Book 6: The Ghosts of Earth
Floor 8: The Ghosts of Earth
Floor 8 drops crawlers into reconstructed Earth locations populated with memory ghosts — non-corporeal recordings of the last days of human life on Earth. Vehicles move, people walk, but touching them causes them to vanish. Crawlers must navigate these haunted versions of real cities to collect T'Ghee card totems, fight corrupted NPC settlements, and survive Phase 2's Faction Wars card-game assault.
Key Facts
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Floor | 8 |
| Floor Name | The Ghosts of Earth |
| Crawlers Remaining | 38,532 |
| In-Game Date (Start) | December 10th |
| Carl's Rank | #3 |
| Carl's Bounty | 2,000,000 gold |
| Donut's Rank | #2 |
| Donut's New Class | Master Telephone Psychic |
| Carl's Starting Location | Havana, Cuba |
Floor Structure
Phase 1 (14 days): Crawlers explore Earth locations, fight corrupted NPC settlements, and collect T'Ghee card totems by filling a squad of up to 5. Memory ghosts populate the world, recreating Earth as it was in the days before the Transformation.
Phase 2 (Faction Wars): Squads face off against opponent squads in T'Ghee card battles. Each squad leader draws from their totem deck while minions guard them. Winning grants access to opponent decks and cards.
Parts
- Part I: Havana — Carl and Donut explore Havana, Cuba, meeting Paz Lo, Anton Lopez, and Sister Ines Quiteria. They clear the Colón Cemetery (Pueblo de los Olvidados), encounter Residuals, and prepare for Faction Wars.
- Part II: The Father — Carl discovers his dying father and half-brother Asher in a memory ghost event in Iowa. Key quests and alliances form across the globe.
- Part III: The Bedlam — Phase 2 Faction Wars. A zombie/demon invasion overtakes Havana. Sister Ines is corrupted by the Nebulars and gains control of the demon Amayon. Carl kills Quan Ch. Tserendolgor sacrifices herself. Carl and Donut escape Floor 8 at the last moment.
Epilogue Setup
The epilogue reveals two major threads setting up Floor 9 (Faction Wars):
- Agatha revealed: Agatha is Agent 22 of an ancient alien species, not a human crawler. She enters the dungeon from Wenatchee, WA with the goal of recruiting the dungeon AI.
- Homecoming Queen arrives: The garbage freighter Homecoming Queen (Crest species, former crawlers) enters the dungeon carrying 50,000 former crawlers as Princess Posse allies. The Valtay proposes releasing 150,000+ mercenaries to kill all crawlers — setting up a massive conflict on Floor 9.
Squad Mechanic (Phase 1)
- Max 5 members per squad
- Phase 1: 14 days to fill squad with captured NPC totems
- Phase 2: assault phase for exit key
- T'Ghee cards come in totem (permanent) and consumable (one-use) varieties