Cycle of Millennia 2021 Session 6: Reconnecting with a Druid
Here is week 6 of my 2021 Dungeons and Dragons Campaign Cycle of Millennia. Lets go over session 6: Reconnecting with a Druid.
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 the double layered battle against the Revenants and Furavel ended most of the party was on the verge of exhaustion. Grez the Monk was one of those not near death. Knowing that Elves practiced lots of Magic unknown to him, he sought out an individual capable of cursing others. Given how he had continuously asked this village to commit acts of blasphemy for him, none were willing to entertain his ideas.
Frustrated he walked to the outskirts of the Elven Village. He hated this people, but not as much as the Dwarves. Anything was better than Dwarves in his mind. But given his current location, he managed to miss Artin who walked right past him on her return.
This Druid had traveled with the party long ago when this hellscape had first formed. She had even aided them in finding the first of the Neutral Gods. Had she had a hand in releasing the Tarrasque? None had entertained that idea.
Artin Appears:
When she spotted the group, she helped them get back on their feet. Asking where Veloros had gone, she continually noticed other changes in the group. The group unfortunately had to tell her that Velros was dead. Betrayed by his companion who had been possessed by a Demon.
Then she asked if that meant Ravaleth had been right in trying to take her out in the first place long ago. The party then had to tell her that the former Berserker Knight Leader was also dead. In fact, she had been killed by the same Demon that ended Velros’ life.
Wanting to ask several more questions, but realizing that the Elf Elder would want to know about those going ons as well, she urged the group to pay him a visit. Finally Artin noticed that Grez was missing. This gave her a moment to question why Rose, a known member of the Orabaras Cult was traveling with them.
Important Discussion:
Given how long of a tale that was, the Sorceress instead asked Artin to not worry about such things. She also transformed partially into her true form, revealing her Draconic nature to the Druid. It would be faster to fetch the stubborn Monk that way.
Grez didn’t need to much convincing since he wanted to take down the new Death Knights. Restoring Mongress helped further his goal. Rose was relieved.
As the group told their findings and all their adventures to both Artin and the Elder, he had more questions that answers to their own topics of discussion. Notably, he wanted the group to leave the village so long as they possessed an artifact that summoned Undead to their location continuously.
He also voiced concern that a servant of Kranaak was capable of attacking the group in the middle of the village. He mentioned that even Thea, high Priestess of Orabaras was not capable of such Magic. Urging the party to be on their way, he granted Artin permission to go with them.
While she worried about going to Innovia which was deep in the realm of Nihilinn’s control, the party boasted that few things in the world posed a threat to them. Though they spoke true words, the Druid still had some reservations. Especially since the new leader of the Berserker Knights was a Dwarf that frightened her. But she worried even more that two high ranking members of the Orabaras Cult traveled with the party.
Hidden Deals:
So the group with Artin added traveled to Lord Death’s base to return quickly to Innovia. The Druid repressed her disgust for all the Undeath around her. The whole world was filled with unpleasant things after all and this was minor compared to some other affronts.
Lord Death informed the party that he had figured out some of the mysterious codex they had left with him prior. Apparently with more time, he might be able to find the powerful Cult Member who continued to kidnap pregnant women with the intent of turning their unborn children into Undead.
Hadron, despite being a traveling Barbarian most of his life, felt a connection to Mongress. This had been his home and the people being kidnapped for such a grim reason enraged him every time it was mentioned. To try and take his mind off things, he sought out the Matron and the children she protected.
On the way, Velkora mentioned that she could always have Orabaras Cultists watch over them. This infuriated not only the Barbarian, but Rose who was part of the same organization. Rose asked the Artificer if she really thought there was anything moral about putting these orphans through the horrors that they had experienced in their own youth before following Hadron.
Grim Tidings:
The Barbarian tried unsuccessfully to talk to the kids who were still scared of him. The Matron reminded him that they had been through nonstop trauma most of their lives. They just needed some time to let their emotions settle. As if hearing this, one of the children looked Hadron’s way, but carefully avoided his gaze. This was notable since he had been informed that she might be his only remaining living relative.
As he left the room where the children stayed, Rose remained behind and talked to the matron. Hadron lurked near the door and overheard part of the conversation and money change hands. Apparently, the Sorceress warned the Matron that Orabaras had horrific plans in store for Mongress. She feared that even with their power, the party would be unable to properly negotiate with Thea.
Healing the Land:
The group returned to Mongress without any further delay. Artin started healing the land while the party remained vigilant worried that intruders would appear. Yet despite all evidence to suggest it should, no one appeared.
So the group huddled near each other to share the first pleasant conversation in quite some time. Unfortunately, that is when danger appeared. Caethia, the most powerful of Kranaak’s Fallen Berserker Knights came unannounced. She seemed quite good at doing that.
She dropped quite a few stunning revelations. High up on that list included Artin being a distant descendant and claiming that she had lived more than ten thousand years. She also pointed out that it was an easy matter to infiltrate the Elven Swamps. The three Demon Lords had been Elves themselves after all.
One final piece of info had Hadron truly shook. Caethia stated that she was the original Berserker Knight. And that all others were simply based on her fighting style. Hadron included. He demanded what she wanted and the Demon answered that she was protecting this town and intended for it to be rebuilt.
When the group questioned why Kranaak cared about a town, the Fallen Berserker Knight pointed out that by existing, this city would oppose Orabaras, Nihilinn, and Kranaak. The Mad God didn’t seem to mind being opposed himself apparently. Not liking this one bit, the party had no choice but to let her leave.
But she issued a warning before vanishing. After the group had entertained Faruvel for a bit, Caethia wanted a chance to fight the group herself. Claiming that few beings could withstand her abilities, she promised not to kill the party. Simply she would beat them all within an inch of their lives before being satisfied.
Darkness in the Background:
A day went by and the ground was healed. Artin grew a tree for food and drink near the Charice Statue to help the soon to be inhabited area on its way to growing. The Party got to do some training since they finally got downtime without anyone trying to kill them. None wanted to talk about the fact that Caethia, one of their deadliest enemies was the reason.
Content with their work so far, the Party went to meet with Thea, Antoinette, and Sigwald. Three powerful armies met in a small camp with those three people leading them. A strange group for sure. Paladins working with Witches who served the Goddess they opposed and complimented with Demon Infused Elves that lived for combat.
All three had information for the party. Notably Antoinette filled Hadron in on the fallen Berserk Knights history. Caethia was apparently the original Berserker Knight just as she had claimed. The Vampire warned him that they should do everything to avoid fighting her. Even with their incredible powers and experience fighting monstrosities all over the world, she claimed they would be no match for her.
Wrap Up:
The group wants to rebuild Mongress in haste. But they also have a deadline approaching to cure Caic’s curse. And there are Death Knights and Berserk Knights hunting them. And lest they miss the fun, those Revenants are still out there too.