Chapter Summaries

Xal'atath broke into the Cult of the Damned's base and warned Kel'Thuzad that Rowan was targeting him, offering aid if the Scourge gained the advantage against the Alliance. Meanwhile, Arthas demanded that Rowan surrender Illucia, but Rowan challenged Lordaeron's claim to handle the case after its attempt to blame the Norwington Family.

• Xal'atath shattered the illusion protecting North Mountain Manor and destroyed the undead guarding it.
• Xal'atath warned Kel'Thuzad that Rowan had the Cult of the Damned in his sights and offered tangible assistance if the Scourge gained the upper hand.
• Kel'Thuzad reported Xal'atath's visit to Ner'zhul, who dismissed her as a creature from the Underground World.
• Arthas learned that Illucia had funded the Cult of the Damned and went to Tarren Mill, where Uther insisted the Silver Hand still needed evidence.
• Arthas surrounded Rowan's inn and demanded that he surrender Illucia to the Silver Hand.
• Rowan refused to simply hand Illucia over and asked Arthas why Lordaeron had tried to make the Norwington Family take the blame.

Talanji and Dak'uru searched for the wounded Salu'ya near Rock Spring, while Rowan confronted Arthas over the Royal Court's treatment of the Norwington Family. Rowan later joined Uther to arrest Lord Alex, leaving Illucia grieving and Arthas confused about how events had turned against him.

• Talanji failed to sense Salu'ya at Rock Spring, and she and Dak'uru stayed behind to search for clues while Zul led the Drakkari south.
• Talanji and Dak'uru found no sign of Salu'ya during the day, then cooked wind serpents as furbolgs gathered nearby after dark.
• Rowan rebuked Arthas for the Menethil Royal Court's handling of the Southshore plague and refused to let him dictate what happened to Illucia.
• After Arthas left, Rowan told Rhonin to make his move, then he and Uther arrested Lord Alex at the Barov Family home.
• Lord Alex told Illucia she had made the right choice before being taken away, and Arthas asked Uther why the arrest had unfolded that way.

Talanji and Dak'uru found a tentacled source of shadow energy in a furbolg den, while Lady Jandice forced North to promise that the Cult of the Damned would resurrect Lord Alex. The story left Jandice fighting Rowan's assassins as Number Two's daggers struck what appeared to be only arcane energy.

• Talanji and Dak'uru fought and killed the maddened furbolgs, and Dak'uru absorbed a wisp of purple energy from one of them.
• Talanji and Dak'uru tracked the furbolgs to a cave, where Talanji discovered tentacles in a pool and resisted their mind-affecting whispers.
• Talanji struck the pool with Rezan's Wrath, and Dak'uru found that a severed tentacle shriveled into a dead branch like those carried by the furbolgs.
• After Lord Alex was executed, Lady Jandice brought his body to the Sepulcher and demanded that North arrange his resurrection.
• Rowan's assassins attacked Jandice and North, but Jandice forced North to agree to seek Kel'Thuzad's help.
• Jandice drove back Number Zero and Number Two with arcane storms, but Number Two charged and stabbed her robes, finding only arcane energy.

Alexandros Mograine refused to let the Silver Hand harm living refugees, while Rowan helped Illucia begin facing her family’s losses. Jandice rescued North, found the Cult of the Damned’s base in her family’s old castle, and asked Kel'Thuzad to resurrect her husband, Lord Alex.

• Dathrohan urged Mograine to stop refugees from spreading the plague, but Mograine insisted that paladins must never strike the living.
• Rowan told Illucia that the Barov Merchants' Guild had survived, and Illucia decided to go out without makeup and reminded Rowan to keep his word.
• Jandice rescued North from Rowan's assassins, and the two escaped by teleportation.
• North led Jandice to the Cult of the Damned's base in the Barov Family's ruined castle at Lake Darrowmere.
• Jandice asked Kel'Thuzad to resurrect Lord Alex, and he advised her to perform the resurrection herself because Alex might not recognize her.

