Dungeon Crawler Carl, #6
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
by Matt Dinniman
Contents
Chapter 5
Overview
Carl and Donut meet the three other crawlers in Havana, but the encounter nearly becomes violent because the newcomers fear Donut after seeing an old clip of her threatening cat girls. The trio is revealed to include two Ogun-worshipping men with prison ties and Sister Ines, a cat-girl nun who quietly holds the group together.
After Carl verifies that the group is not known to be hostile, Sister Ines proposes cooperation: they will help each other capture dangerous monk seals on the beach. The chapter shifts the floor from isolation and scouting into uneasy crawler diplomacy, with distrust, past reputations, and survival needs all colliding.
Summary
Carl and Donut approach the three crawlers they spotted near the park, but the newcomers immediately recognize them and react with fear and suspicion. Carl identifies them as Paz Lo, a human Santero in heavy armor; Anton Lopez, a tattooed human Fugitive and player killer; and Sister Ines Quiteria, a cat-girl Poet Laureate carrying a trident. Paz and Anton worship Ogun, and Mordecai explains through chat that Ogun is a powerful god of blacksmiths and protection whose followers resist charm and hit harder.
Donut fixates on Sister Ines being a Havana brown cat girl and reacts with open hostility, while Anton grows increasingly tense and aims his crossbow toward Donut. Carl tries to keep the encounter from turning into a fight, explaining that Prepotente is no longer with them and denying responsibility for the death of Osvaldo’s pet hawk, Gimli. Carl notices that Anton is frightened of Donut and that Sister Ines, not Anton, is the stabilizing force in the group.
Sister Ines explains that she is a Discalced Carmelite nun and chose the cat-girl race because it supported her charisma-based Word Weaver abilities and Poet Laureate class, though she did not choose the specific breed. Her mention of prison makes Carl infer that Paz and Anton may be former inmates and that Sister Ines may have worked there. Donut continues to insult the Havana brown breed, forcing Carl to calm her down before Anton’s panic escalates again.
The source of the newcomers’ fear becomes clear: they previously saw a clip from a show where Donut told Desperado Club dancers she would violently kill any cat girls she met. Donut dismisses the threat as old bar talk, while Carl apologetically insists she will not attack anyone. During the tense pause, Carl checks with other allies; Katia has no warning against the trio, Tserendolgor says Paz and Anton protect Sister Ines and that Anton once killed two party members who attacked her, and Imani reports they may also dislike Quan Ch.
With the immediate danger reduced, Sister Ines offers a practical alliance. She says their group needs help capturing its first squad member on the beach, where monk seals proved dangerous enough to nearly kill Paz when they tried before. Sister Ines proposes that if Carl and Donut help them capture one, her group will help Carl and Donut capture one in return.
Who Appears
- CarlTries to defuse the tense first contact and evaluate whether cooperation is possible.
- DonutAntagonizes Sister Ines over her cat-girl form and explains her prior violent threat.
- Sister Ines QuiteriaCat-girl nun and Poet Laureate; calms Anton and proposes capturing monk seals together.
- Anton LopezTattooed Fugitive, Ogun worshipper, and nervous crossbow user afraid of Donut.
- Paz LoArmored Santero and Ogun worshipper; says Donut threatened their group.
- MordecaiExplains Ogun’s domain and the advantages granted to his worshippers.
- TserendolgorProvides Carl background on Paz, Anton, and their protective relationship with Sister Ines.
- ImaniRelays that the newcomers may have clashed with Quan Ch’s group before.