Charles Plemons' Blog

Game summary for May 23, 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 raven repeated its riddle and the team entered the adjoining room.  They found a sparse bedroom with a bloodstained sheet.  The team looked around, and Deska blew out the candle plunging the room into darkness.  When she re-lit the calendar, and flickering, hazy woman stood beside her!  Some of the party recognized her as Yelizaveta, the 13th queen of Irrisen who disappeared at the ascension of Queen Elvanna one hundred years ago.  The began drawing forth negative energy and using extreme fear against the party.  The group tricked her by bowing to her and feigning to be her loyal subjects, and she ranted about her wishes to leave this room and have her vengeance against Baba Yaga.  The group then ran from the room and told the riddle answer to the crow.  He awarded them an amulet in return marked with the Iobarian word “Artrosa” which is a row of three gigantic statues carved into the confluence of three mountains.

The group traveled on and found the chamber of night and met another of the Liar Seers.  They went into a room with a stone platform, a table with five silver goblets, and a large area of shallow water.  The team could not translate the writing on the cups, so Magnus drank from one causing stone steps to rise up and a light shine down upon a cage nestled in an alcove.  Ten-Penny, Tulvur, and Kenwrec went to investigate and retrieved an hourglass from the cage.  Ten-Penny, however, touched the water and nearly drowned from some kind of magical affliction.  The team continued drinking from goblets and causing steps to rise.  They tried to discover a timing pattern to the stepping stones rising and lowering from the water.  Eventually, Ten-Penny revived from her near drowning and suggested they use spider climb to avoid the water entirely, which the team eagerly tried successfully.  They then returned to the raven oracle and presented the hourglass.  The raven presented them with additional information and another amulet marked with a word they failed to translate.

Game summary for May 9, 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 eased up onto the porch of the Dancing Hut and could see it was larger inside than outside!  Deska touched the chain holding the hut, and it shattered!  The group then entered and began to explore.  The main room held a massive cauldron and shelves of various magical and alchemical items.  The group explored the loft overhead and then went through some double doors to discover a bizarre room with a magical map of Irrisen surrounded by iron thrones.  A bone golem rose up and attacked the party nearly killing Ten-Penny!  Denessia slowed it with positive energy which drastically reduced its effectiveness.  The team swarmed in and flanked it, and Kenwrec was able to bring it down.

The group then discovered a great library and learned a bit more about the hut.  The took the magical index with them and then threw the two keys they received from the Black Rider into the cauldron.  They were surprised to find the room shifted a bit, and the only exit now went into a seemingly infinite hallway.  Deska used her serpentine owl to scout and found some double doors.  The team approached and found an emblem resembling the dawn etched upon it.  Inside, they encountered an albino raven!  Ten-Penny recognized it as one of Baba Yaga’s “Liar Seers”.  It posed to them a riddle and offered to help them if they not only solved the riddle but also faced the answer to the riddle and learn its desire…

Game summary for May 2, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: All Might (Human Warpriest played by Andrew Renfrow), Svala Alehorn (Dwarf Unchained Barbarian played by Todd Hughes), Ten-Penny Tacey (Half-Orc Rogue played by Shane Bradley), and Tiswichtt (Orc Witch played by Casey Scruggs). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team advanced upon the final dawn piper and prepared to engage.  A spriggan emerged from the woods and grew to large size!  It attacked Svala as Greta charged the piper.  The dawn piper caught Ringeirr and Tiswichtt in an aqueous orb in which the ranger eventually drowned as it rolled through the forest.  Tiswichtt, however, broke free.  Ten-Penny was able to slip in and slay the spriggan, allowing the team to focus on the piper.  All Might found his cold iron battleaxe particularly effective against the fey, especially after he blessed the entire party.  The piper tried to unleash its blinding beauty but to limited effect.  Soon, it was cut down and the elemental fonts shut off.

With the way to the Dancing Hut open, the team swarmed in only to be confronted by an ice golem and the White Witch, Nazhena Vasilliovna!  She told the team they had taken too much from her already, her tower and her apprentice.  They would not also take the Dancing Hut!  She summoned an ice mephit and then flew 30 ft. up into the air.  Svala moved up and hit the ice golem with her axe but found it quite resistant to damage.  Tiswichtt advanced and unleashed an empowered burning hands, but to her horror, it just rolled over the golem to no avail!  Meanwhile, Ten-Penny activated her rimepelt to shapeshift into a winter wolf!  Nazhena then separated the party with a wall of ice which slowed them tremendously.  Greta, All Might, and Ten-Penny all struggled to get past the wall while the mephit and golem both breathed cold upon Tiswichtt and Svala, sickening them.  Tiswichtt hit the White Witch with a lightning bolt.

