Chapter Summaries

At a dwarven feast in Dale, Gandalf told Li Wei he could no longer ignore his suspicions about Saruman. The next morning, Li Wei helped Bard begin planting grapes and sugarcane, and the Dale Region soon saw new crops, sugar, and increased paper production.

• Balin reunited with Gandalf and was cheered by the promise of joining him on a future journey.
• Gandalf told Li Wei that events in the East had made him suspect Saruman and that he intended to take Saruman’s movements seriously.
• Li Wei joined the dwarves’ drinking contest, where Bombur defeated Bard and Bard collapsed.
• Li Wei gave Bard milk to cure his hangover, then proposed planting grapes and sugarcane instead of expanding wheat and potato fields.
• Li Wei and Bard planted the first grape seed in Dale, and the region later produced grapes, sugarcane, white sugar, and more paper.
• Dovonians saw the many new grapevines and wondered when they had been planted.

Li Wei and Gandalf traveled along the Sky Road to the Misty Mountains to meet the Great Eagles and discuss cooperation against the dangers in the Mountains of Shadow. The Eagle King descended to greet them at the mountain summit.

• Dovonian merchants connected Li Wei, the lord who introduced grape cultivation to Dovonian, with the legendary Shadow of War.
• Li Wei and Gandalf admired the Sky Road and discussed how the Mountains of Shadow sheltered Orcs and giant spiders.
• Li Wei explained that he had come to meet the Great Eagles and seek cooperation, while Gandalf assured him that the Eagles would welcome him.
• Li Wei and Gandalf rode from Dale to the Misty Mountains, left their horses, and climbed toward the Eagle's Nest.
• Two Great Eagles carried Li Wei and Gandalf to the summit, where the crowned Eagle King descended and greeted Li Wei.

Li Wei met the Eagle King and secured the Great Eagles’ help in watching the region in exchange for food and an end to humans raising bows against them. The Eagle King then spotted at least a thousand Orcs and beasts descending from Gundabad, leaving Li Wei and Gandalf to wonder where they were headed.

• Li Wei asked the Eagle King to report unusual movements by Orcs, spiders, and other enemies threatening the region.
• The Eagle King agreed to watch the region, and Li Wei promised food for the Great Eagles and asked humans to put away their bows.
• With Gandalf as witness, Li Wei and the Eagle King restored friendly relations between the Great Eagles and the humans of the north.
• The Eagle King spotted at least a thousand beasts and Orcs setting out from Gundabad and warned Li Wei and Gandalf.
• Li Wei and Gandalf questioned whether the force was heading for Dale or Lake-town, though its route through the Black Forest seemed unlikely.

Li Wei learned that Beorn's Kin, a small tribe formed by people displaced from Anduin Valley, was facing an Orc raid and flew to join them. As the tribe prepared for battle, Li Wei offered his help but became especially interested in the giant bees near Beorn's hall and their honey.

• Gandalf told Li Wei that the people evacuated from Anduin Valley had gathered in the north as Beorn's Kin under Beorn's leadership.
• Li Wei flew off to find Beorn, and Gandalf followed with the Eagle King after learning the tribe faced a difficult battle.
• Beorn assembled the village's few hundred armed men and urged them to fight the approaching Orcs.
• Li Wei arrived by plunging into a pool, greeted Beorn, and agreed to join the battle against the Orcs.
• Li Wei noticed Beorn's enormous beehives and thought about collecting honey, which could selectively remove the Poisoned effect and stack in his inventory.

Beorn and the people of Anduin Valley fought off an Orc raid while Li Wei helped turn the battle in their favor. The Orcs were wiped out, and Beorn returned to human form after the fighting.

