Recaps

Arthur exposed Kane’s deception and began removing the beastkin’s curses, but many villagers chose to stay or needed time to decide. Tang Qi then persuaded Arthur to help devise Twilight doctrines to unite the beastfolk, leaving Arthur uneasy but committed to the plan.

• Arthur explained that Kane had ordered his arrest after he tried to remove the villagers’ curses, and Eric asked if he could return to Rekzek Village.
• Arthur cured Eric’s curse, and Eric celebrated that he could no longer transform into a wolf.
• The villagers hesitated to have their curses removed, citing lost ties, the benefits of their beast forms, and their children; Tang Qi urged them to choose freely.
• Tang Qi asked Fide to count who wanted to leave and provide the promised food, then recruited Arthur to help compile religious doctrines.
• Tang Qi argued that new doctrines could unite and civilize the beastfolk, and Arthur agreed to help despite fearing the plan’s risks.

Tang Qi established a doctrine to unite the Fierce Roar Tribe and gained Shivana’s respect while helping Fide deal with her village’s crisis. As Tang Qi prepared to leave, Arthur chose to return to the village where he had killed a Vampire Spawn and confront his past.

• Tang Qi recited a doctrine that framed Beastfolk fury, unity, conquest, and obedience to the prophet as Gruush’s will, then had Shivana translate it into language the tribe understood.
• Tang Qi declared Shivana the tribe’s chief, and the Beastfolk and Goblins cheered her name as she thanked him and accepted his strength.
• Fide told Tang Qi that her village had lost many people and that she had taken over Kane’s duties; Tang Qi suggested she seek Beastkin recruits in Dragon Gold City.
• Fide and Tang Qi exchanged thanks and promised to help each other, while Arthur said he would lift the curse, escort the villagers out, and return to the village where he had killed a Vampire Spawn.
• Arthur explained that he had killed the Vampire Spawn without investigating whether the child had harmed anyone, and Tang Qi urged him to consider whether he had acted on impulse.
• Arthur and Fide departed as a lute ballad played, leaving Tang Qi to continue his journey.

Geya visited Moonlight Castle to report that Tang Qi was alive and had become a remarkable figure, astonishing his older sister Yena. Yena decided to conceal the news from her family and prepare to claim a close bond with him, while Geya returned to the Poet Academy and encountered someone in a familiar carriage.

• Geya brought Yena an apology gift and explained that Tang Qi had not died; he had simply been too busy to reply.
• Yena questioned why the Poet Academy kept sending updates about Tang Qi and learned that he had become renowned on the other side of the continent.
• Yena hid her shock, told Geya she would inform their father, and privately planned to fabricate evidence of her concern for Tang Qi.
• Geya left Moonlight Castle and rode the magic train to Lingering City, reflecting on how people’s regard for Tang Qi had changed.
• At the Poet Academy gates, Geya heard someone call her and recognized a lavish carriage associated with a manuscript she had once had rejected.

Geya received expensive shoes and an assignment from Kohlhaeron Versace, then found an idea for this year’s New Year celebration play in Home of Mist. In the forest, Tang Qi reviewed rewards that granted him Ultimate Stamina, a faith-based bearing, two spells, and a Spirit Story about the Night Raven Family.

• Kohlhaeron Versace gave Geya Maliana shoes and said he would leave Lingering City to deal with unrest on the border.
• Geya considered adapting Home of Mist for the New Year celebration and planned to ask her mentor for approval.
• Tang Qi examined his upgraded Ultimate Stamina reward and considered how it might protect him in dreams with Elusha.
• Tang Qi received the Heretical Prophet bearing and the Second Ring Suggestion Spell.
• Tang Qi gained the Third Ring Speak with Dead spell and questioned how useful it would be on a Beastfolk corpse.
• Tang Qi obtained the Spirit Story: Song of the Vampire after uncovering the truth about the Night Raven Family and closing the cycle in the mist.

