Chapter Summaries

Aaron and the Paladins investigated Archduchess Lila’s murder and discovered that Skaven assassins were operating beneath her estate. As four Skaven ambushed the investigators, the Great Horned Rat called to Aaron and urged him to come receive its blessing.

• Reynard avoided Aaron until Keldorn stopped Aaron and explained that his Paladins were tracking Bhaalspawn Deathstalkers.
• Keldorn’s party and Aaron’s companions examined Archduchess Lila’s body, and Aaron recognized the assassin’s mark as the work of Skaven Deathmaster Snikch.
• Aaron traced the Skaven’s route through the fireplace to a hidden underground complex, where the group found a dissected Clanrat and the Paladins argued with Nastya about the Nashkel Mines.
• Nastya and Charlotte secretly took potions and other items from the Archduchess’s underground chamber, but a concealed Skaven stabbed Wallace from above.
• Four masked Skaven revealed themselves on the ceiling, and the Great Horned Rat called Aaron its chosen child and beckoned him to receive its blessing.

Aaron and the Paladins fought Skaven Assassins beneath Baldur’s Gate before pursuing them into the sewers, where the Great Horned Rat offered Aaron a shortcut to Legendary power. Aaron rejected the blessing and asserted his independence, but Deathmaster Snikch emerged to attack him.

• Keldorn, Reynard, Nastya, Charlotte, and the Paladins battled the Skaven Assassins, while Aaron broke free of the Great Horned Rat’s influence and healed the fighters with Rain of Rebirth.
• The surviving Skaven fled into the sewers, and Aaron, Nastya, and Charlotte followed the Paladins underground as the Great Horned Rat’s call grew stronger.
• The Great Horned Rat appeared to Aaron and offered him a portion of his divinity, which could help Aaron reach Legendary by granting him insight into Nurgle’s power.
• Aaron spat at the Great Horned Rat and refused the blessing, declaring that he would pursue godhood on his own terms.
• The Great Horned Rat’s avatar vanished, and Deathmaster Snikch appeared on the sewer ceiling and attacked Aaron with three blades.

Aaron refused the Great Horned Rat's offer of divinity and fought Snikch in the sewers, using Thousand Illusions to create three Chaos-powered forms. After Snikch defeated two forms and wounded Nastya and Charlotte, Aaron used a Great Unclean One's self-destruction to escape with his companions, leaving Snikch gravely injured and the Great Horned Rat furious.

• Aaron recognized that merging with the Great Horned Rat's divinity would give the rat god permanent control over him, then stood his ground against Snikch.
• Snikch struck Aaron with warpstone lightning and flames, but Aaron unleashed Thousand Illusions and created Bloodthirster, Lord of Change, and Keeper of Secrets forms.
• Snikch killed the Bloodthirster and Lord of Change forms, while the Keeper of Secrets continued fighting him.
• Charlotte and Nastya joined the battle, but Snikch wounded Nastya and shot Charlotte as Aaron prepared another move.
• Aaron's Great Unclean One form grabbed Snikch and self-destructed, destroying the sewer and allowing Aaron and the others to escape while Snikch was left gravely wounded.
• Aaron and his companions fell into a hidden world beneath the sewers, where a gentle force caught them before they hit the ground.

Aaron, Nastya, and Charlotte survived their fall into underground Netherese ruins, where Jergal questioned them about the meaning of life and directed them to a temple of the Netherese Seven. Shar revealed that she had saved Aaron, claimed him as her Chosen, and offered Nastya a chance to serve her.

• Aaron used Life Magic to revive Nastya, and Charlotte woke after her Karsus's Magic Box had stopped the warpstone bullet.
• The three explored the ruins, recognized a statue of Jergal, and heard the Ancient God of Death ask what gave mortal life meaning.
• Jergal opened a passage and told them to pay respects to the god who had saved them; in the chamber below, Aaron and his companions tried kneeling before Selûne and Amaunator, but neither answered.
• Aaron knelt before Shar's statue, which revealed that she had rescued him and called him her Chosen.
• Shar's statue opened a portal to Baldur's Gate, dropped the Sun-Moon Blades Sange and Yasha, and asked Nastya if she would serve her.

