Chapter Summaries

Lorry and Fors spent time together, discussed her new adventure story, and began writing side by side. Xio considered Lorry’s offer of a 500-pound job, while aboard the Golden Dream, Danitz spotted a fleet led by the Blood Pirates’ Tree of Flesh approaching.

• Lorry and Fors decided to wait until the next day to pray to Mr. Fool for the Beyonder materials, and Fors brought out the Characteristics they had stored.
• Lorry used the materials but found he still lacked enough to condense a Worm of Time, then read and praised Fors’s new adventure-story manuscript.
• Lorry began writing a second volume of Young Roselle and offered Xio 500 pounds to accompany Albert on a job; Xio said she would consider it.
• A lookout aboard the Golden Dream spotted seven or eight ships that appeared to belong to the Blood Pirates, including the Tree of Flesh.
• Danitz examined the approaching fleet, recognized its blood-red flag, and told the lookout to keep watching while he went to alert the others.

Danitz told Edwina that the Blood Pirates had fled after spotting the Golden Dream, and learned he would receive a Conspirer Beyonder Characteristic as his share. Edwina revealed that Jodson was an impostor named Lorry and sent Danitz to retrieve him, but Danitz ended the chapter stunned by something in a newspaper.

• Danitz reported that Seniol and the Blood Pirates had turned away and fled, and Edwina told him to add lookouts without alarming the crew.
• Edwina gave Danitz a Conspirer Beyonder Characteristic and said Mia and Griffin would leave the Golden Dream to settle down.
• Danitz asked whether Jodson was an impostor, and Edwina confirmed that he was Lorry, a student of her former teacher.
• Edwina told Danitz to retrieve Jodson from room 3 after the Golden Dream reached St. Tick Island, and allowed him to tell a few crewmates the truth.
• In Farim, Danitz went to a bar and read a newspaper, then sprang up in shock and exclaimed, "Dogshit?!"

Danitz learned that the fake Jodson had been named the King of the Curtain after reports claimed he had fought the King of the Five Seas, and he returned to the Golden Dream to tell Edwina and the crew. Meanwhile, the real Jodson set sail for Port Farim, pleased to be back at sea.

• Danitz read a newspaper claiming that Jodson had defeated Agalito and become the fifth Pirate King, then learned from Gerard that the King of the Five Seas had come off worse in a clash with Jodson's ghost ship.
• Danitz returned to the Golden Dream and reported the news to Edwina and the senior crew, leaving them stunned.
• Jodson boarded a passenger ship for Port Farim after ending his vacation, relieved to have escaped tending his father's vineyard.
• Jodson looked forward to returning to life at sea and wondered whether the fake Jodson had upheld his reputation.

Jodson returned to the Golden Dream, where the crew revealed that a mysterious figure using his name had become a notorious pirate and been proclaimed the King of the Curtain. Convinced the reports could not be about him, Jodson tried to escape the ship and go home to grow grapes.

• Jodson overheard a family mention a new Pirate King called the King of the Curtain and decided to ask Danitz about him.
• Danitz welcomed Jodson back at Port Farim, and the two sailed toward the Golden Dream.
• Bru Walls, Orpheus, Danitz, and the others escorted Jodson to the First Mate's room and presented him with newspapers as a gift.
• Jodson read reports describing his namesake's growing bounty, battles with infamous pirates, and recognition as a new Pirate King.
• Jodson saw that the King of the Curtain shared his name and struggled to leave the Golden Dream, saying he would go home to grow grapes.

Jodson learned that the Golden Dream would protect him from the bounty by having him abandon his name and disguise himself with a Faceless beyonder characteristic. Meanwhile, Lorry’s other operations continued, but negotiations with the Temperance Faction stalled until he proposed making up the price difference with beyonder characteristics.

• Edwina and the Golden Dream’s crew warned Jodson that the bounty could attract powerful hunters and that a traitor might be aboard.
• Edwina gave Jodson a Faceless beyonder characteristic and told him to take a new name and let the crew announce a replacement Third Mate.
• Lorry’s agents pursued their separate missions across the Southern Continent and the Five Seas while he spent time writing and painting.
• Lorry and the Temperance Faction remained deadlocked over exchanging beyonder characteristics for a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact, with Sharron mediating.
• Lorry proposed keeping most of the deal unchanged and using the beyonder characteristics the Temperance Faction needed to make up the difference instead of paying pounds.

Lorry offered Sharron Beyonder Characteristics in exchange for a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact, and she agreed to pursue the deal. In East Borough, Xio used supernatural torture to make gang boss Penka confess to the Dist Bar arson, uncovering a possible lead toward the Judge Formula.

• Lorry offered Sharron extra Wraith and Zombie Characteristics and agreed to sign a notarized contract for the Grade 1 Sealed Artifact.
• Sharron said she would try to advance the deal and promised to tell Lorry the result at six that evening.
• At the Dab Police Precinct, Xio questioned Zimang Party boss Penka about the fire at Dist Bar, where thirty-six people had died.
• With help from an unseen male voice, Xio inflicted supernatural pain on Penka until he confessed that he had arranged the arson as a test from his boss.
• Penka revealed that the Zimang Party mainly smuggled weapons and that a supervisor had overseen the arson operation.
• Xio suspected the supervisor was a Pyromaniac digesting a Potion and told Albert that the case might lead them to the Judge Formula.

