Recaps

Tiamat agreed to send dragons to the Underdark in exchange for the right to spread her faith among its intelligent inhabitants other than the Drow and Duergar. Miriil then asked Dunn whether his pantheon was accepting members, leaving Cyric watching Dunn expectantly as well.

• Lolth offered Tiamat the faith of the Underdark’s intelligent creatures, excluding the Drow and Duergar, in return for dragon support.
• Tiamat accepted the deal and said she would send her subordinates from Dragon Island through its passage to the Underdark.
• Miriil told Dunn that her weak faith and lack of territory threatened her power, and asked to join his pantheon.
• The deities considered Miriil’s reasons for choosing Dunn’s pantheon over Lolth’s or the Fate Overlord’s.
• Cyric, whose situation resembled Miriil’s, looked expectantly toward Dunn.

Dunn rejected Miriil’s request to join his pantheon and proposed that the council’s deities infiltrate other pantheons, influence the gods, and eventually control the world. The Fate Overlord supported the strategy, and the council began discussing where its lesser powers would go.

• Dunn told Miriil that she could not join his pantheon, arguing that the council members were already allies and needed no further assurances.
• Dunn proposed spreading the council’s influence through powerful pantheons and uniting the gods against obstacles such as the Ancient Gods and the Destiny Legendaries.
• Tiamat questioned whether the council could overcome the eight Ancient Gods, and Dunn argued that they were divided and might be won over or eliminated individually.
• Dunn assigned Tiamat, Miriil, and Cyric to choose powerful pantheons to join, while he, Lolth, and the Fate Overlord established their own pantheons.
• Cyric announced that he would join the War Overlord’s pantheon, hoping to exploit the War Overlord’s trust and inherit his power after his death.

Dunn created the Land of the Dying, a contest that promised its winner another life and brought him believers and Faith Power from across the world. As rumors about faith’s dangers and a supposed cure spread among the gods, Dunn suspected the Fate Overlord was behind them.

• Dunn judged that the Atlantis Empire’s territorial gains had nearly reached their limit and focused on gathering Faith Power and preparing to advance.
• Dunn built the Land of the Dying, drawing in the souls of dying believers to compete for a chance at another life.
• The Land of the Dying spread across the Main Plane and beyond, earning Dunn countless new believers despite local bans and Lolth’s furious curses.
• The gods learned rumors claimed that Faith Power could alter their wills and personalities, with the War Overlord as an example.
• A second rumor claimed that intercourse and offspring between deities could cleanse faith’s toxins, and Dunn suspected the Fate Overlord was behind the rumors.

The Gods’ race to conceive Divine Scions intensified while Dunn used their distraction to move his new believers into the Atlantis Empire. The first birth ended with the Goddess of Joy dead, revealing that the offspring might be Divine Abominations rather than divine children.

• After a Goddess conceived and reported that her faith toxins had diminished, most Goddesses accepted offers to bear Divine Scions, while Gunara asked Dunn if he would father one with her or let her take other offers.
• Dunn told Gunara to wait and used the Gods’ distraction to bring believers from across the Main Plane into the Atlantis Empire.
• Some Goddesses made suitors duel for the chance to father their children, triggering small-scale divine wars in the Astral Plane.
• The first Divine Scion was born, and its cry carried immense power across the Astral Plane; Dunn heard hatred and madness within it.
• The newborn attacked the weakened Goddess of Joy and killed her, causing her divine kingdom to collapse.
• The Gods realized the offspring they had hoped would consume their faith toxins might actually be Divine Abominations.

A Divine Abomination killed its mother, grew stronger, and attacked a nearby Divine Kingdom before more than a dozen Deities sealed it away. Terrified Goddesses reconsidered carrying Divine Scions, and one nine-month-old fetus killed its mother as she prepared to abort it.

