Chapter Summaries

Lorne sought a Beyonder bodyguard and hired detective Isengard Stanton to investigate the two dangerous intruders who had broken into his home. Maric deferred his decision until the next day, while Lorne prepared to seek a Sequence 8 formula for Lucky and left Isengard’s investigation underway.

• Lorne paid Kaspars to arrange an invitation to the Eye of Wisdom’s gathering and asked him to find a powerful assistant or bodyguard.
• Kaspars introduced Lorne to Maric, whose card room was full of zombies, and Maric agreed to consider the commission and answer the next day.
• After Lorne left, Sharron emerged from hiding and noted that Lorne carried the aura of the Indulgence Faction without seeming to belong to it.
• Lorne divined that hiring Maric carried little risk, then promised Lucky he would seek an advancement formula at the gathering.
• Lorne used Ritual Magic to produce sketches of the intruders, and Mrs. Griffin gave him addresses for Beyonder gatherings and recommended private detectives.
• Lorne hired Isengard Stanton to investigate the intruders for one thousand pounds, and Isengard estimated the work would take at least a week.

Lorne negotiated a week of protection with Maric’s stronger friend, then attended a masked gathering where he bought a Rune Steel Sword and sought the Assassin potion formula. A masked woman claimed she had the formula, leaving Lorne poised to make a deal.

• Klein discussed his private detective work with Ilyin, who told him he could claim reimbursement for reasonable mission expenses, including their rent.
• Lorne met Maric, agreed to pay up to 2,500 pounds for a week of protection from Maric’s stronger friend, and paid a 300-pound deposit.
• Lorne entered the masked gathering with Kaspars and listened as attendees offered services, elixirs, and other goods.
• A woman offered a Rune Steel Sword for 500 pounds or the Barbarian formula, and Lorne bought the sword for 500 pounds.
• Lorne asked the gathering for the Sequence 8 Assassin potion formula, and a disguised woman said she had it.

Lorne bought the Assassin Sequence 8 potion formula at a Beyonder gathering, then acquired a dangerous item that could expose him to a great being’s voice. Afterward, the woman who sold him the first formula negotiated privately and traded the Adult Widow Giant Spider silk gland for money and the Sequence 7 Witch formula.

• Lorne paid six hundred pounds for the authenticated Assassin Sequence 8 Instigator formula and tried to sell Beyonder materials.
• When no one could offer a Sequence 6 item, Black Snake sold Lorne a dangerous item that let its user hear a great being, and Lorne accepted the risk.
• Eye of Wisdom gave Lorne instructions for attending the next gathering and warned him about the scarcity of Beyonder characteristics.
• In a deserted alley, the masked woman from the gathering confronted Lorne and asked to buy his Adult Widow Giant Spider silk gland.
• The woman offered the Assassin Sequence 7 Witch formula along with payment, and Lorne accepted after assessing her claim that she was an Assassin pathway Beyonder.

Lorne tested the corrupted Listener characteristic and barely endured its maddening voice, while Xio accidentally recited the honorific name hidden in a borrowed book and feared she had attracted an evil entity. At Mr. A’s gathering, Xio sought an exorcist, and Lorne considered offering help with Edwina’s Sun charms.

• Lorne obtained Lucky’s Sequence 7 Witch formula and wondered whether the Assassin pathway’s potion involved a gender-related transformation.
• Lorne used a monocle to identify the black ear as an extremely dangerous mutated Listener characteristic, then touched it and was overwhelmed by its chaotic voice.
• Fors and Xio reported their investigation to Audrey, struggled to deceive her, and received additional funds to continue looking into Lorne.
• Xio found an Ancient Hermes honorific name hidden in a book’s cover and recited it, then told Fors she feared she had made a fatal mistake.
• Two days later, Xio sought help for suspected evil spirit possession at Mr. A’s gathering, where Lorne considered using Edwina’s Sun charms to purify her.

Lorne attended Mr. A’s Beyonder gathering and used Sun-domain charms to perform an exorcism for Xio and Fors, inadvertently driving away Klein’s attention from above the gray fog. Xio left frightened by Lorne’s suggestion that a higher being had taken an interest in her, while Klein learned that unfriendly colleagues were watching him.

