Recaps

Danitz joined the Tarot Club as Mr. Empress and learned that Neph was known there as Miss Pure White. Klein asked Arrodes how to get past the Sealing Core behind the Chanis Gate and was told to seek Bernadette’s help, while Neph teased him about rumors concerning his preferences.

• Klein introduced Danitz as the Tarot Club’s new member, and Danitz asked Audrey about the absent Miss Pure White.
• The World told Danitz to ask Neph himself, while Alger and Cattleya recognized him as the pirate Danitz, the Flame.
• Klein asked Arrodes how to disguise himself from the Sealing Core, and Arrodes said he would need to let a marionette be eroded and seek Bernadette’s help.
• Arrodes asked how to treat Neph if she summoned it, and Klein told it to treat her as it treated him.
• Neph watched Danitz’s debut, then mocked Klein by warning that rumors might claim he shared her supposed taste for mothers and daughters.

Klein joined the East Balam Veteran Officers Club and learned that Colonel Galvin wanted him to sell retired weapons in West Balam to tribes and the Resistance. He considered asking Bernadette to help, while Neph questioned whether the Savant Pathway was feminine-leaning.

• Neph summoned Bernadette, who agreed to travel to Backlund within a week and asked when she could prepare to visit the island.
• Klein asked Neph about West Balam and explained that he planned to sell arms there.
• Klein joined the East Balam Veteran Officers Club with Councilman Macht as his sponsor and met Colonel Galvin.
• Galvin offered Klein a profitable but dangerous deal to sell retired guns and cannons in West Balam to tribes and the Resistance.
• Klein suggested Bernadette could help with the plan, and Neph questioned whether the Savant Pathway leaned toward the feminine.

Neph teased Klein with outrageous rumors about Emperor Roselle and the God of Steam and Machinery before advising him to confess if he pursued an arms deal in West Balam. Klein commissioned Danitz and Cattleya to gather information, while Danitz realized that Gehrman Sparrow was the World and tried to hide his discovery from Anderson Hood.

• Neph joked that the Savant pathway and Emperor Roselle’s estrangement from the God of Steam and Machinery involved femininity, prompting Klein to warn her that the gods could hear them.
• Neph advised Klein to confess to a church if he decided to sell arms in West Balam, then wondered whether she had a talent for being a Hunter because she considered confessing to several outrageous acts.
• The next morning, Klein commissioned Danitz and Cattleya to find information about West Balam within a week, while Neph went to enjoy her club.
• Aboard the Golden Dream, Danitz heard Gehrman Sparrow’s request through the gray fog and realized that the World was Gehrman Sparrow.
• Danitz tried to conceal his discovery by asking Anderson about West Balam, but Anderson teased him about becoming a Head Maid, and Danitz retorted that Anderson would make a perfect one.

At a Sanguine gathering, Emlyn met Alex, a descendant of Duke Olmer who spoke strangely about the Ancestor as Mother and the moon. After Klein and Neph identified Alex as likely connected to the Primordial Moon, Emlyn sought advice from the Tarot Club, while Neph revealed she had stolen cards and guns from a club.

• Emlyn attended Cosmi Odora’s gathering and met Alex, a direct descendant of Duke Olmer.
• Alex spoke proudly to Emlyn about worshipping Mother and described the Ancestor as Mother and the moon, leaving Emlyn suspicious.
• Emlyn prayed to the Fool and recounted his encounter; Klein recognized the signs of a false divine oracle and sent the scene to Neph.
• Neph concluded that Alex was likely a believer of the Primordial Moon and told Klein to warn Emlyn to stay away from him.
• Klein relayed Neph’s warning, and Emlyn asked the Fool to invite several Tarot Club members to a small discussion for advice.
• Neph told Klein she had stolen playing cards, handguns, and bullets from the East Balam Veteran Officers Club.

Neph visited Klein while he faced police questioning over Caron’s suicide, then accompanied him as Baron Syndras secured his release and explained the smear campaign he had planned. Neph secretly followed the baron’s party and left with his wine, while the baron became confused about what he had told his servants.

