Chapter Summaries

Key plot points

• Elona’s arrow and Edathis’s lyre strike Gond Frank as he tries to flee. Though badly wounded, he survives because gods have no instantly fatal weak points and escapes to the Outer Void.
• Once he leaves the Main Plane, its rules return to normal. Jiang Hao also departs and uses the Wheel of Fortune to try to draw Gond Frank and an Elder Evil into a fateful encounter.
• Gond Frank’s attempt to return to his Divine Kingdom is disrupted by the chaotic energies of a war between the gods of Heavenly Mountain and the Abyss. He encounters a fully grown Crawling Walker—an Elder Evil that is actually someone’s avatar.
• Jiang Hao appears inside Gond Frank’s projected Divine Kingdom. He breaks through its defenses with a Meteor, hurls Gungnir at Gond Frank, and the Crawling Walker binds the craftsman god with its tentacles.
• Gond Frank responds with his divine command: “No attacks!”

Character developments and interactions

• Gond Frank withdraws rather than risk further delay, but quietly vows revenge on Elona, Edathis, and Jiang Hao. His recent defeat leaves him especially wary of the Crawling Walker and its unseen master.
• Elona and Edathis cooperate to wound Gond Frank, but their alliance with Jiang Hao is only temporary: his Agriculture Authority naturally conflicts with Elona’s Forest Authority.
• Jiang Hao acts against Gond Frank by manipulating fate and coordinating his attack with the Crawling Walker. He pursues his foe into the Outer Void despite the danger.
• The chapter’s central confrontation shifts from Gond Frank’s escape from the goddesses to a joint assault by Jiang Hao and the Crawling Walker.

Significant themes

• Gods’ resilience and limits: Gods can endure catastrophic injuries, but delay and disrupted travel can still leave them vulnerable.
• Shifting alliances: Shared enemies unite characters whose deeper interests and Authorities conflict.
• Power and political motives: The Heavenly gods’ war against the Abyss is presented not only as a defense of order, but also as revenge and a display of strength.
• Fate and hidden influence: Jiang Hao’s use of the Wheel of Fortune, and the Crawling Walker’s connection to an unseen master, suggest that the conflict is being shaped by forces beyond the immediate combatants.

Plot points and events

• Gond Frank, God of Craftsmen, imposes the rule “No attacks” in the Outer Void, stopping both his tentacles and Jiang Hao’s spear. The rule’s backlash destroys Gond Frank’s hand, while Jiang Hao loses a hand as well when he counters with “No teleportation.”
• Trapped, Gond Frank appeals to Jiang Hao, but Jiang Hao stays silent and summons a projection of his Divine Kingdom. Its rules overpower Gond Frank’s own projection.
• Jiang Hao turns Gond Frank’s “No attacks” rule against him, then traps him by stretching the distance inside the projection and writing a movement rule that conflicts with Gond Frank’s. Their clash brings down a storm of lightning, followed by Gungnir, which pierces the blast.
• Jiang Hao’s projection is destroyed, and Gond Frank disappears in the explosion; the chapter leaves his exact fate unconfirmed.
• Elsewhere, three Divine Kingdoms begin falling toward the Main Plane. Their lands crumble, and some Angels and attendants escape, while the Petitioners remain bound to the kingdoms and face destruction.
• Gods across the multiverse turn their attention to the event, recognizing that a god’s fall is extraordinarily significant.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Hao proves resourceful and composed under pressure. He adapts the rules to defeat Gond Frank, refuses to be distracted by conversation, and uses his Divine Kingdom strategically rather than relying on direct attacks.
• Gond Frank shifts from divine confidence to desperation as his escape options disappear. He tries to exploit loopholes in the rules, but Jiang Hao counters him.
• Their confrontation is a contest of rule-making: each uses the Outer Void’s laws against the other, and Jiang Hao ultimately gains the advantage.

Significant themes

• Rules and power: Even gods are subject to the laws governing existence, and changing those laws carries a cost.
• Cunning over brute force: Jiang Hao wins ground by anticipating loopholes and manipulating space and rules.
• The cost of divine collapse: The falling Divine Kingdoms reveal the dependence of their inhabitants—especially the Petitioners—on their gods and realms.
• The rarity of a god’s fall: The widespread attention underscores how consequential the apparent destruction of a god can be.

Key plot points and events

• After blocking Gond Frank, the God of Craftsmen, from returning to his Divine Kingdom, Jiang Hao expects a Greater God to retaliate. He feels secure within his own Divine Kingdom, where its laws protect him from most intruders.
• Jiang Hao plans to revive Ieta Cavendish, whom Gond Frank devoured. Because Ieta had absorbed his followers’ faith, he gained some divine qualities—including the possibility of returning from the Astral Plane.
• Jiang Hao intends to gather that faith and draw Ieta back. Until then, he will supply Ieta’s followers with Divine Power, but their prayers must name Ieta specifically so their faith does not go to Jiang Hao or Gond Frank.
• In a village, priest Yaleka discovers his connection to Gond Frank has been severed. When Ieta identifies himself and restores Yaleka’s lost power—raising his level as well—Yaleka outwardly resists accepting a new god’s power but privately feels pleased.
• In a city, priests of the Goddess of the Forest try to persuade Gond Frank’s followers to convert, warning that their god has fallen and their souls are in danger. When some followers attack, the priests use thorn magic to wound them.
• The Goddess of the Forest then orders her followers to leave the kingdom: a new god is to take over Gond Frank’s people.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Hao shifts from dealing with Gond Frank’s threat to a calculated rescue plan, using faith and temporary Divine Power to restore Ieta.
• Yaleka is torn between lifelong loyalty to Gond Frank and the power offered by Ieta. His private acceptance suggests he may adapt despite his public hesitation.
• The forest goddess’s priests move from coercive conversion to withdrawal after receiving their goddess’s new oracle.
• Ieta Cavendish begins re-emerging through his followers’ prayers, while the Goddess of the Forest yields the followers to this new claimant.

