Recaps

Angel arranged a false identity and contacted Lola Swann to exchange information about the aftermath of the Great Smog. She told Lola she planned to leave Backlund soon and requested ingredients for a Demoness potion, prompting Lola to suspect Angel belonged to one of the Three Great Churches.

• Angel and Klein settled on the false names Gehrman Sparrow and Angelica Zaki, and Angel paid Sharon one hundred pounds to process her identity papers.
• Angel returned to her home on Red Rose Street and used Lola's Communication Potion to contact her before the next Tarot Club gathering.
• Angel told Lola that Panacea had helped unleash the Great Smog, while concealing her own death and resurrection; Lola said an Angel had defeated Panacea and the Demoness Sect's Backlund operation had collapsed.
• Lola reported that Trissy had escaped and that Prince Edessak had died in a fire that was likely arranged to silence him.
• Angel said she might leave Backlund for months or longer and asked Lola for a Two-Tailed Black Snake tail tip or Painted Bat blood; Lola inferred that Angel was preparing to advance to Sequence 5 and might belong to one of the Three Great Churches.

Angel arranged to meet Lola and Vincent to obtain the materials needed to advance, while Lola hinted that her own advancement was difficult. At the Tarot Club meeting, Justice described the Great Smog’s enormous death toll and the political concessions and Church gains that followed.

• Lola recognized that Angel had obtained the Demoness of Affliction characteristic through her role in the Great Smog and agreed to meet her with Vincent in three days.
• Lola asked why Angel had not advanced despite having the formula and materials, then said that advancing further was not easy for her.
• Justice thanked the Fool for helping Backlund, and the Fool credited Empress with making major contributions.
• Justice reported that the Great Smog had killed at least eighty thousand people, with the eventual death toll expected to exceed one hundred thousand.
• Justice explained that the King had made concessions on environmental, labor, and poverty laws, while the Churches gained greater access to the military and reopened Churches of Night in the East Borough.
• The Hanged Man began assessing the aftermath with a cold laugh that lasted twelve hours.

At the Tarot Club, the members discussed who benefited from the Great Smog and the unexplained motives behind the royal family’s actions. Derrick prepared to explore the Fallen Creator’s ruins, while Angel gathered the materials and reviewed the ritual needed to advance to Sequence 5.

• Alger analyzed how the Great Smog and the King’s reforms benefited the Three Great Churches, factory owners, bankers, and surviving workers.
• Angel revealed that Prince Edessak had been silenced, and Alger concluded that the royal family’s true collaborators had been shielded after the beneficiaries gained their advantages.
• Mr. Fool urged the Three Great Churches to keep investigating the disaster’s roots, while Alger, Justice, and The World pursued potion materials and a Beyonder Characteristic deal.
• Derrick told the Tarot Club that his expedition to the Fallen Creator’s ruins would depart the next day under the City of Silver Chief, and Alger and Mr. Fool warned him about flesh, blood, and ravings.
• Angel stored her Affliction Demoness ingredients and recalled the Sequence 5 ritual, which required surviving fifteen minutes of being burned at the stake without going insane.

Angel prepared for her Sequence 5 promotion, arranged for Lola to take over contact with Sherman, and left Backlund with Klein. Meanwhile, Archbishop Anthony Stevenson ordered a new examination of Irene Watson after learning that Sevillea Landon had left her estate to Irene.

• Angel realized the Promotion Ritual’s pain was necessary, planned to endure the burning without avoiding it, and waited for Lola to provide the potion ingredients.
• Angel visited Sherman in the East Borough, told him she was leaving Backlund, and arranged for Lola to guide his future advancement.
• Nighthawks reported their findings to Anthony Stevenson, including Sevillea Landon’s disappearance and her bequest of her estate to Irene Watson.
• Anthony Stevenson ordered another examination of Irene Watson and said he would conduct it himself.
• Angel and Klein boarded a train and said farewell to Backlund.

Angel and Klein traveled from Backlund to Pritz Harbor and booked first-class passage to the Rorsted Archipelago. Angel prepared to complete her Promotion Ritual and advance to Sequence 5 before they sailed.

• Angel and Klein boarded a train south after watching a hopeful pair of passengers leave Backlund.
• They reached Pritz Harbor, checked into an inn, and went to the ticketing company to find a ship to the Rorsted Archipelago.
• A salesman recommended the White Agate, and Klein chose first-class passage for them on its departure the morning after tomorrow.
• Angel and Klein ordered flammable wood and a crude wooden frame so Angel could perform her Promotion Ritual before sailing.

