Chapter Summaries

Bruce reached a waystation with Fawcett, studied the Dark Bible, and went to sleep while Fawcett considered which Extraordinary path to choose. Elsewhere, Sebas told Matt he had deciphered a ritual for summoning an Old God, and Bruce awoke to find caravan guards punishing a worker at the waystation.

• Bruce arrived at the waystation, let Fawcett out of his suitcase, and studied the Dark Bible before going to bed.
• Fawcett watched Bruce sleep and worried over which darkness-related Extraordinary path to choose.
• Sebas visited Matt and revealed he had deciphered Julius's notebook, which described an incantation to summon an Old God.
• Matt urged Sebas to tell the other members of their group so they could gather the ritual materials.
• Bruce woke to a commotion and saw caravan guards hanging a battered worker from a ceiling beam as punishment for breaking something.

Bruce settled into a rented apartment in Walkervis while preparing to find a suitable body for Fawcett's reincarnation. On his first day, he spotted a group of maddened young people preparing a ritual and decided to follow them with Fawcett.

• Bruce traveled to Walkervis, where he chose a cheap apartment on Bem Street and signed a two-month lease.
• Bruce planned to seek a young, spiritually gifted male body for Fawcett and considered asking around bars for a Slave Trader.
• Bruce noticed young people across the street handling ritual implements and preparing an occult rite.
• Bruce asked Fawcett whether people who approached gods possessed spirituality, then grabbed it and put it in his suitcase so they could follow the group.

Bruce secretly watched six young people perform a summoning ritual, which killed them by freezing their souls. He then used the black-haired boy’s body to reincarnate Fawcett, who woke up in the cold body.

• Bruce followed the youths to a grove and watched them summon a nearly human shadow by praying to the Nourisher Above the Sky.
• The shadow vanished, leaving all six youths dead with their souls frozen, and Bruce’s spirituality index rose to 56.
• Fawcett examined the black-haired boy’s body and confirmed it had spirituality, despite the risk of a Night Watchers investigation.
• Bruce carried the body deeper into the grove and began a reincarnation ritual for Fawcett.
• Bruce used Divine Might to destroy wandering ghosts drawn to the body, and the reincarnation ritual succeeded.
• Fawcett rose in the boy’s body and complained that its lingering supernatural cold had nearly frozen him.

Fawcett examined Sebas Jones’s memories and discovered his innate talent as a Translator, then discussed Julius’s notes with Bruce. They learned that the notebook described an Old God called the Nourisher Above the Sky, whose appearance matched a black goat Bruce had seen in a vision.

• Fawcett examined Sebas Jones’s memories and found that his natural talent made him suited to becoming a Translator.
• Fawcett and Bruce left the ritual site, and the Night Watchers arrived to investigate the frozen souls and search for the missing sixth person.
• Bruce brought Fawcett to his residence on Bem Street, where Fawcett explained that Julius’s notebook described Old Gods.
• Fawcett told Bruce that Julius had found traces of the Nourisher Above the Sky, an Old God Jessica had also chanted about.
• Fawcett described the Nourisher Above the Sky as an enormous black goat, and Bruce recognized it as the being from his Wizard vision.

Bruce and Fawcett discussed the Old Gods, the ritual’s aftermath, and Fawcett’s plan to evade the Night Watchers by posing as a surviving victim. Meanwhile, the Night Watchers investigated the failed summoning at Derrick Park and concluded that an evil Wizard might be active in Walkervis.

• Fawcett explained that his notebook named only the Old God Nourisher Above the Sky, and Bruce recalled seeing a black goat and other strange visions when he advanced to Wizard.
• Fawcett planned to blame the dead students for the summoning, hand the notebook to the Church, and claim that his spirituality had allowed him to survive; he asked Bruce to support his story.
• Fawcett told Bruce that Julius had left magic manuscripts in a cabin near Imoyins in Chelberly, then chose to become a Translator and asked Bruce to buy the potion ingredients.
• Night Watchers reported that five Rosen University archaeology students had died during the summoning at Derrick Park and that the missing survivor, Sebas, was being sought.
• The Night Watchers also reported traces of a second spell that Ohms believed involved evil, and Bishop Ernest Hartley questioned why anyone had summoned a god from the Eternal Frost Glacier.