Significant themes

• Faith as power and identity: Belief can sustain a god, but it can also reshape or consume the identity of the one worshipped.
• Religious change under pressure: Followers face fear, coercion, and personal ambition as their old god falls.
• Divine resurrection and rivalry: A fallen god’s return depends on whether faith can be gathered and directed correctly.
• Control through belief: Gods and churches compete not only for worshippers, but for the destination and meaning of their faith.

Summary

Key plot points

• The Goddess of the Forest, Elona, unexpectedly withdraws rather than oppose the spread of Jiang Hao’s Agriculture Portfolio. Jiang Hao welcomes the reprieve, wary of the Wheel of Fortune’s unpredictable backlash and the dangers faced by gods associated with fate.
• Jiang Hao reflects that divine powers may have suppressed the Goddesses of Fortune and Misfortune, as well as the ancient Lady of Night. He concludes that if he ever gains the Fate Portfolio, he must conceal it.
• In the Holy Vixima Kingdom, priest Yaleka tells former followers of the God of Craftsmen that their god has changed his divine name to Ieta Cavendish. Jiang Hao secretly strengthens the deception with divine power, then manifests a divine image and publicly confirms the claim. The followers accept the announcement and reaffirm their faith.
• Shalfir recognizes that the God of Craftsmen had seemed to fall: the god’s priests lost their ability to cast spells, and an omen appeared in the sky. Yet Yaleka can still use divine magic, and the divine manifestation leaves Shalfir shocked and uncertain about what has happened.
• Meanwhile, Antonio travels by train with Muvik, Veminaga, and Brent, searching for a suitable place to spread the God of Agriculture’s faith. He wants a territory dominated by a weak god rather than one already firmly controlled by a powerful church.
• In a new town, Antonio pays a laborer named Forns to guide him to the busiest temple. After learning about several local temples—including one dedicated to the supposedly fallen God of Justice—Antonio visits the Temple of Cruel Officials.
• Antonio then finds a disabled boy selling matches and gives him a red gemstone, telling him to take it to a priest at the Temple of Justice, who will heal him. The boy rushes off with hope, despite his injury.

Character developments

• Jiang Hao shows caution and strategic restraint. He avoids provoking Elona, remains anxious about fate’s backlash, and actively manipulates events to preserve Ieta Cavendish’s following.
• Yaleka proves resourceful, inventing a convincing explanation for the change in divine identity. His ability to cast divine spells helps sustain the followers’ belief.
• Shalfir is skeptical and observant. He understands that the apparent name change is suspicious and suspects divine intervention, but chooses not to expose the deception.
• Antonio is pragmatic and patient in his missionary strategy. Rather than competing directly with major churches, he seeks an opening in a weaker religious territory. His encounter with the injured boy also reveals compassion and a willingness to help.

Significant themes

• Faith and deception: The followers’ devotion is maintained through a carefully constructed story, showing how belief can be shaped by divine power and persuasive spectacle.
• Power and vulnerability among gods: Even powerful deities fear fate, while the suppression of certain gods suggests that divine influence depends on political cooperation as well as strength.
• Hope and mercy: Antonio’s gift offers the boy a chance of healing, turning the chapter’s title into a concrete moment of renewed hope.
• Strategic religious expansion: Building a faith requires choosing the right territory, managing resources, and understanding the reach of rival churches.

Character interactions

• Jiang Hao and Elona engage in an indirect contest over portfolios; her withdrawal prevents open conflict, which Jiang Hao prefers.
• Yaleka and the followers interact through an oracle claim and a demonstration of divine power, transforming their fear of abandonment into renewed faith.
• Shalfir silently assesses Yaleka and the crowd, withholding his doubts because he senses a god’s involvement.
• Antonio and Veminaga reveal tension over Antonio’s prolonged search, while Antonio explains why he is being selective.
• Antonio and Forns negotiate a guide’s fee; their exchange exposes the town’s temples and Forns’s everyday concerns.
• Antonio and the boy share a brief but consequential encounter: Antonio offers a path to healing, and the boy responds with urgent hope.

Key plot points and events

• Antonio disguises himself as a cat and watches a poor boy use a gemstone to receive healing for his broken leg. The boy tries to thank Antonio, but he has already left; Antonio reflects that the boy earned the help.
• Antonio reports strange religious conditions in the West Byron Kingdom: priests of the God of Cruel Officials appear to disguise ordinary magic as Divine Spells; the Church of Justice still performs Divine Spells despite Tyr’s apparent fall; and several True Gods’ Churches coexist with a Church devoted to a suspected False God.
• Jiang Hao suspects the False God’s open presence may be protected by an agreement with the True Gods, though he doubts the Lord of Dawn would cooperate with an evil being. He also wonders whether gods of Heavenly Mountain are trying to claim Tyr’s Authority of Justice.
• A search through the River of Time reveals only mist where the relevant history should be, suggesting that it has been concealed. Jiang Hao orders Antonio to investigate the God of Cruel Officials, the Churches’ tolerance of it, and the identities behind the names “God of Justice” and “God of Death.” He permits limited efforts to spread their own Faith.
• Antonio shares the revelation with the three False Gods at the station. Veminaga welcomes the end of train travel, then asks what they should do. Antonio decides to imitate other Churches and begin by building a Temple.

