Recaps

Klein learned that the police had found evidence pointing toward the giant Devil dog and then spent the morning at the Cragg Club. There, Allen Kreis described a string of misfortunes, prompting Klein to suspect a cursed object and ask whether Allen’s family had suffered bad luck too.

• Klein read Isengard Stanton’s letter confirming that clues linked the giant black dog to the serial murders and that the police had tentatively identified a suspect.
• Klein replied modestly to Isengard Stanton and planned to collect his share of the bounty after the culprit was arrested.
• At the Cragg Club, Talym Dumont asked Klein for advice about a friend in love with someone he should not be with, but kept the reason confidential.
• Klein practiced shooting and his Beyonder powers, then joined Talym and surgeon Allen Kreis for lunch.
• Allen told Klein that a string of accidents and misfortunes had recently culminated in a serious leg fracture.
• Klein suspected a Sealed Artifact like the Misfortune Cloth Doll and asked Allen whether his family had experienced bad luck as well.

Klein questioned Allen about the source of his misfortune and advised him to seek help from the Evernight Church, suspecting a child named Will Auceptin or the boy’s tarot cards might be involved. Later, at Leys Circus, Klein heard a familiar-sounding man warn the beast tamer that the animals were about to attack him.

• Klein asked Allen whether anything unusual had happened before his run of bad luck, and Allen recalled reading tarot with a young patient named Will Auceptin, who had predicted his luck would worsen.
• Klein advised Allen to report the matter to a bishop of the Evernight Church, and Allen agreed to seek the Church’s help.
• Klein privately suspected that Will or the tarot cards might be behind Allen’s misfortune, but decided not to handle the problem himself.
• Klein went to Leys Circus and watched a beast tamer perform with a bear, a tiger, and a baboon.
• A round-faced man in the audience warned the beast tamer that the tiger and baboon wanted to attack him, and Klein recognized something familiar in the man’s tone.

Klein attended a circus, recognized a possible Apothecary, and considered how a magician controlled his audience’s attention. On his ride home, he was caught in a supernatural battlefield where official Beyonders destroyed the giant Devil dog, then returned to reality wondering who had expressed anger at its death.

• Klein watched the circus animals and magician, suspected the sarcastic chubby man was an Apothecary, and guessed that a Magician’s tricks relied on controlling attention.
• On a rail carriage, Klein realized the passengers and surroundings lacked aura colors and emotional colors, while he remained spiritually visible.
• The giant Devil dog appeared and transformed into a Devil, and powerful Beyonders fought it in a strange battlefield that seemed to overlap with reality.
• A powerful object split the Devil dog and absorbed its final self-detonation, destroying it completely.
• Klein concealed himself with a paper figurine and heard an angry snort before the battlefield shattered and he returned to the ordinary carriage.
• Klein concluded that the Churches had swiftly eliminated the Devil dog and wondered whether its companion or another hidden figure had escaped detection.

Klein returned to the site of the Devil dog’s death and used his Spirit Intuition to estimate the reach of the Sealed Artifact that had shaped the battle. After sharing an awkward dinner with Jurgen, he received news that the serial murderer had been killed and planned to contact Maric and Miss Sharron about mysticism books.

• Klein revisited the street where the Devil dog had died and inferred that the Sealed Artifact affected at least one block and only worked on Beyonders.
• Klein watched the street from a café but found no further clues, while sensing that his Magician characteristic had been subtly stirred.
• Jurgen invited Klein to dinner, where Klein endured Jurgen’s unappetizing cooking and agreed to feed and care for Brody when Jurgen was away for two soli each time.
• Klein found a letter from Isengard Stanton reporting that the serial murderer had been found and killed, and that the police would pay the investigators at least half the bounty.
• Klein decided to visit the Bravehearts Bar to contact Maric and ask about mysticism books from him and Miss Sharron.

Klein investigated the new gang controlling black-market dealings at Bravehearts Bar and discovered a grisly murder scene bearing signs of a Werewolf. He met Maric and Sharron, who offered mysticism books in exchange for his help.