• After absorbing its mother's power and faith, the Divine Abomination attacked a nearby Divine Kingdom and fought the Pantheon's seven Deities' clones.
• In Dunn's Divine Kingdom, Annie told Gunara that a Divine Scion's consciousness could be corrupted by faith's poison before birth.
• The battle lasted three days, and the Divine Abomination overwhelmed the seven clones until over a dozen Deities joined forces to seal it.
• The Gods hesitated to breed Divine Scions, and pregnant Goddesses began preparing to abort their fetuses.
• As a Lesser Power prepared to terminate her pregnancy, her nine-month-old fetus tore out of her abdomen and killed her.

As Divine Abominations spread through the Astral Plane, the Fate Overlord called the gods to the first Assembly of the Gods at the Pantheon. The gods reluctantly agreed to attend after Lady Lolth and the War Overlord’s representative confirmed they would go, and Dunn arrived early with Annie and Gunara to assess the assembled deities.

• Goddesses carrying Divine Scions sought protection, while five newborn Divine Abominations roamed the Astral Plane and attacked Divine Kingdoms.
• Many solitary deities joined pantheons as Divine Abomination attacks made the Astral Plane more dangerous.
• The Fate Overlord announced that he would hold the first Assembly of the Gods at the Pantheon in one month.
• Lady Lolth confirmed her attendance and praised the Pantheon as a natural creation, while Cyric announced he would attend on the War Overlord’s behalf.
• The gods agreed to attend, and Dunn brought Annie’s and Gunara’s divine power projections to the Pantheon early so he could examine the deities’ strength and potential.

Dunn, Annie, and Gunara attended the Pantheon gathering, where the gods’ seats revealed their relative strength. When newly deified Mystra arrived, she ranked above both Dunn and the Fate Overlord despite being an intermediate power, leaving Dunn baffled.

• Dunn warned Annie and Gunara to speak little and follow his lead at the Pantheon gathering.
• Dunn took second place behind the Fate Overlord, while Annie and Gunara sat among the lesser and weak powers.
• As more gods arrived, Tiamat surpassed Annie as the strongest lesser power, and Gunara rose from last place among the weak powers.
• The Fate Overlord welcomed the newly deified Mystra, Goddess of Magic, and introduced her to the gathered gods.
• Mystra took her seat, shifting Dunn to third place and ranking above the Fate Overlord, which left Dunn wondering how an intermediate power could be stronger.

At the Council of Gods, the Fate Overlord revealed that deities would eventually die if they lost all their believers, then used the danger to push the gods toward unity. He proposed that they kill the Heaven’s Mandate Legendaries in the Main Plane, led by the Wizard Speaker, while Mystra sat at the table as the speaker’s wife.

• Dunn considered whether the rulers at the pinnacle of Heaven’s Mandate could surpass Greater Powers after becoming deities.
• The Fate Overlord opened the Council of Gods, announcing that 186 deities had gathered and warning that a deity without believers would fall into eternal slumber as their Divine Kingdom withered.
• Lolth and the other gods reacted with shock, while Dunn remained calm and the Fate Overlord wondered how much Dunn knew.
• The Fate Overlord called on the gods to unite against the danger threatening them.
• Cyric, speaking as the War Overlord’s representative, asked how the Fate Overlord planned to remove that danger.
• The Fate Overlord identified the Heaven’s Mandate Legendaries, led by the Wizard Speaker, as the target and proposed wiping them out, prompting the gods to glance at Mystra.

The Gods debated how to deal with bearers of Heaven's Mandate, agreeing to eliminate the Elf Empress and Wizard Speaker while seeking allies among the others. Dunn proposed winning over Wrath of the Firmament, but the Sun God objected and Lolth challenged his right to speak.

