Recaps

Tyler toured the Armored Knights' training camp and learned that it held three hundred knights, leaving him and Ross alarmed by Charles's military strength. Scorchflame sent Tyler back to the castle to think carefully, while Theresa warned him that Scorchflame was a third-tier Magic Beast.

• Elias led Tyler and the others to the Armored Knights' training grounds, where Tyler watched their training and saw the force of their charge.
• Theresa explained that she could solidify sorcery runes in armor but could not assemble the armor or explain how the knights had been made so powerful.
• Tyler asked how many Armored Knights were in the camp, and Elias answered that there were three hundred.
• Tyler and Ross were shaken by the number, while Charles's plans showed that he had spent nearly all his resources on building military strength.
• Scorchflame dismissed Elias and told Tyler to think carefully before returning to the castle, and Theresa warned her grandfather that Scorchflame was third-tier.

Tyler weighed Charles’s offer to surrender Blackstone Bastion Settlement against the threat to his and Theresa’s lives. Charles promised Tyler a place in his government and revealed that he could teach Theresa the wizardry behind the Armored Knights, leaving Tyler to decide whether to prove his loyalty.

• After returning to Greenshade City, Tyler studied the castle’s formidable defenses and worried through the night about Blackstone Bastion Settlement’s future.
• The next morning, Charles hosted Tyler, Ross, and Theresa for breakfast and offered to teach Theresa magic if they surrendered.
• Charles offered Tyler a senior role and promised to leave Blackstone Bastion’s administration intact at first while stationing troops and reorganizing its army.
• When Tyler asked if he could leave, Charles said he would kill Tyler and Theresa if they refused to surrender, but that Blackstone Bastion Settlement was what he truly wanted.
• Charles told Tyler that the Armored Knights had been modified through wizardry and offered to teach Theresa the techniques if Tyler proved his loyalty.

Tyler agreed to swear loyalty to Charles and bring Blackstone Bastion Settlement under his rule, though Charles insisted on returning there with an army. Charles set out to secure the settlement and ordered Yvenjieling to coordinate its defense with Bruce, while Tyler kept the Sons of the Broken Blade beyond Charles’s grasp.

• Tyler accepted Charles’s rule and asked him to treat the people of Blackstone Bastion Settlement well; Charles promised to do so but said he would return with an army.
• Charles mobilized three thousand infantrymen, five hundred cavalrymen, and one hundred Armored Knights, then marched toward Blackstone Bastion Settlement with Tyler.
• The Book of Causal Paths explained that Tyler might die soon after the Queen, so it would gain power from him only if Charles kept him alive beyond his destined time of death.
• Charles told Yvenjieling that Bruce would guard Blackstone Bastion Settlement and ordered them to support each other, prioritizing the settlement even over the Howling Children of the Wasteland’s land.
• Charles asked Tyler to have the Sons of the Broken Blade swear loyalty, but Tyler denied being able to command them and teased Charles for failing to bluff him.

Charles took control of Blackstone Bastion Settlement after Tyler convinced the garrison to surrender, then began reorganizing its army while leaving its administration intact. As the settlement adjusted to Charles’s rule, Tyler led him to inspect its accumulated resources, warning that there was little to show for it.

• Tyler ordered Blackstone Bastion Settlement to open its gates, and after speaking with his deputy, persuaded him to surrender the fortress to Charles.
• Charles’s soldiers took over the gates and defenses, disarmed the garrison, and began reorganizing the settlement’s troops.
• Charles kept the administrative system in place while screening the soldiers, transferring selected troops elsewhere and dismissing more than a thousand unfit personnel.
• Charles sent officials from Charlotte to observe the settlement and familiarize themselves with its administration.
• Tyler led Charles to inspect Blackstone Bastion Settlement’s resources and said they had not accumulated much.

After returning to Isata with the resources he had gained, Charles sold them and sought to strengthen his forces by hiring Blood Ring Knights. He agreed to hire ten third-rank knights without magic mounts.

