Recaps

The True Creator negotiated boundaries and compensation with the Monarch of Decay, while Klein put away dangerous artifacts and learned that the Devil Dog case was nearing resolution. Maria faced the Church of Storms taking Doctor Blake and Capim’s renewed pressure on the Charity School, leaving her wondering whether she needed the other leader’s power to protect people.

• The Monarch of Decay demanded compensation from the True Creator and warned him not to disrupt their uneasy peace before their wager was settled.
• Klein stored the Black Emperor card, Azik’s Copper Whistle, and the dangerous Master Key above the gray fog, then reviewed his encounter with Bernadette and the Devil Dog.
• Klein received Eisinger Stanton’s letter confirming an important lead in the serial murders and planned to visit the Quelaag Club and watch a magician’s performance.
• Maria condemned a man for selling out Doctor Blake to the Church of Storms, but her allies said they could not rescue him from Holy Wind Cathedral.
• Maria refused to yield any children or girls to Capim’s people, then wondered how much power she could gain by turning to the other leader.

Klein met with Sharron and Maric to discuss helping their two friends, then consulted Edward, who served him wontons and warned him about the possibility that the Devil Dog had a human accomplice. In a separate dreamlike scene, Roselle spoke with Adela before dismissing the experience as dull.

• Klein accepted Maric and Sharron's invitation and asked them for advanced Mysticism books, but Sharron offered a book in exchange for his help.
• Klein described the threat facing Sharron's two friends to Edward, who said he could help if the pursuers belonged to the Rose School and offered to buy information about the School of Life.
• Edward served Klein wontons, and Klein grew emotional as he tasted the familiar food from his former world.
• Klein and Edward realized the authorities had mistaken the Devil Dog's corpse for a human killer, and Klein worried the dog might still have a human accomplice who could target private detectives.
• Klein resolved to warn Isengard discreetly, while Edward considered the possibility of hunting the still-unidentified Beria Family member.
• Roselle approached Adela beneath a tree, told her he would remember their time together, and stood silently beside her before calling the experience dull.

Klein received his share of the serial-murder reward and learned that the missing man Stuart wanted him to find was Emlyn White. Meanwhile, Mr. Z negotiated with Capim’s gang, then killed them and helped Maria rescue the trafficked girls, leaving with the deal’s money and contract.

• Isengard announced that the detectives would split a thousand pounds, praised Klein’s deductions, and warned him that someone might have been behind the serial killer.
• Stuart gave Klein a missing-person case and identified the missing man as Emlyn White.
• Mr. Z negotiated a protection deal with Capim’s representative, agreeing to safeguard his operations in Backlund’s East Borough in exchange for money and a share of profits.
• Mr. Z discovered that the gang leader’s promised gift was a group of trafficked girls and unleashed a sea of blood that killed the leader and his men.
• Maria comforted and led the rescued girls downstairs while Mr. Z arranged supplies and kept the ten-thousand-pound account and contract.

The narrator discovered a frozen settlement and learned to write, hoping to decipher its ruins and escape decades of confusion and hallucinations. After finding a young Tyr sealed in the ice with written words, the narrator began breaking through the ice to reach her and the history she might reveal.

• The narrator explored a vast settlement beneath a frozen lake and learned to write from the memories of corpses in the glacier.
• The narrator reflected on the Latu, their shared mind, and the rejection that had led to the narrator’s exile.
• The narrator found a young Tyr frozen with a bundle of written pages bearing the words, “Our god rejected the cycle of life and death” and “And thus allowed all things to live.”
• The narrator wondered what the words meant and whether the youngling’s corpse held memories that could explain the past and end the narrator’s hallucinations.
• The narrator began chipping away at the ice to reach the young Tyr and the written history.

Edward and Roselle built a relationship of profitable bargains that helped Roselle rise from Consul to Black Emperor while turning their ambitions into slaughter and colonial conquest. After Roselle died, he opened his eyes in his mausoleum and summoned Edward to join him in death.

• Edward offered to change Bornova’s nature in exchange for the lives needed to digest his potion, and Roselle accepted the bargain.
• Roselle launched a coup, overthrew the Sauron Dynasty, became Consul, and declared war on Loen the following year.
• As Chief Justice, Edward ordered mass executions, including Bernadette’s friend, while Roselle focused on comforting his daughter.
• Roselle approved colonial rule and conquest of the Southern Continent, and Edward crushed a rebellious city-state for him.
• Roselle and Edward presided over an expanding empire and its wars until Roselle died and later awoke in his mausoleum.
• Roselle declared that betrayers of the emperor were unforgivable and called Edward to keep him company in death.