• Klein learned that a new gang had taken over Kaspars Kanlinen's business and followed one of its men to the billiard room.
• Klein found the gang's boss hanging dead and slipped away as the gang members raised the alarm.
• Klein discovered a dismembered body and deep claw marks behind the bar, concluding that a Rose School of Thought Werewolf had killed the Beyonder responsible for the boss's death.
• Klein left to report the scene but was stopped by Maric and invited into a carriage with Sharron.
• Klein asked Maric and Sharron for advanced mysticism books, and Sharron offered to trade them for his help once.

Klein considered whether to help Sharron and Maric, who had fled the Rose School of Thought over its bloody sacrifices and indulgent approach to desire. They asked him to help hunt a Sequence 5 Beyonder carrying a Sealed Artifact that countered Sharron, and Klein left the decision open until he learned more about the target and artifact.

• Klein explained that he would not risk his life without knowing exactly what Sharron and Maric needed from him.
• Maric described their former organization’s origins and bloody rituals, while Sharron said they had rejected its indulgence and burning of desires in favor of suppression and temperance.
• Klein learned that Sharron and Maric had been pursued to Backlund, though the dead man in the alley had become involved for another reason.
• Sharron asked Klein to assist them in surrounding and killing a Sequence 5 Beyonder, explaining that the target’s Sealed Artifact strongly countered her.
• Maric said his and Sharron’s staged roles as bait would help Klein use the Eye to find the target, and Klein asked for details about the Beyonder and his artifact before deciding.

Maric explained the Prisoner pathway’s increasingly severe curses and the abilities of its Sequences to Klein, while Sharron and Maric outlined the dangers of the Crimson Moon Corona. They revealed that their target was a Wraith and set out how they would divide the spoils if they succeeded.

• Maric told Klein that Prisoners and Lunatics belonged to a secretive pathway whose members were cursed and prone to madness, and explained how they and Sharron had escaped their organization.
• Maric described the Werewolf and Living Corpse Sequences, including their combat abilities and the curses imposed by the full moon.
• Sharron and Maric explained the Wraith Sequence and its curse, then said their target was also a Wraith.
• Maric explained that the Crimson Moon Corona could simulate a full moon and weaken them, while granting its wearer powerful abilities at the cost of freezing their blood.
• Sharron named Living Corpse Jason and Werewolf Tyre as allies of their target, Steve, and Maric proposed that Klein receive the remaining spoils and the Book of Secrets if they succeeded.

Klein considered Maric and Sharron’s commission, used divination above the gray fog, and agreed to help after making preparations. Meanwhile, Audrey, Fors, Xio, and Viscount Glaint prepared to attend a Beyonder gathering to seek a Spectator formula and information about the Psychology Alchemists.

• Maric explained that Warlock King Calamity was a powerful figure whose Book of Secrets covered mysticism and related subjects, and Klein asked for time to consider the commission.
• Sharron made Klein promise with the Notarized Document not to reveal what he had learned, then left him with Maric.
• Klein performed misleading divinations at home, then repeated them above the gray fog and concluded that accepting the commission was dangerous but manageable with proper preparation.
• Klein agreed to help on the condition that he receive a few more days to prepare, and an illusory voice told him to visit the bar when ready.
• Audrey met with Fors and Xio, learned that a gathering seeking a Spectator formula and leads on the Psychology Alchemists would take place that afternoon, and heard that Viscount Glaint would attend to trade for Apothecary ingredients.

Audrey, Fors, Xio, and Glaint attended a grisly Beyonder gathering, where Audrey sought the Spectator potion formula but failed to find it. After Xio noticed they were being followed, Audrey suspected the Psychology Alchemists had taken an interest in her, and the chapter ended with Klein preparing to attend old Mr. Eye of Wisdom's gathering.

