Chapter 65 of 78 · Book 5, The Butcher's Masquerade

Chapter 65 — The Oak Mother's sacrament

Book: The Butcher's Masquerade · Part: The Butchering · Previous: Chapter 64 — The attendant entrance · Next: Chapter 66 — The Sugar Cube · Floor: Floor 6 — The Hunting Grounds · Series: the series

Opening

<Note added by Crawler Carl, 25th edition>

Summary

Page five of the notes: Edgar's map puts the control room for the four ballrooms on the third floor — four small soul crystals and a fifth for the goodwill overlay, mute and inventory spells only in the main ballrooms, none in the queen's; someone must switch off the protections without killing the overlay, after the Gideon distraction empties the castle. Carl guesses Imogen will be someone one of them knows, meant to be Bea. Elle floats Donut's charm for the security room; Donut: 'IT'S THE NIPPLE RING ALL OVER AGAIN […] I'D LIKE FOR YOU TO GET STABBED FOR ONE OF YOUR PLANS SOMETIME.' The card: Queen Imogen – High Elf Cleric Sorceress, Level 145 Country Boss, Intangible 'Yet'; no redemption arc (the Juicer volunteered at a hedgehog rescue, Denise the goose read to children); a terrified girl afraid of dying like King Finian, whose plan hinges on tonight. Katia: not Ifechi but her twin, whom Florin mentioned at the Popovs'. Britney's fan box and returned plus-one token — she hit the top fifty on her own. The queen: colour-changing gown, a soul-crystal pendant, gold-leaf makeup, Ifechi's haunted eyes, dark skin among racial-purist pale elves. Carl invokes the rule — the loved one's target goes down the stairs — and Florin: 'Go fuck yourself, Carl. I don't see your cat going down the stairs.' The queen: 'Are you scared of me, Carl?' Carl: 'Very.' Her story: the first masquerade in the Halls of Ascendency, Taranis and Apito the Blessed Oak Mother hosting their vying children; Grull's question and Apito's gospel — the masks are the smiles and the goodwill; Yarilo, god of lust, drunk, forced himself on another god's familiar and was banished to the Nothing by Apito; Taranis raged at his wife; the mortals and demigods were slaughtered. Now a sacrament: a spell only the most divine may cast, once in a life; the guest list comes from the goddess, chosen to sow discord; the attendants may not be harmed before; a night without violence earns Apito's boon. 'To grow the perfect tree, one must first cut off the rot.' Ferdinand was chastened ('There's no such thing as chastening a cat'). Donut on the castle: a white Borg cube built in Minecraft. 'I want that boon, Carl […] the ground will open underneath your feet, and everyone involved in breaching the peace will be fed into the Nothing.' She raises a hand at Britney and stops — 'You vex me so' — because Britney is now a guest. 'I have you on my dance card, Carl.' She blows apart like dandelion seeds. The plan is already fucked. 'She reminds me of my mother,' Britney said.

Characters

• Queen Imogen — Carded: level 145 country boss; tells the masquerade's origin; wants the boon.
• Carl — 'Very' scared; on the dance card.
• Britney Proskurina — Top fifty on her own, which saves her life.
• Florin — Refuses the stairs.
• Katia Grim — Twin sister, not Ifechi.
• Princess Donut — The nipple ring, again; the Borg cube.
• Edgar — His map of the control room.
• Ifechi — Her face on the queen; killed by Lucia Mar on the fourth floor.
• Elle McGibbons — The charm plan.
• Imani — 'I can't keep going to the bathroom like this.'

Locations

• The high elf castle — Four ballrooms, a third-floor control room, soul crystals.

Motifs

• The Butcher's Masquerade — A spell, a sacrament, a guest list built for discord, a boon.
• The gods — Apito's gospel; Yarilo banished; Taranis's rage; the celestial peace seal.
• The Nothing — The price of breaking the seal.
• Faces of the dead — A boss wearing a dead crawler's twin.
• The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook — Page five of the notes.
• The leaderboard — Britney into the top fifty on her own; Donut's plus-one token back.