• Neph told Klein she had infiltrated the club and wanted to leave evidence behind, then hid in the room where Fors and Xio were listening to the police interview.
• The police accused Klein of driving Caron to suicide, and Klein instructed Walter to warn Baron Syndras before agreeing to go to the station and wait for his lawyer.
• Fors recognized Neph as Miss Pure White, and she and Xio followed Klein while Neph stayed behind.
• Baron Syndras paid Klein’s bail, rode with him, and revealed that he had planned to ruin Klein’s reputation with false accusations.
• Neph secretly entered Baron Syndras’s carriage, drank some wine, and disappeared before he returned to it.
• Baron Syndras asked his valet to open wine he believed he had ordered, but the valet denied it and then nervously apologized.

Klein suspected that Baron Syndras and Karon had been drawn into a larger scheme involving the Coyem Company shares, and decided to donate Dwayne Dantès’s shares to the Church of Evernight to protect his position. Meanwhile, Neph arranged to host Emlyn’s discussion in the Pure White Space, and Xio investigated a strange disturbance in Walter’s room before spotting a rat carrying cake.

• Neph offered to host Emlyn’s discussion in the Pure White Space disguised as Sefirah Castle, and Klein agreed after warning her not to cause trouble.
• Neph left Ais the rat behind and instructed him to act suspiciously around Fors and Xio.
• Klein reasoned that Baron Syndras had been baited into a scheme involving Karon’s shares and Dwayne Dantès, and decided to donate the shares to the Church of Evernight.
• Xio sensed black magic on the first floor, entered the hallway outside Walter’s room, and found that the disturbance had vanished while someone inside still breathed.
• Xio turned to return upstairs and saw a white rat carrying an enormous piece of cake.

Xio and Fors discovered more signs of mysticism among Dwayne Dantès's household, while Neph impersonated the Fool and staged the collapse of the Tarot Club's palace. The meeting ended with the participants returned to the real world, and Klein summoned Neph to confront her.

• Xio found that a suspicious white rat could make the cake vanish and reappear in her hand, and she and Fors decided to keep watching Dwayne Dantès's household.
• Fors told Xio that Dwayne Dantès's valet Richardson prayed to the Death God, adding another secret mystic to the household.
• Neph summoned Emlyn, Alger, Audrey, Cattleya, and Gehrman Sparrow to the Pure White Space, where Emlyn asked how to deal with a Sanguine who worshipped the Primordial Moon.
• The gathering discussed reporting the Sanguine to a church, then Neph shook and collapsed the palace while impersonating the Fool.
• After the participants returned to the real world, Klein went to Sefirah Castle, summoned Neph, and asked if the destruction had been her idea.

Klein confronted Neph about her prank staging the Fool’s fall, then continued his arms-dealing plans with Galvin. After Neph mentioned Viscount Stratford and a letter from Klein’s bodyguards revealed unsettling secrets about his household, the story left Klein with new mysteries to investigate.

• Klein summoned the Tarot Club and explained that Neph had staged the Fool’s fall as a play, then warned her not to repeat the prank.
• Neph said she had learned her mischievous ways from Klein and compared him to Amon and the owner of Castle Sefirah.
• Alger, Cattleya, and Audrey reflected on the Fool’s lenient treatment of Neph and the special place she held with him.
• Klein met Councilman Macht and Colonel Galvin, agreeing to pay fifteen thousand pounds for a small arms shipment intended for sale in West Balam.
• Neph asked Klein whether he had met Viscount Stratford and hinted that the Loen king’s secret depended on a large population.
• Klein read a letter from his bodyguards alleging that his butler studied black magic, his valet worshipped the Death God, and supernatural rats lived in his home.

Klein met Bernadette and asked her to make one of his marionettes appear corrupted by the Evernight pathway so he could use it in his plan. Neph helped extend the marionette’s usable lifespan, then warned Klein about the Horn of Slumber’s dangerous music and revealed that the Death God had entered eternal slumber.