Mograine and Dathrohan held off another undead assault at Stratholme while Rowan coordinated grain supplies and urged Lordaeron to prepare for the plague. After losing Jandice Barov, Rowan confronted Sataia and accused her of serving an Old God, leaving her expressionless at his revelation.

• Mograine and Dathrohan led the Silver Hand through a desperate battle against the third undead wave, and Baron Rivendare helped rescue the wounded afterward.
• Jaina and Illucia oversaw grain shipments at Menethil Harbor and agreed that Illucia would pursue Rowan without resorting to anything disgraceful.
• Rowan discussed grain supplies and the threat to Andorhal with Uther and Tirion, who said reinforcements had marched toward northern Lordaeron.
• Number Zero and Number Two told Rowan that Jandice Barov had escaped, so he sent them to search the Barov family's former manor in Andorhal.
• Rowan confronted Sataia about her hidden power and accused her of being an Old God's minion, causing her expression to vanish.

Rowan negotiated a provisional partnership with Xal'atath, who agreed to work under him as Sataia in exchange for his efforts to unite the surface world against the Old Gods. Afterward, Dak'uru questioned Talanji about marriage and discovered she had no troll she liked.

• Rowan recognized Sataia as Xal'atath and persuaded her to discuss working together.
• Xal'atath revealed her enmity with the four Old Gods and her goal of uniting the surface world to destroy them.
• Rowan asked Xal'atath to help extend his lifespan, but refused her proposed bodily assimilation and demanded an exchange before she helped Lord Arthur.
• Rowan and Xal'atath reached a provisional agreement for her to work under him as Sataia in return for expansion and opportunities to pursue revenge on the Old Gods.
• Dak'uru asked Talanji whether she was married or liked any trolls, and she said she did not.

Sylvanas agreed to aid Stratholme as the Scourge Plague threatened Lordaeron, while Rowan brought grain to starving civilians on Northflow Coast and uncovered officials’ profiteering. In a separate confrontation, Talanji and Dak'uru fought the shadow-fused Oracle Salu'ya, leaving Dak'uru to attack him with a piece of root after his blade broke.

• Sylvanas learned from Lor'themar that at least fifty thousand Lordaeron civilians had become undead, ordered Southern Eversong Woods into emergency readiness, and agreed to negotiate aid for Stratholme.
• Rowan sailed to Northflow Coast with grain, rejected pirates seeking to join Kul Tiras, and learned that local officials and merchants had bought up the villagers’ grain before the plague arrived.
• Rowan sent Byron to monitor grain distribution and prevent local officials from diverting supplies.
• Talanji struck Oracle Salu'ya with lightning, but his shadow attack shattered her shield and knocked her across the meadow.
• Dak'uru charged Salu'ya to protect Talanji, broke his blade against the oracle, and thrust a piece of root at him.

Jaina and Illucia secured grain in Stormwind despite profiteering merchants, while Rowan confronted Lordaeron's guilds over grain prices at a supply conference. Aemeth pledged fair sales for her family and recognized Rowan's offer of lasting partnership or subordination as dangerous.

• Jaina grew furious at Stormwind's merchants for raising grain prices, but Illucia negotiated concessions and secured the shipment.
• Rowan attended Lordaeron's grain conference at The Sepulcher, where he learned about the kingdom's shortages and spoke with Arthas and Aemeth.
• Rowan promised the Norwington Family would keep grain prices steady and warned guild representatives against exploiting the crisis, but most attendees rejected his appeal.
• Aemeth told Rowan the Agamand family would sell grain at its purchase price, and Rowan promised she would remain his loyal partner or subordinate.
• Aemeth realized Rowan's words implied a larger move and called him far too dangerous.

