Charles Plemons' Blog

Game summary for August 30, 2016, Savage! campaign, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Blazing Sun (Kau Human Sage played by Kaliegh Belda), Little Spirit (Tsanta Human Soldier played by Andrew Renfrow), 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 elder fire elemental closed in and unleashed a blast of heat, burning many of the party.  The team swarmed about it and found their weapons could harm it.  The elemental continued to scorch the party, but their resistance was brutal and swift.  The elemental was brought down under the teeth of the wolf.  Within a secret panel, they found the final key to the Dawn Seal!

After some brief exploration, the team found the guardians of the Shining Gate, a pair of massive mountain giants!  Unholy energy washed from the portal as the team moved in to take down the giants.  The raptor moved to flank one giant as the wolf leapt to attack.  It missed the giant and bit the raptor!  In the next moment, the giant was slain and fell on the raptor!  The team was elated at the slaughter of one giant, but a cave-gnawer ghula emerged from the gate moments later!  The team re-doubled their efforts to drive back the foes.  Blazing Sun temporarily lost her nerve from the stress and fear and fell back.  In her panic she ordered her firehawk to attack the giant… and it attacked the wrong giant!  It plucked out one of Standing Bison’s eyes, crippling the team’s ally!

Blazing Sun charged back into the fray and salted the wound of the bleeding enemy.  She managed to kill the mountain giant with her attack!  Now the team only had a ghula remaining.  The team surrounded and were able to take it down quickly.

With the foes vanquished, the team went to the gate to try and close it.  They took time assembling pieces of the Dawn Seal.  Once satisfied, they began a blood ritual to enact the proper magic.  This brought the attention of spiritual entities on the other side of the gate, and the team had to drive them off.  Finally, the energy of the ghula magic began to flow rapidly back through the gate!  The party found their life force being drawn through as well.  The team clung to life, some passing out from the effort.  Blazing Sun was the last struggling to withstand the onslaught.  At the last moment, she rallied her strength and closed the gate!  After months of struggle the team had succeeded!  The power of the Keepers was broken.  The party knew their efforts would be followed by years of bloody war but a war they could now win.  Without the power of the ghula to sustain them, the Keepers would not be able to hold control over their domain, and the people would throw off the shackles of their vicious oppressors!

Game summary for August 23, 2016, Savage! campaign, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Blazing Sun (Kau Human Sage played by Kaliegh Belda), Little Spirit (Tsanta Human Soldier played by Andrew Renfrow), Night Watcher (Ogre Martial Artist played by Casey Scruggs), 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.

After vanquishing the water and earth elementals, the team moved further into the dungeon and encountered a room filled with smoke from burning coals.  The smoke swirled and an elder air elemental emerged!  Singing Mammoth fired an arrow into it, but the tornado like body sent the missile into a deadly twirling orbit around it, propelling it five times faster than initially fired!

The elemental swept up all the dust and ash in the room, blinding the raptor and firehawk.  The party swarmed in and found their attacks less effective than they would like.  The elemental began to buffet the team and knock them to the ground.  Meanwhile, that deadly arrow spun about piercing completely through party members leaving gaping wounds!  Eventually the arrow tore through Singing Mammoth, collapsing him to the ground in a heap, before it came to rest in the flank of Blazing Sun.  Standing Bison managed to land the death blow after several solid hits from Blazing Sun, Wolf Spirit, and Little Spirit as well as a critical hit from Night Watcher!

The team nursed their injuries quickly.  The room shook as an elder fire elemental rose up from the burning coals!

Game summary for August 16, 2016, Savage! campaign, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Blazing Sun (Kau Human Sage played by Kaliegh Belda), Little Spirit (Tsanta Human Soldier played by Andrew Renfrow), Night Watcher (Ogre Martial Artist played by Casey Scruggs), 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 water elemental continued trying to drown Wolf Spirit and his wolf as the team tried to get into the room.  Standing Bison’s bear succeeded in shoving the elemental forward just a bit which allowed Little Spirit to slip into the room.  Blazing Sun tried to sneak in but was pushed back by the elemental.  Singing Mammoth also tried the same thing and ended up falling face first in the water!  Fortunately, Standing Bison was able to reach in and lift him back to his feet.  The team slowly worked its way in and around the elemental and struggled to free their drowning friends.  Night Watcher flexed his bulging ogre muscles once again and ripped the crumbling dungeon wall down allowing him and Standing Bison to surge through!  The battle turned quickly in the favor of the party, and the elemental was wavering under the onslaught.  Finally, the firehawk swooped in and slammed bodily into the elemental, discorporating its form!