Angel brewed the Affliction Potion and underwent a dangerous promotion ritual by being burned at the stake while Klein watched. She survived and regained control of herself, but her hair grew back much shorter.

• Angel brewed the Affliction Potion, and both she and Klein divined that it had been made successfully.
• Angel climbed onto the wooden frame, and Klein set the oil-soaked wood ablaze as she endured the flames.
• Angel drank the Potion, briefly separated from her body, and fought to regain control before the stake collapsed.
• Klein extinguished the fire, carried Angel away, and helped her recover with a Healing Potion.
• Angel noticed that her hair had regrown only to her shoulders, and Klein reassured her as he embraced her.

The Machinery Hivemind used Arodes's Mirror to investigate the Great Smog and learned that a Church of Evernight Demoness died stopping its spread. Angel prepared to leave with Klein, whose next assumed role was Gehrman Sparrow.

• Ikanser reported Sherlock Moriarty's involvement in the cases surrounding Trissy, Sealed Artifact '0-08,' and the ruins where Ince Zangwill was located.
• A captain reported that an unknown Beyonder had fought Panacea in the East Borough before the Deep Blue Deacon dispersed the smog, and Horamick authorized Arodes's Mirror to show what happened.
• Arodes's Mirror revealed that a black-haired woman fought Panacea, then consumed a dark green mass that stopped the deadly smog and killed her; Ikanser identified her as a likely member of the Church of Evernight.
• Arodes's Mirror asked Ikanser whether someone had abandoned him for another person, and he chose punishment, receiving a lightning strike that knocked him unconscious.
• Angel admired her new appearance and recalled seeing a similar quality in Panacea before Klein urged her to leave for the ship.
• Klein followed Angel with their suitcases and called himself her humblest servant, saying Gehrman Sparrow awaited her command.

Angel and Klein boarded the White Agate for a nine-day voyage, but Klein’s conflicting identities as a Faceless caused a frightening episode. Angel helped him settle on acting as Gehrman Sparrow while reminding him that he was still Klein Moretti.

• Angel and Klein boarded the White Agate, a heavily armed passenger ship, and received the key to their first-class cabin.
• After joking that Klein could serve as her servant, Angel found him struggling as his face shifted uncontrollably between different appearances.
• Klein explained that memories of Melissa and his family, his Sherlock Moriarty days, and his new Gehrman Sparrow persona had collided and disrupted his Faceless acting.
• Angel told Klein to focus on being the adventurer Gehrman Sparrow, then reminded him that he was still Klein Moretti and that she would remember him.
• Klein settled on Gehrman’s appearance, and Angel lightened the mood by asking whether they should eat lunch.

Angel and Klein explored the White Agate, dined, and met its captain and passengers while discussing their past and abilities. Angel resisted the temptation to use her new disease power on the ship, then was approached by Danton, whose sister warned him away from her.

• Angel and Klein toured the White Agate and shared a meal, where Klein recalled the lamb he had cooked for Benson and Melissa in Tingen City.
• Captain Erlan Cagg introduced the crew and announced the ship’s rules, using his Arbiter abilities to command the passengers’ attention.
• Klein spoke with Krivis, the former Adventurer and bodyguard for a family aboard the ship.
• Angel reflected on her new ability to spread lethal disease and rejected the temptation to use it on the passengers.
• Danton approached Angel by a porthole, and his sister pulled him away, saying Angel’s expression had frightened her.

Angel and Klein joined Krivis and Cecil in a plan to lure a fishman aboard the ship and capture it for profit. After Angel and Klein helped set the bait, Cecil shot the fishman as it ate the peppered innards, leaving the hunt underway.

• Angel teased Donna and Danton by appearing to float without legs, then returned to Klein at the card table.
• Angel and Klein spent a dull day aboard the ship before noticing Krivis preparing bait late at night.
• Krivis explained that he planned to lure a nearby fishman with peppered animal innards and poison its prey with Mint Cream.
• Angel watched Donna and Danton while Klein joined Krivis and Cecil in the hunt for a share of the proceeds.
• The fishman climbed aboard and ate the bait, and Cecil fired her rifle at it.

Angel fought off a second fishman that had climbed onto the ship, while Captain Erlan helped defeat the first and arranged to buy both corpses. After sharing the spoils and a meal with the passengers, Erlan asked Angel about her destination, and she said she and Klein were going to Bayam for a vacation.