• Charles estimated that the supplies in Blackstone Bastion Settlement were worth about two million Magic Stones and promised Tyler an important position in Greenshade City.
• Charles left Bruce to oversee Blackstone Bastion Settlement, then returned to Greenshade City and sent some goods to the Crimson Caravan Alliance.
• Charles transported the remaining resources to Isata and sold them through a merchant association under Webster.
• Charles learned that third-rank Blood Ring Knights cost two hundred and fifty thousand Magic Stones each, or two hundred thousand without magic mounts.
• Charles ordered ten third-rank Blood Ring Knights without magic mounts.

Charles recruited ten third-rank Blood Ring Knights and assigned them to strengthen his forces. Meanwhile, the Moonshadow Queen’s death destabilized the Aventor Elven Court, and Charles suspected that the Giant Empire was also facing internal trouble.

• Charles brought ten Blood Ring Knights from Isata and assigned them as guards and officers under Yvenjieling, Bruce, and his own command.
• News of the Moonshadow Queen’s death spread after Kaland Riel and Felenlos returned her procession to Elegy City.
• The half-elf nobles on the Thirteen-Person Regency Council pushed for greater access to knowledge and the creation of a noble rank of count.
• Resentment between half-elves and pure-blood elves grew, and some radical half-elves began plotting to use war to force change.
• In Greenshade City, Charles asked the Book of Causal Paths why the Giants and orcs had not acted, and wondered if the Moonshadow Queen had killed a fourth-rank Giant.

After the Moonshadow Queen died destroying much of the Giant royal capital and gravely wounding its fourth-rank Storm wizard, the Orcs rebelled against Giant rule. The Orc Emperor captured a northern fortress, but his generals and shamans urged him to consolidate and learn the wizard’s condition before advancing further.

• The Moonshadow Queen fought the Storm Giant wizard in the Giant royal capital, then died in a crescent-moon explosion that devastated his soul and left much of the city ruined.
• The wounded Giant King’s weakness made the Orcs’ fourth-rank Berserker suspect an opportunity to break free of Giant rule.
• Several major Orc clans declared independence, established the Orc Empire in their territories, and clashed with Giant forces across the north.
• The Orc Emperor led an elite force to capture a large northern fortress and made it the Orc Empire’s border.
• The Orc Emperor considered advancing north to kill the Giant wizard, but his generals and shamans advised him to gather intelligence and clear Giants from Orc territories first.

Charles chose to attack the Splitfang Tribe first, hoping to test the orcs while Tyler tried to persuade the gnoll tribe Zorge to surrender. He promised Tyler independent command in a future battle if he succeeded, leaving the campaign and negotiations about to begin.

• After learning that the orcs were fighting the giants, Charles decided to unify the disputed region by attacking Zorge.
• Tyler advised Charles to strike the Splitfang Tribe first, arguing the orcs were the greater threat and Zorge could likely be persuaded to surrender.
• Charles agreed to attack the Splitfang Tribe and asked Tyler for intelligence about its strength.
• Charles assigned Tyler to travel to Zorge and persuade the gnolls to join his ranks while the army marched against the orcs.
• Charles promised Tyler he could command troops in the next battle if he convinced Zorge to surrender before the Splitfang Tribe was defeated.

Charles mobilized a large army and marched toward the Splitfang Tribe, while Tyler departed to meet Zorge the gnoll. The Splitfang chiefs assembled their warriors after Charles claimed he was investigating missing soldiers, and his army reached their old nest.

• Charles deployed three thousand infantry, fifteen hundred cavalry, two hundred Armored Knights, and three third-tier Blood Ring Knights against the Splitfang Tribe, while ordering Bruce and Yvenjieling to stay vigilant.
• Charles's army assembled and departed within three days, and Tyler praised its discipline and equipment before riding away toward Zorge the gnoll.
• The Splitfang chiefs panicked when they learned Charles was advancing, then gathered their battle-capable orcs to prepare for defense.
• Charles's envoys told the Splitfang Tribe that his soldiers had gone missing in their territory and that his army had come to investigate.
• Odu asked the other chiefs whether they had attacked Charles's soldiers or caravans, and Charles's army arrived at the Splitfang Tribe's old nest.

Charles confronted the Splitfang Tribe over a stolen caravan, then fought the orc clan chief after he charged. Charles left the clan chief badly burned and terrified.

