Motif · Book 4, The Gate of the Feral Gods

The Valtay Corporation

A name Carl finds in his inventory's history tab attached to a pulse pistol, a personal shield and an illegal communications relay that passed through his hands inside Agatha's shopping cart. Odette says they are a parasitic corporate government with a fleet parked outside the Borant system, and the next season will be theirs.

Segment appearances

• Chapter 5 — Rapid Detox
• Chapter 7 — The frog con
• Chapter 8 — A yam from the pacifists
• Chapter 14 — Maggie
• Chapter 19 — Orren
• Chapter 34 — Seeding the pond
• Epilogue — Epilogue: the Walk-On List

Progression

A second pill: elevation and airspeed, which finds the way up in the Vahana and the way up from the ocean floor (ch. 8). Gondii, per Mordecai: brain worms that run a dead body for centuries (ch. 5). A worm in the face of the Syndicate's own liaison, and 'we do take over after the next floor' (ch. 19). A lawyer sent to help Borant beat the Skull Empire's injunction, because neither likes the orcs (ch. 34). 'The cruelest of them all', per a null in Seattle, remembering Crawler Hoon's children (epilogue).