The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
by Matt Dinniman
Contents
Chapter 33
Overview
Carl’s plan misfires and traps him inside Trainyard E between the Mimic Rex and the newly summoned war god Grull, who is now backed by Prince Maestro and cannot be harmed on this floor. Carl survives only by using invisibility, smoke, and Mordecai’s Special Brew while Grull destroys the mimic and nearly kills him.
Despite Carl’s orders to stay away, Donut and the others mount a rescue, distract Grull, and use a second mantaur to trigger a new summoning. By throwing that mantaur through the portal at the right moment, they send Grull away from the trainyard and save Carl, turning a disastrous blunder into a narrow team victory.
Summary
Carl enters Trainyard E after the portal accident and immediately realizes his improvised plan has failed. Instead of using Grull to kill the mimic and then redirecting the god into the Abyss, Carl is trapped in the trainyard beside the summoning mantaur and the city boss. A Death Challenge announcement freezes the scene, reveals that Grull is now sponsored by Prince Maestro, and confirms that the war god is an invulnerable deity on this floor. When time resumes, the Mimic Rex attacks at once, Grull begins forming, and Carl uses an invisibility potion to avoid being killed immediately.
As the mimic releases giant mouth-minions and Grull rises to full size, Carl tries to run the edge of the trainyard and warns Donut not to come in. Donut reports that the trainyard walls have become one-way barriers, meaning Carl cannot escape the way he entered. Carl tells Donut to continue the larger mission and not risk the portal cart, but Grull starts smashing the trainyard apart and the mimic’s minions close in. Carl kills one minion with a hob-lobber, then watches Grull casually split the Mimic Rex in half, proving the god is even more dangerous than the boss Carl came to eliminate.
Knowing he cannot survive a direct hit, Carl throws smoke curtains and drinks Mordecai’s Special Brew, which gives him brief near-invulnerability. Grull batters the yard with shockwaves, steps on Carl, and nearly pulverizes him several times, but the potion keeps healing the damage as Carl staggers along the wall. During the chaos, Katia tells Carl to run back toward the portal entry point because help is coming. Grull taunts Carl about the insignificance of Earth and its people, but the god is interrupted when Elle dives in at high speed and Katia, transformed to look like Carl, appears in the distance to lure Grull away.
The rescue team then breaks into the trainyard through the portal cart: Donut, Mongo, Li Na, and Li Jun arrive near Carl despite his earlier orders. Carl learns they have brought the second mantaur in a brutal but practical form: Li Na had amputated and repeatedly healed him so he could be controlled and thrown safely. Zhang drives the portal cart into position while Grull remains distracted. Carl punches the mutilated mantaur to restart the summoning sequence, and the group prepares to use the portal correctly this time.
When Grull realizes what they are doing and charges back, the group throws the mantaur into the portal cart with only a second left in the summoning. The instant the transformation completes on the other side, Grull vanishes from Trainyard E, pulled away by the new summoning destination. The music and spectacle stop abruptly, leaving the mimic dead, the god gone, and the surviving crawlers stunned. Notifications flood in as Carl, exhausted but alive, finally collapses.
Who Appears
- Carltrapped in Trainyard E; survives Grull and helps complete the second summoning plan
- Grullinvulnerable war god sponsored by Prince Maestro; kills the mimic and nearly kills Carl
- Donutrefuses Carl’s orders, helps organize the rescue, and enters the trainyard with Mongo
- Li Nabrings the mutilated, healed mantaur and enables the backup summoning strategy
- Katiacoordinates rescue by chat and disguises herself as Carl to distract Grull
- Elleflies at Grull repeatedly, drawing his attention long enough for the plan to work
- Zhangdrives the portal cart into Trainyard E to support the team’s emergency summoning maneuver
- Mimic Rexcity boss of Trainyard E; attacks Carl before Grull cleaves it in half
- Prince Maestrorevealed as Grull’s sponsor, adding his presence and taunting voice to the Death Challenge
- Li Junarrives with the rescue team and helps bring in the prepared mantaur
- Mongocarries Donut toward the trainyard during the rescue attempt
- Tizquickseen on the Nightmare after Grull vanishes, reacting to the devastated trainyard