Talanji and Dak'uru learned that Vordrassil's corrupted branches and the madness in Grizzly Hills were tied to the Old Gods, while Oracle Salu'ya explained the World Tree's history. In Northflow Town, Byron discovered that officials were buying back relief grain and routing it through merchants to sell to Rowan at inflated prices.

• Talanji saved Dak'uru from the shadow energy pouring out of Salu'ya, and Salu'ya revived him with his remaining mojo.
• Talanji exhausted herself healing Salu'ya, who explained how the World Tree Vordrassil was corrupted and how the Old Gods' whispers had controlled him and the Furbolgs.
• Salu'ya recounted the Night Elves' history and revealed that a broken branch of Vordrassil had caused the disasters in Grizzly Hills.
• At dawn, Lilith tried to stop her father from selling their relief grain, but he took her sack to a buying station.
• Byron watched officials send the repurchased grain to Stormwind City merchants, who planned to sell it back to Rowan at inflated prices, and raged at the scheme.

Rowan ordered Byron to arrest Lordaeron officials and guild presidents who had profited from grain price manipulation, while Floyd worried that the Norwington Family was spending money faster than it could recover. The arrests succeeded, and Rowan ended the chapter dining with Jaina aboard the Iron Warship.

• Floyd and Kande worried that the Sky Warships project and Kul Tiras's industrial expansion were draining the Norwington Family's funds.
• Rowan learned that Lordaeron's Old Nobles were buying back grain at inflated prices and ordered Byron to arrest the officials and guild presidents involved in Northflow Town.
• Byron and Leonard entered Northflow Town in disguise, detained its officials, and used Mosen to summon the guild presidents.
• Jaina teleported the arriving guild presidents to the Iron Warship, where Rowan ordered them shackled and deprived of food for a day.
• Rowan ate dinner with Jaina, who teased him about his meal and blushed at his flirtation.

Dak'uru led the Drakkari to Zuldazar, where Talanji offered him a chance to become their leader. Meanwhile, Rowan's agents uncovered a hidden underground passage in Caer Darrow, and Rowan and Illucia discussed the risks of his recent crackdown as she confessed her feelings.

• Talanji explained that Dak'uru had absorbed some of Salu'ya's life force, and the Drakkari sailed from Howling Fjord to Zuldazar.
• Talanji offered Dak'uru land for his people and encouraged him to seek leadership of the Drakkari tribe.
• Number Zero, Number Two, Number Six, and Number Seven found an illusion concealing an underground passage beneath Caer Darrow and debated whether to enter.
• Rowan asked Illucia to bring Merchants' Guild staff from Southshore to Northflow Town after his operation left people without work.
• Illucia warned Rowan that he was in danger and told him not to raise her hopes unless he intended to marry her.

Mograine asked Sylvanas for food for the starving people of Stratholme, but Quel'Thalas could not borrow grain from its Royal Court. As Dathrohan sought aid abroad, he learned that Rowan’s family controlled Lordaeron’s grain supply and that Rowan would sell it for the right price.

• Mograine thanked Sylvanas for helping the refugees and asked to borrow grain, but Sylvanas explained that Quel'Thalas's Royal Court could not provide it.
• Mograine sent Dathrohan to request food aid in Lordaeron, while Sylvanas told Lor'themar to ask the Silvermoon Council for academy grain.
• Dathrohan boarded a Sanguinar Family ship and asked Valeera about Lordaeron's food supply.
• Valeera told Dathrohan that Rowan's Norwington Family had supplied the Royal Court's grain and would sell some at the right price.
• Dathrohan asked what Rowan liked so he could prepare a gift, and Valeera replied that he liked money.

Mosen lost his fortune after Rowan forced him and other officials to surrender their assets, then sought help from his backer Terence. Saidan Dathrohan arrived in Northflow Town to obtain money for grain and confronted Mosen, ending the chapter by threatening to make him pay.

