You know, being boiled unalive really isn’t that bad. Sean reflected from his spot just below broth-level inside the dark cauldron. If it weren’t for all these mystery chunks, this might not be a bad way to get clean… assuming I could see anything, that is.
A squishy lump of what Sean chose to believe was some kind of vegetable bobbed into his chest. Drawn in amidst the swirling storm that was Gel’s cackling, all-consuming soup-frenzy, it was at least the fifth thing to bump into him in the last fifteen or so seconds. Sean grabbed at it, feeling all but the lump’s ‘skin’ disintegrate under his fingers like an overripe peach.
Hmm… Sean rolled more of the strange, fleshy substance between his fingers experimentally, trying to get a feel for it. Meat? No, not stringy enough. Definitely has a veggie-like texture.
“This is the best post-battle celebration–” Gel belched loudly inside Sean’s mind, interrupting his own sentence. Sean got a strange mental whiff of something through their bond… beef broth? “-- we have ever had. I vote we end all of our fights this way. Just one giant pot, filled with the gooey glory of our enemies… I know we’ve feasted before, but all of this...”
The slime’s voice drifted off as Gel let loose a massive intake of breath, or rather broth, once more. Sean had to admit his friend’s appetite was impressive. He could feel the cool desert wind blowing on the top of his skull now, and suspected they would be out of the cauldron soon. Whether that was more due to the effect of the meal Gel was currently consuming, or what the slime was doing with it was anyone’s guess however.
Congratulations, you have consumed a full portion of the dish: Dune Giant’s Mystery Slop! Your total size and mass will increase by 2.5% per hour for the next three hours.
Note: While you are not a giant, your Symbiotic Structure trait makes you particularly well suited to changes in size and mass fluctuations. Not only does this prevent any negative side-effects normally associated with this dish due to its poor quality, but you may also benefit from the consumption of additional portions.
Score one for magical food! Couldn’t have been a better bonus right now, either. Sean had some serious questions as to how giants living in a desert had managed to create food that granted buffs. Not to mention what had led to its ‘poor quality’, or what the side-effects the prompt had mentioned might be. Despite all that though, he could literally feel himself growing taller.
Which wasn’t just because of the buff. Sean inspected the most recent update to the series of black and red bordered prompts with bone-white text that had popped up as the slime ate.
Congratulations! Your ‘Symbiotic Structure’ trait has been used once more! Gel has shared enough converted mass with you to increase your body’s size by a total of 150% of your natural base. Acquire additional mass in order to continue your growth.
“How much more of that can you funnel to me, you think?” Sean asked his friend. “And are any of those giants coming our way, or are they all just… waiting?”
“Mmph… mmh… Still waiting.” Gel reported, sounding like he was talking around a sloshing mouthful. The slime had one of his whips poised straight in the air with an eyeball at the end, which he was currently using like a self-made submarine periscope to watch for hostile approach. “They’re probably – mmph”
Gel gulped down, and Sean felt his friend’s mass expand when it did. This soup must be thicker by far than any of those mushrooms were. Or is it because this is more mana-rich?
“Ahhh… – waiting to see if we survived the fall.” Gel continued, satisfaction oozing out of every word. The slime immediately began consuming more of their surroundings, only bothering to add a bit more to the conversation. “That would mean we won, I think.”
“Making us their new chief?” Sean asked, cutting right to the point of this whole plan. A lot of what he hoped to accomplish here depended on it.
“Mmmhmm.” Gel swallowed again, the sound reminding Sean of a giant frog for some reason. “And as for mass, I’m going to need the rest to keep up with you. Now please, let me eat.”
Sean gestured for the slime to go ahead, before realizing that neither of them could see him doing so.
“Go right ahead. Enjoy it while you can.” He thought at his bonded companion, just as his burning orbs finally breached the rapidly sinking broth-line of the cauldron. Because we’ve got things to handle after this.
A sentiment the universe apparently agreed with, because Sean received two more prompts in that moment. The first was one he expected. It even came with more of a reward than he had been expecting. Clearly Big Smash had been a top-tier threat to his life, and so beating him also came with a top-tier reward.
YOU HAVE DEFEATED A DUNE GIANT CHIEF! YOU HAVE GAINED 50 EXPERIENCE POINTS.
Hell yeah! Sean thought, right before his thoughts were sidetracked by the sudden appearance of the second prompt. This one’s border was a long chain of hexagons with interiors that resembled dozens of different terrains from various angles, and the sound blaring trumpets heralded its entrance… or perhaps, his.
You have been named Chieftain of the Dune Giant’s clan, and in so doing, have claimed ownership of their territory. The region immediately surrounding this hilltop of the Sohl Desert is now yours to rule! Long may you reign, Chief Sean of the Giants!
