Centrum Glacies Session 73: Hidden Rats
Week 73 Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies continues with the party still split up. Hidden rats abound at the Noble Meetup with danger on all sides.
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, slavery.
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!!!
As the party arrived at the Noble Meeting Hall, they were greeted by soldiers and their commander. Unfortunately that Commander was Simon Rakshasa. And they had already met this Dwarf in Anetheren’s Orphanage. Given her former profession and his control over her, the party was worried about how he was controlling her.
Worse, Simon knew the entire party’s names without having ever been told. And while that might have been attributed to being Platinum and Gold Rank Adventurer’s, a point that Simon made himself, they didn’t like that he knew. Certainly it was not a good sign that a person who’s first Demon kill had been one known for intrigue was here and potentially their enemy in a place filled with lies.
Simon called for the party to follow him to where the nobles were located. Noting that powerful adventurers like this group might be able to help protect everyone else here. They followed him with all the guards watching their movements.
The Meeting Room
Upon reaching the meeting room, Jyona began to carry herself in a way Trent had never seen before. The Half Elf had been trained on how to behave in such a setting from almost birth. But her friends didn’t know that. Even her quirky personality took a back seat.
But the entire host did not notice the party. The soldiers and Nobles were distracted with themselves. Still, one pair of eyes was watching them. Near the back, a lone Elf watched them out of the corner of her eyes.
Only Trent noticed her gaze though. Obrom was too focused on hearing juicy bit from the nobles. Jyona meanwhile knew to make not a sound and was hyper focused on her own behavior.
Trent who did not know all these etiquette rules, tried to speak to the mysterious Elf. He was rewarded with a shush from both the Elf and Simon. The Guard Captain had remained and now he was watching them too.
Up at the front, the Nobles talked of mostly on mundane topics such as budgets and business deals. The party didn’t really learn anything important minus the fact that everyone knew that at least one murder had happened here.
Adriel
Once their discussion ended, they passed the party by without even a glance. Still, the group noticed something strange as the Nobles passed them by. Obrom’s brand glowed for a brief moment and then stopped after the procession passed. Simon and a majority of the soldiers left
After the meeting at long last the Elf Woman who had been watching them finally spoke. She asked them what they were doing here and why they were trying to draw so much attention to themselves. Something that Trent claimed wasn’t true.
Still, he proved her point immediately when Trent ever so suspiciously asked for a walking stick. She immediate mentioned how bold such a request was after Cedric had recently died and been well known for his walking stick.
Faulty Plan
The group saw that trying to trick her was fruitless and might even backfire. Instead, they asked for her name. And she much more willingly introduced herself as Adriel. Elanth, who originally accepted the task, showed up at the entrance of the main hall. For a moment she crashed the conversation.
That was until Adriel insulted by mentioning that several Platinum Adventurers had been recruited because she had failed to protect the nobles so far. Elanth left after asking why the party was here while she still lived.
Adriel very aggressively told Trent to stop pretending to be injured. He had intended to still try even after her advice. She pointed out that no one here would be fooled. All it would do was draw attention. The Elf demanded to know why he wanted the walking stick.
Jyona who had done so well in staying quiet while the meeting had commenced couldn’t contain herself anymore. She blurted out that a ghost asked them to retrieve the stick. Something that made both Obrom and Trent groan.
Adriel took that revelation surprisingly well. Reminding them that they should not remain here too much longer, she told them she would take to them more at length at night when it would be more appropriate.
Trent asked her who she was. And why she had a vested interest in there actions. Adriel revealed a slave brand on her hand. Her master, who she wouldn’t name had tasked her with watching everything, especially hidden knives. So far she hadn’t caught the culprit.
Slave Brand
She left in a suddenly bad mood. Adriel muttered something about the stupid fools in front of her as Jyona stared at her all the while.
Jyona was confused by what the brand meant. Obrom was more than happy to explain the answer. Adriel was bound to a master and could not disobey them. She was effectively an object and worse off than even a normal slave.
Trent longed to return to the comfort of the woods. Even without his Druid powers, he felt safer back home and away from the several plots spinning about them.
Jyona meanwhile was mad that servants were treated so poorly here. The other two looked at her funny. After all, slaves were kept by the wealthy and important on the Imperial Continent, Southern, and Stinger Continents. Not to mention that the Half Elf was herself a noble. Her family likely had slaves. They kept silent on this matter though. They had noticed that Jyona had not mentioned her background at all here.
Quarters of the Deceased
When the group finally left the meeting room, they found Simon Rakshasa waiting for them. Not a good sign. He told the party that they could stay in Cedric’s room. A confirmation that it was common knowledge that he was dead. He made it quite clear that there would be immediate consequences if the party took any of his belongings.
