Recaps

Charles and Six of Clubs were cornered during MI9’s arrest operation, while Antigonus confronted Derlink Augustus over the royal family’s role in Backlund’s chaos. William Augustus arrived and proposed cooperation with the Society, leaving the two sides poised to negotiate.

• Six of Clubs and Charles found Prince Grove blocking their escape as Qonas Kilgor closed in, and Six of Clubs gave Charles a Spirit-Banishing Bullet before they planned to flee separately.
• Derlink Augustus watched the arrest operation from a hidden position, but Antigonus and the Mother of Heaven appeared and challenged his intervention.
• Antigonus accused the Augustus family of using the Society’s financial and political upheaval to weaken conservative nobles and advance a secret plan.
• Derlink’s thoughts revealed that the royal family had knowingly allowed Charles’s scheme to cripple the Conservatives, while trying to prevent the chaos from destroying Loen’s economy and war potential.
• William Augustus appeared, ordered Derlink to halt the operation, and told Antigonus that Loen and the Society could cooperate instead of choosing mutual destruction.

Lorne arrived in Bayam disguised as Moros and searched for Danitz, while Sharron accompanied him in disguise. He learned that Bayam was under martial law after Sea God statues shattered, then recognized a disguised Klein passing by.

• Lorne disembarked at Tiana Harbor, changed his appearance to Moros, and traveled with Sharron through the Spirit World to Bayam.
• Lorne and Sharron found that Sherlock was absent from the inn, and Lorne divined that Danitz was alive somewhere in Bayam.
• Lorne and Sharron searched the Golden Dream's abandoned contact points before entering a tavern for news.
• Lorne found sensational gossip about Monkey Brando on the tavern noticeboard, and Sharron said she had read the article before.
• Lorne learned that the Church of Storms was investigating shattered Sea God statues, then spotted a disguised blond man and recognized Klein.

Lorne reunited with Danitz in Bayam after Sharron and he tracked him down, then learned how Tracy had injured him while trying to force Lorne to appear. Lorne promised to make Tracy understand that his friends were off-limits and offered Danitz the Sequence 5 Reaper potion formula as compensation.

• Danitz tried to escape Lorne and Sharron, but Lorne stopped him and revealed his identity as Brando.
• Danitz angrily confronted Lorne about his suffering aboard the Black Death and showed him his wounds from Tracy.
• At Danitz’s inn, Lorne explained that he had only just learned of Danitz’s trouble, while Sharron listened quietly.
• Danitz recounted how Sherlock had disguised himself as Lorne to meet Tracy, and Lorne worried about Tracy’s injuries and the Church of Storms.
• Lorne decided to punish Tracy for hurting his friend, then questioned why Danitz was still a Sequence 7 Pyromaniac.
• Danitz demanded compensation, and Lorne wrote down the Hunter Pathway’s Sequence 5 Reaper potion formula for him.

Lorne gave Danitz a Sequence 5 potion formula and money, then warned him they could hunt the new Admiral of Blood for a bounty. He later inspected Platinum Shipping’s Bayam branch, closed its long-running unprofitable foreign routes, and requested its fastest idle freighter for an undisclosed purpose.

• Lorne gave Danitz a Sequence 5 formula, and Danitz admitted he lacked the money to advance or buy ingredients.
• Lorne gave Danitz access to 800 pounds and proposed killing the newly appointed Admiral of Blood for a bounty; he then pressured Danitz not to tell Gehrman Sparrow about their past with Tracy.
• Lorne changed into James Scott and visited Platinum Shipping’s Bayam branch to inspect its accounts and operations.
• Lorne discovered that the branch maintained loss-making overseas routes and employed foreign crews, then ordered the routes shut down and their contracts not renewed.
• Lorne asked the branch manager to assign him the fastest idle freighter so he could pursue a treasure hunt.

Lorne investigated a Society ship in Bayam and discovered it had been transporting grain to East Balam for years, then recruited Danitz to captain a fleet on a risky voyage. In Backlund, official claims that the counterfeit-banknote crisis was over failed to calm public anger, while rumors spread that foreign powers and nobles had helped cause the unrest.

