Centrum Glacies Session 119: The Frightened Demon
Week 119 of the Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies continues as the party fights off monsters in an Orc prison. All the while they are protecting a frightened Demon.
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.
Most recently, the party helped cause a complete planetary genocide. Save a few survivors, no one remains from that world. They are still grappling with this unfathomable loss of life and their role in making it happen. It is clear that their suffering is far from over. They can only hope they don’t cause untold pain to an even more untold more.
!!!Final Trigger Warning!!!
The party’s fight continued against both the Orc Constructs and the Hellhounds that saw both the group and the statues as an enemy. The hellhounds were dealt with first as they were more frail.
Jyona tried pressing more buttons. A mistake as she discovered soon after. The blue button speed the construct back up and after the black button had slowed it down. The green one restored its shield fully. Clearly there was not an easy to destroy button on these machines.
Obrom was attacked by one of the statues and the force of its beam knocked him backwards. He found himself in a rather compromising position with a lovely view. His head was between the frightened Demon’s legs. It was a good thing she wasn’t hostile
The battle continued on for some time with the sentries constantly restoring their shields. Yet it was simply a battle of attrition. The party had fought plenty of these statues already and knew how to deal with them. Eventually they destroyed them all, much to Jyona’s dismay.
After the fight was over, the group gathered around the frightened Demon to find out who she was. She seemed scared of not just her situation, but of herself. Jyona noticed that she avoiding touching anyone with her skin and trembled as the party tried to talk to her.
Dalan:
Jyona gave the frightened Demon her cloak as a way to try to comfort her. The Half-Elf even held out her hand as a kindly gesture. Yet the Demon refused to hold out her own. Jyona noticed and wiggled her fingers, showing there was a glove covering her skin.
The Succubus as it was obvious that was the type of Demon she had transformed into, decided to reluctantly take Jyona’s hand. The Half-Elf was patient realizing that the Demon was working through some serious trauma. After another few awkward moments, the frightened Demon finally gave her name: Dalan.
She was a former High Elf and lacked a last name as was Abyssal Continent custom. But when asked more about that, Dalan changed the subject so the party didn’t ask her more about it. She did promise to answer their questions if she could make it out of here alive.
The party continued onward. They didn’t want to remain in this place. As they slowly made their way through they avoided combat in an empty room with nothing but sentries. A wise decision as they had no idea what else they might find in here.
The Way Out
In fact, they found the stairs out. Yet to the surprise of none of the party, or Dalan, a barrier blocked the way. The frightened Demon asked if she could stay near this exit and wait for it to open. But Trent pointed out that it would be unsafe for her to do so.
Eventually they came across someone they’ve been looking for for a while now: Apephe. Jyona let out a shriek for Trent to come immediately. The rest of the party quickly followed.
Meanwhile, back in the mine, Teztcal clawed his way through more rubble and escaped. He flew up through the multiple layers of falls the party had gone through. Eventually the Dragon reached the makeshift mine prison in Zrin.
He was exceptionally courteous to the miners as he passed by. An unusual behavior considering Teztcal’s normal disposition. The Dragon arrived back in Zrin and was happy to see the sun again.
Cruelty
Meanwhile, back at the Orc Jail, the party looked at Apephe through the bars. After the party explained to Kisara that Apephe was a Dragon just like her and roughly the same age as well, the young White Dragon spoke in draconic to the young Blue. “Hello!” Strangely, Apephe did not respond, even after multiple attempts.
Apephe asked the rest of the party what the dragon was screaming about. A question which set off multiple red flags. Specifically for Obrom who could speak Draconic. He noticed that Apephe didn’t seem to realize that Kisara is speaking draconic. Very strange considering she was a Dragon too.
Apephe grew defensive due to the accusation.The little dragon questioned who Obrom was and why his opinion mattered. Trent jumped to the defense of his new friend and told Apephe that even though they had only became friends recently that Obrom was a valued friend.
The party argued about whether to let Apephe out or not. Obrom was firmly against it obviously while Jyona and Trent who had been searching for her for so long were just relieved to hear her voice. As the group couldn’t come to a consensus, Midnight offered to let her out. And the barrier was down before Obrom could protest.
Unfortunately, it was not Apephe after all. As soon as the young dragon was out of her cell, her form melted into another form. And one the party was familiar with from a different incident. It was the Doppelganger that had impersonated the Gold Adventurer at the Noble Dinner Party.
“See ya suckers!” The creature seemed rather pleased with its deception and vanished. Obrom was angry the party wouldn’t listen to him.Trent punched a wall out of frustration and Jyona had a very cold anger about her.
Venting Anger
Obrom was desperate to calm down the party. But he went about it the wrong way by asking Dalan a series of questions rapid fire. He was suspicious of everyone in this prison now after they had freed an old enemy. Unfortunately this only served to frighten the fearful Demon who froze up and refused to answer most of his questions.
The only answer she was willing to give him was that there were others shouting how they shouldn’t be locked in here. And she had heard screams all around this place before she had been let out of her own cell. The party had found her soon after.
Redirecting his anger at Trent, the Bard scolded the Druid for rushing into his decision and releasing the Doppelganger. As his head cooled, Trent agreed with Obrom. The Doppelganger had counted on playing their emotions and was right in how it tricked them. The Druid promised Obrom he would be more careful and listen to his friend’s counsel.
The party went back to find other paths and other prisoners. They were mentally defeated but had no choice but to move forward. Otherwise they risked being trapped in this place for who knew how long.
The party eventually came across a group of quasit Demons. They were nothing more than pests compared to some of the other threats. Which meant they were getting cut down relatively easily. One did manage to magically scare Obrom though. But that was only a minor speed bump.
Wrap Up
Most of the party is trapped in an Orc Prison where more old foes might await. Meanwhile Teztcal is once again on the loose in Zrin and capable of causing major problems for everyone including himself.