Chapter Summaries

Lux and Karya suspected that Lanfu was hiding something after speaking with her at Jarvan IV’s engagement banquet. The ceremony ended smoothly, but Lanfu’s secret plans continued as Lux prepared to leave Demacia City.

• Lux and Karya discussed Lanfu’s flawless manners and agreed that Lux should speak with her.
• Lux chatted privately with Lanfu, who relaxed and shared stories about her childhood and love of reading.
• Karya told Lux that Lanfu had deliberately let slip clues suggesting she knew more than she claimed, and they decided to wait and see what she would do.
• Lanfu warned Jarvan IV that Lux seemed suspicious, while Jarvan believed Lux would soon leave for Freljord.
• After the successful engagement ceremony, Lux returned to Crown Guard Manor and reflected on how different it felt from before.
• At Dawn Castle, Lanfu and an accomplice discussed their scheme, Noxus, and the next acts of their plan.

LeBlanc and Vladimir planned to exploit what they believed was Lux’s loyalty to Demacia, unaware that their intelligence had badly misread her. While Lux earned Freljord a fortune by selling northern fashions to Demacian nobles, Lanfu began subtly steering Jarvan IV toward noticing the North’s growing prosperity.

• LeBlanc and Vladimir abandoned a direct assault on Lux and planned to turn her against Jarvan IV, relying on secondhand reports that portrayed her as a loyal Demacian noble.
• The Black Rose’s incomplete intelligence led LeBlanc and Vladimir to mistake Lux for a conventional patriot, though Lux was in fact a revolutionary who had helped shape Zaun herself.
• Lux and Sona promoted Freljord’s furs and northern-style goods at Demacian noble gatherings, generating enough high-end sales to fund two years of compulsory education.
• Lanfu discussed northern fashion and its rising prices with Jarvan IV, prompting him to recognize that the North had found its own path and praise Lux’s ability.
• Jarvan IV changed the subject without noticing Lanfu’s quiet satisfaction at having planted the idea.

Lux and Karya planned to draw the western Freljord tribes away from Avarosa and gradually bring them into Freljord’s trade network and rule. Meanwhile, Jax arrived in New Freljord Port with a report and prepared to meet Lux, hoping to persuade her to help save Icathia.

• Lux reviewed Avarosa’s weakening influence over the western Freljord tribes as Ashe focused on Rakkor.
• Karya advised Lux to protest to Ashe over the tribes’ raids, using the response to loosen their ties to Avarosa and draw them into Freljord’s trade network.
• Karya proposed using trade and tribal rivalries to separate the western tribes’ Warmothers from their people and eventually absorb the tribes; she also noted that Enyuk breeding could help support them.
• Yin Nuo led a team to Rakkor to lodge a protest with Ashe.
• Jax arrived by ship at New Freljord Port after a four-year absence and went to a restaurant to prepare for negotiations with Lux.
• Jax lamented that Kiyran could not come, saying Icathia might be saved if he could.

Jax’s journey to Zaun to prepare a feasibility report for a trade route from Icathia was repeatedly delayed by Ezreal’s curiosity and Qiyana’s challenges. In Zaun, Jax waited for Ezreal’s travelogue royalties to fund a top firm, only to discover that Ezreal’s book had been rejected and his latest draft was badly overwritten.

• Jax traveled through Ixtal with Ezreal, whose rainforest collecting and travel journals slowed their journey.
• After Ezreal became involved in Ixtal’s royal conflict, Jax defeated Qiyana when she demanded his fealty, then struggled to evade her repeated challenges through the jungle.
• Jax finally reached Zaun and found that he could not afford the most professional firm to write the feasibility report.
• Ezreal offered to pay with his expected travelogue royalties, so Jax waited in Zaun for three months.
• Jax learned that Ezreal’s travelogue had been rejected and saw that Ezreal’s seventh draft was full of self-important embellishments.

Jax secured Lux’s approval for Icathian trade after years of gathering investment and producing a favorable feasibility report. The agreement gave Icathian ships access to the Regent Prince’s golden feather in exchange for a 20% transaction tax, while Lux prepared new incentives for Freljord’s Hextech users.

• Jax followed the Coupling Consulting Firm’s advice, spent more than a year gathering materials, and obtained a report declaring Icathian trade commercially promising.
• Jax presented the report to Lux and explained Orianna’s role as its lead author; Lux accepted the study and invited him to discuss the Regent Prince’s name.
• Lux and Jax agreed that approved Icathian ships would carry flags bearing the golden feather and a special Magic Circuit, while Freljord collected a 20% transaction tax and provided no escort.
• After Jax left, Lux asked Karya why he had agreed to support Icathia, and Karya said Jax had changed and Icathia deserved a chance to heal.
• Lux arranged for a Hextech work team to go to Zaun and planned a technical advancement award and a new compensation program for Hextech users.

