Chapter Summaries

Renato and Klauthsura fled the Burning Wood Inn after undead soldiers closed in, escaping through the roof with a combination of Spider Climb and telekinesis. They landed in the air above a street surrounded by nearly thirty Skeleton Warriors, who aimed their enchanted weapons at them.

• Renato regained his composure, warned Klauthsura that Skeleton Warriors were approaching, and urged her to find somewhere safe before investigating the changed demiplane.
• Klauthsura scanned the building and proposed reaching the roof, then moving to a nearby stone house, but the Skeleton Warriors broke through the inn’s entrance.
• Renato carried Klauthsura up a wall with his Ring of Spider Climbing as she used telekinesis to tear open the roof and lift them into the air.
• Klauthsura used psionics to hold herself and Renato aloft while they saw nearly thirty Skeleton Warriors surrounding the inn, with more arriving from both ends of the street.
• The Skeleton Warriors aimed their crossbows at Renato and Klauthsura, and dark green light began glowing on their bolt tips.

Klauthsura and Renato escaped the skeleton archers’ fire by landing on a rooftop, where Renato discovered he could deflect a crossbow bolt and fought off the first skeletal soldiers. More undead continued climbing onto the roof as the chapter ended.

• Klauthsura shielded herself and Renato from the skeleton archers’ bolts and struck their ranks with psionic lightning, but the undead rose again and kept firing.
• Klauthsura brought Renato down onto a two-story building’s roof, where the structure obstructed most of the archers’ shots.
• Renato instinctively deflected a crossbow bolt with the Silent Lady, using Dragonkind Senses to track and intercept it.
• Skeleton Warriors climbed onto the roof and attacked Renato, whose sword could not cut through their negative-energy-strengthened weapons.
• Renato trapped a skeleton’s billhook and knocked it and another skeleton off the roof with a shoulder charge.
• More skeletal soldiers emerged from the stairwell and advanced on Renato.

Renato and Klauthsura fought undead soldiers from a rooftop and faced a Royal Mage who could repair fallen skeletons. Klauthsura destroyed the Mage and its guards with a massive Acid Sphere, leaving Renato to see how badly the dead Royal Mage had been outmatched.

• Renato retreated as Klauthsura's Psionics Blast hurled Skeleton Soldiers off the roof, and he recognized the undead's awkward tactics.
• A Zombie Royal Mage arrived with a squad of undead and restored fallen Skeleton Soldiers with negative energy.
• Renato threw a Heavy Dart at the Royal Mage, but it focused its attention on Klauthsura.
• The Royal Mage cast an Acid Arrow at Renato and Klauthsura, while Klauthsura absorbed it into an Acid Sphere.
• Klauthsura burst the Acid Sphere over the Royal Mage and its guards, dissolving them and their defenses in seconds.

After Klauthsura’s acid spell devastated a squad of skeletons, Renato realized the Royal City was swarming with undead and decided they had to escape toward the city gates. He and Klauthsura jumped from the rooftop into an alley to begin their retreat.

• Klauthsura’s acid spell dissolved many skeleton soldiers but consumed much of her psionic energy.
• Renato spotted hundreds of approaching zombies, including spellcasters, and decided to flee toward the city’s outskirts and gates.
• Renato rejected long-distance teleportation as too dangerous and chose a route through a quieter block toward the main road.
• Renato warned Klauthsura to alert him telepathically if she detected a spellcaster and told her not to fly where the undead could see them.
• Klauthsura used psionic energy to slow their fall as she and Renato jumped from the roof into a narrow alley.

Renato and Klauthsura quietly cleared the wights in an alley of the Royal City of Nittel and rested while they considered how the city had become undead. Just as Renato decided they should leave the city and wait for answers, Klauthsura sensed a group of powerful undead approaching at high speed.

