Chapter Summaries

Salomon learned that Hophos planned to use Morgan le Fay’s failed spell to weaken her soul and free Veronica. The Venerable One then sent Salomon to Salem to find and kill Abigail Williams, a dangerous Black Warlock behind the Salem Witch Trials.

• Salomon returned to Kamar-Taj and learned that Balthazar had run into trouble involving Hophos, Veronica, and Morgan le Fay.
• The Venerable One explained that Hophos intended to free Veronica by making Morgan le Fay suffer magical backlash while casting a powerful spell.
• Salomon realized the Venerable One had secretly directed events by assigning separate tasks to the New York Sanctum’s Arcanists.
• The Venerable One told Salomon that Balthazar had captured a Black Warlock in Salem who had driven the town mad and caused the Salem Witch Trials.
• The Venerable One ordered Salomon to find Abigail Williams and kill her.

Salomon prepared to pursue a dangerous mission while Hophos freed Abigail Williams and used Becky to force Dave to surrender the sealing ring. Agamotto’s Crystal Ball traced the Exotic Magic to Salem, and Salomon set out for the place where the trouble began.

• The Sorcerer Supreme ordered Salomon to prepare for a solo mission and allowed him to use Kamar-Taj’s artifacts.
• Hophos had Derek set up satellite receivers for his ritual, then drained Derek’s life and took his ring.
• Hophos released Abigail Williams, whose true nature overwhelmed him before she vanished to pursue her own mission.
• Hophos abducted Becky, and Dave gave him the ring to protect her after Balthazar and Dave tracked him to Derek’s studio.
• Salomon arrived at the studio and used Agamotto’s Crystal Ball to trace the Exotic Magic to Salem.

Salomon tracked the Exotic Magic to a cave near Salem, where he found the world outside had changed into a strange forest and church under a spring sunset. When Natasha Romanoff and Agent Coulson arrived to investigate, Salomon had vanished.

• Salomon traveled to Salem with Excalibur and used the Crystal Ball of Agamotto to follow the magic and a trail of tiny shoeprints.
• Nick Fury called Salomon about magical activity in New York, but Salomon refused to involve S.H.I.E.L.D. and warned him away from the mission.
• After Salomon's signal disappeared, Nick Fury sent Natasha Romanoff and Agent Coulson to investigate the cave.
• Salomon found the shoeprints ending at a cave wall, then emerged to discover an unfamiliar forest and church beneath a lingering sunset.
• Natasha Romanoff and Agent Coulson followed Salomon's footprints into the cave and found no tracks leading back out.

Natasha Romanoff and Agent Coulson discovered that their team and Quinjet had vanished, while Salomon became trapped in a strange forest where his portals would not work. After hearing girls sing about a door and a future, he reasoned that he needed to establish when and where he was and chose to seek out someone local.

• Natasha Romanoff spotted new footprints leading out of the cave, and she and Agent Coulson followed the clue as their team stopped responding over the radio.
• Natasha Romanoff and Agent Coulson emerged from the cave to find the Quinjet and the rest of their team gone, with a vast forest where the aircraft had been.
• Salomon failed to open a portal in the forest and used a scroll to see through the deepening darkness as he searched for a way toward town.
• Salomon recognized the forest’s dread from memories of the Great Old One warlock and forced himself to stop recalling the patron’s name.
• Salomon followed the singing of girls chanting about an ash branch, an unseen door, and a future that would fulfill their wishes.
• Salomon concluded that he had to determine his position in space-time before he could open a portal, and decided to ask someone local for the approximate year.

Salomon discovered that he had landed near Salem around 1692 and learned that Abigail Williams was being held by her uncle, Randolph Carter. Natasha Romanoff and Coulson found him while fleeing monsters, and the group set out to escort the girls back to Salem without revealing the truth about the creatures.

• Salomon met several girls performing a ritual in the woods and convinced them he was a student from London who had become lost.
• The girls told Salomon about Salem, Reverend Parris, and Abigail Williams, whose uncle Randolph Carter had locked her up.
• Natasha Romanoff and Coulson fled dog-faced monsters and reached Salomon’s clearing, where he initially pointed his pistol at them.
• Salomon prompted Coulson to recognize that they were near Salem on the eve of the 1692 witch trials, and Coulson agreed to help escort the girls home.

