activities

The volcanic eruption was averted, Siesta would be abandoned, and Schwarz and Ceylon would join Rhodes Island. In the end, everything was resolved in a fairly acceptable manner.

Though imperfect, a future worth looking towards still awaits.

The annual Obsidian Festival has just begun! Enjoy the festivities, and support your favorite artist!

Blaze follows Leizi to Baizao in search of the truth of her origins. As all of Baizao prepares for the Feast of a Hundred Delicacies, a feeling of unease permeates the city. Blaze visits a small eatery, where she enjoys a familiar dish.

Leizi returns to the Judicial Review Office for the trial of Yu Cheng, a former deputy minister of the Office. Yu Cheng has turned himself in, claiming to be the one who burned down the archives in the scrollery. Yu Cheng's strange behavior leads Leizi to believe he may have an ulterior motive. Leizi decides to review old cases that Yu Cheng once investigated.

Through deduction, Leizi identifies the person most directly connected to the two old cases—Ning Shu, the retired Minister of Rites. That same day, Liang Xun, the Advisor of Yumen, also appears at Ning's manor.

Xingzhu takes Blaze all over Baizao in search of the tangerine cakes she remembers, but they do not find them. Eventually, the Young Chef suggests that Mo Bufu, head chef of Ding Feng Lou, might know how to make them.

Blaze is determined to take part in the Feast of a Hundred Delicacies Chef Selection Competition, so the Young Chef starts giving her special culinary training. Unfortunately, her horrid cooking skills give him a real headache. Meanwhile, Xingzhu patiently accompanies Blaze and gives her advice. A bowl of longevity noodles brings back a lot of memories for the two.

The Young Chef gives Blaze's longevity noodles his seal of approval. Leizi finds another way to access the Academy's archives, allowing her to take her investigation in a new direction.

Blaze goes to Ding Feng Lou to take part in the Chef Selection for the Feast of a Hundred Delicacies; coincidentally, Leizi is investigating there. Out of sheer luck, Blaze stumbles her way through the qualifiers and meets Mo Bufu, when the Ding Feng Lou venue suddenly catches fire.

Blaze rescues Mo Bufu from the fire, who turns out to be the witness Leizi is after. Just as Leizi seeks to question him, Chen Che of the Judicial Review Office arrives with her force, putting the whole place under lockdown.

Blaze is invited to the Ning Manor, where Xingzhu confesses to being a daughter of the Nings, and to having met Blaze's father before. Elsewhere, Jie Zhen finds Leizi, and hints to Leizi that she should stay staunch and see the investigation through to the end.

Blaze and Leizi meet up again, and the two decide to head to the Feast of a Hundred Delicacies. Elsewhere, the time has come for the Yanese imperial court to decide on the matter of the bestial Sui. The True Lung is set to announce his verdict at the Feast.

Hundreds of mandarins gather before the Feast of a Hundred Delicacies. During this time, the Grand Commandant's Messenger finds Zuo Xuanliao overseeing Yumen. Leizi and Blaze sneak into the Feast, and just as Leizi stands up to remonstrate with the True Lung, a great conflagration overtakes the banquet.

Chaos reigns in the banquet hall, and Xingzhu covers for Blaze as she leaves the scene. Blaze is stopped as she tries to escape, and the one who stops her tells her her true identity: the descendant of the traitorous Grand Preceptor, who committed treason forty years ago.

The Young Chef gives Blaze a special tangerine cake, and Blaze finally puts together the entire truth of her history. Elsewhere, Ning Shu arrives at the Judicial Review Office to have an honest discussion with Yu Cheng in his prison cell about everything to do with an old case from forty years ago.

Blaze and Xingzhu finally know each other's histories. Determined to seek an explanation for everyone's sake, Blaze plans to confront the True Lung. Meanwhile, with his delivery box in hand, Young Chef gets ready to meet a very special customer.

The bestial Sui matter comes to a head. Atop the Yumen city tower, Liang Xun confesses his actions to the Grand Tutor. Inside an ancient temple outside the city, two proxies reunite after a long time.

Blaze and the True Lung finish their long conversation while Yu opens his heart to Wang. With snow falling, the great doors of the Tomb of Sui open again after a hundred and twenty years, and Wang steps inside once more.

Four decades ago, news of the True Lung's death sent shockwaves throughout Yan. One rainy spring night, a prince and a scholar hurried their families out of Baizao.

