Chapter Summaries

Aaron planned a grand performance in the Sunset Lands to honor four deities, draw powerful figures into a divine trap, and arrange for Salian's Nine Books to be stolen. As preparations continued, Princess Regent Alusair Obarskyr and Chief Archmage Charlotte Caladnei arrived a month early, and Alusair demanded to see Aaron.

• Aaron told Aegir and Eleanor that he planned to attract powerful factions with a performance and display the six completed volumes of Salian's Nine Books.
• Aaron explained that the four deities' blessings would open their divine realms during the performance, trapping anyone who approached the books with magic, while Aegir would protect the Sunset Lands.
• Aaron asked Eleanor to practice the song "Hand in hand," which he had written for Selûne.
• Aaron's laborers worked harder for Small Eight-Pointed Stars, and Douglas from Hulek Forest earned a blessing that made him a Chaos Reaver.
• Alusair Obarskyr and Charlotte Caladnei arrived in the Sunset Lands a month early, and Alusair ordered Robert to summon Aaron immediately.

Alusair arrived in the Sunset Lands with vast supplies for Aaron’s banquet, inspected the Ninth Shepherd Legion, and toured Sunset Town. She and Aaron signed the Obarskyr Lease Act, leaving Alusair and Charlotte with permanent ownership of one-fifth of Sallyan Castle.

• Alusair arrived at the dock with Charlotte and a huge shipment of food, weapons, equipment, money, and banquet supplies, while Charlotte brought magical research materials and golems.
• Alusair ordered Robert to take her to the Ninth Shepherd Legion’s encampment so she could inspect its condition before Aaron arrived.
• Norrington led the assembled officers in singing Aaron’s flattering song for Alusair, and Charlotte recognized that the princess enjoyed it.
• Aaron and Eleanor met Alusair, whose refusal to acknowledge Eleanor as Aaron’s partner sparked a clash of their magical auras until Aaron used the Crown of Chaos to stop it.
• Alusair toured Sunset Town with Aaron and then signed the Obarskyr Lease Act, lending him her supplies for 5,000 Golden Lions in exchange for permanent ownership of one-fifth of Sallyan Castle for herself and Charlotte.

Aaron showed Alusair and Charlotte around Sallyan Castle, where they met Buer and Aaron’s military leaders before choosing spaces to reserve. Alusair’s tour turned into a fight with Aegir, a Force Dragon who trapped her in a Forcecage, until she summoned Alice for help.

• Alusair and Charlotte met Buer, whose Detect Thoughts revealed their unusual intentions toward the Fairy Princess and Aaron.
• Aaron introduced the visitors to Anna, Maximian, Doherty, and the Snow Elf and Dwarf battalions; Alusair gave Anna a watch and gifts to the guards.
• Alusair told Aaron she had funded her contribution by confiscating the properties of nobles and Caspar, then chose a future royal retreat near Wyvernwater with Charlotte.
• Alusair mistook Aegir for an intruder and fought him, but he overpowered her and trapped her in a Forcecage.
• Alusair used Astral Summoning to break the Forcecage, bringing Alice to her side.

Aegir defeated Alusair and Yuumi in a brutal strength contest by Wyvernwater. Meanwhile, Charlotte challenged Eleanor for her place at Aquitaine Palace, but Eleanor won with Selûne’s help and threw Charlotte into the lake.

• Yuumi healed Alusair and revealed herself as a Magical Cat from Myth Drannor, while Aegir recognized her origins.
• Alusair challenged Aegir to a physical duel, but he overpowered her and Yuumi with a dragon piledriver.
• Charlotte reunited with Aaron, revealed she had reached eighth-circle magic, and whispered a plan to him while borrowing the Sacred Dragon Emblem Amulet.
• Charlotte confronted Eleanor at Aquitaine Palace and challenged her to continue their unfinished fight.
• Eleanor used divine magic to bind Charlotte, stuffed a ball of yarn in her mouth, and threw her from the palace window into the lake.