• The Goddess of Magic explained that she had sided with the Gods because refusing to choose a side would likely get her killed, and the Fate Overlord vouched for her.
• The Fate Overlord proposed winning some bearers of Heaven's Mandate over and eliminating others, with those recruited required to undergo Deification and ascend.
• Lolth demanded that the Elf Empress die, and the Gods accepted her and the Wizard Speaker as targets.
• Dunn recommended winning over the Dragon Emperor, but Tiamat objected before falling silent after Dunn defended his proposal.
• Dunn proposed recruiting Wrath of the Firmament, and the Sun God objected before Lolth asked who he thought he was to speak.

Lolth declared that the Sun God had no right to speak, revealing the Silver Mirror Council’s plan to restrict the council’s voices to the first four seats and the War Overlord’s representative. Shar recognized that the plan excluded her, and the higher-ranking gods began to realize what Lolth was doing.

• Lolth rebuked the Sun God and declared that he had no right to offer an opinion.
• The Sun God’s divine power began to boil, but an inexplicable force suppressed it before he confronted Lolth.
• Shar urged Lolth and the Sun God to stop wasting time, but Lolth turned her insults on Shar as well.
• Shar realized Lolth was limiting the right to speak to the first four seats and the War Overlord’s representative, excluding the fifth-ranked Shar.
• The gods understood Shar’s observation, and one deity challenged Lolth’s overreach while addressing Mystra.

The deities tried to challenge Lolth’s authority, but Mistris refused to join them, leaving Shar to redirect the confrontation toward Dunn. Lolth backed Dunn, provoking Shar’s jealousy as Shar reflected on her stalled advancement and limited divine power.

• The Lord of Dawn tried to draw Mistris into opposing Lolth, but Mistris dismissed the Wizard Council as irrelevant and refused to get involved.
• Shar asked whether Dunn qualified to challenge Lolth, making him the focus of the deities’ push against her.
• Dunn realized that Mistris, the Fate Overlord, and Cyric were unlikely to help, leaving him and Lolth to face the other intermediate powers.
• Dunn stood his ground when Shar questioned his qualifications, and Shar replied that she had doubts about him.
• Lolth laughed and declared that Dunn was more qualified than the other deities, angering Shar and stirring her jealousy.
• Shar reflected that despite nearly ten thousand years of life and the Night Kingdom’s faith, she had only reached intermediate power.

Shar’s jealousy of Lolth sparked a confrontation in the Pantheon, but Mistris and the Sun God calmed them before they could fight. The Goddess of Fertility questioned Dunn’s standing, and he repeatedly answered that he ranked fourth, provoking the Plague Lord.

• Shar challenged Lolth to prove that Dunn qualified, and Lolth accepted with a threat to teach Shar how to be a god.
• Mistris and the Sun God intervened to calm Shar and Lolth and keep their dispute from disrupting the gods’ plans.
• The Goddess of Fertility turned the discussion to Dunn and noted that she had never met him because Atlantis lay deep beneath the ocean.
• Dunn regarded the Goddess of Fertility warily because her role in childbirth made her influential among the gods, but he insisted, “I rank fourth!”
• The Plague Lord objected that Dunn’s rank had nothing to do with whether he qualified, and Dunn repeated his claim as the Plague Lord slammed the table.

Dunn’s scheme provoked the Plague Lord into challenging the Pantheon’s seating order, but the Fate Overlord and the Goddess of Magic shut down the gods’ attempt to gain a say. The gods accepted the decision, while Dunn felt relieved that Lolth had drawn their hostility away from him.

• Lolth mocked the Plague Lord by declaring that she ranked first, and he lost his temper and insulted her.
• Shar recognized that Faith Poison was weakening the gods’ self-control and noticed Dunn’s satisfaction as the Plague Lord questioned the seating order.
• The Fate Overlord interrupted the Plague Lord and declared that the meeting concerned the gods’ survival.
• The Goddess of Magic backed the Fate Overlord, saying strength determined who had a voice, and the four highest-ranked deities ended the dispute.
• The Plague Lord sat down, the other gods accepted the decision, and Dunn felt relieved that they were focused on Lolth.

