Recaps

Tang Qi, Shalti, Dawn, and Little Rascal tracked the retreating Plague Society forces to their camp, but the enemy had anticipated pursuit and sprang a trap. The four faced a prepared counterattack as Kandelian revealed how his forces had monitored their approach.

• Shalti deduced that the enemy had stopped nearby to rest and used a twig to locate Shivana’s World Tree axe with [Item Locator].
• Shalti led the group under [Unseen Movement] to the camp, where they spotted patrolling soldiers and detection spells, then decided to withdraw and wait for reinforcements.
• A [Fireball] struck the group as they moved away, and Dawn shielded Tang Qi while Little Rascal climbed into a tree and Shalti readied her bow.
• Shalti shot Nomi, piercing his arm and trapping him with brambles, but Professor Kandelian deflected her next arrow with [Catapult Spell].
• Kandelian revealed that magic apprentices had placed [Alarm Spell] along the routes and reported the pursuers’ movements, then ordered his soldiers to attack the four.

Tang Qi, Dawn, and Shalti attacked the Plague Outpost camp, where Wild Magic threw the Spellcasters’ defenses into chaos. As the battle drew most of the guards away, Little Rascal and a Bugbear knocked out Martin and took the keys to free the prisoners.

• Dawn flew toward Nomi while Shalti entangled the soldiers, but Nomi’s Grease Spell trapped both himself and Dawn.
• Dawn burned through Nomi’s Shield Spell and struck at him, but Kandelian interrupted the attack with Catapult Spell, allowing Nomi to escape with Misty Step.
• Dawn attacked Kandelian as Tang Qi sang a chaotic song that produced unpredictable magic, including a Fireball that exploded beneath Kandelian.
• Woon freed Martin, armed him, and left him guarding the captives while he led the other soldiers to confront the three pursuers.
• Little Rascal and a Bugbear knocked Martin unconscious, stole the keys, and left him realizing that four pursuers had attacked the camp.

Tang Qi, Dawn, and Shalti fought Kandelian and the soldiers in the camp, but Kandelian’s magic incapacitated Dawn and forced the fighting to a halt. After realizing the group were adventurers rather than natives of the Ebony Forest, he offered to pay them double to switch sides.

• Kandelian cast Dispel Magic at Tang Qi, suppressing Poet’s lute magic but failing to stop his song, while the song trapped Kandelian in Gaseous Form.
• Tang Qi used a joke and Silver Tongue to make one soldier laugh, then joined Dawn as Shalti held off other soldiers with spells.
• Tang Qi splashed Nasar’s Prank into three soldiers’ eyes, and Dawn defeated Captain Woon with Supreme Holy Slash.
• Nomi returned and used Dispel Magic to free Kandelian, who struck Dawn with Energy Drain and revealed that he thought she was a Flesh Golem.
• Kandelian stopped his soldiers and learned that Tang Qi and his companions were adventurers who had not been born in the Ebony Forest.
• Kandelian offered to pay Tang Qi and his companions double to join him.

Kandelian offered Tang Qi plague source in exchange for joining the effort to retake the Southern Great Wall, which the beastfolk had captured a month earlier. Tang Qi refused to go to the front, but learned that Kandelian wanted to break the Ebony Forest’s barrier to obtain plague source for the war.

• Kandelian offered Tang Qi as much plague source as he wanted if he helped retake the Southern Great Wall and repel the beastfolk.
• Kandelian explained that the beastfolk had breached the Great Wall a month earlier, leaving Wind Sand Islet isolated and threatening the settlements along the Road to Prison.
• Tang Qi realized that the Phlogiston Sea’s expansion had driven the beastfolk north and that his time in the Ebony Forest had caused four months to pass in reality.
• Tang Qi refused to fight at the front, saying he wanted to protect Anbi and reunite her with her sisters.
• Kandelian accused Tang Qi of obstructing him, and Tang Qi revealed he had come to rescue the rangers Kandelian’s soldiers had abducted.
• Kandelian showed Tang Qi plague source and explained that it could let spellcasters cast large-scale spells continuously, potentially turning the tide of the war.