• After two days without food and relentless interrogation, Mosen and the other officials surrendered more than a hundred thousand gold coins to Rowan.
• Mosen went to The Sepulcher and appealed to Terence, who promised to demand justice from Rowan.
• Dathrohan arrived in Northflow Town seeking funds to buy grain for Stratholme, but guards told him Mosen had barred entry to the Council Hall.
• Dathrohan forced his way into Mosen's office, beat him, healed him with Flash of Light, and identified himself as Saidan Dathrohan.
• When Mosen claimed the town had no money, Dathrohan demanded his personal fortune and warned that Mosen would soon change his tune.

Rhonin and Eileen reached the Swamp of Sorrows, where a pair of immense arcane surges left them wondering what powerful being lived there. Meanwhile, Rowan rejected Bridgette Abbendis’s demand for confiscated assets, and Leonard reminded him that Dathrohan was waiting.

• Rhonin and Eileen arrived in the Swamp of Sorrows, where the spell-suppression runes still gave Eileen brief moments of control over her mind.
• Rhonin and Eileen felt two immense arcane storms erupt in the swamp and suspected that a Guardian-level mage or something even more powerful was responsible.
• Rhonin recalled Meryl Winterstorm’s history and the vanished Guardians as he wondered who could wield such power.
• Dathrohan gave up trying to make Mosen admit he had money and went to seek grain from Rowan instead.
• Bridgette Abbendis demanded the return of assets Rowan had confiscated, but Rowan exposed that she was seeking money and refused to give it back.
• Rowan teased Bridgette by calling her cute, then apologized and claimed she was not cute when Leonard reminded him that Dathrohan was waiting.

Number Zero discovered that Kel'Thuzad and Jandice were summoning Tichondrius, escaped the underground castle, and learned the Burning Legion intended to use the Cult of the Damned as pawns. Rhonin reached Mirror Lake and found Grand Archmage Meryl, leaving Eileen's fate in his hands.

• Number Zero sent the other stealth users to scout separately, then confirmed that the underground castle was the Cult of the Damned's new base.
• Number Zero found Kel'Thuzad and Jandice opening a portal for the Burning Legion, and Tichondrius emerged through it.
• Tichondrius ignored Number Zero as he fled and warned Kel'Thuzad not to presume upon the Burning Legion's power.
• A voice told Kel'Thuzad to keep the Scourge's Future Emissary close because he might help them survive the Burning Legion.
• Rhonin and Eileen crossed Mirror Lake, where Rhonin met the undead Grand Archmage Meryl and believed he could save Eileen.

Meryl introduced Rhonin and Eileen to Aegwynn, who discussed undead free will with Rhonin and heard how Eileen had been raised. Meanwhile, Rowan accepted the Silver Hand’s IOU for grain and planned with Illucia and Aemeth to take over Alliance trade, leaving Aemeth lost in thoughts of Rowan.

• Meryl explained Karazhan’s history and brought Rhonin and Eileen to meet Aegwynn, the Guardian.
• Rhonin and Meryl debated whether undead who were free of the Scourge’s control deserved acceptance, and Rhonin began explaining Eileen’s resurrection to Aegwynn.
• Rowan supplied Dathrohan with grain for Stratholme in exchange for an IOU, then decided to turn the debt into money and strike at Lordaeron’s old nobles.
• Rowan asked Aemeth and Illucia to help take over trade between the Alliance’s royal houses, and Aemeth worried that merchants would refuse to cooperate.
• Illucia argued that control of Lordaeron’s market would put the Alliance’s economic lifeblood in their hands, while Rowan invited Aemeth to join them.
• Aemeth silently fantasized about Rowan, and Illucia accused her of mooning over him.

The old nobles raised money and sought royal support to counter Rowan’s influence, while the people of Stratholme received grain Rowan had donated. Number Zero returned from Caer Darrow with news of a threat beyond the Cult of the Damned, leaving Rowan waiting for his report.

