Cycle of Millennia 2021 Session 2: Scholars and Liches
Well my level 20 Campaign made it through another week. Let’s summarize Cycle of Millennia 2021 Session 2: Scholars and Liches
I know I talked about a few things last post, but I will reiterate them again. Don’t forget that this campaign has been ongoing for over three years. There is a lot of story to cover and I’m writing a book series to document it all. I am adapting this adventure into a book series. The first three are on Amazon.
!!!Trigger Warnings Abound!!!
This campaign takes place in an incredibly unpleasant setting. The party has dealt with Human Traffickers, Sex Slavery, Child Sacrifice, The Apocalypse, Genocide, Wicked Cults, and other related topics.
There is a God of Madness that is fond of causing auditory and visual hallucinations, makes use of psychic gaslighting, commands the literal legions of hell, and all around causes untold suffering in the setting.
Essentially, nothing is off the table in this campaign. If the above ideas are not ones you want to think about, I do not think this blog series is for you. That is not a problem and does not indicate any failings on your part. I am a storyteller that does not shy away from the darkest topics. It would be horrible for me to not warn my audiences of this in advance.
!!!Final Trigger Warning. Past this point there be dark topics!!!
After dealing with the mad Angel Inias, the party split up since Hadron wanted to check on the orphans who lived in Mongress. Unfortunately, he left before the others were warned that the Tarrasque was coming to devour the city and everyone in it.
Grez, showing frustration and knowing they didn’t have much time since this monster would quickly suppress any means of escape, chased after the Barbarian. He didn’t need to guess where his companion had run off to and entered the orphanage without knocking.
Velkora spirited away most of Mongres’ Citizens to Thea, leader of the Cult of Orabaras. She left the Paladins of Exscutchon, including their leader Calni to die by the Tarrasque along with the city itself. She was joined by Rose the Sorceress and Caic the Paladin. The latter of the two was not happy to see the leader of the Goddess who existed in opposition to the one he served.
Grez and Hadron took the orphans away by force using time stop magic. The matron was not pleased. But Grez didn’t give her much choice. The Monk informed her that he was taking the kids to safety and if she wanted to remain near them, she would have no choice but to come with as well.
Before anyone could protest, Grez, in an act that Hadron found questionable at best, knocked the children out. He didn’t have time for them to protest.
Mongress Destroyed:
Lord Death, master of the flying dimensional fortress that the party called their base of operations, sensed the amount of danger that Grez and Hadron were in and quickly summoned them to his abode. After the two arrived with their charges in tow, they informed Lord Death of the situation.
As a former enforcer of Nihilinn, God of Death, such a being possessed many abilities. One of them allowed him to show the Matron the destructive power of the Tarrasque.
Mongress was destroyed. And the vision vanished quickly. Even Lord Death’s power was nothing compared to the unstoppable Tarasuqe. Lamenting her loss was interrupted as the kids woke up.
Not wanting to traumatize these orphans further, Lord Death asked the Matron to take them into another room. Looking at a powerful skeleton might be neat for kids for a time, but only for so long.
Threats:
Meanwhile Thea reminded both Velkora and Caic of her power relative to them. She warned the Alchemist who had grown a bit proud as of late that any other acts of rebellion against Orabaras would be punished severely.
She also magically removed Caic’s mouth to silence him. Rose was amused by this. The Paladin had tried to make threats. Something that had caused horrible things to happen to Velkora in the past when he made bold statements to Kranaak God of Madness.
After coming to some form of agreement, Thea informed the three that she would ensure that Nihilinn’s minions would be unable to use this lot in their cruel baby Zombification rituals. But none knew how she meant to go about that.
Still, Velkora felt satisfaction in how things were playing out. That was until Thea berated her for removing an important distraction off the board. She commanded the Alchemist to help repair Mongress quickly. Otherwise, the dead would focus their armies against the Witch’s own.
Reminding the three that Orabaras’ armies were the only “free” fighting force capable of defeating death itself, she sent them away. Her silence veiled one final warning that failure would not be tolerated.
As the full party, Rose included reunited, the discussed what to do next. The group planned their next move and went to Scholar’s Way, the education hub of Innovia . Still, the non Orabaras affiliated members (everyone except Rose and Velkora) voiced that there was a sinister ulterior motive in play.
Unexpected Enemy:
In Scholar’s Way, the group split up to try and find where the minions of Nihilinn were hiding. Instead, Grez ran into Caethia, one of the most dangerous servants of Kranaak. He was ready to fight. Though Rose had warned prior that fighting here was a terrible idea.
The Fallen Berserker Knight informed him that she had no intention of fighting. Instead she happened to know where their targets hid and was willing to show the group. Grez being well Grez ignored her advice and walked away. The rest of the group entertained her words.
Hadron decided that her true goal was simply to spread destruction as that was what her God’s goal was for reality. Thus there was no reason for her to lie to them. She indicated towards a ruined building, claiming that hidden amongst the old research building, their mutual enemies schemed.
She left with one final warning. Her ally and fellow servant of the Mad God Furavel was not pleased with his last encounter with the party. Informing them that her companion wouldn’t let them flee next time they clashed, she vanished.
The Way Forward:
Velkora turned Caic into a snake to stop him from running ahead. He had planned to simply storm this base and kill the Undead dwelling inside.
Meanwhile, Grez tried to ask the townsfolk in Scholar’s Way if they had seen anything suspicious. They ignored him and muttered that uncouth peasants were polluting their air.
The Monk grew furious at his stabbed pride. He tried to steal from them in retribution using his powers of invisibility. Unfortunately, those nearby possessed anything he considered valuable. He returned to the rest of the party wanting to be out of this place quickly.
Reunited, the party made some jokes at the Dwarf’s expense. Hadron summoned a boar and sent it ahead. That was the most sensible way to proceed.
Inside, they found a bookshelf. After removing all the books, they found a passage deeper into the building. Passages with doors. And the party knew that meant traps.
An acid Trap killed the boar. And its gruesome death warned something in the next room over that intruders had entered their lair.
Another Lich:
The party confronted one of the Liches involved in the children sacrifice. His powers were deadly, but not enough to stop this group of semi divine adventurers.
Unfortunately, he fled before they could learn anything about him. Troublesome since letting a Lich simply exist, especially one aware of the groups location was dangerous.
Out of frustration, and tired of being tricked by Liches, Grez tried to open another door. Another trap greeted him. However, Rose protected him. He wasn’t happy about it. The rest of the party teased the two claiming they were bickering like a married couple.
A few corridors later the group found a key sitting by itself in an empty room. They had been on enough adventures to know something strange was afoot.
Turns out, the key was cursed and anyone who touched it got attacked by its angry ghost guardians. Given that these creatures seemed impervious to harm, the party had to rethink their strategy.
Dealing with that trap by using the key on the nearby door, the group took on some zombies that spat worms in the next room Nothing too dangerous for a group that had entered the Abyss itself and lived to tell the tale.
After scouting any extra routes, the party prepared to head downstairs to the next part of this dangerous place. What will they find there? Find out next time.