Character developments

• Antonio shows compassion toward the injured boy and acts thoughtfully rather than seeking recognition. Though inexperienced at spreading Faith, he takes initiative by proposing a practical first step.
• Jiang Hao approaches the kingdom’s religious contradictions as a strategic mystery, weighing possible alliances and struggles over divine Authority before issuing cautious instructions.
• Veminaga reveals its blunt, force-oriented instincts: in its home plane it would kill the rival False God and compel conversion, but it recognizes that this approach is unsuitable here.

Significant themes

• Faith, power, and legitimacy: Temples and priests may bear familiar divine names while serving different or concealed powers.
• Political maneuvering among gods: The Churches’ apparent tolerance may point to alliances, competition, or efforts to seize abandoned divine Authority.
• Compassion and earned reward: Antonio’s aid helps the boy, who responds with gratitude; Antonio sees the gemstone as something the boy deserved.
• Knowledge deliberately hidden: The obscured history in the River of Time suggests that the kingdom’s religious order conceals deeper truths.

Character interactions

• Antonio quietly helps the boy, who is grateful but cannot catch up with him.
• Antonio’s prayer carries his observations to Jiang Hao, who responds with a divine revelation and investigative orders.
• Antonio relays the revelation to Veminaga and the other False Gods. Their discussion shifts from Veminaga’s preference for force to Antonio’s cautious plan to establish a Temple.

Key plot points and events

• Count Shuesterm, a disgruntled noble, longs for the old order in which nobles ruled the West Byron Kingdom. He resents the commoner officials and Priests of the God of Cruel Officials who helped displace the nobility.
• Antonio, a Priest of the Agriculture Church, visits the count to request land for a Temple. He also tries to persuade Shuesterm to worship the newly established God of Agriculture, but the count refuses, remaining loyal to the Tyrant.
• The count grants Antonio a plot beside the Temple of the God of Cruel Officials—apparently hoping the new Church will challenge his political enemies.
• Antonio shows the neighboring weaponsmith, a Dwarf, proof of the count’s permission. The Dwarf promptly moves out, and Antonio uses a Seed and the Great Prophecy Spell to replace the shop with a grand Temple.
• Curious onlookers gather, but when they learn the Temple is dedicated to an unfamiliar God, they lose interest and leave.
• Watching the Temple’s completion, Jiang Hao turns his attention to traveling to Clockwork Nirvana to seek the Nether Scroll. Before departing, he plans to find an old man whose identity could aid the journey.

Character developments and interactions

• Count Shuesterm is revealed as bitter and nostalgic for noble rule, yet he uses Antonio’s request to advance his own hopes of undermining the God of Cruel Officials’ influence. He politely refuses conversion, citing his firm faith in the Tyrant.
• Antonio is earnest and persuasive, combining formal courtesy with unusually direct religious salesmanship. He accepts the count’s refusal, but regrets losing the chance to convert the count—and potentially his serfs.
• The Dwarf weaponsmith readily trusts Antonio’s proof and cooperates without conflict.
• Jiang Hao observes the successful construction of the Church’s first Temple on the Main Plane, then shifts focus to his next mission.

Significant themes

• Religion and political power: The conflict between nobles, officials, and competing Churches shapes the count’s grievances and motives.
• Faith and conversion: Antonio seeks believers for a new God, while the count’s established loyalty blocks conversion.
• The difficulty of building a following: A spectacular Temple draws attention, but novelty alone cannot make people interested in an unfamiliar deity.

A group of high-level adventurers, led by Tingen Archmage, reaches a ruined Netherese magic tower in search of treasure. Tingen explains that Netherese towers often kept their valuables in connected Demiplanes, prompting the party to explore. At the tower’s well-preserved top, they find an unfinished letter describing a way to cast spells without the Magic Net, along with signs that the former owner left in haste.
Using a Wishcraft Scroll, Tingen reveals several hidden passages to Demiplanes. He warns that some may be traps containing dangerous prisoners, so he uses separate scrolls to identify the safe route and transport the group. Though the scarred adventurer questions the expense, he accepts Tingen’s reasoning and promises to repay him if they find treasure. The party arrives in a brightly lit Demiplane, where a hazy old mage greets them.
Character developments and interactions: Tingen’s reverence for Netherese magic deepens when he reads the letter. He is also cautious and methodical, spending valuable scrolls to minimize risk. The scarred adventurer is skeptical and treasure-focused, but ultimately trusts Tingen’s expertise; Tingen privately doubts the promise of repayment.
Themes: The chapter emphasizes the lost knowledge and extraordinary power of Netheril, the dangers of exploring ancient magic, and the tension between greed and careful preparation.

