Centrum Glacies Session 106: Jorōgumo
Week 106 of the Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies continues as the party wakes up in the lair of Jorōgumo. Their adventure here will soon come to an end.
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!!!
The party woke up and found themselves wrapped in webs and hanging upside down in a cave. They were exhausted and didn’t have proper sleep.
Trent produced a flame to try and burn the web away. But it failed to work. The webs were too strong. Teztcal struggled to escape, but couldn’t make the webs budge.
Trent tried a different tactic. He wild shaped into a pigeon to try and escape. While he gained some movement, part of him was still attached to the web. Failing to pull free, he wild shaped into a spider himself. No longer stuck in the webs, he finally made it to the ground.
He wasted no time and conjured up some berries to restore his health a bit. Trent was certain that enemies were nearby and he wanted to be ready for them.
A very strange shifting of voices spoke in response to his actions “Very good”. Trent ignored it and cut Obrom free. Expecting a fight in response to his actions, he made sure to heal the Bard.
Teztcal meanwhile, was also free from his web. But not due to Trent. Instead a huge spider descended from the ceiling of the cave. And its arrival caused the Dragon to fall onto the cold ground.
Jorōgumo Appears
When it spoke, it was clear that said spider was the source of shifting voices. The Archfey introduced itself as Jorōgumo. And it wanted to make a wager with the party.
Said wager involved two different deals. The first part included being sent to Queen Mab’s jail if they refused it. Trent wanted to know what the deal was before accepting. Unfortunately, Jorōgumo refused to state what the deal would be until the group made their decision.
Trent wondered if they could use the dungeons to their advantage. It would put them close to Queen Mab after all. Jorōgumo pointed out that they would not be able to escape the dungeons. It’s deal was the far better play for them to get what they wanted.
Next, Jorōgumo turned to Obrom. The Bard stated that Teztcal’s opinion should not dictate their choice. He didn’t want to make a deal with the spider unless he had more information.
Jorōgumo turned to the Dragon and gave him the same ultimatum. Teztcal also did not want to make a deal without knowing what the deal is. It was looking like all three were going to choose the dungeon.
Buying Time
Trent tried to see if he could get Jorōgumo to tell them more about this potential deal. He explained tp the Archfey that they are a reasonable sort. The three did not wish to fight. The spider states they have no intention of fighting them either.
The druid asked how the Archfey avoided headaches looking at things with that many eyes. It was a question meant to stall for time. But Trent didn’t know what else to do given the circumstances.
“Headaches?” It questions. Once more the three had run into an issue where the Fey did not experience the same things they did.
Jorōgumo once again spoke aloud the two choices the party had to select from: “So, dungeons or deal?” It was clear that they wouldn’t be able to stall for time much longer.
The players mulled it over and tried to ask questions. They needed more information to better choose. Unfortunately though, the Archfey was done with their games. Jorōgumo stated that they would leave here one way or the other. Their choice here would determine how much they liked the outcome.
Forced to Choose
Trent worried that Jorōgumo was making threats now and decided to slash Teztcal’s web. If it came to fighting, it would best if all three were free.
Jorōgumo stopped his actions with a dangerous sentence. “If you free them, it will be the same as accepting the deal.”
Trent didn’t want to make the choice for the others via mistake. Instead he listened to what Jorōgumo had to say. The spider enticed them further saying it would promise that they would be unharmed if they accepted the deal.
Trent thought of one last question to serve as a distraction. So he asked about Jyona. It was a long shot. And yet, Jorōgumo stated that it knew about this friend. But unless they did as it wished, they would learn no more about Jyona.
Trent chose the dungeon. Teztcal, the deal. This left Obrom to be the tie breaker between them all. eventually he choose the dungeon as well.
Teztcal however asked if he could take the deal on his own. When Jorōgumo stated that it had no issue with that arrangement, the party was split even further.
The Deal
Once Teztcal was alone with Jorōgumo, the Archfey finally explained what deal the Dragon was accepting. He would fight his way out of this cave, but any time a blow would be fatal, Jorōgumo would take something that the Dragon held dear. Teztcal would not die. Instead, Jorōgumo would take a year from his child’s life.
In almost any other situation, such a statement would have enraged Teztcal. But this was something the Dragon was confident about. So he scoffed, thinking he wouldn’t die at all. This deal seemed tilted in his favor.
Jorōgumo had not specified what Teztcal would be facing as he escaped from this cave. But it became clear soon enough as swarms of spiders descended from above. Many of them even walked through the walls to reach the Dragon.
Yet combat was something that Teztcal was well acquainted with. Rather than flee from the overwhelming number of monsters, he waited until a large number were in front of him. And then he did what he did best. Tons of monsters melted as he used his Dragon Breath to clear the way.
