Chapter Summaries

Flora returned to the Imperial Capital with Alice, the orphans, and the Mourning Poetry Society, finding the city reduced to a decaying ruin. As Damian confronted the Empire’s collapse and the nobles’ indifference, the group arrived near the Hearthfire District, where the poor were lining up to enter.

• Flora arrived in Saint Clair with Alice and reflected that the city was a furnace where people were changed or destroyed.
• Elsa welcomed Flora and helped the Communion’s believers settle the orphans and the Mourning Poetry Society.
• Flora and Elsa explained to Damian how the nobles had abandoned the Imperial Capital and allowed the Empire to decay.
• Damian saw people receiving relief and realized that aid had not stopped the city’s growing misery.
• Flora told Damian that the poor were lining up to enter the Hearthfire District, leaving him to wonder why they were going there.

Damian toured the Communion’s shelter and services with growing curiosity about why its refugees seemed hopeful and why Flora was devoted to it. At the Altar, Elliot discovered that Flora’s completed [Thing of Immortality] had filled her point-allocation progress gauge, letting him choose her advancement and making her possible rise to high rank seem within reach.

• Damian led Alice, the society members, and refugees past the Communion’s school, hospital, and canteen, where a believer explained that eating was an obligation and skipping meals cost work points.
• The believers showed Damian the temporary shelter, where refugees rested before factories recruited workers, and he wondered why they remained hopeful despite the danger facing the Hearthfire District.
• Flora met Vanessa and stepped onto the Altar so Vanessa could begin the sacrifice while Elliot watched for changes to Flora’s supernatural abilities.
• Elliot found that Flora’s point-allocation interface had not changed, but noticed her progress gauge was full and realized he could choose her rank advancement without making a sacrifice.
• Elliot placed Flora’s Card in the sixth-rank slot, and the Difference Engine announced that she had become a fifth-rank supernatural person and could use Dream Power during Dream Entry to resist the dream’s erosion.

Elliot chose [Grafting] for Flora after realizing its [Analysis] annotation meant it could close or graft gates and other passageways. Flora gained [Thing of Immortality], boosting her resistance to the Formless Art, and Vanessa prepared another Ritual after her progress reached a likely advancement threshold.

• Elliot compared Flora's three new Talents and initially favored [Frost Breath], but noticed [Grafting] had an [Analysis] annotation.
• Elliot realized the Gatekeeper considered a [Gate] a kind of wound, then placed Flora's Card in the [Grafting] slot.
• Flora gained [Grafting] and [Thing of Immortality], which reduced damage from the Formless Art and let her resist it with Spirituality.
• Elliot noted that Flora's progress had grown substantially and that she was nearing Sixth Rank, the highest Middle Rank.
• Elliot ended Vanessa's Ritual, and Vanessa began drawing another one because her progress might now be sufficient to advance.

Elliot raised Vanessa to the Sixth Rank and chose the newly revealed Philosopher's Stone talent, suspecting it came from the treasure he had sacrificed. Her attempt to advance to the Seventh Rank failed because she had not met the Ascension conditions, and Elliot then noticed Flora was missing.

• Elliot advanced Vanessa to the Sixth Rank, gaining the ability to stabilize her sense of self in the Abode.
• Elliot saw Vanessa's new talent, Philosopher's Stone · I, and suspected it was the treasure he had sacrificed; he chose it over Spirit Sense and Hyperthymesia.
• Elliot found Vanessa's progress still full and added two points to her Spirit Vision.
• Elliot tried to place Vanessa in the Seventh Rank slot, but the Difference Engine rejected her because she had not met the Ascension conditions.
• Elliot considered asking Conrad about High-Rank Ascension, then noticed Flora was no longer in Vanessa's room.

Flora tried out her new [Grafting] ability and accidentally sealed her mouth shut while healing Vanessa's wounds. Vanessa later discovered that Flora had also affected her in a more disastrous way.

• Flora used [Grafting] to heal a small cut on Vanessa's hand and then sensed and healed more wounds.
• Flora sensed wounds on herself and accidentally grafted her lips together, leaving her unable to speak.
• Flora ran into the Hearthfire District streets for help, but the believers assumed she had sealed her mouth to avoid the canteen.
• Vanessa finished her sacrifice, celebrated gaining the Philosopher's Stone's power, and went to the washroom.
• Vanessa cried out from the washroom, blaming Flora for what had happened to her.

