Recaps

Shade destroyed the Impostor’s Mutated Flesh in the Foul Blood Factory, returned to the present, and spent the night with Daniste after recounting his adventures. In the morning, Daniste revealed that [Active Metal] was a Keeper of Secrets Level relic in their era and began discussing how Shade might obtain it.

• Shade used Dragon Breath and the Great Sin Chains to destroy the Mutated Flesh, gained the chains’ Realistic Mimicry trait, and left the Blood Essence of All Things with Gina and the Witches.
• Shade returned to the present, learned he would have to wait a week before activating the damaged Time Key again, and recovered at home with Little Mia.
• Shade visited Daniste at the Academy Library and told her about his trip to Arcadia City and his dangerous adventure in the Foul Blood Factory.
• Daniste helped Shade wash away the factory’s lingering discomfort, and they spent the night together in her tower.
• At breakfast, Daniste told Shade that [Active Metal] was a Keeper of Secrets Level relic in their era.

Shade searched for [Active Metal] and materials to develop his flesh-corruption abilities, while he and Daniste planned to bury the Moon Egg as a seed. He left Old John's pawnshop with a lead to a Hermit Order member in Arcadia City and the supplies needed to learn "Bubble Spell."

• Daniste explained that [Active Metal] was scarce and controlled after the [Creation Church]'s failed experiment, while the Academy's remaining supply had become a contained Mechanical Lifeform.
• Shade and Daniste agreed to try planting the Moon Egg in soil, and Daniste imagined a future breakfast with her resurrected teacher and Little Mia.
• Shade asked Daniste to find a Red Moon-related Flesh Corruption thaumaturgy and learned that the Academy lacked [Blood Essence of All Things].
• Shade wrote to Margaret or Sylvia to ask them to contact Mr. Bernhardt, then visited Old John to seek [Active Metal].
• Old John gave Shade an address and letter of introduction to a machinery specialist in the [Guiding Light Hermitage] who might have [Active Metal] in Arcadia City.
• Shade bought the materials for "Bubble Spell," including rare, inexpensive dried Bubble Pods, from Old John.

Shade learned the Bubble Spell, then met Wei Ge Astley at Fragrant Residence to discuss her illness and the manuscripts she had found. Wei Ge accepted Shade’s treatment plan and Blood Brew, and she showed him the original manuscript of Wuthering Heights while the other two manuscripts remained unavailable.

• Shade mastered the Bubble Spell and used it to lift a pen and Little Mia in bubbles, though Little Mia soon burst hers.
• Shade arrived at Fragrant Residence, where Eve MacDonald greeted him and led him to Wei Ge.
• Shade urged Wei Ge to use his Blood Brew regularly, and she sent Eve to retrieve the bottle.
• Shade gave Wei Ge an ancient treatment plan for Innate Relic Sickness, which she agreed to share with the Witches’ Council.
• Wei Ge said the injured girl could not receive visitors until after three and revealed that she had found only one of the three requested manuscripts.
• Shade opened a box and found the original manuscript of master Newcastle’s Wuthering Heights.

Shade met Wei Ge Astley to discuss the rare-plant guide and Blue Ink Library, then received six functional perfumes as thanks for giving her Blood Brew. He asked her to make perfumes that could both prevent and accelerate Flesh Corruption, and she promised to provide them soon.

• Wei Ge told Shade that the Southern Continent Rare Plants Illustrated Guide belonged to a local botanist, and that she had arranged for them to meet him at Candlekeep Library that afternoon.
• Wei Ge said Blue Ink Library was a good deal but warned Shade that the Delin Orr Restorationists might approach him because of its history.
• Wei Ge presented Shade with six perfumes that could influence others, aid his spirit recovery or Luck, and suppress Flesh Aberration.
• Wei Ge explained that her perfume craft drew on her mother's research into the [Emerald Record] and Flesh Corruption.
• Shade asked Wei Ge to prepare perfumes that could prevent and accelerate Flesh Corruption, and she agreed to have her students make them within a week or three.
• Miss MacDonald gave Shade a list of functional perfumes that Wei Ge and her students could provide for free.