• Emlyn was startled when Alex visited the Harvest Church and claimed he had come to experience the joy of the harvest.
• Klein left an illusion in the washroom, changed into Gehrman Sparrow, and traveled to meet Neph and Bernadette.
• Klein asked Bernadette to corrupt the Wraith Seniors as if they had been exposed to the sealing core behind a diocesan Evernight cathedral’s Chanis Gate.
• Bernadette warned that the corruption would eventually destroy the marionette, but Neph offered to extend its lifespan until Klein became a demigod.
• Bernadette summoned the Horn of Slumber, and Neph pulled Klein away before its music could lull him into a true slumber.
• Neph explained that Sequence 0 of the Death God pathway was Eternal Sleeper and said the Death God had already entered eternal slumber.

Klein intervened when Alex, a boon recipient serving the Primordial Moon, met with Emlyn and Bishop Utravsky at the Harvest Church. Neph took Alex’s charred doll away and explained the danger of boon recipients, leaving Emlyn and Utravsky to consider what had happened.

• Emlyn discovered Alex discussing a desire to receive a boon that would let him carry a child, while Bishop Utravsky questioned Alex about his interest in Emlyn.
• Klein learned Alex was at the Harvest Church and warned Neph; she urged him to have Emlyn clear the church before Alex revealed too much to Utravsky.
• After the worshippers left, Utravsky armed himself with Dawn Armor and a greatsword, and Klein struck Alex with lightning, leaving a charred wooden doll in his place.
• Neph arrived, identified Alex as likely an Attendant of Grace, and warned Emlyn not to trust oracles blindly; Utravsky handed her the doll.
• Neph examined Utravsky’s memories and concluded Alex had been a Sower and boon recipient, then left with the doll; Utravsky explained that he trusted her because Emlyn trusted her and she was powerful enough not to need deception.

Neph investigated the charred puppet and concluded that it revealed limits on how the Mother Goddess of Depravity and the Mother Tree of Desire could bestow boons. Klein infiltrated the Chanis Gate and returned safely, then learned that the angel he had seen during the Great Smog was the Evernight Goddess's Divine Descent Vessel.

• Neph used Spirit Vision to examine the charred puppet, then later viewed its past and recognized a ritual involving Full Moon Puppets.
• Neph warned Klein that he could ask the Evernight Goddess for help if he encountered danger and advised that he no longer needed the Antigonus Notebook.
• Klein infiltrated the Chanis Gate, left a Fool Card and a World Card near the entrance, and waited without going deeper.
• Klein returned to Neph with a half-dead pirate, and Neph fled the room while he disposed of the corpse.
• Neph told Klein that the angel he had seen during the Great Smog was the Evernight Goddess's Divine Descent Vessel kept beneath Saint Samuel Cathedral.

Klein revealed that Dwayne Dantès was an identity he shared with Neph, prompting Audrey and Fors to connect the secret to scandalous rumors about Neph. He also learned that the Church of Evernight had ended its investigation into the Chanis Gate intrusion, while Leonard left with new questions about Neph’s faith.

• Audrey commissioned an investigation into Dwayne Dantès, and Klein admitted that he and Neph sometimes used that identity.
• Klein told the Tarot Club that Neph had a white rat and directed Audrey to ask Neph about the rumors surrounding Dwayne Dantès, leaving Audrey stunned by what she inferred.
• Fors recognized the rumor Audrey meant and hurried to write her overdue manuscript, while Neph warned Klein that Alger, Cattleya, and possibly Danitz could investigate further.
• Leonard told Klein that the Church had found only two tarot cards behind the Chanis Gate and had stopped investigating on Arianna’s orders.
• Klein told Leonard that Neph regarded the Goddess as her elder sister and that her relationship with the Fool was like that of a junior, teacher, and friend.
• Leonard asked Pallez what Neph’s name Pure White meant and learned that Pallez was surprised by the question.

Klein learned that the planned mummy theft would involve an angel or a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, so he prepared to use Neph’s rat for the dangerous task. When Ian revealed that Amon had arrived in Backlund looking for Neph, she warned Klein and Leonard to leave, then said she would pray to Amon.

