Chapter Summaries

Lorry defeated the Miles controlled by another self and learned that the real Miles had been trapped within their fused body. Miles warned him that Altair had another scheme and begged him to kill him before his other self could return.

• Lorry bound the white phantom with Shadow Servant, deceived Miles with Mental Interference, and knocked him unconscious.
• Lorry destroyed Miles's drawing papers and revealed that MI9 had contained the chaos, leaving Miles unable to receive another boon.
• Miles invoked the Lord of Dimensions, but Lorry was unaffected because he had made himself deaf to avoid the attack.
• The real Miles took control briefly and wrote that he and his other self had fused completely, then warned Lorry to watch out for Altair.
• Miles wrote that Altair planned to sacrifice himself to draw the being's gaze and begged Lorry to kill him before his other self returned.

Altair reflected on his failed attempts to influence Lorry and instead steered Miles toward the Lord of Dimensions, helping him build the Fantasy Society. As Miles prepared a sacrificial operation in Backlund, Altair expected it to fail and had already prepared a heroic epitaph for him, though the chapter left open whether Altair had truly only observed events.

• Altair investigated Lorry’s associates and chose Miles as the person to influence, avoiding Fors because his god had warned him not to provoke another great being.
• Altair arranged for Miles to learn the Lord of Dimensions’ honorific name, and Miles became a believer before his mind was contaminated while receiving a boon.
• Miles founded the Fantasy Society and planned a sacrificial operation in Backlund for November 16, while Altair supplied him with money and assistance.
• Altair privately judged Miles’s plan crude, but ran through its stages and predicted that military forces and the three false gods’ followers would discover it and prepare to intervene.
• Altair bought Miles a burial plot and wrote an epitaph anticipating his heroic death as the operation drew attention, then questioned whether he had really been only a recorder and observer.

Altair’s account revealed his plan to sacrifice the Factory District and summon an Angel, and an explosion began the catastrophe. After finding Miles dead, Lorry realized the authorities were stretched thin and resolved to stop Altair before taking Miles’s body and disappearing into the rain.

• Altair prepared to sacrifice the Eye of Truth’s believers and the Factory District to summon an Angel and gain the Supreme Being’s favor.
• Altair watched from the East Borough as a huge explosion sent a black mushroom cloud over the Factory District.
• Lorry mourned Miles, then realized Altair had targeted the Factory District and feared he was summoning the being he worshipped.
• The Curse of Knowledge warned Lorry that Vera and the churches’ Beyonders could not readily help because MI9 and the churches had sent their forces to the East Borough.
• Lorry vowed to stop Altair, briefly pictured a mysterious woman, then picked up Miles’s body and vanished using the White Bone Ring.

Lorry warned Fors that East Borough’s evil god worshippers were targeting the Factory District and asked her to alert the Church of the Evernight Goddess. Klein relayed Fors’s warning to Audrey, who hurried to tell her mother and began revealing that she was a Beyonder.

• Lorry arrived at Fors and Xio’s home carrying Miles’s corpse and warned that the Factory District was the real target of the evil god worshippers.
• Fors prayed to Mr. Fool, explaining that the worshippers planned to sacrifice innocent lives to summon an evil god or an angel.
• Klein heard Fors’s prayer above the gray fog and transmitted it to Justice.
• Audrey received Klein’s message while studying with Escalante and rushed to her mother after hearing the explosion.
• Audrey learned that her father was visiting Duke Negan and began telling her mother she had kept something important secret.

Fors learned that Miss Justice had alerted the Church of the Evernight Goddess, then used the White Bone Ring’s Soothing ability to stop Lorry from losing control and faced the ring’s demand for payment. In the Factory District, Eye of Truth believers began slaughtering workers, and Witt revealed himself as one of the attackers.

• Miss Justice told Fors that she had informed the Church of the Evernight Goddess and refused payment.
• Fors found Lorry losing control and used the White Bone Ring’s Soothing four times to restore him.
• The White Bone Ring told Fors she owed four prices for using Soothing.
• An explosion devastated the Kingdom Weapons Factory’s gunpowder warehouse, and Eye of Truth believers began attacking factories across the district.
• At the Former Ceramics Factory, Witt decapitated the young supervisor and announced that he was sending the workers to meet the Supreme Being.

