Recaps

Charles expanded his army to a thousand men and received the equipment Erika had bought, then began preparing an experimental base to create Blood Ring Knights. He left open the possibility of abandoning the settlement and faced the challenge of modifying Gray-Scaled Horses with only three wizards.

• Charles formed a thousand-man army with five hundred cavalry and five hundred mounted infantry, spending heavily on troops and equipment.
• Erika returned with supplies and hired mercenaries, while a little over forty of the fifty cavalrymen who had left came back with her.
• Charles welcomed Erika and learned that Selena had helped her buy the needed supplies.
• Charles arranged the sorcery devices and instruments in the new laboratory and discussed the ongoing conflict between the Howling Children of the Wasteland and the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe with Molly.
• Charles began planning to modify his cavalrymen and Gray-Scaled Horses into Blood Ring Knights, drawing on existing magical-mount templates despite having only three wizards.

Charles reviewed Erika and Molly’s rapid transformation of Gray-Scaled Horses into first-rank magic mounts for the Blood Ring Knights. The mounts proved powerful but short-lived and costly, leaving Charles needing more Magic Stones to expand his cavalry.

• Charles assigned Erika and Molly to develop a rapid Gray-Scaled Horse transformation, using magic, potions, training, and runes to strengthen the horses’ bodies and defenses.
• Erika showed Charles more than ten transformed magic mounts, each meeting the standard of a first-rank magic mount.
• Charles discovered that the transformation burned the horses’ life force, leaving them at most three years to live, and Erika said they could not reproduce or pass on their enhancements.
• Charles accepted the mounts’ short service lives as suitable for the intense early stages of war and noted that battle losses would often kill mounts before old age.
• Erika reported that each transformed mount cost about fifteen hundred Magic Stones, with future large-scale production possibly lowering the cost to twelve hundred.
• Charles concluded that he needed more Magic Stones if he wanted to raise more Blood Ring Knights.

Charles calculated that Blood Ring Knights cost nearly twelve thousand Magic Stones each to create and required costly monthly upkeep, leaving him able to afford only a small force. As he worked to finish his first knights, envoys from the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe and the Crimson Caravan Alliance arrived, and Charles waited to hear their proposals.

• Charles calculated the expenses for Blood Ring Knight mounts, modifications, equipment, and upkeep, and lamented that his resources would fund only a dozen or so knights.
• Charles reflected that a large force of Blood Ring Knights could help him defeat the Howling Children of the Wasteland, but he lacked the resources to build one.
• Molly speculated that the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe had sent an envoy to seek an alliance against the Howling Children of the Wasteland.
• Charles declined to decide on an alliance before hearing the envoy's message.
• A cavalryman reported that an envoy from the Crimson Caravan Alliance also wanted to visit Charles, prompting his surprise.

Charles received an envoy from the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe, who offered gifts and proposed an alliance against the Howling Children of the Wasteland. Charles refused to break his truce for a few gifts and left the envoy to consider paying more.

• Charles received the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe's envoy and accepted the tribe's gifts of feathers, tree seeds, and works of art.
• The envoy proposed an alliance and offered the tribe's support in helping Charles take the Howling Children of the Wasteland's territory.
• Charles pointed out that he had recently agreed to a truce with the Howling Children of the Wasteland and refused to risk his reputation for the tribe's sake.
• Charles told the envoy he would accept the tribe's friendship but that its gifts were not enough to persuade him to go to war.
• Charles reminded the envoy that the Howling Children of the Wasteland had given him three settlements and said the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe would have to pay more.

Charles demanded valuable magical goods from the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe in exchange for joining its war against the Howling Children of the Wasteland, then met a Crimson Caravan Alliance merchant offering supplies and trade. Charles ended their discussion by asking whether the caravan offered loans.

• Charles demanded goods worth around three hundred thousand Magic Stones from the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe before sending his troops to fight the Howling Children of the Wasteland.
• A half-elf merchant representing the Crimson Caravan Alliance arrived and greeted Charles with an elven salute.
• Charles questioned the merchant about his visit, and the merchant said the alliance could supply goods Charles had been buying at lower prices and deliver them directly.
• The merchant offered to make Charles a supplier by buying slaves from the wars he would wage.
• Charles asked the merchant whether the Crimson Caravan Alliance offered loans.

