THE CRAWLER'S COMPANIONpatch notes for the apocalypse

Floor 4

also known as The Iron Tangle

First seen: Book 2, Chapter 25

Officially named in its own welcome broadcast: a subway and rail-themed floor, its map a huge tangle of tunnels and lines. The party arrives already mid-ride on a Red Line train, with a ten-day collapse timer and only 9,375 stairwells for a floor this size, by Carl's own count.

Dungeon FloorThe Iron TangleStairwell RuleHunting SeasonNo Early DescentSponsor BiddingTrain MaintenanceTransfer Station PatternSelf-Destruct Sequence

Appearance

Entrance Door:

The same style of door used at prior floor transitions, carved with an oversized image of a kua-tin, exaggerated to look bigger and more menacing than the real thing. Its own tooltip reads: "Entrance to the fourth floor. This is where the real fun begins. Mind the gap." A separate line etched or spoken from it reads, "You're not going to break me. Fuck you all."B2C25

Rail System:

Carl now suspects the floor holds only a single abyss rather than several: getting a feel for the whole railway's shape, he pictures it as a giant spirograph drawing, trainyards spaced evenly around the outer edge and colored lines looping around, over, and under each other, but all of them ultimately converging on one single point at the center, the pitB3C25

The Yellow Line's own map is laid out identically to the Red Line's, station numbers and all, but the line itself is shaped like a giant upside-down fishhook rather than the Red Line's shape. Its trains carry Cave Mudge Bonkers and Shock Chompers, and the doors only open briefly at each stop, letting crawlers snipe or grab mobs through them without being reached backB3C4

At least three named lines confirmed so far: the Red Line, a Yellow Line, and something called the Nightmare Express, all reachable from station #83's own stairwells. The Red Line runs one-way only, ascending from station 11 up to station 435, with trains roughly every 10-15 minutes; nothing on the transfer station's own map indicates a line running the opposite directionB3C2

At least two lines seen so far, the Red Line the party rides in on, and a Yellow Line reachable at a transfer station. Numbered stations run at least from 81 to 84 (Sirin, Mora, an unnamed transfer stop, and Rusalka), each apparently doubling as a small settlement with its own shops and inns. Tunnels are cut through dirt and rock, lit by lights at random intervals along the wallsB3C1

Where

The party arrives already moving, inside car 20 (the last car) of a 20-car Red Line subway train, racing through a tunnel toward Sirin StationB3C1

Stats

Down to one day left; the self-destruct broadcast fires the moment the clock hits it, opening escape tunnels floor-wide and starting the stairwell portals' 18-hour power-up countdownB3C31

Three days, three hours left, per this chapter's own header stat block, down from nine days at book 3, chapter 4, the last figure givenB3C25

Nine days left, per Carl's own count this chapter, down from the ten given at the floor's welcome broadcastB3C4

Ten days, per this floor's own welcome broadcastB3C1

Only 9,375 stairwells on this floor, by Carl's own count, noticeably fewer than prior floors offered for a space this sizeB3C1

Connections

Carl:

Gets off at transfer station #83, finds no other crawlers arrived yet, and buys the party's first personal space at Nirula's, the saferoom thereB3C2

Arrives with his title reverted from Magistrate back to Royal Bodyguard and a fresh "I’m on a train!" achievement; spends the chapter barricading the party into rail cars and fighting off Dreks and Jikininki rather than exploringB3C1

Reads the door's tooltip and asks what "mind the gap" means, unanswered before he, Donut, and Katia open it and start to dissolve awayB2C25

Floor 3:

The floor above; Carl, Donut, Katia Grim, and a crowd of other evacuating crawlers reach this door and pull it open with roughly three minutes left on the ticking blast Carl is carrying, not floor 3's own collapse countdown, which still has two days and eighteen hours leftB2C25

Katia Grim:

Notices her own Constitution has doubled to 102 even while standing still, crediting an active momentum bonus; recognizes the train as Moscow Metro rolling stock, though in worse shape than she remembersB3C1

Mordecai:

Also lands on this floor, in a train station settlement of his own where three separate routes meet; resumes contact with the party over chat once Carl reaches outB3C1

Brynhild's Daughters:

Also landed at transfer station #83, per Katia Grim, but at its Orange and Indigo line junction rather than the party's own Red Line side; they've seen no sign yet of the Red, Yellow, or Nightmare linesB3C3

