Character · from book 1
Ferdinand
The name Donut would not explain for two floors: Bea's neighbour's cat, Gravy Boat to everyone but Donut, who came to the window when Princess was in heat. Book 4 finds him a half-feral stray Bea sings to in a Seattle tent and the A-tier target of the season's Walk-On List, cubed by Odette's people for Borant. Book 5 brings him down as Sir Ferdinand, familiar of the high elf queen, a Level 100 Province Boss in a royal hat whose memory, Donut says, was changed, who shoots the bolt meant for Mongo, is charmed by Donut with a potion of her own blood, saves Carl by slamming into the queen's head, and leaves with the castle for the ninth floor, still in her party.
Race and class, since book 5: Cat · Familiar
First appears: Book 1 · Seen for what it is: Book 5
Series arc
In hindsight, after book 5
Read after book 5, the name Donut refused to explain for two floors is a character. Book 1 has only the name — a cat she would not want to look like, a beau invoked on her deathbed, someone she loves more than Carl. Book 2 gives the joke: Gravy Boat, Marjory's tom on the first floor, who came to the window when Princess was in heat. Book 4's epilogue gives the cat: half-feral, orange, found in a tree where the apartment was, sung to every night by a woman who calls him Ferdinand, and taken in a bounty cube as the A-tier target of the Walk-On List. Book 5 gives him back to Donut as Sir Ferdinand, familiar of the high elf queen, his memory changed, Donut believes, sent to fight her — and charmed instead. The Trace has the lines. What the walk-on list was for is what the book shows: a cat brought down as a weapon aimed at a cat.
As of book 6. The name Donut would not explain for two floors; Bea's stray in book 4; the queen's familiar in book 5, charmed for real by the cat he was sent to fight; a rhino mount on the ninth floor and, at the end of book 6, Sir Ferdinand, co-warlord of the Home Team. The Trace has the lines.
Open threads
Status is open or resolved; the chapter after it is the last one that moved the thread.
| Thread | Opened | Status |
|---|---|---|
| The Home Team: Juice Box and Sir Ferdinand as co-warlords | B6 ch. 72 | open — Passed at 52%; Larracos as base; peace rules until the game; an adjutant to be assigned; Rosetta's worry about what the AI does for them. |
All threads: Open threads.
Through book 1
A name and nothing else: Donut, explaining why she does not get blood on her like a common house cat — 'I'd end up looking like Ferdinand' — and Carl asks, 'Who the hell is Ferdinand?' (B1 ch. 23); invoked on her deathbed (B1 ch. 24) and asked about again (B1 ch. 27); loved more than Carl in her confession under the Krakaren (B1 ch. 34); and a guess at who might be watching with Miss Beatrice (B1 ch. 43). She will not say who he is.
Through book 2
A porcupine in a dream under Signet's Water Lily spell (B2 ch. 12). On Ripper Wonton's Danger Zone the secret comes out: 'Ferdinand is the love of my life' — and Carl laughs: his name was Gravy Boat, Marjory's cat on the first floor, who knocked up every female cat within three blocks and whom Bea called animal control on twice. 'He preferred Ferdinand,' sniffed Donut (B2 ch. 19).
Through book 4
The toy robot Donut sniffs the air for him and tells Mongo he is not Ferdinand (B4 ch. 13). The epilogue finds the cat himself: a large, half-feral orange stray, Bea's neighbour's, who came to the window when Princess was in heat, found in a tree at the hole where the apartment was and sung to every night — 'You're no Gravy Boat' — and, as the A-tier target of the season's Walk-On List, put in a bounty cube by Odette's people to be handed to Borant (B4 ch. 35).
Through book 5
The queen's familiar in the howdah is Ferdinand: Bea's neighbour's cat, brought down from the walk-on list, his memory changed, Donut says, 'turned him into a jerk' (B5 ch. 51). A Level 100 Province Boss in a gold turban with a four-foot feather, whose hat casts lightning, 'nothing but a lowly creature' to the footman (B5 ch. 64, B5 ch. 72); he shoots the bolt meant for Mongo, and Donut catches it with her chest (B5 ch. 51). She enchants him with a tiara, and he leaves the queen's ballroom to be nearer her, which locks him in with the crawlers (B5 ch. 72, B5 ch. 73); charmed for real with a potion of her own blood, he calls her his bride, slams into the queen's head as she reels Carl in, and is backhanded away, hat flying (B5 ch. 74, B5 ch. 75). Still in the party when the castle goes to the ninth floor (B5 ch. 77).
Open: a minion Mordecai says will leave the party on the next floor; the walk-on list that brought him.
