Chapter Summaries

Charles explained the Avenor Elven Court’s competing noble systems and how half-elves had steadily gained power as pure-blood elves dwindled in the wars. He brought Erika and Molly to the Verdant Crystal Domain, where he planned to meet its Silverleaf Lord as a pure-blood Sun Elf accompanied by a battleband.

• Charles identified the Verdant Crystal Domain as the last territory in the Land of Chaos ruled by an Avenor pure-blood elf Silverleaf Lord.
• Charles explained the ranks of pure-blood elf nobles and half-elf nobles, along with the equivalent government offices held by half-elves.
• Charles told Erika and Molly that wars and the decline of pure-blood elves had driven the Avenor Court to grant half-elves increasing authority.
• Charles said half-elves would keep expanding their share of power, while pure-blood elves relied on them because of the war.
• Charles looked toward the Silverleaf Lord’s castle and anticipated the lord’s reaction to a Lotheran Sun Elf arriving with a battleband.

The Silverleaf Lord of Verdant Crystal Domain learned that a pure-blooded sun elf had arrived and hoped he would join the war against the giants. He decided to visit the elf personally and invite him to the castle.

• The Silverleaf Lord heard that the Emerald Crystal Knights had lost more than half of two cavalry companies to the giants' wolf riders and ordered new recruits to strengthen the force.
• The attendant reported that mercenary warbands had gathered outside Verdant Crystal Domain and that one was led by a pure-blooded sun elf.
• The attendant explained that the sun elf had traveled from the rear counties toward Verdant Crystal Domain and was believed to come from Lotheran.
• The Silverleaf Lord discussed the sun elves' history and speculated that the newcomer might want to fight the giants.
• The Silverleaf Lord decided to go personally and invite the sun elf to the castle.

Silverleaf Lord Elendil left his castle late at night to meet Charles, who introduced himself as Imril, a Sun Elf from Lotheran. Elendil invited him to the castle, and they began discussing the Avenor and Lotheran royal courts on the journey.

• Elendil’s carriage and giant deer cavalry departed the Verdant Crystal Domain castle at night, drawing curious attention from the city’s residents.
• Charles noticed the approaching cavalry, told Bruce to calm the bandits, and waited alone at the camp entrance.
• Elendil arrived, recognized Charles as a pure-blooded Sun Elf, and introduced himself as the Silverleaf Lord.
• Charles ordered Elendil’s intelligence about the Avenor and Lotheran royal courts through the Wu Duo Duo Mall and introduced himself as Imril.
• Elendil invited Charles to his castle, and they rode together while discussing the two Elven royal courts.

Charles arrived at Elendil’s castle, where Elendil introduced his family and welcomed him as a sun elf from the Lotheran Royal Court. Charles told Elendil he intended to follow Felenlos’s example by waging war in the Land of Chaos and establishing his own territory, leaving the two of them aligned in their ambitions.

• Elendil welcomed Charles to his castle and introduced his family, including his daughter Selena, who became captivated by Charles.
• Charles considered using his charm to win Selena over because Elendil’s cooperation could help his plans, while Selena’s mother teased her about staring after him.
• Elendil led Charles to his study, where they discussed the elven courts and the history of Felenlos.
• Charles told Elendil he had come to the Land of Chaos to follow Felenlos’s travelogue and establish a territory through war.
• Elendil and Charles exchanged smiles as they recognized that their aims aligned.

Charles agreed to accept Elendil’s investiture and become a noble of the Verdant Crystal Domain, though he asked for a modest ceremony to avoid attracting attention before he had resources or troops. The ceremony concluded with Charles sworn in as Imril, Lord of the Verdant Court.

• Elendil asked Charles whether he would accept his investiture and become a noble of the Verdant Crystal Domain.
• Charles agreed, saying he had traveled there to receive Avenor noble status and was willing to serve as Elendil’s blade.
• Charles requested a simple investiture ceremony because he had just arrived in the Land of Chaos and lacked strength and resources.
• Elendil held the ceremony in his castle plaza before the domain’s nobles and warriors.
• Charles swore the oath, and Elendil’s ceremonial sword bestowed a glowing mark upon him as Lord of the Verdant Court.