Karya persuaded Setaqa to sell scented powder to wealthy patrons using a convincing story, and their scheme earned Shurima a valuable female Skarrash. Afterward, Setaqa urged Karya to leave for a better life, but he insisted he would stay with the tribe.

• Karya explained to Setaqa that selling scented powder as a rare, prestigious product to wealthy strongmen would bring more profit than selling it to ordinary people.
• Karya offered to stay out of contact with buyers and taught Setaqa a story to sell alongside the powder, easing her concerns about his motives.
• After half a month of preparation, Setaqa performed Karya's story at an oasis and traded the powder for a strong, fertile female Skarrash.
• Setaqa offered Karya the tribe's old Skarrash so he could leave for somewhere better, but Karya said he would stay with Shurima.
• Karya gave Setaqa a wooden carving of her, then fell asleep by the fire as she covered his mouth to keep out the sand.

Over five years, Karya earned the Shurimans’ trust and helped their tribe grow into a powerful community, using songs and practical improvements to strengthen them. When the tribe considered settling at an oasis, Karya persuaded them to leave the desert for a more fertile land, and Setaqa led them in agreeing to go.

• Karya spent three months learning about the Shuriman tribe, its mercenary work, and the harsh desert life of its people.
• Karya began using songs to lift the tribe’s spirits and gradually became part of its inner circle, introducing improvements to medical care, battle tactics, equipment, and negotiations.
• Over five years, Karya helped the Shuriman tribe grow from fewer than a hundred people and two Skarrash to more than three thousand people and over fifty Skarrash.
• When Setaqa’s captains discussed taking an oasis, Karya argued that settling there would eventually divide the Shurimans and urged them to seek a fertile land beyond the desert.
• Setaqa asked the tribe to raise their hands if they would leave with her, and the Shurimans agreed.

Ekko and Jinx arrived in Freljord for their honeymoon, where they reunited with Lux, Eno, and Karya. During dinner, Karya recognized that Jinx had fused with her and exposed Jinx’s long-standing desire to free Ekko from work and study.

• Jinx and Ekko explored New Freljord Port, spotted Demacians riding dragonfowl, and headed to their inn near the clock tower.
• Three days later, Eno told Lux that Ekko and Jinx had come to Freljord for their honeymoon, and Karya learned that Jinx might be awakening magic.
• Lux welcomed Ekko and Jinx at dinner and congratulated them on their marriage.
• Karya spoke through Lux’s sword, recognized that Jinx had fused with her, and revealed that Jinx had once wanted to blow up Ekko’s workshop and was now pursuing polymer research.

Jinx told Karya that the other Jinx wanted freedom through bloodline separation, and Karya arranged for Lux to prepare a ritual using her nearly completed Elemental Golem. As winter arrived, Lux used her sixth Winter Speech to propose Northern Integration, while the Black Rose quietly supported the plan to draw Jarvan IV’s attention toward the northern nobles.

• Jinx explained that the other Jinx wanted to leave her and live in an Elemental Golem, and Karya questioned her about how she planned to separate.
• Jinx agreed to give up some of her talents so the other Jinx could be freed, and Karya ordered both of them to work with Lux on a bloodline separation ritual.
• An approaching cold wave brought heavy snow to Freljord, where Ekko and Jinx spent their extended vacation while cooperating with Karya and Lux.
• At her sixth Winter Speech, Lux proposed Northern Integration and urged the northern lords to unify standards and coordinate their industries.
• Northern nobles welcomed Lux’s proposal as a way to strengthen their region, while LeBlanc and Vladimir also concluded that she meant to support the nobility.
• The Black Rose reduced taxes on products made to northern standards, hoping Northern Integration would draw Jarvan IV’s attention.

Lumian Li spun a grim morgue story to entertain three visitors at a tavern in Cordou, then admitted it was a tale written by his sister. The locals revealed that Aurore had brought Lumian to the village five years earlier, given him her surname and name, and that he had not left since.

• Lumian told Rainkos a story about a poor morgue attendant who found a strange mark on his former colleague’s body and began dreaming of thick fog.
• Lumian revealed that the story was made up and written by his sister, prompting the tavern regulars to laugh at Rainkos for believing another of Lumian’s tales.
• Lumian introduced himself to Rainkos, Valente, and Lia, and Rainkos remarked that the surname Li was associated with the feared Frank Lee.
• Rainkos bought Lumian a Green Fairy and ordered a Spicy Heart for himself, while Pierre offered to explain Lumian’s past in exchange for a drink.
• Pierre told the visitors that Aurore brought thirteen-year-old Lumian to Cordou five years earlier, gave him her surname and the name Lumian, and that he had not left the village since.

