Chapter Summaries

Rowan admitted to Floyd that the voyage to Southshore was dangerous but necessary to save the Norwington Family from collapse. Floyd accepted the risk and agreed to rally the guild members, while Leonard and Byron discussed their chances of surviving the voyage.

• Rowan joked with Floyd about the Northern Wilderness before admitting he was frightened of the voyage and believed the family had no choice but to sail.
• Rowan explained that he was willing to risk the voyage to protect the Norwington Family's workers and wages, despite the danger posed by Stormsong and the Ashvane Family.
• Floyd recalled his long history with Lord Aldrius and decided to support Rowan, promising to persuade the other guild members to join the voyage.
• Leonard asked Byron what he thought of Rowan's conversation with Floyd, and Byron said Rowan was the protagonist and would survive.
• Leonard warned Byron not to jinx them before they had even set sail, while Byron insisted that ominous words only doomed cannon fodder.

Rowan's fleet sailed from Hook Point toward Southshore, but a strange storm gathered in its path. Jaina and Rowan prepared for battle as Lord Stormsong's forces revealed they had deliberately summoned the tempest to trap the fleet.

• Rowan led eleven warships out of Hook Point while Floyd and the Merchants' Guild boarded the accompanying cargo ships.
• Admiral Daelin ordered his guards to keep Rowan and Jaina safe, whatever happened during the voyage.
• On the third day at sea, Ellen successfully tested a powder, then joined Rowan, Jaina, Byron, and Leonard in the recreation room.
• Jaina noticed a strange storm gathering to the east, and Rowan ordered the fleet to prepare for battle.
• Faye told Lord Stormsong that the storm had gathered and trapped the fleet, and he sent Sergeant Bainby to act according to their plan.

As an enemy fleet bombarded Rowan’s ships through a magically created storm, Jaina caught a cannonball and the fleet struggled to return fire. With the warships losing their bearings and taking heavy damage, Rowan decided to use his ship to draw the enemy’s fire while the others advanced.

• Jaina identified the storm as magically created, and Rowan ordered everyone below deck when he spotted the enemy fleet firing through the rain.
• The first cannon volley damaged three warships, and Jaina cast a barrier to protect herself and signalman Tobin as he reported the fleet’s condition.
• During the next volley, Jaina caught an incoming cannonball after reinforcing her shield with ice, while Tobin relayed Captain Terry’s order for the fleet to advance at full speed.
• The hurricane disrupted the ships’ courses as repeated volleys damaged Rowan’s warship, leaving Rowan convinced the fleet could not withstand many more attacks.
• Rowan asked Jaina whether her Teleportation Spell could move everyone to another ship if theirs sank, then announced that he would draw the enemy’s fire to buy time for the fleet.

Rowan led a warship through the storm as bait, drawing the pirates’ fire away from his fleet and setting out to reach Southshore. Once the pirates sent attackers aboard, Jaina fought a high-ranking rogue who had targeted her, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Under Jaina’s cover, Tobin relayed Rowan’s plan to Captain Terry, who agreed to it, and Rowan ordered the fleet to charge.
• Bainby recognized Rowan’s warship as bait and sent small boats toward it while an elf girl vanished into the shadows to kill Rowan.
• Rowan’s warship emerged from the storm with Jaina aboard, and the enemy ships stopped firing as he had expected.
• Pirates attacked the warship, and a hidden rogue killed several soldiers before Jaina revealed him with Arcane Explosion and attacked with Frostbolt and Frost Nova.
• The high-ranking rogue evaded Jaina’s spells and focused his assault on her while Rowan and the others tried to protect her.

Jaina fought a high-rank rogue while the Iron Tide Raiders boarded Rowan’s warship, and Byron and Ellen battled the attackers on deck. Rowan stayed hidden in the cabin, helpless as the fighting continued, until he heard an eerie noise from a dark compartment.

• The high-rank rogue dodged Jaina’s spells and kept her occupied while the pirates’ small warship held Rowan’s vessel in place with iron chains.
• Sergeant Bainby led the Iron Tide Raiders across the chains, and Byron attacked him in a fury over the massacre at Vigil’s Domain.
• Byron used Crusade and Judgment to overwhelm Bainby, then collapsed from exhaustion with a poisoned wound.
• Ellen knocked the disoriented Bainby into the sea while fighting spread across the warship.
• Rowan hid in the cabin with the soldiers guarding him and warned them after hearing an eerie noise from the dark compartment.

