Recaps

Shade followed Professor Rul Higgins after seeing him collect a black suitcase from Warehouse Number 18 and discovered that Higgins was speaking with a Bloodkin at the Sikar Inn. Their conversation turned into an argument over payment, leaving Shade poised to learn more about the Gray Gloves and the suitcase.

• Shade recognized Professor Rul Higgins as one of the Gray Gloves after watching him leave Warehouse Number 18 with a black suitcase.
• Shade followed Higgins back to the Sikar Inn, where he saw him talking with an unfamiliar man.
• Shade identified the stranger as a Bloodkin using the new effect of Blood Echo and suspected the Bloodkin had helped Higgins obtain information from a corpse's spirit.
• The Bloodkin demanded the 200 pounds Higgins had promised and threatened not to let him leave.

Shade followed Professor Higgins and a Bloodkin after spotting them at the Sikar Inn, but found Higgins murdered in an alley. He killed the Bloodkin, settled the matter with Armand Bernhardt, and left with Higgins’s suitcase and body.

• Shade watched Professor Higgins leave the Sikar Inn with a shabby Bloodkin, then saw Armand Bernhardt follow them.
• Shade took a detour and found Higgins dead in Garbage Alley, where the Bloodkin was fleeing with Higgins’s suitcase, wallet, and pistol.
• Shade cut the fleeing Bloodkin in half with a silver arc, but the man re-formed as bats before becoming human again.
• Shade questioned the Bloodkin and learned that Higgins had hired him for Spirit Communication and that gambling debts had driven him to murder.
• Armand Bernhardt killed the Bloodkin, whom he identified as Kaost, and disposed of the body.
• Shade paid the 200-pound balance for the Spirit Communication, covered Higgins’s body with a bedsheet, and accepted Bernhardt’s business card before they left by opposite ends of the alley.

Shade used Soul Echo and Guiding Death to learn that Gray Gloves agents had fought over a suitcase intended for members of the Kassenric royal family. Professor Higgins’s fading soul transformed into a powerful evil spirit under the influence of Life and Death Limbo, and Shade’s counterattack sent it flying into the woods.

• Shade summoned fragments of Professor Higgins’s spirit and used Guiding Death to uncover that Gray Gloves agents had been sent to retrieve the suitcase for delivery to their headquarters in Weilun Dai'er City.
• Shade learned that the agents had turned on each other because one wanted to deliver the suitcase to his superiors, another to Prince Samuel Anjou, and Higgins to Princess Margaret Anjou.
• As Higgins’s soul began to fade, it unexpectedly regained substance and transformed into an evil spirit under the influence of Life and Death Limbo.
• Shade discovered that the evil spirit had a powerful, rapidly repairing shield and attacked it with his Moonbeam Greatsword and Mind Crystal Ring.
• Shade combined Soul Echo, Mind Blast, and Guiding Death in a punch that knocked the evil spirit into the woods.

Shade defeated Professor Higgins's evil spirit and learned that the Gray Gloves still expected a case to be handed over in Middlesburg. He brought the suitcase to Leisha and Angelina in Tobesk, but they had not yet opened it.

• Shade killed Professor Higgins's evil spirit, then revealed he was the Gray-headed Eagle and gave the professor the new handover details before sending his soul to the Land of Death.
• Shade buried Professor Higgins on Sikar Mountain and returned home to Mia the Cat, then went looking for Dorothy and Leisha.
• Leisha arranged to meet Shade by the Terrarell River, where he boarded the princesses' carriage with the suitcase and Mia.
• Shade asked Leisha whether the kingdom had lost or leaked a valuable document, explaining that he had found the suitcase in Middlesburg and that it belonged to the Gray Gloves.
• Leisha said she knew of no recent loss or leak, and the chapter ended with the suitcase still unopened as they watched the lights along the river.

Shade discovered that the suitcase taken from Gray Gloves contained Delarion’s prototype plans for a mechanical computing machine, which he recognized as the beginning of a new industrial era. Leisha arranged to copy and alter the documents before returning the originals to Gray Gloves, while Angelina asked Shade to help protect her from an unwanted political marriage.

• Shade opened the suitcase and found plans and research materials for a mechanical calculator, including a document describing its data storage section.
• Shade identified the design as a prototype Difference Engine and explained how advanced mechanical computers could transform industry.
• Leisha decided to copy the documents, investigate their source, alter key pages, and return the originals to Gray Gloves.
• Leisha said she would report recovering the documents to her father, and she kissed Shade.
• Angelina asked whether Leisha’s achievement could protect her from an unwanted marriage, and Shade promised to help her.
• Shade arranged to pass the suitcase on the following morning and reflected on the civilization developing in the steam-powered world.

