Cycle of Millennia 2021 Session 15: Bananas
Here is week 15 of my 2021 Dungeons and Dragons Campaign Cycle of Millennia. Lets go over session 15 : Bananas. The party is in more danger than ever. Especially since they are split up.
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!!!
Hadron talked to Rose and Lord Death about saving Caic. Unlike his companions, he wanted to find the Dwarf and find a way to reunite with him. Unfortunately, the only person on the planet who knew the Paladin’s whereabouts was the powerful Demon Lord responsible for him vanishing. A being who the Barbarian had no interest in finding given the nightmares he experienced in their last meeting.
Lord Death suggested that they watch Antonette closely. He mentioned that she was likely a target high on Caethia’s list. After all, killing the current leader of the Berserker Knights would remove one of Kranaak’s main enemies from the world.
Hadron worried that she would fall, asked if they should protect her. Lord Death advised against that. Reminding Rose and the Barbarian that Caethia was probably watching them right now, he advised against giving the Demoness any ideas. Plus he reminded them both that since she already had almost every God in the world competing to kill her first, she was prepared to deal with one of their servants.
Grez was sleeping nearby, but the three didn’t seem to worry that he might overhear as they talked about his stupid crusade against Dwarves. Given that Caic was a Dwarf, this petty reason was why he wouldn’t help their ally. Rose muttered about regretting current romantic thoughts and despite being deep asleep, a certain Monk sneezed as if knowing he was the center of conversation.
Eating Bananas:
The next morning Grez went to Mongress and got bananas. While there, he ran into the Orcs who had begun constructing their underground city. They asked him to show the others their progress when the group had a chance. Contemplating whether he cared enough to do so, he returned to the Necropolis.
When Grez returned with bananas, Rose was confused by his choice. She didn’t know that Fodrin had cursed him to like bananas. Before the apocalypse that defined the world had gone down, Rose had constantly teased him with the fruit. His monkey tail might have had something to do with that.
Lord Death told party where Cult member would be. After everything that had gone down recently, the group almost forgot why they had fought the Liches in the first place. He Urged them to get it done with quickly. Or else they might have to deal with the Liches again.
Velkora seemed satisfied about something and pulled out a uniquely brewed Orc beer. Hadron and Rose partook. in morning drinking. Grez refused. He claimed that drinking in the morning was stupid and would impair them moving forward.
Farming:
Once the barrel was empty, the Party returned to Mongress. The group deliberated on what should be built next. They talked it over with a certain eccentric planner. He wanted farms but needed a bridge to connect the two halves of town to be constructed first. Velkora countered by saying they should plant crops first. Then build the bridge. The ruined town currently lacked farmers. But they had a Druid.
Grez got Artin’s attention by threatening to blow up the fruit tree, bananas included. He didn’t feel like looking for her. As expected she appeared almost instantly and berated him when she realized what he had done and why. Still, she agreed to help grow crops from the formerly dead soil. The Tarrasque had almost stripped the whole area bare. A good thing that her Druidic Magic could overcome that.
Satisfied with the next steps to rebuild Mongress, the party went to the Orc Cavern. While it wasn’t much to look at, both Drow and Orc were hard at work digging out rock slowly and methodically. Eventually the Orcs explained that this would house both their nations under one banner. Grez got the idea to try help, but his blasts did little but scare the diggers. He was advised to not do that since carless digging could cause a cave in.
Once they left the undercity, the group save Velkora spent the rest of the day helping to build the town. The Orabaras Cultist however had a task to complete.
Plots:
Velkora reported to Thea. The powerful Wizard told her underling to play nice with the Paladin. Velkora claimed that they could corrupt him and eventyually have him serve their Dark Lady. Thea laughed that off and reminded her that even being transformed into a Wereboar by Kranaak couldn’t get him to waver fully on his faith. They would not be able to win him over. Instead, she instructed her underling to keep him distracted with their mutual enemies.
The Cultist returned to Mongress. Remembering an earlier conversation with Thea, she Hadron and Grez about a chicken that Thea was guarding.
The Party got scared remembering Sneak Peak, a Stone Giant that had caused them no end of trouble early on in their adventures. Rose even had a few stories of her own. Velkora didn’t believe that such a being could cause so much havoc. The rest told her that they hoped it stayed that way.
Hadron summoned a Bear to help with the next stages of building. Once the work was complete, he commanded the bear to dance. Grez amused by this, jumped on the bear and flew around the ruins using his powers over gravity. All the workers: Orcs, Drow, and Human alike stopped work to view such a spectacle.
Taking a Cultist Down:
The Party waited for nightfall then returned to where they had first seen the Nihilinn Cult. The sacrifice altar was once more filled with captured pregnant women. As the group planned their attack, they listened to the rantings of a madman. Between words and grunts nonsensical, he complained about a Demon Lord keeping him from kidnapping mothers from Mongress.
He mentioned how these poor women had been snatched from the Innovian Capital. The group realized that the Nihilinn Cult must have connections that ran deep enough to get past the guards. Connections the party still lacked.
Not wanting to watch more babies get slaughtered, the party attacked the Undead horde and the Cultist they guarded. A necrotic aura descended on the area harming most of the party and healing the dead.
Grez stopped the Cultist from sacrificing one of the pregnant women with time stop. Removing the knife from his hand, he gained a form of satisfaction from the monster looking confused by this turn of events. But he wasn’t done.
He wouldn’t risk this creature getting another chance. The Monk punted the Cultist into the sky where a Dragon form Rose was ready to catch him in her claws. Like most high ranking Nihilinn Cultists, this individual was protected by a barrier that would only vanish when all his minions were dead. Rose intended to hold him tight until that moment.
Prepping for Death:
The Undead tried to free their master. Their constant barrages of arrows forced Rose to drop Cultist. In another barrage of shots, they killed the dancing bear. Due to the magic in the air, it became a zombie moments later. With Hadron riding it like a mount.
While Hadron fought zombie dancing bear, the rest of party dealt with other Undead. Velkora prepared to horribly kill cultist as soon as the last creature was vanquished. Despite serving an Evil Goddess herself, she still had standards. Killing children and turning them into Zombies was far beyond anything she would consider.
Realizing how much trouble he was in, the Cultist asked for Nihilinn’s boon. From the dark gloom a a mass of wicked spirits answered that call.
The party quickly realized attacking ghosts was pointless. Velkora tried to magically vaporize the swarm. They returned moments later as if the spell didn’t work. Realizing that this mass of souls was divine work, they focused on the rest of the dead armies instead.
Once all the Undead were defeated, the Necromancer was attacked by swarm of ghosts. The mass of voices hissed failure over and over while the target of their ire was slowly disintegrated him over an hour. His death was not just drawn out, but painful too. Even in his most mad, the Cultist screamed almost the entire time.
As the party really hated him, they decided to sit and watch. Given that he kidnapped pregnant women and ripped their infants out of so that he could create zombies out of them, there was no voice of dissent among them.
Wrap Up:
While the spirits completely obliterated the Cultist, his papers were left behind, perfectly intact. The group intends to bring this information to Lord Death so that they might hunt the next one. This puts the group one step closer to stopping Nihilinn in Innovia. They have a lot to be proud of.
But there is much more to do. And Caic is still missing. How will they proceed? Will the group go find their Paladin companion? Or leave him to whatever fate has in store? He might go bananas if they don’t at least try to rescue him.