Recaps

Hogg Bonechewer accepted Murphy’s offer after Little Ashina persuaded him that he could save his kin and become the leader of Transia’s gnolls. Murphy assigned Ashina and her companions a hidden quest to help Hogg rebuild his clan, leaving them to begin organizing his new faction.

• Hogg wrestled with his desire to rule the Smugglers’ Forest and his fear of betraying Kenport and the Bonechewer King.
• Little Ashina told Lumina, Orchid, and Lady Water about Murphy’s scheme, and Orchid urged her to help secure a hidden quest.
• Little Ashina persuaded Hogg to accept Murphy’s offer by promising him a chance to unite and protect the gnolls.
• Hogg swore allegiance to Murphy, who gave him a computation orb and assigned Ashina and her companions to help him rebuild his clan.
• A hidden quest required Hogg’s new clan to reach 30 members, including two elite chieftains and ten Black Iron warriors, before the extermination campaign’s first phase ended.
• Little Wei Ming led Hogg away and declared himself Hogg’s strategic adviser, starting with finding him food and proper clothes.

Heaven-Chosen Construction Worker and Bricklayer tested a psionics-based method for rapidly building houses, and Triss successfully cast their wooden mold into a sturdy stone structure. Murphy commissioned them to rebuild homes across the territory, while Heaven-Chosen Construction Worker’s administrative trial promoted him to village chief and assigned him a much larger city-building quest.

• Heaven-Chosen Construction Worker and Bricklayer assembled a three-room wooden mold for testing their rapid construction method, including channels for underfloor heating.
• Mud Truck Iai, Bulldozer Man Attack, and Full-Coverage Semi visited the site, and Mud Truck Iai suggested adding heated brick beds to the design.
• Murphy and Triss arrived, and Triss used earth psionics to turn stone into slurry that filled the mold and hardened into a house.
• Shovel Guy suggested leaving the wooden boards in place as an exterior protective layer, and Heaven-Chosen Construction Worker tested the structure with a sledgehammer.
• Triss struck the house with a psionic blast, destroying only part of it and confirming that the construction was unusually sturdy.
• Murphy commissioned the builders to construct homes for survivors and communal farms, and Heaven-Chosen Construction Worker learned he had become a village chief and received a quest to design and build a city.

The construction worker and the bricklayer struggled with planning Scarlet Castle’s first city, so the construction worker recruited his advisor, Old Chen, to help. Old Chen became intrigued by the game’s architectural documents and agreed to apply for a testing helmet, leaving the students to prepare for his arrival.

• The construction worker and the bricklayer admitted they could not plan Scarlet Castle’s new city alone, and Shovel encouraged them to take on the project.
• The construction worker decided to ask Old Chen for help and contacted Alpha about getting his advisor a testing invitation.
• Alpha sent the construction worker translated documents about elven and Sanghai architecture to pique Old Chen’s interest.
• The construction worker sent Old Chen the documents and described the city-planning task, prompting Old Chen to ask questions about the game’s architecture.
• Old Chen worried the testing application might be a scam but ultimately agreed to apply, while warning the construction worker not to be playing a prank.

Professor Chen overcame his fear of the hyper-realistic game and arrived in Transia, where Murphy welcomed him and suggested he become a territory administrator. After reuniting with Construction Worker and Bricklayer, he rejected their plans until they consulted local customs about feng shui and lingering evil influences.

• Professor Chen received the gaming helmet, researched the game, and entered the midnight chamber, but Murphy’s appearance frightened him into logging out.
• Construction Worker called to check on Professor Chen after the test team detected his emotional spike, and Professor Chen enabled physiological monitoring before logging back in.
• Murphy summoned Professor Chen again and welcomed him to Transia, while the Meow Brother Squad resurrected and hurried off to join the gnoll extermination campaign.
• Meow Brother greeted Professor Chen warmly, and Murphy suggested that he become an administrative officer in the territory.
• Construction Worker showed Professor Chen the students’ plans, but Professor Chen told them to consult a local master about feng shui and redraw them to account for the city’s recent disaster and lingering evil influences.

Old Chen assessed the damaged soil in Scarlet Keep and joined the Ashen Worker and the Bricklayer in planning the city’s reconstruction. He assigned them to make Transia’s development plan their graduation project, while Murphy secretly listened and encouraged them.

