Recaps

Tang, Night Wind, Shalti, and Yiwu were captured by a Drow patrol while fleeing Hook Horrors. As Tang won the captain’s favor and questioned him about the fall of the Kling Family, the captain began explaining how it happened.

• A Drow patrol surrounded Tang’s group, and Tang pretended he and Shalti were prisoners captured by Night Wind.
• The patrol shackled all four travelers and confiscated their weapons after the captain revealed that the Kling Family had fallen decades earlier.
• Tang used [Commanding Aura] and [Art of Making Friends] to persuade the captain to discuss Drow society and the overthrow of the Matron Mothers.
• The captain said the Kling Family’s downfall began with a Hunt to the Death ordered by the Mother Goddess.

Tang, Night Wind, and Shalti were captured by a Drow expedition and learned why the Kling Family had fallen from power. As the party brought them into the Underdark as slaves, Tang stayed calm and planned to escape once he found better supplies.

• The Drow captain explained that the Kling Family had concealed Lolth’s hunt-to-the-death edict, then lost its divine power and became prey for other families.
• Night Wind claimed he was Simon Kling, but the captain dismissed his story, and Tang tried to distance himself from Night Wind.
• The captain said the priestess would decide the captives’ fate, then ordered Mero to give Tang, Night Wind, and Shalti Triple-Deckers after Tang said they had gone hungry for seven days.
• After three days of travel, the Drow party reached a rift leading into the Underdark, where Shalti recognized saline-alkali land like the area near a ruin.
• Tang decided against attacking the Drow because their supplies were too limited to help him survive the desert, and he entered the rift calmly while hoping for supplies in Drow territory.

Tang and the other captives were taken into the Underdark by Drow, where he learned about its terrain, food, and mind-affecting Earth Vein Radiation. At the Drow outpost, Captain Vincent reported their arrival to Priestess Sharan, while Tang assessed the guards and heard a familiar voice address him.

• The Drow captain shoved Tang into the Rift, where a giant spiderweb caught him and the others before they landed safely below.
• The Drow led the captives through the mushroom-lit tunnels, and Vincent whipped Night Wind after he questioned the captain.
• Tang recorded what he observed about the vast Underdark, its Earth Vein Radiation, and the mushrooms people used for food.
• The party reached a Drow outpost, where a guard warned Vincent that Priestess Sharan was angry about the food shortage and suggested eating captives.
• Vincent announced that he had brought a slave, a collectible, and an offering for the Kling Family, then went to report to Priestess Sharan.
• As Mero led Tang and the others toward the cells, Tang counted the guards in the outpost’s hanging towers and heard a familiar voice mock him.

Tang and his companions were imprisoned at a Drow outpost, where they reunited with Nightingale and met several other captives. Tang rejected a simple escape and planned to negotiate with the outpost’s priestess to obtain supplies and recover their weapons.

• Mero locked Tang, Shalti, and Night Wind in the slave pen but left the gate unlocked as a trap, which the captives recognized.
• Nightingale explained how she escaped Great Wall Prison, traveled underground, and was captured after invoking the Kling family name.
• Tang freed himself with Anbi’s Freedom of Movement ring and explained that the group needed supplies and their weapons from the Drow barracks.
• A Gray Dwarf, a Goblin, and a Svirfneblin offered to help the group escape or find shelter.
• Tang warned that the outpost’s guards, spiders, and watchers made escape dangerous, then said he planned to work with the priestess instead.

Vincent and Mero fought over the fate of Tang and the other captives while Sarah decided to take the Kling sacrifices for herself. Tang used [Command] and the [Prismatic Robe] to seize Sarah, who asked whether his offer still stood.

• Sarah praised Vincent for capturing two Kling and asked whether he would punish Mero, but then revealed she wanted the Kling sacrifices for herself.
• Vincent realized he had not searched Tang and his companions thoroughly and rushed to the Slave Pens, where Mero was about to whip Night Wind.
• Sarah ordered Vincent to bring the Kling sacrifices to the square, but when he hesitated, she turned to Mero, who eagerly chose her side.
• Tang used [Command] to keep Sarah from blinking, then used the [Prismatic Robe] to stun the Drow and put a scimitar to her neck.
• Sarah tried to escape her shackles with [Freedom of Movement], but Tang stopped her with [Counterspell], and she asked whether his offer still stood.

Tang used his enchantments and commands to take control of the Drow outpost, then charmed the released Drider and directed its violence against the Drow. Sarah watched in disbelief as Tang’s magic helped the Drider kill her people.

