Recaps

Shade and Wei Ge learned more about Peggy Le May’s plan to resurrect herself using a Seed of Life, while keeping their own secrets from Miss Pawo. After a sudden downpour drove them back to Fragrant Residence, Wei Ge joined Shade in the bath, leaving their conversation at an intimate moment.

• Miss Pawo told Shade that Peggy Le May had researched the Emerald Record and might use a Seed of Life, formed from a Fire Seed Source, to resurrect herself.
• Shade refused Miss Pawo’s offer to trade for the Skin Object Nicola Le May, explaining that he and Wei Ge needed it to search for the Redstone Baroness.
• Wei Ge said she did not know whether she would stop her mother from returning from the dead, and Shade promised to follow her lead.
• Shade and Wei Ge were caught in a sudden downpour at Oakham Park and returned to Fragrant Residence to wash and change.
• Wei Ge entered the bath with Shade and told him she preferred the larger bath in his room.

Shade and Wei Ge spent the day together in her bath until Galina arrived with a warning that the Speaker would question Wei Ge about the [Skin Object Hall] incident. After leaving with Galina, Shade planned his next investigations while rumors of a major theft in Wilundell added to the coming uncertainty.

• Wei Ge kissed Shade and drew him into an intimate encounter, then rested in his arms and asked to see him again the next day.
• Angelina noticed Eve was distracted, encouraged her to be bold in the future, and offered to discuss private matters and recommend books.
• Galina arrived and told Wei Ge that the Speaker would visit at eight to ask about the [Skin Object Hall] incident.
• Galina told Shade that Margaret was heading to the front lines with Sylvia, and that important items might have been stolen from Wilundell.
• Shade left with Galina and planned to see Sylvia and Margaret the next morning, then work with Mr. Bernhardt and investigate Big Mouth Sparrow.
• Galina warned Shade that Big Mouth Sparrow might already be dead, since agents rarely lived long.

Shade dreamed a second time of the Sea of Origin and concluded that its arrival was approaching, though he could not tell when or where it would descend. After a quiet night with Galina and an early morning together, he met Sylvia and Margaret before Margaret left for the Eastern Front.

• Shade told Galina he would consider contacting Big Mouth Sparrow if Sparrow was dead and the information about Kalas Mountain proved important.
• Shade dreamed of the Pink Beach and the Red Sea again, learned from In Heart that the Sea of Origin was truly approaching, and woke at 6:13 with the dream clearly in his memory.
• Shade and Galina woke early, spent the morning together, and joined Little Mia for breakfast after getting out of bed at half past seven.
• Shade went to the Witch's Tower, where Sylvia and Margaret were waiting before Margaret's week-long trip to the Eastern Front.
• Shade gave Margaret a Dragon Scale Amulet and Star Dew, then gave protective charms made by Priest Augustus to Margaret and Sylvia for their coming visit to Arcadia City.

After bidding farewell to Margaret and Sylvia, Shade learned that the Royal Mint had been robbed and that Arcadia City’s relentless rain signaled the appearance of the Sage Level Relic [Rain Man]. As frogs began appearing across the city, Shade prepared to search for the relic’s body, and Mr. Finch arrived with his Doomsday Survival Carriage to help.

• Margaret told Shade that the Royal Mint had been robbed, and she and Sylvia departed for Wilundell after saying goodbye to him.
• Shade bought a newsboy’s remaining newspapers and noticed that frogs were croaking increasingly often in the rain as he traveled toward Fragrant Residence.
• Wei Ge identified the phenomenon as [Rain Man], explained its three stages of frog-related danger, and told Shade that the relic was likely in its early Second Stage.
• Shade decided to search for [Rain Man]’s main body while Wei Ge stayed home, and Miss Lorraine announced that Mr. Finch had come to see him.
• Mr. Finch arrived with his Doomsday Survival Carriage, intending to help Shade search for the relic.

Shade joined Mr. Finch in his specially equipped carriage to search the Outer City District for Rain Man, while learning about Mr. Finch’s past encounter with the relic and its vulnerability to fire. As they continued their search, they discussed recent Flesh-mechanical Mutation and Shade’s dreams of the Sea of Origin, whose connection to the mutations remained uncertain.