Wei Ge told Shade about the Emerald Alchemy Association and discussed the Moon Egg before preparing to take him to Candlekeep Library. Adele Isabella secretly visited and discovered Wei Ge's growing interest in Shade, but she concealed her presence and left without exposing him.

• Wei Ge explained why she was keeping the two captured Emerald Alchemy Association Alchemists imprisoned and told Shade more about the organization.
• Shade described the Moon Egg to Wei Ge, who suggested the Emerald Record might hold a solution.
• Adele Isabella arrived at the Fragrant Residence and examined Wei Ge, finding that her health had improved before inviting her to the Council's emergency meeting that night.
• Wei Ge concealed her alarm and watched Adele leave without letting her discover Shade upstairs.
• Adele reappeared on the second floor, secretly observed Shade, and left the mansion feeling resentful about Wei Ge's attraction to him.

Shade discussed obtaining Chaos Bestowal with Wei Ge, who explained that the Council’s Witches had to vote and that the blessing could not be used again for at least a month. They then went to the Candlekeep Library to meet Professor Thorn about a plant illustration book, where Wei Ge began explaining the identity she had arranged for Shade.

• At lunch, Wei Ge asked Shade whether the Great Witch close to him was the Speaker, and he said she was not.
• After Eve MacDonald left, Shade told Wei Ge about desire and asked her to help him obtain Chaos Bestowal.
• Wei Ge confirmed the Council could provide the bestowal, but the Witches had to vote and her power would not be available for at least another month.
• Shade told Wei Ge he was waiting for news about the person he had come to find, and she encouraged him to stay in Arcadia City.
• Shade and Wei Ge traveled to the Candlekeep Library to meet Professor Thorn about the Plant Illustration Book.
• Wei Ge told Shade that he would do the talking with Professor Thorn and began revealing the identity she had arranged for him.

Shade and Wei Ge arranged a trade for the second manuscript and met Havel Finch, a Hermit Order member who could help Shade obtain Active Metal. With two of the three manuscripts secured, Shade planned to meet Baron Ramsay at a banquet the next evening.

• Wei Ge gave Shade a cover identity as her pen pal and business associate before they met Professor Thorn and Mr. Finch at the Talking Room.
• Shade and Professor Thorn completed a trade for the 1688 edition of the Southern Continent Rare Plants Illustrated Guide, and Professor Thorn warned that Baron Ramsay would be difficult to persuade.
• Shade privately introduced himself to Havel Finch through Old John's letter and learned that Finch was a prominent inventor and a member of the Hermit Order.
• Shade asked Finch for Active Metal, and Finch invited him to visit the Finch Gear Workshop or the Tower of Marvels to discuss it.
• On the carriage ride back, Wei Ge guessed Finch's connections and promised to help Shade approach Baron Ramsay at the banquet.

Shade accompanied Wei Ge to the underground palace beneath Fragrant Residence to examine Laura Rollin, whose unexplained injury was draining her life force. After seeing a face embedded in the white growth on Laura’s back, Shade began investigating how she had been afflicted.

• Shade waited at Fragrant Residence while Wei Ge handled an issue involving contraband at Grey Rock Pass.
• Wei Ge took Shade beneath the manor and explained that her Followers needed treatment in stone coffins because her Chaos power had made them frail and sickly.
• Wei Ge introduced Shade to Laura Rollin, a former steward whose injury had resisted her treatment.
• Laura told Shade that she had been injured while fighting outsiders linked to the Emerald Alchemy Association after they released a noise like a baby's cry.
• Shade saw a gray-white growth on Laura’s back containing a closed-eyed face, and Wei Ge explained that it was expanding and consuming Laura’s life force.

Shade used Blood Seed Parasitism to destroy the White Area parasitizing Miss Lorraine, then returned the stolen Life Force and burned away the remaining Blood Seed. Miss Lorraine’s back was clear, and the treatment appeared successful.