With the way clear, he fled towards the other end of the cavern. Jorōgumo did not pursue him. But countless other monsters did. And just as many emerged in front of him barring the way forward.
And as he continued to flee, Teztcal noticed some other monsters mixed in with the spiders. They looked almost like blue goblins with gnomish features. But in the Feywild, or the Fee Wild as Teztcal tended to call it, there were all a manner of strange monsters. And the Dragon had no interest in finding out as he continued to flee as fast as his Dragon form would allow.
Penalty
Jorōgumo spewed webs to slow Teztcal down. The Dragon hadn’t realized that the Archfey would personally be part of this clash. And since he couldn’t move now. The monsters surrounded him. And even as a powerful Dragon, there were just too many enemies.
Teztcal temporarily faded from consciousness. Would Jorōgumo keep its word? Or was this the end of the Dragon God Teztcal? The Dragon awoke beaten and battered, but very much alive.
Unfortunately, he had no way to heal himself. And so that meant every time he was struck from here on out, his child would age a year if Jorōgumo was telling the truth. Since the Archfey had saved him, it was likely it was telling the truth about this deal.
Teztcal struggled to escape from the mass of spiders and Jorōgumo’s other tricks. But through webbing, poison fangs, and claws, he escaped from the Spider Cave. It could have been much worse, yet he had kept count of how many times he had fallen. Mini Me would probably be 13 years older when he escaped this realm.
Towards the Castle
Outside the cave, Teztcal did not find light. Instead it was darker than inside and colder too. He supposed that it made sense that the opposite of summer and spring would be winter. And this cold was not as bad as what he had experienced on the Abyssal Continent.
Before he could proceed farther, a voice rang through Teztcal’s mind. “You are much more valuable to me alive, but I’ll let the souls of the dead Fey rough you up a bit” Teztcal had no idea who was talking to him and continues onward. If Jyona had heard the voice, she would have told him it was Queen Mab herself.
The mists of the dead attacked from darkness. And Teztcal could barely see. Worse, the cold was starting to get to him. Or perhaps it was the presence of these horrible creatures now surrounding him.
Still, there was no Archfey to mess with him here. And so, he made it out of the field of the dead unscathed. He followed the one light that allowed him to see at all. Luck would lead him right to where he needed to be. Teztcal saw a large castle in a snowfield ahead. And even he knew who likely lived there.
In the Dungeon
At the same time, Trent and Obrom opened their eyes, and found they were chained to the wall of a large stone room. Gor-Venal was here too. Understanding this situation fully and eager to be done with this business, The Druid asked both of them to keep watch for a little while as he gathered his thoughts. Midnight still wouldn’t let him sleep properly though.
While Trent meditated, Gor’Venal asked Obrom where Teztcal was. He told him about their encounter with Jorōgumo and how Teztcal made an unknown deal with the Archfey. The spider creature had not been very transparent with them and so the two of them had refused its offer.
The monk had not heard of such an Archfey, but it was not surprising that such a creature existed in this part of the Feywild. But the Monk shifted to a much more dire topic. And he hesitated before he spoke next. He motioned to the Druid and pointed out that it would take them using “it” to break out of here. Obrom knew immediately what the Monk implied, and moved to help him “wake” Trent and tell him what Gor-Venal thought.
Transformation
Trent didn’t need much convincing. In fact this had been his plan all along. And so the two transformed. Their shackled burned away immediately in response to the dark magic they now wielded. Obrom had seen this Demonic Transformation a couple times now, but he still was startled by it.
The Druid was still disgusted with his form all the same. He found everything about this form and what it did to everything around him to be an affront to nature. If Gor-Venal had any feelings about his current form, a monster that floated in the air and wielded two weapons that appeared to be made out of flesh, he didn’t voice it.
With minimal effort, Gor-Venal and Trent broke out of their cell. The door was easily smashed in. And the floor above which seemed to be the main floor of the palace did not do anything to block their path either.
Massacre
Not that guards didn’t try to stop them. A large number of beautiful looking ice Fae, Yuki Onna in fact tried to freeze them and protect their Queen. However, they couldn’t get close. When they tried, simply being near the two Demons caused them to disintegrate. And there was nothing lovely about their screams as they did.
Trent was troubled by what was happening. But he continued onward. If he was going to go rescue Jyona, then he would destroy this castle and the Unseelie Queen even if need be.
And destroy the castle he did. Gor-Venal and Trent seemed to be burning the air, the walls, and all the Fae that they could see. This wasn’t a fight. It was an extremely one sided slaughter. The Unseelie fled from the two monsters, and ran right towards Queen Mab. This made it easier for the two to find her.