Maria and Mr. Z agreed to cooperate after rescuing girls from Capim’s operation, while Mr. Z offered to help return them to safety. At Traynor’s home, Sharf reported successful weapons tests and learned that Traynor intended to help him escape the God of Steam’s influence through the Primordial Moon’s believers.

• The Flesh Servant found a mutilated corpse, and Maria asked it to restore the girl’s head so she could be identified.
• Maria explained that Capim had exploited the Pilgrimage Church’s isolation to target its school and Poorhouse, and she planned to use His Highness Vaughn’s power against him.
• Mr. Z offered Maria half of the ten thousand pounds and help escorting the girls, and they agreed to continue cooperating.
• Sharf arrived at Traynor’s garden and reported successful field tests of a heavy machine gun, a shotgun, and a prototype submachine gun.
• Traynor told Sharf to keep dealing with the Primordial Moon’s followers so he could use their help to escape Intis, after which Traynor would arrange his freedom.

Traynor sent Turing to pave the way for Sharf, while Klein divined the Master Key’s behavior during the full moon and heard a deadly plea for help. In the City of Silver, Colin and Lovia suspected that the Skolds’ unborn child was an angel who brought good luck, as Derrick was withdrawn from an expedition after showing signs of losing control.

• Traynor praised Sharf’s resourcefulness and told Turing to prepare a path for him after learning Helene’s trading voyage was delayed.
• Klein divined the Master Key’s full-moon behavior and endured ravings that included what sounded like a request for help.
• Sharron rejected the Pilgrimage Church’s approach, warning Maric that its Temperance Angel could not be trusted.
• Colin and Lovia questioned the Skolds and learned that Mrs. Skold’s unusually fast-growing child appeared in her dreams as a white-haired boy, while Mr. Skold’s patrol luck had improved.
• Colin concluded that the child would bring good luck, and he and Lovia left after learning that Derrick Berg could not join the expedition because he was showing signs of losing control.

Klein investigated the sites Sharron had marked and spoke with Aaron and Edward at the Quelaag Club, while Edward learned that Will Auceptin was likely nearby and investigated the Auceptins’ former home. In the East Borough, Maria weighed detective candidates to help her rescue Capim’s captives, and decided to visit several the next day.

• Klein familiarized himself with the locations Sharron had marked, then heard Aaron say that praying at a church had ended his run of bad luck.
• Klein asked Aaron about Will Auceptin, and Edward later suggested that Aaron’s misfortune had probably come from a Wheel of Fortune Pathway item.
• Edward identified Will as the Snake of Mercury, followed a pickpocket through divination, and questioned the Auceptins’ neighbors about Will’s former family.
• Edward and the Monarch of Decay discussed Will’s escape from Ouroboros and the approaching man-made disaster in the East Borough.
• Maria reviewed missing-person files and considered hiring a detective to investigate Capim’s house before attempting to rescue the abducted children.
• Maria circled several candidates, including Sherlock Moriarty, and decided to visit them the next day.

Richard Ernst arrived in the Rorsted Archipelago and reflected on the injustices of colonial rule before visiting an Ernst Foundation institution and reuniting with Mr. Solera and Mrs. Dulda. Meanwhile, Maria sought Isengard Stanton’s help rescuing her missing workers from Capim, but he refused, leaving her with few options.

• Richard Ernst arrived in the Rorsted Archipelago and considered how the Temperance Faction’s ideals needed to change in the face of oppression.
• Richard hired a local guide, learned about the old man’s memories of a girl named Cosette, and reached the Ernst Foundation institution.
• Mr. Solera and Mrs. Dulda welcomed Richard and told him about the children they had taken in and supported.
• Maria asked Isengard Stanton to investigate Capim and find her missing workers, but Isengard refused because Capim’s influence made the task too dangerous.
• Maria left Isengard’s home and worried that no available detective could help her before it was too late.

Edward explored Bansy and triggered a transformation at its Telegraph Office, revealing that the supposed God of Weather was part of the City of Calamity encroaching on reality. The chapter left him confronting the transformed city, while Amon agreed to trade information about the Forsaken Land of the Gods for knowledge of Old Earth.

• The Monarch of Decay wondered why Spirit World Creatures were drawn to Edward, while Amon asked him about the Great Old Ones and the perfect civilization.
• Amon offered what he knew about the Forsaken Land of the Gods, including an avatar's location, in exchange for knowledge of Old Earth, and the Monarch of Decay agreed.
• Edward reached Bansy after dark, destroyed a headless corpse, and followed directions to the Telegraph Office.
• Edward used the telegraph to summon the Monarch of Decay, prompting the office's two monstrous heads to attack him.
• The Monarch of Decay found the Telegraph Office decayed into a tree, opened its door in a particular way, and stepped into a transformed city.
• The Monarch of Decay recognized the transformed place as the City of Calamity encroaching on reality, rather than the domain of a God of Weather.

