Hex: The Bogbean Bandits
The Bogbean Bandits
A group of bandits that have recently taken from muggings to murder. The Bogbean bandits kill their marks brutally, leaving them hacked to pieces. Their kills mimic those of the rumored Whirling Demon. As a result, most of their murders are attributed to the Whirling Demon, allowing the bandits to fly under the Yahagi Clan’s radar.
Leader
Iori is the defacto leader of the Bogbean bandits by way of longevity. He's been committing muggings in the region as long as anyone can remember, and as new members come and go from the band, Iori remains.
Mannerisms Talks slowly and directly. Tells his victims exactly what’s about to happen as his bandits circle around them. Gets a thrill out of committing violence, and will hurt allies who disobey him; his abuse gets worse the longer it’s been since he killed.
Iori
AC: 12
Hd: 3
HP: 12
Mv: 30'
Att: 1 Kusarigama (+1 1d8)
ML: 9
Saves: D11, R12, H13, B14, S15
XP: 35
The crew
A crew of 20 bandits working under Iori. There used to be more of them, but as Iori became more violent, and their work escalated from muggings to murders, many of the older crew members have abandoned the group.
One of the bandits, Toki, is Iori’s oldest friend and is worried about him. He won’t disobey his leader, but if caught alone or interrogated, he will reveal that Iori didn’t always behave this way. He became more violent after spending time with the Whirling Demon.
The Demon briefly associated with the Bogbean Bandits, sleeping at their camp while nursing a wound she sustained in a duel. When a Yahagi Clan samurai came to put down the bandits, she murdered him in front of the bandits, before leaving to continue on her journey.
Bogbean Cave
A small cave that the bandits use as their hideout. Most people don’t venture into the marsh, so the cave isn't well hidden. Leftover firewood and crudely carved benches flank the wooden trapdoor leading into the cave. There are bells tied to the ladder that ring when anyone climbs it.
At any given time, 2d6 of the bandits are at Bogbean cave, while the rest are away from the hideout. Iori is usually here.
Bandits
AC: 14
Hd: 1
SP: 4
Mv: 30'
Att: 1 (1d6)
ML: 7 (9 with a leader)
Saves: D14, R15, H16, B17, S18
XP: 5
Treasure
The bandits keep some of their loot here.
Southeast chests
- 50 ryo
- 15,000 mon
- a silver ring inset with a murky lapis lazuli (15 ryo)
- 5 flaming arrows (+1d4 fire damage plus 3 in 6 chance of setting flammable objects ablaze for 1d4 damage per turn until they or an ally spend an action extinguishing the flame)
Barrels and Crates
- The crates are filled with bandages, medical tools, and 6 potions of healing (1d6). A document in the crate indicates that it was meant to be delivered to a Yahagi War Camp.
- The front barrel is full of sake (worth 20 ryo in total).
- The Barrel in the back is half filled with blood, a corked hole in the back of the barrel allows the blood to leak when the barrel is sufficiently filled and the cork removed.
The backroom
The barrels in the southwest of the cave hide a small crevice that a human can narrowly squeeze through. A red trail leads from the barrel of blood into this chamber.
The chamber is covered in blood and a makeshift wooden shrine has been constructed. A human heart and liver sit on an offering plate in front of a bird's eye in the center of the shrine. The eye is not attached to anything, but it blinks and follows intruders around the room.
A shrine maiden can purify the shrine by cleaning it and performing a kagura. This takes a full day of work. If the shrine is purified, the bird eye hardens into a polished obsidian gem worth 500 ryo.
The eye belongs to Waharu, a yokai with many eyes who is sowing chaos amongst the Yahagi clan's land on behalf of the Oni she works for. She is able to see through the eye. She will seek out anyone who pockets it to get it back. If it is destroyed, she takes 1d8 damage and it grows back on Waharu's body after a week.