The Shee and his field trip

 Like a great inverted hat did the dusty crater lie dormant. Very little had stirred up the dust in a very long time. But a little bright blue dot appeared and changed this in an instant. With a fell hiss did air escape, blowing up dust and sand with enthousiasm. The winds picked up and the hiss became a howl. Twisting around the growing dot was a whirlwind, a dustdevil obscuring the blue light. Suddenly, with the bright clear ring of a gong the winds stopped.

Out of the wall of slowly settling dust came first a rubber boot, followed by a slender form in an oversized raincoat, covered by a wide brimmed sou'wester.

His guessculations had gone wrong again. Still, he was here now. The rainy, planet-spanning mangrove marshes of Caladan would have to wait until after this exploration.

The crater was covered in dust, grit and sand. Solid stone cliffs made for a wall around the round bottom, and upon closer inspection did the dark blue sky appear to be a translucent dome. The heat was great and the humidity close to nill. A pillar of cob stood in the heart of the crater, seemingly holding up the dome. Smaller columns and towers dotted the bowl eerily, all dried, cracked and ancient. The central pillar had an creature sized doorway in it, and carefully the shee crawled through.

Balloonbugs danced in the lazy updraft on the hot sunlight, and he found most of the pillar was a hollow shaft. No button to call an elevator was present, and he chose to climb down. Brittle walls of stamped earth and dried cob made the descent no easier. The barren surface had hidden another barren world, forgotten under the ground. Dirty glass windows in the ceiling let in yellowish filtered light. Dried plants and ashy foliage suggested a greener history. A dry basin stood at the bottom of the shaft, forming a sort of useless basement. It might have been full at one time, irrigating the area.

Sandcolored birds scuttled through the dust, and the underground greenhouse still held living plants in the form of cactuses and succulents. A fat worm raced through the sand, burrowed into the wall and dissapeared.

The lack of biodiversity and relative smallness of the station were strongly managing his expectation. Simple pump and windcatching units attracted his attention for a moment, though their state disrepair and dust coating implied a long time of disuse. Perhaps these units could re-irrigate the station when managed correctly.

A small plant, or so he assumed, caught his attention. It had looked like a dotted pebble at first, but its purple and faint green colors stood out like a sore thumb. It smelled green when he cut it with his thumbnail, and could have been a cactus of sorts. With a shrug he drank the fruity juice. He had not packed for a desert trip and thirst was a serious matter.

A faint and distant noise finally anounced action. It came from þe bottom of the elevator shaft, where he had though only the basin was. As he walked and climbed down colors seemed to shift and þe light came from funny angles. It felt as if he finally saw þe deserts true colors when he descended. Just beyond þe basin was a warm source of light, and much cheer to be found when he neared. 7 little Ettins were kneading, forming and baking marvellous delicacies in an underground kitchen!

He ate with gusto, enjoying every bite. Strangely, every bite seemed less tasty. As þe beautiful shimmerimg colours around him abated the textures of þe baked goods seemed more and more off. Until, at one point, he realised; most of the ingredients were sawdust and sand. He spat out þe cookie and checked the larder.

Oatmeal and raisins were þe most edible thing in there. The diet of þese poor creatures would be enough to repell a beowulf Norn! Perhaps þese neglected Ettins were servants of þe original creators of þis station, but abandoned like obsolete machinery? 

It was an aching thought, certainly combined with the mostly empty larder. He would take them home!

Cookie ettins download at creature caves

Cookie ettins companion dispensers and egg layer

The cookie ettins are based upon an old idea by Frimlin. They were supposed to be a mall breed, but development was halted before it was finished. I tried to make a version of my own, that would fit the spirit of the mall breeds. They get a little of all nutrients from food rather than fat alone and have instincts for using portals. They tend to excessively use dispensors.

This version likely still has room for improvement, so all feedback is welcome!

Geneforge, geneloom, the GIMP and the 2017 base genome were used in the creation.