Draug — Leaders

See the draug. See them lurch and splutter up and down Kingsmouth town. But this is not a random invasion of Solomon Island, sweetling. Something controls them. Sometimes the draug can be seen staring out to sea, their bodies swaying gently and their heads slightly cocked. They are waiting for a voice. Some will calls to them. But what serves that will directly?

We see the Bloated Queens. Swelled to magnificent corpulence, they are enormous, organic cauldrons, bubbling with the enzymes from which new draug are made. Tainted water and steam seeps from every pore. Their presence drives other draug into frenzy, and with the application of their foul will, they can summon warrior draug and induce gestating pods to release their offspring.

We see the Behemoths. Most of the draug drones are eventually broken down into pulpy matter by the currents beneath the ship graveyard of the Sargasso Sea, nourishing the growth of new pods. But some hardier specimens survive, mutating further. The largest of the draug, they are the elite warriors, grown and mutated to a titanic degree. Countless sea creatures have fused into their hides, thickening their forms into unbalanced goliaths armoured with ridges of coral gristle. Their clacking claws sound like thunder.

We see the Draug Lords. One can almost hear the humming of their alien thoughts. Sinister architects and engineers of the grand designs of their race, the lords wield powerful magic. These creatures make no pretence of humanoid symmetry. They lead all of the draug through potent telepathy. This control also extends to the shambling dead of Kingsmouth. The rotting zombies answer the call of the Draug Lords, serving as a mindless buffer to protect the breeding areas, or to serve as incubators themselves.

But can even the most debased human change so completely as to become a Draug Lord? To know more, sweetling, you must perform a ritual. The Dreyrugr Lord carries a curious artifact. Take it, bring it to a particular boat off the coast of Kingsmouth, and perform the proper rite. The ritual requires five participants. It summons the heart that opens the portal.

Welcome, sweetling. Be cautious. You are tapping into the thoughts of the Dreaming Ones themselves. We will try to protect your mind.

INITIATE THE MEMBRANOUS PROTOCOL…

Do you see? The draug of Kingsmouth are not the draug of legend. The Filth infected the minds of those poor Vikings. And through the Filth, the Dreaming Ones saw the folklegend of the draug. The Dreaming Ones view dreams and reality as interchangeable. They delighted with this dark inspiration, and set about to make it a reality. The folklegend became the prism of their alien thoughts. The Draug Lords are not, as the others, made from human material. They are the avatar’s of the Dreaming Ones’ sleepy will. They corrupt reality and mutate it. The draug of Kingsmouth are not the draug of legend, but they may as well be.