Motif · Book 7, This Inevitable Ruin

The changelings

Shape-changers on Hump Street and in the bubbles — a school of principals, Svern's card, Henrik's confession — hunted for one creature, fed against Compression Sickness, promised a home on the sixth floor and a Gate they would not use; the survivors fly beside a house as geese to the Hunting Grounds. Carl's promise to bring them down every floor.

Segment appearances

Chapter 8 — Larracos, City of Dreams
Chapter 9 — Juice Box's war room
Chapter 10 — Hamed's club; the small wedding
Chapter 11 — Tipid; fifty thousand
Chapter 12 — The base camp; Tina
Chapter 13 — The FUPA; a suicide bomber
Chapter 14 — The flag room and the Ramp-Up
Chapter 19 — The ruling; the ceasefire ends
Chapter 20 — Christmas Morning; the Ramp-Up
Chapter 22 — Colonel Boomer
Chapter 25 — Empress, you have visitors
Chapter 30 — Comrades
Chapter 42 — The warlord council; Princess Vinata
Chapter 43 — Odette hosts; 'It's coming'
Chapter 44 — The Beautiful Place; Blood Hunter
Chapter 56 — Justice Light; the Nest
Chapter 59 — Operation Ruin
Chapter 61 — The War Mage Rebellion
Chapter 68 — The Grease Monkey
Chapter 70 — City of Broken Dreams
Chapter 71 — Donkey Kong
Chapter 73 — An act of fiendish cruelty
Chapter 74 — Bijanbi
Chapter 78 — The Scavenger's daughter is with us now
Chapter 79 — Tart
Chapter 82 — Ursensus
Chapter 84 — And then there were two
Chapter 85 — Zerzura

Progression

Golems and changelings begin the stronghold (ch. 12); spies in every court (ch. 19); ungated, Justice Light suspects, by a fifth-floor quest, able to copy anything they touch (ch. 56); spent on gods — one touched Bast and died, one 'is… wrong' (ch. 56). The war mages' card cites 'that pissed-off changeling army' (ch. 61); Houston calls them the key to the Beautiful Place and wires himself to a dead one (ch. 68); golden ogres stop a god at a threshold (ch. 70); basilica guards to hold the gods off the city on the twelfth (ch. 85).