Chapter Summaries

Vanessa failed to climb out of the alley, but Alice found her and led her to the Mourning Poetry Society’s mansion. There, a hooded man confronted Vanessa about whether she had come as Winnie’s friend, a guest, or the Circle of Vitas’s “Mad Caregiver.”

• Vanessa tried to climb the wall but failed, then used Spirit Vision to look for another way out.
• Alice appeared, recognized Vanessa through Winnie, and comforted her as Vanessa decided she wanted to apologize to Winnie.
• Alice led Vanessa to the mansion, where Vanessa realized the poetry society had been watching her with tiny white dots.
• Vanessa entered the society’s cozy mansion and was taken to a study while Alice withdrew.
• A hooded young man told Vanessa that Winnie was searching for a larger home, then asked whether Vanessa had come as Winnie’s friend, a guest, or the Circle of Vitas’s “Mad Caregiver.”

Vanessa discovered that the hospital where she worked belonged to the Circle of Vitas, while the Mourning Poetry Society had mistaken her for one of its transcendents. She stayed for a communal meal and learned that the society was officially registered under a charter issued centuries ago by Emperor Trist.

• Vanessa regained confidence when the being controlling her returned, then asked the hooded man what the Circle of Vitas was.
• Vanessa explained that she had encountered a corpse infected with Mad Rat Disease, and the man doubted it could have been a real case in the city.
• The man revealed that New Scandinavia General Hospital belonged to the Circle of Vitas and learned that Vanessa had joined it through debt.
• Vanessa stayed for communion after the being accepted the invitation, and she found that the meal included cooked dishes as well as raw flesh and blood.
• The man told Vanessa that the Mourning Poetry Society was officially registered and showed that its charter had been issued by Emperor Trist more than two hundred years earlier.

Vanessa met Damian Graves of the Mourning Poetry Society, then bought Winnie a lily brooch while trying to make amends. After working through a restless night, she returned to the hospital and learned that Old Razi was taking her to the East District for a chance to make a fortune from a warehouse full of corpses.

• Vanessa learned that the Mourning Poetry Society had existed for more than two hundred and fifty years, and Damian Graves invited her to return as long as she brought food and no trouble.
• Vanessa left with Alice and decided to buy Winnie a present so she could apologize to her and Allen.
• Vanessa and Alice chose an Enamel-Inlaid White Lily brooch for Winnie in the shops near the Riverside District.
• Vanessa worked through the night delivering packages as New Scandinavia grew unusually restless.
• Old Razi met Vanessa at the hospital and urged her to go to the East District, promising that the opportunity could make them rich.
• Vanessa saw that the warehouse yard was packed with corpses glowing white under Spirit Vision.

Vanessa searched the hospital’s corpse pile for her missing friend Winnie as Doctor Norman urged her to help plague victims in the East District. Dorothea told her that Winnie had died and that her body was in the East District.

• Old Razi told Vanessa that the Mad Rat Disease plague had broken out in the East District, and she rushed to search the bodies for Winnie.
• Doctor Norman recruited Vanessa to help save the injured and sent her to find a carriage.
• Vanessa met Dorothea, who arrived in a carriage with others and was visibly injured.
• Dorothea told Vanessa that Winnie was dead and that she had seen her body on the hospital’s corpse carriage.
• Doctor Norman climbed into Dorothea’s carriage to go help the sick, while Vanessa asked where Winnie was; Dorothea said she was in the East District.

Vanessa and the Miskatonic University group headed through the abandoned East District after learning the Plague Core was in its sewers. Still numb after Winnie’s death, Vanessa forced the Public Security Bureau to let their carriage pass into the abandoned Harbor District, where displaced people were fleeing the corpse outbreak.

• Dorothea explained that the group had followed Mad Rat Disease into the East District’s sewers but had lost the trail, and another passenger said the Plague Core was there and the disease had stopped after three waves.
• Vanessa struggled to process Winnie’s death as the carriage reached the Public Security Bureau’s defensive line at the Harbor District.
• When officers blocked the carriage, Vanessa pointed at them with a shooting gesture, frightening them into letting the group through.
• After the carriage crossed the cordon, the group saw displaced people fleeing and learned that the Wild Dog Gang had tried to fight the corpses but many people had been injured.