• Lorne and Sharron searched a Society ship in Bayam and found evidence that it had carried grain on routes reaching East Balam.
• Lorne offered Danitz command of the Flame and a fleet in exchange for helping him go to sea and search for something.
• Danitz accepted the voyage after Lorne promised him the captaincy and extra pay.
• Lorne proposed recruiting pirates as sailors and turning them into living corpses rather than hiring them.
• Backlund officials announced that the counterfeit-banknote gang had been crushed and deposited gold in banks, but strikes and protests continued as rumors blamed foreign powers and nobles.

Lorne used Sharron’s zombies as sailors and workers, then set out with Danitz to search for a treasure while Klein was still absent. In Backlund, Six of Clubs took over Charles’s scheme against the Hall Family and gave Earl Levin evidence to use against other nobles and distract the military.

• Lorne had Sharron turn five wanted pirates into zombies, promised Danitz half their bounty, and considered using zombies for factory labor.
• Lorne left a letter for Klein and sailed with Danitz and the zombies toward a broad, uncertain area of sea to search for treasure.
• Earl Levin complained that Charles had vanished while the Conservatives faced financial ruin, public unrest, and pressure from the royal family and military.
• Six of Clubs reassured Earl Levin that Charles had left Backlund to avoid military attention and explained that the Society would keep its acquired businesses operating.
• Six of Clubs gave Earl Levin a letter and photographs containing evidence against an earl and a colonel, proposing that the scandal divert public anger and military scrutiny.

Six of Clubs persuaded Earl Levin to help frame Earl Hall as a traitor, and Levin agreed to trust him once more. At sea, Danitz and Lorne spotted Vice Admiral Dusk’s fleet approaching aboard the Glory.

• Six of Clubs argued that public anger could be redirected toward Earl Hall by publicizing evidence of his financial dealings and asset transfers.
• Six of Clubs suggested that Earl Hall could be portrayed as betraying Loen to protect his captured son, Alfred Hall, and linked him to the counterfeit banknotes through Bavart Bank.
• Earl Levin, tempted by the prospect of political influence and fearing the military would uncover their earlier schemes, agreed to proceed.
• Danitz and Lorne reached the target waters and found no treasure, ghost ship, or merchant vessels, while Danitz worried about encountering the Loen Navy.
• A fleet appeared on the horizon, and Danitz identified its flagship as the Glory, Vice Admiral Dusk’s ship.

Lorne, Danitz, and Sharron encountered Vice Admiral Dusk’s fleet in waters where ships could not escape and sailors mysteriously withered away. After rescuing a stranded young man, Lorne sensed something was wrong as the stranger put an object over his eye.

• Lorne identified Vice Admiral Dusk’s flagship, and Danitz recalled that Dusk had ties to the Church of the God of Combat and a grudge against the Rose School.
• Lorne told Danitz he could be called a Pirate King, leading Danitz to realize his friend was a demigod and that he had powerful backing.
• A ship appeared beside the Glory, and Dusk’s pirates boarded Edwin’s transport ship to demand food and water.
• A sailor on Edwin’s ship rapidly withered and died, and Dusk shot him before the disease could spread.
• Lorne, Danitz, and Sharron found themselves unable to steer away from the other ship, spotted a stranded young man, and hauled him aboard.
• The rescued young man put an object over his right eye and looked at Lorne and the others with a broad smile.

Lorne encountered Mill Walton, a monocled Sequence 5 adventurer who claimed to have become trapped at sea during an expedition. After Vice Admiral Dusk’s starving pirates attacked, Lorne subdued them and took Mill into the cabin, suspecting he was an avatar of Amon.

