Chapter Summaries

Tracy drugged Lorne and Lucky, abducted them, and claimed Lorne as hers as their ship neared Bayam. She changed their destination to the Black Death, intending to keep Lorne and take the warehouse of Beyonder materials for herself.

• Tracy invited Lorne to become a pirate, but he refused and said he planned to visit Captain Edwina Edwards for academic research.
• Tracy took Lorne's mention of Edwina as a comparison between them and secretly vowed that he would never see Edwina again.
• As Bayam approached, Tracy took over the helm while Lorne rested, then used a disease to weaken him and Lucky.
• Tracy knocked Lorne unconscious, crushed the camera, and declared herself his captain; Lucky also succumbed to the disease.
• Tracy wore Lorne's coat, considered him hers, and changed their destination from Bayam to the Black Death.

Tracy sailed toward the Black Death with the unconscious Lorne bound aboard, imagining a future in which she kept him for herself while hiding him from the Demoness Sect. As she returned to the helm, she noticed ships near Bayam, including vessels belonging to the churches.

• Tracy changed course toward the harbor where the Black Death was moored and decided to keep Lucky aboard as the ship's cat.
• Tracy returned to the cabin and fantasized about living with Lorne, while considering how to keep Brando's blonde maid and other women away from him.
• Tracy worried that her mother and the Demoness Sect would discover Lorne and the warehouse of Beyonder materials, threatening her plans to become a demigod and escape the sect.
• Tracy tied Lorne's wrists and ankles to the bed, then left the cabin to resist her impulses.
• Tracy spotted more ships near Bayam, including several belonging to the churches.

Danitz followed Lucky to a battered ship near Bayam and found Lorne bound and unconscious inside. He freed Lorne and carried him away before Tracy returned, unaware of the consequences his rescue would bring.

• Danitz, alarmed by the Church of Storms patrols, met Lucky, who urged him to follow her.
• Tracy brought Lorne and a hold full of materials to a secluded harbor, then left to get help after cursing him to keep him unconscious.
• Lucky escaped her ropes and led Danitz to the ship, where he found Lorne tied up and barely dressed.
• Danitz burned through Lorne’s bindings, covered him with his coat, and carried him off with Lucky and Lorne’s belongings.
• Danitz escaped the ship before Tracy returned, not knowing what his actions would lead to.

Tracy returned to her pirate ship with Misor and found Brando and Orange Cat missing, with their ropes burned through. As she tried to determine who had taken them, Misor attempted to seize the Beyonder Characteristics, but Katarina appeared and called Tracy her daughter.

• Tracy found Misor hiding in Bayam and ordered him to gather his sailors for an important mission.
• Tracy returned to the ship and discovered that Brando and Orange Cat were gone and the ropes had been burned through.
• Tracy concluded that whoever took Lorne had ignored the Beyonder Characteristics and wondered whether the Church of Storms, other pirates, or Edwina Edwards was responsible.
• Misor saw the valuable Beyonder Characteristics and secretly prepared to use Corrosion against the injured Tracy.
• Katarina appeared in the corridor, prompting Misor to withdraw his ability, and teased Tracy about having grown up and found treasure.

Anderson and Edwina learned that Brando’s ship sank after being caught in the battle between the Church of Storms and the Sea God, and decided to investigate the wreck site. Meanwhile, Katarina found Tracy and discovered a storeroom of Beyonder materials, leaving Tracy afraid her plans to become a demigod and escape would be ruined.

• Anderson told Edwina that Brando had gone missing, and Edwina revealed she had hired Victor to help find him.
• Victor explained that the shipwreck was accidental collateral damage from the Church of Storms’ hunt for the Sea God, which also involved Sea King Jahn Kottman.
• Edwina and Anderson questioned whether the incident explained Bayam’s rumored martial law, then agreed to visit the shipwreck site.
• Katarina found Tracy and warned her that Milsor had been restless, while Tracy realized she had failed to notice his scheming.
• Katarina discovered the Beyonder materials in Tracy’s storeroom, and Tracy claimed that only half of them belonged to her.

