Session 65: Bobcat's Desert Heists

General Summary

A Noisy Heist

The session began with a bit of a reminder: These characters that are being used are separate entities, not your usual characters playing the part of Bobcat's Gang. That being said, who are all you people? Bobcat's Gang

Bobcat's Gang refers to a collection of Murids that joined up with Bobcat roughly 50+ years ago to perform violent and burglarious acts against the wealthier members of society. They were based in Ulktorov's Desert, but they could also be seen traveling the world to different cities. They consist of five Murids (the rat-like humanoid race native to Taranel). They were first experienced during the events of the Howdigo as part of Bobcat's ideal world.

Members

Bobcat - The leader of the gang and the member most familiar to the Spiritual Travelers. Bobcat currently resides within Agave's mind as a collection of memories preserved by the Chittering Spirit, but he has taken on a more physical form while within Tympi's Mind and the Howdigo. These memories were given to Agave after he asked for more information about the owner of the items he found. Bobcat appears to be respected by the rest of the group as far as has been observed, and his style usually involves a chaotic approach towards the apprehension of goods. He specializes in frequent transformations into various animals and seems to have an affinity to fire based on his use of certain elementals, spiritual summons and other magic.

Gila's Tail - A sneaky, tricky and possibly former man of the cloth. Gila's Tail has a similar rough aesthetic and voice as the boss, but his approach to heists tends to lean more on the stealthy side than the absolute chaos encouraged by Bobcat. He has been seen providing blessings that help with stealth, making fellow members invisible and even creating duplicates of himself which are often confused with the real deal. His straightforward and realistic outlook contradicted Bobcat's own relief to see his comrades after "so long" as he quipped that they had literally seen each other yesterday. He also apparently doesn't drink or use drugs to avoid silliness. During the "heist", Gila's Tail complained of how "nothing is ever stealthy with Bobcat", further showing his disdain for Bobcat's approaches.

Jade - A lively performer capable of magically enhancing or hindering the abilities of nearby creatures through sheer luck or more deliberately by channeling magical, musical energy. She's demonstrated abilities that involve invisibility, weakening enemies with a simple flick of a card and even flight. She seems to be a fair bit more tactical than the boss, trying to convince guards to give up their goods or sneaking around to flank enemies or buildings. She was also responsible for spotting potential targets for the gang to loot.

Ghost - The rogue of the group of criminals, Ghost specializes in stealth to a degree beyond even his other stealthy compatriots. Staying out of trouble and avoiding the eyes of anyone not friendly to the group, he tends to throw or stab enemies with conjured knives. His ability to blend into the shadows has even evolved to the point that he can make himself invisible. He has a straightforward, no-time-to-waste approach to heists and insisted on moving quickly or risk losing the goods. His eagerness to acquire these goods seems to be limited to selfish reasons, specifically to "get paid". While he seems to like keeping to the shadows, he also seems to not like staying completely unknown as he wants to "cause fear".

Turquoise - The strongest of the group and also the most frequently seen enjoying life's simple pleasures like alcohol and various drugs. He shares in his bosses desire for chaos, and tends to take it a step further by murdering anyone that might have valuables. He's demonstrated abilities that involve growing in size and resisting various types of damage. His confidence in his abilities very nearly led to him "sliding" down a very tall rock formation to his death, but he was convinced to play it a bit safer. By his own admission, he shares Ghost's disapproval of "playing it safe".

We learned a bit about each person, who they were and how they tend to act. Bobcat seemed to be relaxing by lying on the raised desert rock formation that you all found yourselves on, and he commented on how long it had been since he had seen you all. Gila's Tail was quick with the rebuttal and insisted that you all met up just yesterday for a different heist. This was met with laughter from Bobcat as he blamed his lapse in memory on alcohol. Apparently Gila's Tail doesn't drink to avoid these exact issues. You all discussed his strange anti-drug approach to life, and Turquoise even taunted him by claiming he just can't handle it. Eager to get the ball rolling, Jade requested the spyglass from Turquoise and began scanning the area for potential targets. She found a late night wagon entering the town on the northside of the crag with four guards constantly surrounding it. Ghost suggested getting the goods as soon as possible rather than allow it to be left alone and secured elsewhere, and Bobcat complained about the strange spirits of Contentment consonantly floating around in the air and getting in his way. The rest of you claimed it was "Just the mist" and to not pay it any mind. Jade provided the boss some extra bit of luck, and Gila's Tail suggested someone sneak up ahead as he blessed Ghost with improved sneakiness.

