Talon

> *"So, you* are *the guy, right?*
>
>

> *"I'm the guy. Wait... Are you the guy?"*
>
>

> *"I'm* the guy*. So, you're looking for a propulsion shard, right? "*
>
>

> -Talon and Zugg
>
>

**Talon** was a character from the campaign *Pipe Dreamers*. A contractor working for the Zeon Corporation, Talon somehow got in over his head, attempting to leave Io by any means necessary. His first appearance was played by Tomato, while all other appearances are played by Brett Ultimus.

## Description

### Appearance

Talon is a middle-aged human male with sallow skin and black hair. His face is harsh and angular, with noticeable lines on his forehead and bags under his eyes. His hair was kept short and swept back similar to a ducktail haircut. He was seen wearing a dark grey trench coat.

### Personality

Talon was a no-nonsense and acerbic individual whose default expression seems to be a scowl. He had little patience for antics or unprofessional behavior, as seen when dealing with Zugg and D'rask. His businesslike manner was always undercut with a heavy dose of derision, with a penchant for spelling out a person's failings with biting words. He was also quite inflexible, opting to storm out of the tavern instead of trying to explore other options with his clients and refusing to negotiate.

Talon also proved to be quite unscrupulous, stealing company property and selling on the black market for his own ends, While some of his temperament might be attributed to stress due to having a bomb implanted in his chest, Talon nonetheless presented himself as an unpleasant and blunt person whose only concerns are the bottom line and his own survival.

## History

### Background

Little is currently known about Talon's history. He joined the Zeon Corporation in Qethos at some point in his life, eventually becoming a high-ranking employee, specifically a contractor. However, Talon found himself in over his head due to undisclosed circumstances, which resulted in an explosive device being implanted in his chest. In an attempt to safeguard himself, Talon stole a prototype Propulsion Shard from the Zeon Corporation, intending to buy himself transport off-planet. Valuing the shard at 14,000 energy credits, Talon began looking for a buyer.

## Phase 3 Story

### Blowing the Deal

Talon visited the tavern The Old Kobold in order to sell the prototype Propulsion Shard to an interested party. Said party was two Orcs, Zugg and D'rask, who barged into the tavern much to Talon's chagrin. When they joined him, Talon reprimanded their lack of professionalism and dictated the terms of the agreement. The two Orcs would pay him half of the money for the shard upfront and the other half when he handed it over. It soon became obvious to the disgruntled contractor that his clients had nothing remotely close to that kind of wealth. Tiring of their attempts to negotiate, Talon stood up and began to storm out, angry at his time being wasted.

After the deal fell through, he became involved in an altercation with Beau R.G. who wanted to see what the Zeon worker's deal was. The interaction caused Talon to fall which activated the explosive device in his chest was activated. When Zugg pointed out a red glow on his chest, Talon began to panic. In the next few seconds, the bomb in Talon's chest detonated, killing him and utterly destroying the tavern.

### Legacy

While the full extent of the original Talon's actions have yet to be revealed, they resulted in two very notable consequences. The first was the explosion in the Old Kobold, which resulted in the near-complete destruction of the building and the deaths of seven people. Zugg and his friends managed to survive the blast, but soon found themselves on the run as the Klaybury Defense Force attempted to kill all survivors. This eradication of witnesses was likely done to cover-up whatever Talon had done and any evidence of his demise.

Meanwhile, the second consequence proved to be somewhat more unusual. When Talon exploded, his remains were left where he stood. However, said remains reanimated moments later and took the form of a strange gelatinous creature. The creature, while "born" from Talon, was not, in fact, Talon, rather a completely independent entity with no memory or knowledge of him beyond a vague awareness of a "predecessor" from which it spawned. The ooze-like creature feel into the custody of Talon's former clients, Zugg and D'rask, as well as their friends Felsic and Beau.

### Talon's Return

Talon would later appear to The Bomb in a dream, telling him about the plan that the newly named Hecaton wishes to carry out in order to create a world infested with Radiation, showing him a Klaybury that has been overrun with the red ooze of The Bomb's patron. He will also warn his kin that this would most likely be the last time that they interact on friendly terms and that he should be able to flee to somewhere that is outside of Hecaton's reach and says his goodbyes to the Bomb before the dream ends.

This did not end there however, as Talon later appears in the Arcmond reactor to the Bomb and his allies, telling them that their plan to save the reactor and defeat Hecaton has already lost, as there was a traitor amonst their group. He motions for them to open the windows to look into the reactor, showing them the massive pile of radiation trying to get to the core as well as the Prots and Cons that they teamed up with battling against one of their own allies before blowing up once again. This is not the end however, as multiple Talons reveal themselves to the surviving crew before attacking them.

## Mechanics

### Powers and Abilities

It is unknown what class Talon was or his base proficiencies were. However, Talon displays the following abilities:

* **Corporate Knowledge:** Talon has extensive knowledge of business and commerce via his work with Zeon, able to easily evaluate the worth of an unserialized propulsion shard.
* **Explosive Implant**: Talon had a bomb implanted in his chest for unknown reasons. The explosive force of the device was enough to kill Talon outright as well as obliterate a small building, as demonstrated with the Old Kobold.

## Trivia

* Talon is the shortest lived player character in a streamed campaign, being alive for approximately 28 minutes of game time.
* Though Tomato and Brett discussed the use of Talon as a fake out character, Tomato was not informed as to when or how his primary character would be introduced. He was simply informed "You'll know when it happens."