monster compendium for the tdm

[vestigemods]

monsters for the first test drive within the comments

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the dragon-bat.

[vestigemods]

THE CHILD'S DRAWING lies on the floor, of all places. A small handful of crayons in varying colors and sizes are strewn around one side of the paper, a few rolling as far as the wall six inches away. The picture itself is the handiwork of someone who hasn't quite reached the double-digits, and it depicts some sort of... unusual creature. Is that a bat? It has ears like a bat... But it could be a dragon just as easily.

Don't spend too long trying to figure it out, though. Otherwise you might miss the faint sounds of sharp claws on wood from the floor above... But either way, your return upstairs is greeted by what seems to be an empty room and a wide open front door. Has freedom fallen into your laps? Not quite yet. As soon as someone crosses through the center of the room, THE DRAGON-BAT drops down from his perch in the rafters with every intent of landing atop them. Standing as tall as a full-grown man, this creature is all muscle, wings, and razor claws. His jaws part three ways, and combined they have a closing strength to put a gator to shame.

The dragon-bat has no real tricks up his sleeve, which is both a blessing and a form of curse. It fights purely through physical assault, through clawed gashes and harsh bites from its three-part jaws, or even simply through sheer force of strength - after all, at the dragon-bat's size, landing square on the average human's chest could easily crush their ribs into their vital organs beneath. Not only that, but nearly every part of the dragon-bat has some form of cutting edge, more to elicit unexpected pain and subsequent retreat than to truly injure. The boned 'fingers' in its membraned wings, the length of its tail, the sides of its face, and even a thin layer under the fur along its torso all have fierce barbs for that exact reason. One thing's for certain: No one will come away from this fight without losing a little blood. Perhaps the most dangerous thing about the dragon-bat, however, is its intelligence. That open door? It opened that. Using the knob. It also appears capable of strategy in combat, and of watching a target closely for any weaknesses they might display.

As for taking the dragon-bat down, it's equally straightforward. Simply kill it until it dies. Much like any normal creature, it has a brain and a set of vital organs that disable or kill it if stabbed or bashed, though it knows as much and aims to protect them. The wings as well are a good target: If you can manage to put a few gashes into its wings, that will keep it firmly on the ground and eliminate many of its routes of potential retreat. Ultimately, just put in work and the dragon-bat will go down at some point. Let's hope our cabinmates can avoid getting slaughtered in the meantime.