Chapter Summaries

Kraft, Linden, Kup, and Yvonne toured the Cathedral of Our Lady, where its grandeur and history prompted discussion about the Church’s influence and a disturbing wall of bones. From the Clock Tower, they surveyed Dunling before Linden suggested visiting Morrison’s family.

• Kraft and his companions entered the cathedral and admired its architecture, stained glass, and religious murals.
• Linden explained the Church’s contributions to Norse’s universities and criticized its influence over secular education.
• Kraft discovered that a wall in the transept was built from bones collected across plague and war eras, and Linden described its history.
• The group gained access to the Clock Tower and looked across Dunling toward Knight Island Church.
• After Kraft declined Linden’s offer to visit the underground cemeteries, Linden suggested paying respects to Morrison’s family, and Kraft asked whether Morrison had family.

Fernand, Linden, and Kraft visited Mrs. Leslie to offer condolences for Professor Morrison and presented her with an experimental research flask. Kraft learned that Morrison had read the Holy Scripture and borrowed it from Mrs. Leslie.

• Fernand and Linden told Kraft that Morrison had been handsome, married young, and raised a daughter, contrary to Kraft’s assumptions about his life.
• Fernand, Linden, Kraft, and Yvonne traveled to Morrison’s estate on the outskirts of Dunling to pay their respects.
• Fernand and Linden offered Mrs. Leslie condolences and recalled Morrison’s academic achievements.
• Kraft gave Mrs. Leslie an experimental research flask as a gift from Rivers University.
• After Mrs. Leslie said Morrison had read the Holy Scripture, Kraft asked to borrow it, surprised to learn that the professor had studied it before his death.

Kraft met Frances Galat Sigo, whose family traded in turquoise, jewelry, and custom instruments, and arranged to visit her workshop. On the carriage ride back, he examined the Holy Scripture for clues about Professor Morrison’s interest and found a familiar story about the founding of Norse.

• Frances Galat Sigo greeted Kraft, Fernand, Kup, and Yvonne, mistook Yvonne for their daughter, and offered her a turquoise brooch.
• Fernand recognized Frances as a member of the turquoise-trading Sigo Family and declined her offer to supply the Academy with equipment.
• Kraft asked Frances about the custom instruments her family made, learned that they had supplied Dunling University, and requested the Workshop’s address.
• On the ride back, Kraft opened the Holy Scripture while Fernand and Linden discussed why Professor Morrison might have been interested in it.
• Kraft found a frequently read passage recounting Saint Yeg’s search for a king and recognized it as the story of the Chosen One drawing the sword from the stone and uniting Norse.

Kraft searched the Holy Scripture and the kingdom’s coin for clues about what Morrison had been investigating, then connected the Black Fluid conspiracy’s efforts to destroy evidence with a possible need to conceal altered bodies. He sent Kup to invite Professors Fernand and Linden to visit the cemetery of the fire victims, hoping to investigate further.

• Kraft read the Holy Scripture’s account of the First King and concluded that its legends might conceal the Church’s political history, but found no useful clue in the book or the royal coin.
• Kraft reviewed the deaths of Petrie, Morrison, and Calman and suspected that the Black Fluid secret society was linked to the Heretics and might be trying to conceal evidence from the Church or Rivers University.
• Kraft realized that the conspirators’ repeated removal of bodies could be connected to anatomical abnormalities caused by the Deep Layer and their wish to keep Petrie’s remains from the Medical School.
• Kraft asked Kup to invite Professor Fernand and Professor Linden to visit the cemetery of the fire victims under the pretext of improving relations between the schools.

Kraft visited the university cemetery with Professor Fernand and Lecturer Villen, where he learned about the fire that destroyed the university laboratory and its records. While inspecting the graves, he discovered that the remains buried under the name Clark had a female pelvis, revealing that the dead had been misidentified.

