Charles Plemons' Blog

Game summary for March 1, 2022, Classic Quest campaign, Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC Edition, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Arminious Ironkeep (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Garadal Davster (Halfling played by Parker Harmon), Katarina Magdanov (Human Magic-User played by Casey Scruggs), Koehan Rumisar (Elf played by Peyton Harmon), Levi Ackerman (Human Thief played by Andrew Renfrow), and Valor Eagleclaw (Human Fighter played by Preston Harmon). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons with special guest Referee Evelyn Renfrow.

The group set watch and tried to get some sleep.  At dusk, the team was attacked by a pair of rhagodessa!  The spider-like monsters snagged hold of several members of the party.  Koehan cast web but caught Garadal in it instead!  The team landed lots of blows quickly, and Levi and Stephan were able to take them down.  After a short rest, they cut Garadal free.

The team then traveled on to the Vault of the Elders.  Levi searched the door for traps and found none.  Koehan cast knock from the key and then cast continual light from it.  He opened the door, and the team entered.  Levi searched a stone sarcophagus for traps and did not find any.  The group began to remove the lid, and the dust in the room began to swirl about and coalesce into a solid form!  A swaddled Hutaakan corpse rose up and lurched to “lift” to attack the team!  Arminious and Katarina were paralyzed by the creature’s attacks.  The party learned only magical weapons and spells could harm it, so they moved in with magical blades and took it down! 

Game summary for February 22, 2022, Classic Quest campaign, Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC Edition, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Arminious Ironkeep (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Garadal Davster (Halfling played by Parker Harmon), Katarina Magdanov (Human Magic-User played by Casey Scruggs), Koehan Rumisar (Elf played by Peyton Harmon), and Valor Eagleclaw (Human Fighter played by Preston Harmon). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team discussed options with the Hutaakans and amongst themselves.  The priestess allowed them to examine the key to the tomb of the elders, and Koehan was able to determine it is merely a fancy metal scroll with the spells knock and continual light.  They realized Katarina already has the means to enter the tomb without the key but they still likely need the priestess to perform a holy ritual to Pflarr, so there is little to gain by getting the Knowledge of the Elders without her.  They debated the Traldar’s theory of needing the water from the Singing Pool, but they decided to believe the Hutaakans’ claim that it would not work.  They also considered if they can access the elders’ vault without the key using their arcane magic, so too could Golthar.  After much debate and discussion, they decided it is in the best interest of everyone to work with the Hutaakans and retrieve the book. 

The group burned the bodies of the dead to prevent them from rising up again (all but the Traldar slain by the Hutaakan whom they instead buried).  The team set out across the valley and narrowly avoided a Traldar patrol.  They crossed the road leading to Ronkan, the city currently occupied by the Traldar and hid themselves in the tall grass to await evening.  They plan to approach the tomb under the cover of darkness so as to avoid the Traldar, even though there is increased risk of running into the undead. 

Game summary for February 15, 2022, Classic Quest campaign, Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC Edition, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Arminious Ironkeep (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Garadal Davster (Halfling played by Parker Harmon), Katarina Magdanov (Human Magic-User played by Casey Scruggs), Koehan Rumisar (Elf played by Peyton Harmon), and Valor Eagleclaw (Human Fighter played by Preston Harmon). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The undead closed in as the party spun about.  Garadal fell back and unleashed a volley of arrows.  Katarina and Koehan began firing magic missiles and Arminious attempted to turn the undead!  It staggered several for a moment, but then they fell back in step with the rest.  Stephan step in to help protect Katarina, and Valor brought the fight to the dead.  The Hutaakans began trying to turn the undead and swung their maces.  The terrified Traldar ran into the middle of the group and cowered.  One of the Hutaakan priestesses stepped up and killed the Traldar with her mace!  Katarina rushed in and muscled her to the ground. 

The undead killed several Hutaakans, but as the battle wore on, more undead fell than the living.  After a while, despite many grievous wounds, the living began to overcome the undead horde.  The Hutaakans held their own against the dead fairly well as well.  In the aftermath, the two sides stood facing one another with the slain lying all around.  The high priestess asked the team to help them put an end to the undead hordes by retrieving the tome and enacting the ritual within.   