• Old Chen examined the desertified inner city and learned that astral corruption would keep the soil barren for years.
• The Ashen Worker and the Bricklayer proposed planting grass and trees, bridging or repurposing the great rift, and dividing the city into residential, commercial, administrative, and church districts.
• Old Chen ordered the two students to survey Transia and help plan development across the region, including its settlements, farms, and water systems.
• The Bricklayer explained that administrative and crafting players had to train apprentices for a Junior Architect Examination, and Old Chen questioned whether the game truly simulated real-world physics.
• Old Chen made the Ashen Worker and the Bricklayer use Transia’s city plan as their graduation project and warned that they would have to complete it without outside help.
• Murphy listened through Raveno and encouraged the students to put their knowledge and creativity into rebuilding Transia.

Old Chen became Transia’s chief architect and set out to plan five collective farms while players profited from clearing gnoll dens. Maxim assigned Dolores responsibility for the remaining ghouls, and she negotiated with Little Ashina and Lumina for help in exchange for elite gladiators.

• Governor Mirian appointed Old Chen chief architect of Transia and gave him authority over the territory’s construction plans.
• Old Chen examined his character traits and headed out with Ashes and Bricks to inspect the designated farm sites.
• Players cleared gnoll dens, collected stolen goods, and sold their spoils to Maxim’s Cadman People’s Army camp.
• Dolores reported that Murphy’s warriors wanted her to provide battle-tested gnolls for a clan, and Maxim told her to handle the request while defending the sewers from ghouls.
• Dolores offered Little Ashina and Lumina elite gladiators for free if they helped the Blood Rat Gang deal with the ghouls on the third underground level.

Little Ashina, Lumina, and Madam Water devised a plan for Hogg Bonechewer to build a gnoll clan by freeing gladiators rather than relying on the players to do everything. Hogg began recruiting a battered arena fighter, and Dorothy offered him a place in the Blood Rat Gang in exchange for helping her.

• Lumina proposed splitting up so some players could continue earning gnoll points while she and Little Ashina helped Hogg recruit a few gladiators.
• Madam Water argued that Hogg should gather and lead his own followers, so Lumina called Little Ashina away from the arena to hunt ghouls.
• Hogg watched a gnoll gladiator lose his second fight, then offered him a chance at freedom in exchange for surviving and helping free more gnolls.
• Hogg gave the wounded gladiator a flail, renamed him Nash, and arranged for Dorothy to make his next fight dramatic rather than quickly fatal.
• Dorothy declined Hogg's money and offered to recruit him into the Blood Rat Gang, train him as a gnoll thief, and help him free gladiators in return for his service.

Little Ashina and Lumina discussed Hogg’s plans before flying toward the Dark Baronies, while Femis finished hunting Blood Eagle traitors in Count Siko’s domain. When a distress flare drew her to Andre’s battle with Siko’s winged cavalry, Femis pursued one knight into a trap and confronted the cavalry’s leader, offering peace in Murphy’s name.

• Little Ashina and Lumina agreed that Hogg was building a clan and might eventually become a player boss, then Little Ashina flew Lumina toward the Dark Baronies.
• Femis and E-sis Adele learned that most Blood Eagle traitors had fled into the Sax region and that Lady Cecilia and the Siko winged cavalry remained missing.
• Femis decided to return to Murphy, but a Thorn Clan distress flare revealed that Andre and his servants were under attack by winged cavalry.
• Femis used Night Howl to restrain the cavalry’s charge, marked a fleeing rider, and chased him into the forest, where the cavalry surrounded her.
• Femis summoned blood-red vines and demanded that the winged cavalry surrender, offering to negotiate peace with Murphy.

Femis met the Sico Winged Cavalry and passed Murphy’s offer to their commander, Warland Gray Eagle Ofor, who agreed to carry the message to Count Sico. Murphy learned that the Sico line still had a leader, but Count Sico warned him that the Wolfsbane Clan’s Gray Claw faction had entered Transia and might be connected to the gnoll warlord in the Andmar Hills.

