Centrum Glacies Session 142: Sisters
Week 142 of the Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies continues as the party is caught between two powerful sisters.
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!!!
As the standoff between Adrenne and Cia, sisters who had different goals in this orphanage, Obrom decided to take a side in the conflict. His gut told him that Adrenne was in the right. And so to resolve this without violence between the two sisters, he cast Polymorph on Cia turning her into a mouse.
Adrenne immediately took the opportunity that Obrom gave her to run past Cia and attack the child vampire. The kid had no way to fight back as he was restrained and weakened.
This enraged Jyona who refused to suffer any life she perceived innocent being extinguished. Especially that of a child. She transformed into her Rakshasa Demon form, dispelled the magic on the polymorphed Cia and matching Adrenne’s speed, dashed after her. She screamed at the Vampire about how unjust this was turning.
Ideals Clash
Trent ran after Jyona. While he didn’t see an issue with destroying a Vampire Spawn, the Half Elf was his friend. But Adrenne had some information to share that froze him in his tracks. She pointed out that it was obvious that another Vampire had dominated the Matron’s mind to ensure she would care for the kid. And Cia was shocked as her own Psychic Vampire abilities confirmed that her sister was right.
Worse, Cia tried to read the mind of the Vampire Spawn child and found his mind blank. Almost like someone or something had stolen his memories away. Whoever had turned him into a Spawn had covered any evidence of their involvement.
Adrenne reminded them all that she had been hunting Vampires for years. And not only was she one herself, but knew their tricks and mannerisms. She admitted that this situation was common on the Southern Continent too.
With a lot of reasons to do so, and no objections even from Jyona now, with one final stroke and a stake to the heart, she killed the child. Jyona screamed in rage. Everything about this situation was wrong and she couldn’t bottle her fury. And yet, what happened next made her rethink how she felt.
Nothing Left
The child did not leave behind a corpse. In fact the body burned to ash. And then another spell triggered that burned the ashes away until no evidence remained that a Vampire Spawn had ever been there. When Jyona finally made into the room, she cast truesight to try and see what magic might have caused this. And she found that a contingency enchantment had activated, destroying the corpse. Which in turn hinted at the involvement of a powerful Wizard.
Trent ran out of the orphanage, worried that the guards would return to the barracks and notice that something was amiss here. Especially with the sneaking suspicion that Simon, who was a captain of the guard, and the most likely Vampire involved with this situation might come here personally. He didn’t want to be nearby as even though he was a Platinum Ranked Adventure, he was not above the law.
Meanwhile, Jyona asked Midnight what her thoughts were on what had happened with this Vampire child. The former Archfey Princess admitted that she had seen magic like this before. Mostly involving wicked creatures that intended to fully cover their tracks.
Meeting in the Guild Hall
Jyona came to a similar conclusion involving Simon. And she realized that the group needed to get out of here. A problem massively more likely given that Cia who kept scanning for nearby soldiers realized that several were coming their way now. It was time to leave. The sisters agreed to come with the party to the Guild Hall, where they knew the soldiers couldn’t follow them.
Once they arrived, and felt secure, the large group found a table together and sat down to talk. Addek, the Dwarf Pirate was nearby and waved over to Cia to check on her. But the woman waved him away. This was a conversation that he didn’t need to be part of.
Instead, Adrenne matched the Half Elf’s stare. Jyona felt rather hostile towards Adrenne. But given all the evidence that the Vampire had been right made her bite her tongue. It was pride mostly that prevented her from dropping her anger completely.
Adrenne explained that the Guild had given her the commission to kill the Vampire Spawn. And that whoever had given the commission was coming soon to give her her reward in person. No one walked in. Instead, the patron materialized out of thin air. It was Wurthu, the Orc leader of Zrin. And it turned out that he had assigned the commission to intentionally strike the hornets nest figuratively.
Wurthu and Olanna
He wasn’t alone in this scheme either. He called out to Olanna and told her that she had no need to hide in the minds of the party. Both sisters recoiled when they saw the Psychic Vampire’s visage. And for different reasons. It was clear that Cia, as one of her “children” would be afraid given she wasn’t doing what Olanna wanted. The more surprising bit of information came from Adrenne who revealed that Olanna was her Warlock Patron.