• Kraft laid flowers at the graves of Morrison, Calman, Petrie, and the students who died in the disaster.
• Kraft invited Lecturer Villen to help discuss standards for faster surgery and the preparation of anesthetics, and Villen agreed.
• Villen told Kraft that a laboratory fire had destroyed instruments and uncatalogued research records, and that the dead had been identified by their belongings and where they were found.
• Kraft used his Spiritual Senses to inspect the remains in the graves and found that the pelvis in Clark's coffin was female.
• Kraft concluded that the university had failed to identify the remains correctly and that the Church's strict oversight had left anatomy research without suitable bodies to study.

Kraft examined the Academy’s instrument storeroom under Villen’s guidance and searched its register for evidence of Morrison’s experiments. He found Calman’s repeated signatures and traced his borrowing of surgical tools and precision glassware, but the records left the instruments’ ultimate use unclear.

• Villen explained how the Church monitored Dunling’s burials and hinted that gravediggers sometimes supplied bodies to the Academy.
• Villen led Kraft and the Rivers guests into the instrument storeroom, where Kraft examined the glassware and requested the register.
• Kraft searched the ledger for entries from more than half a year earlier but struggled to identify the names and signatures.
• Kraft recognized Calman’s elegant signature and found records showing Calman had borrowed surgical instruments and graduated containers.
• Kraft discovered that Calman’s laboratory returned some instruments as contaminated, while other tools and precision glassware were never returned.

Kraft examined the academy’s equipment records and suspected Calman had hidden a warning in his paperwork about Morrison’s unexplained surgical operations. He introduced the Society of Tuberculosis and Rare Diseases to Villen and asked for help finding tuberculosis patients in Dunling, hoping the inquiry would bring him closer to the message.

• Kraft noticed Calman’s signed records repeatedly accounted for missing surgical instruments as equipment contaminated by infectious diseases.
• Kraft considered whether Calman had concealed a message in the ledger, but could not decipher it and suspected the instruments had been used for a large, secretive operation.
• Villen assured Kraft that he could use the academy’s equipment and promised to arrange another laboratory.
• Kraft told Villen he had come to Dunling partly on behalf of the Society of Tuberculosis and Rare Diseases, which had the Duke of Westminster’s funding and authorization.
• Kraft asked Villen to introduce the society to people who could help them learn about tuberculosis patients in Dunling.

Kraft visited Doctor David V's clinic with Villen to learn about tuberculosis patients and compare existing treatments with a new surgical approach. The chapter ended with Kraft asking David to describe his patients' lives and the clinic's daily work.

• Kraft explained to Villen and Kup why medical theories needed repeated testing and put on a mask.
• Villen introduced David V, a former student who ran an internal medicine clinic in the New District.
• Kraft and Villen toured David's clinic, where patients with different illnesses waited for medicine and coughing patients were separated.
• Villen told David about a surgical treatment that compressed the lungs by pumping air into the chest cavity.
• Kraft asked David to share what he knew about tuberculosis patients, including their living conditions, work, finances, treatments, and relationships.

Kraft interviewed Doctor David about tuberculosis among the poor and learned that patients in crowded districts often worsened without rest or effective treatment. He decided to pilot Artificial Pneumothorax treatment at David’s clinic and invited David to learn the procedure.

• Kraft reassured David that he could speak freely, while Villen warned him to give a useful account.
• David described tuberculosis as a disease of the poor, saying many patients could not afford honey or cough syrup and relied on herbs instead.
• David explained that severe coughing and bleeding required rest and isolation, but patients often returned to strenuous work and spread the illness through their families.
• Kraft asked what obstacles a surgical treatment would face, and David said patients might accept even a dangerous procedure but could not afford a costly visit from the Academy.
• Kraft announced that he would begin screening patients for Artificial Pneumothorax treatment, charge a small fee, and let David learn the procedure as he unpacked sterilized cloth and surgical tools.

Kraft and Professor Kraft visited the clinic to demonstrate a newer treatment for tuberculosis, but first Kraft led Dr. David through the patient history and taught Kup how to examine the patient. The chapter ended with Kraft identifying a lung cavity and inviting the others to listen to its hollow, whistling breath sounds.