Charles sought military funding from a half-elf merchant, persuading him that his status as a Sun Elf guaranteed repayment even if his campaign failed. The merchant agreed to arrange a large loan, and Charles asked him to recruit other lenders.

• Charles asked the half-elf merchant whether the Crimson Caravan Alliance could lend him military funds, and the merchant asked what collateral he could offer.
• Charles admitted he planned to conquer and govern the Land of Chaos, then insisted he would not be defeated and could repay any loan through his connections in Lotheran.
• The half-elf merchant realized that Charles's Sun Elf status made the loan low-risk and agreed to lend him money.
• Charles asked for as much funding as the merchants could provide, mostly in supplies, and offered thirty percent profit over one year.
• The half-elf merchant promised to consult the other merchants and try to secure more military funds for Charles.

Charles sought a loan from the Crimson Caravan Alliance by offering interest, profits from his purchases, and future business ties. After hearing the half-elf merchant’s report, Ross agreed to provide the requested supplies and 200,000 Magic Stones, leaving Charles’s plans dependent on the caravan’s delivery.

• Charles gave the half-elf merchant a supply list and argued that lending him money would benefit the Crimson Caravan Alliance.
• The half-elf merchant noticed formidable cavalry in Charles’s territory and wondered about the strength of Imril’s forces.
• The merchant reported to Ross, who concluded that Imril was a young, ambitious Sun Elf with the potential to rival Felenlos.
• Ross agreed to send every material on Charles’s list and another 200,000 Magic Stones, and ordered the merchant to obtain proof of the loan with Charles’s seal.

Tyler and Teresa discussed the shifting conflicts in the Land of Chaos and the dangers facing the human powers. Tyler warned the Sons of the Broken Blade to stay out of the war and predicted that Imril would lose now that his lack of support from the Avenor Elven Court had become clear.

• Teresa told Tyler that the Howling Children of the Wasteland were about to defeat the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe and that rumors linked the Sons of the Broken Blade and Imril to the conflict.
• Tyler told Teresa to warn Ivan that the Sons of the Broken Blade should avoid the war and preserve their strength.
• Teresa asked whether the Howling Children of the Wasteland would attack Imril after defeating the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe.
• Tyler explained that the Orcs had made peace with Imril because they feared the Avenor Elven Court, but months without its support had revealed Imril's weakness.
• Tyler predicted that Imril would lose because his territory made his forces vulnerable and the Avenor Elven Court had sent him no substantial aid.

Charles used borrowed funds to resume training Blood Ring Knights and expand his cavalry to eight hundred. After receiving an aid request from the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe, he demanded three hundred thousand Magic Stones and planned to attack the Howling Children of the Wasteland when the timing favored him.

• The Crimson Caravan Alliance delivered more than a million Magic Stones’ worth of materials to Charles, allowing him to resume military preparations.
• Charles trained and modified Blood Ring Knights, gathered fifty newly trained knights, and expanded his cavalry to eight hundred men.
• Yvenjieling brought Charles an aid request from the besieged Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe, which offered two hundred thousand Magic Stones.
• Charles raised his price to three hundred thousand Magic Stones and said he would honor the deal if the tribe paid.
• Charles explained that he intended to attack the Howling Children of the Wasteland before they could recover from their war with the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe.

The besieged Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe argued over whether to hire the sun elf Imril after the Sons of the Broken Blade refused to aid them. They agreed to pay Imril and spread news of his involvement to distract Kurto Shatterbone, while Molok Scorched-Earth hoped the war would strengthen his authority.

