Recaps

Hobart escaped a dangerous dream caused by contamination from the Colin Antigonus Notebook and discovered that the Clock of Order could erase it. After preparing to guard against further contamination, he traveled by train with his companions and arrived near Feneport City.

• Hobart used the Living Corpse Soup Spoon and the black cane to escape a dream train, then woke in Ganalier with the Order Crystal Wax Seal and Pocket Watch Key in his hand.
• Hobart realized the Colin Antigonus Notebook had contaminated his Astral Body and decided to seek help in the Country of Disorder.
• A bell from the Clock of Order dissolved the contaminated face that appeared on Hobart's body in the Country of Disorder.
• Hobart made an Order Crystal bracelet to wear while sleeping, checked that dangerous descriptions had been removed from the Notebook, and studied Feneport language until dawn.
• Hobart and his companions departed Ganalier by special train and reached the outskirts of Feneport City after traveling for a day and a half.

Hobart and Christine arrived at Alhambra Palace to receive noble titles from Fernando II, where they encountered Philip I, an ancient figure drawn to Hobart’s bracelet and the Brass Book. Philip I exchanged the bracelet for a ring, while the Country of Disorder continued to react, leaving Hobart unable to investigate it before the investiture ceremony began.

• Fernando II received Christine and Hobart and promised to grant Christine the title of Count and Hobart the title of Baronet the next day.
• Hobart and Christine arrived in traditional Feneport noble attire to await their investiture, then sensed powerful pressure as Philip I entered carrying a Brass Book.
• Hobart recognized the power of the Country of Disorder in the Brass Book and offered Philip I his bracelet after noticing Philip I stare at his wrist.
• Philip I gave Hobart a ring in exchange for the bracelet, and the Brass Book’s reaction caused the Country of Disorder to shake and its waters to boil.
• Philip I left with the bracelet and Brass Book, while Hobart concealed his discomfort and waited for the investiture ceremony to begin.

Hobart became Baron Hobart and received Jeffrey Territory, a dangerous, neglected region in Colson County, along with a run-down estate in Feneport City. In the Country of Disorder, he strengthened the seal on the family Curse and discovered two new stars, one of which showed a young woman in royal attire.

• Fernando II invested Christine as a count and Hobart as Baron Hobart, granting Hobart land east of Full Moon Lake that was named Jeffrey Territory, or Jeffrey Town.
• Fernando II appointed Christine Deputy Chief of Staff of the Capital Garrison District, while Hobart received a baron's estate and a carriage but no official post.
• Hobart arrived at his dusty, overgrown estate and entered the Country of Disorder, where the sealed figure was climbing toward the Iron Throne.
• Hobart reinforced the seal and added obstacles to the mountain path, deciding to wait until he became a demigod before trying to separate the figure from his spirit body.
• Hobart calmed the pool and noticed two new stars beside those representing Elliot, Aputon, Lafite, and Klein; one revealed a young woman in royal attire speaking with noblewomen in a garden.

Hobart recognized the object Philip I carried as the Trensoest Brass Book and realized it could let the Loen king become a Judgement pathway King of Angels. After confirming the Country of Disorder had returned to normal, he went to Christine’s mansion and exchanged his money for Fenebote currency.

• Hobart saw stars belonging to Alice, a Loen royal descendant, and Aishel, a Fenebote royal who served as a major general in the Northern War Zone.
• Hobart concluded that Philip I possessed the Trensoest Brass Book, which had provoked the Country of Disorder and caused two additional Judgement pathway stars to appear.
• Hobart realized that if Philip I accommodated the Brass Book, he could become a Judgement pathway King of Angels, but decided he was powerless to intervene.
• Hobart confirmed that the Country of Disorder had returned to normal and left for Christine’s Earl’s Mansion by rental carriage.
• Hobart stopped at a bank, learned Fenebote’s currency system, and exchanged his Gold Pounds for Gold Lire.

