Charles Plemons' Blog

Game summary for September 5, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Denessia Rapidarma (Dwarf Gunslinger/Paladin played by Casey Scruggs), and Ten-Penny Tacey (Half-Orc Rogue played by Shane Bradley). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The party opened the first door leading out of the temple and ascended a flight of steps until they reached a door.  Ten-Penny picked the lock, and the team entered a roundish room with a stairway spiraling up into the darkness.  Below the landing lay a wooden grate over a pool of congealed blood.  Ten-Penny used a wand to cast levitate on everyone as a precaution, and the group moved up the stairs into a larger room high above.  There they were attacked by a pair of female redcap faeries wearing iron boots and swinging massive scythes!  The redcaps hit with deadly blows, but they were fairly inaccurate.  The group was able to get up into the room and focus attacks on each individually.  Ten-Penny scored a sneak attack on one and caused it to bleed profusely, eventually slaying it.  Denessia used smite evil and scored a critical hit with her divine bound pistol, shooting the remaining redcap dead.  Greta used her spells to heal the party.

The group ascended a ladder and emerged through a trapdoor into a hallway.  They followed the hallway around 700 feet to a door.  Ten-Penny picked the lock, and they discovered a huge room open to the outside with snow blowing in.  Two andrazku demons and a frost giant attacked!  Greta blessed the party and moved in toward the giant with glee.  One of the andrazku activated righteous might while Ten-Penny disappeared using a potion of invisibility.  Denessia slipped in and activated her smite evil against the enlarged demon.  The other andrazku tried to summon more andrazku from the Abyss but failed.  Enraged, it came crashing into the fray.  The frost giant charged Greta and hit her with a devastating blow knocking her back against the wall.  She laughed and painted her face with her own blood and threw herself at the giant, hacking away with her own axe.  After a barrage, she sank her axe in the giant’s chest, wobbling but not killing it.  Ten-Penny appeared behind the giant and used sneak attack to injury and bloody the monster.  The giant got several horrific blows on Ten-Penny before it bled out from the wounds she had inflicted upon it earlier.  With one demon remaining, the team changed tactics.  Greta took the lead with Denessia healing Ten-Penny.  The rogue then slipped around into a flank and helped Greta devastate the last demon.  It fell dead, and Greta began another bloody ritual while defiling the giant’s corpse.  The group discovered the view outside was from the hand of the Mother.  They could see the Maiden and Crone on either side.  They deduced somehow they had magically traveled to the other statue because they had not physically moved far enough.

Next the team went back down the hallway and found another door.  It too was locked, and Ten-Penny picked it.  Within the lavish room they found an attractive young half-elf named Marislova.  At first she accused them of being someone named Jadrenka.  After some discussion, they found that Marislova and Jadrenka are lovers and Jadrenka believes Marislova has cheated on her with the nymph, Kyrisjana.  She loudly proclaimed her innocence and told them Jadrenka had locked her in here.  The more the group talked, the more confused Marislova became and she actually became concerned about Jadrenka’s well-being.  Finally, they realized they had met Jadrenka in the “corn room”, and she keeps giving them keys.  Marislova told them she is the Warden of Artrosa.  She was also able to tell them about a coven of hags that Jadrenka often has power struggles with inside Artrosa.  She learned from the party that Kyrisjana had been slain but that giants and demons were roaming the complex.  Marislova told them they needed to go to the “corn room” to check on Jadrenka.

Game summary for August 29, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: All Might (Human Warpriest played by Andrew Renfrow), Deska Starseeker (Half-Elf Druid played by Kaliegh Belda), Kenwrec Battleglaive (Bugbear Slayer played by Peyton Harmon), Magnus Erlingsson (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Svala Alehorn (Dwarf Unchained Barbarian played by Todd Hughes), Ten-Penny Tacey (Half-Orc Rogue played by Shane Bradley), and Tulvur Xandersen (Dwarf Fighter played by Taylor Averdick). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team decided to see what the prison-looking area scrawled on their map actually was.  They found it was actually a large tomb with ten sealed burial caves blocked by carved stones.  Deska and Magnus were able to detect necromantic magic.  All Might muscled one of the doors open and triggered a trap!  He seemed to shake it off, but disturbing the grave brought forth two barbarian ghosts!  The mere sight of the creatures wracked the party with pain and supernatural aging.  The ghosts floating closer and began thrusting their evil incorporeal hands into the bodies of the party and rending their life forces.  They proved particularly difficult to fight with blades partially passing through them.  Their corrupting gaze continued to wear away on the party who never tried to close their eyes or stare at the floor and not see the ghosts at all.  The team continued to age and suffer to the point Kenwrec collapsed unconscious.  All Might used bless and spiritual weapon to great effect, and Greta found herself desperately trying to keep poor Ten-Penny alive with healing spells.  Deska cast flame strike that dealt some damage, and Magnus channeled positive energy to revitalize his team.  The dwarven warriors engaged, and their shear rage and ferocity wore down the spirits.  Finally, Svala’s enchanted dwarven axe dealt felling blows to both spirits, temporarily discorporating them until they can reform to continue haunting the graves.  The team then nursed their wounds and traveled down a stairwell without exploring the other tombs.

