Chapter Summaries

Klein rescued Daisy and the other imprisoned girls after killing Capim and Kitty and driving Hunas and Berris away. He staged Capim’s corpse with tarot cards, then vanished after the arriving demigods saw him atop the building.

• Klein’s explosion killed Capim, Parker, and the servants, while Kitty and Hunas survived with severe injuries.
• Hunas used Exile to throw Klein out of the dining room and fled; Klein killed Kitty and headed for the underground prison.
• Klein avoided Berris’s steam-rifle shot, broke the Confinement, and opened the cells so Daisy and the other girls could escape.
• Klein searched the villa for clues, then placed tarot cards on Capim’s corpse, including the Judgement and Emperor cards over his eyes.
• Ace Snake and a handsome man arrived and found the staged scene; they spotted Klein atop a nearby building before he vanished.

After killing Capim, Klein confirmed Daisy would get home safely, examined the Beyonder Characteristics he had obtained, and reviewed his progress as a Magician. At a gathering, Xio received a task from the man in the golden mask to investigate who had recently asked about Capim, learning that Capim had been found dead beneath tarot cards.

• Cardinal Snake and a gentleman inspected Capim's corpse, noted the tarot cards, and concluded that the killer likely belonged to a newly emerged secret organization rather than the Rose School of Thought.
• Above the gray fog, Klein divined that Daisy would return home safely and identified Parker's and Kitty's Beyonder Characteristics as belonging to the Sheriff and Interrogator Sequences.
• Klein wrote down the Magician Code and judged that his potion digestion was progressing quickly enough to advance before the new year.
• Klein returned to the real world, celebrated with iced tea, and went to Mr. Eye of Wisdom's Beyonder gathering.
• Xio followed the urgent contact sign and met the man in the golden mask, who offered her a task to discover who had recently asked about Capim and revealed that Capim had been found dead with tarot cards on his face.

Fors suspected that the Tarot Club was connected to Capim’s murder after Xio described the tarot cards left at the scene. Klein endured an overwhelming sense of danger at a gathering, then suspected a powerful Rose School of Thought Beyonder was nearby; news of the chivalrous thief’s crime reached Audrey, who recognized its tarot-card clues.

• Xio told Fors that Capim had been killed and covered with tarot cards, prompting Fors to wonder whether a Tarot Club member was responsible.
• Klein experienced relentless danger-like intuitions during the Eye of Wisdom’s gathering, abandoned his search for Thousand-faced Hunter materials, and felt the sensations vanish after he left.
• Klein suspected a powerful Rose School of Thought Beyonder had been drawn to the area by the deaths of Wraith Steve and the others near the Bravehearts Bar.
• Cardinal Ace Snake ordered the Mandated Punishers to investigate Capim’s trafficking operation and find the strange ghost, recording the tarot ritual and a possible secret scheme as clues.
• Earl Hall told Audrey that newspapers had dubbed Capim’s killer the chivalrous thief Black Emperor, and Audrey recognized the significance of the tarot cards.

Audrey suspected Mr. Fool’s blessed was behind Capim’s downfall, while Klein read the reports and continued investigating Daisy’s disappearance. Daisy returned safely to her family and described the armored figure who had freed the captives, as investigators considered whether the tarot-card cases pointed to an organization.

• Audrey suspected that Mr. Fool’s blessed had dealt with Capim and planned to ask Cons Lielsen for information through an afternoon tea gathering.
• Klein read a newspaper report about Capim’s safe, then went to Broken Axe Lane to continue investigating Daisy’s disappearance.
• Daisy returned home with a policeman, and Liv and Freja embraced her with relief.
• Daisy told Liv and Freja that an explosion opened the captives’ door and that a black-armored figure watched over their escape.
• Investigators compared the Lanarvus and Capim cases and considered whether the tarot cards signaled a copycat or an organization.

Audrey and her friends discussed the Beyonder battle at Capim’s house, while Klein arranged new investigative work and prepared to visit Dr. Allen’s home with him. In the City of Silver, Derrick planned to meet the returning exploration team after hiding the strange worm left by Amon’s avatar.

