Chapter Summaries

Isaac and Carlo investigated the ring’s design and questioned whether it was truly meant to store life force and restore its wearer. Their findings suggested it could instead be a conduit draining the wearer’s life force for Morzul, leaving the ring’s purpose more sinister than they had first believed.

• Isaac considered why the ring’s former owner had pawned it and connected the act to the cursed clothing returned at the hat shop, suspecting a shared link to the Ghoul Cult.
• Carlo examined the ring’s pattern and said its blood-vessel-like lines symbolized the transport of life, while the lack of a storage feature suggested the ring transmitted life force rather than storing it.
• Carlo pointed out that the lines stopped at a seam inside the band, and Isaac proposed that they led to a boundary connecting the ring to something beyond this world.
• Isaac suggested that the ring’s apparent boost in energy was a deception that concealed its draining the wearer’s life force and sending it to a being on the other side, possibly Morzul.
• Isaac concluded that the ring’s promise of lasting youth could lure people into wearing it, while their deaths might prompt others to feed it corpses and continue the cycle.

Isaac tried to meditate but became distracted by unresolved questions and memories of Edward's views on court wizards. He drifted into a strange dream involving a court wizard, a dagger, and blood, then woke unable to recall its details.

• Carlo put the ring away, returned to grading homework, and told Isaac to practice Spirit Vision and meditation instead of helping sort letters.
• Isaac struggled to meditate as thoughts about the ring, Li Jiehao, the Joint Investigation Bureau, and his foster father's letter kept surfacing.
• Isaac used Moran's cooling balm to help focus and reflected on Edward's view that some court wizards had pursued genuine scholarship behind mystical practices.
• Isaac's thoughts drifted into a hazy dream in which a voice ordered someone to remember a court wizard and kill him at the right time.
• Isaac woke after dark and remembered only vague images of a court wizard, a dagger, and blood.

Isaac and Li Jiehao found Carlo unconscious in the office beside a note telling them to remove his ring, which appeared to be keeping him asleep. Carlo suddenly sprang up to surprise them, and Isaac's reflexive kick hit both Carlo and Li Jiehao.

• Isaac woke from a hazy dream and went to the window, troubled by reminders of his lost past.
• Li Jiehao arrived at the dark office with Fenri, mistook Carlo lying on the floor for a threat, and threw a travel guide at Isaac when he opened a door.
• Li Jiehao and Isaac discovered Carlo facedown and feared he was dead, but Isaac noticed the ring on Carlo's finger and found a note instructing them to remove it.
• Isaac removed Carlo's ring and checked his pulse, but Carlo remained unconscious, so Isaac and Li Jiehao considered what to do next.
• Carlo suddenly shouted “Surprise!” and raised his head, and Isaac kicked him and Li Jiehao in response.

Carlo tested the ring and confirmed that it drained life force and sent it to an entity in the Wilderness, allowing him to locate that entity. The group suspected that different parties were behind the ring’s circulation and the order to retrieve it, but left the mystery unresolved as Carlo proposed they eat first.

• Carlo explained that the ring secretly stimulated its wearer while draining their life force, and that removing it let him recover after he briefly died.
• Carlo revealed that the ring sent life force to an entity in the Wilderness and that he had traced the entity’s location.
• Carlo and Isaac discussed whether the entity was Morzul and whether Morzul’s followers had circulated the ring to aid His revival.
• Isaac suggested that the ring’s distributors and the party that ordered Li Jiehao to retrieve it were different groups, leaving their motives unclear.
• Carlo put the ring away and suggested that the group eat before continuing their investigation.

Carlo arranged for Li Jiehao to join Section Nine as an external member and laid out his fitness training and introduction to Spirit Vision. Isaac also told Carlo about a strange dream that seemed to leave something behind, and Carlo suggested trying to recreate it during meditation.

• Carlo explained to Li Jiehao how black bread and canned food served as cheap staples, then told him he had arranged for Li Jiehao to become an external member of Section Nine.
• Carlo said Li Jiehao needed rehabilitation training before attempting Spirit Vision, while Isaac agreed to bring him to Moran's basic classes.
• Carlo asked Isaac about his meditation, and Isaac admitted he had fallen asleep after thinking about the court wizard and then had a strange dream.
• Carlo explained that dreams could have occult significance and advised Isaac to retrace the dream during meditation to see whether he could recover more details.

