Recaps

Dorothea and Eleanor reunited aboard a steamship bound for Imperial Capital Saint Clair, each concealing how far their lives had diverged. They parted with an address and a promise to meet again, while Eleanor quietly restrained a trace of madness.

• Eleanor recognized Dorothea aboard the ship and asked whether she was traveling for fieldwork.
• Dorothea introduced Allen as her older brother and pretended the hooded figure in the wheelchair was her ill mother.
• Eleanor vaguely explained that she had become a detective and was transferring to the Dome Institute, while reflecting that Dorothea did not know the horrors she had encountered.
• Dorothea and Eleanor each privately thought they no longer belonged to the same world, but both told the other they had been all right.
• Eleanor asked Dorothea to help her find housing near the Dome Institute, and Dorothea wrote her Canal District address on Eleanor's palm.
• Eleanor felt comforted by the prospect of having a friend in the Imperial Capital and suppressed a fleeting trace of madness.

Dorothea cared for the severely injured Vanessa, whose use of Secret Art · Overdraft had aged her body to that of an eighty-year-old and left her nearly helpless. Meanwhile, aboard an airship bound for the Imperial Capital, Elliot asked Conrad whether aging could be reversed.

• Dorothea brought Vanessa to her cabin and explained that Vanessa was gravely injured, comatose, and physically aged by repeated uses of Secret Art · Overdraft.
• Vanessa woke briefly, apologized to Dorothea, and said she did not know what had happened with Sutton beyond that he was very strong.
• Dorothea washed Vanessa and fed her oatmeal, then learned that Vanessa could heal injuries but could not reverse her aging.
• Dorothea wondered aloud whether there was a way to reverse aging.
• Elliot, traveling to the Imperial Capital aboard an airship arranged by Conrad, asked the Old Butler whether aging could be reversed.

Elliot traveled aboard the armored airship Red Copper Heart and asked the Old Butler about immortality, learning that the Sterling Family’s Path relied on replacing flesh with machinery. After seeing Machine Priest Evan de Sterling demonstrate his mechanical body, Elliot suspected the original owner had rejected the family’s supernatural practices and been kept away from them.

• Elliot rode the Red Copper Heart with the Old Butler and asked whether aging could be reversed.
• The Old Butler explained that the Sterling Family’s Path pursued immortality through steel rather than strengthening the flesh.
• At Conrad’s command, Evan de Sterling revealed his mechanical limbs and prosthetics, then saluted Elliot as his new protector in the Imperial Capital.
• Elliot realized Machine Priests were part of the Sterling Family’s supernatural Path and wondered why he had never seen one at the Mansion.
• Elliot suspected the original owner had rebelled against the family’s power and that Lady Camilla had kept supernatural matters from him.

Elliot traveled with Conrad and Holly to Saint Clair, where he learned why the Third Prince wanted to meet the Sterling Family and took in the Imperial Capital’s magnificent landmarks. As the airship reached the Dome District Air Harbor, Conrad spotted the Third Prince waiting there in person.

• Elliot wondered whether the Machine Priests’ powers came from the Difference Engine’s tree diagram and concluded Vanessa’s situation would need long-term planning.
• Conrad explained that the Third Prince wanted allies because he was estranged from most of the Seven Holy Bloodlines, and warned Elliot not to let the prince win him over.
• The airship descended through the clouds, and Elliot saw Saint Clair’s vast coastal city and its great stained-glass dome.
• Elliot watched the dome open to receive the airship and saw the rotating statue of the Steam Angel Theresia above the Air Harbor.
• Conrad noticed the Third Prince had come to meet them in person.

Elliot met Third Prince Sidney, who brought him to the palace and discussed his plans for reforming the Empire. Elliot tried to avoid getting involved, but Sidney’s collection of Difference Engines tempted him to stay and take a look.

• Elliot left the airship with Conrad and Holly and met Third Prince Sidney, who invited him to his palace despite Conrad’s concerns about etiquette.
• Sidney took Elliot to the palace and questioned him about the Poor Law, arguing that Grand Duke Fitzgerald’s old-nobility status prevented the law from succeeding.
• Sidney said the Empire needed reform that united the New Nobility, the old nobility, and commoners, but Elliot avoided committing to Sidney’s cause.
• Sidney offered to show Elliot the Difference Engines he had collected, and Elliot asked whether their cores could be swapped out.

