Chapter Summaries

After a cavalry squad was ambushed near White Rock City, General Hoffman concluded that elite forces—likely remnants of the Tia Family—were hiding nearby. He ordered wider patrols with unchanged or reduced numbers to make the area appear vulnerable and lure the enemy into his trap.

• The adjutant told General Hoffman that the Third Light Cavalry Squad had been nearly wiped out in an ambush near the Black Pine Forest.
• General Hoffman interpreted the ambush as evidence that the Tia Family’s forces were nearby, though he acknowledged the Bagnians might be responsible.
• The adjutant suggested reducing patrols and strengthening the city’s defenses, but General Hoffman rejected the plan.
• General Hoffman ordered patrols to cover more ground and venture deeper into outlying areas while keeping their numbers and equipment light.
• The adjutant understood the plan and left to relay the orders as General Hoffman watched for the hidden forces to take the bait.

Olaf led the Varangian Warband toward White Rock City after noticing its patrols had weakened, but a refugee’s scream exposed their approach and triggered the alarm. The Varangians charged through the refugee district, used a Siege Spear to blast open the city gates, and prepared to storm inside.

• Olaf noticed Minisia’s patrols around White Rock City had become less frequent and gathered more than two hundred Varangian warriors for a stealthy advance.
• A Varangian player gave bread to a starving child instead of letting him scream and alert the city.
• An old woman spotted the warband near the refugee shantytown and raised the alarm, prompting Olaf to order the Varangians to charge.
• Olaf’s warriors rushed toward the gates, enduring a few crossbow bolts as White Rock City’s defenders scrambled to respond.
• Olaf ordered two Varangians to use a Siege Spear, which blasted apart the oak gates and opened the way into the city.

The Varangian Warband broke into White Rock City but was trapped by a prepared Minisian ambush, where Olaf led a brutal counterattack. Meanwhile, hundreds of players rushed toward the open gates to claim a share of the city, leaving the siege poised to expand into chaos.

• Players near White Rock City learned the Varangian Warband planned to seize the city and rallied to stop them, hoping to claim property and wealth.
• Olaf led the Varangians through White Rock City's blasted gates and advanced toward the Central Square, where Minisian troops revealed an ambush and surrounded them.
• General Hoffman learned the attackers were Bagnians from the Varangians and wondered why they had come to White Rock City.
• Olaf's Varangians used Crouching Tiger Cannons and firearms to break the Minisian cavalry charge, then charged the enemy's right flank and forced a bloody breach in its shield wall.
• Hundreds of players surged toward the open gates, ignoring the defenders' arrows and rushing into White Rock City to claim their share.

Olaf and the Varangians were trapped in White Rock City as players and starving refugees poured through the breached gate, spreading looting and disorder. After fighting through the night without support, Olaf was shot down and the Varangian Warband was wiped out.

• Olaf led the wounded Varangians into a side street, where they fought off Minisian soldiers and fired their Crouching Tiger Cannons at rooftop attackers.
• Players flooded through White Rock City's breached gateway, while starving refugees followed them and ransacked homes for food.
• Refugees invading soldiers' homes caused Minisian troops to abandon their positions, but the players did not provide enough help to free the surrounded Varangians.
• Olaf fought on until every other Varangian had fallen, then faced a ring of Minisian soldiers alone.
• A Minisian officer ordered the archers and Musketeers to fire, and Olaf remained upright as the Varangian Warband was wiped out.

General Hoffman discovered that White Rock City’s food reserves had been stolen, contaminated, or burned, threatening the Mountain Search Unit’s mission. In the valley, Black-and-White Bear rejected Elena’s heirloom reward, and Elena mistook his refusal for proof of absolute loyalty to Prince Chris.

• General Hoffman found the East City Granary ruined and learned that Granary No. 2 had burned, while looters had stripped the residential districts of food.
• Black-and-White Bear and more than thirty Bagnian soldiers brought food and medicine to the valley, enough to sustain them for another fortnight and help the wounded survive.
• Martha offered Black-and-White Bear the Eye of Poseidon on Elena’s behalf, but he refused it, saying he had only carried out Prince Chris’s orders.
• Martha reported the refusal to Elena, who concluded that Black-and-White Bear answered only to Prince Chris and had rejected the gift to avoid appearing to choose sides.
• Elena ordered Martha to treat Black-and-White Bear like the commander of Prince Chris’s personal guard and to keep the ring until the Prince could present it himself.