• Shade told Wei Ge he would be safe with Mr. Finch and left to help search for Rain Man.
• Mr. Finch explained that Rain Man caused three days of escalating horrors and that fire could harm the relic.
• Mr. Finch recounted how a mad Third Ring Arcanist summoned Rain Man, and how the Church’s forces eventually killed its main body and banished it.
• Shade and Mr. Finch searched the Outer City District in the disguised carriage while discussing the recent Flesh-mechanical Mutation affecting Eve.
• Shade told Mr. Finch about his dreams of the Sea of Origin and wondered whether it was connected to the mutations, but Mr. Finch said the idea was only speculation.

Shade and Mr. Finch tracked the [Rain Man] relic as its second stage worsened, while discussing the [Demon Eye Club]'s possible motives. They found Ms. Handel and Joey Barton fighting the relic's mutated main body at a factory construction site, and Shade attacked it with Thunderclap Wave.

• Shade and Mr. Finch discussed the aftermath of the [Skin Object Hall] incident and why the Church had not moved against the [Demon Eye Club].
• Mr. Finch suggested the [Demon Eye Club] might seek to evolve Magic Eyes and obtain the Creator's eye, while frogs began falling from the sky.
• Shade sensed a faint disturbance of strange elements, and he and Mr. Finch found the relic's main body at a textile factory construction site.
• Ms. Handel and Joey Barton restrained the frog-like relic until Mr. Finch shot it down with his shotgun.
• The mutated [Rain Man] charged at Shade and Mr. Finch, and Shade struck back with Thunderclap Wave.

Shade and his companions battled the relic [Rain Man], which repeatedly evolved through the rain and changed forms to survive. Shade finally used Red Moon’s power to stop its transformations and sealed its true form in a Stone Coffin.

• Shade and his companions wounded the monster, and Joey Barton pulled Humanity from its chest before it dissolved into rainwater.
• The monster turned the rain into tadpoles that evolved and devoured one another, then reassembled itself and absorbed the rain to grow stronger.
• Shade transformed into a Unicorn, a Silver Snake, Red Butterflies, and a Moonlight Dragon to counter the monster’s changing forms.
• Shade infused his Moon Fire with Red Moon’s power, preventing the monster from changing form and burning it back to its dried-corpse form.
• Joey Barton raised a Stone Coffin, and Shade sealed the corpse inside with the Thaumaturgy Coffin of the Underworld.

Shade and his allies sealed the Rain Man relic, though Mr. Finch explained that the method had only temporarily dispersed it. While studying a frog-skin derivative afterward, Shade gained insight into the Spirit Rune [Change], then returned to Fragrant Residence, where Wei Ge welcomed him with a bath.

• Shade sealed the Rain Man, which vanished and left behind a useful frog-skin Relic Derivative.
• Shade gave the frog skin to Ms. Handel, introduced her and Joey Barton to Mr. Finch, and then left with the old alchemist.
• Mr. Finch praised Shade’s transformations and explained that ten forms could qualify him for an assessment at the Academy of Myriad Transformations.
• Touching the frog skin and reflecting on transformation and the Moon’s changing phases led Shade to gain insight into [Change].
• Shade returned to Fragrant Residence, where Wei Ge prepared a bath and invited him to join her.

Shade left Wei Ge’s home to meet Mr. Bernhardt about the Bloodkin’s investigation of ancient sewers, but Apna Library’s offer of local historical information drew them to a meeting at Greyrock Pass Fortress. There, Shade recognized Apna Library’s director, Mr. Higgins.

• After spending the morning and noon with Wei Ge, Shade promised to return that evening and left to meet Mr. Bernhardt.
• Wei Ge questioned Eve about accompanying the maids at lunch, then sent her to seal the frog skin Shade had left in the Underground Palace.
• Shade heard gunfire while crossing the Outer City District but continued on to Mr. Bernhardt’s cave outside Greyrock Pass Fortress.
• Mr. Bernhardt told Shade that Apna Library had offered information about ancient local Bloodkin, and Shade agreed to join him at their meeting.
• At Lady’s Caress of the Rose, Shade recognized the Twelfth Ring man as Mr. Higgins, Apna Library’s director.