• Lorne recognized Mill’s monocle and suspected he was an Amon avatar, while Mill introduced himself as an adventurer trapped in strange waters after an expedition to ancient ruins.
• Mill explained that his ship had been unable to escape the waters and accepted food from Lorne’s crew.
• Vice Admiral Dusk’s pirate ship caught up with the cargo ship, and Igor the Whirlwind demanded its food and water.
• A pirate rapidly aged and died, prompting Lorne to unleash a blizzard and use Mental Storm to incapacitate Igor and the other pirates.
• Lorne took Mill into the cabin to question him, and Mill asked whether Lorne belonged to the Society.

Lorne and Mill Walton exchanged information about the Amon-filled waters, then discovered that their ship was trapped in a loop. Lorne began interrogating the captured Glory pirates for information, but Sailor Chief Igor collapsed before he could resist.

• Mill Walton revealed that he belonged to the Society's Special Intelligence Department and had encountered numerous Amon avatars and corpses in the anomalous waters.
• Lorne gave Mill Walton a false identity as Moros from the Treasury Department, with Three of Diamonds as his superior.
• Lorne, Mill Walton, and Danitz shared what they knew and concluded that the ship could not escape the waters by sailing in any direction.
• Lorne offered food to the captured pirates in exchange for information about the Glory and the waters, while Danitz taunted them by eating in front of them.
• Igor secretly prepared to attack Lorne but suddenly collapsed, and Lorne said he would use Spirit Channeling to question him.

Lorne questioned Igor about the pirates trapped in strange waters and learned of a ghost ship, deadly supernatural events, and an unknown honorific name. Unable to contact the outside world, Lorne and Sharron resolved to face the danger together, while Lorne suspected the anomalies involved both the Marauder and Monster Pathways.

• After the starving pirates ate, Igor told Lorne that Vice Admiral Dusk's fleet had become trapped in the waters while following suspicious transport ships and could not find a way out.
• Igor described encountering ships from earlier epochs and a ghost ship where sailors went mad, aged into skeletons, became monsters, and were attacked by translucent worms.
• Igor gave Lorne a written honorific name: “The error of fate, the causality without solution, the embodiment of chaos and disorder”; neither Danitz nor Milverton recognized it.
• Lorne and Sharron found that they could not enter the Spirit World or send messages outside, and Lorne promised to keep everyone safe.
• Sharron said Milverton seemed to have noticed her, and Lorne suspected the anomalies were connected to both the Marauder and Monster Pathways.

Lorne investigated the fate-related anomalies in the waters, then moved to exploit a battle near Vice Admiral Dusk’s fleet. In Backlund, Antigonus reconsidered the royal family’s Black Emperor ambitions and failed to locate Lorne, while investigators arrived to question Earl Hall.

• Lorne told Sharron that the waters interfered with his perception and seemed connected to fate, then decided to keep Mill Walton under watch and keep Sharron hidden.
• Danitz reported finding little aboard Igor’s ship, and Lorne let him keep the coins and jewelry before discussing pirate bounties.
• Lorne, Danitz, and Mill Walton saw Vice Admiral Dusk’s fleet engulfed in battle, and Lorne gave the men luck charms before proposing they use the confusion to investigate Igor’s withheld clues.
• Antigonus judged the Augustus Family’s plan to create a Black Emperor inferior to Solomon and Roselle, then wrote Lorne about taking over sensitive businesses through Viscount Scott.
• Antigonus learned that his messenger could not find Lorne, while military investigators arrived at the Hall mansion and demanded that Earl Hall accompany them, saying the Church of Evernight had joined the investigation.

Lorne and Mill Walton confronted Vice Admiral Dusk aboard the Glory after infiltrating his battered fleet, but Amon’s sudden appearance interrupted their fight. Amon claimed he had become independent of the original and offered to help them escape the abnormal sea.

• Lorne and Mill Walton boarded the Glory and found Vice Admiral Dusk and his crew weakened by the recent battle.
• The pair fought Bulatov Ivan, using Mill Walton’s theft and Lorne’s luck manipulation and Mental Storm to disrupt his attacks.
• Amon emerged from a broken cell and persuaded the fighters to negotiate rather than continue fighting.
• In the Captain’s Cabin, Lorne offered food and fresh water while he and Mill Walton explained their retaliation against Igor.
• Amon said the original had abandoned him after a trap in the sea mutated, leaving him independent, and offered to guide them out.