Elliot stayed at the imperial residence with the Third Prince to use a Difference Engine while concealing the risks of his missing memories. He operated a stage-play engine that depicted Dorothea Ramsey and the injured, aging Vanessa, and considered ways to restore Vanessa’s vitality.

• Elliot asked to stay with the Third Prince, who agreed and planned to notify the duke’s estate.
• Elliot chose the imperial residence to stay near the Sterling Family, explain any changes in his behavior as the Third Prince’s influence, and use a Difference Engine.
• Elliot directed Evan to install the Difference Engine Core in a stage-play Difference Engine, then started the machine.
• The Difference Engine showed Dorothea Ramsey comforting Vanessa aboard a ship bound for the Imperial Capital.
• Elliot saw Vanessa’s signs of aging, weakness, and recovering injuries, and considered whether [Vitality] or Flora’s [Thing of Immortality] could help her.

Elliot discovered that the Stage-Play Difference Engine let him control people and scenery with far greater precision than the old machine. After experimenting with Vanessa, he planned to sleep and use [Dream Entry] to meet Flora in the Dream World.

• Elliot found the stuffed dolls and used the [Dream Entry] opening to set up a dream with Flora.
• Elliot tested whether he could control the dolls directly, and Vanessa’s pajamas vanished into her hand in the passenger cabin.
• Vanessa pulled Dorothea’s dress, Allen’s Folding Knife, and other objects into her room, then broke a leg off the table.
• Elliot realized he could manipulate scenery and view the three-dimensional set from hidden angles, so he carved a triangular mark on Vanessa’s cabin door.
• Elliot decided to sleep so he could enter the Dream World and meet Flora.

Elliot entered Flora's dream and learned that she could not sense Vanessa and the others, leading him to suspect his Difference Engine had hidden their Cards from outside perception. As Flora explained that the Reforging Flame Order had Machine Priests, Elliot connected the Church to the path beyond Middle Rank.

• Elliot met Flora in her moonlit dream and told her he was staying at a prince's residence in the Imperial Capital.
• Flora said her powerful perception-type [Relic] could not sense Vanessa, Dorothea, or the others, and Elliot suspected his Difference Engine had occupied their Cards.
• Elliot questioned Flora about her rank, and she admitted she had used special methods to advance.
• Flora said the Seven Great Churches might know ways to reach High Rank, though they kept their Paths secret and rarely intervened in worldly affairs.
• Elliot asked whether any Church had Machine Priests, and Flora identified the Reforging Flame Order.

Elliot learned that the Orthodox Churches concealed the nobles’ control over high-rank Supernatural advancement and asked Flora whether her [Thing of Immortality] could reverse aging. Flora explained its immortality and curse, but said it could only prevent aging; she then mentioned a unique Secret Society in the Imperial Capital.

• Flora identified Sutton as an archbishop of the Silent Sanctuary and explained that Church believers gave up their surnames.
• Elliot realized the Seven Holy Bloodlines and Orthodox Churches secretly controlled supernatural advancement, while Flora had known neither that connection nor Garrett’s Middle-Rank status.
• Elliot asked Flora how to recover from aging, and Flora revealed that her [Thing of Immortality] granted conditional immortality through random power boosts.
• Elliot told Flora that nobles could sacrifice others and that High-Rank Supernaturals existed among them, leaving Flora stunned by the disparity.
• Flora told Elliot the [Thing of Immortality] could prevent her from aging but could not reverse it, then recalled a unique Secret Society in the Imperial Capital.

A man returned to Dorothea’s sealed old house, took a photograph of Sophia, and left. In Saint Clair, Dorothea and Vanessa learned that Eleanor had two souls before they reached Dorothea’s home, where the door lock would not open.

• A gaunt middle-aged man entered the sealed house at No. 37 Pine Resin Alley and took a photograph of Sophia with a burned-away figure beside her.
• Eleanor arrived at Saint Clair and headed for the Dome Institute while Dorothea and Vanessa disembarked afterward.
• Vanessa used [Spirit Vision] to tell Dorothea that Eleanor was a Supernatural person with two souls, one of them seemingly insane.
• Dorothea warned Vanessa to report any ill effects from using [Spirit Vision], and Vanessa felt that the Lord’s ability had not harmed her.
• Dorothea, Vanessa, and Allen walked to Dorothea’s Canal District home, but Dorothea’s key would not turn the lock.

