Chapter Summaries

Julian Albrecht fled Church of Knowledge agents through Tingen after they shot him, then reached Saint Selena Cathedral and survived. In the hospital, Dunn Smith, Leonard Mitchell, and Seeka Tron introduced themselves as Nighthawks and began questioning him.

• Julian Albrecht, a fugitive carrying corruption from the Colour Out of Space, ran through Tingen while Church of Knowledge agents pursued him.
• A crossbow bolt cut Julian’s neck, and he headed for Saint Selena Cathedral, hoping its sanctuary would protect him.
• Another bolt pierced Julian’s right lung, so he prayed to the Evernight Goddess and crashed through the cathedral’s stained-glass window.
• A priest from Saint Selena Cathedral brought Julian to the hospital, where he woke and learned who had rescued him.
• Dunn Smith, Leonard Mitchell, and Seeka Tron visited Julian and Dunn revealed that they were Nighthawks.

After the Nighthawks exposed Julian Albrecht’s identity, Dunn Smith offered him official protection and a position as an expert consultant. Julian accepted, then drank the Four-Color Seer potion and survived its dangerous effects, only to sense a mysterious woman watching him from the darkness.

• Dunn Smith presented Julian with his exposed background and appointed him an expert consultant under Nighthawks protection, with a salary and a three-year term.
• Julian accepted the appointment, and Dunn told him a Secret Order case might need his help.
• Leonard helped Julian leave the hospital, and Julian returned home to retrieve the rare ingredients for the Four-Color Seer potion.
• Julian brewed and drank the potion, nearly losing himself as its power attracted mighty wills before a surge of darkness contained it.
• Julian awoke with heightened perception and improved abilities, then sensed a woman hidden in the shadows watching him.

Julian learned that a powerful being remained with him after his potion advancement, and Arianna offered the Evernight Church’s conditional protection. He joined Dunn and Leonard on an investigation of Klein Moretti in Iron Cross Middle Street.

• Arianna told Julian that a fragmented great being had chosen to remain conscious beside him and could become more dangerous as his sequence rose.
• Arianna explained that the Evernight Church would observe Julian and protect him if he attended weekly Requiem services and prayed before advancing.
• Arianna left, and Julian adjusted to his altered vision before Dunn arrived to take him on an investigation.
• Julian met Leonard in Dunn’s carriage and learned their target was Klein Moretti.
• Dunn, Leonard, and Julian arrived at Iron Cross Middle Street.

Julian Albrecht joined Dunn Smith and the police to question Klein Moretti, recognizing that Klein was concealing his distress over his strange journal. Julian sensed a peculiar smell and moved toward the fireplace, where Klein had hidden the revolver he used to kill himself.

• Dunn Smith introduced Julian Albrecht to Inspector Wilford and Officer Beech Mountbatten, and Julian inferred that Wilford was hiding an affair.
• Julian accompanied the officers to question Klein Moretti and quietly prepared Klein for Dunn's involvement by mentioning Dunn's name.
• Klein said he could not remember writing the journal's unsettling statements, while Beech Mountbatten doubted him and Dunn Smith asked Julian for his assessment.
• Julian noticed Klein's cold sweat and claimed there was a strange smell, then walked toward the fireplace where Klein had hidden Welch's revolver.

Julian Albrecht investigated Klein Moretti’s home and hinted that he had found something hidden in the fireplace, then took Klein’s notebook. After the police left, Klein retrieved a revolver from the fireplace and resolved to pursue becoming a Beyonder to protect himself and find a way home.

• Julian opened a window and explained the danger of carbon monoxide, while Klein supplied the scientific details.
• Julian claimed he could see the traces of the supposedly colorless gas, took Klein’s notebook, and left the investigation.
• Dunn summarized the case for Klein, warned him not to leave Tingen without notifying Officer Mountbatten, and said an expert would arrive to help restore his memories.
• Leonard told Klein that people involved in such incidents usually died, leaving Klein shaken.
• Klein retrieved a revolver from the fireplace and suspected Julian had discovered it, then decided to focus on becoming a Beyonder.
• In the police carriage, Dunn questioned Julian’s interest in Klein, and Julian asked whether he could borrow things from the Nighthawks.

Julian secured conditional permission to borrow a handgun and Demon-Hunting Bullets, then used household registration records to find Ray Bieber’s address. When Dunn introduced him to Old Neil, Julian’s vision revealed a strange light that stirred a Phantom Eyeball behind the elderly man.

