**Alert sounds at the Prosperity Bay rift** 

We have confirmed the identities of the following seven Visitors who have crossed the rift at approximately 20:58 last night. Each has been given some hot cocoa and a warm blankey. Each to be given a psychiatric evaluation and a rifle orientation packet after tomorrow's muster.

Poshack, Orc Figher

Pip, Fairy Druid

Katya, Wood Elf Paladin

Hoo-Man Githyanki Eldritch Knight

Purrsephonie, Tabaxi Rogue

Paws Filipo, Tabaxi Bard

Finn Killmore Human Paladin

The session opened exactly where the last one ended, but with a disastrous landing. Paragliding off Mt. Cuyahoga, the party crashed directly into the middle of a C.A.R.P. press conference at Centennial Park. Surrounded by news vans and flashing cameras, the magically exhausted party was immediately swarmed by reporters and had to field rapid-fire questions about the recent chaos in the suburbs, and why C.A.R.P never changed their logo for pride month.

Furious, Deputy Director Miles dragged the group offstage and issued an ultimatum: instead of throwing them back in jail for their collateral damage, he sentenced them to community service. The party was tasked with producing, shooting, and starring in a C.A.R.P. promotional recruitment video to win back the public's goodwill, all within 12 hours! 

Before production could begin, there was a slight roster shift. Purrsephonie sat this mission out, but the party was rejoined by the Poshack who proudly came out to the group as Poshacka. The crew also had another run-in with their demonic benefactor, Jeremy, who offered the group a metaphysical "risk assessment" via his Tarot deck. Everyone drew a card to test their fate, except for Paws, who wisely opted out of the supernatural contract. Pip, however, drew The World, setting a grand stage for the shoot.

Before the cameras could roll, the party had to solve a glaring continuity issue. Nyx was still missing an arm from the Goose Guard encounter. The crew scavenged the Varosh District for prosthetic parts. Poshacka found a heavy iron chain ending in a spiked morningstar, Hoo-man uncovered a magic wand taped to a ruler, and Pip also managed to secure a discarded C.A.R.P. riot shield. Pip used her tiny fairy body to drag the riot shield all the way through the city. Nyx initially tried to use the shield as the replacement arm, but ultimately needed a professional touch. Drawing on his extensive medical experience of "having played a surgeon on TV once," Paws successfully attached the new, highly unconventional prosthetic to Nyx's stump.

With their star fully assembled, the crew decided to shoot the video at Prosperity Bay High School. Behind the scenes, Nyx, Finn, and Poshacka formed the writers' room and drafted the official C.A.R.P. script. When it came time to shoot, Paws stepped into the spotlight as the on-camera talent and expertly delivered the lines without missing a beat.

Just as production was wrapping up, the local Pride parade began rolling past the high school, providing an incredibly festive backdrop. Naturally, this was the exact moment a massive, subterranean Hook Horror crashed the set. The party leaped into action to defend the shoot and the parade-goers. Fully embracing the spirit of the event, Pip utilized her druidic powers to wild shape into a bear, specifically, the gay kind, and helped the party quickly and violently dispatch the anomaly. Pip did most of the work. 

Despite the monster attack, the footage was saved. Deputy Director Miles personally thanked the party for saving the day and successfully wrapping the shoot. Their chaotic, Pride-parade-infused public service announcement was a massive hit, earning C.A.R.P. enough funding and neighborhood goodwill to keep operating in Prosperity Bay.

Although the party successfully completed their last quest, actions have consequences in Prosperity Bay. Arrested for their excessive collateral damage, the session kicked off in the dreary, cinderblock holding cell of the local C.A.R.P. precinct, a room smelling strongly of bleach and stale goblin sweat. The lockup didn't last long, however. They were bailed out by a mysterious benefactor. Upon release, they were each issued a passport. 