• Femis introduced herself to Warland and tried to restore ties between the Blood Eagle Clan and the Sico Winged Cavalry, but Warland blamed her father for abandoning Sico City.
• Femis left Warland a Calculation Orb, and Murphy warned him that the Black Calamity was coming, invited Count Sico to negotiate, and proposed that they meet if he defeated the gnolls within a month and a half.
• Murphy told Mirian that the Winged Cavalry still had a lord and prepared her to negotiate with them, while Mirian worried about her upcoming financial mission and its reward.
• Warland contacted Murphy again on Count Sico’s behalf and revealed that the Wolfsbane Clan’s Gray Claw faction, led by Corando, had entered Transia and was hiding in the Andmar Hills.

Murphy learned that the Wolfsbane clan might be helping the gnoll warlord Kemport threaten Transia, and he prepared to alert the Blood Oath Knights while arranging aid for Mirian. At Triss’s workshop, player What Color Is Loyalty demonstrated a homemade incendiary weapon, which Triss approved and ordered him to produce for the troops.

• Knight Varland warned Murphy that the Wolfsbane clan might be supporting the gnolls, though he admitted the intercepted message could be false.
• Murphy and Mirian discussed the danger of the gnoll warlord Kemport and the possible Wolfsbane plot, while Murphy sent players to assist Mirian on her trip to Batasin City.
• Murphy set out to inform Lady Lainia of the suspected Wolfsbane involvement but changed course after sensing Triss at her alchemy workshop.
• What Color Is Loyalty tested a bottle incendiary on a scarecrow and explained several ingredient variations to Triss and Murphy.
• Triss praised What Color Is Loyalty, gave him an alchemical formula, and ordered him to make three hundred incendiary bottles within three days.

Loyalty Bro recruited Triss’s apprentices to make Molotov cocktails and began adapting the camp’s machinery to build modern weapons. After Murphy reconsidered how to report the Wolfsbane Clan’s suspected collusion with the gnolls, he overheard Loyalty Bro’s theories about the world’s stalled gunpowder technology and asked him to talk.

• Loyalty Bro taught Triss’s apprentices to make Molotov cocktails for a Military Order Mission and arranged to pay them half the reward.
• Triss told Murphy she suspected Kolando had acted without Old Edward’s approval, warned that the Ancient might be manipulating events, and urged Murphy to be cautious about reporting the matter to Lainia.
• Murphy kissed Triss, then decided to wait for solid evidence before reporting the Wolfsbane Clan’s suspected ties to the gnolls.
• Loyalty Bro inspected the camp’s bullet-processing equipment, argued that the world’s primitive gunpowder technology concealed a deeper clue, and persuaded the other players to help him modify it and build modern weapons.
• Murphy overheard Loyalty Bro’s discussion and invited him to talk about the truths the otherworldly spirits might have discovered about their world.

Loyalty Brother learned why Transia lacked access to burning gold and accepted Murphy’s quest to develop a modern-style firearm, opening a new crafting path. Meanwhile, Meow Brother’s squad headed to Batasin City to advise Mirian and recruited Thirty-Year-Old Smoke after meeting him in Scarlet Castle.

• Murphy explained that dwarves and halflings relied on burning gold for advanced technology, then asked Loyalty Brother to develop a firearm using methods from his world.
• Loyalty Brother triggered the hidden quest “Otherworldly Heavenfire,” which required him to build a working, recruit-quality modern-style firearm within 20 days for a workshop and 5,000 gold coins.
• Meow Brother, Little Hands, and their squad rode toward Scarlet Castle to join Mirian’s diplomatic mission to Batasin City, while Jie Chong and Brother Black Silk complained about being passed over.
• Meow Brother’s group saw the new dormitory building in Scarlet Castle and found Heru arguing with his apprentice, Thirty-Year-Old Smoke, over clairvoyance spells.
• Meow Brother invited Thirty-Year-Old Smoke to join the squad as a scout and support player, and Smoke accepted.

Yansang joined Meow Brother’s group as its aerial scout while Happy Stick led the Crimson Hammer and Sickle Corps in a successful attack on a gnoll camp. After Great Shark passed his trial, Happy Stick agreed to help Lumina’s group raid a much larger gnoll den in exchange for a share of the spoils.

