Chapter Summaries

Klein questioned the ancient companions about the gods, the Giant King's Court, and the Angel Kings, while arranging to trade Queen Cohinem's cup for Siatas's Ocean Songster potion formula. Snowman named Adam as an Angel of Imagination, triggering the arrival of the King of the North, Yurizan.

• Mobett described how gods once walked the earth and identified the Abyss of Storm and Dark Heaven as earthly divine kingdoms; Siatas objected to calling the Lord of Storms a god.
• Klein asked Siatas about Queen of Calamity Cohinem and agreed to trade the queen's golden cup for the Ocean Songster potion formula.
• Snowman claimed the Ancient The Sun God had reclaimed his own authority, and Groselle stopped Siatas from attacking him.
• Groselle recalled serving as a guardian in the Giant King's Court's Forest of Decay and said the book had been blank when he found it.
• Mobett described the Amon family's feared ancestor, while Snowman identified Sasrir as the Dark Angel and named Adam as another Angel King.
• The cave shook as the King of the North, Yurizan, arrived after Snowman spoke Adam's name.

Yurizan, the King of the North, attacked the group outside their cave, and Groselle, Siatas, Mobett, Snowman, and Longzel joined forces to fight it. Klein and Anderson emerged as Siatas’s lightning-charged arrow pierced Yurizan’s head, leaving Klein considering whether he could control the Dragon’s Spirit Body Threads.

• Yurizan descended on the cave and unleashed icy-blue flames, but Groselle shielded the group and blasted a breach through the ice with a Storm of Light.
• Siatas, Mobett, Snowman, Klein, and Anderson rushed outside, while Edwina ordered Danitz to stay behind.
• Longzel tried to prevent Yurizan from flying away and struck its neck, but Siatas’s hurricane saved him from the Dragon’s counterattack.
• Groselle blocked Yurizan’s dive toward Siatas, and Mobett’s power briefly made the Dragon forget its attack.
• Snowman empowered Siatas’s lightning, and her arrow pierced Yurizan’s forehead as Klein and Anderson emerged from the cave.

The companions fought Yurizan, the King of the North, as Klein used Invisibility to approach the dragon and manipulate its Spirit Body Threads. Yurizan unleashed a freezing attack and charged Snowman, but Anderson blasted the ascetic aside while Edwina opened a path for Klein to use Flaming Jump.

• Yurizan conjured a blizzard and an icy ring that froze Groselle, while Snowman weakened the storm and Siatas disrupted its winds with a song.
• Longzel imprisoned Yurizan, Edwina triggered its madness, and Anderson pierced its mouth with a flaming spear before dodging its charge by hiding underground.
• Snowman freed Groselle, who engaged Yurizan as the others attacked; Edwina made Klein invisible so he could approach the dragon and manipulate its Spirit Body Threads.
• Siatas's arrows and Longzel's decree wounded Yurizan's shoulder, and Edwina used a brass mirror to enlarge the wound.
• Yurizan unleashed freezing cold, injured Groselle, and charged Snowman; Anderson blasted Snowman out of its path while Edwina created a fire path for Klein's Flaming Jump.

Klein and the others fought the frost Dragon Yurizan, coordinating their powers until they defeated him and opened the door out of the world. Groselle died after seeing the group succeed.

• Yurizan struck Siatas with his tail and froze Snowman, while Edwina used her powers to torment the Dragon.
• Groselle stepped in front of Yurizan and fought on despite his severe injuries, as Longzel, Edwina, Anderson, Mobett, and Klein restrained and attacked the Dragon.
• Yurizan shattered Groselle’s broadsword and wounded Groselle and Longzel, but Klein gained initial control of the Dragon’s Spirit Body Threads.
• Siatas shot Yurizan with a lightning arrow, Anderson attacked the wound, and Longzel prohibited flight as Klein disrupted the Dragon’s attempts to fight back.
• Longzel declared Yurizan dead, and the Dragon’s body transformed into a door to the outside world.
• Groselle told the others they had succeeded, then fell silent and died.

Klein and the others escaped the book’s world with Groselle’s body, but the companions who had lived there for centuries rapidly aged and died. They recovered four Beyonder Characteristics and faced the question of how to divide them.

• Klein confirmed that Groselle was dead, and Snowman prayed over his spirit as the group prepared to leave the book’s world.
• Siatas gave Klein the Ocean Songster potion formula, and the group carried Groselle through the illusory door into Edwina’s captain’s cabin.
• Mobett, Siatas, Snowman, and Longzel rapidly aged and died, while Groselle’s corpse rotted away and four Beyonder Characteristics formed.
• Edwina explained that Longzel’s potions and powers had been false manifestations of the book’s world, and the group silently watched the Characteristics coalesce.
• Anderson suggested dividing the four Beyonder Characteristics, saying their fallen companions would have wanted them shared among the people who fought together.