The party entered a large temple dedicated to some kind of hag.  Artifacts used in evil rituals hung all around the room.  Doors led in all different directions.  A terrible flaming witchfire stood in the temple and seemed surprised to see them and not Caigreal.  She asked them about the woman, and the team seemed confused and unable to recall exactly to whom the undead spirit referred.  The witchfire determined they were obviously not supposed to be there and began hurling bolts of witchfire!  Several of the team burst into flame as they tried to close the distance.  The spirit tried to maneuver to keep the team from ganging up on her, but there were too many.  Despite horribly burning several, the spirit was unable to withstand the combined might of the team focused upon her, and she was cut down.

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.

Game summary for August 15, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Denessia Rapidarma (Dwarf Gunslinger/Paladin played by Casey Scruggs), Deska Starseeker (Half-Elf Druid played by Kaliegh Belda), Kenwrec Battleglaive (Bugbear Slayer played by Peyton Harmon), Magnus Erlingsson (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Ten-Penny Tacey (Half-Orc Rogue played by Shane Bradley), and Tulvur Xandersen (Dwarf Fighter played by Taylor Averdick). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team had nursed their wounds from the battle with the massive spider creature.  They decided to explore in a different direction and came upon a bubbling cauldron of stew heated by an unseen source.  The ground had runes inscribed around it saying, “Spice is the variety of life.”  As they approached a table covered in spices, a misty mihstu rose up from the steam and grappled Deska!  The team swarmed in and hammered at the creature as it tried to extract all of Deska’s fluids; however, she struggled well enough to prevent the creature from pinning her.  In short order, the group cut the creature down.  They began experimenting with the cauldron and discovered it could produce temporary potion-like stews.  They nearly killed Deska’s owl in their testing, but the team was pretty happy with the results.

Next the group ascended a flight of stairs, and Deska noticed shadows creeping in around them!  The unholy incorporeal undead began draining strength from the party!  Magnus and Denessia unleashed powerful blasts of positive energy which killed several of the shadows.  Good old fashioned weapons cut down several more.  However, the leader thrust its incorporeal hand into Denessia and dropped her to the edge of death.  Magnus, under a shadow onslaught, cast blessing of fervor, and the team was able to use the extra speed to rush Denessia back to the cauldron while the rest of the group finished off all the shadows.  Miraculously, the team was able to use the powers of the cauldron to prevent Denessia from dying and becoming a shadow herself!

The group made camp to gain restoration spells to fix their problems.  The team then went back down a hallway to explore another door they had yet to investigate.

Game summary for August 8, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Alfbern Winterbloom (Half-Elf Inquisitor played by Preston Harmon), Argun Longtusk (Wereboar-Kin Druid played by Parker Harmon), Kenwrec Battleglaive (Orc 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.

The team moved on from the alchemy lab through a door to the south.  They traveled a moderately long hallway and emerged into a reeking room lined with partially preserved flesh containing a tent of skins.  A spiny pukwudgie wearing flayed skins stood within surrounded by an army of animated hoarpanther zombies!  Alfbern sent his bear charging in and ran close behind it as the panthers surged forward!  The pukwudgie disappeared almost immediately after Ten-Penny consumed a potion of invisibility.  Greta blessed the party, and Kenwrec moved to engage a hoarpanther.  The team was amazed at the panthers’ speed and barrage of attacks.  They realized they were in trouble!  Magnus strode forward and channeled positive energy in the name of Gorum which blasted two of the undead to slag and severely injured the others.  This turned the tide, and the team began slaying panthers with ease.  Argun cast a burst of nettles spell with great effect.  Meanwhile, the pukwudgie appeared and delivered a sneak attack to Kenwrec!  The horrid creature’s poisoned spines pierced his flesh and delivered a dose of virulent poison.  It coursed through his system as the team cut down the rest of their enemies.  Magnus cast a prayer to help Kenwrec, and he was given an antitoxin.  The poison proved too great, however, and he died in agony, foaming at the mouth!  The team determined they would reincarnate him when they reunite with Deska and pushed on.

