Chapter Summaries

Shade entered a new hidden space in the Space Labyrinth and discovered a chest left by the Ring Arcanist Thomas Granger. After taking Granger’s medals and letter, Shade emerged into the ruins of an abandoned church, where sunlight illuminated the main hall.

• Shade sacrificed a White Stone Crystal to create a sixth space marker in the southwest and entered the hidden space it revealed.
• Shade opened an old chest and found books, gold coins, two noble medals, and a letter addressed to whoever found it.
• Shade read that Thomas Granger had left the medals for someone to return to his family and kept them, along with the letter, while leaving the books and coins behind.
• Shade used the hidden passage to reach a blocked underground room, then carved a route through the collapsed building.
• Shade explored the ruins and recognized them as an abandoned church before reaching its sunlit main hall.

Shade discovered that the Abandoned Church was hidden in plain sight on Cherry Leaf Street, then crossed its boundary and found it vanished behind an ordinary wall. He learned that locals knew rumors of a “Nonexistent Church” and that Earl Granger ruled the river valley, but he still had no way back inside.

• Shade inspected the church and opened its locked doors with his middle-ring power.
• He found that passersby could not see the church or courtyard, but they noticed him after he crossed the gate into the street.
• Shade discovered the church had vanished, leaving him outside the Berkeley Botanical Exhibition Hall, and his attempt to return failed.
• He bought Kartherian Forest Story at Terrence Old Bookstore and asked the elderly bookseller about local rumors.
• The bookseller described stories of the “Nonexistent Church” and identified Earl Granger as the earl of the river valley.
• Shade asked where Earl Granger’s estate was, and the bookseller offered to sell him a city map instead of providing the information for free.

Shade traveled to Randall River Valley City and returned two historic medals to Earl Hegel Granger. The earl began recounting how the medals were lost, identifying his great-grandfather’s brother, Thomas Jane Granger, as the story’s protagonist.

• Shade arrived at Earl Granger’s manor under the name John Watson and presented his credentials to the guards.
• Shade met Earl Hegel Granger and returned the Kasonlik Conqueror Medal and the Golden Fleece Knight Order Medal.
• The earl offered Shade a reward, and Shade asked instead to hear the story behind the medals.
• Earl Granger explained that the medals had been lost around 1780 and named Thomas Jane Granger as the central figure in the story.

Shade visited Count Granger to learn about Thomas Granger, who had disappeared after taking the family medals, and received a mysterious metal block left behind by him. After uncovering a silver cube and a message, Shade learned it could reveal Randall River Valley’s story in exchange for a story of his own.

• Count Granger told Shade that Thomas Granger had run away from home in 1780 with two family medals, and the family had never found him.
• Shade examined Thomas Granger’s old letter and accepted a bronze-colored metal cube as a keepsake from the count.
• After leaving the manor, Shade rented a room at the Elf Poetry Inn and used Feliana's Witch Light to melt the bronze casing.
• Shade found a silver cube and a sealed note inside the metal block.
• Shade read Thomas Granger’s message explaining that the cube recorded Randall River Valley City’s story and would reveal what Shade wished to know if he told it enough stories.

Shade discovered the hidden Abandoned Church on Cherry Leaf Street, then discussed learning a singing Thaumaturgy with Dorothy. Before setting out to meet Luvia in Randall River Valley, he learned from Old John that the Silver Cube was made of exceptionally valuable, god-blessed mithril.

• Shade read the Silver Cube’s instructions and revealed the invisible Abandoned Church between numbers 11 and 12 on Cherry Leaf Street by praying as directed.
• Shade explored the church, found nothing valuable inside, and carried books and gold coins from its basement back home.
• Shade and Dorothy discussed the Sound of Music Thaumaturgy, which could let him record and sing music, and the shortage of its required Purple Echo Grass.
• Shade planned to search for the grass in Randall River Valley and asked Dorothy to help him record a song with her voice.
• Shade showed the Silver Cube to Old John, who identified its outer layer as god-blessed mithril and suspected the cube could change shape.

Shade learned that the Silver Cube could be opened by revealing six pieces of information and discussed Doomsday and the Forgotten Old Man with Old John. He then went to the Randall River Valley Seer Association to wait for Luvia, where he sat down to play Rhodes with an unfamiliar man.