Lorry examined the Grade 1 Sealed Artifact Monstrous Procreation Marionette and tested its curse, reproductive effect, and self-healing ability using Illusions. He discovered that its healing came from corruption that regrew after being stolen, then considered whether he could turn a trace of that corruption into a Beyonder bullet.

• Lorry recalled his agreement with Sharron to provide Beyonder Characteristics within a year and considered how to protect Pali Beria while she hunted Rose School members.
• Lorry took the Monstrous Procreation Marionette to a deserted riverbank and opened its sealed box using an Illusion.
• Lorry tested the artifact on an Illusion, which repeatedly gave birth to miniature Illusions, while the Marionette copied it and instantly healed after its head was torn off.
• Lorry used a Fire Thief Illusion to steal the artifact's corruption, but the stolen corruption quickly regrew and caused the Illusion to give birth once.
• Lorry concluded that the artifact's healing came from its corruption and wondered whether he could steal a trace of it and use it to make a Beyonder bullet.

Lorry tested the Monstrous Procreation Marionette’s effects and learned how its reproductive desire spread, then reunited with Fors and Xio in Backlund. Fors announced plans to travel with Lorry, while Xio discussed her advancement and Lorry offered to sell her a Judge characteristic.

• Lorry tested whether the Monstrous Procreation Marionette could make coins reproduce, but discovered that coins only carried its reproductive desire temporarily and spread it to nearby creatures.
• Lorry concluded that the marionette’s effects could not change lifeless objects and decided to focus on designing a Ritual Magic ceremony and using the corruption in the Fire Seed illusion.
• Lorry bought a whole batch of Desi Pies, gave the food to vagrants, and returned to the house shared by Fors and Xio.
• Fors told Xio that Dorian Gray Abraham had given her the Scribe potion formula and Leymano’s Spellbook, and that she planned to travel with Lorry to digest her potions.
• Xio said her reward for catching a gang boss colluding with Intis spies should let her exchange for the Sequence 6 Judge formula, and Lorry offered to sell her a Judge characteristic after she digested her potion.

Xio agreed to help Fors gather ingredients for a Scribe potion, while Lorry arranged for her to collect special editions of Young Roselle. The next day, Lorry and Fors used Teleportation to travel through the Spirit World, arriving in Trier, the capital of Intis.

• Xio agreed to accept a Judge Beyonder Characteristic and settle her remaining debt to Fors, then took Fors's commission to find old diary pages and other Scribe ingredients.
• Lorry told Xio that special editions of Young Roselle would be sent to the Face Mask Factory for her to collect and deliver to 81 New Year Road.
• Fors asked Lorry to tell a story, and he began One Thousand and One Nights for her, Xio, and Albert.
• The next day, Lorry reminded Fors to use Leymano's Spellbook to Record Teleportation before they set off on their journey.
• Lorry simulated Teleportation with the White Bone Ring, and he and Fors traveled through the Spirit World to Trier, the capital of Intis.

Fors and Lorry toured Trier, where Fors encountered the city’s customs and Lorry explained its districts. After enjoying an Intisian meal and a play at the Siskin Theater, they were about to leave when a head suddenly appeared at the door.

• Lorry identified Red Swan Castle as the former seat of the Sauron Family and gave Fors a notebook to record what she learned.
• In the Opera District, a woman invited Lorry and Fors to coffee and a party, but Fors declined for them.
• Fors and Lorry met two men competing to see whose tortoise walked more slowly, and learned that a third man’s tortoise was headed in the opposite direction.
• Lorry described Trier’s districts, and he and Fors planned to rest, eat Intisian food, and see a play.
• Fors and Lorry watched The Return of the Earl at the Siskin Theater, then saw a head poke out as they were leaving.

Fors and Lorry traveled from Backlund to Intis after Fors sensed that they would meet Cheria again, while Xio and Albert helped Lorry’s clones in Loen. On the train, a girl named Leah and her older sister sat across from Fors, leaving the journey’s divined opportunity unresolved.

• Fors met Cheria at the theater, where the girl was searching for her mother and brother, and declined to divine their future connection.
• Fors spent the following week with Lorry while struggling to keep up with her acting and recording duties.
• In Backlund’s outskirts, Xio and Albert watched Lorry’s many forms disperse after using most of Xio’s Spirituality.
• Fors and Lorry boarded a first-class Steam Train from Trier to Leston Province, where Fors said the stars had pointed to an opportunity but revealed no details.
• Leah and her older sister took seats across from Fors, and the woman combed Leah’s light-gray hair.

Lorry and Fors traveled by Steam Train from Trier to Dariège, where Lorry recognized a strange woman as someone he suspected he had encountered at Mr. A’s gatherings. The two left the station and began looking for a place to stay in the city.