Game summary for February 1, 2022, Classic Quest campaign, Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC Edition, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Arminious Ironkeep (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Garadal Davster (Halfling played by Parker Harmon), Katarina Magdanov (Human Magic-User played by Casey Scruggs), Koehan Rumisar (Elf played by Peyton Harmon), and Valor Eagleclaw (Human Fighter played by Preston Harmon). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team traveled on and found a dead human by a copse of trees.  While investigating, more humans emerged from the trees astride giant lizards!  The men immediately assumed the party had killed their friend.  They began talking in archaic Traladaran, which several in the party could speak.  After a few tense moments, they convinced them they had not killed him.  They learned these are the Traldar and they are at war with the Hutaakans.  They told the party the Hutaakans are raising armies of the dead to kill them and they undead attack their villages every night.  They agreed to take the party to speak to their chief, Guri-Ben-Kaal.  The party was amazed to learn some Traldar have an astounding vocal ability to scream out and send some kind of coded signals across the valley. 

The party set out into the woods with the Traldar as night approached.  They made camp in a fortified shrine.  The Traldar were visibly terrified of the falling darkness and said the dead approached at night.  Shortly after dark, they heard chanting like nothing any of them had ever heard.  The vocal Traldar yelled out across the valley, and they received orders to stop this group of chanting Hutaakans from doing whatever rituals they were doing.  Going out into the night was too much though, and the Traldar shamefully decided not to go.  The party tried to convince them to come with but only succeeded in getting two to agree. 

They all got astride the lizards and shot out into the woods in a wild ride through the dark.  The lizards could see, but most of the party could night!  The harrowing ride was fast and brief but certainly exhilarating.  After a short while following the chanting they found torches burning and over a dozen Hutaakan priests performing some kind of ceremony.  They team charged in and disrupted things.  The Hutaakans were shocked and didn’t know what to think about these strange humans.

The high priestess, Kforedz, told them the Traldar were causing the undead to rise because they had sacked the temple and angered The One.  The Hutaakans were desperately trying to a ritual to appease it and their angered deity Pflarr.  She told them she believes they need the Knowledge of the Elders, an ancient tome, from the Vault of the Elders to return things to normal.  The Traldar scoffed and said only filling the altar bowl with water from the Singing Pool would appease the entity.  Kforedz said they never actually needed the water from the pool and just told the Traldar that to keep them busy.

Before a huge argument could erupt, a spear burst through the back of one of the Traldar!  A horde of undead had closed in around them in the darkness!  The Hutaakans fell back in fear shouting, “They are upon us!” as the party drew their weapons!

Game summary for January 4, 2022, Classic Quest campaign, Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC Edition, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Arminious Ironkeep (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Garadal Davster (Halfling played by Parker Harmon), Katarina Magdanov (Human Magic-User played by Casey Scruggs), Koehan Rumisar (Elf played by Peyton Harmon), and Valor Eagleclaw (Human Fighter played by Preston Harmon). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The group headed north from the village and found a decrepit bridge over the river.  They crossed carefully, and after they passed the middle section collapsed into the waters.  They continued along the road and found another shrine, but this one was not as damaged as the others.  Beyond, the road continued into the forest but was fairly overgrown.  A few miles into the forest, they started noticing wasps.  Lots of wasps.  The further they traveled, the more wasps buzzed around, and the insects seemed to be getting annoyed by their presence.  After discussing awhile, the left the forest and returned to the bridge.  Koehan cast a web spell to try and plug the gap in the bridge, and it held well enough for them to pass. 

Taking the southern route, they came upon a fountain.  It was no longer functional, but there was still stagnant water standing in the basin.  A few mosquitoes buzzed about while the team examined some fresh lizard footprints on the ground. 

The team traveled along the road for some time before coming across a damaged shrine right as dusk settled.  Koehan located a small but defensible bluff to make camp.  As night began to settle in, the team could hear a loud cry or howl off in the distance.  Soon after, an answering call rang from deeper in the valley.  Neither Koehan nor Arminious knew what kind of animal or creature could make such a sound but knew it had to be very loud to be heard so far away. 

After night blanketed the valley in darkness, only Koehan could really see.  In the distance, he could make out movement around the shrine, so he went scouting.  He discovered several undead Hutaakans performing some kind of ceremony.  He watched a while before returning to tell the team. 

The next day, they set out further down the road and could see a large lake in the distance to the northwest.  Off in the distance, they could hear the same howls as the night before.  The party turned and followed the southwestern road running alongside a river.  Before long, they came across a small village.  Inside they discovered a small church or temple.  Inside, it had been ransacked, but seven undead Hutaakans stood milling about in the back!  The creatures did not move to bother the party or react in any way, so the group closed the doors and left. 

After searching the village and finding nothing else of real interest, they went across the bridge over the nearby river. 

