Recaps

Liu Qian transformed into a golden dragon to draw a swarm of Valyrian monsters away from the fleet, while Jelena and Janice watched anxiously belowdecks. As the battle continued, Teres appeared aboard the ship and took Janice hostage.

• Liu Qian spotted a swarm of Valyrian monsters pursuing the fleet and transformed into a golden dragon to lead them away from the ships.
• Liu Qian burned a purple monster bird with dragonfire, but a bat-winged serpent-lizard lunged at him from the fog.
• Jelena and Janice worried that Liu Qian might not survive fighting the monsters alone.
• Teres ambushed Janice outside her cabin, held a sword to her neck, and confronted Jelena.

Teres held Janice hostage aboard the ship and demanded the Dragon Eggs, blaming Liu Qian for Tyria’s destruction while revealing his own role in sacrificing its people. Janice stabbed Teres, allowing Jelena to kill him and rescue her sister.

• Teres revealed that he had hidden in the ship’s cargo hold and threatened Janice to force Jelena to surrender the Dragon Eggs.
• Teres accused Liu Qian of bringing the Scaleclaws to Tyria, but Jelena defended him and confronted Teres over the people he had sacrificed to the Blood Warlock.
• Teres admitted that he viewed the sacrifices as necessary and demanded the Dragon Eggs so he could restore Valyria and learn Liu Qian’s dragon transformation.
• Janice stabbed Teres in the back of the thigh, and Jelena used Shadow Transformation to cut off his head.
• Jelena embraced her injured, trembling sister as Teres’s body fell on the cabin floor.

Liu Qian fought his way through the monsters over the Smoking Sea, killing several attackers and turning the pursuing creatures against one another. With Sphinx and three Chimeras closing in, he flew upward to draw them toward Sphinx.

• Liu Qian killed a Bat-Winged Serpent Lizard and a White-Feathered Cockatrice as they attacked him.
• He defeated a Three-Headed Purple-Winged Chimera and a Lion-Goat-Serpent Three-Headed Chimera, then spotted a host of monsters surrounding him.
• Liu Qian plunged into the fog and used a Cockatrice's fire to disrupt a Chimera's attack, then escaped through the confused formation.
• He lured Griffin Monsters into colliding and attacking one another with a provoking dragon cry and evasive maneuvers.
• Liu Qian caused Bat-Winged Serpent Lizards to strike a Griffin Monster and one another, then climbed toward the three Chimeras to draw them toward Sphinx.

Liu Qian escaped the Sphinx’s attack by diving out of the Smoking Sea, but suffered devastating burns and a torn tail before reaching the water. Jelena, Janice, and the Dragon Spirit Guardians rescued him, and the fleet sailed away while he remained barely alive.

• Liu Qian used an explosion of Dragonfire to distract the Sphinx and dive beneath it, prompting the Sphinx to blast the Chimera and his escape route with destructive fire.
• The Sphinx burned Liu Qian’s back and wings, then tore bone and scales from his tail with a claw strike.
• Liu Qian used his remaining strength to steer into the blue waters beyond the Smoking Sea and fell into the sea, where he returned to human form and lost consciousness.
• Jelena ordered the Dragon Spirit Guardians to search for Liu Qian, and they surfaced with his badly wounded body.
• Janice and Jelena treated Liu Qian’s wounds as best they could, and the fleet hurried away from the Smoking Sea with him barely breathing.

After recovering from his wounds, Liu Qian learned how his bloodline had evolved and decided to seek a base in the Stepstones. He ordered the ship to stop first at Volantis to change ships, gather supplies, and buy slaves.

• Liu Qian woke from unconsciousness and checked his system panel, finding his bloodline purity had risen to 22.3% and unlocked the Dragon-rider bloodline skill.
• Jelena reported the voyage’s events, and Liu Qian praised Janice for standing up to protect them; Janice said she had asked Jelena to train her to fight.
• Jelena presented Liu Qian with Teres’s Valyrian steel sword and offered to hand over his armor as well.
• Liu Qian decided to build his power near Westeros and chose the Stepstones as his intended territory.
• Liu Qian ordered the ship to sail to Volantis first to change ships, replenish supplies, and buy slaves before heading to the Stepstones.

Liu Qian bought fifteen hundred slaves in Volantis and discovered several Yidi captives carried a faint trace of magic. As the fleet prepared to leave, a red-robed woman’s apocalyptic cries drew his attention, and a strange old man approached him.