Rowan fought off an infiltrator and Sergeant Bainby aboard his damaged warship, using an explosion to cripple the Iron Tide Raiders and shift the battle. Jaina froze the flooding hull to stabilize the ship, but Bainby and the Stealth User remained unaccounted for as Rowan prepared to counterattack.

• Rowan ordered his soldiers to search the flooded hold, where they cornered a female Stealth User before Sergeant Bainby burst in through the breach with iron chains.
• Rowan led the soldiers toward the stairs, then ordered the sailors to move the ammunition crates to the bow and stayed behind to face Bainby.
• Rowan ignited the crates with Fireball, blowing open the bow and throwing the Iron Tide Raiders into the sea.
• Jaina summoned a Sea Elemental to brace the tilting warship, then lifted Rowan onto its head as he swam to her.
• Jaina used Rapid Cooling to freeze the hull and flooding water, stabilizing the ship while more than half the raiders sank.
• Rowan prepared to counterattack as the remaining fleet emerged from the storm, though Bainby and the Stealth User were still missing.

After defeating most of the Iron Tide Pirates, Rowan searched for the two high-rank rogues still aboard the warship and learned that Ellen had developed a way to expose them. Rowan prepared to use the Revealing Dust, while the rogues made their final move.

• Number Thirteen warned the wounded Sergeant Bainby that Rowan’s fleet was nearing Skullsplitter’s fleet and said they still had one last chance.
• Rowan returned to the deck and ordered the remaining Iron Tide Pirates killed after they refused to surrender.
• Ellen reported that Bainby was trapped belowdecks in ice, while Rowan realized the female rogue was missing and might be waiting to ambush him.
• Jaina admitted she could not locate a rogue who stayed hidden in the shadows, so Rowan considered leaving the warship.
• Ellen gave Rowan her Revealing Dust, which could expose high-rank Stealth Users, and Jaina said she could kill an exposed rogue within three minutes.

Rowan and Jaina fought off Bainby and the hidden rogues, only to discover that two of the intruders were Number Zero and Number Seven, former associates of Chris. The pair revealed that they were acting on orders and tried to leave, but Jaina’s Revealing Dust and Frostbolts kept them exposed as Ellen recognized Chris.

• Rowan ordered Leonard to kill the badly wounded Bainby, but Bainby broke free and attacked Rowan and Jaina with his chains.
• Rowan used Revealing Dust, revealing four High-Rank Stealth Users hidden in the cabin as Jaina defended him and froze two attackers.
• Ellen recognized one of the revealed rogues as Instructor Chris, while Number Thirteen identified the others as Number Zero and Number Seven.
• Number Zero knocked out the female high elf rogue and killed Bainby, then Jaina killed Number Thirteen with ice spikes.
• Number Zero and Number Seven tried to leave, but Jaina warned that they could not escape the Revealing Dust and readied Frostbolts against them.
• Number Zero revealed that he had held Jaina when she was little, while Ellen happily insisted that Chris was his instructor.

Rowan pressured Number Zero and Number Seven into helping defeat the pirates, then had them take Ellen aboard to wait for the battle. The pirates opened fire on Jaina’s Sea Elemental, and Skullsplitter ordered his cannons to target the fleet’s sails.

• Rowan pointed out that Number Zero and Number Seven had failed their assignment by being discovered and asked them to help win the naval battle.
• Number Seven objected, but Number Zero persuaded him to cooperate rather than risk their identities and failure becoming public.
• Number Zero carried Ellen across the sea while scolding him for neglecting stealth training and warning him to avoid the black market.
• Number Zero and Number Seven boarded the ship and hid with Ellen until the fighting began.
• A cannonball struck Jaina’s Sea Elemental, breaking its Binding Inscription and destabilizing it.
• Skullsplitter ordered four volleys before deciding whether to retreat, and Skikaff signaled the pirates to target the enemy ships’ sails.

Rowan's fleet counterattacked Skullsplitter's pirate fleet, and its uncanny accuracy repeatedly wrecked whichever ship Skullsplitter boarded. As the Iron Tide Raiders' fleet burned and sank, Skullsplitter called the defeat an illusion before Number Seven knocked him unconscious.

