Chapter Summaries

Lorne lent Xio and Fors money to buy a Beyonder formula and ingredient in exchange for their help selling his Elder Tree Fruit, and learned that Fors had been entrusted with a Beyonder Characteristic and notebook by Lawrence. The chapter ended with Doctor Aaron’s wife suffering sudden stomach pain and anxiety.

• Lorne tried to contact the Paper Crane’s owner, but nothing happened, and Old Kohler announced that Xio and Fors had arrived.
• Xio and Fors asked Lorne to lend them five hundred pounds so Fors could buy a formula and main ingredient for Sheriff.
• Lorne agreed to lend the money on the condition that they help sell his Elder Tree Fruit for at least five hundred and thirty pounds.
• Fors told Lorne about Lawrence, whom she suspected belonged to the Abraham Family, and the Beyonder Characteristic and notebook he had entrusted to her.
• Doctor Aaron’s wife came out of the bedroom with sudden stomach pain and anxiety.

Lorne searched for an affordable way to treat sick workers at his factories while preparing for an official investigation. He fell asleep under a Nightmare ability and found Leonard entering his dream.

• Lorne rejected firing fifteen workers with influenza and arranged for them to rest at home with a small allowance.
• Sharron visited Lorne for a lesson, agreed to keep away while officials investigated Will Auceptin's burial, and discussed ways to treat the workers.
• Sharron suggested that Lorne seek help from the Church of the Earth Mother, which had a church in Backlund.
• Lorne sensed someone from the official forces nearby and told Sharron to hide, while Leonard watched his office with Pallez's help.
• Leonard used a Nightmare ability to put Lorne to sleep, and Lorne recognized him when he entered the dream.

Leonard entered Lorne’s dream disguised as Ted to question him about the Green Cemetery incident, but Lorne mistook him for an employee and unwittingly showed him kindness toward the factory workers. Leonard left believing James Scott was a devout, compassionate believer, while Lorne later suspected Leonard had a connection to the Marauder pathway.

• Leonard drew Lorne into a dream and posed as Ted, prompting Lorne to ask him about repairs and sick factory workers.
• Lorne told Leonard to let the sick workers recover at home and secretly give them financial assistance, then praised the Goddess.
• Leonard accidentally joined Lorne in praising the Goddess, and Lorne questioned his wavering faith as a follower of the God of Steam and Machinery.
• Leonard asked about the police inquiry into the Green Cemetery incident, and Lorne recounted how his doctor friend had followed a boy’s dream message to a burial site.
• Leonard ended the dream after gathering information, and Lorne woke up and wondered whether Leonard possessed a Mystical Item related to the Marauder pathway.

After receiving a new Roselle diary entry about a mysterious society, Lorne translated it and considered the society’s history and Roselle’s possible ties to it. He then visited the Harvest Church to investigate reports of influenza among his workers and noticed a strange young man entering.

• Lorne received a Roselle diary through Queen Mystic’s messenger and read about Roselle’s dealings with a secret society led by a council of twelve.
• Lorne wondered whether Roselle later cooperated with the society and translated the diary entry.
• After telling Sharron the night had been quiet, Lorne went to the Harvest Church on Rose Street to seek help for his sick workers.
• Lorne saw an anxious black-haired young man enter the church and sensed something abnormal about his spirituality.

Lorne sought help from Father Utravsky for workers at his factory who had influenza and learned that Emlyn White, a Sanguine, was an Apothecary. After Emlyn refused to treat the workers without examining them in person, Lorne asked Father Utravsky for an Apothecary potion formula, and the priest offered him a commission.

• Lorne visited the Harvest Church and met Father Utravsky, who recognized him as the East Borough Hero.
• Lorne explained that influenza had spread among his factory workers, and Father Utravsky offered medicinal help but said he could not make special medicine.
• Father Utravsky introduced Emlyn White as an adult Sanguine and a qualified doctor with the innate ability to practice medicine.
• Emlyn refused to treat the workers without seeing them and insisted that supernatural medicine could not be mass-produced cheaply.
• Lorne asked Father Utravsky where to find the Apothecary potion formula, and the priest offered him a commission.

Lorne accepted Bishop Utravsky’s commission to confront the brutal inner demon manifested by a magical candle, despite the danger. After opening the fight with heavy gunfire and then evading Utravsky’s sword attacks, Lorne cornered him with a Mental Storm and aimed a Ripper at his cracked helmet.