Salomon, Agent Coulson, and Natasha Romanoff reached Salem with Ann Putnam and the other girls, while Salomon tried to understand why he had been sent to 1692. They encountered Abigail Williams, and Natasha stopped Salomon from attacking her as they argued over whether Abigail was truly responsible for the coming tragedy.

• Ann Putnam led Coulson, Salomon, Natasha, Elizabeth Parris, and Mary Walcott along a hidden woodland path toward Salem.
• Salomon considered whether Abigail Williams or the Holy Marks had caused his journey through time and planned to seek help from the Sorcerer Supreme of 1692.
• Coulson learned from Ann about local residents and gossip, then discovered that the date was April 21, just before the Salem tragedy was expected to begin.
• Natasha claimed to be Salomon's maid after Ann questioned her, and Abigail Williams arrived asking the outsiders about big cities.
• Salomon prepared to attack Abigail, but Natasha grabbed his wand and argued that he should not punish her for historical records; Salomon insisted Abigail might be the key to the incident, which might not even be real.

Salomon explained his Lostbelt theory to Natasha and planned to investigate Abigail as the group entered Salem’s past. They stayed at Randolph Carter’s home, where Salomon discovered that his portals could not take them out of the anomalous region.

• Salomon told Natasha that Salem had become a temporal-spatial anomaly and said he might have to kill Abigail to end it.
• Natasha shared her guilt over past killings, while Salomon warned that they might have to shed blood again.
• Randolph Carter met Abigail and invited Coulson, Salomon, and Natasha to stay at his home and discuss their experiences.
• Salomon tried to open a portal to New York but found that he could only travel between locations within Carter’s house.
• Salomon told Natasha that they needed to find the source of the incident and resolve it.

Salomon, Natasha, and Coulson shared what they knew about the abnormal Salem and agreed to investigate Randolph Carter before acting against Abigail Williams. They left Coulson to approach Carter while Salomon and Natasha planned to search the town and forest the next morning.

• Natasha convinced Salomon to let Coulson into the room and explained their situation to him.
• Salomon and Natasha discussed Abigail Williams and Tituba, while Coulson identified Randolph Carter as their main suspect.
• Coulson refused to harm Abigail without proof, and Salomon and Natasha agreed to handle any necessary violence themselves if the danger became clear.
• Salomon asked Coulson to test Carter’s identity by watching for references to unfamiliar places and giving him a cat if he did not mention them.
• Salomon wrote stories for Coulson to recount to Carter, while he and Natasha planned to investigate Salem and buy her clothes the next morning.

Salomon and Agent Coulson investigated strange rituals and missing children in Salem, but Mary Walcott’s confession sparked a furious witch-hunting crowd that targeted Tituba. Randolph Carter arrived and took Tituba outside, then whispered something unexpected to Salomon.

• Salomon, Agent Coulson, and Natasha Romanoff found fresh footprints from a women’s gathering in the forest and learned that Abigail and Tituba’s rituals showed no magic.
• Agent Coulson learned that nonwhite children had gone missing and that Mary Walcott was the afflicted girl in the emerging witch trials.
• Mary Walcott confessed that Tituba had taught her the woodland rituals, and the townspeople gathered with torches to attack Randolph Carter’s residence.
• Agent Coulson tried to hold the crowd back while Salomon and Natasha protected Tituba and Abigail inside.
• Randolph Carter arrived, heard the accusations against Tituba, and opened the door to let her out despite Agent Coulson’s attempt to stop him.
• Randolph Carter spoke a private, unexpected remark to Salomon.

Salomon received a terrifying vision from Randolph Carter and learned he had to repay a debt, then rested at the inn while Natasha and Coulson rescued Tituba from prison. Salomon ended the night dreaming of a radiant city and an onyx castle, where the mocking laughter returned.

• Salomon saw Randolph Carter seated before the Ultimate Gate, and a voice told him it was not yet time for him to learn its secrets until he repaid his debt.
• Natasha told Salomon that Tituba had been arrested and Coulson had gone to the church; she took the shaken Salomon to the inn to rest.
• Coulson returned and asked Salomon to help rescue Tituba, and Salomon supplied Lesser Healing Potions and Lesser Restoration Potions for her treatment.
• Natasha and Coulson broke into the prison, found Tituba badly injured, and carried her toward the inn while Natasha promised to care for her.
• Salomon dreamed of a shining city, crossed strange landscapes to reach an onyx castle, and heard the mocking laughter again.