Dorothea discovered that her family had gone bankrupt and their Canal District house had been sold, then searched their abandoned home in the old district for her sister Elsa. She found Elsa hidden beneath a bed, alive but severely injured and missing all four limbs.

• Dorothea learned from the house’s new owner that her father had gone bankrupt and sold the family home.
• Dorothea told Vanessa and Allen that she had secretly supported them with money she earned and savings from scholarships and work.
• Dorothea led Vanessa and Allen to her family’s old house, where they found it decayed and apparently deserted.
• Dorothea searched the house for her family, broke down when she found no one, and heard Elsa call from beneath a bed.
• Dorothea pulled Elsa from under the bed and discovered that her sister was alive but grievously scarred and had no limbs.

Dorothea reunited with her gravely ill sister Elsa and learned that their father had disappeared after being cheated and driven mad. Elsa recounted how she survived alone until Clara began caring for her, while Dorothea and Allen cleaned and repaired the house; Elsa’s account ended with her lying near death for three days.

• Dorothea found Elsa hiding under the bed and learned that their father had gone missing after losing their money and going mad.
• Clara arrived with wild azaleas and food, and Elsa explained that Clara had cared for her since their father left.
• Dorothea offered Clara cookies, then she and Allen cleaned and repaired the house.
• Elsa told Dorothea that their father had run off searching for a medicine and had never returned.
• Elsa described surviving alone on rice and rainwater, enduring visits from debt collectors, and lying for three days after she thought she was about to die.

Elsa reassured Dorothea that she was happy despite the hardships she and Clara had endured, and the group shared a warm meal in the repaired house. Dorothea then concluded the house could only serve as temporary lodging and began considering the Canal District for a new base, despite having no money to rent one.

• Elsa described how Clara had stolen fish and flowers to help them survive, then told Dorothea she was happy and asked her not to grieve for her.
• Dorothea made dinner while Allen went outside to deal with a debt collector, and the group ate together in the patched-up house.
• Dorothea tucked Elsa and Clara into bed, then activated [Rationality] and explained why the house was unsuitable as a base.
• Dorothea ruled out several districts and recommended the Canal District as the best place to find a concealed, inexpensive base.
• Dorothea revealed that her savings were gone and asked Vanessa and Allen how much they knew about the city's sewer system.

Dorothea proposed moving the group into the Imperial Capital’s sewers, but Allen argued that Clara would experience it as another cage, so they agreed they needed to find money instead. Elliot arranged to return to his family home and use Vanessa’s advancement, where he discovered a redesigned point-allocation interface represented by rows of rag dolls.

• Dorothea explained that the sewers could serve as a spacious, concealed, rent-free base, but Allen objected to making Elsa and Clara live underground.
• Allen reminded Dorothea that Clara had fled an orphanage because it felt like a cage, and Dorothea fell silent as Vanessa suggested finding a way to earn money.
• Elliot told Evan to inform his family that he would return the next day and to bring the Difference Engine Core with him.
• Elliot controlled Vanessa through a lengthy ritual and sacrificed the remaining materials to attempt an advancement by allocating a point to [Vitality].
• Elliot found that Vanessa’s Difference Engine showed a stage crowded with rag dolls instead of the familiar tree diagram, and he began identifying which dolls represented her abilities.

Elliot used the Difference Engine to give Vanessa a point in Vitality, which began reversing her aging and left him feeling unusually energetic. Meanwhile, Holly and the Third Prince discussed Elliot’s ideas and his precarious position, while the prince reflected on the failure of his own reforms.

• Elliot compared Vanessa’s puppets with Allen’s, then activated her Vitality node and saw her Aging condition begin recovering on a countdown.
• Elliot wondered whether the Sterling family’s path could make Duke Sterling immortal and worried about how long he would have to wait to inherit the title.
• Holly told the Third Prince that Elliot’s Razor Principle and other views seemed to hint at a deeper theory, and the prince agreed that Elliot had a broader method of understanding the world.
• The Third Prince said his reforms were doomed to fail and that Elliot had not revealed his real thoughts because he doubted the prince’s chances.
• Holly explained that Elliot faced criticism for refusing Sacrifice and risked becoming a powerless puppet, while the Third Prince noted that he was in an even worse position than they were.
• Elliot celebrated how energetic he felt after adding Vanessa’s Vitality point and resolved to keep increasing his strength.