• Maric told Klein that the mummy would be moved in three days, and Arrodes confirmed that an angel or a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact was involved.
• Klein and Neph decided to have Neph’s rat take the most dangerous role in stealing the mummy, and Klein warned her that Amon had come looking for her.
• Ian told Klein that a black-haired man wearing a Crystal Monocle had been searching for Pure White, and Neph concluded that it was Amon.
• Neph advised Klein to leave for the Southern Continent after the mummy theft and told him to warn Leonard that Amon was in Backlund.
• Leonard received Klein’s letter and asked Pallez what to do; Pallez said Amon was likely an avatar and urged Leonard to leave Backlund.

Amon visited Neph, reclaimed Ais, and questioned her about Adam’s plans for the Lord of the Mysteries. He left Neph alarmed by his suspicion that Adam intended to make him a stepping stone, while keeping his plans to tell Medici a secret until Adam and his other half merged.

• Amon returned Ais to Neph, then joined her for a meal and took a Sequence 4 Black Glove from a departing man, consuming the Worm of Time inside it.
• Amon asked Neph how she had found Ais and learned that the rat had originally been Flora Jacob, whom Neph had transformed by accident.
• Amon asked whether Neph had met his other half a father and pressed her to say whom Adam favored as Lord of the Mysteries.
• Amon said he feared Adam intended to use him as a stepping stone, like Medici, and considered telling Medici that Adam had betrayed him.
• Amon assured Neph that Medici would not learn of his other half a father until the two halves merged, then questioned her about why humans valued a liar’s sincere feelings.

Neph negotiated with Amon for time inside a strange travelogue, but they did not reach a deal. After reporting their conversation to the True Creator and Klein, Neph learned Amon was considering a new instruction for Parasites that would make them fully inhabit the lives of their hosts.

• Amon told Neph that he could not provide ten thousand years without consulting his main body, then asked what she would offer in exchange.
• Amon proposed that Neph help him find a missing Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic, and Neph hesitated over revealing Pallez's location.
• Neph left the restaurant, reported her conversation to the True Creator, and entered the Pure White Space to ask Klein to check for Worms of Time.
• After Klein confirmed Neph had no Worms of Time on her, she told him what had happened.
• Amon discussed with a raven adding an instruction that Parasites should forget their past and devote themselves to living as their hosts.

Klein and Sharron recovered the mummy, and Klein arranged to travel to West Balam to prepare a military arms transaction. Neph questioned why Azik had not contacted her about the task involving Ludwell, leaving the reason unresolved.

• Klein, Sharron, and Maric helped Ais escape with the mummy while Reinette Tinekerr bought them time, and Neph later handed it over to Klein.
• Neph explained that Reinette Tinekerr's identity and the scarcity of high-sequence formulas should have alerted Klein to the Rose School connection.
• Klein met Councilman Macht and Colonel Galvin, delivered ten thousand pounds, and agreed to travel to West Balam before collecting the arms shipment.
• Danitz traveled in the Southern Continent with Anderson Hood, who teased him about the Plague Maiden and his former service to Gehrman.
• Neph asked Klein about Azik's absence and wondered whether her unfinished task concerning Ludwell depended on an agreement between her Lord and the sister she had never met.

Klein and Neph discussed Lovia, the coming war, and a bargain for help with his valet before Klein traveled toward Desi. On the airship, he encountered Daly, who admitted her feelings for Captain Dunn and flirted with Klein.

• Neph asked Klein to tell Little Sun to help Lovia, explaining that the Numinous Episcopate had been connected to the former Chief's failed advancement.
• Klein explored Calderón City and returned with the Spirit World Plunderer's true soul body; Neph advised him to buy grain and asked him to bring back a special ancestral skull drinking cup in exchange for helping with his valet.
• Klein boarded an airship bound for Desi and woke during the night to find Daly in the cabin.
• Daly said Klein's eyes reminded her of a friend, confessed she was in love with him, and complained about his conservative manner.
• Klein challenged Daly's flirtatious remarks by asking why she had not put her desires into action.