Before making their exit, Hoo-man used magic to launch Warden Gustav, a heavily caffeinated, intensely stressed human officer in a rumpled tactical uniform, into the air. The enraged warden slammed his head into the ceiling and knocked himself out cold with a massive concussion. Stepping out into the drizzling precinct parking lot, the party met their new benefactor, Jeremy. Waiting for them in an impossibly long, heavily tinted black town car that smelled faintly of brimstone, Jeremy revealed himself as a slick, genie-like corporate fixer in a shifting bespoke suit. After running a "metaphysical credit check" by reading their fortunes from a worn deck of Tarokka cards, Jeremy officially appointed Nyx as the party leader. He handed over a letter to be delivered to "The Hermit" at the top of Mt. Cuyahoga. It was the only payment he demanded in exchange for bailing them out. Never one to miss an opportunity, Pip attempted to bargain with the merchant for a free 2,000 gp. Jeremy maliciously complied, handing over exactly 2,000 gp worth of plastic coins. Through some unexplained magical transaction during the exchange, Jeremy also blessed Finn with a pirate fetish.

Newly freed, the party hit the streets of the Varosh District to gear up. This neighborhood is a jarring mashup where a modern Prosperity Bay suburb violently merged with a medieval Aethelgard castle town. Their first stop was a bizarre storefront that operated as half-Sephora, half-potion shop. Paws terrified a normal human teenager by aggressively demanding to know where the "magic stuff" was kept. Thankfully, a moth-lady employee, a fuzzy, multi-armed humanoid with softly glowing eyes stepped in to de-escalate, selling the group some Potions of Healing and a special Ointment of Speed for Finn.

Meanwhile, Purrsephonie took a detour to a modern adult store called "Pleasurexxx" and purchased 100 feet of rope, with absolutely no further questions asked. Looking for information on the mountain, the group then visited a local strip club that had been entirely taken over by Aethelgard creatures. They attempted to pump a Tabaxi stripper for intel, but his rates were far too high. Instead, they flagged down a literal hag and her five sisters. The hags provided the necessary information on The Hermit but immediately tried to extort the party for it. Fortunately, Paws stepped up and paid them off to avoid a brawl.

Entering the magically warped, static-filled forest at the base of Mt. Cuyahoga, Finn used his necromancy boon to resurrect a heavily armored skeleton they found lying in a glowing fairy ring. This immediately triggered an ambush by territorial Myconids, catching Finn completely by surprise.

Continuing up the steep mountain trail, the party clashed with the militarized Goose Guard. These six-foot-tall, aggressive Aarakocra bird-men wore high-vis orange safety vests over medieval chainmail and acted as self-appointed park rangers. In order to get past them, Pip challenged them to a flying contest to see who could fly higher. During the contest, the party, besides Nyx, ran ahead. Upon the contest ending, the Geese were furious at the deception and attacked Nyx and pip, who were abandoned by their friends.

The battle was brutal, resulting in Nyx having his arm cleanly chopped off by a goose; the severed limb plummeted down the mountainside, lost forever. Despite the amputation, the party survived and looted two heavy (two-handed only) halberds from the defeated avian rangers. 

Upon finally reaching the peak, they found The Hermit: an ancient, bearded Aethelgard wizard in a tattered robe covered in enamel pins, living in a crashed C.A.R.P. helicopter. They delivered Jeremy's letter, and in gratitude, The Hermit shared some "Premium Aethelgard Smoking Flower," which temporarily allowed the entire party to see between the fabric of time itself. Overcome by the profound cosmic moment, or perhaps just furious about his missing arm, Nyx used his one good hand to punch The Hermit squarely in the face. With the mission complete, the session ended with the party dramatically paragliding off the mountain and into the sunset.

Although the party had completed the last quest, they 

The session began with an official onboarding broadcast from Miles Reynolds, Deputy Director of the Coalition Anomalous Response Protocol (C.A.R.P.). He explained that the world is experiencing "The Confluence," a sloppy and dangerous merger with a fantasy reality called Aethelgard. Rifts are opening in areas where reality is thin, such as Prosperity Bay, bringing two categories of arrivals into the world. The first are Anomalous Biological Entities, or ABEs, which are universally hostile monsters that should not be engaged. The second are Visitors, sentient beings who possess paracausal abilities, or magic. Reynolds stressed two critical rules for survival: magic completely fries modern technology, and fantasy gear is vastly superior to modern weaponry, with standard bullets simply bouncing off their armor. Because standard tactics fail against these threats, C.A.R.P. relies on unconventional problem-solving to contain, analyze, and protect.

