Jade City

At the Twice Lucky, two No Peak Fingers, one of whom is Caun, are posted as protection from any possible Mountain attacks. They receive a call that Mountain is coming, so Mr. Une clears the restaurant of customers and hides with his staff in the back.

After the Fingers and their reinforcements fall to Gont Asch and his men, Gont Asch offers Mr. Une the opportunity to pay tribute to the Mountain. Mr. Une, unwilling to flip allegiances, at first refuses. It is customary when clan territories shift that business owners get the choice to flip allegiances or walk away from their businesses unharmed, but Gont Asch promises to burn the restaurant down if Mr. Une refuses. With his life work moments from destruction, Mr. Une becomes Mountain’s Lantern Man.

Shae takes over Doru’s office at the No Peak building on Ship Street and prepares to make her first moves as Weather Man. She appoints Woon as her chief of staff, hoping to turn his grief and regret at not being with Lan that fateful night into productive work. She also brings in a new Master Luckbringer, or the head of the clan’s lawyers and accountants. In both cases, she manipulates the men into believing that their advice is instrumental, gaining their trust and respect.

Learning from her brother, she projects an image of strength to bolster her power. In a meeting, she announces changes to the office; anyone who disagrees with her is free to leave.

After the meeting, Shae receives a call from the Minister of Tourism demanding to speak with Doru about the negative effects clan war is already having. When she notifies him that she is the new Weather Man, he scoffs at the idea of a woman in this position and hangs up. 

Hilo meets with the Maik brothers, who push him to reclaim the Twice Lucky. As Pillar, Hilo cannot be as impulsive as he was as Horn; he urges the brothers to instead wait for the best moment during the likely long conflict to strike back. After demanding that they perform their jobs better, he appoints Kehn as the new Horn and Tar as Pillarman, or highest ranking aide.

Shae tells Hilo to meet with Chancellor Son and the rest of the No Peak-affiliated politicians to assuage their fears. At first, Hilo falls into childish bickering about Shae telling him what to do, but soon Hilo recognizes that he needs Shae’s ability to see the bigger picture like Lan did. Shae tells him that the government wants to work toward a truce between the clans; it would be smart to play along to buy No Peak time to complete the audit of the jade mines. Mountain wants the war over before No Peak reveals their theft to the public. Hilo listens to Shae and agrees.

At the Academy, Anden excels in the Lightness and Channeling tests and wins First of Class, earning him an extra jade stud in his training band. However, he has not been himself since Lan’s death, blaming himself for not doing more to stop Lan’s SN1 use. Anden is not eating enough and isolates himself from his classmates, engulfed in grief.

After the tests, Anden again hears Lott speaking disparagingly about No Peak. For the first time, Anden confronts his crush. Before a fight breaks out, Hilo appears and interjects, flattering the students and commenting on the good work Lott’s father does for the clan. Afterward, he tells Anden that the best way to scold someone is to make them want to earn one’s approval. Hilo affixes Anden’s new jade stud to his training band and Anden revels in the rush of power while feeling anxiety over its possible negative effects.

Maik Tar finds Tem Ben, who runs his jade carving business out of the back of a shop. Ben cannot escape as Tar has blocked the door from the outside. Ben has a gun, but loses it when Tar punches through the wall and breaks Ben’s wrist and both kneecaps. Desperate, Ben claims that Tar is breaking aisho—the Green Bone code—by attacking him. Tar counters that aisho is moot—Ben is a White Rat, or a clan spy. Tar places a tape recorder on the table and tortures Ben in hopes of uncovering as much information about Mountain’s operations as he can.

Wen invites Shae to the Horn’s house for tea. Shae discusses finding a job for Wen, resenting that she was shamed for being with an Espenian, while Hilo can be with a stone-eye from a disgraced family. The Maiks are looked down upon because their mother had an affair with a member of Mountain Clan, got pregnant, and ran off to be with him, only returning when the man was executed for treason.

Wen wants to help No Peak, but understands that Hilo does not want her in harm’s way. Regardless, Wen wants to become a White Rat and use her stone-eye ability to transport jade undetected to the clan’s advantage. Shae is uneasy about the job—it would mean lying to Hilo. Nevertheless, Shae leaves with a new respect for Wen and promises to think about her suggestion. On her way out, Wen calls Shae her sister.

Bero flees to Little Button, an island municipality outside of Janloon. After a few weeks of laying low, he returns to find Mudt and take the jade he thinks he is owed. Bero finds Mudt’s store shuttered. Mudt is dead, killed in the clan conflict. Bero goes back into the tunnel Mudt smuggled him away through and finds boxes of SN1. He steals some, committing to come back for the rest later. As he climbs out from the tunnel, he encounters Mudt’s son, who wants to kill Maik Tar for killing his father. Bero offers to team up—he knows a place they can find jade.

Shae and Hilo arrive at Wisdom Hall for peace negotiations with Ayt Mada facilitated by the government. Peace is secured through the use of Deitist Penitents, a group who has sworn off using jade’s powers. According to Deitist belief, a person who commits violence in front of a penitent loses the ability to return to Heaven, along with their ancestors and descendants.

The mediators are politicians affiliated with both clans and those that are affiliated with no one. On the first day of discussions, Ayt Mada is late, and her opening statement focuses on petty grievances. The discussions primarily address meaningless territorial disagreements. The second day is worse, but Shae assures Hilo that they just need to play the game until the fifth and final day of the negotiations. Then, Shae will share the results of the Kekon Jade Alliance audit.

On the morning of the third day of negotiations, Shae and Hilo meet with Chancellor Son, who complains of the higher tribute being collected from No Peak’s Lantern Men. Hilo pushes back, explaining its necessity, but forgives Son’s slights and makes him feel important in No Peak’s overall operations. Hilo’s honesty earns Son’s respect despite Son’s dislike of Hilo. Nevertheless, when Hilo insists that the negotiations are meaningless and will fail, Shae is confused and worried by Hilo’s approach to the meeting.

At the negotiations, Hilo throws out the accusation that Ayt is not only stealing jade, but also supplying it to petty criminals outside of the Green Bone system. He brings up the examples of Tem Ben and Mudt, throwing Tar’s recorder on to the table as proof. Hilo argues that Mountain is creating a population of jade-addled and SN1-addicted criminals. His actions destroy Shae’s plan and end the mediation. Two days later, Shae receives a call that Ayt Mada wants to speak with her, alone.