After losing control from absorbing the frozen lake city's accumulated knowledge, the narrator discovered that a Tyr body had emerged from their treant form as an incomplete Mythical Creature Form. The narrator began crawling across the ice in the new, painful body.

• The narrator learned about Beyonder Power, Pathways, Beyonder Characteristics, and the origins of their abilities, then lost control from the knowledge.
• The narrator realized their body had developed an incomplete Mythical Creature Form and concluded that it must have originated from the God of Order.
• The narrator's branches merged, and a Tyr upper body emerged from their trunk, leaving them in agony and covered in blood.
• The narrator tested the new body, struggled to control its claws and heightened senses, and found that it lacked hind limbs, a tail, wings, and an exoskeleton.
• The narrator abandoned moving on roots and began crawling because the smell of blood made them hurry.

The Monarch of Decay destroyed a polluted city tied to the City of Calamity and seized a fragment of its corruption. Back in Backlund, he invaded Adam’s mind to retrieve information about Bansy Island, then left Adam recovering and advised Amon to stop studying C++ without a computer.

• The Monarch of Decay entered the strange city and used his power to reduce its buildings and inhabitants to ash.
• He raised an ash tree that tore open the sky, drew out a writhing fragment, and sealed it before the city collapsed.
• After returning to his villa in Backlund, the Monarch of Decay examined the fragment while Amon struggled with a C++ book.
• The Monarch of Decay invaded Adam’s mind, discovered that Adam and his original self knew about Bansy Island, and said his pollution had made the other forget it.
• Adam was left weakened and disoriented, and the Monarch of Decay told Amon to stop studying because there were no computers in that era.

Adela teased Edward while he worked on a puzzle, and Maria planned to investigate Capim’s residence as she learned that Sharron and Maric had defeated their pursuers. In the East Borough, Klein and Mike heard more about missing children before Maria confronted them.

• Adela tried to draw Edward into intimate company, but he handed her the Rubik’s Cube and tried to leave; she playfully tested his threat to kill her.
• Maria told Ademisaul to draft a request for the Aurora Order to investigate Capim’s residence and asked him to cover for her if she went out alone.
• A blond man told Maria that Sharron and Maric had killed their Rose School pursuers, including a Sequence 5 Wraith, and that they might have an unknown helper.
• Klein and Mike stopped at an East Borough café, where Klein recognized an older man he had previously interviewed and introduced Mike as a colleague.
• The older man told Klein and Mike that children and girls had been disappearing, including a young pickpocket and a girl whom Maria had recently brought home.
• Maria approached Klein and Mike, introduced herself, and demanded to know what they were investigating.

Klein and Mike interviewed people in the East Borough, where they learned that Maria was trusted as the community’s protector, while Edward identified Klein and directed Maria to seek his help. Elsewhere, the Monarch of Decay questioned Adam about the Forsaken Land of the Gods and revealed his intention to turn it into his Desolate Kingdom.

• Maria refused to tell Klein and Mike about the kidnappings, but an elderly East Borough resident warned them not to speak badly of her and called her their guardian angel.
• Klein and Mike listened as the former beggar described a destitute elderly woman, and Mike hired Old Kohler as their guide for two soli a day.
• Edward recognized Klein in Maria’s memories and told her she could ask him for help, prompting her to return to the café to try again.
• The Monarch of Decay discussed the City of Calamity, Medici, and Adam’s choices, while Amon drew him a map of the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
• The Monarch of Decay told Adam he wanted to reclaim his Sefirah and turn the Forsaken Land of the Gods into his Desolate Kingdom.

Edward revealed himself to Amon as the Monarch of Decay, killing nearly every Amon who heard him. In Backlund, Klein and Mike investigated the East Borough’s factories, and Maria commissioned Klein to obtain a floor plan of tycoon Capim’s villa, leaving him to decide whether to accept.

• Edward told Amon that he was a Great Old Dominator, and the revelation killed every Amon in the city who heard it except the typist who had blocked his hearing.
• Klein and Mike saw women working without protection in a lead white factory, while Old Kohler described Maria’s free legal work for the workers.
• Old Kohler connected the textile mills’ planned layoffs to the growing disappearances of unemployed girls, and Klein and Mike left the district in silence.
• Maria apologized to Klein and said Capim was behind the East Borough kidnappings, then asked him to obtain a floor plan of Capim’s villa.
• Maria offered five hundred pounds for a partial layout and a thousand for a detailed one, and Klein said he was inclined to accept but would decide within two days.

