Game summary for June 23, 2016, Savage! campaign, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Blazing Sun (Kau Human Sage played by Kaliegh Belda), Singing Mammoth (Elf Soldier played by Taylor Averdick), Standing Bison (Giant Soldier played by Peyton Harmon), and Wolf Spirit (Kompache Human Priest played by Chris Harmon). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.
The team discovered a room wherein captives had been held. One had been used as an example and was pinned to the wall with spears and disemboweled. His corpse teemed with flies and maggots, and as the party approached, shuffling dusty forms emerged from alcoves around him. Still wrapped in ancient linens, these undead priests attacked. They unleashed swarms of scarabs that scampered over the party. They tried to inflict their deadly mummy rot, but the team was too resilient. Singing Mammoth discovered his arrows were very ineffective, so he lit a torch and used it to burn the enemies. It did not take long for victory.
The team then discovered the horrible altar upon which the Keepers were sacrificing slaves in the disenchantment ritual. The marbaq yaqyachi, Teomiqatl, stood with an obsidian knife and cut the hearts from the innocent. A swarm of wights converged on the party to keep them away. Above the altar, a Dawn Seal fragment crackled with blue lightning. The team fought quickly, allowing Wolf Spirit and the firehawk to get through and up to the priestess. Amazingly, the team was able to take her down in moments and mop up the rest of the wights. However, the disrupted ritual ripped a temporary hole in this dimension to release a fireback ghula! The flaming monster pounded on the party, driving the team back on their heels and sprawled on their faces. It nearly killed Blazing Sun before falling beneath the team’s onslaught.
After this adventure, the party made camp for the night. Singing Mammoth decides to go hunting while the rest of the party sleeps. Everything is going just as every prior hunt has gone: no luck at all. You would think that a hunter with such a detailed backstory, one that specifically states that Singing Mammoth “specializes in hunting by bow” would yield better results when hunting. You’d be wrong. This time, however, the hunt doesn’t end in a shameful, hungry walk back to camp.
Just as Singing Mammoth is about to give up, he spots a wolf in a clearing. The clearing is fairly large and provides an excellent vantage point for such a skilled hunter. The wolf appears to be alone and injured. What a wonderful opportunity to get some meat and also put this creature out of its misery. Singing Mammoth draws his bow, slowly takes an arrow from his quiver, and be-
Singing Mammoth’s heart stops a he hears a deafening roar from behind him. As the giant beast jumps out above him, its foot rips the bow from his grip and is tossed to the other side of the clearing– far out of reach.
The creature devours the injured wolf in a single bite and turns around to look at Singing Mammoth. For some reason, Singing Mammoth can not help but feel as though the creature is mocking his hunting skills. As the beast walks closer, its identity is revealed. It’s a great tiger nearly 6 feet tall. The beast begins to growl lowly at Singing Mammoth.
Singing Mammoth is petrified and remains frozen, but quickly realizes the situation and what he needs to do. He gains 2 resolve skill points from this. He begins to run away from the clearing and back into thicker woods. He can hear the tiger giving chase to him, but does not look back. After a few minutes of running, he can no longer hear the shuffle of the tiger behind him and slows down. He rests behind a tree and starts to figure a way out of this mess.
Singing Mammoth discovers broken branches, hanging vines, and rocks in a creek bed beside the tree. In the distance, he can now hear the roars of the tiger. It is getting closer. He realizes that the only way that he’s going to get back to camp alive is by killing the tiger and gains 1 tactics skill point for this.
He grabs a sharp rock from the creek and begins to cut some of the vines down. He uses the vines to tie the rock to the end of a long, straight branch. Success! A throwing spear! He gains 2 crafting skill points from this. Right in the nick of time, too, as Singing Mammoth, with the help of his sharp hearing, can tell the tiger’s cries are extremely close. He begins to hear the tiger’s foot steps as he still rests against a tree and prepares himself for battle.
Singing Mammoth turns from around the tree and finds the tiger only 10 feet in front of him– much closer than he had anticipated. He’s caught off guard and the tiger charges, knocking him down and the tiger tramples over his body with the force of the charge. Singing Mammoth quickly gets back up on his feet as the tiger turns around to attempt to finish him off. Singing Mammoth takes a deep breath, exhales, and throws his throwing spear… a direct hit to the throat! The beast cries out in pain and falls to the ground. It is defeated! Singing Mammoth’s hurled proficiency elevates to a forte. He’s earned the hurled basics feat!
Singing Mammoth, somehow, returns to camp as the sun rises lugging the body of the huge beast behind him. The party is thrilled and surprised that he was able to return with something after hunting. The party feasts on the kill as Singing Mammoth tells the story of his hunt before they set out to begin another adventure.