• Renato and Klauthsura used a psionic barrier to move silently through the streets and kill the wights without drawing the horde.
• After three hours of stealth, Renato and Klauthsura reached a building near the main road and the city gate, where skeleton soldiers still patrolled.
• Klauthsura warned Renato that her psionic reserves were low and that she needed an hour to recover, so Renato ate while she meditated.
• Renato found Novak's Knight's Badge rusted despite being stored in his Space Ring and decided to take nothing from the city.
• Renato suspected Pure White, Nittel's new king, might have caused the transformation, but chose to leave the city and wait for more information.
• Klauthsura abruptly sensed a group with extremely high negative energy readings approaching at high speed.

Renato prepared to fight approaching undead cavalry, but their charge smashed through the building where he and Klauthsura were sheltering. He emerged from the rubble and recognized the undead knight facing him as Sir Novak.

• Renato heard undead cavalry approaching and used an Oil of Speed and Cat's Grace before choosing to hold his position among the houses.
• Renato told Klauthsura to prepare control spells while he guarded the front entrance and tried to force the riders into narrow terrain.
• The undead cavalry charged straight through the house's stone wall, bringing the building down around Renato and Klauthsura.
• Renato survived the collapse with Shadow Shield and rose from the rubble, unsure at first what had happened to Klauthsura.
• An undead knight in brigandine emerged from the wreckage, and Renato identified him as Sir Novak of the Niter Kingdom.

Renato fought Novak, now a Death Knight, after resisting the undead knight’s magical command to duel. Renato disarmed Novak and drove his sword into the knight’s armor, but Novak unleashed an eruption of negative energy.

• Renato used Dakoul's Blessing to cloak himself in shadows as Novak challenged him with a Word of Power Spell.
• Renato rushed Novak and exchanged sword blows with the Death Knight.
• Renato used his knowledge of modern swordsmanship to disarm Novak.
• Renato drove the Silent Lady into Novak’s Ring Mail Gorget, but a powerful force stopped the blade from penetrating further.
• Novak gathered the surrounding negative energy and erupted in a dark green shock wave.

Renato fought the Death Knight Novak in the ruins, using Apocalypse Prophecy to expose the weakness in Novak’s armor and strike his core. Novak’s ghostfire erupted as he fell, leaving Renato standing among the wreckage.

• Novak released a torrent of negative energy that shattered Shadow Shield, but Renato’s armor and shadow power protected him.
• The Death Knight retrieved his sword and engulfed himself in green demonfire as Renato prepared to fight.
• Renato invoked Apocalypse Prophecy, then charged Novak and exchanged a rapid series of sword strikes with him.
• Renato used the crimson lines revealed by the prophecy to break Novak’s armor and identified the Death Knight’s core in his chest.
• Renato took Novak’s blow with Dakoul’s Blessing and drove Silent Lady through his exposed chest, shattering his core.
• Novak’s ghostfire erupted before his body collapsed, leaving his armor scattered and his skull unlit.

Renato and Klauthsura prepared to fight their way through a massive undead horde when dawn suddenly reversed the ruined city and erased the undead. They found themselves in the restored Nittel Royal City, where a familiar sergeant recognized Renato.

• Renato and Klauthsura assessed their injuries and supplies after defeating the Death Knight and its attendants.
• With undead converging from every street, Renato decided to hold the ruins and have Klauthsura use Acid Sphere to thin the horde.
• Renato prepared to face the oncoming undead as Dakoul's Blessing began transforming him into shadow.
• At dawn, time appeared to stop, the city rebuilt itself, and the undead dissolved into ash.
• A bald sergeant emerged from a nearby house and asked Renato why he was there.

Renato and Klauthsura returned to the Burning Wood Inn after finding Nittel transformed into a ruined city of undead that inexplicably came back to life. Klauthsura admitted their plan had failed and asked Renato to devise a new one, offering to follow it without making independent judgments.

• Renato recalled how the city's buildings and undead had reverted to normal, including Matt, whom Klauthsura had seemingly killed by destroying his head.
• Renato overheard Matt and the bald sergeant shifting blame for letting him and Klauthsura wander the sealed city, and realized they feared offending his noble status.
• Renato considered how his status as a noble from the North could help them navigate Niter Kingdom a thousand years in the past.
• Klauthsura shut out outside sounds with psionics, admitted their plan from Sammoril had been too idealistic, and apologized for leaving Renato to handle the crises.
• Klauthsura proposed that they compare their information again and asked Renato to make a new plan, promising to carry it out without unnecessary independent judgments.

