Chapter Summaries

Shade met Viscount Bernhardt at Spider Hotel, where they caught up and discussed Shade’s search for a relic and the local Rhodes Cards scene. Coroner Mr. Ptolemy Albert then offered Shade a lead on a powerful diviner called the Amethyst Lady.

• Shade met Viscount Bernhardt at Spider Hotel and told him he had come to Moon Bay to search for a relic.
• Bernhardt learned that Shade had collected seven Founding Series cards and told him that Great City Player 1850 Champion Viscount Bell Gra lived in Moon Bay.
• Shade and Bernhardt discussed Princess Margaret’s new fabric business while waiting for coroner Mr. Ptolemy Albert.
• Mr. Albert told Shade he could not identify the reclusive diviner Shade sought, but described the Amethyst Lady, a formidable diviner who mocked the Seer Association.
• Mr. Albert suggested Shade seek out the Amethyst Lady, whose connections might help him find the person he was looking for.

Shade joined Mr. Bernhardt and coroner Mr. Albert to investigate a dead woman whose blood loss and neck bites appeared designed to implicate the local Bloodkin. After examining her corpse, they found evidence of a strange cause of death and an unusually lavish final meal, but the investigation remained unresolved.

• Mr. Albert told Shade and Mr. Bernhardt about cleanly decapitated corpses appearing in Moon Bay City's Lower District and described the unclaimed woman whose blood had been drained from inside her abdomen.
• Mr. Albert asked Mr. Bernhardt to investigate the woman's death and identify whoever had framed the Bloodkin, and Shade agreed to help.
• Mr. Albert brought Shade and Mr. Bernhardt into the morgue and showed them the woman's corpse, which bore extensive injuries and bite marks that were not the cause of death.
• Mr. Albert opened the corpse's stomach and found no obvious foreign object among its contents, but the remains showed that she had eaten an expensive meal inconsistent with her apparent circumstances.

Shade and Mr. Bernhardt examined a woman whose blood had been drained by an unknown egg-shaped object, then Shade visited Princess Trading Partner on Anne Bonnie’s behalf. The company’s one-eyed representative recognized Shade’s credentials and promised to ship the delayed cargo as soon as possible.

• Shade and Mr. Bernhardt learned that the corpse had traces of a vanished egg-shaped object in her abdomen and unusually hard bones.
• Shade and Mr. Bernhardt discussed the autopsy with Mr. Albert, then drank ale while Mr. Bernhardt described how he had met the coroner.
• Shade told Mr. Bernhardt that he would help investigate the case and gave him Princess Trading Partner as his contact address.
• Shade visited Princess Trading Partner at 45 Golden Harbor Avenue and presented a letter and a knight token from Anne Bonnie.
• The one-eyed representative verified Shade’s code phrase, apologized to Her Highness, and promised to send the delayed shipment out of port soon.

Shade met with Leisha’s three representatives in Moon Bay City to learn why her cargo ships were detained and planned how to resolve the obstacles. He left the customs issue in his hands, assigned other leads to the trading company, and returned home after arranging further inquiries.

• Shade met Anne Bonnie, William Kidd, and George Robert, who agreed to follow his orders and explained that three ships carrying grain and hidden special alloys were detained.
• George Robert said Customs suspected the company of aiding Military Intelligence Section Six, the Eddington Family was delaying safety inspections through the Port Authority, and the Hawthorne Family was influencing the Dock Office.
• Shade said he would contact Military Intelligence Section Six to clear the customs suspicion and asked George Robert to pursue connections with the Eddington Family.
• Anne Bonnie explained that the company’s earlier fight with the Black Hand Gang may have delayed someone working for an important person, prompting the Hawthorne Family’s retaliation.
• Shade said he would investigate the Hawthorne Family and Dock Office, asked Bonnie to search discreetly for someone near Herring Street, and questioned her about unusual corpses.
• Shade heard that no headless or blood-drained bodies had been found around the docks, then left the trading company and returned home.

Shade spent an evening with Miss Galina discussing his investigation into the Radiance Messenger shipwreck and the requests of two women from the Fifth Epoch. The next day, he entered the Black Hand Gang’s underground boxing venue in Moon Bay City and secretly found his way to its third level.

• Shade asked Miss Galina to help investigate the Radiance Messenger, a cruise ship whose wreck had killed more than three thousand people in 5180.
• Shade explained that he planned to find Mirror Fairytale for Miss Maxim and seek Black Flame Ice Wine for Professor Evans, and he contacted Old John and Miss Danist for help.
• Shade visited the Black Hand Gang’s underground boxing ring in the Lower District without an introducer, gaining entry by paying the guard extra.
• Shade used Enhanced Space Perception and Stone Heart to locate a third level above the spectators, then slipped inside and saw six gang members drinking and playing cards.

