Chapter Summaries

After awakening in the body of the disgraced bard Tang Qi Weinberg, Tang Qi struggled to survive a cold, rainy night in Star Plum Town and tried to earn another chance at the tavern. Catherine offered him food and shelter by the fire, but he still hoped to prove himself as trouble stirred behind him.

• Tang Qi recovered his memories after being thrown into the mud and realized he had transmigrated into the body of a failed bard.
• Tang Qi recalled how his predecessor had been expelled from the bard academy, traveled east, and ruined his first tavern performance in Star Plum Town.
• Hungry and freezing, Tang Qi returned to the tavern, where the drunkards cursed him and the One-Eyed Dwarf complained about the cold.
• Tang Qi asked Catherine for another chance, but she refused because his earlier performance had driven customers away.
• Catherine offered Tang Qi bread, water, and warmth by the fireplace, while Tang Qi insisted he wanted to prove himself and earn a livelihood.
• Catherine hurriedly pushed Tang Qi aside after noticing movement behind him.

Tang Qi tried to earn another chance to perform at Catherine’s tavern, despite Jackal’s harassment and the drunks’ mockery. After his lute string snapped, he decided to use the bar as a drum and began to capture the room’s attention.

• Jackal confronted Tang Qi and threatened him, but Catherine asked him not to interrupt their business.
• Catherine defended Tang Qi’s chance to perform, and Black Snake ordered Jackal back to his seat.
• Catherine told Tang Qi that the tavern’s patrons disliked the academy’s stale songs and stories about nobles and heroes.
• Tang Qi’s lute string snapped, and Catherine’s hooded sister brought him food while waiting for his performance to end.
• Tang Qi put down the broken lute, planned an attention-grabbing drumbeat, and struck the wooden bar with his palm.

Tang Qi performed a catchy, rebellious ballad in Catherine’s tavern, winning over the drunken farmers and mercenaries with lyrics attacking landlords and their hard lives. After the crowd joined in, Catherine brought him food and wine, while her young companion repeated the song’s rude refrain.

• Tang Qi drew the tavern’s attention by starting a simple beat, and Catherine and the drunks began keeping time with him.
• Tang Qi sang lyrics about exploitation and hardship, turning the beat into a ballad that the crowd quickly learned.
• Gravel cursed landlords aloud, and Black Snake defended him while Jackal worried that their employer might hear.
• The drunks sang along, celebrated Tang Qi, and ordered more food and Star Plum Wine.
• Catherine brought Tang Qi bread, beans, and plum wine as payment, then scolded the little girl for repeating his refrain.

Tang Qi weighed his options for surviving in Star Plum Town and becoming an adventurer before discovering a mysterious notebook that promised rewards for recording stories. He began writing about his experiences, but a knock at his door interrupted him.

• Catherine paid for Tang Qi’s room at the Golden Oak after his performance increased sales.
• Tang Qi considered earning money, returning to the Poet Academy, or becoming an adventurer, but doubted his skills and prospects.
• Tang Qi found an unfamiliar violet leather notebook in his bundle, along with a Plain White Quill and a status page listing his fame, followers, skills, and items.
• Tang Qi read that recording stories and spreading his fame would earn rewards, then decided to write an account of his experiences since arriving in the world.
• Tang Qi began a diary entry about being kicked out of a tavern, but a knock at his door interrupted him.

Tang Qi befriended Anbi by helping her learn his ballad and encouraging her to sing without fear of criticism. After writing about their meeting in his journal, he gained the cantrip Art of Making Friends, which could temporarily make a non-hostile creature friendly.

• Anbi brought Tang Qi a razor from Big Sister and asked him to sing the ballad again so she could remember its lyrics.
• Tang Qi invited Anbi inside and let her read his journal, which included the ballad and his account of the tavern.
• When Anbi worried that she had sung the ballad badly, Tang Qi encouraged her to keep singing for her own happiness.
• Anbi introduced herself, promised to bring Tang Qi Star Plum Wine with Big Sister the next day, and said goodbye.
• Tang Qi recorded his parting with Anbi in his journal and gained the cantrip Art of Making Friends.