Hobart prepared his Feneport estate and learned more about the dangerous Fief he planned to visit. After deciding to travel there alone, he left his household funds with his butler and prepared to depart the next day.

• Hobart exchanged gold pounds for Gold Lire, then visited Count Christine's estate and learned that Doffis had hired servants for both estates.
• Hobart told Christine that he had made a bracelet, Wax Seal, and Pocket Watch Key from a crystal, while concealing the Country of Disorder.
• Christine arranged a dinner with Roderick, who explained that Hobart's fertile Fief had once belonged to a Viscount killed by bandits and warned Hobart to bring bodyguards.
• Christine suggested Hobart travel alone by public transportation and investigate the territory himself, and Hobart agreed with the plan.
• Hobart returned to his estate, told his butler he would leave for his Fief the next day, and provided 50 Gold Lire for expenses.

Hobart set out for his fief in Colson County, stopping to visit Christine and Doffis before traveling to a small town for the night. After examining Philip I’s ring in the Country of Disorder, he decided to ask Lafite about conditions in Backlund before making a possible return there.

• Hobart received approval to leave the capital and said farewell to Christine and Doffis, who advised him to think carefully and flee if necessary.
• Hobart instructed his butler to maintain the Baron Estate, then traveled southeast by public carriage toward his fief.
• At an inn, Hobart sacrificed the Colin Antigonus Notebook and Philip I’s ring to the Country of Disorder and learned the ring’s powers and dangerous effects.
• Hobart decided not to reseal the ring and stored it with the Dream Stealing Pocket Watch in a box made from an Order Crystal.
• Bored in the small town, Hobart prayed to the Great Creator for news about Backlund and sent his question to Lafite, who quickly responded.

Hobart returned to Backlund in disguise and visited Harvest Church to seek help for a seriously injured friend. After learning the Earth Mother Church could not restore the friend without terrible consequences, he offered a rare ingredient to build goodwill before leaving to establish a church in his Fief.

• Hobart learned that Backlund’s martial law had ended after news of Christine’s arrival in Feneport, then traveled to Harvest Church in disguise.
• Emlyn White recognized Hobart as the traitor reported in the newspapers but stayed to watch his conversation with Utravsky.
• Hobart asked Utravsky for help giving his seriously injured friend a body, but Utravsky explained that an Ancient Alchemist’s bodies were puppets that would eventually turn the occupant into a walking corpse.
• Hobart gave Utravsky a Mutated Fire Rose Spider as goodwill toward the Earth Mother Church and requested a bishop and God Servants for his Fief.
• Utravsky accepted the offering and agreed to convey Hobart’s request, while Hobart left instructions for future contact through Jessica.
• Emlyn threatened to report Utravsky’s dealings with Hobart, but Utravsky doubted the authorities would believe a vampire.

Hobart lured Bennett’s surveillance team to an abandoned factory, killed the two agents who followed him, and escaped to Niccolo Street. He then entered the Niccolo Shipyard office building, where he confronted a group of Tamara Family Beyonders.

• Bennett learned that Hobart’s family worshipped the Goddess of the Night and ordered his subordinates to investigate in Fenebote, but changed course when the Masked Man appeared on Rose Street.
• Hobart used the Masked Man disguise to draw out the surveillance team, killed two Sequence 8 agents at an abandoned factory, and took their Extraordinary Characteristics.
• Bennett mistook Hobart’s escape into the factory for an ambush and realized too late that Hobart had traveled to Niccolo Street.
• Hobart entered the Niccolo Shipyard office building and sensed that the gathered Tamara Family Beyonders were mostly Sequence 8s and Sequence 9s, with three Sequence 7s and one Sequence 6.
• Hobart strode out of the washroom toward the assembled Beyonders and attacked the first one to react with a blade wreathed in black light.

Hobart attacked Alva’s stronghold in Backlund, using the Order Wood and Stone of Loss of Control to overwhelm its defenders. After Alva and his Companions arrived and disrupted Hobart with Chaos and Corrosion, Hobart escaped their gunfire and struck back with Holy Light, leaving the four enemies engulfed in flames.