• At Audrey’s tea gathering, Cons revealed that Capim’s dining room showed evidence of several powerful Beyonders and that the gentleman thief had been in a ghostly state.
• Audrey wondered whether Mr. Fool’s Blessed had targeted Capim because of his connection to cults and evil gods, then repented for joking about Mr. Fool.
• Klein received a letter from Daisy thanking him and asking him to bring her vocabulary book on his next visit to East Borough, and he decided to return it and reimburse Old Kohler.
• At the Cragg Club, Mike hired Klein to help interview Capim’s rescued victims, while Dr. Allen hired him to accompany a visit to Will Auceptin.
• Derrick hid the worm left by Amon’s avatar and decided to meet the team returning from the temple of the Fallen Creator.

Derrick visited the City of Silver’s training grounds and felt unsettled by Dark’s strangely faultless smile. In Backlund, Klein helped Dr. Allen search for Will Auceptin but found that Will’s family had moved, leaving Allen to set aside his questions and focus on his work.

• Derrick found Elder Lovia and the returning exploration team behind a dark amber wall, and Dark assured him that the expedition had gone smoothly.
• Klein played cards with Dr. Allen, Mike Joseph, and Talym, then learned that Talym had told a young gentleman’s beloved to leave him because their marriage was impossible.
• Klein and Dr. Allen visited Will Auceptin’s former home at 66 Doughton Street and learned that Will’s family had moved away, while earlier visitors had taken the remaining belongings.
• Allen said he was no longer troubled by the unanswered questions and recalled that Will had had a ring of tumors compressing the blood vessels around his left calf.

Derrick reported his concerns about Dark Ray Megus and Elder Lovia to Chief Colin Iliad, who ordered an examination. Meanwhile, Dr. Allen told Klein about a nightmare involving Will Auceptin and a threatening snake, leaving Klein to consider the paper crane Will had given him.

• Derrick noticed unsettling changes in Dark Ray Megus and Elder Lovia and decided to warn the Council of Six.
• Chief Colin Iliad heard Derrick's report and said he would have Afreau examine them.
• Klein studied the Book of Secrets and returned to his usual routine after confirming the previous tenant's story.
• Dr. Allen visited Klein and described a nightmare in which he found Will Auceptin trapped in a dark tower while a huge silvery-white snake threatened him.
• Allen showed Klein the paper crane Will had given him, explaining that he had retrieved it before having the nightmare.
• Klein suggested that the crane was Will's attempt to bring Allen good luck and said Emperor Roselle had probably invented paper cranes.

Klein investigated the strange dream Doctor Allen had after finding Will Auceptin’s paper crane, then divined that looking into the matter posed no danger. He visited Old Kohler and Liv’s family, returned Daisy’s vocabulary book, and gave them money for her upcoming interview before leaving with a grim reflection on the scale of poverty.

• Klein concluded that someone may have used Will Auceptin’s paper crane to prompt Doctor Allen’s dream through the Spirit World or a planted suggestion.
• Klein studied how Astral Bodies roamed the Spirit World, then divined that investigating Doctor Allen’s dream would bring no danger.
• Klein visited Old Kohler and learned that the informant’s unstable income kept him from improving his living conditions.
• Klein and Old Kohler went to Liv’s home, where Klein returned Daisy’s vocabulary book and gave Liv two pounds for Daisy’s interview with Mike Joseph.
• Klein left Liv’s home and remarked to Old Kohler that there had never been any savior.

Klein entered Dr. Allen’s dream to investigate the nightmares involving Will Auceptin and found Will trapped in a bizarre black tower with a giant silver-white snake. The dream shattered when Will cried out that the snake wanted to eat him, leaving Klein with a Wheel of Fortune card as the final image.