Flora helped Dorothea serve food at the canteen by grafting it directly into diners’ stomachs, but an accidental reverse graft and the diners’ fear emptied the hall. Dorothea took the leftover food to deliver elsewhere and decided to visit the wounded in the inpatient ward.

• Flora tried to avoid Dorothea because she was embarrassed by her recent use of [Wound], but Dorothea pulled her into the canteen to help with cooking.
• Flora used [Grafting] to send Dorothea’s soup directly into diners’ stomachs, and Dorothea excitedly asked her to graft more portions.
• Flora accidentally grafted food backward into a diner, who said he was already planning to get an enema at the affiliated hospital.
• Dorothea considered making her food easier to digest, while Flora suggested adding honey and Dorothea proposed mixing in digestive medicine.
• After the diners fled, Dorothea strapped the leftover pot to her back and took Flora out to deliver food to believers.
• When believers ran from them, Dorothea opened a mirror and led Flora toward the inpatient ward to feed the wounded.

Vanessa tested Flora’s [Grafting] and showed her that passages in the Present World counted as [Wounds]. Flora used that insight to close and link Dorothea’s mirrors, leaving the crow trapped in a teleportation loop and revealing how powerful her ability could be.

• Vanessa arrived with Elliot and asked Flora how her [Grafting] practice was progressing.
• Flora explained that she could heal wounds or link passages, and described using a cannon connected to two stray dogs to fire through one dog’s mouth.
• Dorothea sent a crow through a mirror, and Vanessa told Flora that passages in the Present World were wounds in the surface of Dream.
• Flora closed the mirror passage, cutting Dorothea’s connection to the crow and making it vanish from her perception.
• Flora linked two mirror surfaces together while Dorothea’s crow traveled between them, trapping it in a repeating teleportation loop.
• Flora asked Vanessa to create matter, saying she had an idea.

Elliot used Elsa’s corpse in a sealed coffin to track down Holly, a powerful High-Rank Supernatural hiding in the sewers. Elsa reached Holly’s hidden door and asked to speak, while Holly watched from a broken mirror and wondered what they wanted.

• Elliot used Elsa’s corpse to detect Vessels, and Elsa, Simon, and Dorothea found Holly’s location.
• Simon took to the air to watch for danger as Elliot used the Philosopher’s Stone to give the coffin wheels and a handle.
• Elsa pushed the coffin through the sewers until they found Holly’s hidden door.
• Elsa introduced herself as the Communion’s Cult Leader and asked Holly to talk on behalf of her Lord.
• Holly watched Elsa and her companions through a broken mirror but remained hidden, uncertain of their intentions.

Elsa contacted Holly to propose an alliance, but Holly revealed that she was not currently herself and tried to escape. Elliot used Elsa’s corpse to make Holly believe the Lord was watching her, and Holly agreed to meet Elsa in the Hearthfire District in three days.

• Elsa proved her identity to Holly with a drop of genuine Honey and offered the Communion’s help in taking revenge for Sidney.
• Holly said she was not Holly at present, while Elliot discovered her Card had turned pitch-black and Simon’s Card now showed his transformed body.
• Elliot made Elsa’s corpse open its eyes and speak, convincing Holly that the Lord had set its sights on her.
• Holly left her Hideout in a distorted body and asked for three days to make adjustments before visiting Elsa.
• Elsa said the Lord had granted Holly’s request, and Holly agreed to meet her in the Hearthfire District before jumping into the current.

Elsa and Dorothea connected a woman from Holly’s hideout to Theresia, prompting Elliot to search Victoria’s Grand Library for records about the Royal Family’s secrets. Elliot then checked on Maeve, whose control over the [Primordial Blood] had advanced, only to learn that the [Primordial Blood] had shrunk.

• Dorothea realized the waterways carried sea creatures in from the sea and suggested Holly’s real Hideout might connect to the Deep Sea.
• Dorothea recognized that the blonde woman Holly had carried from the Palace resembled Theresia, and Elsa agreed that the likeness was striking.
• Elliot sent Vanessa to Victoria’s Grand Library, where [Analysis] revealed that Theresia had dwelled within Nameless Justice’s pupil, touched Immortality, and may have become lost in the [Overflowing Garden].
• Elliot left Vanessa searching for more records and continued operating the Difference Engine, noting that Holly was expected to visit in three days.
• Elliot checked on Maeve in the Sea of the Moon; Maeve said her [Shadow of the Lunar Eclipse] was nearly complete, then revealed that the [Primordial Blood] had gotten smaller.