Once in the former noble’s room, a fancy space with a couple beds and other objects, the group searched the room for any clues. Nothing stood out, minus Simon’s cane which sat untouched in the corner.
Jyona wasn’t convinced that this place was empty of clues. So she made use of her normally hidden Demon eye which let her see magic innately. Immediately she noticed something odd though not something in their room. She saw Simon’s unmistakable visage and with a lot of magic pouring off of him. So much so that she saw it through the wall with her demon eye. Something that was not normally possible.
This was the first time Obrom had seen her hidden eye. He was a little weirded out by this, but after living on the Abyssal Continent, he was used to Demonic Magic. Admittedly, he had actually assumed that the Half Elf was blind in one eye.
Searching for Answers
Instead of looking for non magic within the room, their attention turned towards the other major feature of the room. The vast number of books all sorted neatly onto many shelves. Jyona had read almost all the books in the room except for one. And although she didn’t have time to read it at the moment, the title caught her eye: “Lost Continent, Not as Lost as People Think”.
After several hours passed, Adriel came knocking. And after being asked if she could enter, let herself in. The party made a joke about Vampires due to her word choice and then moved on to discussions.
Before they discussed anything of importance, Adriel cast a spell to sound proof the room. Given the soldiers nearby and most importantly, Simon Rakshasa, patrolling the halls, they needed some secrecy.
Adriel told them that she thinks an assassin was present in the building though she didn’t know who might have hired them. Funny enough though, the whole building wasn’t in a panic just yet because Cedric was an asshole that no one liked. That unfortunately meant that it would be hard to figure out who was responsible. There were too many people in Zrin alone who wanted Cedric dead.
Refusing to Answer
Adriel was asked where she got her slave brand. She explained that Cedric was the one who branded her. For a moment the party wondered if that hinted at her being the killer, but she didn’t blame him for the brand despite all his other unsavory features. Essentially she had done something bad enough to be punished. But that was long ago and the Elf had had plenty of time to reflect on it.
Jyona however, focused on one specific point of the conversation. And she threw a fit over it. Namely the existence of slaves on this continent. She grew increasingly upset at the casual manner that Adriel explained her enslavement. The Half Elf firmly believed that no one should be a slave. A sentiment echoed by the others, but one that Adriel pointed out was a pipe dream at best.
Adriel had another question for Trent. She detected a sort of severing of Druid Magic. Apparently his very existence was known among more than the Druid Elves. But more importantly, how did she know he had lost access to his powers? This seemed like an important thing that the party would be discussing later.
Adriel currently served Quinn Cambion. He was one of the other nobles present. But she was unwilling to explain the chain of events that led to her joining him.
With nothing more to say, she got ready to return to Quinn’s room. Adriel requested that they not disturb her. She would return to talk to them when appropriate. She dropped her barrier and left. Her actions left a veiled warning not to draw too much attention lest they all become suspects.
Bloody Discovery
With the Elf gone, the rest of the party discussed their next set of moves and all the information they had thus far. Jyona almost revealed she was noble born. Though she stopped herself realizing that sharing this information benefited no one, most of all herself.
Instead, Trent decided to do a full sweep of the room. Being careful to not mess too much with any of the objects, especially the cane, he pulled the rug at the center of the room away.
Jyona noticed blood underneath. And she made the mistake of mentioning what she saw loudly. The guards probably heard her.
Obrom took some time to inspect the space under the rug, but was much more subtle about it. While looking carefully, he noticed some white powder around the blood. For reasons only he thought of, he began to sniff it to find answers.
The Bard thinks that the murderer is using the powder to hide something else. Obrom asked Trent what he thought about the powder. Even without his powers, Trent was more aware of natural occurring phenomena than him.
Upon a close inspection, Trent figured out the truth of the substance. The powder was crushed bone. There were some brutal murders in this place. Based on the amount of powder, more than one skeleton had been disposed of here.
Invisible Scouting
Wanting to investigate what was happening better, Jyona decided to cast invisibility on Obrom. He was the sneakiest of the three and knew the most politically about what was going on.
Careful to avoid alerting the guards, especially Simon, Obrom roamed the halls as quietly as he could. He hoped that he could get into the other rooms and check for clues about a potential killer.
Unfortunately, Quinn’s room was locked. And Obrom couldn’t hear any noise from there either. Then again, Adriel was in there. Perhaps she was using that same soundproof spell. That in itself was suspicious though.
The Brands React
He had better luck getting into Ayleth’s room. Hers was left unlocked. Stranger still, there were no guards present that he could see.
Obrom tried to get as close as possible without creating problems. And when he got near enough to see that she was talking to herself while looking in the mirror, his brand begins to glow. And as Ayeleth was wearing clothing that revealed a fair amount of her back, he saw a similar brand respond there.
Unfortunately, due to a combination of her mark glowing, and Obrom taking more risks to get close, she heard him. The noblewoman demanded to know who was there.
