Recaps

Isaac and Carlo arrived at Vista, the prosperous capital of the Western Territory, where Carlo’s identification revealed his connection to the Joint Investigation Bureau. The carriage passed through the city gate, and Isaac took in Vista’s busy streets and crowded market.

• As dawn broke, Carlo slowed the black dog-drawn carriage when they neared Vista.
• Isaac saw Vista’s imposing walls and learned from Carlo that it was the largest city in the Western Territory.
• At the gate, guards inspected Carlo’s identification booklet and let the carriage enter without inspecting Isaac.
• Isaac read the booklet’s name, the Western Territory Joint Investigation Bureau for Anomalous Incidents, and Carlo explained nothing about his affiliation.
• After passing through the gate, Isaac watched Vista’s bustling market and compared its lively crowds with Palmer’s weary atmosphere.

Isaac arrived in Vista and saw the city’s advanced railways and electrical wires before Carlo brought him to the detective agency. After settling into his room, Isaac learned that Carlo expected them to get their meals by mooching at the nearby Joint Investigation Bureau.

• Isaac saw a horse-free railcar rumble overhead and learned from Carlo that Vista’s elevated railways and electrical wires were widespread.
• Carlo brought Isaac to the agency at number 122, where Isaac found his adoptive father’s books and manuscripts stacked safely on the desk.
• Carlo showed Isaac the guest room and warned him that the second floor was off-limits without permission.
• Isaac asked how they would get meals, and Carlo said they mooched them at the nearby Joint Investigation Bureau.

Isaac settled into Carlo’s home and received his first task: find a way to dispose of the ruined carriage while learning his way around Vista. He decided to let the black dog stay, and the chapter ended with Isaac realizing the dog wanted him to give it a name.

• Carlo showed Isaac the supplies he had taken from the Joint Investigation Bureau and told him to use them or join him for meals there.
• Carlo told Isaac to spend the day settling in, then assigned him the task of finding someone in Vista to take the wrecked carriage.
• Carlo left the decision about the black dog to Isaac, who considered its strength and uncertainty about its origins.
• The black dog wagged its tail to persuade Isaac to keep it, and Isaac agreed after asking whether it would stay out of trouble.
• Isaac asked why the dog had raised its paw, then understood that it wanted him to give it a name.

Isaac named the black dog Fenri and set out to sell his battered carriage for salvage. On the way, he earned extra money by driving a couple to Glory Cathedral, where he received a tip.

• Fenri traced its original name, Fenriskul, in golden flames, and agreed to Isaac calling it Fenri.
• Isaac moved Edward's books into the guest room, found Carlo's map of Vista, and chose to visit a recycling station with Fenri.
• As Fenri pulled the carriage through an upscale district, a hunting dog cowered after Fenri glanced at it.
• A gentleman mistook Isaac for a carriage driver and paid him a shilling to take his wife to Glory Cathedral.
• Isaac drove the couple to the cathedral, and the gentleman gave him another five pence as a tip.

Isaac met Vilka, a nun of the Church of the Golden Bough who confirmed his connection to Professor Lessing and warned him about beings from the Wilderness. He then reached the scrapyard to sell his carriage, where the owner offered ten shillings.

• Vilka paid Isaac a pound to ride with him and revealed that she had known Professor Lessing and wanted to confirm Isaac was his adopted son.
• Vilka said Carlo had taken Lessing's books, gave Isaac her regards for Schuster, and warned him to be careful around beings from the Wilderness.
• Fenri reacted aggressively to Vilka, who told him to respect the master of Vista before departing.
• Isaac decided to learn more about Vilka and the Wilderness later, then continued with Fenri to the scrapyard.
• The scrapyard owner inspected Isaac's carriage and offered him ten shillings for it.

Isaac sold Carlo’s worn-out carriage, then questioned Ellie about Carlo Schuster. He learned that Schuster funded an orphanage and paid children to report what they saw around Vista, leaving Isaac aware that his own questions might reach Schuster.