• Klein reflected on why the poor could not easily improve their circumstances through revolution and concluded that lasting change would likely require support from a Church.
• Audrey persuaded Dr. Islante to invite her to a secret discussion group on psychology and mysticism, bringing her a step closer to the Psychology Alchemists.
• Klein used the Master Key to enter Dr. Allen’s home and cast a Dream Charm to enter his dream.
• Klein followed Dr. Allen across a barren plain and into a distorted black tower coiled around by a giant silver-white snake.
• Klein found the injured Will Auceptin in the tower, where Will cried that a snake wanted to eat him and dropped his tarot cards, leaving the Wheel of Fortune card in his hand.
• The dream shattered, and Klein awoke in Dr. Allen’s bedroom.

Klein investigated the paper crane connected to Dr. Allen’s nightmares and used divination above the gray fog to locate Will Auceptin, whose dream suggested a connection to a Mercury Snake near the Tussock River. He decided to leave the dangerous case to the Nighthawks, then a Nightmare captain entered Klein’s dream to question him about Allen.

• Klein divined that Will Auceptin’s location overlapped with Dr. Allen’s and secretly swapped the paper crane for a copy.
• Klein used the original paper crane above the gray fog and dreamed of Will beside a ring-shaped snake made from building blocks, with rushing water outside.
• Klein interpreted the snake as a Mercury Snake and decided to advise Dr. Allen to report the matter to the Evernight Church.
• A Nighthawk Nightmare captain entered Klein’s dream and asked about Dr. Allen, and Klein described Allen’s nightmare and the paper crane.
• The captain thanked Klein and left, while Klein wondered whether the Nighthawks would take the substituted crane from Allen.

Klein learned that the Nighthawks had swapped Dr. Allen’s paper crane, then accompanied Mike Joseph to interview the rescued girls and heard Mike propose a relief fund from Capim’s property. At the Tarot Gathering, Derrick arrived anxiously seeking help about the exploration team, while Alger offered Roselle’s diary pages in exchange for learning about the card beside Mr. Fool.

• Dr. Allen showed Klein and Mike Joseph a paper crane and described his recurring nightmares; Klein suggested that he return to the church, knowing the Nighthawks had replaced the fake crane with another poorly folded one.
• Klein accompanied Mike through the East Borough as he interviewed the rescued girls, who described their hardship and uncertain prospects.
• Mike proposed using income from Capim’s real estate to establish a relief fund for the rescued girls and others harmed by Capim, then paid Klein his hiring fee.
• Derrick anxiously awaited the Tarot Gathering because he feared the isolated exploration team members had been influenced by the Fallen Creator; a shadowy figure watched him before the gathering began.
• At the gathering, Audrey noticed the members’ moods, including Derrick’s anxiety and Fors’s curiosity, while Alger offered three pages of Roselle’s diary in exchange for learning what card lay beside Mr. Fool.

At the Tarot Club, Alger traded three pages of Roselle’s Diary for a private look at the Black Emperor Card, while Klein read Roselle’s account of a voyage toward the Western Continent and his claim to have seen the Abyss. The third diary page proved to be a forgery, and Klein ended the exchange by inviting Alger to question the Sun.

• Audrey anticipated Alger’s reaction to the Black Emperor Card, while Fors realized that her dog had chewed up Roselle’s Diary entries she might have sold.
• Klein showed Alger the Card of Blasphemy marked “Sequence 0, Black Emperor” and explained that the card could be viewed privately.
• Alger gave Klein three pages of Roselle’s Diary, and Klein read Roselle’s plans to sail west, his discovery of references to the Western Continent, and his sighting of the Abyss.
• Klein recognized that the third diary page was forged and wondered whether Roselle’s Abyss was the mystical Abyss described in other texts.
• Klein invited the members to begin, and Alger asked the Sun whether he had learned anything from the former exploration team captain.

Derrick told the Tarot Club how Amon’s avatar caused the former exploration team captain to lose control and possessed him. He revealed that Mr. Fool sent an angel to purify the avatar, leaving the others stunned.

