Chapter Summaries

Renato fought Benjamin in the Dakoul Cultists’ courtyard, but the dead cultists’ flesh and blood transformed Renato and brought him under Dakoul’s influence. He used Dakoul’s Glimpse to drive Benjamin mad and kill him.

• Renato saw through Benjamin’s illusion and survived a blast of negative energy before trying to reach the ritual’s core.
• Renato wounded Benjamin, but Benjamin healed with dark magic and struck Renato with a dagger that bypassed his armor.
• Benjamin’s cultists attacked him, then Benjamin transformed into a bone-bladed creature and fought Renato.
• The dead cultists’ flesh and bones formed armor around Renato, restoring him as Dakoul watched through his mind.
• Renato chanted in an unknown tongue, stripped Benjamin’s flesh with the resulting power, and overwhelmed him with Dakoul’s Glimpse.
• Renato stabbed Benjamin through the chest and crushed his skull, ending the fight.

After destroying the Ritual and the fused mass of bodies, Renato was confronted by Lailas, who suspected him of corruption because he used shadow magic. Renato refused to surrender for examination, and they fought as Lailas used magic and speed to attack him.

• Renato recovered from destroying the mass of bodies as the Ritual’s strange effects faded and reinforcements approached the Slums.
• Lailas attacked Renato with vines, then demanded that he put down his weapon and submit to her Entangle spell and examination by a Cleric of Torm.
• Renato refused, fearing that the Cleric would condemn him as Dakoul’s Chosen One, and prepared to fight Lailas.
• Lailas hurled a flaming arrow as a feint, then attacked with twin swords and Zephyr Strike, forcing Renato onto the defensive.
• Renato interrupted Lailas’s spellcasting with thrown weapons, but she finished a spell that raised a gale and vanished from view.
• Renato heard something whistle beside his ear and swung his Longsword behind him.

Lailas fought Renato, believing he was a Dakoul Cultist wearing the dead young man's skin, and recalled how she had killed her mentor Elna after discovering the Druid's role in a massacre. She hardened her resolve and launched a killing strike at Renato as the battle continued.

• Lailas used Zephyr Strike to attack Renato, but an invisible force field deflected her sword tips from his throat.
• Lailas recalled how Elna had ordered her away from a refugee camp, which she later found destroyed, with Mila and the other villagers dead.
• A dying survivor identified Elna as a Shadow Druid who had driven the beasts mad and gave Lailas a Harpers Badge to take to Falania.
• Lailas poisoned Elna with Mage's Bane, stabbed her to death, buried her without a headstone, and left the forest with the badge.
• Lailas summoned a storm, circled behind Renato, and stabbed toward the back of his head, resolved to kill him.

Renato killed Lailas, rescued Perly from the ruined courtyard, and discovered that Fried City had fallen to the Atwood Family and Reisingen. As Renato and Perly escaped through a hidden passage, Maximilian and Echo discussed the vanished Dakoul’s Chosen One and prepared to purge the city.

• Renato defeated Lailas and found Perly waiting outside the courtyard, frightened by what she had witnessed.
• Renato searched Benjamin’s ruined room, recovered The Edict of Dakoul, and learned from Perly that Fried City had fallen.
• Renato found a hidden passage and led Perly toward an escape from the city.
• Maximilian arrived at the courtyard, where Echo revealed that Dakoul’s Chosen One had destroyed the ritual and escaped.
• Maximilian ordered his mercenaries to search Shantytown and prepare to kill the City Council at daybreak.

Renato discovered new powers as a Chosen of Dakoul while hiding in Miloze Village, and Perly urged him to flee with her to Falania. He refused to risk her future and sent her to pursue her dream at the Mage Association while he continued south.

• Renato gained the Fleshweaving feat, leveled up as a Chosen of Dakoul, and learned the spell Touch of Dakoul.
• Renato repaired his battered armor and learned from Perly that Caspar was purging former government officials in Fried City.
• Perly urged Renato to escape with her to Falania and offered to protect him at the Mage Association and Aetherium Academy.
• Renato decided that he could not trust the Academy to keep his secret or ask Perly to risk her future, so he told her their adventure together was over.
• Renato encouraged Perly to pursue her dream of becoming a mage and promised to visit her homeland in Spatia.