After the sewer battle, Nastya obtained Shar’s Sun-Moon Blades but refused to renounce Lolth, while Aaron secured Balduran’s nautical chart and Lady Julia’s assets from the Monarch. The chapter ended with paladins arriving to arrest Nastya after Halsin accused her of working with the Drow.

• Paladins investigating the sewer collapse found the injured Halsin, who accused Nastya of being a Drow insider involved in abducting druids.
• Shar offered Nastya the Sun-Moon Blades and demanded that she abandon Lolth and serve her, but Nastya refused and later retrieved the inactive weapons.
• Aaron returned to the estate, then visited the Monarch and received Balduran’s nautical chart in exchange for a chaos star amulet.
• The Monarch presented Lady Julia, her property deeds, and her assets to Aaron, while Nastya asked where Julia’s daughter, Miss Catfish, was.
• The Monarch suddenly vanished as paladins arrived with Halsin and ordered Nastya to surrender for her alleged crimes.

Aaron defused the Paladins’ search for Nastya, arranged support in Baldur’s Gate, and prepared to sail with his companions. In Cormyr, Aegir set out to answer Aaron’s request for help, while Alusair resolved to reach Legendary before Aaron returned.

• Lady Julia confronted Wallace and the Paladins, and Aaron convinced them that Nastya was an undercover Drow sworn to Eilistraee; Keldorn ordered the Paladins to withdraw.
• Aaron spoke privately with Reynard about Takkus and helped him prepare to pursue Bane Godspawn Iyachtu Xvim and rescue Disma.
• Aaron instructed Halsin to contact the Emerald Enclave, while Nastya took Lady Julia’s identity and the Monarch transferred control of Lady Julia and her daughter to Nastya.
• Aaron arranged to sail with Eleanor, Charlotte, and Annomyn, leaving Barrel and Nastya behind to support his plans in Baldur’s Gate.
• Aegir and Buer prepared to answer Aaron’s request for help, then Aegir taunted Alusair for being left behind; Alusair disappeared to pursue a breakthrough to Legendary before Aaron returned.

Aaron sailed into the Endless Sea to find Rogal Dorn on Balduran's Isle, while reflecting on the Monarch and warning Annomyn to discover what he was fighting for. Meanwhile, Be'lakor's forces attacked Gorion and Abdel, setting Abdel on a journey toward Baldur's Gate with Imoen, Khalid, and Jaheira.

• Aaron sailed west from the Sword Coast and considered his suspicions about the Monarch and the answers he hoped to find through Rogal Dorn.
• Aaron asked Annomyn about his dream and warned that Chaos could consume him if he did not understand what he was fighting for.
• After Aaron departed, Be'lakor sent Bhaalspawn Deathstalkers to capture Abdel Adrian, and Gorion fled Candlekeep with Abdel.
• Bhaalspawn Deathstalkers and Chaos monsters attacked Gorion and Abdel, but the Sun Elf archmage Barrel rescued them; Gorion then sent Abdel to find Khalid and Jaheira.
• Abdel met Imoen on the road, then joined her, Khalid, and Jaheira at the Friendly Arm and agreed to travel with them to Baldur's Gate.

Aaron's voyage to Balduran's Isle was interrupted by a storm and an attack from Dagon, King of the Deep Sea, forcing him and his companions to flee the sinking ship. After three days of pursuit, they reached an island where they found ruins, a statue of the Imperial Fists' Primarch, and a frightened Beastfolk girl.

• Aaron calmed the increasingly mutinous sailors with threats and promises of extra pay as the voyage continued for more than two months.
• A sudden storm struck, and Dagon's tentacles attacked the ship; Aaron recognized the beast as a Son of Dagon, a Divine Being.
• Aaron, Annomyn, Eleanor, and Charlotte fought Dagon's tentacles, but the storm and the monster's attacks tore the ship apart and poisoned the sailors.
• Aaron escaped with Eleanor, Charlotte, and Annomyn aboard the Tzeentch Sky-Chariot as the passenger ship sank, then fled Dagon for three days.
• Aaron landed on an island he believed was Balduran's Isle, where the group found ruins, a statue of the Imperial Fists' Primarch, and a frightened Beastfolk girl.

