Character · from book 3
Porthus
Porthus the Rogue: the High Elf crawler of the fifteenth season to whom the Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook was first awarded, on the ninth floor, disguised as a blank sketchbook.
Race and class, since book 3: High Elf · Rogue
First appears: Book 3 · Seen for what it is: Book 4
Series arc
In hindsight, after book 4
Read after book 4, the Cookbook's account of its own origin in book 3 — awarded to the High Elf crawler Porthus the Rogue on the ninth floor of the fifteenth season — introduces a living character. His note in the 2nd edition accepts 'the deal', a hundred seasons of servitude, and swears to end the horror if he survives it; the epilogue has a colleague call Dr. P. Hu, president of the pacifist NFC that became Carl's second sponsor in the sandstorm, 'Porthus'. The yam in that sponsor's box, brewed by Mordecai into the potion that lets Carl pull a worm out of a friend's skull — half of it wasted there, his colleague complains — was his first move. The Trace has the lines.
As of book 4. The Cookbook's first owner and its second author. Book 3's first pages name him: Porthus the Rogue, a High Elf crawler of the fifteenth season who was handed the book on the ninth floor disguised as a blank sketchbook. Book 4 adds his note in the 2nd edition — accepting 'the deal', a hundred seasons of servitude, and swearing to end the horror if he survives it — and then, in the epilogue, a colleague calling Dr. P. Hu, CEO and president of Outreach Operations of the Open Intellect Pacifist Action Network, Carl's second sponsor, by that name: 'He's going to die, Porthus.' 'We're going all in on him.' The yam his NFC sent, which Mordecai brewed into a Phase Lava Rock potion, was the first sign.
Open threads
Status is open or resolved; the chapter after it is the last one that moved the thread.
| Thread | Opened | Status |
|---|---|---|
| What the pacifists' yam was really for | B4 ch. 35 | open · B5 ch. 55 — The Open Intellect's box is Pawna's Cries with a cryptic note and 'Will replace'; spent on a god. |
All threads: Open threads.
Through book 3
Porthus the Rogue, the High Elf crawler of the fifteenth season to whom the Cookbook, generated into the system that season, was awarded on the ninth floor disguised as a blank sketchbook (B3 ch. 8).
Through book 4
Through book 5
A benefactor note signed '~ P. Hu', its hidden words revealed by Carl's Escape Plan skill: Circe sponsored Diwata, give the potion to Donut (B5 ch. 55).
In the Cookbook
Author of the 2nd edition, known from a note at B4 ch. 34. 1 note in the text so far: B4 ch. 34. The register of every edition is on the Cookbook.
Trace
The thread line by line, in reading order: its presence before anyone could see it, and the lines that made it legible. Each line is verbatim from the cited book.
| Where | The line | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Book 3, Ch. 8 | It was awarded to the High Elf Crawler Porthus the Rogue on the ninth floor, disguised as a blank sketchbook. | The Cookbook's own account of its first owner, fifteenth season. |
| Book 4, Ch. 34 | <Note added by Crawler Porthus, 2nd Edition> | His note on the page Carl reads before the stairwell: 'the deal', a hundred seasons of servitude. |
| Book 4, Ch. 35 | “He’s going to die, Porthus. He’s never going to make it past the sixth floor.” | Dr. P. Hu, president of Carl's pacifist sponsor, called by his crawler name. |
Where they appear
| Book | Chapters they are in (of the book's) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook | 1/35 | Ch. 8 · the book's own page |
| 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods | 2/35 | Ch. 34, Ch. 35 · the book's own page |
| 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade | 1/78 | Ch. 55 · the book's own page |
By book
Porthus in book 3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
Porthus the Rogue: the ninth-floor crawler of the fifteenth season to whom the Cookbook was awarded on the ninth floor, disguised as a blank sketchbook (ch. 8).
Porthus in book 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods
The 2nd edition's author: 'I have decided to accept the deal […] if I survive my 100 seasons of servitude, I will do everything I can to end this horror' (ch. 34). In the epilogue a woman calls Dr. P. Hu — CEO and president of Outreach Operations of the Open Intellect Pacifist Action Network, whose name is inscribed on Carl's head-throwing attachment — 'Porthus', and he is going all in on Carl: 'He knows what it's really for'; 'Every time he goes on that Odette woman's show, more people sign up for the cause' (epilogue).
Porthus in book 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade
The note in Carl's benefactor box says only 'Save the toraline' until his Escape Plan skill activates and more words appear: Circe sponsored Diwata, give the Pawna's Cries potion to Donut, a temporary boost to fifteen with Prepotente, Imani and Samantha at the same time, signed '~ P. Hu' (ch. 55).