The party leaves Charligan and travels to Northwall to investigate the alleged heretic, as per Cei's assignment.
Northwall is built into a mountainside and bisected by the Rift River, which flows directly out of the mountain. They are greeted by the curious majesty of the Temple of St. Axiel and St. Anne; the old Cathedral of St. Axiel was destroyed by the river, and the Temple grounds are now overrun by beautiful greenery that grows without any tending, is perpetually green throughout the year, and is unusual for the region.
Sevara and Cei go to pay their respects to the local clergy. They learn that the local Deacon, Albrecht, has a reputation as a corrupt profligate. Cei is incensed that such a man should be in charge of such a sacred site, but must turn her attention to her task. She also learns that many in the region feel a deep shame over the treatment of the Kharid-- the Ecclesiastes-led purge of which was one of the events sparking Charl's rebellion-- and maintain those views even in the face of Church orthodoxy.
Sevara offers to stay to investigate the Deacon. Cyrus, Lyra, and Bartholomew leave for the Circle tower, so that Bartholomew may decide for himself if he wishes to join the Circle's ranks.
The Circle of Thorns tower is a wonder as well, and is presided over by Archmagister Jocasta, an impressive and capable magus. However, Bartholomew hesitates, and does not commit to the ranks of the Circle, despite Cyrus and Cei's earlier urgings.
Lyra wanders through the tower grounds and finds herself at a tavern where Custos often congregate. She has a most unusual encounter there-- she meets one of the elusive Kharid, a being named Valen, who as it turns out, is Archmagister Jocasta's own Custos. She handles the encounter with utmost care and caution, keeping in mind the Kharid's justifiable distrust of Tytonians, and Valen seems to be, if not befriended, not alienated further.
On the morrow, Reniel and Abelard seem to be missing; the group take note of it, but resolve to continue their various duties in the city.
Cyrus conducts research in the Circle library. He uncovers much relevant information, including the identity of Lord Gothriel, Calli's patron, who seems to be a demon lord considered a master of undeath, known by such sobriquets as "prince of the gleaming host" and "lord of the withered hand"; he finds accounts stating that some mages have attempted to make bargains of immortality with him. He also learns assorted information on vampires, including the wide range of forms, powers, appearance, and vulnerabilities they have; it seems that oak and hawthorn through the heart immobilizes some, but not all, of them.
Sevara, operating stealthily, discovers Deacon Albrecht in flagrante delicto with two young male sex workers.
Cei checks in at the Officia Inquisitoraea. The Northwall office is manned by one lone Inquisitor and his assistant, a stalwart and capable former pirate named Dafydd Fawkes. Cei asks for his assessment of the bard's alleged heresy, and is initially unimpressed when he says that it certainly constitutes heresy, but it must be handled delicately; she deems this a dereliction of Inquisition duty. But upon speaking with Inquisitor Fawkes further, she realizes her own error-- being an Inquisitor requires a different mindset and tactics than being a Purifier did. She admits this to Fawkes, somewhat apologetically, and offers him a hundred gold pieces from her stipend to aid the obviously underfunded and understaffed Northwall Inquisitoraea.
The "bard", as Fawkes informs her, is a wastrel son of a hard-nosed nobleman, elevated from his tradesman background by the late Baron Tytamon-- the noble, Lord Toliver Musetti, owns a shipping concern, is connected to shipping and mining guilds, and has a stake in a local gem mine. The son, Beric, appears to be a drunk, lecher, middling aspiring bard, and a general disappointment to his father. The song appears to constitute genuine heresy, as it claims that the Archon Phandrien did not exist, and one of the Archons was in fact a Kharid. There were many witnesses to his song, and he appears to have frequented a tavern known to many miners and stonemasons called the Foundry.
