Recaps

Ed prepared the barony for a Blood Corpse assault as players fought the first major wave and discovered that the poison could spread after resurrection. The players developed ways to track the horde while Ed set up insurance and body retrieval services, and Dark Archmage left for Dragonborn Village with a blowpipe to mark Blood Corpses.

• Tiya told Ed that her grandfather had been healed by two Short-Eared Elves who called themselves sealmasters, and Ed wondered if they might have been a short-eared, elf-like people like those around him.
• Western Sharpshooter and Gill's Cuisine rented an inn room to store their belongings, while Ed announced purchasable land and a Root Network that linked two locations.
• As players and NPCs prepared defenses around the barony and White Wax Town, Darnell spotted about two hundred Blood Corpses approaching and sounded the alarm.
• Zhongde and three companions fought the horde, but a giant Blood Corpse destroyed their watchtower and killed them, and Xiexie Huigu and other players then rallied to meet the advancing horde.
• The players killed 228 Blood Corpses, but several revived fighters showed signs of spreading Corpse Poison, and Ed’s update explained how Will affected transformation and how players could treat the infection.
• Ed asked Duolin to report the Blood Corpses’ return to the Tree Worship Church and request reinforcements, while he also arranged adventurer ranks and metal tags.
• Players found ways to mark Blood Corpses with Fluorescent Velvet Grass and experimented with aberrant plants, while Ed increased construction and supply rewards and recruited Seraphina to launch insurance and body retrieval services.
• Dark Archmage bought the first insurance policy, then visited Cole’s smithy and tested a free iron tube as a blowpipe for firing a severed finger as a dart.

Ed brought the Desolate Throat Tribe into his domain and recruited Willow, whose research might slow the Demonic Tide. As players fought Blood Corpses and Ed moved to claim nearby towns, Gray collapsed because his mechanical body was incompatible with the territory’s rules, leaving Ed and Willow to attempt a dangerous plant-based remedy.

• [Dark Archmage] found Willow and the nomads after her corpse had been turned into a sapling, then brought Willow to Ed’s castle.
• Ed offered the nomads land in exchange for joining his domain, and Chief Haya accepted the terms for the Desolate Throat Tribe.
• Willow joined Ed’s territory as a researcher and revealed that she and her mother had found a way to slow the Demonic Tide.
• Aoda delivered a Blood Corpse head to Archbishop Antiya, who ordered defenses raised across Aduolin Province, and Ed used the orders to plan the seizure of nearby towns.
• Players expanded the blowgun trade, while [Good Times Don't Last] and [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] used Oil Vines and fire to kill Blood Corpses and mark others for hunters.
• Ed arranged for players to plant trees using Blood Corpses, then Gray collapsed as his mechanical body began to fail.
• Willow identified Gray’s miniature domain maintenance device and said he needed to return to the Graycast Corridor, but Ed proposed changing Gray’s mechanical affinity into plant affinity instead.
• Ed asked Willow to use Imbalance on Gray and replace his metal parts with wood or plant tissue, and Willow agreed despite the risk of killing him.

Ed saved Gray and backed his bid to become Grand Foundry Master while players uncovered a revived Blood Corpse count and worked with Weeping Willow Town’s defenders. Bennett’s assault failed at dawn, but he began gathering forces for an attack on White Wax Town and ordered [Aluode] to die in the coming battle.

• Ed used Willow’s psionic spell and his own powers to replace Gray’s metal parts with wood, then began restoring his human body.
• Gray agreed to seek the Grand Foundry Master position with Ed’s support, while Ed privately planned to claim Gray’s property deed in return.
• Zhongde accepted a wall-building assignment in White Wax Town and organized players and residents to prepare defenses and screen arriving Holy Crusaders.
• Players discovered a cave full of Blood Corpses, where the awakened Bennett killed them and transformed [Aluode] into his subordinate.
• [Aluode] secretly worked with Gill's Cuisine, [Western Sharpshooter], and Zhongde to warn Weeping Willow Town and prepare an ambush for Bennett’s forces.
• Bennett’s Blood Corpses attacked Weeping Willow Town, but the defenders used a ditch, fire, and coordinated resistance to slow the assault as [Aluode] led a staged attack through a wall gap.
• Luxiusi confirmed that Blood Corpses had killed Soul Trees and ordered preparations to investigate, while Bennett fought the defenders until dawn weakened him and forced his retreat.
• Bennett gathered scattered Blood Corpses and chose to march on White Wax Town, ordering [Aluode] to die in the assault as punishment for the failed attack.

The players and the Soul Returners defeated Bennett and his Blood Corpses at White Wax Town, while Ed interrogated Bennett and learned about Antos and the Blood Corpses. Ed turned Bennett into the engine for the Antasia, and the arc ended as Tree Worship Church crusaders approached White Wax Town to investigate Duolin.

• Ed inspected the Second Holy See’s work, while Tailun and [Zhongde] moved against the fallen bishop and the players helped Weeping Willow Town defeat the church’s defenders.
• [Zhongde] recovered the Territory Secret Pact from beneath the sacred statue and arranged to transport the rescued children and bishop to White Wax Town.
• [Pond Fish and Old Abyss], [Dark Archmage], and [Howling Pothos] secretly hunted Blood Corpses as Bennett led his remaining force toward White Wax Town.
• [Aluode] led the Blood Corpses into the players’ traps, while the defenders fought Bennett and awaited Xilǐ'er and the Gungnir contingent.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] transformed and attacked Bennett, but Bennett survived, changed into a bone-armored monster, and fought Xilǐ'er and waves of players.
• [Aluode] betrayed Bennett with a three-edged spike, then killed him, and the players finished off the remaining Blood Corpses, and Xilǐ'er sent Bennett’s coffin to Ed.
• Ed interrogated Bennett with Willow’s help and learned that Antos had taken the Territory Secret Pact and that Antos commanded a lineage of Blood Corpses.
• Ed arranged for Seraphina to bring the Antasia to Gray and assigned Bennett as its engine, while the players staged a battlefield around White Wax Town.
• [Dark Archmage] spotted Tree Worship Church crusaders approaching White Wax Town, and their officer said they would investigate Duolin and eliminate him if he was not one of their own.