Recaps

Shade learned that the Keeper of Secrets Level relic Noble House trapped people in the identities of servants, then entered Wosente Manor using a Fifth Epoch signet ring to pose as an emperor’s envoy. He secured a welcome from the manor’s ghosts and claimed he needed shelter for the night while carrying an urgent letter to Serkses Higher Medical Academy.

• Shade explained Noble House to the three Cultists and told them to warn their Cult that the manor feared a special kind of cross and could be fought with Third Epoch Demon Hunter weapons.
• The Cultists paid Shade with diluted Holy Water No. 2 and a ring warlock’s book, but the blond young man attacked him with a Bursting Talisman.
• Shade killed the blond Cultist with Moon’s Thorn, spared the other two after they collected the corpse, and questioned their resolve to carry out their plan.
• Shade entered Wosente Manor, resisted its attempt to alter his identity, and showed the ghostly maid his signet ring as proof that he was an envoy of Witch Emperor Violet.
• The maid and the Corpse Ghoul butler welcomed Shade, and he requested a night’s lodging while traveling to Serkses Higher Medical Academy with an urgent letter.

Shade entered the Wosente Family’s manor under the guise of an envoy and joined the undead family for dinner. When he asked about Haila Osenfott’s marriage, the family revealed their hatred for her husband, leaving Shade to investigate why they believed he deserved to die.

• The Old Butler and a maid escorted Shade through the decaying manor to meet its undead inhabitants.
• Shade met Old Watsont and the rest of Haila Osenfott’s family at their grotesque dinner table.
• Shade refused the family’s food and offered them wine, then claimed he was carrying an important item for Serkses Higher Medical Academy.
• Shade asked about Haila’s marriage, making the family grow gloomy as they recalled her husband.
• Old Watsont’s younger brother denounced Haila’s husband as deserving death, and the family claimed his money was stained with innocent blood.

Shade explored the Wosente manor’s guest room, briefly freed an undead visitor from demonic corruption, and learned that Old Watsont had hidden a valuable weapon in the Master Bedroom safe to use against Osenfott. Unable to enter the Master Bedroom through its guarded window, Shade flew into another room and heard someone snoring.

• Shade accepted a guest room from the old Corpse Ghoul and found a ghost in a portrait, a giant spider, and an undead corpse beneath the bed.
• Shade temporarily restored the corpse with a potion and questioned it about the manor, learning that Old Watsont kept a small valuable item in the safe in his bedroom.
• The corpse’s temporary clarity ended, so Shade forced it into Slumber with a holy-silver cross.
• Shade flew to the Master Bedroom window but could not get inside, then entered a different room through a glassless window.
• Shade returned to human form in the seemingly habitable room and heard faint snoring.

Shade subdued Haila Osenfott’s corrupted brother and mother to learn how to reach the Master Bedroom, discovering that the family’s father had killed them. He took the key and confronted Haila Osenfott’s Uncle in the mansion, where he revealed the Gluttony Spirit Rune as the ogre charged.

• Shade bound Haila Osenfott’s brother, briefly restored his human eyes, and learned that his mother held the keys and was in the kitchen.
• Shade put Haila Osenfott’s mother and three ghostly maids into Slumber, then used a candle and Confusion to learn that the Master Bedroom key was on her corpse in the water vat.
• Haila Osenfott’s mother remembered that Osenfott had killed the family, became a fallen evil spirit, and attacked Shade before he imprisoned her.
• Shade retrieved the bloodstained key from the water vat and left the kitchen as the mansion’s remaining spirits faded and its opponents grew stronger.
• Haila Osenfott’s Uncle charged Shade through the corridor, accusing him of being another assassin sent by Stone Osenfott, and Shade revealed the Gluttony Spirit Rune.

Shade subdued Old Watsont's transformed brother and learned that a small treasure meant to defeat Stone Osenfott remained hidden in the manor. In the Master Bedroom, Old Watsont revealed his memories of the massacre and asked Shade to help bring the family liberation.

• Shade used the Lord of the Blood Feast's power to crush the ogre's soul and questioned Old Watsont's brother, who confirmed that the treasure was still in the manor and that Old Watsont knew its hiding place.
• Shade trapped Old Watsont's brother in a protective circle and entered the demon-marked Master Bedroom.
• Shade met Old Watsont, who said he remembered the massacre three years earlier and had killed himself to escape being killed by the demon.
• Old Watsont recalled Stone Osenfott's role in the family's tragedy and questioned how Haila could have married him afterward.
• Old Watsont asked Shade to help end the family's torment and revealed the demon runes branded on his chest.