After the King of the North’s defeat, Klein and the survivors divided their dead companions’ remains and Beyonder Characteristics, and Edwina gave Klein Groselle’s Travels in thanks. Aboard the Golden Dream, Klein then contacted The Sun and The Hanged Man through the gray fog with news about potion formulas and ingredients.

• Anderson proposed burying Siatas and Mobett together, returning Longzel’s ashes to Backlund, and laying Snowman and Groselle to rest near giant ruins; Klein and Edwina agreed to handle the remains.
• Klein chose Siatas’s Beyonder Characteristic, Edwina chose Snowman’s, Anderson took the infant-palm-like one, and Danitz accepted the giant’s heart after Klein credited his scouting and risks.
• Edwina gave Klein Groselle’s Travels as thanks for helping defeat the frost dragon, and Klein agreed to tell her what he learned about the book’s origins and workings.
• Edwina invited Klein and Anderson aboard the Golden Dream, where the surviving crew celebrated their return to safety.
• Above the gray fog, Klein told The Sun that he had obtained the Notary formula and leads on the Light Priest formula and ingredient, then told The Hanged Man that he had secured the Ocean Songster formula and its main ingredient.
• Derrick received Klein’s message in Afternoon Town and was delighted that the Notary formula had been obtained on time.

Alger received the Ocean Songster potion formula and a main ingredient from The World, while Klein investigated Groselle's Travels and discovered it had been created by Ankewelt, the Dragon of Imagination. After giving Edwina the elf queen's golden wine cup for Siatas's tomb, Klein asked about buying a key that came from a giant.

• Alger learned that The World had obtained the Ocean Songster formula and a main ingredient, and wondered what he could offer in return.
• Klein divined that Groselle's Travels was not the Spectator pathway's Uniqueness, then failed to determine whether it corresponded to a high Sequence.
• Klein's divination showed a floating dragon city and an enormous shadow, whose imprint nearly killed him before the gray fog restored him.
• Klein concluded that Ankewelt, the Dragon of Imagination, had authored Groselle's Travels and decided to investigate it again later with caution.
• Klein gave Edwina the elf queen's golden wine cup to place in Siatas's tomb.
• Klein asked Edwina about the giant's key, and she offered to lend it to him before he decided whether to buy it.

Klein learned from Azik that Demigods gradually become Mythical Creatures, then used the Giant’s Key to divine that it led to a door associated with the Giant King’s Court and bought it from Edwina. In Backlund, Emlyn visited the Bravehearts Bar to find Ian and seek information about hunting believers of the Moon Primordial.

• Edwina agreed to sell Klein the Giant’s Key in exchange for learning what his research revealed.
• Klein watched the Golden Dream’s crew celebrate, then received Azik’s letter explaining Mythical Creature Forms and the distinction between Saints and Angels.
• Klein sacrificed the Giant’s Key above the Gray Fog and divined a towering bluish-gray door beyond a distorted barrier.
• Klein paid Edwina five thousand pounds for the key, told her it appeared connected to the Giant King’s Court, and agreed to discuss history with her.
• Emlyn went to the Bravehearts Bar to seek out the black-market arms dealer Ian for information about hunting believers of the Moon Primordial.

Emlyn hired Ian to find five people and learned that Ian was a street orphan with a Wraith connection. Meanwhile, Klein and Edwina discussed ancient empires aboard the Golden Dream, which arrived in Bayam.

• Emlyn reached Ian through a commission at the bar and agreed to pay for useful leads on five people.
• Ian explained his paper adventure game, then accepted Emlyn’s request for twenty pounds per useful lead and one hundred and fifty pounds for a confirmed location.
• Emlyn asked about Ian’s red eyes and learned that Ian was a street orphan who knew nothing about his ancestry.
• After Emlyn left, Ian spoke with Wraith Sharron, who reassured him that Detective Moriarty was doing well.
• Klein told Edwina that the coexistence of the Solomon, Tudor, and Trunsoest empires was necessary for the War of the Four Emperors, and Edwina announced that the Golden Dream had reached Bayam.

Klein left the Golden Dream after exchanging knowledge with Edwina and traveled with Anderson to meet Oakov, a former adventurer selling a mystical revolver. The chapter ended as Oakov presented Death Knell to Klein.

• Klein returned The Book of the Three Worlds to Edwina and departed the Golden Dream at Bayam with Anderson.
• Danitz asked Anderson about the Conspirer potion formula, received advice on advancing safely, and told Klein he planned to visit the Resistance and Bayam often.
• Anderson led Klein along a road built by the Resistance to Oakov's manor outside Bayam.
• Anderson introduced Klein as a buyer for Oakov's revolver and revealed that Klein had hunted Slaughterer Gillschies.
• Oakov explained why he was selling Death Knell, and Anderson and Klein discussed Oakov's Earth Mother faith and Frank Lee before Oakov produced the revolver.