Renato and Klauthsura discussed the Royal City’s nightly transformation and planned to test whether nightfall triggered it, while they struggled to find a way into the White Tower. Their discussion was interrupted when Matt urgently summoned Renato to meet Novak.

• Klauthsura said the city’s repeated changes between life and death likely followed a magical ritual with a recurring starting marker.
• Renato suggested that dawn and nightfall might trigger the transformation, and Klauthsura agreed to test the theory that evening.
• Renato and Klauthsura considered how to enter the White Tower but dismissed sneaking in or attacking it as too dangerous.
• Matt knocked on Renato’s door and told him that Novak was waiting downstairs and wanted to see him.

Renato met Sir Novak alive and restored after their deadly fight, then learned the Kingdom Knights had been battling Drow outside Nittel Royal City. He used a fabricated story about being an overlooked noble son to ask Novak to introduce him to the Niter Kingdom’s court, hoping to approach the white mage tower openly.

• Renato studied Novak’s restored armor and learned that Novak and his squires had fought Drow outside the city through the night.
• Renato returned Novak’s badge and exchanged formal pleasantries with him at the Burning Wood Inn.
• As Novak described the kingdom and its customs, Renato pieced together his current identity and considered approaching the white mage tower openly.
• Renato invented a tale of family favoritism, lost attendants, and a dead warhorse, prompting Novak to condemn Renato’s father.
• Renato claimed he wanted to prove his worth by serving the Niter Kingdom and asked Novak to introduce him.

Renato asked Novak to speak on his behalf so he could seek a knighthood and gain access to the White Tower, but the old knight warned him about the kingdom’s spreading plagues and turmoil. Novak agreed to take him to the palace and submit his request to the Royal Mages, though Renato would have to wait.

• Novak warned Renato that magical plagues and other troubles made the kingdom more dangerous than its borders.
• Klauthsura stayed behind at the inn while Renato rode with Novak, and she offered to follow invisibly and provide magical cover.
• Novak praised Renato’s combat ability but advised him against entering the kingdom’s turmoil.
• Renato insisted on proving himself, concealing his goal of reaching the spatial node near the White Tower.
• Novak agreed to take Renato to the palace and relay his request to the Royal Mages, warning that the process could take hours.

Renato and Novak waited at the Nittel Royal Palace, where Renato observed the mage king’s apparent support and the strange, inaccessible Mage Tower. Novak recounted his troubled past with Emily and warned Renato indirectly about becoming close to Klauthsura, before a guard summoned Renato to speak with a royal mage.

• Renato and Novak waited in the palace garden while guards announced their arrival, and Renato noticed the Mage Tower seemed to hover above the palace.
• Renato learned from Novak that he had once loved Emily, a dragonborn serf, and had a son with her during his years as a wandering knight.
• Novak explained that Emily had tried to borrow money in his name and flee, but was arrested and eventually exiled after he pleaded for her life.
• Novak told Renato that his son with Emily had left for Falania to pursue knighthood, though Novak feared others would reject him for his mixed blood.
• A royal guard arrived and invited Renato to meet with a royal mage before the matter was presented to Pure White.

Renato entered the Niter Kingdom’s crowded, makeshift palace hall and encountered tension between Novak and the chief mage. The royal guard took Renato to complete his identity registration while Novak stayed behind to confront the mage.

• Renato passed through a passage warded with poison-and-disease detection runes and entered the palace hall with Novak and a royal guard.
• Renato saw mages and apprentices sorting documents and supplies in the hall, which looked far less grand than he had expected.
• Novak explained that the court’s disorder was an exceptional response to the crisis, but an old mage interrupted and insulted the nobles who had followed Nittel III into the countryside.
• Novak threatened to defend the royal family’s dignity, but the chief mage ordered the guard to take Renato to the identity verification room.
• Renato checked whether Novak wanted him to stay, then left for registration after Novak said he would have a proper chat with the chief mage.