Colin Iliad weighed the Oracle’s arrival and the mushrooms’ effects, then questioned Derrick about the rituals he had performed while possessed by Amon. Derrick offered a theory about the Former Chief’s failed advancement and mausoleum, and Colin summoned Lovia after considering the Worms of Time.

• Colin Iliad observed that the newly introduced mushrooms had improved meals and lifted the City of Silver’s spirits, while Derrick’s account of the Oracle drew eager attention from residents.
• Colin pieced together Derrick’s and Lovia’s accounts and suspected that the Fool was behind the effort to help the City of Silver, possibly seeking faith as an anchor.
• Colin showed Derrick two Worms of Time left behind by Amon and asked him to recall the rituals he had performed while possessed.
• Derrick prayed to the Fool in private, then told Colin that the Former Chief’s failed advancement might not have been accidental and that the mausoleum could be connected to the outside world.
• Colin awarded Derrick additional merit points, considered his conjecture, and ordered someone to bring Lovia to him.

Neph told Klein that the True Creator had returned the Death God's Ring, while a mysterious man aboard the ship revealed himself as Medici in pursuit of Ince Zangwill. The chapter ended with mail mysteriously entering and being sorted inside an empty house at 7 Pinsters Street.

• Neph explained that the True Creator had bestowed the Death God's Ring back to her, and Klein agreed to write to Azik about it.
• A sharply dressed stranger arrived in the dining room, then a Flame Spear struck the ship and transformed into an Iron-Blooded Knight searching for Ince Zangwill.
• The Knight exposed an impostor who claimed someone had paid him to pose as Ince and travel toward the Southern Continent.
• Neph recognized Medici as the Knight and revealed that Ince Zangwill had been watching nearby while the impostor distracted his pursuer.
• Klein realized Medici was hunting Ince Zangwill, and Neph urged him to speak with his former colleagues.
• At 7 Pinsters Street, newspapers, bills, and letters entered the empty house and were sorted, read, or destroyed by unseen forces.

Neph and Klein encountered Ince Zangwill as he disembarked at Midway Island, and Neph hinted that Medici possessed him while offering Klein help with his revenge. Leonard learned that Medici was a King of Angels and that confronting Ince could be suicidal, leaving him to consider warning Klein against attacking.

• Neph searched the ship for Medici while Ince Zangwill questioned the spirit possessing him about avoiding her.
• Klein sent Leonard a letter with information about Ince Zangwill, while Colin Iliad recalled the battle in the mausoleum.
• Ince disembarked at Midway Island, and Klein told Neph he regretted being unable to kill him; Neph offered advice and a possible Worm of Time.
• Neph explained how her view of Klein had changed, then confirmed that Ince had provoked an evil spirit connected to the Hunter pathway.
• Pallez told Leonard that Ince was possessed by Medici, a former King of Angels, and warned him that he was far too weak to seek revenge.

Klein arrived in Gurain City, acquired a Winner as a marionette, and learned from Neph that Monster Beyonders risk death when they peer into his fate. Neph warned that contacting Amon could expose Klein to the gods’ schemes, so Klein decided to seek a Worm of Time elsewhere first.

• Klein reassured Leonard about the Kings of Angel by telling him vaguely that Neph could handle the matter, then arrived in Gurain City.
• Quinn learned that his sister Gillian was pregnant after she became ill from a fright, though Gillian did not know how she had conceived.
• Klein showed Neph his new Winner marionette, and she warned him that looking through its eyes could make it divine Klein and the Fool.
• Neph explained that Monster Beyonders’ fate-seeing grows faster than their resistance, and Klein connected their survival to luck.
• Neph described the danger of her Sequence 3 ritual and warned that praying to Amon could let him trace her connection to Klein.
• Klein said he would look for a Worm of Time elsewhere rather than risk becoming a bargaining chip in dealings among the gods.

Klein investigated a traditional bone wine cup while Neph was recognized as the Death God's Oracle by the Numinous Episcopate. Neph promised to resolve the group's conflict with the Church of Evernight by speaking to its leader, leaving Palenque Tasibu stunned by her claim that she knew the Evernight Goddess.

