Dungeon Crawler Carl
by Matt Dinniman
Contents
Chapter 17
Overview
Yemaya and the sponsored goddess Eileithyia physically manifest in the restored temple, granting Carl’s party powerful temporary boons and new stakes around divine influence. Yemaya rewards Donut with a rare mystic card and abruptly teleports Bomo to Larracos on the ninth floor, removing a critical ally. Eileithyia covertly recruits and threatens Carl through a “spider quest” messaging loophole, tying his next moves to Odette, faction politics, and a dangerous secret deal.
Summary
Carl, Princess Donut, Sister Ines, Mongo, and Bomo recoil as two manifested deities fill the temple: the newly restored siren Yemaya and the sponsored alien-bodied Eileithyia. The system applies temporary effects tied to their presence, including free, cooldownless healing and a party-wide “girl power” damage shift, while Carl realizes both gods are invulnerable here and dangerous under temple rules.
Yemaya mourns that Ogun shed blood in her temple, while Eileithyia briefly touches Carl and scratches Donut, triggering rapid healing. When Yemaya asks about the missing crawler, Carl watches Sister Ines hide Paz’s card in her inventory, and Carl is sickened by the implication that Paz has been imprisoned as a summonable card.
A SlugPox boil bursts and a hostile slug appears; Yemaya effortlessly disposes of it and warns Carl that the infection came from her brother, who engineered events deliberately. Yemaya advises Carl to cure the SlugPox quickly and hands out rewards: Donut receives a black-bordered mystic card, The Thief, which can steal another person’s card and is not consumable. Yemaya tries to entice Donut into worshipping her for more prizes.
Yemaya then rewards Bomo for building her shrine by offering what Bomo desires; Bomo asks to reunite with “The Sledge,” Larracos. Yemaya immediately teleports Bomo away, effectively sending him to the ninth floor and leaving Carl and Donut stranded without Bomo’s help to reach the stairwell.
Eileithyia grants the party a floor boon (protection from spiritual possession, faster healing, and increased constitution) and assigns Carl a deity quest to kill five spiders daily. She then uses the quest as cover to send an unmonitored private message: Carl must accept Odette as his Faction Wars team Adjutant when she reaches orbit, and in return Eileithyia promises to secure votes to turn off ninth-floor team protections, while threatening catastrophic consequences if Carl tells anyone about the deal. After Eileithyia and Yemaya depart, Sister Ines loots Anton’s corpse and storms out without speaking; Carl urges Donut to get to a saferoom, resolves to cure the SlugPox, and messages Katia to meet them while withholding details from Donut.
Who Appears
- CarlReceives divine boons, learns of Eileithyia’s secret deal, and rushes to cure SlugPox.
- Princess DonutGets mystic card The Thief, reacts to gods’ rewards, and urges Carl to uncover Katia’s secret.
- EileithyiaSponsored goddess who grants boons and secretly pressures Carl into an Odette-linked bargain.
- YemayaRestored siren goddess who rewards the party and teleports Bomo to the ninth floor.
- Sister InesKeeps Paz’s card, loots Anton’s corpse, and leaves the temple without explanation.
- BomoReceives Yemaya’s boon request and is instantly sent to Larracos to reunite with The Sledge.
- MongoDonut’s companion who bites SlugPox slugs as Carl’s infection worsens.
- PazAbsent physically; implied trapped after Sister Ines converts him into a card.
- AntonDead body in the temple; Sister Ines loots him while the goddesses comment on the killing.
- OdetteNamed in Eileithyia’s warning as a future Adjutant offer Carl must accept.
- KatiaCarl messages her to meet at a saferoom; hinted to know details of Eileithyia’s bargain.
- Huanxin JinxIdentified as Eileithyia’s sponsor, a Grixist Swarm CEO influencing her presence.