Aaron consulted Maximian about his ties to Eleanor and Alusair, then negotiated with the Chaos Gods for help protecting his upcoming celebration. He secured Shalaxi Helbane’s power, but the Four Gods suspected he wanted independence and sent champions to test him.

• Aaron watched Alusair and Aegir duel through a Scrying Mirror and told Maximian not to let anyone interfere.
• Maximian asked Aaron what he intended to do about Eleanor and Princess Alusair, and promised to support his decision.
• Aaron summoned the Chaos Gods and requested a Greater Daemon avatar to protect his grand celebration from powerful enemies.
• Aaron chose Shalaxi Helbane’s power, and the Crown of Chaos awakened with the blessings of all four gods.
• The Chaos Gods discussed Aaron’s desire to escape their control and dispatched Khorx, Sarthorael, Lymbas, and Sigvald the Magnificent.

Aaron welcomed Alusair and Charlotte to his castle, then spent the night with them before revealing a powerful new weapon to the Princess the next day. The Chaos Hellcannon could track targets over great distances, but each shot required a demon.

• Aaron reflected that he needed to secure power of his own and planned to conquer the Rocklands and Anauroch before uniting the south through marriage to the Princess.
• At the welcoming banquet, Aaron promised to ask Alusair about new postings for Havrel and Ramsay, while Ian Hutson mocked his titles and rapid rise.
• Alusair and Charlotte arrived at Aaron’s room after the banquet, and the three spent the night together.
• The next day, Aaron took Alusair and Charlotte to the Dwarf Blacksmiths' Guild and unveiled the Chaos Hellcannon, which could fire tracking shells up to ten thousand meters but consumed one demon per shot.

Aaron explained the Chaos Hellcannon’s power and dangers to Alusair, then the Silver Moon Opera Troupe arrived in Sunset Town as preparations continued for the Fourth Wall celebration. The celebration was threatened when three tortured victims appeared beside a blood-written challenge from the Black Sun, demanding that Aaron save them himself.

• Aaron explained that the Chaos Hellcannon consumed demons or devils to fire energy beams, but its hunger, madness, and Chaos corruption made finding operators difficult.
• Aaron proposed recruiting duergar to operate the cannon, and Alusair agreed to wait until he had acquired duergar and demons before judging it.
• Alusair ordered a hundred sets of the dwarves’ serpent-pattern steel equipment and said she would return in a year.
• The Silver Moon Opera Troupe arrived in Sunset Town three weeks before the Fourth Wall celebration, and its performances drew crowds of townspeople and visitors.
• Black-cloaked Way of Shadow Monks mocked the troupe and hurried to secure VIP seats for the Black Sun’s expected arrival.
• Shepherd Legion soldiers sealed off an area where three tortured people lay inside a Black Sun Holy Symbol beside a message challenging Aaron to save them.

Aaron faced Cyric’s challenge by healing three subjects afflicted with horrific injuries, demonstrating his power before his people and visiting dignitaries. After the crowd celebrated his success, he welcomed Lord Khelben Arunsun and Lady Lyla Silverhand to the Sunset Lands.

• Aaron arrived at the scene and learned that three people had been grotesquely injured by Cyric, while a cleric of Lathander had been killed by black fire.
• The victims told Aaron they had attempted suicide and that an unseen voice had said only he could save them.
• Aaron transferred Cyric’s divine power from the first victim into the second, then healed both with Jilun’s Water and magic.
• Aaron restored the third victim with a plant grown from Jilun’s Water, leaving him with a symbiotic plant in his head and druid-like abilities.
• The crowd cheered as Aaron ordered the three patients taken to the infirmary, and he greeted Lord Khelben Arunsun and Lady Lyla Silverhand.

Khelben Blackstaff tested Aaron’s bloodline, recognized Selûne’s role in saving him, and then brought magical aid to the Sunset Lands. As the grand performance approached, rival groups converged on the town seeking VIP tickets and astral magic, and Robert was kidnapped before the Lady of the Night ordered his release.