• Tang forced the Drow to surrender their weapons and made Vincent approach with [Command], revealing that Tang’s charm had influenced Vincent for days.
• Mero released a Drider from its cage, and Tang used [Charm Monster] to keep it from attacking him.
• Sarah ordered the Drider to kill Tang, but it turned on the Drow instead.
• Tang commanded the Drow to stand still as the Drider cut them down, leaving Sarah shocked by Tang’s control and apparent supply of Spell Slots.

Tang and his allies overwhelmed Sarah’s Drow force, but Sarah rallied her fighters and sent Vincent to attack Tang. Vincent revealed a scimitar technique that created three mirror images, yet Tang blocked the strike, leaving Vincent stunned.

• Sarah tried to summon a swarm of locusts, but Tang countered her spell and exposed his strength as a high-circle spellcaster.
• Nightingale slipped out of the slave enclosure, while the other three slaves were caught and forced back by the Marsh Bearfolk guard.
• Sarah ordered Mero to attack Tang, but Night Wind intercepted him and fought him with throwing knives and a stolen dagger.
• Sarah coordinated the Drow’s counterattack as Tang’s prismatic light stunned them, while Shalti fired magic arrows at Sarah and Vincent deflected them.
• Sarah whipped Vincent and ordered him to kill the slaves, so he charged Tang with his [Mirror Image Blade] technique.
• Tang blocked Vincent’s real scimitar despite its three overlapping images, leaving Vincent horrified.

Tang and Vincent fought while Priestess Sarah used a locust swarm to try to kill Tang, but Vincent survived and turned against her after Tang’s song stirred his desire for equality. Sarah and Mero died, and as the surviving Drow fled the cavern, Nightingale ambushed them with the oil she had prepared.

• Tang used [True Sight] to see through Vincent’s [Mirror Image Blade], then fought him with his saber and spells.
• Sarah trapped Tang and Vincent in a [Plague Swarm], treating Vincent as a disposable pawn, but Tang’s [Healing Word] and song helped Vincent survive and escape the swarm.
• Tang used [Command] to freeze Sarah, and Vincent killed her with his scimitar before collapsing from his wounds.
• Mero tried to surrender, but Night Wind killed him, and the surviving Drow fled toward the cavern entrance.
• Nightingale ignited oil she had spread at the entrance, ambushing the fleeing Drow.

Tang’s group learned that the Kling Family might not yet have been sacrificed, prompting him to plan an expedition to Lightless City. Nightingale was the best guide for entering the Drow stronghold, so Tang restrained her and demanded that she come along.

• Tang explained that he had exploited divisions among the Drow but had not known their family conflict in advance.
• Nightingale revealed that Christian had betrayed the hidden Kling Family, whose survivors were captured and held for sacrifice in Lightless City.
• Nightingale told Tang that the Kling Matron Mother had hidden the family in Giant Dragon Ruins and may have discovered a connection between the Great Desert and a Giant Dragon.
• Night Wind explained that sacrifices required a specific date and ritual, leading Tang to suspect the Kling Family had not yet been sacrificed.
• Tang ordered Shalti to capture Nightingale, then told her she could either come to Lightless City willingly or be forced to go.

Tang persuaded Nightingale to help him reach Lightless City by warning her that the Phlogiston Sea would engulf the world in two years and that the dragon might offer a way to escape. As the group prepared to travel deeper underground, Tang freed three former slaves and pointed them toward Dragon Gold City, while his diary granted him new abilities and a reactionary demeanor.

• Nightingale suggested disguising Shalti as a drow with Beauty Powder, but Tang said he still needed Nightingale's help to enter the sacrifice.
• Tang warned Nightingale that the Phlogiston Sea would engulf the world in two years and argued that helping him and the sleeping dragon might give her a chance to escape.
• Nightingale agreed to cooperate, and Tang untied her as she began loading food and baggage onto the four-legged lizard.
• Tang freed the goblin, gray dwarf, and underground gnome from their shackles and advised them to take their families northeast to Dragon Gold City.
• Tang's diary enhanced his Disguise Spell and granted him the Reactionary demeanor and the Mirror Image Blade ability.

Tang and Shalti traveled through the Underdark, where they encountered dangerous creatures and received kindness from a Myconid community near Spider City. As Shalti spoke of her longing to return to the stars and her fear of losing those she loved, Tang comforted her with the Myconids’ glowing Thought Meld, which made the dark forest look like a starry sky.