• Isaac sold the carriage for 10 shillings and kept its rope to make Fenri a leash.
• Isaac met Ellie outside a grocery store and paid her to answer questions about Carlo Schuster.
• Ellie told Isaac that Schuster funded Molly Orphanage, provided a teacher, and rewarded children for writing truthful accounts of what they saw and heard.
• Isaac realized the newsboys’ reports could serve as a citywide intelligence network for Schuster.
• Ellie said Schuster welcomed others to submit reports too, and Isaac realized his inquiries about Schuster might be passed along to him.

Isaac learned about Vista’s local news and Carlo’s paperboy intelligence network, then told Carlo about meeting Vilka. Carlo planned to take Isaac to the Joint Investigation Bureau that afternoon to arrange his credentials.

• Isaac asked Ellie about Vilka and news in Vista, and she told him people were discussing repealing the Corn Laws.
• Isaac returned to 122 Red Maple Street and told Carlo that Vilka had met him, mentioned the books and the Wilderness, and sent Carlo her regards.
• Isaac told Carlo that Mr. Schuster funded an orphanage and had paperboys record what they saw, and Carlo confirmed that he ran the arrangement as an intelligence network.
• Carlo told Isaac to get ready to visit the Joint Investigation Bureau that afternoon so they could arrange his credentials.

Isaac accompanied Carlo to the Joint Investigation Bureau to register as an auxiliary investigator. Daisy Miller recorded his details and asked whether he had ever experienced an anomalous incident.

• Isaac left Fenri at home and followed Carlo to the Joint Investigation Bureau.
• Carlo teased the Bureau staff, who avoided greeting him, before selecting Daisy to help register Isaac.
• Daisy took Isaac and Carlo to the records room and began filling out Isaac's registration form.
• Isaac gave his personal details, and Carlo answered that Isaac did not believe in a righteous god.
• Daisy asked Isaac whether he had ever experienced an anomalous incident.

Isaac completed his registration as an outside employee of the Joint Investigation Bureau after revealing that he had encountered Mary the “Shepherd.” Carlo showed him the Ninth Special Investigation Section’s office and explained the Bureau’s structure, leaving Isaac asking how much authority it had.

• Isaac told Daisy that Mary the “Shepherd” had chased him, and Daisy finished his registration and gave him a temporary pass.
• Carlo took Isaac to the Ninth Special Investigation Section’s office and said a desk would be set up for him.
• Isaac examined the case files and map, and Carlo explained that its pins marked locations of anomalous incidents.
• Carlo described the Joint Investigation Bureau’s departments and explained that Section Nine operated semi-independently under his authority.
• Isaac asked Carlo how much authority the Joint Investigation Bureau had.

Carlo explained how the Joint Investigation Bureau had taken on authority from the churches and the City Police Force, with the Church of the Golden Bough supporting Grand Duke Ogway. Isaac deduced that Vilka connected the Ogway Family and the church, but Carlo withheld the nature of her relationship to Grand Duke Ogway.

• Carlo explained that the Joint Investigation Bureau could investigate anomalous incidents beyond church and local jurisdiction, and that the Church of the Golden Bough had cooperated with Grand Duke Ogway.
• Isaac suggested that the Church of the Golden Bough and the Ogway Family were effectively one and the same, based on their close cooperation and combined coat of arms.
• Isaac guessed that Vilka was the key link between the Ogway Family and the church, and Carlo confirmed she belonged to both and was a cardinal.
• Isaac guessed that Vilka was Grand Duke Ogway's daughter, but Carlo said he was wrong and refused to reveal their relationship.
• Carlo said Vilka was someone both Grand Duke Ogway and the pope treated politely, then mentioned the bureau's very old cat, Patch.

Isaac learned that Vilka wanted Edward Lessing’s books because they held a secret, though Carlo admitted he had never examined them. As Isaac prepared to search the books for clues, Carlo took him to watch the “sunrise” of Director Patrick entering the stairwell.