• Hobart grew the Order Wood through the hall and used the Stone of Loss of Control to disable the gathered Beyonders, then killed seven Sequence 7 and Sequence 8 enemies.
• Alva and Byrd reached the hall, where Alva used Chaos and Hobart mistakenly cast Holy Light on three monsters, causing them to flee or burn to ashes.
• Hobart stole Bribe, Open Door, and Record from Alva, Byrd, and Boris, but Alva’s Corrosion made Hobart stop to collect Extraordinary Characteristics.
• Alva and his Companions shot at Hobart, and Byrd’s ravings bullets forced Hobart to escape through an illusory door and heal himself.
• Hobart Flashed back beside Boris and used Holy Light again, setting Bribor and the other three enemies ablaze.

Hobart fought Alva, Boris, and Byrd, using Holy Light, his recorded abilities, and Hunt’s support to overcome them. He incapacitated Byrd and summoned the Underworld Gate, leaving Boris terrified and the battle still underway.

• Hobart attacked Boris, but Alva distorted his blade’s path and Boris recovered enough to roll away from the flames.
• Hobart used the black barrier to resist Alva’s Chaos and wounded Boris, then escaped Alva’s punch with Flash.
• Byrd struck Hobart with a recorded Flame Spear, but Hobart used a Paper Doll Substitute and appeared beside Byrd to attack.
• Alva’s allies arrived, and Hobart summoned Hunt, who drove Bennett and the Corrupted Baron back while Hobart pursued Byrd.
• Hobart used the recorded Death ability to incapacitate Byrd, then summoned the Underworld Gate, terrifying Boris and weakening Alva’s resolve.

Hobart and Hunt defeated Bennett and the Corrupted Baron, though Alva escaped. Hobart killed Byrd and Boris, divided the spoils with Hunt, and planted an Emperor tarot card among the corpses before leaving.

• Hobart saw Bennett use the Level 1 Black Glove to deprive him of the Dream Stealing Pocket Watch's ability, but Hunt resisted Bennett's Prohibition and attacked him.
• Hobart recorded Christine's Banishment and used it to banish Bennett, exploiting the fact that Bennett himself was only Sequence 5.
• Alva broke free from the Bronze Gate's pale arms and escaped while Hobart returned to help Hunt kill the Corrupted Baron.
• Hobart ended the summoning, killed Byrd and Boris, and used the Spirituality Connection Wine Cup to separate the Extraordinary Characteristics.
• Hunt chose several spoils and vanished, while Hobart planted the Emperor Card among the corpses and left through Travel.

Ryan Solomon arrived at the battlefield in Niccolo Shipyard after Hobart had left and found an Emperor Card, while another Beyonder searched the scene. Back in Kant Town, Hobart sacrificed his spoils to the Country of Disorder and assessed the valuable Extraordinary Characteristics he had collected.

• Ryan Solomon reached the shipyard after the battle and found corpses, missing Extraordinary Characteristics, and an Emperor Card.
• A veiled woman carrying a powerless piece of wood appeared, and she and Ryan recognized each other as Beyonders before leaving separately as police approached.
• Hobart returned to his room in Kant Town and waited to ensure his disguise had concealed his disappearance.
• Hobart sacrificed the Revolver, the iron sword, and the Extraordinary Characteristics to the Country of Disorder, then examined the Revolver's abilities and drawbacks.
• Hobart calculated that the Extraordinary Characteristics were worth about 13,000 pounds and began dismantling them.

Leonard investigated a massacre at the Niccolo Shipyard, where an Emperor tarot card pointed to a conflict involving the Tamara Family and Extraordinary characteristics. Klein and Audrey each learned of the card’s discovery, and Audrey suspected that Hobart had returned to Backlund.