Shade defeated Old Watsont and recovered two finger bones of the First Angel, then used the Clay Holy Grail to end the manor’s illusion and reveal its ruined state. The relic and the bones offered a way to oppose Stone Osenfott, but Shade still needed Violet Majesty’s treasure sword and a way to overcome the remaining threats.

• Shade fought Old Watsont in the snowy courtyard, severed its limbs, and pinned it with a silver nail.
• Shade freed Old Watsont’s family, including the youngest daughter, and questioned the ghost dog about the relic and how to defeat Stone Osenfott.
• The family gave Shade a bone box containing two finger bones of the First Angel, which could counter immortality but were not enough to defeat Stone Osenfott alone.
• Shade learned the bones had come from Grave Robbers in Glass City, Mikella Blast Furnace City, and recorded the lead.
• Shade used the Clay Holy Grail to drive away the earth’s madness and restore the manor to its ruined, present-day state.

Shade left Wosente Manor after freeing the five souls trapped there and met a Sun Church Arcanist squad on the snowy road. He warned them about the manor and the Blood Spirit School, then continued toward the city.

• Shade watched the five former manor masters burn away in the sunlight, kept their family photograph, and left the estate.
• On the road through Cedar Forest, Shade encountered three Ring Arcanists from the Sun Church heading to investigate Wosente Manor.
• Shade told the squad he had driven away the relic, purified the undead and Mad Earth, and shared that the Guardians could grant Earth Power.
• The Seventh Ring Arcanist gave Shade Holy Water No. 4 and reported that the escaped cultists remained in the area, while Weeper of Blood Hermons might have returned to the Old Continent.
• Shade warned the squad to be careful at the manor, asked about the Blood Spirit School, and continued toward the city as the Arcanists headed to the estate.

Shade met with Luvia and Emilia, discussed threats connected to the Chosen Ones, and arranged to collect materials for his search for the Black Night Spirit Temple. He returned home to find Dorothy waiting, where she revealed that Priest Augustus was expected to visit that night.

• Shade told Luvia that the Demon had a plan involving the Chosen Ones and that Stone Osenfott posed a serious problem.
• Shade asked Luvia to help search the Black Night Spirit Temple on Thursday, and they discussed preparations for the Chosen One’s ritual.
• Emilia joined Shade and Luvia for dinner, shared rumors about Miss Danist and Miss Mana Falianna, and agreed to bring Shade Elven Pure Water materials on Wednesday night.
• Shade escorted Emilia out of the city, gave the Witches the Nurturing and Memory Holy Grails to identify, and left the Watsont family photograph at the Forgotten Church.
• Dorothy told Shade she had found a lost Cat with Little Mia and revealed that Priest Augustus was coming to meet him that night.

Shade told Priest Augustus about resolving the demon-corrupted manor and finding the final two finger bones of the First Angel. He asked the priest to forge a weapon that would hide the bones’ true power and discussed how to ensure a demon’s contracted victim’s soul could not remain in the Material World.

• Shade welcomed Priest Augustus to his home and described the severe corruption at the manor and how its relic had kept the Church from discovering the problem.
• Shade showed Priest Augustus the two finger bones recovered from the manor, and the priest recognized them as the final bones of the First Angel’s right hand.
• Shade explained that he planned to investigate the Grave Robbers who had sold the bones and asked Priest Augustus to make a convincing but crude weapon from their power within ten days.
• Shade asked how to dispose of the soul of the person contracted with the demon, and Priest Augustus suggested Sister Devlin or another person whose identity Shade understood.
• Priest Augustus explained that collecting every finger of the First Angel’s right hand signified a profound change, and Shade left the money he owed the priest unpaid for now.

Shade prepared with Doctor Schneider for his next confrontation with Stone Osenfott and planned to visit Miss Danist before returning to Randall River Valley. He then went to Galina Manor, where he found Princess Leisha visiting Miss Galina.

• Shade told Doctor Schneider that Stone Mirror Demon-Goth was unusually powerful and that he planned to complete Stone Osenfott's and Haila Osenfott's tasks before confronting the demon again.
• Shade revealed that absorbing the demon's power through a relic had formed his five-ring Pride Spirit Rune, and the doctor warned him to guard against losing control.
• Shade asked Doctor Schneider how to prevent Stone Osenfott's soul from escaping after his body was destroyed, and the doctor advised him to shatter it with a powerful attack.
• Shade arranged to meet Miss Danist the next morning and told Doctor Schneider to be ready to travel to Randall River Valley around the end of the following week.
• Shade arrived at Galina Manor and discovered that Princess Leisha was visiting Miss Galina.