Lorne and Mill Walton considered Amon’s offer to find special ships that could lead them out of the trapped waters, while Lorne suspected the trap was connected to the corruption he had encountered in Backlund. After two days without an escape, the group prepared to explore, and Amon tried to tempt Mill Walton into following him.

• Amon explained that special ships could serve as stepping stones out of the trapped waters and offered to share secrets about the original Amon if Lorne and Mill Walton cooperated.
• Lorne and Mill Walton privately debated whether to trust Amon, and Lorne divined that cooperation might be worthwhile before connecting the trap’s disturbance to the corrupted Amon he had met in Backlund.
• After two more days of failed attempts to escape, Lorne arranged to explore the ghost ships with the others and left Danitz to guard the cargo ship with Sharron and the zombie sailors.
• Ivan recognized the cargo ship’s deckhands as zombies and suspected that a powerful Wraith was hidden aboard.
• Amon approached Mill Walton and urged him to follow his heart, then suggested that they both wanted the same thing.

Lorne, Amon, and Vice Admiral Dusk’s crew sailed through the anomalous waters in search of a special ship while Amon explained how high-sequence Marauders could steal and alter fate. They found their target: a colossal ship built for giants in the Third Epoch and later salvaged in the Fourth Epoch, leaving Lorne wondering whether giants were connected to Marauders.

• Lorne, Mill Walton, Amon, and Vice Admiral Dusk’s pirates set out aboard a faster, less damaged ship to search the waters for Amon’s target vessels.
• Amon told Lorne that high-sequence Marauders could steal and tamper with fate, and confirmed that stolen fate had caused explorers to lose their identities and turn into monsters.
• The crew passed a treasure ship that Amon warned was trapped, then sailed into dense fog as Vice Admiral Dusk ordered everyone to stay alert.
• Lorne sensed movement in the fog, and the crew spotted an enormous ship that Amon identified as a vessel built for Giantkind in the Third Epoch and salvaged in the Fourth Epoch.
• Lorne wondered whether giants had some connection to Marauders.

Lorne and the pirates boarded an enormous ancient giant ship, hoping to sail out of the sealed waters and claim its treasures. After a deadly encounter with a giant evil spirit, Vice Admiral Dusk Ivan was possessed, and Lorne faced him as Amon and Mill Walton disappeared.

• Amon told Lorne that the ship had been a research facility used by one of his elders, and claimed that his father had protected humanity and been betrayed by the Seven Gods.
• The pirates boarded the ship after Amon said it could sail out of the trapped waters and held valuable artifacts, and Lorne and Ivan agreed to search it despite their doubts.
• Lorne, Amon, Mill Walton, Ivan, and the pirates forced open a hatch, but one pirate fell through the rotten floor and died as they explored.
• The group reached the captain's cabin, where falling debris killed several pirates and revealed a giant evil spirit that attacked them.
• As Ivan fought the evil spirit, the floor collapsed and the spirit seized him; Amon and Mill Walton vanished, and the possessed Ivan rose to confront Lorne.

Lorne fought and killed the evil spirit possessing Ivan, then confronted two Amon avatars who had used him to scout ahead and battle the spirit. As the Amons moved to attack, Sharron arrived and helped Lorne turn the tables.

• Lorne used Mental Storm, firearms, grenades, charms, and his incomplete mythical creature form to weaken the evil spirit controlling Ivan.
• The possessed Ivan briefly regained awareness, but the corruption worsened his loss of control, and Lorne eventually killed him after a brutal fight.
• Amon and Mill Walton reappeared, and Lorne recognized that Mill was Amon while questioning the identity and motives of the other Amon.
• The two Amons prepared to attack Lorne, but he trapped one beneath falling rubble and restrained the other with his abilities.
• Sharron appeared and blasted Mill Walton away with a blizzard, giving Lorne a dependable ally.