Shade interrogated Double Blades Mike about the Black Hand Gang’s dealings and learned that Mr. Freeman Hawthorne had once sent the gang to help a stranger search the Lower District for something extraordinary. Shade suspected the search might concern the Hope Diamond and headed to meet his Military Intelligence Section Six contact, Boatman.

• Shade used a steel pipe and a silenced revolver to defeat the Black Hand Gang members and interrogate Double Blades Mike.
• Double Blades Mike revealed that the gang had recently sought three Rhodes Cards, but Shade pressed him about an earlier operation.
• Double Blades Mike said Mr. Freeman Hawthorne oversaw the gang’s business and that three months earlier the gang had helped a stranger search the Lower District for something extraordinary.
• Shade left after shooting Double Blades Mike when he reached for a gun, then wondered whether someone else was searching for the Hope Diamond.
• Shade decided to investigate Freeman Hawthorne and went to find Boatman at the Sunday Review Newspaper.

Shade met reporter Mr. Cooper in Moon Bay City to learn about Freeman Hawthorne and find a way to contact Gray Gloves. At the Parsifal Club, Shade captured Hawthorne and learned that the man’s associates had killed a merchant who possessed three valuable Special Rule Cards, though Hawthorne did not know where the cards were.

• Shade met Mr. Cooper, who described Freeman Hawthorne’s family and criminal connections and said Hawthorne was likely at the Parsifal Club.
• Mr. Cooper told Shade that the club’s proprietress, Mrs. Frey, could help him contact Gray Gloves, and he shared what little he knew about the headless and drained-blood corpses.
• Shade infiltrated the Parsifal Club, found Hawthorne on the fourth floor, and knocked him unconscious.
• Shade bound Hawthorne to a chair and questioned him about three rumored Special Rule Cards.
• Hawthorne said his men had failed to obtain the cards, but they had killed the merchant who held them, and he did not know where the cards were.

Shade learned that the relic sought by the Ring Arcanist may have passed to the Belinder Family, then used Luvia’s divination to find the Arcanist that night. He confronted the Fifth-Ring Arcanist on a rooftop, and their fight began with the man emerging from his hat and aiming at Shade.

• Shade questioned Freeman Hawthorne about the Ring Arcanist, the Belinder Family, and Eternal Light, then knocked Hawthorne unconscious with Mind Blast.
• Shade asked Boatman for Earl Hawthorne’s address and routine, then told Luvia about his search for the relic.
• Luvia divined that night was a favorable chance to act but warned Shade that he might encounter danger.
• Shade followed a red butterfly from Earl Hawthorne’s carriage to a rooftop in the Lower District, where he met the Ring Arcanist.
• The Ring Arcanist emerged from his spinning hat after Shade struck it with a Thunder Spear, then aimed a finger-gun at Shade through the smoke.

Shade learned that the Belinder Family had taken a mysterious destiny-linked stone mirror, then encountered a witch who had tracked him to an alley in Moon Bay. The chapter ended with Shade hidden in the shadows as he asked the unfamiliar witch why she had sought him.

• Shade defeated a Fifth-Ring Arcanist who revealed that the Belinder Family had taken a hexagonal stone mirror said to be connected to Destiny.
• The Arcanist explained that the Moon Bay families secretly hired Ring Arcanists because they feared a prophecy about an ancient dragon returning to purify the city.
• Shade failed to learn how to contact the Belinder Family's Ring Arcanist and let the Hawthorne Family's Arcanist leave.
• As Shade prepared to leave, his badge heated, and he caught a metal tarot card depicting The Empress that had been thrown toward him.
• Shade sensed a witch waiting in a carriage, put on a mask, and hid in the alley before asking why she had come looking for him.

Shade met the Great Witch of Fate, Miss Belinder, and used a false identity to convince her he served Miss Benanis. She revealed the Angel Level Relic The Only Existence and summoned him to meet her at the Councilor Club on Sunday afternoon.

• Miss Belinder confronted Shade after hearing him discuss her through a curse placed on a Hawthorne Family arcanist.
• Shade claimed he was searching for the Hope Diamond on behalf of Miss Benanis, and Miss Belinder mistook him for her follower.
• Miss Belinder explained that the Hawthorne Family had sought The Only Existence, a Stone Mirror that made an engraved name unique by changing or erasing others who shared it.
• Miss Belinder invited Shade to the Councilor Club at one-thirty on Sunday and gave him a metal card to keep.
• Shade gave the name Sherlock, which Miss Belinder misheard as Charlotte, and watched her carriage leave.