• Beorn agreed to discuss Li Wei’s interest in his family’s beekeeping after the Orcs arrived.
• Beorn transformed into a Great Bear and led the villagers in fighting the Orc vanguard.
• Li Wei saved a wounded hunter, who recovered and returned to battle.
• The Orc leader ordered his riders to attack the village’s vulnerable defenders, but the Wargs halted when they saw Li Wei.
• The Eagle King and Gandalf joined the fight, and Li Wei killed the Orc leader as the Orcs’ resistance collapsed.
• Beorn ran over in Great Bear form and gradually changed back into his original form.

After Beorn’s settlement was attacked by Orcs and Wargs, Li Wei, the Eagle King, and Gandalf helped restore peace and shared a meal with Beorn. Li Wei left with a honey-cake recipe and two giant bees, while Beorn remained hesitant about something he wanted to discuss.

• Beorn thanked Li Wei for the benefits the Sky Road had brought his territory and offered to help him.
• Li Wei asked to take Beorn’s giant bees, and Beorn agreed while offering to explain their unusual habits.
• Li Wei cooked for the group, and Gandalf tried raw beef and Beorn’s food.
• Beorn offered Li Wei the secret recipe for his honey cakes, and Li Wei accepted.
• Li Wei took two bees and left Beorn’s settlement, while Beorn said he needed time to consider something.

Li Wei returned to Roadside Fortress after overseeing work on the Misty Mountains tunnel and rested in the castle while Little Pink welcomed him. The next morning, he accepted reports on the fortress’s affairs and let the dragon head to breakfast.

• Dwarves used their underground building techniques to light the vast tunnel, easing Li Wei’s concerns about the project.
• Li Wei returned to Roadside Fortress, where Little Pink recognized him and crashed into his arms in greeting.
• Li Wei rested in the castle as Little Pink settled quietly outside the hall.
• Vede and Tabor arrived the next morning with documents, but Little Pink blocked their way to the castle.
• Li Wei came outside, accepted the documents into his inventory, and let Little Pink run to the dining hall.

Li Wei visited Roadside Fortress’s barracks and sparred with recruits, effortlessly defeating them with his own combat instincts. He encouraged the soldiers, then answered one recruit’s question about his first enemy: a Barrow-wight.

• Li Wei inspected the soldiers’ disciplined formation at the barracks and agreed to test their skills.
• Several hundred soldiers volunteered to spar, and Li Wei faced the fastest-learning recruit first.
• Li Wei defeated the young soldier without using swordsmanship skills, relying on his experience and instincts.
• Li Wei sparred with other recruits, then reassured the discouraged soldiers that real combat would make them stronger.
• A soldier asked Li Wei what his first enemy had been, and Li Wei said it was a Barrow-wight.

Li Wei observed the recruits' training and learned that they had faced Barrow-wights on their first outing before visiting Tabor at the school. After helping mark students' assignments, he realized the children feared him because of the legends surrounding him, and Tabor set aside Li Wei's advanced annotations to study before returning the notebooks.

• The recruits remembered the name Barrow-wights as the Rangers explained how dangerous the creatures were.
• Li Wei left the barracks after assessing the recruits, who continued their grueling training and grew stronger.
• Li Wei helped Tabor carry the students' notebooks and learned that the children were too intimidated by him to approach.
• Tabor explained that stories about Li Wei had made the children imagine him as a giant who could kill a dragon with one punch.
• Li Wei helped Tabor mark the assignments, and Tabor kept Li Wei's unusually advanced annotations aside so he could understand them before returning the notebooks.

Li Wei expanded Roadside Fortress’s school and farmland, then built an automated Cactus farm and charcoal supply to power an experience farm. Once complete, the system would let the Territory enchant equipment freely.

• Tabor and Li Wei discussed the school’s class levels and teaching plans, and Tabor repeated Li Wei’s words about children being allowed to live like children.
• Li Wei planted sugarcane and grapes, establishing crops for sugar, food, wine, and raisins.
• Li Wei tasted his own wine alongside Dovonian wine, then went underground beneath the blacksmith shop.
• Li Wei planted Cactus and used its growth traits to design an automated farm that would supply materials for an experience farm.
• Li Wei built a charcoal-making machine and connected its fuel supply to the underground experience farm.

