Recaps

After waking at Aurora Manor, Shade learned that Leisha Cavendish had left for Tobesk, where Prince Sax had been arrested after leading an armed group into Yodel Palace. Shade dined with Sivie Aurora, who confirmed she had failed to catch Daknis and explained what she had found in the Wine Cellar.

• Shade woke in an unfamiliar bedroom at Aurora Manor and summoned the servants with a bell pull.
• Sivie Aurora told Shade that Leisha Cavendish had left Coldwater Port for Tobesk an hour earlier and had not left him a letter.
• Shade guessed that the royal family had uncovered the culprit behind the attempt on Queen Diana's life.
• Sivie Aurora revealed that Dak Anlos had found the culprit and that Prince Sax had stormed Yodel Palace with guns before guards arrested him.
• Shade and Sivie Aurora dined together while discussing Leisha's departure and Shade's relationship with her and Galina.
• Sivie Aurora said she had pursued Daknis into the sea but failed to catch him, then described finding an empty hidden chamber and an old Fishmen's passage in the Wine Cellar.

Shade discussed Ivan Daknis’s escape and the aftermath of the Coldwater Port crisis with Sivie Aurora, who offered him a home there and promised to help him obtain a Spirit Rune. As the city recovered, Shade reflected on what he wanted and was invited to meet mermaids.

• Shade learned that a Ring Arcanist’s successful suicide could cause a painful reversal between the Arcanist and Another Me, though the fishman’s soul had instead been taken by a god.
• Sivie Aurora told Shade that Ivan Daknis had stolen valuables and Relics from the Blood Spirit School, including the Puppeteer’s Script, and had likely left Coldwater Port.
• Shade realized Daknis might travel to Tobesk to complete a ritual, while Sivie said she would remain in Coldwater Port for another half month and offered Shade access to her manor whenever he visited.
• Sivie promised to help Shade obtain the Vibration Spirit Rune and explained that the Witch Council had gained an advantage over the Orthodox Church, even as the Church had helped save Coldwater Port.
• Sivie invited Shade to see the mermaids, then teased that he could choose one of her maids; Shade declined, saying he knew what he truly wanted.

After the Scarlet Secret Society’s defeat, Shade visited the mermaids with Miss Aurora and returned home to find Dorothy waiting for him. He ended the night uncertain whether Dorothy Louisa or Leisha Cavendish had kissed him, then looked up at the bright Silver Moon.

• Shade told Miss Aurora that the Scarlet Secret Society had chosen the wrong time to act, then followed her to meet the mermaids at the beach.
• Shade asked the mermaids about Desire, but they had no information about the intelligent Level 0 Relic; Miss Aurora suggested that mermaid legends may have influenced its form.
• Shade retrieved the Soul Fishing Rod from beneath Coldwater Port and returned home through the Hidden Wall.
• Dorothy welcomed Shade with a kiss, thanked him for saving Leisha Cavendish, and kissed him again after he told her he had destroyed their shared relic, Drowned Fishman's Scales.
• Shade and Dorothy talked until ten o'clock, and he remained unsure whether Dorothy or Leisha had been speaking with him.
• After Dorothy left by carriage, Shade declined to invite her to stay and looked up at the Silver Moon from Saint Derain Square.

Shade visited the lighthouse at Coldwater Port with Mia, enjoying the sea after the cult incident had ended. He met Mr. Edmund, reassured him about his identity, and handed over the promised Scarlet Secret Society tome before their discussion continued.

• Shade took Mia to the lighthouse and watched the sea while reflecting on the aftermath of the Coldwater Port incident.
• Mr. Edmund returned from fishing and recognized Shade, but said the Hermit Order had no interest in his secrets.
• Shade helped Mr. Edmund carry his catch inside, where the lighthouse cat ran out and Mia startled it with a roar.
• Mr. Edmund explained that the Hermit Order preserved knowledge to confront the world's end and regretted that Shade was not the God Summoner.
• Shade gave Mr. Edmund Mysteries of the Ocean, a tome taken from a Sea Burial ritual node, and Mr. Edmund returned the money he had paid Shade.

Shade traded the dangerous book with Mr. Edmund, learned that the Guiding Light Hermitage was searching for thirteen Sanctuaries, and declined an invitation to join for now. After reporting the Level 0 Relic Desire to the Church, he returned to Tobesk and headed to Miss Galina’s, wondering whether she was angry with him.