Key plot points and events

• Tingen Archmage and his companions arrive in a Netherese demiplane in the Outer Void and meet an ancient mage who can read minds. He asks about the Main Plane and explains that its kingdoms have never reunited into an empire since Netheril fell.
• The old mage reveals that the gods helped cause Netheril’s collapse: Karsus could not have seized the Magic Net without their aid. He also warns that neither gods nor mages should be treated as invincible—or as easily controlled.
• When Tingen thinks of Mystra’s name, the old mage’s warning triggers a devastating blast that leaves Tingen bleeding and his companions unconscious. He explains that Mystra’s fall may have produced the Mysterious Girl, and suspects Mystra herself arranged the Magic Net’s collapse to eliminate a threat. He refuses to explain what that threat was.
• Before sending the adventurers away, the old mage gives Tingen a Netherese spellbook and urges him to spread its knowledge. The book is his own work, not the Nether Scroll.
• Jiang Hao arrives afterward. The old mage, who had expected the Mysterious Girl, recognizes him as the lord he had sworn to serve. Jiang Hao asks about Ioulaum, the old mage’s former teacher, and invites him to Clockwork Nirvana to find him. Jiang Hao’s goal is to obtain the Nether Scroll.
• In Clockwork Nirvana, Formians flee from the newcomers, while Normanus Adjudicators attack. The old mage disables one with ease and recalls that Netheril captured and studied such constructs, nearly driving them extinct.
• The old mage doubts Ioulaum could be hiding there, since the Adjudicators would relentlessly pursue him for his past experiments. Jiang Hao says a former priest of the God of Knowledge directed him there and takes the old mage to seek the Mother of All Ants, who may know Ioulaum’s whereabouts.

Character developments

• Tingen Archmage moves from suspicion to fascinated curiosity, but his encounter with the old mage demonstrates the danger of probing forbidden knowledge. He leaves with a responsibility to preserve and share Netherese magic.
• The old mage is revealed as an ancient Netherese survivor, devoted to his teacher Ioulaum and to passing on his civilization’s knowledge. His fear that the Mysterious Girl has found him gives way to relief when Jiang Hao appears.
• Jiang Hao remains composed and powerful, treating legendary figures as mortal rather than untouchable. He recruits the old mage to help pursue the Nether Scroll and locate Ioulaum.

Significant themes

• Knowledge and danger: Some truths—especially the mysterious threat that may have motivated Mystra—carry consequences simply by being pursued.
• Legacy and survival: Netheril has vanished, but its magic may endure if later generations preserve and teach it.
• Power without reverence or arrogance: The old mage argues that mages should neither underestimate themselves before gods nor assume they can dominate them.
• The persistence of history: Netheril’s former enemies and subjects survive, while the empire itself has become only a memory.

Character interactions

• Tingen and his companions confront the old mage defensively; his mind-reading and overwhelming power quickly reverse the balance.
• The old mage alternates between instructing, warning, and testing Tingen, then entrusts him with Netherese knowledge.
• Jiang Hao treats the old mage with familiarity and invites him on a mission centered on his former teacher. Their shared search for Ioulaum contrasts the old mage’s reverence with Jiang Hao’s pragmatic assessment of the legendary mage.

Jiang Hao and the old man enter Clockwork Nirvana in search of the Mother of All Ants, Ashilia, hoping she can help them locate Ioulaum. The old man explains that the plane’s ubiquitous Normanus Adjudicators enforce its laws without self-awareness, while the Formian Ants are strategic and cautious: they flee strong opponents and gang up on weak ones unless Ashilia commands them otherwise. Their guerrilla tactics once nearly drove the Netherese Empire out of the plane; the empire subdued them only after dozens of Legendary Mages wounded Ashilia.
Unable to locate Ashilia through Divination or the River of Time, Jiang Hao captures a Formian Ant and traces the causal connections it has formed. Through those links, he finds Ashilia in a vast cavern, surrounded by workers feeding her and tending to her eggs. He recognizes her as an ancient Outsider and sovereign of the Formian Ants.
Ashilia senses Jiang Hao observing her and launches a torrent of mental energy at him, apparently trying to corrupt his consciousness. Silver-white lightning purifies the attack, revealing Jiang Hao as a god. Ashilia breaks contact, and the old man estimates her strength at roughly Divine Rank 7 with Lesser Divine Power—potentially much more formidable in her home plane, with her army behind her. He warns that she may flee, and the pair set off to confront her.
Character developments and interactions: Jiang Hao demonstrates resourcefulness by using causal bonds when conventional divination fails, and his divine power withstands Ashilia’s attack. Ashilia shifts from hidden ruler to active threat once she detects him, while the captured ant’s fearful behavior illustrates the Formians’ instinct to evade danger. The old man provides historical context and assesses the danger, guiding their next move.
Themes: The chapter emphasizes the tension between imposed order and living agency, the strategic power of numbers and home-terrain advantage, and the limits of conventional knowledge. It also contrasts the Formians’ calculated survival instincts with the Adjudicators’ relentless, impersonal enforcement.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Hao and an old man arrive in Clockwork Nirvana and find Ashilia, the Mother of All Ants, waiting rather than hiding.
• Ashilia sends swarms of Formian Ants against them and uses psychic force to disrupt teleportation. Jiang Hao’s black-and-red divine flames protect them from her initial attack.
• Unable to teleport, Jiang Hao casts Eternal Blazing Sun, which annihilates the ants in Ashilia’s cavern and badly burns her.
• He attacks with Fragarach, the Sword of Vengeance, severing one of her forelimbs and preparing to strike her head.
• Before he can finish her, a mysterious voice intervenes, asking him to spare Ashilia. The speaker needs the psychic energy she collects through her vast ant network to hide the Nether Scroll from the Mother of All Magic.

