"Dead Man’s Chest" by Max Fry, summary Automatic translate

"Dead Man’s Chest" is a novel published in 2017. This mystery detective story tells of a series of mysterious deaths of former masters in the capital of the United Kingdom, the trail of which leads to the legendary Hollow Land of Yohlima and a mysterious city of the dead. It is part of the "Dreams of Echo" series and is the fifth book in the series. Other well-known novels in the series include "Master of Winds and Sunsets," "Too Many Nightmares," "The Whole Truth About Us," and "I Go Searching."

Mysterious deaths in Echo

The narrative begins with Sir Max’s visit to the head of the Secret Investigation, Sir Juffin Halley. Sir Max brings a jug of fine kamra and complains about the morning’s events. He encountered a strange sleepwalker from Quancuroh who walked through walls in his sleep, as well as a madman persistently seeking a blinding white light. Juffin explains that the boundaries between worlds are thinning, allowing more and more dreamers from other realities into Echo.

Max also laments the loss of his ability to reach people via the Dark Path. After Sir Shurf Lonley-Lockley rationally explained and drew a diagram of the impossibility of such travel, Max has forgotten how to apply his skill in practice. Juffin advises relying on his own exceptionalism. He bets Max a hundred crowns that he will soon master this technique again.

At home, Max learns that his ward, Basilio, is diligently preparing for the entrance exams to Royal University. Basilio is a materialized illusion, accidentally created by Tricky Lai and eventually taking the form of a teenage girl. To prepare, she hires a math tutor, the stern Lady Tayyara Kata. Sir Kofa Yoh tells Max about the tutor’s past during lunch at the Yops Us tavern. It turns out that six hundred years ago, Tayyara was a member of the Order of Lattice and Mirrors. Using her mathematical gifts, she calculated the special rhythms of spells to carry out the infamous Death Lottery, which terrorized the entire city.

Despite his terrifying past, Max changes his mind during dinner at the trendy establishment "The Joy of Khlevi Makkata." He becomes convinced that Tayyara is a passionate scholar. She has discovered a method of teaching that adapts to the student’s individual internal rhythm. This approach helps anyone absorb knowledge.

The Secret Investigation is confronted with a terrifying mystery. Sir Kofa Yoh and Tricky Lai inform Max of the deaths of ten retired Masters of various Orders since the beginning of summer. Each death appears to be a tragic accident or sudden illness. Glamma Yongutari fell from a roof, a bookcase collapsed on Timbuti Mariyan, and Senior Master Arinama Kota was bitten by an exotic Arvarokh hare. There are no signs of Obvious Magic at all.

Max’s colleagues, including Sir Melifaro and Lady Kekki Tuatli, sincerely mourn the lost plans of the deceased. They lament the canceled theater days, the failed autumn fair of amazing skills, the uninvented hoverboards, and the closed Junior High School for Gifted Children. Sir Shurf studies the archives of the Order of the Seven-Leaf and hypothesizes the use of an ancient curse of Yarr. It is activated only by a dying mage on the brink of death, and it disguises the victim’s death as a common accident.

The Ideal Secretary and the Ancient Enemy

Shurf Lonli-Lokli, now Grand Master of the Order of the Seven-Leaf, proudly boasts of his new secretary, Klari Vajura. Klari previously served as personal secretary to the late Grand Master Nuflin Moni Mach. Numminorih Kuta, possessing a unique sense of smell, informs Max that the new secretary smells like a dreamer. Shurf reveals a terrifying truth to Max. Ninety years ago, Klari Vajura attempted to become one of the mad winds of the Empty Land of Yohlima. The winds tore him apart, but the stubborn mage survived.

His mutilated body, consisting of his head and part of his torso, rests in a dark Umpong mountain cave under the care of the young shaman Tovuaira. Klari sustains himself through continuous lucid dreaming. In it, he returns to Echo and works for his beloved Order.