• Yansang told Meow Brother’s group about his aviation career and used a scouting spell to spot gnolls near an abandoned village.
• Meow Brother gave Yansang a veteran-grade Midnight Arcane Staff and named him the Big Bird Go Round and Round group’s “Eye in the Sky.”
• Happy Stick directed the Crimson Hammer and Sickle Corps in surrounding a gnoll camp, defeating its forces and capturing elite gnolls for sale.
• Great Shark reached level ten, received veteran-grade armor from Lin, and fought an elite gnoll berserker for his trial.
• Lumina asked Happy Stick to help raid a gnoll den holding at least four hundred gnolls, and Happy Stick negotiated for thirty percent of the spoils and first pick of the loot.

The Cadman People's Army and the players attacked a huge gnoll den near the Filthy Swamp while Kudel and Maxim discussed Transia's lost territories and the warriors' rapid growth. The assault uncovered three Wolfsbane vampires, and Maxim confronted two of them as the story left the battle underway.

• Kudel and Maxim watched the players and Cadman soldiers attack the gnoll den, while Kudel praised their fighting and Maxim explained their rapid progress.
• Kudel and Maxim prepared to join the battle, discussing the gnoll hunts in nearby territories and a possible future fight against a gnoll warlord in the Andmar Hills.
• He Dong Lion's Roar and Lin Bei Dog Paddle cornered and killed the den's elite gnoll boss as the players and recruits fought through the caves.
• Cat Bro spotted three Wolfsbane vampires escaping among the gnolls, and Dog Paddle and He Dong Lion's Roar intercepted one of them.
• Maxim landed in front of two fleeing Wolfsbane vampires and challenged them, while one answered that she was ready to fight.

Kudel and Maxim captured Wolfbane vampires and uncovered evidence that they were trading weapons with gnolls, while Kudel considered forming his own group of warriors. Happy Rod's crew found the hidden stockpile and debated how to sell it, unaware of what the other player factions were pursuing.

• Kudel defeated and captured a Wolfbane envoy, then ordered Maxim to question the vampires and clear out the remaining gnolls.
• Maxim explained the Blood Eagles' warrior-retainer system to Kudel, who asked to take Cat under his tutelage if Cat agreed.
• Happy Rod organized the players to search the gnoll den for evidence and loot, enforcing rules for sharing the spoils.
• Pomegranate Sister identified weapons and armor bearing a Plantagenet forge's emblem, suggesting the Wolfbane vampires had traded with the gnolls.
• Lumina proposed selling the goods through the administration office, while Little Ashina offered to buy them at a premium; Happy Rod refused to hear their secret and planned to consult Meow.

Murphy learned that a faction of the Wolfsbane Clan had allied with the gnolls and prepared to confront the warlord in the Andmar Hills, while arranging for Femis to develop a powerful psionic spell called Cataclysm. After interrogating the Wolfsbane prisoners, Lainia confirmed their treason and asked Murphy to let her reserve knights join his punitive campaign.

• Murphy assigned Adele to oversee Dorothy's Blood Rat Gang and asked Count Andre to receive the arriving White Mountain exiles in Batashin City.
• Murphy told Femis that the Wolfsbane Clan's Grayclaw faction had allied with the gnolls and that he would lead an army into the Andmar Hills after the forces finished clearing nearby territories.
• Murphy arranged for Triss to guide Femis in creating her own psionic mystery, named Cataclysm, and postponed discussing what Femis had found in Count Westcoast's lands.
• Lainia reported the prisoners' confessions to Ivette, received permission to join the campaign, and ended the call after Ivette made another inappropriate advance.
• Lainia confirmed the Wolfsbane Clan's treason to Murphy and requested that her reserve knights join his punitive war against the gnolls and Wolfsbane Clan.

Murphy prepared his forces for the coming gnoll battle while the players pursued dungeons and personal goals. Sister Pomegranate agreed to yield the hunt’s top spot to Cat in exchange for his group’s help, and Taipal discovered a hidden dungeon drop before investigating a strange noise.