Shade and Mr. Bernhardt met with Dull Higgins of the [Apna Library], who sought Bloodkin help contacting the God Summoner in exchange for local support and information. Higgins then revealed how Bloodkin and Derainore’s royal family secretly joined their bloodlines before the kingdom fell, leaving the Church’s investigation unfinished.

• Shade recognized Dull Higgins as the curator of the [Apna Library] through his connection to Old John, and Mr. Bernhardt introduced himself as Ventrue.
• Higgins offered the Bloodkin information about their history in Derainore and support in the region in exchange for knowledge about Moon Sage libraries and help contacting the God Summoner.
• Mr. Bernhardt agreed to provide the Bloodkin’s legends about the libraries and write to the God Summoner, while Shade reflected on his own progress toward the [Silver Moon Library].
• Higgins explained that a Bloodkin countess bore a child by Derainore’s king, and the child’s descendants later formed a hidden royal bloodline.
• Higgins said that generations later, the Bloodkin lineage merged into the legitimate royal bloodline, and the Church’s investigation was interrupted by the Siege of Arcadia City and Derainore’s fall.

Shade and Mr. Bernhardt learned from Old Mr. Higgins that the Burgundy Family might have descended from people connected to the Firstborn Son, and that ancient Bloodkin held secrets about altering the royal bloodline. They agreed to cooperate with [Apna Library], and Shade prepared a letter sharing clues about the [Silver Moon Library].

• Old Mr. Higgins explained that the Burgundy Family’s ancestor was said to have emerged from the sea with a flawless silver appearance, and that the family might be connected to the Firstborn Son.
• Mr. Bernhardt and Shade learned that some ancient Bloodkin remained asleep in Arcadia and that the [Blood Spirit School] was searching for their bloodline-altering techniques.
• Mr. Bernhardt agreed to contact God Summoner and pass along any news to [Apna Library] as part of their cooperation.
• After returning to the base, Shade wrote [Apna Library] a letter describing ways to enter the [Silver Moon Library] and warning them about Sir Prisha, the “Mad All-Knowing.”
• Shade asked Mr. Bernhardt to deliver the letter the day after tomorrow, and the two considered how the Derainore Royal Family’s history connected to ancient legends.

Shade connected Wei Ge’s family history and Princess Burgundy’s pendant to a possible ritual that could reveal a clue about Aurora. He arranged to search the Astley family’s ancestral collection with Wei Ge the next morning, then returned home to prepare for an important Time Lock with Daniste.

• Mr. Bernhardt told Shade that the Burgundy Family eventually died out and that the Astley Family was considered the Delinore Kingdom’s legitimate successor.
• Shade told Wei Ge about the Burgundy Family’s history and suggested her mother had left clues connected to Aurora’s recovery.
• Wei Ge showed Shade Princess Burgundy’s pendant, and they concluded it might be an item for an alchemical ritual whose remaining clues could be in the Astley family collection.
• Wei Ge agreed to take Shade to the collection vault beneath Greyrock Pass Fortress the next morning.
• Shade returned home and met Luvia, Daniste, Emilia, Ellie, and Little Mia; Daniste said the Time Lock could be unlocked between seven that evening and one the next morning.

Shade, Daniste, Emilia, and Ellie retrieved the Fire Seed Source and the living, night-colored Dragon Egg from the Dragon Blood Tree’s Tree Hollow. Daniste took the egg to examine it, while Shade returned home and discussed its imminent hatching and possible identity as a Night Dragon.

• Daniste delayed the group by reviewing and signing documents before leading Shade, Emilia, and Ellie to the Dragon Blood Tree.
• Shade opened the Tree Hollow with the Fire Seed Source Mark and removed the night-colored egg, causing the Tree Hollow to vanish.
• Daniste felt the egg’s strong heartbeat and took it to the Library to examine its condition.
• Shade told Luvia and Sivie that the egg was alive and near hatching, and described possible explanations for its survival across epochs.
• Shade said the group had named the new life a Night Dragon and asked Luvia to help bring the egg over the next morning for confirmation as a candidate.