Norman and Vanessa treated injured Harbor District residents while Dorothea revealed that corpses had surged from the East District. Their questions about Winnie’s transport remained unresolved when a hospital corpse carriage arrived, and Vanessa recognized Winnie’s lifeless body on top.

• Norman stopped to treat a wounded boy named Eli, and Vanessa joined him despite Norman telling her the work was not her responsibility.
• After Eli was stabilized, his infected mother died, and Dorothea shot her before she could turn into a monster.
• Vanessa, Norman, and Dorothea treated more injured people as locals helped with supplies and guarded the makeshift station.
• Dorothea told Vanessa that she had seen Winnie’s body near the Harbor District after corpses poured in from the East District, though Vanessa questioned how the hospital carriage could have reached there so quickly.
• Vanessa and Dorothea found residents blocking a hospital carriage piled with corpses, and Vanessa recognized Winnie’s body and stumbled toward it.

After Winnie’s body was taken away and hospital guards refused to help the wounded, Vanessa confronted them and evaded their gunfire. She embraced the power controlling her, fought through the guards, and killed the hospital’s deputy administrative head.

• Vanessa saw Winnie’s body on the hospital carriage and stepped forward after the guards dismissed the wounded and mocked her caregiver work.
• A gunman fired at Vanessa from the carriage, but she dodged the bullets, and the wounded recognized her as the Mad Caregiver.
• Vanessa prayed to the being controlling her and attacked the guards, knocking one thug down with a punch.
• Vanessa reached the carriage, dragged out the deputy head of the hospital’s administrative department, and shot him dead.

Vanessa fought the hospital’s corpse collection crew after she and Miss Crow found Winnie’s body on their cart. Dr. Norman arrived to find Vanessa alive and the crew defeated, while the crowd insisted Caldwell had died by accident.

• Vanessa reflected on the kind person who had saved her, then fought the thugs and ran out of ammunition before using the shotgun as a club.
• An injured man told Dr. Norman that Vanessa and Miss Crow were fighting the hospital’s corpse collection crew, and Norman rushed to help them.
• Members of the Wild Dog Gang armed themselves and followed Norman toward the gunshot.
• Norman reached the scene and found Vanessa unharmed, the crew badly injured, and Caldwell dead from a gunshot.
• The crowd claimed Caldwell had shot himself, and Norman said nothing as the Wild Dog Gang learned Vanessa and Miss Crow had taken down the crew.

Vanessa defeated the armed thugs, spared the men whose limbs she had broken, and carried her murdered friend Winnie away from the scene. She left the route to the Mist Harbor District behind and said she was going to save people.

• Vanessa swiftly defeated the armed thugs, leaving Dorothea unable to fire her revolver.
• Vanessa refused to kill the guards whose limbs she had broken and said she would have Dr. Norman treat them after the other wounded.
• Vanessa found Winnie dead in the carriage, cleaned her face, and tied her body to her back with Dorothea’s help.
• Vanessa carried Winnie through the ruins as people cleared a path and Dorothea followed silently.
• Vanessa turned away from the cordon to the Mist Harbor District and told Dorothea she was going to save people.

Elliot used the Difference Engine to send Vanessa and Dorothea to rescue people surrounded by plague-infected corpses, while Vanessa's card changed to [Devout Girl]. Vanessa led Dorothea through the Harbor District sewers to a besieged building, where she began fighting and discovered Alice inside.

• Elliot used [Clue: Faint Cry for Help] to obtain [Mission: Rescue] and decided to intervene.
• Vanessa's card changed to [Devout Girl], and Elliot found he could not control Dorothea's card.
• Vanessa led Dorothea through the Harbor District and an abandoned sewer, confidently navigating the unfamiliar route.
• Vanessa and Dorothea emerged near a building besieged by plague-infected corpses, and Vanessa attacked them with a crowbar.
• Alice recognized Vanessa from an upstairs window and urgently shouted for her to run.

Vanessa and Dorothea fought through the plague-infected corpses, with Vanessa using a mysteriously transferred revolver and ammunition to save Dorothea. They returned to the building and found Allen badly wounded while the children were under attack, so Vanessa activated [Secret Art · Trigger] and lost three fingers.

