Chapter Summaries

Victor noticed that several powerful parties were searching for Monkey Brando, while Alger’s pursuit of Danitz ended with Alger pinning the apparently dead Brando. Danitz accused Alger of killing his target, leaving Alger confused about what had happened.

• Victor found Tracy’s bounty for Monkey Brando alongside reports from Edwina and the Church of Storms seeking Brando, and decided to use the Society’s intelligence network.
• Alger followed Danitz to a hidden house, but a drunken man blocked him and a collapsing wall delayed his pursuit.
• Alger later heard a gunshot and found Danitz chasing a wounded Brando, then tackled and pinned Brando to the ground.
• Danitz examined Brando and confirmed he was dead, while secretly suppressing his amusement over the plan.
• Danitz cursed Alger for killing Brando after Alger had tried to help capture him.

Danitz and Alger staged Brando’s death and argued over the bounty, then agreed that Alger would collect it while keeping Danitz’s involvement secret. Lorne arrived afterward and praised Danitz’s acting, leaving the deception’s next stage pending.

• Danitz accused Alger of killing Brando, but they stopped arguing when a Beyonder Characteristic emerged from the corpse and Danitz took it.
• Danitz told Alger that Brando had sought his protection after offending Ailment Maiden Tracy, and they haggled over the bounty.
• Danitz agreed to give Alger forty percent of the bounty if Alger collected it alone, kept Danitz’s involvement secret, and let Danitz keep the characteristic.
• Danitz gave Alger evidence for the bounty claim and mentioned that Brando’s orange cat had escaped.
• Lorne arrived at Danitz’s house and told him the operation had gone smoothly and his acting had been good.

Lorne and Danitz prepared Brando’s corpse to withstand Tracy’s scrutiny after successfully using calamity to delay Alger. In Bayam, Misor learned that Brando was supposedly dead and found a reason to report to Captain Tracy, unaware that the corpse was part of Lorne’s deception.

• Lorne explained to Danitz how calamity had delayed Alger long enough for them to stage Brando’s death.
• Lorne and Danitz treated the corpse with spiritual materials and rituals, then Lorne’s divination failed to identify it as Monkey Brando.
• Misor brooded at the Fragrant Leaf Bar over his exile from the Black Death and wondered about the captain’s interest in Brando.
• Ozil gave Misor Brando’s belongings and said the corpse was with its deliveryman, adding that Brando’s cat had escaped.
• Misor decided to report Brando’s supposed death to Tracy and renegotiate the bounty, pleased to have an excuse to contact her.

Tracy punished the Blonde Maid for washing Lorne’s coat, then learned that her advancement to Sequence 4 had been approved. After receiving shocking news from Misor, Tracy accused Katarina of arranging it.

• The Blonde Maid confessed that she had washed Lorne’s coat, and Tracy ordered her out before she could whip her.
• Katarina emerged from the mirror and told Tracy that the sect had effectively approved her advancement to Sequence 4, Demoness of Despair.
• Tracy showed little enthusiasm for the advancement because it depended on Lorne’s materials and would keep her under the sect’s control.
• Misor contacted Tracy through the dressing mirror, and Tracy reacted with shock before accusing Katarina of arranging what she had heard.

Tracy learned that Brando had supposedly been murdered for the ten-thousand-pound bounty and accused Katarina of arranging it. After the evidence arrived, Tracy grieved but held onto hope because she had not seen a body, and ordered Misor to investigate and detain the bounty claimant.

• Tracy confronted Katarina, suspecting that she had arranged Brando's death to make Tracy suffer and digest her Potion.
• Katarina denied involvement and comforted Tracy after learning that Misor had reported Brando's murder.
• Misor sent a canvas satchel and bloodstained men's trousers to Tracy, and Tracy recognized the satchel as one Brando had carried.
• Katarina sensed that something was wrong, left through a mirror, and watched Tracy's grief deepen the aura of her Demoness of Affliction Potion.
• Tracy reminded herself that she had not seen Brando's body, then ordered Misor to investigate everything and keep the bounty claimant from escaping.