• Murphy decided to give the players a few days to rest before the next major battle, but Xiao Weiming gathered Madam Shui and Lanhua to run the new Rat King's End dungeon.
• Linbei Dog Paddle asked Sister Pomegranate to let Cat win the gnoll hunt so Cat could complete his faction challenge, but Cat rejected a secret arrangement and insisted on winning fairly.
• Sister Pomegranate agreed to yield first place and the Blood Eagle Named Blade to Cat in exchange for his group helping Silver Moon's Pride at least three times, and she arranged to meet Cat in person later.
• Xiao Weiming and Lanhua discovered that Frostfang Claw had received the hidden Rat King's Vile Echo drop on his first dungeon run, while Taipal explained that Lady Dorothy had made Frostfang Claw her first Warrior.
• Taipal told Lady Water about his appointment and plans for his own village, then stayed behind in the instance and heard a noise that he suspected signaled a hidden storyline.

Frostfang's Claw received a Soul-Reaping Scythe blueprint from Dorothy and gave it to Little Ashina, who arranged for Master Broken Blade and Big Horse Hundred-Forged to forge a weapon for Lady Water. Ashina bought a cart of Molotov cocktails, then discovered a middleman had marked up her own product and swore to confront him.

• Dorothy exchanged Frostfang's Claw's Echo of the Rat King token for the Soul-Reaping Scythe blueprint and assigned him a sewer treasure quest and combat training.
• Little Ashina and Orchid decided to have a scythe forged for Lady Water, and Frostfang's Claw gave them the blueprint without asking for payment.
• Master Broken Blade and Big Horse Hundred-Forged agreed to make the scythe as a veteran-grade weapon with fine workmanship if Ashina supplied the required undead spine and rib.
• Little Ashina bought fifty Molotov cocktails from an alchemy apprentice, unaware the seller had raised the price above Loyal Brother's rate.
• Ashina heard Scholar on a Journey selling the same Molotov cocktails at a discount and realized he had still charged her more, so she angrily vowed to find him.

Murphy assigned Natalie’s witch hunters roles in the coming campaign against the gnolls and urged her to turn the Avalon Church’s lost relics and knowledge into opportunities for her followers. Meanwhile, player Sion tried to film a dramatic gnoll fight, but his team stumbled into an elite monster and a Black Iron trial breakthrough.

• Murphy and Natalie agreed to deploy three hundred witch hunters as a ranger reconnaissance unit and use the others to train militias and protect settlements.
• Natalie told Murphy that witch hunter gear had been recovered, and he directed her to establish an equipment exchange and seek higher-tier equipment and crafting diagrams.
• Murphy suggested turning the southern Avalon sanctuary’s location and the lost replica holy blades into hidden-lore quests, and Natalie decided to share the information after the gnoll battle.
• Natalie polished two replica holy blades and reflected on her responsibility as the witch hunters’ final leader.
• Sion directed four players in a staged gnoll fight for a video, but an elite monster appeared, prompting the team to regroup and help a teammate attempt the Black Iron trial.

Murphy and Adele prepared to use Hogg and a hidden waterway to stage a mass escape that would encourage gnoll clans to flee toward the Andmar Hills. As the escape plan began at the Fighting Club, Adele made Dorothy her progeny and gave Hogg the secret codename “Pangolin.”

• Murphy learned that gnoll clans were fleeing Baron Lim's lands for the Andmar Hills and ordered Adele to prepare Hogg's escape.
• Adele told Murphy that Hogg's people had found a hidden waterway from the sewers to the Cadman River, and Murphy decided to preserve the route and build a dock.
• At the Grand Melee, Hogg urged the gnoll gladiators to meet it underground and escape before midnight, but a wounded berserker rejected its offer.
• Adele sired Dorothy as Hogg arrived, then told Hogg that its codename was Pangolin until Kenport's downfall.

Hogg assembled escaped jackal gladiators and kobolds into the Bloodclaw Clan and led them out of the vampires’ city through an underground waterway. After reaching the wilderness near the Andmar Hills, he ordered the clan to prepare to attack another jackal group so they could seize its members and hide their former enslavement.

• Hogg waited with his chosen jackals and kobolds for escaped gladiators, persuading his followers that they needed more fighters to earn recognition from King Kenport.
• More than a dozen jackal gladiators arrived, and Hogg persuaded them to join the Bloodclaw Clan by promising to lead them out of the vampires’ city.
• Hogg led the expanded clan through a sewer passage and underground waterway, and they emerged near the Kademan River.
• Hogg told his followers that the Andmar Hills lay across the river, then spotted another jackal clan in an abandoned village.
• Hogg ordered his clan to prepare to attack the group, arguing that they had to seize soldiers and servants before the other jackals could prey on them.

