Chapter Summaries

Rorschach discussed his conflicting magic circles with Archmage Poincaré, who criticized his lack of abstract thinking and gave him a permit to consult restricted texts. An ancient mage’s notes led Rorschach to a new theory of spell reversal, and he reserved a Practice Room to test it.

• Poincaré agreed to let Rorschach study advanced protection and transformation spells, then told him his research lacked abstract thinking.
• Rorschach and Poincaré ate matching bread-and-soup meals in the dining hall.
• Rorschach found an old diary in the restricted section that described a spell designed to reverse other spells by returning their effects to a reality untouched by magic.
• Rorschach connected the diary’s ideas about orderliness and disorder to entropy, information, and how spells draw possibilities from the Symbolic Realm into reality.
• Rorschach copied the diary’s theories and asked the tower spirit to reserve a Practice Room so he could construct a new spell.

Rorschach discovered that he could banish divine order from active divine power, leaving pure Aether, and his attempt to convert the spell into a magic array knocked him unconscious. Meanwhile, reporter Mike interviewed a maimed former miner in Valuana’s slums and hurried back to the newspaper to pursue a major scoop.

• Rorschach realized that he could strip divine order from Deluyats’s Blue Light Barrier, leaving behind pure Aether, and the panel named the spell God Banishment.
• Rorschach tried to convert God Banishment into a magic array, suffered a splitting headache, and collapsed in the Practice Room.
• Mike interviewed a disabled miner who described a deadly accident at the Shaleanna Mining Company’s Sub-plane mine and how a mage had smuggled him out.
• Mike refused the miner’s request to send a letter because the man could not provide an address or recipient, then escaped the children waiting outside the shack.
• Mike returned to the newspaper, where the editor-in-chief told him to prepare his gold-mine article, but Mike rushed upstairs to work on a major scoop.

Rorschach woke in a Mage Guild clinic after overworking himself, learned about Pascal’s disillusionment with the White Rose Club, and received files on the Earth Mother Cult from Master Kano. He discovered that his conversion magic array had completed and formed a rune pointing toward himself, while Pascal impulsively kissed Paulina and invited her to the theater.

• Rorschach woke in a hospital ward and learned from Pascal that a doctor had said he was merely overworked.
• Pascal told Rorschach that he planned to quit the White Rose Club and invited him to join Maxim’s new Friends of Fraternity and Equality, but Rorschach declined.
• Pascal gave Rorschach documents from Master Kano about the Earth Mother Cult and offered him two tickets to a play, which Rorschach refused.
• Rorschach read that the cult had spread among the lower classes using addictive drugs and saw that his conversion magic array had produced a rune pointing toward himself.
• Pascal ran to the research building, kissed Paulina, and invited her to the play’s premiere, leaving her angry and embarrassed.

Rorschach examined the mysterious rune in his God Banishment spell and began testing a device that extracted divine power from Transmutation Dust. The first experiment produced blue crystals, and Rorschach discovered that using them also increased his spell proficiency.

• Rorschach studied the rune in his spell, which resembled a benzene ring, but could not determine its origin.
• Kano arranged a computing machine and assigned Simon and Philip de Merowinger to assist Rorschach with his research.
• Rorschach gave Simon and Philip competing projects based on his Blue Light Barrier research and explained that the first to finish would publish their paper.
• Rorschach demonstrated the Transmutation Dust Conversion Tower, and the device produced blue crystals with a 61.2% conversion rate.
• Philip crushed a crystal and cast a much stronger Light Spell, while Rorschach noticed that his God Banishment proficiency had increased to 2/12800.

Rorschach weighed how to share his research on spell arrays and decided to favor publishing the Expulsion spell while consulting Kano about the Guild’s interests. Kano proposed quietly testing Divine Power Dissipation on Church armaments bought through the black market.

• Rorschach considered keeping his research private, disclosing only the device design, or publishing the Expulsion spell, and leaned toward the third option.
• Rorschach taught Simon and Philip to study the Blue Light Barrier by comparing its spell array with Force Wall.
• Rorschach met Kano at Starlight Torch Tower and discussed his results with Transmutation Dust and Divine Power Dissipation.
• Kano told Rorschach that paladins had gathered in Valuana to target suspected Evil God worship in the expanding slums.
• Kano suggested buying Blessed Armaments from the black market to test whether Divine Power Dissipation worked on them.

Salamanda secretly regrew his limbs with help from a mysterious man, but a church procession’s chanting made his pain flare before he could take more medicine. Meanwhile, Joseph led a coordinated church operation to blockade the eastern outskirts and hunt cult remnants, leaving Holy Knights distributing food as residents gathered around them.