Tang Qi confronted Kandelian over his plan to sacrifice plague-infected people, then fought him with Dawn, Shalti, Little Rascal, and the druids. As they pressed their attack, Nomi appeared to take the blow meant for Kandelian.

• Tang Qi condemned Kandelian for killing the infected while disguising his choice as a noble sacrifice.
• Kandelian used plague source to cast [Witch Bolt], but Tang Qi's [Verbal Abuse] spell made him miss.
• Dawn attacked Kandelian with [Supreme Holy Slash], while Shalti shot him from behind; his corrupted body survived the arrows.
• Little Rascal aided Tang Qi's advance as the druids transformed and charged the soldiers, but Tang Qi's blade barely pierced Kandelian's [Stoneskin].
• Dawn struck at Kandelian as he prepared another spell, and Nomi's body was split in two before Kandelian.

Kandelian’s memories revealed how Nomi Klein joined his class and why Kandelian pursued power for peace. In the present, Tang Qi nearly killed Kandelian, but the wounded spellcaster escaped behind a barrier, and Dawn realized he was a revenant.

• Kandelian recalled Nomi’s humiliating encounter with Lance Goldsword and ordered Nomi to fight back; when Lance beat Nomi, Kandelian intervened and admitted him to the War Magic Department.
• Years later, Kandelian told Nomi that he had pursued power to prevent the horrors of war from returning, and Nomi remembered those words as he fell beneath Dawn’s blade.
• Tang Qi drove his blade into Kandelian’s neck, but Kandelian struck him with Withering Spell while Nomi’s sacrifice created an opening.
• Dawn healed Tang Qi as Kandelian’s severed head began rejoining his body, then watched him teleport behind a Force Wall.
• Dawn recognized Kandelian as an undead revenant who had died two hundred years earlier and remained in the world for peace.

After the battle, Tang Qi persuaded the Plague Society and Ebony Forest’s forces to rest and consider a peaceful way to resolve their conflict. As they prepared to pursue Kandelian, Nasar arrived and called down to Tang Qi, offering him a ride.

• Little Baldy stopped the Dire Wolf from killing Woon, restrained her, and ordered the soldiers and druids to surrender and stand down.
• Tang Qi urged everyone to bind the prisoners, extinguish the fire, and recover before pursuing Kandelian, while Dawn protected him from the druids.
• Malin extinguished the forest fire with [Tidal Surge] and discussed the Plague Society’s beliefs about nature, the Phlogiston Sea, and Ebony Forest’s dream barrier with Tang Qi.
• Tang Qi proposed gradually helping Ebony Forest’s citizens accept the truth and awaken, and Malin considered the suggestion while agreeing that Tang Qi could mediate with Bell Deer.
• Nasar flew over the camp and called for Tang Qi, saying he had come to give him a ride.

Rod joined two adventurers to investigate a nighttime gathering in the outpost after a soldier announced a miracle plague cure. Meanwhile, Tang Qi flew toward the outpost with Nasar, Shalti, Dawn, and Malin to stop the Revenant before he could finish processing the Plague Source.

• Rod woke to soldiers gathering the outpost's residents and learned that the lord planned to distribute a miracle cure for the plague.
• Silver Shield and the Halfling grew suspicious of the nighttime headcount and decided to inspect the central square, while Rod hired them to protect him.
• Tang Qi called on Nasar for help, and Malin joined the flight to return to her outpost base and protect her comrades.
• Shalti explained that the Plague Source required active blood, extraction, grinding, and high-temperature fusion, leading Tang Qi to conclude that the wounded Revenant would need time to prepare it.
• Nasar carried Tang Qi, Shalti, Dawn, and Malin toward the outpost, and Tang Qi saw the sunrise and its distant wall as they arrived in time.

Kandelian revealed that he had never sought a cure and planned to sacrifice the plague-afflicted residents as a source for the front lines after the Southern Great Wall fell. As Iron Bastion walls crushed the trapped crowd, Rod and the halfling tried to help people escape, while Kandelian prepared to burn them; Rod watched in despair.