At the Academy of Bardic Songs, Geya and Dean Ulasang learned that a new record had appeared on the supposedly blank Stone of Oblivion. The inscription described a bard’s failed performance in Star Plum Town yesterday, and the astonished crowd read on as the account ended with a snapped string.

• Ulasang reprimanded Geya for writing an unflattering account of Lord Versace’s disaster relief and ordered her to revise it.
• Students rushed toward the courtyard after a new record appeared on the Stone of Oblivion.
• Geya heard the news and told Ulasang, who hurried to the courtyard with her.
• The crowd gathered around the stone as glowing words formed in the common tongue.
• Geya and the others read an entry dated June 7 in Star Plum Town, in which a bard recounted being kicked out of a tavern and breaking a string during his attempted comeback.

The Poet Academy’s students read Tang Qi’s provocative Journal on the Stone Tablet, and Ulasang ordered them to keep its contents secret while investigating recent graduates. As dawn arrived, Tang Qi woke and realized the events had not been a dream.

• Ulasang and the students reacted to the Journal’s criticism of nobles and the academy, while its closing thoughts about friendship moved them.
• Geya remembered her rejected manuscript and felt the urge to speak freely, but Ulasang warned that the Journal could bring consequences from the Tyron Royal Family.
• Ulasang forbade anyone from discussing or spreading the Journal and ordered an investigation into Poets who had left the academy during the past year.
• Geya suggested Tang Qi might be the author, but Ulasang doubted that the former student could have written the Journal and asked Geya to find out how he was doing.
• Ulasang decided to have a Spellcaster conceal the Stone Tablet as dawn broke.
• Tang Qi woke in the sunlight and realized that none of it had been a dream.

Tang Qi searched Star Plum Town for the missing Anbi and learned about the town’s Harvest Festival. He found her bound on an execution platform, accused by Jackal of stealing Star Plums.

• Catherine asked Tang Qi to find Anbi, who had not returned after setting out to return a guest’s belongings.
• Tang Qi walked through town, learned the Harvest Festival customs, and heard that Lord Mel’s household traditionally won the Shining Star title.
• Tang Qi reached the town center and saw Anbi bound in a heavy cangue before a crowd of residents.
• Jackal accused Anbi of damaging David’s Star Plums and stealing fruit from Lord Mel, while Anbi denied the charges.

Tang Qi intervened as Jackal prepared to cut off Anbi’s hands for allegedly stealing Star Plums, then challenged the evidence against her. He left the crowd questioning the accusation as he tried to protect Anbi from an execution driven by the mercenaries’ need for a scapegoat.

• Tang Qi saw Jackal raise his sword to punish Anbi, whose hands began transforming under the Beastification curse.
• Tang Qi shouted Catherine’s name, making Jackal halt his swing, then questioned whether Anbi could have stolen a ton of Star Plums.
• Jackal cited spoiled fruit, Anbi’s presence near a family’s home, and her footprints in the Orchard as evidence against her.
• Anbi denied the accusations and said the villagers had blamed her before, while Jackal threatened to treat Tang Qi as an accomplice.
• Gravel asked Black Snake whether accusing Catherine’s friend was wise, and Black Snake admitted they needed a plausible excuse for the missing plums.
• Tang Qi began reciting a rhyme urging the crowd to examine the clues before accepting the accusation.

Tang Qi used his new magic to persuade Black Snake to investigate the stolen Star Plum and stop Anbi’s execution. Black Snake ordered Jackal to recover the goods by the next day, and Tang Qi set out to examine the crime scene.

• Tang Qi sang to sway Black Snake, arguing that Anbi’s case deserved a proper investigation before she was punished.
• Jackal attacked Tang Qi, but Tang Qi dodged his grab before Black Snake ordered them to stop.
• Black Snake commanded Jackal to find the stolen Star Plum and threatened to cut out his tongue if he failed before the merchant caravan arrived.
• Tang Qi asked Black Snake for help with the investigation and requested to be taken to the scene.