Aaron and his companions met Baizi, who told them that Joyfort’s residents were trapped on the island by Lycanthropy and depended on Rogal Dorn’s failing protection. After Baizi led them to the beautiful settlement, Aaron prepared to face the danger and the choices tied to Rogal Dorn and the Four Gods.

• Eleanor tried to calm the frightened Baizi, but the girl recognized Aaron as the Guardian from his statue and begged him to save Joyfort.
• Over dinner, Baizi explained that Joyfort’s people could not leave without becoming mindless werewolves, and that demons threatened the island as Rogal Dorn’s seal weakened.
• Aaron sensed the powers of the Four Gods deep within the island and worried about meeting Rogal Dorn, while Eleanor insisted on facing the danger at his side.
• The next day, Baizi guided Aaron, Eleanor, Charlotte, and Annomyn through the island’s forests and caves to Joyfort.
• The group reached the lakeside settlement and saw its towering statue of Dorn.

Aaron and his companions learned that Joyfort’s dwindling villagers were trapped by weakening divine protection tied to Balduran’s betrayal, then followed the chief to Dorn’s Underground Palace. There Aaron discovered that Dorn had held back Chaos for thousands of years but had become a crumbling stone statue.

• Aaron used Wind Blast to disarm Joyfort’s villagers, and Baizi persuaded them to let him meet the chief.
• Herd and Yuka explained that the islanders were afflicted with lycanthropy and hoped Eleanor could help Baizi.
• The chief revealed that Balduran had taken some of Dorn’s guardian power, abandoned his crew, and left the island’s protection to weaken until most villagers became mindless werewolves.
• Aaron ordered the chief to lead him and Eleanor to the Underground Palace, where murals showed Dorn’s life and his long vigil against Chaos.
• Aaron and Eleanor passed through the golden barrier and found Dorn’s nearly shattered stone body on a gray, lifeless land.

Aaron and Eleanor awakened the petrified Rogal Dorn, who mistook them for Chaos minions and fought them as his strength failed. The Four Chaos Gods appeared beyond the weakened seal and urged Aaron to finish Dorn and open the gate, but Aaron refused.

• Aaron saw that Dorn’s body was dead but his soul still sustained the seal, then used chaos energy to awaken what remained of his consciousness.
• While Charlotte and Annomyn explored outside Joyfort, a wolf child named Ana warned them that the island’s people had deceived them and claimed to be a true native.
• Dorn awakened, seized Stormfang, and attacked Aaron and Eleanor, forcing them to defend themselves and fight back.
• Aaron and Eleanor weakened Dorn with magic and Tears of Selûne, but their battle further weakened the seal and left Dorn unable to guard the Chaos Gate.
• The Four Chaos Gods appeared beyond the torn veil and urged Aaron to give Dorn an ending by opening the gate, but Aaron refused.

Aaron refused the Four Gods’ order to kill Rogal Dorn, then joined Dorn and Eleanor in fighting the Chaos armies. After Aaron stabbed Dorn with Drach'nyen, the Four Gods’ powers erupted within him and he ascended to Legendary.

• Aaron rejected the Four Gods’ demand that he kill Dorn, despite their threats and pressure.
• Dorn regained his senses, condemned Aaron’s Chaos allegiance, and agreed to fight beside him against the approaching armies.
• Aaron, Eleanor, and Dorn battled the armies of the Four Gods, with Dorn facing Skarbrand as his stone body crumbled.
• Dorn urged Aaron to flee and entrusted him with his final legacy for the Imperium.
• Aaron stabbed Dorn in the chest with Drach'nyen, breaking the barrier to Nurgle’s power within him.
• The Four Gods’ powers collided inside Aaron, producing golden light as he officially ascended to Legendary.

Aaron used Drach'nyen to end Dorn's original sin and broke through the Four Gods' hold, becoming the Golden Law Beast and repairing Dorn's seal. While Aaron and Eleanor fought the remaining Greater Daemons, the Four Gods celebrated his unexpected actions and decided to compare him with Archaon.