Isaac took Li Jiehao to buy suitable clothes after learning that Fenri and Patch seemed to be secretly coordinating. Meanwhile, Carlo met Section Two head Rano on Lake Pote, admitting he had brought him along to row.

• Li Jiehao told Isaac about his grueling stretching session, and Isaac said Carlo wanted him to get new clothes.
• Isaac and Li Jiehao left the cafeteria and noticed Fenri and Patch acting as if they had not been watching each other.
• Isaac wondered whether Patch was more than an ordinary cat, then continued with Li Jiehao toward the clothing shop.
• Carlo lounged in a boat on Lake Pote while Rano rowed, and Carlo said he had invited him along because he needed someone to row.

Carlo explained the Vist People’s beliefs about Morzul and the evolution of their faith, then connected those ideas to the arrival of Vicania. His account reminded Rano of Edward Lessing, whose similar theories had been condemned as blasphemous years earlier.

• Carlo told Rano that the Vist People believed Lake Pote connected the living world to the realm of the dead, ruled by Morzul.
• Carlo explained how Morzul’s role expanded from a tree deity of death into a god of life, death, and war, before the empire brought Vicania to Vista.
• Rano stopped Carlo and said he feared the Church of the Golden Bough would dismiss him from public office for discussing blasphemy.
• Carlo asked whether Rano already knew arguments like his, and Rano recalled attending Edward Lessing’s lectures at Vist University twenty years earlier.
• Rano remembered that the church had declared Lessing’s ideas blasphemous, after which the students who had attended his lectures fell silent.

Carlo explained to Rano how the faith in Vicania may have replaced the Vist People’s worship of Morzul, changing the meaning of Morzul’s symbols and diminishing his role. He left Rano questioning which version of Morzul was real and how that might relate to their investigation.

• Rano told Carlo that he had once found Professor Lessing’s lectures fascinating but no longer wanted to discuss blasphemous subjects.
• Carlo described how the Empire may have spread Vicania’s harvest faith to replace the Vist People’s worship of Morzul.
• Carlo explained that the Golden Bough may have transformed Morzul’s Tree in the Lake symbol into a relic of Vicania, while casting Morzul as the Ancient God of Decay.
• Rano suggested that Morzul’s changing form could have resulted from a long war among the gods and repeated pressure from Vicania.
• Carlo asked Rano which Morzul he believed was real.

Carlo explained to Rano that Morzul might be connected to both the ancient tree in Lake Pote and the later God of Decay, and that the suspected tree had a point of contact with the mortal world beneath the lake. He sent Rano’s team to search the shoreline for unnatural signs while he planned to contact Cardinal Visteria; elsewhere, Li Jiehao struggled to find a suit that fit.

• Carlo told Rano that the Morzul in their case showed traits of both the Vister people’s tree god and the God of Decay, and that the ring pointed toward a tree in the Wilderness.
• Carlo revealed that the suspected tree’s point of intersection with the mortal world lay beneath Lake Pote, and said he could contact Cardinal Visteria if needed.
• Carlo asked Rano to have Section Two search Lake Pote’s shores for curse traces, decay, discoloration, strange smells, and other unnatural signs.
• Carlo warned Rano to keep his investigators away from the water, then returned with him to shore.
• Li Jiehao tried on suits at Harper’s shop, but one was too loose and another too tight.

Harper measured Li Jiehao for alterations to a ready-made suit while Isaac checked in with him about unusual events. As Isaac and Li Jiehao walked back with Fenri, Fenri alerted Isaac to a possible follower, so Isaac told Li Jiehao to act normally and suggested they stop at a café.

• Harper measured Li Jiehao and arranged to alter a suit for him, with pickup set for the afternoon two days later.
• Isaac asked Harper whether anything unusual had happened, and Harper said everything was normal.
• As Isaac, Li Jiehao, and Fenri walked away, Fenri glanced back, prompting Isaac to suspect that someone was following them.
• Isaac told Li Jiehao to act normal and not look back, then suggested they enter a café to sit and wait.