Tang Qi examined the power of his Song of the Vampire and then watched Anbi, Shivana, and Houke hunt Serpent-Chicken Beasts. The hunt went badly when Houke and Shivana were petrified, leaving Anbi to lead the beasts toward the Sky Turtle and call for Dawn’s help.

• Tang Qi learned that his ballad could summon Lilith’s spirit and temporarily transform visible creatures within twenty meters into Half-Bloods.
• Tang Qi watched Anbi’s group hunt Serpent-Chicken Beasts, while Anbi showed her growing skill as a hunter and Barbarian.
• Houke charged the beasts despite Anbi’s warning, and venom from a wounded beast petrified him.
• Shivana struck at the beasts to rescue Houke, but their venom petrified her as well.
• Anbi drew the beasts’ attention away from the stone statues and ran toward the Sky Turtle, calling for Dawn to help.

Tang Qi led the party in preparing Serpent-Chicken Beast dishes, but both his stew and Anbi’s roast chicken were so revolting that everyone vomited. After the party crossed out of the Twilight Forest, Tang Qi gained the Mist Walker feat and recorded his first day in the Wasteland.

• Dawn killed eight Serpent-Chicken Beasts, and Tang Qi organized the party to prepare them for dinner.
• Tang Qi’s stew tasted awful, so Anbi tried making roast chicken, which also left the party vomiting.
• Tang Qi saved portions of both failed dishes to make the petrified Shivana and Houke taste them later.
• The party traveled south through the thinning mist and reached the boundary between the Twilight Forest and the Wasteland.
• Tang Qi gained the Mist Walker feat, which let him sense mist and use Misty Step, and recorded the party’s departure from the forest.

Tang Qi explored the Wasteland aboard the Sky Turtle while searching for the Road to Prison. After Shivana's party brought back a dead Halfling, Tang Qi learned about Source Essence and realized that casting magic in the Wasteland could be unstable, just as a Fireball suddenly surged toward him.

• Tang Qi journaled about the Wasteland's unstable Magic Web and planned to find the Road to Prison before exploring farther.
• Shivana's hunting party returned with a dead Halfling, whom Tang Qi identified as a member of House Hal from the badge in his Dimensional Bag.
• Tang Qi used Speak with Dead and learned that the Halfling collected Source Essence, which could stabilize magic in the Wasteland.
• Tang Qi realized that ordinary spells might be unstable, and Dawn warned him as a scorching Fireball rushed toward him.

Tang Qi survived a chaotic Fireball blast because Dawn resurrected him, but the Tide of Chaos transformed her into a doll and left her unable to fight or cast spells. Fearing the effect might be permanent, Tang Qi prepared to seek help from House Hal, only for a stampede of sheep carrying a mysterious scroll to approach the turtle.

• A Fireball exploded in the market, and Dawn used [Resurrection Spell] to save Tang Qi before he died.
• Tang Qi recovered with a Health Potion and learned that Dawn had become a miniature magical doll who could no longer cast spells or wield weapons.
• Tang Qi suspected the Tide of Chaos had inflicted a powerful, lasting transformation on Dawn and decided to seek House Hal's help controlling the magic.
• Tang Qi warned Shivana that dangers were growing in the Wasteland and told her to ready the tribe's fighters.
• A guard sounded an alarm, and Tang Qi saw a stampeding flock of sheep approaching the giant turtle with a ram carrying a scroll.

Tang Qi led the [Roaring Throats] tribe against a fleeing flock of adventurers pursued by fire-breathing Allosauruses. The adventurers were herded toward the giant tortoise, where they recognized Tang Qi as their apparent honored guest, and saw a Beastfolk kneeling before him.