• Lorne judged the risks of fighting Bishop Utravsky and used a pendulum divination that showed the commission was dangerous but possible.
• Lorne returned to the church with a backpack of equipment, lit the strange candle, and entered a battle against Utravsky’s manifested inner demon.
• Lorne opened fire with two submachine guns, breaking Utravsky’s Dawn Armor and interrupting his attempts to summon a Storm of Light.
• After Lorne’s guns ran out of bullets, Utravsky feinted with a Storm of Light, disarmed him, and drove him into a corner with relentless sword strikes.
• Lorne used Mental Storm to make Utravsky falter, then drew a Ripper and aimed at the cracks in his helmet.

Lorne defeated Utravsky in the candle’s illusion and found the church restored, then caught Emlyn trying to take the candle. Emlyn explained that Utravsky had confined him and used the candle to make him believe in the Mother Goddess, but Utravsky recovered and confronted him as Lorne refused to help.

• Lorne killed the illusory Utravsky, and the damaged church vanished as reality returned to normal.
• Lorne caught Emlyn reaching for the still-burning candle and demanded to know what he was doing.
• Emlyn said Utravsky had imprisoned him and used the candle to implant a suggestion that made him want to believe in the Mother Goddess.
• Emlyn offered Lorne the friendship of the Sanguine and free medical care, but Lorne refused to help him.
• Utravsky recovered, picked up the candle, and silently confronted Emlyn, who remembered his fear of the priest.

Danitz celebrated selling Brando’s weapons in Bayam, while Tracy discovered that a mass-produced shotgun matched the one Brando had left her. Learning the new model came from Backlund, she suspected it might lead her to him.

• Danitz celebrated the successful arms deal and planned to raise prices on the next shipment.
• Tracy mourned Brando’s absence, blamed Edwina, and carefully maintained the coat and shotgun he had left her.
• Tracy found sailors aboard the Black Death admiring a Ripper and demanded to inspect it.
• Tracy recognized the Ripper’s design as nearly identical to Brando’s handmade shotgun, though more refined and mass-produced.
• A sailor told Tracy he had bought the gun in Bayam and that it was a new model from Backlund, prompting her to suspect Brando was there.

Tracy suspected Brando was still alive after recognizing that Lorne carried a gun resembling the one she treasured, and she blamed Edwina for hiding the truth. Meanwhile, Lorne chose a Mystical Item from Father Utravsky and, while walking through the Factory District, hit upon an idea for making medicine from common plants.

• Tracy compared her treasured handmade shotgun with the new Ripper and concluded that Brando might still be alive.
• Tracy blamed Edwina for Brando’s supposed death and vowed to find out more in Bayam before visiting Backlund.
• Lorne chose Father Utravsky’s Master Key, deciding to keep the other Mystical Item and more money for emergencies.
• Lorne planned to ask Teacher Sharron about the Primordial Moon and worried that the medicine Father Utravsky had given him would not last.
• Lorne wandered into the market near the Factory District and remembered a video about making basic medicines from common plants.

Klein asked Charles about advancing after digesting his Sequence 7 Magician potion, while Charles assigned him to help investigate a Devil Beyonder’s murders in Backlund. Charles promised to support Klein’s advancement through a banquet and a calculated appeal to the Spades Intelligence Department, leaving Klein wondering whether Charles was grooming him as a trusted aide.

• After helping Little Sun with Amon, Klein considered searching the Truth Society’s records for information about Amon and the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• Charles told Klein that a Devil pathway Beyonder had committed a series of murders in Backlund and assigned him to join a detective investigation team and report its progress.
• Klein accepted the investigation, and Charles privately worried that the killer, a Desire Apostle who had worked as his black glove, might expose him.
• Klein told Charles that he had nearly finished digesting his Magician potion and asked about advancement; Charles explained that Klein’s Seer pathway and Society Faction status complicated the process.
• Charles promised to vouch for Klein and outlined a plan to use an upcoming banquet to pressure the Spades official responsible for reviewing his advancement.
• Klein admired Charles’s political tactics and wondered whether the Director was preparing him to become a trusted aide.