Queen Mab sounded panicked as she screamed her orders. She told her Yuki Onna to go after the Dragon. He had not transformed yet and would be much easier prey.
Teztcal Attacked
Teztcal himself had just arrived to the Winter Palace. He didn’t know what was going on, but didn’t have a chance to join the fight properly, before he was surrounded by tons of Unseelie Fey. And collectively, they paralyzed the Dragon with a simple touch. He was in much more trouble than his companions as more and more of the icy Fey crowded around him.
Meanwhile, Trent and Gor-Venal with Obrom following behind made it to the throne room. Their slaughter continued without lifting a finger. And soon it was just them and Queen Mab. The other Fae were all less than dust.
That was when Queen Titania made her move. She said in their heads “Now is the time!” and Teztcal was forcefully transformed. The transformation ended the paralysis and obliterated all the Unseelie.
Tragedy
With all of them transformed, the castle and Queen Mab herself were obliterated. And if the Yuki Onna screams were fear inducing, then Queen Mab’s own shrieks took years away from their lives in comparison. Things only got worse as the roof overhead shattered revealing the sky. And it was not in one piece. Cracks were forming in the sky itself Was their transformation that powerful here?
Meanwhile, back all the way at the Seelie Palace, they exact same thing was happening as Jyona was forcibly transformed by the very same Queen Mab who had just been destroyed.
Oberron and Puck both faded from existence. Simply being near Jyona seemed fatal to them both. And as they vanished, she looked up at the sky and saw it darkening and breaking apart. She panicked as fear of what she had just been forced to do started settling in.
Jyona rushed into the ruins to see if she could save anyone. But there was no one there. Not even Queen Titania was anywhere to be found. And it was becoming ever clearer that she had killed them all.
The rest of the party didn’t have time to freak out and react to the very horrible thing they had just done. An uncountable number of Fey were now dead. And because of them. They needed to find Jyona. And fast before something even worse than this tragedy unfolding happened.
To Find Jyona
The four fled all the way through the Unseelie Court. And a combination of adrenaline, their Demon Forms, and something going wrong with the Feywild itself helped them cross back through to the Seelie Realm. It didn’t even feel like a single day had passed to Obrom. They found nothing alive on their journey.
Eventually the group did find a living being. They came across Violet. The Archfey that had been friendliest to them of all. She demanded to know: “Why did you do this?!” She was hiding behind a magical shield that just barely was protecting her from their Demonic Forms given how the magic itself was burning away.
They didn’t have an answer to Violet’s demands. And she grew uncharacteristically quiet. But the group realized from her silence, that Queen Titania was also dead. And so with Violet following behind them, the now five raced towards the Seelie Palace hoping that Jyona was still alive.
Tainted Soul
Jyona meanwhile had fallen to her knees. She couldn’t take all the tragedy and death happening around her. In a life where she had tried her hardest to never kill a sentient being, she had now caused an actual genocide. The number of deaths was impossible to measure, and her soul was forever tainted by this atrocity.
Her heart couldn’t take it. And so she moved a claw towards her throat. Even in this form, the right cut to the proper artery and she would stop breathing. It was the least she deserved because of this.
“Stop!” Midnight yelled. And she was very alive and protecting herself with a powerful shield. “You did not do this!” She called out to the suicidal Jyona. “Do not end your life. And do not blame yourself for this!”
Jyona moved her clawed hands away, but only because she trusted Midnight a whole lot by this point. Instead she sank to her knees once more and screamed. Tears streamed down her face. And Midnight could not approach to comfort her lest she disintegrate.
Reunited in Darkness
The rest of the party arrived near the ruins of the Seelie Palace. Violet was still with them. And as the groups come together, Puck joined them as well. It was clear that at least several of the Archfey had survived this tragic massacre.
Puck echoed Midnight’s words, even as the two women Archfey glared at one another. This wasn’t the fault of the party. Both Queen Mab and Queen Titania had created this tragedy. They had both been power hunger and tried to exploit a power that neither understood.
The Comet
Puck looked up and pointed at the sky that continued to break apart. Something was flying towards them. A rock from space and the world only changed colors as it streaked towards them.
As it landed, the last remains of the Feywild itself broke away. The party, and the surviving Archfey found themselves in a surreal place with no physical ground and countless stars all around them.
But more unusual and significantly more dangerous was the creature that appeared from the meteor. A massive, eldritch monstrosity that the party had trouble describing looked their way and it was clear it intended to harm them.
Wrap Up
Almost everyone in the Feywild is dead. The Feywild itself has been destroyed. How will the party get back to their world? And what does the creature that has now appeared before them intend to do to them?