Lorne and Sharron defeated Mill Walton and trapped Amon aboard the ancient ship, but Amon revealed that bringing Lorne there was the objective. After Lorne and Sharron apparently killed him, Amon rewound the cabin’s events and began praying.

• Lorne revealed that Sharron had hidden in his Portable Space and ambushed the two Amon avatars while Danitz guarded the cargo ship with the Blood Ring.
• Lorne incapacitated Mill Walton and questioned the trapped Amon about how to escape the abnormal stretch of sea.
• Amon refused Lorne’s offer of protection and said that bringing him aboard the ship had been the objective.
• Amon began praying, so Lorne and Sharron attacked him with a Mental Storm, a shotgun, and Star Sand, apparently destroying him.
• Amon restored himself by rewinding the cabin’s events and resumed his prayer.

Lorne and Sharron were caught in a struggle between two Amon avatars over a corrupted power aboard the ship. As a living, corrupted Trojan Horse of Destiny attacked Lorne, he made one last attempt to call for help, and a dragon's roar sounded in his mind.

• Lorne and Sharron fled Amon's attacks, but the ship collapsed and then rewound, dragging Sharron back with it.
• The independent Amon explained that he had brought Lorne aboard to resist the corruption and activate the ship's arrangements, while Mill Walton revealed that Jowes had created what lay within.
• Amon dissolved into silvery worms as the captain's cabin opened, revealing a living Trojan Horse of Destiny corrupted by high-level Fate power.
• The corrupted Worms of Time overwhelmed Lorne, who could not reach Antigonus or Mr. Fool and feared the worms would also endanger Sharron in his Portable Space.
• As Lorne's consciousness began to fail, he recited something, and a dragon's roar sounded in his mind while thunderclouds gathered above the ship.

Lorne survived a confrontation between the corrupted Trojan Horse of Destiny and the Mind Dragon, while Klein sensed the disturbance through the gray fog and feared for him. The corruption subsided, but the crystal and distant Crystal Pillar remained dangerous, and Amon and Antigonus moved toward the aftermath.

• Lorne struggled against the mutated Worms of Time as the Mind Dragon tried to keep him from losing control.
• A distant gaze disrupted the stalemate, and the crystal's power reached the gray fog, leaving Klein trembling as he watched Lorne's divination scene.
• Lorne regained consciousness after the abnormalities subsided and concluded that the corruptions had worn each other down, though the Crystal Pillar remained dormant and dangerous.
• Lorne speculated that the crystal came from a Wheel of Fortune Beyonder consuming a Trojan Horse of Destiny characteristic and suspected Jowes had created it as a form of cancellation.
• Lorne found no trace of the two Amons and decided to leave the ship, wary of the treasure map's increasingly dangerous locations.
• Amon sensed the corruption weakening and prepared to claim the spoils, but paused when a figure appeared nearby; Antigonus later arrived after divining Lorne's location.

Lorne and Sharron escaped the corrupted giant ship, but their pirate ship was wrecked amid the chaotic seas. While searching the wreck that rammed them, Lorne discovered it was the legendary Laurel, carrying a vast treasure from East Balam.

• Lorne reflected on the threat posed by powerful Beyonders and the need to build a force of his own.
• Lorne released Sharron from the Three of Diamonds, and she embraced him before they discussed their escape and planned to reunite with Danitz.
• Lorne and Sharron found the sailor aboard their pirate ship dead and set out across the turbulent waters, but a drifting wreck rammed their ship and drove it onto reefs.
• Lorne recognized the wreck as the vessel Amon had pointed out, confirmed its trap had stopped working, and searched inside.
• Lorne found an East Balam Company nameplate and recognized the wreck as the Laurel, the legendary ship said to have sunk with a cargo of gold, jewels, and other valuables.