• Leonard arrived at the shipyard and learned from LuoLuota and Borgia that the victims belonged to the Tamara Family and that witnesses had seen black fog around the office building.
• Leonard asked Pales about the Emperor Card, and Pales connected it to the Tamara Family’s Black Emperor pathway and suggested the case concerned Extraordinary characteristics.
• Klein read a report describing the massacre as a robbery and worried that someone was copying him, then divined that the case posed no danger to him.
• Audrey heard Earl Hall describe the crime as the destruction of a criminal gang’s hideout and learned that an Emperor Card had been found.
• Audrey suspected Hobart was the murderer and decided to ask him about it at the Tarot Club that afternoon.

Hobart traveled to Bugas City and attended the Tarot Club gathering, where Derrick asked about Amon after learning of a mysterious survivor from an old expedition. Hobart warned the others that there was only one Amon in the world, leaving them with a troubling revelation about Derrick’s neighbor.

• Hobart took the train from Kant Town to Bugas City and rented a room while waiting for the Tarot Club gathering.
• Derrick told the Tarot Club that he had feigned illness to be isolated at the bottom of the Round Tower, then asked whether its Sealed Artifact could detect his attendance.
• Derrick recounted how an expedition had met a man named Amon, who vanished on the way to Silver City, after which the returned members went mad or suffered Loss of Control.
• Alger explained that the Amon Family had been a taboo family of blasphemers who supposedly knew how to steal the power of gods and claimed descent from the Ancient Sun God.
• Hobart said the Ancient Sun God was the Omniscient and Almighty God and warned the group that there was only one Amon in the world.

Hobart explained the Ancient Sun God's fall and the Marauder pathway's abilities, helping Derrick find hope for Silver City while warning the Tarot Club about Amon. The chapter ended with Hobart revealing that the Marauder, Apprentice, and Seer pathways were adjacent, leading the others to suspect Mr. Fool belonged to one of them.

• Hobart confirmed that the Ancient Sun God had fallen and that the Land Abandoned by God was connected to His fall, prompting Derrick to grieve and ask how Silver City could survive.
• Hobart reminded Derrick that Mr. Fool and the Tarot Club offered a new source of hope, and Derrick thanked the members for their help.
• Hobart withheld the full explanation of why there was only one Amon until Audrey became a Psychiatrist, then explained that Sequence 4 Marauders could parasitize other people.
• Hobart explained that high-sequence Marauders could steal fate and identify people connected to them, and he advised Derrick to pray to Mr. Fool about Amon.
• Hobart revealed that the Marauder, Apprentice, and Seer pathways were adjacent, leading the Tarot Club members to infer that Mr. Fool belonged to one of those pathways.

Hobart explained the fate-stealing ability of a dangerous Pathway and advised Derrick to avoid relying on the sealed Mr. Fool. In a private exchange, Audrey recognized Hobart as The Emperor and questioned him about betraying his country and robbing Niccolo Shipyard.

• Hobart explained that a powerful Beyonder could steal another person's fate and take their place, causing the original person to fade from reality.
• Hobart and Political Commissar advised Derrick to act as if he knew nothing about the sealed figure and seek help from Silver City's leaders if danger arose.
• Derrick, Audrey, Alger, and Fors offered Hobart compensation or future assistance for the information he shared.
• Audrey requested a private exchange with Hobart and revealed that she had guessed he was in the Feneport Kingdom.
• Hobart admitted he did not know the specific reason he had betrayed his country, and Audrey suggested Brigadier General Christine had forced his hand.
• Audrey asked Hobart whether he had robbed Niccolo Shipyard the previous night.

Hobart explained his failed attempt to kill a Chaos Mentor from the Tamara Family and warned Audrey about the dangers of the Beyonder world. The conversation ended with Hobart reassuring her that he had avoided contacting her to protect her and her family.

