Reign of Winter — Game Session — 046

Game summary for October 24, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Alfbern Winterbloom (Half-Elf Inquisitor played by Preston Harmon), Denessia Rapidarma (Dwarf Gunslinger/Paladin played by Casey Scruggs), Kenwrec Battleglaive (Kobold Slayer played by Peyton Harmon), Koloth Kruge (Centaur Ranger played by Parker Harmon), Magnus Erlingsson (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), and Ten-Penny Tacey (Halfling Rogue played by Shane Bradley). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team entered the storehouse and encountered a lone denizen of Leng!  They were a bit shocked to see such a creature and engaged it in conversation.  It offered to take them to its master to discuss business.  It led them across the hallway where a moon-beast emerged!  It tried to get them to trade one or more of the party members to it for information.  When they refused, it attacked!

The moon-beast tried to dominate Magnus but failed.  However, it managed to dominate Ten-Penny.  The denizen and Ten-Penny flanked Alfbern and injured him severely.  Meanwhile, Denessia began smiting the moon-beast using her pistol and broke it on a misfire!  Koloth injured the denizen, and Kenwrec studied it and was able to slay it, but not before it was able to drain all of Magnus’ dexterity and cripple him!  The moon-beast tried to dominate Greta and failed.  Finally, Alfbern’s bear companion scored a critical hit and then pawed the moon-beast to death!

The group was unable to restore Magnus, so he was left paralyzed on the floor as they ransacked the room and corpses.  They found the denizen carried several rubies, and they noticed a figure trapped inside one!  Alfbern broke it open and released a strange creature named Zilvazaraat.  He claimed to be a merchant interested in magical items, and traded the team two scrolls of restoration for a magical flail they were carrying.  He then presented them with an obsidian raven and told them to use it to call him into safe areas to conduct further trade.

Halloween Hootenanny XII — Dread Roleplaying Game — Cabin in the Woods

Game summary for October 21, 2017, Cabin in the Woods campaign, Dread Roleplaying Game, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Alex Smith (Human played by Taylor Averdick), Cerinitee Jones (Human played by Casey Scruggs), Elliott Samuels (Human played by Kaliegh Belda as secondary), Jimothy Belfry (Human played by Colby Westerfield), Robert Andrew Renfrow (Human played by Andrew Renfrow), Ruby Fontaine (Human played by Kaliegh Belda), Spencer Durham (Human played by Shane Bradley), and Wyle Cumberbatch (Human played by Todd Hughes). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The group arrived at the Myers & Krueger Cabin Retreat on the shores of beautiful Crystal Lake without incident.  They were greeted by Sheryl Thompson who was very excited to meet them.  She took them into their large cabin and told them to introduce themselves to one another and pick bunkmates and then meet back up in the main room in an hour.  For some reason, there was a rubber hamburger toy sitting in the room.  Sheryl took it and apologized for having something out of place.

The group made introductions and began to explore.  Cerinitee and Ruby went swimming in the heated pool.  Mr. Renfrow went into the kitchen and had an awkward interaction with Penelope and backed out of the room.  Spencer took a nap on the couch while Jim stood back and just watched people.  Alex went to the shed and met Roscoe the maintenance man and then went and looked around the boathouse.  Wyle went to the barn and talked to Sheryl.  She got Roscoe to help him saddle a horse and go for a short ride on some of the trails before the meet-up.  Meanwhile, Ruby discovered the only alcohol was peach schnapps brought by Alex.  She started partaking quite liberally.

The team gathered for their first meeting right before dinner.  Sheryl started trying to break the ice and get people talking about some goals for the weekend.  Meanwhile, a storm rolled in.  As Penelope served a meatless dinner, the storm knocked out the power.  Jim went out to start the generator in the pouring rain where he ran into Roscoe who was trying to do the same.  While there, the team heard horrendous sounds of pain and fear from the barn.  Jim and Roscoe ran over to investigate and found all three horses had been gored and ripped apart!  They found shark teeth in some of the wounds.

Obviously shaken, Roscoe and Jim returned to the group.  Sheryl went to see the barn while Alex, Andrew, and Spencer made the half-mile hike down the road to the ranger station.  They discovered the car damaged and the ranger dead, his keys missing.  They were able to operate the radio and call for help.  Andrew took his gun and ammunition.  They returned about the time the group discovered a wedding cake topper and plastic jack-o-lantern sitting among their stuff.  Wyle found Sheryl terribly injured in the barn and wrapped her in a blanket and rope.  He took the pitchfork and dragged her back to the cabin.  He performed first aid, and she was able to tell them she was gored by a great black bull with fiery red eyes and a mouth full of rows of shark teeth!

