A Syndicate company, the Borant Corporation (aka Borant) is the current regent of Earth and responsible for the production of Dungeon Crawler World: Earth.[2]
- See Also: Bloom • Borant Corporation • Borant Headquarters • Borant System
Description
The Borant Corporation is based in the Borant System and principally owned by Kua-Tin, although its employees include Syndicate Humans and other alien stock.[3][4] The company is closely tied to the Borant System's governing party, the Bloom.[5]
Although Borant is technically a mining company dealing in rare elements (e.g. primal elements), its primary source of income is the Syndicate stipend and advertising, licensing, and broadcasting proceeds from Dungeon Crawler World, which the company hosts once every 7-15 seasons.[3][6]
Dungeon Crawler World
Known for "making the most elaborate, most entertaining dungeons," Borant invests a great deal of time and resources into preparing each dungeon and tailoring it to suit the world it takes place on. At any given time, five forward teams are deployed to candidate planets, where they study the locals and - when needed - directly influence pop culture to ensure that the inhabitants will understand the game and its notifications when the time comes.[3][7] The first prep team arrived on Earth in 1937.[3]
Where other companies may prefer to use holos for Tutorials and Dungeon Admins, Borant takes the more "fins-on approach" of directly teleporting staff and NPCs into the Dungeon.[5]
Communication Relays
Borant previously held stakes in communication relays, which were rendered obsolete when the Plenty introduced the modern tunneling system. As a result, Borant lost a lot of money. Borant and the Bloom have been using the Plenty's tunneling system to seed conspiracy theories that the technology was actually created by the Apothecary and its true purpose is to indoctrinate everyone into the collective mind.[8]
Departments
Communications Department
The Communications Department, which includes Zev, serves as a PR agency and liaison between privately-owned programs and crawlers. Although certain production companies have rights to interview crawlers between Floors, requests to interview crawlers mid-Floor are processed by Communications. When a crawler receives too many requests, their party is entered into the Crawler Assisted Outreach Program and assigned to an agent who has full rights to sign legal documents on their behalf.[5][9]
Engineering
Engineers design the Dungeon's Floors, and occasionally appear on talk shows to discuss the different levels.[10][11] Cascadia, the lead engineer of Dungeon Crawler World: Earth, is also the executive producer, and appears to be responsible for most other departments.
Dungeon Administration
This department or departments has not been officially named in the books, but likely includes the various personnel working on and in the Dungeon. Employees in these areas may work in Site Prep or as Location Managers.[12][5]
Story
Book 1
At the Bloom's insistence, Borant opens Earth's Dungeon two years (or possibly two cycles) early in an attempt to stave off bankruptcy and seizure action by the Valtay.[13] Borant will not receive any income until after the crawl ends, so the Bloom is also pushing to end the crawl as soon as enough money is raised to pay off the company's debts.[5]
As a result, Borant cuts corners (such as by only springing for a dual-layer enhancement zone) and introduces "bugs" that accelerate crawler deaths (e.g. the bathroom issues and overpowered mobs on the First and Second Floors).[14] The Syndicate Council subcommittee that controls the games puts Borant on notice at some point during the Second Floor, and employees within the company begin pushing back against the Bloom's efforts to end the game early.[5]
When Carl goes on Death Watch Extreme Dungeon Mayhem and humiliates the Maestro, the Borant Corporation actually commends Carl for showing "proper respect to the organization." [15] Since the show is owned by the prince of the Skull Empire which is allied with another faction which is at odds with the Borant Corporation, disrespecting the show was, in turn, respecting Borant. [15]
Book 2
Mordecai mentions that the last season that Borant hosted had the Fourth Floor inside a large living creature. The floor ended with a bacterial infection that spread over the floor. The walls collapsed and filled with gore unintentionally. It was not popular with viewers. [16]
Book 3
Still, there's no denying that Borant has taken the cheapest possible approach to the crawl. As Mexx-6000 explains:
"The mudskippers are cheap bastards who have built this entire crawl with spit and duct tape and items they have purchased at the equivalent of an interstellar swap meet. Everything is built with very little regard for system security and is done as cheaply as possible. The fact it hasn’t yet broken down or bitten them in the ass is a testament to the very real existence of the concept of ‘dumb luck.’"[17]
On the Third Floor, the Fools Who Broke the Glass Quest ends with several waves of magic: the first rendered magical items inert, and the second activated magical weapons. Carl had prepared a controlled explosion triggered by a Hobgoblin Detonator, a magical item. The System AI ruled that the detonator was exempt from both pulses; as a result, Carl's plan worked, saving thousands of NPCs and dozens of crawlers, and the AI distributed (83) Celestial Loot Boxes to all Crawlers in the blast zone. Borant first appealed the System AI's ruling on the detonator, but was overruled. Borant then appealed the System AI's prize decision, but was ultimately forced to use its once-per-season veto to cancel the Loot Boxes. Had the Boxes been distributed, the entire Borant System would never financially recover.[10] The end result was the AI distributing the Cuck Aquaman Achievement to every crawler within the blast radius, which was almost as costly to Borant.[18]
Protections for Borant employees are meant to start at the end of the Third Floor, when a "pocket system" would replace the dual-layer enhancement zone. As of the Fourth Floor, the dual-layer system remains in place and while most people assume that Borant is being cheap, Borant claims that Hinter refuses to rent them the necessary cores. At the same time, unrest is beginning to stir in the Borant System and non-Party employees face more persecution than ever.[19]When Carl is pulled into the Death Challenge, the System AI - on Borant's behalf - set Carl's odds of survival at an abysmal 50:1. Viewers broadly bet in Carl's favor, Carl survived, and now Borant is on the hook. Borant appealed the System AI's decision to set Carl's odds so low, accusing it of reacting "sluggishly." The results of the appeal are not made clear, but Borant likely lost a great deal of money on this bet alone.[20]
References
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. Dungeon Crawler Carl: A LitRPG/Gamelit Adventure (p. 242). Dandy House. Kindle Edition.
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. Dungeon Crawler Carl (Chapter 1)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Dinniman, Matt. Dungeon Crawler Carl (Chapter 4)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Epilogue)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Dinniman, Matt. Dungeon Crawler Carl (Chapter 36)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Butcher's Masquerade (Chapter 33)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. Dungeon Crawler Carl (Chapter 3)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Chapter 30)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Chapter 11)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Dinniman, Matt. Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Epilogue)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Butcher's Masquerade (Epilogue)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. Dungeon Crawler Carl (Chapter 35)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. Dungeon Crawler Carl (Chapter 2)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. Dungeon Crawler Carl (Chapter 20)
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Dinniman, Matt. Dungeon Crawler Carl (Chapter 44)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Chapter 14)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Chapter 20) (p. 298). Dandy House. Kindle Edition.
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Chapter 2)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Chapter 25)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Epilogue)