Slug Exclusion Zone

Name: Slug Exclusion Zone
Code: SLEZ
Types: Minor, Enpersoned?
Date: 237 AM

Summary: The Slug Exclusion Zone (SLEZ) is a circular exclusion zone about a mile in diameter that contains a single giant slug.

History: Slug magic was a form of magic that allowed practitioners to bond with slugs and use them as extensions of their own bodies. Slug mages could dip their hand in a vat of slugs and get a prosthetic slug hand that could manipulate objects, secrete slime, or fire projectiles (made of slugs). Slug magic was also used for healing, as slugs could regenerate wounds by permanently bonding with their host. Slug magic was popular in the region of Slough, where slugs were abundant and revered as sacred animals.

In 237 AM, a group of researchers from the University of Lysia San Slough decided to study the potential of slug magic for healing head injuries. They experimented on volunteers who had suffered brain damage, implanting slugs into their skulls and using slug magic to stimulate neural regeneration. However, something went wrong with the procedure, and instead of healing the volunteers, it transferred their ability to use slug magic to one of the slugs. This slug escaped from the laboratory and began to consume other slugs, growing in size and power. It also developed a rudimentary intelligence and a hostile attitude towards humans.

The slug slowly rampaged through the city of Lysia, leaving a trail of slime and destruction behind it. It killed three people and injured dozens more, before it reached the outskirts of the city and encountered the exclusion barrier. 

Features: The SLEZ is dominated by the presence of the giant slug, now estimated to be about eight hundred feet long and several feet thick, with a mottled brown color and numerous eyes and tentacles. It can use slug magic to manipulate other slugs within the zone, and spends much of its time herding a 'flock' of small ordinary slugs throughout the zone, eating whatever sparse vegetation manages to grow there among the slime-encrusted ruins. In addition to its mastery of slug magic, the giant slug also wields a number of looted entads, which are now embedded in its slimy hide. One of these entads grants it the ability to project its thoughts as speech, an ability it most frequently uses to announce its hatred of humanity and to recite crude poetry about moss. 

Only a relatively small portion of the city of Lysia was enveloped in the exclusion zone, and much of the rest of the surrounding city remains inhabited. Even the University continues to operate, though in a greatly reduced capacity after the loss of its main campus. A minor, but important, part of the post-exclusion Lysian economy revolves around trade with the giant slug. Despite its professed hatred of humanity, the slug is capable of using its magic to produce vast quantities of slime with various properties, and is willing to do so in exchange for organic refuse. These slimes are useful in various industrial processes and are also used directly in the manufacture of a number of consumer products.

There is rarely a need to send expeditions into the zone - and such expeditions make the slime negotiations more difficult besides - but with proper planning, these can be carried out safely. After the initial evacuation of the city, no one has been since been killed by the giant slug. Although the slug is a fierce combatant at close range, and does try to kill anyone who enters the zone, its top speed is less than one foot per minute.