Character developments

• Jiang Hao demonstrates the power and resolve of his divine avatar, choosing a decisive attack rather than risking a prolonged battle against Ashilia’s endless swarm.
• Ashilia, initially confident that numbers and psychic force will defeat him, is reduced to fear and pain when her defenses fail. Her reliance on her offspring also leaves her unprepared for direct combat.
• The old man recognizes Ashilia from an earlier era and is present as Jiang Hao confronts her.
• The unseen speaker is revealed to have a connection to the Nether Scroll and a practical reason to keep Ashilia alive.

Significant themes

• Overwhelming numbers versus concentrated power: Ashilia’s seemingly limitless swarm is countered by Jiang Hao’s devastating divine magic.
• Adaptation and preparation: Ashilia has developed defenses over centuries, but they prove inadequate against an opponent whose strength she misjudges.
• Hidden agendas and shifting alliances: The fight is interrupted by someone whose need for Ashilia may alter the confrontation.

Character interactions

• Ashilia attempts to overwhelm Jiang Hao and the old man through her ants and psychic attack; Jiang Hao counters, then directly wounds her.
• The old man’s historical knowledge provides context for Ashilia’s past.
• The mysterious voice addresses both men and asks Jiang Hao to spare Ashilia, making the Nether Scroll—and the threat posed by the Mother of All Magic—central to the conflict.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Hao brings Harry Taylor, an ancient Netherese mage bound to a Floating City, into contact with his former teacher, Ioulaum.
• Harry reunites with Ioulaum after hundreds of thousands of years. He recounts surviving the Netherese Empire’s collapse as a half–Tower Spirit, half-Lich and trying to repair the city so he could find his teacher and help rebuild the empire. A powerful goddess’s intervention ultimately erased his hopes.
• Ioulaum comforts Harry and agrees that Netheril should be left behind. Both recognize that the Gods would oppose any attempt to restore a powerful empire on the Main Plane.
• Ioulaum gives Jiang Hao his fragment of the Nether Scroll, explaining that the rest is held by the Lord of Omniscience, whom he warns is currently not fit to negotiate with.
• Jiang Hao asks whether Ioulaum is a God. Ioulaum says he is not: publicly claiming Godhood would expose him to enemies, though he has developed an ability similar to a God’s capacity to sense when his name is spoken.
• Ioulaum reveals that he had considered using the Scroll to gain power against the Gods and rebuild Netheril, but has changed his mind. When Jiang Hao asks what he wants in return, Ioulaum answers: “I want to become a God.”

Character developments and interactions

• Harry Taylor is finally reunited with the teacher he spent ages trying to find. His grief and bitterness over Netheril’s fall remain, but he has already accepted that rebuilding it is hopeless.
• Ioulaum shows affection and compassion toward his former student, while acknowledging his own grief over the empire he helped raise. He shifts from seeking the Scroll’s power for Netheril’s restoration to giving it to Jiang Hao.
• Jiang Hao responds cautiously rather than assuming the Scroll will be given freely. He accepts it but immediately asks Ioulaum’s motive, setting up their next negotiation.

Significant themes

• The limits of ambition: Even legendary mages cannot easily challenge the Gods or reverse the destruction of an empire.
• Grief and letting go: Harry and Ioulaum confront the end of the Netherese dream, though it has shaped their lives for ages.
• Power and danger: Ioulaum’s concealment reflects the risks of seeking Godhood, while his research suggests how far Netherese magic might have gone.
• A new goal: The chapter closes by replacing the old ambition to restore Netheril with Ioulaum’s personal desire to become a God.

Key plot points and events

• Ioulaum reveals that he once had many chances to become a god but rejected the idea, believing mages had greater potential than beings dependent on faith.
• His confidence collapsed after Netherese mages surpassed level 40 and still remained fundamentally weaker than gods: mortals were bound by the multiverse’s rules, while gods controlled its authorities.
• Seeking divine power, Ioulaum tried to claim the Creator Authority. He created an Illithid Elder Brain and many other beings, but could not obtain it.
• He then fused with the Elder Brain, transformed into an Illithid Lich Elder Brain, and turned his city’s illithids into Illithid Liches, hoping to create and claim a new authority.
• The Illithid Lich authority instead went to Velsharoon, strengthening the Lich God’s existing authority. Velsharoon discovered Ioulaum and destroyed his city during their battle. Ioulaum escaped to Clockwork Nirvana and hid within the Mother of All Ants’ psychic energy.
• Jiang Hao offers to connect Ioulaum with an authority he could master, in exchange for the portion of the Nether Scroll Ioulaum possesses. Ioulaum counters by offering a multiversal secret in return for protection: other universes exist beyond the multiverse.

Character developments and interactions

• Ioulaum is exposed as ambitious but fallible. Once dismissive of the gods, he now seeks godhood and admits frustration at failing to claim an authority.
• Jiang Hao recognizes how much bolder Ioulaum’s schemes were than his own cautious plan to begin with agriculture. He also assesses the danger Ioulaum would face from gods hostile to the Netherese Empire.
• Harry Taylor watches his revered teacher with sorrow and surprise, realizing that even Ioulaum can fail and feel frustrated.
• Jiang Hao offers Ioulaum a limited path toward divine power; Ioulaum responds by bargaining for protection with extraordinary knowledge.

