As the song echoes around the party, attempting to render them down to nothingness, they fight back. Felicity, Armand and the Man of Many Means successfully reassert their sense of self, emerging back into reality as they see themselves. The Arcane Arbiter meanwhile takes the final step on the path and shrugs off the attempt to unmake them, even going as far as to extend their protection to others - for a price, of course. Vulcan is saved in return for agreeing to build the Arbiter a church, although is perhaps more humble than before, whilst the butler Wilkins agrees to serve the Arcane Arbiter for perpetuity. The Arcane Arbiter also takes advantage of being in pure potential, with which he has more experience than most, to forge himself a God Realm as he Ascends. This takes the form of a grand manor house with an attached bazaar on the edge of reality. A powerful wounding ritual ensures that those who know the ritual and pay the price in blood can enter the bazaar to obtain what they desire.
Glassinger meanwhile, hopelessly torn apart by the song echoing through, is helped from another source as Carleon, who is now closer than ever to attaining the freedom they desire, refuses to let their most useful and subservient servant die. As Glassinger falls through the potential they are remade as Carleon wishes them to be, before entering back into reality.
The party all emerge in a field on the edge of the Consensus around Acryn. Despite looking different, Glassinger is swiftly identified by the rest of the (quite irate) party and is forced to escape using his seven league boots before things can go any further. The rest of the party return to Lucian, giving him the mirror and being paid 200 Riel each in return. They report Glassinger's actions and the mage is added to the redemption list.
Armand publicly announces his Godhood as well as his continued loyalty to the warrior. He manages for now to maintain his position within the Church, although there are some rumblings. He attempts to commune with the Traitor using his remaining Gaze of the Gods and successfully gains a face-to-face meeting. He then less successfully assures her that although he is now a God of hierarchy who fully intends to remain active at the highest levels of Acryn politics, he has no intention of becoming a God King. In return, he is somewhat unsubtly warned about what will happen if he oversteps even slightly and the Traitor then pickpockets his Traitor-blessed heart before dissapearing. After this Armand goes to see Walter Cargan and convinces him to join in a coup against Viziona Cargan, who he believes is a puppet of the Church of the Machine. It is decided that to successfully do this they will need the Circle of the Broken Wing onside. A plan is set in motion, but for now he begins to lay the groundwork by leafletting claims of Viziona's puppet status around the city.
Glassinger is reported to various powerful institutions by most of the party. As there now appears to be proof of progress in his world-destroying plan, he swiftly moves to the top of a lot of lists. Soon sketches of him appear on posters throughout the city. In response Glassinger exerts his power and breaks the bond between himself and the identity of The Glassinger, allowing him to move freely through Acryn for now.
Vulcan studies the sword and shield he took from the warrior they met within Mudra. He finds that they seem to be mastercrafted, although from his crafter's perspective he can't see any of the normal signs that they were actually made. They also appear to be very difficult to alter in any way; even his sharpest tools barely scratch the surface. From studying them, however, he gains access to the Smith of Legend epic tree.
The Man of Many Means, feeling bad about his role in keeping Glassinger alive long enough to complete his plan , offers his aid to the Brotherhood of the Closed Eye. After a brief background check in which it emerges that most of his crimes have been of the wizard-killing variety, he is inducted as an associate member and assigned to the Glassinger task force.
Francesco goes and says goodbye to Corlo Graves and they have an oddly amiable parting, given that Francesco is removed from the line of succession.
Felicity tries to teach Olivia Darrish and some other wayfinders who dislike the guild the knack of using wayfinder skills in dragons, but it's unclear whether any of them have got it without an actual dragon to test things out in. She also uses her position as Guild Councillor to begin to build up a faction within the Guild attempting to take it down.