Recaps

Elliot consumed the Bribor Potion, while Calvin grew concerned about his behavior and asked Harvey Hayden to report what he had seen. Hobart recovered Mr. Robin’s lost money, earned a commission, celebrated with his family, and prepared to sell an Extraordinary Characteristic.

• Elliot consumed the Bribor Potion with Calvin’s help, and Harvey Hayden warned Calvin that Elliot had behaved unusually on the night he obtained the Barbarian Extraordinary Characteristic.
• Hobart negotiated the sale of jewelry and gold seized from Hayman’s hideout for 1,380 pounds and divided the recovered funds with Xue.
• Hobart returned Mr. Robin’s money, collected a commission, and advised him and his cousin to beware of financial traps.
• Hobart calculated that he had more than 300 pounds in cash, bought food and desserts, and shared a celebratory meal with Donna and Tyrone.
• Hobart slept in on Sunday and left home to sell the Secret Supplicant’s Extraordinary Characteristic.

Hobart traded a Secret Supplicant Beyonder characteristic, learned that a ruin expedition had uncovered a message from his father, Rex Heller, and split the profits from earlier jobs with Hugh. He left Hugh with an offer to teach her Mysticism in exchange for accompanying him on an intelligence-gathering trip.

• Hobart attended a Beyonder gathering, where Jacob Otto sought stronger teammates for a ruin expedition and asked whether anyone knew Rex Heller; Hobart offered to pass the request to his father, Christine.
• Hobart sold the Secret Supplicant Beyonder characteristic to an officer for 290 Pounds, then kept 10 Pounds as his disposal fee.
• Hobart told Christine about Jacob Otto's request, and Christine said she understood without discussing it further.
• Hugh visited Hobart at the Law Firm with Fors, and Hobart divided the profits from the Mutated Eyeball and Beyonder characteristic, giving Hugh 180 Pounds.
• Hugh asked about learning Mysticism, and Hobart offered to teach her in exchange for joining him on a countryside intelligence-gathering trip.

At the Tarot Club, Hobart used forged diary entries to give Klein the Creator’s Honorific Name as a possible remedy for Loss of Control, while Klein remained wary of testing it. Alger then offered Hobart Extraordinary Items to fulfill his payment, and Hobart heard the first two options.

• Hobart attended the Tarot Club and gave Klein two pages of Emperor Rosell’s Diary, including a fabricated entry about the Creator treating Loss of Control.
• Klein memorized the Creator’s Honorific Name but decided he would only consider using it if a teammate showed clear symptoms and had no other options.
• Hobart asked Alger about his payment, and Alger described a Pocket Watch whose dangerous laughter effect made Hobart reject it.
• Alger began describing a White Cane that enhanced strength and speed, accumulated power for a stronger strike, and granted swimming and diving ability.

Hobart chose a Silver Ring from Alger and shared a warning about a dangerous Official Extraordinary in Tingen City. He explained the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Conservation to Audrey, who paid him for the knowledge.

• Hobart chose Alger's Silver Ring, whose combat expertise came with excessive caution, and arranged for it to be mailed to the Mercenary Club in Backlund.
• Hobart warned the Tarot Club that an elderly Official Extraordinary in Tingen City was buying Life Alchemy materials and might be preparing an evil Ritual.
• Alger questioned why the churches did not teach the Acting Method, and Hobart explained that the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Conservation was involved.
• Audrey offered Hobart 600 pounds for the explanation, and he told her that Extraordinary Characteristics could only transfer between vessels, not be destroyed or diminished.
• Audrey asked whether Beyonders themselves were vessels for Extraordinary Characteristics.

Hobart taught the Tarot Club about Beyonder Characteristics and warned of Aurora Society members in Backlund, prompting Audrey to investigate No. 388 Queen's Avenue. Klein divined that Old Neil's condition was problematic and went to tell Captain Dunn.

• Hobart explained that Extraordinary Characteristics could serve as Potion ingredients, declined to share further laws, and warned the group about Aurora Society members at Backlund Beyonder Gatherings.
• Audrey traced No. 388 Queen's Avenue to the Mercenary Club, learned from Cons that it handled sensitive military missions, and arranged for a servant to deliver her package there.
• Above the Gray Fog, Klein divined that something was wrong with Old Neil and that reciting the Creator's Honorific Name in the real world was not dangerous.
• Klein visited 36 Zoteland Street, learned that Old Neil was on duty at the weapons depot, and told Dunn that Old Neil's condition was troubling.

