to a long-planned project.
• Goria’s Witches’ Coven installed streetlamps from Central Square to the city gates, while spellcasters upgraded the square’s Crystal Lamps and the harbor lighthouse.
• Soren ordered the magical energy pipeline connected, lighting 762 lamps across Port Nyanzaru.
• The temple priest used the crowds gathered in Central Square to hold a large prayer ceremony beneath the new lights.
• Port Nyanzaru’s citizens grew accustomed to the streetlamps as the city continued planting trees and installing more lights at the harbor.

Soren began Port Nyanzaru’s third major expansion ahead of schedule, mobilizing workers and golems to rebuild roads, reshape the island, and prepare farmland and infrastructure. As construction spread across the outskirts, the Guard Force also began culling dangerous river creatures to protect future settlers.

• Old Jack led sailors hired by City Hall as they paved a five-hundred-meter stretch of road connecting Port Nyanzaru’s twelve towns.
• Soren’s crews blasted hills and cleared land to expand farmland, improve irrigation, and make room for a second reservoir and a link to a neighboring island.
• A young half-elf objected to the burning of woodland, but a Druid elder decided to wait rather than protest Port Nyanzaru’s work.
• Workers planted trees and landscaping plants supplied by Saruman under City Hall’s instructions, despite their confusion about planting trees while clearing others.
• A Northern Witch supervised stone golems moving rocks toward the reservoir, hoping her contribution points would soon grant her access to Port Nyanzaru’s Library.
• Port Nyanzaru’s Guard Force prepared for battle and began killing dangerous electric eels and other creatures in nearby rivers.

Soren strengthened the defenses around the Abyssal rift and began converting the legendary ghost ship Speaker of the Dead into a flying vessel. The Floating Ring lifted the ship above the sea, though it still needed a propulsion system for controlled flight.

• Soren used his Plant domain and divine power to strengthen the mutated plants guarding the Abyssal rift and replace Saruman’s control marks with his own.
• Soren met the Fallen Witch in the Shadow Plane Laboratory and gave her Goria’s plans for modifying the Speaker of the Dead.
• Soren and the Fallen Witch brought the Floating Ring to the ghost ship and installed it aboard.
• The Floating Ring raised the Speaker of the Dead about a meter above the sea.
• The Fallen Witch explained that the ship still needed an independent propulsion system and a large magic circle for controlled movement.

Soren tested the Flying Speaker of the Dead and considered how to improve its flight and combat capabilities, while Port Nyanzaru continued expanding. In Arendelle, the Princess received word that a delegation from the Northern Witches Council had arrived, setting up a meeting between the two witch organizations.

• Soren flew the Speaker of the Dead, confirmed it could sail through the River Styx, and reviewed the enlarged force of undead bound to the ship.
• Soren judged the ship's maneuverability and firepower inadequate for battles in the Abyss and postponed major upgrades until after the Elemental Furnace was reassembled.
• Port Nyanzaru expanded its residential district as its growing population and coveted citizenship strained the city's capacity.
• Soren considered testing the Dream Stone on the War Chess Demiplane's illusions but deferred exploring the demiplane until he captured the Wizard Tower.
• The Princess learned that a Northern Witches Council delegation had arrived in Arendelle and arranged to meet them the next day.

The Northern Witches Council sought an alliance with Arendelle to strengthen its position amid growing threats in the North. Meanwhile, Port Nyanzaru’s expansion advanced the construction of a vast temple-based mythal, whose full power remained unfinished.

• The Northern Witches Council weighed threats including the Lizardfolk rebellion, the Lady of Poisons’ church, and unrest near Waterdeep, then sent a delegation led by a Legendary Witch to seek an alliance with Arendelle.
• Princess Anna recognized that the Northern Witches Council wanted a powerful nearby ally and understood why secluded Arendelle appealed to them.
• Port Nyanzaru expanded its construction sites and had Saruman lead wizards in trying to develop a mass-produced cement substitute.
• Soren’s plans linked the Grand Temple and twelve town temples into an unfinished mythal intended to protect and regulate Port Nyanzaru Island.
• The High Priest supervised the temple construction, while the island’s third expansion phase laid the groundwork for completing the mythal.