Elliot discovered that Xixi, Victoria’s golden-haired dog, had grown enormous and was eating [Primordial Blood]. After Xixi recognized and obeyed him, Elliot realized he might be able to use the dog to help Maeve sooner.

• Elliot found records showing that Retainer Xixi had attacked Lillian Rose and [Primordial Blood].
• Maeve explained that Xixi had recently begun eating [Primordial Blood], whose vitality had already declined after attacks by [Worms].
• Elliot found Xixi beside the motionless [Primordial Blood] and saw that the dog had grown dozens of stories tall.
• Elliot greeted Xixi, and the dog recognized him and wagged its tail, nearly sweeping him away.
• Elliot tested commands on Xixi, then ordered it to bite [Primordial Blood], hoping to rescue Maeve sooner.

Elliot arranged for Xixi to eat around Maeve while the Communion’s Believers harvested the [Primordial Blood] for Sacrifice. He awakened the Expedition Fleet to help transport the flesh, and Maeve gradually began to emerge as the Sea of the Moon grew busy again.

• Elliot reassured Maeve about Xixi eating around her, then brought Believers to the Sea of the Moon to divide and carry away the [Primordial Blood].
• Allen used his [Spirituality Mark] and Folding Knife to cut huge chunks from the [Primordial Blood].
• Elliot awakened the Royal Family’s dormant fleet and told it what had happened.
• The Expedition Fleet acknowledged Elliot as the last member of the Imperial Faction and assembled to help the Communion’s Believers transport the flesh.
• As the warships sounded their whistles and the flesh was carried into the Courtyard, Maeve gradually began to emerge.

Elliot and the Communion freed Maeve from [Primordial Blood], and Maeve took control of the enormous chunk of flesh. She reached the Courtyard but could not fit through its entrance, so Elliot revealed that Simon had mastered [Ritual · Wrong Door], which could open a larger passage.

• Elliot directed the Communion believers and Xixi to cut Maeve out of [Primordial Blood], and they freed her without incident.
• Maeve took control of the surrounding flesh, transformed her body, and swam toward the Courtyard with Elsa and the others.
• Maeve stopped at the Courtyard's narrow entrance because she could not fit through, and she worried she would get stuck if she tried to squeeze in.
• Elliot arrived and said they could simply open a larger passage.
• Elliot explained that Simon had mastered [Ritual · Wrong Door] in just a few days, and Simon had discovered the art had no limit on passage size.

Simon used the Difference Engine’s Formless Art to open a massive passage beneath the Primordial Blood so Elliot could harvest it, while Maeve prepared to cross over. After Holly disappeared and a rescue task revealed she was trapped beneath the Imperial Capital’s seawater, Elliot’s first attempt to reach her was swallowed by a sea monster.

• Simon prayed to Elliot after discovering his Formless Art could open a passage without an apparent size limit, and Elliot suspected the Difference Engine was granting the art rather than the Hollow Cathedral.
• Maeve compressed Primordial Maeve into a mass just over a hundred meters wide, but she could not yet transform fully because she had not taken complete control of her body.
• Simon spent several days opening a passage beneath the Primordial Blood while Maeve prepared a Worm-summoning ritual and Elliot planned to exploit the Blood for Sacrifice Offerings.
• When Holly failed to arrive in the Hearthfire District, Elliot sent Dorothea and Believers to search, but they found no trace of her.
• The Difference Engine issued a task to rescue Holly beneath the Imperial Capital, and Elliot’s attempt to send Elsa’s corpse underwater ended when a sea monster swallowed it.
• Simon completed a passage over a hundred meters wide, and Elliot told Maeve to wait for seawater to flow through so they could build a shipyard as the Expedition Army’s Fleet sailed toward the opening.

Elliot completed his Ascension and gained the Starfire Path, then showed Maeve the bustling shipyards and factories he had built in the Courtyard. Maeve followed the fleet inside, where the workers recognized her and eagerly welcomed her back.

