Chista tries to keep up with the holidays in the Borderlands, but being an adventurer often means she's off delving into a dungeon, culling monsters, or battling bandits and other fiends far from any town or city to celebrate.

However, she strives to celebrate a couple of holidays when she can.

1. The Harvest Feast: A time for feasting as people celebrate a successful harvest. Of course, Chista is there for the food, but it's also a day of thanks and forgiveness. It's tradition to forgive debts or at least part of a debt, which Chista takes full advantage of asking her guild to forgive some of those 'fees' and 'debts' she's accumulated due to all those "collateral incidents" and the guild insurance having to pay out resurrection fees for digested party members. (that Chista reports anyway)

Of course, she is always thankful to those who've managed to tolerate Chista's appetite (and survive it), so she gives little gifts and trinkets to those for whom she's thankful. These gifts and trinkets are usually made from bone and scraps she's belched up, as Chista believes those make the best good luck charms. Not everyone who receives such a gift is as enthusiastic, but they appreciate the gesture. (or too scared to say no.)

2. The Starfall: Twice a year, the heavens light up with a meteor shower that lights up the night sky. Though these aren't regular meteors, they are fragments of the shattered Moon that hang overhead. On those nights, people gather to marvel at the beautiful blue streaks of lunar rock fizzling in the atmosphere.

3. Dragon Day!

Dragons Day is Chista's favorite holiday.

Dragon's Day is about the ancient dragons that once ruled these lands. People give gifts, feast, and visit plays that tell the stories of these powerful and mysterious beings. From Dragons being bested by cunning heroes to wise dragons who advised mortals in their affairs, with trickster dragons tempting mortals with wishes and treasure, to fearsome monsters that devoured whole cities. These plays and stories culminate with a magnificent fireworks show that shows the climatic battle the dragons once fought before they vanished from the world.

Chista loves participating in the plays. Sometimes, she gets to play one of the heroes, which she loves! (But it often takes it too far, usually by eating the "dragon" and going way off script.) But usually, her size and girth has her 'filling' the role of one of the Dragons. Usually, the monstrous green dragon known as the Devourer. A role she fills nicely enough thanks to the Gluttonous Curse letting her swallow own the little model city and other props used to demonstraight the beast's hunger. (Of course, when it comes to the slaying of the Devourer, Chista often gets too into character and devours the knight sent to 'slay' her. Though this may be more historically accurate, the crowd is horrified and enthralled, so it usually gets a pass. They even get the poor knight out of her gut sometimes...)

So these are the big holidays in the borderlands that Chista loves.

"Hmm... that can mean a lot of things," Chista says, tapping her chin, one hand rubbing her potbelly. "As in wish I never ate it? I'd go with a Troll. It tastes nasty, and that regeneration is hell on my stomach. Now they are filling, and the struggles are nice, but when you have to spend a whole day just laying in bed waiting for your stomach to digest it, that's a nasty case of indigestion." Chista shakes her head. "It's never worth it, but I never learn my lesson."

"A Giant Rat," Chista says drumming her fingers on her belly. "A big sucker too, maybe the size of a house cat. I know that doesn't sound impressive now, but when I was in the 'Hungry' stage that's a big meal. Bigger than what most can choke down at that stage. I think I only managed because I'm already so big, but even then I struggled with that thing."

"I remember my throat burning as it stretched well past what I thought was possible, tears streaming down my face as I swallowed over and over again to choke that thing down." Chista shakes her head. "Of all my meals, I still remember that one. Tasted nasty, but it was better than being hungry."

"I think that's where it really started too, after that rat my body adapted to bigger meals. Probably what pushed the Curse to develop in me."

"Oh 100% they do!" Chista says giving her belly a smack. "Though not with a human or anything too big... yet." She casts a glance down at her belly. "Smaller races like Gnomes, Hobbits, Goblins, Kobolds can get sucked down well before there digested, some were still squirming!" Chista takes a deep breath remembering those wonderful sensations before clearing her throat. "Ahem... yeah it happens from time to time, not often but more than you think!"

Well it seems life directed my attentions else where, but I am going to get back to the grind! I'll be picking through this questions this week. Honest I swear!

As it currently stands, Chista needs about 200,000 calories per day.

That's a little above average for an Apex Glutton.

Why so many calories?

