Chapter Summaries

Carlo Schuster replied to Professor Lessing’s questions about the Great Sunset, explaining how Julian’s upbringing and conflict with the Council of Sages led him to create the Hymn to All Gods. He connected Julian’s millennium rite to the beginning of the Age of Fading Daylight and left Lessing with a warning to keep his manuscript hidden.

• Carlo explained that Mikhail the Wise King empowered the Council of Sages, while Valens the Mediocre King was repeatedly overruled and mocked by them.
• Carlo described how Julian developed both arrogance and insecurity after watching his father’s humiliation, and came to distrust the Council of Sages.
• Carlo said Julian created the Hymn to All Gods, combining incompatible creation myths to claim authority in the name of every god and force the sages to listen.
• Carlo recounted that Julian recited the hymn at the empire’s thousandth-year rite in the Pantheon, after which calamity ushered in the Age of Fading Daylight.
• Carlo pointed out that the late empire’s records showed little organized religion, raising questions about when gods began manifesting and why churches claimed ancient imperial roots.
• Carlo warned Lessing that the church could retaliate against his history manuscript and advised him to put it away when finished.

After a landlord reneged on renting him a room, Isaac read that Palmer Bank’s private safe deposit boxes had been robbed and hurried there to check on the rare books and manuscripts he had stored. He suspected the robbers had targeted the boxes for something other than money, but knew little about the crime as he set out for the bank.

• Mr. Horton told Isaac he had rented the room to someone who offered more, then shoved Isaac out of the house.
• Isaac saw a newsboy announce a major robbery at Palmer Bank and bought a copy of the Palmer Daily.
• Isaac read that robbers had forced open private safe deposit boxes while leaving the bank’s cash and gold reserves untouched.
• Isaac recalled that he had stored Edward Lessing’s rare books, manuscripts, and rubbings in a Palmer Bank safe deposit box.
• Isaac hailed a cab to Palmer Bank, wondering whether the robbers had been after something other than money.

Isaac Lessing learned that his safe-deposit box at Palmer Bank had been robbed and realized the City Police Force might prioritize wealthier victims. A young private detective, Carlo Schuster, approached him and revealed that he was looking for an employee.

• Isaac arrived at Palmer Bank and found depositors and noble families gathered over the safe-deposit robberies.
• The bank manager told Isaac that his safe-deposit box was among those robbed and advised him to prepare a list of its contents for the City Police Force.
• Carlo Schuster warned Isaac that the police would likely handle prominent victims' cases first and suggested hiring a private detective.
• Isaac questioned Carlo's sales pitch, and Carlo explained that he needed an employee more than money.
• Carlo introduced himself by name and showed Isaac his business card.

Isaac left the bank before registering and went to Amorton Manor, where he rented a single room for the night. He asked whether Carlo Schuster was staying there, but the elderly woman found no one registered under that name.

• Carlo told Isaac he would be staying in Palmer at Amorton Manor and invited him to seek him out if he accepted the job.
• Isaac decided to find a place to stay instead of waiting at the bank to register, since he needed to recover things the City Police Force should not handle.
• Isaac arrived at Amorton Manor, an old inn once owned by the accused heretic Lord Amorton and now used by freelance mercenaries.
• Isaac paid five shillings for a single room for one night.
• Isaac asked the elderly woman at the counter whether Carlo Schuster was staying there, and she found no registration under that name.

Isaac checked into Amorton Manor while searching for a gray-haired man, but the old woman had no record of him. After hearing rumors that the third-floor single rooms were haunted, Isaac settled into room three and unpacked a revolver left by his adoptive father Edward.

• Isaac learned that the old woman had never seen the man he sought, then accepted the key to room three on the third floor.
• A mercenary warned Isaac that the manor's third-floor single rooms were haunted because Lord Amorton and his family had died in the corridor.
• Isaac inspected his tidy room, opened a stuck window, and decided to stay the night despite the rumors.
• Isaac unpacked his belongings and revealed the revolver Edward had left him.

Isaac investigated the Palmer Bank robbery and waited in a supposedly haunted room, where he caught James Fenn pretending to be a ghost. Fenn mistook Isaac for someone investigating him, then hinted that he would return something in a few days, leaving Isaac to suspect it was connected to the robbery.

• Isaac examined the holy silver bullets and letter opener he had found in Edward's trunk, then studied the newspaper report about the Palmer Bank robbery.
• Isaac heard noises outside his room but found the hallway empty, then stayed awake that night expecting something to happen.
• A white figure entered Isaac's room, and Isaac held it at gunpoint, revealing it was James Fenn in a sheet.
• Isaac explained that the room register had led him to suspect Fenn had rented several rooms on the third floor to keep others away.
• Fenn warned Isaac that someone was backing him and hinted he would return an unnamed item in a few days, prompting Isaac to suspect it was stolen property from the Palmer Bank.

Isaac searched the rooms where Fenn had hidden the stolen goods, hoping to find his books, but they were missing. He realized Fenn had mistaken him for someone investigating Carlo Schuster and asked how the books had been taken.