The gods debated how to handle bearers of Heaven’s Mandate, Legendaries, and Wizards, while Mistris proposed gradually erasing Wizard legacies in favor of a replacement. Dunn realized the Fate Overlord had enticed Mistris with the idea of weaving a magic web, leaving him wary of the scheme behind their sudden rift.

• The Fate Overlord proposed winning over Wrath of the Firmament and the Dragon Emperor while seeking to kill the Elf Empress and the Wizard Speaker; the Goddess of Magic said the Mother of Sea Monsters and lesser bearers could be left alone for now.
• Dunn argued that the gods should also eliminate High Legendaries on the Main Plane, and Cyric urged them to wipe out all Legendaries.
• Dunn opposed killing all Legendaries, warning that they were needed to defend against Abyssal invasions and keep the world functioning.
• Mistris proposed destroying Wizard legacies gradually while developing a replacement for Wizards.
• Dunn recognized that Mistris meant to weave a magic web and concluded that the Fate Overlord had used that prospect to entice her.

The Gods voted on proposals to eliminate bearers of Heaven's Mandate, powerful individuals, Legendaries, and Wizards. After the Fate Overlord closed the session, Cyric raised a new matter concerning the Divine Abominations.

• The Fate Overlord announced that the Gods approved eliminating Heaven's Mandate and recruiting Wrath of the Firmament and the Dragon Emperor for Deification, with the Sun God and several of his Pantheon voting against it.
• The Gods unanimously approved eliminating all high Legendaries, but the Fate Overlord shelved a proposal to eliminate all Legendaries after the vote split 95 to 91.
• The Gods approved the Goddess of Magic Mistris's proposal to eliminate Wizards and their legacies by a vote of 112 to 74, after Dunn and Cyric voted in favor.
• Lolth questioned Dunn's support for the purge, and Dunn said the operation would take a long time and that the Goddess of Magic could replace Wizards.
• After the Fate Overlord ended the meeting, Cyric raised the matter of the Divine Abominations.

Cyric raised the growing threat of Divine Abominations before the Council of Gods, and Mistris ordered them sealed in a designated area of the Astral Plane. The Fate Overlord closed the Council without offering a solution, leaving Mistris’s unilateral decision in place and her rivals resentful.

• Cyric warned that Divine Abominations were multiplying and could eventually overwhelm lesser powers’ Divine Kingdoms.
• Lolth drew attention to the Goddess of Fertility, who said she could stop producing Divine Abominations but reminded the gods that she could safely purge Faith Poison.
• Mistris asked the Fate Overlord for a solution, but he only agreed that the threat needed addressing and stayed silent.
• Mistris asked Dunn whether Divine Abominations could be killed, and he said that a way might exist even if it had not been discovered.
• Mistris ordered the gods to seal existing Divine Abominations in an area of the Astral Plane and place future ones there, while the others withheld their objections.
• The Fate Overlord ended the first Council of Gods, leaving Lolth, Cyric, and Dunn resentful of Mistris’s decision.

After the first Council of Gods, the Silver Mirror Council members held a private meeting, where Lolth confronted Dunn about supporting the Goddess of Magic’s proposal to eliminate Wizards. The meeting ended with Dunn arguing that the Goddess of Magic’s actions gave their alliance a legitimate reason to unite against her and demand benefits.

• Dunn sent Annie and Gunara away, leaving the six Silver Mirror Council members alone in the Pantheon.
• Lolth accused Dunn of betraying her by supporting the Goddess of Magic’s proposal to eliminate Wizards.
• Dunn blamed the Fate Overlord for the Goddess of Magic’s plan, prompting the Fate Overlord to ask whether Dunn knew about the magic weave and a way to purify Faith Poison.
• Lolth demanded that Dunn and the Fate Overlord share their secrets, but both refused and assured her their private knowledge would not affect their pact.
• Lolth, Miriil, Cyric, and Tiamat called for the group to punish the Goddess of Magic for her actions at the council.
• Dunn said the Goddess of Magic’s actions gave the alliance a pretext to coordinate against her and make her offer them benefits.