• Shade gave Mr. Edmund the dangerous book in exchange for access to it and help translating it, then asked about the rumored Level 0 Relic in Coldwater Port.
• Mr. Edmund invited Shade to join the Guiding Light Hermitage, but Shade declined and agreed to reconsider in ten years after hearing about the thirteen Sanctuaries.
• Shade delivered a warning about Desire to the Nature Church, searched unsuccessfully for coin-type Relics, and returned home.
• Maid Tifa Servit collected Shade for Miss Galina and told him that Dorothy’s Detective novel had become popular in the Steam Bird Daily.
• Shade asked Tifa whether Miss Galina was angry, and she teased him by asking what he had done to upset her.

Shade visited Galina and gave her a pearl from Coldwater Port, which she asked him to save as a birthday gift for Queen Diana amid coming political turmoil. Galina warned him that Leisha was ambitious and intended to gain power by supporting a royal heir; after returning to Tobesk, Shade found the Seer Association’s leaders arriving and went to greet them.

• Shade showed Tifa a large pearl and brought it to Galina, who told him to keep it for Queen Diana’s birthday.
• Galina discussed political turmoil and the attempt on Queen Diana, then asked Shade about his relationship with Leisha.
• Galina warned Shade that Leisha sought influence by supporting one of the royal children rather than becoming queen herself.
• Shade and Galina discussed the Council’s search for Daknis, who was traveling inland from the West Coast.
• Shade went to the Seer Association to find Luvia but instead saw Vice President Mark and President Addis Stan arrive, so he went to greet them.

Shade learned that the injured guest at the Seer Association was Princess Angelina Cavendish, who had been visiting under the name Weaving Machine Lady. Chairman Stan asked Shade to investigate the incident, and Shade entered the VIP room where the Princess and her companions were gathered.

• Shade joined Chairman Stan and Vice President Mark for drinks and a discussion about Great City Player and Rhodes Cards.
• A diviner reported that a distinguished guest had been injured during a reading in the VIP room.
• Vice President Mark told Shade that Weaving Machine Lady was Princess Angelina Cavendish.
• Chairman Stan asked Shade to investigate the incident as a paid commission from the association.
• Shade entered the VIP room and saw a doctor bandaging a red-haired girl while several young ladies and maids watched.

Shade investigated Princess Angelina Cavendish’s hand injury during a fire-divination game and found no clear evidence that the tortoise shell had been tampered with. He proposed using Little Mia to sniff the young ladies’ hands, and Angelina volunteered to go first.

• Shade arrived with Little Mia on his shoulder and learned that a tortoise shell had burst during the young ladies’ fire divination, cutting Angelina’s hand.
• Shade questioned the ladies and discovered that Angelina had suggested the divination and brought the tortoise shell and charcoal.
• Shade examined the basin and bone fragments, then used Echoes of the Past and heard nothing beyond the accident as the ladies had described it.
• Shade reconsidered the tortoise shell after Little Mia reacted to its burnt smell and decided to test whether the cat could detect a scent on the ladies’ hands.
• Shade asked the young ladies to present their hands to Little Mia, and Angelina volunteered to go first.

Shade completed Princess Angelina Cavendish’s investigation by identifying a young lady who had touched something suspicious, then received his fee from Chairman Stan. Later, he told Luvia about his escape from Coldwater Port and the power he gained from the Level 0 Relic Desire, while she worried about the strange course of his life.

• Shade had Mia sniff the noble ladies’ hands and noticed a chestnut-haired girl rubbing hers against her skirt.
• Shade questioned the girl after Mia reacted, and Angelina recognized her, bringing the investigation to an end.
• Angelina left with the girl and her friends, while Chairman Stan warned Shade that the matter involved palace politics.
• Chairman Stan paid Shade two thousand pounds in one-shilling notes, which Shade counted in the Divination Room.
• Shade told Luvia that Daknis had escaped and described his encounter with Desire and the Great Sin Chains.
• Luvia examined Shade and cautioned him that the power and experiences surrounding him were abnormal.

Shade and Luvia discussed how to confront Daknis and the demon empowering him, then Shade received a letter and twenty pounds from Princess Angelina Cavendish. He recognized Angelina from a past encounter at Lake View Manor and decided not to pursue her invitation to a salon.

• Shade described Daknis's four combat states and the demon's abilities, and Luvia said they would plan how to stop him from taking the second Chosen One position.
• Shade asked Luvia whether it was the Sixth Epoch, and she confirmed that it was.
• The next morning, Shade found a letter and twenty pounds from Princess Angelina thanking him and Little Mia for finding the real culprit.
• Shade remembered seeing a red-haired young woman at Lake View Manor and realized she was likely Angelina.
• Shade put away the money and set aside Angelina's invitation, choosing to focus on Daknis and renovating his home.