• Aaron concluded that his great love meant using Drach'nyen to end humanity's original sin and give mortals freedom, then shattered Dorn's statue and broke through to Legendary.
• Aaron transformed into the Golden Law Beast, wielded the powers of Causality and Return, and repaired Dorn's seal, banishing most of the Chaos Daemons.
• Aaron fought Skarbrand, Sarthorael, and Dunbas while Eleanor battled Prince Sigvald.
• Aaron sent a magical call for help from the Underground Palace, but the Village Chief destroyed it and blocked anyone from entering; Baizi set off to find Charlotte and Annomyn.
• The Four Gods reveled in Aaron's performance, dismissed Be'lakor, and proposed a contest to decide whether Aaron or Archaon entertained them more.

Anapeng-Sen revealed Joyfort’s bloody origins before a Chaos Daemon ambush forced Charlotte to tap the Shadow Weave and rush toward the Underground Palace. Aaron killed Dunbas while defending Dorn’s seal, and the chapter ended with Selûne and Shar unexpectedly meeting at Balduran’s Isle.

• Anapeng-Sen told Charlotte and Annomyn how Balduran’s descendants drove the original inhabitants from Werewolf Village and turned the tragedy into Thanksgiving, then vanished as Chaos Daemons attacked.
• After Baizi warned that Mr. Guardian and Eleanor were in trouble, Charlotte used the Shadow Weave to replenish her magic and set off with Karsus’s Magic Box.
• Aaron fought Skarbrand, Sarthorael, and Dunbas while stabilizing Dorn’s seal, then killed Dunbas with Drach’nyen and a Moonblade empowered by Selûne.
• The departed villagers’ firefly-like faith gathered around Rogal Dorn’s statues and summoned Selûne to the island.
• Shar arrived as Selûne felt the villagers’ devotion, and the twin goddesses recognized each other.

Aaron and his allies defeated the daemons attacking Chaos Islet, and Aaron released Dorn from his original sin instead of claiming his divinity. Dorn’s light ascended, while the Master of Mankind learned that Ra-Endymion had become the King of the Golden Law and that a fifth god existed in Chaos.

• Shar revealed that she had obtained Amaunator’s divine blood and agreed to fuse her power with Selûne’s to help Aaron.
• Eleanor used Holy Word to destroy Prince Sigvald’s daemon projection and struck him down in Selûne’s name.
• Charlotte arrived to aid Aaron, while Annomyn wounded Skarbrand and Aaron shattered Annomyn’s embedded sword with Law of Causality, destroying the Bloodthirster.
• Charlotte drove Sarthorael into retreat with her spells, and the battle ended as Aaron’s Golden Law Beast faded.
• Aaron used Law of Return on Dorn’s broken statue, freeing Dorn’s light and sending it into the sky instead of taking Dorn’s divinity for himself.
• On Holy Terra, the Master of Mankind learned that Ra-Endymion had become the King of the Golden Law and that the Lord of Reincarnation existed in Chaos.

After Rogal Dorn reincarnated as Anapeng-Sen, he ordered Aaron to cure Joyfort’s lycanthropy and planned to continue searching for a way to heal the Emperor. Aaron invited Dorn to return to the Realms, but Dorn’s resolve changed when Aaron revealed that Be’lakor had recruited Perturabo and Lorgar.

• Aaron received Dorn’s ninth-level spell, Dorn’s Fist, and celebrated the group’s survival with Eleanor, Charlotte, and Annomyn.
• Charlotte told Aaron that Anapeng-Sen had lured her companions into a daemonic ambush, and Aaron learned she had used Karsus’s Magic Box to reach him.
• At the Underground Palace exit, Aaron discovered that Anapeng-Sen was Dorn reincarnated as a young child, and Dorn ordered him to resolve Joyfort’s lycanthropy.
• Joyfort’s villagers welcomed Dorn as their divine lord, and he explained that the village chief had destroyed Aaron’s Starry Signature to protect the Underground Palace and its seal.
• At the celebration, Dorn said he would leave after Aaron cured the villagers and would not join Aaron’s mission, until Aaron mentioned Perturabo and Lorgar.
• Dorn drew his chainsword at Aaron and demanded to know where Perturabo was.