• Khelben Blackstaff confronted Aaron about his unknown bloodline, but a vision of evil and Selûne’s protection convinced him that Aaron was not an enemy.
• Aaron invited Khelben and Laeral Silverhand to stay in the Sunset Lands, where Khelben supplied Alusair and Charlotte with magical books and scrolls and helped plan a wizard tower.
• Shadow monks, noble visitors, and Amazon warriors arrived in the Sunset Lands, each group pursuing its own interest in Aaron’s astral magic or the Nine Books.
• With the theater nearly complete and less than a week before the performance, Dark Sun monks kidnapped Robert and demanded a VIP ticket.
• The Lady of the Night ordered the monks to release Robert and promised them a reward when she descended.
• Winter snow fell as only two days remained before the grand performance began.

Aaron welcomed powerful guests from across the Realms to the opening of his Silvermoon Grand Theater and staged a production that hinted at his relationship with Selûne. As the performance was about to begin, he escorted a woman addressed as “Lady Luna” to her box while several jealous or familiar women watched.

• Robert delivered Aaron’s VIP ticket to the black-robed Monk’s subordinates and received gold and a Ki cultivation scroll.
• Distinguished guests, including Elminster, Storm Silverhand, Queen The Simbul, Alustriel Silverhand, and Vangerdahast, arrived in the Sunset Lands for the performance.
• Vangerdahast examined Aegir, then gave him star iron and persuaded him to take dragon form.
• Aaron opened the Silvermoon Grand Theater on February 18, 1362, and its murals depicted Selûne rescuing Endymion, whose face resembled Aaron’s.
• Aaron escorted “Lady Luna” into a theater box as Eleanor, Charlotte, Princess Alusair, Nastya, and Mysty arrived; Buer met a white-haired woman who embraced her.
• Aaron told “Lady Luna” that the performance was dedicated to her.

Aaron hosted a performance in the Silvermoon Grand Theater, using songs and comedy to tell his story and draw the audience into its chaos. As the crowd laughed at the opening acts, Aaron completed the first layer of the Tzeentch Dream Mark and prepared to continue his plan.

• Aaron watched the performance with Selûne and Eleanor, and Selûne urged him to treat Eleanor well.
• Selûne observed the many deities and notable guests gathered in the theater, including disguised gods and several evil presences.
• Aaron's story opened on the magical mirror, and the song "Lost Princess" revealed his origins to the audience.
• Lady Silverstar announced that six volumes of Salian's Nine Books would be displayed after the performance.
• Two actors performed Aaron's comedy sketch, "The Protagonist and the Supporting Character," making the audience laugh as a paladin and rogue struggled over their roles.
• Aaron recognized that the audience's emotions of chaos had completed the first layer of the Tzeentch Dream Mark.

Aaron’s performances unsettled the theater’s guests, moved them with a song about unity, and then showed them a documentary about humanity’s rise and collapse on Terra. The documentary ended with the Emperor revealing himself, completing Aaron’s fourth dream brand.

• Iyachtu Xvim and other guests with plans to seize Salian’s Nine Books held back because many divine avatars were present.
• Aaron’s play “Days in Purple Dragon” ended with Charlotte killing Baron and Alisa killing Charlotte, leaving the audience shocked and Lady Mysty delighted.
• Aaron and Eleanor performed “Hand in Hand,” prompting Mama Selûne to declare it the official song of the Church of the Silver Mother.
• Aaron showed a documentary about Terra’s human civilization, its expansion into space, and its collapse after rebellion and Warp storms.
• The documentary revealed the Emperor, and Aaron completed the fourth layer of the dream brand.

Aaron ended the Emperor documentary and opened an exhibition of Salian's Nine Books, whose magical contents enthralled the guests. The exhibition turned chaotic when the Amazon warriors tried to seize the books, prompting other guests to join the fight.