Klein bought the Death Knell revolver from Oakov for 9,000 pounds and parted ways with Anderson. In Bayam, he planned to practice acting as a Marionettist by experimenting on a criminal pirate, but his arrival at the Seaweed Bar sent several patrons fleeing.

• Oakov explained Death Knell’s attacks and its weakness-inducing side effect, and Klein agreed to buy it for 9,000 pounds.
• Klein paid Oakov, transferred his bullets into Death Knell, and left the manor with Anderson.
• Anderson departed toward Bayam after Klein reminded him of the demigod’s task, while Klein continued toward the city alone.
• At an inn in Bayam, Klein decided to practice making and controlling a marionette by choosing a pirate whose crimes warranted hanging.
• Klein entered the Seaweed Bar, where patrons recognized Gehrman Sparrow and several ran for the back door.

Klein learned that his reputation had spread through Bayam and heard that the Resistance remained active while political and naval tensions rose. After Fair Elland warned him that the authorities were watching him, Klein changed inns and began planning to search for Mad Captain Connors Victor using the Sea God Scepter.

• Klein questioned the Seaweed Bar bartender about Admiral Robert Davis, the pirates, and the Resistance’s actions.
• Klein returned to his inn, where Fair Elland visited and explained that he had helped Donna’s father, Uldi, recover goods seized by Mad Captain Connors Victor.
• Klein asked where Connors Victor was, but Elland only knew that some of his men were gathering information in Bayam.
• Elland warned Klein that his conspicuous appearance and victory over Gillschies had drawn the authorities’ attention.
• Klein changed his appearance and moved to another inn, then decided to search the nearby waters with the Sea God Scepter.

Klein used the Sea God Scepter and sea creatures to search the waters around the Rorsted Archipelago for Connors Victor’s ship. After confirming the target was anchored near Simim Island and that confronting him was extremely dangerous, Klein prepared to attack the ship from afar under cover of the storm.

• Klein used believers’ prayers to direct sea creatures to search around the islands, but the effort depleted his spirituality and caused physical abnormalities.
• After resting through the storm’s arrival, Klein examined the images sent back by the sea creatures and found the Mad Captain Pirates’ ship near Simim Island.
• Klein used divination to confirm the ship belonged to Connors Victor and that dealing with him would be extremely dangerous.
• Klein rejected a direct infiltration and decided to attack the ship remotely with the Sea God Scepter, hoping to force Connors Victor to reveal his secrets.

Klein attacked the Cyclops with a lightning storm, tsunami, and hurricane to expose the powerful force aboard, but Jahn Kottman intervened before he could learn its identity. Kottman later found the ship drifting with its crew dead, while Klein answered Danitz’s late-night prayer to The Fool.

• Klein struck the Cyclops with lightning and a tsunami, but a hidden power distorted and dispersed his attacks.
• Klein used the Sea God Scepter to send the Cyclops flying, then sensed Jahn Kottman approaching and ended his response before being detected.
• Klein suspected that the force aboard the Cyclops had ties to the Black Emperor pathway and a royal faction, then answered Danitz’s prayer to The Fool.
• Jahn Kottman reached Simim Island and found the Cyclops drifting, its crew dead and Connors Victor bound to a mast with a wooden rod driven into his chest.

Danitz received a frightening response after praying to The Fool, while Klein learned that Mad Captain Connors Victor had died in a storm and planned to investigate the wreck. Alger reported to Chogo, who assigned him to investigate Connors’s associates and Gehrman Sparrow; meanwhile, Klein began contacting Arrodes for leads on the Bizarro Sorcerer potion formula.

• Danitz was shaken by The Fool’s response to his prayer and resolved to pray regularly while keeping the revelation secret.
• Klein read that Connors Victor and his crew had died aboard the Cyclops, and planned to ask The Hanged Man to investigate through the Church of Storms.
• Alger reported to Chogo, who said he had vouched for Alger’s loyalty to Kottman and assigned him to investigate people connected to Connors Victor.
• Chogo told Alger that Gehrman Sparrow had killed the Sequence 5 Devil Gillschies, then ordered Alger to gather intelligence on Gehrman.
• Alger decided to put little effort into the assignment, while Klein set up his radio transceiver to contact Arrodes.

Klein used Arrodes to learn where he might find the Bizarro Sorcerer potion formula and identify a demigod who had met Mad Captain Connors Victor. Arrodes also wished Klein a belated happy birthday and showed him a vision of its own mysterious origins before departing.