• Audrey, Fors, Xio, and Glaint entered the gathering venue, where Glaint was horrified by the corpses preserved in a pool.
• Audrey asked for the Spectator potion formula, but no one offered it, while Glaint also failed to find the materials he wanted.
• Xio sensed that someone was following their carriage, and Audrey told the others to prepare for an attack while pretending they had not noticed.
• Audrey suspected the Psychology Alchemists were assessing her as a potential recruit, and the group reached Glaint's mansion without being attacked.
• Audrey left openly with Susie and her maids, wondering whether a member of the Psychology Alchemists would contact her.
• Klein spent two days at the Cragg Club and then dressed in a black robe to attend old Mr. Eye of Wisdom's gathering.

At the gathering, Klein exchanged the Barbarian formula for a set of specialized Beyonder bullets and asked for powerful Sun-domain purification items. The gathering ended with a request for Giant Widow Spider silk glands, which Klein recognized as a main ingredient of the Demoness of Pleasure potion.

• The Apothecary sought a subdued Beyonder beast, and Klein inferred that the Apothecary’s next Sequence involved commanding beasts.
• Klein suggested making a Beyonder creature by feeding a chosen animal potions, but the Apothecary dismissed the idea as too costly and risky.
• A concealed woman offered fifty Purification, Demon Hunting, and Exorcism Bullets with a revolver; Klein traded her the Barbarian formula after Eye of Wisdom authenticated it.
• Klein sought powerful purification items or the Briber formula, but no one fulfilled his request, and the woman offered to look for such items before the next gathering.
• A masked participant asked for adult Giant Widow Spider silk glands, and Klein recognized them as a main ingredient of the Demoness of Pleasure potion.

Klein explored 32 Williams Street in search of clues about the Apprentice pathway and found a deadly supernatural trap that looped the stairs. After using the Azik Copper Whistle to lure out and destroy a Wraith with a Purification Bullet, he reached the basement and found the brown notebook from his Dream Divination.

• At the gathering, Klein noticed a man buying ingredients for a Demoness of Pleasure but decided not to follow him.
• Klein prepared his weapons and protective items, then traveled to 32 Williams Street to investigate the place where the thief had found the Master Key.
• Inside the house, Klein discovered a dead burglar and realized the staircase was looping him back to the second floor.
• Klein used the Azik Copper Whistle to draw out the unseen attacker and destroyed the Wraith with a Purification Bullet.
• Klein confirmed the house was clear, descended to the basement, and found the brown notebook he had seen in Dream Divination.

Klein found an Abraham descendant’s notebook, learned about the family’s curse, and confirmed that the Apprentice, Trickmaster, and Astrologer potion formulas were genuine. He suspected the curse came from Bethel Abraham’s cries for help and sent Miss Magician an offer to trade the Trickmaster formula for a Sun-domain purification item.

• Klein searched the basement and read a notebook describing the Abraham Family’s lost glory and the curse that drove its Beyonders mad.
• Klein found the Apprentice, Trickmaster, and Astrologer potion formulas and read that the notebook’s owner planned to drink the Apprentice potion during a full moon.
• Klein deduced that Bethel Abraham might be Mr. Door and that his full-moon cries had caused the family’s curse and the Master Key’s dangerous effects.
• Klein took the notebook, returned home, and used the gray fog to confirm that the three potion formulas were genuine.
• Klein sent Miss Magician a message offering the Trickmaster formula in exchange for a Sun-domain item that could purify and exorcise.

Fors obtained the Trickmaster formula through The Fool and promised to find an item for Mr. World, while Klein received his share of the serial murder reward and learned that a missing man named Emlyn White was the vampire Father Utravsky had imprisoned. The chapter left Audrey being approached about her interest in mysticism by Madam Norma.