Significant themes

• The limits of mortal ambition: Greater magical levels cannot overcome the fundamental difference between mortals and gods.
• The cost of past arrogance: Netherese contempt for the gods leaves Ioulaum exposed to old enemies.
• Power and authority: Creating something does not guarantee control over the authority associated with it.
• Risk versus caution: Ioulaum’s audacious experiments contrast with Jiang Hao’s safer, incremental approach.
• The scale of reality: The revelation of other universes expands the story’s cosmology beyond the known multiverse.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Hao asks Ioulaum whether other universes exist, pretending ignorance to preserve his image as a New God. Harry Taylor is also unsettled by the possibility.
• Ioulaum recalls how Netherese Mages once debated whether their universe had boundaries. They built the Friendly One, a Magitech Puppet that explored the Outer Void, but it never found an answer.
• Ioulaum links the question to the Nether Scroll. He recounts how its discovery transformed Netheril’s magic and asks where it came from. Jiang Hao concludes that it was made by a civilization beyond the multiverse. Ioulaum agrees, while suggesting it might instead have been created by the Mysterious Girl.
• Ioulaum argues that several beings may likewise have come from beyond their universe: they appeared without known origins and rose to great power. He cites the Elf Chief God and, from historical records, Paladine, Takhisis, the Queen of Chaos, the Hive Mind, the founders of the Sca Empire, Nyarlathotep, and several Chinese deities.
• Unlike the still-radiant Elf Chief God, many of these beings later vanished; Ioulaum cannot tell whether they died or left the multiverse.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Hao carefully manages what he reveals, acting surprised despite his own suspicions. When Ioulaum lists unexplained arrivals, Jiang Hao briefly wonders whether Ioulaum is indirectly describing him.
• Ioulaum acts as teacher and investigator, guiding Jiang Hao toward the Nether Scroll’s origin and sharing the evidence behind his theory. His playful suggestion about the Mysterious Girl adds a note of humor.
• Harry Taylor reacts with private wonder to the idea of other universes and skepticism toward the suggestion that the Mysterious Girl created the Nether Scroll.

Significant themes

• The limits of knowledge: Even the Netherese Empire’s greatest Mages could not establish whether other universes existed.
• Origins and migration: Powerful artifacts and Gods may have come from beyond the known multiverse.
• Historical uncertainty: A being’s appearance, power, and eventual disappearance may leave no reliable account of its beginnings or fate.
• Concealed identity: Jiang Hao’s careful performance reflects the tension between what he knows and what he chooses to reveal.

Key plot points

• Jiang Hao learns from Ioulaum that many gods from beyond the universe—including Egyptian, Chinese, and other figures—appeared in the Otherworld during its Second Era, then disappeared.
• Ioulaum estimates their former power: Geb, Isis, and the Weaver Girl had Lesser Divine Power; Horus, the Star of Literary Brilliance, and the Thunder Duke had Intermediate; Set and the Classic of Mountains and Seas had Greater; and Nyarlathotep and the Jade Emperor likely had Supreme.
• Ioulaum says he searched the Sca Empire’s ruins and Clockwork Nirvana for their abandoned Divine Kingdoms but found nothing.
• Jiang Hao asks Ioulaum to continue investigating these gods after becoming a True God and report back. He then departs, still curious about their origins and noting that Ioulaum’s Authority is “Magic Trick.”
• Elsewhere, Antonio and Veminaga bring a group of struggling farmers to hear about the God of Agriculture, Sandru. Antonio promises that faith in Sandru can bring them reliable harvests. The farmers, worried about taxes and possible enslavement if their crops fail, cautiously follow him to a field, where he begins to pray.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Hao is relieved that the ancient gods he impersonated may have left the universe long ago, reducing the risk of being exposed. He remains wary of Nyarlathotep and newly intent on uncovering the vanished gods’ history.
• Ioulaum reveals his long-standing fascination with the outsiders and his extensive, unsuccessful search for their traces. He respectfully accepts Jiang Hao’s request.
• Antonio shows a practical, welcoming approach to missionary work, having learned that friendliness attracts believers. Veminaga tries to seem kind but frightens the farmers instead.
• The farmers are skeptical but hopeful: Antonio’s promise of better harvests speaks directly to their poverty and fear of oppressive officials.

Significant themes

• Faith and power: Religious belief is presented both as divine worship and as a means of gaining protection and material benefit.
• Identity and uncertainty: Jiang Hao questions whether the vanished gods were “fellow travelers” like him or visitors from other universes.
• Hope amid hardship: For the farmers, faith offers the possibility of escaping hunger, debt, and enslavement.
• The gap between intention and perception: Veminaga believes he is being friendly, but his appearance and manner make the farmers more afraid.

Plot points and events

• Antonio demonstrates the God of Agriculture’s power by using Divine Power to make one acre of wheat ripen instantly. He clarifies that this extraordinary display is a rare miracle, not a normal benefit.
• He promises that believers’ fields can instead be blessed to produce three harvests a year, with especially devout followers potentially receiving blessings that allow four or five. The farmers, including Gofir, are intrigued but unsure how to earn such favor.
• The God of Agriculture, Sandru, then sends Divine Power across the surrounding farmland, causing fields to ripen at once. Antonio proclaims it a miracle, and the villagers react with awe.
• In the city temple of the God of Cruel Officials, its priests discuss the new Temple of Agriculture nearby. They recognize that they are Bloodline Sorcerers, not genuine priests, and fear they cannot safely enforce the usual rules governing neighboring temples.
• Sitenkbang proposes that the city raise taxes on followers of the God of Agriculture, then report the situation to their god and leave the decision to him.

Character developments and interactions

• Antonio acts as a persuasive missionary, using both his staged demonstration and promises of improved harvests to attract believers. Sandru’s larger miracle strengthens his claims.
• Gofir and the farmers move from excitement over the immediate harvest to cautious hope about repeated yields; Sandru’s miracle turns their uncertainty into wonder.
• Sitenkbang emerges as skeptical and pragmatic. He distrusts the Devil Lord’s supposed agreement with other gods and seeks to protect himself and the other priests from blame.
• The rival temple’s priests are anxious and divided: they fear losing followers but know their false priestly status makes confrontation dangerous.