• Vanessa fought off the corpses pursuing her after a mysterious force transferred Dorothea's revolver and ammunition into her hands.
• Vanessa killed the corpses chasing Dorothea and returned the revolver to her, leaving Dorothea confused about how it had vanished and reappeared.
• Vanessa and Dorothea found the building's downstairs door smashed open and fought their way upstairs through more corpses.
• Vanessa found Allen protecting the children while four corpses attacked them, and she shot one of the attackers.
• Vanessa activated [Secret Art · Trigger], causing three of her fingers to separate from her palm.

Vanessa sacrificed three fingers to fire them like bullets, killing the infected corpses and saving the children, but Allen was mortally wounded. As Allen lay beside Winnie’s body, Vanessa prayed to her Lord to help her.

• Vanessa fired three severed fingers through the attackers and the wall, then pushed Dorothea to save Allen while she bandaged her own wounds.
• Dorothea treated Allen’s injuries and told Vanessa he was dying from his wounds and infection, with no time to fetch help.
• Dorothea brought Winnie’s body to Allen, and he accepted his coming death as he looked at her.
• Vanessa knelt amid the blood and prayed to her Lord to help her save kind people from their fate.

Elliot decided he could not change the Empire but might save Allen, and offered the [Elliott Sterling] card in the Difference Engine’s [Sacrifice] slot. Meanwhile, Vanessa drew and activated a flawless blood ritual without naming a target, leaving Dorothea stunned when it worked.

• Elliot considered using his future power as Sterling heir to help Vanessa, then chose to focus on saving Allen.
• Elliot placed the [Elliott Sterling] card in the [Sacrifice] slot of the Difference Engine.
• Vanessa drew a sacrificial ritual on the rough ground with her blood-covered hand while Dorothea watched in disbelief.
• Dorothea realized Vanessa’s ritual was extraordinarily precise and suspected her Path involved flesh and blood.
• Vanessa activated the ritual despite leaving its target blank, and a blood-red halo appeared as the array began to hum.
• Dorothea questioned whether a great being had been watching her all along.

Vanessa’s Ritual succeeded when she offered Allen’s Mad Rat Disease pathogens and accumulated blood as sacrifices, while Dorothea glimpsed an immense supernatural being guiding Vanessa’s hand. Elliot used the result to choose Blessing for Allen, but the chapter ended as he examined the available paths and decided which one to take.

• Dorothea briefly perceived a strange supernatural realm and an immense being guiding Vanessa toward a mysterious door, then returned to the room unable to remember what she had seen.
• Elliot identified Allen’s blood loss, Mad Rat Disease, and infected wounds as urgent threats and devised a way to help him.
• Vanessa offered the disease pathogens and accumulated blood in Allen’s body as sacrifices, and the Ritual markings flashed red.
• Elliot concluded that the pathogens and blood counted as part of Allen, while the Source of Infection could not be sacrificed.
• Elliot selected the Blessing card and studied Allen’s available paths, preparing to choose one.

Elliot sacrificed Allen's card to the Difference Engine's heart slot, granting him Vitality +1 and restoring him from the brink of death. Allen awoke healed but could not save Winnie, while Dorothea learned that Vanessa had a Path card linked to Shengtuo and the Ascension Society.

• Elliot chose the heart slot for Allen's card, and the Difference Engine produced [Vitality +1].
• Vanessa and Dorothea saw Allen's blood surge and his wounds heal as his heartbeat thundered; he awoke with his strength restored.
• Allen realized Winnie was still dead, apologized, and let the grieving children crowd around him.
• Vanessa asked Dorothea to carry Winnie's body and explained that Allen needed a few more sacrifices to cross into the supernatural.
• Vanessa showed Dorothea [Path · Flesh Ascension · Part One], and Dorothea recognized Shengtuo's name and suspected Vanessa was with the Ascension Society.

Vanessa carried Winnie's body back to No. 37 Pine Resin Alley, followed by Dorothea, Allen, and the children. As she sat beside her dead friend and planned to sacrifice herself, the others quietly made the ruined house warm and lived-in.

