Chapter Summaries

Shade and his companions discussed the Wise Man’s Gleaming Stone, a mysterious trial, and the danger of pursuing a thief, then Shade went to a cemetery to collect Apna Library’s documents. He left with the suitcase and wondered whether to inspect it before delivering it to Old John.

• Shade, Luvia, Dorothy, and Doctor Schneider discussed exchanging the Wise Man’s Gleaming Stone for a Founding Series Rhodes Card and reported the Lake View Manor trial to the Academy, which rewarded them.
• Priest Augustus suggested the trial’s unseen person might be the thief targeting Tobesk, and Doctor Schneider urged the group to investigate together rather than act alone.
• Shade told Leisha he would be out that evening, and she agreed to stay home, look after Little Mia, and proofread Dorothy’s manuscript.
• Shade met an Apna Library contact at the eastern Public Cemetery, verified him with Old John’s code questions, and took the suitcase of documents.
• As Shade left the cemetery, he considered sneaking a look inside the suitcase before handing it to Old John.

Shade delivered the documents in an illegal transaction, but the Peace Church ambushed the cemetery. He escaped detection and found the injured Apna Library member who had traded with him, leaving with a chance to renew contact.

• Shade suspected that the Apna Library member might have tipped off the Church after finding golden warning threads woven across the cemetery fences.
• Shade used Laguerre's Leap to cross the Church's barrier, then returned to the cemetery as butterflies and hid among the gravestones with Red Butterfly Illusion.
• Shade waited until the Church's searchers passed, then disguised himself as gravestones and other objects to leave the cemetery unseen.
• Shade found the injured Apna Library member collapsing at the cemetery gate and offered to help him escape the Church.

Shade rescued an injured Apna Library member, earned fifty pounds, and recognized Sir Legenes Presia as a possible Academic Spy. After reporting to Old John, Shade learned that the Chosen One ritual had to take place on water, leaving his suspicions about Presia unconfirmed.

• Shade helped a mentally exhausted man escape the cemetery and took him to 21 Ikem Street, where the man’s associates paid Shade fifty pounds.
• Shade recognized Sir Legenes Presia among the masked Ring Arcanists and suspected that Presia was an Academic Spy connected to Apna Library.
• Shade returned to Old John’s pawnshop with the suitcase and recounted the Church’s ambush and his visit to Ikem Street.
• Old John promised to pressure Apna Library over the failed mission and warned Shade not to take the Canticles and Chosen Ones lightly.
• Shade examined Apna Library’s documents and learned that the Chosen One Ritual had to be conducted on water.
• Old John told Shade that Schneider trusted his judgment and suggested that Shade was working to preserve civilization.

Shade returned to the Fifth Epoch at Lost Lake to help the Witch Emperor seek the secret of Eternal Beauty, bringing Little Mia with him. He reunited with Violet and Teresa beside a bonfire, where their reunion ended just as Teresa urged them to discuss the important matter.

• Shade left home through the Time Corridor with Little Mia and learned that he had thirty minutes to help a mortal obtain the secret of Eternal Beauty from a god.
• Shade crossed the mist-covered lake as Red Butterflies and was spotted by Teresa and Violet on Lake Heart Island.
• Teresa and three maids used a rope to pull Shade from the lake and welcome him back.
• Shade brought Little Mia out of its toy form, and Violet praised the cat and joked about trading an earldom for it.
• Teresa interrupted Shade and Violet's conversation and reminded them to discuss the important matter.

Shade met Miss Violet and Miss Teresa at their camp, exchanged research papers with them, and discussed his connection to the Night Watchman. Before they left the lake, Miss Violet showed him the Brave Man's Food Pocket, which produced a peeled Egg for him.

• Miss Violet gave Shade her improved Fire Resistance Potion formula, Miss Teresa shared part of her thesis, and Shade handed them his own thesis.
• Miss Violet asked Shade what he was and whether he had used the Night Watchman; Shade admitted he had used it at another point in time but refused to explain how he had arrived.
• Miss Violet corrected Miss Teresa when she asked what her aunt had inferred, saying that such matters were beyond a Witch who had not yet begun her career.
• Miss Violet decided the group had stayed at the lakeside camp long enough, and the Head Maid explained that their relics and supplies could sustain them.
• Miss Violet offered Shade the Brave Man's Food Pocket, and he drew out a steaming peeled Egg while Mia showed no interest in eating it.

Shade, Miss Violet, and Miss Teresa crossed Lake Heart Island’s dangerous thorn thickets and entered the Obsidian Tower, where the god had moved to the second floor. They discovered a hidden staircase that could only be found and climbed through direct contact with bare skin.