• Kraft arrived at the clinic with Professor Kraft and Lecturer Villen to assess a tuberculosis patient for a newer treatment.
• Kraft asked Dr. David to present the patient history, then prompted him to gather details about the cough and the onset of bloody phlegm.
• The patient described a recurring cough that worsened over time and said he had begun coughing up blood as the weather warmed.
• Kraft examined the emaciated patient and taught Kup to locate the ribs using the sternal angle.
• Kraft palpated and percussed the patient's chest, then used a listening tube to locate a cavity and hear its abnormal breath sounds.

Kraft used a stethoscope to examine a man with suspected Tuberculosis and performed an artificial pneumothorax to stop his hemoptysis. The man woke without coughing up fresh blood, and news of the treatment drew patients to the clinic.

• Kraft examined the patient's lungs with a stethoscope and explained his findings and proposed treatment to the medical staff.
• The patient gave consent by pressing his handprint onto the form after coughing up blood again.
• Kraft anesthetized the patient with Ether and inserted air into his chest cavity to create an artificial pneumothorax.
• The patient woke coughing but found no fresh blood on his clothes or bedsheets.
• News of the successful treatment spread, bringing patients to the previously obscure clinic.

As patients crowded Kraft’s clinic after rumors spread that his tuberculosis treatment worked, he found one patient whose pleural adhesions made the procedure unsafe and began teaching David and Kup to perform it. Their supervised treatment went well, but a man in severe distress arrived during the next procedure, and Kraft rushed to help him.

• Rumors about Kraft’s treatment brought a flood of patients to the clinic, forcing him to spend nearly all his time on assessments and procedures.
• Kraft refused to perform artificial pneumothorax on a patient with pleural adhesions and sent him away with Kup.
• Kraft had David take over the next procedure while Kup assisted, and Kup helped David identify the correct puncture site.
• David completed the treatment under Kraft’s supervision, and the patient awoke grateful and promised to return for follow-up.
• As David prepared for another puncture, a severely ill man arrived amid a commotion, and Kraft rushed through the crowd to reach him.

Kraft treated a man with tuberculosis who developed a life-threatening tension pneumothorax, relieving the pressure with a needle and tube. The patient survived for now, but Kraft learned that the Church’s rules barred most tuberculosis patients from burial in churchyards and ordinary cemeteries.

• Kraft recognized a man who had asked him about treatment and found him struggling to breathe after sudden chest pain.
• Kraft diagnosed a tension pneumothorax caused by the patient’s damaged lung rupturing and air building up in his chest.
• With David and Kup helping, Kraft inserted a needle and tube into the patient’s chest to release the trapped air.
• The patient’s breathing improved, and Kraft admitted him for observation while warning that the tube had to remain in place.
• Kraft asked why the patient had worried about his burial, and David explained that the Church considered tuberculosis patients unclean and restricted where they could be buried.

Kraft and Kup visited Dunling’s old graveyard to investigate whether its catacombs held records or evidence related to Tuberculosis deaths. After bribing the Gravedigger for entry, they discovered the plague-era underground burial grounds and began descending, while Kraft’s unexplained unease faded.

• Kraft told Kup he had left David to handle the clinic while they visited the graveyard outside Dunling.
• The Gravedigger initially blocked their way, but let them enter after Kraft offered silver and gave them a lantern.
• Kraft and Kup followed the Undertakers through the overgrown graveyard and found a stone staircase leading underground.
• Kraft recognized the catacombs as an old burial place used during the Great Plague and realized they had remained open for decades.
• Kraft briefly felt something was wrong, but the sensation vanished, and he and Kup started down the stairs.

Kraft and Kup explored an underground quarry repurposed as a burial place, where Kraft examined remains for signs of disease while searching for something else. Deep among the bone-filled passages, they heard an unseen third set of footsteps.

• Kup lit the way as Kraft descended into the old quarry, where rows of stone niches held human remains.
• Kraft identified spinal tuberculosis in a skeleton but left the bones undisturbed because they were not what he sought.
• Kraft and Kup passed mourners preparing a corpse for burial, and Kraft reassured them that he would not get lost.
• They entered a deeper passage where bones from the Great Plague had been stacked like building materials.
• Kraft heard footsteps behind them that belonged to neither him nor Kup, and he signaled Kup to listen.

