Naturals (Indentured NPCs)
The dungeon's darkest open secret, half-confirmed in the aftermath of Astrid's death, when her family unravels. “Naturals” are real, born people (not generated NPCs) who were offered or forced into the crawl as permanent residents, their memories legally alterable only if they “signed away their rights.” The Penis Parade dancers Damascus Steel and his brother Anaconda turn out to be the never-crawler sons of two such naturals: the bloodlust-sprite Astrid and her husband Hamed, the “Night Wyrm,” a family of four different species stuck in the dungeon for a long time, all clawing toward a contract's end. Carl ties it to the bopcas, and to crawler Ossie's 18th-edition cookbook note on Herot's “Worn Path Method,” which whispers the System lies about where many NPCs truly come from. The reveal recasts every “monster” and clerk on every floor as a possible captive person.
Book 6 appearances
- Chapter 34 — Damascus reveals he and Anaconda are the never-crawler sons of the naturals Astrid and the Night Wyrm; Carl theorizes a whole hidden class of indentured born-people, painted over like the bopcas.
Related entries
- Damascus Steel (Character)
- Astrid (Character)
- The Guild of Suffering (Lore)
- The Iron Tangle’s False Memories (Lore)
- The Plenty (Character)
Browse
- All Dungeon Lore & Know-How
- Everything debuting in Book 6, Chapter 34
- All of The Eye of the Bedlam Bride