Cycle of Millennia 2022 Session 42: Land of Dragons
Here is week 42 of my 2022 Dungeons and Dragons Campaign Cycle of Millennia. Now that Eleth is out of their way, the party has finally arrived in the land of Dragons.
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 party was sent away by Eleth, they appeared in icy canyon. Was this the land of Dragons? Compared to their last few adventures, the place they now found themselves in was strangely quiet. Almost serene. This place was completely separate from the rest of the world.
Grez scouted ahead and was discovered. And not just by anyone. Nearby sat a tower. Powerful Dragons spoke at the top of that tower. And they had found the Monk almost immediately.
One of the Dragons reached out to Velkoara and told the group to approach. Unfortunately, the former Cultist knew that it was a Dragon affiliated with her former Goddess. This did not bode well.
The Group reached the top of the tower via a device at the bottom. Guarded by tons of Dracanoids, the party knew whoever was at the top was important. So as they spoke to seven different dragons, it dawned on them who they were.
Dragon Summit:
Three served the good gods, three served the wicked ones. Gold, Silver, and Copper on one side. Blue, Black, and Red on the other. The party had fought plenty of Dragons mostly Red and Black since they served Kranaak and Nihilinn. Meanwhile the Blues hadn’t bothered them too much recently. They had even traveled here with one.
One Dragon remained neutral. And while half the group had no idea who this strange Dragon who looked almost more like a fairy was. Two of the group, Grez and Hadron remembered an unusual encounter with this Dragon. And knew before he spoke what he would want.
Naturally he asked for cheese as well as the whereabouts of a certain Stone Giant. The group told him that they were not friends with Sneak Peak. But they did have cheese. Well Velkoara had cheese at least. And after sharing, they earned his approval. The other Dragons tried to ignore the food, but one by one they grew curious.
But the Evil Dragons save Blue departed. They refused to share a meal with the others and grew tired of this stupid stunt. The Remaining Dragons spoke to party. And they had a lot to say.
Dragon Reveals:
They revealed important truths about the setting. The party was not the first group to try and awaken the neutral Gods. And they also pointed out that all the evil Gods were aware of the neutral ones. This cycle of God switches and awakenings had occurred over several cycles. Even the long lived Dragons didn’t know how long this had occurred for.
At this point, the conversation grew tense. The Blue Dragon departed and warned that if the party entered the neutral God’s realm, the group would perish soon after by their hands. Orabaras did not want her reign to end, nor did Nihilinn or Kranaak. And now that the party was poised to wake up the second God, that would make them her enemy. Especially since they had already found the third God.
With only four Dragons Remaining the party was told what needed to be done to enter neutral God’s realm. Unfortunately since the Dragons decided these things by votes for the sake of not openly fighting, it seemed unlikely that the party would be able to gain access.
That all changed when the Faerie Dragon agreed to aid party because of cheese. This apparently was an unprecedented move. The three good Dragons now were willing to aid the group. In exchange for helping them of course.
Striking a Deal:
Party went to the Copper Dragons first. The leader who the group had not learned the name of yet, seemed willing to sleep anywhere including in the middle of their own den. They tried to wake the Dragon to find out what deal they needed to make. But the group was interrupted by a familiar face.
An Elf that had almost gone forgotten by the group approached from nearby. And he bragged about how wonderful Dragon women were. Turned out that Orangar had never stopped flirting with every women he could find. He even tried to make a pass at Velkoara. She ignored him.
The Elf did tell them how to wake the nearby Dragon though. And so without getting into trouble, they took his advise. Once awake, the Copper Dragon told party that to get their help they needed to bring purified Elven Springwater. This seemed like an easy task. Which of course meant it wouldn’t be.
First the Party went to the Elves in the northeast part of the world. After saving them from Kranaak’s petrification, the group assumed that they would be willing to give them whatever they asked for.
Unfortunately, they found spring corrupted. When asking the Elves, they told the party that around ten years ago, a foul wind blew through the swamps and cursed the water. It didn’t take long for them to make assumptions of the cause, but before they jumped to conclusions, they traveled back to the northwest swamp. The Elven enclave where they had first met most of the Berserker Knights.
Removing Corruption:
This spring was also corrupted. And the Elves here told the same story as before. That wind from 10 years ago only could have come from one source. So Velkoara called about her new Goddess for some answers.
Entropy answered her servant’s call and explained that her powers had leaked randomly accross the world. And while Velkoara was powerful, she lacked the ability to remove this curse. Only powerful mages touched by the three evil Gods could counteract this spell. They also needed connections to the Elves. This left three clear candidates. And they would need all of their help.
So the group thought about how to convince Antoinette, Caethia, and Thea to help them. Problematic since the latter two happened to be an extremely powerful Demon Lord and the chosen of Orabaras herself. Easier explained, some of their deadliest enemies.
Grez didn’t feel like searching for the three and instead called for Caethia three times. The group ignored his words, but apparently the Demoness did not. She seemed annoyed when she appeared. But luckily she didn’t attack them immediately.
Wrap Up:
Well they managed to summon Caethia. But how will the party convince a Demon who can warp reality however she wants to assist them? What could she possibly want that they could offer her?