While sleeping beside Sivie, Shade dreamed of the Underworld Moon and met the black cat’s soul and Haila Madam Osenfott. He wondered whether death could offer a way to overcome the Firstborn Son, then woke with a blessing from the newborn soul.

• Sivie challenged herself during the night until she fell asleep exhausted, while Shade comforted her and went to sleep beside her.
• Shade dreamed that he was in a boat beneath the Underworld Moon, surrounded by souls heading toward the half-sunken moon.
• Shade reunited with the black cat’s soul and Haila Madam Osenfott, who explained that he likely would not have entered the dream unless he longed for it or the moon believed he needed its power.
• Shade discussed his worries about the Sea of Origin and the Firstborn Son, but declined to summon other dead souls for advice.
• Shade sat beneath the Underworld Moon with the cat and Haila beside him, and received the Blessing of the Newborn Soul.

Shade and Daniste examined Helena Carter’s nearly hatched egg and concluded that it needed a special growing environment for its final, seed-like stage. Daniste took the egg back to find one, while Luvia warned that Helena could become a Chosen One if drawn to Arcadia City.

• Daniste brought the Dragon Egg to Shade’s home and reported that its life indicators were normal and that its Fire Seed Source should remain in place until it hatched.
• Shade explained that Helena Carter’s new life would combine her moon and tree powers with the Dragon Egg’s body, and that she was close to becoming a Candidate for a Chosen One.
• Shade reasoned that the egg needed a suitable environment for a seed to break its shell, and it wobbled in response when he asked whether it wanted special soil and growing conditions.
• Daniste volunteered to find a growing environment suited to the egg’s powers, while Luvia advised her to keep Helena away from Arcadia City if she did not want her to become a Chosen One.
• Daniste returned to the Academy with the egg, while Emilia and Ellie planned to visit Ice and Snow Castle and then Claire in Kael-Todd Town.

Shade and Wei Ge traveled toward Greyrock Pass Fortress to inspect the Astley Family collection room, while preparing to attend a small auction at the Charming Lady Club that evening for an item marked with Wei Ge’s mother’s symbol. The chapter left the Willendale Mint theft unresolved, with Wei Ge suspecting that the Delin Orr Restorationists would be formidable if they were responsible.

• Shade invited Ellie and Emilia to dinner, said goodbye to everyone, and asked Luvia to look after Little Mia before heading to Arcadia City.
• Wei Ge told Shade that the Charming Lady Club had invited her to a small auction, where she had spotted an item bearing her mother’s eye-in-a-triangle mark, and Shade agreed to accompany her that evening.
• Shade comforted Eve when she worried about her feelings for him, and they kissed before she left the study.
• Angelina asked Shade for affection too, while Wei Ge later told her students to study hard and promised Angelina a city walk if she mastered [Chaos Echo].
• Shade and Wei Ge traveled through the rain toward Greyrock Pass Fortress, discussed Astley Family histories and Wei Ge’s improving health, and considered the Willendale Mint theft.

Wei Ge brought Shade to the Astley Trading House’s hidden treasure rooms, hoping the family’s heirlooms might shed light on her mother and the pendant. There, Shade recognized the style of some gold bars from a cache connected to Randall River Valley, leaving Wei Ge wondering whether her ancestors had secretly supported the region’s old nobles.

• Shade and Wei Ge discussed the threat of an assassination attempt against Margaret and Wei Ge offered to protect her in Arcadia City.
• Wei Ge took Shade and Miss Lorraine to the Astley Trading House at Greyrock Pass Fortress and led them through hidden rooms to the family’s treasure vault.
• Wei Ge showed Shade the family treasures and explained that her father had forbidden the family from selling them except in a crisis.
• Wei Ge gave the pendant to Miss Lorraine to inspect while she introduced Shade to the treasures, hoping to find clues about her mother.
• Shade recognized the gold bars as resembling those found with Iluna in Randall River Valley, prompting Wei Ge to suspect her ancestors may have aided its resistance forces.