• Rowan ordered the ten warships able to fire to maneuver independently and unleash their cannons on the pirates.
• Rowan's fleet sank Skullsplitter's flagship, forcing him to jump between ships as Number Zero and Ellen followed him in the shadows.
• The pirate fleet's second barrage arrived too late, while Rowan's ships fired again and destroyed more vessels, killing Skikaff.
• Skullsplitter ordered a retreat, but his own crew tried to stop him from boarding their mobile ship; he seized its helm and fled the battle.
• Another barrage struck Skullsplitter's ship as the surrounding pirate vessels burned and sank, leaving him convinced the defeat was an illusion.
• Number Seven grabbed Skullsplitter, but Number Zero stopped him from killing the pirate captain, and Number Seven knocked him unconscious.

After winning a costly naval battle, Rowan arranged generous compensation for the fallen sailors’ families and questioned the captured Skullsplitter for intelligence on Freehold’s pirate fleets. Having learned the Iron Tide’s forces and movements, Rowan headed to confront Number Zero and Number Seven over loot he believed they had stolen.

• Rowan ordered the Norwington Family to pay each fallen sailor’s or soldier’s household a hundred gold coins, and Jaina comforted him as he vowed to rid Kul Tiras’s waters of pirates.
• Rowan and Byron interrogated Skullsplitter, who gave them a rough outline of Freehold’s four pirate fleets and said the main Iron Tide fleet had been away since the beginning of the year.
• Byron executed Skullsplitter, and Rowan found a Magical Package on his body that required Jaina to break its Sealing Spell.
• Rowan suspected Number Zero and Number Seven had stolen loot from him and went to knock on the door of their cabin.

Rowan confronted Number Zero and Number Seven over the loot from the defeated High-Rank Rogue, then used their failed protection mission to secure their help. Number Zero and Number Seven agreed to work with him and discussed Rowan’s leadership qualities after he left.

• Number Seven and Number Zero discussed the Norwington Family’s plan to rebuild the Second Fleet under Rowan’s command.
• Rowan asked Number Zero and Number Seven for the defeated Rogue’s loot, and Number Zero returned a Magical Package containing only a necklace.
• Rowan accused the two Stealth Users of failing to protect him and Jaina and of secretly taking his gear.
• Rowan implied he might dismiss them, prompting Number Zero to agree that they would do whatever Rowan asked.
• Number Zero and Number Seven praised Rowan’s shamelessness and discussed why Number Zero had brought Number Seven into the assignment.

Rowan arrived in Southshore with Jaina and the Norwington Family fleet, then attended a meeting with the town’s merchants’ guilds. He met Ilucia, the president of the Barov Family Merchants’ Guild, as trade negotiations were about to begin.

• Rowan arrived in Southshore after a five-day voyage, and Mayor Maleb welcomed the Norwington Family fleet at the harbor.
• Rowan reflected on Mayor Maleb’s long record of defending Southshore and considered recruiting him.
• Floyd arranged lodgings for Rowan and Jaina, then brought Rowan to meet Southshore’s major merchants’ guild leaders.
• Rowan took his place at the meeting table while Jaina stood behind him, keeping her identity as Kul Tiras’s princess discreet.
• Lusen Sackhoff introduced Ilucia, the Barov Family Merchants’ Guild president and Lord Alex’s eldest daughter, who greeted Rowan.

Rowan and Ilucia signed a trade agreement between the Norwington and Barov Merchants' Guilds while Ilucia tried to charm him and assess the Norwington Family's political troubles. Ilucia left disappointed after Rowan declined her invitation, and Jaina teased him about their encounter.

• Ilucia asked Rowan about the Norwington Family's trouble in the Family Council of Kul Tiras and whether Lord Aldrius had entrusted him with family affairs.
• As the guild representatives reviewed the agreement, Ilucia flirted with Rowan, while Jaina pinched his side and watched jealously.
• Rowan and Ilucia signed the trade agreement, exchanged copies, and shook hands before the guild representatives applauded.
• Ilucia invited Rowan to go out that evening, but he said he already had plans with Jaina, whom Ilucia mistook for his maid.
• After Ilucia left, she muttered that Rowan had no sense of romance, and Jaina asked whether Ilucia had stolen his soul.

Rowan restored trade with Lordaeron’s great families and used the system to obtain plans for a steel battleship, though he lacked the Engineering skill to understand them. He went for a nighttime walk with Jaina and prepared to show her a treasure.

• Rowan secured new trade contracts with Lordaeron’s great families, bringing orders back to the Norwington Family.
• Rowan considered how to strengthen Kul Tiras’s navy and redeemed the One-Star Battleship blueprints for 3,000 emotion points.
• Rowan discovered he needed 25 Engineering skill points to comprehend the battleship plans, while he had only 12.
• Jaina asked Rowan to take a walk with her, and he agreed.
• Rowan asked Jaina about a teacher in Dalaran, and she said she would look for him the next day.
• Rowan told Jaina he had a treasure to show her and reached into his bag.