• Shade discovered that a powerful life form had parasitized Miss Lorraine’s body and soul, and learned he could not eradicate it externally without draining her Life Force.
• Shade proposed using Blood Seed Parasitism to fight the White Area from within, and Wei Ge agreed while Miss Lorraine consented to the treatment.
• Wei Ge immersed Miss Lorraine in Mother Liquid and added three drops of Star Dew as Shade planted and expanded his Blood Seed on her back.
• Shade’s Blood Seed devoured the White Area; when it let out an infant’s cry, Wei Ge twisted the sound into static with her power of Chaos.
• Shade confirmed the white corrosion was gone, returned the Life Force to Miss Lorraine, and burned away the remaining Blood Seed.

Shade used Blood Seed Parasitism to heal Miss Lorraine and discovered that it could let him reshape his own body, but he refused to pursue its more inhuman potential. After arranging to attend the next evening’s charity banquet with Wei Ge, he departed by magic, leaving her to speculate about where he lived and which witch might know him.

• Shade healed Miss Lorraine’s burn and removed the Blood Seed, then tried the Thaumaturgy on himself and found that it could store life force and reshape his body.
• Shade rejected studying the Thaumaturgy’s full potential because he wanted to remain human and follow his Silver Moon path, though he considered using it to share life force with others.
• Wei Ge thanked Shade for saving her and Miss Lorraine, then arranged to meet him at Fragrant Residence at five the next day before the charity banquet.
• Shade told Wei Ge he planned to visit Mr. Havel Finch and possibly old Mr. Laibury the next day, then left using the Crystal Shoes Rod Card.
• Wei Ge guessed that Shade might not live in Arcadia City and planned to identify which witch was close to him at the Council meeting.

Shade returned from Arcadia City and told Luvia and Iluna about meeting Wei Ge, while withholding Wei Ge’s confession. At the Witch Council’s temporary meeting, Wei Ge announced her improved health and claimed an unnamed travel writer had treated her, leaving the other Great Witches to consider her explanation.

• Shade arrived at 6 Saint Derain Square, where Iluna and Luvia welcomed him, and he said he would tell Galina about meeting Wei Ge after she returned from the Council.
• Over dinner, Shade told Luvia and Iluna about his Arcadia City adventures, his gifts exchanged with Wei Ge, and how his blood had temporarily restored her health, but he kept her confession to himself.
• Galina arrived at the Council, where the Great Witches finalized rules for the Circular Hall and the Ring of Fate.
• Wei Ge told the Council that her health had improved and said she no longer needed Speaker and Audrey to visit her in Arcadia City.
• Wei Ge attributed her recovery to a travel writer in Arcadia City who possessed Flesh Creation and had treated both her illness and her follower.

Wei Ge told the Council that a beautiful travel writer was treating her, while the Great Witches recognized that the woman was Shade and quietly watched Wei Ge’s misunderstanding. Galina visited Shade afterward, learned how close he and Wei Ge had become, and grew increasingly dissatisfied that Wei Ge had drunk and kept Shade’s blood.

• Wei Ge told the Council that her trusted travel writer would stay in Arcadia City through spring to treat her, and the Great Witches realized she meant Shade.
• Flora advised Wei Ge to build a good relationship with her healer, while Artist Miss suggested inviting the woman to Fragrant Residence; Wei Ge said she had her own residence.
• After Adele and Wei Ge left, Galina, Megan, Flora, and Sivie discussed Wei Ge’s meeting with Shade, and Galina decided to visit him.
• Galina arrived at Shade’s home and embraced him after Luvia confirmed he had just been telling them about meeting Wei Ge.
• Shade recounted how Wei Ge had drunk his blood and kept some of it, making Galina increasingly unhappy, while Luvia argued that it could secure Wei Ge’s support and Chaos Bestowal.

Shade spent the night with Galina and Luvia, then asked Luvia in a dream whether Wei Ge Astley could be cured. Luvia said she had no cure to offer yet, and the chapter ended with Shade kissing Luvia after she pointed to herself the next morning.