Klein detected that Old Neil was close to losing control, and he worked with Dunn and Leonard to perform a ritual that expelled the dangerous force from Old Neil. The chapter ended with an unknown observer writing that the story had been rewritten once again.

• Klein told Dunn that Old Neil's condition seemed wrong, and Dunn planned to examine him and prepare to restrain him if necessary.
• Klein gathered ritual materials and arranged for Leonard and the other Nighthawks to help with the operation.
• Dunn pulled Klein into a dream to warn him that Old Neil's condition had become critical as the first emotionless eye appeared on Old Neil's forehead.
• Leonard helped Dunn restrain Old Neil while Klein completed a ritual praying to the Goddess of the Night.
• The ritual expelled and destroyed the force causing Old Neil's Loss of Control, and Old Neil woke up weak but stable.
• An unknown person in a house outside Tingen wrote that Klein had noticed Old Neil's impending Loss of Control and that the story had been rewritten once again.

Ince Zangwill altered his account of Tingen City in the Antigonus Family Notebook before turning to Hobart’s case for Mr. Polly, whose neighbors disputed whether a Giant Dog lived in the Erlie basement. Hobart found no dog inside, but sensed a distortion like the power of the Lawyer pathway in the Country of Disorder.

• Ince Zangwill stopped the notebook from naming the Goddess of the Night and wrote that Old Neil’s coming Loss of Control would affect Dunn Smith and fulfill Ince’s expectations.
• Mr. Polly hired Hobart to pursue compensation from the Erlie Family after a Giant Dog allegedly wrecked his flowerbeds and killed his chickens.
• Hobart arranged for Mr. Polly to demand 10 pounds in compensation and 10 pounds in legal fees, then confirmed that the Will and Allen families would testify.
• Mr. Erly denied keeping a dog and refused to settle, while barking from the basement intensified their argument.
• Hobart inspected the basement with Mr. Erly, found only tools and clutter, and sensed a familiar distortion associated with the Lawyer pathway in the Country of Disorder.

Hobart investigated reports of a giant dog and suspected the Henry family concealed something unusual. After collecting Mr. Hanged Man’s payment and a ring that enhanced his cane fighting, he recognized the ring’s urge to destroy its packaging as a negative effect.

• Hobart questioned Erlie about the barking and learned that the Henry family lived in the house behind him.
• Hobart heard barking from the Henry family’s basement, but a hoarse voice at the door claimed the family had influenza and refused to let him inspect it.
• Hobart told Mr. Polly that the barking came from the Henry home and heard rumors of the family’s violent, increasingly strange behavior.
• Hobart learned that two packages had arrived for Private and visited the Mercenary Club to collect them.
• Hobart opened one package containing 600 Pounds and put on a ring that filled his mind with cane-fighting techniques.
• Hobart realized the ring’s urge to destroy the packaging was likely its negative effect.

Hobart struggled with the Combat Ring’s excessive caution and learned to use Distortion to identify and resist its negative effects. When Xue and Fors came to ask about Fors’s Blood Moon Whispers, Hobart recognized the Abraham Family’s Curse and explained a possible remedy, though he warned that the solutions were difficult.

• Hobart bought a Military Telescope, wrote to Miss Hugh, and spent the evening coping with the Combat Ring’s cautious impulses.
• Hobart arrived early at the Law Firm and discovered that Distortion helped him distinguish the ring’s negative effects from genuine caution.
• Xue and Fors arrived, and Fors asked why her friend heard insane Whispers during a Blood Moon.
• Hobart identified Fors as an Apprentice pathway Beyonder affected by the Abraham Family’s Curse after consuming unprocessed Extraordinary Characteristics.
• Hobart described extracting and processing the Extraordinary Characteristics as one possible solution to the Curse.

Hobart advised Xue and Fors to let Fate guide their cursed friend’s situation, then explained how Beyonder factions might lead them to Potion Recipes. He organized an investigation into a villager who might share his Sequence, and the three set out for the Backlund suburbs.

• Hobart told Xue and Fors that their friend’s Curse was drawing a mysterious being’s attention and advised them to wait for events to unfold.
• Hobart explained which factions might hold the Potion Recipes for their pathways, giving Fors a new lead in her search for the Trick Master Potion Recipe.
• Hobart proposed investigating a villager who appeared to be a Beyonder of his Sequence, and arranged to meet Xue and Fors at Backlund Bridge.
• Hobart retrieved his Spirit Medium Necklace from the Country of Disorder and prepared for the investigation.
• Hobart, Xue, and Fors took a rental carriage toward the Backlund suburbs.