Olanna smiled while admitting that she had set in motion the sisters’ reunion for this very purpose. Cia was less than amused. Before she said anything else, Olanna pulled the group sans Teztcal and Kisara into a mental pocket realm. Those two had amulets that blocked psychic intrusion, though Olanna had demonstrated in the past that she was more than capable of breaking through them.
In this protected space, Wurthu explained why he was willing to work with Olanna, one of the leaders of the Cult of Obsidian. The Psychic Vampire had some beef of her own with the Vampires here. And the two had made a deal where if he helped her hunt these creatures down, she would keep the Cultists from crossing the river into the Jungle of Giants.
Alliances
Trent once again mentioned that he was down to look past his feelings towards Olanna. Not just because of her affiliation with a hated enemy, but also their recent clash if it meant a chance to go after Jak-Rath. Like before Olanna found it amusing how fast he was willing to go against his own beliefs.
Olanna next informed the party about what their actions were likely to cause in the orphanage. The child Vampire Spawn was essentially a living alarm. And his death had triggered a chain of events that would put the matron in danger. But Olanna predicted that Anetheren would be alive in the end because she was still a useful pawn.
Wurthu had more to explain as well. He pointed out that the nobility in Zrinn was the party’s best way towards finding the rest of the Vampires. And there was more. In the nobility district there was a mage academy that the Orc suspected would get them closer to both the Vampires and Jak-Rath in one fell swoop.
Parting Commands
Olanna didn’t seem to have anything else to say. And so the Psychic Vampire vanished. Her visage smiling as she did leaving everyone unnerved. She might be helping them for now, but it was clear she was still a dangerous enemy.
Wurthu meanwhile had a few more directives. He told the party that he could smooth over any issues with the guards. But cautioned them against creating any disturbances in the city for a while. Meanwhile he made it clear that the sisters needed to not fight in Zrinn. If they wanted to resolve their family matter elsewhere that was their business.
In addition, he informed Adrenne that for the sake of locating the ring leader, he was forbidding her from hunting any more Vampires in the near future. If they attacked too aggressively then the rest would go hide underground.
Despite being praised by the Orc, Cia voiced her distaste for being manipulated. Wurthu reminded the princess that this was how the world worked. She was not in the Southern Kingdom where she would be pampered. This was the Abyssal Continent and she was a Gold Ranked Adventurer here title wise. Without another word, he vanished too. And the pocket dimension faded away.
Planning the Next Move
Obrom and Trent moved towards the bar to drink off stress. The chain of events today actually helped them bond better. Trent complimented the Bard on his quick thinking. Obrom for his part took it in stride. His instincts had been right.
Jyona meanwhile moved to the commission board to see if anyone had taken her commission yet.
Unlike before it was marked as taken by two names. Both platinum adventurers that the party hadn’t met: Carac and Haalsaanthur. She knew nothing about them, but assumed that if they were Platinum Ranked, that they had to have been at least half way competent.
There was also a commission posted to the board directed at the party specifically. That was rare and it had been a long time since something like that had been assigned. Jyona notably had never seen a commission like this for anyone else. The one who had posted it was not surprising though. Yotul the innkeeper in Zerruz was requesting them.
Fate Calling
Obrom approached with his drink and saw another commission. It wasn’t for him specifically, but it might as well have been specifically for him. It requested to explore a specific ruin to see if it was haunted.
Those ruins happened to be the ones that had cursed him with that brand.
Jyona gave the Bard the side-eye, but was coming to terms with the fact that she may have in fact been wrong. She asked Midnight her thoughts on the matter. The Fairy agreed with Obrom’s decision in hindsight.
Kisara walked over to Adrenne “mom..” She asked trying to get the Vampire’s attention. Cia looks at Adrenne “Mom?” Adrenne clarified that this was an adopted child. Clearly the very idea of having an actual child with Teztcal was… well… wrong for a whole host of reasons.
Kisara claimed there’s something wrong with Dad. Trent made a backhanded comment about how that was normal for Teztcal. The young Dragon shot him a dirty look. She did not like anyone talking down about her father.
She was worried that Teztcal wasn’t doing anything. In fact, he had been quiet for a long time now. Very unlike him. Adrenne calmed her down and pointed out that “he’ll be fine after some rest.” Teztcal meanwhile kept mumbling “Number One, or Number Two?” Again and again. Clearly that fight had created problems for him since his two closest friends had clashed.
Wrap Up
The party has decided to investigate the haunted town. And Obrom is eager to find out if it is connected to his cursed brand.