• Charles reached the Splitfang Tribe's lair-city and demanded that its leaders discuss the missing caravan.
• The orc clan chief denied robbing Charles and rode out to meet him, believing Charles would not attack his creditor.
• Charles asked to inspect the city, but the clan chief refused and threatened him.
• The clan chief charged Charles, and Charles summoned an Astral Spirit Guard to block him.
• Charles used Gravity Well to hinder the clan chief's escape and Blazing Sun Focus to burn him badly.

Charles killed the Splitfang Tribe's chieftain and launched an attack on the tribe's walls, where his summoned creatures and Thornstorm devastated the orc forces. The battle continued as his army advanced on the walls.

• Charles summoned an Astral Spirit Guard and killed the orc chieftain with Autumn Leaf Blade.
• Charles sent the Astral Spirit Guard toward the walls and summoned a Treant among the orcs.
• The Treant and Astral Spirit Guard engaged the orc chiefs as Charles's army prepared to attack and its archers began firing.
• Charles sent the Blood Ring Knights toward the walls and cast Thornstorm, which tore through the orcs despite the shamans' attempts to dispel it.

Charles conquered the Splitfang Tribe’s stronghold and its outposts, freeing human slaves and enslaving the Orcs. When the tribe’s envoy returned, Charles learned that the Orc Empire had no troops available to help.

• Charles’s Thornstorm and summoned forces devastated the Orc defenders, while his fireballs blasted open the city gate and his army captured the stronghold.
• Charles’s Blood Ring Knights led forces to seize the Splitfang Tribe’s outlying settlements, freeing human slaves and making the Orcs slaves.
• Charles’s forces captured the returning Orc envoy, who saw the corpses and bloodstains and realized the tribe had been conquered.
• Charles ordered the envoy beheaded, then stopped the execution when the envoy offered to talk.
• The envoy told Charles that the Orc Empire had no troops available to reinforce the Splitfang Tribe, and Charles said the information was nothing he did not already know.

Charles learned that the Orc Empire was too divided to support the Splitfang Tribe, while Graksh gathered orc forces at Bloodfang Fortress to fight the Giants. After reading Elendil’s hopes for the Avenor Elven Court’s succession, Charles warned him that conflict between pure-blooded elves and half-elves could become a war and urged him to seek safety in the Eternal Forest.

• Charles learned that the Orc Empire was consumed by internal power struggles and could not send support to the Splitfang Tribe.
• Graksh gathered orcs at Bloodfang Fortress and argued that the elves would not counterattack because they were preoccupied with the Moonshadow Queen’s death and succession.
• Charles read Elendil’s letter proposing Imril or an ancient tree lord as the next ruler of the Avenor Elven Court.
• Charles wrote to Elendil, warning that pure-blooded elves and half-elves might go to war and advising him to move his family to the Lotheran Royal Court.
• Charles offered to manage Elendil’s territory if Elendil returned to the Eternal Forest.

Elendil acted on Charles's warning that war between elves and half-elves was likely, and sent elven families from Verdant Crystal Domain toward the Eternal Forest. Meanwhile, Charles consolidated his control over the Splitfang Tribe and received Tyler and Zorge after the gnoll leader agreed to surrender.

• Elendil read Charles's letter, which reported his victories and warned that conflict between elves and half-elves could erupt.
• Elendil and the elven nobles agreed to send their families to the Eternal Forest, and he ordered an Azure Court lord to escort them.
• Selena pleaded to stay, but Elendil refused and the elven families departed for the Lotheran Royal Court.
• Charles freed former slaves, dealt with resisting orcs, and began recruiting captives into the Orc Blood-Pact Warband or selling those who refused.
• Tyler persuaded Zorge to surrender after the gnoll leader learned that Charles had defeated the Splitfang Tribe, and Zorge came to meet Charles with Tyler and his guards.

Charles received Zorge’s oath of loyalty and assessed the gnoll tribe’s poor, nomadic territory and its resources. He concluded that subduing the gnolls could still benefit him by supplying infantry and valuable earth elemental materials.

• Tyler introduced Zorge to Charles, and Zorge swore fealty on behalf of his entire gnoll tribe with a ritual of blood.
• Charles promised Zorge that all subjects in his territory would receive equal status, freedom, respect, and protection in return for taxes and soldiers.
• Zorge handed Charles a scroll detailing his tribe’s barren territory, where many gnolls survived by nomadic herding.
• Charles worried that taking in the impoverished gnolls might cost him money, then found that their territory produced earth elemental materials worth more in Isata.
• Charles decided that the gnolls would still be useful as infantry and that their materials made the submission worthwhile.