• Salamanda hid in his shack while his arms and legs regrew, using Powdered Medicine and liquor to endure the pain.
• Salamanda recalled how the mysterious man had helped him obtain fresh flesh and promised to take him away once he had recovered.
• A passing procession of Holy Knights and chanting monks caused Salamanda’s limbs to ache, and he regretted having used up his medicine.
• At Sacred Heart Cathedral, Joseph coordinated Holy Knights and Grey Robes as they prepared to blockade the eastern outskirts and eradicate cult remnants.
• A Holy Knight assured protesting laborers that the operation would not leave innocent residents hungry or cold.
• Wagons of grain entered the district, and hungry residents rushed to collect grain as the monks’ chants continued.

The Order Church preached against those who served darkness while its Grey Robe Knights pursued Earth Mother Cultists through Valuana’s slums. Meanwhile, Kano and Rorschach met Duke Merowinger, who asked Rorschach whether he would sell his shares in Shaleanna Mining.

• A priest preached that those who betrayed faith and order would face divine judgment, while two Earth Mother Cultists discussed using the catacombs beneath Sacred Heart Cathedral as their base.
• The Grey Robe Knights followed the cultists to Salamanda’s shack and captured them, along with two boxes they planned to take back to the church.
• Bernadan delivered consecrated oil, Evil-Slaying Blades, and Judgment Arrows to Duke Merowinger in exchange for gold.
• Kano and Rorschach met Duke Merowinger, who said his son would rely on their guidance and asked Rorschach if he would sell his shares in Shaleanna Mining.

Rorschach tested his Divine Power Dissipation spell against Church weapons and discovered that Lagging Spell could slow a blessed arrow without triggering its power. He then successfully banished the arrow’s divine enchantment in midair, leaving the ordinary arrowhead to fall harmlessly to the ground.

• Rorschach discussed selling his Mining Company shares to the Grand Duke, who offered to buy them while keeping the Royal Palace from noticing.
• Kano gathered Rorschach, Paulina, Pascal, and the apprentices to test Divine Power Dissipation, and Paul brought Church weapons for the experiments.
• Paul fired a Judgment Arrow into a target, splitting it with Holy Light, while the Evil-Slaying Blade cut wood effectively in Paul's hands.
• Rorschach tested Lagging Spell on a falling Judgment Arrow and found that slowing its momentum prevented the weapon's power from activating.
• Despite his students' concerns, Rorschach asked Paul to fire a Judgment Arrow at him from across the Practice Room.
• Rorschach slowed the incoming arrow and cast Divine Power Dissipation, dispelling its Holy Light and leaving its ordinary arrowhead to fall as the mages applauded.

Paul challenged Rorschach to a duel using the Evil-Slaying Blade, and Kano established rules that let Rorschach win by dispelling its Holy Light or Paul win by injuring him. The fight ended with Rorschach interrupting Paul’s spell and preparing another attack as Paul charged helplessly toward him.

• Paul challenged Rorschach to test their skills with the Evil-Slaying Blade, and Rorschach accepted a duel using magic against Paul’s blade and spells.
• Kano set the duel’s rules, barred other magical items and spellcasting materials, and shaped a circular arena; Rorschach offered to cover any healing costs.
• At Kano’s signal, Paul charged while preparing Acid Splash, hoping to obscure Rorschach’s vision and follow with a blade thrust.
• Rorschach used Mana Siphon Scream to disrupt Paul’s spell, inflicting mental backlash and stopping his attack.
• Rorschach began a second spell and pointed at Paul, who could only watch as the Intermediate Mage declared the fight over.

Rorschach defeated Paul in a brief spar at the Tower of Stars and encouraged him to study magic. Meanwhile, the cultists fleeing through the catacombs beneath Sacred Heart Cathedral were intercepted by paladins, and the Elder triggered a deadly transformation that unleashed vines and undead.

• Rorschach used Kirin Arm to knock Paul down, then shattered Paul's Evil-Slaying Blade with a finger flick and won the spar.
• Rorschach told Paul to master Light Spell, and Paul resolved to take his magical studies more seriously.
• Kano ended the spell testing and instructed Rorschach to write his midterm report while the magic circle scrolls went to the guild for verification.
• The Elder led the cultists through the catacombs toward a sewer exit, but their prayers and noise gave the approaching paladins time to surround them.
• The paladins attacked with Judgment Arrows, and the Elder exploded himself to release poisonous green mist that awakened vines and undead throughout the catacombs.