The team nursed their wounds for a moment as the ground began to crack and water flow out.  A gigantic hand rose from the broken ground, and an elder earth elemental climbed forth!  It began to smash into the team with brutal stony fists!  The team swarmed around and were suddenly hit with a flurry of arrows as Singing Mammoth missed his mark and hit four of his allies with his arrows.  He tried to make up for it a moment later and accidently sent three arrows into the chest of Blazing Sun, nearly killing her.  Just before she could die from her injuries, the wolf was able to deal the death blow to the elemental.  The team healed their allies, and Night Watcher discovered the first of the two keys to close the gate!

Game summary for August 9, 2016, Savage! campaign, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Blazing Sun (Kau Human Sage played by Kaliegh Belda), Little Spirit (Tsanta Human Soldier played by Andrew Renfrow), Night Watcher (Ogre Martial Artist played by Casey Scruggs), 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 entered the dungeon in search of the keys for the Dawn Seal.  They discovered the Keepers had populated the dungeon with giant firemouth frogs!  The flame-breathing monsters torched the team but were fairly quickly slain.  Blazing Sun then found a hidden panel covering some hold person vials.

The group went through a doorway into ankle-deep water in a huge room.  The water surged and formed an elder water elemental!  It pounded Little Spirit as the party fell upon it with blade and bow.  To their horror, they discovered their weapons were completely ineffective.  The firehawk charged the creature and ended up swimming inside its body only to be blasted out in a spurt of water that slammed into and stunned Standing Bison.  The raptor ended up inside the elemental and drowning while the team began to use bludgeoning attacks to some effect.  Blazing Sun landed two great hits, and Night Watcher landed a couple as well.  Wolf Spirit slashed the raptor inside the elemental with his axe by mistake.  Several of the team decided to fall back into the other room to see if it would follow in case it was drawing power from the water.  With an astounding show of strength, Night Watcher lifted all 1,200 pounds of stunned Standing Bison and carried him out.

Wolf Spirit stayed in the room and attacked using a severed frog bone.  He got blasted by a riptide blast, and he and the wolf were stunned.  The rest of the team made it out, and the elemental moved up and slammed the door, blocking it with his body.  The bear ripped the door down as the elemental tried to drown Wolf Spirit.

Now the team looks on in horror as the doorway is blocked by the multi-thousand pound elemental, and it holds the head of their friend beneath the water!

Game summary for August 2, 2016, Savage! campaign, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Blazing Sun (Kau Human Sage played by Kaliegh Belda), Night Watcher (Ogre Martial Artist played by Casey Scruggs), and Singing Mammoth (Elf Soldier played by Taylor Averdick). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team entered a massive room with ropes and a pulley system.  A huge platform had been lowered into the room by the Keepers, placing a ravenous alpha tyrannosaurus between them and the Dawn Seal fragment.  Blazing Sun’s firehawk swooped in and was immediately swallowed up.  Soon, Singing Mammoth’s velociraptor was also snatched up.  Singing Mammoth was angered at the sight of his friend in the jaws of the beast and unleashed a multishot.  Unfortunately, all three arrows slammed into the raptor!  The t-rex then swallowed it.  Night Watcher closed in and unleashed a flurry of blows.  Blazing Sun was outraged about her firehawk and leapt into action.  She slammed her axe into the head of the dinosaur, killing it instantly!  The team cut their companions free and recovered the final Dawn Seal fragment!

The team then set out for the Shining Gate.  First, they used their rafts to cross the Lake of Tears where they were constantly attacked by sharks.  Next they traveled through deku scrub lands where they were pelted by hurled nuts.  Once in the plains, they had to capture some wild horses and ride to the badlands.  In the badlands, they had to stay ahead of the Keepers and their hurled spears.  Finally, in the highlands they had to avoid roaming packs of mountain giants!

As they traveled through the mountains toward the Shining Gate they were approached by pinkish purple flying creatures with a single massive eye.  These flyclops revealed the ability to flash blinding light at their foes.  This blinding Night Watcher who tried to use his keen hearing to locate a foe.  He heard a sound and closed in!  He pummeled his target into a pulp on the ground, the sound of its spine shattering and heart mashing to sludge music to his ears.  Unfortunately, it was Singing Mammoth’s velociraptor he smashed to death.  To death.  Grief-stricken, Singing Mammoth unleashed a barrage and took down another flyclops.  Quickly the team dispatched the monsters.

The team nearly reached the Shining Gate when a mountain giant tracker caught up to them.  It came roaring from the woods swinging a massive macuahaitl longer than a man!  The firehawk swooped in and was hit so hard only a splatter of blood and feathers ever hit the ground.  Blazing Sun charged in to avenge her fallen friend while Night Watcher moved in from behind.  The giant caught Blazing Sun with a mighty chop and felled her in a single blow.  Blood splattered as she lay dying on the ground.

