Place · from book 3

The Nothing

The pantheon's prison for the gods from before: a double spot on a casino wheel in book 3, the hole the Gate of the Feral Gods rips in book 4, the masquerade's punishment in book 5, breached in book 6, and broken by Justice Light's trap at the end of book 7, draining into the Halls of the Ascendency. In book 8 its inhabitants are loose on three floors, the wheel's spot opens on a stasis chamber, and the last symbol on Carl's progression, the Inevitable Ruin, 'was said to be a personification of the Nothing'.

Who has come out of it — Inle, Minge, Wakinyan — and who sells sushi in it: the pantheon.

First appears: Book 3 · Seen for what it is: Book 8

Series arc

In hindsight, after book 8

In book 3 the Nothing is a double-width spot on a casino wheel that Carl nearly lands on — 'the Nothing sure is something' (B3 ch. 9). Book 4 makes it a prison: the Gate of the Feral Gods rips a hole into it and 'the gods from before', banished there by the pantheon and driven mad, come through (B4 ch. 15); Samantha's father sent her there (B4 ch. 24), and the harem inside hates her (B4 ch. 34). Book 5 uses it as a punishment — the masquerade's seal feeds a peace-breaker into it, and takes Signet (B5 ch. 66, B5 ch. 74) — and book 6 reports it 'breached, and not for the first time' (B6 ch. 54). Book 7 ends with system messages that 'The Nothing has been broken' and is draining into the Halls of the Ascendency, Sheol and Scolopendra's Lair (B7 ch. 87). Book 8 opens on the consequences — chaos on the twelfth and eighteenth floors (B8 ch. 1), its inhabitants loosed onto three levels by Justice Light's trap (B8 ch. 28), the wheel's spot now a door to a stasis chamber (B8 ch. 85) — and closes on its meaning: the last symbol on Carl's progression, the Inevitable Ruin, 'was said to be a personification of the Nothing' (B8 ch. 92). The casino's worst prize was the pantheon's oubliette, and breaking it is what let the gods loose.

As of book 8. A spot on a wheel in book 3, the Gate's other side in book 4, broken in book 7; in book 8 'broken' is the word Quasar has for it, and a goat explains how. The Desperado Club's Nothing spots vanish from the casino and return in quotes, and the one under the Wheel of Fortune is a one-way portal to a stasis chamber that leads to Sheol. Akuma says the Cabaret's dimension is the same sort of thing.

Open threads

Status is open or resolved; the chapter after it is the last one that moved the thread.

Thread	Opened	Status
Krakaren Prime in the Nothing, preparing for a war	B7 ch. 71	open · B8 ch. 97 — Krakaren Prime is in Club Scolopendra (ch. 28), then the level-235 floor boss atop the arena's tree, brought for 'what you and someone else are planning' (ch. 94); Taranis, taking 'two' of his mother's pieces, leaves with her and Samantha (ch. 97).
Justice Light's trap: the Nothing broken into the Ascendency, Sheol and Scolopendra's lair	B7 ch. 87	open · B8 ch. 28 — A Plenty goat: the trap loosed the Nothing's inhabitants onto three floors — the weakest to the twelfth, nothing seen of the fifteenth, slaughter in Club Scolopendra where the Kyryap and Krakaren Prime are.
Juice Box in the Nothing, to be reborn 'the ultimate weapon'	B7 ch. 87	open · B8 ch. 86 — The AI says Juice Box was dumped in Sheol, out of its view; 'You should probably check on her' by Reaper Spider Minions; the Unwashed she once turned into leads the Vengeance float; the contenders' reel names 'Juice Box the NPC' and ends on an image of the Unwashed (ch. 99).

All threads: Open threads.

Through book 3

A double spot on the wheel of fortune, the worst of twenty-five, that Carl nearly goes into (B3 ch. 9); 'the Nothing sure is something' (B3 ch. 9).

Through book 4

Where the demon harem was tossed during the original Ascendency (B4 ch. 34); what the Gate opens onto when it closes (B4 ch. 15–B4 ch. 29); where Slit came from (B4 ch. 34).

