Chapter Summaries

Xia Lin and Sera agreed to help Kade Felimp investigate the Harpies after he offered them the full guild reward. Kade revealed that at least fifteen young men had vanished, and the group prepared to find the Harpies’ nest and uncover who was behind the abductions.

• Xia Lin and Sera met Kade Felimp while he handed out food to homeless townsfolk.
• Kade asked them to help investigate the Harpies, and Xia Lin agreed after Kade offered them the entire reward.
• Kade told Xia Lin and Sera that at least fifteen young men had disappeared from their homes over the past month, leaving straw-and-cloth dolls behind.
• Kade said the burned dolls bore Harpy feathers and stench, and he believed a more powerful evil being was directing the creatures.
• Kade urged the group to find the Harpies’ nest, rescue the abducted villagers, and discover the truth.

Xia Lin, Kade, and Sera reached Harpy Cliff and discovered that the Harpies' song carried a sinister power. As they prepared to infiltrate the nest, Sera sensed an unusual energy source within it that did not belong to the Harpies.

• On the mountain trail, Xia Lin tested Kade's convictions, and Kade explained that his oath to Iomedae meant protecting the innocent through deeds.
• Xia Lin noticed Kade's expression change when he joked that the Harpies might target him, and Kade said they had to stop the Harpies' evil reproduction.
• The three companions shared their abilities while traveling toward Harpy Cliff.
• At the cliff, a Harpy song tempted Xia Lin with visions, but Kade's holy energy helped shield him from its influence.
• Xia Lin used Item Appraisal to locate two adult Harpies guarding an outpost behind the third jutting ledge.
• Sera examined the song and discovered it involved mental parasitism and that a strange energy source in the nest did not belong to the Harpies.

Xia Lin, Sera, and Kade scouted the harpy nest and discovered enslaved men, including Finnian, working alongside unusually civilized harpies. Xia Lin identified a ritual involving unfinished vengeful effigies, but Kade refused to consider negotiating, and the group planned to contact Finnian and learn more.

• Xia Lin led Sera and Kade along a concealed cliff path to a vantage point overlooking the quarry.
• Xia Lin saw ugly and beautiful harpies guarding enslaved men, including Finnian, who worked without seeming distressed.
• Xia Lin used [Item Appraisal] to identify the life-size dolls as unfinished Vengeful Effigies capable of linking to living targets and transferring life force, curses, or souls.
• Sera inferred that the harpies were preparing a large-scale ritual using the men's life essence and the dolls as vessels.
• Kade angrily rejected Xia Lin's suggestion to negotiate with the harpies, condemning their manipulation of life and souls.
• Xia Lin proposed contacting Finnian to learn about the captives and identify the mastermind behind the nest.

Xia Lin, Kade, and Sera secretly visited Finnian at the Harpy quarry and learned why the captives were reluctant to escape. Finnian explained that the Harpies used Life Energy rituals and magical dolls, while his companion Borin had become a favored participant.

• Xia Lin, Kade, and Sera slipped into the quarry and asked Finnian how he and Borin had been captured.
• Finnian explained that a subtle Suggestion Spell in the mine weakened the captives’ desire to escape, and that the Harpies treated them relatively well.
• Finnian revealed that the Harpies selected men every few days to collect Life Energy, and that some captives willingly participated as the Harpies grew prettier.
• Finnian told Xia Lin that the men interacted with life-sized dolls made from mined ore, which became more lifelike after each ritual.
• Kade asked whether the rituals were consensual, and Finnian said most men were willing while Borin was so popular with the Harpies that Finnian was usually left alone.

Xia Lin, Kade, and Sera set out to destroy the Harpies’ [Suggestion Spell] array and free the captured men. They infiltrated the mine, learned the name Lorelei might be tied to its strange energy, and encountered a simple trap that Kade ignored by letting it hit his armor.