• Isaac asked Carlo why Vilka had tried to steal the books, and Carlo explained that she wanted their contents kept secret.
• Isaac recalled Edward’s unfinished letter and learned Carlo did not know exactly what the books contained, though he suspected Edward had encrypted his research.
• Isaac decided to examine the books himself for hidden clues.
• Carlo led Isaac to the stairwell to wait for a sunrise, then presented the bald Director Patrick as the rising sun.

Carlo introduced Isaac to Director Patrick, then took him to the logistics department to apply for basic equipment. Isaac learned that Patrick was a supernatural whose ability burned away his body hair, and that Carlo routinely let logistics blame him for missing supplies.

• Carlo introduced Isaac to William Patrick, who warned Isaac to work hard and told Carlo not to crouch in the hallway.
• Carlo explained that Patrick’s supernatural ability turned his skin into molten gold and burned off his hair and eyebrows.
• Carlo brought Isaac to logistics to apply for basic equipment, and the clerk registered the request but said it needed the department head’s signature.
• Carlo told Isaac that logistics staff blamed him for minor missing supplies because he had repeatedly taken the blame for their inventory discrepancies.

Isaac and Carlo discussed why the Joint Investigation Bureau’s cafeteria had been serving potatoes at every meal, linking the surplus to the expected repeal of Vista’s Corn Laws. Carlo explained that the potato-heavy menu reflected the grand duke’s position in the struggle between Vista’s old agricultural nobility and its rising industrial elite.

• Isaac followed Carlo to the Joint Investigation Bureau cafeteria, where the menu featured several potato dishes.
• Carlo explained that dealers were rushing to sell potatoes before the Corn Laws were repealed and prices fell.
• Carlo told Isaac that the Corn Laws protected Vista’s local nobles from cheaper imported grain but obstructed the Western Territory’s economic integration and industrial growth.
• Carlo described the parliamentary conflict between landowning nobles and industrialists, noting that the repeal faction had the upper hand but the grand duke would decide the outcome.
• Carlo told Isaac that the cafeteria’s all-potato menu was the grand duke’s stance.

Carlo explained to Isaac how the Grand Duke and the Church of the Golden Bough were dismantling the old order in Vista and trying to establish a new one before its fading afterglow disappeared. As Isaac left the Joint Investigation Bureau with Carlo, he kept wondering what Carlo meant by saying that they might need to experience the night.

• Isaac concluded that the Grand Duke was secretly encouraging the Corn Laws debate, and Carlo explained that the Grand Duke no longer depended on the old nobility.
• Carlo described how the Joint Investigation Bureau was taking authority from the churches and the City Police Force, weakening the old nobility's control.
• Carlo asked Isaac what he thought of Vista, and Isaac described its changes as the creation of a new order.
• Carlo explained the Fading Day Era and said the Ogway Family and the Church of the Golden Bough wanted to raise a new sun before the old order's afterglow vanished.
• As they left the bureau, Carlo remarked, "But without ever experiencing the night..." Isaac followed him outside, wondering what he had meant.

Carlo took Isaac home and planned to buy him respectable clothes the next day, while Isaac searched Edward’s history books for a possible hidden clue about the Great Sunset. The next morning, Carlo tried to use his dice to heat Isaac’s tea, but the check failed.

• Carlo told Isaac that understanding people’s interests and political struggles was an important skill for an investigator.
• Carlo said he would take Isaac shopping for better clothes the next morning and hinted that they would also conduct an experiment.
• Isaac examined Edward’s history books and wondered whether his adoptive father had uncovered something about the Great Sunset or hidden a clue in the books.
• The next morning, Isaac found Carlo making tea with the dice and tried to heat his own cup of water.
• Carlo rolled a check to boil the water in Isaac’s cup, but the result of 91 failed.

Isaac learned that Carlo's ability could fail even at simple tasks, then received a Holy Silver sword cane Carlo had commissioned as a weapon for him. Carlo told Isaac to practice and pointed to Lessing's combat training and skill as reasons to trust his abilities.

