Recaps

Klein discovered that the Rose School of Thought was hiding Turan von Hermosuin at 32 Black Pepper Avenue, then publicly broadcast his location to force the authorities and Churches to act. After Klein went to bed, Hermosuin appeared at his door, introduced himself as Orange Light Hilarion, warned him about the Mother Tree of Desire, and offered to die at one of Klein’s enemies’ doorsteps.

• Klein intercepted and deciphered a telegram that led him to suspect the Admiral of Blood’s group was involved in Hermosuin’s disappearance.
• Klein divined that Hermosuin was at 32 Black Pepper Avenue, where he was working on an analytical engine.
• Klein used the Sea God Scepter to broadcast Hermosuin’s location across Bayam, alerting Orville, Jahn Kottman, and Robert Davis.
• Klein left the radio transceiver monitoring transmissions and went to bed, believing public attention would prevent any faction from secretly claiming Hermosuin.
• Hermosuin came to Klein’s door, identified himself as Orange Light Hilarion, warned Klein to beware the Mother Tree of Desire, and offered to die at an enemy’s doorstep.

Klein learned that powerful Spirit World creatures could sense his connection to the gray fog, and Orange Light Hilarion warned him that the Mother Tree of Desire was a major threat. Suspecting the Rose School of Thought might soon act against him, Klein sought help from Mr. Azik and arranged to summon Reinette Tinekerr if danger arose.

• Hermosuin, revealed as Orange Light Hilarion, explained that certain Spirit World creatures and powerful beings could sense qualities linking Klein to the great ruler above the Spirit World.
• Hilarion warned Klein that the Mother Tree of Desire and the Rose School of Thought might try to seize control of him, then left after Klein refused to let him die on his doorstep.
• Klein reasoned that the Mother Tree of Desire might be preparing a way for her followers to detect him, and he decided to return to Backlund and prepare for danger.
• Klein divined that his life was not in danger soon but remained wary of the Mother Tree of Desire's interference, so he wrote to Mr. Azik asking whether Hilarion's warning meant mortal danger was near.
• Klein asked Reinette Tinekerr to help him if danger arose, and she agreed in exchange for ten thousand gold coins, payable in installments.

After receiving a threatening telegram, Klein tried to flee Bayam at dawn, while Senor and Jax prepared to hunt him for the Mother Tree of Desire. Klein was ambushed in the woods on his way to the coast.

• Klein received a telegram reading, "I see you," and decided to leave Bayam rather than take a ship.
• Senor confronted Orville over the loss of Hermosuin and ordered him to send the threatening telegram to the eavesdropper.
• Jax completed a ritual that created a strange humanoid creature and said they could use a School of Life monocle to locate Klein after dawn.
• Klein sacrificed most of his belongings above the gray fog, settled his inn bill, and left Bayam for the woods near the coast.
• A leaf covered Klein's mouth and nose as branches and discarded picnic rubbish attacked him.

Klein survived a surprise attack by a Rose School of Thought Demigod, using his preparations and Reinette Tinekerr’s intervention to stay alive. As the two Demigods fought nearby, Klein sensed another enemy approaching and prepared to shoot.

• Klein escaped a sudden attack that bound him with his own clothes and paper figurines, using his flames to break free.
• Klein’s Groselle's Travels blocked a lethal ice arrow, and he summoned Reinette Tinekerr with the Adventurer Harmonica.
• Reinette Tinekerr pulled the brown-skinned Jax from hiding and attacked him, but Jax escaped through reflective surfaces and transformed after swallowing a strange figure.
• Klein sensed Reinette Tinekerr and the Rose School of Thought Demigod fighting nearby, then spotted another enemy approaching through illusory threads.
• Klein disguised his awareness of the approaching enemy, interfered with their danger sense using a gold coin, and fired Death Knell.

Klein fought Admiral of Blood Senor in the woods outside Bayam, using Death Knell, his Devil glove, and Flame Jump while Senor’s uncanny luck repeatedly spoiled his attacks. The chapter ended with Klein using a Bribe against Senor as their battle continued.

• Klein shot at Senor, but a rabbit distracted him and the bullet instead blasted a hole through a tree, revealing the Admiral of Blood’s identity.
• Klein used the Devil glove’s “Slow” ability and fired a Fatal Attack, but another illusory figure pulled Senor out of the bullet’s path.
• Klein escaped Senor’s Scream and attempted possession with Flame Jump, then used “Slaughter” to burn away the spirits surrounding them, though Senor escaped with only minor wounds.
• Klein recognized Senor’s extraordinary luck, changed back into Gehrman Sparrow, and planned to draw Sea King Jahn Kottman into the fight if necessary.
• Senor extinguished Klein’s flames with a Scream and ice, disrupting his Flame Jump, but Klein countered Senor’s deathly skull attack with a Devil fireball.
• Klein threw his iron cigarette case at Senor and used “Bribe” as a Baron of Corruption.