Through book 5

Yarilo's exile (B5 ch. 65); the seal's price (B5 ch. 66); 'Psamathe, we are coming' (B5 ch. 74).

Through book 6

Makara's sushi stand (B6 ch. 31); torn open through the casino's knife game with Samantha in the casino — Minge, Slit's little sister (B6 ch. 32, B6 ch. 33); Wakinyan's escape (B6 ch. 42); 'breached, and not for the first time' (B6 ch. 54); Inle, back from it and not all there (B6 ch. 15).

Through book 7

Yarilo's prison (B7 ch. 64); Krakaren Prime's brewery (B7 ch. 71); the Damned (B7 ch. 52); Juice Box's door, and broken — draining into the Ascendency, Sheol and Scolopendra's Lair (B7 ch. 87).

Through book 8

Quasar tells Carl it is 'Broken' (B8 ch. 1), and a Plenty goat explains how: Justice Light's trap loosed its inhabitants onto three floors (B8 ch. 28). Tem, whose skull blocks the third heat's finish, resided there until Odette killed him (B8 ch. 32); Akuma says the Cabaret's pocket dimension is the same sort of thing (B8 ch. 38). The Desperado Club's Nothing spots are gone from the casino, then back, in quotes (B8 ch. 55, B8 ch. 79) — the one under the Wheel of Fortune is a one-way portal to a stasis chamber (B8 ch. 85).

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. 9	Most of the spots were the same size, except the Nothing! spot took up two spaces	A wheel of fortune in the Desperado Club; the worst prize of twenty-five.
Book 3, Ch. 9	Yeah, the Nothing sure is something.	The croupier, after an NPC at the roulette table falls into the Nothing; Carl's own spin nearly lands there next.
Book 4, Ch. 15	It rips a hole into the depths of the Nothing. So when the gate finally closes, an ancient, feral god comes through into the world.	Juice Box on the Gate of the Feral Gods: a prison with gods in it.
Book 4, Ch. 15	They are the gods from before. The immortal beasts who roamed the heavens before the pantheon banished them into the Nothing […] Their banishment has driven them mad.	Who is in there.
Book 4, Ch. 24	is a minor deity who was banished to the Nothing by her father	Samantha's card: the first named god said to have been put there, by her father, for a king.
Book 4, Ch. 34	The Nothing is filled with the harem. They all hate me.	Samantha on the harem inside; her card in ch. 24 says her father banished her.
Book 5, Ch. 66	» Warning! This room is under a protection seal. Any violent acts will break the seal, resulting in your banishment to the Nothing.	The masquerade's celestial peace seal.
Book 5, Ch. 74	The floor rent open, and Signet plummeted from sight, getting pulled into the Nothing as Imogen grabbed at her, as if to stop her.	The seal keeps its promise.
Book 6, Ch. 32	The entrances to the Nothing were one-way, except in rare circumstances, like when I used the Gate of the Feral Gods. Did Samantha’s presence change that?	A breach in the casino.
Book 6, Ch. 54	The great prison, the Nothing, has been breached, and not for the first time.	The system's own word for it: a prison.
Book 7, Ch. 87	» System Message: The Nothing has been broken.	Justice Light's trap, at the end of book 7.
Book 7, Ch. 87	» System Message: The Nothing is currently draining into The Halls of the Ascendency.	Where its contents go.
Book 8, Ch. 1	All he knew was that the Nothing was “broken” and that everything was in chaos on the twelfth and eighteenth floors.	Carl, passing on what Quasar told him, in book 8's first chapter.
Book 8, Ch. 28	He created a trap that broke the in-game version of the Nothing. This unleashed all of the inhabitants of the Nothing into three different levels of the game.	A Plenty goat's account of what the trap did.
Book 8, Ch. 85	» Environment on other side of portal: This portal leads to a stasis chamber.	The wheel's Nothing spot, with the Nothing gone.
Book 8, Ch. 92	It was said to be a personification of the Nothing. To me, it was that and more. The Inevitable Ruin.	The last symbol on Carl's progression.