Lumian entertained tavern patrons in Cordou with a fabricated story about working at a morgue, then met the visiting Rainkos, Valente, and Lia. Pierre revealed that Aurore had brought Lumian to the village five years earlier and given him her surname and his name.

• Lumian told Rainkos a dramatic story about a morgue attendant who touched a strange mark on a corpse, then admitted he had made it up.
• Lumian introduced himself to Rainkos, Valente, and Lia, and Rainkos explained that the surname Li reminded people of the feared Frank Lee.
• Rainkos bought Lumian a Green Fairy after hearing his story, and Pierre joined in after Lumian offered to tell more about himself.
• Pierre said Aurore had brought Lumian to Cordou when he was thirteen, and that Lumian had taken her surname and the name she chose for him.
• Lumian said he had forgotten his original name as he drank his absinthe.

Freljord absorbed a wave of Northern immigrants and expanded its industries while avoiding direct competition with other regions. As the cities’ growth slowed, Luxanna began expanding the administration, and Pand Parsons prepared to leave his successful district work for a new role in community development.

• Immigrants helped Freljord advance in several industries, while Karya’s Enyuk breeding breakthrough enabled large-scale livestock farming without provoking other Northern lords.
• In the tenth year of the Freljord Calendar, Luxanna ordered a major expansion of the Northern Wanderer Corps and clerical staff.
• Pand Parsons’s plan to house clerks alongside immigrants helped East Twelfth District resettle newcomers smoothly, earning him a place in the Northern Vanguard and the Community Development Council.
• After hearing Luxanna’s plans for New Freljord City, Pand felt eager to begin his new assignment, though he remained reluctant to leave East Twelfth District.
• Pand began the district’s clerk recruitment as members of the Hunter’s Guild and herbalists’ guild increasingly joined other organizations or entered clerical work, diminishing the trade associations’ authority.

Pand and his classmates celebrated graduating from Freljord’s school, sharing a final banquet as they discussed their futures. Pand revealed that he had passed the clerk examination and would work in New Freljord City, while his classmates prepared to begin separate lives across the region.

• Pand shut the classroom door for the last time and went with his classmates to their graduation banquet.
• The graduates shared a modest feast and awkwardly discussed their plans as they began to part ways.
• Pand told his classmates that he had failed the Northern Wanderers’ reserve test because he was color-blind but had passed the clerk examination.
• Pand said he had chosen a clerk position in New Freljord City, and a classmate who hoped to see him again promised to visit.
• As night grew late, the graduates sang “Light of Debon” together.

LeBlanc seized on Jarvan IV’s plans for trade with Shurima to push policies that would damage Freljord and drive a wedge between Jarvan IV and Luxanna. She set out to make Freljord resent Demacia City and ensure Jarvan IV suspected Luxanna of resentment in turn.

• Taric returned from Shurima and advised Jarvan IV that trade there had great potential.
• Lanfu raised the possibility that other nobles might join the Shuriman grain trade, prompting Jarvan IV and Barrett to devise a steep export tax on grain.
• Barrett proposed pairing the tax with complicated inheritance-law changes so the Noble Council would pass the measure without a full meeting.
• LeBlanc recognized that the grain export tax could hurt Freljord’s trade and welcomed the opportunity to stir resentment.
• LeBlanc began promoting measures to undermine Freljord’s grain, fur, and Ochre Blue Stone industries while disguising them as efforts to benefit royal trade with Shurima.

Haguer attended a Demacian Noble Council session where Barret Buweier’s proposals unexpectedly threatened Freljord’s grain trade. After Haguer sent an urgent letter north, Vladimir intercepted the courier and found the letter impossible to read.

• Haguer attended the Noble Council as Lux’s representative and listened as Barret Buweier introduced proposals, including reviving the Enfeoffment Inheritance Law.
• The nobles angrily rejected the inheritance proposal, and Barret moved on to other matters.
• The council quickly approved a proposal to raise taxes on grain exports, which would cut into Freljord’s trade profits as its tax exemption neared its end.
• Haguer hurried home, wrote a letter, and sent it through the Bird Group Squad’s courier network.
• Vladimir killed the courier, took the letter, and struggled to understand its neat, square symbols.

Haguer learned that Carrier Pigeon had been intercepted and tried to take the Bird Group Squad dark, but Demacian forces surrounded the warehouse where Shyvana had arrived. The confused confrontation left Fevor protecting Shyvana while suspecting the Silencers had staged a frame-up.