• Fors received the Trickmaster formula from The Fool and agreed to find a purification or exorcism item for Mr. World.
• Fors considered ways to pay for the item and concealed the truth from Xio, who celebrated her possible lead on the formula.
• Klein paid Leppard the remaining 20 pounds for the bicycle and warned him not to pursue further investment before the patent was granted.
• Isengard Stanton distributed the serial murder reward, giving Klein 300 pounds and Kaslana and himself 160 pounds each.
• Stuart asked Klein to help find the missing Emlyn White, whom Klein recognized as the vampire imprisoned by Father Utravsky.
• Madam Norma asked Audrey whether she was interested in mysticism, and Audrey cautiously agreed.

Audrey arranged a meeting with Madam Norma while Klein investigated the Master Key’s full-moon effects and prepared for a battle with Sharron and Maric. Klein discovered that touching the key let him hear Mr. Door’s deadly plea for help, then offered Maric a new sedative to try during the full moon.

• Audrey accepted Madam Norma’s invitation to afternoon tea and suspected she was a Spectator, though she believed Madam Norma meant no harm.
• Klein avoided asking about Emlyn White’s employer, collected his share of the bounty, and discussed the serial murder case with Isengard, who warned him to stay cautious.
• Klein used the gray fog to divine the Master Key’s behavior during a full moon and heard an agonizing plea for help in Ancient Hermes before waking.
• Klein visited the Bravehearts Bar, confirmed Kaspars had returned, and met Sharron, who said she had prepared a mystical item but was still waiting for another item before proceeding.
• Klein learned that drugs no longer worked on Maric after repeated use and offered Sharron a new sedative from an Apothecary for Maric to test during the next full moon.

Klein prepared for his cooperation with Sharron while Audrey met two psychology experts who might be connected to the Psychology Alchemists. The chapter ended with Allen telling Klein that his bad luck had lifted and urging him to convert to the Goddess.

• Klein asked Sharron about the possible battle sites, and she told him to prepare a map of Backlund for their next meeting.
• Klein returned home, made boiled chicken breast for Brody, and spoke to the cat about missing Madam Doris and Jurgen being away.
• Audrey met Hilbert Alucard and Islante Osilika at Madam Norma’s afternoon tea, concealed her Beyonder abilities, and learned about the Great Year and Great Month.
• Madam Norma suggested Audrey consider becoming a psychiatrist, and Audrey said she might hire Islante as a private psychology tutor.
• Klein studied the battle locations marked on his map, then visited the Cragg Club and heard Allen explain that praying at the church had ended his run of bad luck.
• Allen praised the Goddess and urged Klein to convert from his faith in the God of Steam and Machinery.

Klein spoke with Allen and Starling at the club, then rescued Fors and heard how she became a Beyonder. On Monday, he found a note saying the plan had worked and prepared for the next Tarot Club gathering.

• Klein asked Allen whether he had seen Will Auceptin again, and Allen said he had not.
• Klein met Mary and Starling at the club, where Starling invited him to a dinner party intended to introduce him to unmarried women.
• Klein answered Fors's plea for help by bringing her above the gray fog and asked how she had become a Beyonder.
• Fors told Klein that an elderly patient had given her the Apprentice formula, a glowing potion ingredient, and a bracelet that worsened her full-moon ravings when she used it.
• On Monday, Klein found a note on the coffee table saying, "It worked," and entered the space above the gray fog to prepare for the Tarot Club gathering.

Audrey privately told Mr. Fool that suspected Psychology Alchemists were trying to recruit her, shared two pages of Roselle’s diary, and learned that the Card of Blasphemy contained the Black Emperor pathway. The Tarot Club then discussed Fors’s deal with The World, Alger’s investigation into mass abductions and escaped slaves, and Derrick’s upcoming mission to a temple of the Fallen Creator.

• Audrey asked Mr. Fool for advice about joining the Psychology Alchemists, and he warned her to conceal her identity because the organization had informants from the Churches.
• Audrey gave Mr. Fool two pages of Roselle’s Diary and asked which pathway the Card of Blasphemy contained; he identified it as the Black Emperor pathway, whose Sequence 9 was Lawyer.
• Fors told the Tarot Club that The World had found her the Trickmaster formula, and The World asked her to send him information about a Sun-domain item before choosing his payment.
• Alger asked the members for leads about native tribes being abducted and slaves escaping across the Southern Continent, then asked them to gather information on the Wind-blessed formula.
• Derrick said he had been assigned to explore a half-destroyed temple belonging to the Fallen Creator under Elder Lovia’s leadership, and asked the Tarot Club for advice.