• Krivis, Klein, and the bodyguard shot the first fishman, while Angel spotted a second one climbing onto the deck near Donna and Danton.
• Angel pulled Donna and Danton out of danger and killed the second fishman with her Bone Sword.
• Captain Erlan shot the first fishman and let Krivis claim its corpse, then offered to buy both fishmen for 180 pounds.
• Donna signaled Angel that she would keep their agreement and protect her secret.
• Erlan served the passengers fishman meat and paid Angel 230 pounds for her share of the spoils.
• Erlan asked Angel where she was headed, and she said she and Klein were going to Bayam for a vacation.

Angel and Klein shared a dinner aboard the White Agate, where Captain Erlan and Krivis recounted dangers at sea, pirate rulers, and legendary treasures. After drinking more than five glasses of Sonia Blood Wine, Angel became dizzy, and Klein caught her as the captain sent him to help her back to rest.

• Angel tasted Sonia Blood Wine and finished her first glass, while Danton and Krivis stuck to nonalcoholic drinks.
• Krivis told the group how mermaids had lured Sailors to their deaths and how he had lost two companions during a treasure hunt.
• Captain Erlan assured the diners that their route was safe, then described the Pirate Admirals, Four Kings, and Six Legends of the sea.
• Klein asked about the legendary treasures, and the diners grew excited over the Sunken Laurel's riches.
• Angel drank more wine and ate until she felt bloated, then stood up, swayed, and was caught by Klein.
• Captain Erlan asked Klein to help Angel back to rest, leaving Klein flustered as he supported her.

Klein tried to leave the intoxicated Angel alone, only to learn that she had faked being drunk and wanted him; two days later, she and Klein prepared for the Tarot Club while hiding their weekly routines from each other. At the meeting, Sun described a repeating expedition in the City of Silver, and Hanged Man connected the boy at its center to an Aurora Order Listener he had been hunting.

• Klein carried Angel to bed after she drank a bottle of Sonia Blood Wine, but Angel revealed she could not be made drunk and pulled him back into the bedroom.
• On Monday, Klein tutored Angel in Fourth Epoch history before slipping away to attend the Tarot Club, while Angel privately prepared to join it too.
• Mr. Fool introduced Moon as a new Tarot Club member, and the members noticed Sun was distressed.
• Sun recounted how his expedition repeatedly explored a ruined city, encountered a boy named Jack, and returned to camp after the Chief killed him, reliving the events five times.
• Hanged Man recognized Jack as resembling the child brought out to sea by an Aurora Order Listener seeking the True Creator's sanctuary, giving Sun hope that the City of Silver was connected to the outside world.

At the Tarot Club, Sun shared murals and clues from the City of Silver, while the members identified corrupted depictions of the Seven Gods and advised him on exploring the cycle. The gathering ended with several proposed transactions, warnings about dangerous pirates, and Angel returning safely to her suite aboard the White Agate.

• Sun projected his experiences and murals from the City of Silver, and the Tarot Club identified the figures as corrupted depictions of the orthodox gods.
• The Hanged Man advised Sun to investigate Jack, the mural, and other clues as possible ways to break the cycle, and Sun agreed to explore them.
• Emlyn asked how a Sanguine could grow stronger, and the Hanged Man offered to locate a Blood Clan Baron's Beyonder Characteristic for a fee of four to five thousand pounds.
• Emlyn agreed to search for Miss Justice's potion ingredients, while Angel offered the Madness Ring and learned that safely extracting its characteristic was beyond the members' reach.
• The Hanged Man warned that pirates were unusually active and named Hell Admiral Ludwell and Blood Admiral Senior among the most dangerous captains.
• The Tarot Club meeting ended, and Angel returned to her bedroom aboard the White Agate after hearing someone use the washroom.

Angel and Klein went ashore at Damir Island to find rumors about mermaids, but their visit to a local bar turned into a confrontation with Sea Eagle Logan. Klein claimed Angel was his woman, and Angel knocked over the drinks in surprise.

• Angel and Klein left the White Agate and exchanged greetings with Donna's family before heading to Flying Fish and Wine.
• At the bar, they learned that Sea Eagle Logan was rumored to be an informant for the Black Tulip and that a navy Sailor who accused him had disappeared.
• Logan and the bartender tried to charge Angel twelve pounds for three Sweet Lemon cocktails, then Logan insinuated she could pay off the debt as one of the local girls.
• Klein grabbed Logan by the collar and declared that Angel was his woman, prompting Angel to knock over all three drinks.

