Chapter Summaries

Annan turned the elves’ objections to his sales into a huge purchase, then Samael Night Song summoned Irilanze for her mastery of transformation magic. The chapter ended as Samael approached Irilanze with an official special summons.

• Annan opened a Teleportation Portal to bring more merchandise from Free City and arranged Golems around his Treehouse.
• Samael Night Song challenged Annan’s business in the embassy district, but Annan argued that the goods were gifts for the alliance and offered to sell them to other envoys.
• Samael agreed to buy Annan’s merchandise, and Annan tried to persuade him to purchase even more stock.
• Annan quoted a total of six hundred thousand Gold Coins for Free City’s monthly goods, and Samael refused the additional batch before leaving.
• Samael told Kael'thas to let Annan do as he pleased and waited for Irilanze, then issued her a special summons as Captain of 'Dark Night.'

Irilanze agreed to help the Elven Royal Court investigate a human plot against the Emerald Capital, while Annan paraded his Golems through the embassy district. At the hollow tree, Irilanze walked into a trap set by Prince Aidan and had her soul captured in a Divine Artifact.

• Samael Night Song and Elven Captain Kael'thas told Irilanze that Dark Elves planned to attack the Emerald Capital during the Celebration and asked her to impersonate a dead human spy to draw out the conspirators.
• Irilanze agreed to help and asked Samael Night Song to deliver her basket of Firstlove Fruit to Annan.
• Annan took his Golems on a sales parade through the embassy district, exchanged hostile words with an unknown envoy, and failed to find the Ratfolk.
• Irilanze entered the hollow tree disguised as Blood Essence, but a figure ambushed her and captured her soul in a Shortened Scepter Handle.
• Prince Aidan refused Shiro's suggestion to dispose of Irilanze and said he would see someone first.

Prince Aidan visited Annan, sought advice about sparing an enemy, and learned that Annan favored mercy, though he also urged him to bring the captive to meet him. Meanwhile, the elves uncovered a hidden stronghold beneath the tree hollow, where Prince Aidan held Irilanze and promised to release the captive for a friend’s sake, but not yet.

• Prince Aidan found Annan selling Golems and offered to find buyers, but Annan declined and explained his hope of building a city without divisions.
• Prince Aidan asked Annan what his friend should do about an enemy who was close to someone he cared about, and Annan first advised killing the enemy before urging mercy and reconciliation.
• Samael Night Song sent Kael'thas and the elven Guards to investigate Irilanze’s disappearance, and they uncovered a pit filled with elven corpses.
• The elves dug through the tree hollow and opened a hidden basement, while Prince Aidan waited below with Irilanze and the damaged Divine Artifact.
• A figure entered the basement and reported that the elves had found the stronghold, and Prince Aidan said he would eventually release the captive for his friend’s sake.

After seventeen Elves were found dead and Irilanze disappeared, the Elders' Council investigated the killings and Tadel agreed to keep Annan from learning of Irilanze's danger during the Celebration. The thousand-year Elven Celebration began with the World Tree revealed to the world, and Annan joined the procession toward the Flower Court searching for Irilanze.

• Samael Night Song reported the deaths of seventeen Elves and Irilanze's disappearance to the Elders' Council, which learned their souls had not returned to the World Tree.
• The Elders' Council questioned Samael and Kael'thas about Irilanze, then sent them to Tadel because she handled matters involving Annan.
• Tadel agreed to try to prevent Annan from interfering before the Celebration, though she was reluctant to conceal Irilanze's danger from him.
• At dawn, the magic hiding the World Tree faded, revealing its enormous form across Wilhelm as the Elven Celebration began.
• Annan filmed the parade while joining the procession toward the Flower Court, where he recognized Tadel and other familiar Elves and searched the crowd for Irilanze.

During the Elven Celebration, Annan socialized with foreign envoys while the elves watched for the Dark Night’s attack, which did not come. After striking a bargain with a dwarf for a barrel of spirits, Annan turned his attention to the orcs.

• Annan searched the procession for Irilanze, then watched the gathering of foreign peoples and plotted how to sell them his wares.
• Samael Night Song and a high elf elder discussed the Dark Night’s silence and the danger of attacking the many human guests, including the High King’s envoy.
• At the banquet, Annan befriended the Nosterman Family envoy by claiming Williams as his nephew and offered help with the ongoing war in the Serens Mountains.
• Annan offered wine and spirits to a dwarf envoy, who promised to put in a good word with the Dwarf King in exchange for a barrel of spirits.
• Annan chose the orcs as his next target, despite having no clear way to approach them or anything to offer them.

