Chapter Summaries

Major Marlow learned that Wallace’s Free People were attacking supply convoys while his garrison regiment remained trapped outside Doro Valley. With only five days of food and enemies threatening to join forces, he ordered a risky surprise attack to break the rebel defenses.

• Major Marlow received the Ankandela Council’s order to clear Doro Valley within seventy-two hours after grain requisitions were attacked in Shatterstone County.
• A lieutenant reported that Wallace’s Free People, numbering four or five hundred, had attacked the convoy carrying the garrison regiment’s grain.
• Major Marlow realized his regiment was trapped between the rebels in Doro Valley and the Free People, with supplies nearly exhausted.
• Major Marlow ordered the regiment to its highest combat alert and sent an elite squad along a hunters’ trail to attack rebel-held Doro Town and draw the rebels out.

Little Knife recognized that the smoke from Doro Town signaled danger and led the Mountain Tiger players to retreat into the Kaslo Mountains. Major Marlow found their camp deserted and decided to withdraw rather than pursue them into the mountains.

• Mia warned Little Knife that enemies were approaching and urged the players to run.
• Little Knife realized that attacking the arsonists could leave the valley exposed, so he ordered the players to pack up and retreat.
• Major Marlow found the camp abandoned while his soldiers looted the food, pots, and supplies.
• Marlow's adjutant reported footprints leading toward the Kaslo Mountains, and Marlow decided to withdraw and reinforce elsewhere.

Wallace raised a rebellion against the Republic of Bagnia’s oppressive officials, drawing farmers and townsfolk into attacks that cut off Ankandela’s countryside and supply roads. While Chris remained unaware of the uprising, the Republic’s Third Infantry Regiment arrived and aimed its cannons at him.

• Major Marlow learned that his retreating Garrison Regiment was being hunted in the mountains, had lost its messenger, and was running short on food.
• After realizing he had been deliberately forced into conscription, Wallace painted his face blue, raised a red flag, and began a rebellion.
• Farmers and townsfolk rallied to Wallace, who led attacks on wealthy landowners, tax collectors, and town constables.
• Wallace’s uprising crippled Ankandela’s control of the surrounding countryside and severed the roads supplying the front.
• Chris remained unaware of the rebellion as the players hunted the Garrison Regiment and killed hostile farmers without investigating.
• The Republic’s Third Infantry Regiment arrived and aimed its cannons at Chris, ready to fire.

Chris watched the Republic’s army approach Bolas Fortress after Lieutenant General Dalek led twenty thousand troops across Bolas Gorge by a detour. The fortress and its new defenses awaited them, while Pierre learned that his cavalry company was preparing to charge.

• Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence welcomed the cavalry captain and learned that only 150 reinforcements had been sent to him while Lieutenant General Dalek took the main army around Bolas Fortress.
• Chris spotted the Republic’s army advancing from the northeast and realized Dalek had crossed Bolas Gorge using wooden bridges.
• Lieutenant General Dalek saw Bolas Fortress and its extensive defensive works, including trenches, earthen walls, and three rows of concertina wire.
• Pierre voiced his doubts about attacking the fortress, and Captain Bertrand struck him with a whip and warned him to stay silent.
• Pierre noticed soldiers secretly assembling in the camp and learned that they were waiting for the signal to charge.

Lieutenant General Dalek used the Third Infantry Regiment’s unfinished camp as bait, expecting Prince Chris to attack, and ordered the regiment to follow his plan. Bertrand led the First Cavalry Company toward the enemy, while Pierre wrestled with guilt over charging against the king’s heir.

• Dalek watched Chris’s troops leave the trenches and waited for them to advance beyond the defenses before signaling his forces to act.
• Bertrand ordered Sergeant Pierre to raise the banner and assembled 150 cavalrymen to break the enemy line and hold the opening until reinforcements arrived.
• Pierre followed Bertrand toward the battlefield, troubled by the thought that he was pointing his lance at the heir of the king he had once served.
• Republican Army soldiers began advancing behind the cavalry, while artillerymen hauled 32 bronze cannons toward the enemy.

Black-and-White Bear marched with a hastily assembled thousand-player infantry regiment whose members wore armor and carried banners from many different battle groups. When 150 enemy cavalry approached, the regiment formed a modified hollow square, and Black-and-White Bear spotted the imposing cuirassiers through his telescope.

