Chapter Summaries

Angus Te planned to draw Drow houses into searching the Underdark near Waterdeep while avoiding a direct attack. Meanwhile, Duanmu Huai challenged Jia Wei to define herself apart from perfection, and Okegis brought him a captured Mind Flayer for a test of psychic power against Old God Willpower.

• Angus Te decided to spread rumors of a Spider Goddess vision to send Drow houses searching around the city without openly attacking Waterdeep.
• Duanmu Huai told Jia Wei that Okegis was not perfect and that Jia Wei could choose who she wanted to become.
• Jia Wei offered to serve Duanmu Huai in Okegis's place, and he told her to learn how to make tea.
• Okegis returned with a captured Mind Flayer that had failed to affect her with its Mind Blast.
• Duanmu Huai lifted the Mind Flayer and prepared to test its psychic power against Old God Willpower.

Duanmu Huai learned mental-attack techniques by overpowering a Mind Flayer and extracting its memories, then used that knowledge to attack a Mind Flayer city. He left the plaza in chaos and headed toward the city’s Master Brain.

• Duanmu Huai let a Mind Flayer connect its tentacles to him, then broke through its mental defenses and tore through its memories until its head exploded.
• Duanmu Huai learned the location of a Mind Flayer city and decided to destroy its legless Master Brain, which stored the memories of countless Mind Flayers.
• Duanmu Huai opened a Teleportation Gate and brought Okegis and Jia Wei to the city’s plaza, where enslaved creatures gathered among the Mind Flayers.
• Duanmu Huai’s roar and Aura of Fear overwhelmed the Mind Flayers’ mental barriers, freeing the slaves from their control.
• The freed slaves attacked the incapacitated Mind Flayers as others fled, while Duanmu Huai and his companions continued toward their target.

Duanmu Huai broke into the Mind Flayer city and used his Old God power to destroy the Master Brain and the connected minds of the city’s inhabitants. After absorbing the Mind Flayers’ psychic knowledge and experience, he left with Okegis and Jia Wei, intending to test his abilities in a Drow Elf city.

• The slaves in the square broke free from the Mind Flayers’ control and began killing their former masters.
• Duanmu Huai, Okegis, and Jia Wei fought through the Mind Flayers’ guards and advanced toward the High Tower.
• Duanmu Huai resisted the Mind Flayers’ Mind Blasts, entered the tower, and drove his tentacle into the Master Brain.
• His Old God power spread through the connected minds, killing or mutating the Mind Flayers and their slaves across the city.
• Duanmu Huai absorbed the Master Brain’s psychic knowledge and experience, then told Okegis and Jia Wei they would visit a Drow Elf city.

Philre and Feijina discovered an ancient tomb, where Philre found a pendant that let her command a powerful black construct. Philre used it to kill Feijina and the other Drow, while Jia Wei and Okegis revealed that the tomb had been a trap devised by Duanmu Huai.

• Philre joined Feijina at a newly discovered tomb, where they found a robed skeleton and a black humanoid construct.
• Philre and Feijina triggered a trap, and armed suits of armor emerged from the walls and killed several Drow soldiers before the survivors destroyed them.
• Philre found a skull-and-warhammer pendant and heard a voice in her mind offering to obey her orders.
• Philre ordered the black construct to kill Feijina, and it smashed through her divine barrier and killed her with its warhammer.
• Philre ordered the construct to kill the remaining Drow, and she left the tomb surrounded by their corpses.
• Jia Wei and Okegis appeared and revealed that they had controlled the attacking puppets as part of Duanmu Huai's trap.

Philre returned to the Third Family with Duanmu Huai’s construct and persuaded Xinafei to keep it after demonstrating its immunity to divine magic. Xinafei promised Philre the chief priest position if she proved the construct’s worth in the coming war, while Duanmu Huai secretly manipulated both women’s thoughts and prepared to use the Drow as practice for his mental powers.

• Philre told Xinafei that Feijina and the elite warriors had died in an abandoned tomb, and claimed the construct’s immunity to divine magic made it worth the loss.
• Xinafei struck the construct with her Hydra Whip, confirmed it was unharmed, and accepted it as a potentially valuable gift to the Third Family.
• Xinafei warned Philre that Feijina’s death could make rival families believe the Third Family had lost Rose’s favor, and promised Philre the chief priest position if she proved the construct’s usefulness in the coming war.
• Duanmu Huai secretly read Philre and Xinafei’s thoughts and revealed that he had used Mental Pollution to strengthen Philre’s ambition and Xinafei’s curiosity.
• Philre left with Duanmu Huai and returned to her room, unaware that he had manipulated her and Xinafei.

The Second Family led a coalition assault on the Third Family, but Duanmu Huai helped Philre repel the attackers. After the victory, Philre stabbed Matron Mother Xinafei and declared herself the Third Family’s true Matron Mother.

