THE CRAWLER'S COMPANIONpatch notes for the apocalypse

Wasteland Fortress

First seen: Book 3, Epilogue

The Dirigible Gnomes' castle in the sky, named as the party's assigned target once the floor 5 entry wheel lands on the Dirigible Gnome option. The system frames the floor 5 objective as storming it. A door opens onto a sand-swept desert landscape as the chapter ends; nothing of the fortress itself is shown yet.

ObjectiveFlight ScheduleHistoryGuttedAir Quadrant LiberatedStripped for Loot

Appearance

A jagged, roughly rectangular island ripped from the ground, about three football fields wide, ringed with corrugated-metal structures, some of them ballista and trebuchets, and a house at its center. Held aloft by five glowing balloons (three blimp-shaped, two larger round ones), bundled in a net and wrapped in a shimmering magical shield. Hundreds of ropes and chains hang from underneath, some carrying small huts; dozens of mismatched flying machines are moored to one sideB4C2

An ordinary two-story suburban house held aloft by a single oversized balloon, still bearing storm damage from the earlier crash; the sixth-floor stairwell sits inside on the second floorB4C15

Where

Flown to the Land Quadrant by Katia, Louis, and Firas after cutting the master bedroom's own roof open to free its stairwell, the same fix Louis once used on his mother's minivanB4C19

Grounded on a dune about half a mile east of Hump Town; its balloon starts refilling on its own once Denise dies, held down afterward by Bonnie's own soul crystal necklaceB4C17

Connections

Dirigible Gnomes:

Its defenders, per the system's own framing of the floor 5 objectiveB3C35

History by chapter
Book 3
Chapter 35
  • TAG Objective: The Dirigible Gnomes' castle in the sky; the system states the party must storm it to clear floor 5's Air Quadrant
  • RELATIONSHIP Dirigible Gnomes: Its defenders, per the system's own framing of the floor 5 objective
Book 4
Chapter 2
  • PHYSICAL Appearance: A jagged, roughly rectangular island ripped from the ground, about three football fields wide, ringed with corrugated-metal structures, some of them ballista and trebuchets, and a house at its center. Held aloft by five glowing balloons (three blimp-shaped, two larger round ones), bundled in a net and wrapped in a shimmering magical shield. Hundreds of ropes and chains hang from underneath, some carrying small huts; dozens of mismatched flying machines are moored to one side
Chapter 4
  • TAG Flight Schedule: Normally centered over the bowl except during the daily sandstorm, when it withdraws to the bubble's edge over water and spends the two-hour night moving back; breaks from that pattern this chapter to bomb the Bactrian town instead
Chapter 11
  • TAG History: Once a peaceful sky garden flying neutral Legate Balloons; renamed dreadnaught and rearmed after new arrivals through the dungeon's portal ended any hope of staying out of the fighting
Chapter 12
  • TAG Gutted: Its escort planes, several support balloons, and main gun battery destroyed in Carl's hijacked-balloon assault; the core structure breaks apart and crashes, but the throne room is never taken and no stairwell drops
Chapter 15
  • PHYSICAL Last Fragment: An ordinary two-story suburban house held aloft by a single oversized balloon, still bearing storm damage from the earlier crash; the sixth-floor stairwell sits inside on the second floor
Chapter 16
  • TAG Air Quadrant Liberated: Denise's death ends the boss fight; Carl and Donut occupy the Commandant's quarters, and the quadrant is officially cleared
Chapter 17
  • TAG Stripped for Loot: Looted room by room by Carl: Dale's plumber uniform, Jennifer's library-sciences degree, and Kane's own drawing of himself, a gnome woman, and a baby in the master bedroom, the kids' own toys and electronics, a garage full of tools and holiday decorations, and the house's own electrical panel, running on magic rather than wiring
  • LOCATION Location: Grounded on a dune about half a mile east of Hump Town; its balloon starts refilling on its own once Denise dies, held down afterward by Bonnie's own soul crystal necklace
Chapter 19
  • LOCATION Location: Flown to the Land Quadrant by Katia, Louis, and Firas after cutting the master bedroom's own roof open to free its stairwell, the same fix Louis once used on his mother's minivan