Chapter Summaries

Elliot offered Sidney and Michel’s fleet shelter in his Abode, which he claimed was nearby beneath the Sea of the Moon. The commanders accepted the offer, but Sidney paused to notify Duke Sterling before sending the people inside.

• Elliot invited Sidney and Michel to bring the fleet into his Abode, though he warned that the entrance might be blocked.
• Sidney and Michel agreed to enter the Abode because the Expedition Army had no safe way to escape the Sea of the Moon and the nearby battle remained unresolved.
• When Sidney asked Elliot’s name, Elliot admitted he had forgotten to invent one and would ask his believers later.
• Elliot spotted the entrance ahead and told Sidney and Michel to send the people inside without the ships.
• Sidney asked Elliot to wait while he notified Duke Sterling, and Elliot reacted strangely to the name.

Elliot used his power to make Sidney’s group believe he had cured Duke Sterling and sent him to the Abode, then withdrew from the Vessel and returned to his own body. Sidney and Michel tried to contact [Nameless Justice] and [Casting Forge] for guidance, but neither ritual connected, and they received a transmission from Lord Elliot.

• Elliot claimed he could treat the unconscious Duke Sterling and led Sidney, Michel, and Allen to the room where the Duke was supposedly recovering.
• Elliot announced that he had cured Duke Sterling and sent him to the Abode, then showed the group that the room was empty.
• Elliot withdrew from the Vessel, leaving Sidney and Michel confused about whether they should enter the Abode.
• Sidney and Michel contacted [Nameless Justice], but the Lord cut off the ritual after hearing their account.
• The Machine Priests reported that their ritual never connected to [Casting Forge], and a sailor brought word of a transmission from Lord Elliot.

Elliot brought Sidney and Michel through a passage into an Abode connected to the Sea of the Moon. As they emerged above its vast landscape, Sidney was stunned by the kingdom-sized realm.

• A fleet found Elliot waiting at a seabed passage, and Sidney reluctantly decided to inspect it himself.
• Michel recognized a resemblance between the passage’s power and the Hollow Cathedral, but Sidney concluded that the nearby traces were only residual power.
• Elliot, controlling Elsa’s corpse while his Original Body operated the Difference Engine, noticed a resurrection countdown and an increasing number of [Worms] around Elsa’s trapped original body.
• Elliot led Sidney and Michel through the passage and warned them not to make a fuss when they arrived.
• Sidney emerged above an expansive land of woods, fields, a lake, a towering library, and a palace, and realized the Abode was an enormous kingdom.

Sidney and Michel explored the Abode after Elliot brought the fleet there for shelter, discovering its vast world and the many Dream Creatures within it. Their awe turned to unease as they spotted disturbing scenes around the Library and realized the enormous meat entering Maeve's Canteen might come from [Primordial Blood].

• Sidney was astonished to find that the Abode contained an enormous world, and a Nightmare carried him and Michel to a tower.
• Sidney and Michel wondered how the Great Being could shelter the fleet and so many believers, then spotted Dream Creatures gathered near a distant lake.
• The narration revealed that Elliot had let the Dream Creatures into the Abode after danger grew at the passage, then brought the fleet there too.
• Sidney and Michel saw a strange figure being dragged by a rope inside the distant Library and speculated that the building held an interrogation room or execution ground.
• Michel pointed out huge slabs of meat being carried into Maeve's Canteen, and Sidney recognized them as possibly belonging to [Primordial Blood].

Elliot showed Sidney and Michel around the Abode, but their suspicions grew when they learned that Maeve meat came from a believer who had joined [Primordial Blood]. They decided to move the Expedition Army’s supplies into the Abode, then Elliot watched the [Resurrection] countdown end and Phoenix Everhart appear.

• Sidney and Michel mistook the Canteen’s Maeve meat for [Primordial Blood] and learned that Maeve had become one with it.
• Elliot took Sidney and Michel to the Library, but they refused to explore further and decided to move the Expedition Army into the Abode.
• Sidney and Michel returned to the fleet to prepare supplies, while Elliot noticed that the [Resurrection] countdown was nearly over.
• Phoenix Everhart resurrected beside the Difference Engine after the countdown ended.

Phoenix surrendered to Sidney’s forces at the Abode, and Elliot asked that Phoenix be handed over to the Great Being in hopes that he could open a passage back to the Present World. Sidney agreed, but remained uneasy about the Great Being’s motives as the group considered leaving the Sea of the Moon.