At first Obrom remained silent. But Ayeleth was demanding. For instance she claimed that she knew someone was nearby and silence wouldn’t convince her. Instead, letting curiosity get the better of him, Obrom dared ask if she’s also a victim of the brand.
Alerting the Soldiers
Before he could start to ask her more important questions, She turned and saw his brand. The Bard remained invisible, but his mark lit up revealing his presence. This turned problematic almost immediately as she started screaming and demanding he get out. Ayeleth must have thought Obrom was the killer.
As he heard soldier footsteps rushing towards her room, Obrom decided it was time to leave. Although the guards were on high alert, the moment he left Ayeleth’s room his brand faded making him once more invisible. Unfortunately it took him a lot longer to sneak past the soldiers after his little stunt.
Finally he managed to sneak down the hall all the way to the final Noble’s room. Unfortunately Kurlus’ door was also locked. Obrom put his ear to the door to see if he could hear anything. And he did, but not anything helpful. Any sound in the room was drowned out by running water.
Obrom’s mind lingered on why Ayleth also had a brand like his. He found it strange that they glowed when in proximity to each other temporarily. and that this stopped once they were farther away. Unfortunately he had lingered too long in the hall and although the guards had not noticed him, a certain someone was patrolling right near him.
Simon Sees
Simon Rakshasa turned towards Obrom. The Bard thought he was imagining things. There was no way the captain saw him. Yet when Obrom moved another direction, Simon’s eyes followed him. This wasn’t a coincidence. Obrom feared he was about to be revealed, but then Simon did something really odd.
One of his soldiers came over and asked if something was amiss. Simon clearly lied to the guard and said nothing was wrong. “I just look around when I think. It does help me spot little rats, though.” Those words were a warning. Said with care so that Obrom knew he was still watching.
Obrom told the party about Ayleth’s brand as well as his failure to enter any of the other rooms. The Bard also warned the group that he was certain that Simon saw him while invisible. Even more pressing and unusual, he hadn’t told the other soldiers about a hidden person in their midst.
Wrong Suspect
Trent grew more suspicious as the Bard told them what he saw. He asked if Obrom is hiding anything about it. He started to wonder if Obrom and not Teztcal was truly an Obsidian spy. Specifically, Trent asks what Obrom was doing when he got it.
Obrom for some reason didn’t give straight answers. Instead He stated that he was just roaming “the village” when it appeared. Describing that he was in the Jungle of Giants, didn’t narrow it down at all for the party. This only made Trent more suspicious.
He eventually relented and gave the rest of the group details of a ruin the party was previously at before. It was in this former town that he had found himself with that brand. And it had been the first time ghosts had attacked him.
Feeling a little less suspicious of the bard, the group decided that they had investigated enough for the night and rested. They hoped no one else would be killed while their guard was down.
More Misadventures
Meanwhile, back in Zrin Trent and Vitality finally made it back to the city proper. Out of the slums and away from its stenches, the two were glad to be able to breath proper air again. Teztcal followed her to look for his “retainers”. Vitality allowed him to follow so he could inquire about their whereabouts.
Vitality went back to the guild hall to inform them that the Dragon slaying mission was way too dangerous for a Gold adventurer. She wasn’t reprimanded. This just meant that the mission would be upgraded to Platinum Rank. They recounted everything that happened. Vitality wanted to know who posted the commission. It was an anonymous post. A sign of something strange. Anonymous commissions were apparently rare.
They checked out the board after Vitality finished her report. Teztcal claimed the dragon to be a pretender. The Guild members ignored his posturing and strutting as usual and continued about their duties.
The two saw that the rest of Teztcal’s party was at the dinner party defending against assassins. Vitality realized this would be a horrible place to bring the deluded Dragon. Especially after what just happened with the Thieves Guilds. She relented though and agreed to bring Teztcal to the dinner party if he did EXACTLY what she says and ONLY what she says.
Games of Keep Away
Naturally he declined that. He stated that Gods did not need to follow the rules of mortals. Realizing that he couldn’t be allowed near that place, Vitality played into his delusions of godhood. And she managed to steer his course elsewhere.
Instead, Teztcal decided he wanted to hatch his egg. And so through much difficulty, he asked Vitality her opinion on how to get a White Dragon Egg to hatch.
She had an immediate answer, relieved that he had changed his mind so quickly. The two needed to get somewhere extremely cold and there was only one such place on the Abyssal Continent. They used the teleporter to go to Zerruz, the Orc city, which was closer to the cold for the egg’s required environment.
Wrap Up
The group is still split and there is a lot going on at the Dinner Party. Hidden knives, and hidden rats that seek them dance around the building. Meanwhile Teztcal might soon have a White Dragon Hatchling. Is he ready to be a parent?