• The documentary ended as the Emperor began the Great Crusade, leaving guests such as Xvim and Jery Ranstoff eager to learn what happened next.
• Aaron announced the intermission, and several deities left after offering advice or expressing disapproval of his performance.
• Aaron displayed six volumes of Salian's Nine Books, and Khelben Blackstaff, Elminster, and other guests discovered different knowledge within them.
• An Amazon warrior released an ash rat to attack a volume, but the book's Eye of Tzeentch destroyed it and left behind a duck neck.
• The Stormlord shouted for the Amazons to act and reached for a scroll, as guests across the hall raised magic and cried to seize the books.

The guests' attack on Salian's Nine Books triggered Aaron's Chaos Domain trap, pulling most of the Silvermoon Grand Theater into a chaotic realm. Aaron survived Szass Tam's and Cyric's attacks with Nastya's help, while Drizzt Do'Urden lay unconscious beside them.

• The Stormlord and other guests attacked one another and tried to seize Salian's Nine Books, while Aaron revealed his dreamlike incorporeality and turned the Stormlord's lightning strike back on her.
• Szass Tam attacked Aaron, stole a volume, and found himself unable to escape the theater as Aaron's magic tore open the Chaos Domain and drew in the guests gathered around the books.
• Aaron evaded Szass Tam's Meteor Swarm in the Chaos Domain, then faced Cyric's bone spikes before Nastya knocked him into cover and shielded him from the blast.
• Nastya recognized the unconscious Drizzt Do'Urden nearby, drew her scimitars, and prepared to kill him as a traitor.

In the Chaos Domain, Aaron stopped Nastya from killing Drizzt and then saved her after their duel left her gravely wounded. When Nastya despairingly refused to face Lolth’s punishment, Aaron vowed to become the god who would protect her; elsewhere, Szass Tam and Larloch prepared to duel over Salian’s Fifth Book.

• Nastya attacked Drizzt, but Guenhwyvar intervened, and Drizzt awakened to deflect her divine magic.
• Aaron released Nastya to duel Drizzt, but their clash unleashed destructive Chaos magic, forcing Aaron to interrupt the fight before either could win.
• Drizzt forgave Nastya and ended their pursuit, while Aaron healed her despite her resistance.
• Nastya begged Aaron to let her die rather than return to Lolth, but Aaron insisted she could escape and promised to stand against Lolth as her god.
• Elsewhere, Szass Tam refused to hand over Salian’s Fifth Book to Larloch, and they agreed to duel for the book’s first ten years.

Aaron, Drizzt, and Nastya navigated the Chaos Domain after Aaron revealed that he had deliberately drawn his enemies into it, while Charlotte discovered how to reach the central Chaos Temple and witnessed a battle against Talos’s forces. The chapter ended with Manshoon’s deputy revealing the Cyrinishad and forcing Sarthorael and his Tzeentch legion to submit to him.

• Aaron told Drizzt and Nastya that he had intended the Chaos Domain to be a trap for his enemies, but their arrival point had changed and they needed to find a portal to the Chaos Temple.
• Nastya revealed that Lolth’s mark prevented her from explaining what had happened to her, and Aaron reassured her while wondering how to free her from Lolth’s control.
• Charlotte discovered forbidden writings that taught her how mortals could reach the central Chaos Temple, then met Mysty Tanshul in the labyrinth.
• Charlotte and Mysty watched Talos’s Stormlord and the Amazon Warriors fall to a Tzeentch assault, and Mysty urged Charlotte to act before Aaron got into trouble.
• Manshoon’s deputy produced the Cyrinishad, compelling Sarthorael the Everwatcher and the Tzeentch legion to kneel and call him their master.

Aaron, Drizzt, and Nastya fought their way through a Tzeentch-controlled tower after discovering that Cyric had seized control of its daemons. When Cyric destroyed the portal to the Chaos Temple, Aaron called on Tzeentch, and a Burning Chariot arrived to carry them onward.

