Since the “Bloody New Years Eve” that freed Catherineborough from DUF occupation, Alexander (the Gladstone sisters' cartel) is a major player in all local businesses, kindly tolerated by the city council. Being confidants of George, too, Nerissa allow Harper, Room and Sneaky to continue working for them. One boozy celebration at the Jawsmith’s later, Harper finds himself continuing his good work on Miranda. Sneaky heads back to the Cull Haven slums instead to look for Claire. All he finds are some scattered ex-rebels, Rupert (an explosion-friendly unhuman) and Black Guy, who decide to accompany him back to Catherineborough. Meanwhile there, while Harper’s affection towards Miranda deepens, the city council is passing harder and harder regulation laws for unhuman guilds every day. Miranda uncovers that the macry the DUF was using in it’s headquarter was secretly redirected from her mines. When the council disbands the miner's unhuman representative from its midst, public commotion is growing. Miranda dreads some plot against the unhuman population. She is about to agitate an all-out riot, reiterating the Bloody New Year’s Eve, when Baruch Caan and the High Priest make their entrance, unveiling quite a different conspiracy: Several high-ranking mages, covertly working for the DUF, were subtly controlling the council with mind spells for years, swaying it towards anti-monster consent and slowly gaining control of the ‘Borough’s macry production. Sneaky confronts Nerissa, facing her agitated mob that’s ready to throw over the council by brute force. Projecting Baruch’s column live on every television screen in town (thanks to Room’s mad skills), Sneaky manages to redirect the people’s wrath towards the unveiled 17 mages. In the outrage that follows, most of them are slayed quite briskly.
In the next days, Sneaky’s appearance and his revelation that the DUF is secretly using magique as well, is widely discussed on every channel. We also learn that Fuzz was monitoring everything all along, apparently with an agenda of his own. Covertly he was meeting with co-conspirators all over Fictionaria: Some geek in the Eastern Archipelago state, the Proxus of the Church of XII, the Lawmaker’s high secretary Michael Benn and a shady cloaked partner, only referred to as “the old man”. They briefly mention the old King still to be alive. Just when a new council is to be assembled in Catherineborough’s town hall, avi-pirates burst through the exploding ceiling and take all the humans captive in their flying fortress. Seeking out Vladimir and his amazing Sky Bison Ruppa, it’s up to Sneaky, Rupert and the High Priest to give chase.
Meanwhile the Lawmaker and his inner council are watching Skeaky’s revealment about the DUF mages in Catherineborough. The broadcast has gone viral all over Fictionaria - everyone knows about it now. Dean Emeritus Horatio Stinewoolfer, the Lawmaker’s executive advisor, advocates to officially use DUF mages from now on, since the word is out anyway. The Lawmaker gladly gives in and furthermore appoints Special Agent Koudlam (who keeps calling the Lawmaker “Dad”) and a team of four Special Agents to take care of Sneaky permanently.
Entering the pirate avi fortress Caprica in two separate teams, Sneaky and Rupert infiltrate the pirate ranks while the High Priest prepares Vladimir and himself in his own way - through irrational amounts of weird substances. Despite the inevitable following havoc, confusion, trash talk and the occasional occurence of a pirate killing ninja, the two teams manage to meet up again to hatch a plan to free the captured humans. Unfortunately the plan goes horribly wrong, but is somewhat saved by macry-amplified, ship-wide music magique worked by the High Priest and Vladimir, resulting in the freeing of Harper and Room. As they are finally on their way to the Prison Hold and to the remaining captured humans, they run into two units of Squad 7 (whom have separately boarded the Caprica) but overpower them effortless.
Arriving at the Prison Hold, Sneaky and his crew find the better part of the pirate crew massacred at the feet of the Ninja, who then swiftly disappears. They free the prisoners and reunite happily, until Baruch Caan demands to indulge in the same amounts of weird substances as the High Priest did so far. The High Priest gladly complies and follows up with the same amount for himself as well. Due to that, something weird is happening to him: The White Noise talks to him, he gains a “little fungoid creature” (some kind of mysterious mushroom) to pass on to Sneaky and is informed of the imminent crash of the Caprica into a mountainside.
Syncro Cassion with the turned Magique Christian in tow make their entrance, but the first violent confrontation between them and Sneaky’s crew is cut short due to the approaching crash. Sync decides to let Sneaky go in order to evacuate the freed human prisoners. With no means of escaping themselves, (because of a minor explosive miscalculation) the heroes prepare for the worst, even meditating on mortality and things. The last-second rescue is delivered by Gidders and Fuzz, riding the brand-new Platinum Phoenix avivessel.
In Lawpolis Michael Benn is visited by the Old Man. It’s revealed that Squad 7’s appearance on board the Caprica was part of a scheme hatched by the “secret circle” through manipulating Magique Christian’s turn-mask and making him give out false information about the people behind the Black Rock ambush. The outcome is according to plan: Sync completes his mission to take out the culprits responsible, (or so he and everyone else believes) thereby gaining prestige to rise inside the DUF’s ranks. Sneaky escapes the Pirate vessel and is put back on the right path to meet the exile. The Caprica is brought down, making the E.A.S. and Fictionaria a safer place.