• Liu Qian sent Jelena to buy a new ship and supplies while he and Janice went to the western city’s slave market.
• Liu Qian negotiated a price of one Glowcoin per slave and bought all fifteen hundred slaves for work on the Stepstones.
• Liu Qian spoke with Rowan, a Yidi merchant captured on Naath, and noticed a faint magical aura among Rowan’s group, including a scarred young woman.
• Liu Qian returned to the harbor, where Jelena and the Dragon Spirit Guardians transferred the fleet’s supplies and slaves onto a new ship.
• A fanatical woman in black-and-red robes screamed warnings about the Long Night and doom, and a strange, short, fat old man approached Liu Qian.

Liu Qian met Marwyn, an archmaester who studied magic, and learned about the Order of Starry Wisdom and its connection to the Bloodstone Emperor. Hoping to recruit Marwyn as an adviser, Liu Qian introduced himself and ended their conversation by predicting the nickname the Citadel's maesters would give him.

• Marwyn warned Liu Qian to avoid the Order of Starry Wisdom and explained its founder was the Bloodstone Emperor, blamed for bringing on the Long Night.
• Liu Qian told Marwyn he had traveled with merchant caravans since childhood and had not returned to Yidi.
• Liu Qian recognized Marwyn's maester's chain, introduced himself, and asked whether he could visit Marwyn at the Citadel in Oldtown.
• Marwyn said the Citadel's maesters resented him and complained that they hoped he would die at sea and mocked him with nicknames.
• Liu Qian guessed the nickname Marwyn's colleagues would use and called him “Marwyn the Mage.”

Liu Qian’s fleet encountered pirates attacking a passenger ship near the Stepstones and moved to engage them. Jelena and the Dragon Spirit Guardians captured the first galley, while the other pirate ships remained to be confronted.

• Liu Qian led his newly purchased fleet from Volantis toward the Stepstones and spotted four pirate galleys attacking the Daughter of the Titan.
• The fleeing passenger ship collided with one of Liu Qian’s Swan Ships, and Terenzio Terris identified himself as its captain.
• A powerful man admitted ordering the merchant ship to ram Liu Qian’s fleet, but their confrontation was interrupted by pirate fire.
• Liu Qian ordered Jelena to encircle the four galleys, board them, and prevent anyone from escaping.
• Jelena and the Dragon Spirit Guardians boarded the first galley and overwhelmed its crew, forcing the surviving pirates to surrender.

Janice led the Dragon Spirit Guardians in defeating the pirates aboard her galley while Liu Qian fought their burly leader. After Liu Qian wounded and disarmed him, the man identified himself as Jorah Mormont, an exiled former Earl of Bear Island.

• Janice used her Flame Knight strength and the Dragon Spirit Guardians' support to break the pirates' resistance aboard her galley.
• The pirate leader surrendered after seeing the enemy's overwhelming strength and the slaughter of his crew.
• Liu Qian fought the burly man, testing his strength and sword techniques against the veteran's experience.
• Liu Qian broke the man's longsword and slashed his chest, leaving him badly wounded.
• The man introduced himself as Jorah Mormont, former Earl of Bear Island and an exiled knight, and admitted Liu Qian had won.

Liu Qian captured Jorah Mormont and Lynesse after Jorah rammed his fleet while fleeing pirates, then took the pirate leader Rollo Uhoris prisoner. After learning that Rollo's ships belonged to Crab Claw, who commanded a force in Torturer's Deep, Liu Qian prepared to attack him.

• Liu Qian confronted the wounded Jorah Mormont, who explained that he had rammed the fleet while escaping pirates.
• Lynesse Hightower revealed her concern for Jorah's wealth rather than his wounds, and Liu Qian ordered both her and Jorah taken prisoner.
• Jelena reported that the fleet had killed 107 pirates and captured 178 pirates and 170 sailors, including their leader, Rollo Uhoris.
• Liu Qian spared Rollo on the condition that he guide the fleet through the Stepstones, but Rollo revealed that Crab Claw could threaten his family if he failed to return.
• Rollo told Liu Qian that Crab Claw commanded about two thousand pirates at Torturer's Deep, and Liu Qian decided to fight him.

Liu Qian’s fleet reached Torturer’s Deep, where Rollo Uhoris used a false tale of loot to seek entry while Liu Qian and the Dragon Spirit Guardians prepared to attack. Crab Claw grew suspicious but ordered the gate opened and archers hidden, setting a trap as the ships approached.

