Centrum Glacies Session 94: The Hydra
Week 94 Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies continues as the party finally encounters the Hydra. Teztcal learns quickly that it has no intention of being friends.
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!!!
While Jyona dealt with being alone in the Feywild and trapped by hostile Fey, the rest of the party, unaware of her current troubles continued working towards reaching the Feywild to rescue her. To that end they continued fighting against the Corpse Flowers in the swamps of the Northern Jungle of Giants. Their goal here was to gather the seeds left behind by the monsters.
Unfortunately the Corpse Flowers deployed corpses to fight alongside them as their name indicated. And while the Zombies were weak creatures, their Undead nature made them quite difficult to permanently slay. Their Undead fortitude continued to cause problems for Jyona’s Golem which continued fighting without her orders.
Still, even with an army of Zombies, the Corpse Flowers were no match for the party. They had overcome far more dangerous opponents and had earned the Guild Ranks many times over. It was a simply matter to collect their seeds after the fact too. Trent used his spells with care to ensure that a trace of each monster remained behind.
The Mystery of the Armor
Obrom left the collection task to the others. Instead, he questioned the Armor’s ability to act on its own. After all, the group had never seen it act without Jyona being involved. And she had been snatched away so suddenly that she shouldn’t have had time to give it orders in case such a thing happened to her.
Trent approached and looked at it closely. The armor patted Trent on the head. Something it had done to Jyona in the past. Had she given the creation some contingency plan after all? Perhaps she had commanded the Golem to treat all of them as if they were her?
Teztcal as usual was in the midst of causing trouble for the rest of the group. Instead of helping with the seeds or trying to figure out the mystery of Jyona’s Goelm, he tried answering a question that was best left unknown. He flew around the swamps making a lot of noise all for one purpose. He wanted to find the Hydra.
The Hydra
Unfortunately for the rest of his group, the Hydra emerged from the water in response to the commotion. And it was clear that this monster had engaged and fought many opponents. The creature had ten heads. Such monsters were not born with such a feature.
Teztcal attempted to communicate with it via roars. It had no effect of course. The Hydra was incapable of speech. Not to mention it saw the brash Dragon as food. It demonstrated what it thought of Teztcal’s attempts to communicate with it by trying to take a bite out of him.
The rest of the group was too far away to immediately assist Teztcal. But they made their way to help him against the Hydra as fast as they could. At least they could attack from range.
Unfortunately while they damaged many of the heaads, the Hydra grew several more. And with each head added, the monster was more dangerous and capable of causing more harm to whoever was closest to it.
Teztcal was in danger as he had the focus of the monster completely on him. He had the sense to make sure Mini-Me was safe from the Hydra’s rampage, but he choose to fight. At least he was honorable enough not to flee. Or stupid.
Growing More Dangerous
They hydra now with 12 heads focused its destructive attacks all on one thing: Teztcal. In his Dragon form he was quite formidable, and his scales protected him from some harm, but not this sheer level of destruction. Bite after bite came his way, and he couldn’t avoid all of them. Battered and beaten, he was left a bleeding mess on the ground and was forced back into his much more frail Humanoid Form.
Trent took flight using his newly regained Druid Magic to cover ground quickly. He wasn’t fast enough to save Teztcal from the flurry of attacks. But as he reached the monster, he landed on its back and blasted the Hydra with a flamestrike, obliterating several of its heads and ensuring that the stumps would not grow new ones.
Seeing that fire was the monster’s logical weakness, it was a relief that the Hydra had no surprise tricks to save it. The group had gone a long time without having a worse monster appear when fire was involved. Still, they celebrated their victory.
Teztcal took one of the heads as his trophy. It was a sensible move considering the group would need proof that they had slain the beast.
Loot
The party searched nearby where the Hydra had emerged and found that a fair amount of loot had piled up near its lair. Probably from the many dead adventurers. There was a lot of gold, as well as a glowing heavy pick. But the item that got the most attention from the party was a wand. They never could have too many of those.
Teztcal pulled out a crow feather to show off his hydra head. Unlike many of his interactions with the summoned crows, they actually gave the Dragon a bit of respect for his accomplishment. They agreed that slaying the Hydra was an impressive deed. But their praise was limited in scope and they vanished as they always did when dealing with Teztcal.
On their way back to the Elven Village, Teztcal showed of the Hydra head to the nearby guard towers. The Light of the Abyss Soldiers expressed relief that the beast was finally dead. It meant that the nearby region was that much safer.
Once away from the soldiers, Teztcal proclaimed that he had no intention of turning in the Hydra’s head to the Guild. He wanted to keep the head for himself as a trophy.
Obrom was having none of that though. He tried to put his foot down. He informed Teztcal that they would be turning in that head for the reward if it was asked of them.