The giant lunged toward Singing Mammoth who fell back as Night Watcher moved in to engage.  He tripped over his own feet and fell off balance, but the giant over swung and shattered its macuahaitl upon its own back in a spray of gore!  It jerked a stone knife from its belt and began viciously stabbing Night Watcher as he unleashed a battering flurry of punches and kicks.  Singing Mammoth kept up the volleys of arrows until one struck true and killed the giant!

Meanwhile, as Blazing Sun lay dying:

As Blazing Sun’s sight began to fade to black, she remembered the last thing her orphanage nanny said to her as her last breath escaped, “Blazing Sun… always remember… eat red with the web to escape the dead…”  As Blazing Sun’s last though of her nanny drifted she noticed a spider’s web spun all around the plant in front of her face.  It clicked… red… web… could it be?  Blazing Sun rolled slightly closer to the web and took a bite of the spider’s home.  It was like magic!  The red tioye that she was still sucking on, that she was saving in her cheek of her mouth mixed with the web.  Just as her nanny described.  Blazing Sun began to feel life return to her veins.

Thus did Blazing Sun cheat death; however, her allies soon began to notice a slight change in her behavior…

Game summary for July 26, 2016, Savage! campaign, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Little Spirit (Tsanta Human Soldier played by Andrew Renfrow), Night Watcher (Ogre Martial Artist played by Casey Scruggs), 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 delved further into the dungeon and found a great cave-gnawer ghula and a half dozen ogre maulers.  The cave-gnawer began to rend Standing Bison’s bear and nearly killed it, and Singing Mammoth’s raptor also nearly died.  The team rallied and spread out, taking down ogre after ogre.  Finally, Wolf Spirit and the wolf landed a critical hit to kill the ghula.

The team then found a mural-decorated room filled with armed carnivorous apes.  The simians hurled spears from afar and charged in swinging with their fists.  Wolf Spirit took the brunt of it, but the team quickly rallied and brought down the ape.

Game summary for July 5, 2016, Savage! campaign, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Blazing Sun (Kau Human Sage played by Kaliegh Belda), Little Spirit (Tsanta Human Soldier played by Andrew Renfrow), Night Watcher (Ogre Martial Artist played by Casey Scruggs), Singing Mammoth (Elf Soldier played by Taylor Averdick), Standing Bison (Giant Soldier played by Peyton Harmon), Sunrider (Kau Human Martial Artist played by Mark Belda), and Wolf Spirit (Kompache Human Priest played by Chris Harmon). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team got lost in the jungle and skirmished with spear-wielding carnivorous apes.  They eventually found a group willing to provide guidance to the river.  Once their they discovered most of the jungle trees would not float and had to scour the area for raft materials.  Out on the rafts they were attacked by deku scrubs in the rapids!  Past the rapids into the salty lake they were attacked by sharks trying to capsize the rafts!

On the island they found another encounter with carnivorous apes.  The team made short work of them but struggled a bit more against a gray widow spider and a deku scrub mob.  Standing Bison was terribly injured and nearly killed, but Wolf Spirit shoved red tioye down his throat to revive him.

Finally, the team entered the new dungeon and discovered a large chamber occupied by an ogre and several fanged vised plants.  The lashing vines ripped into the team as they tried to advance on the ogre.  The vines hurt badly, but the team hacked through and dropped the ogre.  Now in the temple, where will they find the shard?

Game summary for June 28, 2016, Savage! campaign, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Blazing Sun (Kau Human Sage played by Kaliegh Belda), Night Watcher (Ogre Martial Artist played by Casey Scruggs), Singing Mammoth (Elf Soldier played by Taylor Averdick), Stands-on-Spiders (Dwarf Priest played by Parker Harmon), Sunrider (Kau Human Martial Artist played by Preston Harmon), and Wolf Spirit (Kompache Human Priest played by Chris Harmon). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team succeeded in freeing the seventh Dawn Seal fragment from the crackling electrical energy keeping it hovering over the alter.  They then performed rituals, buried, and burned the bodies of the sacrificial victims to prevent them from becoming marbaq.  The group then entered the jungle and captured a Keeper yaqyachi.  They were able to learn the eighth fragment was sent to Atliztatl in the Lake of Tears.

The group set out through the jungle toward some rivers leading to the lake.  Along the way, they stumbled upon a ravenous tyrannosaurus rex!  The dinosaur’s massive teeth impaled Wolf Spirit’s wolf, killing it instantly.  It then swallowed it whole.  The team moved in to the attack, the dinosaur also ate Singing Mammoth’s velociraptor!  Arrows flew, axes swung, and fists slammed bringing the dinosaur down.

Further into the jungle the team was ambushed by plant-like deku scrubs and skulltulas!  The dekus spit high-velocity nuts through the canopy that battered and bruised the team.  It didn’t take long for the team to rally, but they suffered a number of injuries.  They discovered a small wealth in treasure lying among the bodies and jungle.