Charles became a Green Court Lord and received a valuable set of elven wizard armor from Elendil, presented as a gift from Selena. At the banquet, he learned how few pure-blooded elves lived in the Verdant Crystal Domain, where his arrival was welcomed as both an affirmation and a source of strength.

• Elendil made Charles a Green Court Lord, a noble title of the second rank.
• Elendil presented Charles with a set of enchanted elven wizard armor, and Selena urged him to accept it as her gift.
• Charles accepted the equipment, which included a spellblade, cuirass, gloves, boots, and cloak with various imbued spells.
• At the banquet, Charles fielded questions about Lotheran before redirecting the conversation to the Land of Chaos.
• Charles learned that fewer than three hundred pure-blooded elves lived in the Verdant Crystal Domain, and the elves welcomed him as a new comrade-in-arms.

Charles refused Elendil’s offer of a fief and arranged to recruit commoners and obtain equipment in the Verdant Crystal Domain before reclaiming old lands. After returning to camp, he warned Molly that Selena might visit and said he did not want her to misunderstand their relationship.

• Charles told Elendil he wanted to reclaim old lands and asked to recruit soldiers, buy equipment, and sell spoils in the Verdant Crystal Domain.
• Charles refused to take Elendil’s soldiers, accepted an authorization order to obtain equipment, and prepared to leave the castle.
• Selena asked when Charles would return, and Charles said he would stay in the domain while recruiting and training troops; he welcomed her visits.
• Elendil watched Charles and Selena together and hoped they might be joined, though he knew Charles would not remain in the domain.
• Charles returned to camp, where Molly teased him about elven girls and his new equipment.
• Charles told Molly that Selena might visit and asked her not to reveal their relationship because he was afraid Selena would misunderstand.

Charles equipped and rebuilt his army by recruiting human soldiers in the Verdant Crystal Domain, then began training them to prepare for reclaiming Avenor’s old homeland. Selena grew closer to Charles as she brought him pastries, while Molly and Yvenjieling watched with displeasure and resentment.

• Charles collected superior weapons and equipment from the Verdant Crystal Domain’s armory and outfitted his bandit soldiers.
• Charles dismissed unsuitable bandits and recruited mostly human soldiers from the shantytown, keeping his force below three hundred.
• Charles reorganized and trained the army, pleased that many soldiers had the physical qualities of Great Knights.
• Selena brought Charles homemade pastries, and he praised them; she linked her arm through his and offered to make more.
• Molly watched Charles and Selena with displeasure, while Yvenjieling looked on with complicated resentment toward elves and half-elves.

Charles left the Verdant Crystal Domain with his army after bidding Selena farewell and began planning his conquest of the Land of Chaos. He sought a settlement with a large human population as a starting point, while the Book of Causal Paths urged him to hurry toward the coming wars.

• Charles comforted Selena and left the Verdant Crystal Domain to catch up with his advancing troops.
• Molly teased Charles about his goodbye, and Scorchflame returned to his shoulder as Charles declared the start of their conquest.
• The Book of Causal Paths urged Charles to start a war, claiming the plane was changing and that the deaths would feed its power.
• Charles studied a map of the Land of Chaos and identified the human-inhabited region between the Avenor Elven Court and the orc-controlled north as his intended battlefield.
• Charles told Molly to look for a settlement with many humans, not too close to or too far from the Verdant Crystal Domain, and explained that he planned to oppose the plane's major powers without relying on half-elves.

Charles decided not to seize and hold a settlement yet, since his small force would be vulnerable to retaliation in the Land of Chaos. Instead, he planned to build his reputation through guerrilla warfare by targeting the Howling Children of the Wasteland.

• Erika suggested taking a nearby settlement dominated by humans, and Charles reviewed intelligence about its rulers.
• Charles learned that the settlement belonged to the Howling Children of the Wasteland, an orc warband with thousands of capable soldiers and several settlements under its influence.
• Charles warned Erika that taking a settlement would draw attacks from its allies and from forces wary of a pure-blooded elf leader.
• Charles chose guerrilla warfare to make his name before trying to hold territory.
• Charles selected the Howling Children of the Wasteland as a target, hoping to win money and recruits by defeating the warband.

