Centrum Glacies Session 70: Wurthu
Week 70 Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies continues with the party still split up. The party minus Teztcal finally meet up with Wurthu.
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.
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 was incinerated in lava. But rather than die, they were transformed into Demons. They might be free from these transformations for now, but only time will tell what this means for them.
!!!Final Trigger Warning!!!
The group minus Teztcal rested at the Adventurer’s Guild Hall in Zrin and planned their next move. Jyona suggested again for the first time in months that maybe the party should partake in her ability to imbue tattoos with power.
Trent was still closed to the idea. This was despite the fact that he had lost most of his abilities after their clash with the Circle of Cleansing. But even after everything he had experienced, Trent still saw this art as defacing his body and thus nature.
Obrom was more open to the idea. And unlike the cursed mark on his hand, a tattoo of this nature would be beneficial. Not to mention as a bard, Obrom was curious to understand how this magic worked.
The party rested knowing they had a lot to accomplish the next day. And unlike before, they were not attacked by ghosts in the middle of the night.
Ba-Arda
The next morning, another Adventurer was in the Guild Hall. Specifically Ba-arda, an elf familiar to Obrom. And as soon as he spotted the group, he had some questions.
Ba-arda asked why they were allied with a Vampire. Specifically Adrene who, in the Elf’s own words, was an aggressive vigilante.
He warned that Adrienne might do something to the vampire child Trent met. The party was put on their back foot. They hadn’t expected anyone else to know about the boy.
Trent noticed the elf was hiding something. He recalled Adrienne was talking to him the last time he had been in this Guild Hall. She had been threating him about being close to finding ‘him’. Though it wasn’t clear who the second ‘him’ happened to be.
Ba-arda left sounding upset. Once he was gone, the group spent a long time debating what to do about the feral vampire spawn child. They feared that something might happen to the orphanage if they didn’t act quickly.
The Party decided to look for Adrenne so that they could ask her to steer the child in the right direction. The alternative would be that she might kill this child. And the Party wanted to avoid that.
To that end, they started looking for her in Zrin. They asked several guards, but none seemed to know her location. And this was even assuming that the soldiers were corrupt and lying to the group for nonsensical reasons.
Meeting with Wurthu
As they wandered aimlessly around Zrin, Wurthu the leader of the city popped up and wanted to talk. It was clear moments later that just like before this was an image and not the real him. He asked them to speak with him in the center of Zrin at their earliest convenience. He had a lot to discuss and it seemed urgent.
Since they were unable to find Adrenne and they still didn’t know what to do about the well, it seemed the best course of action was to talk to Wurthu right away. Invited to the center of the city was quite an honor according to Obrom, who pointed out that he had never been there despite living in the city for several years.
As they approached the center of Zrin, not only did they find standard soldiers stationed all over, but the entryway to the middle was guarded by Orcs. And like the ones in Zerruz, they were armed with weapons and armor the party had not seen before.
The Orcs let them through and the group was wowed further when they looked up. They noticed yet another part of the city above, floating above with no visible means of reaching it. Obrom explained that he heard rumors that the Orcs lived up there and that outsiders were not welcome.
Reaching Wurthu
When the group reached Wurthu he had a lot to tell them. The first order of business he brought up was the well. He explained to the party that he had workers in the city hard at work creating a device that could purify the waters. But there were two other issues that Wurthu brought up that he claimed was even more important,
The first was something about security at a dinner gathering between nobles. Wurthu pointed out that this would be the perfect place to assassinate major pollical figures. One Adventurer had already accepted this commission, but the Orc did not feel that this was an adequate amount of protection.
As for the second issue, Wurthu glanced towards the southern end of Zrin. He asked if the group knew about the two major criminal guilds in the city. The Golden Hands and the Underwheel. Obrom of course did having lived in the city for a long time. The others did not.
Wurthu was worried that the two groups were about to escalate into an open war. And he was willing to pay the party a premium to help put a stop to it. No matter what the Guild claimed as a reward he promised to exceed the amount. There was of course nothing stopping the group from getting both rewards.
Obrom asked about the rune on his hand. They had agreed already to the Orc’s requests and the Bard dared ask a question of his own. But only reluctantly as he knew better than the rest that Wurthu was to be treated with the utmost of respect.
Promises to Keep
Wurthu mentions that it should be possible to remove it, but it will take time and research. Not to mention risks inherent with removing cursed marks. The Orc pointed out that curses did not like being removed. They would want to assess any potential side effects first.
In the meantime, the Orc suggested that the group seek out Persephine. The Witch was apparently known by even him to be well versed in this type of magic. Then again, she was a Mythril Adventurer. The entire world knew about her.