• Philre learned that the Heller Family, Butler Family, and Karlstrom Family planned to attack the Third Family.
• The attackers enveloped the Third Family’s residence in magical darkness and launched their assault, while Matron Mother Xinafei prayed for protection.
• Philre ordered the Third Family to fight, and Duanmu Huai entered the battlefield, shrugging off magic and killing the Second Family’s priest.
• The Second Family’s forces retreated after their attack failed, and Philre returned to the temple with Duanmu Huai.
• Philre stabbed Matron Mother Xinafei, claimed the Spider Queen’s favor, and raised Xinafei’s heart as she proclaimed herself Matron Mother.

Philre seized leadership of the Second Family, but the Council accused her of heresy and demanded that she surrender Duanmu Huai’s construct. Duanmu Huai’s influence convinced her that the Council were traitors, and she led him in attacking them before he destroyed the Wax Golem and moved to kill Angus Te.

• Philre celebrated becoming Matron Mother of the Second Family and went to the First Family’s temple after Angus Te summoned her.
• Angus Te accused Philre of using heretical power and demanded that she surrender the construct, which she called a blasphemous curse.
• Duanmu Huai planted the idea that the Council wanted Philre’s Holy Relic and served false gods, and Philre accused the Matron Mothers of betraying the Spider Goddess.
• Philre ordered Duanmu Huai to kill the Council, and he smashed the Matron Mothers while Angus Te escaped with both legs crushed.
• The Wax Golem arrived and ordered Philre to stop, but Philre denounced it as a traitor and Duanmu Huai tore it in half.
• Duanmu Huai raised his foot to stomp Angus Te as she lay helpless on the floor.

Philre led a revolt that turned the Drow city against the Spider Queen by proclaiming allegiance to a true Spider Goddess, while Duanmu Huai’s mental corruption and divine spells overwhelmed the opposing faction. With the city conquered, Duanmu Huai sent Philre and her corrupted followers to liberate other Dark Elf cities across the Underdark.

• Philre declared that the Spider Queen ruling the city was an impostor, and her construct defeated the families that attacked her.
• Philre persuaded minor Drow families to switch sides by granting them divine spells from Duanmu Huai, dividing the city into two factions.
• Duanmu Huai’s spells lowered the Drow’s SAN Value and Willpower, corrupting opponents and earning him experience as the loyalists’ faction collapsed.
• Duanmu Huai explained that he had guided Philre to interpret her faith as proof that the Spider Queen she worshipped was different from the one the other Drow served.
• Duanmu Huai ordered Philre to lead her corrupted army to liberate other Dark Elf cities, and the Drow left their conquered city in flames.

Philre led a mutated Drow army to invade Vannatim in the name of the true Spider Queen, and Duanmu Huai killed Matron Mother Tina as the assault began. The city’s defenders were overwhelmed by transforming corpses and Elder God servants, while Philre’s power drove the remaining Matron Mothers into madness.

• Matron Mother Tina saw Philre’s grotesque army approaching Vannatim and challenged the priest about the invasion.
• Philre declared that the city worshipped an impostor Spider Queen, then ordered her army to attack.
• Duanmu Huai leaped onto the city wall, killed Matron Mother Tina, and knocked the defenders beside her away.
• Mutated Drow climbed the walls, rose again as Corpse Mutants after being killed, and spread the transformation among Vannatim’s defenders.
• Winged servants of the Elder God attacked the city’s Priests as Philre advanced into the city to confront its Matron Mothers.
• Philre unleashed the Spider Goddess’s power, causing the Matron Mothers’ minds to collapse into madness.

Emilia, Kasim, and Luo Xia recovered in an Underground Gnome city after a perilous journey through the Underdark, then learned that a Drow city had been destroyed and saw a silver-haired girl kill a fleeing Drow warrior. The girl, Okegis’s younger sister, warned them to avoid the Drow, but Emilia chose to continue searching for Kelben Blackstaff’s nephew while keeping her distance from the conflict.

• Emilia, Kasim, and Luo Xia recounted their ordeal in the Underdark, including poisonous moss, an Underground Worm, and being separated in the tunnels.
• An Underground Gnome told the three adventurers that surface-dwellers often died or were enslaved in the Underdark and advised them to return home.
• An Underground Gnome reported that a Drow city had been burned to the ground, dividing the tavern’s patrons between celebration and fear.
• A messenger warned that Drow were approaching, and Emilia, Kasim, and Luo Xia joined the Underground Gnomes at the gates.
• A wounded Drow warrior appeared alone, but a silver-haired girl resembling Okegis killed him and revealed she was Okegis’s younger sister.
• The silver-haired girl warned the group to avoid the Drow and vanished; Emilia decided to keep searching for Kelben Blackstaff’s nephew while following Duanmu Huai’s warning.