At the Tarot Club meeting, Audrey gave the World information about Lorne Dysenk, while Alger received a lead on the ten-thousand-pound bounty. Alger accepted an advance and prepared to deliver the target’s corpse, seeing a chance to negotiate for more money.

• Klein read Roselle’s Diary and noticed that Alger seemed unusually cheerful and somewhat strange.
• Audrey told the World she had not found Lorne Dysenk’s location but had uncovered details about his family and inheritance.
• Alger returned to reality excited by his expected profit and the prospect of obtaining what he needed for his next advancement.
• At the Fragrant Leaf Bar, Ozil told Alger that the bounty’s sponsor wanted to meet and negotiate over the corpse and its price.
• Alger accepted Ozil’s fifteen-hundred-pound advance and agreed to bring the target’s body to the designated location.

Alger collected Danitz’s payment and took Brando’s corpse away, while Lorne admitted he was gambling that Tracy would not uncover their scam. Tracy returned to Bayam and prepared to confront the man claiming the bounty, leaving his fate in her hands.

• Alger told Danitz the bounty would likely bring only five or six thousand pounds and gave him an advance of fifteen hundred.
• Alger packed Brando’s corpse into a suitcase and questioned Danitz about how he had supposedly captured him.
• After Alger left, Lorne emerged from hiding and told Danitz he was gambling that Tracy would not discover the scam.
• Tracy arrived at the Fragrant Leaf Bar and ordered Misor to bring the Dressing Mirror to the bounty deal so she could hear what happened.
• Tracy warned Misor to kill the claimant—or make him wish he were dead—if he had caused Brando’s death.

Alger delivered Monkey Brando’s corpse to Misor to claim a bounty, but the meeting was a trap. As Alger was bound and weakened by a supernatural attack, he demanded to know what Misor planned to do.

• Alger sensed he might be followed while carrying the suitcase, took several detours, and arrived late to meet Ozil.
• Ozil took Alger by carriage to a Port District warehouse and directed him to meet the buyer alone.
• Alger recognized Misor, a former subordinate of Qilingus, who inspected Brando’s corpse and questioned Alger about his death.
• Alger gave the account he had prepared with Danitz, omitting Danitz’s involvement, while Misor concluded that Alger was involved in Brando’s death.
• Misor delayed discussing the bounty and offered Alger a drink, then a force of resentment and invisible threads bound Alger and left him too weak to resist.

Tracy discovered Brando's body and, believing Alger and Edwina were involved in his death, ordered Alger taken to her ship while she went after Danitz. As Danitz counted his expected earnings, Lorne sensed calamity and called for them to retreat.

• Tracy emerged from the shadows, opened the suitcase, and found Brando's corpse inside.
• Tracy interrogated Alger, who blamed Danitz and claimed Edwina might be involved.
• Tracy's anger intensified; Alger lost consciousness after her illness powers overwhelmed him.
• Tracy ordered Misor to take Alger and Brando's body to the ship and said she would find Danitz.
• Danitz counted his expected earnings at home while Lorne waited uneasily.
• Lorne sensed calamity and told Danitz to retreat immediately.

Lorne and Danitz fled after sensing a powerful threat, while Tracy reached the abandoned house and narrowly escaped Lorne’s explosive trap. Meanwhile, Misor brought the unconscious Alger and Brando’s corpse back to the Black Death, where the Blonde Maid offered to take the corpse to the captain’s room.

• Lorne sensed danger and rushed out with Danitz and Lucky, then left an explosive trap in the abandoned house before heading for the safe house.
• Danitz suggested fighting Tracy, but Lorne refused, warning that their strength and lack of information made a confrontation too dangerous.
• Tracy found the house empty, triggered the explosive trap, and escaped the blast before angrily identifying its maker as Flame.
• Misor returned to the Black Death with the unconscious Alger and Brando’s corpse, then had Alger bound and hung upside down from the mainmast.
• The Blonde Maid learned what had happened and persuaded Misor to let her take the suitcase containing the corpse to the captain’s room.

Alger woke aboard the Black Death, but an unknown woman secretly rescued him and brought him to the Blue Avenger. Bernadette Gustav questioned him about Roselle's Diary pages, and Alger explained where he had found or bought them.

