Finally, Northhold

You're sitting in a pool of water, in a cavern, deep underground. It's not dark; the place is illuminated by a bright radiant light which you quickly realize is coming from you.

You chose the Light element as your monster power as part of a disguise plan. Your chances of survival will be higher if you can pass as not-a-monster, and looking like part of the Light is part of that. You hadn't realized it would make you quite so... glowy.

Smaller slimes bounce around the edges of the cavern. Two exits lead elsewhere into the cave system, but the most important exit seems to be the well-shaft coming from above. As you watch, someone high above throws a bucket down into the water, then starts to haul it back up on a rope.

It's time to explore! But first, it's time to store your cores somewhere safe. With a focused effort, your body splits in two: the larger part with the bulk of your slime, and a smaller part to keep your cores safe. Your vision fractures oddly since your perception is linked to both of you at once, but you quickly get used to it. You send the part with your cores out to eat the smaller slimes, and hopefully bulk up. The main part of you climbs the shaft, hauling your massive body up the slick vertical surface with only moderate difficulty.

Above, you expect, is Northhold -- a therianthrope fortress that guards the entry to the heart of Dark territory. If the forces of Light take this fortress, they'll have a clear path to the devil cities and the vast supply of mana they generate. Melanoche seemed pretty worried about that when you talked to her earlier.

You climb and climb. You hear shouting as you go. "Intruders!" someone shouts. "Adventurers in the south entry! They have archers!" Heavy footsteps run through the halls outside the well shaft. "Intruders!" someone else shouts. "Two mages on the roof, fire and ice!" More footsteps run that way.

Eventually the shaft opens on a dark tunnel, guarded by three minotaurs. "Hello!" you say. "I'm reinforcements, sent by the Dark Goddesses. Can you take me to --"

"Intruders!" bellows a minotaur. "Light construct conjurer coming up the well!"

The minotaurs charge at you and swing greataxes, chopping slashes into your slimy flesh. Ow! Ow!

You'd like to retreat, but if you don't solve this quickly, they'll get reinforcements and seal up the well shaft. That wouldn't be good for either you or them.

"Hey!" you shout as you fight. "Hey, no! I'm on your side! Quit! Cut it out! Three hundred percent bonus to seeming trustworthy? Hello?"

You manage to subdue the minotaurs, wrapping them with tentacles strong enough that they can't break free. It's not without cost: you're oozing slime from a dozen places.

Your hindbrain does something; your wounds heal and your mana drops. From the sound of footsteps approaching, you can tell you only have seconds to make a plan. Which corridor to take? Should you go back in the well? And what to do with the prisoners?

Five more minotaurs come charging down the corridor. Two of them have steel armor, and their greataxes trail mist through the air behind them. You make a snap decision and start shouting. With all your body, you shout a command in a deep baritone:

"Minions! HALT! Explain yourselves at once!"

Where reasoned persuasion failed, shouting seems to work. The minotaurs stop their attack almost instantly, skidding to a halt and snapping into salutes. "Sir! Yes, sir!" the lead one says.

Once that's resolved, the rest goes smoothly. Your social bonus kicks in now that you're out of combat, and it's little effort to persuade the minotaurs to take you to their leader.

Their leader, it develops, is a young minotaur woman wearing a blindfold. As you enter, she's deep in conversation with an alarmingly thin blue woman wearing a tiny bikini. They introduce themselves as Seer Redhoof and Court Mage Leraje. You explain your purpose.

"So much Light energy..." Redhoof frowns. "I can barely see the Dark in you."

"Yeah, sure, pull the other one," Leraje scoffs. "If you're a slime monster, where's your monster core? Let me guess: forgot it under the sofa? It's in your other trousers?"

"It's called Mitosis," you answer, as politely as you can. "I wasn't bringing my cores into a warzone if I could help it. You wouldn't either!"

"Great, fine, you know about Mitosis," Leraje admits. "But which is more likely? Secret slime-monster Dark hero that isn't actually Dark? Or Citrinas figured out how to make a Light construct with a high deception modifier?"

Your hindbrain passes you a description: Arch-Imago Citrinas, one of the Five Light Heroes. She's a wizard. She's basically all the wizards wrapped into one. Not good with people.

"You'd better have more proof than this, construct," Leraje continues, "or I'll blast you where you stand!"

It sounds like a stupid threat. You, a forty-foot-wide tentacle monster; her, a five-foot-tall devil who clearly isn't sleeping or eating enough. But the glowing orb of devastation at the tip of her staff is very, very real.

"Ladies, ladies," you say, wiggling your tentacles in a way that you hope is nonthreatening. "I have lots of proof! What's something Dark monsters do? Something we're known for, in fact? And what's something that Citrinas has never, ever done? Something her constructs would be total shit at?"

Leraje frowns, not taking the bait. Redhoof throws you a line: "Sex, of course."

Your tentacles shift to phallic, and you make a gesture that everyone in the room will understand. "How much proof do you need, babe?"

Leraje's frown turns to a wicked grin. "Oh, that's perfect. That's so good! We can solve two problems at once! Or I get to blast him! Either way, really!"

Redhoof nods. "Send for Daisy."

A warrior sets off running, and the three of you stare at each other awkwardly. This is good, right? You made a suggestion, they agreed, everyone's on the same page?

You'd feel more comfortable if Leraje wasn't grinning quite so excitedly.

It's not long at all before the minotaur warriors come back with an even larger 'taur. Ten feet tall and covered in muscle, with huge tits and an even larger ass. She looks at Redhoof mournfully. "It's still no good. Our mana is there, but the divine spark is gone."

Redhoof turns and explains. "We lose many warriors, each day, to the constant raids by adventurers. Our numbers dwindle."

Daisy stares. "What's... this thing?"

Redhoof keeps going. "The goddesses have blessed them with rapid fertility. They bear warriors in a day, and they grow to maturity in a week. But to breed that fast takes a divine spark."

"The sires are trying," Daisy continues. "But there will be no new warriors born tonight."

"We may have a solution," Redhoof offers. "This slime-monster comes from the goddesses. We'd like to test how well it breeds."

Honestly, you're torn. This isn't how you wanted things to be. Breeding, fathering children, sending them to fight and die? Kill or be killed, **** begets ****, and you keep murdering until the Five Heroes show up and kill everyone? No. No thank you. You'll find a social solution.

On the other hand, the ass on this woman is to die for.

On the third hand... Your hindbrain pushes some quests into your vision.

Quest: Prove Yourself To Northhold Leadership [90Kxp]
Quest: Breed Daisy [90Kxp]
Quest: Breed Redhoof [90Kxp]
Quest: Breed Fifty Tauren (1/50) [9Kxp each]
Quest: Breed Court Mage Leraje [9Mxp]
Quest: Ally with Court Mage Leraje [9Mxp]
Quest: Kill Court Mage Leraje [9Mxp]

Right, then. Let's see how many of these quests you can do.

Hopefully not that last one.