Where they appear

Book	Chapters they are in (of the book's)	Where
3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook	2/35	Ch. 9, Ch. 35 · the book's own page
4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods	10/35	15–16, 20–21, 23–24, 27–29, 34 · the book's own page
5 — The Butcher's Masquerade	10/78	24, 34, 62, 65–69, 73–74 · the book's own page
6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride	13/74	15, 18, 26, 31–33, 35, 42, 54, 57–58, 61, 66 · the book's own page
7 — This Inevitable Ruin	10/89	28, 44, 52, 59, 64, 71, 73, 76, 86–87 · the book's own page
8 — A Parade of Horribles	15/99	1, 28, 32, 38, 55, 69–70, 79, 83, 85–86, 92–94, 97 · the book's own page

By book

The Nothing in book 3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook

A double spot on the Desperado Club's wheel of fortune, the worst of twenty-five: Carl nearly goes into it (ch. 9); 'Remember when you almost got sucked away into the Nothing, Carl?' (epilogue).

The Nothing in book 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods

Where the demon harem was tossed during the original Ascendency (ch. 34); where Slit came from (ch. 34) and where the Gate of the Feral Gods opens onto when it closes (ch. 15–ch. 29); 'cast away to the Nothing' (ch. 24).

The Nothing in book 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade

Samantha says a beaver god is in it, Capa, whom Hehaka wears as a hat (ch. 24); being abandoned was worse than the Nothing (ch. 34); something she once did there (ch. 62). Imogen tells the masquerade's founding story — Yarilo exiled to it for breaking the peace — and promises that the ground will open and feed peace-breakers into it, an eternity in the realm of darkness and gnashing of teeth (ch. 65); the warning at the door repeats the price, and a footman describes the fall (ch. 66); the pet show is an hour of nobody being banished (ch. 67); Signet says the Nothing is fed every time, and Apito awards no boons (ch. 68); Zabit applauds Carl for nearly angering Vrah into breaking the seal (ch. 69). Imogen dares Signet toward the realm of mumbled screams (ch. 73), and the floor rends open and takes her (ch. 74).

The Nothing in book 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Inle, one of only two orishas to have spent time in the Nothing, is not all there and will end up back in it (ch. 15); Orthrus, unleashed from it at the end of the fifth floor, has a memory made unreliable by his time there (ch. 18); MaeMae's missing husband might be in it (ch. 26); Samantha says a goddess there, Makara, with a crocodile's head and a fish's body, makes sushi rolls of her own innards (ch. 31). The casino holds entrances to it, one of a harem of feral sisters gets out, and a voice once called from it for Samantha as Signet fell (ch. 32, ch. 33); Wakinyan's escape (ch. 42); the system's own words: 'The great prison, the Nothing, has been breached, and not for the first time' (ch. 54).

The Nothing in book 7 — This Inevitable Ruin

Where Yarilo was banished and from which the god who banished you comes when you escape (ch. 64); where Krakaren Prime brews (ch. 71); the Damned are those who entered it and survived (ch. 52). Juice Box jumps into it alone through a permanent portal made from the Gate's winding box; the bijou and demon traps follow, and it breaks — draining into the Halls of the Ascendency, Sheol and Scolopendra's Lair (ch. 87).

The Nothing in book 8 — A Parade of Horribles

Quasar tells Carl it is 'Broken' (ch. 1), and a Plenty goat explains how: Justice Light's trap loosed its inhabitants onto three floors (ch. 28). Tem, whose skull blocks the third heat's finish, resided there until Odette killed him (ch. 32); Akuma says the Cabaret's pocket dimension is the same sort of thing (ch. 38). The Desperado Club's Nothing spots are gone from the casino, then back, in quotes (ch. 55, ch. 79) — the one under the Wheel of Fortune is a one-way portal to a stasis chamber (ch. 85).