• Shade used the Night Watchman and Moonbeam Greatsword to clear a path through the thorn thickets as he and the two Witches reached the Obsidian Tower.
• Shade noticed golden fissures spreading across his body after he opened the tower door, then gave Miss Violet and Miss Teresa his true name before entering.
• Shade found the tower’s first floor empty and, with the Witches, discovered an invisible staircase concealed in the water mist.
• Shade learned that the staircase appeared only through direct contact and that shoes could not touch it, so he removed his boots and socks and advised the Witches to do the same.

Shade, Miss Violet, and Miss Teresa reached the Second Floor of the tower and passed the God of the Lake’s first trial by offering Crystallizations of Wisdom. The god granted them the Wise Man’s Blessing and set a second trial requiring a satisfactory water sacrifice, while Miss Teresa insisted on continuing despite the strain on her mind.

• Shade led Miss Violet and Miss Teresa up the twisting invisible staircase to the tower’s Second Floor, where he offered their papers to the stream and discovered that Miss Violet’s and his own qualified as Crystallizations of Wisdom, but Miss Teresa’s did not.
• The God of the Lake emerged from a whirlpool, accepted Shade’s and Miss Violet’s papers, and rewarded all three with the permanent Wise Man’s Blessing after Shade answered that wisdom was like flowing water.
• The god set a second trial requiring a water sacrifice and withheld the third trial’s details until they completed it.
• Outside the tower, Miss Violet listed ordinary offerings made by the god’s followers, while Shade healed Miss Teresa’s mental strain with Cindyia’s Silver Moon Gift.
• Miss Teresa refused to give up, and Miss Violet agreed to take her back into the tower next time despite warning that she might not return.

Shade learned that the sacrifice for the God of the Lake’s Sage’s Test might be water imbued with the power of an Ancient God, then returned to his own era. There, he received Miss Danist’s alchemy item for collecting spirit radiance and considered how to use it to investigate Sir Prisha.

• Shade asked Miss Violet and Miss Teresa about a suitable sacrifice, and they suggested searching for water containing an Ancient God’s power.
• Miss Violet sensed an incomplete Echo from Shade and realized he reflected the past and traveled through time; she told Miss Teresa that Shade would visit their era only once more.
• Shade returned home, where Little Mia rejected a dried sausage from the Fifth Epoch because time had made it inedible.
• Shade found a heavy crate from Taylor and Wanda United Mining Company and told Dorothy that it contained the item for Miss Danist’s Academy commission.
• Shade read Miss Danist’s instructions and learned that the mirror-based alchemy item could collect spirit radiance but required careful containment between uses.

Shade visited Iluna at Blackstone Security Company to discuss Professor Manning’s theft and ask for help investigating the Cult of the Old God, but learned the company had itself been robbed by Jack the Thief. Iluna agreed to investigate Shade’s request and warned that many organizations had gathered in Tobesk for the Keeper of Secrets’ trial.

• Dorothy explained the danger and history of the Evil Mirror of Burgundy, then shared breakfast with Shade and discussed winter preparations.
• Shade left with Little Mia and arrived at Blackstone Security Company, where Mr. Robinson directed him to Iluna.
• Iluna told Shade that Jack the Thief had stolen the level 3 Mandela Snake Nest Bottle from the company’s storage room, threatening the team’s evaluation and bonuses.
• Shade asked Iluna to investigate the Cult of the Old God, and she agreed to seek information through the Church.
• Iluna warned Shade to guard against theft and described the organizations gathering in Tobesk, explaining that they were drawn by the Keeper of Secrets’ trial rather than the Fourth Chosen One.

Shade visited Priest Augustus, who identified the Goddess in the Lake as likely an ancient Angel called Cherub and gave Shade a scorched feather to use during her trial. After a Sunday of church duties, Shade received Leisha’s invitation to a Wednesday Reading Salon and began Monday by checking that his home’s steam heating worked.

• Shade asked Priest Augustus to investigate the Uncertain Wise Man cult commission and showed him Miss Violet’s Fire Resistance Potion recipe, which Augustus recognized as an exceptionally effective but prohibitively expensive formula.
• After sensing Cherub’s scent on Shade and Mia, Priest Augustus heard about Shade’s meeting with the Goddess in the Lake and concluded she was likely an ancient Angel.
• Priest Augustus promised to investigate Cherub’s identity and gave Shade a scorched feather to present to her, hoping it would ease Shade’s trial.
• Shade spent the afternoon attending church service and distributing relief food to the poor before returning to Saint Derain Square.
• Shade received Leisha’s invitation to a Wednesday Reading Salon at the Seer Association and considered the risks to Princess Margaret.
• On Monday morning, Shade checked his home’s newly activated steam heating with Mia and confirmed there were no leaks.