Kraft and Kup ambushed two men who had followed them through the bone passageways, but the fight turned into a struggle in total darkness. Kraft recognized the surviving swordsman as someone from the Inquisition and demanded to know why he was following him.

• Kraft and Kup noticed they were being followed and set a lantern as a decoy in a stone chamber.
• Two men entered the chamber, and Kraft attacked the Armored Man while Kup fought him off from the other swordsman.
• Kraft and the swordsman exchanged blows as Kup struggled against the Armored Man’s superior equipment.
• Kraft and the swordsman both struck the lantern, plunging the chamber into darkness.
• Kraft used Spiritual Senses to locate the swordsman and recognized him from the Medical School courtyard in Dunling.
• Kraft asked the swordsman from the Inquisition why he had been following him.

Kraft fought off Father Green and the Inquisition party in a cemetery, then explained that he was investigating deaths from Tuberculosis. Green revealed that the Inquisition had pursued Kraft over rumors of his healing abilities and a clear liquid made through extraction, leaving Kraft to recognize a connection to their investigation.

• Kraft dodged the swordsman’s attack, disarmed him, and reopened his lantern to end the fight.
• Father Green identified himself and questioned Kraft’s presence in the cemetery.
• Kraft said he was counting Tuberculosis deaths as head of the Duke-established Society of Tuberculosis and Rare Diseases.
• Green explained that rumors of Kraft curing people by touch had raised the Inquisition’s suspicions about publicly promoted supernatural powers.
• Green said the Inquisition had also heard that Kraft brought a clear liquid that temporarily removed sensation, prompting Kraft to ask whether it resembled something they were already investigating.

Professor Kraft confronted Father Green and the Inquisition agents in the underground cemetery, then used rumors of a mysterious pain-relieving drug to persuade Green that they had a reason to talk. Green revealed that the Inquisition had investigated the drug because its creator and use were unusually secretive.

• Kraft admitted that he had developed ether and offered to explain how he made it, while asking who had discovered the other rumored drug first.
• Kraft described a drug that could numb pain and claimed it was easier to use than his ether, suggesting its unknown creator might be a senior medical figure.
• Green and his companion left the underground chamber with Kraft and Kup following them through the passage.
• Outside, Green stopped Kraft and said they should talk after Kraft asked why the Inquisition was interested in the rumored drug.
• Green told Kraft that the Inquisition had taken notice because it could find no information about the drug, even among corpse thieves.

Father Green reflected on his lifelong devotion to the Church as he reviewed another report of suspicious activity at Dunling University’s Medical School. The report offered little reason to raid Professor Morrison, and Green questioned whether the Church had ever restricted the school’s potion research.

• Green recalled how his religious upbringing, education, and training led him to join the Inquisition and devote himself to fighting Heterodoxy.
• Brother Wadin brought Green a confidential report about irregularities at the Medical School, but Green initially put it aside.
• Green considered the Inquisition’s dwindling serious cases and its repeated, inconclusive investigations of the Medical School.
• Green read that the Medical School had bought white glass containers, metal instruments, manuscript pages, and materials for an unusual potion, while Morrison was probably not involved in the latest corpse theft.
• Green burned the report and asked Wadin whether the Church had ever restricted the Medical School’s potion research.

Green investigated the antiquities shop that had sold Professor Morrison a book and found rubbings of an unknown underground structure covered in strange geometric patterns. He suspected the patterns belonged to an unrecorded heterodox system, but after the Inquisition waited for a lead, a great fire broke out and their most important informant died.

• Green pressured the antiquities shopkeeper into revealing that Morrison had bought pages from a book of architectural research notes.
• Green forced the shopkeeper to produce additional pages that he had planned to sell separately.
• Green examined the pages and found rubbings of an immense, unfamiliar hexagonal structure beneath Dunling.
• Green connected the strange patterns to possible heterodox worship, though he could find no matching records.
• Green and the Inquisition waited for their most important informant's report, but half a month later a great fire occurred and the informant died.