Shade asked Miss Galina to find Marylin Handel and send her to Randall River Valley, then visited Earl Granger to discuss his family history. He told the Earl that Thomas Granger had investigated the family’s origins and sought the tomb of an ancestor named Lyman, and the Earl asked whether Shade had found it.

• Shade asked Miss Galina to locate Marylin Handel and send her to the Bountiful Earth Inn in Randall River Valley City as part of his preparations to deal with a dangerous soul.
• Shade spent the morning with Leisha and Miss Galina, visited the restored Forgotten Church, and then went to Earl Granger’s manor.
• Shade greeted the newlywed Enriques couple while they waited to meet the Earl, and Mr. Enriques told him about hearing of Shade’s help recovering the family’s medals.
• Shade told Earl Granger that Thomas Granger had researched the family’s origins and sought the tomb of a man named Lyman.
• Earl Granger asked Shade whether he had already found the tomb.

Shade bought an ancient key from Earl Granger and discovered that an Earth Runestone awakened its hidden Miracle Element. He concluded that the key opened a nearby lock connected to the Heart of the Earth, and began planning how to find it.

• Shade learned that the Granger Family's old Graveyard had been destroyed in the Randall River Valley Earthquake of 1498, and Earl Granger offered him access to the family's timber grounds where it once stood.
• Shade bought the antique key from Earl Granger and studied it at the Wilde Opera House while Miss Benanis and Miss Lathers searched for Mr. Lathers's safe house.
• Shade tested the key with the Earth Runestone, causing its carved patterns to glow and revealing its connection to Miracle Element.
• Luvia, Miss Benanis, and Miss Lathers explained the key's discovery in an ancient underground Temple and its later release into the market.
• Shade said the key must open a nearby lock connected to the Heart of the Earth and noted that many of his clues pointed to the Granger Family.

Shade told Luvia, Miss Benanis, and Miss Lathers about the Ancient Evil Spirit he was investigating and urged them to prepare Miss Lathers to master Earth Power. The next morning, he consulted Miss Danist about choosing Thaumaturgy and revealed he had gained two Spirit Runes in a week.

• Shade explained that he had identified an Ancient Evil Spirit and planned to search the Granger Family's old cemetery for clues about the key.
• Shade asked Miss Benanis to help Miss Lathers retrace Mr. Lathers's path and urged Miss Lathers to master an Earth Power within half a month.
• Miss Lathers explained the functions of the two Holy Grails: one enhanced memory, and the other helped stabilize pregnancy.
• Shade offered Miss Benanis wine and promised to call her if danger arose in Randall River Valley.
• On Wednesday morning, Shade visited Miss Danist and revealed that he had acquired the Miracle and Blasphemy Spirit Runes since their previous meeting.

Shade chose the passive thaumaturgy Miracle Technique Praise the Sun, which Miss Danist offered to teach him, and selected two candidates for library assistant positions. Miss Danist prepared to leave on a business trip and offered to pass Shade’s greetings to Luvia Annette, who was in Randall River Valley.

• Miss Danist praised Shade’s progress and offered to cover the information and ritual materials for a thaumaturgy linked to Blasphemy - Pride.
• Shade declined the offensive thaumaturgy Evil Breaking Slash and chose Miracle Technique Praise the Sun for its passive recovery and Sun-power benefits.
• Miss Danist said the Academy would send Shade the learning materials and that he would need a Ring Arcanist with Sun Power to help with the noon ritual.
• Shade selected Kanna Messiah and Emilia Sinode as candidates for the two remaining Library Administrator Assistant positions.
• Miss Danist said she was leaving on a business trip, reminded Shade to keep studying carefully, and offered to convey his good wishes to Luvia Annette.

Shade visited Margaret at the Wilde Opera House, agreed to attend her Friday gathering and help with a private meeting at the Stone Masons Association, then uncovered useful clues in Military Intelligence Section Six’s confidential plans for Randall River Valley. He returned to the Opera House for lunch with its young ladies, leaving the story poised for his afternoon meeting with Margaret.

• Margaret told Shade that the Academy had sent people to inspect the overseas Silver Mine and invited him to a Friday gathering for nobles involved with the Southern Second Shipyard; he agreed to attend and accompany her to a private Stone Masons Association meeting.
• Shade went to Military Intelligence Section Six’s waste disposal center and received a sealed top-secret document bag from Mr. Johnson.
• Shade read the Sixth Office’s plans for Randall River Valley and found several clues that he believed could help Margaret resolve the Stone Masons Association matter.
• Shade returned to the Wilde Opera House and ate lunch with the young ladies, Miss Lathers, and Miss Benanis.