Lorne enjoyed his first home-style rice meal since transmigrating and shared some dishes with Sharron before discussing his recent visit to the Harvest Church and the Amon Family Mausoleum. He told Sharron he was recovering from a battle in the mental world, then hinted that he had been conducting a panacea experiment.

• Lorne cooked rice and three dishes in his warehouse and savored the meal despite its imperfections.
• Sharron appeared for Lorne’s lesson, tried his food, and noticed that he seemed spiritually tired.
• Lorne told Sharron about visiting the Harvest Church, accepting Bishop Utravsky’s commission, and fighting a Dawn Knight in the mental world.
• Sharron explained that the Sanguine worshipped Lilith, who was believed to have perished, and discussed the Primordial Moon with Lorne.
• Sharron urged Lorne to explore the Amon Family Mausoleum soon, and Lorne agreed to wait until he had recovered.
• Sharron noticed a strange smell, and Lorne revealed that it came from his panacea experiment.

Lorne experimented with garlic, holy water, and a healing elixir to create a low-cost medicine he hoped could treat infections and restore patients’ strength. After testing a sip himself, he planned further trials and left the story with the formula’s efficacy, proportions, and shelf life still uncertain.

• Lorne used his chemistry knowledge and Robot abilities to extract a crude allicin solution from garlic.
• Lorne mixed the allicin with holy water and Father Utravsky’s herbal healing elixir to make a pale green compound medicine.
• Lorne used a pendulum to check whether the mixture was harmful, then tasted some and noticed no poisoning symptoms.
• Lorne felt slightly refreshed after drinking the mixture and concluded it might help patients, though he still needed volunteers to test it.
• Lorne considered scaling up production, adjusting the formula, improving its shelf life, and keeping its ingredients secret.

Lorne and Sharron entered the Amon Family Mausoleum to investigate its possible connection to the Marauder pathway, but found a recently deceased explorer and a lingering danger. After noticing something suspicious about Sharron, Lorne shot at her.

• Lorne explained to Sharron that he wanted to learn how his Monocle was connected to the Marauder pathway, and Sharron questioned him about Hazel Macht.
• Lorne and Sharron found the mausoleum entrance beneath a secluded cliff and explored its empty passages, following a spiritual pull from the Monocle.
• In a burial chamber, Lorne discovered a corpse with a glowing red Beyonder characteristic shaped like lips and realized its killer might still be nearby.
• Sharron appeared behind Lorne and asked whether he had found anything unusual, so Lorne called her suspicious and fired at her.

Lorne and Sharron explored an ancient tomb, bypassing a deadly Ghost Picture Frame to reach the main burial chamber, where the power of time had aged earlier explorers to death. Wearing the trembling Monocle, Lorne walked toward the coffin as Sharron tried to stop him, but he said the tomb seemed to regard him as one of its own kind.

• Lorne destroyed a Human-Skin Shadow that had imitated Sharron, then collected its characteristic and an inscribed metal badge.
• Lorne identified a Ghost Picture Frame that could seal spirit bodies, and he and Sharron used the Master Key to bypass it through a door in the wall.
• They entered the main burial chamber and found explorers’ corpses aged by a power that had taken their time away.
• The Monocle trembled near the coffin, and Lorne put it on, finding that the tomb’s time-draining power seemed gentler to him.
• Lorne walked toward the coffin despite Sharron’s warning, while she was forced back by the chamber’s sluggish, life-draining influence.
• Lorne told Sharron that his intuition said the tomb regarded him as one of its own kind.

Lorne turned over the Ghost Picture Frame, causing the Mausoleum to awaken and the ancient corpses to decay, while the Monocle appeared to make the place recognize him. He and Sharron explored the empty coffin and a damaged mural that seemed to connect Amon to a mysterious blond child, leaving Lorne planning to show his photographs to the Captain.

• Lorne turned over the Ghost Picture Frame, and the Mausoleum's candles flared as its corpses rapidly decayed.
• Sharron feared Lorne had been harmed, but he revealed he was fine and teased her for worrying about him.
• Lorne concluded that the Monocle had made the Mausoleum recognize him and opened the coffin, which held no body but displayed an embroidered Time of Worms.
• Lorne and Sharron examined a mural showing a huge cross, two twelve-winged Angels, and black-haired and blond babies, and Lorne wondered whether one was Amon.
• Lorne photographed the mural so he could show it to the Captain, while Sharron reacted to his mention of his other teacher.