• Tang Qi spotted Allosauruses chasing the sheep and ordered Jilago to herd the flock while the Beastfolk confronted the predators.
• Tang Qi played a song that summoned a blood-rimmed black hole, startling the sheep, who were adventurers transformed into animals by the wild surge.
• The Allosauruses attacked the flock, but Beastfolk leaped from the tortoise and fought them while the goblins guided the sheep toward safety.
• The adventurers watched the Beastfolk heal by drinking Allosaurus blood and feared they would be kept as livestock.
• The flock recognized Tang Qi playing music on the watchtower and saw a Beastfolk kneeling before him.

Tang Qi learned that a flock of sheep included adventurers transformed by a chaotic spell while transporting a crate for House Hal, and agreed to lead them to Wilderness Village. Their account of a red dragon attacking the expedition gave Tang Qi another reason to investigate the Wasteland, but the route ahead led through ruined settlements.

• Butcher brought Tang Qi a map of the Road to Prison and showed him that he and some of the sheep were people transformed about a month earlier.
• Tang Qi questioned Butcher and learned that the adventurers had accepted a House Hal job to transport a crate from the Wizard Tower after a competition in Wilderness Village.
• The adventurers explained that a red dragon attacked their group and a Wizard Tower mage's Fog Spell turned them into sheep, allowing them to escape.
• Tang Qi released the flock, identified the adventurers, and promised to bring them safely to Wilderness Village.
• Tang Qi decided to seek answers from House Hal about the crate, the dragon, and the tides of chaos, then continued toward the Road to Prison.
• Tang Qi found that the route toward the Wasteland's Stable Zone was lined with devastated ruins and collapsed walls.

Tang Qi and his companions reached a village devastated by a Red Dragon and met Halahar, the surviving House Hal spellcaster. Halahar warned them about the spreading beast tides, but Tang Qi sought her help restoring Dawn, and she offered to explain the family secret as long as he told no one else.

• Tang Qi and Shivana explored the ruined village while Butcher identified its broken tower as House Hal's residence.
• Anbi sensed someone inside the tower, and Tang Qi used a clone to enter before speaking with the hidden survivor, Halahar.
• Tang Qi showed Halahar a House Hal badge and reported the Red Dragon; Halahar confirmed it had destroyed the village amid a beast tide that had been growing for about half a year.
• Halahar warned Tang Qi not to travel farther south and offered to take his group north with House Hal's refugees, but he asked instead for help restoring Dawn.
• Halahar said the family forbade her from sharing the method, then suggested Tang Qi keep it secret from everyone else.

Tang Qi asked Halahar how to dispel the transformation affecting someone, but House Hal had run out of source essence and Halahar urged him to persuade its elders to send another expedition. Halahar joined Tang Qi’s group, then recognized him as the man whose political scandal had made the Lionheart Lord step down, leaving Tang Qi worried that Leon had abandoned his post to pursue Eve.

• Halahar explained that dispelling a ninth-ring transformation required source essence to control the chaotic Magic Web, but House Hal had none left.
• Halahar refused to reveal where her family gathered source essence and asked Tang Qi to persuade the elders to organize another expedition rather than leave the Wasteland.
• Halahar showed Tang Qi her reusable Source Power Kids and agreed to travel with his group after he offered to tell her what had caused the beast tide.
• Butcher recognized Halahar as familiar, but she said she had not seen him before, and Tang Qi carried him toward the giant turtle.
• Halahar recognized Tang Qi Weinberg from reports that he had exposed a political scandal and forced the Lionheart Lord to step down, prompting Tang Qi to fear Leon had given up his position to chase Eve.

With House Hal trapped inside a Mansion Spell by a growing beast tide, Halahar returned with the Source Power Kid and unexpected reinforcements. She brought Toto Hal outside to reveal Tang Qi Weinberg leading a Beastfolk army that was attacking the beasts surrounding them.