• Old John examined the Silver Cube and explained that revealing six of its hidden pieces of information would open it, while forcing it could damage what lay inside.
• Shade told Old John that Doomsday might arrive soon, and Old John shared his own Enlightenment and the Guiding Light Hermitage's plans to seek answers and prepare for the end.
• Shade asked Old John about the Forgotten Old Man, who explained that the god, the Order of the Forgotten, and the Forgotten Church were difficult to remember and that few records remained.
• Shade traveled to Randall River Valley City and went to the Seer Association to wait for Luvia.
• Shade sat across from an unfamiliar middle-aged man on the association's terrace and introduced himself as a writer from Wilundell.

Shade, traveling as John Watson, played cards with playwright Donald Antonio at the Seer Association in Randall River Valley City while learning about the area’s scenery, legends, and festivals. Shade won the first two games, and Antonio continued recounting local customs as their match went on.

• Shade introduced himself to Donald Antonio at the Seer Association, and they agreed to play a best-of-five card match with a wager of five Crowns and Antonio’s Special Rule Cards.
• As they played, Antonio told Shade about Innas Forest, Eldron Creek, the city’s mountains, and legends of elves and living Forest Stone Statues.
• Shade won the first game after Antonio busted, then heard Antonio describe his accidental poisonous-mushroom poisoning and strange visions.
• The second game included a tie and a round in which both players busted; Shade then won the game with twenty points against Antonio’s nineteen.
• Antonio told Shade about Randall River Valley’s winter ice sculpture event, spring banquet, summer boating competition, and autumn Harvest Festival.

Shade won Forest Story White Snow Wolf from Mr. Antonio in their card match and continued spending time with the playwright at the association. Luvia Annette arrived and asked Shade to give her the card for a friend, offering to pay a high price.

• Mr. Antonio used Forest Story Clown to stand at 20 points, but Shade drew a third card and busted, losing the round.
• Shade won the next round with 20 points, then beat Mr. Antonio at the final match point after the playwright’s Forest Story White Snow Wolf let him redraw his Moon 4 hole card and he drew Sun 13.
• Shade accepted Forest Story White Snow Wolf but offered Mr. Antonio half his money; Mr. Antonio refused, and they continued playing for small stakes.
• Shade waited at the association while Luvia Annette arrived, then approached him and asked to buy Forest Story White Snow Wolf for a friend.

Shade reunited with Luvia in Randall River Valley, where he told her about the hidden church and planned to investigate its connection to the Ancient God of Space. After they visited the church together, Luvia invited him to her inn room and warned him to be wary of Princess Margaret.

• Luvia bought Shade’s Forest Story White Snow Wolf card and left him a note asking to meet at dusk.
• Shade met Luvia for dinner, explained how he had found the Forgotten Church and Silver Cube, and heard about her work for the Seer Association and Academy.
• Luvia told Shade she could connect him with the local Black Market so he could learn a sound-related Thaumaturgy.
• Shade brought Luvia to the Forgotten Church, where they discussed his plans to use it as a base and investigate the Ancient God of Space.
• Luvia gave Shade a spare key to her inn room and warned him that Princess Margaret should be watched.

Shade entered the Emerald Dream and fought the corruption of Mad Earth spreading through its forest. A mysterious petrified soul sent him back to reality after teaching him Earth Power - Healing Aura, leaving Shade to wonder what was wrong in Randall River Valley and who the stranger had been.

• After returning home, Shade went to sleep and fell into the Emerald Dream rather than his usual moonlit dream.
• Black mud erupted in the forest clearing and corrupted the dream, so Shade fought off a dragon and other monsters with his magic.
• A mysterious middle-aged soul appeared and explained that the black mud was the anger and malice of Mad Earth, then warned Shade that it was not a trivial matter.
• The stranger taught Shade the spell Earth Power - Healing Aura and asked him to help cleanse the earth's resentment in the real world.
• Shade woke with the new spell and suspected that Randall River Valley was in danger, while wondering whether the stranger had been a Chosen One.

Shade acquired the Earth Power - Healing Aura thaumaturgy after encountering black mud in a dream, then had a disturbing nightmare involving Mia and two Luvias. He traveled to Randall River Valley’s black market, where he arranged to buy rare plants and found two unusual Multi-Eyed One's Eye Coins.