Isaac and Li Jiehao noticed a man following them and used a café table change to draw him inside. The man approached the waiter to ask where they had gone, only to find Isaac, Li Jiehao, and Fenri waiting near the entrance.

• Isaac and Li Jiehao sat in the café and discussed the person following them while Fenri kept watch on the street.
• Isaac identified a plump man in a flat cap and dark coat repeatedly passing the window to check whether they were inside.
• Isaac asked the waiter to move them to a table near the entrance, creating the impression that they had disappeared.
• The man entered the café and questioned the waiter about Isaac and Li Jiehao, claiming he was acting for the Joint Investigation Bureau.
• The waiter pointed out Isaac, Li Jiehao, and Fenri at a table behind the man, and the man realized he had walked into their trap.

Isaac and Li Jiehao confronted a man who warned them to stay out of the cult’s affairs and demanded the ring. Isaac challenged the man’s claims and learned little about the cult’s plans before stopping him from leaving to ask where to deliver the ring.

• Isaac invited the man who had been following them to sit down, while Li Jiehao and the black dog remained beside him.
• The man warned Isaac and Li Jiehao to avoid the cult and demanded the ring, claiming the cult was responsible for Handel Baker’s death.
• The man threatened the Joint Investigation Bureau and promised Isaac longevity and foresight if he returned the ring to the cult.
• Isaac said the ring was in the Joint Investigation Bureau’s evidence room and questioned why the cult needed his help to retrieve it.
• The man insisted the cult’s plan would succeed regardless of Isaac’s cooperation and rose to leave, but Isaac stopped him to ask where the ring should be delivered.

Isaac and Li Jiehao reported a Ghoul Cult member’s invitation to Carlo, who decided to use the ring as bait and send Isaac undercover. After Carlo explained the ring’s connection to the Tree in the Lake, the group uncovered a contradiction between that entity and the Ghoul Cult’s mummy-like image of Morzul, leaving Morzul’s identity uncertain.

• A Ghoul Cult member told Isaac and Li Jiehao to go to a warehouse on Deer Lane, and Fenri agreed to track him if needed.
• Isaac and Li Jiehao returned to the Joint Investigation Bureau, where Carlo explained that the cult’s claims about immortality fit its beliefs.
• Carlo decided to accept the cult’s invitation and use the ring to investigate them, assigning Isaac to go undercover while Li Jiehao stayed behind.
• Carlo told Isaac and Li Jiehao that the ring pointed to the Tree in the Lake, an entity tied to the Vist People’s early worship and the faith in Morzul.
• Li Jiehao said the Ghoul Cult’s books depicted Morzul as a bandage-wrapped mummy, prompting Carlo to consider whether the cult knew about the tree, misunderstood the ring, or followed a different entity using Morzul’s name.

Carlo explained why the Church of the Golden Bough might watch the Morzul situation rather than intervene, and helped Isaac plan an undercover approach to the cult. Isaac would pretend to steal the ring after hearing it was being transferred to secure storage, while Carlo planned to use a check to make the cult believe him.

• Carlo said the Church of the Golden Bough might leave the conflict between the two versions of Morzul alone because Vicania was strong enough to handle threats and the church wanted to draw out its opponents.
• Isaac guessed the church might be holding back to conceal a larger plan, and Carlo confirmed that he knew some inside information but warned Li Jiehao that learning it could put him in danger.
• Carlo gave Isaac the ring and told him to go undercover, then proposed that Isaac wait until the ring was about to be transferred to secure storage before stealing it and seeking the cult's protection.
• Isaac outlined how he would act like a reluctant agent forced into betrayal, while Li Jiehao questioned whether the cult would trust the setup.
• Carlo said he could use a check to reduce the cult's suspicions, and Isaac understood that a convincing trail of events would make the check easier.

Carlo explained the limits of his All Checks ability and gave Isaac and Li Jiehao evasive answers about Patch and the Wilderness. The next day, Isaac went to Warehouse No. 3 on Deer Lane to contact the Ghoul Cult, but found a gathering of armed gang members inside.