Dorothy told Shade that Jack the Thief had stolen two letters about Professor Drake, and Shade used her notes to infer that an unknown phenomenon had once made the professor unnaturally healthy. After arranging for further investigation in Huntington, Shade went to the Seer Association and asked Luvia to divine something.

• Shade received a week with no task and put away the wool scarf that came with God's Gift Box.
• Dorothy told Shade that Jack the Thief had taken two letters from Professor Manning, and she recalled their contents from her notes.
• Shade concluded that Professor Drake's unusual claims of good health suggested an unknown influence before his journey to Lake of Cherub, and he planned to compare the clues with reports from Huntington.
• Shade left home with Little Mia, registered his interest in the Seer Association's Rhodes Cards tournament, and asked Luvia to divine using the Coin of Wisdom and the Dandelion Coin.

Shade learned that Jack the Thief would strike again in Tobesk on Wednesday night and planned to help the Church catch it. He then traveled to Huntington to investigate Professor Drake’s matter and met Father Nobel, the powerful Arcanist he had encountered before.

• Luvia told Shade that Jack the Thief would target something connected to King Larus III in central Tobesk, and that it would strike on Wednesday night during the Great Fog.
• Shade planned to watch for the thief from the Seer Association and arranged for Dorothy to look after Mia while he might be fighting.
• Shade left Mia at Miss Galina’s estate, took Night Watchman, and traveled to Huntington to pursue Professor Drake’s matter.
• At the White King Club, Mr. Bernhardt introduced Shade to Father Nobel, whom Shade recognized from the battle before Princess Margaret left Huntington.

Shade learned that a missing Sage Level Relic, the Knowledge Arrow of Akenola, caused a deadly outbreak in Huntington in 1842 and may have altered Professor Drake. He left the White King Club intending to investigate Drake’s past and find more evidence linking him to the relic and the Goddess in the Lake.

• Mr. Bernhardt introduced Shade to Father Nobel, who agreed to share records about strange events from 1842.
• Father Nobel explained that the Knowledge Arrow of Akenola could awaken Gifted people, drive others mad, and let Ring Arcanists learn bizarre knowledge when wounded by it.
• Father Nobel recounted how a Pantanal Voodoo Society member used the arrow in an attempt to create Ring Arcanists, causing illness and murders before Church forces killed him.
• Father Nobel said the arrow was never recovered and might have been taken by the Voodoo Society or left hidden in Huntington.
• Shade suspected the arrow’s effects explained Professor Drake’s condition and resolved to investigate the professor’s past, the price he paid, and the wish he made.

Shade searched Rust Alley for clues to the missing Knowledge Arrow of Akenola, but found that the site of Halder Ondiba’s death had been rebuilt and its old traces were gone. He discovered that strangers had recently questioned the shopkeeper and altered his memories, so he prepared to use the Fish Training Ring on the shopkeeper’s White Mouse to investigate further.

• Shade went to Rust Alley, where the Church had killed Halder Ondiba, hoping to find clues about the Knowledge Arrow of Akenola.
• Shade learned from the Swine Shop owner that the former owner of Rust Alley No. 15 had fled after going bankrupt, and that the building’s old furnishings were long gone.
• The shop owner revealed that two strangers had asked similar questions the previous week, but he could not remember their faces or what they had asked.
• Shade realized the shopkeeper’s memory had likely been altered, hypnotized him with Spiritual Power and a talisman, and concluded the strangers were probably Ring Arcanists.
• Shade took the shopkeeper’s White Mouse and prepared to use his Fish Training Ring to investigate the mouse’s memories.

Shade questioned a White Mouse with the Fish Training Ring and learned that two outsiders had mentioned 39 Matilda Street and the Voodoo Society. When the street had no such address, he found a concealed entrance across the river and began breaking through its cursed barrier.

• Shade used the Fish Training Ring to question the White Mouse, which told him that two strangers had asked similar questions and mentioned 39 Matilda Street.
• The White Mouse recalled hearing the words Voodoo Society, relic, sacrifice, and a once-in-a-century opportunity, then chose to return to its cage.
• Shade confirmed that Matilda Street had no Number 39 and searched the riverbank opposite its odd-numbered side.
• Shade found a concealed entrance marked with a message about the Great Pantanal reclaiming its territory and concluded it was connected to the Voodoo Society.
• Shade used Feliana's Witch Light to reach through the stone wall, endured several curses, and discovered a dark space beyond it.

