Centrum Glacies Session 143: Haunted
Week 143 of the Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies continues as the party finds themselves trapped in a haunted village.
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!!!
After agreeing to an order to complete their new commissions, the party, with Obrom most eager, headed towards the allegedly haunted town. The party sans Obrom had actually been here once before without issue. But that was not so for Obrom himself who had kept a few secrets from the rest of the group, namely his brand which had come from this very town.
As they traveled from Zrin, Jyona gave Kisara her graduation gift now that she was officially an artificer. A multi-purpose tool that had several different uses to aid the young White Dragon in all future crafting endeavors and not a cheap item to buy or create by any means. Jyona had high hopes for Kisara,
As they grew closer to their destination, Trent and Jyona recalled not so fondly their horrible adventure the last time they were in this part of the Jungle of Giants. This had been when they were stuck in their Demon forms. And the river to their east was still a barrier marking Cult of Obsidian Territory. Something the soldiers at each guard tower they passed reminded them. But they had no intention of crossing the river and putting themselves right under Olanna’s thumb.
To the Village
Opposite The bridge that would have allowed them to make a terrible mistake, sat The road that took them towards the allegedly haunted town. The soldiers at the guard tower and camp that site in front of it warned the party that several Gold Adventurers had entered and disappeared with a trace. Yet the party had two Platinum ranks among them. They entered the village without fear.
That changed when they actually entered the town. As if crossing a barrier the space around them seemed to warp. Specifically to a dead and barren ruin of the town. The normally serene skies of the Jungle of Giants was with a dead, brown one. Turned out something strange really was going on here.
Obrom’s brand began to glow. A sure sign that something supernatural was afoot. And the group didn’t need to wait long to see what it was reacting to.
The Ghost Child
A lone child appeared before them. She asked where everyone was. The group tried to get her attention, but to no avail. This was clearly a ghost of some kind. Possibly reliving moments in the past.
Obrom’s brand intensified as he tried to get closer to her. All in an attempt to try and get her attention. But if she had noticed the party, she made no mention of it.
Instead, The girl cried out for her family. But no other ghosts appeared. In fact as far as the party was able to see, this girl was all alone. But she decided to run out into the Jungle. She wondered aloud if everyone had gone out into the woods without her.
The party followed the child’s cries as they did they best not to lose her in the Jungle of Giants. Not an easy task given the places’ ability to muffle sounds. And the group also was distracted by another unusual phenomena. The village behind and many of the trees around them faded in and out of existence as they chased the ghost child.
Cultists in the Woods
Eventually the girl stopped running. And the party wasn’t alone with their strange guide either. Unwelcome guests appeared all around them: Obsidian Cultists. But only for brief moment, before vanishing. The group assumed they were ghosts too.
The ghost girl seemed to have been aware of them too. She asked aloud if “there was someone there.” The party thought it a good thing that whatever had happened most likely the Cult had not harmed her. Still, the child vanished into the gloom. Leaving the party on edge since they didn’t understand what was going on here.
Trent noticed that Obrom had grown really quiet, despite the fact that has brand looked like it was causing him searing pain. So he asked the Bard about the brand. And made it clear that this was not the time to be keeping secrets.
There was no reason to hide it anymore, and Obrom had proven that he was trustworthy several times over at this point. And so he gave the others the truth. He had once stayed in this town while wandering the Abyssal Continent for research. It had already been abandoned by then. He had been cursed in this very place in fact.
Unwanted Attention
Hearing this, Jyona tried to use detect magic to see if she could find what was really going on here. Unfortunately some powerful spell gripped this entire area. Instead of figuring out the answer to this odd riddle, she was blinded by the sheer amount of magic in the air and ground.
Perhaps in response to her curiosity, but with no way to know for sure, more ghosts appeared. And these ones not only saw the party, but made it clear they were hostile. “You should not be here.” The Wraiths whispered on the wind as they attacked.
The Wraiths did not do well against the party. This group had fought countless ghosts over their adventure. Especially on the Abyssal Continent due to Obrom’s brand. The apparitions were quickly vanquished, but this only left the group with even more questions than before.
Wrap Up
Though the party has dealt with a few ghosts, they are still trapped in this strange haunted place. They will need to figure out the truth of what is happening here to escape.