For his good work onboard the Caprica, Sync is promoted to Special Agent Trainee, thus receiving his one-of-a-kind hat. Before assuming his new position he’s granted a temporary leave of Rest & Relax in which he chooses to visit his hometown Cull Haven.
Bored with civilian aspects of life he seeks entertainment with his ex-girlfriend, from whom he finds out about her former lover next door being involved in unethical crimes. He quickly connects the dots and recognizes him as Harper, and Room and Sneaky as his partners in crime from their run-in onboard the pirate vessel. After that he spends his remaining time in Cull Haven investigating their course of actions until he’s being called off by Special Agent Koudlam for his first assignment as Special Agent Trainee.
“Team Sneaky” is dropped off by Gidders in the Old Man's Reach's eastern foothills, from where they make their way towards Lawport to ultimately escape the DUF's grasp to the Eastern Archipelago State. After weeks in the wilderness they're somewhat lost and running low on everything. They're being “joined” by a lazy bug-and-or-turtle-like-creatue which is quickly named Rayland and proclaimed their new mascot. They run into extortionistic forest scoundrels and one night the Trumpeteer, likely the most dangerous DUF-fugitive of all times. Even with a turnmask still attached to his face, he somehow managed to negate it's influence, carrying on his agelong quest to obliberate The Grinner: an ancient evil predating all recorded Fictionarian history. They face off atop an old ruined church where the Grinner turns Harper temporarily into his living, magical weapon to fight the Trumpeteer for him. In the end the Grinner is defeated and the Trumpeteer sets off to reclaim his horn, but not without giving out cryptic notions about a lot of stuff.
Later the fellowship encounters a mushroom-consuming duo of bearded companions atop an old tower, which turns out to be the missing creator of Bison & the Boar Boys and the King himself! A gathering planned by the secret circle and closely observed by Fuzz. However, due to their indulgence in strange and obscure substances (all night long) “Team Sneaky” has little to none memory of the identity of the prominent figure, rendering the efforts of Fuzz' co-conspirators somewhat in vain.
With Lawport in sight down at the shore, the DUF-free Eastern Archipelago State seems just within their reach...
“Team Sneaky” bribes a farmer to smugle them into Lawport where they check into a monster friendly Inn to make up for some direly needed relaxation times. They drink the night away like the pros that they are.
The next day they get into a petty argument which leads to them temporarily splitting up: While Miranda and Room head out to contact an agent of the Order of Intelligence from the E.A.S. (of which Miranda was an agent all along) to get them a transport to Pharos, Harper and Sneaky continue the heavy drinking. Before long they’re completely wasted again. Sneaky heads back to the Inn while Harper sweet talks Special Agent Raven to take him home with her.
The morning after, Sync walks in on them and immediately recognizes Harper, but decides to let him go instead of taking him down so Harper can lead them right to the rest of his gang.
“Team Sneaky” cooks up a half-baked plan to escape Lawport, which fails epicly and lets them fall right into the Special Agent’s hands. They’re subdued within minutes, leaving them at the non-existing mercy of Special Agent Koudlam. At the last minute a duo of Order of Intelligence Agents show up and rescue Team Sneaky with their avivessel by holding Sync hostage.
They’re safe and sound onboard the avi when Koudlam orders Raven to blow Sneaky’s brains out. Which she does. Efficiently.
So. Sneaky isn’t dead after all. Well, he was, but not for long. Remember that shiny little “fungoid creature” the High Priest received from the White Noise a few chapters back? Which he then passed on to Sneaky? While awaiting his judgement by the twelve gods, (which are apparently very real) Sneaky devours the mushroom by a hunch... Weird things start to unravel as Sneaky is sliding out of Fiction and into a stream of his own memories. Guided by the White Noise, Sneaky finally remembers what happened to him before he awoke amnesia-struck in Cull Haven’s harbor... Sneaky was the fabled Hellhound of the battlefields - the Lawmaker's closest ally and partner in crime in bringing Fictionaria to heel... While on an obscure mission out on the ocean the Lawmaker tried to kill him with magique, resulting in Sneaky waking weak and downgraded in Cull Haven’s harbor...
Anyways. “Team Sneaky” is alive and well, regrouping at Miranda’s parents’ modest estate in the Eastern Archipelago State for a few months. From there, they take the Falcon Line monotrain towards the State’s capital - Pharos - Miranda’s destination to report back to the Order of Intelligence. During many wondrous and myth-soaked stops along the way, the team relishs in all the little magiqual wonders the state has to offer. They learn about it’s rich history, spiritual guidelines and thanks to a mage who can make animals speak, Room as to deal with the disarray of a cryptical nonsense talking Rayland.
Slowly, however, it becomes clear that the past might have left some of our heroes with their own scars and ghosts: Harper is prophesied “a shadowy fissure” from his encounter with the Grinner... While Sneaky is being haunted by the White Noise’s call to “Remember!” (and trying his best to avoid doing exactly that), his past with the Lawmaker, (which he’s painstakingly trying to keep hidden from his fellow party members) and an urge to atone for his past actions... (of which he can’t speak of openly)
Oh, and also: They’re being shadowed by a mysterious bird-guy with a radio.
To résumé Baruch Caan is like to fold basalt rock.
He just goes on and on.