The Order Church fought the undead and monstrous vines erupting from the collapsing catacombs beneath Sacred Heart Cathedral. Joseph’s scripture and a citywide hymn strengthened the divine power, and Odysseus became its vessel to strike at the source of the abomination.

• Paladins battled undead creatures emerging from the collapsing catacombs while Team Three evacuated the crowds aboveground.
• Joseph recited scripture, slowing the vines and undead and stabilizing Sacred Heart Cathedral.
• Duplessis signaled a grand ritual at St. Miller's Cathedral, and hymns and bells rang across Valuana.
• The distant hymn renewed Joseph’s power as the trapped knights carved a route upward through the rubble.
• Odysseus broke formation, accepted the Lord’s power, and attacked the vines, poisonous fog, and rift created by the cultists’ sacrifice.

Rorschach learned that the church had defeated the cult at Sacred Heart Cathedral and that Odysseus had died, then saw news exposing the Shaleana gold mine as a fraud. As Valan faced a collapsing company, he called a press conference where Necker arrived and the captured cultists were brought forward; the Security Team also arrested reporter Mike as he tried to flee.

• The church’s search teams recovered Odysseus’s remains from beneath Sacred Heart Cathedral, and the city’s bells tolled for him.
• Rorschach read reports about the cult’s attack on the cathedral and the Morning Gazette’s evidence that the Shaleana gold mine was a scam.
• Valan watched the company’s shares plunge and, after receiving a letter from Necker, called for a press conference.
• Necker arrived at the exchange with church guards, who presented Salamanda and a Holy Mother Cult member as captives.
• The Security Team reported that it had arrested Mike, a cultist and former Morning Gazette reporter, while he was attempting to flee.

Necker, Valan, and an Order Church priest presented a unified account that cleared Shaleanna Mining Company of the cult-related accusations and blamed the Morning Gazette’s Mike for a paid false report. The company’s crisis eased, but the king used the affair to impose strict controls on newspapers, while Valan discovered the Donkey Skin had shrunk again.

• Necker introduced Salamanda as a captured cultist and former Shaleanna Mining Company employee, and Valan pressed him about his work and interview with Mike.
• Salamanda admitted that Mike had paid him three livres, and Necker used his intact limbs to refute the Morning Gazette’s account of an injured miner being dismissed.
• Valan explained that Shaleanna Mining had processed outside metals while its Sub-plane production ramped up, and the priest described the cult attack and urged unity.
• After the press conference, Valan found the Donkey Skin on the floor, shrunk and marked with a shoeprint.
• Rorschach read that Shaleanna’s share price had recovered and that the king had introduced the News Truth Law, giving the Royal Palace broad power to inspect newspapers and revoke publishing licenses.

Rorschach met Brother Falcon at the Opera House, where Falcon delivered intelligence about the Underground Cult’s international backing and asked Rorschach to consider investigating Istarani. Rorschach planned to return home around March or April, while the Agency deferred the mission as the cult went to ground.

• Rorschach spotted a coded Agency message in the newspaper and went to the Opera House to meet its contact.
• Brother Falcon disguised himself as a waiter, reimbursed Rorschach for his ticket, and joined him in a private box.
• Falcon told Rorschach that the Pacharluca Merchant Guild had been shut down after the Agency uncovered financial irregularities in its Holy Kingdom branch.
• Falcon revealed that the Underground Cult had support from southern Imperial nobles and funding from across the strait, and gave Rorschach documents about the investigation.
• Falcon asked Rorschach to travel to Storm City and contact Istarani guilds and Magic Towers, but Rorschach said he expected to leave around March or April.
• Falcon explained that the Agency believed the cult would lie low after its losses and would decide later when and how to investigate Istarani.

Rorschach sought a staff to help him cast spells more quickly and learned from Pascal that Mr. Fulcanelli sold magical items through the Viollet Clockwork Shop. He followed an enchanted paper butterfly into the shop and met Fulcanelli’s apprentice, Cancellite, to begin his search.

• Rorschach decided he needed a staff after recalling how difficult it was to prepare another spell while casting Mana Siphon Scream.
• Rorschach asked Pascal where to buy magical items, and Pascal gave him Mr. Fulcanelli’s business card.
• Rorschach gave Pascal two opera tickets and asked him to cover his exam-proctoring duty at the higher academy.
• Rorschach followed the address to the Viollet Clockwork Shop, where his business card transformed into a butterfly and led him inside.
• Cancellite introduced himself as Mr. Fulcanelli’s apprentice, and Rorschach said a friend had recommended the shop.

