Centrum Glacies Session 120: Faxina Returns
Week 120 of the Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies continues as the party fights off monsters in an Orc prison. They stumble upon an old enemy as Faxina Returns to create problems for them all.
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 group continued cutting through a bunch of weak Demons. Quasits posed almost no threat to the group and even their numbers only slowed them down. As they dispatched those few and charged forward, they found even more of the monsters that mentioned they intended to eat the party. They were speaking in Abyssal but half the party knew this language.
The Quasits only had an advantage in numbers. They posed little threat to the group, best shown when they scattered when they realized that most of the party wore heavy armor and were armed with magic that could harm them. Thus it was not long till the Demons were slain and the party alone in a large room.
As they looked around trying to decide where to go next, Trent looked around a corner and spotted another Mechanical Sentry. Kisara tried to push Obrom into the room, but she failed miserably. The young Dragon lost her footing and slipped, falling on her face. Obrom to his credit also sidestepped her shove. Even if she had not messed up, he wouldn’t have been in danger.
Instead of entering that room, the group traveled the opposite way through another door. After navigating a few hallways and almost doubling back into the room with the statues through another entrance, they came up on another prison cell. And that cell held a familiar face: Faxina, the succubus who had stalked them while causing untold pain and misery.
Returning to Wurthu
Teztcal returned to Zrin. And he decided to make his way to Wurthu. He had some plans and realized that the leader of Zrin could help him make them real.
As he approached the middle of the city, he was stopped by Orc guards. He asked the guards if he could talk to “The green man with the big teeth” The orc guards exchanged confused looks as he just described their whole race. The Dragon made his point cleared by pointing towards Wurthu. The guards let him through knowing that it was unlikely that Teztcal was about to cause more trouble.
Wurthu wondered where Teztcal’s companions were. The Dragon informed the Orc of the other Orcs teleporting them away. Wurthu grew concerned and asked where the party had been when they were captured. Teztcal pointed down.
Wurthu seemed to understand something that Teztcal did not. He decided to shoulder the blame. The Orc declared that he would help the rest of the party not get in any more trouble with the rest of his people.
Favors
Teztcal claimed that he now owes them something. Specifically the Dragon thinks that he personally is owed something for this mixup. Wurthu immediately knew he was going to request something selfish.
The Dragon asked for a personal teleport stone for his future lair. Wurthu was relieved by the request. He thought Teztcal was going to ask for something outrageous.
Unfortunately, Teztcal had another request. And then Wurthu saw a problem. The Dragon asked for a Hydra guard for his lair. Wurthu offers him golem guards in the meantime. Admittedly, the Orc had no idea how to find and tame a Hydra for Teztcal. The Dragon accepted the temporary deal and didn’t reflect on how Wurthu did not specify a time frame.
The Orc also had a message for Teztcal to pass on to the rest of the party. He informed the Dragon that the well has been fully cleansed. Zrin’s water supply was safe thanks to their efforts. To pass this message on, and to ensure that the rest of his party would be safe, Wurthu asked Teztcal to travel to Zerruz via teleporter.
Wurthu knew that sending Teztcal there alone might pose a problem. And so he played into his ego. The Orc asked him to do the most godly thing: Not to antagonize the mortals as a God would have no need to do so. In fact, he pointed out that they would be more willing to worship him if they did. The Orc then gave him a scroll with an encrypted message for his people.
Teztcal went through the nearby portal. With Wurthu’s advice in his mind, and wanting both a lair and new followers, he decided to be nice and kind to the Orcs.
Faxina
Back in the Orc prison, the party confronted Faxina through the bars. The dangerous Demon demanded to be let out. In a rare moment of anger and hatred Jyona counter demanded to “Let the bitch rot!”
Faxina did not seem to react to Jyona’s words. Instead she demanded to be let out a second time. Unfortunately her words had some sort of effect on the two Fey. Somehow the former Archfey were spellbound by her voice. They floated slowly towards the control panel that would open the cell door.