Salomon investigated the forest after suspecting that a witches’ gathering had caused the strange magic and events in town. He followed fresh footprints to a private farm, where he expected to find his next clue.

• Salomon bathed while Natasha told him Tituba was asleep and Coulson had arranged to hide her at the inn.
• Natasha tried to keep Salomon in the bath, but he insisted on investigating the forest while Coulson questioned townspeople at the tavern.
• Salomon gave Coulson money to ask around town and visit Randolph Carter, warning him not to investigate dangerous matters too deeply.
• Salomon examined two scorched wooden staffs, a human face growing from a tree, burnt remains, and dead maggots in the forest clearing.
• Salomon followed fresh footprints north through the forest and spotted a private farm.

After the prisoners’ escape sparked a new witch hunt in Salem, Ann Putnam and Elizabeth Parris described a witches’ sabbath where The Dark One nearly devoured Ann’s soul before an unseen attacker drove him away. Their testimony led to the arrest of several townspeople, who faced interrogation as Keziah Mason escaped.

• Coulson learned that the prisoners’ disappearance had triggered a new witch hunt and hurried back to warn Natasha while hoping to save innocent people.
• Ann Putnam and Elizabeth Parris told Cotton Mather and Inquisitor Mathers Hopkins that they had witnessed a witches’ sabbath, concealing that Keziah Mason had invited them and that they had taken part in its ritual.
• Keziah Mason summoned The Dark One to claim Ann Putnam’s soul, but an unseen figure struck him with the Fist of Yog-Sothoth and forced him to flee.
• Ann Putnam accused Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, John Prence, Mary Prence, and Keziah Mason, prompting the judge to order their arrests.
• The King's Army captured the accused except for Keziah Mason, and Cotton Mather and Inquisitor Mathers Hopkins began interrogating them in a dark room.

Salomon warned Coulson that the Salem court's witch trials condemned suspects regardless of their behavior, then divided their efforts to save the innocent and find the real witches. The King's Army returned from the forest with the corpse of an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

• Cotton Mather and Mathers Hopkins interrogated accused women with methods that treated every response as proof of guilt, while Coulson worried about the prisoners.
• Salomon told Coulson not to act rashly or seek Randolph Carter's help, and suggested killing Cotton Mather and Mathers Hopkins if necessary.
• Salomon recounted finding Exotic Magic at the Prence farm and seeing the King's Army arrest John Prence and Mary Prence, whom he believed were innocent.
• Salomon asked Coulson to investigate Bridget Bishop, Susanna Martin, Alice Parker, and Margaret Scott while he hunted the real witches.
• Coulson agreed to help and promised to act at night, as Salomon planned to return to the woods to find the mastermind.
• The King's Army returned from the forest carrying the corpse of an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Salomon investigated the witches and entered the forest while Coulson and Natasha watched the four girls and tried to save innocent prisoners from Salem’s executions. By nightfall, Salomon had not returned, and Randolph Carter waited for something to emerge from the forest.

• Salomon identified a mutilated S.H.I.E.L.D. agent’s corpse and warned Coulson to prepare for other agents possibly entering through the cave.
• Alice Parker, Bridget Bishop, Margaret Scott, and Susanna Martin experienced terrifying visions after eating spoiled bread and were later chosen by The Dark One.
• Salomon entered the forest to investigate the girls and search for missing agents, while Coulson and Natasha kept the girls under surveillance.
• Cotton Mather and Mathers Hopkins rushed the accused witches through trials and executions, leaving Coulson horrified by the crowd’s frenzy.
• Coulson told Natasha that Salomon had not returned, while Randolph Carter watched the western forest with Abigail Williams beside him.

Salomon fought through ghouls and magically controlled corpses in the Dark Forest, then encountered a huge monster and fled. After a mysterious Black Man revealed himself as Nyarlathotep and celebrated the chaos, Salomon continued toward the cave, still trying to determine whether S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent anyone else.

