Chapter 65

Carl and Donut enter the Desperado Club on the Hunting Grounds level to meet with changelings who can help evacuate NPCs before the brambles overrun their town. After bribing Clarabelle the bouncer with evidence of stolen gold, they use a secret stairwell to access the restricted floor, where they kill a hunter and locate the changeling representatives, but are caught by Astrid, the assistant manager, who uses blood magic to incapacitate Carl.

Carl and Donut arrive at the Desperado Club and speak with Clarabelle, the crocodilian bouncer, learning that hunters remain trapped on both the Hunting Grounds and Larracos levels due to damaged entrances and political complications. The Hunting Grounds level is sealed off from crawler access, but Clarabelle reveals a secret stairwell hidden in the women's bathroom toilet. When Carl and Donut attempt to access the lower floor, Donut blackmails Clarabelle by retrieving her transaction ledger, proving the bouncer stole 100 gold during their first visit. They descend into the Hunting Grounds level, where the atmosphere is more upscale and organized than the floor above. While moving through the corridor, they encounter Haxor the Destroyer, an unaffiliated dreadnought hunter, whom Carl kills by crushing his chest and breaking his neck to prevent an alarm. They locate the two changelings at the bar—Pearson (currently disguised as a dromedarian bartender in cretin form) and another—who guide them toward the Guilds hallway. Carl gives Pearson a hand-drawn map detailing evacuation plans using the Zerzura spell to move the changelings and their families to the high elf castle, the only remaining safe town. Before they can escape, Astrid, the club's level 125 Bloodlust Sprite assistant manager, arrives and casts a spell to boil Carl's blood, incapacitating him and forcing the door open as punishment for unauthorized presence.