Aaron and Ana opened the Old Ones’ Forge of a Thousand Forms and destroyed the Chaos-corrupted Dark Sun Companion, ending the island’s lycanthropy threat. The forge passed to Aaron, who prepared to return to the Realms and face Be'lakor and the Great Horned Rat.

• Ana led Aaron and his companions to the Old Ones’ ruin and explained that the forge was the source of the island’s curse.
• Aaron and Ana joined hands to open the forge, revealing its life-giving flames and the chained Dark Sun Companion.
• Aaron used his Thousand Illusions spell to absorb the Dark Sun Companion’s retaliatory chaos energy until it shattered in the red lotus flames.
• Ko-Takumin revealed how Ana’s actions had brought the Chaos Gods’ corruption to the island and entrusted the forge to Aaron in exchange for protecting its inhabitants.
• Ko-Takumin vanished after reconciling with Ana, and the forge shrank into an ornament in Aaron’s hand as the lycanthropy threat ended.

As Joyfort’s residents left Balduran’s Isle for the Realms, Baizi overheard Selûne and Shar quarrel over Aaron and learned the island was doomed to sink. Aboard the departing ship, Aaron and Dorn discussed the Forge of a Thousand Forms and planned their next moves against their enemies.

• Baizi explored Joyfort before the migration and secretly watched Selûne and Shar argue about Aaron and their rivalry.
• Noah found Baizi, and both girls privately decided to record the goddesses’ quarrel as embarrassing gossip.
• After Joyfort’s ship departed, Balduran’s Isle shook, erupted, and began sinking; Dorn, Charlotte, and the residents said farewell as they sailed for the Realms.
• Dorn explained that the Forge of a Thousand Forms had created Joyfort’s people from his blood and allowed them to use the Imperial Fists’ insignia.
• Aaron told Dorn that he planned to confront the Great Horned Rat and Be’lakor, while Dorn prepared to face Perturabo and the Iron Warriors.

Aaron and Charlotte tested the Forge of a Thousand Forms, and Aaron explained the powers he gained by reaching Legendary. As Charlotte planned a future trip to the Astral Plane, Be'lakor discovered that the Chaos Gods had turned their attention away from him.

• Aaron learned that Dorn's reincarnation still wanted to return to the 40K Universe, though the Portal out had been destroyed.
• Aaron and Charlotte used the Forge of a Thousand Forms with Karsus's Magic Box to create miniature magical creatures, including a tiny Magical Hippogriff.
• Aaron told Eleanor that his Legendary breakthrough gave him four extraordinary attributes, the feat Steadfast as a Mountain, and the domains Law of Causality and Law of Return.
• Charlotte urged Aaron to take her to the Astral Plane to search Amaunator's fallen Divine Realm, and Aaron agreed to go once she became Legendary.
• Be'lakor sat as Archduke of Baldur's Gate when he felt the Chaos Gods turn their gaze away from him.

Be'lakor seized control of Baldur's Gate amid the Skaven invasion and prepared to launch his own apocalypse, but the Chaos Gods turned their attention away from him. Meanwhile, Abdel Adrian's bloodlust nearly drove him to kill Khalid before the Master of Mankind intervened.

• Be'lakor exploited the Skaven invasion and the danger to Baldur's Gate to become its Archduke, while Keldorn and Reynard kept his identity secret.
• Be'lakor declared Aaron a failed Chosen and planned his own assault with support from Perturabo, Lorgar, Malkizid, and Malcanthet.
• The Chaos Gods withdrew their attention from Be'lakor, leaving Lathander's curse active as Mozgov and Daba-Thorn presented him with new plans; Be'lakor also learned that Abdel Adrian had disappeared.
• Abdel recalled Gorion's death, his journey with Imoen, Montaron, and Xzar, and his later travels with Jaheira and Khalid as he recognized how much he enjoyed slaughter.
• Abdel's bloodlust nearly led him to slit Khalid's throat, but the Master of Mankind's golden light broke its hold and stopped him.