• The halfling used Detect Magic and concluded the cauldron held ordinary alchemical ingredients rather than a healing potion.
• The lord removed his mask and robe, and the residents uncovered their mutated faces as Kandelian admitted he had no cure and intended to sacrifice them.
• Kandelian poured the cauldron's contents over the crowd and activated Iron Bastion walls that sealed off the square and advanced to crush the residents.
• The halfling dispelled part of a wall and used Wind Creation Spell to guide fleeing people toward an alley, while Wendy Silver Shield blocked Kandelian's Fireball.
• Rod and the halfling tried to control the panicked crowd as Rod rescued a child, but the closing wall crushed the mother and drove the others back into the square.
• Kandelian prepared another Fireball as Rod watched the trapped residents die and cursed his justification for their slaughter.

Tang Qi arrived at the outpost too late to stop the slaughter, but helped rescue the Plague Society residents hiding in a well and learned how Gravel’s message had led him there. As survivors sheltered in the tavern and faced an uncertain future, a Giant Dragon arrived with Wendy’s father aboard.

• Tang Qi and his companions found the outpost scorched and nearly deserted, then rescued more than two hundred Plague Society residents from a well.
• Malin explained that the Society had maneuvered Rumi and Tang Qi toward Ebony Forest, and revealed that Gravel had sent Markwen a letter about Tang Qi.
• Windsor told Tang Qi that soldiers had tried to lure the residents out of the well before an earthquake and collapse left only a few hundred survivors.
• Rod, Wendy, and the Halfling sheltered the survivors in the tavern while they considered how to keep them safe and where they could go.
• A tremor shook the tavern, and Wendy and the Halfling found a Giant Dragon outside with Wendy’s father on its forehead.

Ashley found the Society’s poets wallowing in drink and smoke and urged them to stop complaining and find a practical way to make their voices heard. She and Houston decided to turn the history Tang Qi Weinberg witnessed into songs that could spread knowledge despite censorship.

• Ashley entered the Society’s club and scolded Houston and the other poets for turning their meeting place into a party venue.
• Ashley and Houston discussed Lord Versace’s growing influence, the benefits of rust moss, and the Society’s failure to gain support for its writings.
• Houston explained that the Society’s members had been arrested or silenced, while Bruto had been exiled and Geya Yuexi had gone to the front with Lord Versace.
• Ashley proposed that the Society begin with smaller efforts by remembering and sharing the history revealed in Tang Qi Weinberg’s diary.
• Ashley and Houston agreed to compose songs about historical events, including the Dragon Gold City King-Slayer and the Night Raven Family, and to organize the known timeline as they followed Tang Qi’s records.

Ashley and the bards reconstructed the continent’s history from Tang Qi’s diary and discussed the club’s fragile bonds while waiting for news from their friends. Yena delivered a new diary excerpt, whose account of the Southern Great Wall’s fall and the deaths of 9,307 civilians left the bards stunned.

• Ashley and the bards recorded known historical events, including the founding of the Tyron Empire, and noted parallels between past conflicts and the current crisis.
• Ashley stopped the bards from using rust moss and urged them to turn their historical notes into poetry, then admitted she had spent the previous months chasing Dwarf.
• Ashley and Houston worried about Bruto and Geya before Yena arrived with a new Tang Qi diary manuscript, using Geya’s badge to pass the Stone of Oblivion’s guards.
• Yena asked Ashley to tell Tang Qi that Yenai Weinberg had delivered his diary, then left the club.
• Ashley read the new entries and recorded that the Southern Great Wall had fallen and Kandelian’s crude alchemy had crushed 9,307 civilians at the Plague Outpost.

Ashley read Tang Qi's account of the Ebony Forest tragedy to a group of poets, who debated the choices made by its inhabitants and envied his dragon ride. Tang Qi received two dream-related Third Ring spells and the Resting Melody “Mercy of Dreams,” whose nature remained unexplained.