• Alger woke hanging upside down from the Black Death's yardarm, too weak to escape, and lost consciousness as an illusory vine coiled around him.
• Alger regained consciousness in the Blue Avenger's captain's cabin, freed from his ropes and weakness, and met Bernadette Gustav.
• Alger told Bernadette how Danitz had used him as a pawn and how Vice Admiral of Ailment Tracy had captured him.
• Bernadette showed Alger a page of Roselle's Diary, and he admitted that he had sold it to the woman in the white mask.
• Alger claimed he had found that diary page in a leather suitcase salvaged from the sea.
• Bernadette produced more diary pages, and Alger said Monkey Brando had sold them to him.

Bernadette rescued Alger, took a gold coin as payment, and left him to report her investigation of Roselle’s Diary to Mr. Fool. Klein learned that the diary pages and Antigonus research came from a salvaged suitcase, while Lorne and Danitz hid near a Church of Storms stronghold.

• Bernadette opened the suitcase with her powers, examined Roselle’s Diary pages and Antigonus research, and took a gold coin as payment for saving Alger.
• After Bernadette vanished, Alger recovered and called on Mr. Fool using the secret prayer.
• Lorne chose a safe house near the Church of Storms, explaining to Danitz that its location would deter Tracy and limit Mandated Punisher searches.
• Klein went Above the Gray Fog and summoned Alger, who recounted his abduction by Tracy and Bernadette’s questions about Roselle’s Diary.
• Klein asked Alger to confirm that the diary pages and Antigonus research had come from the same salvaged suitcase.

After Alger brought Klein documents linking Roselle’s Diary and the Antigonus Family’s Notebook to his past, Klein tried to divine the Notebook translation’s source. His divination connected to Lorne’s meeting with Narcissist, triggering a violent upheaval above the Gray Fog that trapped Klein and unleashed a blinding light.

• Klein recognized the Antigonus Family research notes as a translation of the Notebook he had encountered in Tingen and wondered who had sent it to Alger.
• Klein read Roselle’s Diary and decided to investigate the source of the translated Notebook through divination.
• In Bayam, Narcissist offered Lorne cooperation and a contract, while Lorne questioned whether he could be trusted.
• Klein’s attempt to divine the document’s original source showed only chaos, then caused the Gray Fog and palace to convulse and collapse.
• Klein failed to escape as torrents of Gray Fog poured into the divination scene and scorching light forced its way through.
• A familiar burst of pure white light swept through the Gray Fog, leaving Klein caught in a conflict beyond his understanding.

Lorne woke from an inexplicable experience exhausted and unable to remember what had happened, while Tracy continued hunting for Danitz and clung to the possibility that Brando was alive. Aboard the Black Death, the prisoner vanished from the mast as the Blonde Maid approached Brando’s suitcase, unaware that the nearby mirror was rippling.

• Lorne woke in the Bayam safe house, drank Danitz’s liquor, and said nothing about the ominous exhaustion he felt.
• Tracy searched Bayam for Danitz, blamed Edwina for Brando’s apparent death, and resolved to capture Danitz and learn the truth.
• Misor discovered that the prisoner had vanished from the Black Death’s mainmast and ordered the sailors to search for him.
• The Blonde Maid entered the Captain’s Cabin and approached Brando’s suitcase, intending to dispose of the corpse and regain Tracy’s favor.
• A faint, eerie ripple spread across the full-length mirror behind the Blonde Maid as she neared the suitcase.

Katarina found Monkey Brando's corpse in a suitcase and stopped the Blonde Maid from disposing of it. After examining the body, she suspected its history was more complicated than it appeared and became interested in pursuing the mystery.

• The Blonde Maid opened a suitcase, found Monkey Brando's corpse, and planned to destroy it out of jealousy.
• Katarina appeared in a mirror, recognized the corpse as Tracy's keepsake, and used a strange fragrance to knock the Blonde Maid unconscious.
• Katarina examined Monkey Brando's body and noticed signs of professional treatment, unusually standard scars, and traces of the Prisoner pathway.
• Katarina questioned how the corpse's innocent face and promiscuous body's history fit together, then picked up Monkey Brando's satchel and renewed her interest in him.

