Burrowers

This article contains unmarked spoilers for Book 6.

System Message. Posting Book 8 spoilers will result in "acceleration" per our rules.

I pulled a photograph of an angry-looking mantis queen from my inventory and held it up. “They’re a different type of mantis than poor, dead Circe, but they dropped out. They’re smart. They’re cowards, but they’re smart cowards.” I ripped the photo up and tossed it over my shoulders.[1]

The Burrowers are the Mantis royal family and governmental entity in charge of the Hive Home System, one of several Mantis-occupied solar systems in a cluster of stars. They are the driving force behind the development of Macro AIs, and a regular participant in Faction Wars.[2]

Description

The Burrowers are reportedly one of the deadliest and most terrifying forces in the galaxy. Although the government is no longer as strict as it once was, "the old ways persist" in Mantis culture; specifically, Burrowers have strong rules regarding breeding.[3]

As the controllers of the Hive Home System, they have monopolized and privatized the production and development of Macro AIs.[2][4]

Faction

The Dark Hive collects gear on the Sixth Floor Hunting Grounds, which it then exclusively sells to the Burrowers to use on the Ninth Floor. Despite the Burrowers' fearsome reputation and supplies, they are usually the second faction knocked out of the game (the first being the Blood Sultanate). According to previous authors of the Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook, the Burrowers' would perform better if the generated NPCs they received were fellow bugs.[3]

Although slated to participate in the Faction Wars segment of Dungeon Crawler World: Earth, the Burrowers withdrew their team and retreated the same day the System AI discovered (in a lawsuit brief) that they were jettisoning "infant" Macro AIs directly into a star. The System AI notes, "For those of you watching at home, I want you to remember this. We’ll circle back to it on a different date."[5]

Story

Book 5

After the Burrowers abandon the Faction Wars, Carl and Donut purchase their spot for the Princess Posse.

Congratulations! You have successfully fielded your first troops. You have been assigned spot three and have inherited all (zero) mercenaries left behind by the Burrowers.
Welcome, Sponsor, to Faction Wars.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Butcher's Masquerade (Chapter 77) (p. 700). Dandy House. Kindle Edition.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Chapter 46)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Dinniman, Matt. The Butcher's Masquerade (Chapter 38)
  4. ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Butcher's Masquerade (Chapter 33)
  5. ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Chapter 46) (p. 442). Dandy House. Kindle Edition.
  6. ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Butcher's Masquerade (Chapter 77) (p. 699). Dandy House. Kindle Edition.