The Iron Tangle
The fourth floor: a vast, impossible subway/rail network where crawlers must ride killer trains to find hidden stairwells.
Story so far
The Iron Tangle is the dungeon's fourth floor, revealed as a colossal knot of subway and rail lines burrowing through rock. Crawlers spawn aboard moving trains whose stations swarm with mobs, and must survive for ten days (half the usual timer) while hunting the stairwells hidden only at stations 12, 24, 36, 48, and 72 on each colored line. Saferooms appear at every transfer station (all prime-numbered), while lines run one-way upward, forcing riders to puzzle out named loop-trains like the Nightmare Express to backtrack.
Carl's party quickly learns the trains, safe cars, and the deadly rhythm of platforms full of Drek and Jikininki.
Appearance
Endless dim tunnels of dirt and rock barely wider than the trains; grimy Cyrillic-tagged subway cars, concrete platforms, a live electrified third rail, and scrolling red destination signs.
Role
The setting of the entire book; a broadcast level engineered to trap and cull crawlers on the rails.
Relationships
Earlier in this series
Also appears in books you've already read — spoiler-safe to their endings:
- Carl's Doomsday ScenarioBook 2
Sources — 1 recorded facts, by chapter
- The fourth floor: a vast, impossible subway/rail network where crawlers must ride killer trains to find hidden stairwells.