• Phoenix inspected the Expedition Army’s fleet and surrendered, mistaking Sidney’s pursuit for a mission by Hollow Cathedral.
• Sidney ordered the Royal Guards to gag and remove Phoenix, then told Elliot that he had helped Lillian hunt the traitor.
• Elliot asked Sidney to hand Phoenix over to the Great Being because Phoenix might know how to open passages back to the Present World.
• Sidney agreed that Phoenix’s appearance could be significant, then questioned whether the Great Being had planned their arrival at the Abode.
• Elliot reassured Sidney that the Great Being had acted with the regard of [Casting Forge] and [Nameless Justice], and Sidney accepted that they should go to the Courtyard.
• Sidney lamented that the fleet might have to remain behind, but Elliot said that was not necessarily the case.

Sidney began relocating the Expedition Army into the Abode, where he set aside a clearing for their supplies and quarters. When he and Michel crossed over after hearing that something had happened, they found Elsa and watched a magnificent palace appear in the clearing.

• Sidney arranged for the Expedition Army to move its supplies through the narrow passage while keeping its food separate from the Communion's supplies.
• Elliot assigned the Expedition Army a clearing beside the Wood, near the High Tower, for its quarters and warehouses.
• A messenger reported that something had happened in the Abode, so Sidney and Michel rushed through the rift.
• Sidney and Michel found the Expedition Army members frozen in shock as they stared at a white-haired girl, and Sidney bowed when she asked what sort of residence they wanted.
• Sidney began to decline the offer, then saw that a grand palace had appeared where the clearing had been; Elsa raised her hand and snapped her fingers.

Elsa remade the Palace Hall and surrounding grounds into a modern street with a single snap, leaving Sidney and Michel overwhelmed by her power. Sidney returned to the fleet unable to describe what he had witnessed, while Vanessa remembered her past as she looked at the newly recreated building.

• Elsa collapsed the Palace Hall and conjured a modern building and streets with a snap of her fingers.
• Michel identified Elsa’s feat as the Great Art, the Authority to remake the world, and Sidney struggled to comprehend what he had seen.
• Elsa explained that she had recreated the Poor Relief Committee Building from Vanessa’s Dream Memory and regretted that it had never helped the poor.
• Vanessa looked at the building from the Library, recalled her past, and listened distractedly as Victoria warned her not to go outside.
• Sidney and Michel returned to the fleet, where Sidney resumed directing the sailors but kept losing himself in thought.
• Elliot asked Sidney what he had seen, and Sidney compared Elsa’s power to the Sun shining over the whole world without noticing him.

Elliot asked Sidney about Great Art and learned that it was a world-changing miracle that could not be learned or blocked by Great Beings. Sidney then mistook the Library for an Execution Hall haunted by a swinging ghost, while Elliot privately suspected the ghost was Victoria.

• Elliot disguised himself and asked Sidney what Great Art was.
• Sidney explained that Formless Art depended on a Great Being's permission and could fail, while Great Art could not be learned or stopped.
• Sidney described seeing a Being erase a palace and instantly build a larger tower, which he believed was Great Art.
• Sidney asked whether Elliot had visited the Library, then called it an Execution Hall after hearing sailors had seen a hanged ghost swinging inside.
• Elliot suggested Victoria might be hiding in the Library after stealing floor tiles, but Sidney dismissed the idea as impossible.

Elliot took Sidney to the Library to check on Victoria, but Sidney insisted it could not be her Library until they spotted spiderwebs inside. Victoria rushed toward them, recognized them, and swung away before Elliot could speak.

• Elliot took Sidney to the Library on the Nightmare and tried to persuade him to go inside.
• Sidney used a mirror to look under the door and argued that the brick floor and two sets of teaware meant the Library was not Victoria's.
• Elliot opened the door and revealed spiderwebs across the ceiling, proving the Library was Victoria's lair.
• Victoria rushed toward Elliot and Sidney, stopped when she recognized them, and swung away at high speed.

Victoria fled after spotting Sidney and Elliot in the Library, then returned with Vanessa to confront them. After Vanessa cleared up Sidney’s mistaken belief that she was Xixi, the group exchanged stories about the expedition and Victoria angrily defended her unusual way of swinging.