• Xia Lin explained that the fifty-five captured men seemed content and that some were competing for the Harpies’ attention; Kade and Finnian agreed the men should be freed without needless bloodshed.
• The group decided to destroy the [Suggestion Spell] array, with Finnian staying behind to cover their approach.
• Finnian told Xia Lin that the Harpies reportedly cried out the name Lorelei during their ritual, and Sera suspected Lorelei was connected to the mine’s energy source.
• Xia Lin, Kade, and Sera stuffed their ears with cotton and sneaked toward the mine, where the song’s magical influence grew stronger.
• Xia Lin spotted a mechanical tripwire trap, but Kade walked into it and emerged unharmed after the falling rocks struck his plate armor.

Xia Lin, Sera, and Kade infiltrated the Harpy nest, where they found sinister life-size dolls and rescued Borin from the Harpies’ draining ritual. Borin led them to the nest’s central cavern, where they discovered the dark-red crystal powering its bewitching energy.

• Kade walked through the Harpies’ crude traps, allowing the trio to infiltrate the nest with little trouble.
• The trio found a cavern full of lifelike dolls imbued with negative energy and heard someone inside a curtained cave.
• Kade sensed that the person in the cave was there willingly, and the trio waited until Borin emerged, exhausted from his encounter with a Harpy.
• Xia Lin told Borin that the Harpies were draining their victims to power the dolls, and Borin agreed to help destroy the ritual circle and escape.
• Borin led the trio through the nest to a vast cavern, where they found a pulsing dark-red crystal at the center of a massive altar.

Xia Lin and his companions discovered that the altar’s divine crystal was driving the harpies’ desires, and Sera reversed its Suggestion Spell to make the harpies flee. The crystal then unleashed a powerful pulse, knocking Borin unconscious as the effigies around the altar came to life.

• Xia Lin appraised the pulsing crystal, learned it was a divine artifact that altered creatures’ minds, and warned the group.
• Kade swore a Sacred Oath to protect Sera while Borin spotted a dwarf effigy among the dolls and angrily mocked its resemblance to him.
• Sera identified the altar’s magical core and said she could reverse the Suggestion Spell without destroying the crystal.
• Sera changed the spell to make harpies feel fear and revulsion, turning the crystal blue and sending the harpies fleeing.
• The crystal released a violent pulse that knocked Borin unconscious, and the effigies around the altar began to rise.

Xia Lin, Kade, and Sera destroyed the Vengeful Effigies around the altar and escaped the cave with the unconscious Borin. As they left the Harpy nest with Finnian, a woman’s voice stopped them from the treetops.

• Kade shielded Xia Lin and Sera while Xia Lin and Sera fought the Vengeful Effigies.
• A powerful Dwarf doll wounded Xia Lin before Sera blasted it apart, causing the remaining dolls to falter.
• Kade failed to remove the dimming blue crystal, so the group carried the unconscious Borin out of the cave.
• Finnian told them the Harpies had fled and the captured men had run downhill, and the group hurried away.
• A pleasant female voice called down from the treetops as Xia Lin and his companions tried to leave the Harpy nest.

Xia Lin and his companions encountered Trelai, a powerful Witch who demanded compensation for the damage they had done to her garden. Trelai let the group go after Kade offered himself in exchange, but she struck them with a Fatigue Wave and had the harpies carry Kade away.

• Xia Lin appraised Trelai and warned his companions not to provoke her as he tried to negotiate their escape.
• Trelai summoned more than thirty harpies and demanded compensation for the damage to her garden.
• Kade revealed his face, causing the harpies to become infatuated, and Trelai agreed to take him as compensation.
• Kade offered to go with Trelai if she released his companions, and she accepted while dismissing the others as ugly.
• Trelai hit Xia Lin and his companions with a Fatigue Wave, then sent harpies to carry Kade to their nest.

