Talon, Ganymedean Bodysnatcher

Art by Dire

**Talon, Ganymedean Bodysnatcher** is a member of Façade, a secretive cabal of Ganymedeans who have infiltrated the planet of Io. This bodysnatcher conducted their work in Klaybury and discovered the location of their missing brethren, who had been taken by the Zeon Corporation. They took the form of Talon, a dead ex-employee of Zeon, in order to facilitate the escape of the creature their siblings had become.

## Description

### Appearance

"Talon", in their true form, exhibits the usual features of a Ganymedean Bodysnatcher. They are around 10 feet tall with a gaunt vaguely humanoid shape. Their skin is a pale blue and textured in a manner similar to muscles, with some deeper sections a deeper blue in color. Their long limbs possess two joints and end in long viscous claws. A set of spines jut out of the shoulder blades and their chest appears to wrap around the torso. Their head is oblong with two small glowing blue eyes and no mouth or nose visible.

The most prominent disguise used by this bodysnatcher is that of Talon, a average sized human with black hair and a permanent scowl. The bodysnatcher also took the form of a Zeon Prot, which wore a red armored bodysuit and helmet.

### Personality

The Ganymedean bodysnatcher that took Talon's form is a methodical and ruthless individual. They preemptively sought out multiple individuals to kill in order to assimilate their powers, seeing them as little more than tools. Like most of their brethren, they hate all Ionians and wish to destroy them and their home by any means necessary.

Though this bodysnatcher does not show much emotion, they do exhibit some degree of compassion to its mutated brethren, attempting to aid them in escaping back to Ganymede. Though they do resolve to kill the one that refused their help without much hesitation, they announce their death shall be painless. They also show little interest in compromise, seeing no reason to spare their sibling's friends or to allow him to live independently of Ganymedean desires.

## History

### Background

This bodysnatcher was born on Ganymede through whatever natural cycle their species adheres to. They, like others of their species, lived on the metallic moon in secret, even as other alien species arrived there. When the Zeon Corporation began kidnapping members of their species, the Ganymedeans began a secret war by sending an invasion force to infiltrate Io and prepare it for destruction. This bodysnatcher was chosen to join that invasion force and left their home planet to enact revenge on their new enemies.

### The Façade Murders

Soon afterwards, this bodysnatcher arrived on Io with several of its kind through unknown means. The group of bodysnatchers began a predatory series of assassinations to fill three primary objectives. The first was to find suitable hosts to better infiltrate Ionian society. The second was to integrate talented individuals into their forms to mimic their powers. The third, and perhaps the most significant of these objectives, was to actively silence any Ionians who might show sympathy towards their ancient adversary, the Ch'i. Their main killing ground was the city of Xiros, located in eastern Qethos.

This undercover slaughter soon garnered attention for the horrific state of the victims they left behind, paralyzed with a petrified face. The killings drew significant attention from the Xiros Defense Force and the media, who came to the conclusion that this was the work of a serial killer dubbed Façade. This bodysnatcher and its kin took the name as their own and continued to target more victims over a period of several years. Though the XDF and especially Detective Logan Horn were a constant thorn in their sides, Façade was able to wipe out several Ch'i sympathizers and end the drafting of a potential treaty with the Ch'i. Deciding that their work was done, the bodysnatchers went into deep cover, through not before ending their killing spree with a coup de grace through the murder of Logan Horn's son.

## Phase 3 Story

### Infiltrating Zeon

For the next twenty years, this bodysnatcher and their kin remained in hiding on Qethos. It is unknown where or what this bodysnatcher did during that period. However, they eventually ended up in the city of Klaybury, home of the Zeon Corporation. As Zeon were responsible for the kidnapping of their brethren, this bodysnatcher committed themselves to infiltrating the corporation to learn what had happened. They eventually located a ooze-like amalgamation comprised of hundreds of their siblings. The amalgamation was trapped in an off-the-grid pharmaceutical lab, where it was being repeatedly siphoned to create steroids and other drugs. This bodysnatcher made contact and began to co-operate with the amalgamation in secret in order to bring it back with them to Ganymede.

### Battle in the Zugg Yard

During their collaboration, this bodysnatcher learned that a part of the amalgamation had split off and become autonomous. He had been smuggled out of the facility by a rogue Zeon employee called Talon. This bodysnatcher decided to track down their new sibling so they might return them safely to Ganymede as well. The bodysnatcher discovered that Talon had died in an explosion in a tavern called the Old Kobold but the sibling he had stolen had survived. To help track down the missing sibling, this bodysnatcher somehow managed to reconstitute Talon's body and use it as their new form. In this new flesh, they spent the new few weeks attempting to find the slime and their new allies.