• Vladimir killed Carrier Pigeon, found Haguer's coded letter unreadable, and abandoned his plan to forge it.
• When the scheduled communication brought no emergency notice, Haguer realized Carrier Pigeon was in trouble, handed Shyvana a letter, and prepared to go dark.
• Fevor led the Garrison Legion to the warehouse after a Silencer reported a dragon, then watched the Silencer force open its doors and reveal no dragon.
• The Magic Seekers found Shyvana in the drivers' quarters and tried to arrest her after their torches revealed traces of magic.
• Haguer identified Shyvana as a Zaunese artist and Freljord partner who had met the king, and Fevor pushed the Magic Seekers aside to protect her.
• Fevor suspected the Silencers had framed the warehouse after recalling the blue light on the Silencer's hands and the blue flames at the doors.

A dispute between the Garrison Legion and the Magic Seekers over Shyvana reached Jarvan IV, who recognized that the Magic Seekers were trying to restore their authority by targeting Earl Luxanna. After he ended the standoff, Jarvan IV greeted Shyvana warmly and questioned her about Hextech augmentation.

• Feifu refused to let the Magic Seekers take Shyvana, and both sides called for reinforcements over the competing claims to jurisdiction.
• The Magic Seeker commander and the Garrison Legion Marshal failed to settle the dispute, so the matter was brought before Jarvan IV.
• Jarvan IV realized the Magic Seekers were trying to demonstrate their value by making an example of Earl Luxanna and rejected their political maneuvering.
• Jarvan IV reprimanded the Magic Seeker commander, ordered the Silencer sent to the Nullstone Prison, and told the head of the Silencers to reflect on the incident.
• Jarvan IV recognized Shyvana and asked about her Hextech augmentation, while Shyvana tried to maintain the identity she had presented during their meeting seven years earlier.

Jarvan IV decided Demacia was stable enough to end his engagement to Miss Lanfu, unaware that she was LeBlanc, who had secretly taken control of the Magic Seekers. The chapter ended with LeBlanc scrambling to improvise after Jarvan IV summoned her father to explain the engagement’s end.

• After speaking with Shyvana, Jarvan IV decided he no longer needed a political fiancée and could end his arrangement with Miss Lanfu.
• LeBlanc secretly manipulated the Magic Seekers, steering them to overstep their authority and pursue Shyvana to undermine Lux.
• Jarvan IV reprimanded the Magic Seekers after their actions, while LeBlanc soothed them and promised further benefits.
• Jarvan IV told LeBlanc that Demacia had stabilized and that he intended to end their engagement.
• Jarvan IV said he had summoned LeBlanc’s father to explain her service to Demacia and her devotion to her lover, leaving LeBlanc to abandon her plan and improvise.

LeBlanc improvised after Jarvan IV pushed her and Earl Davier into reconciliation, while Lux and Karya devised a plan to counter Demacia City’s grain tax increase through Northern Trade and Ice Gold Coins. The chapter left Freljord preparing to expand its influence as Karya warned Lux that the transformation was only beginning.

• Jarvan IV’s sudden intervention forced LeBlanc to improvise a reconciliation scene with Earl Davier, who accepted that she would not become Queen but remained displeased with her lover.
• Lux received Haguer’s report about the tax increase and warehouse dispute, worried that Jarvan IV was testing or restricting Freljord, and asked Karya whether they should mobilize.
• Karya calmed Lux and helped her conclude that Freljord should firmly contest the warehouse inspection while responding to the tax through political and economic means.
• Lux proposed offering northern nobles a share of Northern Trade, and Karya suggested granting them the right to buy furs in exchange for Ice Gold Coins.
• Lux realized that Freljord could offset the grain-tax losses by profiting from issuing Ice Gold Coins, while drawing northern nobles into its trade system.
• Karya told Lux that continued pressure from Jarvan IV could unite nobles around Freljord and help reshape the North’s economic order in Freljord’s image.

As New Freljord Port prospered, Lux hosted northern nobles and used her offer of shared trade profits to rally their support for a Northern Delegation to the Noble Council. The political dispute appeared settled, while Shyvana remained uneasy about Jarvan IV’s unusual warmth toward her.

• Northern nobles worried that Freljord’s new trade taxes might lead Lux to restrict their access to New Freljord Port, so they traveled there after receiving her banquet invitations.
• New Freljord Port’s booming trade supported a diverse population, and its professional harbor operations attracted merchants and businesses.
• Lux welcomed the nobles to her imposing new castle, which they mistook for an enormously expensive display of wealth.
• At the banquet, Lux offered to share some of the Freljord fur trade and proposed a joint northern delegation to represent their interests in the Noble Council.
• The Northern Delegation arrived in Demacia City the following month and was admitted as the north’s representatives despite not meeting the council’s requirements.
• With the political crisis apparently resolved, Shyvana remained concerned that Jarvan IV was treating her with unusual warmth.