• Arrodes told Klein that Zaratul had become a monster while advancing to Sequence 1 and that the Antigonus Family Notebook, sealed behind Saint Samuel Cathedral’s Chanis Gate, might contain the Bizarro Sorcerer formula.
• Klein decided to return to Backlund to look for an opportunity to reach the notebook, rather than travel to the Hornacis Mountain Range or confront Zaratul directly.
• Arrodes showed Klein the disguised demigod who had been aboard Connors Victor’s ship, and Klein memorized the figure’s build for future identification.
• Arrodes wished Klein a belated happy birthday and said his current body had been born on March 4, 1327.
• Klein asked about Arrodes’s origins, and Arrodes showed him a vision of black liquid producing monsters and a point of light merging with a rock to form a silver mirror before saying goodbye.

Klein settled on returning to Backlund under a new identity and hoped Roselle’s diary would reveal another route forward. At the Tarot Club, Cattleya provided three diary pages that described Roselle’s fears for his son, his gift to Bernadette, and his plan to switch pathways.

• Klein decided to make Backlund his long-term base, first trying to steal the Antigonus Family Notebook and planning to adopt a new identity for the journey there.
• Cattleya received three pages of Roselle’s diary and brought them to the Tarot Club gathering.
• Roselle’s diary revealed his distress that Bonova’s faith had left him less himself, and his defiance toward the deity he believed was influencing his son.
• Roselle wrote that Zaratul had grown elusive after obtaining the Antigonus Notebook and described making Bernadette an item that could protect her from the Hidden Sage and the True Creator’s ravings.
• Roselle recorded investigating the Moon Primordial’s believers before deciding to switch to the neighboring Mystery Pryer pathway in pursuit of Sequence 1.

Klein read Roselle’s anguished diary entry and told Cattleya that unknown influences had turned the emperor’s attention toward Sequence. The Tarot Club then resumed its exchanges, with the World providing potion formulas and ingredients to Derrick and Alger.

• Klein read Roselle’s diary entry, which described a vision of destruction and his determination to ascend Sequence, and wondered what had driven him into such agitation.
• Cattleya asked why Roselle had gone mad in his later years, and Klein said he also wished to know but could confirm that unknown causes had made Roselle set his sights on Sequence.
• The World gave Derrick the Notary potion formula, and Derrick thanked him and read its ingredients.
• The World told Alger that the Ocean Songster formula and main ingredients he had requested were ready, surprising Cattleya and the others.

At the Tarot Club gathering, the World and the Hanged Man agreed to trade the Ocean Songster potion formula and ingredients for the location of a primitive island and a future exploration together. The members arranged several other trades and commissions before the Fool opened the free discussion.

• Alger offered Gehrman Sparrow the coordinates of a primitive island with ancient ruins and demigod-level Beyonder creatures in exchange for the Ocean Songster formula and ingredients.
• Alger asked to accompany Gehrman on the first exploration after he advanced, and Gehrman agreed; Alger then provided the island's location.
• Cattleya offered Fors six grams of Fallen Star Crystal for sixty pounds, and Fors arranged to complete the exchange the next day.
• Cattleya confirmed a source for Audrey's Dark Hunt Giant Lizard spinal fluid for one thousand pounds and reported no lead on the Hallucinatory Wind Chime Tree fruit.
• Gehrman told Cattleya he had a possible lead on angel blood, though obtaining it would take at least three months, while Fors said she was investigating Emlyn's commission.
• Derrick offered Emlyn a Sequence 5 vampire Beyonder characteristic in exchange for an Elder Tree root crystal and other ingredients, and Klein began the free discussion.

At a Tarot Club gathering, The World connected Mad Captain Connors Victor’s death to the disappearances and human trafficking tied to the royal family and military, prompting several members to investigate. The gathering ended with discussion of Gehrman Sparrow’s growing notoriety, and Klein turned his attention to Groselle's Travels.

• Derrick described how the City of Silver’s people survived in Afternoon Town by hunting monsters, despite the corruption in their meat.
• The World explained that Mad Captain Connors Victor had links to the colonial disappearances, human traffickers, and forces connected to the royal family and military.
• Audrey inferred that The World was the gentleman thief Black Emperor and a Blessed of Mr. Fool, while Alger and Cattleya agreed to investigate the matter.
• The World revealed that a suspected Black Emperor pathway demigod had been aboard Connors Victor’s ship and escaped before Jahn Kottman arrived.
• Cattleya reported that Gehrman Sparrow had killed the King of Immortality’s second mate, Slaughterer Gillschies, and Alger said major organizations were investigating Gehrman’s origins.
• After the Tarot Club gathering ended, Klein looked at Groselle's Travels.