Shade and Wei Ge discovered a hidden crown and Scepter in the Astley family’s secret rooms, then found the ruby Heart of Sera among Peggy Le May’s clues. Wei Ge began investigating the lost royal palace of Derainore as a possible link to her mother’s alchemical trail.

• Shade spotted a concealed compartment in the ceiling, where he found a rosewood box and case hidden behind an ancient Bloodkin illusion.
• Shade, Wei Ge, and Miss Lorraine uncovered a crown and Scepter bearing Derainore’s coat of arms, which Wei Ge planned to have Grandma Cassandra appraise.
• Wei Ge dismissed the idea of restoring Derainore and let Shade store the crown and Scepter while they searched for clues about her younger sister.
• Wei Ge found a teardrop ruby called the Heart of Sera, and Shade sensed faint traces of alchemy in its jewelry box.
• After the ruby and Princess’s pendant showed no reaction, Wei Ge wondered where Derainore’s old royal palace had gone.

Shade and Wei Ge traced a possible clue about Wei Ge’s Younger Sister to the Seer Association’s Star-Gazing Tower, but decided to wait for evidence from the Charming Lady Club. A Steam Bomb explosion at Greyrock Pass drew Wei Ge to the Security Bureau, where she learned Gray Gloves agents had been searching for something under orders from Wilundell.

• Shade and Wei Ge identified the Seer Association’s Star-Gazing Tower as a likely location connected to the Heart of Sera, but Wei Ge refused to risk exposing her Younger Sister’s secret.
• Wei Ge finished inspecting the family treasure vault and planned to leave Grandma Cassandra a message about the crown and Scepter.
• Shade heard gunfire and a Steam Bomb explosion while waiting at the trading house, and Wei Ge rushed with him to the Security Bureau.
• Baron Brez and the Security Bureau director reported that the blast killed a Gray Gloves agent and two unidentified guests near the Wounded Soldiers Hospital construction site.
• Wei Ge rejected their account and learned that Gray Gloves agents had arrived from Wilundell looking for something, possibly the item Wilundell had recently lost.

Wei Ge explained her influence among the Astley Family’s loyalists and discussed the dangers gathering in Arcadia City with Shade. They planned to search for the Demon during Margaret’s welcome banquet, and Wei Ge later received a coin-type relic for Shade.

• Wei Ge ordered the Greyrock Pass officers to monitor the Gray Gloves agents and help identify whom they were investigating.
• Wei Ge told Shade that loyalists still followed her because of her abilities and the success of the family business, though she had no intention of challenging the Anjou Royal Family.
• Shade, Wei Ge, Eve, and Angelina reviewed their immediate, medium-term, and long-term problems and planned to use Margaret’s welcome banquet to draw out the Demon.
• Wei Ge told Shade that the Witch Council would likely wait until the Old Continent Exposition before sending more Witches to Arcadia City.
• Wei Ge received word that an old friend had found a coin-type relic for Shade and arranged for Miss Lorraine to collect it.

Shade and Wei Ge attended an auction at the Charming Lady Club, where Butterfly Lady tried to persuade Wei Ge to remain a member despite rumors that the club had sold its membership list. Wei Ge bought the Silver Cube she had come for and left with several other lots.

• Shade discussed Griffith's Rhapsody, a coin that traded its user's memories for artistic inspiration, with Wei Ge and Dorothy over dinner.
• Shade and Wei Ge went to the Charming Lady Club, where Butterfly Lady denied leaking the membership list and promoted the club's activities.
• Wei Ge declined Butterfly Lady's offer of stimulating drugs and waited with Shade for the auction while they cuddled on a sofa.
• Shade and Wei Ge inspected the auction booklet and found that its lots included a Silver Cube, suspected supernatural objects, drugs, books, and paintings.
• Wei Ge won the Silver Cube and also bought a banned book's original manuscript and an ancient Spirit Board.