• Toto Hal worried that House Hal would run out of food or outlast the Mansion Spell before the beast tide cleared, while Halahar remained missing after leaving to retrieve her Source Power Kid.
• An adventurer scout reported that the beasts and rapidly growing vegetation had made escape nearly impossible, and Toto Hal paid him for the day.
• Halahar returned safely with the Source Power Kid and reinforcements, then urged Toto Hal to gather everyone able to fight and break through the encirclement.
• Halahar pulled Toto Hal outside, where they saw Beastfolk fighting the beasts and three enormous tortoises entering the fray.
• Halahar identified the human playing music atop a tortoise as Tang Qi Weinberg and called the Beastfolk his army.

Tang Qi learned from Toto Hal that House Hal’s failed expedition sought to install a source essence refining device in the Wasteland, and he resolved to retrace the adventurers’ route to find it and restore Dawn. In the mansion, he discovered its portrait of Archmage Merlin Hal looked exactly like the Merlin he remembered.

• Tang Qi told Toto Hal that the adventurers he had sent into the Wasteland had been transformed into sheep and that he had found one House Hal member dead.
• Toto Hal said the Obelisk Towers had been destroyed, leaving no source essence available to undo Dawn’s Complete Transfiguration.
• Toto Hal explained that Eve Edel had built the Obelisk Towers to stabilize the Magic Web, and that House Hal’s expedition had carried a Wizard Tower device to refine replacement source essence.
• Tang Qi decided to retrace the failed expedition’s route and search for the missing device, then asked the sheep adventurers what they remembered.
• Tang Qi recognized the mansion’s portrait of Archmage Merlin Hal as the Merlin he knew.

Tang Qi learned that a red dragon had attacked the adventurers near Windless Canyon and likely taken the Source Essence medium. He organized an advance party to scout the canyon and search for the medium, ending with Anbi volunteering to replace Houke.

• Tang Qi learned that Grandfather Merlin was believed dead but was now alive at the Golden Oak, and that House Hal’s elders remembered his eccentric love of fire magic.
• Butcher translated the adventurers’ account of their journey, explaining that a red dragon had attacked them in Windless Canyon after they encountered an overlord and its family.
• Toto Hal and Tang Qi concluded that the red dragon might have destroyed the Obelisk Towers to obtain the Source Essence, and Tang Qi decided to investigate its possible lair despite the danger.
• Toto Hal volunteered to guide the expedition, while Halahar revealed that he had stored several spells in Source Power Kids, most of them fire-based.
• Tang Qi planned a stealthy advance party of himself, Shivana, Houke, Halahar, and Yiwu, with the rest following on the Sky Turtle.
• Anbi objected to Houke joining the advance party because he might ruin their plans, then volunteered to take his place.

Tang Qi led Anbi and their companions out of Wilderness Village on Land Birds to search for a device, while they discussed the Red Dragon and Halahar’s late father’s inventions. After seven days on the road, Halahar regretted leaving home and curled up with five Source Power Kids.

• Tang Qi agreed to take Anbi along after she argued that her nose could help them find the device and promised to run from danger.
• The group mounted five Land Birds and set out, with Tang Qi playing a song to encourage the birds as they traveled.
• Halahar told Tang Qi about her father’s inventions, including the device later called Source Power Kid, and how Wild Magic had killed him.
• Tang Qi and Halahar discussed the Red Dragon and the Phlogiston Sea, while Butcher revealed that an Earth Dragon had trampled his family.
• The group crossed the plains for seven days, and Halahar eventually hid beneath her blankets, clutching five Source Power Kids and wishing she had never left home.

Tang Qi led his mismatched party toward Uhaha Basin and encountered a hostile lizardman tribe that refused to let them pass. After negotiations failed and fighting began, a lizardman launched a close-range attack on Tang Qi.

• Tang Qi described the Wasteland’s Stable Zone, Wild Zone, and magicless Calm Belt, then told the party they expected to reach Uhaha Basin the next day.
• Tang Qi asked Butcher what he knew about the basin, and Butcher recalled its scattered lizardmen and strange laughter.
• Lizardmen appeared near the camp and demanded that Tang Qi’s party leave, while Butcher struggled to communicate with them in Dragon Language.
• Tang Qi tried to calm the lizardmen with [Art of Making Friends], but their leader ordered an attack and a javelin flew at him.
• Halahar’s stuffed bear unleashed a [Fireball], and Tang Qi stunned a charging lizardman with his Lute.
• A second lizardman crawled between the fighters and stabbed both daggers toward Tang Qi’s eyes.