• Black-and-White Bear admired the regiment's disciplined march and described how he had joined the Han-Tang Warriors for their fish-scale armor.
• The Han-Tang Warriors' leader, elected commander of the temporary regiment, used the player command system to direct the thousand players into a modified hollow-square formation.
• Black-and-White Bear took his place in the front rank with his pike as flintlock users and Crouching Tiger Cannons occupied the square's flanks.
• A company commander announced that 150 enemy cavalry were approaching from 500 meters away.
• Black-and-White Bear sighted the cuirassiers through his telescope and urged his comrades to target the riders rather than their impressive horses.

Sergeant Pierre led the Republic’s shock cavalry in a charge that broke through the players’ hollow square at heavy cost. Black-and-White Bear rallied the surviving players as a second wave advanced, while Lieutenant General Dalek ordered the Republic’s following troops to press their attack.

• Pierre led First Cavalry Company’s lance charge against the players’ three-rank pike line, which the shock cavalry shattered despite suffering heavy casualties.
• Black-and-White Bear survived the impact and watched the sword-and-shield cavalry devastate the players inside the hollow square and break through its rear ranks.
• After learning the infantry commander had died, Black-and-White Bear took command and ordered the players to form a new hollow square as enemy forces approached.
• The Republic cavalry rode onward toward the trenches instead of turning back to attack the players again.
• Chris watched the charge from Bolas Fortress, while Lieutenant General Dalek grieved the loss of his elite riders and ordered the dragoons, artillery, and infantry to attack faster.

Chris watched Lieutenant General Dalek launch an all-out assault on Bolas Fortress and tried to work out how the Republican Army could capture it before nightfall. Fearing betrayal at the gates or an unexpected magical attack, he ordered Connie to check the entrances and prepared to respond to the assault.

• Chris realized Dalek was committing nearly the entire Republican Army to a sudden attack, aiming to seize the trenches and open a path to Bolas Fortress.
• Chris assessed the defenses on the hills around the fortress, especially the fortified western hill protecting the railway to Bich Town.
• Chris considered whether the Republican Army might use the underground passage, a traitor at the gates, or magic to break into the fortress.
• Chris told Connie to inspect both the front and rear gates for traitors, and she ran to carry out his order.
• Chris began sending orders to the militia regiment holding the first defensive line.

Pierre and Captain Bertrand captured an enemy forward position but faced a counterattack and a second defensive line. Meanwhile, Black-and-White Bear and the remaining Han-Tang Warriors prepared to meet a larger Republic cavalry charge, still waiting for reinforcements.

• Pierre and Bertrand led a second cavalry charge through a gap in the barbed wire, and Bertrand saved Pierre from a trench defender before they captured the forward position.
• Pierre discovered another defensive line ahead and split the cuirassiers with Bertrand, sending half to demolish the wall while Bertrand tried to hold off the counterattack.
• Black-and-White Bear rallied the twenty surviving Han-Tang Warriors as several hundred Republic cavalrymen charged toward them.
• The Han-Tang Warriors complained that their unfinished spear shafts had broken in the previous charge, then prepared to face the oncoming cavalry.

Black-and-White Bear and the players held their Great Square Formation against repeated Republican cavalry and infantry assaults, despite devastating casualties. Chris then let Lieutenant General Dalek advance toward Bolas Fortress while keeping his cannons silent so the Republican army would push deeper into his defenses.

• Black-and-White Bear fought off cavalrymen at the front of the Great Square Formation as the players repelled the Republic's ranged attacks and charges.
• The players' flintlock volleys inflicted heavy losses on the light cavalry, which withdrew after abandoning more than two hundred bodies.
• Republican infantry assaulted the formation repeatedly, but the players held until thirty-two cannons battered them and fewer than two hundred survivors ran out of powder.
• Lieutenant General Dalek ordered thousands of soldiers to charge toward the forward position and Bolas Fortress while his cannons fired on the hilltop positions.
• Chris ordered the hilltop artillery not to fire, hoping Dalek would advance deeper without realizing how many cannons defended the fortress.