In far off Lungmen, Wei Yenwu receives an invitation from the capital, prompting him to recall the turbulent tale of how he departed it. Leizi is brought back to the Judicial Review Office, where the minister Chen Che takes pains to dissuade her from chasing down any more of Blaze's history.

Long ago, a twelfth, nascent consciousness emerged within the Tomb of Sui. This fledgling awareness engaged in conversation with the ancient, immense entity, filled with questions about the vast mortal realm.

Na Saoirsí is caught up in the Samhain celebrations, but Loughshinny senses that something is amiss. A statue, a 'feast', and barely hidden hatred... What she encounters drives her to meet her sister. Both of them look down at the city engulfed in violet flames.

After a falling-out with her sister, Loughshinny fails in her attempt to dispel the violet flames. Brigid wants to leave the city and go elsewhere, but gets stuck outside its gates. Dublinn, who should be upholding order in the city, only exacerbates the crisis.

Famine breaks out in the city, and hatred for the Victorians is deliberately stoked. Culann tries to distribute stored grain to maintain order, and delegates the task of finding Theo to Nemos. Nemos searches everywhere for Theo to no avail, and eventually runs into Loughshinny.

Loughshinny and Brigid search for Theo the apprentice, when they notice something suspicious about the city's grain shop owner. As night falls, Dublinn's victory celebration is about to begin… In the tavern, after another round of drinks, the greedy red dragon of the story makes its return.

Driven to madness by avarice, the Dublinners are led into the Dark Woods by the greedy red dragon. From the grain shop owner, Loughshinny and Brigid learn the truth about Theo's disappearance and the whereabouts of the smuggled food carts.

The return of the food carts does little to stem the spread of mayhem. Culann learns the truth before Loughshinny and Nemos find him, and makes the decision to destroy the statue in the middle of the square.

Culann drags the sculpture to the city square and tries to make the masses see reason, but dies surrounded by the crowd's madness. Then, purple flames burn, and Eblana descends... The first fragmented story ends here, while the curtains slowly unfurl on the second.

The statue burns in the square, and invitations to dance—both past and present—overlap as Eblana and Loughshinny face each other, separated by the departed hero in between. In the end, Loughshinny receives an agreement, and takes the deceased out of Na Saoirsí and towards the historical ruins.

With the aid of the Exiled King, Loughshinny penetrates the barrier in the Dark Woods and reunites with her companions. In the ruins, the wakemen reject Loughshinny's unspoken words, but accept the request to hold a funeral for the departed.

Eblana welcomes an unexpected guest in the city. In the ruins outside, Loughshinny witnesses a traditional Taran funeral's fire-returning ceremony.

After the funeral, the Exiled King once again appears before Loughshinny, inviting her to witness the secret within the palace ruins for herself. Loughshinny comes face to face with Tara's past, and the story of the Exiled King himself.

Casualties in the city are heavy. The flames of hatred burn furiously. Loughshinny returns to the city with Brigid. In the ruins, the wakemen and Moran talk about Tara's past. In the tavern, the unnamed woman continues the story.

Eblana falls, but the purple fire in the city burns even fiercer. Loughshinny, Nemos, and Brigid each take their own action... Here ends the second story.

To give the story an ending, the writer begins to tell the third story: Brigid makes a bet with the Exiled King, Loughshinny confronts the dark mist, and Nemos announces the death of the Red Dragon.

The curfew is broken by the rising desire to avenge the Red Dragon, until Brigid brings the wakemen back into the city. At the same time, Loughshinny continues to struggle against the dark mist. Amidst sorrow and song, the people begin to return the Red Dragon's flame.

As the flames return amidst song, Loughshinny prevails over the dark mist as well as her hesitant heart and enters the purple fire, transforming the purple shade of death into an orange hue of rebirth. From the firelight the red dragon comes back to life, sending the darkness away.

In a dilapidated inn, a writer tells a fragmented tale: the greedy red dragon rouses the long-dead Exiled King, while her noble sister leads her companions back to the capital of Tara, Na Saoirsí.

The noble red dragon returns to the castle once more. To win many more futures than her own, she goes to confront the greedy red dragon, to kill her, and yet, to mourn her.

Here ends the third story. The narration is now complete, and the storytellers revealed. A myth is born, and the nation of Tara rises. The one and only Red Dragon leads her people towards a new life, but her 'shadow' appears at Rhodes Island.

The second Summit of Nations gets underway, welcoming top-level delegations from every Terran nation, from Kazdel to Ægir. However, at a critical moment, an unexpected explosion occurred in Laterano. The newly-created Cardinal Lemuen is assigned to investigate the incident.