Hobart and Xue broke into Aputon's villa to question him, but a spirit and Aputon's unexpected strength complicated the fight. A door opened onto the Spirit World, and a dangerous humanoid monster emerged.

• Hobart, Xue, and Fors watched Aputon's villa until nightfall, then approached under cover of darkness.
• Hobart and Xue entered Aputon's room, where Hobart spotted a spirit and drove it away with fire from a broken oil lamp.
• Aputon sprang from hiding and attacked Hobart, who fought back until Xue joined him and overwhelmed Aputon.
• Aputon accused them of being sent by the Tamara Family, and a door appeared that opened onto the Spirit World.
• A humanoid monster with long arms and a long tongue emerged from the Spirit World, making Hobart and Xue sense immediate danger.

Hobart used saliva and water to defeat the spirit summoned by Aputon, then disarmed and interrogated him. Aputon revealed that he belonged to the Tamara Family, whose High Sequence members seemed tainted by hidden contamination.

• Hobart discovered that the Long Arm Spirit feared water and used saliva to hold it back until Xue spat at it and he splashed it with water, making it vanish.
• Hobart aimed his gun at Aputon while Xue removed the starlit hair Sealed Artifact from him using gloves.
• Hobart threatened Aputon with Spirit Communication and used a simple divination to check whether Aputon was telling the truth.
• Aputon explained that the Astrologer's Hair Strand could sense danger and open a door to the Spirit World, but could trap its wearer there and attract dangerous attention.
• Aputon told Hobart that he was a member of the Tamara Family and that his father had tried to leave because the family's High Sequence powerhouses seemed tainted by hidden contamination.

Hobart and Xue learned that Aputon was a fugitive from the Tamara Family, whose pursuers would soon find him. Aputon offered Potion Recipes in exchange for help, and Hobart left to ask whether his elder would intervene.

• Hobart asked Aputon about the Tamara Family’s contamination, but his spirituality warned him not to continue the subject.
• Aputon explained that his father and mother had died while fleeing the Tamara Family, leaving him injured and at risk of losing control if he advanced further.
• Aputon said the family would soon track him down, and Xue and Hobart urged him to run rather than stay and die.
• Aputon asked Hobart and Xue for help defeating the expected pursuers, offering the Astrologer's Hair Strand and several Potion Recipes in return.
• Hobart said he would return if his elder agreed to help, then he and Xue left through the window.

Hobart reflected on his risky encounter with Aputon, realized how to use rules as a Lawyer, and rapidly Digested nearly a third of his Potion. In the Southern Continent, the Balk Family’s elders gathered to consider taking advantage of a power vacuum in General Anthony’s territory.

• Hobart warned Aputon and the Tamara Family before leaving, then told Xue he would notify her if he decided to help Aputon.
• Xue told Fors and Hobart that they had found a lead on the Trick Master Potion Recipe, and Hobart reflected that he needed to investigate more carefully before acting against a Beyonder Family.
• Hobart considered how the Extraordinary Characteristics Aggregation Law had brought him opportunities as well as dangers, and resolved to use rules and laws to his advantage.
• Hobart’s Lawyer Potion Digested by nearly a third after he recognized that a Lawyer must understand how to work with rules.
• The eight elders of the Balk Family gathered to discuss whether to fill part of the power vacuum left by the ambush on the Fosac Empire’s Beyonders in General Anthony’s territory.

The Balk Family debated whether to help the Fosac Empire in exchange for colonial benefits, while Calvin urged them to take risks and investigate Elliot cautiously. Meanwhile, Hobart visited the Henry family and found two decomposed bodies, raising the question of who had spoken to him two days earlier.

• Calvin told the Balk Family elders about Elliot's unusual luck and argued that their growing strength made it time to abandon conservative strategies.
• Fors and Xue discussed Hobart's Beyonder knowledge and suspected he had access to multiple Mystical Items.
• Hobart decided to visit the Henry family despite the risks, believing that confronting them could turn the danger into an opportunity.
• Hobart passed through Mr. Polly's backyard and entered the Henry family's yard as Polly and Erlie watched.
• Hobart sensed death inside the Henry house, kicked open the door, and found two heavily decomposed corpses that appeared to have been dead for over a week.