The team ascended a great long stair and passed by a doorway.  They came upon an enormous web-shrouded chamber containing half a dozen cocoons and a glowing rune.  The group investigated and found one of the cocoons contained a slain and rotting andrazku demon!  The group turned just as a monstrous spider the size of an elephant descended out of the darkness.  Argun dropped a flame strike squarely on the creature burning it badly; however, it shook off the terrible blow and advanced!  Concerned about the obvious massive toughness of the monster, Magnus activated his divine presence to enact sanctuary for the party!  In his mind, he heard a demonic voice say, “Clever!”  The team started skirting to the side hoping the creature could no longer hurt them.  Argun, however, was outside of the effect and was bitten by the monster and began to rot before their eyes!  The bear attempted an attack of opportunity and broke the sanctuary upon itself and got mauled in return.  Magnus tried to be diplomatic, but the creature ignored him and slaughtered Argun!  The group was able to move under Magnus’ protection and get to the exit while the monster began to consume Argun’s corpse and ignored their retreat.

Game summary for August 1, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: All Might (Human Warpriest played by Andrew Renfrow), Denessia Rapidarma (Dwarf Gunslinger/Paladin played by Casey Scruggs), Deska Starseeker (Half-Elf Druid played by Kaliegh Belda), Ten-Penny Tacey (Half-Orc Rogue played by Shane Bradley), and Tulvur Xandersen (Dwarf Fighter played by Taylor Averdick). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team continued down the hallway past the wooden figures and discovered a long ascending stairway.  They climbed to the top and found a locked door.  Tulvur hit it with a hammer, which elicited a response from inside demanding who was out there.  The team conversed, and eventually an old crone opened the door.  Behind her the stars shone overhead, and wind blew through dead corn stalks in a large field.  All around lay dead ravens.  She warned them, “The cancer grows in the womb of the Crone.  To face the Curse of Eons, you must have time on your side.”  She also warned them she felt they are too young and should come back later.  She gave them a key and shut the door on them.

The group backtracked and explored another side passageway.  They came upon a frightening scene where numerous creatures were vivisected and on display in some kind of mad laboratory.  A trio of misshapen forlarren with multiple arms prepared poisoned blowgun darts as the team approached.  Behind them, the demonic half-satyr they had been seeking rose up on bat-like wings!  The forlarren ascended the walls using spider climb and bombarded the team with poisoned darts!  The fiend unleashed an unholy blight and later summoned a fiendish boar to harass the party spellcasters.  All Might blessed the party and rode into the fracas.  Tulvur moved in to put pressure on one side as Greta broke toward the other.  Denessia started shooting opportune targets with her pistol as Ten-Penny moved to try setting up flanks.

The team at first struggled, but All Might came charging in on his horse and leapt into the air to impale the fiend with his cold iron lance!  The fiend charged down upon him trying to smite but found that tactic ineffective!  The fiend activated a fear effect that drove several of the team into retreat!  The rest of the team rallied, though and closed in.  Denessia unleashed her own smite and shot him between the horns and eyes, dropping him dead.  Denessia tried to capitalize and turn on the forlarren, but her pistol exploded in her hands!  Deska hit a climbing forlarren with a whip of spiders!  The team was able to close up ranks and slay the last of the misshapen beasts.

Game summary for July 25, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: All Might (Human Warpriest played by Andrew Renfrow), Denessia Rapidarma (Dwarf Gunslinger/Paladin played by Casey Scruggs), Deska Starseeker (Half-Elf Druid played by Kaliegh Belda), Kenwrec Battleglaive (Orc Slayer played by Peyton Harmon), Magnus Erlingsson (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Svala Alehorn (Dwarf Unchained Barbarian played by Todd Hughes), Ten-Penny Tacey (Half-Orc Rogue played by Shane Bradley), and Tulvur Xandersen (Dwarf Fighter played by Taylor Averdick). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team realized with so many of their number blinded, they were in serious trouble.  They figured the giants were unlikely to come back into the nymph’s chamber since two had been slain here and thought maybe other things would avoid her as well.  So, Deska cast hide campsite, and the team rested.  All Might and Magnus were able to prepare five remove blindness/deafness spells and restore the party to normal health!