• Isaac succeeded at heating water for tea after Carlo explained the risk of a critical failure.
• Isaac asked what Fenri ate, and Carlo joked that they could kidnap people before saying Fenri would not starve.
• Carlo showed Isaac an ebony cane modified to conceal a Holy Silver blade and explained that it could harm aberrants.
• Carlo told Isaac to carry the sword cane because he expected Isaac to fight if they encountered an aberrant.
• Isaac drew and tested the blade, then asked whether Carlo was worried he could not use a sword.
• Carlo said Lessing had trained Isaac well and had once killed a church knight in a duel.

Isaac learned from Carlo that his adoptive father, Edward Lessing, had killed a church knight in a duel before leaving Vista. Carlo then brought Isaac to a clothing shop to teach him to notice a deeply concealed irregularity, but Isaac could not yet identify it.

• Isaac asked Carlo about Edward's past, and Carlo explained that Edward had defeated a Church of the Golden Bough knight in a duel after being accused of blasphemy.
• Carlo said Edward had been exiled from Vista after winning the duel, while Isaac wondered whether he had later gone to Palmer.
• Carlo took Isaac to Harper and Sons Clothing and Hat Shop and told the shopkeeper to outfit him.
• Carlo explained that he had chosen the shop because something was wrong with it, though the problem was difficult to detect.
• Isaac tried on a dark gray suit and looked at the shopkeeper, but he still could not see anything unusual.

Isaac tried to learn whether Harper had encountered anything unusual at his clothing shop without making him suspicious. He used a clothing consultation as a pretext, and the chapter ended after Harper revealed the shop had been open for thirty years.

• Carlo advised Isaac to ask the shopkeeper about unusual incidents, leaving Isaac to find a natural way to raise the subject.
• Isaac studied Harper and reasoned that a direct question might make the cautious shopkeeper worry about damage to his business and family legacy.
• Isaac asked Harper what clothes would suit work that required both respectability and freedom of movement.
• Harper recommended a practical gentleman's hunting coat and offered to alter it for Isaac.
• Isaac praised Harper's service and asked about his regular customers, and Harper said the shop had operated for thirty years since his father's generation.

Isaac pretended to be a private detective to persuade Mr. Harper to explain a troubling incident at his shop. Mr. Harper described a returned suit that gave off an increasingly powerful stench, then revealed that a customer who entered afterward said he could smell nothing unusual.

• Isaac told Mr. Harper he was a private detective who discreetly investigated dangerous matters, while Carlo silently watched his act.
• Mr. Harper offered Isaac a commission and the clothes for free if he would hear out the problem, and Isaac agreed to listen without promising to help.
• Mr. Harper said a customer bought a black suit and returned it two days later, claiming it did not fit.
• When Mr. Harper inspected the suit, he found no damage or stains but detected a faint, unsettling stench that grew stronger overnight.
• The customer never returned, so Mr. Harper burned the suit; its stench intensified during the burning before finally fading after he cleaned up the ashes.
• Mr. Harper said a customer entered the shop later that day and told him he could not smell anything strange.

Isaac questioned a shopkeeper about a strange odor only he could smell, then Carlo identified it as a curse and offered the case as a commission. The shopkeeper hired Isaac for 20 pounds, leaving the curse unresolved as Isaac prepared to investigate.

• The shopkeeper explained that the odor began after a customer returned an ordinary black garment and had grown stronger, though no one else could smell it.
• Isaac asked about the customer and garment, then consulted Carlo about taking the case.
• Carlo told the shopkeeper that a curse had attached itself to him and offered to handle it for 100 pounds.
• The shopkeeper asked Isaac for a cheaper rate, and Isaac quoted 20 pounds for the commission.
• The shopkeeper paid a 10-pound deposit, and Carlo gave him written proof that the deposit would be refunded if they failed to solve the case.