Nazhena used a slumber hex upon Tiswichtt, but Ten-Penny was able to nudge her awake.  Tiswichtt hurled a molten orb upon Nazhena while the mephit her Tiswichtt with magic missiles!  The golem also hit her with its clubbing limbs, staggering her.  All Might cast spiritual weapon and began driving the witch back.  Svala chopped down the ice mephit while Greta chopped down the ice golem.  Nazhena cast ice storm to devastating effect, killing Tiswichtt!  All Might charged on his horse and hurled his axe at the witch, narrowly missing her.  Ten-Penny leapt into air and hit the witch with a cold breath weapon.  Svala used a lasso to snag Nazhena and pull her lower.  Ten-Penny was able to jump again and rip out the White Witch’s throat!  The team mourned the loss of Tiswichtt and prepared to enter the Dancing Hut!

Game summary for April 25, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Kenwrec Battleglaive (Dwarf 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 proceeded to the dawn piper’s tree and found her standing about ten feet up.  She warned the team to leave, but the group swarmed in.  Magnus jumped up and hit her as a twigjack emerged and blasted the team with thorns.  The dawn piper activated a fly spell and rose into the air activating her terrible beauty which struck Ten-Penny blind as Greta chopped down the tree.  Tulvur shrugged off his shield and started firing crossbow bolts with amazing accuracy.  The dawn piper charmed Kenwrec who nearly killed Ringeirr.  Ten-Penny slipped a few sneak attacks in with her hand crossbow between moments of being blinded.  Magnus hurled spell after spell at the dawn piper with frustratingly little effect.  Greta hurled icicles from her finger repeatedly with some effect.  The twigjack was taken down quickly, but the dawn piper continued to fly about hurling spells and causing mayhem.  Finally, Tulvur placed a well-aimed bolt and killed it and destroying its elemental font.

Game summary for April 20, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: All Might (Human Warpriest played by Andrew Renfrow), 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 traveling through the wooded maze and discovered another home surrounded by trees.  As they explored, a female winter wolf came charging out ordering the team to form up in a protection ring and escort her out of the woods.  The team talked to her and she continued to bark orders.  They found three of the Winter Guard inside the home dead from earlier injuries.  They turned their back on her and walked way, which enraged the wolf.  So, she breathed a cone of cold over all of them!  She then charged Deska and began mauling the team.  They were able to recover quickly and fight back.  In short order, the wolf was defeated.  Greta then taught them how to skin the wolf to create a rimepelt.

Further down the path, the team encountered three men and three women coming out of a home and drinking wine around a large campfire.  The men were obviously drunk, and the women were stunningly beautiful redheads.  They offered to share their wine; Deska tried to pretend to drink, but they noticed and encouraged her, so she sipped the wine.  Ten-Penny also tasted the wine, and both agreed it was delicious.  The team wanted to leave, but the women begged them to stay, and for some reason Ten-Penny plopped down and drank with them.  Soon, Tulvur was sitting with them as well.  Deska went inside and started the cottage on fire and slipped back outside.  However, she found herself sitting calmly on a log as the flames engulfed the house.  The women became angry at the destroyed wine within and attacked, their beauty shifting into hideous monstrous visages.  All Might fought valiantly alongside his warhorse, but he took several devastating shots.  The drunken men attacked, and surprisingly, so did Ten-Penny and Tulvur!  Ten-Penny began brutally injuring Greta, and the barbarian woman had to fight her way out.  She cut a drunken man in half with a single swing of her axe and fended off several attacks from Ten-Penny, but several more slipped through.  Deska shook off whatever was affecting her and transformed into a polar bear!  She began mauling their enemies as All Might’s horse trampled one of the creatures.  Finally, the team killed the last of the three women, and their charmed allies shook off the supernatural effect.

With numerous wounds inflicted by their own colleagues, the team took a few moments to try and patch themselves up.

Game summary for April 11, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: 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 Tiswichtt (Orc Witch played by Casey Scruggs). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team advanced into the mystical woods and discovered a reality siphon blocking the way to the Dancing Hut!  The team began to explore and found a dawn piper playing a flute and standing upon a stone platform orbited by six boulders.  The team spoke with him, and he warned them to leave.  They backed off, and Deska used wild shape to scout the area.  She saw two more dawn pipers from her higher vantage.  The team decided to ambush the dawn piper on the platform.  Ten-Penny drank potions of invisibility and pass without trace.  She borrowed Deska’s magical robe and snuck up on the piper as the team tried to distract him from a different direction.  Ten-Penny used a magical patch from the robe to open up a pit in the platform, but the nimble piper perched on the edge precariously instead of plunging in!  Magnus hurled himself across the snow, dodging the orbiting rocks, leapt into the air, and bull rushed the dawn piper!  He blasted the fey off the platform down to ground on the back side of the platform and narrowly avoided falling into the pit himself!

