Centrum Glacies 2022 Session 36: Fleeing Demon
Week 36 in 2022 of this Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies features a battle cut short due to a fleeing Demon.
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!!!
Though there had been countless Demons, this group with an additional Platinum Adventurer Ally had little trouble cleaning up the remaining monsters. But they feared what might happen if Faxina decided to attack. Only her obsession with Faustus held her in check.
Instead of attacking them though, the Demoness appeared for a moment and screamed about looking for her beloved. The party almost chased after the fleeing Demon, but decided that the Orcs could handle her on their own.
Instead they looked towards the exit. Now that Faxina was gone, the plague had thinned. This left the group asking Alin if she had ever seen such a thing before. The veteran Platinum Adventurer said she had never seen anything control the plague before. There were clear signs of something bad happening.
The Desert:
Before anything else showed up in the swamps, the group left and entered the desert. They had not told Alin what they were doing. And the Paladin had picked up on the fact that they were hiding something.
And they were tired. Something that the Platinum Adventurer picked up on. She addressed Malcolm who technically outranked her and proposed a deal. The Paladin was able to summon pocket dimensions to rest in. She would offer shelter and in exchange the group would tell her why they had traveled to a remote part of the Abyssal Continent.
Malcolm didn’t like this at all, but protesting might put the group in danger. He had no choice but to agree to it. Alin seemed pleased by this and cast a spell that pulled them all into a pocket dimension of her creation.
Teztcal:
But something happened when she cast her summoning. When the group appeared in a small field with tents, there was a stranger among them. And Alin didn’t know who this newcomer was either.
But the stranger didn’t waste any time and introduced himself immediately. With trumpets blaring Teztcal, the Reincarnation of the Great Serpent King Tezcacoatl introduced himself. No one had any idea what he was talking about.
But the way he continued to speak as if he was some icon of importance confused the group. The only inkling of information was that Adrene said that the names he was using came from books she read as a child.
But there was one dangerous problem. Teztcal who talked through a sock puppet who’s name constantly changed had an item he called “The Book of the Damned”. While the book itself didn’t seem remarkable, the runes on said book were important on their own. They were written in the language of Fire Elementals. That meant the Cult of Obsidian had given him this book.
Once the party, Adrene, and Alin assessed that Teztcal posed no immediate danger, they calmed down. The Lizard King as he called himself, kept trying to wake Jyona. And he wanted to duel the group to prove his power.
Alin grew tired of him and used her Geas net to force him into silence. Alin then used the quiet to ask Malcolm while they were here. He managed to speak a half truth and say they were looking for members of the Cult of Obsidian. He left out the part that they were deserters. Luckily the Paladin accepted his words. But this seemed a little too easy.
Clash:
The party left Alin who returned to the swamps. She told the party to have Teztcal join them in case he was a Cult of Obsidian spy. A claim that he denied over and over. He didn’t even know who they were. No one believed him since he described several of their leaders in detail when they asked him where he found the “Book of the Damned”
A new day meant Jyona recovered from her near death illness the day before. And she immediatly tried to figure out who Teztcal was. He tried to battle her to show his power. She grew only more fascinated as he continued to embellish himself and claim he was a master of Dark Magic.
One thing he said ended up being true. Teztcal was a Dragon after all. And used a breath weapon. But he proved that he was lacking in intelligence and common sense. That same attack struck Jyona, Trent, and his two tigers. Enraged, the Druid considered attacking the Dragon man sorcerer whatever.
While they fought, Basilisks tried to sneak up on party. But they failed because several members of the group noticed statues that appeared far too lifelike. Also Teztcal was from the area and already knew about the creatures.
As it turned out, Malcolm’s shield tricked the basilisks into trying to turn themselves to stone. After looking at their own reflections they attacked themselves. Good thing they were animals and not something smarter.
Wrap Up:
The group has a new ally, maybe? But where did Teztcal come from? And does he have some sinister purpose?