Jyona noticed and grabbed Midnight. Unfortunately, Violet was right by Trent who was adjacent to the control panel. He did not fast enough to prevent the door opening. Faxina was free.
Violence and Madness
Trent immediately sunbeamed her. This was an enemy that had caused him and his friends harm several times over. She needed to be destroyed. Yet Faxina had no intention of fighting the party. She teleported away and became invisible. Despite the group collectively wanting her dead, Faxina escaped. And both Trent and Jyona knew about her potent invisibility powers. They would have trouble finding her.
Midnight and Violet snapped out of their trance. The two Fey demanded to know what happened. The party explained to them and Obrom who Faxina was and their multiple deadly encounters with the Demon. Notably she was capable of controlling minds, though how she did so was a mystery to them all.
Before they left the now vacant prison cell, they decided to look inside the space that Faxina had been trapped in. Perhaps she had left some clues about what she intended to do now that she was free. Trent noticed that the walls are scarred with the word “WHO?” all over, both claw marks and blood. A clear madness mantra and reminder that Faxina was insane and dangerous.
Jarrar
Knowing they had no reason to remain in that corner of the prison and worried that Faxina might attack them from the shadows, the party backtracked to an earlier room with multiple doors to find another way forward. They continued exploring and avoided another room filled with statues. Eventually they found another prison cell and inside was another familiar face: Jarrar.
Lots of emotions ran high at this reunion. In a similar way to Jak-Rath, everyone here save Obrom had history with one another. Jarrar had been one of the party’s earliest enemies and had been a thorn in their side ever since. Trent and Obrom, who was the one person who didn’t have open hostility towards the Dark Elf wanted to leave him be. Unfortunately, Jyona had other ideas.
Jarar taunted them as Trent tried to drag Jyona away. Yet he said things that Jyona couldn’t ignore. For example her step mother was deeply connected to the assassination that had started the war between the Imperial and Southern Nations. Jarrar even claimed that the Imperials had paid the guild to assassinate their own prince. The war had been a simple formality in the aftermath.
Truth
Still, Jyona had enough sense to not trust anything he had to say. But the Dark Elf had a solution. There were three Cultists in that same cell. They had been silent thus far, but Jarrar claimed that one of them was a Paladin and capable of casting a spell that would compel the truth and only the truth from any who stood in it.
Before anyone could point out how incredibly convenient this happened to be, Jarrar went on to explain that he knew a lot about Jyona. In fact he knew a lot about all of them, Obrom and Teztcal included. having been a high ranking member of the Cult of Obsidian had granted him some privileges. One such secret he knew was one that even Jyona hadn’t shared with the party: that she was a bastard child of someone important.
Surprise Knowledge
He promised to share more on her step-mother if she let him out. Jyona was a bit uncomfortable that he knew so much about her even when she hadn’t told her best friend, Trent any of this information yet. How did the Cult of Obsidian know these things? What else did they know about her?
Jarar then mentioned the location of Jak-Rath’s main laboratory. Trent upon hearing Jak’Rath’s name immediately came back to the cell door to listen to him.
Before he continued speaking, Jarrar had his Paladin ally cast Zone of Truth. The spell completed everyone inside it to tell the truth and only that. Everything he said had to be true. After telling them in detail where to find the lab and how to get inside it, the party collectively sighed and allowed him to exit his cell.
It was easier to convince them to let him out given fact that he stated that he had abandoned the cult. In fact, he had been helping others escape all along, even while being one of the leaders. Upon being freed, he had the other 3 ex-cultists go onward ahead of them. Meanwhile Jarar pledged to help them fight through the remainder of the prison if need be.
Wrap Up
The party continues to find not so friendly faces and keeps freeing them. Faxina, Jarrar, and that Doppelganger that killed a lot of innocent people are all free. How will the party come to terms with these choices?