Through book 6
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 1, Ch. 23 | “Who the hell is Ferdinand?” | Book 1's first mention: a name Donut drops, and Carl's question, unanswered. |
| Book 1, Ch. 34 | Who the fuck was Ferdinand anyway? | Under the Krakaren, Donut loves him more than Carl; Carl does not ask. |
| Book 1, Ch. 43 | “Or maybe it’s Miss Beatrice and Ferdinand.” | Donut's guess at who might be watching: her person and her beau. |
| Book 2, Ch. 19 | “His name wasn’t Ferdinand. His name was Gravy Boat. He belonged to Marjory on the first floor.” | On Danger Zone with Ripper Wonton: the joke explained. A neighbour's tom, animal control called twice. |
| Book 2, Ch. 19 | “He preferred Ferdinand,” sniffed Donut. | Not the cat's own name: book 4 shows Bea called him Ferdinand first. |
| Book 4, Ch. 13 | “Ferdinand?” She looked at Mongo. “You’re not Ferdinand.” | A toy robot Donut from a toy company's benefactor box sniffs the air for him. |
| Book 4, Ch. 35 | Risking his life to track down a godsdamned cat named Gravy Boat. | The Walk-On List's A-tier target, hunted in Seattle by a bounty crew and caged by Odette's agent. |
| Book 4, Ch. 35 | “Good boy, good boy, you’re a good boy, Ferdinand. You’re no Gravy Boat. | Bea's song to a stray in a tent — the same song Donut later sings as a spell. |
| Book 5, Ch. 51 | “It was Ferdinand. I saw him. It was him. They brought Ferdinand down here and changed his memory and turned him into a jerk. | The queen's familiar in the howdah: the cat from the window, remade as a boss for Donut to fight. |
Where they appear
| Book | Chapters they are in (of the book's) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Dungeon Crawler Carl | 5/48 | Ch. 23, Ch. 24, Ch. 27, Ch. 34, Ch. 43 · the book's own page |
| 2 — Carl's Doomsday Scenario | 2/26 | Ch. 12, Ch. 19 · the book's own page |
| 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods | 2/35 | Ch. 13, Ch. 35 · the book's own page |
| 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade | 15/78 | 8, 39, 51–52, 54, 64–66, 71–77 · the book's own page |
| 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride | 7/74 | Ch. 2, Ch. 12, Ch. 19, Ch. 32, Ch. 43, Ch. 47, Ch. 72 · the book's own page |
By book
Ferdinand in book 1 — Dungeon Crawler Carl
Donut, when Carl asks who he is: 'Nobody you'd know' (ch. 23). Named in Donut's fake death scene (ch. 24) and ranked above Carl in her drunk confession (ch. 34); when Carl finally asks, she has no idea whatever he is talking about (ch. 27) and thinks the Maestro's mystery guests might be Bea and Ferdinand (ch. 43).
Ferdinand in book 2 — Carl's Doomsday Scenario
The love of Donut's life, in her telling: a tragic courtship carried on at night across the wide expanse of a window, a secret she says has festered too long (ch. 19). Carl laughs and gives the truth: his name was Gravy Boat, and he belonged to Marjory on the first floor (ch. 19). On the third floor he comes to Donut in a dream, turns into a porcupine, and leaves his quills in her (ch. 12).
Ferdinand in book 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods
The name the Veriluxx robot of Donut says when it sniffs the air, before telling Mongo he is not Ferdinand (ch. 13). In the epilogue Bea scoops up a stray, sobbing, and calls him Ferdinand and an asshole: her neighbour's cat, Gravy Boat, who used to come to the window when Princess was in heat — an A-tier Walk-On target with Borant's bounty on him, tracked down by a hunter risking his own life, and Lexis shudders at what they will do to him (epilogue).
Ferdinand in book 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade
The curtain of the howdah opens on Donut's Ferdinand (ch. 51): Gravy Boat, a familiar who killed a Creeper (ch. 52), 'nothing but a lowly creature' to the footman (ch. 64). On Carl's shoulder, mocking, in a four-foot turban (ch. 71, ch. 72), his card calls all cats soulless murderers and credits him with cat-sized hallways in the castle; Donut enchants him and he leaves the queen's ballroom to be closer to her (ch. 72) — which locks him in with the crawlers (ch. 73). Charmed for real, a minion who calls her his bride, he slams into the queen's head as she reels Carl in and is backhanded away, hat flying (ch. 74, ch. 75). Still in the party, somewhere on the ninth floor (ch. 77).
Ferdinand in book 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
A legendary Beguiler's Box for charming him (ch. 2); the cat lost his hat and moved straight to the city (ch. 12); Donut says this is just like with Ferdinand — they want us to fight (ch. 19); a rhinoceros mount, remembered (ch. 32); Carl wanted to skip the Masquerade when he saw it was Ferdinand (ch. 43); Sir Ferdinand, co-warlord of the Home Team with Juice Box, and Donut gasps at the mention of Gravy Boat (ch. 72).