• The Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe's chieftains argued over hiring Imril or making peace with Kurto Shatterbone after the Sons of the Broken Blade refused to send troops.
• Molok Scorched-Earth persuaded the chieftains to hire Imril, arguing that his cavalry could draw troops away from the siege.
• The tribe delivered Magic Stones to Charles's location and announced that Imril would join the war against the Howling Children of the Wasteland.
• Molok watched Kurto Shatterbone's besieging forces and hoped the news would force him to choose between maintaining the siege and attacking Imril's stronghold.
• Molok reflected that the other clans had been weakened while his own clan remained strong, and laughed as he anticipated gaining absolute authority.

Charles assembled nearly his entire army to march against the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe, whose careless spread of news had angered Molly and Erika. After inspecting and inspiring his well-equipped troops, Charles led them toward a new victory over the orcs.

• The Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe spread news of Charles’s situation, and Molly and Erika angrily blamed the orcs for endangering their battle.
• Charles dismissed their concern and said the orcs’ actions would give him a reason to deal with them afterward.
• Charles assembled eight hundred cavalry and five hundred infantry, leaving a hundred infantry and several advancing half-Blood Ring Knights behind to guard his laboratory.
• As the town’s residents admired the soldiers’ equipment, Charles inspected the formations and stirred the troops’ pride with the power of the Succubus.
• Charles urged the soldiers to prove that humans were brave warriors and called them to follow him to victory over the orcs.

Charles led his human army toward the Howling Children of the Wasteland’s supply center while half-elf lords doubted he could succeed. Elendil agreed to prepare reinforcements, though he feared Charles would refuse to retreat if defeated.

• Charles boosted his human soldiers’ morale and marched rapidly toward the enemy’s logistical supply center.
• Half-elf lords dismissed rumors of Charles’s campaign, criticized his reliance on human soldiers, and anticipated his failure.
• Elendil worried that Charles had rushed into a larger war without accepting half-elf troops, while Selena asked her father to send reinforcements.
• Elendil agreed to prepare a force to rescue Charles but doubted it could make a difference, fearing Charles would fight to the death rather than abandon his territory.

Charles marched with his growing cavalry force toward the Howling Children of the Wasteland, while Elendil offered a Verdant Crystal Swordsmen Regiment as a fallback rendezvous point. Charles and Yvenjieling reached the orcs’ logistical supply center at night, where Charles explained why he planned to strike their supplies instead of meeting their infantry head-on.

• Charles organized his Blood Ring Knights into a concentrated force and cavalry officers, renaming them Armored Knights.
• Charles received Elendil’s message offering a Verdant Crystal Swordsmen Regiment at coordinates in the central Land of Chaos, and he replied that he would rendezvous there if the battle went badly.
• The Howling Children of the Wasteland held back troops and prepared against Charles’s cavalry after rumors from the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe made Kurto Shatterbone wary.
• Charles and Yvenjieling scouted the Howling Children of the Wasteland’s logistical supply center with several dozen elite cavalrymen.
• Charles asked Yvenjieling why he chose the supply center as his first target, and she explained that destroying it could disrupt supplies and force the orcs to change their plans.

Charles scouted an orc logistics camp and planned to ambush its supply convoy. His concealed cavalry caught the convoy on the road, and the chapter ended as a knight killed an orc officer with a throwing spear.

• Charles used summoned birds to scout the orc supply camp and ordered Yvenjieling to record its layout and the carts preparing to leave.
• The human laborers loaded the convoy while orc overseers whipped them and denied them food.
• The supply convoy set out under orc guard, with laborers pushing the carts and orcs riding atop them.
• An orc spotted Charles's approaching cavalry, and an officer raised the alarm too late to stop the charge.
• Charles ordered his two-hundred-man cavalry force to attack, and a fully armored knight hurled a spear that pinned an orc officer to a supply cart.

Charles used a cavalry ambush on an orc supply convoy to draw reinforcements out of their camp, then led a force toward the enemy logistics base. The battle shifted into its decisive phase as the orcs charged into Charles’s prepared attack.

• A hundred-odd cavalrymen attacked the orc convoy, slaughtering its guards while the human laborers hid beneath the wagons.
• A whipped human laborer dragged a wounded orc beneath a wagon and killed him with the weapon he had dropped.
• Charles kept his main force hidden, intending to draw the orcs out rather than risk a costly assault on their camp.
• Orc officers, fearing Kurto Shatterbone’s punishment, sent a prepared force from the camp to retake the convoy.
• Charles saw the reinforcements through the birds in the sky and ordered most of his cavalry to attack them, while he and Bruce led mounted infantry toward the logistics base.

