Centrum Glacies 2021 Session 18: Demon Leader
Week 18 in 2021 of this Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies continues as the party goes deeper into the Abyssal Continent and explores its mysteries. They finally got a chance to take on a Demon Leader.
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!!!
With Adrene’s timely return, the party finished off the Vrock. Still, her methods managed to upset Trent even more. She used unholy energy to kill the Demon. If there had been nearby plant life, her spells would have harmed that as well.
But the leader was still out there. A Demon who had gathered humans to sacrifice was their next target. Did the group care about the innocent people he had harmed? Maybe. But Faustus at least just cared about getting to Apephe quickly. This Demon Leader was just in his way.
They found the Demon Leader. He was a huge monster that easily towered over them all. However, despite his foreboding size, the group paid attention to another figure talking to him. This person wore clown makeup giving them an eerie appearance. They talked about how the human sacrifices needed to be culled correctly. Before the party could learn more, this newcomer noticed them and commanded the Demon to kill them. The clown then vanished.
Taking on a Monster:
With only one target in their sights, the party quickly surrounded the Demon Leader and used his size against him. Good thing for the group that he lacked intelligence. He spent most of the fight trying to finish off Jyona. To her credit, she had multiple artifacts preventing him from succeeding. As he grew more confused by her ability to cheat death, the Demon grew unsettled and became easy pickings.
Though he was stupid, the Demon Leader was quite durable. The group cut at him from all sides, Adrenne included. Between spells and sword it took a lot of time to whittle him down. But eventually the group won out. They were exhausted by this point though.
As the huge Demon died, the clown reappeared. He commented on how this newest batch of Platinum Adventures was weak. Muttering about some other things that didn’t make sense to the party, he quickly left. They had a lot of questions and the appearance of a new enemy only added to them.
Zombies:
On the way back to orcs, Adrenne sensed dark magic back at the sacrifice site and urged the group to return there to investigate. When they arrived, they party saw a nauseating sight. The humans, only recently killed by the party rose from the ground. Their shuffled movements and grunts made it clear that the group was watching necromancy in action.
Trent refused to suffer this defilement of life and vowed to destroy these zombies immediately. Luckily, to a party that had fought much worse things, a couple zombies didn’t pose much of a threat.
Faustus’ pet Demon even ate one of them. Though it learned quickly that Zombies could survive being chomped and burned by stomach acid. As its meal tried to escape, the Demon covered its mouth with a few of its arms and forced the corpse back down its throat. This time its meal didn’t move.
As the zombies were destroyed Trent noticed spores. These creatures hadn’t been reanimated through dark magic. This was Druidic work! But what sort of person would distort the laws of nature for such a purpose. And given the timing of their appearance, those Zombies had targeted the group.
More from the Orcs:
Finally, the party returned to Orcs. They acknowledged that all the Demons were dead. however they voiced disappointment in how difficult the task appeared to be. Malcolm got upset and asked why it mattered how the task was complete. After all, the Demons were dead and the threat to this area was no more. Wasn’t that enough?
Apparently it was. The Orcs told the group to follow them through the gates and into their nearby settlement. Once again, they warned the party that Jyona was not to tinker with any of their technology. Faustus, being in a rush as usual commanded his Demon minion to carry her around and prevent trouble.
Wrap Up:
The group is about to see what sort of technology the Orcs have hidden from the rest of the world. But someone, or someones is coming after them. Who could it be? Its easier in this case to figure out why.