An unexpected tragedy unfolds in the living room of the Shaggy House. Basilio, with the best of intentions, treats Lady Tayyara to a freshly baked illusory pie. Tayyara tastes the treat, clutches her chest, and instantly dies of a broken heart. The healer Abilath, summoned by Max, explains the cause. Lady Tayyara’s heart was artificially rejuvenated by ancient spells, which had a destructive reaction with the materialized illusion. Basilio is inconsolable, believing herself to be the murderer. Max is deeply saddened by the death of a talented researcher who had only just begun to appreciate the beauty of other people’s stories and life itself.

Max and Shurf journey to the Dark Side. Shurf plans to teach the Order’s younger generation how to navigate the underside of the world and seeks her tacit permission. Finding himself in a world of dark orange skies and glowing stones, Max suddenly notices a repulsive black lump on Shurf’s neck. Its shape resembles a toad. Realizing this is a deadly curse, Max invokes the laws of the Dark Side and, with the power of words, completely destroys the threat. The friends realize that Yarr’s curse almost worked, and the killer is still actively adding to his list of victims.

Journey to the Winds of Yohlima

After piecing together the disparate facts and speaking with the prophet Honna, Max deduces the mechanism behind the crimes. In a dream that spring, Klari Vajura visited Harumba, a city where dead sorcerers hide from final destruction. There, he met Nuflin Moni Maha. The inhabitants of Harumba are deprived of the ability to perform magic, but the cunning Nuflin retains the gift of rhythmic persuasion. He subjugated the will of the sleeping Klari. During brief awakenings in the Umpona cave, Klari experienced unbearable agony. During these moments, he unconsciously screamed out curses of Yarr directed against Nuflin’s old enemies. Klari Vajura, revealed to be the killer’s blind instrument, begs Max and Juffin to take his life to end the chain of deaths once and for all.

Max categorically refuses to kill Clari. He travels to the coast of Harumba and meets with the immortal Kayifai, the stern Guardians of the city. Max warns them of Nuflin’s ability to manipulate dreamers with words alone. The Guardians, realizing the scale of the threat, agree to increase surveillance of the late Magister, hiring veteran retired police officers from Echo.

Max then applies Lady Taiyara’s pedagogical advice: to find Clary through the Dark Path, he changes the wording. Max concentrates on the patch of ground near the Magister’s body. Finding himself in an Umpong cave, scented with bitter medicinal herbs, Max meets the young shaman Tovuaira. Max uses the "Death Ball" spell, which infallibly enslaves the victim’s will. With it, he frees Clary from pain and commands his body to become completely invulnerable until sunset. Max and Tovuaira carefully carry the stump of his body to the border of the Hollow Land of Yohlima.

Max summons the mad winds to battle in the name of Klari Vajura, solemnly reciting fourteen ancient names of the elements. The winds, appreciating the fierce stubbornness of the crippled mage, who has returned to them against all common sense, accept him without resistance. Klari’s physical body vanishes without a trace, and he is reborn as a free Yokhlim wind. Overwhelmed by emotion, Max overjoys in his victory, throws caution to the wind, and nearly perishes from the powerful air currents, but survives thanks to the timely intervention of the healer Tovuaira.

A new form of being

Returning to Echo, Max learns that Juffin hasn’t wasted any time: he’s managed to lead Nuflin’s potential victims to the Dark Side and remove the black toad curses from their necks. Melifaro is delighted that the friends of the fallen masters will still be holding the autumn fair of amazing skills at Gurig the Seventh’s Victory Square, with Max secretly paying the rent.

In Max’s office, beneath a ceiling illuminated by the light of the Star of Maryeza, the radiant ghost of Lady Tayyara Kata takes up residence. She is utterly delighted with her new status. The absence of physical needs allows her to devote eternity to mathematical calculations. The ghost invents a completely unknown form of magic, based on rhythmic dialogue with the World, and successfully mends a broken mug.

The book ends with a fresh wind rushing through Max’s open office window, pungent with the scent of dry steppe grass and bitter smoke. This is Klari Vajura, who has found his long-awaited new form of existence. The wind carefully rearranges the scattered books on the shelves in alphabetical order, restoring perfect order. Max welcomes his guest with a smile, genuinely delighted at the happy resolution to a seemingly hopeless situation.