A lot of it goes right back into Chista's massive digestive tract. Even "empty" Chista's stomach is still lugging gallons of chyme, acid, mucus, bile, and lots of debris from past meals. Her intestines are rumbling and pumping chyme and junk deeper and deeper. It's active 24/7. That's not considering how the curse has altered her musculature to be rather dense, which needs more calories to keep going; the enhanced healing rate and the metabolic processes that keep that massive body moving are all through the roof to keep Chista in tip-top shape.

One of the "hidden" powers of an Apex Glutton is that their bodies are at peak condition under the softness. They are stronger, faster, and more durable than those around them, and like a true Apex Predator, they can launch themselves into a powerful explosion of movement and might to muscle anyone down their gullet. That stomach is a very fuel-hungry engine for a powerful body.

Chista's childhood was rather good by any metric.

She grew up in the small town of Buiki, in the furthest northern frontiers of the Tsardom of Markovia. It is one of many trading posts serving as a point of contact with the nomadic Goliath kiths that roam the tundra and mountains. The town was a mix of Humans, Hobbits, and a few Dwarves, with Goliath kiths setting up camp outside of town and trading and socializing with the locals.

Chista's Father is a postman in town, her mother a Goliath hunter turned mercenary, then soldier. She was a child of two worlds, the more 'civilized' human and the 'wilder' Goliath kiths. Her father taught her how to read and write, how numbers worked and made sure she went to the local school. Her mother taught Chista how to hunt, the stories myths and legends of the Goliath kiths, as well as song and dance.

They are loving parents and still in Chista's life even though she is so far away.

The Curse wasn't a problem till Chista was 19 but even then hey loved and supported their daughter in the rough times and are a big reason why Chista has managed to keep so much of "herself" despite the Curse warping her perception of things.

(First question)

I've always been making little worlds usually for DnD games, and the motivation for that is the same for this one.

1. Its fun!

Worldbuilding is a fun activity! I like dreaming up cosmologies, worlds, cities, cultures and pondering how magic would affect things like plants and rocks. But the biggest reason for making this world is-

2. I got tired of trying to weave vore into other settings.

Some settings are easier to work vore in than others. Like Fallout (which I started with) has all the wacky mutations to use as a spring board for that kind of thing. However, even in a setting like Fallout you have to work in the "confines of weirdness" I.E. the established way weird things happen. In Fallout its Radiaiton and FEV. So any vore lore would have to work in the confines of being a mutation from radiation or FEV. Add in the general lawless nature of the setting, and vore is pretty easy to add in, but if you want to go add something like reformation, then you're going to hit a wall as that's a bit beyond the Confines of Weirdness fallout allows.

Every setting has this problem, unless you build it up around the concept of vore and its attached fetishes. So that's what I did for this setting.

I wanted a fantasy vore world, but also wanted guns and other cool stuff so... I made this setting.

the biggest motivation for making The Shattered Realms (my homebrew world)

(Any tips for aspiring world builders)

1. Don't reinvent the wheel.

If you want to use a magical system revolving around breathing then I got news for ya, there's one already out there! Now not saying to just take the idea, but build on it! My current setting is based on the DnD setting of Eberron. I use a lot of concepts from that world, but then I build upon them to make them unique.

Of course, I'm not doing this for money. So I don't have to make everything uniuqe. I use the Gods of Eberron The Sovergines Host as the deities in my own setting. In time I'll tweak and adapt them and eventually there names will change but for right now just using the Sovering Host works!

2. Do not be afraid to discard a draft no matter how big.

I've broken down and reinvented this setting multiple times. Each time it will get easier, as you pick the pieces that worked and build on them. A little retcon never hurts, nor does a reboot.

(Second question!)

"Hmmm..." Chista mulls over the question on the telgram while gently needing the top of her gut. "I mean... technically its alive because its part of me and I'm alive." She looks down at her gut, the heafty pot belly resting in her lap rumbles. "But jokes aside, No. I'm pretty sure my belly doesn't have a mind of its own no matter how fussy and grumpy she gets." Chista gives her gut a playful smack, a small ripple races from the point of impact with a guttural slorsh. "My friend Asya laid it out best: a powerful spell will have a will of its own to perform its purpose."

Chista rubs her hand from the top of her gut to the front, just stopping above her deep navel. "This big gut has one purpose. To turn food into energy, and it's really good at that." A deep growl rumbles from deep inside Chista's belly. "The better it gets at that, the more it'll seek to perform its function. Less a "mind of its own" and more like a mindless construct..." Chista pauses thoughts running in her mind before she takes a deep breath and sets the telegram down.

