Motif · from book 2
The Oak Fell
The elves' tree goddess and her antichrist. Three separate stories about angels, an oakwood anklet from a dead crawler, and a cat with an award-winning derriere become, in the minds of nine city elves, the end of days. Mordecai says this is twelfth-floor stuff.
First appears: Book 2 · Seen for what it is: Book 7
Series arc
In hindsight, after book 7
On the third floor an elf cultist of Apito's 201st Security Group spat at Donut's feet and named her: 'She is Donut, the Oak Fell. The Death Upon Us All. She Who Ends.' Mordecai called the Oak Fell 'Apito's version of the antichrist […] not stuff one usually contends with until the 12th floor', and the joke was an anklet of dead oak on a cat's leg (B2 ch. 20). Five books later the system itself says it: 'Warlord Princess Donut will now be referred to as The Oak Fell.' 'The Oak Fell has been named Champion of Nekhebit' — after three atrocities, on a floor where Hellik has just said that Apito is corrupted, the All Tree is rotting and Nekhebit is behind it (B7 ch. 54, B7 ch. 76). Eileithyia calls her 'champion of Nekhebit, harbinger of doom' (B7 ch. 86). The cult's prophecy and the game's class are the same words; what the game means by them, book 7 does not say.
As of book 8. Donut's class since the ninth floor's third atrocity: the Oak Fell, Champion of Nekhebit. In book 8 the Navigator reads her full title off the dash, a reaper's prophecy calls her 'Oak Fell Champion of Nekhebit', the title gives her Fresh into Salt, and the hooded Mordecai says once, in a voice not his, 'The Oak Fell lives up to her name'. What the game means by the name, book 8 does not say either.
Through book 2
Mordecai's theology lesson (B2 ch. 17): three stories about angels and a doomsday sect of banished elves; twelfth-floor stuff, he adds later (B2 ch. 20). Then nine elves who see an oak anklet on a cat and eat acorns (B2 ch. 20): 'She is Donut, the Oak Fell. The Death Upon Us All. She Who Ends.' Remex's version: an illusion Quill cast to glamour the fools (B2 ch. 24).
Through book 7
Through book 8
The Navigator reads Donut's full title off the dash (B8 ch. 3); the Moon Reaper's prophecy calls her 'Oak Fell Champion of Nekhebit' (B8 ch. 7); Mordecai thinks 'there might be something to that new Oak Fell title' when her claws will not switch off (B8 ch. 9). 'The Oak Fell lives up to her name,' through Mordecai's mouth — the second of his prophecies, Donut counts (B8 ch. 61, B8 ch. 62).
In the pantheon
The Oak Fell — Apito's antichrist; legend. Listed with the rest of the pantheon on the pantheon page.
Family and enemies
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 2, Ch. 20 | » Mordecai: The Oak Fell is Apito’s version of the antichrist. That’s not stuff one usually contends with until the 12th floor. | Mordecai's gloss on the third floor; the class arrives on the ninth, three floors early. |
| Book 2, Ch. 20 | “You are the bearer of the forbidden oak,” Salvatore said, speaking directly to Donut. […] He pulled the acorn off the tree branch still in his hand and ate it, […] Soon, the entire group glowed. | The Enchanted Anklet of the Fallen Oak on Donut's leg; the cult's sign of the Oak Fell. Her oak bracelet is later named a path to Geyrun's murder. |
| Book 2, Ch. 20 | Apito warns us of the great beast who yearns to unravel the heavens and kill all the gods. […] She is Donut, the Oak Fell. The Death Upon Us All. She Who Ends. | Salvatore's rant, cut off by a rolling pin; the ninth floor gives Donut the name, deity spells and a goddess's champion title. |
| Book 2, Ch. 20 | The master told us the Oak Fell and their rotting assistants would come to the city soon, and the final battle for heaven would commence. | The first time the words are said: a cult's prophecy from 'the master'. |
| Book 7, Ch. 76 | » System Message: Warlord Princess Donut will now be referred to as The Oak Fell. | The system's own words after the third atrocity. |
Where they appear
| Book | Chapters they are in (of the book's) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 2 — Carl's Doomsday Scenario | 3/26 | Ch. 6, Ch. 20, Ch. 23 · the book's own page |
| 7 — This Inevitable Ruin | 5/89 | Ch. 76, Ch. 77, Ch. 78, Ch. 79, Ch. 86 · the book's own page |
| 8 — A Parade of Horribles | 5/99 | Ch. 3, Ch. 7, Ch. 9, Ch. 44, Ch. 61 · the book's own page |
By book
The Oak Fell in book 2 — Carl's Doomsday Scenario
Mordecai's theology lesson (ch. 17): three stories about angels, a doomsday sect of banished elves. In chat he names the Oak Fell Apito's antichrist, 'not stuff one usually contends with until the 12th floor' (ch. 20). Then nine elves who see an oak anklet on a cat and eat acorns (ch. 20): 'She is Donut, the Oak Fell. The Death Upon Us All. She Who Ends.' Remex's version: an illusion Quill cast to glamour the fools (ch. 24).
The Oak Fell in book 7 — This Inevitable Ruin
Named by the system the moment the third atrocity lands (ch. 76): deity spells of druid scale, Raise Forest, salt water, Gather Ye, Vermin, and Map the All Tree at one mana on the twelfth and deeper; level 135; Muscle Mommy, Brain Trust, Wholesale Discount; Monologue, a natural benefit past 300 (ch. 77, ch. 79, ch. 86). Milk suspects posturing on the twelfth; Rosetta explains the champion's bounty and the smite (ch. 79). A goddess calls her harbinger of doom (ch. 86).
The Oak Fell in book 8 — A Parade of Horribles
The Navigator reads Donut's full title off the dash (ch. 3); the Moon Reaper's prophecy calls her 'Oak Fell Champion of Nekhebit' (ch. 7); Mordecai thinks 'there might be something to that new Oak Fell title' when her claws will not switch off (ch. 9). 'The Oak Fell lives up to her name,' said twice through Mordecai's mouth (ch. 61, ch. 62).