• Shade woke from his dream when Little Mia pawed at his face, then wondered whether the black mud he had seen was tied to Randall River Valley.
• Shade dreamed of riding a giant Mia toward the Sun, then woke in terror after two Luvias stabbed him in the heart and stomach.
• Shade told Dorothy about part of the dream, and she joked that he might someday ride a cat like a knight.
• Shade entered the Randall Spice Club’s black market using Luvia’s code phrase and paid to post a long-term commission for currency-type relics.
• Shade requested three mature Purple Echo Grass plants and inspected two Multi-Eyed One's Eye Coins, whose moving pupils and inscription caught his attention.

Shade bought two eye-growing relics and sought local information about unusual keys, then accepted a job investigating land contaminated by an undead transformation. He traveled with Miss Grande to a manor belonging to the Golden Dawn Opera Troupe, where the problem awaited.

• A bartender explained the Multi-Eyed Race coins and sold Shade two for five Crowns each.
• Shade asked about local legends concerning keys and posted an offer to purify contaminated land.
• The bartender connected Shade with Miss Grande, who needed help with soil that attracted undead and turned them into evil spirits.
• Shade met Miss Grande, a Seventh Ring Arcanist, and agreed to inspect the site before accepting payment.
• Miss Grande took Shade to the Golden Dawn Opera Troupe's old manor near the Ifo River and Innas Forest.

Shade recognized that the manor’s land was corrupted by the same kind of malice he had encountered in his dream, and he investigated how it affected the souls drawn there. After discovering that one spirit could not enter death, he prepared to purify the manor with the soil he had collected.

• Shade sensed the manor’s corrupted earth and collected a piece of frozen soil outside its gate.
• Miss Grande led Shade inside, where she destroyed the evil spirits that attacked them.
• Shade used Guiding Death to learn that the land had captured a woman’s soul after her death.
• Shade opened the Gate of Death but found that the bound spirit could not pass through it.
• Shade and Miss Grande returned to the courtyard, where Shade crushed the collected soil to begin purifying the manor.

Shade purified Miss Grande’s estate with Earth Power - Healing Aura and discovered that the clay Holy Grail it created could turn liquids into clear water. He and Luvia suspected the recurring land abnormalities in Randall River Valley were connected to the Mad Earth and possibly the Chosen Ones, and planned to investigate further.

• Shade used Earth Power - Healing Aura to cleanse the estate, and the freed soul said the land had gone mad before passing through the Gate of Death.
• Shade found that the clay Holy Grail contained Miracle Element and bore runes meaning “Pure Water”; Miss Grande said land abnormalities had recurred in Randall River Valley for centuries.
• Miss Grande paid Shade for his work, arranged to meet him at the Wilde Opera House, and obtained a retractable dagger for him through the Golden Dawn Opera Troupe.
• Shade told Luvia about his dream and the estate commission, and she agreed to search the Seer Association’s archives for similar incidents.
• Shade demonstrated that the clay Holy Grail turned fish soup and red wine into clear water.

Shade collected the Echo Grass in Randall River Valley, then discovered that an unknown Great Witch was nearby and arranged to meet a local High-Ring Arcanist the next day. Later, he joined several Great Witches at the Witch Council, where they had gathered to receive him.

• Shade and Luvia discussed the Clay Holy Grail and wondered why the Mithril Cube had not reacted to the story of the Polluted Land.
• Shade collected the three Echo Grass flowers at the Wilde Opera House, where his Witch Detection badge sensed an approaching Great Witch.
• Miss Grande invited Shade to meet a local High-Ring Arcanist, but he declined the immediate meeting and agreed to return the next afternoon.
• Shade escaped the opera house without encountering the unknown witch and wondered who she was.
• Miss Sylvia, Miss Galina, Miss Aurora, and Grandma Cassandra gathered at the Witch Council, where Shade arrived with Miss Rita Swift.

Shade asked the witches about Vanessa Benanis, the Earth Witch whose estate near Randall River Valley was affected by unusual land contamination, and the Council prepared a letter to introduce him to her. He learned about Vanessa’s ties to the Golden Dawn Opera Troupe and her Mystic Lock, and the chapter left him ready to approach her while Galina planned to return to Tobesk next month.