• Lorne attended Mr. A’s gathering, requested ingredients for the Instigator potion, and accepted Xio’s request to exorcise an evil spirit.
• Lorne performed a purification ritual with Sun-domain charms, and Klein watched from above the gray fog as the golden light filled the room.
• Lorne sensed Klein’s gaze and repeatedly activated charms until the sensation disappeared, then told Xio and Fors that he might have driven away a higher being.
• Lorne charged Xio and Fors fifteen pounds, and the attendant invited Xio, who had bought the Sheriff formula, to speak in the study.
• Fors suspected Lorne was a swindler as she tried to comfort the frightened Xio.
• Ilyin teased Klein about his digestive problems and warned him that unfriendly colleagues had been watching nearby.

Lorne hired Maric and Sharron's Wraith companion to guard him while he investigated the people pursuing him. Detective Isengard identified one of them as Sherlock Moriarty, shocking Lorne.

• Isengard told Lorne that his investigation had narrowed the targets to several detectives and that he would investigate one of them.
• Maric and Sharron decided to relocate after the Indulgence Faction noticed them, but Sharron agreed to finish the bodyguard commission first.
• Lorne activated the bodyguard agreement with Maric, and Sharron began following him invisibly.
• Lorne rented a temporary hotel room and left Lucky with Mrs. Griffin to keep them away from danger.
• Sharron appeared to Lorne in the mirror but remained silent, and her presence kept him awake through the night.
• Isengard told Lorne that the detective he had identified was named Sherlock Moriarty, leaving Lorne stunned.

Lorne investigated Sherlock Moriarty’s identity and suspected his name might point to a fellow transmigrator. After deciding to approach the detective under a disguise, Lorne found Sherlock’s landlady and asked her to take him to Sherlock.

• Lorne questioned Isengard about Sherlock Moriarty and learned that the detective had recently arrived in Backlund and handled small cases.
• Lorne went to Sherlock’s neighborhood and decided to commission him so he could sound him out, despite his bodyguard warning that it was risky.
• Klein worried that detectives were watching him and wondered whether the surveillance was connected to his earlier activities.
• Lorne disguised himself as a wealthy gentleman and returned to Minsk Street to find Sherlock.
• Mrs. Sammer introduced herself as Sherlock’s landlady and offered to take Lorne to him.

Xio went to investigate unusual activity in the East Borough, while Lorne posed as James Scott and hired Sherlock Moriarty to find Lorne Dysenk. Klein hesitated because he had already investigated Lorne and knew the risks, but accepted the commission for forty pounds.

• Xio left to investigate the East Borough and the Truth Society, while Fors worried about her pen pal and worsening full-moon ravings.
• Lorne befriended Mrs. Sammer and persuaded her to take him to Sherlock Moriarty at 15 Minsk Street.
• Lorne introduced himself as James Scott and claimed his friend Lorne Dysenk had disappeared after returning to Backlund.
• Lorne offered Sherlock thirty pounds, then raised the fee to forty pounds after Mrs. Sammer encouraged the detective to accept.
• Klein recognized the name Lorne Dysenk and, despite his suspicions and prior trouble, agreed to investigate.

Lorne accepted a commission from Sherlock Moriarty while secretly probing whether the detective had help investigating him. In the East Borough, Lorne and Sharron rescued Xio from a Werewolf, but Lorne sensed someone watching them as they prepared to leave.

• Lorne gave Sherlock Moriarty a hotel address and left after accepting the commission, then discussed with Sharron his suspicions that Sherlock was a Beyonder and might have companions.
• Lorne and Sharron went to the East Borough to watch one of the locations named in his forged letter, where Sharron sensed danger connected to the Rose School.
• Xio fled a Werewolf through the alleys, wounded and unable to harm it, until Lorne shot it with Phantom and threw purification charms.
• Sharron possessed the Werewolf and made it twist its own neck, while Lorne used a Sun charm to ease the curse-like poison in Xio’s wound.
• Lorne asked Xio to keep the encounter secret, let Sharron claim the spoils, and then sensed that someone was watching them.

Klein realized Xio’s commission to find Lorne had created a closed loop of pressure between him, Xio, and Miss Justice, while suspecting James Scott had ulterior motives. Lorne learned Sherlock Moriarty was investigating in the East Borough and considered discussing his bodyguard’s suspicions after the investigation.