Soren investigated a village where hundreds of people had killed themselves with eerie smiles and found signs that the Hell Poet had returned to the Material Plane. He discovered a black feather at the scene, suggesting a fallen angel might also be involved.

• Soren arranged to visit the Eastern Realm but first went to Wind Spear Hills, where Adele Isabella ruled territory under his influence.
• Soren learned that every resident of Withered Leaf Village had died by suicide, and he went to investigate the deaths.
• Soren found no souls or scavengers at the village and recognized the corpses’ smiles and ritual scene as signs of the Hell Poet’s work.
• Soren concluded that the Hell Poet had likely returned and had carefully erased every trace of himself.
• Soren found a black feather in the ashes of a bonfire and wondered whether a fallen angel had left it deliberately.

After tracing the Hell Poet’s escape to another plane, Soren ordered preparations in the Wind Spear Hills and accepted Adele-Isabella’s pledge of faith and loyalty. He then left for the Eastern Realm as the second wave of demonic incursions, with Demon Lords and regular legions, approached.

• Soren recognized a fallen angel feather, traced the Hell Poet’s portal but could not follow him across planes, and ordered Adele-Isabella to monitor the devils and prepare the Wind Spear Hills.
• Adele-Isabella visited Soren at night and offered him her loyalty, marking herself with the crest of the Half-Elf Church and pledging her soul to his faith.
• Soren stayed in the Wind Spear Hills for three days, arranged for a high-ranking Archbishop to remain there, and set out for the Eastern Realm.
• As February approached, Soren anticipated the second wave of the Abyss’s demonic incursions, when Demon Lords and regular demon legions would descend and force deities to defend their followers.

Soren considered the weak foundations of his God's Realm and decided he needed to build a school and gather devoted, talented believers. While traveling toward the Eastern Realm, he sensed that Erevan Ilesere, the elven God of Thieves, had fallen and suspected the Spider Queen was responsible.

• Soren realized that the original God's Realm would remain unstable without a reserve of loyal souls and servants, so he planned to establish a school and cultivate believers.
• Soren recognized Adele-Isabella's potential as a future legendary believer and considered her soul and service valuable to his realm.
• Soren traveled toward the Eastern Realm, crossing the forest near the Gobi Desert on his way to the Death Desert.
• Soren sensed the death of a deity connected to his Rogue portfolio and identified the fallen god as Erevan Ilesere of the Elven Pantheon.
• Soren suspected the Spider Queen had killed Erevan Ilesere to claim the benefits of his Chaos and Trickery domains, and realized the elven Rogue portfolio was now vacant.

Soren considered claiming the unoccupied [Rogue] portfolio after Erevan Ilesere’s death, but chose to avoid provoking the Elven Pantheon and asked Goria to monitor events. He crossed the dangerous Death Desert and arrived in the Eastern Realm, where unfamiliar classes and customs marked a new region.

• Soren considered competing for Erevan Ilesere’s unclaimed [Rogue] portfolio but decided to wait rather than risk a conflict with the Elven Pantheon and the Spider Queen.
• Soren sent Goria a magical message asking her to secretly monitor developments in the Elven Realm.
• Soren crossed the Death Desert, navigating its chaotic magic, violent sandstorms, and dangerous radiation-bound creatures.
• Soren reached an oasis town in the Eastern Realm and observed its distinctive classes, including Eastern Dancers, Ronin, Puppeteers, and Fangshi.

Soren explored a town in the Eastern Realm, where he observed its adventurers, treasure trade, Puppeteers, and dancers. At a Hu Ji Tavern, he asked a middle-aged dancer for a detailed map and said he would pay whatever it cost.

• Soren explored the town’s black market for salvaged treasures but found nothing worth his attention.
• Soren watched a young Puppeteer control wooden puppets in a street performance, then lost interest.
• Soren entered a Hu Ji Tavern and noticed several capable Eastern Dancers.
• Soren asked a middle-aged dancer for a map with broad coverage and detailed information, offering to pay any price.