Klein repeatedly slowed, froze, and struck Admiral of Blood Senor while manipulating his Spirit Body Threads, but Jax’s infant-like cry broke his control. Klein recovered first and wounded Senor, then a colossal, monstrous arm appeared and forced him to defend himself with Groselle’s Travels.

• Klein used Creeping Hunger, Slow, Freeze, and Spirit Piercing in repeated combinations to keep Senor trapped while secretly manipulating his Spirit Body Threads.
• Klein blocked Senor’s ice arrow with Groselle’s Travels and interrupted his attempted Scream with an Air Bullet as his control over Senor deepened.
• Jax returned to reality and unleashed a terrifying infant’s cry, breaking Klein’s concentration and freeing Senor from control.
• Reinette Tinekerr resumed fighting Jax while Klein and Senor struggled to recover from the cry; Klein regained his senses first and struck Senor with a Magma Sword.
• Klein pressed Death Knell to Senor’s head and fired, but an accident made the bullet wound Senor’s neck instead of killing him.
• A gigantic black arm covered in skulls, eyes, and toothed tongues appeared, and Klein shut his eyes, lunged aside, and raised Groselle’s Travels to shield himself.

Klein escaped the battle on Blue Mountain Island while supernatural forces clashed around him, then reached safety with help from Reinette Tinekerr. Azik arrived and took him back into the Spirit World, while the threat hidden in Groselle's Travels remained unresolved.

• Silvery-white lightning, Jahn Kottman's attack, and Reinette Tinekerr's intervention restrained the descending arm as Klein used the corrupted Kindling glove and a Spirituality Religion Copper Whistle to add further dangers to the chaos.
• Klein discovered that Admiral of Blood Senor had vanished and suspected his blood had drawn him into Groselle's Travels, so he collected some blood-stained dirt before fleeing through the forest.
• Klein jumped from the cliff and was swallowed by a giant sea creature, then used a Light Priest Beyonder Characteristic and returned to the gray fog to purge the growing feathers from his spirit.
• Reinette Tinekerr carried Klein through the Spirit World to a reef, warned him to remember her payment, and disappeared.
• Azik arrived and carried Klein back into the Spirit World despite Klein already having reached safety.

After escaping the battle with Azik, Klein used Groselle's Travels to locate the unconscious Admiral of Blood Senor and turned him into a long-term puppet. The chapter ended with Senor awakening under Klein's control and asking how he could serve.

• Jahn Kottman identified the escaped adventurer as Gehrman Sparrow and recalled the strange participants in the battle.
• Azik removed the feathers left by the Spirituality Religion Copper Whistle, explained his suspicions about the monster, and advised Klein to seek safety in a major city.
• Klein sacrificed his belongings above the Gray Fog, used Senor's blood on Groselle's Travels, and returned to the place where he had left the book.
• Klein followed a divination to find the unconscious Senor, examined his luck-affecting necklace, and set it aside.
• Klein took control of Senor's Spirit Body Threads, and Senor awoke as Klein's puppet and asked what he could do.

Klein secured Senor against divination, examined the Admiral of Blood’s possessions, and claimed a luck-altering silver necklace before leaving for Connaught City. Meanwhile, Alger searched the ruins of Bansy Harbor and left, after which a mysterious cleric emerged from the ruins.

• Klein sent Senor through the gray fog, found no major hidden problems, and discovered that the puppet carried 325 pounds, 16 soli, and 8 pence.
• Klein divined the silver necklace’s history and effects, named it Lucky Scales, and decided to wear it for now.
• Klein studied Senor’s Wraith abilities, returned his belongings to the real world, and sealed the Azik Copper Whistle and a gold coin in an iron cigarette case.
• Klein left the cave near Pritz Harbor, changed his appearance, and took a steam train toward Connaught City instead of returning directly to Backlund.
• Alger searched the ruins of Bansy Harbor with his sailors, found nothing valuable, and sailed away on the Blue Avenger.
• A mysterious figure in black clerical robes emerged from deep within the Bansy Harbor ruins.

Klein delivered David Raymond’s final words to Niel, then left a valuable Beyonder characteristic at an Evernight church. He returned to Backlund under the identity Dawn Dantès and laid Longzel Edward’s ashes to rest, leaving an inscription on the cabinet.