Rorschach visited Fulcanelli’s workshop to commission a discreet cane that could instantly cast a Sixth-ring spell. Fulcanelli said the compact design was possible in his workshop for a higher price.

• Rorschach followed Cancellite up to Fulcanelli’s attic workshop and saw the alchemist finishing an unusual painting.
• Fulcanelli opened a doorway within a painting, and Rorschach climbed through into the real workshop.
• Fulcanelli recognized Rorschach’s research paper and recited a poem inspired by its ideas before discussing the commission.
• Rorschach requested a short, inconspicuous cane wand capable of instantly casting Molten Ray.
• Fulcanelli explained that the requirements conflicted, then promised he could meet them if Rorschach paid more.

Rorschach commissioned a custom magic staff from Fulcanelli and realized he could adapt runes from his Deity Expulsion spell formation into a symbolic staff head. He paid a deposit and was told to return in seven days, leaving him with a new idea for his own project.

• Rorschach examined Fulcanelli’s basic staff and learned how its core, crystals, and symbolic staff heads worked.
• Fulcanelli explained that traditional staff symbols could strengthen particular kinds of magic, while modern staffs favored versatile, efficient designs.
• Rorschach decided he could use runes from his Deity Expulsion spell formation for a symbolic staff head.
• Rorschach and Fulcanelli designed a short ebony-and-brass staff with a universal core, a crystal head, and a blank alloy head for Rorschach to engrave.
• Rorschach paid 355 lang toward the 1,777-lang staff and was told to collect it in seven days.

Rorschach redesigned his Transmutation Dust collector into a Refining Tower that could capture aether, despite a dangerous failed test. After a month of adjustments, the prototype ran steadily and supplied enough energy to operate without external input, opening the second technical route.

• After Fulcanelli explained wand cores, Rorschach adapted their instant-casting principles to design a Refining Tower with a precharged Blue Light Barrier and aether-collecting mithril rods.
• Rorschach and Snow started the Number Two machine, but its outer wall transmuted and exploded, scattering Transmutation Dust while their defenses protected the laboratory staff.
• Rorschach identified the need to reduce the eruption and strengthen the Stasis Magic Circle, then continued refining the design with Snow and the Alchemy Department veterans.
• Thirty days later, Simon started the finalized prototype while Rorschach monitored its precharged barrier and activated the Astral Realm Teleportation Array.
• The tower steadily produced aether that replenished its alchemical liquid and powered its magic circle, and Rorschach told Snow that mass production depended on the Alchemy Department paying for it.

Rorschach and the Alchemy Department built and activated a large-scale Transmutation Dust-Aether Collection and Conversion Device, which successfully powered the research building and briefly illuminated the Starlight Torch Tower. The tower’s sudden glare angered Kano, who headed to the research building to investigate.

• Rorschach worked with Snow and the Alchemy Department to refine the device design and machine its components in an underground workshop.
• The Alchemy Department assembled a costly, oversized collection and conversion device using sixteen pounds of mithril and installed it inside a protected underground pool.
• Snow ordered the device started, and the Alchemy Department confirmed that its output was stable and powering the research building.
• Aether from the device lit up the Starlight Torch Tower, nearly blinding Kano at dinner.
• Snow ordered the tower’s aether supply cut off, and Kano illuminated the darkened restaurant with floating lights before going to the research building.

Rorschach celebrated the successful completion of Unit One, which steadily increased his God Banishment proficiency, until Kano discovered the hidden Alchemy Department workshop and inspected the device. After learning the guild would honor Rorschach’s work, Rorschach discussed his plans to scout for a future Magic Tower in Bavaria and was told he would receive the title of Fifth-Tier Mage and the Moon-Crescent Ibis Medal.

• Rorschach watched Unit One increase his God Banishment proficiency while the Alchemy Department celebrated its successful operation.
• Kano found the underground workshop, confronted Snow and Rorschach, and praised the department’s work while granting its members a ten-percent raise, except the person responsible for lighting Starlight Torch Tower’s exterior.
• Kano told Rorschach that research into Divine Power Dissipation would remain sealed, while the guild left the decision about publicizing Transmutation Dust collection technology to him.
• Rorschach told Kano he planned to visit Bavaria before deciding where to build his Magic Tower and asked for Senior Brother Pascal to cover his advanced classes.
• Kano asked Rorschach to accompany him to the guild’s royal capital headquarters and revealed that the Senate and Council had awarded him the title of Fifth-Tier Mage and the Moon-Crescent Ibis Medal.