Lorne awoke in a cheap hotel after Danitz rescued him from a wrecked boat, where Tracy had left him bound and unconscious. After confirming his belongings were safe, he learned Tracy was the Ailment Maiden and divined that he had not yet been violated, though the affirmative result left him alarmed.

• Lorne woke in a cheap hotel with Lucky beside him and found that his Ripper was missing.
• Danitz explained that Lucky had led him to Lorne, who was tied up on a wrecked boat, and that he had brought Lorne's satchel along.
• Lorne checked the satchel and confirmed that the Three of Diamonds was still inside.
• Danitz identified Tracy as the Ailment Maiden, a Sequence 5 who had recently gone missing with her flagship, the Black Death.
• Lorne asked Danitz to leave, then used divination to ask whether he had been violated and got an affirmative result.

After Danitz rescued him from Tracy, Lorne used a pendulum to confirm she planned to keep the materials and speculated about why she had spared him. He told Danitz a guarded version of what happened and decided to seek advancement before Tracy found him again.

• Lorne divined that Tracy wanted to keep all the materials for herself and realized his Ripper and clothes were missing.
• Danitz assured Lorne that the inn was safe and explained that Tracy had gone to find help transporting the materials.
• Lorne told Danitz that Tracy had grown greedy and knocked him unconscious, while keeping his gains and discoveries secret.
• Danitz teased Lorne about his time with Tracy, then noticed the marks on Lorne's neck.
• Lorne said he needed to see Roy King for advancement because he feared Tracy would come after him again.

Lorne learned Bayam might soon come under martial law and decided it was too risky to leave or seek Roy King immediately. Meanwhile, Tracy returned to the Black Death, rejected her blonde maid, and was visited by Katarina, who wanted to discuss a treasure.

• Danitz warned Lorne that Bayam was tense, the Church of Storms was active, and the harbor would be dangerous if martial law began.
• Lorne ate and persuaded Danitz to lend him his jacket because he had nothing to wear.
• Tracy returned to the Black Death and gave Third Mate Misor an icy warning.
• Tracy told the blonde maid to stay out of her room and keep away from her bed, then collapsed on the bed clutching Lorne's jacket.
• Katarina emerged from Tracy's mirror and said she had come to discuss a treasure.

Tracy reluctantly told Katarina about Brando after her mother pressured her for details, while Lorne stayed in Bayam and felt someone was watching him. Katarina secretly considered using Brando to make Tracy experience despair, and Lorne had to wait for Danitz to hear back from Edwina about a way out of Bayam.

• Katarina demanded a share of Tracy's Beyonder Characteristics and pressed her to explain her long absence, promising not to harm Brando.
• Tracy described her experiences with Lorne while concealing important details, and Katarina offered to help find Brando.
• Katarina privately considered creating despair for Tracy by targeting Brando as part of her Acting.
• Lorne discussed sea routes with Danitz, then felt a sudden sense that someone had their eye on him.
• Danitz told Lorne that Edwina had not replied to his telegram, leaving Lorne in Bayam for the time being.

Tracy failed to divine Brando’s location and feared someone had taken him, while Lorne recovered in Bayam and examined the characteristics he had stored. He discovered one was a Calamity Priest characteristic and decided to ask Roy King for the potion’s supplementary ingredients.

• Tracy tried to locate Brando through mirror divination, but the attempts failed; a later divination suggested Lorne was alive and probably still in Bayam.
• Lorne sealed his room, removed stored objects from the Three of Diamonds, and found that the beyonder characteristics had been preserved.
• Lorne recoiled from a Monocle after a disturbing image and sudden terror came over him.
• Lorne divined that one characteristic was from a Calamity Priest, Sequence 6 of the Monster Pathway, and recognized it as the potion’s main ingredient.
• Lorne failed to Spirit Channel the characteristic because its former owner’s spirit had dissipated, then decided to visit Roy King for the supplementary ingredients.