Tang Qi and his companions fought off the Lizardmen after their leader filled the camp with poisonous fog. Tang Qi used the mist to reach Halahar and kill the leader with a single strike, leaving the battle still underway.

• Anbi tackled a Lizardman and slashed his throat while Shivana and Yiwu fought off the others.
• The Lizardman leader shattered jars of poisonous blue powder, filling the camp with fog that concealed his warriors.
• Dawn warned Tang Qi that Lizardmen might attack from below, and he used [Guardian Sword Dance] to deflect their tail strikes.
• Shivana and Yiwu helped Tang Qi fight the Lizardmen while their leader attacked Halahar in the fog.
• Halahar used a stored [Shrink Spell] to evade the leader's claws and trident, but she inhaled the poisonous fog and was nearly bitten.
• Tang Qi crossed the fog with [Mist Walker] and killed the leader with Revenge Curved Saber.

Tang Qi learned that Halahar had contracted fever madness from chaos-altered pollen and discovered that the antidote was held by a lizardman shaman in the tribe's homeland. As he prepared to travel to the Uhaha Basin to seek a cure, Halahar pleaded to come with him despite being unable to speak.

• Tang Qi rescued Halahar from the mist, where the tide of chaos had transformed the lizardmen into potted plants, and carried her back to camp.
• Tang Qi comforted Anbi, destroyed the transformed lizardmen, and questioned Butcher about his role in provoking them.
• After Elusha warned Tang Qi in a dream that Halahar was unwell, he woke and found her burning with a severe fever.
• Anbi identified Halahar's illness as fever madness, and Tang Qi learned from Longclaw's Soul Coin that chaos-altered pollen had caused it and that the antidote was with the lizardman shaman.
• Tang Qi planned to go to the Uhaha Basin for the antidote while Butcher stayed behind, but Halahar wrote that she wanted to come with him.

Tang Qi’s group entered Uhaha Basin and was surrounded by Lizardmen who ordered them to leave. As Tang Qi searched for a way through, Halahar recalled her father’s dangerous research and realized that the basin’s magical laughter might help them.

• Tang Qi explained to Sheep Butcher why he let Halahar continue with the group, and they pressed on toward the Lizardmen settlement.
• Tang Qi led the group through the rain forest, where Dawn sensed Lizardmen gathering around them.
• Halahar’s fever brought back memories of her father’s research into a Circulating Spell Storage Ring and his death in an accident.
• Tang Qi tried to negotiate, but the Lizardmen threatened the group and ordered them to leave.
• As the Lizardmen encircled them, Halahar wrote that the laughter was a magical echo, and Tang Qi realized he could use it to find a way forward.

Tang Qi used the basin’s magical echoes to disrupt the Lizardmen’s communications and drive off an attack, then led his companions southeast toward the shaman’s village to seek a cure for Halahar’s Fever Madness. At the village, the shaman began casting a spell despite the dangerous Tide of Chaos, leaving Tang Qi startled and on guard.

• Tang Qi struck his lute to create thunderous, echoing noise that overwhelmed the attacking Lizardmen and forced them to retreat.
• Tang Qi questioned a captured Lizardman through a Soul Coin and learned that there was one tribe in the basin and that its shaman lived southeast.
• Tang Qi led the feverish Halahar and the others southeast, using continual noise to prevent the Lizardmen from communicating or gathering reinforcements.
• Tang Qi reached the Lizardman village of stilt houses and faced dozens of armed villagers, including a robed shaman wearing a bone helmet.
• The shaman raised its staff and began casting a spell, and Tang Qi realized it was doing so amid the chaotic Magic Surge.