• Galina and Luvia teased Shade about Wei Ge, and Galina asked whether he thought Wei Ge was the most beautiful among them.
• Shade told Galina that Wei Ge was exceptionally beautiful, then praised Galina's figure, which pleased her.
• In his dream, Shade asked Luvia whether Wei Ge could be cured, and Luvia said Shade's blood and existing treatments could keep her alive for now.
• Luvia warned Shade that the coming challenges would grow more dangerous and said the world's final child was about to be born.
• Luvia woke the next morning with a vague memory of a dream, and Shade kissed her after she pointed to herself.

Shade visited Finch Gear Workshop in Arcadia City to meet inventor Mr. Finch and examine his unusual machines. Mr. Finch explained that even inventions that seemed useless might find a purpose someday.

• Shade comforted Galina about Wei Ge, and Galina decided to let Wei Ge remain unaware of their connection for now.
• Shade checked the Witch's Tower for Margaret's reply, but she still had not answered.
• Shade traveled to the smoke-shrouded Outer City District and visited Finch Gear Workshop.
• Shade examined Mr. Finch's odd inventions, including a dog-head device that moistened stamps.
• Mr. Finch told Shade that the local post office had tried the stamp device, but discarded it after frequent breakdowns.

Shade accompanied Mr. Finch to the Tower of Marvels to negotiate for [Active Metal] and learned that the Magic Eye Club had ancient ties to Creator worship and the ability to embed Magic Eyes in machinery. Those revelations made Shade suspect that the Halfling Witch’s presence in the Foul Blood Factory was not a coincidence, and he arrived at the Tower with that concern unresolved.

• Mr. Finch told Shade that a friend from the Apna Library had [Active Metal] and invited him to negotiate for it at the Tower of Marvels.
• Mr. Finch explained that the Magic Eye Club’s core members descended from ancient Creator believers and could safely embed Magic Eyes in mechanical creations.
• Shade recalled that Miss Linolbredy had used a similar technique and wondered whether her presence in the Foul Blood Factory, and Madam Gustav’s response to her, had been more than coincidence.
• Shade discussed automated factories with Mr. Finch during their carriage ride, and Mr. Finch objected to machinery operating without human involvement.
• Shade and Mr. Finch reached the Tower of Marvels near Scholar Square, where Shade was to negotiate for the [Active Metal].

Shade, Mr. Finch, and Mr. Munoz investigated two machines that had mysteriously come alive in the Tower of Marvels. Shade destroyed them, revealing crimson specks of life that vanished before they could be examined.

• Mr. Finch brought Shade to the Fourth Floor, where Mr. Munoz was struggling to restrain a flame-spewing Automatic Cremation Coffin.
• Mr. Finch used Machine Stop to disable the coffin, and Shade sensed an extremely low concentration of Life Fire within it.
• A pocket watch in Mr. Munoz’s pocket underwent Mechanical Animation and fired metal components at the group, which Shade froze with Chloe’s Time-Space Freeze.
• Mr. Finch and Mr. Munoz found no cause for the animations and decided to destroy both machines to prevent further incidents.
• Shade used Black Moon Rune to turn the coffin and pocket watch into Ashes, revealing crimson specks of life that flared and disappeared.

Shade helped contain an animated coffin at the Tower of Marvels, where the three men discovered an Abnormal Life Fire Seed and learned that similar incidents had occurred in the past. He agreed to buy Active Metal from Mr. Munoz, then returned home and heard Winnie explain the history and nature of the seeds.

• Shade, Mr. Finch, and Old Mr. Munoz found a Life Fire Seed among the ashes after Shade destroyed the animated coffin, and Mr. Finch recalled similar incidents from the Old Continent.
• Mr. Finch and Old Mr. Munoz checked the Tower of Marvels for further abnormalities before discussing the danger and the unknown origin of the seeds.
• Old Mr. Munoz agreed to sell Shade the Active Metal for 280 Crowns and arranged to exchange it for payment on Sunday.
• Shade returned home, where Winnie told him that Abnormal Life Fire Seeds could give life to nonliving creations and that past outbreaks were called the Mechanical Plague or Inventor Plague.