• Julian asked Dunn to borrow a handgun and Demon-Hunting Bullets, and Dunn agreed to seek the Holy Cathedral’s approval.
• Julian asked to inspect household registration records, and Leonard accompanied him while he searched for Ray Bieber’s address.
• Kenley brought Julian to the Nighthawks’ headquarters, where Dunn told him the Holy Cathedral had granted him a two-day firearm permit with strict conditions.
• Julian met Old Neil and used his Four-Color Seer vision to examine the purple glow behind him.
• Julian’s handshake with Old Neil made the surrounding lights flare and caused a Phantom Eyeball behind Old Neil to swivel wildly.

Julian recognized that Old Neil had been contaminated by an external influence and urged Dunn to investigate him. After realizing the incident had helped him understand the Four-Color Seer potion’s acting rule, Julian grew wary of the Colour Out of Space’s influence and hurried home to explore how he might use it.

• Old Neil’s eyes briefly filled with psychedelic neon light as he handed Julian a revolver and Demon-Hunting Bullets.
• Julian warned Dunn that Old Neil’s aura suggested contamination and recommended investigating his home for dangerous Ritual Magic.
• Dunn thanked Julian and agreed to take a team to investigate Old Neil.
• Julian wrote down his first acting rule for the Four-Color Seer potion, concluding that revealing information to influence fates mattered more than merely seeing it.
• Julian suspected the Colour Out of Space’s accompanying will had participated in the incident and hurried home to consider how he could draw on its power.

Julian used the Scholar's Legacy to recreate his contamination by the Colour Out of Space on a crystal ball, discovering that he could potentially contaminate and control people or objects with little risk after invoking the Evernight Goddess. He considered targeting the Aurora Order, but set out at night for Ray Bieber's residence, while Klein was awakened by someone knocking at his door.

• Julian set up a ritual altar and invoked the Evernight Goddess for protection before experimenting with the Scholar's Legacy.
• Julian directed the Colour Out of Space's radiance through the Scholar's Legacy onto a crystal ball, successfully reproducing his contamination without contaminating himself.
• Julian realized he might use the process to contaminate people or supernatural objects and control them through his mystical connection to the Colour Out of Space.
• Julian considered using the ability against the Aurora Order, then checked his revolver and Demon-Hunting Bullets and left for Ray Bieber's residence after night fell.
• Klein woke to loud knocking at his door and asked who was there.

Klein recognized that his encounter with Dunn Smith was part of a strange illusion, which ended with Dunn appearing before him again. Meanwhile, Julian broke into Ray Bieber’s home and found the Antigonus Family Notebook, but a vivid neon radiance enveloped him and the notebook.

• Klein noticed the unnatural dawn and silence, then calmly played along as Dunn questioned him about visiting Welch’s home and possessing a revolver.
• Klein accompanied Dunn in a carriage toward the police station, but the surroundings warped before darkness abruptly ended the scene.
• Klein awoke and saw Dunn standing in the corridor, where he introduced himself again.
• Julian investigated Ray Bieber’s home and used fingerprints and Scene Recreation to identify a likely Secret Order visitor who had tried the door.
• Julian picked the lock, entered Ray’s bedroom, and found the Antigonus Family Notebook beside the sleeping Ray Bieber.
• A neon-colored radiance engulfed Julian and the notebook as he heard a terrifying roar that seemed to express anger.

Julian discovered that the Colour Out of Space reacted angrily to the Antigonus Family Notebook, but used Amanises's authority to examine and record its contents. As he tried to leave Ray Bieber's apartment, he found a Secret Order Clown outside the door and faced an immediate threat.

• Julian found that the Colour Out of Space's roaring intensified whenever he reached toward the Antigonus Family Notebook, then quieted when he invoked Amanises.
• Julian examined the notebook, discovered hidden octagonal marks on its maps—including one near Tingen City—and recorded what he could without taking it away.
• When Ray Bieber stirred, Julian sprayed sleep-inducing essential oil to put him back to sleep.
• Julian sensed someone outside the apartment door and saw a Secret Order Clown using a purple crystal pendulum to divine whether danger was inside.
• The Clown turned toward the peephole and gave Julian a terrifying, unnaturally wide grin.

Julian was trapped in Ray Bieber’s home by the Secret Order’s Clown and fought back with the Scholar’s Legacy as the Colour Out of Space interfered. The Clown died in a burst of iridescent light, and Julian began questioning why the entity had helped him before summoning the Clown’s spirit.

