Chapter 8

Carl and Donut encounter a quest triggered by feral descendants of Grimaldi's Traveling Circus—transformed lemurs, a giraffe, and a horrific stilt-clown called Terror. After battling through the creatures and reaching a safe-room tavern, a heavily intoxicated Mordecai teleports in with his pants down, having gotten drunk in just twenty minutes.

While training Mongo on the road, Zev contacts Carl and Donut to report that their class choices are popular with viewers, though some question Donut's Artist Alley selection. Zev mentions no VIP crawlers are nearby and warns against recruiting local party members. As they walk through the Over City ruins, five Grimaldi's Circus lemurs attack from a building window, throwing knives. Carl and Donut flee into an alley, where a new quest tab appears automatically. The quest "The Show Must Go On" tasks them with discovering why the ancient circus still exists and ending its terror, promising a Gold Quest Box reward. Mordecai, contacted by Carl, becomes incoherent and unresponsive, apparently drunk from incubus physiology. Carl detonates a boom jug to kill several lemurs, then flees with Donut and Mongo as more circus creatures—including a giraffe covered in lemurs—pursue them through the streets. They encounter Terror the Clown, an 11-foot tall eyeless monstrosity with oversized arms and butcher knives. Donut's magic missiles weaken it, and Carl delivers brutal melee attacks while Mongo tears at its ankle. Carl loots the clown's inventory and items, then leads his group to The Belly-Rubbed Pug, a Renaissance fair-style tavern serving as a saferoom. Inside, Carl discovers sleeping rooms now cost ten gold per night. Moments later, Mordecai teleports into the tavern with his pants down, slurring incoherently about "ladies" and calling for his sword to be sheathed. After awkwardly pulling up his pants with his barbed tail, Mordecai vomits and passes out within seconds, leaving the Bopca bartender horrified and Carl resigned to their fate.