History by chapter
Book 2
Chapter 25
  • RELATIONSHIP Carl: Reads the door's tooltip and asks what "mind the gap" means, unanswered before he, Donut, and Katia open it and start to dissolve away
  • RELATIONSHIP Floor 3: The floor above; Carl, Donut, Katia Grim, and a crowd of other evacuating crawlers reach this door and pull it open with roughly three minutes left on the ticking blast Carl is carrying, not floor 3's own collapse countdown, which still has two days and eighteen hours left
  • PHYSICAL Entrance Door: The same style of door used at prior floor transitions, carved with an oversized image of a kua-tin, exaggerated to look bigger and more menacing than the real thing. Its own tooltip reads: "Entrance to the fourth floor. This is where the real fun begins. Mind the gap." A separate line etched or spoken from it reads, "You're not going to break me. Fuck you all."
  • TAG Dungeon Floor: The fourth of 18 levels; reached only at its entrance door as floor 3's evacuation countdown runs out
Book 3
Chapter 1
  • TAG The Iron Tangle: The floor's own system-given name, announced in its welcome broadcast; a subway and rail-themed level built around a huge tangle of tunnels, lines, and stations
  • STAT Collapse Timer: Ten days, per this floor's own welcome broadcast
  • STAT Stairwells: Only 9,375 stairwells on this floor, by Carl's own count, noticeably fewer than prior floors offered for a space this size
  • PHYSICAL Rail System: At least two lines seen so far, the Red Line the party rides in on, and a Yellow Line reachable at a transfer station. Numbered stations run at least from 81 to 84 (Sirin, Mora, an unnamed transfer stop, and Rusalka), each apparently doubling as a small settlement with its own shops and inns. Tunnels are cut through dirt and rock, lit by lights at random intervals along the walls
  • LOCATION Location: The party arrives already moving, inside car 20 (the last car) of a 20-car Red Line subway train, racing through a tunnel toward Sirin Station
  • RELATIONSHIP Carl: Arrives with his title reverted from Magistrate back to Royal Bodyguard and a fresh "I’m on a train!" achievement; spends the chapter barricading the party into rail cars and fighting off Dreks and Jikininki rather than exploring
  • RELATIONSHIP Katia Grim: Notices her own Constitution has doubled to 102 even while standing still, crediting an active momentum bonus; recognizes the train as Moscow Metro rolling stock, though in worse shape than she remembers
  • RELATIONSHIP Mordecai: Also lands on this floor, in a train station settlement of his own where three separate routes meet; resumes contact with the party over chat once Carl reaches out
Chapter 2
  • PHYSICAL Rail System: At least three named lines confirmed so far: the Red Line, a Yellow Line, and something called the Nightmare Express, all reachable from station #83's own stairwells. The Red Line runs one-way only, ascending from station 11 up to station 435, with trains roughly every 10-15 minutes; nothing on the transfer station's own map indicates a line running the opposite direction
  • TAG Stairwell Rule: Per the Red Line map's own legend, once Carl's Escape Plan skill fills it in: stairwells sit at stations numbered 12, 24, 36, 48, and 72 on any colored line, and saferooms sit at every transfer station. Every fifth station also carries a red square on the map whose meaning isn't explained
  • RELATIONSHIP Carl: Gets off at transfer station #83, finds no other crawlers arrived yet, and buys the party's first personal space at Nirula's, the saferoom there
Chapter 3
  • RELATIONSHIP Brynhild's Daughters: Also landed at transfer station #83, per Katia Grim, but at its Orange and Indigo line junction rather than the party's own Red Line side; they've seen no sign yet of the Red, Yellow, or Nightmare lines
  • TAG Hunting Season: The floor's leaderboard has finally populated with a bounty on each top-10 crawler; killing one grants a loot box with their reward, and any leaderboard crawler who survives the floor collects 10% of their own bounty on collapse, a percentage the broadcast says climbs on later floors
  • TAG No Early Descent: A rule for this floor only, per its own welcome broadcast: stairwells stay closed until six hours before the floor's own collapse
Chapter 4
  • PHYSICAL Rail System: The Yellow Line's own map is laid out identically to the Red Line's, station numbers and all, but the line itself is shaped like a giant upside-down fishhook rather than the Red Line's shape. Its trains carry Cave Mudge Bonkers and Shock Chompers, and the doors only open briefly at each stop, letting crawlers snipe or grab mobs through them without being reached back
  • STAT Collapse Timer: Nine days left, per Carl's own count this chapter, down from the ten given at the floor's welcome broadcast
Chapter 8
  • TAG Train Maintenance: The same broadcast warns several train lines are down for maintenance and advises against venturing onto the tracks, since service could resume without warning
  • TAG Sponsor Bidding: A floor-wide broadcast announces bidding closes in about 15 hours; once it does, every crawler gets a new interface tab to see their sponsors, what organizations they represent, and whether those sponsors back other crawlers too. Sponsors can't message a crawler directly, only receive messages from them
Chapter 9
  • TAG Transfer Station Pattern: Every transfer station Mordecai had checked off on his own map turns out to be a prime number, per a note in his own hand reading "Prime"; still unclear what happens inside these stations every five stops, where the mobs all get off, or what waits at the end of a line
Chapter 20
  • TAG Train Maintenance: Per Bautista's report from station 435's trainyard fallout, trains have stopped coming on every track; his stranded crew of over 150 crawlers without souvenir hats is walking roughly 50 kilometers to the abyss portals on foot instead
Chapter 25
  • STAT Collapse Timer: Three days, three hours left, per this chapter's own header stat block, down from nine days at book 3, chapter 4, the last figure given
  • PHYSICAL Rail System: Carl now suspects the floor holds only a single abyss rather than several: getting a feel for the whole railway's shape, he pictures it as a giant spirograph drawing, trainyards spaced evenly around the outer edge and colored lines looping around, over, and under each other, but all of them ultimately converging on one single point at the center, the pit
Chapter 31
  • STAT Collapse Timer: Down to one day left; the self-destruct broadcast fires the moment the clock hits it, opening escape tunnels floor-wide and starting the stairwell portals' 18-hour power-up countdown
  • TAG Self-Destruct Sequence: Triggered at the one-day mark, every train line down, the center of every station's floor collapsing to let Krakaren monsters pour up from below, and stairwell portals at stations 12, 24, 36, 48, 72, and 433 set to open in 18 hours for a six-hour window before the whole floor detonates