Feather trapped Tang Qi and his companions in a Silence Spell while the Lizardmen attacked, leaving Tang Qi unable to cast his verbal spells. Tang Qi realized that Halahar could use fire to burn the Water Grass binding him and produce smoke, but Feather’s third Plant Growth spell cocooned him before she acted.

• Feather cast Silence Spell over the swamp, and wild Water Grass began growing around Tang Qi and his companions.
• Shivana, Yiwu, and Anbi fought off the Lizardmen while Tang Qi struggled to cut through the plants binding his legs.
• Feather used Plant Growth to restrain Tang Qi, and a Fireball exploded near the shaman, burning him without stopping the spell.
• Short Tail charged Tang Qi, but Shivana drove him back with her Great Axe while Yiwu held off the other Lizardmen.
• Tang Qi realized fire could burn the Water Grass and produce smoke, then signaled Anbi to get Halahar to help.
• Halahar hesitated to use Fireball on Tang Qi, and Feather cast a third Plant Growth that wrapped Tang Qi in a cocoon of Water Grass.

Tang Qi escaped Feather’s Silence Spell with Yiwu’s help, then used smoke and the Sky Turtle to reach the shaman. Butcher, disguised as a sheep, interrupted Feather’s spell at the crucial moment, allowing Tang Qi to kill him.

• Tang Qi broke free from the burning Water Grass, and Yiwu used a Gravity Orb to propel him beyond the Silence Spell’s range.
• Tang Qi cast Misty Step, vanished into smoke from burning peat, and let Yiwu guide the smoke toward Feather.
• Tang Qi emerged from the smoke, summoned the Sky Turtle with his horn, and challenged Feather while the turtle held off the Lizardman soldiers.
• Feather cast Silence Spell and began using Heat Metal to disarm Tang Qi, but Butcher leaped from the pool and interrupted him.
• Tang Qi killed Feather with his curved saber, while Butcher revealed that he had used his sheep disguise to help the group.

Halahar recovered from Fever Madness while Tang Qi negotiated peace with the Lizardmen and secured the cure and passage through the basin. After reassuring her that he would help her reach the Calm Belt, Tang Qi asked what dangers lay ahead, and Halahar agreed to share what she knew despite her father's warning.

• Halahar dreamed of defending her father's research before she woke from her fever and rash.
• Tang Qi and Short Tail agreed to stop fighting, with the Lizardmen providing the cure for Fever Madness, a night's shelter, and passage across the basin in exchange for supplies.
• Tang Qi treated Halahar's rash and later gave her Star Plum Wine, while Anbi's remarks about their family left Halahar embarrassed about her feelings toward him.
• Tang Qi reassured Halahar that he would help her reach the Calm Belt, then asked what they would encounter next in the basin.
• Halahar initially said her father had told her not to speak, but agreed to tell Tang Qi what she knew after he promised to keep it secret.

Halahar explained why her father sought Source Essence to perfect the Circulating Spell Storage Ring, and Tang Qi agreed to help her retrieve more. At the tribal meal, Tang Qi stopped Shivana from striking Anbi, then questioned her about her anger as she asked him to punish her.

• Halahar told Tang Qi that her father secretly went to the Calm Belt for Source Essence to develop a spell item that could protect the caster from Magic Surges.
• Halahar described her father's route through the basin, Giant Hills, and Windless Canyon, and said she wanted to prove his invention could help House Hal.
• Tang Qi agreed to help Halahar and learned that a Red Dragon might be the remaining threat on their route.
• Short Tail summoned Tang Qi to eat, while Halahar stayed behind to recover and Butcher remained with her.
• Shivana grew enraged during Anbi's training and nearly struck her, but Tang Qi's insult made her stop under the Unfair Treaty.
• Tang Qi demanded to know why Shivana had acted that way, and she lowered her eyes and asked him to punish her.