Spencer went about locking the doors and was nearly decapitated by a zombie-like woman in a wedding dress dragging a large axe.  He dodged as the glass shattered around him, and Andrew came forward with his pistol and shot her once with no real effect.  She went around the side of the cabin dragging her axe and dripping maggots.  Alex ran about making lines of salt across the doorways and making what he called “protective circles” of salt on each floor until he ran out of salt.  The group then barricaded themselves into several of the upstairs rooms.

Spencer looked out the window and saw a scarecrow man sitting on a stump carving a pumpkin.  He turned it toward Spencer, and it looked like him!  It then impaled it with its knife.  Meanwhile, Ruby slipped downstairs and noticed the shed was on fire.  As she watched, it exploded and blew the glass out of the window all over her and knocking out the power.  Horrified she ran to the bathroom to see the damage.  As she looked herself over, the corpse bride appeared and tried to chop her up!  She was able to get past her and run back upstairs and into one of the rooms.

The group noticed the bull and corpse bride circling the house while the scarecrow man seemed to make torches over by a stump.  They decided they could not stay here.  Perhaps they could find another cabin with a vehicle?  They knew they needed to transport Sheryl somehow.  They had the idea of putting her in one of the kayaks and dragging her through the woods.  The group ran toward the boathouse, but the bull came out of the darkness charging right at Andrew!  He shot it several times, and it veered off and impaled Penelope!  It carried her off on its horn and threw her to the ground.  It opened its impossibly wide shark mouth and bit her head from her shoulders.

The group got the kayak, and Cerinitee put a rope on it and began pulling.  The group fled up into the mountain trails.  They came upon a very old homesteader cabin.  Inside, Ruby found a loose board and an ancient leather book.  She pried the lock open and found it filled with obscene rituals and pictures but was written in a language she did not know.  She did recognize a picture of the scarecrow man.  She explained what she found, but the team continued going for the moment.  As they traveled, the scarecrow man rushed out of the woods.  Ruby pulled out the rest of the alcohol, hurled it at him, and set it on fire!  He went screaming into the woods.  Thankfully the recent downpour prevented a forest fire.

They arrived at another cabin and Ruby nearly got shot by the occupant because she was shining a flashlight into the bedroom window.  Cerinitee was able to talk him down.  They convinced him to take his mini car and take Sheryl to the hospital.  He left them his shotgun, so Wyle took possession.  Soon after the corpse bride tried to decapitate Wyle, but he managed to blast her head from her shoulders.  Ruby snatched up the fallen axe and hacked the body to pieces.

They looked all over the cabin and barricaded the doors with a mattress and couch cushions.  Ruby noticed the still-smoking scarecrow coming out of the woods, and he hurled a flaming pumpkin at her!  She climbed through the window and charged him with the axe!  He caught her arm with ease and drove his wicked curved knife up through her chin into her brain.  Meanwhile the rest of the team fled in terror.

They came upon another cabin, this one occupied by grizzled rancher Elliott Samuels.  He had several shotguns, some whiskey, and an attitude.  When the bull arrived, he shot it with two shotguns, which seemed to just piss it off.  It charged, but Wyle caught the charge with the pitchfork and drove it upwards where it stuck its horns into the wood frame around the door.  It kicked violently as Elliott tried to slit its throat with his hunting knife with little effect.  Andrew unloaded a magazine into it, and Wyle wedged the shotgun under its chin and pulled the trigger.  Alex then dislodged the bull.  Spencer knelt over it, and its eyes blazed to life once again!  Using the kitchen knife, he attacked it and found the blade worked to great effect.  He was able to kill the savage beast.

The group realized the book Ruby found may have the key for getting rid of the scarecrow man, so they waited until he got near and dosed him with whiskey.  Elliott then set him back on fire.  The group then ran back down the mountain to find Ruby’s body and the book.  Wyle was able to figure out a ritual to get rid of the demon occupying the scarecrow.  It required fairly fresh human blood, a hollowed out pumpkin, a stump, and the scarecrow man’s own knife.  They found a pumpkin on the stoop, and Elliott hauled Ruby’s body up in a tree and bled out a mason jar full of blood.  The team headed back to the original cabin and the stump they saw the scarecrow sitting on earlier.  As they traveled, they hollowed out the pumpkin and filled it with blood.  Alex salted it for good measure.  Cerinitee ran into the woods to act as bait and got its attention!  She led it into the group who used a rope to trip it.  The blade went flying, and Alex scooped it up and drive the blade into the prepared pumpkin.  It flashed with unholy energy, and a fissure into hell opened up and pulled down the scarecrow’s demonic occupant.