At the Tarot Club, Derrick asked for advice about an expedition into a temple linked to the Fallen Creator, and Alger urged him to avoid the mission by feigning early signs of losing control. After Derrick agreed, The World privately asked him about removing mental corruption from a Beyonder characteristic, learning that only high-ranking members of the City of Silver could access the method.

• Derrick described the ancient temple, its murals about the apocalypse and the Fallen Creator, and the words “Rose Redemption.”
• Derrick explained that his mandatory mission was to explore the temple’s underground section, and Alger warned him not to go because the Fallen Creator was a genuine evil god and Shepherd Lovia controlled the relevant pathway.
• Alger advised Derrick to deplete his spirituality and appear close to losing control so the City of Silver would keep him from the expedition; he persuaded Derrick that avoiding the mission could help protect the city from Lovia.
• The World requested a private conversation with Derrick and asked whether the City of Silver could remove an evil god’s mental corruption from a Beyonder characteristic.
• Derrick said the City of Silver only knew how to separate the mental corruption of someone who had lost control, and that only people of Sequence 7 or higher could access the method.

At Mr. A’s gathering, Fors learned that a Sun-domain ring cost 9,000 pounds, so Klein offered cash for the Trickmaster formula instead. The chapter also showed Mr. A’s disturbing transformation, Derrick preparing for the City of Silver mission, Audrey arranging psychology lessons, and Klein confirming that Eye of Wisdom’s gathering would take place the following evening.

• Fors attended Mr. A’s gathering and asked for a mystical item or weapon from the Sun domain.
• Fors received an offer for the Light Ring at 9,000 pounds, and Klein replied through The World that he would pay 450 pounds for the Trickmaster formula instead.
• Mr. A collapsed on the stairs, shed a monstrous skinless form, then recovered and confessed in the basement.
• Derrick decided to prepare for the mission and practiced his Light Suppliant abilities until his spirituality was nearly depleted.
• Audrey agreed to let her mother invite the psychiatrist Islante to give her two lessons a week.
• Klein confirmed that Eye of Wisdom’s gathering would take place the following evening and planned to relax at the Cragg Club.

Klein traded the Briber formula for 900 pounds and bought The Sun Brooch for 2,000 pounds at Eye of Wisdom’s gathering. He left the gathering’s members watching him with greed as Eye of Wisdom returned with the brooch.

• Klein heard Talym Dumont ask about powerful people with strange abilities, then learned Mike Joseph wanted to hire him as a bodyguard for an interview assignment.
• Fors paid 450 pounds through a sacrificial ritual and received the Sequence 8 Trickmaster formula, then decided to write a new book to earn money for its ingredients.
• Klein attended Eye of Wisdom’s gathering carrying his savings and negotiated with a woman offering a Sun Bird feather whip for the Briber formula.
• Klein learned that The Sun Brooch was comparable to a weak Grade 2 Sealed Artifact and agreed to sell the Briber formula for 900 pounds.
• Klein paid 2,000 pounds for The Sun Brooch, drawing covetous looks from the gathering’s Beyonders, and Eye of Wisdom returned with it.

Klein bought the Sun Brooch, a powerful but heat-inducing mystical item, and arranged preparations with Sharron for an ambush. The next morning, after a reporter asked him to work as a bodyguard, Klein received Sharron's note setting their meeting for that night.