• Tang described the Carrion Crawlers and Hook Horrors they encountered during their journey through the Underdark.
• Tang and Shalti reached a Myconid forest near the route to Spider City, where the Myconid King offered them shelter and warned them of the perilous cliffs ahead.
• The Myconid King said his people had sensed a distant threat, and Tang urged them to flee north even though it would only delay the danger.
• Shalti told Tang she wanted to return to the stars because only her people could stay with her for a long time, and Tang reassured her that their shared memories would endure.
• Tang showed Shalti the Myconids’ glowing Thought Meld, whose lights filled the forest like a starry sky, and brushed away a tear from her eye.

Tang and his companions prepared disguises for their approach to Lightless City, while Tang tested a new spell and helped Shalti apply Beauty Powder. The chapter ended with Nightingale teasing Tang after finding him cooling off in the underground lake.

• Night Wind and Nightingale discussed posing as Shalti’s captives, and Tang used an enhanced Disguise Spell to take on the appearance of a male Drow.
• Tang tested his newly acquired Mirror Image Blade and wondered whether the journal’s rewards came from a future version of himself.
• Shalti asked Tang to apply Beauty Powder to her back, and he helped her while trying to respect her trust in him.
• Tang fled to the underground lake to cool down after helping Shalti, but Nightingale appeared across the water and teased him about bathing there.

Tang and Nightingale traded teasing remarks about strength, mercy, and the Drow before Nightingale challenged him in the pool, and Tang overcame her. The group then navigated dangerous Underdark creatures and reached the outskirts of Lightless City, where Night Wind faced his return home.

• Tang and Nightingale discussed human nobles, Drow customs, and whether strength or cunning determined who survived.
• Nightingale vanished beneath the pool, caught Tang with a water snake disguise, and challenged him to prove he was strong.
• Tang dragged Nightingale underwater and defeated her, while Shalti watched from among the fungi and asked if he was all right.
• Tang recorded how the group avoided swarms of Fire Beetles and Giant Spiders by letting the predators fight each other, at the cost of a Charm Monster spell.
• Tang and Night Wind emerged from the cavern and spotted Lightless City ahead, and Night Wind urged the group to keep moving.

Tang and his companions reached the outskirts of Lightless City, where Nightingale explained how the Drow’s goddess kept their population stable through betrayal and slaughter. As they entered the ruins in disguise, Shalti spotted someone hiding nearby, and a frightened Beastfolk emerged and begged them not to kill him.

• Night Wind spotted Intellect Devourers blocking the cliff path, but Tang and the others passed them without being attacked.
• The group reached Lightless City and saw the ruined outskirts and the intact Kling Family plantation, which Nightingale said might now belong to the Spider Silk Family.
• Nightingale explained that the goddess’s decree preserved Drow dominance by keeping their population stable, while civil strife would leave their oppressed subjects free to rebel.
• Tang disguised himself as a Drow, and he and Shalti rode a Four-legged Lizard together as they entered the ruins.
• Shalti detected someone hiding among the ruins, and Tang drew his saber as a Beastfolk emerged and begged them not to attack.

Tang’s group entered Lightless City during the Drow Birthday festival, bringing two alleged Kling traitors to the Spider Silk Matron Mother as a way to gain shelter. The Matron Mother asked Christian to identify the captives, but Tang recognized a sutured mark on Christian’s forehead and realized an Intellect Devourer had infiltrated the city.

• Tang let seven escaped slaves flee after spotting a concealed sutured slit on their Goblin leader and suspecting Mind Flayer involvement.
• Tang explained that the Mind Flayers’ presence near Lightless City was linked to the Intellect Devourers, but decided not to interfere with them.
• Tang’s party reached Lightless City’s gate during the Birthday festivities and used Shalti’s Drow disguise to approach the guards without raising an alarm.
• Tang presented two bound captives as Kling traitors to the Spider Silk Matron Mother and claimed his name was Drizzt Do'Urden.
• The Matron Mother asked Christian whether he recognized the captives, and Tang noticed the sutured mark on Christian’s forehead.

Tang and Shalti secured the Kling residence as their reward, but the Spider Silk Matron Mother remained suspicious of them and ordered them watched. As they settled into Lightless City, Tang tried to pass as a Drow by intimidating a shopkeeper into giving them clothes.