• Klein visited Niel Raymond and told her that her father David loved her, regretted missing her childhood, and had died by accident after those responsible were punished.
• Niel asked Klein what kind of person her father had been, and Klein called him a guardian before leaving as she began to sob.
• Klein left a wrapped gelatinous substance at an Evernight church, where a priest found it after Klein set it alight remotely.
• Klein traveled toward Backlund under the identity Dawn Dantès, carrying Longzel Edward’s ashes in his suitcase.
• Benson told Melissa he had completed his probation period at the Ministry of Finance, and Melissa suggested a hair-growth remedy.
• Klein arrived in Backlund, placed Longzel Edward’s urn in a Church of Storms cemetery, and engraved the words “Every journey has a destination.”

Klein returned to Backlund as Dawn Dantès and refined his layered cover identities and plans to steal the Antigonus Family Notebook. After changing back into Sherlock Moriarty, he visited Isengard Stanton, whose new assistant recognized him.

• Klein watched a postal worker ride one of the bicycles his company had promoted and considered developing a raincoat next.
• Klein planned three layers of identity for Dawn Dantès to withstand investigations by the Nighthawks and other officials.
• Klein outlined a plan to approach Saint Samuel Cathedral, identify its internal keepers, and use one to reach the Antigonus Family Notebook behind Chanis Gate.
• Klein changed from Dawn Dantès into Sherlock Moriarty and went to Isengard Stanton's home.
• Isengard Stanton's wheat-haired assistant recognized Sherlock Moriarty when Klein said a friend had returned from vacation.

Klein returned to Backlund as Sherlock Moriarty, asked Isengard Stanton to sell his stake in the Backlund Bicycle Company, and began restoring his old connections. He met Sharron outside the Bravehearts Bar, confirmed that he had killed Senor, and offered to sell Senor’s lucky item or the Biotoxin Bottle.

• Klein visited Isengard Stanton and asked him to sell his ten percent stake in the Backlund Bicycle Company through newspaper notices.
• Klein went to the Bravehearts Bar, where Ian told him that Gehrman Sparrow had a fifty-thousand-pound bounty for an incident in Bayam and was suspected of killing Admiral of Blood Senor.
• Klein learned from Ian that Emlyn White had been to the bar, then waited in a carriage for Sharron.
• Sharron appeared in Klein’s carriage, and Klein told her he had killed Senor and would sell Senor’s Wraith Beyonder Characteristic to Maric once he found a replacement.
• Klein offered Sharron the choice of buying Senor’s lucky item or the Biotoxin Bottle.

Klein and Sharron investigated the buried ruins beneath Williams Street, where they found the remains of the evil spirit’s prison but no Beyonder Characteristics. Their discovery of two black high-backed chairs left Klein wondering what had happened to the sealed evil spirit.

• Klein learned from Sharron that the attacker Jax was a Puppet and that Zatwin was the demigod hunting them; Sharron said the being Klein encountered might have been Suah, leader of the Rose School of Thought.
• Sharron told Klein that the Nighthawks and Machinery Hivemind had destroyed Williams Street over two months earlier, and that Baronet Pound had died suddenly after a revel.
• Klein and Sharron traveled to Williams Street and entered the buried ruins using Senor as Klein’s puppet.
• They found the sealed room destroyed, with no Beyonder Characteristics or signs that living people had entered it.
• Sharron pointed out the remains of a black high-backed chair, then identified a second one nearby.

Klein and Sharron discovered that three Sequence 1 Angels may have been sacrificed in a ritual connected to Blood Emperor Alista Tudor and concluded the sealed Evil Spirit might include the ancestors of the Sauron and Einhorn Families alongside Medici. After Klein gave Sharron a way to contact him and escorted her home, Danitz heard adventurers discussing Gehrman Sparrow and Admiral of Blood’s bounty.

• Klein and Sharron found fragments from three different high-backed chairs and connected them to a possible Red Priest advancement ritual involving Medici and the Sauron and Einhorn ancestors.
• Klein and Sharron theorized that the Evil Spirit had escaped with the Beyonder Characteristics and Red Priest card, and Klein suggested its lack of obvious clues might be a Hunter’s provocation.
• Klein asked Sharron where pure Evil Spirits and Wraiths gained their power, and she answered that it came from the Spirit World.
• Klein gave Sharron his messenger-summoning method, received her address at the Bravehearts Bar, and escorted her back to the Backlund Bridge Area.
• Danitz returned to Bayam and heard an adventurer ask whether Gehrman Sparrow would send someone to collect Admiral of Blood’s bounty.

Danitz learned that Gehrman Sparrow had killed Admiral of Blood, while Elland and Oz Kent were cleared after an investigation into their connection to him. In Backlund, Klein began his formal debut as Dawn Dantès by seeking an experienced butler for his new household.