The team swarmed in, and Kenwrec began grappling the fey.  It activated a spiked pit spell and plunged Tiswichtt in, but she drifted safely to the ground via feather fall.  She was able to extract herself with her flight hex.  Svala maneuvered in as the dawn piper unleashed its terrible aura which struck three of the party blind.  The group landed several solid blows, but the dawn piper activated calm emotions, which forced peace upon several of the team.  Meanwhile, Deska swooped in, grabbed, and broke the piper’s flute!  The piper tried to make some difference and dropped his guard just long enough for Svala to decapitate him with a devastating axe blow!

The group decided to seek the strange tree near a second dawn piper because they believed if they could eliminate the pipers, they could bring down the reality siphon.  As they moved through the maze, horrific perytons attacked!  The creatures were extremely dangerous with brutal attacks.  The creatures stole the likeness of several of the team’s shadows which made them even more effective against the party.  The nerve of some of the party broke, and the team began to scatter, but several rallied and were able to kill the perytons!

Game summary for April 6, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Deska Starseeker (Half-Elf Druid played by Kaliegh Belda), 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 ascended to the third floor and released Bella Belvorica from a locked room.  They tried to convince her to help them ambush the dragon, but she was too scared.  Deska took eagle form and flew out a window to look around.  She found the dragon crouched above waiting to ambush them.  The group used a wand of spider climb to be able to scurry out the windows and swarm up over the sides of the tower level.  The team surprised the dragon and quickly cut it down despite taking a few heavy blows.  The group dug a wealth of treasure out of the ice and set off the fireworks to unleash revolution.  The team then went back to the shrine of Milani to nurse wounds and prepare for a charge for the Dancing Hut.

The group went to the maze of trees in Market Square surrounding the Dancing Hut.  They charged a trio of ice trolls, and with the help of Deska and Svala, burned them all up.  The team then found a house perched precariously up in the boughs of the magical forest.  Ten-Penny climbed up and found a man with a broken leg and two children.  The man begged Ten-Penny to save his children.  Meanwhile, Tulvur tried to climb up and dislodged the entire structure!  The crash resulted in serious injury to the dwarf and the man.  The two children, unfortunately, died in the fall.  The team helped the poor man nurse his wounds and bury his two kids.

Game summary for March 28, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Kenwrec Battleglaive (Dwarf Slayer played by Peyton Harmon), Magnus Erlingsson (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Ten-Penny Tacey (Half-Orc Rogue played by Shane Bradley), and Tiswichtt (Orc Witch played by Casey Scruggs). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team had the brilliant idea of slipping the kids out the window instead of out into the courtyard, so they let them all go free.  The group went up the stairs, and Magnus encountered an attic whisperer, a strange type of child-like undead.  They conversed for a while, with Magnus kind of making friends with it.  It warned them of the Gobbler in the kitchen.

The group swept into the kitchen and found the stove animated and roared to life!  Revealed, the Gobbler attacked.  The team swarmed around it and found their weapons bouncing off its iron sides.  It snatched up Tiswichtt and swallowed her whole into its burning gullet!  Magnus unleashed a spiritual weapon as the team continued to nick and scratch the thing.  Greta landed a few blows until luck failed her.  Magnus and Kenwrec scuffed it before it bit down on Magnus and started to swallow him as well!  Realizing the stove was animated by the spirits of the slain children, Magnus channeled positive energy in a destructive blast.  Inside the stove, Tiswichtt used alchemical liquid ice vials to damage and weaken the monstrosity until she finally destroyed it from within!

Next, the team encountered Granny Nan, a horrible old witch, talking to the attic whisperer.  Both attacked the party.  Ten-Penny slipped in for some flanking while the front line advanced.  Ten-Penny was able to slay the attic whisperer and advance on Granny Nan.  Magnus and Greta closed in but were frustrated by Granny Nan’s blink spell, which caused numerous attacks to miss her outright.  She cast hold person at Ten-Penny without effect.  Kenwrec moved to flank, and Granny Nan slapped him up and down with her cane but was so weak it didn’t harm him.  Finally, Ten-Penny landed a sneak attack to bring down the witch!

The group continued exploring and found the water closet.  They rescued another young girl and let her out the same window as the other children.  At last, they looted Granny Nan’s room and stole her half knit mittens.  The team then gathered at the stairs to advance to another level.