Elliot returned to the Sterling estate and met his heavily mechanized father, Duke Sterling. After approving Elliot’s handling of the Third Prince, the duke assigned him to challenge rival factory owners in the Hearthfire District.

• Elliot rode to the Sterling estate after arranging for Evan to dismantle and pack the Difference Engine Core.
• Conrad warned Elliot that Duke Sterling and Lady Camilla were displeased by his stay with the Third Prince and the rumors surrounding it.
• Elliot entered the machinery-filled mansion and saw his younger brother undergoing maintenance on a platform.
• Duke Sterling questioned Elliot about the Third Prince, and Elliot defended his decision to stay there while saying the Empire might need change but the Sterling Family did not.
• Duke Sterling praised Elliot’s answer, gave him a map of the rival factories on Linoleum Street, and ordered him to show their owners the Sterling Family’s strength.

Elliot gained temporary control of the Hearthfire District’s factories and inspected their operations with Conrad. After identifying poor transport links and harsh working conditions, he spotted signs of an Evil Cult in a factory.

• Elliot accepted temporary control of the Hearthfire District’s factories and set out with Conrad to inspect them.
• Conrad explained the district’s history and factories, and Elliot proposed using short-distance freight tracks to connect them to the docks.
• Elliot toured the factories and learned that workers earned only forty-five leo a week despite long hours and dangerous conditions.
• Elliot warned that workers unable to support their families would seek stability through faith, then used Spirit Vision to spot markings indicating an Evil Cult.

Elliot proposed improving workers’ loyalty and lowering their living costs with factory meals and basic housing, while Vanessa and her companions struggled to find affordable accommodation and income in the Imperial Capital. Vanessa went to the Steam Wharf Tavern casino, where her arrival with two companions and a strange wheelchair-bound figure startled the seasoned gamblers.

• Elliot argued that providing workers with collective meals and basic lodging could improve loyalty and production while keeping costs low, and Conrad agreed to explore the plan.
• Vanessa recovered enough to walk and spent the day preparing dinner with Elsa and Clara.
• Dorothea and Allen returned after finding Imperial Capital housing too expensive, and they discussed earning money through writing papers or medical work for gangs.
• Vanessa abruptly announced she was going to a casino to make money.
• At the Steam Wharf Tavern casino, Vanessa arrived with a taciturn man and a woman in black pushing a wheelchair, and the gamblers recoiled at the strange figure seated in it.

Vanessa and Dorothea entered a casino to win money, where the gamblers mistook Vanessa’s missing fingers for proof of her legendary skill. Vanessa challenged the dealer to try the casino’s games one by one, leaving Hawking terrified as he faced the fingerless gambler he feared from his nightmares.

• George warned his drunken companion not to provoke Vanessa and Dorothea, then described Vanessa as a legendary gambler who had lost all her fingers.
• Vanessa and Dorothea exchanged their money for chips, and Vanessa told the cashier to cut off Dorothea’s fingers if she was caught cheating.
• Dorothea removed her Monocle after a gambler warned her not to use it, but Vanessa insisted they stay and approach the Card Table.
• The gamblers cleared the table for Vanessa, and she asked the dealer what games they could play before proposing to try them one by one.
• Hawking recognized Vanessa as the kind of gambler who haunted his nightmares and panicked as he faced her across the table.

Vanessa inspected a card during a game at the Steam Wharf Tavern and kept winning, unsettling Hawking, who suspected she had a way to spot the Joker. When she asked for a higher-stakes game, Hawking offered roulette, and the first gambler to play was killed by the revolver.

• Vanessa revealed the Joker and told the gamblers it depicted Trist, the creator of [Magic Cards].
• Hawking discarded the deck, opened a fresh one for Vanessa to inspect, and she said it was fine without looking.
• At the Difference Engine, Elliot laughed at the live puppet broadcast and doubled Vanessa’s chips, while Hawking struggled to keep up.
• Vanessa asked for a game with higher stakes, and Hawking introduced roulette, wagering money on shots fired at a player’s own head.
• A scrawny gambler took the revolver, fired, and died; Hawking then offered to raise the roulette stakes as high as eight hundred and ten pounds.