Albert killed Witt after completing his potion digestion, while the three Archbishops arrived to disrupt the evil god’s sacrificial ritual. They found its core shifted into another dimension, and Saint Anthony began sending darkness into the altar.

• Witt tried to pet Albert, but the dog bit off his hand and then killed him by biting through his throat.
• Albert sensed that he had fully digested his potion and wondered whether his master would reward him by taking him to meet her.
• Ace Snake, Horamick Haydn, and Saint Anthony arrived in the Factory District and used wind, rain, and lightning to suppress the fires and kill the evil god’s believers.
• The three Archbishops attacked the ritual’s core, but their strikes passed through it because it existed in another dimension.
• Saint Anthony questioned the hooded believer about traces of Evernight, then sent surging darkness into the central altar.

After the ritual was interrupted, Saint Anthony warned that it had still summoned a being, and the Archbishops of the Three Great Churches confronted Alistair. Their attacks passed harmlessly through him, and he summoned three Demigod-level creatures that turned against the Archbishops.

• Saint Anthony warned Horamick Haydn and Spellsinger of God Ace Snake that the incomplete ritual was about to bring something forth, so they evacuated survivors and prepared to fight.
• A mass of white light entered the Hooded Robe believer, who emerged as Alistair and faced the three Archbishops.
• Horamick Haydn, Spellsinger of God Ace Snake, and Saint Anthony attacked Alistair, but their spells and physical blows passed through him without causing harm.
• Alistair summoned three Demigod-level creatures, which fired red beams at the Archbishops.
• Horamick Haydn's marionette struck Spellsinger of God Ace Snake, and Horamick dodged a sudden swath of dusky sword light that tore through space.

Alistair began a new sacrifice ritual but was erased from the Real World by a mysterious woman with a brass lyre, ending the crisis in Backlund. Lorry woke in Fors and Xio's home, relieved that he had survived and apparently been saved from losing control.

• Alistair evaded the pursuing angel, gathered corpses with summoned falcon-like birds, and began preparing a sacrificial ritual.
• A beautiful woman appeared and erased Alistair from the Real World before using a brass lyre to make the summoned birds fall from the sky.
• Saint Anthony learned that the instigator was dead and identified him as Altair, while the archbishops prepared to pursue the wanted author.
• Arianna received a message and acknowledged it, while the woman with the lyre headed toward the West Borough.
• Lorry awoke in Fors and Xio's residence, guessed that Fors had saved him with the Curse of Knowledge, and listened to their argument with relief.

After the Factory District crisis, Lorry collected his reward for his service and Miles’s death, then left Iris Street and returned to his office as Fitz Posner. He wondered whether the White Bone Ring could help him find the escaped black dog, but the Old Gentleman vanished and a mysterious woman appeared in his doorway.

• Xio told Lorry about the storm and the Churches and Military taking control of the Factory District, confirming that the crisis had been contained.
• Lorry delivered Miles’s corpse to his MI9 superior and earned 6,000 pounds in merit, bringing him closer to owning Self.
• Lorry paid the rent and window-repair costs for both houses, then spent the night drinking on the terrace and dreamed of Miles walking into the mist beside a familiar figure.
• Lorry left No. 64 and completed the required investigation as Fitz Posner, learning that his mask factory had suffered few losses and that a worker had identified a dead evil god’s believer as the man bitten by a dog.
• Back in his office, Lorry asked the White Bone Ring whether it could find the black dog, but the Old Gentleman disappeared and an unfamiliar woman appeared in the doorway.

Arianna rewarded Lorry for his actions with the Sealed Artifact Parasite, a ring that granted a single use of parasitism but carried the danger of attracting Marauders and forcing its wearer to steal daily. After Arianna vanished, Lorry considered who had arranged the reward, then used the Curse of Knowledge to locate Albert and put on the ring.

• Arianna gave Lorry the Parasite ring and explained its abilities, limited use, replenishment method, and negative effects.
• Arianna explained that the ring’s Concealment power prevented others from detecting it until that power ran out, then vanished.
• Lorry wondered whether the Evernight Goddess had arranged his reward and asked the Curse of Knowledge for its opinion.
• The Curse of Knowledge claimed no one had visited, then sensed Albert toward Empress Borough.
• Lorry noticed that the dog-food corner had been disturbed, decided to find Albert that evening, and put on the Parasite ring.