• The Secret Order’s Clown attacked Julian with Air Bullets, forcing him to take cover while Ray Bieber slept through the chaos.
• Julian tried to reach the window, but the Colour Out of Space obscured his path, and the Magician appeared behind the balcony partition.
• Julian used Scene Recreation with the Scholar’s Legacy, and the Clown’s Paper Figurine Substitute failed to remove the spreading neon light.
• The Clown fired a powerful Air Bullet, but the Colour Out of Space erupted from Julian and killed him.
• Julian suspected the Colour Out of Space hated Beyonders of the Seer pathway, then performed Spirit Channeling and asked the Clown’s spirit for his name.

Julian questioned Gavin Kennedy about the Secret Order before the Colour Out of Space consumed Gavin’s soul. After the Nighthawks arrived, Julian learned that Klein Moretti was safe and planned to visit Khoy University, where he intended to seek out Instructor Azik.

• Julian learned from Gavin Kennedy that the Secret Order sought the Antigonus Family Notebook and had two other members in Tingen City: Lina Powell, a Sequence 7 Magician, and Mr. White, a Sequence 5 Marionettist.
• Gavin Kennedy could not reveal where Lina Powell or Mr. White were, and the Colour Out of Space consumed his soul after Julian ended the Spirit Channeling.
• Julian fired three shots into the night sky to raise an alarm, and the Nighthawks arrived about an hour later to take Gavin Kennedy’s corpse and question Ray Bieber.
• Julian asked Dunn Smith to investigate Ray Bieber’s missing mother, and Dunn told him that the Holy Cathedral would retrieve the Antigonus Family Notebook in the next few days.
• Dunn told Julian that Klein Moretti had shown nothing unusual and was considering a civilian staff position with the Nighthawks; Julian planned to visit Khoy University and seek out Instructor Azik.

Julian visited Khoy University and arranged to work with Klein as a consultant for an antiquities company. He recruited Cohen and Azik to help date artifacts, creating an opportunity to grow closer to Azik.

• Julian arrived at Khoy University and went to the history department, where Klein was discussing a job with Cohen and Azik.
• The Colour Out of Space buzzed at the sight of Klein, but it showed confusion and faint fear rather than attacking him.
• Julian greeted Klein, Cohen, and Azik, then said he would join Klein as an external consultant for an antiquities company.
• Julian claimed he had invented a carbon-isotope dating technique and asked Cohen and Azik to help date artifacts they found.
• Cohen agreed to examine artifacts brought to the university, while Azik offered to accompany Julian on outings.

After leaving Khoy University with Klein, Julian joined the Divination Club to meet Hanass Vincent, an Aurora Order member he wanted to investigate. Hanass challenged Julian to divine his upcoming fortune, leaving Julian poised to test his new method.

• Julian warned Klein that supernatural power brought the risk of losing control, then told him to call him Julian.
• Julian traveled to the Divination Club, where he sought out Hanass Vincent as a target for experiments and questions about Ince Zangwill and 0-08.
• Julian joined the club, listed physiognomic divination as his specialty, and set his fee at four soli.
• Hanass Vincent arrived, questioned Julian's claimed method, and offered four soli for a reading of his upcoming fortune.

Julian used a divination reading to gain Hanass Vincent’s trust and arranged regular sessions at the Divination Club. After reporting to Dunn Smith, he learned the Holy Cathedral would collect the Antigonus Family Notebook and had prepared a special reward for him.

• Julian told Hanass Vincent that the True Creator had been watching him and that he was nearing a great event, winning Hanass’s admiration and contact information.
• Julian declined Hanass’s divination fee at first, then agreed to accept it as recognition and arranged to offer readings at the club on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
• Julian left the Divination Club and went to the Blackthorn Security Company, where he asked Dunn why the others were away.
• Dunn explained that Klein had encountered someone from the Secret Order, prompting Leonard, Royale, and Kenley to investigate while Dunn remained to guard the Chanis Gate.
• Julian handed Dunn his firearm discharge report and revolver, and Dunn told him that the Holy Cathedral would retrieve the Antigonus Family Notebook that night and had prepared him a special reward.

Julian received a Sequence 7 Sealed Artifact tied to his grandfather, Chris Jacob, and sensed that it carried Sefirah Castle’s aura. Meanwhile, newly initiated Seer Klein summoned Julian above the gray fog and introduced himself as the Fool.

