SEASLUG

Vryce has warned all that great beasts would come from afar, and serve
warning for things to come. He said, "The time shall soon come when your
numbers and strength shall be tested. From afar will come great beasts and
serpents, and they shall be a test unlike any since the great purging."-
Vryce has warned his heroes to build strong ships with strong hulls and to
grow in strength before the time comes when it will be too late.

Marious has recently been warned of a Giant Seaslug seen off the coast of
Scavenger's Island. It is said that the beast is larger than the whole City
of Medievia! Then there is the rumor that a serpent was seen just off the
coast near the NaeraMae trading post--a serpent so long it nearly surrounded
the whole island and so large it blocked the horizon.

Now, just today, Marious and Vryce sat down in front of the gods and said
that it is worse than they had feared. The giant beasts will test us, yes,
possibly even break us, they said. Vryce then stood stiffly and said, "Today
we have realized that the beasts are running, and we have seen what the
beasts are running from. We must hurry. The clans must prepare now. The
ships must be built now. The storm of evil rising from afar will soon wash
over our shores like a plague, and it will tear our civilization apart if
we are not ready. I already fear it may be too late."

Marious stood up, and he and Vryce walked off to discuss how best to prepare.

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Giant Seaslugs are a new type of Mobfaction-type mob that uses a new
monster module recently coded. The monster is larger than a room. It is in
fact 37 rooms large, and each room merely represents a part of the beast.

The Giant Seaslug is the size of a city and looks like a giant snail, as
it has a truly enormous shell. It is possible to kill the beast, but since
it has 1,500,000 hitpoints it would be very, very hard to do. When one is
nearby, almost all mobfactions will leave players alone and put all of
their attention into attacking the beast--or running away from it.

The beast will occasionally hatch a new baby, but when it detects a player
in its shell, it makes babies very fast and nonstop. These babies hatch in
a nursery deep in the shell at around level 14 and grow as they come out.
By the time they enter the wilderness they are level 31 mages with special
abilities. Normally these babies stay away from each other, but sometimes
the Giant Seaslug will order them to attack one area near it that appears
to be a threat.

The Giant Seaslug fires shards of pure Fae magic out of its optic tentacles
toward targets at a distance. If you are in front of it when it is moving
it will kill you instantly, as its crushing weight is not survivable.

It will attack zones, towns, ports, clan businesses, trading posts,
beaches, and docks. Sometimes it will just stay in one remote area all
alone. No one really knows why a Giant Seaslug does what it does, or
why it attacks the thing it attacks. But one thing that is known is how to
control it.

If a mob of strong players enter the shell and are able to fight their way
through waves of babies to reach the nursery, then there is a chance. A
MASTERHERO it is said, can then mount a baby just as it hatches. The hero
can then simply walk out of the shell without being attacked. From the
very top of the shell, the MASTERHERO mounted on a baby can control the
whole giant beast. Marious believes the baby becomes imprinted to the
MASTERHERO and that this somehow links it to the Giant when at this one
location.

To control the beast use the GO command. 'GO NORTH will send the beast
heading north. 'GO Medievia' will send it to the City of Medievia, 'GO
Trellor' to the City of Trellor, and so on. The beast will die eventually.
Marious believes that the imprinted baby somehow confuses the giant's
nervous system and that it slowly damages it.

As the monster moves it normally leaves the area TRAMPLED The MASTERHERO
controlling the beast could connect one tradepost to another with a long,
wide trampled road that would last for many hours, allowing fast, easy
trading with very few MF attacks.

The MASTERHERO that controls the beast receives a few special MEDALS The
HEROES that help kill the babies receive a good amount of HEROPOINTS and
GOLD The first player into the nursery can take a DC and a nice piece of
equipment just sitting there. The first MASTERHERO that controls the beast
gets a nice piece of equipment as well.

AFAR This is the first MOBFACTION from afar. While there are many
factions of mobs, there are two main classes. From local Medievia
continent and from afar. You will notice that when anywhere near an attack
from afar, the local MOBFACTIONS will leave players alone and instead
fight the attack from afar. All of Medievia V is being built around this
fact so know it well as it will become a very large part of the game.

The DM will let players know about attacks from afar on the ADVENTURE
channel.

See Also: MOBFACTION "MASTER HERO" HEROPOINTS MEDALS