• Klein considered why Hobart had not sought the Creator’s help with his Curse and decided he trusted him as a teammate.
• Audrey asked Hobart about a reported robbery, and Hobart explained that he had failed to kill a Chaos Mentor and forgotten to search the safe.
• Hobart identified the Tamara Family as a Beyonder family controlling the Lawyer, Arbiter, and Apprentice pathways and asked Audrey to share any news about them.
• Hobart warned Audrey that Beyonders of adjacent pathways were likely enemies and that Beyonders could regard one another as sources of Extraordinary Characteristics.
• Audrey thanked Hobart for the warning and said she felt fortunate to have trustworthy allies in the Tarot Club.
• Hobart explained that he had not contacted Audrey because he was under Royal Family surveillance and wanted to protect her and her family.

At the Tarot Club, Hobart explained why he left an Emperor card at a crime scene, while Alger wondered about Mr. Fool’s pathway and plans. In Silver City, Derrick destroyed a captain who had attacked him and learned that Colin Iliad had been watching the suspected Amon agent.

• Hobart told Audrey that he left the Emperor card because he was the Tarot Club’s Emperor, and Mr. Fool warned him to pray for instructions in the future.
• Fors brought up a report about a Backlund robbery, and Hobart admitted he had killed several Beyonders but denied robbing safes or harming ordinary people.
• Alger speculated that Mr. Fool belonged to either the Seer or Apprentice pathway and considered asking Hobart about it during their planned exploration.
• Derrick returned from the Tarot Club and found the exploration team captain behind him, then summoned a Sacred Light Beam that destroyed him.
• Colin Iliad appeared and told Derrick that Silver City had kept the suspected Amon agent alive to learn his purpose, then asked why Derrick had been singled out.

Derrick reported Amon’s appearance in his room to The Fool, who discovered that Amon had secretly attached himself to the Sun’s spirit body. Klein used the Gray Fog and the Death Card to destroy Amon’s illusory presence, but the chapter ended before he confirmed what would happen next.

• Colin questioned Derrick about Amon’s appearance, then allowed him to return to his room.
• Derrick reported what happened to The Fool and fell asleep, muttering about The Fool in his sleep.
• Klein learned from Derrick’s prayer that Amon had appeared in the Round Tower and found Amon’s illusory figure coiled around the Sun’s spirit body.
• Klein had Derrick perform a Mystical Contract Ritual and used the Blasphemy Slate to leverage the Gray Fog.
• Klein used the Death Card to summon a towering, twelve-winged figure that destroyed Amon’s illusory presence around the Sun.

Derrick learned that Mr. Fool had removed an Amon avatar that had parasitized him, while Hobart prepared to travel by steamship to his fief near Full Moon Lake. Hobart boarded the Hippopotamus with Captain Wayne Farnaud, still uncertain what awaited him in the mountains.

• Derrick received knowledge of Undead creatures and saw a vision of a deathly angel destroying the Amon avatar that had parasitized his spirit body.
• Derrick coughed up a translucent segmented worm and hid it to ask the Tarot Club members about it later.
• Klein confirmed that Little Sun was safe, then reflected on Amon's power and the Acting Rule.
• Hobart tried to cut paper dolls, learned about the dangerous southern mountains and rumors of monsters in Full Moon Lake, and paid Wayne Farnaud five Silver Suo for passage.
• Hobart followed Wayne to the harbor the next morning and boarded the Small Steamship Hippopotamus.

Hobart traveled downriver aboard the Hippopotamus toward the mountain region, where the Earth Mother Church’s Bishop Simpson met him and acknowledged the goodwill he had sent. Simpson explained that the Church had withdrawn from the region because it risked contamination.

• Wayne brought Hobart to a cramped cabin and warned him to claim he was a ship’s helper if anyone asked.
• The Hippopotamus set sail, and Wayne and Shier carried cargo downstream into the mountains.
• Wayne stopped the ship at a rudimentary port to pay taxes, where locals welcomed Bishop Simpson.
• Bishop Simpson recognized Hobart as a baron and invited him ashore to discuss the Church’s response to his goodwill.
• Hobart asked the Church to build a church near Full Moon Lake, and Simpson said the Church had withdrawn because the region could contaminate them.