After the First Council of Gods pushed the Astral Plane’s deities into five factions, Dunn received visits from gods seeking his support. Shar, Goddess of Night, unexpectedly proposed an alliance with him and explained why she considered him the best choice.

• Annie warned Gunara not to presume she could join the discussion inside the Pantheon, then left, and Gunara followed after casting a resentful glance at it.
• After the Council of Gods, deities across the Astral Plane began forming factions and seeking the support of the five beings with a say in the council.
• More than fifty deities visited Dunn over the course of a year, and he received them while recognizing that they needed his influence and he needed their votes.
• Shar visited Dunn’s Divine Kingdom and proposed that they form an alliance.
• Shar said Dunn was the most suitable partner, citing the other potential allies’ distance, domineering nature, inscrutability, or madness.

Dunn considered Shar’s proposal to form an alliance through marriage but rejected it because he valued Annie’s trust more than Shar’s support. Shar left still believing he might change his mind in the future.

• Dunn recognized that Shar understood the need to set aside divine pride and asked how she wanted to form an alliance.
• Shar proposed a marriage alliance, and Dunn was surprised that she regarded marriage as a way to build trust.
• Shar mistakenly thought Dunn hesitated because he cared about her past relationships and reassured him that she had only been with three men.
• Dunn considered Annie’s claim to the position of his divine consort and decided that marrying Shar could drive Annie away.
• Dunn rejected Shar’s proposal, and Shar accepted the refusal while hoping he might reconsider someday.
• Shar left Dunn’s divine kingdom after they agreed to remain on friendly terms.

After the Council of Gods, the Fate Overlord contacted the dormant Ancient Gods and shared information about them with the Silver Mirror Council. He found a chance to exploit the growing divide between Avalon and the Elf Empress, but still needed to persuade Lolth to join his plans.

• The Fate Overlord privately contacted the Ancient Gods, who had remained dormant because their strength was depleted and they feared the monster in the East Sea.
• Dunn learned that most Ancient Gods wielded elemental powers and had returned to their respective elemental planes, prompting him to wonder whether elemental authority was necessary to become an Ancient God.
• The Fate Overlord learned that Avalon and the Elf Empress had grown divided after thirty thousand years apart, as their pride and expectations of their marriage had changed.
• The Fate Overlord saw an opportunity to separate Avalon and the Elf Empress, but struggled to figure out how to persuade Lolth, whose combat strength was essential to his plans.

The Fate Overlord used the Munch-Munch Fruit to awaken the Mother of Sea Monsters’ reason as she devoured the Storm Ancient God’s corpse. She emerged in humanoid form, claimed dominion over the ocean and storms, and left the Wizard Speaker demanding answers from the Fate Overlord.

• The Council members persuaded Lolth to postpone attacking the Natural Ancient God, though they doubted she would hold back later.
• The Fate Overlord arrived at the Storm Sea and found the Mother of Sea Monsters devouring the Storm Ancient God’s corpse while gestating a third Heaven’s Mandate sea monster.
• The Fate Overlord fed the Mother of Sea Monsters the Munch-Munch Fruit, triggering a disturbance felt across the world.
• The Wizard Speaker hurried to the Storm Sea as storms and waves devastated the world, while the Dragon Emperor, Elf Empress, and Natural Ancient God sensed the change.
• The Mother of Sea Monsters stopped the disturbance, attacked the Wizard Speaker, and appeared as a humanoid figure with reason.
• The Mother of Sea Monsters declared herself lord of the ocean and storms, and the Wizard Speaker angrily questioned the Fate Overlord about how she had gained reason.