• Isaac followed Fenn to rooms 4 and 7 to inspect the hidden stolen goods.
• Fenn showed Isaac the jewelry, watches, coins, antiques, and other valuables stashed across three rooms.
• Isaac found no books and suspected the robbery had been staged to conceal the theft of a specific target.
• Isaac concluded that Fenn thought he was investigating Carlo Schuster because Isaac had mentioned the name at the manor’s front desk.
• Isaac asked Fenn how the person behind the robbery had taken the books from him.

Fenn recounted how Carlo Schuster ambushed him and stole the sack of books he had taken from a bank. Isaac realized Carlo had sent him to Amorton Manor and that the missing books were likely in Carlo’s possession.

• Fenn carried stolen boxes and books through an alley, where Carlo Schuster blocked his way and demanded the sack of books.
• Carlo revealed that he knew Fenn worked for a powerful employer, then threatened him with his cane when Fenn reached for his weapons.
• Carlo vanished, knocked Fenn unconscious, and left with the sack of books.
• Fenn awoke in the alley and continued to Amorton Manor with the remaining sack, his mission failed.
• After Fenn finished recounting the encounter, Isaac realized Fenn had assumed he was investigating Carlo and wondered if Carlo still had his books.

Isaac and James Fenn faced a wraith after Carlo used mysterious dice to determine that they would encounter one in Amorton Manor. As Fenn prepared to fight, Isaac sensed that the wraith might not intend to attack.

• Isaac suspected that Carlo had brought him to Amorton Manor as part of a recruitment test connected to his books.
• Carlo announced a dice check, and the dice landed on a result of forty-two, triggering eerie cries in the corridor.
• Fenn admitted that he had invented the manor’s haunting rumor, just before a wraith appeared outside the room.
• Fenn prepared his sword with holy water and told Isaac to shoot only if his bullets were holy silver.
• Isaac noticed the wraith seemed bewildered and expectant rather than hostile, and stopped Fenn from attacking.

Isaac used a prayer from the Church of the Golden Bough to calm the wraith at Amorton Manor and helped it find peace by giving it holy silver ammunition. Fenn mistakenly took this as proof that Isaac was a Golden Bough cleric, leaving Isaac relieved that he did not have to explain further.

• Isaac realized the Amorton Family had likely followed the Church of the Golden Bough and suspected the wraith had appeared because of the holy relic.
• Isaac recited a prayer of repose, and the wraith knelt and joined him.
• Isaac gave the wraith a holy silver bullet, which it accepted despite being burned by it.
• The wraith dissolved into luminous dust, and Fenn asked Isaac whether he was a Golden Bough cleric.
• Isaac let Fenn believe he was a cleric and avoided explaining his true connection to the prayer.

Isaac met Carlo at a café after surviving the vengeful spirit at Amorton Manor, where Carlo revealed the ordeal had been an employment test. Carlo refused to return Isaac’s foster father’s books, saying they were safer in his office, and told Isaac he was satisfied with his performance.

• Carlo summoned Isaac to meet him at a café the next morning and decided to call him Asa.
• Fenn declined to accompany Isaac, saying he would accept that he had failed the job rather than risk confronting a transcendent.
• Isaac went to the café, where Carlo explained that sending him to Amorton Manor had tested his ability to gather information and handle danger.
• Carlo told Isaac that his books were in his office in Vista and that he would not return them because others wanted them and Isaac could not protect them.
• Carlo told Isaac that he had passed the employment test and was smarter than his previous employees.

Carlo offered Isaac a job as an investigator, and Isaac accepted after hearing the terms. Carlo began demonstrating how the dark-gold dice worked, but his first roll failed to produce the contract.

• Carlo praised Isaac's ability to gather clues and make quick judgments, then explained that several previous employees had left or been injured.
• Carlo pressured Isaac with the threat of damaging his books, which he claimed were in Vista.
• Carlo offered Isaac room and board, reimbursed assignment expenses, and seventy percent of commission fees, with work hours depending on assignments.
• Isaac accepted the job despite the uncertain income and risks.
• Carlo took Isaac's dice and explained that they could make things happen through a roll, then rolled a twenty-one and failed to summon the contract.

Carlo explained the rules and limitations of his “All Checks” ability to Isaac, then had him roll dice to produce their employment agreement. The contract appeared on the table after Isaac rolled fourteen, leaving Isaac stunned by the result.

• Carlo invited Isaac to roll the dice and explained that the roll itself cost only the effort of rolling.
• Carlo described how All Checks could make an event happen if its dice result was at or below the check value, and explained its limits: feasibility, one check per goal, and the checker’s need to be an unbeliever.
• Isaac realized that Carlo needed employees to retry failed goals through another person, and Carlo said he had recognized Isaac’s lack of faith through observation.
• Carlo set a check value of fifteen for whether their employment contract could appear on the table, and Isaac rolled fourteen.
• A document titled “Employment agreement” appeared on the table, startling Isaac.

