THE CRAWLER'S COMPANIONpatch notes for the apocalypse

Frank Q

First seen: Book 1, Chapter 13

Found alone and badly drunk at station 41's Desperado Club, a broken man rebuilt from the ground up: a purple-skinned, fanged Night Elf Blood Assassin now, his old Seahawks beanie sitting incongruously over long black hair, his missing right hand hidden by a flowing black jacket. Confesses the true story behind his family's collapse and hands Carl a cursed ring as the only revenge he says he has left.

Crawler💀 3DeceasedKilling Mechanism

Level

17B3C19

8B1C20

Physical

Traded his spiked shoulder pads and battle axe for a flowing black jacket; the same old Seahawks beanie sits oddly over long black hair. Still missing his right hand. Heavy rings under his eyes and a reek of stale alcohol and perfume suggest he hasn't slept in a long timeB3C19

Missing his right hand entirely, cut clean and straight like a mannequin's rather than a healed stump. Hollowed-out, thousand-yard stare; looks to Carl like he's aged ten years in a few daysB1C43

Tall, lean, not quite as tall as Carl, about forty. Reads as military or a cop from his bearing and authoritative voice. White, a few days unshaven, a Seahawks beanie over what looks like a bald head, filthy ripped jeans, a black t-shirt, and heavy boots. Equipped with football shoulder pads of glowing black metal, spiked and obviously enchanted but not examinable, a well-used iron single-headed battle axe carried over one shoulder, and a belt lined with throwing knives.B1C20

Location

The Desperado Club's bar, reached from station 41 by Carl; Frank himself says he got off at station 101 and hasn't left that station since, meeting Carl in the club's shared portal-linked venueB3C19

Seated beside Maggie My as one of Death Watch's VIP guests, in their own separate production trailer, holo-projected alongside Carl and Donut's ownB1C43

Frozen mid-attack in the rot stickers' safe room, caught by the safe zone's zero-tolerance rule against crawler violence, as Carl and Donut fleeB1C20

History by chapter
Book 1
Chapter 13
  • TAG Crawler: A fellow human crawler, known only from the kill tag on Rebecca W's corpse
Chapter 20
  • TAG Crawler: A fellow human crawler, level 8, met face to face for the first time in the rot stickers' safe room
  • TAG Crawler Killer: Three skulls next to his name, read by Carl as a kill count: Crawler Killer X 3. No stars, meaning he's never killed a boss
  • LEVEL Level: 8 (Race: Human, class not yet assigned)
  • PHYSICAL Appearance: Tall, lean, not quite as tall as Carl, about forty. Reads as military or a cop from his bearing and authoritative voice. White, a few days unshaven, a Seahawks beanie over what looks like a bald head, filthy ripped jeans, a black t-shirt, and heavy boots. Equipped with football shoulder pads of glowing black metal, spiked and obviously enchanted but not examinable, a well-used iron single-headed battle axe carried over one shoulder, and a belt lined with throwing knives.
  • LOCATION Location: Frozen mid-attack in the rot stickers' safe room, caught by the safe zone's zero-tolerance rule against crawler violence, as Carl and Donut flee
Chapter 43
  • SKILL Find Crawler: Shows any crawlers within five square kilometers; the ability behind it came from a potion looted from being a player killer (Level not stated; the Maestro's gifted Legendary Skill Potion would raise it to 15, or higher with the right class, if drunk)
  • LOCATION Location: Seated beside Maggie My as one of Death Watch's VIP guests, in their own separate production trailer, holo-projected alongside Carl and Donut's own
  • PHYSICAL Appearance: Missing his right hand entirely, cut clean and straight like a mannequin's rather than a healed stump. Hollowed-out, thousand-yard stare; looks to Carl like he's aged ten years in a few days
  • TAG Crawler: Confirmed a serial player killer, one of Death Watch's two unseen VIP guests, brought on air alongside Maggie My
Book 3
Chapter 19
  • LEVEL Level: 17 (Unusually low for how far into the run everyone else is)
  • IDENTITY Race: A Night Elf, dark purple, eggplant-colored skin and fanged incisors, over a face still recognizable as his own
  • IDENTITY Class: Blood Assassin, unexplained beyond the name; picked, per his own hazy memory, while too drunk to remember doing it
  • PHYSICAL Appearance: Traded his spiked shoulder pads and battle axe for a flowing black jacket; the same old Seahawks beanie sits oddly over long black hair. Still missing his right hand. Heavy rings under his eyes and a reek of stale alcohol and perfume suggest he hasn't slept in a long time
  • LOCATION Location: The Desperado Club's bar, reached from station 41 by Carl; Frank himself says he got off at station 101 and hasn't left that station since, meeting Carl in the club's shared portal-linked venue
Chapter 20
  • TAG Deceased: Killed at the Desperado Club's bar (accessed by Frank from station 101) by a fellow crawler, Chris Andrews 2, per The Sledge's account relayed through Donut; Chris walked out afterward and was banned from the club
Book 4
Chapter 10
  • TAG Killing Mechanism: Per Imani: Chris sat beside him at the counter, the two talked, and then Chris crushed his head with no warning before walking out
Chapter 14
  • TAG Deceased: Confirmed to have actually been killed by Maggie My, who was controlling Chris Andrews 2's body via an Infiltrator parasite at the time of the bar killing; Chris himself was powerless to stop it and bears no real blame

Kills

Notable quotes

“Vengeance is mine.”

Book 3, Chapter 19 (Frank Q, watching Carl take the ring and slip it onto his own finger.)