Chapter Summaries

Lin Fan and Oedmeir discussed new weapons for the Imperium, then a Wraithbone gateway opened and Yvraine arrived with the Ynnari. Yvraine greeted Lin Fan and revealed that she had collected three Croneswords.

• Oedmeir rejected Lin Fan’s mech design and began sketching new equipment suited to fighting Orks, Tyranids, Chaos, and daemons.
• Oedmeir showed Lin Fan a flying, chapel-like vehicle design, and Lin Fan advised her to adapt existing equipment and make new weapons more religious to guard against Tzeentch.
• Lin Fan visited the growing Wraithbone in the underground fortress and thought of Yvraine and the Ynnari’s quest for the Croneswords.
• The Wraithbone split open and formed a gateway, through which Yvraine, Many-Faced, and a group of Ynnari warriors emerged.
• Yvraine greeted Lin Fan and said she had collected three Croneswords.

Lin Fan gathered the Ynnari and his human allies to discuss the fifth Cronesword, then revealed that Slaanesh had become his wife. Slaanesh appeared and overwhelmed the Ynnari with her presence, leaving the meeting in chaos as she recognized them from Commorragh.

• Many-Faced led the Ynnari through a new breach in the Webway so they could escape the pursuing kabals and reach realspace.
• Yvraine pressed Lin Fan for news about the fifth Cronesword, and he summoned the humans and Ynnari to a fortress conference room.
• Perturabo objected to working with xenos, and Lin Fan told him that Slaanesh was his wife.
• Lin Fan summoned Slaanesh, whose appearance made flowers grow from the walls and caused Perturabo and the Ynnari to suffer her shifting influence.
• A Drukhari begged for help as Slaanesh's presence overwhelmed him, and Lin Fan told Slaanesh to restrain her power.
• Slaanesh recognized the Ynnari as the people who had been with Lin Fan when they met in Commorragh.

Lin Fan introduced Slaanesh to Yvraine and the others, but Slaanesh’s presence and Lin Fan’s relationship with her overwhelmed Yvraine. After Yvraine attacked Lin Fan and collapsed, he gave her Nurgle’s broth and arranged for the Ynnari to be accommodated, while Perturabo questioned Lin Fan about his feelings for her.

• Slaanesh reminisced about her first meeting with Lin Fan until he calmed her down and she took a humanlike form.
• Lin Fan introduced Slaanesh to Yvraine, who recoiled when Slaanesh called her a guest at their future wedding.
• Yvraine accused Lin Fan of being aligned with Chaos, then drew the Cronesword and attacked him.
• Lin Fan stopped Yvraine’s strike, gave her a drop of Nurgle’s broth when she collapsed, and ordered Erika to arrange rooms for the Ynnari.
• Slaanesh teased Delia and Commissar Cain while Perturabo asked Lin Fan whether he had an Aeldari girlfriend.

Perturabo and Slaanesh secretly began a scheme involving Yvraine, after Perturabo learned Lin Fan had joked about her and Guilliman. Yvraine remained unconscious and suspended in a tree-room as Perturabo sent a warp-powered needle through the trunk toward her divine protections.

• Lin Fan joked that Yvraine had a later, ambiguous connection with Guilliman, and Perturabo decided to use the idea to embarrass his brother.
• Slaanesh and Perturabo secretly agreed on a scheme while telling Lin Fan that Perturabo was thinking about sculpture.
• Krieg soldiers carried the unconscious Yvraine into their tree district and suspended her from the ceiling because her tall hairstyle kept pushing her off the bed.
• Perturabo evaded the sentries and connected a mechanical device to his temple while Slaanesh joined him inside it.
• Perturabo guided a purple warp-energy needle through the tree toward Yvraine, and Slaanesh touched the divine power protecting her.

Slaanesh invaded Yvraine’s soul and trapped her in a vision of a daemon assault, where Guilliman and the Ultramarines appeared to save her. After discussing an alliance, Guilliman faded away, leaving Yvraine to realize the encounter echoed a prophecy.

• Slaanesh breached Yvraine’s soul barrier and filled her mind with an illusion of daemons attacking her.
• Yvraine fought the daemons with the Sword of Sorrows, but her strength dwindled until one knocked her down and disarmed her.
• Guilliman and the Ultramarines appeared, drove back the daemon assault, and Guilliman gathered Yvraine into his arms.
• Guilliman asked Yvraine to help Macragge, and Yvraine recalled prophecy and said the Ynnari had already made an agreement with Jaghatai and the Imperium.
• Guilliman and the Ultramarines faded away, and Yvraine’s sea of souls returned to silence.