Lorne investigated the origins of more Beyonder characteristics, then entered a clandestine gathering in Bayam to buy charms and acquire pages from Roselle's Diary. After meeting Danitz, he said he planned to visit Roy King, who unexpectedly felt a chill while eating dinner.

• Lorne identified a Sequence 5 Mentor of Disorder characteristic from a Curly-Haired Baboon and a Sequence 6 Scribe characteristic from a peculiar bird.
• Danitz reported that Bayam's Port District remained under lockdown and passenger ships were scarce, so Lorne persuaded him to cover for a visit to a Beyonder gathering.
• Lorne bought two Explosion charms and a Disguise charm at the gathering.
• A masked woman offered three pages of Roselle's notes, and Lorne bought them after reading an entry about the incomplete Second Blasphemy Slate.
• Danitz warned Lorne that Disguise charms could be dangerous, and Lorne said he planned to visit Roy King in a couple of days.
• Roy King felt a chill down his back while eating dinner at home in Bayam.

Lorne visited Roy King and bought the auxiliary materials for a Calamity Priest potion, while Roy warned him to keep his distance because of his exceptional luck as a Monster. Before Lorne left, Roy revealed that a pirate had placed a ten-thousand-pound bounty on Monkey Brando.

• Lorne visited Roy King, who was shocked to learn that Lorne had finished digesting the Lucky One potion.
• Lorne asked for the Calamity Priest potion’s auxiliary-material formula, and Roy agreed to provide the materials for two hundred pounds while refusing to sell higher-sequence potions or formulas.
• Roy told Lorne that his teacher had warned him to avoid exceptionally lucky people, especially Monsters, and asked him not to return after digesting another potion.
• Roy asked whether Lorne had offended any pirates, then revealed that a pirate had offered a ten-thousand-pound bounty on Monkey Brando.

Edwina learned that Monkey Brando was safe in Bayam and planned to return to the Golden Dream with Danitz. In Bayam, Alger discovered a 10,000-pound bounty on Brando and recognized something familiar in his portrait.

• Edwina received Danitz's telegram saying he had rescued Brando, who wanted to return to the Golden Dream.
• Alger reported his search to Bishop Jogori, who ordered him to remain in Bayam and rebuked him for asking about the Church's operation.
• Alger met the tavern owner, who told him about a 10,000-pound bounty on the adventurer Monkey Brando.
• Alger studied Brando's portrait and thought the young man's face looked familiar.

Lorne learned that Tracy had placed a ten-thousand-pound bounty on him, then hurried to improve his strength by consuming the Calamity Priest potion. He fully digested it immediately and began to suspect that the bounty and a past act of destruction had helped him digest the potion.

• Roy King told Lorne that someone named Brando was wanted for ten thousand pounds, and Lorne hid his reaction by denying it concerned him.
• Lorne confirmed Roy King's information with a coin toss, then sold some Beyonder characteristics at black markets and returned to the inn after checking he was not followed.
• Lorne ordered Lucky to guard the door, erected a Wall of Spirituality, and prepared the Calamity Priest potion with Roy King's materials.
• Lorne drank the potion and gained knowledge of Mental Storm and the Calamity Priest's ability to foresee, attract, and evade calamities.
• Lorne realized the potion had been completely digested and wondered whether the bounty and the thunderstorm that destroyed Primitive Island had contributed.

Alger told Danitz that Brando had a ten-thousand-pound bounty, prompting Danitz to hurry back and warn his friend. At the inn, Danitz found an unfamiliar man in Lorne’s room, who revealed that he was Brando in a changed appearance.

• Alger recognized Danitz in a tavern and asked him about the young man they had played cards with.
• Danitz pretended he barely knew Brando while Alger warned him that Brando was in serious trouble and had a ten-thousand-pound bounty.
• Danitz left the tavern, rejected the temptation to betray Brando for the reward, and hurried to warn him.
• Lucky blocked Danitz from entering the room, and an unfamiliar man opened the door from inside.
• The man used strange pressure to make Danitz dizzy, then told him not to mistake him for someone else just because he had changed his look.