Trent asked Wurthu about Adrenne’s whereabouts. He didn’t know where she had gone, but was certain she wasn’t currently in Zrin.
As their conversation winded down, Wurthu seemed content. But that only indicated a sign of what was to come next. He snapped his fingers causing a dome to lower around the party. He let them know that inside this space, it was impossible for them to be eavesdropped. Under such conditions, he had one last favor to ask them.
A Vital Request
Now that he had their full and undivided attention, Wurthu told them about Vampires in the city. Their numbers were unknown but they were amongst the guards and other groups. They were recruiting children, especially orphans and grooming them. They were deeply entrenched in every aspect of Zrin’s affairs and it would take significant work to bring this conspiracy down.
Realizing where this conversation is heading, Obrom brought up Ba-arda and his strange behavior. Especially towards Adrenne. Wurthu warned not to take any action against this prime suspect. This enemy was cautious enough to evade being caught for countless years. The party would have to act just as slowly and cautiously. Especially if members of the Adventurer’s Guild were Vampires.
Wurthu turned his attention back to the two high rises on the southern end of Zrin. The Orc pointed out that such slums would be a prime feeding spot for Vampires. Especially with the number of homeless and destitute people with no families to care if they vanished.
Slum Dynamics
So that the party could understand the political dynamics of the slum, Wurthu explained the differences between The Golden Hands and the Underwheel. Notably the former put on an air of professionalism and acted like they were heroes or saviors. Meanwhile the Underwheel proudly embraced being thugs and thieves.
Naturally both groups were almost the exact same. So it was clear the party would need to be cautious around both groups. Especially since it was highly likely that Vampires were involved with at least one of the two groups, if not both.
With all these complex issues presented to the party, one thing was quite clear. Adrenne could not be allowed to kill that child at the orphanage. Such an act might set off the hornets nest. Or at the very least force the Vampires to be more cautious making catching them almost impossible.
Content knowing that the party understood, Wurthu warned them that they could discuss these matters with no one outside of everyone under this barrier. Once they all agreed, he dropped the barrier and let the party go. He had other matters to attend to now. But he appreciated the group for hearing him out.
Magic Show
As the party left Wurthu’s domain, they heard a commotion nearby and rushed to investigate. A large group of soldiers and other onlookers had gathered to watch a live show.
Two performers drew attention to themselves. One man and a woman, who bickered amongst each other about who was the magician and who was the assistant.
The man introduced themselves as Brodrick who started by shifting cards between his two had back and forth at an incredible pace. The party stopped talking amongst themselves now completely impressed with the performance. Jyona was dumbfounded as she didn’t sense any actual magic taking place.
Yet for his incredible antics, the woman drew the groups attention. Not just with her own card trick where she started juggling the cards and bouncing them off her huge hat. But with her name. She called herself Yinbella. As in the third triplet sister of Zinbella and Xilbella.
Meeting Yinbella
Obrom wanted to meet her immediately. And started moving towards the front to get her attention. Trent tried to get him to stop. They already had enough to deal with and the last thing they needed was to attract the attention of another potentially powerful elf.
Obrom cheered for Yinbella and said “Third sister” out loud. As planned it got her attention right away. She stated that she had some questions for the group and called a five minute break. The crowd groaned after getting into the act. Trent groaned as Yinbella came towards them.
She continued to perform as she spoke to the party. Jyona asked again and again about how she was juggling all the cards without using magic. And naturally as a magician, Yinbella refused to reveal her secrets. She was however interested to know why the group knew her sisters.
But they didn’t get a chance to answer. One of those sisters, specifically, Xilbella showed up as if being summoned by her sister during the conversation. She didn’t have much to say to the group. Instead she told them that she was here to watch Yinbella’s performance so as to not upset her. Both sisters muttered about how Zinbella was too busy to visit.
Averting Tragedy
Once the group was away from the magic show, the topic turned back around to vampires. Jyona came up with an idea. And the others listened wondering how crazy of a plan she might have come up with this time.
Jyona knew a fair amount about Vampires from books she had read. And as for spawn, they needed to feed on blood or they would turn feral and attack the closest things to them in order to eat. So she suggested that one of them let the child feed just enough off one of them to calm down.
Surprisingly the party agreed to the plan. Not because they thought it was the best plan ever, but because given circumstances, they needed to avoid drawing too much attention. And since they couldn’t quickly find Adrenne to ask if there was a better plan, they decided to go to the orphanage to execute this one.
Enemy Within
Teztcal woke with none of his weapons, armor, or spell focus. In fact he had nothing but his clothes. Worse, he was in some sort of weird labyrinth.