Renato parted from Perly at the Falania boundary, then traveled south toward Miloze Village. When four members of the Stout Spear ambushed him over Fried City's bounty, he killed them and discarded his Constable's cloak.

• Renato gave Perly a Drake scale as a memento and promised to wait for her to become an Archmage.
• Perly left for the Academy, and Renato continued south, detouring around Fried City.
• Jack and three Stout Spear adventurers surrounded Renato and demanded his valuables, including his Bag of Holding.
• Renato killed the three adventurers who attacked or fled, then used Dakoul's Touch to kill Jack.
• Renato threw his Constable's cloak onto Jack's corpse and declared that there was no longer a Constable named Renato.

Renato returned to Brekka Town, learned that daily earthquakes had been shaking the Phantom Forest for months, and set out through the Misty Path toward Spatia. In the Ruins Zone, a catastrophic quake split the land and sent him plunging into darkness despite his attempt to save himself with magic.

• Renato met Marcus at the Last Call, where he learned that Little Finger had swindled gamblers and that Bagg had left adventuring to work as a woodcutter.
• Renato joined a party of adventurers to cross the Phantom Forest and learned that earthquakes had struck near Brekka Town every day for months.
• Renato hurried through the Misty Path and reached the Ruins Zone without encountering monsters.
• A powerful earthquake shattered the ruins, opened a massive fissure, and sent Renato falling into the earth.
• Renato shouted "Wilwarin" in Elvish and used magic to slow his fall, but darkness swallowed him as he continued descending.

Renato survived a fall into the Underdark, fought a group of eyeless humanoids, and encountered a mind flayer. As the mind flayer escaped through a portal after being struck by a thrown axe, a short, stocky stranger emerged and warned Renato to move.

• Renato recovered from his fall, escaped a rocky crevice, and discovered he was trapped in an underground cavern.
• A group of eyeless humanoids charged Renato, and he killed them with the Silent Lady and Touch of Dakoul.
• Renato found the cavern entrance blocked and began searching for another route through the dangerous Underdark.
• A mind flayer appeared through a portal, attacked Renato with psionic and magical powers, and tried to escape after Renato wounded it.
• A short, stocky figure emerged from a hole and shouted for Renato to stop standing around if he wanted to live.

After escaping the Mind Flayers, Renato followed the Dwarf Balin through the Underdark and reached an abandoned quarry. Balin explained that earthquakes had unleashed Mind Flayers nearby, and Renato chose to accompany him despite the danger.

• Renato escaped the Mind Flayers by following a Dwarf into a narrow underground passage.
• Renato introduced himself, and the Dwarf allowed him to follow after learning he came from the Empire.
• Balin led Renato to an abandoned quarry and revealed his name was Balin Rockshield.
• Balin explained that an earthquake months earlier had opened the Mind Flayers' nest and sent them roaming through the Underdark.
• Balin warned Renato that they would search rubbish heaps for food and that following him could mean immediate death.
• Renato declared he was a Swordsman and an Imperial noble, and Balin agreed his swordsmanship would be useful.

Balin and Renato climbed into the ruined duergar district of Rolling Stone City to search for abandoned food, with Renato accepting Balin’s wager to find 100 pounds. After finding mushrooms and weapons in an empty house, Renato spotted a dozen armed goblins carrying food bags as they ran toward him.

• Balin equipped Renato with climbing gear, and the two climbed the rock wall into the ruins of Rolling Stone City.
• Balin explained that an earthquake had shattered the city and challenged Renato to find more than 100 pounds of food in exchange for the climbing gear.
• Renato accepted the quest and searched an intact two-story duergar home while Balin explored elsewhere.
• Renato found bundles of dried mushrooms and several battle axes, but no coins or usable food cakes.
• A dozen goblins carrying pickaxes, spears, dried mushrooms, and jerky ran toward Renato’s hiding place.