• Victoria saw Sidney and Elliot in the Library and rushed to fetch Vanessa, telling her she had seen a ghost.
• Vanessa persuaded the frightened Victoria to return with her and meet the visitors.
• Victoria confronted Sidney and Elliot, while Sidney mistook Vanessa for Xixi and was startled when she spoke.
• Elliot and Sidney told Victoria how their expedition had encountered [Primordial Blood], summoned two Great Beings, and brought them into the Abode.
• Sidney teased Victoria about swinging by her hair, and Victoria admitted she liked swinging before blaming Elliot for bringing him to cause trouble.

Victoria explained to Sidney and Elliot that the Great Being of the Abode appeared to possess every Authority, giving His Believers powers spanning every Path. The group began considering what to do next with the Expedition Army, while Vanessa secretly listened so she could report their conversation to the Lord.

• Victoria used her Spirituality to shield the Library from the Great Being's gaze so they could speak freely.
• Sidney asked how Victoria had come to the Abode, and she claimed the Great Being had invited her to become His Immortal.
• Victoria described the Great Being as uncanny because His will seemed to determine the world's rules.
• Victoria explained that Great Beings' Authorities shaped the powers available to their followers and the limitations of each Path.
• Victoria observed that the Abode's Believers displayed powers from every Path and concluded that the Great Being seemed to possess every Authority.

Victoria reasoned that the Great Being’s followers could overcome the fixed weaknesses of supernatural Paths, while Elliot redirected the discussion to the expedition’s losses. The Empire’s fleet had little hope of returning or recovering, but Elliot knew the Sea of the Moon’s resources had been concentrated rather than lost.

• Victoria explained that the Great Being’s believers could draw on powers beyond a single Path, and Vanessa grew excited at the implications.
• Victoria described the Great Being’s power as beyond their comprehension, then led Sidney and Vanessa in praising Him while Elliot felt the conversation had gone astray.
• Elliot asked about the expedition’s prospects, and Sidney reported that only a little over three thousand crew remained and the fleet might not be able to return.
• Sidney and Elliot acknowledged that the expedition had lost the Empire’s elite manpower and gained no resources, leaving the Empire near collapse.
• Elliot looked toward Elsa by the Difference Engine, knowing the Sea of the Moon’s resources had been concentrated rather than destroyed.

Elliot fought an endless swarm of worms in Moonheart, repeatedly using [Spirituality Pressure] to protect Elsa as she died over and over. After Elsa died in his arms, Elliot unleashed a devastating burst of power that crushed the worms, then quietly inserted another corpse Card.

• Elliot repeatedly used [Spirituality Pressure] and [Secret Art; Overdraw] to kill worms, but they kept killing Elsa between attacks.
• Elsa broke down and asked Elliot whether they could escape, then died in his arms from a precisely aimed wound.
• Furious at Elsa's death, Elliot compressed his spirituality until his body began to burst apart.
• Elliot unleashed a blood-tinged [Spirituality Pressure] that illuminated Moonheart and crushed the worms throughout the Honey Sea.
• Elliot's controlled body was destroyed, and he inserted another corpse Card as Elsa's corpse Cards covered more than half the Card Table.

Elliot discovered that Moonheart was nearly filled with Elsa’s corpses and devised a plan to use her repeated deaths to displace all the Honey, hoping to change the threat posed by the Worms and the powerful beings seeking the Honey. Elsa agreed to keep resurrecting and dying as quickly as possible while Elliot stayed with her, and the Worms engulfed her as she faced them with resolve.

• Elsa woke in the Honey and told Elliot that the Worms in Moonheart had been killed but were drawing near again.
• Elsa said that her sister, Clara, and Elliot had helped her endure fear and pain, and she found the courage to continue.
• Elliot realized Elsa’s corpses nearly filled Moonheart and planned to fill it completely, displacing the Honey and unleashing it along with the Worms.
• Elliot asked Elsa to use Honey Resurrection and die as often as she could, explaining that her corpses were their weapon.
• Elsa agreed to the plan, and as the Worms attacked, she let them engulf her while telling Elliot, “Lord, please bear witness to my will.”

Elliot noticed a hidden countdown labeled “Stealing the Third Era” and asked Sidney and Victoria to explain the eras. He learned that the First Era belonged to monsters and heard the Secret Histories' account of the creatures that once ruled the world.