Angel and Klein beat up the staff of the Flying Fish and Wine while seeking information, then learned that their follower was Danitz, a mate aboard Iceberg Admiral Edwina Edwards’s Golden Dream. The chapter left Danitz facing two adventurers who recognized his 3,000-pound bounty.

• Angel and Klein attacked Logan, the bartender, and two guards after questioning them about White Shark and Ludwell’s informants.
• Angel and Klein fled the bar as its patrons began to riot, then noticed a cloaked man following them and lured him into an alley.
• The cloaked man praised their fighting and invited them to join a pirate crew that salvaged shipwrecks and pursued legends while claiming to avoid harming innocents.
• The man introduced himself as 'Flame' Danitz, Fourth Mate of Iceberg Admiral Edwina Edwards’s Golden Dream.
• Klein recognized Danitz’s 3,000-pound bounty and asked about it with evident menace.

Klein and Angel questioned Flame Danitz in an alley, then split up to keep him from interfering while Klein investigated White Shark Hamilton. Angel delayed the real Danitz at the bar until Klein returned disguised as Danitz, leaving the two pirates facing one another.

• Klein threatened Flame Danitz with Creeping Hunger, asked what he was doing in Damir Harbor, and let him go after learning that White Shark Hamilton was at Flying Fish and Wine.
• Danitz told Klein that Hamilton was upstairs, then hurried away to warn the Golden Dream about the strange pair in the harbor.
• White Shark Hamilton beat the bartender again, ordered the guards to clean the bar, and went upstairs after learning that visitors had spoken with Just Erlan.
• Danitz entered the bar looking for Hamilton, while Angel sat nearby and held his attention by asking about joining the Golden Dream and other pirate crews.
• Klein came down the stairs disguised as Danitz, and the real Danitz turned to see his double.

Klein and Angel left Damir Harbor after arranging to draw out Admiral of Blood Senior’s intelligence officer, while a strange spiritual effect from local cured meat briefly let Donna see spirits. Flame Danitz escaped the Mandated Punishers by boarding the White Agate, only to hear a mocking voice behind him in his cabin.

• Danitz recognized Klein’s Faceless disguise, fled the bar, and drew the attention of the Mandated Punishers while Klein and Angel headed for the docks.
• Klein told Angel he had memorized White Shark Hamilton’s radio frequency and code so they could arrange a meeting with Admiral of Blood Senior’s intelligence officer.
• Angel and Klein returned to the White Agate, where Angel discovered Damir’s cured meat carried faint spirituality and Donna briefly saw Azik’s skeletal messenger.
• The White Agate began sailing for Bayam, and Danitz boarded at the last moment after escaping the Mandated Punishers.
• Danitz celebrated his escape in his first-class cabin, but an unseen person behind him replied mockingly.

Angel and Klein confronted Danitz aboard the White Agate, took his hair and blood so they could track him, and ordered him to stay in his room. Their ship then spotted a pirate vessel approaching, leaving Danitz anxious that they would blame him.

• Danitz recognized Angel and Klein, explained that he was sailing to Bayam to await his captain's orders, and obeyed Klein's command to remain in his room.
• Angel collected Danitz's blood while Klein kept a lock of his hair for tracking him.
• Angel and Klein reassured Donna and Danton that the giant skeleton they had seen was a messenger.
• Captain Erlan told the passengers a pirate ship was approaching and directed them to return to their rooms.
• Angel and Klein found Danitz watching the approaching pirate ship, and he asked whether they would believe he had nothing to do with it.

Angel and Klein used Danitz’s reputation to make the Red Skull pirates abandon their attack on the White Agate. The chapter ended with Danitz trying to keep his humiliation secret as the girl who had seen him dangling outside arrived at his door.

• Sea Wolf Johnson ordered the Red Skull to pursue the White Agate and prepare to attack it.
• Angel and Klein realized the ships might exchange cannon fire, then used Danitz’s familiarity to the pirates to devise a way to scare them off.
• Johnson and One-Eyed Anderson recognized Danitz hanging outside the White Agate and, fearing his powerful allies, ordered the Red Skull to flee.
• Angel reeled Danitz back into the cabin, and Klein warned him that his captain must not learn what had happened.
• Danitz agreed to keep the incident quiet, then opened the door to the girl who had witnessed him hanging outside.