• Ashley read Tang Qi's diary entry about the empty granary, and Houston suggested its grain had been shipped south for the war effort.
• Ashley narrated Tang Qi's journey through Ebony Forest, including the dreamlike fairy village and the revelation that the Society's residents were human cocoons preserved beneath the trees.
• The poets argued over Ronan, Kandelian, Markwen, and the other characters' choices, then reacted with envy to Tang Qi's account of riding a giant dragon.
• Tang Qi examined his rewards and received the Feign Sleep Spell, which restored energy and healed superficial injuries, and the Third Ring spell Hypnotic Pattern.
• Tang Qi saw that he had also obtained the Resting Melody “Mercy of Dreams” and wondered what it was.

Tang Qi received new rewards in his Journal, including True Sight, and tested his ability to see clearly in darkness. After the forest wardens arrived with the Beastfolk and captured druids, he discussed the Plague Outpost massacre with Markwen and planned to send the Beastfolk to the battlefield before leaving.

• Tang Qi gained Mercy of Dreams, Disguise Spell, Magic Mouth, Master of Dramatic Flair, Counterspell, Wizard Slayer, and the feat Truth Seeker, which granted him True Sight.
• Tang Qi tested his new sight in a dark room and realized he could see through darkness, visual illusions, invisibility, transformations, and into the Ethereal Plane.
• Rod warned Tang Qi that a strange-looking procession had arrived, and Tang Qi went downstairs with Dawn to meet the woodland scouts and forest wardens escorting captured druids.
• Markwen told Tang Qi that he had confessed his role in the dream to the archdruid, who sent him to help end the Plague Society's affairs.
• Tang Qi and Markwen discussed how officials may have enabled Kandelian's massacre, and Tang Qi identified the Southern Great Wall and Dragon Gold City as likely interests behind it.
• Tang Qi told Markwen he would send the Beastfolk to the battlefield and leave rather than fight Kandelian himself.

Tang Qi mediated negotiations between the Dream Society and the Plague Society, whose leaders proposed living separately behind a wall. Little Rascal questioned why the two groups had to be separated, and Tang Qi urged them to seek common ground while preserving their differences; the leaders were left to reconsider their agreement.

• Tang Qi presented Bell Deer and Malin with a proposal to reunite the two Societies and help the outpost's refugees settle in Ebony Forest.
• Bell Deer argued that the Societies' conflicting ideals made reunification impractical and proposed letting them live separately, while Malin agreed.
• Tang Qi asked Rumi, Markwen, Shalti, the refugees' representative, Quinn, and Little Rascal for their views on the plan.
• Little Rascal asked why people who could see one another every day had to be separated, prompting Tang Qi to question whether another wall would repeat Ebony Forest's failed choice from ten years earlier.
• Tang Qi urged both Societies to combine what they had learned, seek common ground while reserving differences, and explore new possibilities instead of repeating the same approach.

Tang Qi persuaded Bell Deer and Malin to accept a plan for the Ebony Forest based on helping its afflicted residents accept themselves and selling beautiful dreams to outsiders. After Malin reconciled with Bell Deer and the outpost’s survivors prepared to relocate, Tang Qi asked Quinn to join his Hag Gathering.

• Tang Qi presented proposals for ideological education and dream tourism to help the Ebony Forest’s afflicted residents and change outsiders’ perceptions.
• Bell Deer and Malin considered the plan, and Bell Deer agreed to the pact while Malin agreed to return to the Mother Tree without promising to change herself.
• Bell Deer and Malin renewed their bond and acknowledged that the Phlogiston Sea still threatened the Ebony Forest.
• The meeting ended with both sides agreeing to relocate the outpost’s survivors to the Ebony Forest.
• Tang Qi asked Quinn whether she wanted to join his Hag Gathering, surprising her.

Tang Qi and Quinn formed a hag gathering by having Tang Qi’s clone count as a second member, avoiding the need to create and raise a child. The gathering granted them shared spells, and Tang Qi discovered that the Hag’s Eye made him a sixth-ring spellcaster.