Charles secured Zorge’s pledge by promising aid and demanded three thousand gnoll warriors for his command. After consolidating his newly seized territories, he withdrew to Greenshade City to strengthen his rule and prepare for future opportunities.

• Charles promised Zorge farming instructors, food, tools, and slaves, and Zorge pledged loyalty and agreed to send three thousand elite gnolls.
• Charles told Tyler that he cared more about Zorge meeting his demands than about his sincerity, and explained that Tyler’s questionable loyalty kept him from important positions.
• Charles’s forces had taken five of the region’s six major powers, but his new territories remained unstable.
• Charles left Yvenjieling, troops, cavalry, and Blood Ring Knights to guard the Splitfang Tribe before returning to Greenshade City.
• Charles paused his expansion to rebuild and consolidate his rule, let tensions among the Giants, orcs, elves, and half-elves develop, and return to Isata to cultivate his talent.

Charles returned to Isata with Erika to recruit apprentices and wizards, hoping to build his own force and reduce his reliance on outside help. After selling materials and setting Erika to organize a training class, he visited Anderson’s tower and learned that Anderson was away running a kingdom.

• Charles left Osela and returned to Isata with Erika to begin recruiting students.
• Charles sold accumulated materials for roughly three million Magic Stones and asked Erika to recruit promising apprentices for a wizard trial training class.
• Charles explained that even newly trained wizards could help with rune refinement and equipment crafting.
• Charles visited Anderson’s tower to seek advice on training apprentices and learned Anderson was absent.
• A second-circle wizard told Charles that Anderson had allowed him to enter the plane to find him, since Anderson was now running a kingdom.

Charles returned to the ocean plane and learned that Anderson had conquered Klenze Island and established his rule there. As Charles traveled to meet his teacher, he discovered Anderson was still paying off the debt he had taken on to build the interplanar gate.

• Charles agreed to return to the ocean plane and noticed that Anderson's upgrades had reduced the teleportation cost to about eight thousand Magic Stones per person.
• Charles arrived at the relocated gate, met his former teacher Loran, and asked where Anderson was.
• Loran explained that Anderson's forces had conquered Klenze Island and destroyed the Klenze Kingdom.
• Charles learned that Anderson's conquest had earned him a great deal, but he still had not repaid the debt for buying the plane coordinates and building the gate.
• When Loran asked whether Charles had borrowed money too, Charles admitted that he had borrowed a huge sum.

Charles reunited with Anderson, who praised his rise to three-ring Grand Wizard and asked about how he obtained his otherworldly plane. Anderson then explained that advancing to four-ring Wizard Sage required academy and Wizard Throne approval, which depended on presenting a fourth-tier creature’s core.

• Loran brought Charles to Anderson, who praised Charles for becoming a three-ring Grand Wizard so quickly.
• Charles told Anderson how he had obtained his otherworldly plane, and Loran admitted she had been trying and failing to receive a summon from another plane.
• After sending Loran away, Anderson asked Charles for help and explained that three-ring Grand Wizards needed permission from the academy and Wizard Throne to advance.
• Anderson told Charles that an advancement application required a fourth-tier creature’s core, which the Wizard Plane consumed as certification and power.
• Charles learned that he would need to hunt a fourth-tier creature himself, since powerful Sages were unlikely to give away their valuable cores.

Anderson explained the political costs and service requirements for becoming a fourth-ring Sage, then asked Charles to help hunt a fourth-tier being in the minor plane. Charles agreed to join the hunt, leaving Anderson more confident about securing the core he needed.

• Anderson told Charles that advancing to fourth-ring Sage required a fourth-tier core and approval from more than half of Isata’s Wizard Sages, which meant paying substantial benefits.
• Anderson estimated that Webster’s faction’s influence could keep his costs to a little over twenty million Magic Stones, which he planned to save over time.
• Anderson explained that a new Sage also had to serve Isata for five hundred years, choosing between guarding its borders, fighting in its major-plane wars, or teaching its wizards.
• Anderson asked Charles to help hunt a fourth-tier being he had already targeted, saying the minor plane’s fourth-tier beings were weaker and he had prepared extensively.
• Charles agreed to help Anderson, who said hiring other Great Wizards could risk exposing the plane’s coordinates.