• Elliot spotted a tiny, steadily decreasing “Stealing the Third Era” countdown on the Difference Engine and wondered what it meant.
• Elliot asked Sidney and Victoria to explain the eras while they talked in the Library.
• Victoria explained that the Second Era was the era of humanity, while the First Era was ruled by monsters.
• Victoria described shellkind, crawlingkind, featherkind, and fangkind, and said Dream Creatures belonged to crawlingkind and dinosaurs to fangkind.
• Victoria said the Secret Histories attributed the dinosaurs' extinction to a shattered sun, prompting Sidney to mention the True Gods devouring the Primordial Sun.

Elliot asked about supernatural species and learned how Emperor Trist’s inventions and conquests established human dominance, then inadvertently raised suspicion by questioning Conrad’s opinion of him. After Victoria’s attempted mind probe failed, Elliot stayed cautious as she revealed that the coming Third Era would be the era of machinery.

• Elliot asked Victoria about Shell Species, and she explained that spiders were supernatural beings with a form included in the [Justice] Path.
• Sidney recalled that [Nameless Justice] had questioned Holly about the Shell Species, though Victoria doubted Holly could have gained a spider transformation at her rank.
• Victoria explained that Emperor Trist had created the sacrifice and Path systems and powerful artifacts, then used machinery and military expeditions to drive out other races and establish the Second Era.
• When Elliot questioned why Conrad had disliked Emperor Trist, Victoria entered Rationality Mode and tried to peer into his mind, but [Veil] deflected her attempt.
• Victoria accepted Elliot’s explanation that he was joking, and Elliot asked what would follow the Second Era.
• Victoria said the Third Era had already been decided as the era of machinery, which would rapidly transform the world.

Victoria explained that the world was stalled in the Second Era despite prophecies of a Mechanical Era, and Elliot realized the Difference Engine’s theft of the Third Era might be granting mechanical talent to him and the Expedition Army. After discussing the Mythological Era, the group prepared to leave, but Victoria got caught by her hair while climbing down from her chair.

• Victoria told Vanessa that technological progress had stalled and humanity could not enter the Third Era, despite its many accurate prophecies.
• Victoria said the Prophet in the Urn had declared that everything on the stage was predetermined, prompting Elliot to connect the Difference Engine’s “Stealing the Third Era” message to his mechanical talent.
• Sidney reported that several Expedition Army crew members, including Holly, had developed mechanical talent, and Elliot concluded it came from the stolen Mechanical Era rather than a blessing from [Casting Forge].
• Victoria explained that the Mythological Era had been the age of gods, who once walked the world in their original bodies but now remained in dream Abodes or required Vessels to descend.
• As Elliot and Sidney prepared to leave, Victoria’s knotted hair caught on her armchair and left her dangling as she shouted for Vanessa.

As the crew salvaged the War Fortress and its production lines for the Abode, Elliot learned that Holly’s surname was Strauss and connected her to Maeve and Simon, two other people with unusual abilities who shared the name. He asked Holly to take him to the prison to see Phoenix.

• Sidney mourned the failed expedition while Elliot organized the dismantling and transport of the War Fortress’s production lines into the Abode.
• Sidney got drunk and had to be handed over to Holly, his aide and the owner of the surname Strauss.
• Elliot asked Holly about her origins, and she explained that she had been orphaned with a gold plaque bearing her name and that Sidney had later granted her noble status.
• Elliot told Holly he knew two other people surnamed Strauss, Maeve and Simon, and said he would introduce her to the one in the Present World.
• Elliot asked Holly to take him to the prison to see Phoenix.

Elliot met Phoenix Everhart, a Hollow Cathedral traitor trapped inside a mirror, and tested him with his bound pocket watch, the Realizer. Phoenix recognized that Elliot existed outside history and concluded that he was one of his kind, abandoned by history.

• Holly opened the sealed room with her sword and supernatural abilities, revealing Phoenix Everhart imprisoned in a mirror.
• Elliot sent Holly away and asked Phoenix whether he, too, transcended history; Phoenix explained that members of the Hollow Cathedral had died in the past.
• Phoenix called Elliot Duke Sterling, then panicked when Elliot repeatedly took control of his pocket watch without disturbing its spiritual bond.
• Elliot identified the pocket watch as the Hollow Cathedral's sacred object, the Realizer, and used the name to provoke Phoenix.
• Phoenix insisted that Elliot had died in the Frostmoon Uprising and that the person who survived was Duke Sterling, then declared Elliot had never appeared in history and was abandoned by it.