Ernest and the Night Watchers investigated a failed ritual that killed five people and linked the deaths to the Eternal Frost Glacier. They suspected an ancient tomb in Imoyins had caused the participants' abnormal behavior, while Bruce and Fawcett went to the Goddess of the Night Cathedral to report the incident.

• Ernest explained that death authority was divided among Gods who ruled the Netherworld, the Resting Place, the Eternal Frost Glacier, and Purgatory.
• Ohms asked whether the ritual's connection to the Eternal Frost Glacier could be a deception, but Ernest dismissed the idea.
• Ernest learned that people connected to Rosen University had visited an ancient tomb in Imoyins, Chelberly, and ordered the Night Watchers there to investigate it.
• Bruce took Fawcett to the Goddess of the Night Cathedral so they could report the occult incident in Derrick Park before the Church tracked Fawcett down.

Bruce brought Fawcett, posing as Sebas, to the Goddess of the Night Cathedral and asked the Night Watchers for help investigating the strange events surrounding a failed summoning ritual. After hearing Sebas’s account and examining Julius’s notebook, Ernest reacted with recognition to the name Julius, while Bruce noticed a faint blue light.

• Bruce and Fawcett arrived at the cathedral, where Bruce identified himself as a newly appointed Nightwalker guided by Paul Targett.
• Bruce introduced Fawcett as Sebas, and Ohms recognized him as the young man they had been trying to locate.
• Fawcett told the Night Watchers that a group had found a mysterious notebook in an ancient tomb and used its summoning ritual, which killed the others.
• Bruce handed Ernest Julius’s notebook, and Fawcett said Julius had searched for the ancient god called the Nourisher Above the Sky.
• Ernest and the other Night Watchers reacted strangely to Julius’s name, and Bruce noticed a faint blue light.

Bruce learned that the Grand Trend had begun a second act involving Julius and took Fawcett under his protection while the church investigated. Fawcett planned to become an Extraordinary and then leave to investigate the flood in Absanik.

• Bruce opened his Character Status Panel and received a warning that events involving Julius would affect his fate.
• Bruce took Fawcett from the church to stay with him, leaving Julius’s notebook with Bishop Ernest.
• Ohms suspected Bruce was hiding something, but Ernest prioritized investigating Julius and warned the Night Watchers in Chelberly to watch for his accomplices.
• Bruce asked Fawcett what he planned to do after the affair ended, and Fawcett said he intended to investigate the flood in Absanik.

Bruce planned to help Fawcett advance before leaving Walkervis for Metropolis, while Fawcett remained determined to uncover the truth behind the flood that killed his loved ones. Meanwhile, five gray-robed men searched for a book in Walkervis, killed Robert when he could not produce it, and set out to find his students.

• Fawcett vowed to investigate the unnatural flood that had destroyed his hometown and give the dead an answer.
• Bruce considered his coming departure from Walkervis, planned to help Fawcett advance, and fell asleep.
• Five gray-robed men entered Robert's home and demanded the book from the tomb in Imoyins.
• Robert said he had found no book and gave the men the addresses of his six students.
• The leader killed Robert, and the gray-robed men decided to remain in Walkervis and search for the book and the students.
• Fawcett dreamed of the flood and promised someone he had left behind that he would uncover the truth and return.

Bruce bought ingredients for Fawcett’s Translator Potion, but gray-robed accomplices of Julius attacked them in Walkervis. Bruce fought off their magical shadows while Night Watcher Ohms moved to intervene, and the attackers struck again with whips of Spirituality Power.

• Bruce bought enough ingredients for three batches of Fawcett’s Translator Potion and additional supplies for his experiments.
• Bruce recognized the caravan guards at a crowded stall, while a paper crane led five gray-robed figures to him and Fawcett.
• The gray-robed figures attacked Bruce with magical snakes, which he destroyed with Divine Might.
• Bruce protected Fawcett and charged the attackers, using Divine Might and his sword to shatter their humanoid shadows.
• Ohms recognized the attackers as Julius’s accomplices and circled behind them with a short spike.
• The gray-robed figures lashed five streams of Spirituality Power toward Bruce.

Bruce fought five Gray-Robed Men who mistook him for someone holding Julius's Notes, but the Night Watchers arrived and drove them to escape. As Bruce went with Bishop Ernest to the church, Fawcett spotted a Tracking Paper Crane stuck to Bruce's shoulder, which Bruce destroyed.

