In the Beginning - January 5, 2018

General Notes:

PersCom - Think smart watch
                - Used for local communication
                - Comm range of 50 miles
                - Data access 10 miles
                - Charge themselves with movement, solar, magic, or something unless story or excess use dictates otherwise
                - Can photograph, video & audio record also

Anders - First Lieutenant
Noän - Second Lieutenant
Grim - not in the army

IN THE BEGINNING

- Anders's PersCom beeps calling him to the armory. Grim and Noän are already waiting there as well.
- Older man walks in with silver hair and a large scar on the side of his face, Commander Dawkins, he is in charge of creating a task force to deal with outlying problems.
- Halkirk to the northwest, a small ranching village (like 20 residents), some of the cattle have gone missing. It's weird and they want a specialized team to investigate. Near a moderately sized lake. Settlement coordinator is Bonnie Hancock.
- O3 get their load outs and then pile into Anders's Humvee and head to Halkirk
- Most of the missing sheep have disappear from Robert Stanton's field, so she gives coordinates to his place. Old school looking farmhouse and large barn. All looks normal at first glance. His wife is Pearl.
- O3 examines the latest kill site. It's a bloody bit of ground with a few tufts of wool stuck in the grass nearby. N tried to examine the area around the spot, but doesn't find anything.
- The next oldest kill spot is also mostly a bloody spot, but Robert had found an ear here. G find some small footprints that are about palm-sized and look like lizard footprints.
- Robert doesn't recognize the tracks. Grim photographs them.
- There are young ruffians who live "up the road" to the "north" that Robert suspects.
- Ben Hascomb has also lost a sheep or two also. He lives to the west.
- O3 returns to the Humvee and heads to the Hascomb ranch
- Old Ben (very gray and wrinkled, wearing faded coveralls) is sitting on his porch holding a rifle. He has a dead cow. He saw the cow fall over, but by the time he got to the cow's location, there was a bloody patch and some entrails. Ground is almost muddy with blood. There are more of the curious tracks. They lead to the lake.
- Noän walks to the water's edge and touches the surface with their fingertips spreading their magically senses throughout the water. They gets a brief sense of claws, teeth, and deep cold before they fall backward onto their butt.
- Grim asks Old Ben if anyone besides Robert has lost livestock.
- Bill's land also abuts the lake, but he hasn't lost any animals yet.
- Pearl makes muttonchops for the party, but Grim has a homebrew as well
- Lt Dalgaard sets up with first watch. It is very boring right up until a sheep screams. He sees what looks like several smallish creatures tearing at the body of the animal that seems to be organizing themselves to pick the sheep up and carry it into the lake.
- There are four or five of them. They seems to be humanoid reptilians 
- Noän casts a light spell, then a small fire ball. One of the creatures takes a direct hit and catches fire.
- It starts running around setting some grass on fire before Anders shoots it dead. The rest of the creatures scurry to drag the sheep into the water.
- O3 work to put out the grass fire, but it spreads until a good bit of the pasture burns, but all but the latest sheep survive.
- They examine the little corpse. It has black bulbous eyes, mottled black skin, webbed feet and hands that also have hooked claws on the fingers, no more than 3' tall.