Earl Hall realized that political allies had abandoned him after details of his dealings with Intis were exposed, while Lorne discovered the Laurel’s treasure and reunited with Sharron and Antigonus. Antigonus rewarded Lorne for securing the Trojan Horse of Destiny characteristic and agreed to his requests for potion ingredients, a divinity-rich mummy, and an Abomination pathway characteristic.

• Earl Hall suspected that the Royal Family had left him to serve as a scapegoat, and he resolved to stop pretending that the nobility’s dealings were respectable.
• Lorne found the Laurel’s vast treasure and discussed a nearby fleet with Sharron, who had detected unusual movement at sea.
• Antigonus appeared, confirmed that he had been searching for Lorne, and heard his account of the giant ship, Jowes, and the Trojan Horse of Destiny characteristic.
• Antigonus transported Lorne to the giant ship and made it vanish, then returned with him to Sharron at the Laurel.
• Lorne recognized that the Society’s assets could help him build influence in Loen and requested a Sequence 3 potion, its ingredients, a divinity-rich mummy, and a Sequence 3 Abomination pathway characteristic.
• Antigonus agreed to all of Lorne’s requests, including the characteristic Lorne sought for Sharron.

Lorne secured Antigonus's agreement to provide a Silent Disciple characteristic and arranged for Sharron to cooperate with the Society as external personnel. After returning to Danitz, Lorne revealed the Laurel and planned to use its discovery and treasure to influence events in Backlund.

• Antigonus agreed to provide Lorne with a Silent Disciple characteristic and recruited Sharron to cooperate with the Society against the Indulgence Faction.
• Lorne became the liaison between Sharron and the Society, then discussed the Laurel's treasure and possible uses for it with Antigonus.
• Danitz fought off pirates who tried to seize his cargo ship, and Lorne returned after killing Vice Admiral Dusk and dealing with the pirates aboard the Glory.
• Lorne used the Disguise Cufflink to bring Danitz and their ships near the Laurel, then let Danitz gather treasure from the wreck.
• Lorne planned to publicize the Laurel's discovery and Vice Admiral Dusk's death to redirect attention and bring money and influence back to Backlund.

Lorne salvaged treasure from the Laurel, arranged for Sharron and Danitz to leave, and faced questions from the Loen navy after killing Vice Admiral Dusk. Klein discovered Danitz amid a mountain of gold, while Lorne read of Backlund’s escalating political scandals and opened his door to two demigods.

• Danitz eagerly gathered gold and jewels from the wreck of the Laurel while Lorne discussed him and Vice Admiral Iceberg, Edwina Edwards, with Sharron.
• Lorne told Sharron to take the valuables and leave with Danitz to discuss cooperation with Maric, while he stayed behind to meet the Loen authorities.
• Klein safely divined Danitz’s location and saw him laughing as he stuffed valuables into his clothes on a mountain of treasure.
• Naval officers questioned Lorne about encountering Vice Admiral Dusk’s fleet, and Lorne said he had killed Dusk and seized the flagship Glory.
• Lorne read newspapers reporting scandals and political attacks across Backlund, then realized his new noble title might give him an unusually clean public image.
• Two demigods arrived to question Lorne, and he opened the door to a powerful Storm cleric and a stern admiral.

Lorne convinced Jahn Kottman and Amyrius Levitt that Amon had caused the sea's abnormalities, then secured the right to claim the treasure aboard the Laurel. Danitz returned to Bayam with gold and found Gehrman Sparrow waiting, who confronted him about his windfall.

• Lorne recounted his encounter with Amon and blamed him for the abnormal waters, the dead pirates, and the disappearance of the giant ship.
• Jahn Kottman and Amyrius Levitt accepted Lorne's account, and Lorne made clear that the treasure aboard the Laurel belonged to him.
• Lorne offered to use the money for the kingdom's development and cooperate with publicity efforts, while noticing that something was wearing away Amyrius's luck.
• Danitz and Sharron returned to Bayam, where Danitz buried his gold, slept for a day, and decided to check on Gehrman Sparrow.
• Gehrman Sparrow greeted Danitz with an unsettling smile and said he had heard Danitz had come into quite a fortune.