Isaac and Carlo investigated the curse at the clothing shop and agreed on how private work and agency commissions would be paid. With Carlo’s help, Isaac used Spirit Vision to follow the curse’s aura into the shop, where he found a human silhouette surrounded by mist.

• Isaac examined the shop’s backyard for traces of the burned clothes, while Carlo explained that private jobs did not have to be shared through the agency contract.
• Carlo identified the smell and the customer who returned the clothes as possible leads, then directed Isaac to focus on the curse affecting the shopkeeper.
• Carlo helped Isaac succeed at using Spirit Vision and gave him a walking stick to navigate with his eyes closed.
• Isaac followed the gray-green mist from the yard into the shop and stopped before a mist-wreathed silhouette whose voice belonged to the shopkeeper.

Isaac used Spirit Vision to examine the curse affecting the shopkeeper while Carlo taught him how curses interact with a person’s spiritual layers. Isaac penetrated the shopkeeper’s Spirit Garment and saw his living internal structure, leaving Carlo to ask what he observed.

• Isaac saw the curse’s gray-green aura wrapped around the shopkeeper’s Spirit Garment, with strands already seeping inside.
• Carlo explained that the Spirit Garment protects people from curses and that the shopkeeper’s healthy habits had so far limited his symptoms to a foul odor.
• Carlo instructed Isaac to penetrate the Spirit Garment and inspect the shopkeeper’s Spirit Body.
• Isaac used the dice to see through the Spirit Garment and observed the shopkeeper’s bones, muscles, blood vessels, organs, and scattered colors.
• The shopkeeper covered his chest after Isaac described seeing his internal structure, and Carlo asked Isaac what he saw.

Isaac examined Harper’s spirit body and found that a curse was spreading through him, then prepared a substitute exorcism ritual to transfer the curse into a mirror. The ritual was set up, leaving Isaac ready to begin.

• Isaac used Spirit Vision to identify cyan contamination spreading through Harper’s head and learned that the shopkeeper had also been affected by the curse.
• Isaac concluded that the burned garment had only carried the curse and decided to begin by severing its connection to the shopkeeper.
• Isaac asked the shopkeeper for a full-length mirror, three white candles, refined salt, and a quiet room.
• Isaac explained to Carlo that he planned to use a substitute exorcism ritual, and Carlo judged the curse to be relatively inactive.
• Isaac arranged salt into a circle and triangle, set candles at the triangle’s points, and positioned the mirror to reflect the shopkeeper’s whole body.

Isaac performed an exorcism that drew the curse from Mr. Harper into a mirror and destroyed it, resolving the commission. As Isaac and Carlo left the shop, they encountered Cardinal Vilka.

• Isaac confirmed Mr. Harper worshipped Vicania and began the ritual with three candles arranged around the mirror.
• Isaac’s prayer turned the candle flames gold, and a faint gray-green mist rose from Mr. Harper and drifted into the candlelight.
• Isaac struck the mirror with his sword cane, shattering it into dull powder and purifying the curse.
• Mr. Harper confirmed the odor had disappeared and paid Isaac the remaining ten pounds of the commission fee.
• Isaac decided to leave the curse’s deeper source to the authorities, and Carlo greeted Cardinal Vilka across the street.

Cardinal Vilka confronted Isaac about invoking Vicania’s power despite not being a believer. She said the goddess had acknowledged him, so the church would not punish him, but warned him not to perform divine rituals in sanctuaries or in front of clergy.

• Carlo suggested Vilka had come to settle accounts with Isaac for using Vicania’s prayer and power.
• Vilka told Isaac she had sensed Vicania’s power descend nearby, while Carlo teased her and threatened to provoke her.
• Vilka drew her revolver on Carlo, then put it away and addressed Isaac.
• Vilka said Vicania had acknowledged Isaac, so the church would not hold him accountable for invoking her power twice.
• Vilka warned Isaac not to overstep in Vicania’s sanctuaries or conduct rituals requiring divine power when clergy were present.