Annan tried to recruit Kane Bloodhowl, then approached the Rat King to make contact with the Ratfolk. The Rat King took a liking to him and invited him to climb onto her belly, but Annan declined.

• Annan approached Kane Bloodhowl and offered to help, but Kane Bloodhowl angrily refused and stormed off.
• Annan turned his attention to the Rat King and approached her attendants at the banquet.
• The Rat King stopped her attendants from treating Annan as food and questioned him in broken Common Tongue.
• Annan spoke to the Rat King in Ratfolk Language and praised Ratfolk, claiming friendships with the Stuen and McKennan Ratfolk.
• The Rat King asked whether Annan wanted to be her mother's lover, then invited him to climb onto her belly and play.
• Annan declined the invitation, and the Rat King regretted that he had turned him away.

Annan built goodwill with the Foreign Races envoys at the banquet before meeting Tadel, whose beauty left him speechless. A sudden explosion and gust threw the Flower Court into chaos, and Tadel promised to explain what had happened later.

• Annan gave the Rat King a Magic Film and offered the Sea Folk a Wheelchair after learning they had returned the Magic Stone.
• Annan greeted the other envoys, giving a Dragon a Gemstone and making a favorable impression on the gathered races.
• Prince Aidan secretly acted while the Dark Elves watched him, then spoke with Annan as Annan rested from meeting the envoys.
• Annan left Prince Aidan and approached Tadel, admiring her beauty and struggling to find words.
• A burst of fire and a violent gust disrupted the banquet, and Tadel told Annan she would explain the incident later.

Annan witnessed two explosions at the Elven Royal Court, where an unseen power reversed the devastation of the second blast. As the Elves investigated, they moved to question Prince Aidan, and Annan stood up for him before Aidan agreed to go with them.

• Annan left the banquet with Prince Aidan and the other Envoys, then tried to approach the first explosion but was turned away by an Elf guard.
• Samael Night Song and the Elves found that Magic Scrolls had caused the blast and discovered a taunting inscription on a Stone Tablet.
• A second explosion struck as Samael Night Song recognized the inscription's clue, but an unseen force reversed the destruction and restored the Elves and Elf Dragons.
• Annan watched the mushroom cloud shrink, then took Prince Aidan's advice to consider selling his goods to the Envoys.
• Elf Guards arrived to question Prince Aidan, and Annan objected that they were both Envoys before Aidan asked him to let the guards take him.

Annan learned that the Elven Royal Court had suffered a deadly explosion and that Prince Aidan had been detained as a suspect before being released. After witnessing Aidan’s tense exchange with his older brother, Annan was promised a gift after the Celebration.

• Annan questioned an Elven Guard Officer about the explosion and learned that Shadow had lost more than a dozen warriors and an Archmage had disappeared.
• Annan found a projection of Aidan’s older brother in the cottage and promised to pass along his request for Aidan to contact the Kingdom.
• Annan stationed Guardian Golems around the cottage and searched the surrounding cottages while the elves questioned Aidan.
• After Aidan was released, Annan learned that his older brother criticized him for breaking the Kingdom’s rules and buying scrap metal.
• Aidan explained that the Kingdom’s rules shaped his brother’s behavior and promised Annan a gift after the Celebration, revealing that the scepter handle was a broken Divine Artifact.

Annan tried to sell Knight Golems to the Envoys and discovered that Dwarf Envoy Harvey Stone Skull was eager to acquire his strong Distilled Liquor. Annan offered to reserve alcohol for the Dwarves, while postponing large-scale production until Free City had more grain.

• The Elves watched the Envoys’ cottages after failing to catch the Celebration’s culprit, and an Elven Guard Officer ordered Annan back to his quarters.
• Annan advertised Knight Golems to the Envoys, but sales for the day stayed below seven thousand Gold Narls because many groups dismissed the machines.
• Annan persuaded the Elven Guards to pay him compensation after their captain shot a Golem, and the captain then bought it.
• Harvey Stone Skull drank nearly a fifth of Annan’s Distilled Liquor, complained about its taste, and asked to take a barrel to the Dwarf King.
• Annan explained that Free City could not produce liquor in bulk until it had more grain, then offered to reserve a supply for the Dwarves.