Making it down the rock formation was simple enough. You had rope which was used to make sure the descent was safe, and Jade simply floated to the other side of the massive chasm. Turquoise very nearly "slid" down the rocks, but chose to instead play it safe much to Ghost's and his own disapproval. Their jeers towards playing it safe were met with some criticism from Gila's Tail as he warned that he wouldn't be able to bring them back very often if they died. Ghost and Turquoise admonished these words and referred to them as "bad juju". Gila's Tail didn't take kindly to this and called his coworkers idiots. Thankfully, Bobcat was there to break up the fight and the descent resumed. You eventually made your way to the group proper after about 5-10 minutes of rock climbing and maneuvering, though Jade's magical floating trick made her journey far shorter. After making it to the other side, Bobcat waved some fire in the "face" of one of these strange Contentment spirits that were floating about. The spirit backed off, but others continued to float in and out of your comfort zones until Turquoise gently poked one with his sword. Gila's Tail examined them a bit more gently using just his eyes and knowledge, claiming that they might be something that shouldn't be messed with, but Turquoise claimed it's just a ghost. Gila's Tail's knowledge of religion didn't seem to lend much info on identifying them, but some of the clues might suggest they are apparitions of some kind. When the spirit was attacked, however, it seemed to affect Bobcat. It was like a light struggling to stay on as it reached the end of its lifespan, and he saw the world around him go dark before flickering back on and in focus. Ghost, not caring about these spirits, looked to Bobcat and insisted that everyone keep their eyes on the prize as he nocked his bow. Jade offered to make Ghost invisible, but Ghost wanted to cause fear. The group asked Bobcat how they should proceed, and Bobcat told them they "know what he likes" before letting out a big roar.

Sneaking up to the wagon, Jade used another spell to cause all of your clothing to match the assumed attire of this bank. Turquoise, appreciating the disguise, ran forward without much concern for stealth, but Jade was able to make him invisible before things went a bit too hairy. Meanwhile, she moved to the other side of the bank with hopes of looking like another employee showing up to help these guards and merchant move product. Her disguise and words were believed with some skepticism, but, just as negotiations were reaching their end, Ghost managed to land a shot from his bow that killed the merchant without issue. His body slumped forward and off the cart as the guards stared forward in terror. Before they could drop their cargo and grab their weapons, the rest of you worked like a well-oiled machine to dispose of them along with a mechanical bank guard. With eyes on the loot, you were eager to get the goods and get outta there, but a pair of unexpected golems rose from the ground to stop you. They seemed to be made from the very earth that they crawled out of, and they began their assault on you without hesitation. During the encounter, Bobcat and a few others noticed that the holes that these golems crawleed out of appeared to be far deeper than expected and an escape route was decided upon. Along with these golems, the spirits of Contentment, which had been rather neutral until this point, began to "attack" as well. Their "attacks" mostly just involved being caressed by their strange, noodly appendages. These attacks dealt some rather heavy damage and reduced maximum health to represent their role in digesting Bobcat's mind. As combat was approaching its end, these spirits started making their way down the hole that one of the golems crawled out of, and Bobcat followed them with his gang in tow.

To the Red Peak!

Traversing this tunnel led to another day in the hot Ulktorav's Desert sun. You were surrounded by dunes, the previous heist but a memory from days passed, and a long stretch of red sand was before you. More nobles, merchants and so forth were traveling through this area, and it was lootin time!

Bobcat was eager to partake of such a profitable week, and Turquoise seemed suspicious of how easy it all was. Meanwhile, Jade started it off by hypnotizing the further, more populated caravan with an array of colors and lights. The merchants and guards were all hypnotized easily enough, and the common folk that just wanted to travel to the next town were gifted the camels and carriages. The merchant however lost his wealth to the combined efforts of you all, and Jade partially divided some of the loot between the fleeing commoners. On the other side of this red scar, Turquoise was flipping over another wagon and murdering a nearby merchant. He let the guard the flee, but all the available goods were quickly looted. Turquoise then turned his attentions towards the stunned merchant and his guards near Jade, and he decided to, rather than knocking them out or freeing them, squished them like the giant rat he was.

The spirits of contentment continued forward into the desert, and you weren't far behind. Up ahead was a storm, some respite from the blistering sun, but the rain would soon prove to be more disastrous than helpful. When you arrived in the Red Peak, a mountain range within Ulktorav's Desert, the rain was coming down hard. More of the contentment spirits could be seen floating about along with a pair of murid-shaped water elementals.

These unusual murids were quick to attack you upon your arrival. A pair of giant water bubbles immediately started to surround Bobcat and Turquoise. Bobcat easily escaped, but Turquoise was restrained and pulled into the first bubble. The second bubble started to wrap around Bobcat again, and this time he failed to avoid the spell and found himself in his own watery prison. These elemental displayed additional command over the rain in the area as they transformed large areas of it into swarms of insects, and another managed to change it into black ichor that seeped into your skin and damaged your flesh. A giant, though short-lived, maelstrom was also created, but Ghost saw to its dissolution with ease by striking one of the murids. Combat continued with the eventual destruction of both of these elementals along with several spirits of contentment. The remainder of the peaks still was left to be explored, and Bobcat's mental state had shifted drastically. With each contentment spirit that was vanquished, more of the strange flickering occurred. As the last of them was struck down, he found himself completely aware of Ilven's message, the existence of his traveling companions, the spirit world and everything else. His goal had returned to him and escape was imminent.

Monday D&D March 20, 2023