• Carlo explained that vague or poorly calibrated checks could produce unexpected results, while refusing to explain his third rule.
• Isaac questioned Carlo about Fenri’s unusual manner toward Patch, and Carlo said Patch had outlived two grand dukes and was connected to the Wilderness in some way.
• Isaac suspected that Carlo’s warning about being struck by lightning referred to Vicania forbidding him from discussing Patch or the Wilderness.
• One day later, Isaac disguised himself and went to Warehouse No. 3 on Deer Lane, where he heard a relaxed group of people inside.
• Isaac entered the warehouse and saw armed men gathered around liquor bottles and tin cans, whom he recognized as gang members.

Isaac went to a warehouse to meet his Ghoul Cult contact and refused to hand over the ring to a group of men who could not prove they were authorized to receive it. When the Boot Gang tried to take it by force, Isaac fought them off, and the gang leader ordered his men to pin him down together.

• Isaac arrived at the warehouse and told the leader he had come to meet his contact with the ring.
• Isaac refused to surrender the ring until he could confirm the recipient was responsible for it.
• The men identified themselves as the Boot Gang and threatened Isaac when he tried to leave.
• The leader grabbed Isaac, who caught his wrist and broke free.
• The leader punched Isaac, but Isaac caught and twisted his wrist before blocking and evading attacks from other gang members.
• The leader recovered and ordered the Boot Gang to attack Isaac together and pin him down.

Isaac fought off the Boot Gang and uncovered that Joey was secretly monitoring the handoff for the Ghoul Cult. After Isaac showed Joey the ring, Joey led him deeper into the alley to meet someone from the Cult.

• Isaac defeated the Boot Gang members who tried to surround him and demanded to settle things peacefully.
• Isaac realized Joey had pushed the gang toward a fight to keep the handoff quiet and prevent Isaac from leaving with the item.
• Joey admitted he was an informant for the Ghoul Cult and explained that the Cult had used the Boot Gang to handle the handoff.
• Joey said he could no longer stay with the Boot Gang and agreed to take Isaac to someone who could make decisions for the Cult.
• Isaac showed Joey the ring, and Joey led him farther down the alley to meet the Cult's representative.

Isaac negotiated with Glen over the ring, demanding the cult guarantee his safety before he handed it over. As Isaac prepared to leave, Glen called him back, leaving the ring and his fate unresolved.

• Joey brought Isaac to Glen, who was wary of Isaac and asked why he had been brought there.
• Isaac refused to hand over the ring through intermediaries and demanded to know how the cult would protect him.
• Isaac asked the cult to escort him safely out of Vista, while Glen said he needed approval from higher-ups.
• Isaac rejected Glen’s offer of a cult safe house unless someone with authority stayed with him, and the two reached an impasse.
• Isaac turned toward the door, but a successful check prompted Glen to call him back.

Carlo gave Isaac a twenty-sided die that let him observe Isaac’s surroundings and remotely deploy the Check Domain, though using it caused him headaches. Glen agreed to take Isaac to a western city base where a senior cult member could meet him, while leaving Joey without a clear place in the cult’s plans.

• Carlo explained the Keeper Perspective and its conditions and drawbacks, and Isaac pocketed the die.
• Glen told Isaac that a senior cult member ran the cult’s base in the west of the city, and Isaac agreed to go there if the person was truly present and senior.
• Glen ordered Joey to keep the Boot Gang quiet and said someone would contact him later about further work.
• Isaac asked Glen what would happen to Joey, and Glen dismissed him as an errand boy who could fend for himself.

Isaac followed Glen to the Ghoul Cult’s outpost and met Joseph Halperin, a frail immortal who agreed to let him stay in the room next door. Isaac remained wary of the cult’s plans and Halperin’s condition, while Carlo urged him to stay and investigate.

• Glen brought Isaac to the outpost and told him to wait there while the cult’s higher-ups decided what would happen to him.
• Glen introduced Isaac to Joseph Halperin, who communicated that Isaac could stay in the room next door.
• Carlo identified Halperin as a Ghoul Cult higher-up and urged Isaac to investigate what was happening with him.
• Isaac asked about the outpost and warned Glen he would leave if he noticed anything suspicious, but Glen told him not to pry or wander.
• Glen explained that caretakers visited Halperin but did not stay on the third floor, leaving Isaac in the room beside him.