• Vanessa rejected Dorothea's assumption that she belonged to the Ascension Society and left the Harbor District carrying Winnie.
• Overcome with grief and uncertain where home was, Vanessa walked through the city until she reached No. 37 Pine Resin Alley.
• Vanessa invited Dorothea, Allen, and the children inside, and Dorothea helped lay Winnie's body on the sofa.
• Vanessa sat beside Winnie and planned to spend time with her before offering herself as a Sacrifice in the basement.
• After Vanessa drifted into exhaustion, the smell of food woke her to find Allen cooking, the children playing, and Dorothea reading in the warmed house.

After waking in the orphans’ warm, newly cleaned home, Vanessa learned that the Mad Rat Disease may have been deliberately created and that Winnie’s death was likely part of a larger crime. She vowed to uncover the culprit and avenge Winnie, while the children and Allen stayed by her side.

• Vanessa woke to find Alice, Dorothea, Allen, and the other orphans had cleaned the house and prepared a meal, and she cried at the warmth of their home.
• Dorothea told Vanessa that the Mad Rat Disease showed signs of deliberate manipulation and that the Circle of Vitas could create Plague Cores to control outbreaks.
• Vanessa recalled suspicious details about the plague’s timing and locations, then realized reporting the crime to the Public Security Bureau might be futile.
• Vanessa vowed to identify who killed Winnie and avenge her, regardless of the powerful people involved.
• Alice said the children would not leave Vanessa, and Allen replied that he was already dead when she asked whether the Wild Dog Gang would let him leave.

Vanessa and Dorothea discussed Vanessa’s supernatural Path, and Dorothea warned that Vanessa’s household could become an Esoteric Cult watched by the Night Watch Bureau. At Sterling Manor, Elliot adopted noble breakfast manners while learning that the Anatomy Act had passed and the Circle of Vitas could gain official recognition.

• Dorothea rejected Vanessa’s attempt to send her away and offered to visit, while revealing that she had investigated Mad Rat Disease and Vanessa.
• Dorothea explained that Vanessa’s Path, base, and followers made her household resemble the beginnings of a secret society, then offered to gather supernatural information at Miskatonic University.
• Dorothea warned Vanessa that the Night Watch Bureau monitored supernatural incidents and might already know of the Mad Caregiver.
• Elliot greeted the servants and ate breakfast properly, surprising Conrad with his unusual display of noble manners.
• Conrad reported that the Anatomy Act had passed, allowing unclaimed bodies to be donated for research and potentially making the Circle of Vitas an officially recognized organization.

Elliot heard the latest news and asked Conrad to invite Miss Elegy again, while Vanessa returned to the hospital after Winnie’s death and found a letter saying the Troy Society had paid off her debts. The chapter ended with Vanessa unsettled by the Society’s unexplained gift.

• Elliot listened as Conrad reported the latest news, then asked him to invite Miss Elegy to visit again.
• Vanessa woke at Winnie’s house, considered the danger of involving the orphans in revenge, and told Allen to study the books about the extraordinary.
• Vanessa left to collect her belongings from the hospital and told Allen they would hold a funeral for Winnie.
• Vanessa found a letter in her drawer stating that the Troy Society had paid off her debts to New Scandinavia General Hospital as a gift.

Vanessa investigated the mysterious letter and went to the hospital to resign after learning her debt had been paid. Sir Everett Chandler demanded payment for Winnie’s corpse, but Norman intervened, and Vanessa left with a debt to him; outside, she noticed a dog with blood-red eyes.

• Vanessa paid Old Razi to ask about the letter, but he said no one had entered the room while he was away and could not explain how it appeared.
• Vanessa took Winnie’s bellflowers and went to Doctor Norman’s office, where she overheard him arguing with Sir Everett Chandler about the hospital’s future.
• Vanessa told Norman her debt had been paid and that she was resigning, but Sir Chandler demanded another payment for removing Winnie’s corpse.
• Norman approved Vanessa’s resignation and offered to cover the one thousand leo charge, then told Sir Chandler he had charged only half the corpse’s price out of conscience.
• Vanessa left the hospital carrying the bellflowers, kicked away a dog with blood-red eyes, and heard Old Razi say it had eaten too much human flesh.