Well, things are getting a bit more chaotic than before. Thank you, dear reader, for finishing Act 4!

With the events of Act 10 in play, the world becomes a bit more lively. E-Rantel has recovered from its shock and fear, the Adventurer Guild starts laying the foundations for its new purpose, and various interests both good and bad become comfortable enough to test the waters. There are a lot more characters now, all who will appear throughout the story as things continue forward. Spring has sprung, so to speak.

Where are we in the canon LN timeline?

The introductory chapters with Itzal Verdi actually occur over a few weeks between his arrival from the countryside and the Ainzach's address to the Adventurer Guild - the evening of the 8th day of Middle Wind Month. This is immediately after both Volume 10 and Volume 11 of the Light Novel. It cannot be understated how ridiculously fast Ainz is when he goes out to do the stuff in these two volumes. After the Sorcerous Kingdom is established, he goes into seclusion for a month (1st day of Upper Wind Month - 1st day of Middle Wind Month). Three days after he pops out, he mind-melts Jircniv and the Empire submits. Then he takes not even a day coming back to set up his trip to the Dwarf Kingdom, and every event but the party at the end happens in another three days or so. Two Volumes - two nations - in a single week, which isn't even enough time for regular NWers get any news of anything that went on. It is extreme whiplash for our NW characters in the story, and it will take many months for them to straighten out.

Stuff in canon is happening, but where is Ainz?

After the Frost Dragons are subjugated in Volume 11, Ainz hangs around with the Dwarves. The party that he sets up for the Runesmiths is supplied by the Sorcerous Kingdom, and it is stated that they rely on regular merchants to import liquor from Re-Estize and the Empire. This means that the party at the end of Volume 11 takes at least a week to set up - assuming that these merchants are transporting goods to E-Rantel, which are then teleported to the Dwarf Kingdom, otherwise it would take way longer - and the celebration goes on for a while. Ainz also makes excuses to not come back to the Sorcerous Kingdom, so he can avoid all the preparations surrounding the new relationship between the Empire and the Sorcerous Kingdom. These excuses being: 1) Investigating the presence or absence of Players, 2) Further investigations on Runecraft and 3) Knowledge of smithing and ores. Long story short, Ainz is now hiding out with the Dwarves evading his royal responsibilities. This is why he's not around in Act 4, which mostly happens between the 8th and 11th of Middle Wind Month: the party at the end of Volume 11 is still days away, and Ainz will be with the Dwarves for weeks still.

Shalltear unmasked!

One reader has noted that both PDL and the ST know about Shalltear, so she should be running around incognito lest she be noticed. The events of LN Volume 3 are already a year past, however, and Honyopenyoko is commonly known to have been slain by Momon. Only PDL or the BS members that encountered Shalltear would recognize her on sight, and none of them will be casually visiting the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Pestonya Stronk

It surprised me that people were surprised that Pestonya was capable of casting what she did, though I suppose it is not shown directly until Volume 14. According to Maruyama, Pestonya is capable of casting all Divine magic. If taken at face value, this means she can cast any priestly or druidic spell in Yggdrasil, and is at bare minimum level 70. While her specialization is in healing, she can cast all the things: summoning various creatures, including Undead, casting Gate, using negative and positive energy spells, earthquaking cities to the ground, etc. She also is the only character seen so far that can use mana transfer spells.

Character Notes

Itzal Verdi:

An informant working under the agents of the Windflower Scripture. He is not an actual member of any scripture, just a local collaborator. He is also quite a theocracy fan, acting more like how the commonfolk in the Slane Theocracy would, rather than the worshippers of the Six Great Gods scattered in the northern nations. Despite his biases, he is a capable informant, understanding how many things work, and sticking to his convictions despite things apparently going sour. He and his fellow informants await the arrival of a Scripture member to arrive in the city and make sense of their efforts there.

Aura and Mare:

The Dark Elf twins are sort of a ghostly presence in the LNs, especially Mare. They, together with Shalltear, appear a couple of days after Volume 11 is done and are all back to their regular duties. Since they mainly work around the Sorcerous Kingdom, they will appear quite often in the story, as far as Nazarick's NPCs go. Mare, especially, seems to get quite a lot of love: he's involved in many different activities around the Sorcerous Kingdom, so he has many opportunities to show up.

Shalltear Bloodfallen:

With the events of Volume 11 behind her, Shalltear has regained some of her old colour. With her success in the Dwarf Kingdom, she now acts with more confidence while still tempered by past experiences. With this comes budding ambitions, and Ludmila is one of the first to experience this when she's suddenly sent to the Adventurer Guild as a potential contributor to Ainz's pet project. She now works to expand her influence, resources and is considering how to raise useful vassals and agents much like how several of the other Guardians already have. So far, however, her tally is one Human noble and eighteen Frost Dragons. Well, I say it like it's not much, but eighteen Frost Dragons is certainly something anyone in the New World would want. Much work lies ahead for the new and improved Bloody Valkyrie.

Ludmila Zahradnik:

Stretched between her noble duties and Adventurer activities at the start, this steadfast character gets knocked out of her sterile little world quite suddenly. There are hints of this rather unrealistic mindset of hers throughout, and many probably saw it for what it was not too far into her story. Even so, when faced with a reality far from her ideals, she decides to stick to her guns and now her journey can truly begin.

I suppose one could say that this Act is divided between a glimpse of the early Adventurer Guild and the stirrings of friction caused by the shifting of political, economic and religious realities - though the main driver towards the end is entirely political/legal. How the influence of Nazarick repaints the world around it is a major recurring point of exploration in Valkyrie's Shadow, though the coming Act is rather local in scope: dealing with some vestigial elements of Re-Estize that have carried over into the Sorcerous Kingdom through the wholesale annexation of the duchy.

Anyways, westward ho!