Lorne and Sharron explored an ancient mausoleum, where they found a mural suggesting Amon had a brother and a mysterious scene linked to the Abyss. After returning with their spoils, Lorne investigated a Marauder badge and discovered it pointed to a gathering in January 1350, then considered speaking with Hazel.

• Lorne and Sharron examined a mural that he suspected depicted the Creator and Amon’s origins, then discovered a scene Sharron identified as the Abyss.
• Lorne and Sharron gathered the mausoleum’s spoils, leaving the dangerous Ghost Picture Frame behind, and left near dawn.
• Lorne and Sharron divided their finds, with Lorne keeping the Human-Skin Shadow characteristics and Amon’s Self-Portrait while Sharron sought buyers for the other items.
• Lorne investigated his monocle and speculated that it was tied to the Amon Family and had let him pass as one of the mausoleum’s own.
• Lorne activated a badge taken from a dead Marauder and received the date and location of a gathering: January 4, 1350, at Babur Valley.
• Lorne considered contacting Hazel to ask about her teacher, visit them while wearing the monocle, and warn her.

Lorne tested his green elixir on sick factory workers and confirmed that it cured their illnesses. Old Kohler delivered the medicine to other seriously ill workers as rumors of a miracle cure spread through Backlund.

• Lorne persuaded a sick Assembly Workshop worker to drink the elixir, and the man recovered after sleeping for nearly two hours.
• Lorne paid the worker the promised five soli and confirmed with spirit vision that his health had returned.
• Lorne tested the medicine on several workers and settled on a formula of allicin, holy water, herbal elixir, and purified water.
• Lorne asked Old Kohler to deliver the first batch of medicine to the most seriously ill workers.
• Old Kohler reassured a little girl that the elixir would cure her father while she prayed for Mr. Scott's protection.
• Stories of a miracle cure began spreading through Backlund.

Klein received praise and a thick envelope from Charles for his help in the investigation, while Lorne met Hazel to discuss her role in the Backlund Women's and Children's Relief Fund. After persuading her to oversee its daily affairs, Lorne brought out a damaged monocle and asked if she remembered it.

• Charles praised Klein's useful ideas during the investigation and handed him a thick envelope.
• Lorne waited at a café for Hazel, who arrived alone after Councilman Macht trusted her to meet him.
• Hazel asked what work she would do at the fund, and Lorne explained that Church and government professionals would handle operations.
• Lorne persuaded Hazel to supervise the fund's daily affairs by telling her he trusted her with the important role.
• Before the fund's launch ceremony, Lorne took out a damaged monocle and asked Hazel if she remembered it.

Lorne questioned Hazel about her teacher, learning that the Beyonder had taken the form of a rat and disappeared after Lorne caught her. After attending the Foundation’s opening ceremony with Hazel, Lorne walked through Backlund alone and wondered whether to indulge more as a Winner.

• Lorne used the stolen monocle to prompt Hazel to discuss her teacher, offering to explain why she had been assigned to steal things.
• After Lorne shared basic information about the Acting Method, Hazel revealed that her teacher was a Marauder Beyonder who had taken the form of a rat.
• Hazel told Lorne that her teacher had disappeared the day Lorne caught her, and Lorne speculated that an enemy might have found him.
• Lorne and Hazel attended the Foundation’s opening ceremony, where Hazel stayed to help manage its daily work.
• Lorne saw Hazel off in a hackney carriage, then walked through Backlund and reflected on his public image and slowed potion digestion.

Sharron and Maric brought Lorne to his villa after discovering a hidden underground complex where Maric’s zombies had vanished. They explored its Fourth Epoch ruins and found a sealed stone door that gave Lorne a strong sense of danger.

• Sharron told Lorne that Maric had found problems at the villa under renovation, and the three of them went to 8 Williams Street.
• Maric showed Lorne a hidden door in the basement that led to an underground complex where his zombies had disappeared.
• Lorne chose to explore the ruins with Sharron and Maric, and they froze a swarm of venomous snakes that poured from the walls.
• The three discovered Fourth Epoch architecture, Tudor Family symbols, and statues and emblems of six orthodox deities.
• Lorne sensed something ominous behind a sealed double stone door and stopped Maric from sending another zombie inside.