Pelts For XP - The Bushrangers

Four horseman rode out from the heart of the range,
Four horseman with aspects forbidding and strange.
They were booted and spurred, they were armed to the teeth,
And they frowned as they looked at the valley beneath,
As forward they rode through the rocks and the fern -
Ned Kelly, Dan Kelly, Steve Hart and Joe Byrne.

Ned Kelly drew rein and he shaded his eyes -
'The town's at our mercy! See yonder it lies!
To hell with the troopers!' - he shook his clenched fist -
'We will shoot them like dogs if they dare to resist!'
And all of them nodded, grim-visaged and stern -
Ned Kelly, Dan Kelly, Steve Hart and Joe Byrne.

The Bush Rangers, by Edward Harrington

Sidney Nolan

THE FOREST

This forested hex is filled with Eucalyptus Regnans, some more than 100m high. It's obviously inhabited, several trails have been cut through the dense undergrowth and the area is decorated with red-painted iron helmets on spikes. The smell of smoke and blood hangs heavy in the air.

This hex is home to a Tree Giant, a depraved monster with a reproductive cycle revolving around eating people and shitting them out. The lucky ones come out dead. The unlucky survivors begin their metamorphosis into another giant by turning into Tree Ogres (OSEm as Ogre with climb speed).

These monsters were allies of the Serpentman, paid in human sacrifices to labour on the snakes' megastructures. With the empire gone, the Tree Giants have lost their meal ticket and seen their population collapse. The awful things might've died off, if it wasn't for the Fatharvest Gang.

 Joseph Lycett

THE FATHARVEST GANG

THE BANDITS

This band of escaped convicts stumbled into the Bloody Marches' sole surviving Tree Giant while fleeing a prison break. In a panic, they offered it hostages taken from the clergy. The stupid giant, assuming they served the Serpentmen, accepted the payment and left them alone. The bushrangers have since conditioned the giant into a self-replicating siege weapon. It accompanies them on raids, they feed it captives. It shits out Tree Ogres, the bandits train them into footsoldiers.

The gang is led by Sir Beaufort (Chaotic Level 6 Knight) an impoverished nobleman with a bankrupt estate that forced him into debtors prison. Beauford's second is Esther (Neutral Level 4 Ranger) a gamewarden caught blood-sacrificing poachers to cure her son's consumption. 

There's 28 bushrangers, a mixture of humans and orcs. Twelve are Level 1 Fighters, the remaining sixteen are Level 1 Thieves. Each carries 100 GP in pelts, coins, alcohol or jewellery on them.

The Fighters are equipped with crude armour forged from plowshares (as chain) and repurposed farming equipment; mostly spears, shields and axes. Beaufort wears +1 Chain of Poison Resistance, courtesy of a clerically-blessed plow. They fight as shock troops, riding Thracian Mares into battle (stats as War Horses with D8 bite attack and ML 11, OSE). 

Beaufort leads the cavalry atop Last Sunset the hobbled Nightmare (OSE Adv, no fly speed). This demonic horse is only interested in obeying the fallen knight; if he dies it gets bored and wanders off.

The Thieves are equipped with leather armour, shortswords and a motley collection of matchlocks, crossbows and longbows. Esther carries a +1 Fowling Piece of Terror (can be fired into the air to magically force a Morale Check). They fight as dragoons, travelling on stolen Mules (OSE) and dismounting to provide fire support to the Fighters. 

Samuel Calvert

THE OGRES
This pack of 10 Tree Ogres are solely loyal to Tallskull (Neutral Level 4 Cleric), Orc priestess of Bloody Mother (popular subset of the Knacker religion). The greenwoman delivers newborn ogres and ensures they're socialised with the other bushrangers. Such duties come easily, the cleric was her clan's midwife before scalphunters sacked their hillfort. Tallskull wields a Staff Of Stone To Mud (casts the aforementioned spell 3/day), taken from the clergy of Mothermilk.