Shade accompanied Princess Margaret to meet Stone Masons Association Chairman Calvin Pigman, while he secretly contacted a Sixth Office spy embedded in the association. The spy warned that Prince William had enlisted Vice Chairman Giles to obstruct Margaret’s peace talks, leaving Shade with a clearer picture of the threat to her efforts.

• Shade traveled with Margaret to the Stone Masons Association, where she met Chairman Calvin Pigman and other officials.
• Shade left the meeting and used a coded exchange at a stone-carving shop to contact an undercover Sixth Office agent known as the Old Stone Mason.
• Shade told the Old Stone Mason that he could retire from the organization with severance pay once his work in Randall River Valley was complete.
• The Old Stone Mason reported that Margaret wanted to broker peace between the royal family and the association, but Prince William opposed her success.
• The Old Stone Mason revealed that Prince William had met Vice Chairman Giles through local businessman Stone Osenfott and likely promised him something to obstruct Margaret Anjou’s negotiations.

Shade questioned the Old Stone Mason about Stone Osenfott, then confronted Osenfott and learned that the answers he sought might lie within a Stone Heart. He returned to the Stone Masons Association and interrupted Margaret’s meeting by aiming a revolver at Vice President Giles.

• Shade learned from the Old Stone Mason that Stone Osenfott had once studied sculpture at the association and was talented but bad-tempered.
• Shade met Osenfott outside the shop, followed him into an alley, and pressed him about Wosente Manor, the ancient evil, and the missing sapphire Pendant.
• Osenfott confirmed he was born in spring, warned Shade about the ancient evil, and told him the answers lay within a Stone Heart.
• Shade ordered Osenfott to appear outside the local Dawn Church on Friday morning with specific items so Luvia could observe him.
• Shade returned to the Stone Masons Association and gave Margaret new information during her meeting with President Pikeman.
• Shade drew his revolver on Vice President Giles, who sprang up and raised his hands.

Shade helped Princess Margaret expose Giles’s attempt to sabotage negotiations with the Stone Masons Association, allowing her to begin discussing reconciliation with Chairman Pigman. As Margaret and Shade left, an elderly gentleman passed them on the stairs and suddenly fell forward.

• Shade accused Giles of taking benefits to disrupt Margaret’s negotiations, and Giles admitted that someone had paid him but refused to identify who.
• Margaret had Giles taken away for questioning and assured Pigman he would return to work if he was not connected to Military Intelligence Section Six.
• Margaret presented Mr. Fleming’s old share document and discussed repairing the royal family’s relationship with the Stone Masons Association through an apology and compensation.
• Pigman agreed to cooperate cautiously, and Margaret asked the association to keep their meeting confidential while she sought her father’s approval.
• Shade predicted Margaret would arrange a private apology, and she confirmed she would speak to her father after the shipyard opening.
• An elderly gentleman passed Shade and Margaret on the stairs, paused, and suddenly fell forward.

A sudden wave of near-petrification cases spread across Randall River Valley, and Shade learned that the earth's madness was worsening into what the Church called the Petrification Plague. After collecting Elven Pure Water from Emilia, he heard an Elven prophecy that the plague marked the land's growing instability and chose to remain in the valley to help confront the crisis.

• Shade discovered that an elderly man at the Stone Masons Association showed signs of petrification in his right leg and learned of another similar case in the city.
• Miss Benanis and Miss Lathers told Shade that more than two hundred people across Randall River Valley had developed abnormal hardening in their limbs, prompting the Church to call it the Petrification Plague.
• Luvia told Shade that the Association would hold a Divination Ritual and that the earth's madness could only be suppressed through the Chosen One Ritual for now.
• Shade traveled alone beyond the city and received the Elven Pure Water from Emilia, who sensed that the land felt wrong.
• Emilia explained an Elven prophecy that the earth would gradually fall into madness and its inhabitants would begin merging with it through near-petrification.
• Shade decided to stay in Randall River Valley to see how the Church would address the disaster and urged Emilia not to return before spring.

Shade said goodbye to the Elf Girl until spring, then returned to Tobesk and learned that Dorothy and Leisha had arranged an honorary history degree for him. He planned to help Professor Manning prepare a paper while continuing his work in Randall River Valley.

• Shade gave the Elf Girl poems and Unicorn hairs, and she left for the woods on her Unicorn after agreeing to meet him in spring.
• Shade rode toward the woods, reflecting that he needed to focus on the mysteries in Randall River Valley before spring.
• Shade told Dorothy he would take Mia to Randall River Valley, and Dorothy showed him a gossip item about his supposed secret date with Vanessa Benanis.
• Dorothy told Shade that Saint York College of Liberal Arts would award him an honorary degree in history, funded anonymously through Leisha.
• Dorothy explained that Professor Manning would help Shade publish a paper using materials from Randall River Valley, and Shade said he had already discussed the plan with him.