Renato and Balin cleared goblins from a ruined Duergar city while discussing the Duergar, their god, and their wealth. Balin remained guarded about his past, while Renato found coins that suggested the underground people still traded and might be approachable.

• Renato and Balin found goblins carrying food, and Balin identified them as Duergar slaves; Renato shared a sack of jerky with Balin.
• Balin warned that other enemies could remain in the city, so he and Renato stayed together and set out to kill anything alive.
• Balin demonstrated his strength by crushing goblins with his lightning-wreathed warhammer as Renato killed a few fleeing creatures with thrown axes.
• Renato asked about Balin's adamantine armor and the Duergar statue of Laduguer, but Balin avoided answering when Renato asked how long he had lived underground.
• Renato searched a building, found no useful magical equipment, and recovered a few gold coins bearing a Duergar's image; he concluded that the underground races still used currency and trade.

Renato shared Dwarf Spirits with Balin, who explained that earthquakes and mind flayers had devastated Rolling Stone City and blocked the routes to the surface. They planned to reach New Rolling Stone City and seek safety among the duergar, though Renato still had to learn how to deal with them.

• Renato gave Balin a bottle of Dwarf Spirits, and Balin tested it for poison before drinking most of it.
• Renato lit an oil lamp to help Balin sort food, and Balin warned him that bright light could distress creatures such as duergar.
• Balin told Renato that their next destination was New Rolling Stone City, where several hundred duergar lived behind strong defenses.
• Balin explained that an earthquake and a crashed mind flayer lair had destroyed Rolling Stone City, scattered its duergar, and collapsed the routes to the upper levels.
• Renato agreed that they needed to cooperate with the duergar to survive the mind flayers, and Balin advised him not to call them gray dwarves and to stand up to anyone who threatened him.

Renato and Balin detoured through an underdweller settlement on their way to New Rolling Stone City and found it abandoned, with evidence that mind flayers had eaten the inhabitants’ brains. They suspected the mind flayers had summoned their slaves for another purpose and prepared to move on.

• Balin guided Renato through a narrow passage after a cave-in blocked their route to New Rolling Stone City.
• Renato and Balin entered an empty underdweller settlement, where the inhabitants appeared to have left in a hurry without taking their tools or supplies.
• Renato found human body parts drying on racks and skulls with their tops broken open, and Balin identified the damage as the work of mind flayers.
• Renato reasoned that the underdwellers had supplied the mind flayers with food and wondered why all the inhabitants had been summoned at once.
• Balin told Renato to search for anything worth taking before they continued on, warning that the underdwellers might return.

Renato and Balin reached Rolling Stone City, where Kevora challenged Renato under the city’s strength test. Renato killed Kevora with Touch of Dakoul, and Madra admitted him to the city while warning him not to cause trouble.

• Renato and Balin were surrounded by duergar guards, and Kevora demanded that Renato become his slave.
• Madra Deepforge intervened, but Kevora insisted that Renato face a test to enter Rolling Stone City freely.
• Renato accepted Kevora’s challenge and fought him with the Silent Lady.
• Renato used Touch of Dakoul to drain Kevora’s life force, killing him and leaving his body desiccated.
• Madra declared that Renato had passed the test, welcomed him to Rolling Stone City, and warned him to obey its rules.

Renato entered new Rolling Stone City after killing the duergar bandit Kevora and earning the locals’ respect. Balin warned him that reaching the surface could take decades, and Renato met the underground merchant Dain to inspect his potions.

• Renato used Touch of Dakoul to kill Kevora, and the duergar acknowledged his strength as a spellcaster.
• Balin escorted Renato into new Rolling Stone City after paying the entry fee in dried mushrooms and warned him not to drain anyone dry in public.
• Balin found Renato a stone house and explained that the journey to the surface was perilous and could take nearly twenty years.
• Renato visited the merchant Dain, introduced himself, and asked to see his potions.
• Renato exchanged a gold coin for a blue potion, and Dain bit the coin to test its purity.