Shade asked Priest Augustus how to deal with someone possessed by an Evil Spirit Demon and agreed to meet him at a cemetery that night in exchange for a powerful potion. Later, Dorothy explained that a major political faction was about to fall and advised Shade that a pearl gift could help him win Queen Diana’s favor.

• Shade visited Dawn Church to ask Priest Augustus for ways to fight Demons, and the priest said true-god churches, divine arts, and Divine Rituals could suppress them.
• Priest Augustus offered Shade a bottle of Weak Angel Potion if he helped with a task at a rural cemetery, and Shade agreed to meet him at midnight.
• Shade decided not to involve Doctor Schneider in the matter, fearing that provoking the Demon connected to him could make it more dangerous.
• Dorothy visited Shade and delivered Leisha’s message about Princess Angelina’s train schedule.
• Shade showed Dorothy the giant pearl he planned to give Queen Diana for her birthday, and Dorothy said a political faction was about to suffer a major downfall.

Shade met Priest Augustus at Hangman's Path and followed him to the Unnamed Cemetery to dig up a grave for a ritual. They left the drunken Gravedigger safely asleep in his cabin and began their secret operation.

• Dorothy urged Shade to give the pearl to Leisha, and her words left him distracted for the rest of the day.
• Shade finished Professor Garcia's report on Locked Space and set out at night with Mia to meet Priest Augustus.
• Shade reached Hangman's Path, where Priest Augustus arrived carrying two Iron Shovels and explained that they would dig up a grave for a ritual.
• Shade and Priest Augustus used Shade's illusion to enter the Gravedigger's Cabin, found the Gravedigger passed out drunk, and left him covered with a blanket before taking a lantern.
• Shade and Priest Augustus headed into the cemetery to begin digging, with Mia accompanying them.

Shade and Priest Augustus investigated Muir Lee Nem’s grave after a peasant woman reported dreams of her dead husband being tortured. They discovered a cursed dagger animating the corpse, and the chapter ended with the dagger withering Priest Augustus’s hand after he pulled it from the ground.

• Priest Augustus told Shade that a peasant woman suspected the scholar who arranged her husband’s funeral had committed Blasphemy against the corpse.
• Shade and Priest Augustus dug up Muir Lee Nem’s grave and found a black dagger clasped in the decayed corpse’s hands.
• The corpse seized the dagger again when Priest Augustus tried to remove it, then rose from the grave and attacked him.
• Shade and Priest Augustus fought the undead creature, and Shade cut it in half while the priest set it ablaze.
• The dagger blackened the earth, and when Priest Augustus pulled it out, his right hand shrank, blackened, and dried up.

Shade and Priest Augustus tried to destroy a corpse that wielded a strange dagger, but it repeatedly revived and attacked the Priest. After Augustus used Corpse Explosion, the corpse crawled from the crater even fresher and more agile than before.

• Priest Augustus healed his wound, sealed the dagger in a consecrated box, and explained that the corpse needed an exorcism to prevent it from contaminating the cemetery.
• The green flames restored the corpse, and Shade detected faint traces of the Whisper Element coming from its body.
• The corpse reappeared with the dagger and attacked Priest Augustus, blocking both his lightning and Shade’s great sword.
• Priest Augustus used Corpse Explosion to blast the corpse into a crater while Shade retreated with Mia.
• The corpse crawled out of the crater, looking more human and moving more nimbly, and charged Priest Augustus again.

Shade and Priest Augustus restrained the resurrected corpse and summoned the soul of a Fifth-Ring Arcanist, who tried to raise the dead in the graveyard. Shade’s Great Sin Chains corrupted the soul, and he destroyed it with Moonbeam Greatsword, leaving the ritual’s purpose unresolved.

• Shade trapped the corpse beneath a tree with Great Sin Chains while Priest Augustus sealed it with holy light.
• Shade and Priest Augustus identified the corpse as a scholar who had buried himself in the grave, and Shade found ancient ritual markings inside the coffin.
• Priest Augustus summoned the corpse’s soul, which appeared as a Fifth-Ring Arcanist and began trying to raise the graveyard’s dead.
• Shade threw Mia at the soul to disrupt its attempt to enter the corpse, then pierced it with chains formed from Gluttony and Greed.
• The chains corrupted the soul and its Destiny Ring, so Shade destroyed the mutated spirit with Praise the Moon.