Shade returned to the Black Night Spirit Temple with Luvia, Miss Lathers, and Miss Benanis while the petrification plague worsened across Randall River Valley. As the group investigated the temple and its surroundings, they found the ritual matrix Shade had left behind during his time travel, but the chapter ended before they uncovered the temple’s hidden spaces or extracted the Time Key.

• Dorothy asked Shade whether he would enter the Tobesk Spring Horse Racing and teased him about a reward if he placed in the top three.
• Miss Lathers and Luvia told Shade that the petrification plague was spreading randomly among long-term residents, while Miss Benanis agreed to test whether a diluted Holy Grail elixir could help.
• Shade, Luvia, Miss Lathers, and Miss Benanis rode into the eastern mountains and reached the Black Night Spirit Temple with Little Mia.
• Shade and Luvia searched the cave beneath the temple for a hidden space, but found no passage despite hours of searching.
• Miss Benanis and Miss Lathers found a location suitable for sensing the earth’s memories, and the group returned to the temple clearing, where Shade discovered the ritual matrix imprinted beneath the snow.

Shade searched the Cedar Forest for the statue of the Space Old God while Miss Lathers prepared a ritual to extract the land's memory. After Mia confronted a tiger and Shade subdued it, he let it go and turned back along the path, surprised by something behind him.

• Miss Lathers said the Sun, Moon, and Stars Pattern was an ideal place to extract the land's memory and planned to perform the ritual after dinner with Vanessa's help.
• Luvia and Miss Lathers prepared for the ritual while Luvia sent Shade to continue searching for the statue of the Space Old God.
• Shade entered the Cedar Forest with Mia and encountered a tiger, which fled after Mia roared at it.
• Shade chased the tiger across the frozen Ailong River, wrestled it down with Red Dragon Force, and subdued it with Mind Blast.
• Shade drew a Flower 12 card, fed the tiger holy water, and let it escape before turning back along the path.
• Shade raised an eyebrow and looked behind him after walking less than five minutes.

Shade met Benjamin Elford, a scholar who had remained a ghost after accidentally dying in the mountains, and agreed to help publish his unfinished folklore article. After recovering and burying Elford’s remains, Shade prepared to send him on, but first agreed to play one final game of Rhodes Cards.

• Shade learned that Benjamin Elford had died in a fall and had stayed with the tiger, which followed his instructions through the mountains.
• Elford asked Shade to submit his completed article, and Shade agreed to publish it under his own name with Elford acknowledged and an elderly professor listed as corresponding author.
• The tiger led Shade to Elford’s hidden remains and shoulder bag, and Shade buried the bones before examining the surviving research materials and belongings.
• Shade burned Elford’s personal letters and belongings as requested and kept the pocket watch, while Elford gave him the rest of the bag’s contents.
• Shade suggested one last game of Rhodes Cards before sending Elford on, and Elford offered him a special card afterward.

Shade played two rounds of Rhodes Cards with Mr. Elford, a dead traveler who had searched the nearby mountains for an ancient Temple. After helping Mr. Elford’s spirit depart and letting his tiger return to the forest, Shade decided to investigate the mountain summit himself.

• Shade and Mr. Elford played a two-win Rhodes Cards match, and Shade won both rounds, receiving Mr. Elford’s Ancient Fairy Tales card.
• Mr. Elford told Shade that he had found a cave at the mountain’s foot but had seen no Temple or archway from the summit.
• Mr. Elford asked Shade not to kill his tiger, then urged it to return to the forest with a raw meat toy.
• Shade opened a Black Rift so Mr. Elford could depart, and Mr. Elford mentioned finding interesting traces on the mountain summit.
• Shade added Moon 3, Ancient Fairy Tales, to his deck and resolved to investigate the summit.

Shade discovered an ancient stone slab on the mountain summit and activated a hidden passage beneath the cave. The passage ended at a magically sealed double stone door, and the antique key from Earl Granger began to glow.

• Shade climbed to the summit, uncovered a buried stone slab, and read its inscription about the Sun and the Chosen One of the Earth.
• Shade illuminated an ancient Earth Mother emblem with Sunlight Ray and pressed its palm-shaped hollow, strengthening his Earth Power and improving his eyesight.
• Shade returned to the cave and found a newly visible rift leading to an underground passage.
• Shade followed the passage to a double stone door decorated with butterflies and the Earth Mother’s holy emblem.
• Shade tried Door Key on the sealed door, and the antique key from Earl Granger began to glow.