"But that's a whole level of philosophy that's beyond me!" She says leaning back in her chair. "I just know that, this big bubbly gal loves belly rubs, being full, and-˚.•｡°𝑮𝒖𝒖𝒖𝒖𝑼𝒓𝒈𝒍𝒆｡ₒ｡ and needs to be reminded not to interrupt me!" Chista slaps her gut again, the heavy gut jostles a little with more sloshing. "All that thinking really made me hungry..."

The Curse affects all speices/races (still not sure if I should use race or species considering they can all inter breed) and yes even men can fall victim to the curse.

Its more my own preferences as a writer that has it hyperfocused towards humans and women. Rest assured their are male preds as well as the whole gauntlet of fantasy races that make up this world.

Oh most definetly!

Anyone with a weird power, ability or curse will no doubt entertain the idea of well... entertaining! A Vampier spawn will put on clown make up looking in a mirror with no reflection, a werewolf will guess what people do for a living based off smell, and a Glutton will show off what they can eat! Now while Gluttons are often feared by the common folk, seeing something dangerous is a thrill in itself. Some will be disgusted at the sights and sounds, others captured by the oddity of the situation, and a few will be enthralled.

Gluttons are a bit rare only really 'common' in adventuring towns and hubs, and even then only the "lesser" teirs of Glutton are common. A true Voracious Glutton or even an Apex is a rare sight and just being near one would be a show in itself!

However, there are a few common performances a Glutton can do.

1. Bet you can't swallow...

The game is simple. A Glutton places a wager they'll give you 2GP (A days wage) if you have anything on your person or on hand that they can't swallow. If they swallow it, you have to pay them 2GP! (of course the Glutton is going to keep whatever they swallow win or lose...) It goes on till the Glutton loses, gets indigestion, or people wise up to all the things they're losing in their gut.

2. The escape artist!

Everyone loves a good magic trick, everyone likes seeing someone flirt with danger... so naturally when someone stands up and proclaims they can escape a gluttons stomach that's gonna gather a crowd. Normally, a "professional escapist" would hand-pick a Glutton they know or at least one they've paid off to minimize risk. Not all of them do it, but the big names who do it often usually do.

It's pretty simple: Glutton swallows the escape artist, and people watch as the stomach shifts and roils, and then the dramatic escape! Of course, that doesn't always happen, and people watch, horrified and amazed at the performer's digestion...

3. Someone has to play the monster.

The classic theater play is still a timeless activity for people, and a Glutton is a good choice for those scenes where a monster is needed. Give them a nice costume, or let them devour the poor hero or prince or princess as the story needs! To safely let them out later of course... definitely aren't any rumors about Glutton performers not letting their fellow actors out.

There are no doubt other clever and fun ways a Glutton can entertain the masses, but these are the most common.

Short answer: Yes!

Long Answer:

All guilds have an annual re-certification to evaluate that members are still in good standing with the guild, are performing adequately, and re-evaluate a member's rank. This also gives members a chance to renegotiate their own contracts with the guild, form more permanent "parties" with other members, update their Guild Card, and even seek out new guilds to join.

This certification doesn't have a set date, but usually happens in the first month of the new year.

As it stands, Chista is a member of the Order of the White Eagle one of the oldest adventuring guilds, and despite it all has managed to remain in their good graces, despite all the "collateral" she's caused with that ravenous gut of hers.

Hmm... probably not. Not just because Chista is both bad with money, and has so many fees and fines levied on her by her Guild due to all the "collateral" (I.E. party members eaten, wrong bounties digested, and random people that fall prey to her appetites) that saving up is a little difficult for her.

Also Chista doesn't feel that she needs to improve her gear.

Currently Chista wears a mix of mundane and magical light armor. Her jacket and pants are both made from fire silk (which, for DnD terms, is padded armor +1) which provides decent protection, but she's reinforced that with leather armor. Not the highest quality leather, as its more of a hodgepodge she's slapped together from what she's found in the field. Overal that's decent protection and to go higher would require getting fitted armor or having her current outfit made with more exotic materials.

She has a decent pistol, and a good selection of (lesser) potions of healing, anti acids (of questionable quality) and a couple digestion enhancers. In her backpack she has the usual tools of the trade (Rope, pitons, crowbar etc.) All together she's pretty well stocked and fitted for Adventure!

I've revived a lot of questions and next week I'll work on answering them all!