Shade visited Miss Galina to discuss his upcoming meeting with Miss Belinder, then learned that the Fifth Epoch ship Radiance Messenger had been found as a remarkably preserved wreck off the West Coast. He planned to inspect its surviving boards at Moon Bay’s museum while Miss Galina and the others worked on locating the wreck.

• Shade told Miss Galina that Miss Belinder had invited him to meet on Sunday, and she advised him about the witch’s reliance on divination and limited combat ability.
• Miss Galina gave Shade records showing that the Radiance Messenger’s wreck had been discovered off the West Coast and identified as a Fifth Epoch ship.
• Shade learned that salvaged boards from the wreck lost their resistance to decay after removal, and two pieces were now displayed at the City Ship Museum in Moon Bay.
• Miss Galina explained that the wreck’s exact location was unknown and that reaching it would require a lengthy sea voyage.
• Shade agreed to focus on Moon Bay and inspect the museum boards while Miss Galina and the other ladies sought a way to locate the wreck.

Shade spent the day with the Red-haired Witch, attended the group meeting about three Academy students arriving for summer practice, and collected a rare book and a bottle of Black Flame Ice Wine. That night, Shade and Dorothy studied mermaid stories and scales together while swimming on Green Island.

• The Red-haired Witch persuaded Shade to spend the morning riding around her farm instead of visiting the black market.
• Doctor Schneider told the group that three Academy students, including the elven noble Emilia Sinode Moon Creek, would arrive in Tobesk next Tuesday to investigate a Document Level Relic.
• Shade recognized Emilia from his adventure in Randall River Valley, and Dorothy agreed to join Doctor Schneider and Shade in meeting the students at the train station.
• Miss Danist delivered the Black Flame Ice Wine, and Shade and Dorothy collected a copy of Mirror Fairytale from Old John.
• Dorothy planned to teach Shade about mermaids using Leisha's scales on Green Island, and Shade and Dorothy swam together beneath the moon while Little Mia watched from the island.

Shade visited a black market in Moon Bay City, bought two healing relics, and learned that the Dragon Devouring Order had joined forces with the Seekers of Light Research Society in the area. The chapter left him uncertain about how long the research society had been active locally.

• Shade asked Dorothy to look after his cat while he went out.
• Shade bought a jar of honey at the Honeycomb Duke Shop and used Mr. Albert’s password to enter the black market beneath it.
• Shade purchased two Feeble Healing relics for four Crowns, bringing his total Special Coins to four.
• Shade asked a masked seller about local factions and learned that Bloodkin clans lived in the area and outside organizations were infiltrating it.
• The masked seller told Shade that the Dragon Devouring Order was cooperating with the Seekers of Light Research Society in the Moon Bay Area.
• Shade questioned whether the research society had operated in the area for a long time, but the masked seller could not confirm it.

Shade investigated the possible return of the Chosen One of Light, then used his Gray-headed Eagle credentials to enlist local Gray Gloves agents in Moon Bay. He left them with four assignments, including speeding up the review of Leisha’s trading fleet.

• Shade reflected on the Dragon Devouring Order, the Chosen One of Light, and the possibility that a Poem Chapter Fragment in Moon Bay concerned dragons.
• Shade visited Mrs. Frey at the Parsifal Club and paid for information about Rhodes Cards, then received a name and address for a Gray Gloves contact.
• Shade presented his Gray-headed Eagle credentials to bookstore owner Mr. Dylan, who welcomed him as a returning high-ranking member of Gray Gloves.
• Shade asked local agents to check his old Safe House, monitor the Black Family, investigate Moon Bay Bridge funds, and review companies suspected of links to Military Intelligence Section Six.
• Shade had Gray Gloves accelerate its review of Princess Trading Partner, hoping to resolve the customs delay affecting Leisha’s fleet.

Shade prepared for his meeting with Bella Belinder while two Ring Arcanists used the relic Lightless Light to reach Belinder Big Ben. Their attempt to start a ritual was interrupted by Dawn Church arcanists and the Amethyst Lady, and the Angel Level Relic Dice Story Collection trapped them in a game.

• Shade decided to conceal his identity from Bella Belinder and spent the afternoon scouting the area around Belinder Big Ben.
• Two Ring Arcanists from the Seekers of Light Research Society flew invisibly to the clock tower and began setting up a ritual.
• York O'Connor and other Dawn Church arcanists confronted the pair, while Bella Belinder revealed herself on the observation deck.
• The woman announced that Light Chaser had ordered them to invite the Church and the Amethyst Lady to play a game before sunset.
• The woman activated the Dice Story Collection, sealing the terrace and forcing Bella, York, and the others to take their places at the table.

