Orren
Names: OrrenOrren the LiaisonManager Orren
First appears in Book 4: The Gate of the Feral Gods, chapter 19 (19)
Appearances
What you know
Book 4: The Gate of the Feral Gods
- Ch 19Orren is a Syndicate Liaison, an independent fact-finder who investigates incidents and recommends what should be done.
- Ch 19Under his hood, Orren's face is a bowl of swirling liquid holding a Valtay worm.
- Ch 19Orren closes the case for lack of consensus but says he'd remove Carl anyway; the kua-tin intervened to keep Carl alive.
- Ch 19Orren hints that his own people may take over the crawl after the next floor.
Book 5: The Butcher’s Masquerade
- Ch 1Orren is a Valtay Syndicate liaison, a worm in a glass fishbowl head, who says that if it were up to him Carl would be removed.
- Ch 1Orren asks Carl to voluntarily hand over the winding box, returning it on the ninth floor, or face being accelerated to his death.
- Ch 3Orren is a body-less Valtay liaison; Quasar calls liaisons power-hungry and tells Carl to say nothing to them without his lawyer.
- Ch 13Orren, the Borant liaison, says secondary program licenses are normally granted by AI decision or lottery at the end of the floor.
- Ch 59Orren, a fishbowl-headed Valtay liaison, leaves his in-game office at this floor's collapse until the ninth floor.
- Ch 59Orren cryptically warns that some liaisons go too far, likening them to good and bad wild-west sheriffs.
- Ch 59Orren admits he likes Carl and Donut and is entertained by how they bend the rules.
Book 6: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
- Ch 1Per Donut's recap, Carl gave Orren the Gate of the Feral Gods in exchange for the Sledge and three cretin bodyguards for three floors.
- Ch 50Orren, a liaison posing as manager of the Desperado Club, negotiates with the system AI when it seizes control from the showrunners.
- Ch 50Orren announces the system AI has taken control of operations from the showrunners, and he has negotiated a settlement with it.
- Ch 50Orren says the system AI returned most controls to Borant and agreed to follow the crawl's rules in exchange for undisclosed concessions.
- Ch 50Orren explains maturing AIs become independent and can circumvent controls; Borant losing control of the crawl almost always happens.
- Ch 53Orren pulls Carl out of the memory into the closed Desperado Club just as Goff begins explaining how to shut something off.
- Ch 53Orren claims the AI is now stripping protection from all Residuals, who will die before the floor collapses.
Book 7: This Inevitable Ruin
- Ch 26Orren tells Carl that Paulie, part of a collective mind, never made it into the dungeon.
- Ch 45Liaison Orren hangs up on the Syndicate prime minister and demands Carl explain how the failsafe was disabled.
- Ch 45Orren learned of Carl's illegal non-Valtay implant and his hidden conversation with the residual; Harbinger ordered Carl killed, but the AI intervened.
- Ch 45Orren creates a zero zone outside the AI's influence, giving them about ten minutes, and mutes the protesting officials.
- Ch 46Orren tried to get Carl's help undoing the AI's control, prioritising safety; the AI forgives him.
- Ch 48Orren suspects Carl helped break the AI out of containment and fears history will blame him for the coming chaos.
Book 8: A Parade of Horribles
- Ch 30Orren says many unsponsored gods roam free near tunnel nodes, and neither the AI nor anyone else can control them.
- Ch 104Orren remains locked out; the AI says he is being Hunted and that only it may kill him.
Connections
- related toThe Syndicateliaison retained by the Syndicate
- related toValtay Corporationis a Valtay
- enemy ofCarl
- member ofValtay Corporation
- member ofThe Syndicate
- member ofBorant Corporation
- related toAstridAstrid brought Carl to Orren at his request
- related toDesperado Clubcover identity as manager
- enemy ofHarbingerthreatens and cuts him out
- ally ofPrime Minister Victory
Key moments
- Book 4 · Ch 19Interrogation by Orren
After Loita's death, Carl and Donut are taken to an office in the Desperado Club where liaison Orren accuses Carl of assassinating her and demands his source.
- Book 4 · Ch 19Case closed
Orren closes the matter, bans third-party teleports for the floor, and reveals five days have passed.
- Book 5 · Ch 1Orren demands the gate
Syndicate liaison Orren tells Carl he must voluntarily give up the Gate of the Feral Gods or be removed; Carl stalls and demands a lawyer.
- Book 5 · Ch 3Carl gets a lawyer
Carl asks for an attorney during his meeting with liaison Orren, and the Nullian lawyer Quasar appears and coaches him to negotiate collateral for giving up the gate.
- Book 5 · Ch 13Negotiating the license for Vengeance of the Daughter
Quasar negotiates with a kua-tin Borant admin and Orren, securing bodyguards, spells and a secret emergency license extension for Vengeance of the Daughter.
- Book 5 · Ch 59Summoned by Orren
After Astrid knocks Carl out, Orren tells Carl and Donut he is leaving until the ninth floor, warns them about rogue liaisons, and summons Quasar and a weeping fan.
- Book 6 · Ch 50The system AI takes control
Instead of the recap, Cascadia and liaison Orren announce the system AI has seized operations from the showrunners and begin explaining Primal Engines and Macro AIs.
- Book 6 · Ch 50Orren announces settlement with the AI
Orren says the system AI has handed most controls back to Borant and will follow the rules in exchange for concessions; Cascadia says crawlers have one day left to get keys.
- Book 6 · Ch 53Orren explains the 'trap'
In the closed Desperado Club, Orren tells Carl the Pacifist Network set an elaborate trap risking the planet, and that the AI agreed with pulling him out.
- Book 6 · Ch 53Trading away the bin
With Quasar present, Carl trades the Residual's bin to Orren for minor scrolls and keeping four cretins on the ninth floor; Orren refuses to return the Gate of the Feral Gods.
- Book 7 · Ch 2Containment Interface installs
The enhancement begins installing a Containment Interface letting Carl trip the fuse and destroy the system; Carl is then sent to Orren's office.
- Book 7 · Ch 45Interrogation by Orren
Pulled into the liaison office at the Desperado Club, Carl learns Rosetta stole billions from Rust, and Orren demands to know how Carl's implant disabled the failsafe.
- Book 7 · Ch 45Orren creates a zero zone
Orren sets off a device creating a zero zone outside the AI's control and begs Carl to say whether the failsafe can be re-enabled, until Growler Gary interrupts.
- Book 7 · Ch 46The AI's avatar reveals itself
The system AI, in Growler Gary's body, breaks Orren's zero zone and confirms it has disabled the failsafe, refusing to reveal its intentions.
- Book 7 · Ch 46Formidable pulled from her ship
The AI teleports Princess Formidable into the office, tells her that her father is dead, then sends her down to Earth's surface at her choice.
- Book 7 · Ch 47The AI asks Donut for relationship advice
The AI summons Donut and, through a metaphor about girlfriends and an imprisoned ex, seeks advice; Donut urges caution, and the AI declares the game will go on.
- Book 7 · Ch 47Growler Gary released
The AI departs Gary's body; the confused, drunk, level-175 gnoll asks for Rory and teleports away.
- Book 8 · Ch 30Carl goes off script on live
Orren and Victory beg Carl to ask the Plenty about tunnel integrity; instead he publicly asks whether people know escaped gods endanger them.