Dungeon Crawler Carl, #7
This Inevitable Ruin
by Matt Dinniman
Contents
Chapter 12
Overview
Carl returns to the Princess Posse Base Camp and finds it rapidly transforming into a fortified war stronghold built by former crawlers and allied troops. The camp’s fighters publicly hail Carl, showing that his rebellion has become a real army with morale and organization behind it.
Tipid explains new saferoom and blood-bar rules that will force mercenaries into the open and make static defense impossible, sharpening the stakes for the coming war. Carl wants to prioritize the naga, but competing border threats and Tina’s sudden escape immediately complicate the strategy meeting.
Summary
The chapter opens with a note from former crawler Ikicha, who reflects on isolation, envies those with community, and imagines the power former crawlers could have if they found one another after escaping. The story then returns to Carl, Donut, Tipid, and Florin entering the Princess Posse Base Camp with 52 hours left before the ceasefire ends and a red-alert incursion active in their territory.
The base camp is already being transformed into a fortified stronghold. Workers of many species are enclosing the saferoom bait shop, expanding a larger stone structure on the hill, testing walls against fireballs, digging channels, and erecting watchtowers. Tipid and Florin explain that mobs still need to be cleared because the expanded world has made the warning system unreliable unless every incursion is hunted down.
As Carl takes in the camp, Penn, a powerful Fortification Engineer, hugs him and starts a chant. Thousands of former crawlers and allies join in, creating a deafening war cry that overwhelms Carl and makes him feel both frightened and hopeful. Tipid tells Carl that the display is for him and that this force is what Carl built.
While walking toward the flag room, Tipid explains the camp’s construction plan: the stronghold must be built around the saferoom because new rules will prevent mercenaries from freely sheltering inside guildhalls during later phases. The floor is also returning to a blood-bar system, forcing everyone to keep fighting instead of hiding. Carl realizes this will affect Mordecai and the children under his care, while Tipid notes that the rule especially hurts teams that rely on hiding, such as the Operatics and the naga.
Carl says the naga should be the first target, but Tipid warns that enemy forces massing on the opposite border complicate that plan. At the stronghold entrance, Mongo begins acting strangely. Carl and Tipid struggle to open an enormous enchanted door, but it suddenly flies open, throwing them back. A giant allosaurus in a pink tutu bursts out and greets Mongo, revealing that Tina has escaped again.
Who Appears
- CarlReturns to Base Camp, sees his army forming, and pushes to target the naga.
- DonutAccompanies Carl through camp, worries over Mongo, and prepares to help Rosetta.
- TipidGuides Carl through the camp and explains fortification, mercenary, and saferoom rules.
- FlorinHelps construction crews and briefly summons his giant caiman to lift a wall section.
- MongoActs uneasy near the stronghold door before eagerly greeting Tina.
- TinaEscapes the stronghold again, appearing as a tutu-wearing giant allosaurus.
- PennFortification Engineer who embraces Carl and begins the camp-wide war chant.
- RendRides on Carl’s shoulder, chews hair and Donut’s tail, and adds comic chaos.
- ImaniStays behind to train with battlefield enhancement spells in her upgraded magic room.
- IkichaFormer crawler whose note mourns isolation and dreams of uniting survivors.