Shade and Priest Augustus stopped a Truth Society Ring Arcanist who was using repeated resurrections to merge with a Relic, then recovered the ritual’s dagger and soul container. After Shade left, he secretly saw Augustus reveal damaged white wings and fly away with the corpse and evidence.

• Shade and Priest Augustus resurrected the soul and bound it with the Great Sin Chains until it confessed that he belonged to the Truth Society and was attempting to merge with the Death Curse Dagger.
• Shade shattered the soul again, and Priest Augustus captured traces of it that led them to a violet-gold locket buried near the coffin.
• Shade and Priest Augustus sealed the locket and dagger, checked the grave, and reburied the peasant woman’s husband before Shade left with Mia.
• Priest Augustus gathered the corpse, shovels, and sealed items, then summoned translucent, damaged white wings and flew toward the city.
• Shade returned through Silver Mist and watched Augustus fly, wondering what kind of creature the priest’s wings belonged to.

Shade attended the Study Group, handled Academy business, and received a new Time Key for the Fifth Epoch 1784. Miss Danist recruited him for a secret mission to collect the glow of a Ring Arcanist’s Guiding Moon Spirit Rune, offering him a chance to become a candidate for Saint Byron’s next library administrator.

• Shade collected photographs, mailed them to Miss Goode, and brought Little Mia to Doctor Schneider’s Clinic.
• Priest Augustus told the group about the events in Coldwater Port, and Doctor Schneider warned the Academy that members of The Truth Society had appeared in Tobesk.
• Shade submitted his course paper, requested a book, and received a Time Key for the Fifth Epoch 1784 from Professor Garcia.
• Doctor Schneider reported The Truth Society to the Academy and received a five-pound information fee, which he split with Priest Augustus.
• Miss Danist told Shade she had found a Serkses Higher Medical Academy Ring Arcanist with the Guiding Moon Spirit Rune and asked him to secretly collect its radiance when the man reached Tobesk.
• Miss Danist offered Shade payment, Practical Credit, a private elective course, and a place on the next administrator candidate list if they opened the Silver Moon Library.

Shade asked Miss Danist about the Academy’s enrollment traditions but found no old rules connected to his hoped-for gift. Later, Dorothy helped him attempt to learn the Thaumaturgy Brave Heart, but it failed, and the evening ended with Shade asking her if he could wash some clothes for her.

• Shade asked Miss Danist about official enrollment procedures and rules dating back to the Academy’s founding, but she said modern rules began in the Sixth Epoch.
• Shade returned to Doctor Schneider’s clinic and told his friends that Miss Danist had commissioned him to draw an updated map of Tobesk and the surrounding regions.
• Dorothy told Shade that a Thaumaturgy called Brave Heart had been inspired by Tree’s Kiss, and Shade attempted to learn it with her help.
• Shade’s Destiny Ring showed no response to the ritual, so he accepted that Brave Heart did not fit him.
• Shade asked Dorothy if he could wash some clothes for her, startling her into stepping back and bumping into the door.

Shade arranged extensive repairs to his house, including reopening the third floor, and learned that the work would cost 200 pounds. Later, he reunited with Luvia and Iluna and spent the afternoon telling them about the Coldwater Port Incident.

• Shade and a repair team inspected the damaged third floor and discussed extensive work on the house.
• Shade agreed to have the house repaired within a week using the best materials, accepting a 200-pound quote with a possible partial refund.
• Shade told Luvia and Iluna about his plans for the empty rooms and explained that the third floor would include a darkroom for Thaumaturgy and curse practice.
• Shade recounted nearly all of the Coldwater Port Incident to Luvia and Iluna, leaving out the secret involving Aurora, Dorothy, and Leisha.
• Iluna praised Shade's adventures and remarked that they made her feel unlike a Chosen One.

After eating the flesh of a Level 0 Relic, Shade spent the evening with Luvia and Iluna and learned that the Relic’s influence had stirred his desire. When he sensed that Luvia was cursed and rejected by time, he chose to respect her secrets, while the voice beside him revealed how closely it had always been with him.

• At dinner, Iluna tested Shade’s control over his desire, and Luvia warned him that consuming the Level 0 Relic flesh could have dangerous effects.
• Luvia and Iluna took charge of preparations for Daknis’s arrival and told Shade to settle his own affairs and rest.
• After Iluna left, Luvia kissed Shade and asked him to promise that he would stay with her to witness the Thirteen Chosen Ones.
• Shade sensed Luvia’s Soul Power and learned from the voice beside him that she possessed the Power of Time but was rejected and cursed by it.
• Shade decided to wait for Luvia to share her secrets herself, then returned home and heard the voice say it had always been with him.