During a violent storm, an old man found Peter unconscious after Phil brought him back from the woods, and he struggled to wake the boy. Two apprentice rangers from Roadside Fortress arrived seeking shelter, leaving the old man to care for Peter while hosting the strangers.

• The old man waited anxiously for Peter and Phil, then went out into the storm to search for them.
• Phil returned carrying an unconscious Peter and said a black shadow had pounced on him in the woods.
• The old man brought the boys home, but Peter remained unconscious with purple lips despite his attempts to wake him.
• Two young apprentice rangers from Roadside Fortress knocked, and the old man let them into his house to shelter from the rain.
• One ranger removed his cloak, revealing a steel sword and wooden bow, as the pair settled in for the night.

Two rangers tried to save Peter with magical milk, but a Barrow-wight’s influence quickly made him ill again. They tracked the creature into the forest and fought it with enchanted swords, but its strength and toughness left them in serious trouble.

• An old man told the two rangers that Peter had fallen gravely ill after going out in the rain, and one ranger gave him magical milk that briefly restored his health.
• A dark presence caused Peter to relapse, and a Barrow-wight appeared at the window before vanishing when a ranger attacked.
• The rangers recognized the Barrow-wight and rushed out into the rain to pursue it, leaving the old man and Phil behind.
• The two rangers followed the creature to a forest south of the village and learned that ordinary arrows could not harm it.
• The Barrow-wight ambushed them, and their enchanted swords could strike it, but it nearly overwhelmed one ranger and suffered only a shallow wound.

Two apprentice Rangers fought a Barrow-wight until Falrodan arrived and drove it into the forest. Afterward, he treated the apprentices’ encounter as a lesson and began correcting their combat tactics.

• The Barrow-wight battered two Rangers, and one fired a signal firework while the other tried to hold the monster back.
• A Ranger’s battle cry briefly weakened the Barrow-wight, but it lunged to attack him before an ancient dagger struck its body.
• Falrodan arrived, fought the Barrow-wight with an ancient sword, and pursued it when it retreated.
• Fireworks exploded against the Barrow-wight and briefly stopped it, giving Falrodan time to catch up.
• Falrodan returned to the Rangers, showed them the Aserath herb, introduced himself as an ordinary Ranger, and advised them to use fireworks as explosive crossbow bolts.

Falrodan escorted two trainee Rangers to a village to check on Peter after they defeated a Barrow-wight, then brought them to the South Downs outpost to report in. He suspected the Barrow-wight had been compelled to leave its Territory and told the recruits that Li Wei had gone south in search of a watermelon.

• Falrodan lectured the two trainee Rangers about acting recklessly and accompanied them to check on Peter in the village.
• Falrodan examined Peter, gave the old man Aserath to disperse the curse, and noted that the Barrow-wight's appearance near the village was unusual.
• Falrodan led the trainees to the South Downs outpost, where a Ranger excused their late arrival and ordered them to rest before a planned raid on the Orcs in one week.
• The trainees asked Falrodan where Li Wei had gone, and he said Li Wei had headed south after claiming the Territory needed a watermelon.

Li Wei searched a Haradrim market for goods to bring home before discovering a captured Gondorian commander who was still alive. He confronted the soldiers escorting the prisoner, revealing himself as the legendary Shadow of War.

• Li Wei bought date wine and browsed the market for fruit, questioning the price of a watermelon before a crowd gathered outside.
• Haradrim soldiers brought a bloodied Gondorian commander in a prison cart and announced that he had died after being captured in battle.
• Li Wei recognized that the commander still had a sliver of health and pushed through the crowd toward the cage.
• When a soldier ordered Li Wei to move aside, Li Wei drew his sword and revealed the black armor beneath his robe.
• The soldiers recognized the figure before them as the rumored Shadow of War.