• Rollo told Liu Qian that Blind Bastard Rollo Uhoris was his father and that he had renamed his ship the Pebble Cat in his memory.
• Rollo guided Liu Qian’s fleet through the Stepstones to Torturer’s Deep, where Liu Qian ordered his ships to wait until nightfall.
• Liu Qian had Rollo lead the attack ships and claim that they were returning with loot and a stranded Lys spice ship, while Janice stayed outside with the other ships.
• Rollo called to the guards at the channel gate and urged them to let his damaged ships inside, but the scar-faced guard noticed suspicious signs and sent a warning to Crab Claw.
• Crab Claw ordered the chains lowered and his archers concealed along the channel, intending to attack the fleet once it entered.

Liu Qian’s fleet sailed into a fjord ambush at Torturer's Deep, where he and Jelena used their flaming Valyrian steel swords to fight back. Liu Qian killed the pirate leader Crab Claw with a shot from his Dragonbone Longbow, forcing the pirates to surrender and leaving Torturer's Deep under new control.

• Rollo guided the Pebble Cat and the disguised merchant ships into the narrow fjord, where Crab Claw’s archers launched a surprise attack.
• Liu Qian used his flaming Valyrian steel sword to deflect arrows and blast the pirates hiding along the rock walls.
• Jelena led Dragon Spirit Guardians onto the shore walkway and cleared the ambushers with her flaming sword.
• Liu Qian spotted Crab Claw and shot him with a flaming arrow from his Dragonbone Longbow, killing him.
• Liu Qian called for the pirates to surrender, and they dropped their weapons as the Dragon Spirit Guardians took control of Torturer's Deep.

After taking Torturer's Deep, Liu Qian cleared Rollo Uhoris of suspicion and learned that the Dragon Spirit Guardians had suffered casualties but been revived. Rollo swore allegiance to Liu Qian and was given command of five hundred pirates as Liu Qian began inspecting the stronghold.

• Jelena and Janice secured Torturer's Deep, while Liu Qian ordered the rest of the fleet to enter and released Rollo after deciding he had not betrayed them.
• Jelena reported that 156 Dragon Spirit Guardians had died in the ambush and been revived, and said she and Janice had created a hundred new Guardians each from pirate corpses.
• Rollo reunited with his wife Vera and their baby, then swore allegiance to Liu Qian.
• Liu Qian assigned Rollo three hundred surrendered pirates to bring his force to five hundred, citing his knowledge of the Stepstones.
• Liu Qian had supplies moved into Torturer's Deep's warehouses and took Rollo to inspect the stronghold.

Liu Qian explored Torturer's Deep and studied Crab Claw's detailed map of the Stepstones, learning about the region's major pirate and merchant powers. He left determined to conquer them all, considering which stronghold to strike first.

• Liu Qian and Rollo inspected Torturer's Deep's natural harbor and the sea caves where surrendered pirates cleared the battle wreckage.
• Rollo showed Liu Qian Crab Claw's carved sea chart and identified Torturer's Deep's reefs and its proximity to the Disputed Lands.
• Rollo explained that Salladhor Saan controlled the largest fleet and held formidable influence across the Stepstones.
• Rollo identified Kago's Cleftjaw Island, Mara's Weeping Reef Island, and the Tyroshi-backed black market at Broken Spear Island.
• Liu Qian circled the Stepstones' major strongholds on the map and said he was deciding which one to attack first before wiping out the region's powers.

Liu Qian learned that building and maintaining a powerful fleet would cost far more than his fortune could cover, so he ordered repairs and armaments for his ships while considering the Ironborn’s raiding ways. He also discussed ghost grass and magic with Jelena and Janice, then decided to spend much of their supply awakening some of the Dragon Egg fossils.

• Rollo warned Liu Qian that conquering the Stepstones required warships and explained the immense cost of building and maintaining a fleet.
• Liu Qian ordered Rollo to repair every usable ship and outfit the Swan with heavy scorpions and catapults, which Rollo said he could source in Spearhaft.
• Liu Qian asked Janice to search the Blood Warlock’s writings for information about ghost grass and try growing it.
• Liu Qian warned Jelena and Janice to conserve their magic while they lacked a way to replenish it.
• Janice suggested using some of their ghost grass to restore magic, and Liu Qian explained that he could use magic to awaken the nine Dragon Egg fossils.
• Liu Qian decided to use their ghost grass to awaken some of the eggs and told Jelena and Janice to choose the dragons they wanted.

Liu Qian visited the imprisoned Jorah Mormont and coerced him into serving as a hired knight by promising Lynesse’s safety and comfort. Jorah agreed to train Liu Qian’s pirates into an army, but Liu Qian left his larger ambitions unexplained.