Annan sold the Sea Folk on using wheelchairs and investigated the latest Emerald Capital attack, then learned that Irilanze had gone missing during a secret mission. He left determined to hold the Elves responsible if anything happened to her.

• Annan ordered Eldest Sister to encourage reclaiming the Wasteland Fields and Wildlands, then had Michael modify a wheelchair.
• Annan gave the Sea Folk a shell-covered wheelchair, and a Naga agreed to visit Free City on the Sea Elves' behalf.
• A fire erupted beneath the World Tree, killing three Elven residents; the Elves found a stone tablet predicting another danger and searched the city and Envoy Village.
• Annan accused the Heretic Elder of being connected to the attacks, but Ares warned him that the Elves were not his weapon and said he wanted to save someone.
• Annan contacted Tadel and learned that Irilanze had been sent on a secret mission and was missing.
• Annan restrained his anger and warned that he would not forgive the Elves if anything happened to Irilanze.

After failing to summon Irilanze, Annan decided to search for her himself, with his family and friends supporting him. He joined the elves investigating the attacks and began interpreting the attacker’s latest riddle, but the location of the next strike remained unknown.

• Annan used Irilanze’s Flower Basket to cast the Summoning Spell, but no magic circle appeared, leaving him to fear she was trapped on another plane or in danger.
• Annan told Olmedo and Idelia that he intended to act, and they supported his decision to look for Irilanze himself.
• On the third day of the Elven Celebration, Annan told Tadel he understood her situation, then used the World Tree Leaf to pass the guards and leave Envoy Village.
• Annan went to the site of the third explosion, where Kael'thas let him join the investigation after Annan said the human attacker had left riddles to taunt the elves.
• Annan interpreted the latest riddle as a clue to the time and place of another attack, but the elves still could not identify the place of strife.

Annan led the Elves to the Tree of Wisdom, where they uncovered hidden Magic Scrolls and a warning pointing toward the Moonwell. As the Elf Elder began to reconsider his distrust of Annan, the chapter ended with Annan learning how centuries of conflict had shaped the Elder’s hatred of humans.

• Annan identified the Tree of Wisdom as the likely target, and the Elf Elder agreed to investigate after Kael'thas urged him not to gamble with Elven lives.
• The Elves found a cache of dangerous Magic Scrolls buried among the Tree of Wisdom’s roots, while a watching Elf released the scepter handle that could activate them.
• Annan suspected the Paem Kingdom was behind the plot and stopped the Elf Elder from detaining Prince Aidan, who had been with Annan throughout the search.
• The Elves found a second cache of Magic Scrolls and a Stone Tablet warning that death threatened the “crown of old.”
• The Elf Elder explained that the warning might refer to the Moonwell, the Elves’ ancient birthplace, and Kael'thas told Annan that all three of Theron’s children had been killed by humans.

Annan followed clues to Aipo Heights, where the Elves found the Attacker’s hidden Magic Scrolls but failed to capture the culprit. He suspected someone inside the Elven Royal Court was helping the Attacker and concluded that the escape proved the culprit had an accomplice.

• The Tree of Wisdom gave Annan a branch bearing nature’s blessing, and the Elves set out for Aipo Heights.
• An Elf Mage identified Love Slope Heights as a possible target, and Elder Theron redirected the search to the abandoned ceremony grounds at Aipo Heights.
• The Elves spotted a furtive figure and found a cache of Magic Scrolls, but the pursuers returned after someone picked up the fleeing Attacker.
• Annan suspected the Elder Faction might have allowed the attacks to provoke hostility toward outsiders, and he wondered whether Tadel knew.
• Annan told the dismayed Elves that the Attacker must have an accomplice, leaving Kael'thas to realize what he meant.

Annan and the Elves raced to stop the Attackers after finding a Stone Tablet that pointed to the Tree of Knowledge at sunset. When their search found nothing, Rydell suggested the Elf Library as another target, and Elder Theron received word from the Elders' Council before setting out with the group.

• Kael'thas and the Elves found a Stone Tablet at Aipo Heights, and Annan and Kael'thas interpreted it as a warning about the Tree of Knowledge.
• An Attacker reported to Prince Aidan that Annan had disrupted their plans, and Prince Aidan ordered him to withdraw the preparations at the Elf Library and deal with Annan first.
• Tadel realized Annan had left Envoy Village and defended his actions to Elder Ares after learning the group was heading for the Tree of Knowledge.
• Annan's group searched around the Tree of Knowledge but found no sign of an attack as the sunset clouds turned red.
• Rydell suggested that the warning's meeting cross referred to the Elf Library, prompting the Elves to worry that it might be targeted.
• Elder Theron contacted the Elders' Council through the Tree of Knowledge and told the group to go.

