Savage Dominion recap

After dying to save his date from a wolf, a human is reborn as Malkin, a Shagnar Fawn Eternal serving the Lunar Court. He joins Solar Eternals Mercy and Asher despite their rival loyalties, and the trio follows a dubious prophecy concerning six pieces of a weapon that once wounded a god. Their search exposes Void-linked abominations, the fall of Cogmore, and the restoration of Svart into Alvarin under the hostile Briar. Malkin binds the first shard to his soul and helps Gunnhild's Dvergar refugees reach Talon's Keep. With the ancient Alvarin Saren joining them, the party discovers Talon trapped in endless resurrection by Sanganax, another shard bearer. Malkin's new psychopomp power ends Talon's life permanently, and the party claims his shard and Keep. Malkin then binds the second shard, secretly becomes tied to the Void Court, and encounters a black figure demanding obedience.

A disastrous hiking date ends when an enormous wolf attacks. The unnamed protagonist ensures his companion escapes, reaches a stone circle the animal cannot cross, and dies from his wounds. Death carries his ghost to the Solar Court, where Eos Fel offers selected souls immortality as divine agents on Amaranth but rejects the protagonist's chosen Shagnar Fawn form. The Lunar Court claims him instead because he died on moon-hallowed ground after being marked by a beast. Reborn as Malkin, a Shagnar Fawn Eternal under a wolf god's patronage, he is killed again so he can respawn on Amaranth. There, Malkin breaks free after respawning and, at the White Prophet's direction, unearths four Solar Eternals, including Mercy, Asher, and the hostile Orphea. He warns that the Void God is returning and orders them to recover six inherited shards of a weapon that once wounded a god, then drops the group into a dungeon. Orphea kills the distressed Dvergar Eternal, and Asher kills her with lightning. Malkin, Mercy, and Asher escape by combining his new Artifice power with their weapons and magic. Although their divine allegiances may eventually conflict, the three agree to remain companions. They return to find the prophet gone, leaving only his writings as guidance.

A Svart attack on the abandoned observatory leads Malkin, Mercy, and Asher to a flesh-forged weapon carrying a trapped divine spark. They destroy it, but the observatory burns. Following the White Prophet's papers toward a possible shard, they cross the Bloodwoods and intervene when Svart raid Gunnhild's Dvergar caravan. Gunnhild brings them to Cogmore, a city already losing its mines and spinnerworm farms to the invaders. She also explains the Dvergar curse, which gradually turns her people to stone. Cogmore's stone-bound elders require proof before accepting the Eternals' aid. Under Gorm's direction, the trio draws Svart away from the farms, supports a Dvergar counterattack, and kills a chained abomination inside the steaming facility. Their success wins honorary citizenship and reveals that fresh Svart forces are entering through the mine. Malkin proposes a protected route across the occupied city. Using his architectural and metal-shaping powers, he seals side streets while Mercy and Asher defend the advance. Pushing Artifice too far cracks its divine pillar, but the resulting metal barrier helps Asher break the attack with lightning. The group reaches the mine entrance, isolates the remaining city-side Svart from reinforcement, and proceeds underground to find the source.

Inside Cogmore's mine, the companions find tortured Dvergar fused into stone and kill a bone-armored abomination. They trace the Svart to a breached passage and discover a vast crystal city tilted beneath Cogmore. Its dazed inhabitants barely react as the party moves toward the strongest concentration of magic. Along the way, the trio destroys more abominations emerging from an old flesh forge. At the city's central pyramid, an exceptionally skilled Svart archer wounds Mercy and Asher. With no other weapon available, Malkin removes an iron fragment embedded in a corrupted section of the structure. The act restores the city and transforms its Svart inhabitants back into Alvarin. The archer becomes Briar, their leader, who claims she altered her people to prevent a greater evil. The fragment is revealed as the first of six shards. Malkin refuses to return it because Briar shows no remorse for the Svart attacks on the Dvergar. He defeats her long enough for his companions to escape, but the reawakened city rises toward the surface. Its ascent destroys Cogmore. Malkin, Mercy, and Asher help Gunnhild evacuate survivors, while Gorm stays with the immobilized elders and is presumed buried. Briar then pursues the shard and threatens the refugees, prompting the trio to draw her forces away.