Sean barely had time to register the information this prompt had granted him before yet another one appeared. This one was not heralded by trumpets, thankfully. Its visuals however, were the same as before.
As the recognized ruler of this territory by all who dwell within it, the ambient mana of this hilltop is now more responsive to your desires! You have gained a personal boon unique to this territory hex and its mana composition. You may now access the status page for the Giants’ Hilltop. Additionally, all those who recognize your rule and reside within this territory hex receive the following boon, Desert Resilience: Negative effects due to extended sun exposure are greatly reduced.
Giants’ Hilltop Unique Boon, Height Makes Right: Increase base size by 5% per evolution tier.
After reading all of that, Sean found he had many, many questions. Like: how big was he actually going to be now? What did the Giants’ Hilltop status page look like? And what the heck was a ‘territory hex’? Moreover, why did it come with a boon and did he have to stay inside this territory to keep it, or would the buff just follow him around? Because if he had to stay local then it might as well not exist as far as he was concerned. Sean had no plans to play ‘Game of Bones’ out here. He had enough to worry about as it was without white walkers and dragons flying in to ruin his day.
Actually, wouldn’t we be on the walkers side? We are monsters after all. Might even be able to get along with the dragons. Sean considered the idea as the rest of the cauldron’s contents were drained away by his insatiable stomach. It’s not like they’d be interested in eating us, after all. No meat on that metaphorical bone or on mine.
The gelaton questioned his friend about the prompts, but Gel wasn’t much more informed on these particular matters than he was. Some of the villagers back at Dry Run had been aware of the phenomenon, but none of the ones the slime had eaten had been the ‘ruler’ of that particular territory. The slime did have a few things to share, however.
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“The personal boon stays with us.” Gel reported in between gulps that were, finally, starting to resemble the slime’s regular intake. “So long as the giants still consider us their leader, and keep living here… it shouldn’t go away. Which means we’ll keep the size buff until one of those isn’t true.”
“I’ve got an idea on how to keep it, but I want to run it past Warabe first.” Sean responded, idly picking up a chunk of what he was positive had once been camel and tossing it between his noticeably enlarged ribs. Now that he had the ‘Height Makes Right’ boon, the gelaton could almost see himself growing in size – though that might have been his imagination. “What about the ‘territory hex’, any clue on that?”
“It refers to the local area around the hilltop. Everything that you – or rather, we – rule now.” Gel sounded more than a bit prideful by the end of that sentence, but the slime had definitely earned it. They both had, really. “Supposedly we can expand it somehow? I’m not really sure on the details. Barry was working on that for the area around his estate, but I never got anything but references to those memories from him.”
“Hmm.” Sean hmm’d. This system was starting to sound like it had a whole lot more complications than he was willing to deal with. Can’t a skeleton just get back to exploring, killing, and cooking things? I’m literally standing in a pot, universe. How much more on-the-nose do I have to be right now?
“Have you checked out the status page for this place yet?”
“Nope. Been delightfully pre-occupied.” Gel reported happily. “I’ll look at it later, once your no-doubt flawless plan solidifies our hold on this place forever.”
“Fair enough.” Sean admitted, appreciating his friend’s unshakeable trust in his planning abilities. “Guess I’ll take a look.”
Ankle-deep as he was in mystery giant ‘slop’, Sean pulled up his own status and navigated to the new tab next to it that read: “Giants’ Hilltop”. What he found raised more questions than it gave answers.
Territory Hex: Giants’ Hilltop
Terrain Classification: Desert
Race of Primary Occupants: Giant
Current # of Primary Occupants: 15
Domesticated Occupants: Sand Wurms
Current # of Domesticated Occupants: 18
Mana Aspects: Death, Life, Chaos
Improvements Constructed (1 of 2): Settlement
Noteworthy Locations Found (2 of 3): Dueling Rock, Sand Wurm Caves
Resources Found (1 of 3): Salt Mine
Progress Towards Unlocking Adjacent Hex: 22%
Sean couldn’t help it, he laughed when he read that their new territory came with a ‘salt mine’. Mostly because if there was any resource in this world that Gel both abhorred and would be offended by having, it was salt. He did find it interesting that the status page noted how many resources were supposedly located within the territory however, because it meant that there were still two left for them to discover.
Not to mention another ‘noteworthy location’ to find, and an ‘improvement’ to construct? Sean examined both phrases for more information and questioned Gel on the meaning of each, but sadly no new information emerged from either source.
Guess that’s just something we’ll have the giants look into. Sean supposed. Would be nice to have this as our temporary base until we move on to somewhere else, and that would at least give the ants somewhere to drop off all of our loot until we can trade it back to the city. This would also be a good staging point for our trek back to knock Bancroft off his perch…
A faint bloom of joy sprouted in Sean’s chest at the thought of returning to the necromancer’s estate with both ants and giants in tow. Bancroft had used hellhounds and skeletons for guards, but what were those things going to do versus a tree-sized club? Or globs of hurled acid?
