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Summary:Tress of the Emerald Sea

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This page contains a chapter by chapter summary of Tress of the Emerald Sea. We hope this summary will make it easier to find specific areas of the book, as well as providing a quick plot refresher for anyone who doesn't want to take the time to reread the entire book.

Part 1

Chapter 1: The Girl

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Chapter 2: The Groundskeeper

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Chapter 3: The Duke

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Chapter 4: The Son

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Chapter 5: The Bride

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Part 2

Chapter 6: The Inspector

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Chapter 7: The Father

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Chapter 8: The Stowaway

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Chapter 9: The Rat

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Chapter 10: The Sprouter

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Chapter 11: The Thief

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Chapter 12: The Crow

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Tress, with Huck, walks cautiously across the stilled spores to the Crow's Song. Other sailors from the doomed ship also try, but fail due to haste or being shot by the attacking Captain. Tress gets a vine to grow by the Crow's Song and clings to the side until crew members throw her a rope and pull her aboard. Captain Crow declares there's no use for an inspector, so Tress makes herself useful scrubbing the deck, where she falls asleep.

Part 3

Chapter 13: The Cabin Boy

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Tress and her first thought is of Charlie, and how naive she was to undertake this quest, but she still thinks of him trapped and alone somewhere. First watch mess is announced, and Laggart explains second watch will be next, and the captain says Tress is third watch. When this is never called, Tress suspects this was a kind of joke.

She notes the crew is somber. She recognizes Hoid after he helps her with a bucket of water for the deck. He talks nonsense. The crew looks normal enough based on her experience that she wonders how they wound up as pirates. Hoid reveals to the reader that he was cursed by the Sorceress and lost his senses. Huck returns and confirms that they are sewing their first pirate flag and are new at it. She wonders if this is why they are cheerless.

Chapter 14: The Dougs

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The narrator explains that Crow's Song is roughly twice the size and crew capacity of Oot's Dream, and has two guns rather than one.

The convention of referring to most crew as Doug is established. She asks Doug where the toilet is, and otherwise explores the ship.

She comes upon Fort (the quartermaster) and Ann (the carpenter) inspecting a cannonball and whether any other defective ones were found. Fort communicates through a board in which words appear. They describe the destruction of Oot's Dream as an accident, and "not the kind of piracy we signed up for." Ann says at least they aren't being conscripted.

Huck explains that the whole crew is culpable of murders commited during piracy due to the felony murder law. He also overheard that the quartermaster is deaf. Huck starts telling her about a deaf human he once met, but Tress reminds him that the crew on the last ship caged him after learning he could talk. Fort notices them sneaking around and his board tells her "come here, girl".

Chapter 15: The Quartermaster

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Fort and Tress are introduced to each other, and discuss that Tress is now a pirate, or at least shouldn't say she's not if she doesn't want to get thrown overboard. Fort offers her food, and she eats what he gives her (though it is not very good). She asks about his communication board and he explains he traded for it from a Wizard (who the narrator explains was an off-worlder from Nalthis). He cautions that it only works for him so she shouldn't even think about stealing it. She protests he's been so kind. He responds that it's not kindness, but a trade (to put him in her debt.) Salay arrives and gives him four gold earrings (she'd won at cards) in trade for a pocket watch she'd wanted for a while. Fort tells Tress to come back after dinner for more scraps. Hoid arrives and also has some scraps. He clarifies for the reader the senses the Sorceress cursed away were taste (in the abstract), decorum, purpose, and self. Also, that the important crew members to remember are Crow, Laggart, Fort, Ann, Salay, and Ulaam.

Chapter 16: The Corpse

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Chapter 17: The Carpenter

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Chapter 18: The Other Corpse

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Chapter 19: The Cannonmaster

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Chapter 20: The Helmswoman

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Chapter 21: The Pirate

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Part 4

Chapter 22: The Idiot

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Chapter 23: The Assistant Cannonmaster

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Chapter 24: The Cursed Man

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Chapter 25: The Prey

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Chapter 26: The Sharpshooter

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The Crow's Song crew scramble to respond to the strike from the pursued ship. Crow is able to sniper the man loading the cannon, and commands Ann and Tress to get below and repair the hull. Tress has to locate her rose spores and the iron/steel tools (which through experimentation she learns pull/push the roseite crystals.) She is able to plug the hole adequately when the seethe returns. They report back to the deck.