Chris increased the forces committed to rescuing the trapped Tia Family, sending a player Expeditionary Army north while organizing a Blue Banner Army-supported attack on Minisia’s coast. After the Blue Banner Army rapidly assembled at Anvil Fortress, Marquis Dirac led it northeast as a supporting force.

• Chris decided to commit more troops to rescue the Tia Family because Minisia’s pursuit made escape unlikely and Guano Island was strategically valuable.
• Chris raised the players’ mission rewards and arranged for a player Expeditionary Army to march north from Tavitsky toward the mountains five days later.
• Chris ordered the First and Second Infantry Regiments and five thousand Blue Banner Army soldiers to attack Minisia’s coast in support of the rescue.
• Lawrence Darnell received the emergency mobilization order and led his Blue Banner Army company to assemble, driven by loyalty to Chris and hatred of Charles.
• The Blue Banner Army reached Anvil Fortress within five days, and Chris rewarded its soldiers with three months’ pay.
• Chris appointed Marquis Dirac to command the supporting force and ordered it to march northeast.

Colonel Silas Mordred and the surviving Royal Guard remained hidden in the rain-soaked mountains, determined to capture the Tia Family for King Charles. With allied troops withdrawn and supplies dwindling, Mordred ordered his men to intensify their search and wait for Bagnia’s rescuers.

• Mordred watched the allied troops withdraw and insisted that the Tia Family remnants were still in the mountains.
• His adjutant reported that Bagnia’s forces were advancing and most local troops had been redeployed, leaving the Royal Guard without its allies.
• A soldier warned Mordred that the guard was out of rations, suffering from illness, and losing men to Mountain Tiger fighters.
• Mordred urged his men to endure their hardships rather than fail King Charles’s mission.
• Mordred ordered scouts to split into teams of three, search dangerous hiding places, and watch for signs of human activity and Bagnian rescuers.

Black-and-White Bear warned Elena that the vulnerable Tia Family column was in danger, but she insisted on leaving the valley to join Bagnia’s Expeditionary Army and rescue her imprisoned relatives. As the column rested beside a stream, Minisian attackers ambushed them, and Black-and-White Bear rallied the soldiers while Elena led the civilians away.

• Black-and-White Bear urged Elena to return to the valley or wait for reinforcements, but she insisted the sick and imprisoned Tia Family had to be saved by reaching the Expeditionary Army.
• Black-and-White Bear ordered Centurion Torres to prioritize Elena’s protection, contacted Captain Little Knife for help, and armored himself for a likely attack.
• The column reached a stream, where Black-and-White Bear ordered a short rest and sent soldiers to scout the wooded slopes.
• A sentry fired a warning shot as attackers struck, and a crossbow bolt killed him before he could finish his alert.
• Black-and-White Bear rallied more than fifty able soldiers while Elena and wounded guards led the elderly, women, and children away from the attack.

Black-and-White Bear and the Bagnian soldiers fought to stop a large Minisian assault from reaching the Tia Family’s fleeing women and children. As Colonel Mordred sent flankers after Elena Tia, Centurion Torres ordered her carried south and prepared to hold them off.

• Black-and-White Bear’s musketeers fired on the Minisian charge, but damp weather weakened their shots and the enemy crashed into the Bagnian shield line.
• Black-and-White Bear used his Two-Handed Greatsword to kill dozens of Minisian soldiers, then endured attacks that his armor kept from causing fatal wounds.
• Colonel Mordred ordered forty or fifty Minisian soldiers to flank the defenders and pursue Elena Tia and the fleeing Tia Family.
• Centurion Torres had two Tia Family women carry Elena south while he and twenty-odd Bagnian soldiers stopped to confront the flankers.
• Torres and the Bagnian soldiers vowed to fight to the death for His Highness Chris.

Black-and-White Bear survived the brutal battle and followed the trail of the retreating Tia Family, finding Centurion Torres and many soldiers dead. Mountain Tiger Warband rescued Elena and the remaining refugees, and Black-and-White Bear ended the chapter injured and resentful of Elena’s distrust.

• Black-and-White Bear killed a Minisian officer, then found the battlefield silent and stripped off his heavy breastplate before heading south.
• Black-and-White Bear discovered Centurion Torres dead among the soldiers who had died defending his retreat.
• Black-and-White Bear found the Tia Family’s elderly, women, and children massacred, but Mountain Tiger Warband had saved about twenty survivors.
• Little Knife brought Elena Tia and the last guard back to the survivors, and Elena embraced her family in relief.
• Black-and-White Bear asked for his wounds to be bandaged and told Little Knife that he hated Elena because she did not trust them.