Shade visited Grandma Cassandra to obtain a temporary disguise and a new Time Key, then went to Middhir Fort Train Station to deliver a suitcase. He waited among the crowds for the unknown recipient to appear around nine-thirty.

• Shade asked Grandma Cassandra for a way to completely alter his appearance for two hours.
• Grandma Cassandra gave Shade a Time Key from the Year 3024 of the Fifth Epoch and lent him the Identity Card of Unknown Name, warning him about its dangerous negative trait.
• In exchange, Grandma Cassandra invited Shade to observe her Teacher's ritual in the mountains of Sikar Mountain before the end of the month.
• Shade used the Identity Card to appear as a middle-aged man, bought Red Roses, put on his gray gloves inside out, and clipped a golden fountain pen to his pocket.
• Shade carried the suitcase to Middhir Fort Train Station and waited for the unknown recipient amid the crowds near nine-thirty.

Shade delivered a suitcase intended for Gray Gloves to a mysterious Witch’s follower aboard a special train and claimed to be the Gray-headed Eagle. He convinced her with a detail about the real agent, but a maid’s urgent message interrupted their conversation.

• Shade met the man sent to collect the suitcase and followed him into the train’s private carriage.
• The woman behind a screen questioned Shade about his identity and his connection to the Gray Gloves.
• Shade claimed to be the Gray-headed Eagle and said he had received intelligence from Virgil Cameron.
• When the woman tested him about the agent’s pocket watch, Shade named his love of Yorkshire Red Tea instead.
• The woman accepted Shade’s proof, then a maid entered and whispered an urgent message to her.

Shade completed the Gray-headed Eagle mission by helping a princess of Kasonlik evade Military Intelligence Section Six and collecting a large payment. Back in Tobesk, he returned a relic to Grandma Cassandra and asked whether the Anjou Royal Family had any Great Witches.

• The princess warned Shade that Military Intelligence Section Six had been spotted near the station, and Shade offered to handle the search while preserving his Gray-headed Eagle identity.
• The princess offered Shade a brooch, a note, and 200 Crowns, along with a further 1,000 pounds if he visited her contact in Tobesk.
• Shade accepted the payment and kept the princess's visit in Middlesburg secret, bringing his months-long quest chain to an end.
• Shade used Laguerre's Leap and the Corpse-Hiding Mirror to draw people away from the station, giving the occupants of Carriage One time to hide.
• Shade returned the Identity Card of Unknown Name to Grandma Cassandra and asked whether the Anjou Royal Family had any Great Witches.
• Grandma Cassandra said no direct Anjou royals were Great Witches, and Shade told her he had heard rumors of a Witch connected to Kasonlik's royal family.

Shade learned that a Kassenric princess with witch powers had appeared in Middlesburg, and Miss Galina confirmed that a Great Witch operated in the kingdom's capital. After Luvia spotted an omen of the Star Sea Whale's return, Shade traveled into Sikar Mountain to meet Captain Rades and search for a Demon Hunter's sword.

• Shade gathered reports that Sikar Mountain's evil spirits were growing stronger and the Orthodox Church was preparing a large ritual.
• Luvia woke Shade to announce that the Star Sea Whale would appear in the Material World's night sky before autumn ended.
• Shade told Miss Galina about the Kassenric princess, and she confirmed a Great Witch lived in Weilun Dai'er City and said the princess's connections warranted investigation.
• Shade left his cat at home and headed uphill toward Red Water Camp to meet Captain Rades and look for the Demon Hunter's sword.

Shade traveled along Wind Arising Path to the Traveler Camp, where he waited to meet Captain Rades. Instead, he unexpectedly encountered the Demon Scholar Xiao En Asmon, whom he had met before in Coldwater Port.

• Shade rode in a grain cart with an old farmer from Middlesburg and heard why the man still worked his ancestral fields.
• Shade reached Red Water Camp, said goodbye to the farmer, and explored the busy Traveler Camp outside the military post.
• Shade went to the Blue Rose Tavern to meet Captain Rades, ordered cider and lunch, and bought a copy of the Sikar Morning News.
• Xiao En Asmon entered the tavern, and Shade recognized the Demon Scholar he had once met at the Pink Rose Inn.

Shade reunited with Xiao En Asmon at the Traveler Camp, where the Demon Scholar described his search for a fire-related Demon and told a tale about a wish-granting Demon. A traveling poet, William Shelley, joined them for Rhodes Cards, and Shade won their first round as Asmon continued his story.