Hobart discovered that Henry and his wife had died during a Mysticism ritual and that a contaminated Giant Dog had escaped from a connected basement. After killing the dog and arranging for the authorities to be notified, he searched Henry’s house for information about the Sealed Artifact, but a ramming sound came from upstairs.

• Hobart found Henry and his wife dead beside their ritual materials and had Polly notify the police and send a telegram to Lawyer Barton.
• A contaminated Giant Dog burst out of Erlie’s basement and charged at Erlie, so Hobart shot it dead.
• Hobart learned that the Henry family believed in the Goddess of the Night and left Erlie to guard the courtyard while he investigated the basement and house.
• Hobart found signs that a Sealed Artifact was still operating and began searching Henry’s notes after confirming the couple were dead.
• Hobart heard something ram into a door on the second floor.

Hobart discovered that the Henry family descended from the Solomon Family and learned that their notebook contained valuable Beyonder knowledge and references to a Sealed Artifact. As Officer Daniel arrived to investigate, repeated noises from upstairs led Daniel and Hobart to go check on the gravely ill Little Henry.

• Hobart read the notebook and learned the Henry family descended from the Solomon Family, whose scattered survivors had hidden after Solomon's downfall.
• Hobart found that the notebook contained Beyonder knowledge, mentioned a Solomon Family Sealed Artifact, and included Ritual notes that suggested the Henry couple had died during a God of Death Ritual.
• Officer Daniel arrived with another policeman, requested special support, and asked Hobart to help guard the scene.
• When banging sounded upstairs again, Daniel decided to check on Little Henry, and Hobart joined him after suspecting the Sealed Artifact was drawing him toward it.
• Daniel and Hobart checked their weapons and went upstairs together.

Hobart and Daniel found and killed Little Henry, a Living Corpse, then Hobart deduced how Henry and his wife’s Ritual had led to their deaths and the Sealed Artifact’s escape. Daly and her scar-faced companion arrived to investigate, and Hobart concluded that the unsealed Sealed Artifact was likely in the basement.

• Hobart and Daniel entered Little Henry’s room, where Hobart struck the Living Corpse and then shot it dead when it attacked again.
• Hobart inspected the boarded-up room and deduced that Henry and his wife had tried to revive their dead son, died during a later Ritual, and left a Sealed Artifact unsealed in the basement.
• Hobart told Polly and Erlie that a bird had caused the banging, while Daniel backed up his explanation.
• Daly and a scar-faced Official Extraordinary arrived, and Hobart warned them that he would resist arrest before explaining his deductions about the case.
• Daly concluded that the missing Sealed Artifact was probably still in the basement.

Hobart, Daly, and Scarface discovered that Henry and his wife’s corpses were being controlled by a terrifying power connected to Little Henry. They lured the entities into the basement, where the Sealed Artifact’s influence began to take effect.

• Daly learned from nearby Natural Spirits that Henry and his wife often carried burning Sunflowers into the basement, then a terrifying power descended through the altar.
• Henry and his wife’s corpses rose and attacked, while Hobart spotted black tubes connecting them to the position where Little Henry’s body was likely located.
• A child’s song weakened Hobart and Scarface, but strengthened Daly enough to regain partial control of the corpses as Little Henry came downstairs.
• Daly admitted she could not defeat Little Henry, so Hobart directed the group to lure it into the basement.
• Daly lit the Sunflowers, Scarface drew Little Henry’s attention with gunfire, and Hobart swept the flowers into the basement as the group retreated inside.
• Hobart’s stiffness began to fade as they descended the stairs, revealing that they had entered the Sealed Artifact’s range.

Hobart discovered that the basement’s Sealed Artifact came from the Country of Disorder and was suited to the Lawyer Pathway. He used it to defeat Little Henry and the Living Corpses, then learned that the Henry parents’ rituals had made Little Henry attract powerful entities from the God of Death Pathway.

• The burning sunflower revealed the basement and its stone statue, while the Sealed Artifact randomly shifted everyone’s positions and kept them from approaching the platform.
• Hobart reached the statue without being displaced, touched it, and recognized its connection to the Country of Disorder.
• Hobart picked up the Sealed Artifact and learned its powers, dangers, and sealing method, which required a Lawyer Pathway or Arbiter Beyonder.
• Hobart used the artifact to trap the two Living Corpses and distort Little Henry’s intentions and power until he collapsed.
• Daly explained that Spirit Communication had changed Little Henry’s corpse and that his parents’ rituals had made it attract the gaze and power of God of Death Pathway entities.