After causing an explosion in the city, Exusiai enters a confessional and corroborates the strangeness pervading Laterano, as well as the conspiracy to blow up the Shrine of Nurtury and stop the final, most important event of the Summit of Nations—the Nativity.

Laterano implements a strict arms control policy, shutting down all its firearms workshops. Exusiai arrives at one of these firearms workshops in search of materials she can use to make explosives. The Shrine of Nurtury continues to take in refugees of all races and nationalities on a large scale.

The 'Matriarch', administrator of the Shrine of Nurtury, demonstrates an all-accommodating future for Laterano to the Gun-Knight Patrizion. Exusiai convinces the firearms workshop's apprentice to help her build explosives.

Arturia escapes her captivity in Landen Monastery, and Federico gives chase. Meanwhile, Exusiai decides to infiltrate the Shrine of Nurtury by blending in with the refugees.

Lemuen's investigation of the explosion leads her to the Shrine of Nurtury, but the Matriarch rejects her offer to help with the Shrine of Nurtury's security.

Exusiai is forced to dismantle her bombs when she realizes that the Shrine of Nurtury is full of innocent refugees. During the process, she unexpectedly runs into Lemuen, who is there to investigate. At the same time, Federico finds Arturia, and both of them seem to sense something unusual stirring in Laterano.

Andoain, now working as a Nurturer for the Shrine of Nurtury, is attacked. Fiammetta and her friends save him. Fiammetta decides to drop the matter of Andoain's past actions for the time being, allowing him to complete his duties at the Nativity.

'Fallen' Sanktas outside of Laterano begin to return to the city. Federico and Arturia escape the 'dream' and see a deeply anomalous Laterano.

The Matriarch invites Andoain to participate in greater things for the Shrine of Nurtury. Exusiai is arrested for attempting to sabotage the Nativity, and all the non-Sankta are taken away by gun-knights under various pretexts.

As Lemuen interrogates Exusiai, a confessional barges onto the scene to save the latter—it turns out the confessional Exusiai has been colluding with is the Doctor. Lemuen decides to let Exusiai go, as the Doctor meets up with Mon3tr to verify the cause of Laterano's various abnormalities.

Lemuen is defrocked of her cardinal's vestments after letting Exusiai go. Federico and Arturia break free of the 'dream', and realize the Pope has long since vanished. At this moment, Federico receives a mysterious request to enter the city.

The non-Sankta taken into the Shrine of Nurtury are informed that Laterano will bestow halos on them. Some refuse, but they are not given a choice.

The arborbeast mother that Andoain has been nursing dies, but his sorrow is soon wiped away. He realizes that the Matriarch has promised him a terrifying future. Federico stands off against the Sanktas errari, eventually permitting them to enter the city to assist him.

Andoain, who has come to a sudden revelation, resolves to blow up the very first room in the Shrine of Nurtury. Exusiai, with the Doctor's guidance and the help of the others, takes hold of the Matriarch and pulls her out of the 'dream'.

The 'dream' collapses, and the masses return to reality. Exusiai finds herself as part of a procession, and the Matriarch, who has reverted to the form of a Teekaz, leads that procession to the Basilica. She tells Exusiai of the origins of Laterano, and that she was the First Saint.

With the guidance of Andoain, Federico and Arturia head underground to search for the Law. Mostima and Fiammetta decide to work separately from Lemuen in their attempts to stop the procession of pilgrims. Meanwhile, Mon3tr and the Doctor get a lock on Priestess's trail.

After seeing that the Law's true form is a machine, Arturia decides to leave, while Federico and Andoain step forward for an audience. The rebels place down barrier after barrier. Exusiai tries to attack the First Saint, but the procession of pilgrims seems to be unstoppable.

The Law reveals its true nature—a PCS system created by a previous civilization—and thrusts Federico and Andoain into a simulation. The Doctor learns Priestess's true motive for coming to Laterano: to use PCS to unify all the races into one, allowing for the smoother propagation of Originium.

More and more people begin to awaken. Patrizion and the others begin to resist. Exusiai manages to defeat the First Saint. PCS reveals its plan, but Federico and Andoain point out its self-contradictory nature, and destroy it.

Sanktas living outside Laterano come down with symptoms similar to 'falling' almost simultaneously. The Shrine of Nurtury towers above Laterano, almost touching the clouds. No one remembers when it appeared, but no one questions its existence.