• Bruce learned that the Gray-Robed Men wanted Julius's Notes and claimed he had already handed them to the Church.
• Bruce fought off the Gray-Robed Men's magical attacks while Ohms attempted to ambush them and was nearly struck down.
• Ernest intervened to save Ohms, and the Gray-Robed Men escaped through a black hole when the Night Watchers arrived.
• Ernest reprimanded Ohms and invited Bruce and Fawcett to the church to discuss the attack and Julius's case.
• Fawcett noticed a Tracking Paper Crane on Bruce's shoulder, and Bruce crushed it before heading to the church.

At the Goddess of the Night Cathedral, Bruce joined the Night Watchers as they investigated Julius, his family, and the notebook’s failed summoning ritual. Ernest revealed the Castro Family’s history and Julius’s crimes, while Bruce wondered whether the notebook concealed further secrets.

• Bruce confirmed that the magic on the Tracking Paper Crane had been erased and left the caravan guards to face the Night Watchers’ reprimands.
• At the cathedral, Ernest questioned Bruce’s relationship with Sebas, and Bruce explained that he was investigating Julius and the effects of the ritual.
• Ernest introduced the Night Watchers and told Bruce that Julius belonged to the Castro Wizard family, whose ancestor had sealed a magical Demigod and been cursed.
• Ernest explained that Julius had been imprisoned forty years earlier and that his Magic Servants had now appeared in Walkervis to pursue the notebook.
• Bruce learned that Julius’s ritual had summoned the God of the Eternal Frost Glacier instead of an ancient God and wondered whether the notebook held secrets beyond its known contents.
• Ernest recounted Julius’s many crimes and said the Goddess of the Night Church could imprison him but could not kill him.

Bruce learned that Julius had survived death through prepared bodies and soul safeguards, while his followers sought a notebook that was actually one of three Soul Caskets holding pieces of Julius's true soul. The gray-robed men planned to kill people to pressure the Church into returning it.

• Ernest explained that the Church had imprisoned Julius because killing him only led him to resurrect in another body, and his Soul-Substitution Puppet protected his soul.
• Bruce suggested that the notebook itself might have a special property, prompting Ernest to investigate it and consider asking an Artisan for help.
• Ernest asked Bruce to assist with the operation, and Bruce agreed while considering how to stop the gray-robed men from escaping.
• Jesus and Anthony told three other gray-robed men that Julius had split his soul into three Soul Caskets, one of which was the notebook in the Church's hands.
• Anthony proposed killing people to pressure the Church into surrendering Julius's notebook.

After Professor Robert was murdered, Bruce and Fawcett discussed the Church’s likely response and prepared for Fawcett to become an Extraordinary. Fawcett successfully became a Translator, then discovered that Julius’s notebook contained a soul-protecting magical diagram and realized Julius’s soul was inside it.

• The Night Watchers found Professor Robert brutally murdered and identified the five gray-robed figures as the likely killers.
• Bruce told Fawcett that Julius’s accomplices might commit more murders to force the Church to surrender the notebook, and Fawcett suggested the Church might send a Medium.
• Bruce worried a Medium might uncover his secrets, but Fawcett said Mediums saw only fragmentary, uncertain images.
• Fawcett prepared and drank the Translator potion, gaining abundant spirituality power and becoming an Extraordinary.
• Fawcett perceived a hidden magical diagram on Julius’s notebook cover and realized it was protecting Julius’s soul.

After becoming a Translator, Fawcett realized Julius’s notebook contained Julius’s protected soul and a ritual meant to bring disaster and death, then told Bruce what he had learned. Meanwhile, Dexter and Missionary Grant set out to investigate the Castro family, and Bruce and Fawcett decided to use the revelation against them.

• Fawcett understood that Julius’s soul was sealed inside the notebook and that its ritual called for disaster and death rather than an ancient god’s descent.
• After a painful reaction from his new Translator abilities, Fawcett told Bruce about Julius’s soul and the ritual, deciding to risk the Castro family’s attention.
• Missionary Grant led the timid medium Dexter through the underground passage beneath the Goddess of the Night Cathedral toward the Brightlight District to investigate the Castro family.
• Bruce considered whether to inform the Church, and Fawcett agreed they should deal the Castro family a heavy blow.

Bruce and Fawcett agreed to bring the discovery of Julius’s soul to the Church, while Bruce avoided tracking the gray-robed men alone. At the Brightlight District cathedral, Medium Dexter examined Julius’s Notes and prepared to use a Paper Crane to search for the men.