• Liu Qian visited Jorah Mormont in the sea-cave prison and mocked his former title while discussing Lynesse’s captivity.
• Jorah recognized Liu Qian’s sword as Valyrian steel, and Liu Qian claimed his soldiers’ armor and weapons were made from the same material.
• Liu Qian demanded that Jorah serve him, and Jorah initially refused, citing his knightly vows and his father’s ancestral sword, Longclaw.
• Liu Qian used Lynesse’s welfare to pressure Jorah into accepting a paid position as a hired knight.
• Liu Qian tasked Jorah with training his pirates into a capable army, while refusing to explain his broader plans.

Liu Qian and Janice failed to grow Ghost Grass and suspected the Blood Warlock had gathered it for a hidden purpose. Liu Qian used the grass’s magic to awaken three Dragon Eggs and began preparing to awaken a fourth.

• Janice told Liu Qian that Ghost Grass seedlings repeatedly withered and that the Blood Warlock’s notes only described gathering the plant.
• Liu Qian wondered whether the Blood Warlock had used Ghost Grass for forbidden Blood Magic and decided the Great Dragons would be important if growing it remained impossible.
• Janice chose a pale purple Dragon Egg, Jelena chose a silvery-white one, and Liu Qian selected blood-red and black-and-red eggs.
• Liu Qian absorbed Ghost Grass’s Magic Power and used the Dragon-Rider Bloodline to awaken Janice’s, Jelena’s, and his blood-red eggs.
• Liu Qian replenished his Magic Power and turned his attention to awakening the black-and-red Dragon Egg.

Liu Qian revived four Dragon Eggs and ordered them guarded while he strengthened Torturer's Deep's defenses. He left Jelena to oversee the fortifications and continued using Jorah Mormont to train the surrendered pirates despite distrusting him.

• Liu Qian infused the four Dragon Eggs with dragon blood, and Janice and Jelena asked when they would hatch.
• Liu Qian placed the eggs beneath the sea-cave window and ordered the Dragon Spirit Guardians to guard them.
• Jorah Mormont complained about the surrendered pirates' poor discipline, but reluctantly agreed to train them.
• Liu Qian told Jelena that the pirates' terrain and hidden reefs made caution essential.
• Liu Qian ordered Jelena to stretch iron chains between the reefs and rebuild Crackwater Channel's chain gate as a fortified stone archway.
• Jelena accepted the orders and went to carry them out.

Rollo Uhoris returned from Spearhaft with shipbuilding supplies, weapons, and shipwrights, and reported that Kago's ships had followed him. After repairing the fleet, Liu Qian launched a plan to lure Kago's pirates into Razor Reef, but the pursuit stalled and Liu Qian realized something was wrong.

• Rollo Uhoris told Liu Qian he had bought weapons, timber, and Tyroshi shipwrights, and that Cleftjaw Island ships had tailed him from Spearhaft.
• Liu Qian agreed to Rollo's plan to draw Kago's ships into Razor Reef and told Jelena to guard Torturer's Deep.
• Rollo's craftsmen repaired and armed the Crab's Nest, the Reefbreaker, the Abyssal Noose, and the other captured ships.
• Rollo led five hundred pirates in fast oared ships toward Razor Reef while Liu Qian followed with Jorah Mormont, a thousand pirate infantrymen, and five hundred Dragon Spirit Guardians.
• Three Cleftjaw Island patrol galleys approached Rollo's flotilla, but two merely shadowed him as he led them toward the reefs.
• Jorah warned Liu Qian that the enemy was stalling, and Liu Qian realized Kago's forces were not behaving as expected.

Liu Qian realized Kago was luring his fleet toward an ambush at Tidal Reef and led a counterattack from the rear. Kago’s ships charged through the rocks to ram Liu Qian’s fleet, forcing him to prepare for a boarding battle.

• Liu Qian deduced that Kago was waiting to ambush the fleet at Tidal Reef and ordered his ships to circle around the reef.
• Kago and his men waited at Tidal Reef, expecting Liu Qian’s fleet to sail into their trap.
• Liu Qian’s fleet attacked from behind with catapults and ballistae, damaging several Cleftjaw Island ships and throwing the pirates into chaos.
• Kago rallied his surviving ships and ordered them to ram Liu Qian’s fleet.
• Liu Qian could not identify Kago’s flagship in the darkness and ordered Jorah and Rollo to prepare for boarding combat.

Liu Qian’s fleet fought off Kago’s boarding attack, and Liu Qian used his enchanted sword and Dragonbone Bow to rout the pirates and badly injure Kago. Kago escaped toward Cleftjaw Island, while Liu Qian ordered his forces to salvage the battlefield and return to Torturer’s Deep.