• Eye of Wisdom sold Klein the Sun Brooch for 2,000 pounds, and Klein learned its Sun-domain spells and troublesome heat side effect.
• Klein left the gathering with Eye of Wisdom's attendant and met Sharron, agreeing that she would choose the ambush time and place while he arranged for explosives to be buried as fireworks.
• Klein returned home carrying the brooch and later met Mike Joseph, who asked him to protect him during an investigative report in East Borough, Dock Borough, and Factory Borough.
• Klein told Mike to return the next morning so he could confirm whether he was available, then found Sharron's note telling him to meet her at the back door of the Bravehearts Bar at ten that night.

Klein prepared an ambush at the abandoned West Balam Dock, setting explosives and readying his weapons while Sharron and Maric went to lure their enemies there. Hidden in a warehouse and using a paper figurine as a decoy, he watched three figures approach the clearing.

• Klein boarded Maric's carriage and discussed their enemies' abilities, the effects of purification and exorcism, and how Maric could use the sedatives.
• Sharron and Maric brought Klein to the abandoned West Balam Dock and explained their plan: he would wait until Sharron weakened and the Crimson Moon Corona appeared, then use it to locate Steve and attack him by surprise.
• After Sharron and Maric left to lure the enemies, Klein buried a Cage of Spirituality and planted dynamite around the clearing and nearby warehouses.
• Klein prepared his revolver, pinned the Sun Brooch to his chest, and used a paper figurine as a decoy before hiding on a warehouse roof.
• Klein watched three figures approach the clearing, with one leading, one in the middle, and one behind.

Maric and Sharron fought Jason and Werewolf Tyre as the Crimson Moon Corona weakened them and Sharron used the Door of Mystery to seize Jason. Klein detected Wraith Steve preparing to possess Maric, then revealed himself with an explosion and fired a Purification Bullet at Steve.

• Maric fled Jason into the clearing, where he summoned corpses and specters to slow his pursuer.
• Werewolf Tyre revealed the Crimson Moon Corona, weakening Sharron and intensifying Jason’s bloodlust.
• Sharron opened the Door of Mystery and its creatures dragged Jason toward the gate while Maric recovered with sedatives.
• Klein sensed Wraith Steve near Maric and realized Steve was about to possess him.
• Klein set off an explosion to draw attention, then fired a Purification Bullet toward Steve.

Klein and his allies fought Wraith Steve while trying to rescue Living Corpse Jason from a mysterious bronze door. Jason was dragged through the door before Klein could stop it, and Steve's furious attack left Klein, Tyre, and Maric badly hurt.

• Steve's possession nearly controlled Klein, but Klein resisted with his Sun Brooch and escaped his grasping specters.
• Tyre discovered that the Crimson Moon Corona granted him powerful spells as well as speed, then threw it toward Steve to restore Steve's strength.
• Klein used bombs to divert the Corona, but Steve caught it and regained his Sequence 5 power.
• Klein used the Eye of All-Black to locate Steve and attacked Jason with an exorcism bullet and a bomb blast.
• Jason was dragged through the bronze door, which shut behind him, and Steve screamed in fury.
• Steve's scream struck Klein, Tyre, and Maric with a devastating shock that left them bleeding and disoriented.

Klein and Sharron used the chaos caused by Steve’s toxin and the undead to turn the fight against him. Sharron trapped Steve with her bronze door while Klein attacked with holy light and bullets, leaving Steve engulfed in flames and being dragged toward the door.

• Steve released toxins from the Biotoxin Bottle, weakening Klein, Sharron, Maric, and Tyre.
• Klein used a Purification Bullet to draw the Living Corpses and Specters toward the buried Azik Copper Whistle and Master Key, then escaped through explosions while Steve pursued the items.
• Steve grabbed the whistle and key, triggering an eerie sound that made him collapse and mutate; Klein redirected the Crimson Moon Corona to Sharron, restoring her strength.
• Klein used the Sun Brooch’s holy light to destroy the Living Corpses and Specters, while Sharron crossed to Steve and summoned the mysterious bronze door to seize him.
• Klein shot Steve with holy bullets and summoned another pillar of holy light as Sharron’s door dragged Steve closer; Klein then loaded Purification and Exorcism Bullets and fired six shots at Steve.