Lana Finkel forced Bella Belinder and York O'Connor into a Dice Story Collection game, where the three had to investigate who harmed Freeman Hawthorne. The players selected their controlled characters, and Bella chose Miss Charlotte despite uncertainty about whether she qualified as an ordinary human.

• Lana Finkel revealed that Mr. Light Chaser suspected Bella Belinder belonged to the Witch Council and began a Dice Story Collection game with Bella and York O'Connor.
• The Keeper of Secrets announced the story, “Daytime Murder Chase,” in which the victor could make one wish concerning the losers.
• Fiennel used a Coin of Wisdom to select George Pitt, while York O'Connor selected Officer Connelly Osborne as his controlled character.
• Bella Belinder drew the Earth card and chose Miss Charlotte, a follower of Vanessa, despite suspecting she might be a Seventh Ring Arcanist.

The Great Witch of Fate, the Seekers of Light Research Society woman, and York O'Connor prepared to play the Dice Story Collection using characters represented by detailed miniatures of Moon Bay City. After examining Charlotte's concealed character sheet and symbolic items, the players watched the story begin with Charlotte, George Pitt, and Connelly Osborne.

• A miniature block model of part of Moon Bay City appeared on the table, and the game rules explained that players would use dice checks and character abilities.
• The woman in the black dress used Coins of Wisdom to conceal numerical values and limit the displayed special abilities on each parchment.
• The Great Witch of Fate examined Charlotte's sheet and discovered abilities for rhetoric, strength, resisting relics, charm, and divination, along with three symbolic items.
• The witch reacted with surprise to Charlotte's relic-related ability and wondered about her connection to Vanessa and the Golden Dawn.
• A narrator introduced George Pitt, Connelly Osborne, and Charlotte as the story's protagonists, and three dolls appeared to mark their positions and states.

Shade discovered that the Dice Story Collection had chosen the murder of Freeman Hawthorne as the investigation target, despite Shade himself being the murderer. As the Great Witch of Fate used Charlotte’s abilities to win the first investigation check, the players learned the crime took place at the Parsifal Club and received clues about the culprit.

• The Silent One, the Detective, and the Outlander Traveler rolled to identify the crime scene, and the Silent One and Detective passed while the Outlander Traveler initially fell short.
• Shade recognized the Dice Story Collection and learned its game rules, including that he could see the checks and results for all three sides.
• The Great Witch of Fate used Charlotte’s Mortal’s Luck ability, and her roll raised the Outlander Traveler’s score enough to pass.
• The Great Witch of Fate identified Charlotte’s Military Intelligence Section Six and Gray Gloves agent professions, adding 60 points to the check.
• The players learned that the crime scene was the Parsifal Club; the Silent One learned the criminal was male, and the Outlander Traveler learned the criminal was male and no older than 30.

Shade, The Silent One, and the Detective investigated the Parsifal Club while the players made their first checks of the second round. Shade entered openly, The Silent One successfully infiltrated, and Miss Charlotte’s extraordinary charm score drew suspicion about her identity.

• Shade sensed the game’s influence over time as the three investigators traveled separately to the Parsifal Club.
• The Silent One circled around the Club, while the Detective considered seeking help from the Church and Shade walked straight inside.
• The Silent One’s Stealth check succeeded, granting a bonus for actions before the round ended.
• The Detective failed to reach the score needed to go to the Church, even after using his Nightmare and Pious Faith abilities.
• Miss Belinder’s charm check for Miss Charlotte scored 378, allowing her to seek information from Mrs. Frey and prompting the other players to suspect Miss Charlotte was a Ring Arcanist with unusual powers.

Shade learned more about Freeman Hawthorne’s attack at the Parsifal Club while The Silent One secretly eavesdropped, and the Dice Story Collection contest escalated as the witch tried to detect her. Shade’s extraordinary Inspiration then exposed the presence outside the door and randomly activated special abilities for his character.

• Shade charmed Mrs. Frey into revealing that Hawthorne had muttered “Eternal Light” after the attack and that the attacker had left silver coins for the two Technical Workers.
• The Silent One eavesdropped on the clues, and Miss Belinder challenged her with an investigation contest.
• The Silent One used an Old God holy emblem to seal the Outlander’s Investigation ability for the round after seeing the witch’s exceptional score.
• Shade sensed someone outside the door, triggering a contest that gave the Outlander a 50-point advantage and randomly activated one to four special abilities.