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 8. The Cookbook's first author, the mind behind the Open Intellect and the man who could not stop looking for Menerva. Book 8 answers him without him: the Network he announced has boarded every ship in orbit, and a former crawler named Menerva, co-builder of the Pineapple Cabaret, is alive inside the dungeon's machinery; the book does not say she is his. His reason for trusting the Apothecary is still unsaid.
Open threads
Status is open or resolved; the chapter after it is the last one that moved the thread.
| Thread | Opened | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Fifty thousand former crawlers in a garbage freighter | B6 ch. 73 | open · B8 ch. 27 — Lexis: the ship 'is decked out in enhancement-zone weaponry that actually works now that the AI has escaped containment'; the Network took every major ship in orbit in a day. |
| Porthus's plan: the Apothecary's reason, the Impetus Point, and Menerva | B7 ch. 69 | open · B8 ch. 38 — A Menerva named: a former crawler who built the seventeenth floor and the Pineapple Cabaret with Herot and runs the Backstage Death Maze (ch. 55); book 7 names Porthus's missing crawler Menerva (ch. 69), but this book does not say she is the same woman, and Rosetta knows the name and will not say. |
| What the pacifists' yam was really for | B4 ch. 35 | resolved · B7 ch. 47 — Answered: the last of the pacifists' yam recharges Imani's Tripper tattoo, and its meaning 'involved the cookbook and something to do with the crawler Milk's entries'. |
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).
Through book 6
Through book 7
The interlude that opens the book: Menerva's foot stuck, a game guide's deal, 'Missing. Wanted' (B7 ch. 1). A freighter of volunteers (B7 ch. 11); a mole who hid Volteeg (B7 ch. 35); a deal with Victory for a yacht (B7 ch. 69); the Apothecary trusted for a reason he keeps (B7 ch. 69); an ultimatum on the news (B7 ch. 88).
In the Cookbook
Author of the 2nd edition, known from a note at B4 ch. 34. 2 notes in the text so far: B4 ch. 34 · B6 ch. 55. 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 |
| 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride | 2/74 | Ch. 55, Ch. 73 · the book's own page |
| 7 — This Inevitable Ruin | 9/89 | 1, 11, 22, 35, 49, 56, 69, 87–88 · 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).
Porthus in book 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
Porthus in book 7 — This Inevitable Ruin
The interlude that opens the book: a shaking high elf rogue in a zero zone, twenty down to one, Menerva's foot stuck — 'Go. Run' — taking game guide for a hundred seasons for the pride of adding to a book; second edition; missing, wanted by Syndicate Security (ch. 1). Dr Porthus Hu's campaigning made released crawlers citizens; his Open Intellect Pacifist Network refitted a garbage freighter into a liner and called for volunteers (ch. 11). He hid Volteeg among the mercenaries (ch. 35), brokered Victory's yacht deal (ch. 69), trusts the Apothecary for a reason he will not tell Rosetta lest the AI and then the Eulogist learn it (ch. 69), and is obsessed with finding a missing crawler from his own crawl, Menerva (ch. 69). His families board a generation ship for the Plenty and the forbidden gate of the Impetus Point (ch. 69). In the epilogue he announces the Open Intellect Action Network on the news, recorded earlier: stop the crawl or else (epilogue).