Pierre watched Dalek's troops continue a costly assault on Bolas Fortress as Chris defended the walls and waited for the traitor to reveal himself. With the enemy also entering through the Underground River passage, Chris judged that the trap was ready to close.

• Pierre saw an Auxiliary soldier shot and watched the Discipline Squad force his companions to abandon the body and advance.
• Captain Bertrand drove off the Discipline Squad, then ordered Pierre carried forward to the battle.
• Pierre saw Republican Army troops repeatedly charge the hills while cannons fired on Bolas Fortress and soldiers died on the Mountain Road.
• Chris heard explosions from the Underground River passage and learned that Centurion Lakes had encountered the enemy there.
• Chris estimated the attacking force at nearly five figures and decided it was time to haul in the trap.

Home Alone and Old Smoker fought off attackers at Bolas Fortress as infiltrators and explosives weakened its defenses. A massive powder blast breached the castle wall while hidden cannons opened fire on the enemy army.

• Home Alone shot attackers climbing the mountain road until a cannonball struck him and smashed part of the wall.
• Old Smoker spotted shielded enemies approaching a spire and used Molotov cocktails to drive Sword-and-Shield Fighters away from the gate.
• An infiltrator shouted for the Earth Mother and detonated a powder barrel, killing allied gunners and making the players distrust the NPCs.
• Dalek's combat engineers exploited the weaker defense to attack Bolas's aging walls with explosive charges.
• Home Alone survived the rubble and shot an enemy sneaking up behind Old Smoker, but Old Smoker died when a powder barrel exploded beneath the wall.
• Thirty jin of black powder blasted a breach in Bolas Fortress as cannons on the western hills fired more than twenty iron cannonballs into the enemy troops.

Chris watched the Republican Army’s assault on Bolas Fortress and wondered whether his plan had gone wrong or brought victory. As Pierre and Bertrand pressed on despite reports of defeat, the exhausted Players discovered that the enemy was fleeing and logged off after realizing they had won.

• Chris stayed atop Bolas Fortress as its guns and light cavalry attacked the Republican Army trapped before it.
• Pierre climbed the rubble ramp through heavy losses, took a dead soldier’s sword and letter, and reached the wall as his comrades began retreating after hearing the army had been defeated.
• Bertrand ordered Pierre to advance without retreat, and the two led the remaining Cuirassiers along the wall.
• Black-and-White Bear armed himself with a recovered saber as the approaching Republican soldiers fled from the Players’ corpse-strewn position.
• Black-and-White Bear and the remaining Players realized they had won, then logged off to rest.

Lieutenant General Dalek tried to stop the Republic Third Infantry Regiment from fleeing Bolas Mountain, but hungry, exhausted soldiers turned on him and killed him. With the regiment collapsing, the players realized rope and rice porridge would help them capture the scattered troops.

• Dalek blocked the mountain road with his guards and forced some deserters to turn back, but cannon fire sent them fleeing again.
• Dalek ordered the troops to hold and led a charge toward Bolas Fortress, calling on them to fight for glory and the Republic.
• A hungry routed soldier attacked Dalek, and other soldiers joined the revolt, killing his guard captain and dragging Dalek from his horse.
• A soldier stabbed Dalek through his helmet, and the guards and deserters scattered down the mountain.
• The Republic Third Infantry Regiment collapsed, and the players decided they needed rope to bind prisoners and rice porridge to lure them in.

After capturing Bolas Castle, Chris questioned the Republican Army prisoners and learned that hunger and exhaustion had driven many to surrender. He ordered an attack on the Republic's camp and had a defiant captain imprisoned, leaving the captured soldiers to be fed.

• Chris learned that his forces had taken 121 prisoners in the castle and could capture thousands more below it, along with supplies and civilian laborers.
• Chris questioned a Bolas Republican Army lieutenant, who could not explain why the army had surrendered.
• A hungry young soldier told Chris that he and others had received no food since breakfast, and Chris heard similar accounts from other prisoners.
• Chris ordered a messenger to tell X to attack the Republic's camp and crush anyone who resisted.
• A Republican captain challenged Chris over starting the war, and Chris defended his return by pointing to the suffering of Bagnia's refugees.
• Chris ordered the captain and his men locked up and told the guards to give each prisoner two bowls of porridge.