• Elliot told Maeve that the battered Expedition Army ships would set sail from the Courtyard rather than rest there forever.
• Maeve saw the Courtyard transformed into a lively industrial center with shipyards, factories, workers, and warships.
• Elliot completed Ascending and received the Starfire Path card, declaring that humanity's science and technology could bring about a new Industrial Revolution.
• Elliot explained to Maeve that the factories and shipyards were humanity's power, not the power of a Great Being.
• Maeve followed the fleet into the Courtyard, where a navigator recognized her and workers cheered, eager to escape Crow's cooking.

Maeve returned to the Courtyard as a spicy Maeve Strip, then accidentally became a water-filled Maeve Ball after jumping into Elsa Lake. Meanwhile, Elliot’s Communion put its dockyards and factories to work, but the nobles began probing the Hearthfire District.

• The Communion welcomed Maeve with a Consecration Ritual, and Alice called her delicious while Maeve explained to Simon how she had become a Maeve Strip.
• Maeve toured the Courtyard, jumped into Elsa Lake, and became a water-filled Maeve Ball after blocking the Elsa Fountain; Flora sealed her opening before she burst.
• Elliot used the Difference Engine to devise games for the Maeve Ball as Maeve safely settled back into the Courtyard.
• The Communion started repairing the Expedition Army’s fleet at its new dockyards with guidance from the ships’ knowledgeable souls.
• Moving production lines into the Courtyard concealed the Hearthfire District’s growth, but Elliot received word that the nobles had begun probing.

Conrad warned Elliot that a large group of plague-stricken refugees was headed for the Hearthfire District as part of a plot to ruin its reputation. He revealed that all six remaining families were behind the scheme, formally declaring war on Sterling.

• Conrad told Elliot that many incoming refugees had infectious diseases, specifically plague.
• Conrad warned that the group would soon arrive in numbers too large for the district’s hospital, and that many were coming to cause trouble.
• The Hearthfire District’s relief, work, and order had attracted growing support from people as the Imperial Capital deteriorated.
• The nobles had noticed the district’s influence and interest in acquiring property there.
• Conrad told Elliot that all six remaining families were involved in the plot, which was their formal declaration of war against Sterling.

Elliot learned that six noble families planned to send refugees and plagues into the Hearthfire District, but he trusted Elsa’s Path of [Honey] to treat the illnesses. As the Communion prepared for the influx, its growing membership and the Abode helped it manage an expansion that left Elliot ready to welcome the refugees.

• Elliot learned that six families were involved in spreading plagues and said he had a way to deal with them.
• The old butler told Elliot that Crawford’s coronation was only days away, and Elliot hoped Crawford might distract the nobles.
• Elsa and the Communion’s Core Believers judged that the district could handle the refugees because Elsa could produce [Honey] and the Communion had grown to more than a thousand supernatural people and over ten thousand ordinary believers.
• Elliot moved factories and Core Believers into the Abode, where new recruits became more loyal after seeing the Courtyard and Palace Hall.
• Communion believers distributed food to refugees, some of whom bowed in gratitude, and Elliot told Elsa the refugees were about to arrive.

The Communion prepared the Hearthfire District to receive refugees despite the nobles’ blockade, while Allen and Vanessa uncovered and eliminated agents planted in the crowd. As Elsa handed out food too slowly to calm the growing crowd, plague-stricken refugees began to fear they would die before getting any.

• The Communion prepared shelters and food, and the Hearthfire District built a wall to keep refugees from overwhelming its order.
• Allen identified and killed a noble’s agent who had incited the refugees and shot at him.
• Vanessa used Spirit Vision and Analysis to identify more plants, including a woman carrying explosives disguised as a child.
• Vanessa warned Dorothea that slow food distribution could make refugees fight one another over supplies.
• As Elsa distributed food at the main gate, anxious refugees with plague sores decided they had to take a chance.

Vanessa stopped nobles’ agents from stirring up the refugees with [Spirituality Pressure], and Elsa then transformed the pot of canal water into [Honey]. The refugees, drawn by its sweet scent, crowded forward as Elsa prepared to serve it.

• As the refugees grew hungry and agitated, Vanessa used [Spirituality Pressure] to silence the crowd and injure several planted agitators.
• Vanessa warned Elsa that the crowd could become dangerous, then accepted honey water and left the remaining work to her.
• Elsa pointed at the sky, cleared the smog to reveal the blood moon, and dipped a honeyed fingertip into the pot of canal water.
• A sweet fragrance spread from the pot, and the refugees recognized Elsa as the Communion’s leader and pressed forward for food.
• Elsa lifted a ladleful of thick amber [Honey] from the pot.