The ogres constantly roam the hex, climbing through trees and searching for trespassers. If they detect someone, there's a 4-in-6 chance they retreat to rouse the Fatharvest Gang. Else they try to club them to death.

Each Tree Ogre has 300 GP worth of swallowed trinkets in their guts.

By Fee Fi Fo Fin

THE TREE GIANT
20' tall red-skinned maneater. No better than a ringworm; an awful monster that fulfils no purpose beyond causing misery. Despite its size, it moves fast. Too fast. Clambering across treetops faster than a running man, it scoops up victims and devours them whole. Consuming humans gives immense sexual gratification, encouraging it to reproduce at a terrifying speed.

AC 4 [15], HD 14 (63 HP), Att 1 x weapon (5D6), 1 x boulder (3D6) or devour (swallow whole + reborn), THAC0 9 [+10], MV 120' (40') / 150' (50') climbing, SV D4 W5 P6 B5 S8 (14), ML 10, AL Chaotic, XP 2,300, NA 1 (1), TT E + 5,000gp
▶ Swallow Whole: Target must save vs paralysis or be swallowed. In the monster's belly: suffer 2D6 damage per round (until the giant dies); may attack with a dagger at -4 to hit.
▶ Reborn: If target reaches 0 HP, save vs death or die. Survivors are defecated out alive and turn into a Tree Ogre after D3 days. Remove Curse halts the transformation, but does not undo it.
▶ Stomach Contents: The Tree Giant has 5,000 GP in swallowed trinkets inside its guts.
▶ Weapons: Clubs made from metal-banded tree trunks.
▶ Boulder Throwing: Up to 200'. 
▶ Guardians: 3D6 Tree Ogres, the result of reproduction. 

THE CAMP
The gang constantly rotates throughout the hex, but never leaves it; the presence of the Tree Giant stops any local monsters from bothering them. The easiest way to locate them is by woodsmoke, the bushrangers always run a forge of fired clay bricks to maintain their equipment. 

Their fortified camps consist of dugouts covered with mud, wood and leather tarpaulins, surrounded by an earthwork palisade constructed by Tallskull's staff. The Tree Giant typically rests above the camp, slumbering in the gigantic trees waiting for the bandits to feed it. The gang's livestock and drafthorses are kept safe in secured enclosures. 

Aside from the treasure they and their monstrous allies carry, the bandits have 29,120 GP in stolen good squirrelled away inside their camp. Much of it is pelts, the gang traps fur-bearing animals as much as anyone else. It also helps that they rob any rival longhunters they find.

There's a 3-in-6 chance the gang has prisoners awaiting ransom, or consumption by the Tree Giant. Roll up a Basic Adventuring Party (OSE) and add any treasure to the camp's stockpile.

William Strutt

THE RAIDS
There's a 2-in-6 chance that the Fatharvest Gang is away on a raid. Their warbands consist of D4 + 4 Fighters and D6 + 6 Thieves, along with D4 + 2 Ogres. Beaufort and Esther accompany the raiding force, with Tallskull remaining behind at camp. The Orc's too valuable to the gang, needed for training the ogres and nursing any wounded bushrangers back to health.

When the bandits sack an outlying farmstead, temple or ranch, they round up any surviving defenders and hold a kangaroo court. The lumpen proles are ordered to put their superiors on "trial", encouraged to freely voice grievances or accusations. Anyone found "guilty" is to be fed to the giant. Failure to convict an appropriate number of sacrifices makes the bandits give up on the pretence of democracy and just choose people they don't like.

Any convicts "liberated" during these raids are encouraged to join the gang. A few do, but many more would much rather serve out their sentences or debts. Esther and Tallskull prefer to leave them be, but Beaufort's increasingly pushing for such "collaborators" to be giant chow.

The Tree Giant rarely leaves its forest anymore, the bushrangers don't want to risk it being killed and it's used to being pampered. This changes if someone pisses the gang off, then they pack up camp (along with all their loot) and bring everything to bear against their target. 

Francisco de Goya