The Nativity is successfully completed. Countless eyes witness an arborbeast give birth to a fledgling with a halo. The Matriarch announces that Laterano will bestow its halo upon all. Federico and Arturia return to reality and find that all of Laterano is under the influence of a 'dream'.

The upheaval of faith and the departure of God has left deep scars upon Laterano, as its people struggle to discover new reasons to live and new ways of life. Before the remnant of PCS, Exusiai makes the first wish of a new Laterano.

The Doctor and Mon3tr verify the issues plaguing Priestess, and refuse her suggestion. Priestess witnesses the birth of a true 'angel prototype' from the remains of PCS. All across Terra, omens of change begin to appear.

The producer Greta Stone insists that Dalton's death was an accident, but the coordinator Shelly believes it is linked to an incident five years ago. Lucian is reminded of a lesson that the Troupe Leader gave him when he was young.

Lucian has long hypothesized that the Troupe Leader may have returned from the dead. The script being auctioned at Wrankwood, with the Troupe's mark on it, and the accident that occurred after he joined the cast, all seem to indicate that he has come to the right place.

Shelly begins to hallucinate on the set, putting herself in danger and rescued by Lucian at the critical moment. Lucian uses the incident as an opportunity to find out more about the accident from five years ago—the tragic death of a young actress named Laura.

Shelly leaves a movie viewing session with Tippi, the background painter, after getting a message, and dies in the cold storage section of the warehouse. Lucian sneaks into the office and discovers another deliberately concealed secret.

Tippi questions Michael, who was the last to see Shelly alive, and suspects him of being the killer. A camera assistant inquires about Lucian's secrets, only to learn that a Catastrophe is about to hit the studio plate.

Greta speaks about the accident five years ago, and persuades the film crew to go ahead with the filming of the Catastrophe. Moira corroborates Michael's alibi and tells Tippi and Marion that Michael wanted to sneak off of the plate.

Michael recalls how Laura fell to her death, and wants to escape the plate with Marion. Lucian is increasingly certain that the Troupe Leader is here. He recalls his reasons for escaping the troupe, and once again resolves to kill its leader.

Michael and Marion argue while Tippi and Moira reaffirm their friendship. A quiet night passes, but in the morning, the stagehand Hautin discovers the corpses of Michael and Marion on the set, suspended in mid-air.

Moira suggests looking for a way to escape. Melanie seeks out Tippi to design the backdrop for her grand finale. While the script's ending is still being written, Greta meets with Lucian, hoping he will become the new leading man. Meanwhile, Steven, struggling with writer's block, hears a knock at his door...

Melanie talks about her past rivalry with Marianne, prompting Tippi to decide to help her create the perfect scene. Under the guidance of the 'God of Inspiration', Steven turns Lucian into the savior of his script, and the lead of its grand finale.

Greta realizes Lucian is not only focused on the film shoot, but also the things outside of it. She officially invites him to become the 'leading man', and to settle all that has transpired on the plate. His first step is to unmask the killer behind the serial murders—Moira.

Lucian reveals every step in Moira's vengeance for her older sister Laura, and as he closes in, Moira discovers she was never a part of Laura's life. The sabotage device Moira installed earlier takes effect, sending the plate straight towards the Catastrophe. The lives of the cast and crew are in grave peril, and there is no turning back.

The studio plate is damaged by the Originium storm. Tippi, shocked by the culprit being her good friend, decides to save the plate. At the same time, Lucian finds Moira once more, who has already descended into madness.

Lucian defeats the frenzied Moira with the Blood Diamond's song, but in doing so, he too falls into madness. Only through Miss.Christine's calming presence does he regain clarity—and uncover the one behind it all: the leader of the Crimson Troupe, long thought dead.

The Troupe Leader recounts everything that has happened on the plate and expounds on his 'aesthetics of death'. Lucian states his purpose plainly: he's here to kill him—again.

Lucian reveals the true identity of the Troupe Leader: a long-lived known as 'Tragodia'. He kills his teacher, he kills the god. But this murder ends in an inheritance—Lucian becomes the new Tragodia.

It is the last week of shooting for <i>The Death of Lady Dupont</i>, on a Wrankwood studio plate. The Messenger played by Lucian accidentally 'kills' Sir Dupont, but the blood that flows from the actor is not a prop.

The murderer's wanton violence sends the film set into a panic. Greta tells everyone of her past and to trust her vision, but disbands the crew—everyone has the right to leave, and she will finish filming with those who want to stay.