After Wei Ge combined her mother's three objects, they transformed into an astrological lens that pointed her toward the Seer Association's towers for answers among the stars. Shade and Luvia planned how to use the association's equipment and investigate Peggy Lemay's connection to it, while Luvia began studying the lens.

• Butterfly Lady told Wei Ge and Shade that the Charming Lady Club's true owner was a powerful figure in Weilun Dai'er City, then assured them the club's events would continue.
• Wei Ge combined the Princess's Pendant, teardrop-shaped ruby, and Silver Cube, and their ritual produced an eye-shaped lens for stargazing equipment.
• Luvia identified the lens as a Seer Association model and concluded that Wei Ge would need to use it from one of the association's towers to observe the stars.
• Luvia offered to operate the equipment with Bella and Matilda's help, while Shade proposed borrowing the tower in the Witch Council's name.
• Shade and Luvia suspected Peggy Lemay had dealings with the Seer Association, and Shade suggested asking Miss Pawo and The Truth Society to investigate.
• Luvia said she would study the lens for half a week, while Wei Ge prepared to find another bottle of Life Solution.

Shade met Desire beneath Moon Bay, returned her mask, and asked for help preparing for the inevitable apocalypse. Desire declined to cooperate until he understood his goal, but offered to answer one question about creation, leaving Shade asking whether the Firstborn Sons truly had emotions like humans and elves.

• Shade met Desire beneath the sea cliff and told her he felt less afraid of her while bearing Chaos Bestowal.
• Shade returned Desire's mask, and she gave him a Time Key she had found at the bottom of the great lake.
• Shade asked Desire to cooperate against the coming apocalypse, but she refused until he understood what he wanted to accomplish.
• Desire offered to answer one question concerning creation, and Shade asked how he could defeat the Firstborn Son he had dreamed of in the Red Ocean.
• Desire described the Firstborn Sons as powerful, dutiful creations of the Creator, and Shade asked whether they truly possessed emotions like humans and elves.

Shade learned that the Firstborn Sons had gone mad and that the Chosen One Ritual might require purifying them, though he still did not know how the Children of the End could succeed. He then visited Wei Ge to purify her Younger Sister and began investigating whether a disputed crown was genuine.

• Shade spoke with Desire, who said the mad Firstborn Sons dwelled in the Sea of Origin and that Shade would have to face the Sea itself; Shade concluded that the true test was to purify the Firstborn Sons.
• Shade returned home and told Luvia and Dorothy what he had learned, then decided to seek guidance from Long-Haired Luvia and Adele of the Past when he could.
• Shade went to Arcadia City and purified Wei Ge’s Life Solution while Wei Ge told him that Cassandra’s appraisers believed the Scepter was likely genuine but questioned the crown.
• Angelina sensed Kingship Destiny on both artifacts, and Wei Ge suggested asking historians in Tobesk to verify the crown; Shade recognized Professor Manning’s name on Cassandra’s list.
• Shade took the crown and Scepter home, where Dorothy, Luvia, and Leisha examined them, and Leisha asked to keep the crown overnight.

Shade and Dorothy visited Professor Manning to have the Delinore Crown and Scepter appraised and learned that both were genuine, with evidence that Delinore had two crowns. Professor Manning shared what he knew about the Burgundy Family and the mysterious customs of Delinore’s royal court, leaving Shade with more questions about the ancient kingdom.

• At the Study Group, the Doctor announced that Tobesk would not host this year’s Summer Off-Campus Practice and proposed a future group mission to earn Practical Credit.
• Shade and Dorothy visited Professor Manning, where Durut Giles and Lust Edwardz were also present, and Shade shared what he had discovered about the Astley Family’s connection to the Burgundy Family.
• Durut Giles recounted rumors that Duke Astley and the king had secretly saved Delinore’s royal treasures and preserved the Burgundy Family’s legitimate line.
• Professor Manning appraised Shade’s Scepter as genuine and said the Crown was almost certainly genuine, adding that Delinore may have had two crowns for different occasions.
• Professor Manning explained that little could be verified about the Burgundy Family’s origins, then described Delinore’s mysterious royal court and its rumored secret faith.