Briar's mounted Alvarin chase the companions from the ruined city. Malkin, Mercy, and Asher survive severe wounds and escape when a mushroom-creature stampede scatters their attackers. Convinced that an ordinary hiding place cannot protect the shard, Malkin learns Soul Bond and attaches it permanently to his spirit. The change darkens his body, damages his divine pillars, and makes Artifice harder to use. At the coast, the group follows a magical current to an abandoned school linked to Archmage Talon. Its automated guide, distorted interior, cursed food, and trapped training rooms are still active, but the trio reaches the library. Asher's research identifies several possible shard leads. Talon is himself an Eternal, holds the Eternal shard, and once used a chain of offshore magical rings to reach his remote estate. The party begins building a boat to follow that route. Alvarin paladins attack the school and take Asher hostage, but Malkin and Mercy turn the school's old wards and hazards against them. Gunnhild then arrives with armed Dvergar and helps defeat the remaining attackers. Reconciled with Malkin over Cogmore's destruction, she asks the Eternals to carry her displaced people to safety. The planned search for Talon therefore becomes a refugee evacuation as well as a shard mission.

The party sails with Gunnhild's refugees and an Alvarin captive named Saren, who remembers the ancient war and remains loyal to Briar. During questioning, Malkin enters a frightening rage and repeatedly submerges her. Mercy makes him acknowledge that she may need to stop him if he loses control again. Soon afterward, a sea serpent attacks. The group kills it, repairs the breached hull with its remains, and continues. When the chained Saren falls overboard, Malkin frees and rescues her. She remains guarded but begins to trust that he will protect her. Asher uses lightning through the offshore waystones to chart a path during heavy rain. Saren disputes the group's account of the Void God's possible return and defends the old Alvarin order, yet becomes more willing to consider their evidence. The travelers reach Talon's jungle island, where Gunnhild hopes to establish a settlement. After surviving attacks from feral, war-bred Inyoka, they find the Keep's abandoned outbuildings, water, beds, and an enduring magical fire. Malkin returns Saren's armor and swords and releases her from captivity. She chooses not to leave, admits Briar's actions require explanation, and supports the island as a possible home for the Dvergar. The refugees secure the outpost while the core party prepares to enter Talon's tower.

Malkin, Mercy, Asher, and Saren enter Talon's tower while the Dvergar secure the island. They overcome guardian golems, animate metal, magical storms, and an anti-magic chamber. Memories recovered through Malkin's psychometry confirm that Talon came from Earth and designed the tower. Saren remains with the party by choice, swears temporary service to Malkin until she can return to her people, and helps them continue upward. Five ghostly warriors nearly kill her, but Asher completes a healing spell in time. The battle reveals Malkin as a psychopomp who can send incorporeal beings permanently into an afterlife. At the tower's summit, the party finds Talon pinned to his shrine and trapped in repeated death and resurrection. Talon identifies his tormentor as Sanganax, the black worm, who holds one shard and seeks all six. Talon swallowed his own soul-bound shard to keep it from him. Malkin uses his psychopomp ability to kill Talon permanently and destroy the shrine, then retrieves the shard. The party claims Talon's Keep, and Gunnhild's Dvergar settle there. Malkin establishes resurrection shrines for himself, Mercy, and Asher. He and Saren begin a romantic relationship. After binding the second shard, Malkin secretly gains a connection to the Void Court and hidden Void powers. A featureless black figure contacts him through the paired shards and demands obedience.

Malkin, Mercy, Asher, and Saren overcome Talon's tower guardians and find the archmage wired to his shrine, condemned to die and resurrect repeatedly. Talon identifies Sanganax as the black worm, a shard bearer collecting all six pieces. Malkin uses his psychopomp power to kill Talon permanently and destroy the shrine, then removes the swallowed Eternal shard from Talon's body. The party now holds two shards. They claim Talon's Keep, where Gunnhild's displaced Dvergar settle under their protection, and Malkin builds resurrection shrines for himself, Mercy, and Asher. Saren remains voluntarily, bound to Malkin's service until she can return to her people, while still loyal to her queen and wary of his Lunar powers. She and Malkin begin a romantic relationship. Briar remains at large and wants the first shard, while Sanganax holds another and seeks the full set. After soul-bonding Talon's shard, Malkin discovers hidden Void pillars and conceals them from his companions. A featureless black presence then contacts him through the paired shards and demands obedience.