Centrum Glacies Session 60: White Dragon
Week 60 Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies continues as the party confronts a fully grown White Dragon.
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.
Most recently one of the party members had an eye gouged out and lost an arm. Not exactly the way it happens in Berserk, but that might have been the inspiration for it. The group recently was incinerated in lava. But rather than die, they have been transformed into Demons. And every moment they have to resist a bloodlust that is trying to take hold.
!!!Final Trigger Warning!!!
After being ambushed and faked out, the party prepared to fight a White Dragon. And the more intelligent in the group (Jyona) realized that they were fighting it in its home. Under such conditions, it would take everything they have to take it down.
Using its control of the region, the White Dragon created walls of ice to separate the party from each other. But more importantly, it realized right away that a bunch of powerful Demons had come to its lair and it didn’t want to get to close to them.
The entire cave was filled with ice. And for the party, it served as a slippery obstacle. But for the White Dragon that controlled the entire cave, it was a useful escape route. The Dragon phased through the floor and into the icy water beneath it. Out of range of any attacks and capable of striking the party whenever it felt like.
Poisoning the Water
Or so it thought. Trent came up with an idea and after everything he had been through just to get a chance to change back to normal, he wasn’t going to let this final obstacle get in his way. He attacked the floor trying to break the ice and reach the water beneath it.
His Demonic form had no issue breaking through the ice. Even with how thick it was. And he was more concerned at reaching the water below it. He still possessed the ability to poison any water source he came in contact with. And the Dragon happened to be sitting in one that he was able to reach.
The White Dragon called for help as the water got it in its deadly brew. It looked for a safe escape point as above the ice, more Kobolds ambushed and attacked the party.
The Dragon saw that Jyona was separated and alone. She was by far the easiest to fell prey and the White Dragon knew it. It emerged right beneath her and knocked her out in a single strike. The Kobolds swarmed to her position ready to finish her off.
Pleading Dragon
But Teztcal and Trent were in full fighting form still. And they beat the Kobolds back from Jyona and prevented the White Dragon from escaping again. As it became clear that the Dragon would die if it continued fighting, it begged for its life.
Trying to convince the party to let it live got the White Dragon to ask why the party had come into its lair at all. They told it about the Frozen Flames and how they intend to use them to change back to humanoid forms. Trent asks the Dragon where the coldest point of this cave is and find out they have found the spot.
The White Dragon humbled itself before Teztcal for the sake of survival then burrowed away. With the Dragon gone, the party finally was able to activate their frozen flames. Save Jyona who was still unconscious.
Eating the Frozen Flame
Teztcal did not understand the implications of ingesting an object at the absolute coldest temperature possible. Which is why he went first and swallowed his frozen flame in one gulp. It caused him excruciating pain as it burned his insides, but he refused to yield to an object. No Dragon God would ever lose such a fight.
Watching him succeed and transform back to his Humanoid form encouraged Trent to do the same. Unlike Teztcal he was quite aware of the dangers. And learned firsthand that nothing he understood about the world prepared him for the horrific pain of swallowing this object. Surviving the pain he finally returned to being a Human. This had been quite an ordeal.
Teztcal forced Jyona’s frozen flame down her throat. She was still unconscious and couldn’t consent to being administered this at all. Perhaps being unconscious helped her survive the experience. Her stamina at the moment was not comparable at all to the others. A good thing everything worked as intended though. Like the other two, she once more was Humanoid.
Teztcal was foolish but he knew a bit about Dragons. Specifically that White Dragons were stupid and greedy. He was certain that if he made it look like Jyona had been left behind, the Dragon would attack and he would have a chance to kill it.
Finishing the Job
As Trent left with the real Jyona, Teztcal cast an illusion spell of her lying in the ice bleeding to death. As expected, the Dragon emerged, feeling a lot more courageous.
Teztcal killed the dragon for “failing his test.” The White Dragon didn’t even have a chance to beg for its life a second time. Teztcal made sure of that. He laughed all the while as the ice around the cave started to fade away. The White Dragon was dead and the magic around its lair was vanishing with it.
But the White Dragon left one final surprise for Teztcal. The Dragon had been a she. And she had been carrying a Dragon egg. Teztcal decided that the final insult to her memory would be to raise this Dragon himself. So he took the egg and hurried along to catch up to Trent.
Planning for the Future
Once they were out of the cave, the party took some time to rest. They had survived quite the ordeal and were no longer cursed to be Demons.
Jyona awoke as her normal self again. And she was relieved to be alive and no longer trapped in the form of a Demon cat.
Trent did not share her optimism. He tried simple spells such as producing flames and couldn’t do it. The Arch Druid really had taken his powers away. This stole his thunder and took away what should have been an incredible victory for the now former Druid.
After resting and recovering, the party split their winnings from the Dragon’s lair. Like most Dragons this one had kept a significant amount of stuff. Once everyone was pleased with this agreement, they headed to the Orc Town nearby.
The moment they arrived, Teztcal visited the Gold Rank Merchants until he found one able to help him transport his Dragon Egg. The Dwarf Darbag offered to help make such an item, but at first didn’t believe that Teztcal had managed to obtain an actual Dragon Egg. Naturally, the deluded Dragon was pleased at how easily he could prove himself.
Meanwhile, Trent went to Tolith to try and figure out how to regain his Druid powers. As secretive as ever, she told the former Druid to meet her at night and to come alone.
Wrap Up
Now that the party has finally freed themselves from their Demon Forms, they have a lot to do. Lost time to recover and Guild Secrets to uncover among them. But the danger growing around them has not abated. What will Trent discover? And what will happen when that Dragon Egg hatches?