Shade visited the Tower of Marvels and unexpectedly reunited with Viscount Armand Bernhardt, who had come to Arcadia City to investigate missing Bloodkin. Bernhardt revealed that earlier investigators had vanished too, leaving his group cautious as they prepared to search for a possible local traitor.

• Shade told old Mr. Laibury that he had obtained two of the three manuscripts, and Laibury promised to transfer Blue Ink Library to him once he found the last one.
• Shade explored the Tower of Marvels and encountered Viscount Armand Bernhardt among the machinery demonstrations.
• Shade and Bernhardt went to Madame Bovary Tea House, where Bernhardt explained that his clan had sent him to investigate Bloodkin who had disappeared around Arcadia City.
• Bernhardt said the first investigators had lost contact two weeks earlier, so he had arrived with five or six Advanced Bloodkin and support from the clan's local businesses.
• Bernhardt told Shade that his group suspected a local traitor and had avoided contacting local Bloodkin-connected forces while they assessed the situation.

Shade met Mr. Bernhardt in Arcadia City and compared their investigations into missing Advanced Bloodkin and outsiders. A Poem Chapter Fragment revealed a possible connection to Creation, leaving Shade and Bernhardt alert to a potentially larger threat.

• Mr. Bernhardt gave Shade the address of Fabius Mansion, and Shade shared the address of Fragrant Residence where letters could reach him.
• Shade and Mr. Bernhardt exchanged local intelligence, including reports that most missing Bloodkin were Advanced Bloodkin and that Construct Master Gerald Delong had returned to the Creation Church headquarters.
• Shade described Miss Lorraine’s back injury and asked about Blood Essence of All Things, but Bernhardt said the Bloodkin’s reserves had been spent supporting Alber.
• Bernhardt suspected Bloodkin Hunters might be targeting his race, while Shade offered to watch for them and help if necessary.
• Bernhardt revealed that the Elders had shown him a stone slab bearing a Poem Chapter Fragment: “At the Time of The End, It Is Also the beginning of Birth.”
• Shade linked the fragment to the Chosen One of Creation and agreed to keep an eye on the mystery before he and Bernhardt left to attend to their evening affairs.

Shade learned more about the Astley Family’s possible ties to the old Derainore royal line before preparing to attend a charity banquet with Wei Ge. While she got ready, he helped Miss MacDonald plan a response to a journal reviewer.

• Shade asked Mr. Bernhardt whether he would attend the charity banquet, and they confirmed they had both been invited.
• Mr. Bernhardt told Shade that the Astley Family descended from Duke Astley and might be connected to the last Delinore emperor’s bloodline, which made Kasonlik wary of them.
• Shade returned home to check on Little Mia, changed clothes, and left for Fragrant Residence to meet Wei Ge.
• While Wei Ge prepared for the banquet, Miss MacDonald told Shade about her paper revisions and a reviewer’s objection to her research approach.
• Shade suggested wording for Miss MacDonald’s response, and she wrote it down as a possible way to revise her paper.

Wei Ge welcomed Shade to Arcadia City and brought him to a charity banquet at Oakham Park, where she hoped to grow closer to him. As they walked toward the exhibition hall, Shade learned more about the event and Wei Ge offered to investigate the missing Bloodkin.

• Wei Ge hurried to greet Shade, then found him discussing mechanical inventions and academic printing with Miss MacDonald.
• Wei Ge and Shade exchanged compliments before her maids drove them to the Oakham Park Exhibition Hall for a charity banquet.
• On the carriage ride, Wei Ge explained the banquet and Shade’s cover identity, while Shade told her about Mr. Bernhardt and the missing Bloodkin; Wei Ge offered to look into it.
• Wei Ge asked about Shade’s plans for the next two days, and he explained that he had other obligations on Saturday and a relic appointment on Sunday.
• At the park entrance, Wei Ge declined the Duchess’s offer of special carriage access and walked with Shade toward the exhibition hall.