• Lorne wondered whether a mysterious gaze had been directed at Xio and decided he might need to investigate her.
• Klein saw a brief scene from Xio’s prayer and recognized James Scott, concluding that Scott was likely a Beyonder and that the encounter had been dangerous.
• Klein traced how Xio’s commission, his Tarot Club investigation, and Miss Justice’s request had formed a closed loop that pressured everyone involved.
• Klein suspected James Scott had deliberately approached Xio because she was also searching for Lorne, and resolved to find Lorne himself to learn the truth.
• Ilyin returned to 15 Minsk Street and tried to tease Klein, but he ignored her and continued working.
• Lorne heard that Sherlock Moriarty was investigating in the East Borough and planned to speak with his bodyguard about their mutual suspicions after dealing with Moriarty.

Lorne suspected Sherlock Moriarty was backed by a hidden High Sequence powerhouse and decided to confront him, while Klein sensed danger in his investigations and asked Ilyin to help. The chapter left Klein and Ilyin preparing to investigate together over a promised candlelit dinner.

• Five of Clubs grew impatient that Lorne and Sherlock Moriarty had made no progress and sent a letter by crow, saying he would take matters into his own hands.
• Lorne connected his strange premonitions to Sherlock Moriarty’s investigations and suspected Sherlock was an infiltrator protected by a High Sequence powerhouse.
• Lorne tried to dismiss Sharron and left her the rest of her payment, but she refused to abandon him before their week-long protection contract ended.
• Klein suspected his divinations pointed to a trap and asked Ilyin to investigate the commission with him.
• Ilyin agreed with teasing enthusiasm and requested that Klein treat her to a candlelit dinner.

Klein tracked Lorne Dysenk to White Cliff Town and questioned him in an inn, hoping to learn what had happened during Lorne’s time in Tingen. Lorne seemed ready to reveal his connection to Melissa, but abruptly denied ever saying he had visited Tingen.

• Klein questioned a local man, who recalled seeing someone resembling Lorne Dysenk wearing a mask nearby.
• Lorne watched Klein investigate and prepared to approach him, while Five of Clubs also arrived in the area searching for his prey.
• Klein followed the masked Lorne to a dead-end alley, where Lorne mistook him for a debt collector before agreeing to speak with him as a detective hired by James Scott.
• At the inn, Lorne answered Klein’s questions and said he had recently returned from Bansy Harbor before describing a kindhearted girl he had met on Daffodil Street in Tingen.
• When Klein reminded Lorne that he had been talking about the girl in Tingen, Lorne asked when he had ever said he had been there.

Lorne Dysenk confronted Klein Moriarty after realizing Klein had revealed knowledge of Tingen, and their interrogation escalated into a fierce fight. Lorne poisoned Klein with a dagger and left him weakened on one knee, declaring that he would take him alive.

• Lorne questioned Klein about how he knew of Tingen, blocked his escape, and used Spirit Channeling to attack him.
• Klein shattered the window with an Air Bullet and tried to escape as Sharron and Ilyin intervened, but he and Lorne fell through the window together.
• Lorne's Phantom misfired repeatedly, giving Klein time to recover and resume the fight.
• Lorne and Klein argued over their past grievances before Klein attacked with Flame Flow and attempted to use Flaming Jump.
• Lorne countered Klein's teleportation with purification charms and Mental Storm, then struck him with a poisoned dagger.
• Klein's strength failed as the poison spread, and Lorne said he was taking him alive.

Lorne subdued Klein but was interrupted by Five of Clubs and Ilyin, who negotiated a truce and brought them together to explain the misunderstanding. Lorne left after receiving compensation, while Five of Clubs reminded Klein that he owed him a life-debt and warned him to prepare for a new assignment.

• Lorne bound Klein with spider silk, but Five of Clubs and Ilyin arrived and forced a standoff before Five of Clubs disarmed Lorne and arranged a truce.
• In a basement, Klein explained that Xio had commissioned him to find Lorne, and Five of Clubs vouched for his account and gave Lorne a gift voucher as compensation.
• Lorne accepted Klein's explanation, asked him to investigate if anything happened to him, and paid him the remaining thirty pounds owed for James's commission.
• After Lorne left, Klein remembered that he still did not know what had happened between Lorne and Melissa in Tingen.
• Five of Clubs told Klein that he owed him a favor worth his life and said a new assignment would soon arrive.

Lorne returned to his inn and spoke with Sharron about her injuries, the Rose School, and the mysterious Society. He left the conversation wondering how to handle a reported cultist, while Sharron vanished when he asked what gift women liked.