• Fors went to the washroom to attend the Tarot Club gathering, and Lorry slipped the Lucky Money Bag into her pocket.
• Lorry used the White Bone Ring’s Truth Insight on the gray-haired woman across from him and saw that her face concealed writhing tendrils.
• Lorry concluded that the woman might be the same person who charged for divinations at Mr. A’s gatherings, and he quietly explained his reasoning to Fors.
• Fors blushed at Lorry’s explanation and hurried off the train with him before they could discuss it further.
• Fors marveled at how Dariège’s Steam Train station stood amid a neighborhood of shabby buildings, and Lorry explained that wealthier residents would not want a station built near them.

Fors and Lorry arrived in Dariège and planned to find a woman who might have the Corrupted Aura Lorry needed. After Lorry revealed he had taken a strand of hair from the woman’s little sister for divination, they encountered a boy begging a clinic doctor for medicine for his grandfather.

• Lorry and Fors left the Steam Train station square, avoided the crowds waiting for carriages, and stopped for dinner before walking out of the area.
• Leah told Lillian she was hungry, and Lillian said they needed to return to their village in time for Lent, which was different this year.
• Fors reasoned that the woman from her divination was likely a Sequence 6 Faceless or Sequence 5 Marionettist and proposed finding her in Dariège through divination.
• Lorry showed Fors a strand of Leah’s hair that he had secretly taken, giving Fors a strong medium for divination.
• Fors and Lorry saw a black-haired boy from the station square clinging to a clinic doctor and begging for medicine for his grandfather.

Fors learned that a black-haired boy needed money to treat his gravely ill grandfather, so she had Lorry secretly give him ten Louis d'Or. Later, Lorry hinted that he and Fors were not actually on the hotel terrace, leaving Fors startled as she realized they were standing over a boundless expanse of land.

• Fors heard the black-haired boy’s story and decided to help him without hurting his pride or drawing attention.
• Lorry secretly slipped ten Louis d'Or into the boy’s pocket as they passed him.
• The boy found the money, realized it could pay for his grandfather’s treatment, and ran after Lorry to return it if he seemed in need.
• Fors and Lorry watched the boy search for them, then went to a hotel for the evening.
• Fors asked Lorry to help her Record abilities, and he revealed that they were not at the hotel as she had thought.

Fors and Lorry began practicing recording abilities inside the Book of Dimensions, while Lillian Bellot and Leah returned to their village and reunited with Granny Thatcher. The chapter ended with Granny Thatcher sending Leah inside for the milk candy she had saved for her.

• Lorry explained that the Book of Dimensions contained a separate dimension and showed Fors two sealed artifacts tied to Angel- and true-god-level ravings.
• Fors told Lorry that his rapid rise and help to her and Xio made her feel useless, then agreed to practice recording abilities.
• Lorry transformed a page into Warlock Lorry, and Fors successfully recorded Lightning in Leymano's Travel Notes.
• Lillian and Leah arrived in Vanessa Village after a long carriage journey and made their home barely habitable.
• The sisters visited Granny Thatcher, who welcomed them warmly and told Leah to get the milk candy she had saved for her.

Lillian returned to Vanessa with Leah and learned that her childhood friend Lobo had taken up secretive painting and begun acting strangely. After seeing him leave the house at night and discovering he was a powerful Beyonder, she planned to investigate the Thatcher family's backyard; the next morning, she and Leah encountered village children waiting to see two outsiders.

• Leah thanked old Thatcher for milk candy while Lillian privately asked about Lobo's unusual behavior.
• Old Thatcher told Lillian that Lobo had turned a storeroom into a painting room, covered his work, secretly carried a basket out at night, and had recently visited Administrator Elliot every day.
• Lillian agreed to return the next afternoon to investigate and learned about the new village square and Elliot's plans for the Lent celebration.
• Lobo returned home, greeted Lillian and Leah, and asked how they were doing in the city.
• That night, Lillian watched Lobo slip out of the yard and divined that investigating the backyard the next afternoon would not be very dangerous.
• The next morning, Lillian and Leah went to see the new square and learned that two outsiders had arrived at the inn.

Lorry used the Monstrous Procreation Marionette’s corruption to create enchanted bullets that forced targets to become pregnant and lose some Beyonder Characteristics. After he and Fors went downstairs to visit their target, Lillian recognized them and suspected they had come for her.

• Leah befriended the village boys waiting outside the inn while Lillian admired Vanessa’s square and thought about Elliot’s work as administrator.
• Lorry used an illusion of the Fire Seed glove to steal the Marionette’s corruption and successfully turned it into an enchanted bullet through a ritual.
• Lorry tested the bullet on an illusion and found that it caused any reproductively capable target to become pregnant and give birth quickly, losing some Beyonder Characteristics in the process.
• Lorry produced more bullets and charms until his spirituality ran low, then sealed his work and returned to the Real World.
• Fors told Lorry she had divined where their target lived, and the two went downstairs to eat before visiting.
• Leah and Lillian saw Lorry and Fors; Lillian recognized them from the Steam Train, wondered if they had come for her, and concealed a Paper Figurine as she headed toward the inn.