Charles briefed his core members on the Howling Children of the Wasteland, an orc warband that protected settlements and traded slaves, and explained how his mounted forces could counter them. He identified the warband’s wolf cavalry as the first threat to eliminate and pointed out where it was stationed.

• Charles reflected on how the war between the elves and giants had become a struggle for resources and faith, with both sides relying on humans and other peoples for followers.
• Charles summoned Erika, Molly, Bruce, and several captain-level officers to discuss the Howling Children of the Wasteland.
• Charles explained that the orc warband relied mostly on infantry, while his forces’ Gray-Scaled Horses and mounted recruits gave them an advantage in mobility.
• Charles warned that the warband’s wolf cavalry was dangerous and needed to be defeated before they could rise to power.
• Charles pointed to the wolf cavalry’s station on the map.

Charles and his force planned a stealthy attack on a main Warg Rider station belonging to the Howling Children of the Wasteland. After scouting the nearby settlement and camp, Charles noted that the Warg Riders' defenses were crude.

• The chapter described the strengths, weaknesses, and upkeep of Warg Riders, including the Howling Children of the Wasteland's force of nearly a thousand riders.
• Molly questioned whether Charles's small cavalry force could escape if enemy infantry surrounded them, and Charles explained that speed and mobility would let them break through or defeat smaller groups.
• Charles's force bought food, traveled by night, and hid by day before resting near the Warg Rider station.
• Charles scouted a nearby settlement where Warg Riders abused the residents and observed the station's wooden spikes and low stockade.
• Charles smiled and remarked that the Warg Riders' camp was crude.

Charles scouted the wolf cavalry camp and planned to lure its troops onto open ground rather than attack the defended camp. He disguised his force as a merchant caravan and drew out a squad of orc wolf cavalry, ending with his wand aimed at their leader.

• Charles used a summoned bird to survey the camp and counted more than seven hundred orcs and four to five hundred direwolves.
• Charles rejected a direct assault and planned with his companions to lure the wolf cavalry out, while the Book of Causal Paths predicted success.
• Bruce roused the troops before dawn, and Charles chose flat ground where his cavalry could conceal their tracks in trenches.
• Charles led more than thirty cavalrymen disguised as a merchant caravan past the orc camp, drawing out a squad of wolf cavalry.
• The orc leader grew suspicious of the calm Gray-Scaled Horses and demanded to inspect the caravan and Charles's token.
• Charles drew his wand and aimed it at the orc leader, revealing its gem glowing red.

Charles and his soldiers ambushed an orc wolf-rider patrol, then left survivors and wagon tracks to lure the orcs into pursuit. Gash Bloodtooth assembled more than three hundred riders and set out after the supposed half-elf merchant caravan, ordering his troops to capture any half-elves they found.

• Charles killed the orc leader and led his soldiers in slaughtering most of the nearby wolf riders.
• Charles let a few orcs escape and withdrew with the disguised merchant wagons, leaving tracks for the orcs to follow.
• Gash Bloodtooth heard the survivors’ report, identified the attackers as half-elves, and ordered his troops to hunt them down.
• Gash Bloodtooth sent a scout group ahead, then departed with more than three hundred assembled wolf riders without waiting for the rest.
• Gash Bloodtooth ordered his riders to capture any half-elves they encountered because they were valuable goods.

Charles lured the orc wolf riders into an ambush and used enchanted arrows to destroy their scouts. As Gash Bloodtooth led the main force into the trap, Charles strengthened his troops with Elven War Banners and began the cavalry assault.

• Gash Bloodtooth rallied the orcs by promising them captives as they pursued Charles’s caravan.
• Charles’s disguised cavalry lured the wolf rider scouts toward the ambush while his bird spotted the approaching main force.
• Charles enchanted his bow and killed the wolf rider scouts with a volley of arrows.
• Gash Bloodtooth found the scouts dead and charged Charles with the main force of wolf riders.
• Charles cast four Elven War Banners to empower his troops, and Bruce urged the soldiers to kill the orcs.
• Charles directed the cavalry into position, and the newly appointed officers ordered the bowmen to loose arrows at the charging wolf riders.