• Stormwind’s merchants abandoned the old nobles’ guilds for cheaper goods from the Barov Merchants’ Guild and the Agamand family, and Terence gathered allies to plan against Rowan.
• Garithos persuaded the old nobles to raise money to buy grain and promised to use the Royal Fleet to transport it.
• Dathrohan delivered Rowan’s donated grain to the people of Stratholme, and Mograine learned that the Royal Court had not provided it.
• Number Zero and his teammates escaped the castle in Caer Darrow and returned to The Sepulcher.
• Number Zero told Rowan that the Cult of the Damned was in the Barov Family’s old castle and that they had encountered something even more troublesome.

Rowan learned that the Cult of the Damned had summoned a powerful Nathrezim infiltrator and worked with Xal'atath to plan a political maneuver against Lordaeron's old nobles. The chapter left Sylvanas standing watch in the storm near the Sun Sanctum, while demons had already begun operating in Lordaeron.

• Jaina identified the demon Number Zero had encountered as a Nathrezim, at least a level-nine demon, and Rowan warned that Burning Legion infiltrators had entered Lordaeron.
• Rowan sent Number Zero's intelligence unit to watch Arthas, while Jaina returned to Dalaran to report the demons' arrival.
• Xal'atath told Rowan that Nathrezim were not especially strong fighters, and Rowan asked her to help control Garithos.
• Rowan ordered Xal'atath to make Garithos redirect the Royal Fleet and sell the grain to Kul Tiras, and she demanded two thousand gold coins for dresses.
• Sylvanas left her tent during a heavy storm and joined the rangers keeping watch near the Sun Sanctum.

Sylvanas and the defenders fought to protect the Sun Sanctum from Zul'jin's Amani assault, while Mograine refused to abandon Lordaeron's civilians. Elsewhere, Garithos entered Sage Time and rejected Countess Polina's attempt to influence their trade deal.

• Poisonous rain corroded the defenders' armor and injured Elf rangers, so Sylvanas raised the alarm as Amani Trolls attacked the camps and advanced toward the Sun Sanctum.
• Sylvanas ordered Lor'themar to hold the sanctum and seek aid from Halduron while explaining that the Trolls' main target was the Sun Sanctum, not the civilians.
• Zul'jin led the Amani assault as the four Loa's Chosen Ones overwhelmed the defenders; Sylvanas killed Halazzi's Chosen One after Mograine fought him.
• Sylvanas urged Mograine to send Baron Rivendare and the civilians back to Tranquillien, but Mograine refused to abandon Lordaeron's people as the other Loa pressed the attack.
• At sea, Garithos entered Sage Time, pulled away from Countess Polina, and declined to let her sway him over their trade deal.

Garithos and Polina negotiated with Katrana over Lordaeron’s grain trade in Stormwind City while, elsewhere, Sylvanas withdrew her forces to defend the Sun Sanctum and the Silver Hand pursued Kel'Thuzad. The chapter left the grain deal unresolved, the sanctum under attack, and Kel'Thuzad fleeing north with some plague-making equipment.

• Garithos returned to Polina’s room intending to discuss business, but another mysterious chill extinguished his desire, so they spent the night negotiating the grain trade instead.
• After a week at sea, Garithos and Polina met Countess Katrana, who invoked Stormwind’s troubles and Rowan’s offer to press them for a better price.
• As the Sun Sanctum came under attack, Sylvanas pulled her rangers away from Mograine’s battlefield and returned to defend the sanctum while its teleportation array charged.
• With Sylvanas gone, Mograine and Dathrohan faced the three loa, and Mograine challenged them to a final battle.
• Sylvanas’s assistant Keli reported that Malacrass had drained the life force of rangers, and Sylvanas ordered the defenders to hold the sanctum for fifteen minutes until reinforcements arrived.
• After the Silver Hand advanced on Caer Darrow, Kel'Thuzad ordered the undead mages to scatter and fled north with a small amount of plague-making equipment.