Renato entered the palace’s identity verification room and met Rafada, a young Royal Mage who was supposed to screen him. When Rafada accidentally gave him a page covered in Abyssal writing, Renato recognized several titles belonging to Orcus.

• Renato followed a guard through the palace, memorizing corridors and rooms to help map the grounds with Klauthsura.
• The guard brought Renato to an identity verification room and said a Royal Mage inside would handle his registration.
• Renato questioned Rafada’s authority because he looked like a child, but Rafada insisted he was the mage in charge.
• Rafada handed Renato the wrong parchment, and Renato noticed that its complex markings included Abyssal script.
• Renato deciphered several titles on the parchment and realized they referred to Orcus, a Demon Lord and one of the Five Pillar Gods of the Abyss.

Renato suspected Rafada of serving Orcus after finding Abyssal writing and strange patterns on his parchment, and interrogated him while pinning his hand to the table. Rafada denied being a cultist and claimed the writing was an analytical model copied from research by His Highness Pure White.

• Renato considered Orcus’s growing influence and wondered whether Rafada was one of his followers.
• Rafada tried to retrieve the parchment, but Renato pinned his hand to the table with his Mithral Gauntlet.
• Renato accused Rafada of hiding the meaning of the Abyssal writing and patterns, while Rafada protested that he did not understand the accusation.
• Renato said the parchment gave him reason to suspect Rafada worshipped an evil god of the Great Glacier.
• Rafada denied being a worshipper, said he had grown up in the Niter Kingdom, and claimed the writing was an analytical model copied from His Highness Pure White’s research.

Renato confronted Rafada about the Abyssal writing and learned that Soul-Loss Disease was a curse cast by the Demon Lord Orcus. Rafada explained that the curse stole its victims’ souls, leaving their bodies alive but empty.

• Renato hid his grip on Rafada’s wrist when a guard entered, then released him after the guard left.
• Renato apologized by explaining his hostility toward those who worshipped Demon Lords, and Rafada accepted his explanation.
• Renato asked why Her Highness Pure White had studied the Abyssal writing, and Rafada said she had spent months reconstructing the curse to understand it.
• Rafada said Soul-Loss Disease was an Abyssal curse cast by Orcus and explained that divine spells could not lift it.
• Rafada revealed that the curse gradually drew out its victims’ souls, leaving their bodies breathing and moving without them.

Renato questioned Rafada about Nittel Royal City's response to the Soul-Loss Disease and learned how Pure White took power amid famine, riots, and mass executions. Pure White restored order and food distribution, though the city remained under lockdown as the curse continued.

• Renato pressed Rafada for details about the Soul-Loss Disease, Pure White's research, and Nittel Royal City’s lockdown.
• Rafada explained that the disease was initially mistaken for a harmless magical plague, and neglect, hoarding, and food shortages led to widespread chaos across the southern kingdoms.
• Rafada recounted how Nittel III ordered sick refugees driven away, leading to violent clashes and mass executions outside the city.
• After nearly a thousand people died in riots and massacres, Nittel III fled, and Pure White seized control of the Niter Kingdom.
• Pure White restored order, punished commanders responsible for killings, and accepted refugees into Nittel Royal City despite the knights' objections.
• Rafada said Pure White's rationing and centralized management revived farming and ensured residents received daily food.

Renato pressed Rafada for the truth about Pure White and learned that the king had disappeared into the White Tower, unresponsive to the Royal Mage Corps for months. Rafada’s revelation triggered a quest offering Renato 10,000 experience points.

• Renato challenged Rafada’s explanation for why Pure White had not announced progress on curing Soul-Loss Disease.
• Renato bluffed that the Royal Mages had stripped Pure White of his authority, frightening Rafada into revealing that he knew the truth.
• Renato persuaded Rafada to confide in him by promising secrecy and offering friendship with the Fernando Family.
• Rafada said Pure White had not left the White Tower for months and had ignored every communication from the Royal Mage Corps.
• Renato saw a new quest from Rafada in the [Adventurer's Guide] and was stunned by its 10,000 experience-point reward.