Chapter 21 of 78 · Book 5, The Butcher's Masquerade

Chapter 21 — CrawlCon

Book: The Butcher's Masquerade · Part: The Vengeance of the Daughter · Previous: Chapter 20 — Viva la revolución · Next: Chapter 22 — Samantha, open wide · Floor: Floor 6 — The Hunting Grounds · Series: the series

Opening

We awakened in time to view the recap episode, and upon watching it, I found myself wishin

Summary

The recap: Vrah and four mantises drop from the air and behead two humans in a cart, and she affixes the heads to her carapace; a skewer belle mushroom puts a spike through a crawler's eye ('always pick it by the stem'); Mongo's mating in majestic slow motion; Lucia Mar killing a stegosaurus borough boss by reflecting the damage it does to her smaller rottweiler, then eating its eyeball like an apple; Katia's guild — Elle, Bautista, Florin, Louis and Firas overhead — raiding a dryad town for Eva, who cannot be magically tracked and had glamoured the NPCs to attack; Imani, gaunt to mummification, her wings solid, wreathed in fire, flying now, dispels it and the raid ends without blood. Carl feels the loneliness of having gone off alone. Katia arrives to make the exchange and leave the party. The announcement: the regency change means 'nothing' — the Borant Corporation is severed from a home system now in civil war, 'this particular crawl has been my personal life project'; sponsors may sell their stakes next floor; over 500 crawlers taken and over fifty hunters dead, 'so many that their families are starting to complain'; and, by court injunction, hunters may no longer communicate with anyone outside the dungeon — Quasar came through. Patch notes: the southwest hot springs were made hotter and cooked the crawlers in them, whose looted gear is confiscated; the lava tubes are live; allosaurus mobs split by quest and by gender; a spell called Fuck those Trees in Particular disabled; every crawler in the top thousand can now see their ranking. Katia: Eva is cornered near the hot springs and Li Na can track her; Bautista's first show soon; the Royal Palace joins the guild so Donut, highest charisma, can buy the upgrade. The Platinum Fan Box: a Titan Entertainment lanyard and a SPECIAL GUEST badge — a virtual booth at CrawlCon, the galaxy's convention, held every other season, three events, the first twenty-two hours away: judging a juvenile quickdraw art contest, a panel 'Crawling Through the Ages' moderated by Circe Took of the Hive, and an autograph session with refunds guaranteed if Carl does not survive to attend, plus VIP duo sessions with the Popov Brothers. 'Send Donut instead.' Zev: be cooperative, just this once.

Mordecai was a CrawlCon guest once, years after his season, and signed three items; the first prep teams landed on Earth in 1936, the first science-fiction convention was Philadelphia 1938, 'do the math.' Only four current crawlers were chosen; Donut's tail droops. Katia has come to leave the party for real — 'It'll be like moving into a bigger town' — and the Royal Court joins the guild: Safehome Yolanda, level 7, controlled by Team Meadowlark, guildmaster Imani C., six parties and sixty-three crawlers; a Guild Common Area door, a pet stable, and, over Mordecai's warning to wait, beds upgraded to the Instacot 60 — sixty seconds of sleep, Great Rest, fifteen per cent to stats, and Carl hates it. An explosion rattles the space; Clint bangs on the door, and Clint has turned: a beaver, brown and oily, buck-toothed, lisping, a tail like a black tongue. Someone is lobbing poison bombs at Point Mongo from a catapult in the woods — 'like trying to attack a mongoliensis by throwing sausages at it.' Carl has an idea.

Characters

• Carl — A fan booth at CrawlCon; a panel moderated by the Hive.
• Katia Grim — Comes to leave the party; Eva cornered by the hot springs.
• Vrah — Beheads two crawlers on the recap and wears the heads.
• Lucia Mar — Kills a stegosaurus through her dog; eats its eye.
• Imani — Flying, mummified, on fire; dispels Eva's glamour.
• Eva Sigrid — Untrackable by magic; glamours a town; cornered.
• Elle McGibbons — In Katia's raid.
• Mordecai — 'Always pick it by the stem.'
• Zev — 'It's in your best interests to be cooperative just this once.'
• Quasar — The injunction on the hunters' outside help came through.
• Li Na — Can track Eva.
• Princess Donut — Not invited to CrawlCon; finds the pet stable.
• Clint Smashgrab — Turned: a beaver.

Locations

• The hot springs — Made hotter mid-floor; crawlers cooked; lava tubes live.
• The Royal Palace of Princess Donut — A Guild Common Area, a stable, Instacots.
• Point Mongo — Elves lob poison bombs into the town from a magical trebuchet in the woods.

Motifs

• The hunters — Over 500 crawlers taken, over fifty hunters dead; outside contact cut by injunction.
• Borant — 'My personal life project'; civil war at home.
• The show — CrawlCon: a badge, three events, a refund clause.
• The guild system — The Royal Palace joins Imani's guild.
• The leaderboard — Rankings visible to the top thousand.
• Sponsorship — Stakes may be sold next floor.
• The guild system — Safehome Yolanda: sixty-three crawlers in six parties.
• The show — CrawlCon borrowed, Mordecai implies, from Earth's 1938 convention; four crawlers chosen.
• The Chee — A were-castor is a were-beaver.