Connections Readings Book Four

(Underlines, crossouts, and italicized words added by the I Ching)

From Puttering before All My Fault

• "Spider" is actually a demon wearing a spirit's skin.
• Spider is spending most-to-all of his demonic power to keep the Great Cycle Spirits (and possibly other spirits) from realizing that.
• We know this about Spider because of a vision we got through Butterfly's intervention.
• Butterfly is a Great Cycle Spirit.
• Butterfly knows Spider is really a demon.
• Butterfly cannot know Spider is really a demon until Spider's demonic power is distracted.

• The Marked Thief took the Magpie Talisman as his thwackback when he was defeated.
• The Talisman went to Spider's realm.
• The Talisman cannot stay in Spider's realm long.
• Spider will send the Talisman to his best ritualist, The Alchemist.
• Spider will send the Talisman to his best martial artist, Tai Lung.
• Spider will cut a deal with Magpie to return the Talisman to a place of Magpie's choosing.

From Puttering between Night of Gates III and Travelling Without the Butterfly Prince

• The Forest of Chin is a Demon.
• The Forest of Chin is the country tied to Monkey.
• Spider is a Demon trying to replace Dragon in and above the Cycle.
• Some of the Great Spirits are helping Spider closely.
• Monkey is a trickster and resented Dragons rules (the "s" is added).
• Monkey is one of the Great Spirits closely helping Spider.

From Puttering between Travelling Without the Butterfly Prince and Hidden City: Outer Ring

• There are six candidates for Commander of the North East, 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2B, and 2C.
• The "1" candidates served locally under Lo Ping, the "2" candidates are from other regions of the Empire.
• Each set of numbered candidates contains one "grizzled veteran," one "policital hack," and one "plant of the Obsidian Warlord."
• 1B is a political hack.
• 2A is a plant of the Obsidian Warlord.
• 2C is a plant of the Obsidian Warlord.

From Puttering between Hidden City: Outer Ring and Hidden City: Inner Ring

• The Northern Wall has taken spiritual damage near the border between the Arcade and the Steppes over a period of years which allows the Barbarians greater access to the Empire and will require spiritual intervention to repair.
• The Northern Wall took significant additional damage on the last day of the year.
• The additional damage was "Architectural" in nature.
• The additional damage was not simply the damage from the storm that Commander Mushashi has been informed of.

You fuss about this one for a while, and eventually cross out "not" and draw some lighter squiggles over "simply".

• The additional damage can be repaired physically, but has not yet been discovered.

You cross out "discovered". Then you draw some unhappy doodles around "can".

• The additional damage will also require spirtual intervention to fully repair.

You cross this out, as it is irrelevant, and then realize it is true, and cross out your cross-out.