Lorne changed his appearance after learning that Ailment Maiden had placed a 10,000-pound bounty on him, while Danitz returned to warn him and confirmed the Golden Dream could not reach them soon. Lorne began devising a plan to use the bounty hunter who had approached Danitz to make money and escape Tracy.

• Lorne revealed his dyed black hair and altered appearance to Danitz, explaining that he had changed his look because he felt uneasy.
• Danitz told Lorne that a pirate had offered 10,000 pounds for his capture, but Lorne said Roy King had already informed him.
• Danitz said the captain had agreed to Lorne's request, though the Golden Dream could not arrive soon because Church ships were patrolling the waters.
• Danitz wondered whether Lorne and Ailment Maiden had been romantically involved, but Lorne said he feared Tracy would keep him from ever seeing the sun again.
• Lorne learned that Danitz had not outright rejected a bounty hunter's offer to work together and proposed a money-making plan.

Klein secretly searched Lorne Dysenk’s rented room in Backlund and discovered documents linking Lorne to Audrey Hall’s fund and munitions factories, but he was caught before he could escape. In Bayam, Alger met Cattleya at an underground gathering and offered Roselle’s diary pages, leaving him with a chance to trade for new ones.

• Klein used divination to assess the risk, then broke into Lorne Dysenk’s rented room to investigate.
• Klein found business documents concerning Hall Fund, Audrey Hall, and inherited shares in munitions factories.
• An invisible force immobilized Klein at the window, and someone warned him that trespassing was forbidden.
• Alger attended an underground gathering in Bayam, where Cattleya offered a high price or an exchange for Emperor Roselle’s notes.
• Alger raised his hand and offered the diary pages he had recently found in a salvaged suitcase.

Klein escaped a confrontation in Backlund with Ilyin’s help, while Lorne and Danitz prepared a plan in Bayam by capturing a pirate to use as a stand-in. They took the unconscious Luca to a rented house and began discussing their next steps.

• Mrs. Griffin inspected the damage to her room and wondered what kind of people Lorne had provoked.
• Ilyin rescued Klein from the rooftops, challenged him for sneaking out alone, and escorted him home.
• At the Crowded Harbor Bar, Lorne and Danitz searched for a pirate whose appearance matched Lorne’s.
• Lorne chose Bloodhand Luca, and he and Danitz followed Luca into a dark alley.
• Lorne used Mental Storm to immobilize Luca, and Danitz knocked him unconscious.
• Lorne told Danitz to take Luca to their rented house, then discussed planning around the person who wanted to work with Danitz.

Lorne and Danitz transformed the unconscious Luca into a double and planned to use his corpse to convince Tracy that Lorne was dead. Lorne chose Alger as a potential middleman and told Danitz to let him take advantage of him to make the scheme believable.

• Lorne used a Disguise charm to make Luca look exactly like him, then altered the body to resemble the adventurer Monkey Brando.
• Lorne explained that Tracy would be more likely to believe he was dead if she received a corpse, leaving no living witness to expose the deception.
• Lorne and Danitz discussed how to make the corpse's Beyonder traits seem consistent with Lorne's history and considered finding a middleman to deliver it.
• Lorne identified Alger as a suitable middleman because he was not close to Danitz and wanted to work with him against Lorne.
• When Danitz struggled to invent a convincing reason to approach Alger, Lorne suggested that Danitz let Alger take advantage of him.

Danitz met Alger at a tavern to ask about the ten-thousand-pound bounty on Monkey Brando, but Alger suspected Danitz was hiding something. Believing Danitz might already have captured Brando, Alger followed him after deciding he could claim a share of the reward.

• Danitz met Alger at the tavern in disguise and asked whether he had learned anything new about the bounty on Monkey Brando.
• Alger noticed Danitz's nervous reaction when he suggested Danitz might already have found Brando.
• Danitz left without getting useful information, while Alger concluded he was concealing his connection to Brando.
• Alger reasoned that Danitz might have captured Brando and decided he could demand a cut as a middleman.
• Alger paid for his drink and silently followed Danitz.