• Quinn explained that the gathering needed three hags and suggested creating a curseborn child, then transforming her into a hag.
• Tang Qi created a permanent clone, attuned it to the Hag’s Eye, and showed Quinn that the eye counted him and the clone as separate gathering members.
• Quinn attuned to the Hag’s Eye, and the gathering formed, giving Tang Qi and Quinn shared spells and spell slots.
• Tang Qi read the Hag’s Eye’s new description and learned it held charges that could cast gathering spells even when its members were far apart.
• Tang Qi realized the Hag’s Eye let him cast the sixth-ring Mind’s Eye and celebrated his newfound power.

Tang Qi discovered that his failed attempt to kill Kandelian had left him cursed, causing his spells to misfire and preventing him from feeling aggression toward anyone. Hubble Hall explained that the curse had become a Curse Binding that could only be broken by fulfilling its condition, leaving Tang Qi to consider traveling to the Southern Great Wall to kill Kandelian.

• Wendy remembered that she had brought Hubble Hall south to deliver Catherine's letter, while Hubble revealed he was carrying a magical robe for his sister.
• Tang Qi's Lightning Bolt misfired twice and struck him, and the others treated his injuries and investigated the cause.
• Tang Qi realized he could not feel aggression toward anyone and remembered the Revenge Curved Saber cursed him after he failed to kill Kandelian.
• Dawn's holy light let Tang Qi cast spells again, but it did not remove the feeling that he was being watched from the south.
• Hubble Hall explained that Tang Qi's curse had become a Curse Binding and that he might have to kill Kandelian to break it, prompting Tang Qi to consider going to the Southern Great Wall.

Tang Qi prepared to travel south toward the Southern Great Wall while his companions and the Beastfolk chose their own paths. After Quinn’s strained parting, Tang Qi dreamed of a mysterious dancer and woke from a Dream Sending Spell, realizing that someone had reached him through a lingering connection.

• Tang Qi refused to take Anbi south, put her to sleep with [Sleep Spell], and thanked Rod for donating supplies for the Beastfolk.
• Wendy and Hubble Hall departed with Anbi and Rod, while Hubble Hall gave Tang Qi a Prismatic Robe that he attuned to in place of his Revenge Curved Saber.
• Shivana rejected Tang Qi’s offer to remain in a dream and returned to the Beastfolk, while Quinn decided to accompany Tang Qi rather than return to Ebony Forest.
• Quinn threatened to leave the Gathering unless Tang Qi brought her three hundred tragedies by the next year, then withdrew to her room.
• Tang Qi dreamed of dancing with a mysterious woman whose heart scar reopened, then woke from a Dream Sending Spell and realized she had gotten rid of the father but kept the child.

Tang Qi set out toward the Southern Great Wall after receiving Ebony Forest’s gifts, while considering his relationships and the people waiting for him. He contacted Catherine, promised to return, and ended the chapter with new abilities granted for saving the forest.

• Tang Qi fed several magical items from Ebony Forest’s gifts to Yiwu and kept the more useful treasures, including a Lucky Stone, Color Roses, and Fairy Dust.
• Tang Qi reflected on the Ring of Fidelity, his reluctance to commit, and the Message Stone Catherine had sent him.
• Tang Qi used the Message Stone to tell Catherine that Anbi was traveling north with Wendy, and Catherine asked what he would do before telling him she would wait for him.
• Tang Qi wrote in his diary about Markwen’s courage, Ebony Forest’s sense of family, and the home he hoped to return to.
• Tang Qi gained the Fairy Singing Voice and Plague Antibodies feats as rewards for saving Ebony Forest.

In Wheat Ear Town, bard Punk promoted Tang Qi Weinberg’s Wasteland Guide while helping refugees from Wind Sand Islet and describing the dangers of the Road to Prison. After exposing a mercenary band’s collusion with bandits, he watched a mysterious armored priest seek companions to hunt them, and Anbi found the priest familiar.