The group headed back the way they came seeking a side passage still in search of the demon creature.  They found a set of quartz runes in the floor beside a table.  On the table sat a bowl filled with wildflowers and four wooden statues.  Deska recognized the poses of the figures from the first room they entered, so she sent her magical owl back to observe and report telepathically what it saw.  The group arranged the figures in the same order but failed to do anything with the flowers.  This triggered a magical trap causing the four figures to grow to 3 feet in height and animate as wood golems!  The creatures attacked with fist and splittered blasts.  The team learned the hard way they were resistant to magic and non-adamantine weapons.  In the small hallways, the team struggled to get a lot of enemies engaged at once.  Several of the team wisely hurled alchemist’s fire among the wooden creatures.  Ten-Penny made an amazing acrobatic roll down the hallway but fumbled along the way.  She took a beating and eventually had to flee.  Magnus was able to keep the team going with channeled positive energy as Tulvur, Kenwrec, and Svala jockeyed to get into some kind of striking position.  The creatures pressed in, and Kenwrec kept landing killing blows, eventually destroying all four of the menaces!

Moments later a gorgeous woman with heterochromatic eyes appeared suddenly in the hallway.  She smiled and spoke with the team at length.  She did not reveal much about herself, but she indicated she was a servant of Baba Yaga.  She warned the group the frost giants, centaur, and demons were all aligned and ahead of the team in the complex.  Right before disappearing, she handed Deska a small metal key.

Game summary for July 11, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: All Might (Human Warpriest played by Andrew Renfrow), Deska Starseeker (Half-Elf Druid played by Kaliegh Belda), Kenwrec Battleglaive (Dwarf Slayer played by Peyton Harmon), Magnus Erlingsson (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Svala Alehorn (Dwarf Unchained Barbarian played by Todd Hughes), and Tulvur Xandersen (Dwarf Fighter played by Taylor Averdick). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team confronted Caigreal about her lack of involvement with the fight against the lurkers in light, and she claimed to be scared.  They did not buy that excuse and pressed harder.  Tulvur stepped up and threatened to murder her, and she broke down saying she lied and had no real combat ability but was afraid they were going to leave her behind.  The team continued to act more aggressively and erratic, and she fled screaming into the cave begging for help.  The team let her go.

The group proceeded through a door and down a hallway.  They came upon a strange room filled with large stone menhirs and illuminated skulls swaying from chains.  Two gutted frost giants were splayed across two of the menhirs.  In the center of the room, bathing in their blood, was a debased nymph.  Her horrific blinding beauty struck several of the party blind as she attacked.  Deska wisely summoned a constrictor snake and a trio of fire elementals to try and keep pressure on her.  The nymph summoned an air elemental to pummel the team.  She then dropped a flame strike on the flanks of the team.  Deska’s summoned creatures were unable to really injure the nymph, but they severely curtailed her mobility and gave flanking opportunities for Kenwrec and All Might.  Magnus and All Might both discovered spiritual weapon spells were highly effective in the fight.  Greta and Magnus found themselves forced into healing allies due to the vicious air elemental.

Kenwrec accidentally provoked an attack of opportunity and was slashed by the nymph.  Her debilitating touch weakened him, and she focused several more attacks on him, rendering him unconscious.  She then used a coup de grace to slaughter him!  She then used dimension door to appear closer to the team, forcing even more to try and resist her blinding beauty.  Magnus quite astutely fled back out of range and continued to hurl spells while Deska caught the nymph in a tanglefoot bag!  The team swarmed in, and finally Tulvur was able to land a deathblow with his adamantine warhammer.

The team, gathered Kenwrec’s remains and brought them to blind Deska.  She cast reincarnate, and the proud dwarf returned to life… as an orc!

Game summary for July 4, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Denessia Rapidarma (Dwarf Gunslinger/Paladin played by Casey Scruggs), Deska Starseeker (Half-Elf Druid played by Kaliegh Belda), Ten-Penny Tacey (Half-Orc Rogue played by Shane Bradley), and Tulvur Xandersen (Dwarf Fighter played by Taylor Averdick). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team went down the tunnel and heard some shouting down the way.  However, they also found a stone door and decided to explore it instead.  They went down a hallway and found a large room filled with growing fungus.  Deska noticed a horned man hiding behind a mound.  She alerted her allies just in time as the man took to the air on bat-like wings and a terrible tendriculos surged upward and attacked!  The man, with his goat legs, hooves, and ram horns, used a suggestion to tempt Deska to move toward him.  He tried to charm her but failed all the while make horrific suggestive comments.  The plant creature snatched up and swallowed Denessia, however she was able to blast her way out with her pistol.  Tulvur was also snatched up and swallowed.  The tendriculos snatched Denessia back up off the ground to try and eat her again!  Greta and Deska tried to kill the flying man, but he proved resistant to weapons, spells, fire, and more.  Greta started hurting him with channeled negative energy.  Finally, Deska hit the tendriculos with a flame strike revealing its vulnerability to fire.  Denessia’s flaming bullets ripped into it as well.  Before long, that creature lay in a smoldering heap.  Deska spit poison at the flying man, but he just laughed.  He managed to charm Ten-Penny, and she grappled Denessia!  The group managed to injure him enough to flee down a hallway, the group used a scroll of dispel magic to remove the charm from their half-orc ally.  They nursed their wounds and took off down the hallway.