Charles’s cavalry attacked the orc infantry, using Scorchflame’s witchcraft to empower twenty armored knights who smashed through the shield formations. The armored cavalry began charging into another formation as the orcs struggled to respond.

• Charles split his forces, sending Yvenjieling and Scorchflame with five hundred cavalry to attack the orc support force while he led the remaining two hundred.
• The orcs formed small shield squads, and Yvenjieling’s cavalry units rode around the flanks and fired arrows at them.
• Scorchflame cast enhancement witchcraft on the cavalry, especially the twenty armored knights at the core of the charge.
• The armored knights charged through the first orc shield formation, breaking it apart, while the following cavalrymen swept through the gaps and killed the survivors.
• The armored knights accelerated toward another shield formation as the panicked orc officer ordered his soldiers to throw spears.

Charles’s forces captured the orc supply camp and defeated the troops outside it, freeing the human conscripts and laborers. After Elias begged to join Charles’s guard, the Book of Causal Paths urged Charles to recruit him as an important figure from the original future, and Charles accepted.

• Charles led his cavalry and infantry in a surprise assault, blasting open the orc camp gates and overwhelming the defenders.
• Charles’s soldiers defeated the orcs inside and outside the camp, took many captive, and suffered only slight losses.
• The freed humans marveled at the victory, and Elias approached Charles carrying the head of an orc he had helped kill.
• The Book of Causal Paths identified Elias as an important person with considerable causal power and urged Charles to recruit him.
• Charles accepted Elias into his guard, and Elias thanked him.

Charles recruited Elias and ordered the captured enemy camp’s remaining supplies burned because his army could not hold the territory. As the camp went up in flames, the men he had released regretted not joining Elias, while Charles’s next move remained undecided.

• Charles offered Elias half a day to bring any relatives or friends who wanted to join his army, and the Book of Causal Paths explained why keeping Elias alive would yield more causal power than killing him.
• Charles wondered what the Book of Causal Paths feared, but set the question aside when he found no answer.
• Charles ordered Yvenjieling to distribute valuables and limited provisions, release the able-bodied men, and burn the rest of the enemy supplies.
• Charles released orc prisoners and several wolf cavalrymen as bait, then led his army out while cavalry set the camp ablaze.
• The departing men saw the camp burning, and one regretted not joining Elias before the group continued on its way.

After Charles’s attack destroyed the orc logistics base, Kurto Shatterskull ordered raids on nearby settlements while Lich Fang turned his army back to reopen the supply routes. Charles anticipated Lich Fang’s return and prepared to trap his infantry.

• Kurto Shatterskull learned the logistics base had been attacked and ordered wolf cavalry to seize grain from Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe settlements.
• Lich Fang received news of the attack and worried that Charles’s cavalry might strike his army or Kurto Shatterskull’s forces.
• Lich Fang decided to abandon his advance on Charles’s territory and return to the ruined logistics base to reopen the supply routes.
• Charles learned that Lich Fang’s army was returning and said the infantry had entered the trap he had prepared.

At the ruined logistics base, Lich Fang tried to restore the Howling Children of the Wasteland’s supply lines and defend them against Charles’s cavalry raids. As Charles’s attacks spread across the territory, Lich Fang arranged to escort an important supply shipment himself, hoping to draw the cavalry into a fight.

• Lich Fang ordered his officers to rebuild a defensive camp and discussed ways to protect the supply route from enemy cavalry.
• Lich Fang approved building defensive outposts and gathering tower shields, prioritizing Kurto Shatterskull’s fight against the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe.
• Charles split his cavalry into companies to attack messengers and supply transports across the Howling Children of the Wasteland’s territory.
• Charles led mounted infantry in raids on settlements, plundering wealthy households to recover his military expenses.
• Lich Fang, angered by reports of losses and burned supplies, decided the raids had to be stopped.
• Lich Fang spread word that he would personally escort an important shipment to Kurto Shatterskull’s camp, hoping to lure Charles’s cavalry into attacking.