Just as the dust began to settle, the authorities arrived to investigate…

Reign of Winter — Game Session — 045

Game summary for October 19, 2017, Reign of Winter campaign, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Deska Starseeker (Half-Elf Druid played by Kaliegh Belda), Ten-Penny Tacey (Halfling Rogue played by Shane Bradley), and Tulvur Xandersen (Dwarf Fighter played by Taylor Averdick). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

Deska opened the door to the Dancing Hut and was immediately warned to stay outside by Ratibor the Bold.  Deska revealed Baba Yaga’s cookbook and enacted the ritual to free him!  He stepped outside and declared his intention to resume his quest to conquer all of Iobaria.  The team tried to dissuade him and get him to come with them instead, but instead they made him angry.  Finally, they departed each others’ company.

The team entered the Dancing Hut and placed the blue dragon scale and gold nugget in the cauldron.  Once again, reality shifted, and they found themselves in an ornate glassed-in gazebo in a great garden.  Deska sent her magical owl to scout around, and they were most interested in a clearing containing a stump upon which sat a gray cat.

The group went to the cat and learned it could speak!  They discovered its name is Syvet, and its “master” is missing Queen Yelizaveta.  The cat said it is afraid she died around 100 years ago, but it believes she has been unable to find peace.  Deska moved to pet the cat and realized it was barely in control of itself.  Suddenly, the stump split open to reveal sharp fangs and tentacles rose up all around.  The wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing pulled several of the party in close and began biting them.  Deska turned into a mastodon and began goring the stump.  Tulvur and Greta slashed away as Ten-Penny hit it with a magical ice spear.  As the entity died, the cat thanked Deska for its release.  Intrigued, she cast reincarnate upon it, and Syvet came back as an orc.  She told them she had been killed by the aberration long ago and had somehow merged consciousness with it.  Syvet was a bit unsteady and trying to get used to her new form.  Deska put her on her mastodon back and carried her around.

The team went to investigate a storage building the owl had spotted.  In the trees they were ambushed by a pair of moonflowers!  The deadly plants blinded half the party with a flash of light and then swallowed Tulvur.  He was encased in a constricting acidic cocoon and spit out upon the ground.  Ten-Penny drank a ditch dram admixture to heal injuries and turn invisible.  She then started trying to cut Tulvur out of the cocoon.  Meanwhile, Deska the blind mastodon struggled alongside Greta to fight off the plants.  Greta’s axe seemed to cut deep wounds, but Deska’s tusks were quite ineffective.  Eventually Deska regained her sight, shifted into large fire elemental form, and used Natural Spell to cast multiple flame strikes upon the plants to great effect.  Ten-Penny freed Tulvur just in time, and the team defeated the plants.

Reign of Winter — Game Session — 044

Game summary for October 10, 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), Kenwrec Battleglaive (Kobold Slayer played by Peyton Harmon), Magnus Erlingsson (Human Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Svala Alehorn (Orc Unchained Barbarian played by Todd Hughes), and Ten-Penny Tacey (Half-Orc Rogue played by Shane Bradley). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team cast a number of spells upon Denessia for protection and then sent her down the spiral of the Eon Pit to retrieve the key to Baba Yaga’s Dancing Hut.  She found it easily, and she withstood most of the ravages of the curse; however, at nearly the top, her mind buckled under the pressure!  She began drooling and babbling.  Bravely, and with no protection, Magnus hurtled down the stairs to rescue her.  He shook off the effects of the pit and saved his companion.  They learned that her mind was badly damaged, and she had become erratic and somewhat unpredictable.

They talked to Jadrenka again, and she mentioned some other visitors inside Artrosa that Caigreal had let in.  She led them to a forest and a meditating upasunda asura.  The dangerous woman was intrigued by the party and eagerly engaged them in battle despite their attempt at diplomacy!  She hit several with a rainbow pattern, but the team was able to shake their fascinated allies out of it.  She then activated haste and ran amok among the team.  She became a dervish of death, slaying both Ten-Penny and All Might and badly injuring Kenwrec.  Denessia, in moments of clarity, smited the creature but then accidently blew up her pistol.  Magnus, Greta, and Svala closed in, and finally Svala (enhanced by her newfound orc strength, rage, and Greta’s bull’s strength) chopped the creature down!  The team collected the monster’s treasures and left Artrosa.  On the way back to the Dancing Hut, they stopped by Vurnirn and purchased a scroll to heal Denessia, and they got All Might and Ten-Penny reincarnated.