Tippi visits Moira in prison. 'Lady Dupont' rouses controversy and becomes a film festival's hottest topic. The new Tragodia, Lucian, meets the Playwright and Shalem in a cinema, and they prepare for their new journey.

Detective Koretou of the Mitsukue police targets Hoshiguma as his prime suspect in a twenty-year-old murder case, but the statute of limitations has already expired. Hoshiguma's return to Mitsukue has nothing to do with the case—it's because of a letter from Tessai, the head of the Kinsekikai yakuza clan, a man like a second father to her. The police are left scratching their heads, while Kouhei Mifune, another Kinsekikai yakuza, shows up at the police station and pulls Hoshiguma out.

Right before Hoshiguma's eyes, Mifune takes a life as if it's nothing. He even forges a letter in Tessai's name. Meanwhile, Momoka is forced to investigate a 'haunted house' kaidan in Kajimachi as part of a new TV show, unaware that it is the very place Hoshiguma once called home.

Hoshiguma crosses paths with Tessai's estranged son, Tetsuya, as well as Kichisei, a longtime resident of Kajimachi. Momoka, meanwhile, gets herself into even bigger trouble when her refusal to let her show tarnish Kajimachi's reputation backfires.

Late one night, an exhausted Hoshiguma comes face-to-face with an entity of kaidan legend known as the Wanyuudou. While tracking it, she encounters Moriuchi, an oden yatai owner. Meanwhile, the TV in Momoka's home suddenly begins showing a horrifying scene: her assistant Mio being coerced into plotting her murder. Worse still, not long afterward, Mio appears on Momoka's doorstep.

While running away, Momoka bumps into Hoshiguma, who helps the girl escape her pursuers. On their trail, Mifune broadcasts a 'missing person notice', effectively mobilizing the whole of Mitsukue to look for the duo.

Moriuchi gives Hoshiguma and Momoka directions to a shrine, where they meet an unruffled kannushi, and ultimately grasp the truth of the 'Wanyuudou's' true form—a kami of the Higashinese belief system.

Momoka unknowingly picked up a broken blade while filming her TV show, which leads Mifune to order her capture. Mio pleads for Mifune to abandon his plan, but Mifune's men pursue her all the way to the shrine. With the aid of the Unruffled Priest, Hoshiguma and Momoka manage to escape.

Moriuchi, Momoka, and the kami realize that most of Mitsuke's kaidan are nothing more than Mifune's machinations, leaving them bitterly disillusioned. But before they can even think about what to do next, Mifune's ninjas strike, spiriting Moriuchi away.

Momoka tells Hoshiguma about her past. As Momoka's room is not safe, they go to Kajimachi, where Tessai is. Hoshiguma and Tessai talk about the past.

Hoshiguma rescues Moriuchi, whom Mifune was trying to coerce into helping him, but Mifune seems satisfied at the outcome and leaves after instructing Mio to delay Hoshiguma. Tetsuya finds evidence of the 'Northern Court spy' that he was seeking, but there seems to be more to the story than meets the eye.

Hoshiguma escapes and encounters Detective Koretou in an alley on Nita Street. Rather than leave Higashi as Koretou advises her, she resolves to fight Mifune and face the sins of the past head-on. Just then, Hoshiguma hears Momoka's call.

Momoka makes contact with Kichisei and Hoshiguma with the help of Sarasa, an employee of Kinseki Station who detests Mifune. Moriuchi finds the Kami that he has been seeking for many years, though the reunion does not go as expected.

Fireworks show and accession ceremony... before they begin, Sarasa gives Mifune an unpleasant surprise by hijacking Kinseki Channel and playing an emergency broadcast announcing a Northern Court invasion to the entire city. The rest make their moves accordingly.

Hoshiguma fights her way into the TV station and helps Momoka and the others. She fights Mio again, this time without holding back, and is victorious, clearing the way for tonight's most important performance.

Through Kinseki Channel's broadcast, Momoka tells Mitsukue about her circumstances, Mifune's manipulation of Mitsukue's kaidan, and how she views all this. Mifune does not even have the energy to kill a revenge-bent Tetsuya anymore, and soon finds himself face-to-face with Hoshiguma.

By the riverside of Kajimachi, beneath the fireworks, Mifune spills the beans about the twisted hatred he has accumulated for Tessai and the others, but also shows a hint of tiredness and longing before the final showdown. Listening to the current state of Mitsukue—a place no longer recognizable as the hometown she once knew—Hoshiguma burns with the flames of rage, not just for Tessai, and not only at Mifune.