Essay

Open threads

Every long fuse the books have lit, with where it was lit and the latest thing the text has said about it. Status is open or resolved; the chapter after it is the last one that moved the thread. Each character's page carries the rows that name them. Read through book 2.

Open (20)

Thread	Entities	Opened	Latest
The Crown of the Sepsis Whore and the ninth floor	Princess Donut, The Blood Sultanate, Prince Maestro, The Skull Empire	B1 ch. 7	B2 ch. 25 — The tiara is ash under wild magic; the description said she would still be a princess.
Mordecai's advice to leave Donut before the ninth floor	Mordecai, Princess Donut, Carl	B1 ch. 7	Overheard by Donut; not answered by Carl.
The parallel crawls: Lucia Mar and Hekla	Lucia Mar, Hekla	B1 ch. 14	The show's favourites, known only through the screen.
'There are no gods here. Just those who pay for the privilege'	The gods, Mordecai	B1 ch. 25	B2 ch. 26 — Deferred twice by Mordecai; a god has now been bought against Carl.
Mordecai's contract, and his history with Odette and his brother	Mordecai, Odette	B1 ch. 29	B2 ch. 25 — Manager by Donut's trick (ch. 1), freed when she reaches the fourth floor; the history keeps leaking.
The tenth floor's rules, and Odette's deal	The tenth floor, Odette	B1 ch. 29	B2 ch. 24 — Quint says push through to eleven; Remex, a tenner, is a battery in a warehouse.
Borant's bankruptcy and the Valtay fleet at the door	Borant, The Valtay Corporation, Zev, The Syndicate	B1 ch. 36	Mordecai's whispered politics; Odette: the next season is the Valtay's.
Meadow Lark's survivors, gone ahead	Meadow Lark (party), Imani	B1 ch. 41	B2 ch. 26 — Scattered; one message; one resident on the leaderboard.
Maggie My's vow and her Find Crawler potion	Frank Q and Maggie My, Carl, Princess Donut	B1 ch. 43	'I am going to watch you die. You and the fucking cat.'
Agatha's cart and the Valtay hardware	Agatha, The Valtay Corporation	B1 ch. 47	B2 ch. 8 — Absent on purpose — Carl decides not to write about her; the Valtay are all over the floor.
The Vengeance of the Daughter contract for the sixth floor	Carl, Tsarina Signet, The show, Elites	B2 ch. 11	Carl sells his survival to the serial's producers for a recurring role.
Seeds: whether they grow faster than the show can cut them	Seeds, Carl	B2 ch. 11	A method, not yet a result.
Whether Manasa's death served Borant	Borant, The Valtay Corporation, Prince Stalwart, Carl	B2 ch. 20	Carl's theory, in chat only; Mordecai bans all talk of the outside.
The manufactured feud with Lucia Mar	Lucia Mar, Princess Donut, The show	B2 ch. 21	A recap cut a drunk remark into a challenge; Lucia accepted it.
Whether the System AI has interests of its own	The System AI	B2 ch. 21	Mordecai reads between the lines of Borant's newsletter to the shopkeepers that it is strengthening the crawlers on purpose.
Carl's Doomsday Scenario	Carl's Doomsday Scenario, Carl	B2 ch. 25	A city-killing soul crystal in a collectible's glass case, in his inventory.
King Rust's deity sponsorship, and the Grull gauntlet	The gods, The Skull Empire, Carl, Mordecai	B2 ch. 26	A god bought to get at Carl — probably Grull, whose gauntlet Carl wears.
Hekla's design on Donut	Hekla, Princess Donut, Katia Grim	B2 ch. 26	She wants Donut for the permanent manager; Katia is the hook, per Odette.
Bounties: 100,000 on each of them	The leaderboard, Carl, Princess Donut	B2 ch. 26	'It's how much other crawlers get if they kill you.'
Mordecai's 'unfortunate' experience with gods	Mordecai, The gods, Odette	B2 ch. 26	Odette's aside says Mordecai has a lot of experience of gods, unfortunately; what kind she does not say.

Resolved (4)

Thread	Entities	Opened	Latest
Whether Bea is alive	Bea, Princess Donut, Carl	B1 ch. 4	B2 ch. 24 — 'I'm not as dumb as I pretend to be. I know she's dead.'
The leaderboard, blank until the third floor collapses	The leaderboard	B1 ch. 9	B2 ch. 26 — Populated: ten names and a bounty column.
Carl's challenge to Prince Maestro	Prince Maestro, The Skull Empire, Carl	B1 ch. 43	B2 ch. 20 — The Maestro is reported dead on his brother's yacht; the Empire's enmity stays (see King Rust's deity sponsorship, and the Grull gauntlet).
Odette's unnamed class choice	Odette, Princess Donut	B1 ch. 48	B2 ch. 1 — Former Child Actor; the Manager benefit binds Mordecai to Donut's saferooms.

Still to watch (1)

Lines from the books read so far that nothing later has answered yet: the things to carry into the next book, each with the line it was noted for.

Noted	What	The line
B1 ch. 47	Agatha on the stairs: 'Them critters already know I'm here'	Them critters already know I’m here. They just don’t know what to do about it.