• Danitz read the newspapers and discovered Gehrman Sparrow had killed Admiral of Blood, then feared that he might be tied to Gehrman's secret organization.
• Elland and Oz Kent left their investigation and discussed Gehrman's power and his rescue of people in Bansy.
• Donna defended Uncle Sparrow to Denton after he heard newspapers call him a cultist and murderer.
• Klein left his hotel as Dawn Dantès and went to the Metropolis Help Domestic Servants Association to hire a butler.
• Klein told Beline he wanted a butler who had served an aristocratic household and agreed to pay the high salary for a good one.

Klein, posing as the wealthy Dawn Dantès, interviewed a domestic servants association about hiring a butler and calculated the high cost of establishing a household in Backlund. He then prayed at Saint Samuel Cathedral and made a conspicuously large donation.

• Beline introduced Klein to three butler candidates, and Klein arranged to interview all three at his hotel the next morning.
• Klein paid a three-pound deposit and told Beline he had arrived from Desi Bay to find a house and servants.
• In his carriage, Klein calculated his expected household expenses and worried about the cost of living as a rich man.
• Klein visited Saint Samuel Cathedral, prayed, and donated fifty pounds, impressing the bishop with his apparent wealth.

Klein left Saint Samuel Cathedral and dined at the Intis Serenzo Restaurant, where he unexpectedly spotted Bernadette Gustav. Elsewhere, Allen Kreis’s pregnant wife felt discomfort that subsided when they turned back, and Fors heard someone offer a Moon Puppet for sale.

• Klein left the cathedral after making a large donation and decided to visit the Intis Serenzo Restaurant for lunch.
• Klein ordered the fifteen-pound chef’s recommendation and recognized Bernadette Gustav at the restaurant before she disappeared into the stairwell.
• Allen Kreis’s pregnant wife felt unwell on the way to the restaurant, so Allen returned home with her, and her discomfort soon eased.
• Klein ate ice cream at the restaurant and sneezed.
• Fors attended a Beyonder gathering while seeking ways to earn money, and a participant announced they wanted to sell a Moon Puppet.

Fors identified Windsor Behring, a believer of the Moon Primordial, at a Beyonder gathering and decided to claim the bounty for a lead. Meanwhile, Klein questioned Arrodes about the Evil Spirit and his butler candidates, then received a rune for summoning the mirror.

• A hooded woman bought the Moon Puppet at Fors's gathering, and Fors used a mosquito to recognize her as Windsor Behring.
• Fors considered using the mosquito to collect Windsor's blood for direct tracking but decided to leave the gathering and claim only the bounty for a valid lead.
• Klein asked Arrodes where the Evil Spirit from the Williams Street ruins had gone, and the mirror showed the abandoned chapel where it had apparently dug its way out.
• Klein asked Arrodes to compare his three butler candidates, and it said Asnia was the most professional and ordinary while Ribac and Walter could bring additional developments.
• Arrodes offered to become Klein's butler, but Klein declined, and Arrodes gave him a rune to summon it while he remained in Backlund.

Klein interviewed three butler candidates and chose Walter, whose past connected him to Prince Edessak and the events surrounding the Great Smog of Backlund. Walter recommended an impressive North Borough house, but its annual rent of 1,260 pounds shocked Klein.

• Klein thanked Mr. Asnia with a bottle of wine and asked him to invite Ribac for an interview.
• Ribac explained why he had left Baron Sindras's household, and Klein considered the political connections his appointment would bring.
• Walter described his conflict with Viscount Conrad's butler and his connection to an important person who had died in an accident.
• Klein hired Walter, asked him to arrange professional contracts, and gave him a bottle of wine to deliver to Ribac.
• Walter recommended 32 Böklund Street, and Klein struggled to hide his shock when he learned the rent was 1,260 pounds a year.

Klein chose to rent 160 Böklund Street and learned how elaborate the household staff and expenses would be. Meanwhile, Emlyn suspected Ruth Báthory was pursuing a Moon puppet and decided to watch his rival; Klein then prepared to convene the Tarot Club.

• Klein compared rental options and accepted Walter's recommendation to rent 160 Böklund Street for a year.
• Emlyn realized the Moon puppet might be bait connected to Ruth Báthory and decided to watch the Sanguine Baron for a chance to find Windsor first.
• Father Utravsky told Emlyn to polish the candlesticks again after noticing his lack of focus.
• Klein confirmed the rental and discussed hiring a housekeeper and a large household staff with Walter, who also described the costs of servants and carriages.
• After returning to the hotel, Klein rested and entered his bedroom at two forty to convene the Tarot Club.

