Centrum Glacies Session 96.5: The Unseelie Court
Week 96.5 Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies continues as Jyona, trapped in the Unseelie Court tries to figure out a way out of her predicament.
Like my other campaign, I’m turning this one into a book series. You can check out the first one here.
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 in the book series.
!!!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, psychological warfare, child abuse, and slavery.
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 was incinerated in lava. But rather than die, they were transformed into Demons. They might be free from these transformations for now, but only time will tell what this means for them.
!!!Final Trigger Warning!!!
Jyona remained in her cell and decided to stay on her best behavior. Which is why she jumped when she heard a sound outside. Specifically she heard several metal boots clang on the floor and they were heading towards her.
The source of the sound opened the door and Jyona saw a group of Redcaps with a powerful looking one at their front. The leader introduced himself as Klevor, an Archfey of the Unseelie Court. Worse than the other Redcaps, he covered head to toe in blood and gore.
That blood left a sickening smell coming off of him. A horrible sensation that hit Jyona’s nose as the Archfey instantly moved up into her face to intimidate her. She was overwhelmed even before he started talking.
Klevor asked her how she liked her time here. Jyona was far too distracted by the scents and by the dangerous Archfey at their source to properly answer. And he took note of that with a cruel laugh at her expense.
Intense Questioning
Next, he grew angry and demanded to know why she and her group had stopped his Redcaps from getting food. Jyona pointed out that stealing the food was wrong. Instead, as she regained her composure, she came up with a quick plan. She offered a potential deal between the city of Strevale and the Unseelie Fey for food.
Klevor was skeptical of course. He asked how she could make such a promise. In response, Jyona brought up her heritage and how that she could be used as collateral. It was a sound plan in her mind.
Unfortunately, the Archfey did not agree. Klevor did not believe her. And he voiced suspicion at the fact that she was more than capable of escaping from this cell and yet had remained here.
Jyona responded by explaining that she in general wanted to help people. And she wasn’t looking for anything in return. Helping the Unseelie Fairies was itself a reward.
Klevor, a creature of violence had serious problems with this way of thinking He called her naïve. And she was growing more annoyed at the sheer number of people that had called her this of late. Still, he intended to speak to the Queen and see if she would be interested in asking Jyona about this deal.
After Klevor
Jyona heard more movement not long after Klevor left. But not from metal boots. Instead, Midnight returned. She was tasked with bringing the Half Elf to speak to the Queen.
The two exchanged few words about Klevor. Jyona agreed that she would much rather deal with Midnight than the blood crazed Archfey. But Midnight’s tone of voice shifted as she gave Jyona a stark warning. Queen Mab was beautiful as the winter snow. But she could also be cold and cruel to those who upset her. To that end she warned that the young Half Elf needed to be on her best behavior.
Jyona knew full well that she had no filter. Thus those directions frightened her. But she thought of a quick solution. She asked Midnight for help and was willing to make a deal with the Archfey to protect her. One that would temporarily stop the filter.
Truth Magic
Midnight agreed to work some magic to make this happen. But there was a potentially dangerous price to this spell. Jyona would be magically compelled to answer every question with the complete unfiltered truth. And this included even statements that Jyona herself was not aware of.
Jyona did not find any hesitation. She needed to speak to Queen Mab and this was a far better way to solve her own problems than risk her mind and mouth to doom her.
Midnight completed her spell and promised that as soon as she was back down here, Jyona would have the enchantment removed. With everything settled, the two left the prison and Jyona soon found herself in front of Queen Mab herself.
And even with both Midnight and Klevor nearby, nothing took away Jyona’s focus from her. Queen Mab had a terrible aura. She was extremely powerful. Possibly the strongest being that the Half Elf had ever met. Even Mortina had not frightened her as much.
And her mind started racing even faster when the Queen addressed her telepathically. Midnight hadn’t mentioned anything about that. What else was the Unseelie Queen capable of?
Queen Mab
As her mind raced ever faster, Jyona realized that she had made a terrible mistake when she had asked Midnight for help. Her literal words had created a serious problem. The spell only made her words tell the truth. Her mental thoughts were still a rushing river of random and Queen Mab could listen in.
Realizing that Jyona would be unable to hide anything, she braced herself for whatever questions the Unseelie Queen would ask. First she asked for her full name. And Jyona gave all of them. She explained her first name and both her last names. Jyona even explained that she used both her last names in different contexts and explained the when and why.
Lukily, Queen Mab did not stay focused on the names for very long. Instead, she moved on to how Jyona intended to help feed the Unseelie Court. That was quite a bold thing to promise.