• The Spider Silk Matron Mother granted Tang and Shalti the empty Kling residence and said she would expect them to work after the Birthday sacrifice.
• The Matron Mother ordered a spy to watch Tang and Shalti because they seemed unlike Drow and might be outsiders.
• Tang told Shalti that Intellect Devourers had spread through Lightless City and planned to check on the imprisoned Kling siblings later.
• Tang and Shalti discussed blending in with Drow customs, and Shalti reluctantly agreed to dress less conservatively.
• Tang used his Commanding Aura to frighten a clothing-shop owner into letting them take clothes, while the spy recorded that they bullied the weak and feared the strong.

Nightingale and Night Wind met their imprisoned mother, Matron Mother Ye Ying, who refused rescue and revealed that her life had ended when the deity returned its gaze to the land. Meanwhile, Tang and Shalti tried to distract a spy outside their room so they could reach the siblings, and Tang’s spell sent the spy falling.

• Nightingale and Night Wind found hundreds of wounded Drow imprisoned in Spider Silk’s dungeon, including their mother, Matron Mother Ye Ying.
• Nightingale asked Ye Ying about the Giant Dragon Ruins, but Ye Ying demanded a reason to share what she knew and said she did not want to live.
• Ye Ying explained that she considered her life over since the deity had turned its gaze back upon the land, leaving Nightingale and Night Wind to wait for Tang to negotiate.
• Tang and Shalti staged a scene in their room to fool the spy watching them, but agreed they still could not reach the dungeon unnoticed.
• Tang opened the window and cast [Silver Tongue], causing the spy to miss the roof’s eaves and fall backward.

Tang manipulated a Drow spy into entering the Kling residence and questioning him about Lightless City, then spun a story about his family’s return and an Equality Movement. He left the spy listening as he began to recruit him into a male-led resistance.

• Tang exposed the half-Drow spy, used [Art of Making Friends] to lower his guard, and persuaded him to come inside.
• The spy explained how a war over a divine edict had wrecked Spider City and how the Spider Silk Family later rebuilt Lightless City.
• Tang claimed he and his elder sister, Matron Mother Shalti, had returned from the collapsing [Do'Urden] family with help from two members of Kling.
• Tang hinted at an Equality Movement in his family and drew the spy into discussing whether Drow society was fair.
• Tang described the oppression of men and declared the resistance’s first cry: “Make men great again!”

Tang exposed a spy sent by the Matron Mother of Spider Silk and used a recording of his blasphemous words to pressure him into keeping quiet. After persuading the spy that he and Shalti opposed Lolth and wanted to change Drow society, Tang let him go, though he admitted he had no immediate plan to fulfill his grand claims.

• Tang drew out the spy’s resentment of Drow society, and the spy denounced the oppression of half-Drow and other low-status people.
• Tang revealed that a Magic Mouth had recorded the spy’s words, then Shalti bound him with a Capturing Strike.
• Tang treated the spy’s wound and claimed that his group worshipped Eilistraee rather than Lolth and wanted to change the Drow’s fate.
• Tang used the recording as leverage and told the spy to conceal their encounter from the Matron Mother of Spider Silk.
• Tang had Shalti release the spy, who left Kling’s mansion insisting that Tang could not succeed.
• After the spy departed, Tang admitted that he had used his claims about changing Drow society to make his words more convincing.

The Spider Silk Matron Mother kept Christian under surveillance while an Intellect Devourer reported to the Elder Brain that it wanted a female host to infiltrate Drow society and seize Ye Ying Kling before her sacrifice. Meanwhile, Tang and Shalti infiltrated the prison and made their way toward the Kling Matron Mother’s cell, where they encountered an unexpected problem.

• The Spider Silk Matron Mother used [Detect Thoughts] to confirm the spy’s report that the Do'Urdens had spent hours in their bedroom, then ordered continued surveillance until the sacrifice.
• The Intellect Devourer escaped Christian’s body and told a Mind Flayer it needed a woman’s body to help capture Ye Ying Kling and find the [Golden Beacon] before the sacrifice in twenty-six days.
• Tang and Shalti killed a Giant Spider after it detected them in the prison, and Tang disguised himself as a guard to avoid discovery.
• Tang repeatedly disguised himself as guards and bluffed his way through the prison while Shalti concealed the spider’s corpse and eventually threw it into an abyss.
• Tang and Shalti reached the cell holding the Kling Matron Mother, but she asked, “What do you mean, you don't want to live anymore?”

Tang learned that Mind Flayers had used an Intellect Devourer to take over Christian and target Night Shadow Kling because of an ancient relic called the Beacon, which she had thrown into Dark Lake. Night Shadow agreed to lead Tang to the Ruins if he rescued her entire family, and the chapter ended with Tang and Shalti sensing someone hiding in the Kling estate.