Slaanesh teased Perturabo and then doted on Lin Fan, while Yvraine woke in a strange tree-built settlement and learned that the prophecy had not brought her there. The chapter left Yvraine and Many-Faced facing a world that prophecy had not prepared them for.

• Slaanesh teased Perturabo about Kor'sarro, but Perturabo left without learning what he wanted to know.
• Slaanesh gnawed affectionately on Lin Fan while Oedmeir took Delia away from them.
• A few days later, Yvraine woke in a wooden settlement and noticed traces of Nurgle's aura in its trees.
• Many-Faced appeared and indicated that Slaanesh was involved, prompting Yvraine to suspect a trap against the Ynnari.
• Yvraine said the prophecy expected them to obtain the third Cronesword, but Many-Faced denied that the prophecy was wrong.

Lin Fan brought Yvraine and Many-Faced aboard a flying chapel and revealed that Slaanesh had been reduced to a child by Ecclesiarchy relics. He gave Yvraine the fifth Cronesword, while Slaanesh dismissed the threat of the god of death and Lin Fan explained why her servants had not attacked them.

• Many-Faced and Yvraine discussed how Lin Fan's existence might have interfered with prophecies before a floating chapel broke through the treetops.
• Lin Fan showed Oedmeir the chapel's energy-spire defenses and invited Yvraine and Many-Faced aboard.
• Yvraine warned Lin Fan that Nurgle's cultists had infiltrated the planet's grain-producing regions, and Lin Fan claimed he had drunk Nurgle's broth.
• Slaanesh revealed that she had made Lin Fan drink the broth, and Lin Fan showed Yvraine how Ecclesiarchy relics had restricted Slaanesh's power.
• Lin Fan gave Yvraine the fifth Cronesword, and Slaanesh mocked her threat to release the god of death against her.
• Many-Faced asked whether Slaanesh would consume their souls, and Lin Fan explained that her servants had gone to fight Khorne.

Yvraine left the Big Canteen after resolving to kill Slaanesh and later returned to ask Lin Fan for help finding Biel-Tan’s Cronesword. Koens explained that Biel-Tan had vanished from its usual routes, leaving the search for the Craftworld unresolved.

• Slaanesh taunted Many-Faced and Yvraine, while Yvraine declared that the Ynnari would kill her to free the Aeldari gods.
• The Ynnari stayed at the Big Canteen for several days, then Yvraine and Koens asked Lin Fan to help retrieve the Cronesword embedded in Biel-Tan.
• Koens told Lin Fan that Biel-Tan had disappeared from both the Webway and psychic routes after following its familiar path through the Eastern Fringe for thousands of years.
• Koens explained the histories of the Exodite and Craftworld Aeldari and said Yvraine had discovered Biel-Tan’s disappearance when she sought the fourth Cronesword.

Yvraine asked Lin Fan to help find the missing Biel-Tan and Iyanden Craftworlds, and Slaanesh traced them to the dangerous Ghoul Stars. Lin Fan agreed to speak with Oedmeir about supporting the search and was given leave to go, while Oedmeir and Delia would manage the planet.

• Yvraine asked Lin Fan to help locate Biel-Tan and Iyanden, and Slaanesh agreed to search for them.
• Slaanesh sensed a trace through Koens, whose arm marked the Land of Dying Destruction before he fainted.
• Yvraine explained that the Land of Dying Destruction lay in the Ghoul Stars, a perilous region of the Milky Way.
• Yvraine invited Lin Fan to help, and he decided to ask Oedmeir about supporting the Ynnari.
• Oedmeir told Lin Fan to go and said she and Delia would manage the planet, with Rebecca available to evacuate everyone if needed.

Lin Fan left through the Webway for the Ghoul Stars while Delia stayed behind, determined to grow strong enough to support him. Oedmeir contacted the Emperor and reflected on the Golden Ark, the Finalizers, and Tzeentch’s interest in the Ghoul Stars.

• Delia urged Lin Fan to leave with Yvraine and Many-Faced, and he gave Oedmeir his holy icon before departing through the Webway gate.
• After Lin Fan left, Delia admitted she did not want to become his burden, then vowed to become his support by studying and growing stronger.
• Oedmeir used the icon to call the Emperor, who warned that Tzeentch’s influence was stirring in the Ghoul Stars and that he could offer little help there.
• Oedmeir recalled that the Ghoul Stars had been the Finalizers’ heartland and wondered whether their Golden Ark still existed.
• Oedmeir worried that Tzeentch’s deal for half of the Golden Ark might be steering events toward the outcome he wanted.

