Chapter 63 of 78 · Book 5, The Butcher's Masquerade

Chapter 63 — Enchanted Hammer of Fast Forward

Book: The Butcher's Masquerade · Part: The Butchering · Previous: Chapter 62 — A squirrel with antlers · Next: Chapter 64 — The attendant entrance · Floor: Floor 6 — The Hunting Grounds · Series: the series

Opening

» Time to the Butcher’s Masquerade: 8 hours.

Summary

Eight hours. Signet on a log stroking a butterfly, tired: 'But there is still beauty.' Grimaldi was planted at an all-tree node and 'became one with the tree, as we all do'. Her soldiers are hidden; the elves will spend the day beating back the brambles; she will strike when the party starts. Carl, remembering Herot on waking elites, tells her the truth: 'the people controlling this world' will not let her climax touch the main story, she will die and Imogen will go to the party — Zev: 'I highly suggest you drop this.' Signet has cast something long ago that lets her find Carl and Donut anywhere. Carl's better idea — enter the castle, wait for his signal, fight Imogen together at the end — is a lie he feels: she is a distraction to be held in reserve. Clint's tattoo splashes in a puddle. 'Tell me your idea.' Five hours: five Apothecary sponsorship gifts to five crawlers, all with notes saying give it to Donut (plus Pawna's Cries and I Take it All Back); only Katia's beanie — 3% to all stats, I Need My Personal Space — was for its recipient. The escort caravan, because of attendants: pets, dinosaurs, cretins, Samantha. A stairwell in town; thousands descending; Meadowlark going down; three stairwells near the castle, one locked in its basement (so Imogen is a boss). No word of Diwata leaving; the X stays. The gifts: the recharge scroll, a tiara, sheet music, and two puzzles — a ball-peen hammer given to Imani over a denied Borant appeal ('It's enchanted. That means it's magical. It just doesn't do anything magical') and Dmitri Popov's Enchanted Stick of Cascadia's Screams; Mordecai knows one Cascadia connected to the crawl. The thought Carl finally lets surface: they expect everyone else to be dead, which is why Quasar wanted Donut on the board. Both items carry a hidden 7. Everly's last entry, Orren's warning. Randy the cub tells Bonnie the gnome she is going to hell; Skarn and the compression-sick changeling children; Prudence snoring; the Sledge teaching a changeling to steal cars in Grand Theft Auto. 'Did you figure it out?' 'Nope.' 'You brushed your teeth, right?' 'I gave the tube to Katia afterward.' 'Come on, Samantha. Let's party.'

Characters

• Carl — Lies to Signet to hold her in reserve; reads the sevens.
• Tsarina Signet — Tired, intimate, ready to end Imogen; agrees to wait for a signal.
• Princess Donut — The intended recipient of everything; teeth brushed.
• Mordecai — One Cascadia connected to the crawl.
• Katia Grim — A beanie and a knock-back spell; the toothpaste tube.
• Zev — 'They're not going to let it happen this way.'
• Imani — Given the hammer over Borant's appeal.
• The Popov brothers — Dmitri delivers the stick, starstruck.
• Bonnie — Guts a spider on the counter; told she will burn.
• Prudence — Passed out on the couch.
• The Sledge — Grand Theft Auto tutor.
• Bomo — Found every stairwell.
• Queen Imogen — A boss, by the locked stairwell.

Locations

• The Selva — The last town before the elf border, a stairwell in it.
• The high elf castle — Three stairwells around it, one locked in the basement.

Motifs

• Sponsorship — Five gifts routed to Donut; a denied appeal; a hidden seven.
• The System AI — 'The people controlling this world' will not let an NPC touch the main story.
• The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook — Everly's entry; the shape of a watched death.
• The Butcher's Masquerade — Escort for attendants; the party as the moment.
• The all-tree — Grimaldi's roots.