Lt. McKay alerted the Wardens that there had been several attacks by the fishmen monsters down at the New Year Harbor. He gave them a quickly-drawn map illustrating the location of the assaults. Seeing they needed backup, Sir Boundless introduced the assembled heroes to two new members: his former student, the expert fencer Alistair Sebastian Codwalader Martindrake III and marksman Paul Fogg. Consulting their map, the Wardens determined that two abandoned warehouses were the most likely lairs.
The Terminal Inn
The assembled crew headed down to the Terminal Inn, a dive-bar located at the end of a subway line near the docks. They asked about the attacks, and heard rumors of a “bear” attacking men, but most felt it was something far more dangerous than a mere animal.
Alistair, who was independently wealthy, struck upon the idea of keeping the dock and warehouse workers safe by getting them drunk (or at least, keeping them drinking). He told the barkeep that he was buying the bar a round … and to keep the beer flowing.
Meanwhile outside Archibald Buchanan was watching the car and sharing a pizza with one of his fellow Wardens when he was approached by a number of ruffians who wanted him to pay for the privilege of parking. A melee ensued in which Archibald and the Wardens dissuaded them from their misguided endeavor.
Death in the Shadows
The Wardens went to the first warehouse on their map, busted down the door, and went inside. There they found several of the abducted dock workers coated in slime and slowly being eaten alive by carnivorous tadpoles.
The creatures’ “parent” was nearby — a large fish man, bigger than the ones seen at the H.M.S. Centaurus, was slowly chanting. As he chanted magical glyphs carved into the floor before it to start glowing. Soon it was surrounded by an arcane circle.
The monster’s fellow horrors — five man-sized fishmen — moved to attack the Wardens.
A massive fight ensued. Alistair tried to kill the fishman king, but the creature continued its terrible chanting despite multiple bullet wounds. Its chant ended with a triumphant refrain of “TERGAL DIS RAY!”
Alistair, who had no small knowledge of the arcane, recognized the chanting as a summoning spell, or perhaps some sort of arcane beacon. At the chanting’s completion the runes shone different colors, he and Paul pierced the arcane veil to see a pillar of red/orange light shoot up from the summoning circle. The tadpoles feasting on the human prisoners suddenly intensified their feasting and reduced their victims to a puddle of gore.
The fishmen continued to fight the Wardens, and one got the better of Archibald Buchanan, who fell beneath the creature’s claws. He would later bleed out, dying in the warehouse. The Wardens continued their desperate fight, killing all of the fishmen and then torching the warehouse so that none of their spawn could escape it. They then fled back to HQ, the corpse of their friend Archie on the backseat, the mercenary McGinnis holding his own guts in with one hand while driving with the other.
Meta
- Feature photo credit: B. Abbott, Warehouse (Yuban), Water and Dock Streets, Brooklyn, New York, May 22, 1936. Source.
- Game date: April 13, 2014
Experience
- McGinnis: 3 xp
- Archibald Buchanan: 3 xp (deceased)
- Alistair Sebastian Cadwalader Martindrake: 3 xp
- Paul Fogg: 3 xp