• Klein told Julian that the Nighthawks planned to make him a Beyonder, and Klein chose the Seer pathway.
• Julian returned Klein’s notebook but kept the pages written under the Antigonus Family Notebook’s influence.
• Crestet Cesimir awarded Julian Sealed Artifact 2-0-19, Chris Jacob’s Ring, and explained that Feysac people had killed Julian’s grandfather.
• Julian sensed the Colour Out of Space reacting to the ring, suspected it had been imbued with Sefirah Castle’s aura, and tested its abilities at home.
• After becoming a Seer, Klein went above the gray fog, touched a newly appeared rainbow light, and summoned Julian.
• Klein told the startled Julian that he was the Fool and that their meeting was an experiment.

Klein summoned Julian to Sefirah Castle, where the gray fog suppressed the hostile Colour Out of Space within him. He invited Julian to consider joining the Tarot Club and let him choose The Tower as his code name, leaving Julian to suspect the Colour Out of Space had a history with the Celestial Worthy and explain the Evernight Goddess’s actions.

• The Colour Out of Space tormented Julian at Sefirah Castle, but the gray fog around Klein suppressed its strange radiance and eased Julian’s pain.
• Klein described the proposed gathering and offered Julian protection, while saying he would decide later whether to admit him to the Tarot Club.
• Klein invited Julian to choose a Major Arcana card as a possible code name, and Julian chose The Tower.
• Klein sent Julian back to his cottage, where the Colour Out of Space resumed buzzing and Julian warned it that another great being could restrain it.
• Julian suspected the Colour Out of Space had offended the Celestial Worthy and connected its behavior to the Evernight Goddess’s earlier withdrawal of protection and gift of a Grade 2 Sealed Artifact.

Julian sought access to Sefirah Castle to help contain the Colour Out of Space, while Klein investigated Julian and decided to bring him into the Tarot Club. The next day, Julian met Member of Parliament Oakley at the Divination Club, where Oakley questioned whether Julian’s Physiognomic Divination was reliable.

• Julian reasoned that the Colour Out of Space feared the aura of Sefirah Castle and welcomed another way to suppress it.
• Klein divined that Julian bore him no ill will and resolved to invite him to the Tarot Club.
• Klein returned from Above the Gray Fog and apologized to Benson for keeping the bathroom occupied.
• Julian visited the Blackthorn Security Company, chatted with Roshan, and then left for the Divination Club.
• Member of Parliament Oakley arrived at the Divination Club seeking an urgent divination from Hanass Vincent.
• Angelica recommended Julian as a diviner, and Oakley asked whether Julian’s Physiognomic Divination was reliable.

Julian divined that Councilman Oakley's worsening health came from a curse originating in his home. Oakley realized the curse might be connected to an antique clock his eldest son, Jennings, had given him.

• Julian persuaded Oakley to begin a private divination and sent Oakley's attendant, Miller, outside after warning that family secrets were best kept from outsiders.
• Oakley described his worsening exhaustion, migraines, appetite loss, and rapid weight loss, which doctors had been unable to explain.
• Julian identified a curse weakening Oakley's mental strength and spirituality, and explained that its power faded when Oakley was away from home.
• Julian used an amethyst pendulum to confirm that the curse had a physical source, then asked whether Oakley had received anything shortly before falling ill.
• Oakley remembered that his eldest son, Jennings, had given him an antique clock and wondered whether Jennings had cursed him to serve the factory owners' interests.

Julian cautiously advised Viscount Oakley to leave his usual residence and return Friday to discuss recovery, while suspecting Oakley’s troubles might be connected to the Twilight Hermit Order. After meeting with Hanass Vincent at the Divination Club, Julian went to an herbal shop in Tingen City’s East Borough, seeking a genuine Apothecary.

• Julian considered whether Jennings Oakley’s suspected plot against his father was connected to the Twilight Hermit Order and chose not to jump to conclusions.
• Julian advised Viscount Oakley to move out of his usual residence and return Friday for guidance toward recovery; Oakley paid him four soli and left satisfied.
• Hanass Vincent asked Julian about Oakley’s troubles, and Julian protected his client’s privacy by describing them as health issues.
• Julian had afternoon tea with Hanass, discussed divination and creation myths, and left the club at five.
• Julian went to Rosen's Folk Herbal Shop on Vlad Street, believing it was run by an Apothecary affiliated with the School of Life.