Big Blue Feud Adventure

The mother snufflepi gathers the young one into her feathery tentacle, pulling it close to her body. Her eye turns up towards the trees and she rattles her feathers loudly, as if shouting to a bunch of posturing youth: Alright you guys! That's enough! Then she slowly inches her way towards the trees. Another large snufflepi swings to the nearest low branch, extending a couple tentacles towards the mother, and waits.

As the mother moves slowly across the ground, all the snufflepi go silent in the trees, looking away from the camp, into the darkness. A growl rumbles in the darkness. The snufflepi swing higher up in to the trees and flatten themselves against the branches, closing their eyes to perfect their camouflaged bodies amongst the leaves.

The mother on the ground flattens herself too, and the young one imitates her. They lie motionless.

Another moment of silence passes and then the gurgling purr of a hungry Rumble Cat, like an idling chopper (motorcycle), emerges from the shadows on the edge the clearing, just before the Rumble Cat itself steps into view.

It surveys the heroes. It surveys the trees. It surveys the patch of stripey, feathery grass.

It licks its lips.

The Thinkem Stone vibrates gently and then displays a picture of the large cat, as if they needed any help identifying it now!



Rumble Cat

Rumble Cats can grow up to 15 feet tall, and 40 feet long (not including their tail). As a nocturnal woodland carnivore, it feeds entirely on Snufflepi. It's body is covered with shaggy fur that often hosts a variety of different algae and fungi. Licking a Rumble Cat is not recommended. They have a spiked mohawk and eagle talons in place of paws. They are striped, usually with dark and darker stripes that range in color from midnight blue to blue black. Occasionally, a Rumble Cat will be found with brighter colors, but few have lived long enough to report any differences in how this color anomaly might affect their predatory behaviors.

They are extremely docile creatures... during the day when they are asleep. And, they have been known to sleep for months at a time after a successful feeding. When they are awake: beware! The Rumble Cat, so called for the deep, rumbling sounds generated by chronic irritable bowel syndrome, ranges far and wide looking for it's next meal. It has a keen sense of smell, and even better hearing. But, the Rumble Cat is blind as a bat. They are so angry, that their eyebrows and eyelids, from constant furrowing, have lost the reverse scowl muscles.

Abilities:
Bite (+2 / Tough)
Scratch (+4 / Fast)
Roar (+1 / Smart)

Quirks:
Meowch: Rumble Cats are used to being the top "dog" of the forest so they are rarely menaced by others. But, when they do receive a scratch, they run home and cry about it... a lot!
Mmmeeeooowww: Rumble Cats don't have friends. They don't want friends. They hate friends. But, if you have what the Rumble Cat wants, it'll be your best friend ever... until you no longer have it.

Roxin's should-mounted cannon launches a rocket in a fury of sound and smoke. A sharp trail of light blitzes across the clearing, flying over the cowering snufflepi, and smashes in to the broadside of the Rumble Cat, singing all the fur on that side of its body. The forest comes abuzz with the sounds of startled creatures and then subsides. The Rumble Cat yowls in furious surprise as it leaps back in to the forest, plunking its head straight into the hole in the hollow of an old tree. Stuck, the Rumble Cat's feet and tail flail frantically against the trunk of the tree trying to dislodge its head, its angry meowing sounding far and distant with its head stuck in the hole.

With a muffled pop, the cat finally pulls its head out and disappears into the bushes, trailing wisps of smoke and the smell of burned fur.

The two grounded Snufflpi continue to inch their way across the grass towards a tree where 3 or four others have chained themselves together, forming a sort of rescue ladder. Several more remain on high alert, swinging a perimeter around the encampment, scanning the forest for any sign of the Rumble Cat's return.

A few moments pass and a long, sad meow-howl is heard far off in the distance. Clearly, the Rumble Cat has no intentions on messing with Roxin's rockets again.

As the group decides how to spend the rest of the night, the two snufflepi on the ground finally make it close enough to the trees to be rescued by their anxious family members. No sooner do they lift their tentacles up then they are snatched into the air in to the safety of the branches. Within moments, they disappear into the darkness. The young snufflpi lingers for a moment, chirping gratitude towards the adventurers, and then it too, is gone.

The forest falls silent again, and the adventurers feel the heavy weight of the days activities on their eyelids. Dawn is coming soon enough, and tomorrow they will reach the Croaking Castle—which is where Miss Jenkins said she first saw the mysterious hand prints.