Centrum Glacies Session 96: Vortex of Souls
Week 96 Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies continues as the party fights their way through a Vortex of Souls summoned by Jak-Rath.
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!!!
Fighting their way out of a trap, the party defeats the Darkmantles that had been transformed from stalagmites. They had not served much of a challenge. Not compared to some of the other monstrosities in this place.
Jak-Rath commented a second time on their use as ambush predators. But they were fairly weak in a straight up clash.
Still, he was satisfied with the data and was feeling charitable. And so he revealed a treasure chest that he claimed was a reward for the party’s hard work. Naturally Obrom and Trent had no interest in touching anything coming from Jak-Rath.
Teztcal however, after doing a simple look at the chest, didn’t detect any traps or tricks, and decided to take the contents for himself. He was rewarded with an absolute shit ton of gold and gems. He refused to share with the rest of the group. Not that they minded.
He found some horseshoes at the bottom of the chest. But he didn’t think of an immediate use for them. Instead, out of boredom, Teztcal tried to throw one on of them onto the Animated Armor’s antler. But his aim was way off and he almost hit Obrom instead.
Cultists Attack
Before either Trent or Obrom could reprimand him for his newest chaotic tendency, they were interrupted by shouts. And they drowned out the groups protests against Teztcal. Cult of Obsidian members screamed at the party that they intended to avenge Lord Jarrar.
Jyona had actually saved the Drow by teleporting him away. But the rest of the party didn’t know that. Jak-Rath meanwhile sounded frustrated calling the Cultists foolish for interfering with his experiments. But as they charged the group he said little else.
Unfortunately for the Drow, the party was quite skilled at dispatching them at this point. They had taken out an impossible to measure number of them, and slaughtered almost each one they had fought. These ones fared no better.
Unplanned Test
Teztcal shouted at the corpses of those combatants: “Fuck your Jarrar” He didn’t remember who that fallen commander was. All despite the fact that the Drow had been the one to trigger their Demonic transformations.
Jak-Rath finally voiced his displeasure with the fallen fools. But not for reasons the party liked. He stated that another experiment was about to begin. One that he hadn’t originally planned for.
Obrom had a feeling at what was happening as that cursed brand on his hand started burning once more. Undead were coming there way, and there was an obvious source lying in burned husks on the nearby ground.
But it wasn’t Zombies this time. Instead the souls of the fallen Cultists gathered in a swirl. A true vortex of souls appeared and sent rage through the group. These wayward souls had unfinished business and Jak-Rath’s newest experiment allowed them a second chance to kill the party.
The Vortex Stirs
It attacked the group, by flying through them. Its very presence pushed the boundary between life and death and rotting the living flesh of anything that came too close.
Trent transformed into a Radiant Elemental. And he correctly guessed that these cursed souls were vulnerable to holy energy. But that same Vortex of Souls was equally willing to blight out the light. And tried to do just that with magic.
Obrom saw the clear danger from this monster, and quickly worked out a solution. Rather than face the Vortex of Souls, he cast a polymorph spell. Which changed the frightening monster into something far more adorable: A goat.
Teztcal being the fool that he was, tried to eat the goat. Unfortunately it didn’t kill the monster. In fact, it broke the polymorph spell. And the worlds most vengeful goat changed back into a Vortex of Souls.
Punishment for Mistakes
Given their incorporeal nature, they were able to attack from inside the Dragon and the surrounding area. Teztcal quickly found himself in trouble and his Dragon form could only shield him from so much harm.
Obrom muttered to himself once more about how idiotic the Dragon was. If not for his great strength in battle he would be a massive liability in just about any situation. And this was just more proof of that.
Jok’roth seemed satisfied at the results of this battle. The Vortex of Souls was something that he fully intended to use.
As the group was a powerful party equipped to fight supernatural monsters like the Vortex of Souls, they finished it off and the vengeful ghosts faded away. Jak-Rath told the group about how satisfied this impromptu test had gone. They tried to ignore his words the best they could. Especially since he was making it clear that every one of their actions benefited him.
The Final Experiment
Jak-Rath did promise to let them go if they survived his final experiment. And as they had no other option to escape this cave, the party had no choice but to once more do what the mad scientist wanted.
As the group approached the exit and allegedly the final experiment that Jak-Rath wanted to pit them against, he talked a bit about his fascination with Dragon physiology. Jyona, not being present meant that she didn’t react to his choice of words. Trent however heard him loud and clear and gritted his teeth imagining that he was about to find out that Apephe had met a horrible end.
As if to confirm those fears, Jak-Rath’s final experiment appeared from the darkness below ground. Several more Cultists appeared, but they flanked a creature unlike any the party had ever seen.
A three headed beast was among them. And while two of then likely belonged to animals Jak-Rath had used stolen Druidic Arts on to merge to create this crime against nature, it was the third head that drew Trent’s attention. Next to a lion and goat head sat a Blue Dragon one.
Trent tried his best to remember Apephe’s Dragon features. He desperately wanted to confirm that this wasn’t her. If it was, the Druid intended to put the poor girl out of her misery. But either way, this creature could not be allowed to exist and Trent along with his two allies needed to escape this place.
Future Danger
The rest of the group was ready to assist him. And Teztcal for his part was more than happy to assert his superiority as a Dragon over this creature that had the head of one. Obrom didn’t fully understand what Trent was upset about as he had never met Apephe, but for personal reasons he despised Jak-Rath.
While watching his experiment unfold, Jak-Rath talked excitedly about how a stronger Dragon as a base would make for a better Chimera. When Teztcal mocked the scientist and taunted him about how he was the God of Dragons, the Drow seemed intrigued. He mentioned that perhaps he should capture Teztcal then and test that theory.
But though his words as usual meant only to distract and incite, the group managed to ignore Jak-Rath and crush his last experiment and the Cultists guarding it. Or so they thought.
One Last Trick
Thanks to the accidental trial earlier, Jak-Rath had one last trick to pull. Or perhaps he had always meant to implement it. The souls started merging just like they had with the Cultist attack before this one. And a powerful force was among them. The Chimera, or whatever it had been beforehand was becoming part of this monstrosity.
Obram’s brand burned brighter and more painfully. An extremely powerful Undead was among them. A Vortex of Souls far greater than the one they had faced not even an hour before.
This terrifying creature demonstrated its greater power and dire magical ability by breaking Teztcal out of his Dragon form and knocking him unconscious. And then it turned its fury against the rest of the group.
Obrom healed Teztcal, knowing that this battle needed his power even if the Bard did not like him. But even with the Dragon’s strength and his powerful magic as well, this fight liked dire. The party was exhausted after fighting so many powerful creatures.
Overwhelmed
Trent still in his Radiant Elemental form tried his best to erase this powerful amalgamation of angry spirits away in holy light. But that only drew the Vortex of Soul’s ire. It targeted him specifically and after a series of dark spells, he reverted back to his normal Druid form. And lacking in proper spells to banish this creature.
On top of all the problems the party faced in subduing it, the Vortex of Souls grew more powerful and desperate as the monster continued fading away from each of the party’s strikes and spells. And the group was growing tired and running low on resources.
Trent still had the monster’s attention though. And through several more attacks and the Vortex of Souls ability to cause any life around it to rot if it focused its attention, Trent’s own life started fading away. He was dying fast and the rest of the group wasn’t faring much better.
Wrap Up
Jak-Rath continues watching the party as they struggle against his experiment. Even should they prove victorious here, its unlikely that he won’t find a way to mass produce this monster.