Cycle of Millennia 2021 Session 15 Interlude: Alone
Here is week 15 Interlude of my 2021 Dungeons and Dragons Campaign Cycle of Millennia. Lets go over session 15 Interlude : Alone. Caic is alone in one of the worst places imaginable.
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!!!
Caic took time to rest after his encounter with Demon Lord Caethia. A battle where he had been transported to hell itself. His hopes of this being a horrific dream were dashed when he woke up in Kranaak’s realm alone. He had visited this place before with the rest of the group. But this realm of Demons had almost destroyed him physically and mentally before. Now he had no choice but to travel through it a second time.
Making things worse, the Demon Realm absorbed places that the God of Madness had managed to destroy in the mortal realm. In this case, the Dwarf Paladin stood in his childhood home. The entire noble district of the Dwarven City now sat in this cruel hellscape. But Caic who had already said farewell to this place of fond memory was not ready to see it again. Only unnerving him further was the deep silence. He was a Paladin who served a God enemies with Demon kind. Yet he encountered nothing. That only bothered him more.
Royal Quarter:
Once het stepped outside his childhood home, he finally ran into something A Glabrazu Demon stood guarding what had once been the Dwarven City Archive building. When the full group had traveled here, much of the knowledge contained in that building had been burned away. Since the Paladin didn’t want to figure out what other creatures might be lurking nearby, he snuck away from the Demon and didn’t fight.
Realizing he had two choices when it came to getting out of here, Caic decided he wasn’t going to go anywhere near Kranaak’s throne despite being right near it. Afraid he might run into a fallen Berserker Knight or worse, the possessed Lune who had already killed several of his friends, he went the other direction. Even though it would be a much longer trip.
Icegut Cave:
Retracing his steps through the former noble quarter of what was now this section of the Demon Realm, Caic found the transporter that had brought him here prior. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working. Either because the place it connected to was gone, or it was simply disabled. The Paladin hoped it was the latter and decided to look around to see if there was a way to turn it on.
Sneaking past the Glabrazu a second time, he walked beyond his childhood home and entered the Icegut Cavern. When he was a much younger Dwarf, he had trained with this family of Dwarves. They believed in intense training regimens and he considered himself better for it now. Caic was no stranger to the cold water that filled the cave. However, something that once hadn’t dwelt in said water decided to cause trouble. He wasn’t alone anymoe.
Within moments of swimming in the icy water, he felt funny as a magical poison tried to grip his body in its deadly embrace. His divine sense waned him that a Demon was closing in. And since he had fought countless creatures on his adventures, he knew exactly what he was fighting.
The Paladin killed the Wastrilith the moment it emerged from the water. And though the water near him slowly returned to its original state, he sensed another Demon deeper in. Another Wastrilith tried to get the jump on Caic the moment it entered its polluted water aura. But the Dwarf had fought far too many of these monsters to be caught by surprise. What bothered him more was that both these Demons didn’t realize who he was initially.
Kranaak Appears:
He searched as much of the Icegut Cave as he could manage, but found nothing that would help him progress. Frustrated, he swam back through the cavern and prepared to exit and deal with the Glabrazu. Unfortunately, something much worse made contact first. Caic wished he would be left alone this time.
Kranaak, God of Madness and ruler of this realm reached out to the Paladin. The Dwarf asked how he felt about Caethia sending him here to kill more of his servants. The God laughed it off reminding him that the Demon Lord was nothing more than a puppet. She didn’t even breath unless Kranaak willed it.
The Dark God then taunted Caic about how his friends intended to abandon him and leave him here, alone. Caic refused to listen to the Chaotic Evil God. But one doesn’t ignore the master of such a realm easily. Kranaak warned that it would be unwise to bore him. Reminding the Paladin what had happened to Velkora last time he had been upset, he left. Or at least focused his attention elsewhere.
Leaving the Icegut Cave, Caic searched for another place where he might find a way out. Deciding that only one place logically made sense, he headed towards the home of his past enemy. It seemed the Runebrewers once again would be an obstacle to his forward momentum.
Runebrewer Ruins:
To get there though, would put him extremely close to that Glabrazu guarding the library. He Manage to avoid the Demon again through sheer luck. Somehow his steps were perfectly in sync with all the ambience of the Demon Realm. The creature not even fifty feet away failed to spot the Paladin.
Caic peeked in Runebrewer house and found nothing important. Save the presence of two more Demons that was. He tried to get out of there quickly, but the Demons noticed him and gave chase.
Exiting Runebrewer home, the Glabrezu finally noticed Caic. Using the fact that the Dwarf was escaping from something else, it tried to incapacitate him with a spell. When that didn’t work the creature tried to claw him to death.
But as with every other Demon that had tried to stop the Paladin, it found itself on the receiving end of holy energy. Caic had spent much of his life training to slay evil creatures. And now that he was trapped in a dimension filled with nothing but them, he continued leaving corpses in his wake.
The two Demons from the Runebrewer home finally caught up to him. A Hezrou and a Chasme decided to try their luck where the more powerful Glabrazu had failed. The two might have little chance of defeating the Paladin, but every attack that harms him puts him closer to defeat.
Wrap Up:
Caic is in a horrible situation and alone. While he can handle a couple Demons here and there, its only a matter of time before something more dangerous notices him. Will his friends come and save him, or will Kranaak be proven right?