• Salomon killed a ghoul and fought off corpse shells controlled by unknown creatures, using Holy Flame of the Vishanti and a Fireball to drive them back.
• After Salomon left, the Black Man appeared among the corpses, revealed that the attack had been one of his games, and identified himself as Nyarlathotep.
• Salomon hurried toward the cave, intent on checking whether S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent anyone else into the forest.
• A huge, foul-smelling monster emerged from the shrubs and roared at Salomon, who turned and ran.

Salomon killed a Gug Giant and searched its stomach for signs of missing S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, finding nothing and gaining no ammunition. Meanwhile, Coulson and Natasha witnessed the witch trials, and Coulson resolved to protect a suspect they had saved.

• Salomon lured the Gug Giant through alchemical fire and used spells to keep it burning until he could kill it with Acid Splash.
• Salomon dissected the Gug Giant but found no agents' equipment in its stomach, then vomited from the stench and continued toward the cave to help Coulson and Natasha.
• Judge Cotton Mather and interrogator Mathers Hopkins subjected a suspected witch to needle-pricking tests while a crowd watched.
• Coulson lamented the witch-hunting methods to Natasha and said he would protect the innocent person they had saved, even at the cost of his life.

Randolph Carter taught Salomon about the unstable Salem reality, Abigail Williams, and the rituals needed to resolve the crisis. Salomon returned to Coulson with a plan to confront the mastermind, Nyarlathotep’s Dark One, and then send Abigail away.

• Randolph Carter took Abigail home and explained how he had preserved her sanity within the false reality.
• Salomon arrived at Randolph’s house after searching the monster-filled forest and failing to find the Dark One.
• Randolph taught Salomon about the mastermind, Nyarlathotep’s avatars, and the rituals to summon help and take Abigail beyond the door.
• Randolph gave Salomon his grimoire, taught him the Yog-Sothoth Stone Ritual, and said he could bring Tituba back temporarily.
• Salomon returned to Coulson and said they could leave once they dealt with the mastermind.

Salomon learned that Coulson had suffered a terrifying vision and assigned him to build an altar while he went to retrieve Natasha. At Natasha’s surveillance point, Salomon found her missing and discovered a Man-Faced Rat familiar, leaving him worried that the witches had already targeted her.

• Coulson told Salomon about a nightmare involving the witches, a soul-devouring figure, and swarms of rats, and Salomon used magic to calm him.
• Salomon gave Coulson plans and gold to build an altar on a stone tower, then arranged for Tituba to return to Randolph Carter’s estate.
• Salomon made his way through Salem Town, where soldiers were randomly arresting women suspected of witchcraft, and reached Natasha’s surveillance point.
• Salomon found Natasha and the four girls missing, then spotted a Man-Faced Rat with a human face and recognized it as a witch’s familiar.
• Salomon chased the rat but lost it, feared Natasha had been exposed to the witches, and noticed a stray dog he could use as spell material.

Salomon followed a stray dog named Jones to the courthouse while searching for Natasha, then learned she had been tracking Mathers Hopkins, a wizard who should have been dead. Suspecting Hopkins was an avatar of Nyarlathotep, Salomon planned to attack him, but first demanded proof that the disguised Natasha was really herself.

• Salomon paid two sausages to enlist a stray dog, named it Jones, and followed its trail to the courthouse.
• Salomon found four imprisoned witches in a spiked cage but saw no sign of Natasha.
• Natasha approached Salomon in disguise and explained that she had used S.H.I.E.L.D. perfume to avoid being tracked.
• Natasha told Salomon that Mathers Hopkins had taught witchcraft to the four girls and that she had been following him.
• Salomon suspected Hopkins might be an avatar of Nyarlathotep and decided to attack him, then tested Natasha's identity by asking what she regretted most.

Salomon suspected Natasha might be an avatar of Nyarlathotep and struggled to find a way to verify her identity. He killed and revived her to confirm she was human, then escorted an angry Natasha through Salem’s alleys as she headed back to the inn.

• Salomon considered whether Natasha or other people in Salem might be Nyarlathotep avatars, while keeping his wand aimed at Natasha.
• Salomon questioned Natasha and discussed identity and his supposed portraits of her, but her answers revealed no clear evidence.
• Salomon led Natasha into an alley and stabbed her through the heart, then confirmed her corpse did not transform into Nyarlathotep.
• Salomon cast Revivify and healed Natasha with magic and potions, restoring her to life.
• Natasha angrily confronted Salomon for killing her without warning, then said she was returning to the inn to bathe.