Tang Qi cleared Anbi of stealing the star plums and investigated the footprints in the Orchard, finding inconsistencies that suggested the trail concealed how the fruit had been moved. He ended the chapter by demonstrating that walking backward changed the order in which a person’s feet touched the ground.

• Tang Qi examined Anbi’s boots and argued that their common style and size could not prove she was the thief, so Black Snake cleared her name.
• Tang Qi pointed out that a ton of star plums would require a group or several trips, yet only one short, irregular trail crossed the fence.
• Tang Qi learned the Orchard had last been tended three days earlier and considered that the theft might have begun then.
• Tang Qi noticed the footprints had the wrong depth and asked Jackal to walk forward and backward along the trail.
• Tang Qi showed that Jackal’s toes touched the ground first when he walked backward, revealing a clue about the footprints.

Tang Qi and the mercenaries followed clues from the stolen Star Plum toward Twilight Forest, where they found a hidden cart and cave but no sign that anyone had camped there. The group stood at the cave entrance, uncertain whether it was connected to the thief.

• Tang Qi explained that the thief had walked backward to make the tracks misleading, and Black Snake agreed that the footprints were meant to draw them toward town.
• Tang Qi suggested investigating Twilight Forest, so Black Snake equipped him with a crossbow and led Gravel and Jackal toward the woods.
• Tang Qi found carriage ruts in the wet ground, and Black Snake ordered the group to follow them into the forest.
• Gravel spotted a leaf-covered cart near the mountain, and the group uncovered empty crates and a cave entrance behind it.
• Gravel noted that the cave had no warning signs or traps, suggesting no one had stayed there.

Tang Qi and the mercenaries entered a cave and discovered a Kobold camp. After Black Snake and Gravel ambushed the Kobolds, Tang Qi stopped a trap that could have crushed the group, leaving Jackal’s courage in question.

• Gravel led Tang Qi, Black Snake, and Jackal into the cave, where they found Kobolds gathered around a bonfire.
• Black Snake ordered an ambush, and he and Gravel quickly killed the Kobolds despite their alarm and crude defenses.
• Gravel spotted a Kobold trying to cut the rope holding a massive boulder over the group, and Black Snake and Gravel killed it before it could spring the trap.
• Jackal spotted a second Kobold attempting to release another boulder but froze as it prepared to cut the rope.
• Tang Qi shot the second Kobold in the head with his crossbow, then mocked Jackal for trembling.

Tang Qi and the mercenaries explored a suspicious Kobold nest while searching for the stolen Star Plum, uncovering signs that the cavern was more than an ordinary den. After Gravel smashed through a Kobold ambush, another trap triggered above them.

• Jackal tried to attack Tang Qi, but Black Snake stopped him and ordered the group to settle their grudges after escaping the nest.
• Tang Qi and the mercenaries found a vast chamber with a giant stone gate and several narrow tunnels, then entered one in single file.
• Gravel led the group through the passage and charged into Kobolds waiting in ambush, scattering them with his shield.
• Tang Qi noticed the Kobolds carried bone weapons, then heard another trap trigger as the earth above the group loosened.

Tang Qi and Jackal were separated from Black Snake and Gravel in the Kobold tunnels, then agreed to cooperate while searching for another route. Tang Qi secretly used magic and a crossbow to kill Jackal, leaving the tunnel alone as the Kobold threat remained.

• A cave-in blocked Tang Qi from rejoining Black Snake and Gravel, so Black Snake told him and Jackal to wait by the campfire while the others searched another route.
• Jackal proposed leaving Tang Qi behind, but Tang Qi persuaded him that they needed to cooperate in case Kobolds attacked.
• Jackal recalled how a gang leader had mutilated him to enforce fear, then realized Tang Qi's song and magic had influenced his trust.
• Tang Qi shot Jackal in the neck with a crossbow bolt and pinned him down with another shot as he explained that he had acted to survive the possible Kobold siege.