Rowan gave Jaina a diamond necklace while Floyd handled the Norwington Merchants' Guild's trade business in Southshore and clashed with Mars, a former guild leader who had escaped custody. After Floyd reported Mars's provocation and the pirates' seizure of Norwington warships, Rowan asked where Mars was staying.

• Rowan fastened a crystal necklace around Jaina's neck, and she asked him to reserve that gesture for her alone.
• Floyd encountered Mars in Southshore, traded insults with him, and learned that he had become president of a small merchants' guild after leaving the Norwington Family.
• Floyd signed grain and rice wine trade agreements with Ironforge's dwarven merchants, using iron ingots as payment.
• Floyd told Rowan that Mars had provoked him and lamented that the Norwington Family could not punish criminals without a fleet.
• Rowan reassured Floyd that they would deal with the pirates after building their fleet, then asked where Mars was staying.

Rowan questioned the elven pirate Valeera Sanguinar and discovered that she wanted revenge on Orgrim for the Second War. The Alliance had imprisoned Orgrim instead of executing him, leaving Valeera determined to make him pay with his life.

• Byron and Leonard discussed why Rowan had ordered them to keep the captured elven pirate alive.
• Byron questioned the silent prisoner about her origins, and Rowan arrived to continue the interrogation.
• Rowan suggested that the elf had been displaced from Quel'Thalas during the Second War, provoking her to reveal her desire for revenge.
• Valeera named Orgrim as her target and insisted that he had to die, while Rowan explained that the Alliance had imprisoned him.
• Rowan asked the elf for her name, and she identified herself as Valeera Sanguinar.

Rowan interrogated Mars and Bright after capturing them in Southshore, uncovering the Water Rat Gang’s plan to use the Norwington Family’s criminals to supply the Iron Tide fleet. The report revealed that the Iron Tide Pirates were preparing a large-scale attack.

• Mars learned that the Norwington Family’s fleet had delivered cargo to Southshore and worried that the family would recover.
• Bright told Mars that Aldrius was in Lordaeron and had entrusted the Norwington Family’s affairs to Rowan.
• Rowan’s forces captured Mars and Bright and brought them to a cell, where Rowan confronted Mars about his crimes.
• Rowan had Mars and Bright interrogated separately and received a report about the Water Rat Gang’s supply network.
• Rowan learned that the Iron Tide Pirates were preparing a large-scale attack.

Rowan waited for Jaina’s teacher, Rhonin, to join the fleet leaving Southshore, then met the awkward Archmage and learned about his defensive magic and divination. As they sailed, Rhonin teased Rowan about Jaina and offered to introduce him to Vereesa’s unmarried sister, prompting Jaina to shut him down.

• Floyd told Rowan that Mayor Maleb had neither refused nor agreed to the Norwington Family’s invitation.
• Jaina explained that Rhonin was considering his future in Dalaran, and Rowan complained about the delay.
• Rhonin teleported to the harbor in blue-and-white plate armor and introduced himself to Rowan.
• Rhonin explained that he wore plate armor because he believed magical defense was a mage’s most important specialty, and Jaina said he could also foresee visions of the future.
• Rowan, Jaina, and Rhonin boarded the ship, and Rowan ordered the fleet to set sail from Southshore.
• Rhonin asked whether Rowan was Jaina’s boyfriend and offered to introduce him to Vereesa’s unmarried sister, so Jaina told him to stop meddling.

Priscilla met with Admiral Halaa to discuss the failed assassination of Rowan, then Halaa assigned Captain Kulrag and an old orc wizard to kill him. As Rowan's fleet neared Kul Tiras, Rhonin heard a parrot squawking insults nearby.

• Priscilla demanded two hundred thousand gold coins in compensation from Halaa, who agreed and proposed another assassination.
• Priscilla warned Halaa that Rowan was dangerous, but refused to pay for a new mission and said he could not withdraw from their partnership.
• Halaa summoned Kulrag and an old orc wizard, then named Rowan as their target at sea.
• Kulrag accepted the mission, driven by his hatred of the Norwington Family over the battle at Tidefall Island.
• As Rowan's fleet approached Kul Tiras with powerful mages and ten Steam Warships, Rhonin noticed a parrot speaking insults.