• Kago’s fleet rammed Liu Qian’s ships and boarded them, overwhelming the defenders until the Dragon Spirit Guardians held the line.
• Liu Qian wielded his flaming Valyrian steel sword to burn through the Cleftjaw Island pirates, while Jorah Mormont watched in shock.
• Liu Qian shot a flaming arrow at Kago, who dodged it by pulling a gaunt pirate in front of himself; the arrow killed the pirate and burned Kago’s arm to the bone.
• Terrified by Liu Qian’s weapon, Kago ordered a retreat, and the surviving Cleftjaw Island pirates fled toward Cleftjaw Island.
• Rollo asked Liu Qian whether to pursue, but Liu Qian refused and ordered his forces to gather bodies and salvage what they could before returning to Torturer’s Deep.

After assessing the heavy losses from the battle at Tidal Reef, Liu Qian had Jelena and Janice resurrect the seventy-three fallen Dragon Spirit Guardians. Learning that Kago was hiding in Cleftjaw Island’s harbor while repairing ships at a weakly defended shipyard, Liu Qian agreed to Jorah’s plan to feint at the harbor and strike the shipyard.

• Rollo reported the battle’s casualties and damaged ships, while Jelena said seventy-three Dragon Spirit Guardians had died.
• Liu Qian brought Jorah, Rollo, Jelena, and Janice to the chamber where the fallen guards lay.
• Jelena and Janice resurrected all seventy-three Dragon Spirit Guardians, shocking Jorah and Rollo.
• Rollo reported that Kago had fewer than thirty seaworthy ships, was sheltering in the main harbor, and was urgently repairing vessels at a hidden shipyard.
• Jorah proposed that Rollo feint at the harbor while Liu Qian led the main fleet to destroy the shipyard.
• Liu Qian approved the plan and ordered Rollo to make the harbor assault convincing.

After a month of repairs, Liu Qian split his fleet to draw Cleftjaw Island’s defenses toward its main harbor while he led the true attack against the western dockyards. Rollo Uhoris’s feint drew the pirates’ attention as Liu Qian’s fleet emerged from the mist, and the patrol ships discovered the deception too late.

• The craftsmen finished repairing the Abyssal Noose and seven captured Oared Ships as the fleet prepared to sail.
• Rollo Uhoris led the feint fleet away from Torturer's Deep, then Liu Qian and Jorah Mormont took the main fleet through the mist toward Cleftjaw Island’s western dockyards.
• A lookout at Cleftjaw Island’s main harbor spotted Rollo’s ships and sounded the alarm.
• Rollo kept his fleet beyond the ballistae’s range, using drums, horns, flags, and insults to convince the pirates that his ships were the main attack.
• At the dockyards, a patrol captain spotted Liu Qian’s fleet and ordered the patrol ships to warn the harbor, but they raised the alarm too late.

Liu Qian’s assault on the Cleftjaw Island shipyard turned into a desperate battle when Salt Widow Mara’s overwhelming fleet ambushed his scattered forces. With his troops pinned on the beach and his ships under attack, Liu Qian aimed the Dragonbone Bow at Mara, and the chapter ended as he released his shot.

• Liu Qian’s fleet destroyed the Cleftjaw ships guarding the shipyard, and his forces stormed ashore to rout the defenders.
• Liu Qian trapped and battered a Cleftjaw warship as his troops cleared the shipyard and beach.
• Salt Widow Mara arrived with thirty or forty warships and encircled Liu Qian’s fleet while attacking his ships and landing force.
• Liu Qian ordered his ships into a defensive circle and commanded the Dragon Spirit Guardians and Jorah Mormont to hold the beach.
• Liu Qian spotted Mara aboard the Widow Queen, drew the Dragonbone Bow, and fired an ink-black arrow toward her.

Liu Qian’s forces killed Mara and routed the Weeping Reef Island fleet, then moved toward Cleftjaw Island’s main harbor after learning its defenders had abandoned the docks amid a fire and apparent chaos inside Cleftjaw Fort. The harbor lay deserted as black smoke rose from the fort, leaving Liu Qian unsure whether the situation resulted from infighting or a trap.

• A flaming attack killed Mara, causing the Weeping Reef Island pirates to panic and Liu Qian’s forces to counterattack and defeat their fleet.
• Liu Qian secured the shipyard, imprisoned captured shipwrights and pirates, and ordered Jorah to count the captured ships.
• An officer reported that a fire inside Cleftjaw Fort had sent its defenders fleeing from the walls, and Rollo asked whether he should enter the harbor.
• Liu Qian ordered Rollo to hold position and sailed with his fleet to Cleftjaw Island’s main harbor.
• Liu Qian and Rollo found the harbor deserted and Cleftjaw Fort smoking, with faint sounds of fighting and disorder coming from within.