At the Circle Tower, Lyra speaks with Archmagister Jocasta to see if she can gain any insight about her diabolist tattoos. She is truthful about their provenance.The Archmagister immediately mentions the purging of the centuries-old curse from Blackhall and concludes correctly that the events are connected, and asks what happened. Lyra is prudent, giving an accurate but neutral account of the events of Blackhall, but not stating outright the group's interpretation of the documents they found or their impact on history or Church dogma, merely stating that "many historical documents were retrieved and are in the possession of our Inquisitor-General companion". Lyra then asks about the strange incident with her dream of flight in the forest, and subsequent nude awakening. Jocasta unhesitatingly says she is descended from skin-changers, that she may access this power if she wishes, and that she is best served by discretion.
Sevara continues to surveil the Deacon, and makes the terrible discovery that the two young men servicing the Deacon have been arrested and imprisoned as "burglars" and are killed "during an escape attempt". She breaks into the deacon's quarters and magically paralyzes him as he eats a mouthful of oatcake. He chokes and suffocates to death without Sevara leaving so much as a mark on him-- the perfect assassination. Sevara dons a raven's form and escapes. Hints of the raven guise remain on her when she transforms back.
The group reunites, and each give a report of their activities, though Sevara says she merely discovered the Deacon's profligacy. Cei leads the group back to the Temple, intending to arrest the Deacon for heresy... only to hear the news he has died of choking on his oatcake. For a moment, she raises a questioning eyebrow at Sevara... but her beloved confessor assures her she had nothing to do with it, and Cei believes her wholeheartedly. Cei writes a letter to the Archbishop urging him to choose a more fitting Deacon for such a holy site.
The group accompany Cei to find and interrogate the heretical bard, Beric Musetti. Their inquiries at the Foundry and at the Musetti estate do not reveal much. It seems Beric is indeed merely a wastrel, according to his father and his grizzled, martially competent housemarten, who associates with lowlifes, owes money all over town, and is currently being passed over for his sister Davina as heir. No one has much idea of where Beric can be found.
Cei prays for guidance, and manages to divine a glimpse of Beric's location. The group makes their way to the southeast of the city, where Beric is apparently staying in a hovel. As they approach, so do a group of thugs, who the group assumes are intent on shaking Beric down for money. Cei intimidates them with full Inquisitorial glowers; they back off, and Bartholomew conjures magical grease that fells Beric before he can escape. (His lover bursts from the shack and makes a valiant attempt to defend him.)
They bring him back to the Inquisitor's office for questioning. Beric is defeated and despondent and doesn't put up much fight; he states that either the Inquisition will kill him or the goons will. Cei determines that he wrote the heretical song himself, but he states he was inspired by an ancient text he won at dice-- a curious book with a cover of woven copper, that contained the statements about the Kharid Archon and Phandriel.
Cei asks Beric why on earth he would write a heretical song, knowing what the stakes were, and he replies he was moved by the story. In a strange way, Cei senses both divine inspiration at work, and a kindred spirit, and she states so, having had a hard and cruel noble father who she failed to be good enough for.
She declares Beric guilty of heresy, and sentences him to hard labour at Bartholomew's estate constructing the scrivener's academy, and additionally sentences him to lute lessons from Bartholomew in the evenings.
The group debate what to do next. They decide that they will look for the tome at the Musetti estate, although the chances seem slim; furthermore Lyra will speak to Valen and ask if the text could potentially be of Kharid origin. Cei demands to speak to Valen; Lyra refuses, wishing to shield Valen from potential re-terrorizing by the Inquisition, and Cei, hearing the sense in Lyra's words, asks Lyra to present her case to Valen and let them decide on their own whether or not to accept the invitation. She states she needs to look into Valen's eyes and learn whether the Kharid do truly follow Aeo, and if she feels that they do, she will defend them to the death as she would any other faithful of Aeo. She also acknowledges the underlying truth: if indeed this text was a sacred Kharid text, and it is true, then the heresy is, in fact, truth, and the group will bear the burden of yet another "heresy" they know to be Aeo's own truth.