• Shade met Xiao En Asmon, who said he had traveled to Sikar Mountain to investigate rumors of a fire-related Demon.
• Shade told Asmon about the Mechanical College murders while they waited for Captain Rades, and Asmon explained how the Bronze Jar resembled demon-summoning rituals.
• William Shelley approached Shade and Asmon, offered a rare Bard Fletcher card as a wager, and invited them to play Rhodes Cards.
• Shade agreed to play Shelley while Asmon continued a tale about a Demon that granted wishes but brought calamity and malice.
• Shade stood at nineteen, Shelley drew until he reached twenty-four, and Shade won the first round.

Shade heard Mr. Asmon tell a story about a man who spent his life containing a Demon, only for the Demon to devour him and return to his hometown in his likeness. After winning a Heroic Legends card from Mr. Shelley, Shade met Captain Rades, who revealed that Red Water Camp’s commander owned another card from the series.

• Mr. Asmon told Shade and Mr. Shelley the story of a wishless man who traveled with a Demon and refused to trade his clothes for more years of life.
• Shade stood with eighteen in Rhodes Cards, while Mr. Shelley busted; Shade won and kept the Flower 9, Heroic Legends Fletcher.
• Mr. Asmon revealed that the Demon had devoured the man’s soul and taken his likeness, prompting Shade and Mr. Shelley to discuss Demons.
• Shade told Mr. Asmon that people should cherish their souls and stay away from Demons, then left to greet Captain Rades.
• Captain Rades identified Brigadier General Carter, commander of Red Water Camp, as the owner of Heroic Legends · Swordsman Sebaron.

Shade learned the location of Brigadier General Carter’s quarters at Red Water Camp, then secretly climbed inside to study a map of Sikar Mountain. Before leaving, he helped Captain Rades hit eight sparrows with eight shots, giving the camp a new story about the “Eight-Gun Captain.”

• Captain Rades gave Shade ninety pounds of the reward for solving the serial Murder Case and described Red Water Camp and Brigadier General Carter’s quarters.
• After Captain Rades was called back to camp, Shade entered the mountain forest and scaled the cliff behind the quarters.
• Shade searched the second-floor room, memorized the Sikar Mountain map, and hid in a Mirror when an officer entered.
• Shade watched Captain Rades shoot at sparrows and used Mind Blast to make the birds easier targets.
• Shade helped Captain Rades hit eight sparrows with eight bullets, then left Red Water Camp.

Shade searched Sikar Mountain for the sword hidden by an ancient High-Ring Arcanist, but the Moon nearly drew him into a dangerous trance before Sister Devlin stopped him. She warned him about the growing presence of Bloodkin in the mountains and revealed that they possessed three Sage Level relics, prompting Shade to recognize a familiar activation incantation.

• Shade followed the old directions through Sikar Mountain, killed an attacking one-eyed bear, and found the Blackwood Forest and the cliff where the sword was hidden.
• As Shade gazed at the Silver Moon, he lost track of more than an hour and reached toward it until Sister Devlin grabbed his arm and brought him back to himself.
• Sister Devlin explained that she had found Shade by sensing unusual moonlight and invited him to join the Blind Sisters at the summit lake, but he declined.
• Sister Devlin warned Shade that Bloodkin had been appearing in the mountains and possessed the Sage Level Blood Crown, Bloodkin Ring, and Blood Thorns Scepter.
• Shade recognized the Bloodkin Ring's possible activation incantation and asked Sister Devlin if it was “Transmutation of Blood and Flesh, Ascension of Flesh and Soul.”

Shade found the Demon-Slaying Sword in a hidden cavern beneath Sikar Mountain, where it was embedded in a bonfire sealing a demon. The demon attacked when Shade approached, and he realized the sword had been used to imprison it eight hundred years earlier.

• Sister Devlin explained the Bloodkin Ring's history and its risks, and Shade decided not to use it on Mia.
• Shade found the hidden cave entrance and descended into the mountain using the parchment to avoid its traps.
• Shade reached a vast hollow with a ruined rope bridge and found the Demon-Slaying Sword embedded in a burning bonfire.
• The bonfire flared and a demon-shaped giant hand attacked Shade, but he struck it with the Moonbeam Greatsword and forced it back into the flames.
• Shade recognized that an ancient High-Ring Arcanist had used the sword to seal a demon in the cavern.

