Location from Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
The only passages between dungeon floors — well-lit descents ending in massive double doors engraved with the Kua-Tin symbol, each a chokepoint of survival.
Stairwells are the dungeon's sole mechanism for passage between floors. Their numbers decrease dramatically with each level — from seventy-five thousand on the first floor down to a single stairwell on the eighteenth. Different floors impose different rules on stairwell access: some allow early descent with stasis until the next floor opens, others lock stairwells until six hours before collapse, and the ninth floor seals them until Faction Wars concludes. Descending with low health triggers automatic healing. Non-sapient entities that attempt to descend are disintegrated — a mechanic Carl exploited to kill the Rage Elemental on the second floor before the rules were patched. Stairwells embedded in movable objects can be relocated but never into safe rooms, between floors, or destroyed. Some stairwells are unguarded while others sit within boss chambers, creating deadly gauntlets for desperate crawlers.
Well-lit descending staircases ending in massive double-wide doors engraved with a stylistic, oversized Kua-Tin symbol. The doors are imposing and unmistakable. On the minimap, stairwells appear as white squares. Earlier seasons displayed the Syndicate logo instead of the Kua-Tin mark.
Also known as: Stairwell, Stairwells, The Stairs, Floor Exit, Descent