• Klein learned that West Balam families sometimes made wine cups from their deceased relatives' skulls, but he had no reason to travel there yet.
• Emlyn told Klein that Alex had appeared at another gathering unharmed and planned to report him to the Church of Steam and Machinery.
• Palenque Tasibu received a message naming Neph as the Death God's envoy and sent the Numinous Episcopate's members to find her.
• A girl from the Numinous Episcopate found Neph, who retrieved the Black Square Ring and met Palenque Tasibu, introducing herself as Pure White Walker, or Pure White.
• Neph learned that the Church of Evernight was investigating the Numinous Episcopate and offered to speak to its leader instead of attacking.
• Neph said she had a special connection with the Evernight Goddess and that they knew each other, leaving Palenque Tasibu bewildered.

Neph secured a map from Palenque Tasibu and went to the Silent Church to meet the local Red Gloves captain. She identified herself as a blessed of the Goddess and revealed that she controlled the Numinous Episcopate base where Palenque Tasibu was stationed.

• Neph asked Palenque Tasibu for the Church of Evernight's base location and a Southern Continent travel guide, then learned Ince Zangwill and the possessed demigod had not contacted the Numinous Episcopate.
• Neph considered why the True Creator might have intended to send someone else to Palenque Tasibu, then decided to inform Klein about the possibility.
• Neph entered the Silent Church's Confessional and jokingly claimed she had fallen in love with her late mother's former lover before asking to see the bishop.
• Neph confessed that she was really seeking the local Red Gloves captain, and the bishop arranged for her to meet Soest and Daly Simone.
• Neph told Soest and Daly that she controlled Palenque Tasibu's Numinous Episcopate base and presented Arianna's medallion as proof of her connection to an angel.
• Soest recognized Neph as the woman from the Church's files, but Neph rejected the surname Dumbledore and said only that she controlled Palenque Tasibu's base for now.

Neph negotiated with the Church of Evernight’s Red Gloves and gave the Numinous Episcopate new instructions in the True Creator’s name. After Palenque Tasibu questioned her identity and then accepted her authority, Neph demanded details about the Episcopate’s factions, believers, and bases.

• Neph gave Soest and Daly a prayer ritual, honorific name, and symbol, prompting Soest to report her apparent divine status to the Holy Cathedral.
• After eating, Neph told Palenque Tasibu that the Red Gloves would suspend their actions against the Numinous Episcopate while awaiting orders from their superiors.
• Neph ordered Palenque Tasibu to suspend the artificial god of death project and to prioritize the Lord’s will over disagreements within the Episcopate.
• After hearing about the Episcopate’s bloody activities, Neph condemned its followers for straying from the path and asked Palenque Tasibu to explain its other factions.
• Palenque Tasibu suspected Neph was an impostor connected to the surviving Death God, but Neph intimidated him, announced new commandments, and won his devout acceptance.
• Neph told Palenque Tasibu not to use the inverted cross publicly and pressed him to reveal specific believers, bases, and details about the Episcopate’s other factions.

Neph acted as the Numinous Episcopate’s Oracle and learned about its factions before asking the Death God for guidance. The ritual instructed them to unite the Episcopate, but Neph admitted she could not defeat its Angel leader, Haiter, and told Palenque Tasibu to remain the Pale Hand.

• Palenque Tasibu apologized to Neph and explained the Numinous Episcopate’s factions, leaders, and resources.
• Neph rejected the corpse-based essential oil and asked for a different one before performing a ritual to seek the Death God’s guidance.
• The ritual produced the message, “Bring the Numinous Episcopate together.”
• Palenque Tasibu revealed that Haiter was an Angel who remained devoted to his ambitions, and Neph said she could not defeat him.
• Neph told Palenque Tasibu that the God of Winter was her mother and that the Lord had rescued her from her mother’s body.
• Palenque Tasibu knelt in shock, and Neph told him to keep serving as the Pale Hand and obtain a less pungent essential oil.