Murphy explained to Maxim why he wanted to unite Transia’s races and ordered him to drive the gnolls toward Count Westco’s territory and the Andmar Hills. In the hills, Corando pressured King Kenport to attack Crimson Keep within seven days, but Kenport resisted, leaving their alliance uncertain.

• Murphy watched Hogg’s gnolls seize a village and divide its females, then told Maxim that Hogg’s loyalty was an experiment in giving the gnolls a place in Transia.
• Murphy described his plan for a multi-racial Transia and ordered Maxim to sweep Baron Lim’s territory for seven days, driving gnolls toward Count Westco’s territory and the Andmar Hills.
• Corando urged King Kenport to use food and supplies to march on Crimson Keep and conquer the Kavhoka Plains, but Kenport said it expected food from a friend.
• Corando accused Kenport of breaking their agreement and threatened to cut off its supplies unless it attacked within seven days.
• Corando left, unaware that Kenport’s strength and intentions made it far less easy to control than he assumed.

Frostfang's Claw was caught breaking into the Blood Eagle Clan's secret vault after Doris recruited him for a mission, and Murphy sent him to spy on the gnolls in the Andmar Hills. There, Kenport used Hogg's knowledge of a secret passage into Scarlet Castle to bargain with Colando for the Wolfsbane Clan's Kato defense map.

• Players found fewer gnolls to hunt in Baron Lim's territory, so many returned to Scarlet Castle's sewers to level up.
• Doris revealed that she had accepted the vampire Embrace and recruited Frostfang's Claw to scout the gnolls' main camp with Adele's other children.
• Frostfang's Claw tried to pick the Blood Eagle Corridor's secret vault locks, but Triss's psychic traps caught him after he opened three of its seven locks.
• Murphy spared Frostfang's Claw and assigned him to gather evidence in Kenport's camp that the gnolls were colluding with the Wolfsbane Clan.
• Hogg told Kenport about a secret waterway into Scarlet Castle, and Kenport persuaded him to guide Colando's vampires to its entrance.
• Kenport offered to help Colando destroy the Blood Eagle Clan in exchange for the Wolfsbane Clan's defense map for the Kato region.

Hogg mapped Kenport’s massive gnoll camp and sent the intelligence to Murphy, while Murphy prepared a psychic strike against the gnolls. Andrei asked to lead part of the campaign to prove himself, and Murphy gave him the chance.

• Hogg secretly mapped the gnoll camp with its calculation orb, ordered Nash to keep the Bloodclaw tribe small, and sent Murphy a report signed “Pangolin.”
• Murphy, Triss, and Femis discussed using Hogg’s map to place an astral rift and launch a psychic decapitation strike against Kenport’s forces.
• Murphy explained that Hogg had to earn authority over Smugglers’ Forest by contributing to the campaign, despite the danger of guiding the spell formation.
• Andrei asked Murphy to let him and his followers take part in the operation against the gnolls, admitting he needed a victory to restore his faction’s morale and prove his abilities.
• Murphy accepted Andrei’s request and assigned Adele to help him carry out the “Dance with the Wolves” operation.

Murphy surveyed the rebuilding farms and considered how players and outside professionals could help Transia survive the Black Calamity. In Bataxin City, Mirian and Professor Malcolm discussed the world-changing knowledge brought by the players, leaving Mirian aware of the responsibility she might one day bear.

• Mirian told Murphy she had finished negotiations with the Kingdom of Nordtov and would return to Scarlet Castle that night.
• Murphy patrolled his territory, noted the players’ success hunting gnolls, and considered contacting officials in their world to recruit professionals.
• Murphy surveyed the new apartment blocks and collective farms, where relocated villagers received grain and awaited their new homes.
• At a Bataxin City reception, Mirian and Lady Palien discussed the northern nobles and Professor Malcolm’s wife, Funa, who wanted to stay in the city.
• Professor Malcolm explained that he was studying history and knowledge from the players, and that he intended to chronicle Transia’s transformation.
• Mirian recognized the players’ world as far more advanced than her own, while Malcolm urged her to keep learning and prepare to represent Transia in a future meeting of the two worlds.