Bishop Simpson explained to Hobart that a meteorite had contaminated Full Moon Lake, driving even powerful Beyonders into Loss of Control and forcing the Church and Royal Family to abandon Colson County. He then described the dangerous factions still active in the mountains and gave Hobart an address for future correspondence.

• Bishop Simpson told Hobart that the contamination from Full Moon Lake affected Earth Mother Church Beyonders, including an Archbishop, while ordinary people and Beyonders of other pathways were generally safe away from the lake’s center.
• Bishop Simpson recounted how a meteorite struck Full Moon Lake fifty-eight years earlier, after which Church Beyonders, Royal Family investigators, and even the Pope and Duke Oliver Latin failed to resolve the contamination.
• Bishop Simpson explained that the Church and Royal Family evacuated Colson County, leaving its ordinary residents behind because they were not contaminated by the lake.
• Bishop Simpson warned Hobart that the mountains held Gnostic Society, Blood Worshipping Sect, and Aurora Society strongholds, along with nobles of uncertain loyalties.
• Hobart asked whether he could contact Bishop Simpson with questions, and Simpson gave him a mailbox address and agreed to reply by messenger.

Hobart learned about the misery and corruption in the region around Full Moon Lake, then realized that the monsters and the lake’s blight likely came from the Fallen Mother Goddess. He suspected he could resolve the problem but chose to observe first, and the Hippopotamus reached Full Moon Lake on its way to Jeffrey Town.

• Wayne told Hobart that bandits ruled the region, villagers fought monsters at Full Moon Lake, and Shier's father had died from his injuries.
• Shier asked whether Hobart was an Attendant of God sent by the Earth Mother, and Hobart suggested his arrival might be divinely arranged.
• Hobart connected the unusually crimson Moon to the corruption in Full Moon Lake and concluded that a meteorite had likely carried the Fallen Mother Goddess's power through a flaw in the barrier.
• Hobart realized his status might let him seal the corruption, but decided to observe and seek a safer method before acting.
• As the Hippopotamus approached Jeffrey Town, Hobart gave Wayne three Silver Suo to find him a butler and asked him to send York to see him.
• Wayne pointed out Full Moon Lake, whose shores remained green despite the winter.

Hobart arrived at the abandoned Wright territory, where a lake monster fled after he used his power to distort its intentions, convincing Wayne and Shier that he was an Attendant of God. He established himself in the manor and hired Shier and York, but York secretly went to the dock that night and threatened Wayne into taking him to Bugas City.

• Wayne steered through the shallows of Full Moon Lake, and a monster charged at the boat before Hobart made it swim away.
• Wayne urged Hobart to accept Shier as a servant, and Hobart hired Shier on a two-month probation.
• Shier introduced Hobart to the townspeople as their new Lord and an Attendant of God, declaring that the territory would become Jeffrey Town.
• Hobart settled into the abandoned manor, hired York as his butler, and gave him 80 Silver Suo to manage expenses.
• After nightfall, York boarded Wayne's boat, threatened him with a dagger, and demanded to be taken to Bugas City.

Hobart punished Butler York for stealing public funds, then used the incident to establish his authority in Jeffrey Town. After the story of York’s punishment spread through town, Hobart discovered that his Potion had begun to digest.

• York tried to take the public funds and threatened Wayne, but Hobart emerged and confronted him.
• Hobart severed York’s dagger-wielding arm, fired him, and paid him ten Silver Suo in severance.
• Wayne stopped York’s bleeding with a branding iron, while he and Shier realized Hobart had spared York so his punishment would serve as a warning.
• Hobart returned to the Lord’s Manor and planned to strengthen his rule by renovating the estate, organizing local militias, and controlling land-use rights.
• Shier told Hobart that he and Wayne had spread the story of York’s punishment through town, and Hobart realized the growing respect for his martial authority was digesting his Potion.