Returning to the Elf Village
The party returned to the elven village without coming to an agreement on what to do with the Hydra Head. And any arguments waited till later. Mostly because while in his Human form, the Elf Guards did not recognize Teztcal. They even were prepared to deny him entry until he started talking. No one could accurate mimic his mannerisms leaving the guards certain of his identity.
On their way back to Ratha’s house, the group ran into Xilbella. She told them, her fury only recently cooled, that she had earned an earful from the Elder, partially due to the party’s actions. Her personality was a lot more subdued than her more animated sisters, but the group could tell she was furious underneath.
Once the group entered her home, they noticed that all other guests had left. Only Ratha and her soldiers remained. They had the seeds and asked her what was needed of them next.
Trent used many honorifics for her. Partially due to his tutelage as the one Human Druids and partially because he was trying to regain her favor after losing it after all those misunderstandings. But she shook her head and told him that he had once more proven himself as an ally. As former comrades in arms, he didn’t need to use any formalities.
Teztcal presented the Hydra Head. He was quite pleased with his find, and assumed the Elf Elder would be as well. Naturally he didn’t know her as well as Trent did. The Druid already knew it likely would only amuse her.
Ratha’s Warning
Instead, she asked the group if they had accepted the commission to slay the Hydra. She was still an Adventurer herself, if only Silver Rank. But she was aware of the local commissions. As they had not actually accepted the job, she pointed out that others might grow upset with them given that the group had destroyed the monster without being sanctioned to.
Trent handed over the seeds and once more asked what she needed them to do next. They had the ingredients to enter the Feywild and go rescue Jyona and he was eager to get started on that task.
Ratha informed them that it would take some time for her to use the seeds to create a portal into the Feywild. In the meantime, she asked that the group to check out the downs back in the northern Jungle of Giants. Several of her soldiers as well as some Adventurers and Light of the Abyss Troops had gone missing in the region. There was a commission already to investigate this, but the party had not been allowed to accept any new ones.
Trent asked for background information about the area. Unfortunately, Ratha had little information about it. The downs were isolated and far away from everything. They were basically abandoned. But that meant that the group needed to be prepared for anything. There was no indicator of what might be causing the problem.
An Encounter at the Inn
The party headed to the inn to rest. They didn’t intend to rush out like they had the last time. Not when they had no idea what they would be facing. Though the group did consider that the longer they waited the more trouble Jyona was likely to deal with without them.
Trying to make small talk, the innkeeper asked what brought them here. It wasn’t clear whether it was curiosity of some other motive that caused her to ask the question. But she certainly didn’t expect where the conversation turned.
Obrom blurted out about the coin. Trent was left wondering if the curse of the coin was to tell others it as cursed. He still didn’t know how it benefited any of them for the Bard to tell others about it. Especially those who ran inns that might be threatened by such curses.
Not wanting to be denied a room, Trent changed the conversation away from cursed coins and explained to the innkeeper that they had a commission from the Guild that had brought them here. Several commissions in fact.
A High Price
With all that squared away, the innkeeper said they each could have a room. For 25 Gold each that was. Trent was left wondering if the high price tag was due to the risk that Obrom had pointed out had influenced those prices. Though as expensive as it was, it was a price that no one in the group had any issue paying.
After the group was situated in their rooms, Teztcal returned to the main floor, the rest of the group close behind knowing he was likely to cause trouble. Obrom and Trent groaned as they heard Teztcal mention the Feywild to the innkeeper. But rather than berate them, she offered some insight.
In a stroke of good luck it turned out the Innkeeper, who introduced herself as Celenwe had been in the Feywild for some time. And she had learned about the place in her extended stay. She offered a few warnings such as avoiding food they were given as well as doing everything in their power to not offend a Fairy.
Trent asked for more details. He was hungry for information. Anything that would help them rescue Jyona safely.
Types of Fae
The innkeeper humored his request. She explained that there were two factions of Fey in the Feywild. The Seelie Fairies represented warmth and spring. They tended to be more whimsical if friendly. Though their personalities meant it could be a confusing experience to deal with them. Inversely the Unseele Fairies represented the cold winter. They were easier to understand but far more capable of cruelty and less likely to laugh.
The conversation appeared to be done, but before everyone returned back to their rooms, the innkeeper offered them one last warning. Her voice changed in tone. “If an archfey attacks, you bow down and kiss their feet and do what they say. You can not beat them in their realm.”
Trent and Obrom eyed Teztcal warily. They both knew he wouldn’t follow such advise given his massive ego and belief that he was a God. They feared what would happen when he got ego checked. And how they both would be caught in the crossfire.
The Downs
With that ominous warning, the three returned to their rooms and rested. Unfortunately Jyona was the only one who knew how to repair the Golem. The damage it had sustained did not heal on its own.