Aboard the White Agate, Danitz told Angel and Klein about Bansy Harbor and his history with Captain Erlan. When the ship docked, Klein decided they would not go ashore because his divination revealed a hidden danger, and Danitz noticed a sudden fog enveloping the harbor.

• Angel, Klein, and Danitz ate lunch while Donna and Danton kept Danitz's identity secret.
• Danitz described Bansy Island's bloody Weather God customs and explained that Erlan might be a former navy Beyonder monitoring the route.
• Danitz invited Angel and Klein to try Bansy's local pig blood, and Klein said they would decide after arriving.
• After the White Agate docked, Klein told Danitz that they would not go ashore because Bansy Harbor held a hidden danger.
• Klein and Angel let ordinary passengers go ashore, while Danitz realized the harbor's fog had suddenly grown dense and obscured the church and distant buildings.

Angel, Klein, and Danitz learned that several passengers had not returned from Bansy Harbor during a rare fog and gale, and Klein’s divination revealed some danger. Angel and Klein set out to find them, and Danitz reluctantly joined them as a guide.

• Angel warned Krivis about the rumors surrounding Bansy Harbor as he prepared to go ashore.
• Angel, Klein, and Danitz shared dinner aboard the White Agate as a sudden gale swept through the harbor.
• Angel learned that the Blanche, Dimodo, and Kate families, along with the captain and First Mate, had not returned from shore.
• Klein divined that some danger threatened them, and Angel armed herself before deciding to search for the missing passengers.
• Danitz realized the White Agate might also be in danger, caught up with Angel and Klein, and guided them ashore toward Lime Restaurant.

Klein, Angel, and Danitz fought Flying Heads on their way to Lime Restaurant, while Urdie Branch and his party escaped the strange restaurant and headed toward the docks. The group’s journey through the fog remained dangerous as another Flying Head attacked them.

• A Flying Head attacked Klein, but invisible threads trapped it and bright light destroyed it.
• Danitz shot and burned a Flying Head, then Angel trapped and incinerated more than a dozen of the monsters with black flame.
• At Lime Restaurant, Fox warned the travelers not to go outside, but Krivis urged Urdie Branch to leave and search for Cecil and Donna later.
• Urdie agreed to return to the White Agate, and the travelers left Lime Restaurant despite Fox's warning.
• Krivis and Tig led the group toward the docks through the fog, where a Flying Head suddenly rushed at them.

Angel, Klein, and their companions searched Bansy Harbor for the missing Cecil and Donna, fighting off monsters as they made their way to the Telegraph Office and then the Storm Church. There, they learned that the Mandated Punishers had gone to stop a Living Sacrifice on the mountain by the docks, and Angel realized Klein’s divination might have pointed toward the mountain rather than the White Agate.

• Klein used Donna’s shawl to divine that she and Cecil had gone in the direction of the White Agate, and Angel organized the group to find Captain Erlan at the Telegraph Office.
• Klein activated the Sun Halo to protect the group and gave Danitz a copper whistle that attracted monsters, allowing Angel and Klein to kill the creatures that attacked them.
• At the Telegraph Office, Angel learned that Erlan and his First Mate had gone to the nearby Storm Church, so the group changed course and headed there.
• Angel proved their identity to Erlan, who opened the church doors and showed them the dead Pastor while explaining that Bishop Miller and the other clergy were missing.
• Erlan told Angel that the Mandated Punishers had gone to stop cultists conducting a Living Sacrifice on the mountain beside the docks, and Angel realized Klein’s divination could have pointed there.

Angel left the passengers with Klein and hurried to the mountain to help the Mandated Punishers, who were fighting headless zombies amid the storm. She learned that Miller, the Church of Storms bishop sent to Bansy Harbor, led the Weather God cult and was using people in human sacrifices.

• Klein divined that Donna and Cecil would not be rescued smoothly, so he ordered everyone to return to the White Agate before heading to the mountain with Angel.
• Angel insisted on going ahead, and Klein gave her the Sun Brooch before she raced through the fog toward the mountain.
• Angel saw lightning at the summit and found three Mandated Punishers fighting swarms of headless zombies.
• Angel joined the fight with Black Flame, then explained that she was an adventurer hired to rescue people.
• The Mandated Punishers told Angel that Miller, the bishop dispatched by the Church of Storms, led the Weather God cult and was using residents and travelers for human sacrifice.