Significant themes

• Faith and material need: The promise of better harvests offers practical reasons to believe, while the farmers’ uncertainty shows how faith can be shaped by circumstance.
• Miracles and persuasion: Antonio distinguishes a rare spectacle from ongoing blessings, but Sandru’s dramatic intervention makes the religious claims far more convincing.
• Power and deception: The Cruel Officials’ priests conceal their true nature, while Sitenkbang questions the reliability of their own god.
• Competition between religions: Churches vie for followers, and the threatened temple turns to taxation and political influence rather than open confrontation.

Plot points and events

• Antonio preaches the God of Agriculture to villagers, whose faith is strengthened by the miraculous golden wheat growing in their fields.
• The village chief asks whether the new faith means they can resist the city’s taxes. Antonio distinguishes ordinary taxes from the extra “faith tax” imposed on those who reject the God of Cruel Officials, calling that levy unjust and promising that God stands behind His followers.
• A tax collector arrives and questions the unusually rapid wheat harvest. Antonio explains that it is a divine miracle, then refuses to accept Burgan Chester City’s faith tax.
• The collector threatens to expel the Agriculture Church. Antonio answers with a lightning strike near the man’s feet and invokes the Continental Convention’s protection for churches of True Gods. He identifies himself as a level-twenty-two Legendary Agricultural Druid and warns the authorities not to collect the tax again.
• In his Divine Kingdom, Jiang Hao reflects that Antonio’s revelation of his strength should deter the city for now. He then decides to visit Ieta Cavendish in the Astral Plane.

Character developments and interactions

• Antonio presents himself as a solemn, protective priest, while carefully framing tax resistance as opposition to an unreasonable levy rather than taxes in general. When challenged, he shifts from preaching to a forceful display of power, defending both the Church’s legal right to preach and its followers.
• The village chief is eager to escape the ever-growing taxes and repeatedly seeks Antonio’s assurance. The villagers’ trust and religious allegiance move toward the God of Agriculture, whom they see as more beneficial than the God of Cruel Officials.
• The tax collector initially asserts the city’s authority but becomes frightened and physically shaken after Antonio’s lightning warning.
• Jiang Hao quietly intervenes with the lightning, then assesses the political effect of Antonio’s public reveal.

Significant themes

• Faith tied to material welfare: A visible harvest miracle makes the villagers’ new belief compelling.
• Religion and political power: The dispute over a faith tax becomes a test of whether local authorities can control a church.
• Protection and resistance: Antonio’s promise turns religious authority into practical backing against exploitation.
• Deterrence through strength: The conflict is halted not by negotiation but by Antonio’s—and Jiang Hao’s—display of power.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Hao enters the Astral Plane, a matterless realm of thought and dreams, where his connection to the Main Plane weakens and Faith reaches him only intermittently. He cannot send Divine Power beyond the plane.
• After landing on a floating gray rock, his avatar begins to mutate under the influence of chaotic whispers. Jiang Hao recognizes the threat as Corruption that could eventually break the avatar’s connection to his true body.
• He discovers that Divine Power made from Faith destroys the gray rock, suggesting it can neutralize this Corruption. He suspects the rocks surrounding fallen Gods are accumulated Faith-born Corruption.
• Jiang Hao approaches a floating divine island and meets the trapped Dusk God, Ingneri Marlow. He sends Divine Power into the island to strengthen him.
• Ingneri says he was attacked without warning while his true body slept in his Divine Kingdom. His attacker took over the Kingdom, concealing his fall from the Main Plane.
• Jiang Hao suspects the Lord of Dawn, but Ingneri rules him out: the Lord of Dawn had already fallen.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Hao responds to the Astral Plane’s dangers with curiosity and caution, testing how Divine Power affects the Corruption. He also helps Ingneri despite not yet knowing whether he can trust him.
• Ingneri Marlow is weakened and imprisoned beneath his divine island. He reveals how he was overthrown but does not know who attacked him.
• Their exchange changes from a tentative greeting to an urgent investigation into the identity of the God impersonating Ingneri on the Main Plane.

Significant themes

• Faith and Corruption: Faith appears to produce both Divine Power and a destructive form of Corruption, raising questions about how that Corruption originates.
• Identity and deception: Someone has taken Ingneri’s place, while the Dusk Church’s vague title for its deity may have helped conceal the substitution.
• Vulnerability and hidden power: Even Gods can be ambushed, displaced, and trapped, while the Astral Plane’s rules limit the power they can wield.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Hao learns that the Lord of Dawn fell long ago, a fact confirmed by the Dusk God, who sensed his brother’s death through their special bond and later verified it in person.
• This raises a disturbing mystery: someone has continued acting as the Lord of Dawn, attacking Jiang Hao and leading an assault on the Abyss. Jiang Hao wonders how even powerful gods such as the Sovereign of Order and Lady of Night could have failed to notice—or whether the impostor is more than a disguise.
• The Dusk God suspects the Ancient Sun God caused both his fall and the Lord of Dawn’s. He argues that the Ancient Sun God may never have truly died: the loss of believers would weaken a god but not kill one, and the Ancient Sun God’s body may have become the second sun seen from the Main Plane.
• Jiang Hao gives the weakened Dusk God part of his own body, which turns into Divine Power and sustains the god. The Dusk God asks to be saved and offers to serve Jiang Hao.
• Concerned that the Dusk God’s existing Church still worships the being posing as him, Jiang Hao agrees to help him return under a different identity: the God of Healing. In exchange, the Dusk God will later separate out his Healing Authority.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Hao shifts from pursuing a known enemy to questioning the identities and safety of the gods themselves. He remains cautious, weighing the advantages of gaining another god against the risk of attracting a dangerous hidden adversary.
• The Dusk God reveals his connection to the Lord of Dawn, shares his theory about the Ancient Sun God, and pragmatically offers service as his best chance of survival.
• Jiang Hao and the Dusk God negotiate a conditional alliance. Jiang Hao provides Divine Power and agrees to conceal the Dusk God’s identity; the Dusk God offers his allegiance and a future transfer of the Healing Authority.
• Fiona Russell is indirectly affected: Jiang Hao hopes the Healing Authority will complement the Medical Authority she already holds and strengthen her if she becomes a god.

