Cycle of Millennia 2023 Session 65: Thia
Here is week 65 of my 2022 Dungeons and Dragons Campaign Cycle of Millennia. The party is confronting Thia, Orabaras’ high priestess at long last.
Don’t forget that this campaign has been ongoing for over four years. There is a lot of story to cover and I’m writing a book series to document it all. I am adapting this adventure into a book series. The first three are on Amazon.
!!!Trigger Warnings Abound!!!
This campaign takes place in an incredibly unpleasant setting. The party has dealt with Human Traffickers, Sex Slavery, Child Sacrifice, The Apocalypse, Genocide, Wicked Cults, and other related topics.
There is a God of Madness that is fond of causing auditory and visual hallucinations, makes use of psychic gaslighting, commands the literal legions of hell, and all around causes untold suffering in the setting.
Essentially, nothing is off the table in this campaign. If the above ideas are not ones you want to think about, I do not think this blog series is for you. That is not a problem and does not indicate any failings on your part. I am a storyteller that does not shy away from the darkest topics. It would be horrible for me to not warn my audiences of this in advance.
!!!Final Trigger Warning. Past this point there be dark topics!!!
The party fought through Spatian Royal Guards on their way Thia. Just like before they had snakes implanted in their bodies when it seemed like they had been defeated.
And also just like before, they posed no threat to a group which included a God and servants of several other ones. Wylf’s divine blessing gave them an advantage against those not bearing such power themselves.
But at the end of what seemed like a serious journey through Entropie’s realm and a second outing no less, they found Thia waiting for them. And she was not happy about having to fight and perhaps even kill this group.
They had been enemies for a long time of course. But Thia admitted that until recently she hadn’t harbored any true animosity towards them. That was until the sky had been torn asunder and the world began to crumble.
Asking one final time to surrender to her so that she could restore the world to one of peace and order, she already knew how the group would respond. After coming this far, there was no way they would surrender now. Instead they would even fight and kill her if need be to save the world. Even if Orabaras had created a small area of peace in Spatia, everyone was still enslaved to the Goddess’ will.
Confronting the Witch:
Before any violence, Thia asked Velkoara where her allegiances were. And the former Cultist so badly wanted to admit that she still saw the High Priestess as a mother figure. But it was too late for that. Still, Velkoara refused to embrace Entropy fully. This despite the fact that said Goddess reminded her that she would stand a much better chance against Thia if she did.
Unlike the soldier’s Thia was blessed by a Goddess and was more than capable of fighting the party. And they learned how Orabaras’ magic worked soon enough. Thia might have been a vulnerable mage, but she had a protection that even Grez couldn’t easily break through.
As they tried to harm her, Orabaras appeared in their minds. Her visage stopped their brain activity. It halted their muscles. Their attacks froze. Their spells whiffed. But this gave Thia dangerous openings to attack them with powerful spells of her own.
On top of all this, Thia was an extremely powerful mage. Quickly demonstrated when she summoned a meteor storm in another dimension without a sky. Between powerful spells and the debilitating protection, the party was on the ropes right from the word go.
But the power had limits and slowly the party weakened her. It turned out that would constant attacks they could eventually break through Orabaras’ enchantment and harm the witch serving her. And slowly the momentum of battle shifted in the party’s favor. Thia’s breath grew heavier and her spells lacked a little oomph.
Or not. Turned out she was faking it. All the attacks that had broken through had been diverted to the countless soldiers that considered Thia their queen. And Spatia considered Orabaras their protection Goddess. The party didn’t need to ask if the soldiers had committed to this task willingly or not. That wasn’t how the Goddess of control operated after all.
Big Bang:
Thia changed tactics, summoned clones and prepared to cast a spell. Perhaps she had lowered her defense, but whatever she was up to had to be stopped. What sort of magic was she casting that she would make herself so vulnerable?
The clones slowed them down. They were still enchanted by the Goddess of Control. But they found the real one. For a moment at least. Then she summoned more clones and continued to cast a potent ritual.
Reminding the party that she was Cathia’s vessel, she pulled off a remarkable feat. Her incantation slowly hinted at what she was up to. And as Velkoara realized the implications, she quickly cast a barrier around Grez to protect them all from what happened next.
“Oh stars above grant me your power
Showcase the force and energy
contained at the start of all creation
The power of space is in my hands
The Big Bang”
And that incantation was no bluff. She really did summon the big bang. An event that only Grez fully understood. Without Wylf’s blessing, the entire party would have been vaporized by that spell. Even Velkoara’s normally impenetrable barrier shattered under the sheer power of Thia’s magic.
Wrap Up:
The group survived the spell. But only barely. And without missing a beat, Thia started casting again. Can they survive this attack a second time?