• Punk sold a pirated copy of Tang Qi Weinberg’s Wasteland Guide to refugees from Wind Sand Islet, then gave their old man the guide and a Dragon Gold City guide for free.
• The Wind Sand Islet refugees described fleeing north after beastfolk cut off the city’s trade routes, while locals discussed the Great Wall’s fall and the war.
• Punk defended his choice to help refugees, saying he would not disgrace his reputation as Tang Qi’s student, and explained how some mercenaries colluded with bandits to manufacture demand for escorts.
• Punk identified Monka Battlecry and the War Hatchet as mercenaries implicated in the deaths of 110 caravan travelers, and said they had fled into the wilderness after their crimes were exposed.
• A heavily armored priest asked a local mercenary to join a bandit-hunting party, but the mercenary feigned a knee injury and fled.
• Anbi narrowed her eyes and said the armored priest looked familiar.

Arthur met Anbi and Wendy in Wheat Ear Town and asked them to help eliminate the War Hatchet, a mercenary company allied with bandits. He argued that the company’s suspicious behavior after the Southern Great Wall fell might be connected to the disaster, but the group had not yet decided whether to act.

• Arthur reflected on the difficult choices he had faced while trying to bring peace to people across the continent.
• Anbi recognized Arthur as a priest who had traveled through the Twilight Forest with her brother, Tang Qi, and asked him about the bandits along the road home.
• Arthur showed Wendy and Anbi a map of suspected bandit hideouts and proposed that Wendy help him confront the War Hatchet.
• Arthur explained that the War Hatchet had thirty professional mercenaries, but said he could use a blessing to hinder most of them.
• Arthur argued that the War Hatchet’s alliance with weaker bandits made little sense financially and that the company had begun operating along the Road to Prison soon after the Southern Great Wall fell.

Hubble Hall helped Arthur and Wendy suspect that a tavern informant was leaking their plans to the War Hatchet mercenaries. Anbi identified the likely informant as Punk, and the chapter ended with her pinning him in an alley.

• Hubble Hall encouraged Wendy to investigate the bandits, and Wendy agreed while prioritizing Anbi's safety.
• Arthur explained that the bandits had repeatedly evaded the adventurers tracking them, and Hubble Hall suspected a tavern informant was revealing their movements.
• Hubble Hall reasoned that the informant would be discreet, idle, and present in the tavern for long hours.
• Punk reported to a shadowy figure that the priest had only been drinking and seeking companions, then received a gold coin for watching him.
• Anbi recognized Punk as the person who fit the informant's traits and knocked him down in an alley.

After capturing Punk, Arthur and Hubble Hall questioned him and uncovered doubts about the War Hatchet’s supposed collusion with bandits. Anbi tracked Monka’s scent to a nearby cave, and Arthur decided they would wait until twilight before approaching.

• Anbi attacked Punk, but Wendy stopped her so Arthur and Hubble Hall could question him.
• Under Arthur’s Domain of Honesty, Punk admitted that Monka had recruited him after the War Hatchet massacred a caravan and later ordered him to spread rumors about collusion with bandits.
• Hubble Hall suspected Monka had spread the rumors to conceal the real truth, and the group considered using Punk to lure the mercenaries into an ambush.
• Anbi tracked Monka’s scent from Punk’s gold coin through the forest to a cave a few kilometers from Wheat Ear Town.
• Arthur told the others to wait until the first ray of twilight appeared before approaching the cave.

Arthur and his companions waited in a concealed cabin near the mercenaries’ cave, hoping to attack with divine guidance. After they subdued a patrolling mercenary, the company discovered them and destroyed their shelter, leaving them under attack as Arthur continued praying.

• Anbi detected a mercenary and his dire wolf approaching the hidden cabin, and Hubble Hall used a [Sleep Spell] to knock the drunken mercenary unconscious.
• Anbi killed the dire wolf before it could howl, and Wendy helped drag its corpse and the bound mercenary into the cabin.
• Hubble Hall discovered divination magic on the mercenary and decided not to wake him, while Anbi buried the blood to conceal their presence.
• The mercenaries searched for the missing John and eventually found the group when a Spellcaster dispelled the cabin’s concealment.
• Anbi dodged arrows and retreated into the pit, while Wendy shielded Anbi and Punk and Hubble Hall protected himself as the mercenaries advanced.
• Arthur remained kneeling in prayer as Hubble Hall called out for help and the lantern-bearing mercenaries drew closer.