Vanessa won 845 pounds at a deadly roulette table after Elliot noticed that lost chips glowed under Spirit Vision. The next morning, she took Dorothea and Allen to a factory in the Hearthfire District, declaring it their new home and asking about jobs, housing, and a settling-in allowance.

• Vanessa wagered five bullets in roulette, and Dorothea fired the revolver at Vanessa while Elliot used his ability to ensure the chamber was empty.
• Vanessa spotted lost gambling chips glowing faintly white and asked Dorothea who owned the casino, then the group left with 845 pounds.
• Dorothea suggested that they go house hunting, but the next morning Vanessa insisted that their house was in the Hearthfire District.
• Vanessa led Dorothea and Allen to a factory recruiting workers, where she asked whether the factory could offer her children work, housing, and a settling-in allowance.

Vanessa, Dorothea, and Allen secured a factory job contract, an advance of ten Gold Pounds, and a furnished house after qualifying for a family housing clause. They planned to move Elsa and Clara in and use their new stability to treat Elsa, though they still needed another Hideout.

• The clerk discovered Vanessa's family qualified for advance housing and a settling-in allowance, and Vanessa signed the factory contract.
• Dorothea received ten Gold Pounds, prompting the waiting crowd to surge forward and compete for the limited jobs and benefits.
• A factory worker led Vanessa, Dorothea, and Allen to a detached two-story house and explained its work and residency conditions.
• Dorothea and Allen admired the house, while Vanessa said they would live there but still needed another Hideout for their occult practices.
• Vanessa said they would bring Elsa and Clara to the house and could now treat Elsa.

Elliot sent Vanessa to investigate the Hearthfire District’s secret marks, but she encountered a mysterious bookshop that may be a living [Relic]. After Vanessa returned to her new home with Dorothea, Allen, Elsa, and Clara, Elliot prepared a sacrificial Ritual and noticed a new book-holding doll in Vanessa’s [Blessing] interface.

• Dorothea went to collect Elsa and Clara while Allen bought supplies, and Vanessa searched the Hearthfire District for secret marks under Elliot’s direction.
• Elliot found that flute-like marks appeared throughout the western area but not the eastern area, where textile mills offered workers better conditions.
• Vanessa entered the hidden Daydream bookshop, read the glowing Sevenfold Record of Broken Oaths, and later found the shop and her memory of the book had vanished.
• Elliot watched Vanessa’s visit but could not control her inside the bookshop, and he marked the alley on his map as a possible living [Relic].
• Vanessa returned to the new home, where Dorothea, Allen, Elsa, and Clara were waiting, and Elliot began drawing a sacrificial Ritual before noticing a new book-holding Vanessa doll.

Elliot used the Difference Engine to grant Vanessa [Concealment], which let her alter her appearance without changing her aged body. He then considered using the ability to enter Dream Worlds discreetly and decided to treat Elsa so she could use [Dream Entry].

• Elliot found a book-holding doll on Vanessa’s Supernatural stage and allocated its point, gaining [Concealment +1].
• Vanessa’s appearance turned faceless before she regained her younger appearance, though her body remained aged and her apparent fingers passed through Dorothea.
• Dorothea tested Vanessa’s altered appearance with [Rationality] and found only a slight, difficult-to-identify flaw.
• Elliot recognized that [Concealment] might let him enter Dream Worlds without being exposed while searching them.
• Elliot began Elsa’s sacrificial Ritual and considered advancing her to First Rank so she could use [Dream Entry].

Elliot chose Elsa’s First Rank advancement and selected the Resurrection talent, restoring her limbs and healing her scars. Elsa embraced Dorothea and Clara as she began adjusting to her recovered body.

• Elsa agreed to advance despite Dorothea’s fears, and Dorothea accepted her decision.
• Elliot chose frost-themed offerings for Elsa and selected Resurrection from her First Rank talents.
• Elsa’s wounds reopened as her limbs and new skin rapidly grew back.
• Elsa struggled to sit up, then hugged Dorothea with her newly restored hands.
• Elsa beckoned Clara over and embraced her despite Clara’s protests.