Centrum Glacies 2021 Session 2: Ideals Clash
Week two in 2021 of this Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies grew intense as ideals clash from all sides.
Like my other campaign, I’m turning this one into a book series. However I’m still working on that project. Give it some time.
Anyway, just like my other campaign, there is a whole lot going on and I don’t want to elaborate on every moving piece in the story. You can see the whole thing once the book series starts hitting virtual and real shelves.
!!!Trigger Warning!!!
This story deals with a cruel world with some horrific twists. So far, this campaign has featured: Animals getting killed, Genocide, lots of body horror, evil cults, brainwashing, torture.
Most recently one of the party members had an eye gouged out and lost an arm. Not exactly the way it happens in Berserk, but that might have been the inspiration for it. The group at large is currently succumbing to magical wounds that appear to be turning them into Demons.
!!!Final Trigger Warning!!!
After the stunning revelations of their last adventure, the party heading back to where their adventure had started. The group consisted of: Faustus the Half Demon Warlock, Trent Westwood the Human Druid, Jyona Thornwreath the Half Elf Artificer and poor Malcolm the Dwarf Paladin who still doesn’t know how his simple assignment escalated to such an insane degree. The Imperial Capital loomed before them. And multiple armies stood in their way.
Their allies if they could even be called such included a massive Witch Coven with their power supplied from the souls of a city wide genocide and the Snakelike Naga Army lead by their Priestess Szukli . Both groups prepped for a massive attack. Engelique used her power over time to allow multiple volleys of arrows to sit in the air in wait.
Persephine, the most powerful Witch present and possibly on the entire planet made use of her own spells. Nearby farmland had been put to the flame. She used the smoke to grant their army cover as well as the potential use as a lethal weapon on their foes.
Meanwhile the Southern and Imperial Armies Clashed. The party used magic to empower the fires to force the two armies to clash. While the combined might of the Naga and Sorceresses probably could have dealt with the Southern Army, they needed to deal with both forces without wasting too many of their own.
A Final Gambit:
Joyna, not liking at all that she was working with the very Witches that had ruined her life and put her into this entire situation tried to pull a couple tricks. Teleporting into the Imperial City, she attempted to spill the beans about the hidden army before she was magically yanked back by an angry Persephine. Her brief appearance only put the Imperial Army on gaurd.
The Mithril Adventurer explained to the group about stakes of ending this war quickly. She pointed out that the entire Imperial City was being controlled by Peacemakers. When they asked her how that could be possible, she reminded them that she had the power to dispel Magic and that Engelique could manipulate time thanks to controlling the very essences of those forces in a tangible artificial form. Persephine reminded them that the Peacemakers had the artifact that controlled free will itself.
Next the group rushed out to fight the Southern Army, but once again the Mythril Adventurer stopped them. She warned that the Cult of Obsidian was likely among their ranks. As the most dangerous of all their foes, even the powerful Witch refused to underestimate them.
Distractions:
Jain-Hin consumed by her transformation joined with the fires. Something seemed to be controlling her. And whatever emerged from the flames was not fundamentally the same as the Bandit Queen who had entered it. Luckily the Imperial Troops were too distracted by the Southern Army which had moved closer to avoid those same flames.
Using this distraction Adrenne shifted to a gaseous form and started spreading Vampirism among the Imperial Troops to thin their numbers. Predictably, they attacked the spawn that started attacking their way through the military lines.
Fighting Friends:
Persephine used scrying magic to see how all these plans played out. The party saw something that bothered them immensely. Former friends: Ratha the Elf Bard, Li-Ang the Human Wizard, Addek the Dwarf Pirate, and Cia the proud Human Warrior were fighting with that army.
The likelihood of being controlled by the Peacemakers means that the party might have to fight their former friends soon. Worse, the commander of the battalion within the walls happened to be Jayde. This tough lady had been the commander of the parties’ own battalion when they had first joined the invasion of the Southern Empire.
Faustus took yet another hit to his mental state trying to come to terms with having to fight people he trusted. He demanded Persephine explain why this war was even necessary. At first she dodged his questions, but eventually he managed to infuriate her enough that she had no choice but to answer.
She pointed out that she couldn’t end this war herself since the other Mythril Adventurers were nearby. They required her and Engelique’s attention. She even mentioned that a fifth artifact might exist that could nullify the other four essences of Magic. And if such an item was being used, she mentioned that Vim-Kios, the first of the Mythril Adventurers who the party had met was its most likely wielder.
Muttering something about Mortina, apparently the deadliest Mythril Adventure, she also mentioned that Faustus alone held the key to stopping the Peacemakers. When he demanded her to say what, she pointed to his appearance. He had been at least partially Demon all along. This wasn’t news to the party, but to the world at large, no one else knew.
Harsh Truths:
Informing him that the leader of the Peacemakers had used the mental artifact to alter his memories, she hoped that this would goad him into having more resolve. Instead, it simply made him withdraw further. Though at least he considered fighting now.
Persephine had the entire group’s attention as she continued explaining that what made this entire conflict tragic is that every single faction involved had their own version of savior complex. The Peacemakers, Imperials, Southerners, and of course their own group all thought they were saving the world. It just so happened that their ideals clashed on how to do it.
Trent shifted to a rat and planned to scale the wall. He was eager to try and sneak past the massive horde and avoid a clash with friends. Stopping the Peacemakers would potentially put an end to this fight.
As the conflict inches ever closer to breaching the Walls of the Imperial Capitol, a few factions have not appeared yet. And a few of their allies and enemies are still missing in action. Will other groups appear to muddy these bloody waters farther?