• Bruce agreed to help Fawcett report the notebook’s secret to the Church, and Fawcett warned him not to track the Castro Family alone.
• Bruce and Fawcett decided to visit the Church and then consider whether the Paper Crane could locate the gray-robed men.
• Dexter arrived at the Goddess of the Night Cathedral, examined Julius’s Notes, and saw visions of gray-robed Wizards, an enormous eyeball, and a strange four-armed figure.
• Dexter said he needed an object connected to the gray-robed men to find them, and Ernest recalled that Bruce held their Paper Crane.
• Bruce arrived at the cathedral and handed Dexter the Paper Crane so the Medium could attempt to locate the gray-robed men.

Dexter used the Paper Crane to locate the Gray-Robed Men at Punkson Department Store, where Ernest and the Night Watchers confronted them over Julius's Notes. Bruce disrupted their attempt to teleport with Divine Might, giving the Night Watchers an opening to attack, and then joined the battle.

• Dexter identified 101 Eisen Third Street and Punkson Department Store as the Gray-Robed Men's location, and Ernest led the Night Watchers there with Bruce.
• Ernest drew the Gray-Robed Men out of the department store by revealing Julius's Notes, and they attacked him with wind blades.
• The Gray-Robed Men tried to teleport away as the Night Watchers closed in, but Bruce used Divine Might to disrupt their spell.
• Ernest sent the Night Watchers into the attack while the Gray-Robed Men fortified themselves for close combat.
• Bruce, weakened by using Divine Might, recovered enough to jump down from the rooftop and join the fight.

Bruce joined the Night Watchers' battle against five gray-robed Castro family Wizards, but the enemies escaped using a blinding spell and Teleportation Magic. As Ernest prepared to track them again, Bruce reflected on his weakness and resisted the thought of killing Extraordinaries to increase his spirituality.

• Bruce charged into the fight and found his sword could not pierce the gray-robed men's magical armor.
• Ernest and the Night Watchers battered the five Wizards with Spirituality Power, gradually overwhelming their defenses.
• Jesus and Anthony coordinated with the other gray-robed men to cast Dispel, blinding the Night Watchers and creating an opening to escape.
• The gray-robed men vanished before the Night Watchers could stop their Teleportation Magic, and Ernest ordered a renewed search using the Paper Crane.
• Bruce reviewed his Character Status Panel, saw that his spirituality value had not increased, and rejected the idea of killing people for power.
• Ernest wondered whether Bruce had caused the tremendous boom that had interrupted the Wizards' spellcasting.

Ernest concluded that Bruce had secretly interrupted the Gray-Robed Men’s escape, while reflecting on the Goddess of the Night’s weakening state. The Castro Family regrouped in a grove, and Jesus planned to unleash a sealed demon to cause an Evil Birth in Walkervis as they continued pursuing the notes and their master’s resurrection.

• Ernest recognized that an unknown force had interrupted the Gray-Robed Men’s Shadow Gate and suspected Bruce’s godblood ability was responsible.
• The five Gray-Robed Men escaped to a grove but remained injured and trapped in Walkervis.
• Jesus proposed attacking the Church for the notes, and Anthony agreed that obtaining them was essential to the Castro Family and their master.
• Anthony warned Jesus to destroy the Tracking Paper Crane, which had likely enabled the Church’s Medium to find them.
• Jesus confirmed that the Castro Family would still attack Chelberly to retrieve or destroy their master’s body, then planned to unleash a sealed demon and cause an Evil Birth in Walkervis.

The Castro Family considered releasing the white demon Terror to recover Julius's soul, while the Night Watchers regrouped after their failed pursuit of the gray-robed men. After Fawcett revealed that Julius's soul was sealed inside the notes, Ernest realized the Castro Family might release Terror.

• Jesus told a gray-robed man he would ask the Castro elder for permission to release Terror.
• Dexter's Paper Crane burned up after the gray-robed men detected his attempt to track them, and the Night Watchers' operation failed.
• Ernest arranged increased patrols and investigations in the Brightlight District while the Night Watchers sought to uncover the secrets of Julius's Notes.
• Bruce brought Fawcett to explain that Julius's soul was sealed inside the notes and that the gray-robed men wanted the soul.
• Ernest recognized the danger of the Castro Family releasing a demon and said, "Terror."