Jyona answered again, truthfully and fully, that her father was in a seat of power in the city of Strevale. That man was one of the most powerful within the city and fully controlled resources. Not to mention he helped dictate trade.
Queen Mab questioned the legitimacy of such claims. The Unseelie pointed out that she had no way of knowing that Jyona could truly make this happen. The Half-Elf stated that she and her father have a strong bond. And under the power of truth spell the Queen knew that this statement held weight.
A Harsh Truth
Yet Queen Mab still didn’t see this situation as a done deal. So she asked if there were any figures or any forces that could get in the way of Jyona’s deal. Jyona surprised herself by bringing up her step-mother and how she could get in the way of all this.
Jyona gave an answer that even she didn’t know was true till she heard it spoken aloud. Her step-mother hated her to the very core for being the true firstborn in the family. The Half-Elf’s mind rushed back to Zinbella and her words indicating this same truth.
This shattered Jyona’s world view a bit. Her thoughts danced and she wondered who else secretly harbored negative feelings towards her. Queen Mab noticed this. She was still lurking in Jyona’s head after all. In act that seemed almost sympathetic, the Unseelie Queen said that she was dismissed. It was clear she wouldn’t get any information at the moment.
Although the Queen admitted that her confidence in this deal was low, she still intended to think on it. At least the Unseelie Queen didn’t seem upset by the conversation. It was clear that Jyona had done nothing wrong or had slighted her.
Gaining Trust
As Jyona calmed down, Midnight brought her back to her cell. And as soon as the door closed, the Archfey removed the truth spell as promised. Midnight pointed out that the conversation went far better than expected. The fact that Jyona was still alive meant a lot. Queen Mab could have easily killed her for even a single offense.
The two talked for a time. Specifically about the truth spell and what Jyona had discovered about her family. Midnight pointed out that there were likely other ideas that the Half-Elf assumed true that were false. And so the Archfey proposed another deal.
She offered to let Jyona roam the castle and essentially not keep her trapped in this cell. But only under one condition. This freedom would be in exchange of Midnight doing something first. She wanted to meld minds with Jyona and essentially look through all her memories.
Jyona was extremely apprehensive about such a personal thing. but agreed to it as she knew it was the best possible way to build trust. And compared to Klevor or Queen Mab, Midnight was much more friendly. This was the best Archfey to do something so invasive.
The Mind Meld
Midnight gave Jyona a pillow to hold tightly. She explained that the experience was going to be rather unpleasant probably. She normally only did this to those who were asleep sleep. But that wasn’t possible since Half-Elves didn’t sleep.
Jyona squeezed the pillow tight with her one arm as Midnight pressed her own hand through her skull and directly into her brain. The experience rocked Jyona to her very core as Midnight looked through her entire life in rapid fire. This caused an absolute meltdown. Jyona began to punch her own head, losing the pillow. She shrieked and cried while rocking back and forth.
Midnight released her hold over Jyona’s mind ending the mind meld. And when she saw how the Half-Elf was still reacting to the experience, she held Jyona’s hand to stop her from any more self harm. As the Archfey helped her steady herself, Jyona eventually calmed down. She had mastered some breathing techniques to pull herself out of these behaviors when she was younger. Once she was calm, the Half-Elf told Midnight she was ready to talk.
Post Mind Meld
Midnight pointed out that someone or something had removed some of Jyona’s memories. The Archfey found this odd. But not impossible. In fact she knew of another Archfey capable of such a feat. But not one that she had any interest in talking to or going near.
When Jyona asked about this Fey and why she didn’t want to talk to them, Midnight muttered the word “Seelie” with more than a little disdain. Jyona recalled Klevor had also mentioned the Seelie and how the Unseelie would make no deals with them. His tone had shown far more hostility than Midnight.
Seeing a pattern with these responses, and not wanting to remain ignorant, Jyona asked Midnight why the Unseelie Fey hated the Seelie. Midnight want into a brief explanation about the war between the two courts, the lack of resources, and all made worse due to a disappearing planet.
All of this should have fascinated Jyona. But her mind was still focused on the past. Specifically how Midnight had shown her compassion during a meltdown. Not even her companions had done that before. In fact Jyona subconsciously was seeing herself as a close friend to Midnight.
The only other one who had ever tried helping her was Trent. And because of that, he was considered her best friend. Midnight didn’t seem aware of any of this. Instead, she informed Jyona that she would go speak to the Queen about letting her be free around the castle post mind meld. And as a show of faith, she released the Half Elf from the shackles.
Wrap Up
There are still a lot of unknowns and Jyona still doesn’t know where she is. But at least she isn’t likely to be killed any time soon. But what will happen when the rest of the party enters the Feywild?