Wei Ge brought Shade to a charity banquet in Arcadia City, where they mingled with local nobles and learned more about the war and the city’s social circle. The evening ended with the Mayor’s wife urging Wei Ge to marry and have children, leaving her blushing.

• Wei Ge and Shade walked through the park to the banquet, where Duchess Russell welcomed them and accepted Wei Ge’s donation.
• Shade and Wei Ge toured the charity exhibition and spoke with representatives of local aid organizations, while Shade listened for news about the Civil War.
• Wei Ge told Shade she would help him find Baron Ramsay after dinner, then pointed out Lady Connaught and her lover as notorious figures in local society.
• Shade and Wei Ge spoke with the Mayor’s wife, who praised their apparent closeness and advised Wei Ge to marry and have children soon.
• Wei Ge blushed as the Mayor’s wife discussed her poor health and the difficulty of having children later.

At the Charity Banquet, Shade failed to persuade Baron Ramsay to sell the Mark I Steam Engine manuscript, then learned from Mr. Bernhardt that Lady Connaught had recently consumed Advanced Bloodkin blood. Shade and Mr. Bernhardt followed her to the park’s lake, where they found her with her young lover in a boat.

• At the banquet, Shade asked Baron Ramsay for the original Mark I Steam Engine design manuscript, but Ramsay firmly refused and offered to show him other designs instead.
• Shade helped Wei Ge recover with Blood Brew after her coughing worsened, and she apologized for the failed meeting with the baron.
• Lady Connaught shoved her young companion to the floor during an argument and stormed out of the banquet hall.
• Mr. Bernhardt told Shade that he had detected the scent of Advanced Bloodkin blood on Lady Connaught, and Shade agreed to investigate.
• Mr. Bernhardt tracked Lady Connaught with a Hunting Mark, and he and Shade found her with her young lover in a boat on the park’s lake.

Shade confronted Alistair Wispski and an unknown group of Arcanists at the lake, where they had captured Mr. Bernhardt. He defeated their first attack and rescued Mr. Bernhardt, while the remaining enemies regrouped on the shore.

• Mr. Bernhardt transformed into a bat and went to investigate the boat, but he fell into the lake after reaching it.
• Alistair Wispski appeared and warned Shade not to interfere, but Shade vanished and struck him with Moonlight Slash, severely injuring him.
• Five more opponents joined Alistair, and Shade used Decay Time Fog as they attacked him over the lake.
• Shade dragged four Mid-Ring Arcanists into the water, defeated Alistair with Moonbeam Greatsword and Thunderclap Wave, and faced the Tenth Ring Arcanist's Magic Eye.
• Shade countered the Magic Eye with Blood Moon Return, then rescued the unconscious Mr. Bernhardt from the lakebed as the surviving enemies regrouped on shore.

Shade rescued Mr. Bernhardt from two attackers, but they summoned a Sage-level metal golem resembling the Thousand-Eyed Gargoyle No. 3765. Shade fought back with a powerful moonlit strike, and after the Church sealed off the lake, he returned safely to Wei Ge.

• The wounded Bloodkin and the Tenth Ring Arcanist activated a ritual that raised a hundred-meter, thousand-eyed golem from the lake.
• Shade recognized the creature as a transformed version of the Thousand-Eyed Gargoyle No. 3765, now called the Giant God Soldier, while Mr. Bernhardt warned he could not yet help.
• The Giant God Soldier attacked Shade with crimson beams and elemental fists as the disturbance shook the exhibition hall where Wei Ge watched the auction.
• Shade evaded the golem and used Adele's Regression Principle to unleash a scarlet thunderbolt that destroyed two of its heads and pierced its shoulder.
• Silver white fog obscured the lake as Church Ring Arcanists arrived and sealed the area, and Shade returned to Wei Ge, who clung to his arm.