Black-and-White Bear woke aboard a wagon after the Mountain Tiger Warband rescued the Tia Family survivors and began escorting them south. He accepted the Eye of Poseidon from Martha, then Little Knife asked to see his quest log so he could warn players about Elena’s quest.

• Black-and-White Bear woke from his injuries aboard a wagon and learned the convoy was heading south to meet the Expeditionary Army.
• Black-and-White Bear climbed down during a midday stop, where the Tia Family survivors bowed to him in gratitude.
• Martha offered Black-and-White Bear the Eye of Poseidon and thanked him for saving Elena and preserving the Tia Family’s bloodline.
• Black-and-White Bear accepted the ring and told Martha that she owed him nothing more.
• Little Knife asked to see Black-and-White Bear’s quest log so he could post a warning to players about quests involving Elena.

The Expeditionary Army advanced through the shattered Minicia Kingdom with little resistance and met the Mountain Tiger Warband near White Rock City. Elena asked the commanders to rescue her family from the city, but they rejected her offer of a favor and left her only the possibility of recruiting volunteers.

• The Expeditionary Army swept north through Minicia, encountering fleeing lords, starving villages, disorganized defenders, and a collapsing central government.
• The Expeditionary Army met the Mountain Tiger Warband near White Rock City, and its players decided to consider continuing their campaign rather than simply returning to Bagnia.
• Elena met the Expeditionary Army's commanders and asked them to send an elite squad into White Rock City to rescue her imprisoned relatives before the assault.
• Lin Ruoyu and Hearts of Iron demanded concrete rewards and questioned the risks of the rescue mission, dismissing Elena's promise of a favor.
• Barbarossa offered to post a notice seeking volunteers, and Elena accepted the limited offer with humiliation and despair.

Elena overheard the Expeditionary Army’s commanders reject a deep advance because of food shortages and the difficulty of governing captured territory. She devised a plan to use her family’s ties inside White Rock City to secure its surrender without bloodshed, and sought help from the army to deliver her letters.

• Lin Ruoyu explained that the army’s provisions would last only twenty-five days and warned that capturing and holding territory would stretch its supplies and forces.
• The commanders decided against advancing toward Minicia’s capital, while Elena secretly listened outside the meeting hall through a glowing ring.
• Barbarossa posted Elena’s rescue quest, but most veteran players dismissed it as too risky and poorly rewarded.
• Elena returned to her relatives and realized the Expeditionary Army was vulnerable because of its limited time and supplies.
• Lady Margaret revealed the Tia Family’s connections to Baron Harry and Sir Dolong inside White Rock City.
• Elena decided to write to the two nobles and ask the Expeditionary Army to provide a messenger, hoping to take White Rock City without bloodshed.

Chris learned from Priest Crawford that a corrupt overseas force had landed on the Minicia coast, possibly with help from the Sea God Church. After consulting Polka, Chris sent him to assist Marquis Dirac and ordered him to bring clergy from the Goddess of Agriculture Church, supervised by the Earth Mother Goddess Church.

• Chris heard Priest Crawford report that the Earth Mother Goddess's oracle had warned of a corrupt power landing on the Minicia coast and suspected the Sea God Church had aided it.
• Chris asked Polka Saven to assess the warning, and Polka said the Sea God Church's priests had likely helped the overseas force cross the storm-blocked waters.
• Polka told Chris that he had entered the Greek Continent by forcing his way through the storms before Lord Dirac's ship rescued him.
• Chris assigned Polka to help Marquis Dirac, with a squad of fighters accompanying him and Polka serving as an advisor.
• Chris ordered Polka to take the Goddess of Agriculture Church's High Priest and members of the Earth Mother Goddess Church with him, so the latter could supervise the former.

Black-and-White Bear delivered Martha’s sealed letter to two Minisia nobles inside White Rock City, where they agreed to begin an unspecified plan the next day. Elena believed the mission had advanced her effort to save her family, unaware that Black-and-White Bear had also reported the matter to Commander Old Li.

• Martha asked Black-and-White Bear to deliver a sealed letter to White Rock City, and Commander Old Li told him to go investigate.
• Minisia soldiers opened the city gate and escorted Black-and-White Bear to two nobles in a tower room.
• Black-and-White Bear gave the nobles Martha’s letter, and they spent over an hour reading and silently reacting to it.
• The tall, thin noble said they would begin the next day and asked that Elena remember her promise if they failed.
• Black-and-White Bear returned to Martha, repeated the noble’s words, and logged off without telling her he had reported the matter to Old Li.
• Martha reported the mission to Elena, who believed Black-and-White Bear had kept her secret and celebrated the prospect of saving her family.

