Motif · Book 7, This Inevitable Ruin

The Crown of the Sepsis Whore

Donut's first legendary prize, a cat-sized tiara of smoky gems she puts on before anyone can read the warning: whoever wears it is placed permanently in the Blood Sultanate's royal line and must slay the Sultan and every other royal before leaving the ninth floor; fleeting, so that another crown appears elsewhere if it comes off. 'It's purple. Purple is my color.'

Segment appearances

• Chapter 8 — Larracos, City of Dreams
• Chapter 42 — The warlord council; Princess Vinata
• Chapter 46 — Operation Snake Pit: the line of succession
• Chapter 49 — Bijou, Theia and Khepri
• Chapter 55 — Head Banger; Milk
• Chapter 56 — Justice Light; the Nest
• Chapter 58 — Sultan Rishi the Usurper
• Chapter 84 — And then there were two

Progression

Arief tells the old story: 198 daughters before 99 sons, and the sons poisoned (ch. 8). To lift it the whole line must die: four nagas, and the last a sultan who hid (ch. 46, ch. 58). 'The Sepsis Whore of the Blood Sultanate has fallen' to a sluggalo's hatchet (ch. 55). Donut cannot leave the floor before Katia is taken; Katia cannot descend while Donut lives (ch. 56, ch. 84).