At the Tarot Club, Klein read a page of Roselle’s diary revealing how the Black Emperor could return and how Alista Tudor became a mad true god. Klein suspected Roselle had faced a similar choice, then identified Mr. Door as the diary’s other central figure and hinted that Fors should know Him.

• Cattleya gave Klein a page of Roselle’s diary, which described the Black Emperor’s resurrection and Alista Tudor’s path to becoming a mad true god.
• Klein speculated that Roselle might have attempted to switch to a non-neighboring pathway, helping explain his later madness and Bernadette’s search for the truth.
• Klein connected the diary’s account of the Tudor-Trunsoest United Empire to the paired thrones beneath Williams Street, but could not determine who had helped the Blood Emperor.
• Cattleya asked who else was central to the diary entry, and Klein answered that it was Mr. Door.
• Klein told Fors that she should be familiar with Mr. Door, leaving her bewildered.

At the Tarot Club gathering, Fors learned that Mr. Door caused the full-moon ravings, while the World offered two mystical items for sale. Cattleya agreed to buy the Lucky Scales after learning that Gehrman Sparrow had killed Senor, and the deal left Klein with a large payment toward his debts.

• Fors asked whether Mr. Door caused the full-moon ravings, and Klein confirmed that he did.
• The World introduced the Lucky Scales and warned that its dangerous backlash made it unsuitable for Beyonders with weak combat abilities.
• Cattleya recognized the necklace as Senor's and asked how the World had obtained it.
• The World said Senor was dead, shocking Cattleya, Alger, Audrey, and Fors with the news that Gehrman Sparrow had killed the Admiral of Blood.
• Cattleya offered four thousand pounds in gold coins and six thousand five hundred pounds in cash for the Lucky Scales, and the World accepted.

During the Tarot Gathering, Klein sold mystical items and a book of secrets while managing his debts and expenses. The meeting ended with trades and updates, including news that Bansy Harbor had been destroyed.

• Klein offered the Biotoxin Bottle for 5,200 pounds, but Audrey declined because she wanted a more directly offensive item.
• Klein sold Audrey a Book of Secrets for 1,000 pounds and warned her against praying to the Moon Primordial or other hidden existences.
• Klein offered an Interrogator Beyonder Characteristic for 1,200 pounds, but no one bought it.
• Alger asked Cattleya for a lead on Obninsk Sea Monsters outside the Church of Storms, and Cattleya agreed to ask around.
• Emlyn traded ingredients to Derrick for resources from around the City of Silver, then realized the information on Derrick’s list was valuable.
• Derrick said the new exploration team had arrived in Afternoon Town and that the Chief had approved of his progress; Alger then reported that pirates had found Bansy Harbor completely destroyed.

At the Tarot Club, Fors revealed that Mr. Door’s full-moon ravings might be pleas for help, while Klein sent Sharron a letter and Audrey received the Book of Secrets and considered investing in a bicycle company. Elsewhere, Alger sailed toward Passo Island, and Emlyn waited outside Ruth Báthory’s residence as someone slipped out into the night.

• Fors told Cattleya that Mr. Door’s ravings came through a Spirit World Traversal item and might be asking for help.
• Klein wrote to Sharron that the luck necklace had been sold and sent the letter with Admiral of Blood Senor.
• Audrey reviewed the Book of Secrets from memory, then agreed to pursue a ten-percent stake in the Backlund Bicycle Company with Earl Hall’s financing advice.
• Alger sailed aboard the Blue Avenger toward Passo Island, the Church of Storms’ headquarters.
• Emlyn waited outside Ruth Báthory’s residence under the crimson moon and saw a figure leave through a rear window.

Emlyn followed Ruth Báthory to confront Windsor, but the Moon Puppet attached itself to him after he killed her. Klein destroyed the puppet with lightning from the Gray Fog, and the chapter ended as a Blood Moon appeared over the city.

• Emlyn used potions to follow Ruth Báthory unseen to Windsor’s apartment in the East Borough.
• Windsor attacked Ruth Báthory in a monstrous, flower-covered form, and Emlyn burned the dried plants before helping kill her.
• A Moon Puppet fell from Windsor’s body, then appeared behind Emlyn in a nearby alley and began freezing him with crimson moonlight.
• Emlyn called on the Fool, and Klein struck the puppet with lightning from the Sea God Scepter, then claimed it as payment.
• Emlyn left the East Borough with the puppet, while Klein saw the crescent moon turn full and blood-red.
• Alger entered the Cathedral of the Storms as another Blood Moon shone overhead.