Shade used the fourth Time Key and entered Terror Castle in the North Continent, where he was tasked with helping a mortal win the Life Gamble. He escaped a darkness-filled passage and met Slaichi Riddle, a scholar and Prophet who had been trapped in the castle and whose memories were being eroded.

• At midnight, Shade opened the bedroom door with the Time Key and entered the Time Corridor, where Father of Infinite Tree sent him to Terror Castle in the winter of 1784.
• Shade learned that he had to help a mortal win the Life Gamble to earn the Thaumaturgy Breath of Time and information about Dark Dungeon.
• Shade saw Crimson Moon eyes in an unlit passage and ran toward a Red Bronze door, using Silver Moon to hold back the chilling presence behind him.
• Shade entered a room containing a Stone Table and several dozen corpses, where he met a wary barefoot man who said the castle’s rules let them understand each other.
• Slaichi Riddle told Shade that he was a scholar and Prophet who had become lost in Terror Castle, where strange events had eroded his memories and left him terrified.

Shade visited Mister Riddell in Terror Castle and learned that the Gambling God's Table could summon a god for a wager whose winner could make a wish. Mister Riddell prepared to use it to escape, with Shade agreeing to stay by his side and help.

• Mister Riddell explained that Terror Castle had no exit and showed Shade the relic called the Gambling God's Table, which could summon a god for a wager.
• Mister Riddell offered Shade biscuits made from a relic that transformed ordinary objects into food, then drank the water Shade gave him.
• Mister Riddell told Shade that he worshipped the ancient creator god Lord of the Ring, who presided over Destiny and the Recurrence Cycle.
• Mister Riddell revealed that the corpses in the room had taught him how to use the Gambling God's Table and that he had decided to begin the wager.
• Shade agreed to remain with Mister Riddell and help him through the wager.

Shade and Mister Riddell began a supernatural wager called the Game of Life, in which they placed memories from their lives against cards chosen by a summoned god. Mister Riddell recalled surviving an undead village and encountering a dragon, while the first two memories clashed with the god’s cards.

• A hooded god appeared across the stone table, and the corpses recited the rules of the Game of Life: each side would place ten life scenes, and the victor could leave.
• Mister Riddell placed a card called Undead Resurrection, depicting his experience surviving an illusion of a village inhabited by the dead.
• The god placed a card showing a witch pointing at the Sun, and the two memories manifested as figures that battled before retreating to their cards.
• Shade asked Mister Riddell for another strange memory, prompting him to recall a dragon encounter from when he was twenty.
• Mister Riddell placed Dragon's Calamity, depicting his escape from a dragon and the witch’s lifelong order that he replant one hundred saplings each year.

Shade discovered that the tabletop game revealed a key point about his journey through time, then returned from the Fifth Epoch after promising to help Mister Riddell recover his memories. Back in his own time, he investigated the meaning of the assignment and drew four metal printing plates from God's Gift Box.

• Shade watched Mister Riddell's side narrowly win a supernatural tabletop battle before the twenty-minute visit ended.
• Shade promised to return and help Mister Riddell search for his past, then vanished into the White Fog.
• Shade returned home, picked up Mia, and wondered whether Slaichi Riddle had any historical importance or whether the time-travel task had no deeper meaning.
• Shade planned to report that he had met Mister Riddell at Terror Castle so the Academy could investigate without suspecting him.
• Shade tested God's Gift Box and found four metal plates bearing matching recessed and raised patterns of the front and back of a one-shilling banknote.

Shade received four master plates for printing one-shilling banknotes from God's Gift Box and decided to keep them secret and give them to Leisha. On Monday, he learned Professor Garcia had approved his report, met Tifa Servit to discuss the Seer Association incident and arrange furniture from Miss Galina, then visited Priest Augustus about the house renovation.

• Shade discovered that God's Gift Box had given him four master plates for printing one-shilling banknotes, and decided to give them to Leisha while keeping their existence secret.
• Shade received Professor Garcia's reply approving his report and awarding him five Practical Credits for the Terror Castle investigation.
• Shade prepared to buy furniture before the renovation began, but his badge warmed and Tifa Servit arrived on behalf of Miss Galina.
• Shade told Tifa what had happened at the Seer Association, and she explained that the supposed murderer was Prince Sax's lover, a girl manipulated into committing the crime.
• Tifa offered spare furniture from Miss Galina's estate and planned to choose suitable pieces after inspecting Shade's house.
• Shade visited Priest Augustus at the Dawn Church, where the Priest asked whether he needed a supervisor for the construction work.