Game summary for December 21, 2021, Classic Quest campaign, Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC Edition, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Arminious Ironkeep (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Garadal Davster (Halfling played by Parker Harmon), Grozzadeth Boulderback (Dwarf played by Kaliegh Belda), Katarina Magdanov (Human Magic-User played by Casey Scruggs), Koehan Rumisar (Elf played by Peyton Harmon), and Valor Eagleclaw (Human Fighter played by Preston Harmon). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team traveled on and found another village.  While exploring, they encountered a pair of hellhounds rushing out of the ruins!  Both converged on Kalana, biting and breathing fire!  The priestess was unable to withstand the brutal attack and died quickly.  Once they regrouped, the team was able to quickly defeat the hellhounds and bury their fallen ally.

Digging the grave took some time, and they decided to make camp in one of the roofless ruins. During Grozzadeth’s watch, four massive bats flew in and attacked!  The team scrambled to wake up and fight!  Katarina warded herself with shield while Arminious illuminated the darkness with a torch allowing everyone to take up the battle.  With the bats now visible, the group converged and started taking them down.  The bats inflicted several wounds but could not withstand the entire team. 

Game summary for December 14, 2021, Classic Quest campaign, Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC Edition, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Garadal Davster (Halfling played by Parker Harmon), Koehan Rumisar (Elf played by Peyton Harmon), and Valor Eagleclaw (Human Fighter played by Preston Harmon). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The party headed out of the village and came across an ornate arch.  They investigated and found a pair of mountain lions!  The lions attacked the party but one was driven off and the other slain.  After the skirmish, the team headed further into the valley.

They came upon a bridge and looked under it for trolls.  They began to cross and heard buzzing.  Half a dozen stirges rose up and attacked!  In moments, the parasites had attached themselves to multiple party members and were plumping up with drained blood!  Blood sprayed everywhere as the party began slaying stirges.  The blood-slicked bridge was a hazardous mess by the time the fight was finished.

The team spent the night in a small hovel, and Valor spotted some more Hutaakan undead, zombies and skeletons, in the night but decided not to follow.  The next day they came upon another village and searched it finding much the same as the first.  They also discovered lots of lizard footprints and tracked them to a shrine.  They discovered the shrine had been desecrated and found footprints and evidence of living humans! 

Game summary for December 7, 2021, Classic Quest campaign, Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC Edition, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Arminious Ironkeep (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Garadal Davster (Halfling played by Parker Harmon), Katarina Magdanov (Human Magic-User played by Casey Scruggs), Koehan Rumisar (Elf played by Peyton Harmon), and Valor Eagleclaw (Human Fighter played by Preston Harmon). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The group followed the undead to a farmhouse and found more zombie Hutaakans farming (ineffectively).  The team stayed the night in the house, and Koehan watched the undead stop farming early in the morning and head off into the night.  In the morning, the group went back to the road and continued traveling.

They came upon a shrine and found it had been desecrated.  A while later they came upon an old village and began exploring.  They found the remains of a zombie that was badly burned and partially devoured.  Around it they found gory canine footprints.  Throughout the village they found long dead bodies from some skirmish between what they assume to be Hutaakans and humans.  They are starting to develop a theory that either the two races had a falling out or a faction of one or the other turned on the rest. 

Game summary for November 30, 2021, Classic Quest campaign, Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC Edition, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Arminious Ironkeep (Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Garadal Davster (Halfling played by Parker Harmon), Katarina Magdanov (Magic-User played by Casey Scruggs), Koehan Rumisar (Elf played by Peyton Harmon), and Valor Eagleclaw (Fighter played by Preston Harmon). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

Arminious took a sling and drove off the lizard.  He then used the ropes and crossed the rockslide.  Then, Katarina had the idea of using the wand of polymorph again.  They debated a while and decided for her to shift into a pegasus form.  She then scouted ahead and found the road crossed a fallen bridge up to some impressive gates.  Katarina returned to the party and shifted back to human form.  They decided to use the wand again and ferry everyone to the gates rather than continue trying to ascend along the treacherous roadway.

It took a couple hours to fly everyone back and forth, but eventually Katarina ferried everyone to the other side of the gates.  They went and examined the hieroglyphics all over the gates and discovered they told a story.  They deduced the Hutaakans fled to this valley along with a group of bald humans.  Best they could tell, they had been chased here by gnolls! 

The team set out along the road in search of a place to camp for the night.  Koehan found clawed humanoid tracks crossing their path and tracked back the way they came.  He could see a group of Hutaakans farming in the dark.  He came back and reported to the party before tracking the other direction.  He found another group of Hutaakans drawing water from a well.  Koehan came back to the party, and they decided to wait on the road for the well Hutaakans to come back to the farm so they could try and talk to them.

After a while, the Hutaakans appeared over a hill carrying sloshing buckets of water.  Oddly, some of the buckets were in terrible shape and leaking water everywhere.  Then, the smell hit them.  The party was horrified to discover these Hutaakans were undead!  The shambling dead completely ignored the team and shuffled past.