Session 1: The Unmade Beast Report
General Summary
Dragonborn Lieutenant Nyxek the Resplendent's Claw began another afternoon of garrison duty with the familiar litany of fear about the many mad monsters of the Fallacy. Especially, the Fox and the many horrible lies and atrocities the furred orange meat commits. Many of the Claw are filled with fear and rage over the travesties committed by the Fallacy as told by Morale Officer Draxelas Aurak.
It does not change much about the actual duty of sitting in the fort Station Desolation and watching for intrusions by the Fallacy past the protective Boundary Monoliths of Darastrix Tolgalen, the draconic homeland. An incursion did break up the otherwise slow afternoon.
A boat attempted to sail under the Monolith and elemental energy bolted down on the vessel crippling it, but its remains continued to drift toward the fortress island of Redoubt. The Morale Officer announced that the wreckage must be captured and brought to the fortress to be inspected and destroyed.
Whatever his plan to capture the wreckage before the patrol boats returned may have been, it was disrupted by the cry of a fearsome beast that flew up out of the wreckage and toward the garrison. It was strange furred meat that seemed a mixture of many different meat beasts with many legs, wings and heads.
Nyxek recoiled with disgust to see that a draconic head was also affixed to this abomination from the Fallacy. As it approached, the Grung marksman, Tad Polo fired as soon as the beast was within range. His arrows, coated in his own poisonous slime, weakened the beast considerably. Kal Wah Bunga, the tortle scout shot a few arrows of his own to less effect, and Nyxec hastened another shot from Tad with this magic before the beast closed. Vutha crouched in anticipation of the beast's landing, but it never came onto the fort.
Instead, it flew overhead and strange metallic things leapt off its back while the flying beast itself took cover. The metallic creatures stood upright like many of the folk, but their skin was alloy and strange serrated blades spun in the place where one of their hands should be. They began an assault on the lieutenant while Tad tried to finish off the mishmash beast. The metalfolk carved up the lieutenant good, Kal drew his twin swords and carved back. Vutha stepped in as well, knocking the foes with his maul, and sinking his teeth into the one Kal had carved. With his toothy maw, Vutha the Lizardfolk Executioner found the flesh within the metal cage of these weird folk and ripped the guts out of the alloyed torso.
"They are meat!" was his triumphant bloody cry. The flying beast answered by unleashing gouts of flame from its draconic head onto Tad, taking down the frogman. The lieutenant retreated behind Vutha and Kal, but spared some magic to bring Tad back to consciousness urging him to more violence. Tad awoke and began releasing even more arrows to take down the flying monstrosity.
The metalfolk engaged Vutha and Kal to get to the lieutenant, but the tables had turned. Tad to took a flying leap, licking his rapier for plunging it deep into the guts of one, Kal took the head of another and Vutha mauled the last back over the wall, striking so hard it died before it hit the ground. The lizardfolk then climbed down the side to take a few bites out of the largest monstrosity before hauling back atop the fortress walls.
They looted the bodies of their fallen attackers. Kal found a strange device with a button that produces a small flame, Vutha a strange tool that resembled an unadjustable flat Plier, Nyxik found a vial of bloodyish fluid and Tad found a note with much incomprehensible writing. They also split 400gp. The Morale Officer returns from where he fled when the violence began and claims all the items under Order 86 for further inspection before destruction.
The Claw turned over their strange finds though Kal didn't want to part with his new flame toy and Tad slimed most of the paper perhaps in hopes of taking a closer look himself before turning it over. Nyxik and Draxelas used a combination of magic and flasks to secure it from him immediately, however. They all discussed the strange amalgamation of things draconic and meat found in the flying monstrosity, and Vutha also remarked on the same mixed taste of the flesh of the metalfolk.
The Claw saw that Captain Paragon Prophet had spotted the wreckage while on patrol and had brought her boat over to secure and scout whatever was left of the destroyed vessel. As Nyxek's Claw went to rotate onto its rest cycle, it conferred with the Captain's Claw in the barracks. Captain Paragon the golden dragonborn herself spoke with Kal privately while Bialzik the Bozak Dragonborn mage asked to speak with Nyxik.
Paragon heard that Kal's flame toy was taken, and expressed her own interest in the strange artifacts left behind by the slain creatures of the fallacy. She revealed a golden icosohedron that displays strange words, pictures and charts that change whenever she gets near the monolithic border. She admits to doubt about the Truth espoused by the Imperials, presses that she still wants to protect the Empire, but just lacks understanding.
She asks Kal for his thoughts, and he echoes her confusion about the contradictions about the Truth and the Fallacy. Paragon expresses her thanks to Kal for listening and offers him back the flame toy which he conceals. Meanwhile, Bialzik tells Nyxek that several crates of contraband seemed to have been taken from the wreckage by something that broke through the hull of the ship. He suspects that whatever was recovered may have been dragged to the lighthouse island of Endpoint nearby.
Nyxek agrees to check it out when his claw goes on boat patrol in the morning. Bialzik then drops his voice and warns Nyxek that the Captain had been talking strangely, saying things that implied Doubt about the Truth, and that she must be watched. Nyxek's suspicion is aroused, but he is too loyal to directly confront the captain. Instead, he listens to the thoughts of Kal after his talk with the captain and is concerned to learn that his mind reflects the captain's doubts and the hidden gift of contraband.
The Claw then sleeps in preparation for the partol. They sail to Endpoint island in spite of some rain and are surprised to find another vessel already docked. Inspecting it reveals where several crates had been stored and also where some clawed beast had been dragged off the boat. Tad shares some stalking magic with the claw and they creep toward the lighthouse while Nyxik links their minds with his gem dragon gifts.
They find several sahuagin near the bridge and a wyrmling dragon turtle bound by chains at the base of the lighthouse. The claw positions and executes an ambush. It is devastating. Tad's arrows nearly kill what appears to be the sahuagin's spellcaster in a single release, and she is slain shortly thereafter by Kal as he invokes the blessing of the wind to strike her and another of the fish folk.
Nyxek bolsters the Claw with his magic ordering more bloodshed, and Tad responds downing Tad's opponent. Vutha invokes his runic power to double in size before crashing down like a boulder on to one of the unsuspecting sahuagin. After his initial strike injures it, the massive lizard crunches down on his victim with his enlarged jaws and begins heading toward his next target with a half-chewed corpse hanging out his snout. The sight is enough for the next fish man to surrender immediately and reveal the location of their sea witch leader.
The Executioner relays the message to the rest of the claw, and Tad begins to fight his way to the Sea Hag. Her hidden location revealed, the hag comes forward and unleashes lightning on Vutha and Nyxek, but both survive and a sahuagin champion emerges from the water to batter at Tad.
Tad leaps to high ground and responds with a volley of arrows. Nyxik returns the hag's magic with a blast of his own light magic and Kal uses the wind's blessing to evade her bodyguards and strike her down. The other fish folk surrender when their leader is slain and the Claw frees the dragon turtle in response to its pleas for help.
He claims that the lighthouse holds the treasures from the crates of the Fallacy, but his only interest was in the gold, since gold is just gold. The lieutenant and the claw begin to consider how to proceed when they get a message from Captain Paragon. They have deciphered the strange paper that Tad had found on the bodies of the one metalfolk thing. It was a list of the members of Nyxik's claw and their families.