The party set out to track down their target, Pumpkin Jack, at a local farm, with Purrsephonie driving the C.A.R.P. van. Things immediately went sideways when Pip set the farm on fire. During the chaos, the Githyanki Eldritch Knight killed two elderly people but managed to rescue a hostage named Guy. Through the arson and murder, Paws Filipo provided the soundtrack by shredding guitar solos.

The party returned to the immigration office with Guy in tow. Deputy Director Miles immediately told the group to get back to work and dispatched them to the suburbs. En route, Pip transformed into a baby dragon. Trouble struck when local teenagers threw eggs at the van, prompting the entire party to lunge out with weapons drawn. The Githyanki Eldritch Knight attacked the teenagers, and Pip ate one of them.

Before the party could finish dealing with the teenagers, goblins appeared intermixed with the costumed trick or treaters, kidnapped the fleeing teens, and took off, sparking a high-speed motorcycle chase. During the chase, a shocking betrayal occurred: "Guy" revealed himself to actually be the serial killer, Gary. Gary stabbed Purrsephonie while she was driving, but she didn't waver and kept the van steady. Poshack leaped out of the moving van, throwing his axe through the front window to strike Gary. Nyx then grappled Gary and dove out of the moving van with him, turning the serial killer into a "meat crayon" on the pavement.

Despite the arson, civilian casualties, eaten teenagers, and vehicular manslaughter, Deputy Director Miles arrived at the scene and congratulated the party on successfully completing the quest.

**Radio clicks on, transmission begins**

Right. Settle down. This is the official onboarding brief for all new field personnel, conscripts, and uniquely qualified consultants.

This isn't a drill, and the things I'm about to tell you will keep you alive. My name is Miles Reynolds.

I'm the deputy director of the Coalition Anomalous Response Protocol, or C.A.R.P. Yes, we know what it spells. No, we don't care. Our job is to be the line between the normal world and the one that's currently trying to spill into it. You've seen the videos online. You've heard the rumors. Strange lights in the woods. Impossible creatures on the highway.

People walking around in medieval armor. I'm here to tell you it's all real. We're calling it the confluence. It's not an invasion. It's a merger. A sloppy, chaotic, and unbelievably dangerous merger of our reality with another one. Let's break down what we know. First the rifts. These are the breaks in reality. They're unstable, unpredictable, and can happen anywhere, any time.

We think they're drawn to places where our reality is thin. Places with a history of weirdness. Like right here in Prosperity Bay. Second, the other side. Our boys in R&D have designated the point of origin. The inhabitants we've interviewed call it Aethelgard From what we can gather, it's a world that runs on rules straight out of a fantasy novel.

Magic, monsters, gods, the whole nine yards. This brings us to the arrivals. We classify them in two categories. Category one anomalous biological entities, or A.B.S. This is your monster of the week stuff. Giant wolves that can teleport, acid spitting lizards the size of a school bus, things made of living gelatin. Standard procedure is simple. They are universally hostile.

Do not approach. Do not engage, unless absolutely necessary. They will kill you and it will be messy. Category two: visitors. These are people. Humans, Elves. Dwarves. You get the picture. They're just as confused as we are. But they are far from helpless. Many of them possess what we can only describe as paracausal abilities. They call it magic, and this is the most important part of the brief so listen closely.

Our rules do not apply to them. One: magic fries technology. When a visitor starts chanting and waving their hands around, it creates an energy field that plays hell with our electronics, phones, radios, targeting systems. Even the lights will flicker and die. Maintain electronic distance. Assume your gear will fail at the worst possible moment. Two: their gear is better than ours.

That shiny suit of armor isn't a costume. A standard nine millimeter round will not pierce it. It won't even scratch it. We've seen bullets flatten and drop to the ground. Their swords aren't just sharp. They can cut through a car door like it's made of tinfoil. Firing your service weapon at an armored visitor is, frankly, a waste of ammo and a great way to get yourself killed. This is why you're here. We can't solve this problem with bullets. We need people who can think on their feet. People who can use the environment, who can talk their way out of a problem, who can come up with a nonconventional solution when everything goes sideways. CARP's official mandate is to contain, analyze, and protect.

Your job is to handle the situations that are standard operating procedures can't. So, welcome to the zoo. The world you thought you knew is gone. This is the new normal. Your orientation packets contain your starting assignments and equipment requisitions. Read them. Memorize them. That's all. Stay safe. Stay vigilant. Reynolds. Out.