Richard discussed the Numinous Episcopate’s plans and possible arms purchases, while Mr. A accepted Maria’s dangerous commission to investigate Capim’s mansion. At the Tarot gathering, Derrick revealed that a man named Amon had appeared in the City of Silver’s history, and a diary entry disclosed that Roselle Gustav had once called himself Huang Tao; Derrick then heard the imprisoned explorer speak from behind him.

• Richard learned that the Pale Empress planned to retake a town near Balam’s capital and offered to wait for Traynor’s new firearm before arranging a purchase.
• Mr. A took Maria’s commission to infiltrate Capim’s mansion after seeing that Mr. Z remained ahead of him in the contribution rankings.
• Klein divined that Maria’s commission involved manageable danger and decided to accept it after the Tarot gathering.
• Derrick told the Tarot Club about the imprisoned explorer who had encountered Amon, and Alger explained the Amon Family’s history and reputation for stealing divine power.
• Klein read a diary entry in which Roselle Gustav declared that his real name was Huang Tao.
• Back in the City of Silver, Derrick knocked on the explorer’s wall, then heard an aged voice speak from behind him.

The God of Order dreamed of her lost homeland and recalled the brutal order she had imposed to preserve life after the Stellar Core went dark. When a powerful treant spoke her forgotten language, she hoped it was kin, but it condemned her and told her to leave.

• The God of Order remembered her home and how she had become a god after the planet stopped rotating and a century-long cold wave struck.
• She recalled the rules she imposed, which led the two races to fight over Beyonder Characteristics and hunt treants for survival.
• The God of Order sensed a powerful treant approaching and watched it perform a simple ritual above her hiding place.
• The treant spoke her lost language, making the God of Order hope it was one of her kin.
• The treant called her useless and selfish, condemned the slaughter caused by her order, and told her to get lost.

Edward tested Richard Ernst’s business ethics while Adela argued for ruthless exploitation, and Klein discovered that Amon had secretly attached himself to Little Sun. Edward later reflected on Klein’s possible connection to the Lord of the Mysteries and counted down the nineteen years remaining in his mission.

• Edward questioned Richard about factory wages and business decisions, while Richard struggled to balance profit with concern for workers.
• Adela climbed into Edward’s room and urged Richard to use machines for maximum profit and enslave workers, leaving Richard distressed by her advice.
• After accepting Maria’s commission, Klein heard Little Sun’s prayer and saw Amon lurking around his spirit body, apparently planning to infiltrate the Tarot gathering.
• Klein realized he needed to remove Amon from Little Sun or keep Little Sun away from future gatherings, and began considering a solution.
• Edward speculated that Klein might be a contingency tied to the Lord of the Mysteries and reflected on the approaching Apocalypse and his nineteen years left to live out his mission.

Mr. A preached the True Creator’s gospel to East Borough paupers, recruited a group of followers, and arranged temporary shelter for them. He left with the blue-haired man to settle the new converts near the man’s home.

• Mr. A taught children about the betrayal of the Lord until Maria interrupted him and dragged him outside.
• Mr. A told Maria he was waiting for Capim’s Beyonder subordinates to leave before infiltrating the mansion, and promised to avoid harming Sherlock Moriarty if they met.
• Mr. A challenged the East Borough paupers’ faith in the Three Gods and preached that the True Creator would save them.
• A boy agreed to follow Mr. A, shared his portion of Black Bread with the other paupers, and was welcomed as a brother.
• The blue-haired man agreed to shelter the fifteen new followers in an empty warehouse and led them away with Mr. A.

Amon questioned the Monarch of Decay about courage and sacrifice, while in the East Borough Alia helped expose kidnappers working with Capim. Klein learned that Liv’s younger daughter had disappeared and agreed to investigate, accepting only two soli from Old Kohler to cover the cost.

• Amon told the Monarch of Decay that he would likely flee rather than die for his father, unless his sacrifice could help or his father could resurrect him.
• Alia baited a kidnapper, and the flesh puppet that emerged from his body fought Katie until Mr. A took control of her and pursued her to Capim’s Mansion.
• Alia returned to Maria’s group with old clothes and reported the kidnapping; Mr. A promised to provide a route map to Capim’s operation.
• Klein paid Old Kohler for information and learned about secret cult activity, the failed textile workers’ struggle, and Liv’s missing younger daughter.
• Klein offered to help find Liv’s daughter, and Old Kohler returned thirteen soli, asking Klein to accept two soli as payment.