This bodysnatcher managed to locate the hideout of the fugitives, an old warehouse in the scrap yards. They staked out the warehouse until the scrappers left, where they set up an ambush for the group upon their return with the aid of two Zeon prots. During the stakeout, they encountered the group's mechanic Heiro, who had been readying a shardship that he and the fugitives had built. This bodysnatcher promptly used the shard-arm they had acquired to shoot Heiro, fatally wounding him. Heiro managed to stumble away to his friends just as they return before dying from blood loss. This bodysnatcher then revealed themselves and began to engage the group in combat. While in Talon's body, they were able to fend off his assailants with the aid of an overshield built into their armor.

During the melee, the sibling they sought to rescue inquired as to why they had come. "Talon" explained that they had come to rescue him and take him back to Ganymede. They tried to convince the slime that the Ionians were just using him, no different than Zeon.

## Powers and Abilities

### General Abilities

* **Bodysnatching:** Ganymedean Bodysnatchers are able to sequester themselves inside other sapient beings. While within another being, they are able to control the creature completely with access to their memories and abilities. Bodysnatched creatures are full aware of what their bodies are being used for, but are unable to resist. Bodysnatched victims are also sustained passed normal human levels, with increased durability and a slowing of their ageing process. Bodysnatchers can voluntarily leave a subject, which can result in the death of the creature, or be forcibly ejected if the body takes enough damage.
* **Shapeshifting:** Ganymedean Bodysnatchers have some shapeshifting abilities and are able to assume the forms of previous victims.
* **Superhuman Speed:** Regardless of the form they take, Ganymedean Bodysnatchers are incredibly quick, able to outrun humans at peak physical condition (such as Keres Creed) with ease. They also demonstrate inhuman reflexes, as the bodysnatcher possessing Talon demonstrated during his fight with the Klaybury scrappers.

### Combat Abilities

* **Legendary Actions:**
	+ *Paladin's Shield of Faith*
	+ *Ranger's Hunter's Mark*
	+ *Sorcerer's Scorching Ray*
	+ *Wizard's Misty Step*
	+ *Fighter's Action Surge*

#### Talon Clone Version 2

* + *Abilitiy Infusion*
	+ *The Right Weapon For The Kill*
	+ *The Tools of War*

### Specific Talon Clones

There have been revealed to be 13 V2 Talon clones that have originated from the original, all of them having unique abilities.

* Clone #1: Unknown
* Clone #2: Unknown
* Clone #3: Has the abilities of a Sun Soul Monk
	+ He has grafted Splint mail into his body, and is unaffected by proficiencies.
* Clone #4: Unknown
* Clone #5: Unknown
* Clone #6: Unknown
* Clone #7: Unknown
* Clone #8: Exempt from fighting. Abilities are unknown
* Clone #9: Unknown
* Clone #10: Unknown
* Clone #11: Unknown
* Clone #12: Has the abilities of a Paladin
	+ His first divine smite every round will always deal 5d8 damage.
* Clone #13: Unknown

## Etymology

"Talon" is a name identical to the English word "talon", which is derived from the Latin word "talus", meaning "ankle". The word "talon" most commonly refers to a sharp, hooked claw of an animal, especially for a bird of prey. In the context of card games, the talon is the remainder of undealt cards in a deck.

"Ganymedean" is a term used to describe something related to the moon Ganymede. Ganymede is the name of a figure from Greek Mythology. A native of Troy, Ganymede was a simple shepherd before he was abducted by Zeus, directly or indirectly via his command. Ganymede was considered to be the most beautiful of mortals, so Zeus made the boy immortal to serve as his personal cupbearer on Olympus.

A "bodysnatcher", also known as a "resurrection man", is a historic term for a person who would illegally exhume bodies and sell them to clients for dissection. The term was used in the 1955 novel "The Bodysnatchers", which was later adapted a year later into the movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". In both the novel and film, bodysnatchers were a group of aliens that would replace people with identical duplicates grown in pods as part of an invasion.

## Trivia

* Ganymedean Bodysnatchers are the Ioverse's equivalent to doppelgangers from classic Dungeons and Dragons, as stated by Brett in the Pipe Dreamers Season 1 Finale.

## Images

### Official art

Talon's original appearance (Art by Burdrehnar)The Ganymedean Bodysnatcher taking the form of a Talon Clone V.1. (Art by Dire).The Ganymedean Bodysnatcher taking the form of Talon Clone V.2. (Art by Dire)