Monster Meal

In a world populated by monsters, being one yourself certainly does have a few benefits. Namely, being able to travel mostly unimpeded. I’m sure I’ve explained before the idea behind my fantasy setting, but basically, all the world’s populace has been turned into monsters aside from one kingdom, and after being exiled, the three main heroes have to go about fixing it by means of collecting several mystical crystal orbs. Before seizing the first one, they’re warned by its guardian (whom they have to fight) that there’s no turning back, and that they will not return from their journey the same as they left. Thinking the warning only applied to them mentally, they would eventually find out the double meaning of the message. Over the course of the adventure, the heroes are transformed into actual monsters through various means, and they have to learn and accept that even though they may have lost what physically makes them human, they still are inside, before fear and division takes hold. Max (the fighter) is the first this happens to, and can be seen as a punishment for his ornery ways; he becomes a Sahuagin after being captured by Bullywugs and used in a ritual. Agnes (the thief), who joins the party later in the story is transformed into an ogress when the party makes the mistake of letting a spell-casting enemy have the last word in battle. Lastly, Sam (the prince) becomes a werewolf purposefully, after making a deal with the king of lycanthropes, the Minotaur, to trade his humanity for his friends lives after they were captured. Leon (the cleric) is the only one not to undergo a transformation into a monster like the others. Magic is a powerful thing, and unless you do it right, continuous use of spells can become physically and mentally damaging to the caster. Being inexperienced in spell-casting, Leon grows weaker and weaker as he uses magic. (This is a slow process, as he uses spells sparingly since monsters can detect magic.)