But before he even had a chance to look around and try to figure out where he was, the Dragon started having heat flashes. The world around him shifted colors. Clearly something wasn’t right, but Teztcal did not fear what he might see.
His demonic form showed up before him. And it didn’t remain silent. Teztcal listened and even conversed with this other him. A him that spoke with the same voice and tempo.
Teztcal refused to be afraid or even consider what it meant to be talking to himself. Instead he listened to what this other him and followed it down the next hall.
Demon Teztcal lead regular him into a large and empty room. Once there, his other self pointed out that he was unarmed and lacking in magical tools. The only way he could defend himself now was calling upon that sleeping Demonic Power.
Teztcal knew that this other him was wrong. “I don’t need my weapons to destroy the likes of you,” He taunted back and transformed into his Dragon form. He might be out of magic, but not options.
Demon Teztcal did not seem phased by this act of defiance. “What if I told you you’re not in your dragon form right now?” Teztcal turned back into his humanoid form. How did this other him have the power to do that?
The Illusion Breaks
Teztcal watched as the room around him changed. It wasn’t empty at all. Instead blood stains lined the walls and floor. Pieces of flesh were strewn about too. And it was not clear what had dwelled in this room before they had been horribly mutilated.
Yet one thing was clear. There was blood on Teztcal’s hands too. And his sense of smell strong as it was knew that both sources of gore smelled the same. Somehow he had slaughtered whatever had once been in this room.
Vitality appeared as the haze around him faded. “What did you do?” she asked. Vitality also claimed that he walked in a trance then started killing everyone.
Teztcal had no idea what she was talking about. Yet her words didn’t bother him. In fact he claimed they must have deserved it. They being what was left over whatever was in this room prior.
Vitality informed him that the ones he killed were Golden Hands Members. From what she could guess, the two were right under their base. The two were likely in Zrin in fact.
His demonic form showed up again, with more words about the situation. Teztcal is the only one that saw it.
Vitality tried to stop what she thought is a crazed Teztcal. Naturally she ignored the fact that he was crazed long before the two were captured and left in this cavern.
A One Sided Battle
Teztcal was led to another room by his Demon form. This time he saw the enemy before he fought them. The Golden Hands soldier warned him to stop.
Vitality grew worried when she heard Teztcal’s response. It was clear he did not fear them. “Hahaha, foolish mortals.” Teztcal went full murderhobo and transformed into a dragon. This time he did not instantly change back.
Vitality ran away. She wanted nothing to do with this fight.
Teztcal engaged the small army of thieves. But they had him massively outnumbered. And he was unable to replicate what had happened the last time he had fought these soldiers.
As a result, he was knocked silly and fell into an unconscious haze. As sleep found him, his Demon form showed up once more to ensure he would be up again soon. His alter ego had some ominous words to share before it vanished again.
Feeding a Spawn
Meanwhile, back in Zrin the rest of the party entered Anithren’s Orphanage to try saving the Vampire Spawn Child. This was risky of course since if they failed someone might be killed. Or worse than that even.
To ensure guards didn’t hear anything suspicious, Obrom prepared to perform for the children. It made things more complicated that the Zrin Guard Barracks was connected to this building. And Anithren herself had warned them about the walls letting all sound through on their first visit.
Jyona and Trent slipped by as Obrom enthralled the orphanage. He put on an impressive performance that happened to be loud enough to drown out a couple pairs of footsteps.
Trent had second thought before they reached the Vampire Spawn. He talked to Jyona about those thoughts and the two decided to turn around and tell Anithren about their plan.
Forced into Action
When she found out about the child, and the truth of his affliction, Anithren did something drastic. She immediately slashed her own arm with a knife and provided her blood in a cup. Jyona worried that the blood would not be fresh enough for a Vampire spawn. But Anithren urged them to hurry. She even claimed that she would personally let the child feed on her if this didn’t work.
Jyona and Trent rushed the cup of blood to the child. They didn’t want to make the matron sacrifice even more of herself to these children. Not to mention, Obrom couldn’t continue his performance forever.
The kid was absolutely feral. He hissed and tried to claw at Jyona and Trent. A good thing he was tied down by several ropes. When he smelled the blood, the two knew for sure he was a Vampire spawn. He drank the entire goblet dry and almost instantly calmed down.
But if they two wanted answers from the calmed Vampire Spawn, they were out of luck. They noticed that the kid’s tongue was completely messed up and he couldn’t speak. Someone must have messed it up so badly that even when the Vampire spawn regenerated it didn’t grow back properly.
Wrap Up
For now the child and the orphanage are safe. But what will happen with Teztcal. And will the rest of the party be able to stop the gang war? Lest they forget, they also need to go protect some nobles. They have their work cut out for them.