Emilia, Kasim, and Luo Xia found Danilo.Sarn in the Underdark, where he was investigating a conflict among Drow Elves who worshiped the Dark Maiden. Duanmu Huai revealed that he had started the conflict to exterminate the Drow and warned Danilo and the others to stop investigating.

• Emilia and her companions followed Master Kelben's Magic Compass to a campsite and were surrounded by Drow Elves.
• Danilo.Sarn stopped Emilia from attacking and explained that the Drow Elves followed Eilistraee and had rescued him after his party was captured.
• Emilia used Detect Lies, learned Danilo was telling the truth, and said Duanmu Huai had warned them to avoid the Drow conflict.
• Okegis and Jia Wei arranged a communication with Duanmu Huai after a Drow Elf asked to speak with him.
• Duanmu Huai admitted that he had caused the Drow civil war as part of his plan to eradicate them, then warned the others not to interfere.

Emilia, Danilo, and their companions struggled with the Inquisition’s plan to eradicate the Drow, then left the Underdark to investigate the Inquisition’s intentions. Duanmu Huai watched Philre’s growing ambitions, while she remained unaware that his influence had helped shape her beliefs.

• Jia Wei and Okegis argued that the Inquisition treated Drow like other threats to humanity, and Emilia questioned whether exterminating them could be just.
• Emilia offered Danilo a sending stone to contact Khelben, while Kasim and Luo Xia urged the group to return to the surface.
• Danilo decided to leave the Underdark with Emilia and the others to investigate the Inquisition, and the Drow Elf parted from them.
• Okegis reported to Duanmu Huai that the group had left, and he watched Philre proclaim her intent to unite the Drow and conquer the Underdark.
• Duanmu Huai reflected that Philre believed herself to be the Spider Queen’s daughter and did not realize he had influenced her mind.

Khelben worried over the Inquisition as the Drow prepared for a decisive battle at Bernast. Rose sacrificed thousands of her own followers to manifest in the Material Plane, where she confronted Duanmu Huai’s army and demanded to know who he was.

• Khelben considered the Inquisition’s threat and waited anxiously for his nephew and Emilia’s group to return.
• Rose’s Saint ordered the remaining Drow cities to gather at Bernast and promised a sacred ritual to destroy the rebels.
• Philre arrived at Bernast with an army of monstrous servants of the Old Ones, unnerving Rose’s Saint.
• Rose’s Saint ordered the ritual to begin before the battle, and the Drow priests sacrificed thousands of elite warriors to fuel it.
• Duanmu Huai sensed the boundary between Warp Space and the real world weakening as Rose manifested as a giant spider-bodied Elf.
• Rose glared at Duanmu Huai’s army and demanded that her unknown opponent reveal himself.

Duanmu Huai and Rose fought off a coordinated assault in the Underdark, but Black Knife Assassins weakened Rose and destroyed her portal. Rose then pulled Duanmu Huai into her divine domain, where he immediately charged at her with his warhammer.

• Rose killed Philre and seized control of Philre's soul to search her memories while Duanmu Huai sent the attacking army against the fortress.
• Rose discovered that Philre had mistaken her for an impostor and traced the priestess's delusion to a black construct in an ancient tomb.
• The black construct exploded, blinding Rose with Black Flame as Black Knife Assassins attacked and drained her power.
• Rose tried to retreat through her Teleportation Gate, but the gate exploded, devastating the fortress and pinning her beneath a stalactite.
• Duanmu Huai confronted Rose, but she revealed that she was a clone and dragged him into her domain, the Deep Pit Demon Web.
• Duanmu Huai burst into Black Blazing Flame and charged Rose with his warhammer.

Duanmu Huai fought Rose inside her Divine Domain after she pulled him into the Bottomless Abyss, and his attacks began destroying her realm. He used Dimensional Transcendence to take another turn and overwhelmed Rose, leaving her soul consumed by his tentacles.

• Rose dragged Duanmu Huai into her Divine Domain, expecting to overpower him, but he struck her with his Thunder Warhammer and cracked her forehead.
• Duanmu Huai set the Magic Web Pit ablaze with Black Flame and rampaged through Rose's domain, while Rose's attacks failed to break through his armor.
• Rose mistook Duanmu Huai for a servant of Shar and tried to negotiate as her domain suffered mounting damage.
• Duanmu Huai used a Soul Card to unleash lightning, then revealed he had been waiting for his zero-cost card, Dimensional Transcendence.
• Duanmu Huai took another turn, smashed Rose's legs, pinned her with a Chainsaw Sword, and consumed her soul with tentacles and cold flames.

Duanmu Huai returned to the Expeditionary Fleet after killing Rose and learned that the Black Hole Bomb was ready, then joined the assault on the center of the Milky Way. As the fleet began its mission to protect the bomb until detonation, the Universe Monsters appeared in overwhelming numbers and attacked.