After Trelai and the Harpies abducted Kade, Xia Lin and the others escaped the mountain and debated how to rescue him. Xia Lin decided to return alone, confident he could negotiate with the Witch, while Sera quietly urged him to be careful.

• Xia Lin revealed that he had resisted the Witch’s Fatigue Wave and only pretended to collapse, then woke Borin and explained that Trelai had taken Kade.
• Xia Lin and Borin carried the exhausted Sera and Finnian down the mountain to the main road as dusk fell.
• Borin proposed exchanging himself for Kade, but Xia Lin warned that the Harpies would likely attack him.
• Xia Lin told Borin and Finnian to take Sera to safety while he returned alone to rescue Kade.
• Sera accepted Xia Lin’s plan and mentally urged him to be careful and run if necessary.

After being dismissed for his role in delaying reports about the Orc activity in Changhe City, Roland blamed Xia Lin · Tolemo and prepared to return to his family in disgrace. Before he could leave, a hooded man abducted him and buried him alive, delivering a message from the Old Man from Changhe City.

• Roland's supervisor dismissed him for gross negligence over the delayed report of unusual Orc activity in Changhe City.
• Roland returned to his rented room, blamed Xia Lin · Tolemo for his misfortune, and decided he had to go back to his family in the Northlands.
• Roland packed his few belongings and wandered through the Lower City on his last night before leaving.
• A hooded figure knocked Roland unconscious, bound him, and began burying him alive.
• As Roland was losing consciousness, the hooded man read a note saying, "Old Man from Changhe City sends his regards."

Grom returned from the royal capital and warned Chieftain Ulkan that humans hid their ambitions behind offers of peace and trade. When an ambassador arrived with a gift of living human slaves, Grom recognized it as a test and declared that the game had begun.

• Grom returned to Ulkan’s camp and watched Orc Warriors struggle through human-style drill formations.
• Grom told Ulkan about the royal court’s rivalries and warned that humans wanted the Orcs to fight their enemies while they profited.
• Grom argued that the Orcs could not imitate human deception but had to learn to recognize it and counter it by their own rules.
• A guard reported that an ambassador from the Brevor Free Alliance had arrived with dozens of living human slaves as a gift.
• Grom told Ulkan the gift was a test and said the game had begun.

Freya Allendale fled Orlando to pursue adventuring, but her early jobs in Graystone City went badly and left her nearly broke. She asked Barrett, Kasimir, and Lila to join their party, and Barrett challenged her to kill three Goblins alone before he would let her join as a dishwasher.

• Freya left a letter for her father and secretly rode with a wool merchant from Orlando to Graystone City.
• Freya failed a cat-finding quest and several other jobs, losing money and getting injured along the way.
• At the Adventurer's Guild, Freya watched Barrett, Kasimir, and Lila and decided she wanted to join their party.
• Freya asked the trio to take her in, but Barrett laughed at her and doubted she could handle adventuring.
• Barrett challenged Freya to kill three Goblins at an abandoned farm west of Graystone City, and Freya accepted.

Trelai tried to make the captured paladin Kade submit through magical charm and her bloodline allure, but he resisted with his faith and will. Trelai prepared to use force, just as a visitor outside claimed he knew how to break Kade.

• Trelai used Charm Person and her seductive magic on Kade, but he resisted by recalling his oath to Iomedae.
• A Harpy announced that the smooth-talking human had returned and wanted to see Trelai.
• Trelai intensified her assault on Kade, but he broke through the temptation and repelled her with holy energy.
• Enraged, Trelai threatened to destroy Kade and put him back together, while the Harpy reported that the visitor claimed he could make the paladin submit.

Xia Lin persuaded Trelai to let him help break Kade’s faith, then learned that her crystal could transform harpies and proposed using the dolls to influence men. He left Trelai intrigued by his plan to tame the holy knight.