Shade investigated Halder Ondiba’s apparent Safe House in Rust Alley and realized it was only a decoy. He found a hidden entrance to a second site, survived its defenses, and prepared to investigate what lay beyond.

• Shade entered the concealed space behind the stone wall and found that two earlier visitors had removed its supplies and searched its walls for other hidden spaces.
• Shade concluded that the nearly empty room was a false Safe House meant to mislead Halder Ondiba’s enemies and companions.
• Shade searched along the riverbank wall and detected a faint trace of elements 129 steps to the right.
• Shade triggered a curse, poisoned vines, and a vision of the Evil of Pantanal while opening the hidden entrance, but Night Watchman and Primordial Fire protected him.
• Shade collected a poisoned vine fragment in a bottle for Sister Devlin before entering the newly uncovered opening.

Shade explored Halder Ondiba’s abandoned riverside Safe House and found a fortune, occult books, and evidence that Professor Kansas Drake had once been Ondiba’s friend. He left with the photograph and other discoveries, planning to ask Drake about their erased connection while shifting his focus back to Tobesk.

• Shade entered Halder Ondiba’s Safe House and found more than 300 Gold Pounds, over 50 Crowns, and several books and potion formulas.
• Shade discovered a photograph of Halder Ondiba with a younger Professor Kansas Drake, along with inscriptions suggesting they had been close friends.
• Shade found jewelry, a Relic coin, a pistol with rune-carved bullets, and a parchment learning ritual for Swamp Chameleon in hidden compartments.
• Shade concluded that the Goddess in the Lake had erased Drake’s connection to Ondiba and decided to show the professor the photograph the next morning.
• Shade gathered the books, money, and parchment, restored the stone wall, and planned to return his attention to Tobesk after his remaining Huntington appointments.

Shade returned from Huntington with jewelry, cash, a mysterious coin, and a flying stone slab, then spent the evening with Luvia. Luvia identified the coin as a demon-made relic, and Shade woke Tuesday morning regretting that he had neglected his year-end exam review.

• Shade returned home and showed Luvia the jewelry he had found in a dead Ring Arcanist’s hideout.
• Luvia examined Shade’s belongings and helped him get dressed before they went out to dinner.
• Luvia identified the coin as the Poet Level Cat and Dog Coin, a relic that bound an accepting cat or dog into lifelong loyalty and risked one party’s soul after both died.
• Shade donated half the money he had found to Dawn Church’s winter relief effort.
• Shade showed Luvia the flying stone slab, which she guessed might be a key, then spent the night with her instead of reading his books.
• Shade woke on Tuesday and scolded himself for neglecting his year-end exam review plan.

Shade met with Apna Library to trade for one of the Gray-Robed Sage’s stone slabs, offering a rare Spirit Rune book as part of the payment. Mr. Lebert confirmed the slab was in their possession but said Shade would need to pay more, leaving the terms unresolved.

• Luvia chose a purple gemstone from Shade’s box and declined his offer to bring her to meet the Goddess in the Lake, then agreed to care for Mia at the Seer Association.
• Shade met Mr. Lebert at Number 21 Ikem Street to negotiate for Apna Library’s stone slab, which matched the one he already owned.
• Mr. Lebert confirmed Apna Library possessed the slab and explained that the library wanted books granting Spirit Runes as well as additional payment.
• Shade offered Apna Library a rare copy of The Wriggler in the Darkness, and Mr. Lebert recognized it as a valuable 1795 Pantanar translation.
• Mr. Lebert said the book was worth far less than the ancient slab and asked Shade to provide further payment or do something else for the library.

Shade secured a deal with Apna Library to translate ancient writing in exchange for a stone slab, then discovered that Professor Drake owned the Sage Level Relic Aiken Ola Knowledge Arrow. The chapter ended with Shade identifying the arrow as the relic he had been seeking.

• Shade used Library Retrieval to fetch Lost Melika and translated its dangerous ancient passage for Mr. Lebert, agreeing to finish more translations in exchange for a stone slab.
• Shade read that Snake Heart Hospital was preparing to open locally before traveling to meet Professor Drake.
• Shade showed Professor Drake a photograph of Halder Ondiba and suggested that Drake may have voluntarily abandoned memories of their past adventure.
• Shade asked whether Drake owned an arrow, and the professor remembered that he had one despite forgetting its origin.
• Shade gave Drake tea mixed with No. 4 Holy Water, helping him recover enough to retrieve a mahogany case from his desk.
• Shade opened the case and found the golden Aiken Ola Knowledge Arrow, whose arrowhead bore the words “Knowledge is Power.”