Motif · from book 1
The Skull Empire
One of the oldest and largest Syndicate governments, orcish, mawkish, and — through Prince Maestro's show and his boast that his family's Skull Clan has won six of the last ten Faction Wars — the first outside power to take a personal dislike to Carl. King Rust is in Earth orbit by the end of the book.
First appears: Book 1
Series arc
As of book 8. Rust's empire since book 1, headless since book 7; in book 8 a veto that shelters Harry Tisch, Odette's husband, from extradition, and an appetite: it swallows the Prism's holdings and triples Sydnee Iglacia's rent.
Open threads
Status is open or resolved; the chapter after it is the last one that moved the thread.
| Thread | Opened | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Carl's challenge to Prince Maestro | B1 ch. 43 | open · B8 ch. 66 — The Maestro rides Grull into the Screw Factory in person; Laundry Day ejects him into the molten river, and he cannot die on the tenth floor. |
| King Rust's deity sponsorship, and the Grull gauntlet | B2 ch. 26 | open · B8 ch. 66 — Grull himself walks into the Screw Factory when Corcunda's summons calls him, with the Maestro riding inside; the Scavenger's Daughter opens for him and every four-legged creature's strongest attack doubles. |
| The Maestro is alive, and drives Grull | B3 ch. 33 | open · B8 ch. 66 — The Maestro is ejected from Grull by Laundry Day into molten metal; he cannot die on the tenth, and under the mandatory soul-armour rule Carl expects him back in the god within minutes. |
| The war outside the dungeon: a yacht, an armed freighter, a nova | B7 ch. 88 | open · B8 ch. 27 — The Open Intellect boarded every major ship in orbit in a day; Victory's HQ is in Florida; gods appear at tunnel nodes across the galaxy (ch. 88); OIAN holds the journalist barges (ch. 99). |
| The Crown of the Sepsis Whore and the ninth floor | B1 ch. 7 | resolved · B7 ch. 86 — Closed: the Sepsis Whore fell to a sluggalo's hatchet (ch. 55), the last of the line was marked (ch. 58), and Katia ate the orchid (ch. 84) and was taken by Eileithyia — human, pregnant, gone (ch. 86). Donut leaves the floor. |
| Li Na: every base stat maxed, three marks unpaid, no healing ever | B7 ch. 82 | resolved · B8 ch. 67 — She left the game: into a pet carrier, into a cleaner bot, sold to Herot (though the epilogue's reel of contenders still shows her name, ch. 99); a single flower on Carl's cactus says she reached the Cabaret alive. |
All threads: Open threads.
Through book 1
An enemy acquired by accident on a talk show. King Rust is in orbit at the end of book 1; the Maestro means to be on the ninth floor.
Through book 2
Through book 3
Through book 4
Through book 5
Orc hunters in the southeast with Carl and Katia on their list (B5 ch. 15); three at the all-tree, all dead — 'Thousands.' 'Including you, that was three' (B5 ch. 25); a prince franchised through shells (B5 ch. 42). The only other yes vote on the safety protocols; its Queen Consort's photograph (B5 ch. 77).
Through book 6
Through book 7
Through book 8
Where they appear
| Book | Chapters they are in (of the book's) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Dungeon Crawler Carl | 4/48 | Ch. 43, Ch. 44, Ch. 47, Ch. 48 · the book's own page |
| 2 — Carl's Doomsday Scenario | 3/26 | Ch. 19, Ch. 20, Ch. 26 · the book's own page |
| 3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook | 5/35 | Ch. 6, Ch. 11, Ch. 12, Ch. 29, Ch. 33 · the book's own page |
| 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods | 6/35 | Ch. 14, Ch. 19, Ch. 28, Ch. 31, Ch. 33, Ch. 34 · the book's own page |
| 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade | 10/78 | 1, 3, 15, 22, 25–26, 42, 55, 59, 77 · the book's own page |
| 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride | 8/74 | Ch. 4, Ch. 12, Ch. 13, Ch. 19, Ch. 36, Ch. 54, Ch. 72, Ch. 73 · the book's own page |
| 7 — This Inevitable Ruin | 11/89 | 14, 31–32, 34–35, 37, 43, 56, 61–62, 69 · the book's own page |
| 8 — A Parade of Horribles | 2/99 | Ch. 88, Ch. 99 · the book's own page |
By book
The Skull Empire in book 1 — Dungeon Crawler Carl
Introduced through its least impressive member (ch. 42–ch. 43): Prince Maestro, whose family were 'there when the Syndicate created the crawl,' whose Skull Clan has won six of the last ten Faction Wars, and who will lead them on the ninth floor. Zev sizes the thing (ch. 44): the Orcish Supremacy is a lemonade stand and the Skull Empire is Wal-Mart, one of the oldest Syndicate governments, not known for measured responses. By the epilogue King Rust is in Earth orbit and his spokesman is asking the galaxy to stop calling his son Carl's Naughty Little Piggie.
The Skull Empire in book 2 — Carl's Doomsday Scenario
The Maestro disowned (ch. 19); unrest at home over the Pork Boy Snick (ch. 19); Carl's frog speech; a pulse from Prince Stalwart's yacht that kills Manasa; the yacht destroyed by the Valtay with Queen Consort Ugloo and the Maestro believed aboard (ch. 19, ch. 20); King Rust with one heir left and a deity sponsorship bought, 'an attempt to get to you' (epilogue). Mordecai's plan to keep the Skull Clan targeting the Sultanate has become something else.
The Skull Empire in book 3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
The Skull Empire in book 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods
Both princes sponsor Maggie My, a scroll to choose a god and a Celestial Grenade to summon Algos on Carl; their sister's emergency box counters it (ch. 14). Plaintiff #1 in the suit over the Gate, whose mother's portrait Carl now carries; a Skull Empire company's share in his inventory moves his case to a different court (ch. 28, ch. 34). The King's Point castle is the announced target (ch. 33, ch. 34); the Empire's last-minute injunction fails (ch. 34); 'King Rust's children are all trying to murder each other' (epilogue). Carl throws the Maestro's grenade at Quan Ch instead (ch. 31).
The Skull Empire in book 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade
Orc hunters in the southeast with Carl and Katia on their list (ch. 15); three at the all-tree, all dead — 'Thousands,' hisses the last, and Carl answers 'Including you, that was three' (ch. 25); a prince franchised through shells (ch. 42). The only other yes vote on the safety protocols; its Queen Consort's photograph (ch. 77).
The Skull Empire in book 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
A jerk from the Skull Empire as an insult (ch. 4); the cheat who helped Maggie My, with the orcs' help, and the bribed admin who still has a job (ch. 12, ch. 13); a scroll of worship from Princess Formidable's sponsor box (ch. 19); Crown Prince Stalwart at the table — 'We know who you are, you fucking imbecile' — and Juice Box wearing his face with an arrow in the eye (ch. 21, ch. 22); Stalwart's codpiece (ch. 21) and 'Captain Enormous' (ch. 35); a Skull Empire orc among the adjutant candidates (ch. 36); Formidable's failsafe (epilogue).
The Skull Empire in book 7 — This Inevitable Ruin
The Bone Clan's thousand in black flags with a silver skull (ch. 32); a king who comes to die with honour and loses his head to a whip (ch. 34); backdoors in every satellite they build, broadcast by a daughter (ch. 34); a fleet's hardware deactivated by the Dream (ch. 43); a war chief torn apart by his own war mages (ch. 61); a yacht of children vaporised, and the Maestro claiming the crown (ch. 86, epilogue).