• Shade told Cassandra, Sylvia, Aurora, and Galina that he had encountered a witch near Randall River Valley, and Sylvia identified her as Vanessa Benanis.
• Galina explained that Randall River Valley held occult importance and that Vanessa had detected recurring land contamination but could not fully purify it.
• Aurora, Sylvia, and Cassandra advised Shade to meet Vanessa and agreed to write him a letter; Sylvia said Margaret Anjou would arrive in the city the next day.
• The witches explained that Vanessa led the Golden Dawn Opera Troupe with Siris Grande Lasers as her trusted deputy, and that the troupe was a Council subordinate organization.
• The witches described Vanessa’s Mystic Lock, Ode to Glory Golden Stage, and said she was less combat-focused than Galina.
• Galina said she would likely return to Tobesk early next month and asked Shade to welcome her.

Shade learned that the Butterfly God had once granted power to the Crimson Moon sisters, then mastered the Sound of Music thaumaturgy to prepare a ballad for the god’s banquet. In Randall River Valley, Princess Margaret arrived by train and spotted Mia in the crowd.

• Shade asked Grace about the Butterfly God, and Grace explained that the god had empowered the sisters and loved ballads; she offered to recover their memories by entering a dream with them.
• Shade returned home and asked Leisha to help him learn the Sound of Music thaumaturgy.
• Shade, Leisha, and “she” completed the ritual, allowing Shade to master the thaumaturgy.
• Leisha advised Shade to ask Vanessa Benanis to sing a ballad for the Butterfly God.
• Prince William Anjou and Princess Margaret arrived at Randall River Valley Train Station, where Margaret recognized Mia in the crowd.

Shade brought Little Mia to Randall River Valley City and waited at the Wilde Opera House to meet Miss Benanis, but the Witch failed to appear. A puppet delivered a letter to Shade in a corridor filled with the Whisper Element, leaving him facing a new mystery.

• Margaret spotted Shade cheering from the crowd during the royal visit, and Shade refrained from approaching her because she was busy with her mission.
• Shade asked Luvia for a divination before meeting Miss Benanis, but Luvia warned him that divinations about him were unreliable and mentioned a puppet-related relic problem at the Opera House.
• Shade returned to the Opera House with Little Mia and waited for Miss Benanis, but she had not arrived by the time the afternoon performance began.
• Shade sensed the Whisper Element in the corridor outside his box and found that a portrait had changed and a marionette was offering him a letter.
• Shade accepted the letter, and the marionette moved into the adjacent room beneath its door.

Shade entered the Mad Puppet Theater, a Sage Level Relic that had turned Vanessa Benanis and others into puppets, and accepted its challenge to rescue the imprisoned witch. Transformed into a puppet himself, he began the toy-sized adventure with his magic intact and planned a surprise for the relic.

• Shade read a letter challenging him to enter the room and complete a puppet show to free his companions, or leave them puppets forever.
• Shade found Vanessa Benanis bound as a tiny puppet atop a castle model and learned that a childlike puppet was directing the show.
• Shade accepted the relic’s terms and entered the model stage, where the Mad Puppet Theater transformed him into a puppet and scattered his belongings.
• Shade discovered that he could cast spells without materials and summoned a toy-sized Moonbeam Greatsword.
• Shade realized his reduced spellcasting costs let him maintain his magic easily and planned to open Mystic Lock as a surprise.

Shade and Miss Lathers navigated the Puppet Show’s forest stage, where they learned they had to defeat a giant to obtain its heart and reach the castle. The giant proved difficult to harm, so Shade restrained it while Miss Lathers climbed its leg to attack its weak point.

• Shade defeated the wolf puppets chasing Miss Lathers, and they joined forces after he gave her the Fish Training Ring so she could speak.
• Shade and Miss Lathers learned they needed the Forest Giant’s heart, the Evil Sorcerer’s ring, and the Royal Knight’s longsword to open the castle’s upper gates.
• At the fork in the forest path, Shade and Miss Lathers chose the Giant’s Home and found a sleeping giant puppet.
• Shade and Miss Lathers struggled to damage the awakened giant, whose slow attacks were difficult to evade but whose body resisted their spells and weapons.
• Shade used his Great Sin Chains and Red Dragon Force to hold the giant’s wrist while Miss Lathers climbed its leg to reach its presumed weak point.