The party made it to the downs the next day. They met no resistance on the way there or when they arrived. And the soldiers manning the towers hadn’t given any hints at what might be happening here.
As Ratha had said, the downs were very fertile land but this place was isolated. Anyone living here would be on their own if they were attacked. Not safe considering everything else going on on the Abyssal Continent.
Hostility
But that seclusion gave Obrom an idea. He was growing increasingly frustrated with Teztcal. And when the Dragon was out of earshot, he once more floated the idea of leaving him behind. And a place like the downs would be perfect.
Meanwhile, Teztcal started calling out seeing if anyone was here. But his voice is cut off by the forest. More proof that this place was too isolated and dangerous to be used as farm land.
Trent who had heard Obrom’s idea shot it down. He agreed that the Dragon was annoying, but he was a powerful fighter and had helped the rest of the group take on some dangerous enemies. Meanwhile, the “living” armor tried to convey that Teztcal was but a child, not evil. Unfortunately, the armor was incapable of speech and had no way to communicate this with the group.
The group searched the downs thoroughly, worried that they might miss something important. Or a sign of where the missing people had gone.
The Cave
Instead, Obrom found a cave down in one of the valleys. Trent and Obrom wanted to search the area first, but Teztcal without asking what they thought, plunged right into the cave. Worried about being split up, the other two and the Golem followed him.
Unfortunately, the cave was more than it seemed from the onset. As soon as the group was all inside, a large wall of rock dropped down sealing the entrance and keeping the party trapped inside. Trent looked around worried that they were trapped. They needed to find an exit and immediately.
The wall dropping down on them wasn’t a coincidence in any way. This cave was lit up by torches. And they had been activated recently. As if their arrival had been expected.
As the group moved deeper into the cave looking for an exit, Trent noticed a lot of stalagmites. Seeing them in a cave wouldn’t be unusual under normal circumstances, but there are almost none elsewhere. Only here.
Blood in the Air
As they continued even deeper inside, the group could smell blood in the air. Teztcal voiced his thoughts on this. His voiced echoed all over the cave, breaking a silence that clearly shouldn’t have been interrupted.
Trent shushed the Dragon instantly before he did even more damage. A good thing Teztcal in one of his rare intelligent moments listened to the Druid. As what they found next made the situation much more dire.
They came next to a room where something got cut apart violently. Blood was everywhere on the floor. And worse, the smell of blood was from several other directions. More likely this same massacre had happened in other sections of the cave.
Trent at this point was begging the others to hurry and help find a way out. He no longer even cared about finding the missing soldiers. The Druid just wanted out. He was becoming more and more convinced that they had been expected and that didn’t bode well.
The Deepest Part of the Cave
At long last they reached what appeared to be the deepest part of the cave. And at this point the group found what appeared to be the missing adventurers. Tons of corpses littered the ground. And none of them had started rotting away. Had they been killed recently? Or was something keeping scavengers out of here?
They were likely to find the answer soon. As soon as they stepped deeper into this section to check for survivors a green barrier made of Felfire locked them inside.
Teztcal tried to ask Trent if they’re supposed to find elves. And they clearly had given that plenty of the corpses looked like them. Trent agreed and pointed out that these were likely the missing people. But they needed to escape and Trent was frantically looking for an exit.
The Felfire essentially gave away who was behind this, but the beakers on the table basically screamed who was responsible. This was clear work of the Cult of Obsidian. Specifically one awful Dark Elf who stood tall as the worst of the worst among a doomsday cult.
Jak-Rath Appears
Naturally as said person had a massive ego and loved to gloat, it was not long before Jak-Rath himself made an appearance. He was quite delighted by the turn of events that caused the party to be the ones he had managed to snatch in this lab. Though he was disappointed that Jyona was missing.
Trent saw that Jak-Rath was using magic to talk to them from far away. And the Druid demanded that the mad scientist stop being a coward and face them directly.
Jak-Rath laughed at his demands. He asked Trent why any scientist worth anything would willingly interfere with their own experiment. No. He would not be coming here personally. He would simply watch from afar
His projection clung to a nearby wall. The party braced themselves for whatever wicked creatures Jak-Rath had in store for them.
The corpses on the floor began to rattle and rise again with life. Or unlife as it was clear from the fact that they were already dead. Jak-Rath was able to list Necromancy to his crimes against all life.
Worse, this was another example of Jak-Rath perverting Druid Magic. These Zombies were rising not from wizard magic, but from spores. Mold had been present in the cave. But even natural processes had been corrupted by the mad scientist.
Wrap Up
Its clear what happened to the soldiers now. But what horrible experiments will Jak-Rath release in the cave. And will the party be able to escape even if they survive the horrors of this place?