Isaac signed a contract to work for Carlo and received a character card showing his abilities and unusually high sanity. Carlo planned to take Isaac from Palmer to Vista that afternoon, while hinting that the powerful person behind Fenn might be a concern.

• Carlo and Isaac signed a brief employment contract covering room and board, commissions, and assignment expenses.
• After Isaac signed a form, a character card appeared with his stats, and Carlo explained how the attributes affected checks and could change.
• Isaac accepted Carlo's plan to leave Palmer for Vista that afternoon, since he had little reason to stay.
• Isaac asked whether Fenn or the powerful person behind him would cause trouble, and Carlo said Fenn had accepted his loss before hinting at the bigger threat.

Isaac accompanied Fenn to confront Carlo, who revealed he knew Fenn’s employer, Miss Vilka, and had taken the book. Carlo and Isaac then tried to teleport to Vista with Carlo’s dice, but both checks failed, so they set off to find a carriage.

• Fenn challenged Carlo about taking the book, but Carlo told him to inform Miss Vilka that he had it and assured him she would not blame him.
• Fenn accepted that the matter was out of his hands and returned to Amorton Manor after exchanging farewells with Isaac.
• Isaac asked Carlo how they would travel from Palmer to Vista, and Carlo proposed using his dice to attempt a shortcut by teleportation.
• Carlo rolled a check of 33, then Isaac rolled 25; both attempts failed to teleport them safely to Vista.
• Carlo put the dice away and left with Isaac to look for an available carriage.

Carlo and Isaac left Amorton Manor and headed out through Palmer's city gate, where Carlo bought a carriage without its horse. After showing a special pass to the guard, Carlo led Isaac beyond the city walls, leaving Isaac wondering what Carlo planned to do with the carriage.

• Isaac asked Carlo about his personal twenty-sided die, and Carlo explained that he used practiced techniques to influence his rolls.
• At Palmer's gate, Carlo bought a driver's carriage for fifty pounds and paid another ten pounds for the driver to push it outside the city.
• Carlo and Isaac passed through the gate, and a guard let them through after checking Carlo's dark green document.
• Carlo told Isaac the document was a special pass.

Isaac and Carlo summoned a creature to pull their carriage without making a mess. Their successful summoning brought them a palm-sized turtle that seemed willing to help.

• Carlo had the coachman and his helpers leave the carriage behind a rock outside the city.
• Carlo explained that Isaac needed to use his Spirit Mediumship to summon a willing carriage-puller, then gave Isaac the dice.
• Isaac successfully made the summoning check and waited for the being to arrive.
• A small turtle appeared beside Isaac's shoe, and Carlo judged it to be the summoned creature.
• The turtle tried to show Isaac that it was willing to pull the carriage.

Isaac and Carlo repeatedly summoned creatures to find one suitable for pulling their carriage. After Carlo punched a fiery giant wolf that began introducing itself, the wolf returned in a smaller, subdued form, and the chapter ended with them preparing to harness it to the carriage.

• Isaac dismissed a summoned turtle because it was unsuitable for pulling the carriage.
• Isaac summoned a huge, flaming wolf, and Carlo punched it before it could finish introducing itself.
• Carlo added obedience to the summoning conditions, and Isaac summoned what appeared to be the same wolf in a smaller, flame-free form.
• The black dog agreed to pull the carriage and meet Isaac's other conditions, though it looked displeased about not relieving itself wherever it pleased.
• Carlo agreed to test the black dog, and Isaac led it toward the carriage to harness it.

Isaac traveled with Carlo from Palmer toward Vista in a carriage pulled by a black dog. After Carlo ordered the dog to leave the road and race across the wilderness, he decided they would continue through the night and reach Vista before dawn.

• Isaac harnessed the black dog, and Carlo ordered it to pull their carriage out of Palmer.
• As they traveled through abandoned land scarred by the War of the Churches, Carlo explained that the journey to Vista would normally take a week.
• Carlo told the black dog to speed up and take the straightest route, so it left the road and raced through the wilderness.
• Isaac endured the carriage’s violent jolting while the black dog pulled them through grassland, hills, and woodland without tiring.
• When Isaac suggested stopping for the night, Carlo refused and said they would keep traveling until they reached Vista before dawn.

Isaac had a disturbing lucid dream of sinking through dark water among monstrous drowned corpses, then woke in the carriage bound for Vista. The journey continued past a railroad construction crew, and Carlo explained Vista’s ambitious plans to connect the Western Territory by rail.

• Isaac drifted into a lucid dream where a tentacle dragged him beneath a black, still surface.
• As Isaac sank through the strange liquid, he saw monstrous drowned corpses watching him from the darkness.
• Isaac woke after striking his head and chose not to tell Carlo about the dream because he still did not trust him.
• Carlo directed the black dogs toward lights in the wilderness, where workers were laying railroad tracks.
• Carlo told Isaac that Vista planned to extend the railway to Palmer and eventually connect major cities across the Western Territory.