Hobart negotiated with the Official Beyonders after helping contain the incident at Henry’s house, seeking control of the stone statue and a cooperative relationship with the church. Captain Thomas agreed to let Hobart use the Sealed Artifact if he became their External Staff.

• Hobart insisted that the Official Beyonders treat him as the Commodore’s son, keep their investigation at the church, and let him claim the stone statue as his share of the spoils.
• Hobart used the Sealed Artifact to retrieve Henry and his wife’s bodies, and he and the Official Beyonders transported the bodies and artifacts back to the church while changing the statue’s holder every twenty minutes.
• Daly proposed that Hobart become an informant, and Hobart offered three conditions for a cooperative relationship, including assistance, a share of battle spoils, and official recognition when dealing with other Beyonders.
• Daly kept Hobart in a separate room at the church while Borgia guarded him, and Hobart waited for Christine to learn of his situation.
• Captain Thomas met Hobart and agreed that he could use the Sealed Artifact as long as it remained in the church’s custody and Hobart became their External Staff.

Hobart negotiated with the Nighthawks to keep the Stone Statue, then learned that it resonated with the Country of Disorder. The chapter ended with a gigantic figure appearing beyond the Country of Disorder’s sky as Hobart saw more of the Stone Statue’s recorded information.

• Hobart chose the Sealed Artifact over the Extraordinary Characteristics and asked the Nighthawks to reserve the Characteristics for a future exchange.
• Thomas agreed to give Hobart informant credentials and consider him for External Staff after an assessment, while Hobart designated Daly as his contact.
• Hobart told Christine about his recent operations and asked whether she could help him deal with the Tamara Family’s pursuers; Christine said he should complete Rex’s trial himself but offered help if he could not manage.
• Hobart collected the Stone Statue, designated 2-355, from Daly and carried it to his rented residence in a Stone Box.
• Hobart brought 2-355 to the Country of Disorder, where the Stone Statue resonated with the realm and revealed a gigantic figure beyond its sky.

Hobart learned how Sealed Artifact 2-355 originated and returned it to Daly, then used the Henry case to secure compensation for the Polly family. The chapter ended with Mr. Robin and his cousin waiting outside Hobart’s law firm.

• Hobart saw 2-355’s memories of the City of Calamity colliding with the Country of Disorder and learned how the stone became a Sealed Artifact.
• Hobart brought 2-355 out of the Country of Disorder and returned it to Daly at the Obsidian Bar, telling her what he had discovered.
• Hobart obtained 20 pounds from Henry’s family through the police and gave 10 pounds to Polly as compensation while keeping the rest as his fee.
• Hobart’s Potion loosened after he completed the commission, and he saw Mr. Robin and his cousin waiting at the law firm on Saturday morning.

Hobart accepted a difficult workplace injury case after discovering that the law offered little protection to injured workers. He also closed Mr. Polly’s case, received support toward his lawyer qualification, and planned to use future cases to advance his Potion digestion.

• David asked Hobart to represent a coworker who had lost a leg and a hand in a factory accident and was seeking 300 pounds in compensation.
• Hobart found that the law provided only vague guidance on workplace injuries, decided to take the case, and began planning an approach.
• Hobart reported the details of Mr. Polly’s case to Barton, who officially closed it and offered to recommend Hobart for the Lawyer Qualification Certificate exam.
• Hobart reflected on how he should handle future cooperation with Official Extraordinary and divide any spoils in advance.
• Hobart concluded that handling his remaining case and applying the Extraordinary Characteristics Aggregation Law would help digest his Lawyer Potion faster.

Hobart accepted Bob’s compensation case, while in the Southern Continent he planned to build Elliot into his representative in the Balk Family. At a Sunday gathering, Hobart recognized himself in Kast’s sketch of a powerful figure and kept his identity secret.

• Hobart told Bob the compensation case would be difficult, then had him sign a Letter of Authorization for an 18% commission if they won.
• Elliot accompanied Elder Calvin and other Balk Family members to Crowlier City, prayed to the Creator about his suspicions, and saw a majestic throne and towering figure before his journey continued.
• Hobart decided to support Elliot’s rise in the Balk Family and waited for Calvin to test him.
• At the Mercenary Club gathering, Hobart found little to buy and heard Kast describe a possible power vacuum in General Anthony’s territory.
• Kast showed a sketch of a throne-seated figure and offered a reward for information; Hobart recognized himself in it and stayed silent.