Klein learned that Daisy had been abducted and that rescuing her from Capim’s villa was extremely dangerous, so he investigated the villa’s guards and layout to help Maria plan an infiltration. Meanwhile, Fors met Loboro’s brother and used a Paper Angel to conceal the encounter from his divination, while Edward sensed the aura of Sefirah Castle around her.

• Klein refused most of Old Kohler’s payment and went with him to visit Liv.
• Fors met an elderly man seeking news of his brother Loboro and learned that Loboro and Anlisa had died; Edward Vaughan joined them at a café.
• Edward sensed Sefirah Castle’s aura around Fors after she returned from the washroom, then saw a thin gray fog envelop her.
• Klein divined Daisy’s circumstances and learned that Capim’s men had abducted and imprisoned her, then confirmed that rescuing her was dangerous.
• Klein decided to obtain information before helping Maria and possessed a Capim employee to conduct spirit channeling.
• Klein learned that Capim Villa had at least four dangerous Beyonders, including Mr. Harras, and reconstructed the villa’s layout to give Maria.

Klein infiltrated Capim’s dinner, where Mr. A and Harras fought after the servants and Katie were struck by strange effects. A fireball destroyed the dining room, and Maria entered the ruined mansion, rescued the badly burned Mr. A, and summoned Edward Vaughan to claim the guilty souls.

• Capim and the servants began suffering bizarre symptoms as Klein, disguised as a black spirit, confronted Harras and Katie attacked him.
• Mr. A revealed himself by emerging from Katie’s body and summoned a Black Knight to strike Harras, while Klein realized Mr. A belonged to the Aurora Order.
• Harras wounded Mr. A and tried to escape, but Klein snapped his fingers and ignited the room, engulfing Harras and Mr. A in an explosion.
• Maria stormed Capim’s mansion with a Gatling gun and found the dining room in ruins, with Capim and an unfamiliar Beyonder dead.
• Maria dug Mr. A out from beneath the rubble, put him in her backpack, and prayed for Edward Vaughan to accept the souls of the criminals.

He wandered across his frozen homeworld and uncovered how Branka had kept its surviving populations trapped and dependent. Concluding that salvation would only prolong their suffering, he chose to destroy the world and create new life, setting out to ascend to godhood.

• He crossed the dead ice fields and learned that Branka had concealed the Beyonder world's laws and controlled its surviving populations.
• He accused Branka of preventing the people from discovering the correct Pathways and using the dead's Beyonder Characteristics to maintain her control.
• He struggled with the suffering of both populations and realized he could not save one without condemning the other.
• He decided that the world needed destruction and new life rather than salvation.
• He resolved to ascend to godhood, sacrifice his humanity, and bring about the world's long-delayed extinction.

Klein escaped Capim Villa after destroying its Beyonders, while Edward arrived and devoured the souls of corrupt officials through a supernatural telephone. Edward rescued Doctor Blake for Maria, gave her a Sequence 5 Mentor of Disorder characteristic, and warned that war was about to begin.

• Klein's explosion destroyed the dining room and killed the Beyonders inside, after which he fled Capim Villa when gunfire sounded outside.
• Maria entered the villa, found Mr. A, and prayed, while Edward attacked Klein with a giant claw and suspected he was Klein Moretti.
• Edward used a model telephone to accuse corrupt officials and devour their souls, then triggered a massive distortion that destroyed Capim's Mansion as demigods arrived.
• Maria reported the evacuation of the children, and Edward granted her wish by rescuing Doctor Blake from Holy Wind Cathedral.
• Edward gave Maria a Sequence 5 Mentor of Disorder characteristic and warned her that war was about to begin.

Richard shared a Southern Continent-style grilled fish meal at the Poorhouse and asked Galan De to find him a modest captain for an offshore investigation. After Klein reviewed the mysteries surrounding the Capim raid and Mr. A woke in hospital, Mr. A declared his mission a failure and fainted again when Mr. Z revealed he still led their monthly merit ranking.

• Richard cooked grilled fish for the Poorhouse residents, played with the children, and asked Galan De to find an information broker who could connect him with a captain.
• Klein divined that Daisy would return home safely, then considered the conflicting clues about Maria, Mr. A, the Aurora Order, and the claw that had attacked him.
• Klein reviewed his Magician principles, wrote them down, and estimated that his potion could be digested before the new year.
• Klein returned to Backlund and attended old Mr. Eye of Wisdom's Beyonder gathering in disguise.
• Mr. A woke in the Charity Hospital, and Mr. Z visited him after learning of the explosion through a Rose Bishop communication method.
• Mr. A admitted that he had failed the mission and made a fatal error, then fainted again when Mr. Z said he remained first in the monthly merit ranking.