• Lorne walked back to the inn, tossed a coin, and lowered his Phantom after aiming it at the red moon.
• Sharron returned Lorne’s dagger and said she had lost her memories after being attacked during her fight with a Demoness.
• Lorne offered Sharron the remaining payment, but she insisted that two days of protection remained.
• Lorne asked whether Sharron belonged to the Rose School, and she identified the Indulgence Faction as an enemy of her faction, the Temperance Faction.
• Sharron told Lorne that the Society was a powerful, ancient organization that cooperated with orthodox churches and secret groups but opposed the Church of Evernight.
• Sharron explained that a cultist below mid-sequence was unlikely to escape authorities without help, then vanished when Lorne asked what gift women liked.

Lorne used Five of Clubs’ voucher at an upscale Gift Shop to choose a sapphire-set fountain pen for his pen friend, Fors Wall, and bought a compact camera as well. As he waited for the purchases to be wrapped, a noblewoman entered with a golden retriever, whom she called Susie.

• Lorne checked the voucher with his Monocle, then decided he should visit Fors Wall because Sherlock had already taken an interest in her.
• Lorne followed the voucher’s address to a luxurious Gift Shop, where a saleswoman initially mistook him for someone who could not afford to shop there.
• After Lorne presented the voucher, manager Rus Báthory apologized and offered him items from the shop’s stock.
• Lorne selected a sapphire-set fountain pen worth nine hundred pounds as a gift for a female novelist.
• Lorne spotted a handcrafted camera, decided it would be useful, and bought it for two hundred pounds.
• A young noblewoman entered with a golden retriever, and Lorne heard her tell Susie to slow down.

Audrey recognized Lorne Dysenk at a gift shop and sent Susie to follow him, but Lorne caught the dog after a thief used her as a distraction to steal his fountain pen and Monocle. Susie tracked the thief to a sewer entrance, and Lorne prepared to take her down with him.

• Audrey spotted Lorne Dysenk in the gift shop and asked Susie to secretly follow him when he left.
• Lorne noticed Susie trailing him, caught her in an alley, and discovered that a pickpocket had stolen his fountain pen and Monocle during their encounter.
• Lorne threatened Susie into helping him track the thief, while Audrey grew worried when Susie failed to return.
• Susie followed the thief's scent to a manhole cover, and Lorne insisted that she accompany him into the sewers.

Lorne and Susie tracked a thief through Backlund’s sewer system to a luxurious villa, but found no sign of him leaving. Lorne sent Susie back to Audrey, who was relieved to see her until she noticed the sewer stench clinging to her.

• Susie followed the thief’s scent through the sewer and led Lorne to a manhole on the street above.
• Susie tracked the scent to a villa on Berkelund Street, where Lorne waited but saw no one leave.
• Lorne decided to stop waiting and told Susie she could go, then realized she did not know how to get home.
• Lorne hired a hackney carriage to take Susie to the Four Seasons Gift Shop in Empress Borough.
• Audrey reunited with Susie but recoiled at how badly she smelled.

Lorne watched a thief escape through a manhole and decided to catch the culprit using his alternate identity. After setting a trap on Böklund Street, he caught a young woman stealing his crystal and prepared to use the incident to his advantage.

• Lorne refused Sharron's offer to retrieve his stolen belongings and waited outside the villa to photograph the thief.
• Lorne realized the thief had escaped from a family member's room and asked Sharron to help catch them before her bodyguard assignment ended.
• Disguised as James Scott, Lorne returned to Böklund Street with a valuable crystal as bait and learned the villa belonged to Mori Macht, a Member of Parliament.
• With Sharron's help, Lorne caught a young woman stealing the crystal and photographed her before asking whether she wanted him to tell anyone.

Lorne confronted Hazel Macht over stealing his friend's belongings and used photographs to pressure her into returning them. He arranged to meet her at midnight, while Sharron warned that Hazel might try another approach.

• Lorne restrained Hazel, took photographs of her, and accused her of stealing his friend's belongings.
• Lorne revealed that he knew Hazel was Mori Macht's daughter and threatened to expose her theft to the newspapers.
• Hazel remembered stealing from Lorne's friend and agreed to return everything she had taken.
• Lorne demanded that Hazel bring the stolen items to him at midnight and refused to hand over his camera without extra payment.
• Lorne introduced himself as James Scott before leaving, then told Sharron that the photographs would keep Hazel from defeating him.