Lin Fan and Perturabo traveled with the Ynnari through the Webway, where the fleet emerged amid a horde of Ughul ghouls. As the ghouls overwhelmed the ship’s defenders, Perturabo entered the battle with heavy gunfire.

• Lin Fan found Perturabo aboard the Ynnari fleet, and Perturabo said he had long wanted to visit the Ghoul Stars.
• The Ynnari ships emerged from a ruptured Webway with Ughul ghouls pursuing them and clinging to their hulls.
• Aeldari warriors, Howling Banshees, and Daemonettes fought the ghouls with grenades, weapons, and blades as new Webway breaches brought more attackers.
• The ghouls inflicted mounting casualties and pushed the ship’s defenders to the brink of collapse.
• Perturabo arrived with heavy gunfire and challenged the Ughuls to bite through his steel.

Perturabo and Lin Fan fought the Ugul horde alongside the Aeldari, trading insults and attacks as they battled. Lin Fan emerged from Perturabo’s missile blast and rejoined the fighting, wielding his superheated hammer against the Ugul.

• Lin Fan sat on Perturabo’s missile pod and used Eighty to blast an Ugul Ghoul, while Perturabo admired the hammer’s craftsmanship.
• Perturabo launched Lin Fan toward the Ugul horde on a newly assembled missile, then laughed as it exploded and Lin Fan landed in a crater.
• Perturabo slaughtered Ugul with his weapons and fired a barrage at Lin Fan, who threatened to tear down his factory.
• Lin Fan exchanged a brief remark with a Daemonette about the Howling Banshees’ shrieks, then charged the Ugul with his glowing, superheated hammer.

Lin Fan and the Aeldari drove back the Ughul ghouls, and he carried wounded Howling Banshees to receive treatment. After the battle, he met a gentle Banshee who explained that Shagula was the name of her mask, while Yvraine described how Craftworld Aeldari and Commorragh residents learned to coexist.

• Lin Fan and Perturabo slaughtered Ughul ghouls as Yvraine arrived and empowered the Aeldari with psychic force.
• The Aeldari drove the ghouls back, escaped the shattered Webway region, and cleared the remaining attackers from their ship.
• Lin Fan carried two wounded Howling Banshees, and one recovered quickly enough to chase the Succubus who had teased her.
• Yvraine told Lin Fan that the Aeldari knew how to keep Craftworld and Commorragh residents from fighting too far.
• The second Banshee removed her mask, apologized for Shagula's rude behavior, and explained that Shagula was the mask's name.
• The chapter recounted how Slaanesh devastated the Aeldari pantheon and how Khorne joined Cain's fight.

The chapter explained how the Aeldari created war masks to control Cain’s bloodlust, then followed Lin Fan’s encounter with Shagula and his sparring match with Perturabo. It left Perturabo happily exploring and rebuilding armor in the Webway, eager to collect more data.

• Cain’s shattered fragments drove the Aeldari to madness, and the Phoenix Lords’ Path system and war masks helped them control their bloodlust.
• Lin Fan learned that Shagula was the name a Howling Banshee used while wearing her war mask, but she fled when he asked for her true name.
• Yvraine explained that Shagula was shy because she had not completed the Path of the Lover.
• Perturabo attacked Lin Fan, and after their fight Lin Fan sat soot-covered while Perturabo laughed over his ruined armor.
• Perturabo reflected on his unfamiliar life as an Aeldari ally and tested his newly built armor, which unexpectedly exploded.
• Perturabo repaired the armor and eagerly prepared to gather more data.

Yvraine’s fleet followed a divination to a star system where an unknown Drukhari Kabal was attacking a planet and pursuing damaged Imperial strike cruisers. After the Kabal departed and the cruisers fired on the Ynnari, Yvraine and Lin Fan tried to make sense of the conflict while Perturabo wanted to attack.

• Yvraine’s seers divined a route to kinfolk in a life-filled star system with signs of human activity.
• Yvraine discovered an unfamiliar Drukhari Kabal attacking a planet and hunting two damaged strike cruisers.
• Yvraine summoned Lin Fan and Perturabo to decide whom the Ynnari should help.
• Lin Fan restrained Perturabo and suggested revealing the fleet to observe the Kabal’s response.
• The Kabal disabled the cruisers’ propulsion and departed without communicating, after which the damaged cruisers opened fire on the Ynnari.
• Perturabo identified the strike cruisers’ broken recoil dampeners as Lin Fan and Yvraine questioned the ships’ behavior.