Li Wei rescued the Gondor general and escaped across the Harnen River while Haradrim soldiers searched for a blue-robed wizard they mistook him for. The chapter ended with Li Wei rowing north, grateful that Alatar had drawn the guards’ attention.

• Li Wei defeated the soldiers attacking him, freed the Gondor general, and used his last Potion of Regeneration to revive him.
• The commander questioned the fruit stall owner and learned that a wizard from the east had taken the prisoner and reflected a soldier’s attack.
• The commander identified the culprit as the wanted blue-robed wizard and ordered soldiers to search the town and guard the ferry crossing.
• Li Wei heard the wanted notices and suspected they described Alatar, who might have abducted Harad’s court wizard, Palando.
• Li Wei avoided the guarded ferry, made a small boat, and rowed north with the still-sleeping Gondor general.

Li Wei was stopped by Harad soldiers while carrying the wounded Gondor captain and tried to escape their patrol. After Li Wei defeated the pursuers, the captain and the Rangers learned who he was and thanked him for saving the captain’s life.

• Li Wei failed to convince the Harnen River garrison soldiers that he was an ordinary passerby, then fled with the blanket-wrapped Gondor captain.
• As dozens of soldiers pursued him, Li Wei spotted a signal from Gondor Rangers and charged at the enemies while one Ranger carried the captain to an underground outpost.
• The Rangers discovered that the captain was alive and healed, and three of them went to help Li Wei despite the odds.
• Li Wei returned to the outpost after wiping out the pursuers and revealed that he was from Roadside Fortress.
• The captain came out of the underground passage, explained that the Haradrim had falsely called him a commander, and thanked Li Wei for saving his life.

Li Wei heard how a Gondorian ranger captain had been captured after accepting a duel challenge and surviving torture without betraying his comrades. After Harad discovered a patrol camp emptied by Gondorian forces, its commander recruited a captured Gondorian defector to spy on the ranger outposts.

• The ranger captain told Li Wei that he had stepped out to duel Harad's commander, been ambushed and captured, and endured torture without giving up information.
• Two Haradrim patrol soldiers found a neighboring camp deserted and reported that several dozen soldiers had vanished.
• The Harad commander ordered a search, and scouts found the missing patrol soldiers dead beside a road, apparently overwhelmed by at least a hundred cavalrymen.
• The Harad commander summoned a Gondorian noble who had defected and learned that his ancestors had served Castamir, the King of Umbar.
• The defector agreed to return and gather intelligence on the Assault Team ranger outposts in exchange for becoming Captain of the Guard.

Li Wei traveled with the Rangers captain to a concealed camp after escaping the Haradrim, hearing about a captured recruit and the captain’s regret. Li Wei accidentally fell through the hidden entrance to the Rangers’ cave, where the captain introduced him to the Ithilien Assault Team.

• The Rangers captain said they should avoid the outpost because the Haradrim would investigate their missing soldiers.
• The captain told Li Wei that a recruit had been captured after the captain punished him for leaving the unit, and recalled how suspiciously vigilant the Haradrim had been during the ambush.
• Li Wei and the Rangers followed the old Gondorian road north before turning west toward a small oasis where the captain’s concealed camp was located.
• Li Wei mistook a disguised Ranger for grass, then stepped onto the hidden cave entrance and fell inside.
• The Rangers captain and his men followed Li Wei down into the cave, where the captain introduced Li Wei to the Ithilien Assault Team.

Li Wei encountered Kane’s Ithilien Assault Team and used his unusual brewing setup to heal their wounded. The team’s missing member then returned after escaping Haradrim captivity.

• Li Wei explained that he had entered Harad alone to buy its fruit, then learned that Kane’s squad had crossed into Harlond to investigate the Haradrim’s withdrawal.
• Li Wei set up a brewing station, quickly grew a watermelon, and made Healing Potions for Kane’s wounded men.
• The wounded rangers drank the potions and recovered from their injuries.
• A missing squad member returned after escaping Haradrim captivity, and Kane embraced him as the others welcomed him back.