Centrum Glacies 2022 Session 38: Zinbella
Week 38 in 2022 of this Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies starts off with a psychic attack. Zinbella is the obvious culprit.
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!!!
The group knew they were in trouble as the world faded away. The temperature of the desert dropped drastically. And the three that had fought this foe before caught her signature attack. Zinbella was back, and there wasn’t anyone to protect them from her this time.
But she didn’t just immobilize them. Instead she dragged them into the shadows of their own minds. Into the deepest recesses of their fears and self doubts the Psychic Vampire savored their despair while forcing them each to come face to face with emotions deeply repressed.
Trauma:
“Trent. Want to be druid. Your fascination with fire betrays your heart. And as you lose your humanity you wonder if you are worthy of what the Elves gave you. Your blunder caused the deaths of all those children. Those experiments are your fault. You failed your duty to safeguard all that is sacred. But you can reclaim that honor.”
“Jyona Half Elf who belongs in no world. Your stepmother hates you and prays for your death. Hoping you will never come home. All those killed by those witches. Because you cared more about your own life, than those of several cities. You do not have that much worth. You came to this place instead of returning home.”
“Teztcal wanna be chosen. You have no ancient gifts. Nothing more than a freak that confuses delusion with reality. You are destined to go out into the desert and fade away. Serving no purpose in this world. You waste the very air you breath. No family will mourn you. Your fate is sealed.”
“Malcolm the ‘Mythril Adventurer’. A little mercenary who never could make friends thinks he can protect the world. You can’t even protect yourself. You would stop that paladin from killing these outcasts. They have killed countless innocent people. They are not worth that much. Certainly not as much as a Platinum Adventurer. Do not betray the guild. Kill the enemies of this world.”
Psychic Spell:
Malcolm and Trent broke free from the Psychic Vampire. They both had a general idea of what her goals were. That made it easier to fight against the effects. In Trent’s case, it was also because only a Druid would know about that book. That left one person capable of doing this. As for Malcolm, he held on to the idea that as a Mythril Adventurer he had nothing to prove.
Unfortunately Teztcal and Jyona were not as strong willed. Broken down by Zinbella’s words, the two were susceptible to her next trick. Goading them both, the Psychic Vampire promised to help them fix their problems. She just needed one thing. The Law of Magic that their friend Malcolm currently guarded.
With complete Psychic Brain freeze, and complete lose of control of their actions, the Dragon and Artificer attacked Malcolm. Or at least tried to. He reacted faster and cast an enchantment to protect himself.
Though the Dwarf continued to look towards Adrenne who was still locked in a nightmare of her own. He wouldn’t be able to hold these two off for long. He needed backup. Good thing that Trent was up to the task.
He still was in the form of an elemental, and saw that he needed to protect Malcolm. Even with Zinbella around, the Druid decided that Teztcal must be an enemy after all and moved to attack. But too late as the Dragon used his breath weapon faster.
Cruel Death:
Turned out Zinbella underestimated one of her thralls. The attack hit Jyona and broke the spell over her. The remaining three managed to break the enchantment over the Dragon, though Trent still didn’t trust him. A shame that they had missed on what the Vampire had actually come to do.
As the group all stood by wondering what the Vampire do next, she made her move. And it wasn’t pleasant for anyone involved.
Alin screamed skyward. Some unseen pain had seized control. Not even Malcolm who had broken her will the with artifact that had drawn the Vampire to them in the first place knew what Zinbella had in mind for this one.
The Platinum Adventurer did though. She cursed the Vampire’s name one last time before her body burst into a bloody mess. Malcolm and Trent blocked out the gristly attack, but Jyona stared at it directly. But it had no effect on her already fragile mind. The poor half elf was stuck on Zinbella’s cruel words.
With Alin worse than dead, The Vampire finally appeared from the pool of blood she had left behind. And she did something unexpected, even for her. She asked for a truce.
Truce?:
Zinbella made a deal with Trent that only they could understand. Turned out the Vampire Druid spoke the language of elementals. And it turned out that she did have something to offer Trent. So much of an offer in fact, that he accepted.
The two left soon after. With Zinbella confirming that Teztcal was an idiot, not a Cult of Obsidian Spy first. The rest of the group didn’t even get much of a chance to question him before he vanished, alongside one of their deadliest enemies.
True Guild Leader:
But their separation was short lived. Had Zinbella attacked them again? That was a strong possibility considering that their worlds faded away once more.
But when they came to it wasn’t another scheme by the Psychic Vampire. She was here as well. In fact all the Platinum and Mythril Adventurers were all present in this unusual space. Including their enemies Elkor and Mortina who didn’t even acknowledge the party.
Instead everyone had their heads bowed in reverence. All faces turned towards the far corner of this pocket realm. And the group knew right away it was because of the moving shadow coming towards them. Whatever this entity was made its intentions clear immediately.
It spoke in a multitude of voices. None of them seemed to be the dominant one either. And the words made it clear to the party what this entity was. “A Platinum Adventurer has fallen.”
Zinbella let the party know what had not been clear. This shadow talking to them now was the true ruler of the Adventurer’s guild. A amalgamation of all the souls of fallen Platinum and Mythril Adventurers. That explained why Jyona had been unable to remove her badge. Their fates were truly tied to the guild now. Perhaps forever.
But what seemed worse is that no one seemed bothered by Alin’s death. Certainly not Zinbella who had used the party to kill her in the first place.
Gemstone:
After a seemingly tense meeting between the strongest members of he guild, the strange space faded away, leaving the party minus Trent back at the hidden desert village. Time didn’t seem to pass while they had been gone.
The Dark Elves asked about what had happened of course, and worried that they might be attacked since the Platinum Adventurers knew the towns location. For that reason, the party was finally given the reason they had come here. The Orcs needed a gemstone to power what sounded like a teleportation device. The problem was that they needed to take this gemstone back to the Orc City on foot. And with monsters potentially coming after them too.
Their journey through the desert and bog was actually quiet. Perhaps the monsters drawn to the gemstone sensed the danger if they came too close. But that all changed when they reached the crystal forest.
A White Dragon appeared and said it would freeze and eat the group. A shame that the dragon was too stupid to realize who was on the menu.
After slaying the stupid dragon, the creature left a ring that protected from the cold behind. With nothing stopping the party from reaching their destination, they made it back to Zerruz. The safest journey since they had arrived here.
Wrap Up:
Trent is still with Zinbella on some unknown task. And once the group is back together, they have to confront Jarrar. Even knowing that the Dark Elf is a hero to his own kind doesn’t take away the harm he has caused the group. They have a choice to make should they best him in battle.