Chapter 69 of 99 · Book 8, A Parade of Horribles

Chapter 69 — The stables: who may leave; the Scavenger myth

Book: A Parade of Horribles · Part: Horrible One · Previous: Chapter 68 — Sam Town; Cascadia's announcement · Next: Chapter 70 — The memorial crystal; the Midnight Epicure · Floor: Floor 10 — Don't Come in Last · Series: the series

Opening

“Nice. This is quite the invigorating space,” Prepotente said as he, Donut, Imani, Elle, R

Summary

In the pet stables — Prepotente admiring the room (combined, level 5, Stablemaster, three more mercenary slots, 'perhaps not if so many guild members leave') — Imani, an hour left on her blood bar, clipped and angry. Carl's eleventh-floor strategy is on his Book of Voodoo page; Imani's three-paragraph tirade: they will all die, she threatens a deal; Carl: 'I hope you do take a deal. Nobody would blame you'; 'Goddamnit, Carl. This is insane.' Elle defended it; Prepotente is eager. The Emberus debt is due and the three-hour eleventh forces his hand. Who goes to the Cabaret: volunteers who worship no god and stayed human; no fairies or fliers; not Louis (gills need magic), Chris (rock, may drop dead outside an enhancement zone), Donut or Florin — Donut asked alarming questions about the modified zero zone used for her deal interview with Carl's new wife, and Mordecai's answer was not reassuring. Everyone is warned; the unwilling urged to take deals; responses mostly 'horrified anger'. Donut is not speaking to Carl: he will leave the party for the eleventh, Mordecai shuffling safe-room ownership with dwindling funds; the level-5 stables were lost with Na. The stables are a secondary add-on room where, by an existing bug, gods cannot see — not a shield for leaving a faith or removing gifts, and viewers still watch, but talk is unheard (as with Samantha's claim to Geyrun's death). Linus's goodbye party is at Hungry Eyes with the Cabaret volunteers, Bautista teaching him tea; 'I’m going to miss some of the things that little pervert says.' The situation: two heats, four teams to one; keep NPCs alive in six, get crawlers off the board before seven — 200 to the Cabaret and, by Mordecai's maths, 1,500 deals needed; everyone knows deals are better at the start of the eleventh; the eleventh runs three hours (Rosetta: a Syndicate guideline, not code; the AI keeps the game rules and ignores the guidelines) — parade, arena, floor boss; Carl must see Hellik dead before it ends or be smited, and leaves the party so Donut is not hurt. Rosetta on the Scavenger storyline: old wild gods expelled by the new — one to Sheol, some to the Nothing, some murdered, some starved of worshippers (the Thorn room); the all-tree, real and a metaphor, fed Nekhebit, vulture, the Scavenger Mother of Mothers, who was forbidden children and had three — a son, a daughter (Apito, impregnated by the tree or herself, whose children overthrew the old), and a centipede — and fell last to Apito. Nekhebit is a scavenger, not the Scavenger; the myths diverge — Scolopendra as the Scavenger, or the son who cleans up escaped souls in the empty plane, or all three a split divine trinity — but the Scavenger's Daughter has Apito's power to erase the pantheon and start again, and more: 'She can take the powers of gods and use them for herself.' Donut: 'Just like that Spock guy […] with the cheerleader!' Carl laughs — at a sand ooze as god-killer; what does that make Samantha? Rosetta: myths are reverse-engineered phenomena (her culture's ocean goddess of sapient menstrual blood was a red algae bloom that learned to walk), compiled into the dungeon's storylines. The problem is trusting the war mages' identification. 'I am hoping to see that memorial crystal you have.'

Characters

• Carl — 'I hope you do take a deal'; will leave the party; 'Tell us everything you know about the Scavenger storyline.'
• Princess Donut — Not speaking to Carl; 'Just like that Spock guy.'
• Imani — A three-paragraph tirade; an hour on her blood bar.
• Elle McGibbons — Defended the plan; 'I’m going to miss some of the things that little pervert says.'
• Prepotente — Eager for once; stables to level 5.
• Rosetta Thagra — The myth: Nekhebit's three children; the Scavenger's Daughter takes gods' powers.
• Linus and Minus — His goodbye party at Hungry Eyes.
• Daniel Bautista — Babysits Linus and teaches him tea.
• Mordecai — Shuffles ownership with dwindling funds.
• Penelope — Jealous in the corner.

Locations

• The Royal Palace of Princess Donut — The stables, where gods cannot see.
• Hungry Eyes Village — Volunteers gathering.
• The all-tree — Real, and a metaphor.

Motifs

• The Pineapple Cabaret — Only godless, still-human volunteers; no fliers; not Louis, Chris, Donut or Florin.
• The deal — 1,500 deals needed; horrified anger.
• The Scavenger's Daughter — 'An entity that has the power to erase the current pantheon and start again.'
• The gods — Old gods to Sheol, the Nothing, or murdered.
• The death of Geyrun — Hellik must die before the eleventh ends.
• The Filthy Little Crawler's Book of Voodoo — The plan posted on Carl's page.