Elena told the Expeditionary Army that nobles in White Rock City planned to rebel and asked them to rescue the imprisoned Tia Family men. The uprising opened the city gate, but Knife-in-the-Butt’s players reached the dungeon too late to save more than half of Elena’s relatives, leaving Count Tia alive amid the deaths.

• Elena revealed that Sir Doron and Baron Harry had promised to rebel in White Rock City, open a gate, and help free the Tia Family hostages.
• A messenger reported fighting among the Minisians, and players rushed into White Rock City through the gate opened by the rebels.
• Knife-in-the-Butt led players through the city, using a Crouching Tiger Cannon to break a defender barricade and advancing toward the Governor’s Residence.
• Knife-in-the-Butt and Call Me Aku reached the dungeon, where they found that Royal Guards had killed many Tia Family prisoners before the players arrived.
• The players rescued Count Tia and seventeen or eighteen other survivors, but Count Tia’s eldest son, youngest son, and more than half of the family’s male members were dead.

After the Expeditionary Army captured White Rock City, it returned home while two defected nobles went back to Minicia as potential moles. At the siege of Suvano, Polka warned Marquis Dirac of heretics who could attack with magic, while a hidden creature watched the camp and prepared for more of its kind to arrive.

• The Expeditionary Army seized White Rock City's grain and wealth, then left the two defected nobles behind to return to Minicia as spies.
• Polka arrived at the siege camp outside Suvano with Chris's warning that heretics might target the army away from the battlefield.
• Marquis Dirac ordered increased night patrols, coastal searches, and stronger defenses at the supply camp.
• A shadowy creature near the camp evaded a cavalry patrol by distorting the soldiers' perceptions.
• The creature watched the camp and scanned for targets as more of its kind landed along the coast.

Chris rewarded two Minician nobles who defected to the Expeditionary Army, then heard King Charles’s ceasefire proposal and threats against the Tia Family and Marquis Dirac. He rejected Charles’s attempt to win concessions at the negotiating table and left the messenger to report his answer.

• Chris appointed the two defectors hereditary Five-Army Commandants and ordered a delivery quest for their documents.
• A messenger from King Charles proposed a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the Tia Family’s release and recognition of the current line of control.
• The messenger threatened to execute the Tia hostages and direct a dangerous force against Marquis Dirac’s corps if Chris refused.
• Chris recognized Charles’s connection to the threat against Dirac and decided not to reveal that players had already rescued some Tia hostages.
• Chris told the messenger to inform Charles that he would not gain through negotiations what he could not win on the battlefield.

Home Alone and a group of players followed Mia’s report of a giant snake into a cave, where they were ambushed by Snake-Man Warriors and assassins. After most of the group was killed during their retreat, Mia arrived with Bagnia soldiers whose Flintlocks drove the Snake-Men back, and Home Alone prepared to counterattack.

• Mia showed Home Alone a fresh, enormous trail leading from the camp toward the woods and warned him about a giant snake.
• Home Alone gathered more than a dozen players and led them to a cave where the trail ended.
• The players entered the cave and discovered Snake-Man Warriors, who attacked them alongside hidden Snake-Man assassins.
• Home Alone ordered a retreat as the Snake-Men overwhelmed the group, and only he, Iron Tower, and Rock escaped the cave alive.
• Mia arrived with Bagnia soldiers, whose Flintlock volley stopped the pursuing Snake-Men at the cave entrance.
• Home Alone called for a gun and urged the surviving players and soldiers to attack the Snake-Men.

Polka and the church representatives investigated strange tracks in the siege camp, then learned that a scouting party of Lamia Snakefolk had infiltrated the area. As Polka ordered the camp placed on high alert, a messenger delivered Prince Chris's order for an immediate withdrawal.

• Hector sensed fresh traces of a huge creature near the camp fence, and Lydia identified a snake trail leading toward a location two kilometers away.
• Polka ordered Hector and Lydia to inspect the camp perimeter for more infiltrators and searched for signs of fear or bewitchment.
• Mia, Home Alone, and the Defense Force returned with several dead snakefolk after a dangerous cave battle.
• Polka identified the corpses as Lamia Snakefolk from the Scaleclaw tribe and ordered Marquis Dirac to raise the highest alert and search the camp's water sources and granaries.
• A messenger told Polka that Prince Chris had ordered the army to withdraw immediately to territory under its control.