After escaping Amon’s pursuit, Lorry counted the rewards from his recent operation, including the Parasite ring, MI9’s payment, and the complete digestion of his Swindler potion. The Curse of Knowledge demanded repayment of his accumulated debt, and Lorry set out with a reading list and plans to meet Albert and speak with the Lieutenant Colonel.

• Lorry considered the Parasite ring a major gain, noted that his Swindler potion was fully digested, and planned to obtain Marauder characteristics and advance Albert to Sheriff.
• Lorry joked about Albert and the two dogs before the Curse of Knowledge demanded that he repay forty payments within a month.
• Lorry offered potion formulas and mysticism knowledge, which covered all but four payments of his debt.
• Lorry chose to repay the remaining cost through an exam limited to ancient languages and performed a ritual to receive a book list.
• Lorry changed his appearance and prepared to buy books, find Albert, and discuss an important matter with the Lieutenant Colonel.

Audrey enjoyed a day off with Susie and discovered that a black dog had brought her pet biscuits, apparently courting her dog. Meanwhile, Ikanser Bernard used the magic mirror Arrodes to locate Altair, but the mirror asked whether he resented Archbishop Horamick Haydn for making him use it.

• Audrey took Susie for a walk and stopped her maids from chasing away a black dog that approached with biscuits.
• Audrey fed the biscuits to Susie, and the black dog barked gratefully before running off.
• Archbishop Horamick Haydn told Ikanser Bernard to use Sealed Artifact 2-111 to locate Altair, the worshipper behind the catastrophe.
• Ikanser asked Arrodes where Altair was, and the mirror showed a blond man kneeling before a dark gold book in a pitch-black space.
• Arrodes asked Ikanser whether he resented Horamick for making him use the mirror or had wanted to punch him.

Ikanser Bernard chose punishment rather than answer Arrodes’s question about Horamick Haydn, while the Archbishop put the mirror away. In Backlund, Altair lured Parliamentarian Begat into a strange place and revealed that he planned to stay until he fulfilled the Supreme Being’s oracle.

• Ikanser Bernard asked whether Altair was in Backlund and learned that he was not.
• When Arrodes asked whether Ikanser would make Horamick Haydn consult it, Ikanser chose punishment and was struck by lightning again.
• Audrey Hall left the Duke’s Residence as Parliamentarian Begat traveled elsewhere, regretting that he had financially supported Altair.
• Begat’s carriage took a strange route after an apparent collision, and his coachman fainted after seeing a blood-smeared woman.
• Altair confronted Begat in an abnormal place and said he would leave Backlund only after fulfilling the Supreme Being’s oracle.

Altair persuaded Parliamentarian Begat to help him target Vera and obtain a disguise-changing item, claiming his strength had been enhanced by a great being. Meanwhile, Lorry warned Vera that Altair might manipulate coincidences, and Vera’s unexpected meeting with Ms. Beyoncé became suspicious.

• Altair told Parliamentarian Begat that his strength had been enhanced and proposed killing Vera in exchange for a Sequence 5 Disciplinary Paladin Beyonder Characteristic.
• Parliamentarian Begat agreed to cooperate and promised a one-time appearance-changing item, but insisted that Altair leave Backlund afterward.
• Altair returned Parliamentarian Begat and his carriage to the street where their meeting had begun.
• Lorry warned Vera that Altair might use fantasy abilities to orchestrate events and advised him to watch for coincidences.
• Vera agreed to be cautious, but Lorry pointed out that Vera’s sudden visit to his New Book Launch and meeting with Ms. Beyoncé seemed like a suspicious coincidence.

Lorry gave Vera theatre tickets after warning him about Altair, then returned to the face mask factory and learned that Albert had finished digesting his potion. He spent two days studying ancient languages before setting out for Cherwood Borough on Monday.

• Vera gave Lorry tickets to see Romeo and Juliet, explaining that Beyoncé had a supporting role and urging him to invite a lady.
• Lorry and the Curse of Knowledge discussed Vera's caution about Altair, and Lorry redirected the carriage to the Posner Face Mask Factory.
• Albert told Lorry that he had completely digested the Arbiter potion after killing the Shaman and protecting the factory workers.
• Lorry praised Albert, planned to ask Xio for help finding Sheriff potion ingredients, and arranged two days off for Albert.
• Lorry spent two days studying ancient languages while the factory remained closed, then left for Cherwood Borough on Monday.