• Aaron led Drizzt and Nastya through the Chaos Domain toward a portal that would take them to the Chaos Temple and help them return to the Realms.
• The Tzeentch scribes refused Aaron's command to open the portal, revealing that they served a greater being, and Aaron realized Cyric had taken control of them.
• Aaron, Nastya, and Drizzt fought the tower's defenders, with Aaron transforming into a Lord of Change and destroying the fortress while Drizzt and Nastya slaughtered the remaining daemons.
• Aaron activated the portal, but Cyric's Dark Sun Holy Symbol emerged from it and shattered it before they could pass through.
• Aaron called out to Tzeentch, and a Burning Chariot of Tzeentch drawn by nine sky-sharks descended and ordered them aboard.

Cyric planned to use the Cyrinishad and a portal in the Chaos Domain to unleash daemons on the Realms, beginning with the Sunset Lands. As Aaron and his companions traveled toward the Chaos Central Temple, Nastya recounted her past under Lolth, but Aaron sensed the portal opening and accelerated their flight to stop the coming catastrophe.

• Cyric made the Chaos Daemons kneel to him and planned to open the portal, invade the Realms, and target the Sunset Lands to hurt Aaron Salian.
• Aaron, Nastya, and Drizzt rode the Burning Chariot of Tzeentch toward the Chaos Central Temple, and Aaron urged Nastya to leave Lolth behind.
• Nastya told Aaron and Drizzt how Jinaphy Baenre adopted her, how Lolth had Jinaphy executed, and how Nastya became a white-skinned Drow through the Albinization Ritual.
• Drizzt encouraged Nastya to choose a new path, while Nastya asked Aaron for time to decide whether to leave Lolth.
• Aaron sensed that the portal to the Realms was opening, suspected Cyric was responsible, and cast Made in Heaven to speed the Burning Chariot toward the temple.

Aaron, Drizzt, and Nastya fought their way through Cyric-controlled Chaos Daemons and reached the temple, where they discovered that a seemingly powerful Daemon Prince was Annomyn. Meanwhile, Cyric prepared to use the portal and planned to seize the Four Gods’ divinity from Aaron.

• Aaron, Drizzt, and Nastya landed after their chariot disintegrated and faced four groups of daemons whose black eyes showed Cyric controlled them.
• Aaron, Drizzt, and Nastya fought through the Slaanesh Steeds, Khorne Bloodletters, Forsaken of Tzeentch, and Nurglings, destroying the Nurgle shrine and reaching the temple entrance together.
• Aaron opened the temple doors, and Drizzt and Nastya attacked a Daemon Prince while Aaron redirected its Chaos flames back onto it.
• Aaron stopped Drizzt from killing the weakened Daemon Prince and recognized the burned figure as Annomyn.
• Cyric waited in the Chaos Central Temple as the portal prepared to open and resolved to take the Four Gods’ divinity from Aaron.

Aaron and his allies confronted Cyric at the temple as Drizzt and Nastya fought the Chaos daemons and Aaron challenged the Dark Sun’s avatar. After Aaron’s surprise attack appeared to defeat Cyric, Cyric revived, exposed Aaron’s trump card, and seized his heart while claiming his sword and divinity.

• Cyric threatened to unleash his Chaos legions on the Sunset Lands and ordered Sarthorael toward the portal to the Realms.
• Drizzt chose to fight Khorx, while Nastya held off the surrounding daemons to give Aaron time.
• Aaron unleashed his Golden Law Incarnation and attacked Cyric, but Cyric’s divine shield effortlessly withstood his assault.
• Aaron called on Slaanesh, whose Greater Daemon Shalaxi the Calamity broke through Cyric’s shield, allowing Aaron to stab Cyric with Drach’nyen.
• Cyric revived from the apparently fatal strike, revealed that he had tricked Aaron into exposing his trump card, and pierced Aaron’s chest to seize his heart.