Charles chose to meet Lich Fang’s force head-on, first using cavalry harassment, road damage, and fire attacks to exhaust the orcs. After several days of torment, Charles began the assault by shooting down an orc scout and his dire wolf, and ordered his troops to advance.

• At a military council, Charles and his allies weighed whether Lich Fang’s three thousand troops were bait or reinforcements for Kurto Shatterskull.
• Charles decided to accept Lich Fang’s challenge and fight his force directly.
• Charles taught his cavalry to weaken the enemy through sabotage, raids, and harassment before the main battle.
• Charles’s cavalry damaged bridges and roads and repeatedly set fires, leaving the orcs exhausted and disrupting their march.
• An orc shaman tried to counterattack Charles but was badly wounded by his spells.
• Charles shot an orc scout and his dire wolf, then ordered his cavalry to keep moving and attack.

Lich Fang halted his orc army after sensing danger and discovered Charles’s cavalry approaching. Charles let the orcs arrange their wagons before harassing them with witchcraft and arrows, leaving the battle underway as the orc formation suffered casualties.

• Lich Fang noticed his wolf rider scouts were overdue and ordered his army to halt, form defenses, and send out another scouting squad.
• Charles’s cavalry scouts were shot down, confirming Lich Fang’s suspicions, and he ordered the army to brace for battle.
• Charles refused Yvenjieling’s suggestion to charge before the orcs finished arranging their wagons and instead led the cavalry in a harassment attack.
• Charles cast Thorn Lash on the orc infantry, while his knights fired arrows into the formation.
• The orcs attempted to counterattack with javelins and bows, but their weapons and aim were inferior, and Charles’s cavalry inflicted further casualties.

Charles wore down Lich Fang’s orc forces with rotating cavalry harassment, then struck hard when the exhausted soldiers lowered their guard. After three days, the orc infantry collapsed, and Charles prepared to seize victory.

• Charles ordered a hundred cavalrymen to keep harassing the orcs while the rest of his force rotated and rested.
• Lich Fang ordered his soldiers to rotate their watches, but Charles sent four hundred cavalrymen to break through the poorly arranged shield wall and capture or kill hundreds of orcs.
• Charles’s cavalry continued attacking, dragging captured orcs and supplies away, while orc infantrymen who tried to rescue them were also defeated.
• Lich Fang slowly advanced across the plain under constant harassment, and three days later the orc infantry collapsed.
• Charles raised his magic sword and declared that it was time to seize victory.

Charles routed Lich Fang’s exhausted orc army and defeated the orc commander with a barrage of spells. Lich Fang fell in battle, leaving Charles victorious.

• Charles led his cavalry against the fleeing orcs, driving them onward and shooting them from behind as their formation collapsed.
• Lich Fang gathered his remaining guards and charged Charles, hoping to kill the enemy leader.
• Charles and Scorchflame used thorn spells and Exploding Acorns to injure and scatter Lich Fang’s elite orcs.
• Charles struck Lich Fang with repeated Radiant Rays and summoned wolves to attack the survivors.
• Charles’s final spell killed Lich Fang, and Charles approached his body and told him he had lost.

Kurto Shatterskull captured the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe's stronghold, while Charles's forces defeated the orcs in a separate battle and took many prisoners. Charles decided to use the captured orcs to attack cities held by the Howling Children of the Wasteland, leaving his forces to prepare for further fighting.

• Kurto Shatterskull killed the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe's chieftain and took the tribe's stronghold after a costly assault.
• Kurto Shatterskull declared that he had dealt with the Scorched-Earth Warcry Tribe and challenged Sun Elf Imril to resist him.
• Charles's cavalry pursued the fleeing orcs, killing many and capturing others after Lich Fang died.
• Charles held a battle review with his officers, then told Yvenjieling that the prisoners would be used to attack cities.
• Charles ordered that any prisoners who resisted or tried to flee should be killed.