At the Tarot Club gathering, Justice and the Magician discussed their rewards for helping stop the catastrophe, while Klein learned that the others had earned far more money than he expected. After the gathering, Fors received the Sealed Artifact she had been waiting for.

• Audrey told the Tarot Club that the catastrophe had been stopped and offered to compensate Fors for the reward she had received.
• Fors explained that her friend had paid her a thousand pounds for relaying messages and intended to pay Audrey separately.
• Audrey told Fors that the Fool valued Roselle's Diary pages more than worldly money, and Fors promised to bring pages to the next gathering.
• Alger said he had returned to land and would sacrifice the completed Sealed Artifact to the Fool after the gathering.
• Klein ended the gathering, and Fors later performed the ritual to obtain the Sealed Artifact.

Fors gave Lorry the Sealed Artifact Warrior's Glory and explained its abilities and negative effect. Lorry paid Fors for her help, asked her to assist with buying Sealed Artifacts, and hired Xio to gather ingredients for a Sheriff Potion before he and Fors left to see a play.

• Fors handed Lorry Warrior's Glory and explained that it enhanced combat ability and physical strength but created a growing urge to fight or exercise.
• Lorry thanked Fors, let her keep the thousand pounds he had given her, and asked her to help arrange the purchase of Sealed Artifacts.
• Fors agreed to help, and Xio offered to take on work for Lorry.
• Lorry paid Xio twenty pounds to gather the supplementary ingredients for a Sheriff Potion.
• Fors said she and Lorry were going to see a play, and Xio announced that she was coming with them.

Lorry teased Xio into a fight and defeated her with Warrior’s Glory, then took her and Fors to the Kingdom Theatre. During the play, he offered Xio another commission.

• Lorry claimed there were no spare theatre tickets, and Xio challenged him to fight so Fors could come along.
• Xio attacked Lorry, who knocked her down with a blow to the nose; Fors explained that Warrior’s Glory had helped him.
• Lorry promised Xio a rematch next week without weapons, Beyonder Abilities, or Sealed Artifacts, and revealed that he had already set aside a ticket for her.
• Lorry, Xio, and Fors watched Romeo and Juliet from expensive second-row seats at the Kingdom Theatre.
• Xio noticed Lorry watching an actress and suspected him of something, but Lorry teased her before asking whether she wanted another commission.

Lorry hired Xio to investigate Beyoncé, whom he suspected of being connected to Altair, while reassuring Fors that Xio was protected from the danger. On the full moon night, Fors sought an answer from Mr. Fool about whether the gentleman thief was also his blessed.

• Lorry offered Xio a hundred pounds to investigate Beyoncé, and Xio accepted the commission.
• Fors objected to Lorry using money to tempt Xio into a risky job, but Lorry said Altair feared provoking the deity protecting Fors and Xio.
• Xio left the theater to wait for Beyoncé while Fors and Lorry went to dinner.
• Lorry gave factory workers paid leave and advanced compensation to the families of three innocent victims of the catastrophe.
• Lorry visited Fors to ask about Xio's commissions, then left to give Fors privacy on the full moon night.
• Fors asked Mr. Fool whether the gentleman thief was also his blessed.

Klein questioned Fors about the Gentleman Thief before she changed the subject to her book. Lorry prepared to deliver a Sealed Artifact to Vera, whose romantic plans were interrupted by the arrival of his demigod-level superior.

• Klein confirmed that his Blessed had their own tasks and did not necessarily attend the Tarot Club, then listened as Fors talked about her new book.
• Albert celebrated passing its exam and continued its Sheriff patrols around Posner's face mask factory.
• Lorry reviewed his progress and Xio's report that Beyoncé showed no signs of anything unusual, while learning that she was dating Vera.
• Lorry planned to meet Vera at nine to deliver a Sealed Artifact, and he and the White Bone Ring discussed Vera's growing relationship with Beyoncé.
• Vera waited for a colleague to relieve him so he could carry out a long-planned surprise, but his MI9 superior arrived instead.