Anderson gave Charles three Abyssal Third-Ring spell scrolls to prepare for a planned hunt for a fourth-order creature, which could begin within two years. Charles also asked for help recruiting students to develop the Osela plane, and Anderson arranged for Loran and his other students to assist him.

• Anderson offered Charles a share of the fourth-order creatures he had identified and said he could help hunt one after advancing to the Fourth Ring.
• Charles worried that his combat strength was inadequate, so Anderson gave him scrolls for Abyssal Fire Scorch, Phase Claw, and False Gift to master before the hunt.
• Anderson said the hunt would not begin for up to two years, giving Charles time to prepare.
• Charles asked Anderson for help recruiting students for future plane-conquest operations.
• Anderson agreed to send Loran to Isata and have his other students recommend promising wizard apprentices to Charles.

Charles settled into a new tower in Isata, began recruiting wizard apprentices, and continued traveling between Isata and the Osela Plane to manage his responsibilities. As tensions rose between orcs and Giants and between elves and half-elves, Elendil recognized that he might need Charles’s protection.

• Charles visited Madam Boxi, confirmed that he had seen Anderson, and asked her to arrange help recruiting wizard apprentices.
• Charles bought a tower in the upper-middle levels of Isata, moved his cross-plane portal there, and strengthened the tower’s defenses.
• Loran and the other wizards searched for promising apprentices, while Charles prepared basic resources and equipment for candidates entering the Trial Plane.
• Charles traveled between Isata and the Osela Plane to study, manage his army and territory, and make partial interest payments to the Crimson Caravan Alliance.
• The war between the orcs and Giants intensified, while conflict between elves and half-elves spread beyond Elegy City.
• Elendil worried about the rising tensions and envied Charles’s expanding territory, realizing that he might need Charles’s help to stay safe.

Charles recruited students after the Trial Plane, attracting more than sixty apprentices by offering free demon bloodline fusion and related knowledge. He began preparing to fulfill his promises by summoning and sacrificing creatures to power a rune array.

• A third-circle grand wizard and several others, including Charles, addressed the apprentices to recruit students.
• Charles transformed into a Balor, briefly demonstrated his flames, and offered students free demon bloodline fusion and instruction.
• More than sixty apprentices applied to become Charles's students, and recruitment ended.
• Charles left Sage Webster and prepared to provide the promised bloodline fusions.
• Charles transformed into a Balor and began sacrificing Goblins to fill a summoning rune array while Flame Demons watched from nearby cages.

Charles summoned Flame Demons from the Bottomless Abyss and trapped them so he could extract their bloodline essence to make potions for his sixty-three rank-one wizard students. He planned to use the students as a fighting force in a coming battle on the Osela plane.

• Charles used Goblin blood, bodies, and souls as bait while summoning Flame Demons from the Bottomless Abyss.
• Charles deceived a Flame Demon into answering his summons, but it tried to flee after seeing the caged demons.
• Charles seized the fleeing Flame Demon and locked it in a spherical cage, then began summoning more demons.
• Charles planned to extract the Flame Demons' bloodline essence to help his sixty-three rank-one wizard students fuse with Flame Demon bloodlines.
• Charles intended for the students to follow him into battle on the Osela plane after their training.

Charles taught his first-circle wizard students to control their Flame Demon bloodlines while managing his growing territory and trade on the Osela Plane. After gathering enough resources from taxes, trade, and Abyssal demons, he began upgrading his interplanar portal.

• Charles trained his students in Abyssal Grimoire Studies, bloodline fusion, Blood Ring Knight modification, rune enchantments, and first-circle elven spells.
• Charles's territory on the Osela Plane stabilized, expanded its military workshops, and earned rising income by selling equipment to the orcs amid growing battles with the Giants.
• Charles continued borrowing despite his debts and decided to upgrade his interplanar portal to reduce the cost of transporting his students.
• Charles had Charlotte sell high and buy low through the Crimson Caravan Alliance, accumulating resources from Osela trade and Abyssal demons.
• Charles began upgrading the interplanar portal, using the knowledge he had learned from Webster.