Soren requested a map of the Eastern Realm’s discovered underground ruins and Secret Realms, but the Eastern Dancer could not authorize the transaction. The next day, he met Alice and her extraordinary girl dolls, and Alice warned that a high-tier map would be expensive.

• Soren rejected the ordinary terrain map and asked the Eastern Dancer for a map of the Eastern Realm’s underground ruins and Secret Realms.
• The Eastern Dancer said she lacked authority to arrange the transaction and told Soren to return the next day to meet Lady Alice.
• Soren waited overnight, then went to the third floor and met Alice, who was surrounded by highly advanced girl dolls.
• Lilith served Soren tea and introduced herself as Alice’s head maid, revealing intelligence and abilities far beyond ordinary golems.
• Alice closed her book and told Soren that a high-tier map would not come cheap.

Soren bought an underground-ruin map from Alice, a Puppeteer whose tiny golems revealed advanced Arcane Empire techniques. When her puppet Chris showed a trace of divinity, Soren realized Alice might have used divine materials to create her.

• Soren recognized Alice's palm-sized golem as evidence of highly advanced Arcane Empire craft and asked for the price of her high-tier map.
• Alice offered the map for twelve thousand Gold Dalers, and Soren agreed to pay with gems.
• Soren gave Alice gems worth more than the price, and she accepted them without revealing their full value.
• Alice ordered Chris to fetch the map, and Lilith woke the sleeping puppet.
• Chris told Soren that she liked him, and Soren noticed that she possessed a faint divine rank.
• Soren suspected Alice had used materials containing divinity when she created Chris.

Soren examined a detailed map of ruins across the Eastern Realm and discovered that Chris, Alice’s Puppet Girl, was reacting to his divinity. He left after helping Chris, whose ongoing transformation could eventually make her a divine being.

• Chris retrieved a magical map for Soren, then fell asleep on his shoulder after sensing the divinity within him.
• Soren checked the map and identified the Death God Ruin, the Magical Energy Ruin, and a ruin of the Imaskar Empire as promising sites.
• Soren found that Chris’s divinity was connected to death and that she was still assimilating it.
• Alice told Chris to get off Soren’s shoulder, and Chris reluctantly asked when he would return.
• Soren told Chris he would likely come back soon and touched her forehead with a speck of golden radiance to help her.

Soren eased the divine pressure overwhelming Chris with a touch, revealing his godlike power to Alice. He left the gems as advance payment and said he would return in a few days, while recognizing Alice as a Norman.

• Soren touched Chris's forehead and formed a mental link, briefly isolating the room from the Material Plane.
• Soren eased the divine pressure on Chris, and she became alert and thanked him excitedly.
• Soren told Alice to strengthen her will and said he would visit again in a few days.
• Alice sensed divinity in Soren's power and offered him the gems she had set aside.
• Soren refused the gems as payment for the completed work but accepted them as advance payment for a favor he might request.
• Soren recognized Alice as a Norman and left, saying he would visit again when he had the chance.

Soren learned about the Normans’ history and their persecution in the Eastern Realm, then traveled toward the Death God Ruin while considering how to bring Alice and her Arcane Empire technology to Port Nyanzaru. He located the ruin and wondered which fallen God of Death had left it behind.

• Soren refrained from telling Alice about the Normans’ catastrophe, secretly marked her for tracking, and left after their first meeting.
• Soren sent Goria a Magic Message describing Alice and her Girl Dolls, and Goria ordered him to bring Alice back or obtain her inventions by force if necessary.
• The Fallen Witch told Soren that Alice likely possessed advanced Rune Inscription and a way to make her dolls fly, and offered to help kill her if needed.
• Soren decided to approach Alice and lure her to Port Nyanzaru rather than antagonize her, hoping Goria could exchange for or obtain her knowledge.
• Soren crossed the Eastern Realm and used his perception to locate the Death God Ruin in the Death Desert.