• Xia Lin had the harpies take Kade to another room so he could speak privately with Trelai.
• Xia Lin explained that Trelai should undermine Kade’s oath by forcing him into repeated moral dilemmas, and she called him a master.
• Xia Lin asked about Trelai’s dolls and crystal, and she revealed that the crystal could alter life and had transformed the harpies.
• Xia Lin suggested that the ritual might let the dolls influence men in return, then said he had an idea for taming Kade.

Xia Lin convinced Trelai to let him question Kade alone, then secretly revealed that he planned to help him escape. After Kade recited his oath, Xia Lin struggled to hide his reaction and began explaining what Kade should do next.

• Xia Lin persuaded Trelai that he needed to speak with Kade alone to learn the details of his oath, and she assigned two Harpies to guard the room.
• Xia Lin entered the back room and loudly insulted Kade to convince the guards that they were arguing.
• Xia Lin secretly told Kade to play along and promised to get him out, and Kade reluctantly decided to trust him.
• Kade recited his oath to Xia Lin, who struggled to suppress his laughter before starting to explain the next step of the plan.

Xia Lin lured Trelai into confronting Kade, whose sacred oath turned out to be a strict set of twenty rules governing romance and chastity. Intrigued by the challenge, Trelai proposed a bet to test his resolve.

• Xia Lin told Trelai he had a solution and suggested she handle Kade herself.
• Trelai entered the back room and found Kade bound to a stone chair, refusing to speak with her.
• Trelai taunted Kade and insulted his Goddess until he angrily recited his twenty vows, including strict rules against sex, casual romance, infidelity, and dirty jokes.
• Trelai was stunned by Kade's unusual oath, then became excited by the prospect of overcoming it.
• Trelai called Kade a fascinating castle and proposed a bet.

Trelai persuaded Kade to accept a wager by promising to release him if he endured her torment without asking her to stop. Xia Lin proposed secretly using Kade’s doll to make him believe he had broken his oath by his own will, and Trelai prepared to begin.

• Trelai failed to make Kade change his mind by threatening Xia Lin, so she offered a wager that would let Kade prove his faith and leave unharmed.
• Kade accepted the wager, and Trelai rewarded Xia Lin with the Heart of the Arcane for his help.
• Trelai explained that she could reverse the doll’s effect using Kade’s blood and had blank dolls ready in the storeroom.
• Xia Lin advised Trelai to manipulate Kade through his doll without letting him know, making him believe he had violated his oath on his own.
• Trelai vowed on her soul to release Kade if he endured her torment without begging her to stop, and Kade agreed.

Xia Lin tricked Phila into helping him reach the storeroom, where he switched Kade’s blood-marked doll for one soaked in his own blood. Phila flew off to deliver the decoy to Trelai, leaving Xia Lin free to act.

• The Witch collected Kade’s blood and sent Phila to make a new doll link for her captive.
• Phila found Xia Lin hiding in a passage, and he persuaded her to protect him from the other Harpies.
• As Phila led Xia Lin to the storeroom, he learned that the dolls stopped working after ten hours and that the Witch planned to keep Kade for later.
• Phila spread Kade’s blood on a blank doll while Xia Lin distracted her and replaced it with an identical doll soaked in his own blood.
• Phila carried the switched doll to Trelai’s bedroom, promising to return for Xia Lin afterward.

Xia Lin secretly redirected Trelai’s ritual link from Kade to himself, but Phila mistook his resulting arousal for desire and spent the encounter with him. When Xia Lin went to see Trelai’s reaction, he found her bedchamber in flames and the Witch consumed by rage.

• Trelai used Mythical Power from the lair’s crystal to enchant a substitute linked to Kade and began their agreement.
• Xia Lin waited in a Harpy cave, knowing he had secretly redirected the link to himself.
• Phila entered the cave and, mistaking Xia Lin’s reaction to the ritual for excitement about her, pounced on him.
• After the encounter, Xia Lin went to Trelai’s bedchamber and found the obsidian bed burning, the substitute discarded, and Trelai furious.