The Mother of Sea Monsters devoured the Storm Ancient God's corpse, ascended to Greater Power, and gained reason, then attacked the Wizard Speaker after the Fate Overlord nudged her toward him. As she pursued the fleeing Wizard Speaker toward the Elf Continent, the Fate Overlord announced that the grand show had begun.

• The Mother of Sea Monsters awakened with reason and attacked the Wizard Speaker, splitting the Storm Sea with a blow that damaged his Floating City.
• The Wizard Speaker accused the Fate Overlord of controlling her, and the Fate Overlord explained that he had reminded her of the beatings she had received from the Wizard Speaker.
• The Mother of Sea Monsters began building a rudimentary divine kingdom, so the Wizard Speaker fled toward the Elf Continent to seek the Natural Ancient God.
• The Mother of Sea Monsters sensed the Fate Overlord's goodwill, then formed a Sky Sea and charged after the Wizard Speaker.
• The Fate Overlord watched her depart and announced across the Astral Plane that the grand show had begun.

The Fate Overlord declared war after the Mother of Sea Monsters’ unexpected rampage threw the Gods into chaos. As the Mother pursued the Wizard Speaker toward the Elf Continent, the Gods began intervening, and hundreds of Deity Clones descended near the gathering battlefield.

• The Fate Overlord used his influence to steer the Mother of Sea Monsters around the Atlantis Empire’s heartland as she pursued the Wizard Speaker.
• Dunn warned the Atlantis Empire’s Legendary beings and Demigods not to risk their lives, then watched the Mother and the Wizard Speaker cross his territory toward the Elf Continent.
• The Elf Empress went to meet the Wizard Speaker, while Dunn notified his allies and sent down three Godhead Clones.
• Lolth descended with five Godhead Clones and attacked the Elf Empress, prompting other Deities to join the battle.
• Hundreds of Deity Clones descended near the battlefield as the Dragon Emperor and Wrath of the Firmament rushed to the area.

Hundreds of deity clones gathered off the Elf Continent as the Elf Empress and the Natural Ancient God confronted Lolth and questioned the Fate Overlord. The Mother of Sea Monsters suddenly turned against Lolth, trapping her clones inside her oceanic divine kingdom.

• Hundreds of deity clones descended off the Elf Continent, leaving the Wizard Speaker and the Mother of Sea Monsters wary as the Elf Empress fought Lolth.
• The Natural Ancient God appeared beside the Elf Empress, and they discussed the Mother of Sea Monsters’s transformation after devouring the Storm Ancient God’s remains.
• The Elf Empress asked the Fate Overlord why he had assembled the gods, but he denied responsibility and offered no explanation.
• Lolth’s tainted divine power drove sea monsters to slaughter one another, and the Mother of Sea Monsters suddenly shrieked, injuring nearby deity clones.
• The Mother of Sea Monsters attacked Lolth, destroyed one of her clones, and enveloped all of Lolth’s clones in her oceanic divine kingdom.

The Gods began fighting the forces of Heaven's Mandate after the Mother of Sea Monsters defected, while Dunn suspected the Fate Overlord had orchestrated the war to ascend to Greater Power. The battle devastated the Main Plane, and the Elf Race suffered catastrophic casualties as the fighting unleashed disasters across the Elf Continent.

• Dunn suspected the Fate Overlord had anticipated or arranged the Mother of Sea Monsters' defection as part of a plan to ascend to Greater Power.
• Mistris urged the Gods to fight, and the Fate Overlord's declaration persuaded them to attack those with Heaven's Mandate.
• The Gods' Clones swarmed the Elf Race's Legendaries, while their Heaven's Mandate-level fighters surrounded the Natural Ancient God, the Elf Empress, and the Wizard Speaker.
• Mistris confronted her former husband, the Wizard Speaker, and attacked him with three Legendary Spells empowered by Divine Power.
• The Wizard Speaker answered Mistris's assault by expanding his domain, Arcane Hall.
• The battle's shockwaves caused earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and hurricanes across the Elf Continent, killing countless Elves.