• Duanmu Huai gained Old God Willpower experience from killing Rose, received the Horror Hunter Transformation Trait, and set aside plans for Faerûn to return to the fleet.
• Duanmu Huai discussed humanity's survival with Setsuko while they inspected the enormous Black Hole Bomb, and Captain Tashiro confirmed the fleet would depart shortly.
• Duanmu Huai led the fleet through a Webway passage to the center of the Milky Way, where Captain Tashiro announced the bomb's countdown and the plan to protect it until detonation.
• Echote reported billions of approaching Universe Monsters, and Duanmu Huai prepared the fleet to defend the Black Hole Bomb.
• The Universe Monsters unexpectedly emerged from a spatial jump, so Duanmu Huai ordered the ships to activate their Void Shields and open fire as the enemy surged toward them.

Duanmu Huai and the Inquisition fought off a Universe Monster assault, but the Black Hole Bomb failed to ignite because too many control rods were damaged or stuck. With a second wave approaching, Noriko Takaya used Gunbuster’s Fold Reactor to trigger the bomb, and Duanmu Huai rescued her and Kazumi Amano as the fleet evacuated.

• The Inquisition fleet barely held back the Universe Monsters’ first wave while Duanmu Huai repeatedly used cards to clear their attacks.
• The Black Hole Bomb failed to ignite because only 98% of its control rods had activated, so Duanmu Huai and the mecha pilots began emergency repairs.
• Echote detected a second wave of more than twelve billion Universe Monsters, and Duanmu Huai ordered the fleet to evacuate.
• Noriko Takaya offered Gunbuster’s Fold Reactor to provide the mass needed to ignite the Black Hole Bomb, and Duanmu Huai agreed to bring her back.
• Duanmu Huai joined Noriko Takaya and Kazumi Amano inside the bomb, then teleported them away after Noriko triggered the implosion with Gunbuster’s Fold Reactor.
• The Inquisition and remaining fleet escaped through the Webway as darkness consumed the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

After the Inquisition Fleet defeated the Universe Monsters, Duanmu Huai reviewed his mission rewards and planned his next campaign. He gathered a party to visit a Dungeons & Dragons world, where he intended to secure a fief.

• The Milky Way’s core collapsed into a black hole, and the Universe Monsters were wiped out as Kazumi Amano and Noriko Takaya returned safely.
• Duanmu Huai lamented receiving the Gunbuster Neural Sensor as a reward, then saw that Phase Two of the Ascension Disaster had begun and set out to find a Fold Reactor blueprint.
• Duanmu Huai secretly kept the Black Hole Bomb’s blueprint, parted ways with the Exelion crew, and returned the remnants of the Inquisition Fleet to the Boundary God Galaxy for repairs.
• Duanmu Huai considered targeting civilized evil species in Faerûn and invited Okegis, Jia Wei, Mary, and Ann to join his next expedition.
• Duanmu Huai told the excited group that their first task in the new world would be to acquire a fief.

Duanmu Huai explained that the Inquisition needed a branch in Faerûn because Corruption's Filth and the Evil Gods threatened the world. In Waterdeep, he met Khelben Blackstaff and asked him to recommend a location for an Inquisition base.

• Duanmu Huai warned Ann and Gureiya that Faerûn could become a battlefield against the Evil Gods while Mary excitedly explored the city's many fantasy races.
• Duanmu Huai removed his helmet at Waterdeep's gates to prove his identity, terrifying the guards and civilians before they escorted him to Blackstaff Tower.
• Duanmu Huai and his companions met Khelben, who said Emilia and the others had safely returned from the Underdark with his nephew.
• Duanmu Huai and Ann explained the Inquisition's human-protection doctrine and its skull-based definition of humanity to Khelben.
• Duanmu Huai asked Khelben to recommend a suitable place on the continent for an Inquisition base.

Duanmu Huai asked Khelben to direct him to a dangerous, remote region where Warp Space corruption might be spreading, and learned that the Lost Land was linked to widespread stillbirths. After questioning a Tyr priest in Waterdeep, he suspected the afflicted babies showed signs of Warp Space pollution and went to inspect one of their bodies.

• Duanmu Huai asked Khelben for a remote, monster-filled region with signs of curses, and Khelben recommended the Lost Land east of the High Forest.
• Khelben described reports of devils, mysterious illnesses, and widespread stillbirths near the Lost Land, including cases in Locke Town.
• Duanmu Huai learned that Emilia and the others had left for Baldur's Gate, then questioned the Tyr priest who had delivered the Locke Town woman's baby.
• The priest said the stillborn baby was cold, dark blue, and partly bestial in appearance, though it showed no Evil aura.
• Duanmu Huai suspected Warp Space pollution and asked to see the baby's corpse, and the priest agreed to take him to it.