Your little stone wall won’t save you from us. Sean silently promised his one-time master and murderer. We’re coming for you, buddy-boy. And we’re bringin’ friends of our own this time.
Granted we’ve only got fifteen giants and eighteen ants. Sean relented, reviewing the prompt once more. But hey, it’s a start. Have to see if Saren is interested in bringing some of his paladin friends along for the ride, too. Maybe even the lizardkin? Or those little fuzz balls if they’re up for it.
By the time Sean was finished talking to himself, Gel had scoured the inside of the cauldron clean. The gelaton looked around when the slime was done, impressed to find not so much as a single speck of food or droplet of soup remaining - though he hadn’t expected anything less. He was also surprised to find that the bottom of the pot wasn’t hot enough to burn his feet – though that might be because there had just been soup there. Sean moved to the sides, just in case
Gel let out another impressive belch, this time creating a mouth and lungs to do it with. The sound reverberated off the cauldron they were in, magnifying it for all to hear.
“I take that to mean you’re done?” Sean asked, amused.
“For now.” Gel quickly corrected. “I’m done for now. There’s still our chiefly predecessor out there to eat, his two friends, and the fast food that we still have to go track down. We can’t let our food run away from us. It sets a bad precedent, and I don’t want any future meals thinking that escape from becoming one with my inevitable wobble is possible.”
“Your ‘inevitable wobble’?”
“Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? I’ve been trying to think of new ways to say “I’m going to eat you” ever since that first time we met Bernard.” The slime explained. “Let me know if you think of any!”
Sean recalled the grumpy old wizard who had sacrificed himself so that his student might live, and spared a moment of silence in respect for the man’s memory. Then he reached up and grabbed the lip of the cauldron with both hands.
“Hey-hey! You are getting taller.” Gel said, appreciatively. “I told you it was worth eating all of this. Food is the one thing that’ll never let you down. Besides me, that is. So, two things total.”
A prompt slid into Sean’s awareness as the slime spoke, this one detailing just how much they had gained from the meal and reinforcing his friend’s words.
Congratulations, you have consumed twenty-five full portions of the dish: Dune Giant’s Mystery Slop! Maximum benefits have already been gained from prior portions, though unknown benefits may still occur if you continue to consume this dish. Your total size and mass will increase by 10% per hour for the next three hours before reverting back to normal at the same rate.
NBA, here I come. Sean thought, heaving them both up and out of the cauldron in a single, ‘relatively’ smooth motion. The strain of their new weight was immediately noticeable unfortunately, and his jump attempt hadn’t accounted completely for it. Sean’s foot clanged loudly off the interior as he kicked, scrambled for purchase, found it, and then eventually hupped the pair of them over the edge and onto the sands once more.
Looking around, Sean saw that not only was Big Smash’s corpse within slime-whipping distance (and Gel had already started taking advantage of that) – but it looked like the entire remaining tribe members had gathered around the cooking pot. Even the ones they had injured earlier, who he noted now looked to be almost entirely unharmed. Smooth scarring covered what had previously been open wounds, and the gelaton wondered if these giants actually did have self-recovery abilities.
He resolved to try and not be jealous if they did.
Of the crowd gathered nearby, one of the giants who appeared to be older than the rest stepped forward. His face was marked by a dark beard that would have impressed any dwarf Sean had ever read about, and even his hide armor looked to have had so many patchwork repairs that it was practically all seams by now. Steely-grey eyes met Sean’s blazing orbs, and the gelaton noticed the height differential between them was not quite as severe as it had been earlier.
This new giant went to one knee before them, and the rest followed suit only a beat or two later. Sean’s improved pulse sense registered a strange clot of veins clustered in the older giant’s right shoulder, and he was about to focus in on it when the massive humanoid before him raised both its head and right arm skyward as it shouted something unintelligible to the clouds above. The call – whatever it was – was immediately taken up by the remaining giants.
In response, Gel stopped snacking on their predecessor and raised both of his own newly-thickened crimson whips to the sky, shaking them as if they were mighty fists. The slime bellowed what Sean was fairly sure was the same phrase along with the crowd.
“What’re they saying?” Sean asked Gel, curious to hear the answer as none of them were apparently speaking ‘Beast’. “There some kinda ritual here, or–”
“They’re saying: ‘Hail’!” Gel reported back immediately, victorious laughter and fierce pride suffusing the slime’s mental voice. One of his crimson whips snaked down and lifted Sean’s midnight-black hand to the sky as well. Sean allowed it, listening to his friend shout the call with the crowd again before the slime finally finished his translation.
“Hail, to the chief!”