Chapter 27: The Spore Eater

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Crow has shot two more of the enemy crew members and orders sabres out for the boarding crew. Salay confronts Crow over this order, claiming the right to engage the enemy, and pointing out there were in this for Freedom, not murder. After a tense moment, Crow assents. A companion of one of those Crow killed raises a weapon toward her. Crow responds by shooting herself in the head, and green vines emerge from her face, stopping her own bullet. She boasts of the sinking of Oot's Dream. The other crew tackles the man who threatened her, and she heads belowdeck.

Chapter 28: The Extra Good Listener

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Tress asks Dr. Ulaam how Crow was protected by the vines, and if that's why the crew is so afraid of her. He theorizes that as a spore eater, Crow is host to a rogue verdant essence which protects her, but should have killed her some time ago. He guesses she only has weeks left based on how much water she drinks. Tress puzzles over how this fits in with the plot to become deadrunners. She then asks Ulaam (contrary to her presumed nature) about midnight essence, which Hoid gave to Weev. She tries to ask Hoid about the sorceress, and the is able to decode that a familiar or talking animal might be able to mediate a discussion of the curse.

Chapter 29: The Familiar

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Tress interrogates Huck about being a familiar and the Sorceress. He tells her he is kind of but not exactly a familiar, and gives tips on finding loopholes on the secrecy surrounding curses by the Sorceress. He points out that Crow's interest in Tress is likely not good. Tress asks him to spy on Crow again, but the closure of his previous access point and the cat indicate Crow is on to them. Tress recalls Ulaam saying the midnight essence can be used for spying. Just then, Salay enters and says they must discuss who Tress really is.

Chapter 30: The King's Mask

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Tress has also been grappling with who she really is, but lets Salay in to talk. Salay says she knows Crow meant for Tress to leave at the last port but Tress chose not to. Tress decides to trust Salay with the facts, such as how she swapped Laggart's ordnance. But the more she says, the more convinced Salay is that Tress is some kind of elite and secretive royal assassin (King's Mask). Salay reveals that Fort and Ann are meeting later that night, then ascribes this revelation to Tress' wily skills. After Salay exits, Huck offers to spy on Crow, but Tress feels bad since he said it would be dangerous. She retrieves the midnight spores and prepares to water them.

Chapter 31: The Midnight Essence

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The narrator offers an overview of the Luhel bond. Midnight spores differ from other colors of Lumar's rogue aethers in utilizing a the Luhel bond, which is close to how aethers are supposed to work, symbiotically. It is not like the Nahel bond, which exchanges "consciousness and anchoring to reality" rather there is an exchange of physical matter.

Tress feels water leaving her body as the midnight essence grows and coalesces into a face which requests more water. Tress agrees and the midnight essence adopts a simulacrum of Huck from her mind. Giving it more water, she controls and then inhabits the midnight essence. In Crow's quarters, they read Crow's research about possible cures from the verdant aether spores by something or someone named Xisis. She uncovers that Crow had secret meetings with Weev about locating Xisis, but he turned to blackmail which is why she killed him. Further reading reveals Xisis to be a dragon living under the Crimson sea, though reports are apocryphal due to the dangers of the Crimson. The midnight essence fights Tress on reading further, and then approaching footsteps coincide with Huck severing the tie to the midnight essence. He had acted on Tress' increasing dehydration. She recuperates and plans to meet with the other officers.