Significant themes

• Uncertainty and impersonation: Even gods may not be who they appear to be, and the identity of the supposed Lord of Dawn is unresolved.
• Hidden power and survival: Divine Kingdoms and vast rank do not guarantee safety; powerful beings may fall—or evade death—without others noticing.
• Faith versus life: Believers supply Divine Power, but their deaths do not necessarily kill a god.
• Power, trust, and risk: Jiang Hao’s expanding pantheon could increase his influence, yet every alliance may expose him to unseen threats.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Hao travels through the Astral Plane, visiting the islands where dead gods sleep. He learns many ancient secrets, including that the God of Fairness is another name for the Sovereign of Order, the Prophecy God has not truly fallen, and the Purgatory God is an incarnation of Asmodeus.
• To obtain these revelations, Jiang Hao trades away most of his avatar’s body, leaving only its head. Because the avatar is made of Divine Power, this does not impair him.
• Jiang Hao finds Ieta Cavendish, a god who nearly advanced before falling. Ieta asks to be resurrected, explaining that the voices of believers have splintered his identity and the Astral Plane’s unchanging isolation has made existence unbearable.
• Jiang Hao agrees to support Ieta’s return. He will provide Ieta’s clergy with Divine Power and spells so they can gather Faith, and asks Ieta to connect his Divine Kingdom to Jiang Hao’s after resurrection. Jiang Hao also warns him that the Prophecy God is still active.
• The chapter shifts to a village near Tadelgada City, where a tax collector announces a new monthly “first-place tax” of ten silver coins per person—double for those who do not worship the God of Cruel Officials. The levy is meant to help Tadelgada reclaim its status as the kingdom’s highest-revenue city.
• The villagers object that the tax is ruinous, especially since Tadelgada lacks the Steam Train that has brought prosperity to rival Burgan Chester City. The village chief is left to decide how the community will respond.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Hao acts as a growing power broker among the gods: he gathers hidden knowledge, offers Ieta a path back to life, and plans for the resurrected god’s place in the pantheon.
• Ieta Cavendish reveals the psychological cost of death and isolation. Though ashamed of his failure and unable to offer anything in exchange, he accepts Jiang Hao’s help and hopes to return to the Main Plane.
• The tax collector enforces the lords’ demands with threats of divine punishment, while the village chief voices the villagers’ hardship and is pressured to find the money.

Significant themes

• Faith as both power and corruption: Believers’ murmurs can sustain a god, but they can also fracture a god’s identity.
• Loneliness and the desire to return: Ieta’s account presents the Astral Plane as an endless, isolating prison.
• Power, bargains, and obligation: Jiang Hao’s aid comes with expectations of alliance and mutual defense.
• Exploitation and inequality: Tadelgada’s leaders shift the cost of their rivalry onto poor villagers, using religious authority to intimidate them.

Plot points and events

• Shaqu Village cannot afford its taxes. The villagers fear that anyone who cannot pay will be taken as a slave; some may be sent to dangerous mines.
• Derek proposes that the village worship the God of Agriculture, whose believers are rumored to be exempt from taxes. The village chief considers spreading the idea to nearby villages.
• Tax official Selt arrives demanding thirty-seven gold coins, though the village has only three. When they cannot pay, he threatens to report them and demands the village’s children as payment.
• The villagers bring out the children. Selt selects several girls, dismissing the village chief’s plea that they believe in the God of Agriculture by claiming that believers owe double taxes.
• As Selt moves to seize the girls, an unseen force strikes: his head falls to the ground.

Character developments and interactions

• Derek offers the villagers a possible path to resist the tax system, citing his cousin and reports from other communities.
• The village chief moves from considering collective belief as a solution to submitting under Selt’s threats, then watches helplessly as the children are selected.
• Selt is rigid and coercive, intent on collecting the full amount and threatening the villagers with enslavement. His sudden death interrupts his abuse.
• Alan the hunter and the chief’s eldest son protest as Selt chooses the girls, while the children remain confused and frightened.

Significant themes

• Exploitation and poverty: Taxes consume what little the villagers have, leaving them trapped between hunger, enslavement, and dangerous labor.
• Power and helplessness: Officials wield threats against families with few means to resist.
• Faith as resistance—or another burden: Worship of the God of Agriculture appears to offer tax relief, but Selt’s claim that believers owe double taxes exposes the danger of challenging the ruling order.
• A sudden reversal: Selt’s death changes the balance of power, leaving open who intervened and what will happen next.