Game summary for August 22, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Denessia Rapidarma (Dwarf Gunslinger/Paladin played by Casey Scruggs), Kenwrec Battleglaive (Bugbear Slayer played by Peyton Harmon), Magnus Erlingsson (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), and Ten-Penny Tacey (Half-Orc Rogue played by Shane Bradley). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.
Ten-Penny picked the door lock, and the team entered a cavern stairwell leading into the darkness. Magnus was able to read a set of runes stating, “As the seasons of life change, so must we sacrifice our past for the wisdom of our winter years.” Another set of runes stated, “Blessed be the path you are about to walk. Cling not to what you were, but only to what you shall become.” He recognized this as part of a witch’s Croning Ritual wherein youth and vitality is given up for the power and wisdom of age. The group headed down the stairs and triggered a greater glyph of warding which aged all of them instantly! The felt themselves grow weaker, slower, and less hardy. Magnus pressed on and triggered glyph after glyph, nearly dying at the bottom of the stairs before a stone door. Kenwrec tested some theories about how the glyphs worked and ended up terribly cursed with a hideousness so bad even his own companions nearly abandoned him. Magnus healed himself while Ten-Penny and Kenwrec disabled all the glyphs.
At the bottom of the stairs, Ten-Penny tried to pick the lock. It opened to reveal the withered crone in the wheat field again! She again chastised them for being too young, unwise, and weak. She told them to go back and return later but that the giants and centaur were already ahead of them. She let them pass through the cornfield and go back “the easy way” as opposed up the stairs where all the terrible glyphs had been. She also gave them yet another key.
The group circled around and decided to explore some of the passages they had avoided when they first entered. They found a frost giant cramped in a corridor heading their way. A fight erupted, and the giant fought as best he could in the close quarters. He still hit with horrifying power, but he was an easy target. The team tore into him until he was put down by a clean shot through the skull by Denessia’s pistol.
The team went further down the hallway and found another door. They heard creatures heading toward them, so they waited in ambush! Four andrazku demons came crashing out into the ambush and fell victim to divine spells, smite evil, and sneak attack. The demons tried to teleport in among the party to cause chaos, but they were quickly brought down. The party explored the room they came from and found a map revealing some additional areas.