Chapter 32: The Liberator

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Entering the secret meeting, Tress is introduced as a King's Mask by Salay. Fort and Ann aren't so sure. They point out that if she were a Royal agent, they'd be in trouble for deadrunning. Salay doubles down on her rationales. Tress considers saying she is a Mask to prove she's not, but cannot bring herself to extinguish their hopes. She brings out the deadrunner cannonballs, and explains how Crow wanted to bind them to her will. Fort suggests persuading Crow to sail a less populated sea, like the Crimson. Tress knows that this is exactly why Crow came up with the deadrunner plot, but avoids disclosing the depth of her knowledge lest it further confirm their King's Mask theory.

Chapter 33: The Liar

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Tress approaches Crow, who asks her why she's really here. Tress says it's to see the world and meet people, and worries about how much she's needing to lie. She decides to share that she hopes to save someone from the Sorceress. Crow laughs at the idea of Tress sailing the midnight sea, but says she'll sail the Crimson sea if Tress can get the crew "on board".

Chapter 34: The Tosher

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The narrator relates a local tale of the Tosher (King's excrement engineer.) The tosher started requesting 2 potatoes, and then they made cornbread instead of potatoes for servants. He asked why, and was referred up the chain of command to the king, who said there were no potatoes due to a blight. But even before the blight, they had stopped buying potatoes because when the tosher asked for 2, then all the servants wanted 2, and the potato bill doubled. So he learned that while hes free to make choices, hes not free to determine the consequences.

Tress feels discomfited by her discussion with Crow. She asks Ulaam if midnight spores leave any residue. Ulaam reassures her on this point, and Tress describes how she thinks she got the better of Crow but now wonders if she were being manipulated. Ulaam explains that the dragon will require a trade for curing Crow. The dragon is known for acquiring slaves who are able to work with spores. Tress realizes her choices are propelling her toward a consequence not of her choosing.

Part 5

Chapter 35: The Lover of Tea

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Tress contemplates escaping when Crow's Song stops to supply before attempting the Crimson Sea. She remains determined to rescue Charlie, and Hoid is the only lead she has, and her current crew is committed to sail the Crimson Sea. Also, if she left, Crow would probably resume the deadrunner agenda. At port, she thinks about what Charlie means to her and struggles to picture him in her mind. Before she can decide whether to leave, Crow sends for her and informs her that Tress won't be allowed to go ashore. She cradles a cup she got from the rug merchants and says it was her first official plunder. Crow offers Tress an opulent tea and reflects on how most people never really live, not knowing how it is to be one step from death. Tress wonders how this life is changing herself. They discuss ethics versus fate, and Crow reveals she knows Tress changed the cannonballs, but that Laggart probably hasn't caught on. Tress states she is as interested in protecting the crew from becoming deadrunners as she is in her quest to rescue her friend. The Captain is amused by the irony of saving them to then expose them to the dangers of the Crimson Sea. It is the only place on Lumar where rain fall is unpredictable as to time or place, activating red spikes. Tress asks if the Midnight Sea also has these rains. It doesn't, but the Sorceress's monsters can attack without any water from their prey or the sky. The crew returns and Crow dismisses Tress.

Chapter 36: The Explorer

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Chapter 37: The Scholar

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Chapter 38: The Apprentice

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Chapter 39: The Chicken Keeper

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Chapter 40: The Chef

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Chapter 41: The Philosopher

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Chapter 42: The Guide

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Chapter 43: The Musician

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Chapter 44: The Fallen

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Chapter 45: The Protector

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Chapter 46: The Informant

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Chapter 47: The Poet

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Chapter 48: The Nightmare

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Chapter 49: The Martyr

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Chapter 50: The Murderer

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Chapter 51: The Dragon

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Chapter 52: The Sacrifice

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Chapter 53: The Survivor

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Part 6

Chapter 54: The Valet

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Chapter 55: The Hypocrite

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Chapter 56: The Traitor

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Chapter 57: The Maligned Fashion Expert

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Chapter 58: The Monster

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Chapter 59: The Prisoner

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Chapter 60: The Sorceress

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Chapter 61: The Man

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Chapter 62: The Hunter

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Chapter 63: The Pilot

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Chapter 64: The Hero

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Epilogue

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Notes

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