The badly damaged Carcharodons ships faced a growing xenos fleet, and Captain Bashar ordered his vessel into a boarding attack despite its failing systems. The Chaplain forced the crew to advance, leaving the ship hurtling toward the Aeldari fleet as Doomblade narrowly dodged a gauss beam.

• Bashar learned that a xenos fleet had surrounded the ships and ordered his vessel to move and prepare to board, while the Lamenters were left to continue their penance.
• On the command bridge, the Chaplain, Apothecary, and Techmarine assessed the damage as the mortal captain vomited blood and the ship's weapons failed.
• The Chaplain ordered the ship to advance fifteen units toward the enemy, despite a technician warning that it would break apart.
• When the technician protested, the Chaplain crushed his head and used his corpse to compel the other technicians to operate the ship.
• The ship advanced toward the Aeldari fleet, and Doomblade narrowly dodged a gauss beam.

With their warship disabled and their forces reduced, the Carcharodons fought Yvraine and her Aeldari aboard the ship. Yvraine trapped the Chaplain and his warriors, but a psychic creature disrupted her plan as Lin Fan and Perturabo pursued the captain.

• The Chaplain learned that the captain was dead, the ship's systems had failed, and only seventy of the Third Company's original one hundred and fifty warriors remained.
• The Carcharodons prepared to repel approaching Aeldari, then attacked when Yvraine and her warriors teleported into the corridor.
• Yvraine used psychic powers and growing wraithbone barriers to delay the Carcharodons while ordering her warriors not to kill them.
• Two Aeldari bound the Chaplain with psychic cords and trapped the other Carcharodons among the bone barriers.
• Yvraine's plan to hold the Carcharodons until Lin Fan and Perturabo captured the captain faltered when a Psychic Cat appeared.

Yvraine fought off the Carcharodons and subdued their Contemptor Dreadnought, but its pilot began overloading the nuclear reactor. As Yvraine braced to shield her people from the imminent blast, someone shouted for it to stop and threw a grenade at the Dreadnought.

• Yvraine blocked the Contemptor Dreadnought's attack, destroyed its melta cannon, and kicked it back through the breached wall.
• Yvraine deflected the Carcharodons' bolter fire and told her subordinates to leave the fighting to her.
• Yvraine summoned an incarnation of the Ynnari, which disabled the Contemptor Dreadnought's limbs and forced it onto its back.
• The Dreadnought's pilot began overloading its nuclear reactor while declaring his loyalty to the Emperor.
• Yvraine prepared to protect her people from the coming explosion, but a voice shouted for the pilot to stop and a grenade landed on the Dreadnought.

Perturabo used a Time-Slow Grenade to halt the Contemptor Dreadnought and arrived to protect Yvraine from the Carcharodons. He easily battered the charging Space Marines, but their Apothecary met his kick with a bone drill and held his ground as his shattered hand began to heal.

• Perturabo threw a Time-Slow Grenade that slowed the Contemptor Dreadnought's reactor and delayed its explosion.
• Perturabo arrived carrying an iron coffin shaped like Rogal Dorn, and Yvraine dismissed the bone wall at his request.
• The Carcharodons charged Perturabo and Yvraine, but Perturabo kicked them aside without drawing a weapon.
• A Carcharodon broke through Perturabo's kicks, but Perturabo struck him with a knee and sent him crashing into a wall.
• The Carcharodons charged again, and their Apothecary met Perturabo's kick with his bone drill as his hand bones shattered and began to heal.

Perturabo battered the Carcharodons while their Chaplain watched helplessly, until a Warp presence emerged and the Chaplain broke free of the psychic cords. The Chaplain attacked from the shadows, and Perturabo recognized his elusive fighting style as resembling that of a brother he struggled to handle.

• The Apothecary struck Perturabo's greave with his chainsword, but only managed to leave a faint scrape before Perturabo kicked him into a wall.
• Perturabo overwhelmed the Carcharodons, leaving the Chaplain bound and unable to stop their injuries and humiliation.
• The Chaplain's eyes turned black as a shadow covered in eyes appeared before him, and the psychic cords binding him snapped.
• The Chaplain vanished into the shadows and attacked Perturabo with a crozius, while Perturabo's detector failed to track him.
• Perturabo saw the Chaplain's faint outline and thought his fighting style resembled that of a brother he was not skilled at dealing with.