Shade told Doctor Schneider about the sealed Flame Demon he encountered at Sikar Mountain, and the doctor identified it as the Evil Spirit Demon Incinerator Sokphis. Doctor Schneider planned to borrow a spatial-transfer relic so he could reach Middlesburg and attempt to devour the demon, while Shade prepared to visit Priest Augustus on Sunday.

• Shade visited Doctor Schneider with Mia and explained how he had obtained the Demon Hunting Seal and encountered a demon inside Sikar Mountain.
• Doctor Schneider identified the creature as Incinerator Sokphis, an Evil Spirit Demon imitating an alien Flame Demon, and warned that even a normal Flame Demon required a High-Ring Arcanist and specialized weapons to handle.
• Shade suggested leaving the demon sealed rather than risking its escape, but Doctor Schneider said devouring a weakened, sealed demon was his specialty.
• Doctor Schneider proposed borrowing a relic from the Correspondence Group to make a brief trip to Middlesburg and said he would tell Shade the result at their meeting the next day.
• Shade said he planned to visit Priest Augustus on Sunday, and Doctor Schneider asked him to tell the priest to stay safe.

Shade saw Iluna off as she left Tobesk for Middlesburg, then learned from Luvia that the Order of Spiritual Cultivation descended from the ancient Death Church. Their discovery suggested that Orthodox Churches had inherited some of the Ancient Gods’ power, and Luvia urged Shade to pursue the Order’s connection to Sister Devlin.

• Shade and Luvia said goodbye to Iluna, and Shade gave her a Youthful Immortality Leaf for her journey to Middlesburg.
• Shade replied to Miss Mia Goode’s letter, describing Little Mia and hinting that he might want to adopt the cat.
• Luvia returned with classified records showing that the Order of Spiritual Cultivation branched off from the ancient Death Church.
• Luvia told Shade that the Churches of Creation and Destruction and of Nature had also absorbed branches of the Ancient Death Church.
• Shade and Luvia concluded that the Orthodox Gods had inherited part of the Ancient Gods’ power, and Luvia urged Shade to investigate Sister Devlin’s possible connection to the Order.

Shade learned to use the Traveler's Travel Door, a Relic that briefly connected two spaces, and asked Doctor Schneider to arrange a trade so he could acquire it. He planned to retrieve the door's key the next afternoon before traveling to Middlesburg to confront a Demon.

• After the Study Group, Shade stayed behind with Doctor Schneider, who demonstrated the Traveler's Travel Door and explained its limits and dangers.
• Shade used the Relic to open a temporary passage, and Doctor Schneider showed him that only one person could pass through before the door closed after three minutes and twelve seconds.
• Shade arranged with Doctor Schneider to borrow the key the next afternoon so he could use the door during his trip to Middlesburg.
• Shade asked Doctor Schneider to contact the door's owners about trading for it, offering either his Youthful Immortality Leaf with additional money or his Corpse-Hiding Mirror.

Leisha’s fairy-tale magic grew stronger after Dorothy advanced, while her search for the Twins God offered Shade clues about the twins he had encountered in the past. After a restful night, Shade entered a new Time Corridor mission in the Central Continent, where he had to help the Gray-Robed Sage document the ruined Gaddis Library.

• Leisha summoned the Sleeping Princess and the Match Girl at once, explaining that Dorothy’s rise to the Fifth Ring had strengthened her own abilities.
• Leisha told Shade that Old Dad John’s Red Butterflies had not solved their problem, and that records described the Twins God blessing two women near Sikar Mountain to defeat a creature sealed in subspace.
• Shade realized Helen and Grace had sought the Cult of the Twins God’s help and broken the Destiny binding twins.
• Leisha used the Sleeping Princess’s spindle to give Shade a dreamless, restorative sleep, then stayed to talk with Luvia.
• Before dawn, Shade used Grandma Cassandra’s key and entered a Time Corridor set in Year 3024 of the Fifth Epoch.
• Shade arrived at Silent Valley during a snowstorm and received a trial to help the Gray-Robed Sage document the texts of the ruined Gaddis Library.

Shade traveled through the freezing Silent Valley to the library ruins, where he encountered three Witches. He recognized the yellow-haired Witch as Blaine Olanode, and she recognized him as Shade Suellen Hamilton.

• Shade trudged through the snow toward the library ruins and found a frozen corpse beneath it.
• Shade entered the ruined library, where three Witches were sheltering around a bonfire.
• The red-haired Witch heard Shade approaching, and the three Witches watched him reach the entrance.
• Blaine Olanode pulled Shade through the protective ritual and welcomed him inside.
• Shade greeted Blaine Olanode, and the Moon Witch recognized him by name.