They came upon another really weird chamber divided into sections by wooden frames with beaded cloth stretched between them like walls.  Inside they found a brunette woman named Caigreal.  She told them she had been walking through the forest and suddenly appeared in the caves.  She seemed scared and even dropped her staff when they surprised her.  Deska talked to her for a while but could sense no deception.  Denessia was unable to detect evil upon her, although Greta still registers moderately so.  The group invited Caigreal to accompany them but warned she would have to fend for herself in battle.

The party went through a closed door through which Caigreal claimed the flying man had fled.  They found a room filled with dazzling light emanating from a six-inch hole in the floor.  Deska moved in to throw a blanket over it and was struck blind.  The party began to get injured by unseen assailants harming them with small sharp blades.  The team flailed about for a few moments as the whatever it was continued to wound them.  Deska plopped down on top of the shining hole, and in the dimmed light four light fairies appeared!  They used magic to blind two more party members and slashed viciously with their blades.  They could not withstand the onslaught of the team, however.  Greta dealt sheer angry damage with her axe, but Tulvur was particularly effective with the cold iron of Icebiter.

Finally, the group killed their assailants and recovered a magical gem from the hole in the floor.  Unfortunately, three of their part remained blind!

Game summary for June 27, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Denessia Rapidarma (Dwarf Gunslinger/Paladin played by Casey Scruggs), Deska Starseeker (Half-Elf Druid played by Kaliegh Belda), Kenwrec Battleglaive (Dwarf Slayer played by Peyton Harmon), Magnus Erlingsson (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Svala Alehorn (Dwarf Unchained Barbarian played by Todd Hughes), Ten-Penny Tacey (Half-Orc Rogue played by Shane Bradley), and Tulvur Xandersen (Dwarf Fighter played by Taylor Averdick). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team, rested from their encounter with the demons, continued through the forest toward Artrosa.  Along the way, they encountered a frightening cold rider fey astride a great boreal elk!  The creature dropped an ice storm on the party, but they retaliated with searing light and flame strike accompanied by arrows and bullets!  Kenwrec made it to the creature most quickly and suffered several bad injuries from its frosty glaive.  Most of the team got free of the ice storm and closed in.  Denessia aimed her pistol and shot it right between the eyes as Greta cut the elk out from under it.  The team looted the corpse, and Magnus questioned it with speak with dead.  They learned the fey was following the demons that had come from the frost giant camp further north.

After a few days’ travel, the team arrived at Artrosa.  Deska sent her serpentine owl figurine up to scout and discovered the Maiden statue had an entrance at the top surrounded by bones and a large tree.  She then used the power of the figurine to bring forth a giant owl, and she turned into a giant vulture.  Between them, they were able to ferry the party to the top as Erdija bade her farewells and returned to the centaur camp.

Atop the Maiden, they discovered a powerful witch tree with a disemboweled centaur in its clutches.  The tree demanded a sacrifice to pass.  The team spoke with it for a bit and finally revealed themselves to be Black Riders.  The tree reluctantly offered them a chance to solve a riddle to avoid a bloody sacrifice.  The team listened to the riddle and debated for a while until they collectively figured out the answer!  The disappointed tree allowed them safe passage and warned them half-a-dozen giants and a hammer-wielding centaur had gone in a day ahead of them.

The team progressed and heard two deep female voices arguing in some kind of broken mishmash of Giant, Goblin, and Orc languages.  They were discussing if they should have let the giants, escorted by the hag, to pass.  They thought maybe they should kill them on their way out.  The team entered the room and tried to talk to them in Common.  They learned the voices came from one creature, a female ettin!  She did not understand Common, so she opted to try and kill them.  She put an evil eye on Kenwrec and then forced him into deep slumber.  Svala charged and landed some good hits while Denessia opened fire.  Clever Ten-Penny moved for a flank as Tulvur strode up into the fight.  Deska hit the ettin with a flame strike, but she partially avoided it.  Greta kicked Kenwrec hard in the ribs to awaken him.  Magnus cast blessing of fervor on much of his team to bolster their abilities.  This greatly increased their effectiveness, and the team flanked and slaughtered the ettin with a barrage of rapier stabs, axe blows, and bullets.