• Derrick recounted how the former captain appeared in his room after Derrick returned to the City of Silver and had lost control.
• Alger deduced that the City of Silver’s Chief had deliberately exposed Derrick to the captain and that the captain’s loss of control was linked to Amon noticing Mr. Fool’s gathering.
• Derrick described Amon’s appearance and said the Chief destroyed the avatar’s shadow, leaving behind a translucent worm.
• Alger warned Derrick that the Chief might be monitoring him, and Derrick admitted that Amon had possessed him.
• Derrick explained that Mr. Fool detected the possession and sent an angel through a ritual to purify Amon’s avatar, astonishing the Tarot Club.

The Tarot Club discussed the angel Mr. Fool sent to purify Amon’s avatar, and identified the dead worm Derrick had coughed up as a possible Worm of Time. Derrick then sought advice about the City of Silver’s returning exploration team, whose members showed signs of corruption by the True Creator, and the discussion ended with the members looking to Mr. Fool for help.

• Derrick described how Mr. Fool’s angel had purified Amon’s avatar and showed the Tarot Club the translucent, twelve-ringed worm he had coughed up.
• Alger identified the worm as a possible Worm of Time and explained that it might be a vessel Amon used to create avatars; Mr. Fool said it was the main ingredient for certain rituals.
• Derrick reported that members of Lovia’s exploration team had returned from the Fallen Creator’s temple with altered personalities, and Alger warned they might have been corrupted by the True Creator.
• Alger advised Derrick to expose one explorer’s abnormalities, then use the worm and a feigned loss of awareness to make the Chief suspect Amon’s avatar had died in a clash with the True Creator’s corruption.
• When Alger admitted he had no way to provoke the explorer’s full abnormal state without an item related to the True Creator, Audrey and the others looked to Mr. Fool.

At the Tarot Club gathering, the World offered Derrick an item corrupted by the True Creator so he could expose a compromised explorer, and the Hanged Man helped him plan how to use it safely. Fors learned that the Apprentice pathway had belonged to the Abraham Family and discovered the family’s bloodline curse might explain her past; the gathering then turned to a case involving the Black Emperor.

• The World offered Derrick the Eye of All-Black in exchange for a rare monster material or a method to remove mental corruption, and Derrick accepted the conditions.
• The Hanged Man advised Derrick to control the circumstances, seal the item, and keep the Council of Six from discovering it.
• Fors offered a chapter of Spirit World Observations in exchange for information about the Apprentice pathway, and the World explained its ties to the Abraham and Tamara Families and Gnosis.
• The World revealed that the Abraham Family suffered from a bloodline curse, prompting Fors to suspect Mrs. Anlisa’s husband and Mr. Lawrence had belonged to the family.
• Fors agreed to sacrifice the first chapter of Spirit World Observations to Mr. Fool, then asked to buy Beyonder materials that the members could not provide.
• Audrey introduced an interesting Backlund case involving the chivalrous thief known as the Black Emperor.

At a Tarot Club gathering, Audrey recounted the killing of Capim by the chivalrous thief Black Emperor, prompting the members to consider whether the human trafficker was tied to colonial slave disappearances. Fors learned how Beyonder characteristics worked and arranged to buy the Sheriff characteristic from Mr. Fool’s blessed, while Klein shared symbols for reading Roselle’s diary entries before ending the gathering.

• Alger heard Audrey describe Black Emperor’s killing of Capim and asked whether Capim was connected to the disappearances of slaves in the colonies.
• Klein said his blessed had contributed to the matter and had obtained the characteristics of a Sheriff and an Interrogator Beyonder.
• Fors asked about the Sheriff characteristic, and Audrey explained that Beyonder characteristics were conserved and could serve as the main ingredients for potions.
• Fors asked Mr. Fool to hold the Sheriff characteristic for a week so she could buy it for 600 pounds, and Klein agreed.
• Klein gave the Tarot Club members symbols for numbers and dates in Roselle’s diary, then ended the gathering.