Lorne and Danitz hid in Bayam while Tracy discovered that Alger and Brando’s body had disappeared from the Black Death and suspected Edwina’s involvement. As Danitz learned that a private seven-thousand-pound bounty had been placed on him, Bernadette detected Fate pathway traces on a coin linked to Brando and decided to investigate Bayam.

• Lorne sensed an inexplicable dread but found that his coin-toss luck still worked, while Tracy returned to the Black Death and learned that Alger had vanished.
• Tracy found her maid unconscious in her cabin, smelled her mother’s presence, and discovered the black suitcase and Brando’s body were missing.
• Lorne and Danitz left their safe house for the Cheap Hotel, and Danitz learned that the Golden Dream had been delayed by the Church of Storms.
• Danitz overheard that someone had offered seven thousand pounds for him, dead or alive, and realized he was in serious danger.
• Bernadette failed to divine information about Brando from an ancient gold coin, detected Fate pathway traces on it, and resolved to visit Bayam’s Fate pathway Beyonders.

After learning that Tracy had placed a seven-thousand-pound bounty on him, Danitz panicked while Lorne decided they needed protective Beyonder items. Lorne went to Victor’s antique-shop exchange using the password “Lady Wisdom sent me,” while Katarina traced Brando’s satchel to a rough location.

• Danitz returned to the safe house and told Lorne that Tracy had placed a seven-thousand-pound bounty on him.
• Lorne decided to seek Beyonder items to protect them and learned from Danitz about Victor’s members-only exchange.
• Katarina used hairs from Brando’s satchel to divine a rough direction for finding him.
• Lorne reached the Wiz Antique Shop and gave the password, “Lady Wisdom sent me,” as the apprentice led him upstairs.

Lorne bought powerful charms and a disguise item from Xize, then attended a Beyonder gathering to seek a close-combat weapon and sell a Storm pathway characteristic. Cattleya bought the characteristic and offered to bring Lorne a suitable weapon at the next gathering.

• Xize introduced himself as Four of Spades and sold Lorne two Blazing Sun charms, two Explosion charms, and a Disguise Cufflink.
• Lorne stayed at the antique shop to attend its Beyonder gathering, where no one immediately offered him a powerful melee weapon.
• Lorne offered a Sequence 6 Wind-blessed Beyonder characteristic for 3,800 pounds, and Cattleya bought it for her boatswain, Nina.
• After the gathering, Cattleya told Lorne she had leads on a weapon and offered to bring it to the next gathering or leave it with Xize on consignment.

After using a Disguise Cufflink, Lorne sensed a group of Church of Storms Beyonders heading toward the outskirts and feared they were closing in on the Abandoned House. Meanwhile, Alger reported Danitz to the Church, prompting a manhunt across Bayam, as Danitz waited anxiously for Lorne and Katarina searched near the hotel.

• Lorne altered his appearance with the Disguise Cufflink, then noticed Church of Storms Beyonders moving toward the outskirts.
• Alger decided to take revenge on Danitz and reported that Vice Admiral Iceberg had sent Danitz to support an operation in Bayam.
• Bishop Jogori treated Alger’s report as suspicious, and the Church began investigating Danitz after learning of his seven-thousand-pound bounty.
• Danitz paced at the Cheap Hotel and worried that Lorne had not returned from buying Beyonder items.
• Katarina appeared on a nearby rooftop and searched the streets around the hotel.

Lorne encountered Katarina in Bayam and resisted her charm at first, but rescued her from three thugs when they cornered her in an alley. After Katarina clung to him and persuaded him to escort her, Lorne took her to a police station and slipped away, leaving her intrigued.

• Lorne noticed Katarina approaching him in the street, but averted his eyes and walked past her.
• After taking a wrong turn, Lorne found three thugs surrounding Katarina in an alley and knocked them unconscious.
• Katarina clung to Lorne and asked him to escort her, and he reluctantly agreed.
• As they walked, Lorne wondered whether he had met Katarina before, but she denied knowing him.
• Lorne pointed Katarina toward a police station, pulled free of her embrace, and hurried away.
• Katarina watched Lorne leave and remarked that she understood why Little Tracy had fallen for him.