Charles led the human cavalry against Gash Bloodtooth’s wolf riders, using witchcraft to break their charge. Thorn Lash struck Gash and the other orcs, leaving the battle underway.

• Charles coordinated the human cavalry’s retreating maneuvers while Erika, Molly, and Scorchflame attacked the wolf riders with witchcraft.
• Gash Bloodtooth charged Charles, believing him to be a half-elf, and Charles cast Exploding Acorn at him.
• Gash Bloodtooth threw his shield at the acorn, but its explosion blinded him, killed riders, and broke the wolf cavalry’s charge.
• Charles activated Thorn Lash, which trapped the wolf riders and struck them with thorny whips.
• Three thorn whips lashed at Gash Bloodtooth while two struck other orcs.

Charles's forces crushed Gash Bloodtooth and his wolf riders with elven witchcraft, then used an Exploding Acorn and a cavalry charge to destroy another pursuing unit. The surviving wolf riders fled, while Charles continued directing the battle.

• Gash Bloodtooth and his wolf king were crushed to death by Charles's thorn whips, and the remaining wolf riders fled.
• Charles ordered his human cavalry to pursue and kill the fleeing riders while the rest guarded the area.
• Charles cast an Exploding Acorn against another wolf-rider unit, blasting riders and wolves with fragments.
• Charles turned the human cavalry around to charge the wounded orcs, leaving no riders standing and sending the surviving wolves fleeing.

Charles led his human cavalry to a decisive victory over Gash Bloodtooth's wolf riders, then attacked the unsuspecting orc camp. The chapter ended as Charles blew apart the camp's gate and palisade, and the orcs realized they were under attack.

• Charles's cavalry defeated the orc wolf riders, and Yvenjieling knelt before him, vowing to follow him as he promised humans would become overlords.
• Charles ordered the battlefield cleared and led most of his cavalry toward the orc camp before news of the defeat could reach it.
• The orcs left in the camp relaxed, unaware that Gash Bloodtooth's forces had been defeated and that Charles was approaching.
• Charles silently killed the camp's sentries and a patrolling orc officer with sorcery.
• Charles blasted the camp gate and palisade with an Explosive Fireball, and the orcs shouted that the enemy was attacking.

Charles spared the captured orcs but had their thumbs and big toes cut off, then burned their camp and led his cavalry to seize the nearby town. The townspeople were rounded up, and they recognized one of the bodies hanging from the flagpole as their lord.

• After Bruce urged him to kill the prisoners, Charles ordered that their thumbs and big toes be cut off instead, leaving them unable to fight or rejoin the Howling Children of the Wasteland.
• Molly reported that the camp's spoils were worth more than two hundred thousand Magic Stones, and Charles said the town was also theirs to take.
• Charles led his cavalry away from the camp, drove the prisoners along, and burned the camp to the ground.
• As news of the attack spread, wealthy townspeople tried to flee while others hurriedly gathered their belongings.
• Charles's cavalry charged into town and forced the fleeing residents to gather under threat of death.
• The townspeople saw corpses hanging from a wooden flagpole and recognized one as their lord.

Charles took control of a town after destroying the nearby orc wolf-rider camp, using the executions of fleeing masters to intimidate its residents. He forced an elderly man to become mayor and began conscripting strong men into his army.

• Charles had Erika, Scorchflame, and cavalry intercept the town's wealthy residents who tried to flee, then hanged more than a dozen humans and orcs.
• Charles announced that he was Imril, a Sun Elf and Verdant Court Knight, and declared the town under his rule.
• Charles identified the dead mayor and appointed an elderly resident as his replacement, threatening him until he accepted.
• Charles ordered the new mayor and cavalry to select strong laborers, then dismissed the remaining residents and gathered two to three hundred men.
• Charles separated the men who could ride from those who could not as he prepared to recruit more soldiers.