Shade reunited with Miss Olanord in the snowbound ruins of Gaddis Library, where she and her companions were trapped by the valley’s deadly weather. He learned that a nearby shrine might belong to the Gray-Robed Sage and began planning to help the Witches escape and gather knowledge.

• Shade recognized Miss Olanord, who introduced her student Fiona Drago and their companion Peggy Samuel.
• Peggy used a spell to let the Witches understand Shade, and Miss Olanord recalled meeting him twenty-two years earlier.
• Peggy explained that the group had come to Gaddis Library to collect ancient texts, and Shade asked whether their expedition involved the Gray-Robed Sage.
• Fiona revealed that a shrine lay nearby, while Miss Olanord described Silent Valley’s dangerous snow stages and how a two-week blizzard had trapped them.
• Shade cast Silent Moonbeam to halt the Witches’ loss of strength and offered to bring supplies and investigate the shrine.

Shade and the Witches discovered an ancient ritual in a moon-marked shrine and offered it three books to summon Gadis. The ritual appeared to do nothing, but the Witches saw something frightening behind Shade.

• Miss Olanord sent Fiona to retrieve a shrine from the library while Shade asked about the people from the God of Vampires' wine party; he learned that the twins were missing, an old man had died, and their Witch mentor remained gravely injured.
• Shade showed the Witches his Ring Arcanist Thaumaturgy, and Fiona returned with the dusty stone shrine.
• Shade opened the shrine and found an ancient poem describing Gadis's Termination and calling for the Book of the Past, Book of the Present, and Book of the Future.
• Shade and the Witches chose three books and placed them inside the shrine as an attempted summoning ritual.
• When nothing seemed to happen, Shade turned toward the Witches and saw them terrified as they pointed behind him and gestured at his hand.

Shade and the Witches encountered the Guardian of the Library, who asked them to recover three forbidden books in exchange for wishes. After handing over the Spiral Text, Shade received the Ancient Voice Thaumaturgy and the group chose to use their wish to give Miss Olanord his Silent Moonbeam.

• Shade met the Guardian of the Library, who asked him and the Witches to retrieve the Nameless Sacrifice Book, the Yegge Scroll, and the Spiral Text for three wishes.
• The witch from Zalas revealed that she already had the Spiral Text, and Shade handed the sealed stone slab to the Guardian.
• By touching the Spiral Text, Shade gained the Ancient Voice Thaumaturgy and learned that the First Epoch lasted a long time after the Beginning Epoch, when the Thirteen Old Gods had not gone far.
• Shade and the Witches agreed to use their first wish to give Miss Olanord his Silent Moonbeam so she could help them endure the blizzard.
• The Guardian explained that he could transfer Silent Moonbeam from Shade to Miss Olanord, and Miss Olanord asked whether the transfer could be reversed.

Shade exchanged Silent Moonbeam for Miss Olanord’s Confusion and gained the Golden Miracle Ling Rune—Yellow Moon. After their embrace triggered his disappearance, Miss Olanord and the other witches wondered about his identity and his connection to witches.

• Shade asked Miss Olanord to exchange her Confusion spell for his Silent Moonbeam, and she agreed.
• The exchange gave Shade Confusion and exposed him to Yellow Moon’s power, but his Destiny Ring lacked enough power to inscribe a new Spirit Rune.
• Miss Olanord embraced Shade, helping him inscribe the Golden Miracle Ling Rune—Yellow Moon before he vanished in a burst of wind and snow.
• Miss Peggy Samuel teased Miss Olanord about embracing Shade, and the witches discussed who he was.
• Miss Olanord said Teacher Feilianna believed Shade was the only man witches could touch.

Shade gained the Yellow Moon Spirit Rune, then prepared to visit a boy who could Predict Death with Sister Devlin. He and the nun arrived at the Raven Club in Middlesburg, where their meeting was about to begin.

• Shade obtained the Yellow Moon Spirit Rune and discovered he could use it to cast an ochre-yellow Light Spell.
• Shade told Miss Galina about his journey through the Fifth Epoch and gave her a list of supplies to procure for the Witches; she agreed to help and offered to teach him to ride.
• Miss Galina invited Shade to the racetrack, but he declined because he had arranged to visit a boy who could Predict Death with a nun in Middlesburg.
• Shade received Miss White's final seven-pound payment, confirming that his commission to find Helen Black was complete.
• Shade met Sister Devlin at the House of the Blind, and they traveled to the Raven Club posing as John and Mary Watson.
• Shade pushed Sister Devlin's wheelchair into the Raven Club at Number 8 Roof Alley.