Tang Qi concealed Jackal’s death by feeding his corpse to an ochre jelly, then cautiously searched the kobold tunnels for a way back. He found Black Snake giving orders to a robed kobold who spoke the Common Tongue.

• Tang Qi confirmed Jackal was dead, stripped off his chainmail, and threw his corpse toward the campfire.
• An ochre jelly swallowed Jackal’s body, and Tang Qi recognized the creature from clues he had noticed in the cave.
• Tang Qi took Jackal’s longsword and left the chainmail behind to make Jackal’s disappearance look like an ochre jelly attack.
• Tang Qi carefully explored the tunnels, avoided several traps, and found no kobolds before hearing Black Snake shout nearby.
• Tang Qi reached a larger lair and saw Black Snake ordering a robed kobold, who spoke the Common Tongue.

Tang Qi led Gravel to the Ochre Jelly monster, where they found Jackal dead, then returned to Black Snake and the Kobolds. The robed Kobold returned stolen goods and begged for mercy, while Tang Qi suspected he was more intelligent than he let on.

• Tang Qi claimed an Ochre Jelly monster had attacked and led Gravel to where Jackal had fought it.
• Gravel and Tang Qi found only Jackal's remains inside the slime, and Gravel decided to leave the monster alone.
• Gravel explained his dislike of Jackal, and the two returned to Black Snake as the Kobolds carried out crates of Star Plums.
• The robed Kobold delivered twenty crates and a collection of adventurers' gear, then knelt and begged Black Snake and Gravel to spare him.
• Tang Qi noticed the robed Kobold's speech sounded unusually fluent despite his simple words.

Tang Qi discovered that Kuru’s stolen Star Plums were rotten and that Kuru had used magic to disguise them. He stopped Black Snake from killing the kobold and proposed using Kuru’s illusion to pass off inferior fruit to the caravan, leaving Black Snake to consider the plan.

• Tang Qi and Black Snake found that the Star Plums were rotten inside and that stones had been used to fill the crates.
• Kuru began casting a spell while kobolds fired arrows to delay Black Snake, but Black Snake cut through Kuru’s Frozen Ray and overpowered it.
• Black Snake prepared to kill Kuru, but Tang Qi stopped him, arguing that they needed the kobold alive to explain the missing fruit and avoid taking all the blame.
• Tang Qi proposed disguising ordinary Star Plums as superior ones with Kuru’s Silent Illusion and shifting some responsibility to the caravan through signed delivery documents.
• Kuru offered to use Silent Illusion, and Black Snake silently weighed Tang Qi’s plan.

Tang Qi learned how Kuru stole the Star Plums and discovered that the Kobold had taught himself several spells from a dead mage’s spellbook. The group returned to town with the fruit, while Tang Qi was left astonished by Kuru’s intelligence.

• Black Snake agreed to let Tang Qi lead the plan and threatened him with death if it failed.
• Kuru gathered seven crates of unspoiled Star Plums, and the group hauled them toward town.
• Tang Qi questioned Kuru and learned how the Kobolds stole boots, misdirected their footprints, and used [Earth Shaping] to hide evidence.
• Kuru explained that he had learned his spells from a mage’s spellbook found after Kobolds encountered three dying humans in the forest.
• Tang Qi examined Kuru’s spellbook and realized the Kobold had decoded its magic symbols with remarkable speed.

After the Star Plum expedition, Tang Qi claimed a share of Jackal’s spoils and got Anbi’s name cleared, but George’s apology left her shaken by guilt. She revealed that she really had destroyed the Star Plum at his family’s house.

• Black Snake gave Tang Qi twenty gold coins and let him choose from Jackal’s spoils, and Tang Qi took a studded leather armor.
• Tang Qi asked Black Snake to declare Anbi innocent, and Black Snake ordered a guard to spread the truth that the Kobolds had committed the crimes.
• Anbi told Tang Qi she was glad he had tried to help, even though the townspeople still shunned her.
• George apologized to Anbi for accusing her and calling her a monster.
• Anbi trembled and admitted she felt guilty because she really had destroyed the Star Plum at George’s house, and Tang Qi revealed he had already guessed.