• Tang learned from Night Shadow Kling and her family that Christian had returned from a Purple Worm encounter possessed by an Intellect Devourer and later led the Spider Silk Family to capture them.
• Night Shadow revealed that she had thrown the Beacon into Dark Lake and agreed to guide Tang to the Ruins if he rescued her entire family from Lightless City.
• Tang refused to promise an immediate rescue and discussed with Shalti whether to abduct Night Shadow or seek other allies before the sacrifice.
• Tang and Shalti returned to the Kling estate, where Shalti sensed someone hiding nearby and prepared her bow.

Tang and Shalti fought Chris, an Intellect Devourer who had taken Christian’s place and wanted Shalti’s brain for the Mind Flayers. After Chris revealed his Echo Warrior abilities, Tang recognized how his phantom enabled his impossible speed and charged again with Mirror Image Blade.

• Chris attacked Shalti with his emerald scimitars, but Tang used Guardian Sword Dance to block his rapid strikes.
• Chris escaped Tang’s final attack with Echo, only for Shalti to wound his shoulder with an arrow.
• When Tang confronted him about the Mind Flayers, Chris admitted he wanted Shalti’s brain and resumed fighting.
• Tang avoided Chris’s Echo-assisted attacks with Misty Step and identified how the phantom let him strike beyond his body’s limits.
• Tang charged Chris again and began Mirror Image Blade.

Tang defeated Chris, but a Mind Flayer stunned him and seized him before Shalti could intervene. The Mind Flayer exploited Shalti’s fear of losing Tang to force a prisoner exchange, and the chapter ended with him seeing through her attempt to trade places with Tang.

• Tang and his echo used Whirling Sword Dance to overwhelm Chris’s defenses, and Shalti captured the escaping Intellect Devourer.
• Tang threatened Chris for information, but a Mind Flayer attacked him with Mind Blast and dragged him toward the doorway.
• Shalti threatened Chris to make the Mind Flayer stop, and he recognized that she feared Tang’s death.
• The Mind Flayer proposed exchanging Tang for Chris and manipulated Shalti as she struggled to choose between them.
• Shalti tried to cut Chris’s brain and draw the Mind Flayer’s attention away from Tang, but the Mind Flayer saw through her ploy and tightened his hold on Tang.

Tang and Shalti escaped the Mind Flayer’s control and forced him to reveal that he wanted Ye Ying Kling’s Golden Beacon to open the Golden Country. Tang rejected the Mind Flayer’s offer to join his empire but proposed cooperating to reach the ruins, leaving their uneasy negotiation unresolved.

• Tang used the Ring of Free Action to slip free, blocked the Mind Flayer’s Mind Blast with Mind Barrier, and joined Shalti in confronting him.
• Tang threatened Chris until the Mind Flayer revealed that Ye Ying Kling had the Golden Beacon, a key to the Golden Country’s gates.
• The Mind Flayer explained that he hoped to plunder the Golden Country’s ruins and rebuild the Mind Flayer Empire, blaming Eve A for destroying his people and taking their fleet.
• Tang mocked the Mind Flayer’s weakened state and refused to join him, so the Mind Flayer prepared to flee and abandon Chris.
• Tang offered to cooperate in reaching the Golden Country’s ruins, and the Mind Flayer demanded to know why he could not read Tang’s thoughts.
• Tang showed the Mind Shield Ring and said a certain lady had given it to him, frustrating the Mind Flayer.

Tang negotiated with the Mind Flayer to cooperate in recovering the [Golden Beacon] by organizing a jailbreak at the Silk-Coiling Path. He exposed a spy who shared the men’s resentment of the Lightless City’s matriarchal order and asked the Mind Flayer to spread that discontent until it became collective resistance.

• Tang proposed working with the Mind Flayer to retrieve the [Golden Beacon] from Ye Ying Kling, but questioned whether the Mind Flayer would share the information gained from her brain.
• Tang suggested breaking the Kling prisoners out of the Silk-Coiling Path, and the Mind Flayer warned that the prison and surrounding forces made a jailbreak nearly impossible.
• Tang argued that men in the Lightless City could be rallied against a system that denied them power, especially after the Kling Family’s forged divine edicts had been exposed.
• Tang used [True Sight] to expose a hidden spy, who admitted his anger at the system before insisting he supported the Matron Mother.
• The Mind Flayer agreed to consider Tang’s plan, and Tang asked him to devour men’s brains and spread their suppressed doubts to build collective resistance.