Isaac captured the Republican Army's camp and subdued its routed soldiers and laborers, discovering that its supposed food and livestock supplies were gone. After Chris's reinforcements arrived with rice porridge, Isaac fed the prisoners and forced them to collect abandoned supplies, leaving the camp under his control.

• Isaac split his force, sending half to attack the enemies caught in the trap while he led the rest to seize the Republican Army's camp.
• Isaac's soldiers found that the camp's wagons held hay instead of grain and that all the livestock had been slaughtered.
• Isaac spent the night crushing resistance and capturing routed soldiers and civilian laborers throughout the camp.
• Chris's reinforcements arrived with cooking pots and rice, and the prisoners lined up for porridge when its smell spread through the camp.
• Isaac limited each prisoner to one bowl and ordered them to gather abandoned supplies, killing more than twenty ringleaders when they refused to work.

After defeating the Republic Third Infantry Regiment, Chris managed the twelve thousand prisoners and sent most of his players to capture Ankandela and the territory between it and Bolas Fortress. He then considered using the captured weapons and equipment to support Count Dirac without making him strong enough to threaten Chris.

• Chris counted more than twelve thousand prisoners and learned that Lieutenant General Dalek's requisitioning squads had stripped nearby villages and towns of food.
• Chris opened Bolas Fortress's warehouses and gave players who accepted his mission supplies, equipment, and titles authorizing them to act in his name.
• Chris sent most of his players to capture Ankandela and the territory between it and Bolas Fortress while he enjoyed a brief rest.
• Chris organized Isaac's infantry to supervise the prisoners and collect the Third Infantry Regiment's captured weapons, armor, and other supplies.
• Chris considered giving Count Dirac some of the captured equipment, but planned to keep the cannons and avoid making the count too powerful.

General Dirac Siso struggled to defend Hegrande amid dwindling gunpowder, internal treachery, and the Bohemian Empire’s attempt to control Bagnia. News that Prince Chris had sent military supplies gave Dirac the means to begin purging suspected traitors ahead of schedule.

• Dirac listened as the Bagnia Republic’s mortars bombarded Hegrande and reflected on the city’s dwindling gunpowder and the suspected traitors behind the powder magazine fire.
• Dirac held off arresting suspected rebels because he wanted more evidence and hoped to catch them all.
• A Bohemian envoy urged Dirac to support Flower Lin and his descendants as heirs to Bagnia’s throne, but Dirac rejected the terms and the promised titles.
• Dirac’s adjutant reported that Prince Chris had sent a convoy of weapons and supplies to Dolan Fort, though it had few soldiers.
• Dirac ordered troops to verify the convoy and bring its supplies into Hegrande, then tore up his letter and decided to start purging traitors early.

Doran, a disillusioned scholar in war-torn Bagnia, watched routed soldiers loot his family’s home before a heavily armored troop arrived in Hilla Town. He recognized the newcomers as an unknown and far more dangerous force, leaving the town’s fate uncertain.

• Doran recounted how the revolution failed, how he was imprisoned, and how civil war left his family without food after the Republic Third Infantry Regiment seized their grain.
• Routed soldiers entered Hilla Town, and Doran faced their leader and led them to the cellar, where they looted his family’s valuables but left the books.
• After gunfire erupted, Doran armed himself and ran outside, while his father sent five armed servants to protect him.
• Doran saw the routed soldiers fleeing and pursued them to learn what had frightened them.
• A troop of heavy infantry emerged, and Doran realized their unfamiliar banner and strength meant Hilla Town faced a powerful unknown enemy.

Black-and-White Bear and the Second Company captured a town from routed soldiers and gathered the prisoners and their loot. After the players chose whether to claim a share, Black-and-White Bear moved toward returning the remaining goods to the townspeople.

• Black-and-White Bear chased down and captured fleeing soldiers while his comrades rounded up prisoners in the town.
• Black-and-White Bear learned that the Second Company had defeated about a hundred routed soldiers and taken control of the town in under half an hour.
• Black-and-White Bear asked Iron Fist whether they should return the soldiers' loot to the people they had robbed.
• Black-and-White Bear invited players who wanted a share to choose loot based on their contributions, while others declined after finding mostly worthless household goods and cheap jewelry.