Annan was arrested after warning the elves about the culprit and was taken to Dark Night, the elven dungeon. Once inside his cell, he contacted Tadel, but clarified that escaping was not what he wanted to discuss.

• Elder Ares accused Annan of misleading the Elders' Council and ordered the guards to arrest him, while Elder Theron defended him.
• As the guards led Annan away, he whispered to Kael'thas that the culprit might be watching or hiding among them and urged him to find the culprit.
• The Warden took Annan's Magic Ring and disabled his spellcasting with a thorn, but left his protective Talismans and the Tree of Wisdom branch with him.
• The Warden placed Annan in a cell in Dark Night, where Annan secretly used the World Tree Leaf to contact Tadel.
• Tadel offered to find a way to free Annan, but Annan said that was not what he wanted to discuss.

Annan learned that the Elven Royal Court was letting the Attacker cause damage and asked Tadel to save Irilanze. With help from a Black Rat and the branch from the Tree of Wisdom, he escaped the Dungeon, recovered his Magic Ring, and emerged in front of Samael Night Song and the Dark Elves.

• Annan confronted Tadel about the Royal Court's inaction and asked her to save Irilanze from becoming the price.
• Annan used a spoon to consider digging out, then followed a Black Rat after it showed him a way through the Tree Roots.
• Annan slipped past Elf Guards, who let him go without stopping him.
• Annan approached the Elf Warden and took his Magic Ring while the Warden pretended to fall asleep.
• Annan carried the Black Rat up the stairs and burst out of the Dungeon in front of Samael Night Song and dozens of Dark Elves.

After Samael Night Song helped Annan escape his restraints, Annan disguised himself as a Dark Elf and investigated a fresh attack in the Emerald Capital. He learned that three elves, including a child he had met, had died, and joined Elder Theron’s faction to secretly decipher the attackers’ new warning.

• Samael Night Song explained that branches from an Ancient Tree could disable the Dark Night’s Thorn Rings and gave Annan a Transformation Spell Scroll.
• Annan transformed into a Dark Elf and was mistaken for Kael'thas by a female elf, who led him to Elder Theron.
• Elder Theron told Annan that another attack had killed three residents, and Annan found the bodies of a mother and daughter he had met earlier.
• Annan determined that the victims had died from suffocation and learned that the elves had found a new Stone Tablet warning about fire and heretics.
• Annan and Elder Theron agreed to act compliant in public while secretly investigating the warning, and Annan learned that Kael'thas was taking his place under the Elders' Council's watch.

Annan learned from the Rat King that the warning pointed to Sky Mirror and went there with Fiona to search for the attacker. As House-Elves urgently tugged him toward the lake’s center, the search took an unexpected turn.

• Annan asked the Rat King where mushrooms, fruit-bearing flowers, and clustered vines could be found, and the Rat King identified Sky Mirror as a place where everything was reversed.
• Annan split the group, sending Elder Theron to pretend to ask Prince Aidan while he took Fiona, an Elf Captain, and an Elf Mage toward Sky Mirror.
• Annan explained that he would draw the attacker’s attention on the lake while the others watched for anyone suspicious, then summoned Mr. Swaro to help keep watch.
• Annan and Fiona walked across Sky Mirror’s thin layer of water, and Fiona questioned the House-Elves about suspicious visitors.
• The House-Elves grew urgent, lifted Annan’s hand, and tugged him toward the center of the lake.

Annan and the Dark Night Squad recovered the Magic Scrolls and Stone Tablet from the Sky Mirror, whose clue led them to the Garden Corridor. There, Fiona spotted a suspicious elf with wet trouser legs.

• Annan sensed from the house-elves that someone suspicious had visited the Sky Mirror, and Mr. Swaro found nothing around its perimeter.
• Annan sent Mr. Swaro back to Free City, where the professor caught Cathy impersonating him in class and took one hundred points from her.
• The Dark Night Squad dug up the Magic Scrolls and, guided by the house-elves, found a Stone Tablet about fifty meters away.
• Fiona recognized the tablet's clue as referring to four paintings in the Garden Corridor, so the squad hurried there.
• Fiona pointed out an elf strolling past the paintings whose trouser legs were wet.