Fors began transcribing Spirit World Observations, while Klein sent Derrick a dangerous artifact to help him prepare for a possible escape from City of Silver. The chapter ended with Klein reading the notes and learning about the living Seven Lights and their Brotherhood of Pure Light.

• Fors prepared to transcribe the first two chapters of Spirit World Observations and planned to take frequent breaks to avoid losing control.
• Following The Hanged Man's advice, Derrick performed a ritual to request a bestowment, and Klein sent him an iron box containing the Eye of All-Black with a warning not to touch it directly.
• Derrick sealed the box, carried it to the training grounds, and watched the isolated exploration team while waiting for an opportunity to act.
• A hidden observer reported Derrick's ritual to Colin Iliad and urged him to intervene, but Colin chose to wait because Amon's intentions remained unclear.
• Klein received Fors's transcription and discovered that reading the notes caused mania, then learned that the Seven Lights were living beings who had formed the Brotherhood of Pure Light.

Klein learned from Spirit World Observations that Yellow Light Venithan had prophesied an apocalypse within two hundred years and had spoken of the Abraham Family’s curse. As Klein pursued money for his next advancement, Xio and Fors tried to secure the Sheriff ingredients, while Derrick discovered that someone was monitoring him and awaited news from the released exploration team.

• Klein read that Yellow Light Venithan had foretold the world’s destruction within two hundred years and said an Apprentice would eventually help lift the Abraham Family’s curse, beginning a greater calamity.
• Klein calculated that the apocalypse might be only decades away, then wrote to Leppard asking about the bicycle patent and considered how to afford the ingredients for Sequence 6.
• Fors told Xio that a trusted seller offered the Sheriff potion ingredients for 600 pounds, and Xio planned to borrow the money while Fors offered to cover any shortfall.
• Derrick asked The Fool how to identify his watchers and was told to touch the object in the iron box briefly and look toward the black threads’ source.
• Derrick touched the object, endured a painful vision of black threads converging on a shadow, and realized someone was monitoring him.
• Dark knocked on Derrick’s door and told him that the exploration team had been released from isolation.

Derrick resisted Dark’s tempting mushroom and used a prayer to Mr. Fool to expose the corruption hidden in Dark’s offerings. As Dark confronted him, Klein prepared above the gray fog to answer Derrick’s ritual.

• Dark visited Derrick and offered him Doom Fruit and a vivid mushroom said to strengthen the body and improve spirituality.
• Dark described murals claiming that the Lord had borne humanity’s sins and that the people of the City of Silver were favored believers.
• Derrick resisted the mushroom’s allure and recited Mr. Fool’s honorific name while fetching water.
• Derrick dispelled the Wall of Spirituality around the iron box, and the Doom Fruit and mushroom revealed themselves as severed human fingers and a bloodstained scalp.
• Dark’s eyes turned red as he demanded to know what Derrick was doing.
• Klein entered the space above the gray fog and prepared to respond to Little Sun’s prayer.

Derrick used a prepared ritual to send an iron box through a mysterious door as Dark mutated and attacked him, but the watcher intervened and captured them both. Chief Colin and the watcher then considered whether Amon had sacrificed an avatar to thwart the force corrupting the exploration team, and Colin prepared to interrogate Derrick.

• Derrick recognized the bloody scalp and fingers hidden in Dark’s apparent food, then used his Bard song and Beyonder powers to fight Dark’s flesh tentacles.
• Derrick’s sacrificial ritual opened a mysterious door, and he threw an iron box through it before the watcher’s shadow swallowed him and Dark.
• The watcher found Derrick unconscious and Dark transformed into a mass of flesh, while a transparent twelve-ringed worm fell from Derrick’s hand; he suspected Amon’s avatar had died.
• The watcher reported the incident to Chief Colin, who concluded that Derrick—or Amon—had prepared the events and questioned why Amon had waited forty-two years.
• The watcher urged Colin to detain the exploration team and investigate Elder Lovia, but Colin revealed that Lovia had already warned him about the team and ordered Afreau to join him in interrogating Derrick.