Renato negotiated with Dain to retrieve six adamantine ingots from the Jade District in exchange for an Oil of Speed potion. Balin explained the dangers of the exploration expeditions and agreed to take Renato to the ruins in three days, warning him not to trust the Duergar.

• Renato tried to bargain with Dain for an Oil of Speed potion and agreed to retrieve six adamantine ingots from the Jade District for the potion and three ingots.
• Renato found Balin in the Deep Hammer Tower and asked about the exploration team.
• Balin explained that New Rolling Stone City relied on expeditions to gather supplies from the scattered ruins and said he would take Renato on the next trip in about three days.
• Renato told Balin about Dain's job and offered to split the ingots with him.
• Balin declined the ingots, agreed to help Renato search the Jade District, and warned him that Duergar could not be trusted.

After weighing his options in New Rolling Stone City, Renato decided to work with the Duergar against the Mind Flayers and studied the Skin of the Nameless One before stopping when its influence unsettled him. Balin explained the dangers and rules for Renato’s upcoming expedition, leaving him to prepare for a dangerous scouting trip into Mind Flayer territory.

• Renato returned to his assigned stone house, reflected on his fall into the Underdark, and decided he would need the Duergar’s help against the Mind Flayers and to eventually reach the surface.
• Renato rested with the Silent Lady and studied the Skin of the Nameless One, but closed it when he noticed its side effects affecting his emotions.
• Balin visited Renato to explain that he had to join an exploration party under New Rolling Stone City’s rules and would assemble at the city gate in eighteen hours.
• Balin showed Renato an old map and explained that the Mind Flayers occupied the ruined city center while the party would explore the dangerous outskirts and Jade District.
• Balin advised Renato to stay behind him during the expedition and gave him a bottle of antidote for poisonous wounds.

Renato and Balin explored the tunnels beyond New Rolling Stone City while the other Duergar avoided Balin because they believed his companions always died. As they rested by an underground stream, Balin showed Renato a route into the Jade District, where Renato remained certain they would find the adamantine.

• Renato learned that the Duergar considered Balin cursed and avoided exploring with him, but he chose to remain his companion.
• Renato and Balin crossed an underground stream, gathered funguswood, and made a fire to dry Renato’s boots.
• Renato ate and asked Balin what supplies he hoped to find, but Balin told him to look after himself.
• Balin showed Renato a map and explained they could enter the Jade District through a breach leading to the city sewers.
• Balin warned Renato that the underground merchant might have lied about the adamantine, but Renato insisted it was there.

Renato and Balin entered District 3 through the sewers and made their way toward the Jade District while avoiding the main roads. They found signs of escaped Orc slaves and began searching a looted store, with Balin warning Renato to stay alert.

• Renato and Balin climbed out of the sewers into a bloodstained alley and used a distant tower to identify their location.
• Balin planned a route through alleys toward the Jade District and warned Renato that monsters, including roaming Mind Flayers, inhabited the area.
• Renato found an Orcish message stone, and Balin explained that the Orcs had been mining slaves who likely escaped after the earthquake damaged their pens.
• Renato and Balin entered a looted store, where Balin listened for danger and began searching the front room.

Renato and Balin looted a Duergar shop and searched the Orc-ravaged district, finding signs that an unknown group had recently pursued and killed several Orcs. They continued toward the Jade District, wary of the strange barefoot tracks.

• Renato used Touch of Dakoul to open a magically locked chest and took its silver coins and a Magic Lantern.
• Balin and Renato searched Orc-occupied homes, finding little besides a few silver coins to divide between them.
• Renato and Balin found three recently killed, malnourished Orcs in a goods-storage clearing.
• Balin concluded the Orcs had fled from pursuers, and Renato noticed the pursuers had Dwarf-sized barefoot tracks.
• Balin and Renato continued onward, prepared to kill whatever unnatural creature they encountered.