Centrum Glacies Session 102: Road to the Unseelie Court
Week 102 of the Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies continues as the party travels towards the Unseelie Court.
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, and 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!!!
After their discussion with Queen Titania concluded, Trent asked for directions to use the restroom. Surprisingly, the Fey were confused as they didn’t have such bodily functions.
But considering some of the stranger things that the group had explained to them already, The Druid had no issue explaining this. So he told Queen Titania, the Unicorn soldiers, Violet, Puck, and King Oberon about bodily functions on in their plane.
This explanation seemed sufficient. None of the listeners seemed to take issue with what Trent said. In fact Puck said that this waste was basically fertilizer. And that capturing some people from their world to help grow crops could be a seriously lucrative thing.
Trent explained one piece of information that had gone unmentioned. When they used the bathroom, it tended to be a private affair. So he asked the Queen where they could go to relieve themselves. Titania said that the forest outside the castle would be fine, especially since they waste was good for plants.
Creating Fertilizer
Teztcal and Trent went off into the forest to do their “business”. Obrom stayed back with Puck. The Archfey seemed to understand not to follow the other two into the woods. Violet did not understand that though. But they didn’t notice her follow.
Trent used this moment of perceived privacy to write a note to Obrom. That was the real reason he had gone out into the woods. It had been his hope that Queen Titania would ignore them.
Teztcal meanwhile acted a lot less mature. The ground was dry here and so he attempted to spell his name as he relieved himself.
Violet being a little too curious, wandered right up to the two adventurers. And she was quickly told to give them some privacy. It was a good thing that the Archfey was not feeling petty or she might have retaliated in some way. Instead she moved back and turned away from the pair.
The note’s contents were a directive for Obrom asking if he could cause Teztcal to act out as a distraction. Meanwhile the Bard would then use a powerful psychic spell to torture and obtain information from the Centaur. Hopefully Teztcal could distract for a long time.
Cleanliness
The dragon asked if anyone had soap. As his business was now finished, he wanted to clean himself. Unlike the other biological functions, Violet understood why he wanted to clean himself. She suggested that he go clean himself in the nearby river. But he refused, arguing that was where people drank from.
A very piss smelling Teztcal ran over to Obrom to try and wipe himself clean on the bard. But the old man heard him coming and more importantly, smelled him and easily dodged out of the way.
Violet suggested that Teztcal use the ground to clean himself. But the Dragon refused. He argued that the ground was filthy and he wanted to be clean. The Archfey sighed and cast a spell to summon mist in the air. The clean magical water cleaned the filth away of all of them leaving the group smelling far cleaner than before.
Trent used the chaos to slip the note to Obrom. A good thing that the Bard protected it from being soaked. If that had happened, all of Trent’s work could have been for nothing.
Return to the Centaurs
Puck asked the party and Violet if he should lead the way. Otherwise he was willing to go back to the castle. The offer seemed a little suspicious to Trent so he asked the Archfey to come with. With that all in order, the group teleported back to the Centaur fortress.
The moment the party arrived with Puck and Violet the centaurs all trained their bows on the princess. But it was clear they had no intention of shooting her. Not when they risked drawing Queen Titania’s ire.
After a rather harsh introduction, and seeing that Violet had no intention of fighting, the Centaur lowered their weapons and bid the group to enter the fortress. Based on how no one said anything about the second Archfey hovering right next to the first, it was clear that Puck was hidden from the Centaurs
The party however could see Puck. And they watched him make all sorts of faces as they passed the soldiers and entered the keep.
Once everyone was inside, Violet announced herself and declared that she was here to help the chief’s son. Trent put his plan into motion and asked Teztcal to tell the Centaur tale of Number 0: The Unicorn.
That story turned out to be an instant hit. The centaurs took immediate interest. The only issue with the plan thus far is that the Centaur didn’t want to leave the fortress. The Chieftain certainly did not want to leave his son unattended.
To Interrogate a Centaur
Trent and Obrom tried to figure out how to enact their plan slowly snuck over to the cursed centaur child. The Centaur did not notice because Teztcal’s tale enraptured them so well that they actually started to take a liking to him. They even brushed off his offensive “horseman” comment. A serious change from the last time they were all here.
Obrom and Trent ran into the issue as they tried to make their scheme work. Teztcal was distracting the Centaur but they were still nearby. It was obvious what would happen if the Centaur Chief was present when they interrogated his son. They couldn’t exactly cast a spell without being noticed.
Violet floated over and asked what they are up to. She also wanted to get the answer from the Centaur child and still hadn’t woken him up or removed the curse.
The Centaur were still caught up in Teztcal’s tall tale. He moved on from describing the Unicorn to recalling a mostly fake story where he had eaten the Bandits to save the creature.
Getting Answers
Getting an idea, Trent spoke up. It was clear that the Centaur were interested stories from their world. But he needed everyone to move away from here so Obrom and Violet could do their thing. To that end, he asked everyone to come with him. Unfortunately the Chief did not want to leave his son. Trent couldn’t come up with a reasonable excuse to debate him on that point either.
Violet however suspicious with these strange behaviors caught on to their plan. She realized they intended to do something to the Centaur Child to get him to talk. And so, with a snap of her fingers, she cast Time Stop. A reminder that she might be their ally right now, but she was still an extremely dangerous Fae.
The Princess woke the child up and removed the curse so that she, Obrom and Trent could interrogate him. Obrom asked the child right away if there was anyone he had come across before he insulted Violet. He was being not so subtle about what he wanted. Regardless, Obrom pressed to find out who or what had put the child up to his actions.
The child seemed flustered and seemed reluctant to answer their questions. Which made this situation all the more unusual when Puck came floating over. Not only had the time stop not effected him, but he seemed aware of what was going on and had some answers for them.
Puck’s Deception
He admitted to being the one responsible for putting the child up to insulting her. Puck promised an explanation if they left the child alone and came with him. The Archfey wanted to leave this place clearly.
With a plan worked out, Violet restored time. And to a world around them that had no idea that such a thing had happened.
The Centaur Chief happily exclaimed that his child was awake! Violet quickly told them that she had removed the spell and chided the kid for his actions. With a warning not to do so again, she left with the party as fast as she could. Puck whom the centaur still couldn’t see, followed them.
Puck took them to a place that he referred to as the Path. More correctly, it was called the Summer Path. Once they were all settled and accounted for he calls out Trent and Obrom’s risky play. It was certain that the Queen had witnessed their potential deception.
Teztcal was confused by the conversation. Which made sense, since he was caught up in the Time Stop. He hadn’t been privy to the plan given he was the distraction and missed everything.
Puck’s Goals
Puck explained why he put the Centaur up to insulting Violet. Th Archfey wanted to see the war between the two courts stop. To this end he intended to undermine the allies of the Seele Court which would make it harder for the two to wage war.
He mentioned Klevor, a Fey that the party had heard of but not yet met. He and Puck were working together despite being part of the two factions and with drastically different end goals. Klevor didn’t want to end the war, he wanted to make the fighting worse. But he was undermining his own nation to weaken their troops too. The two Archfey had made a wager about who would weaken their own court first and force the other court to invade.
Plans Against Queen Mab
Puck guessed that Jyona might be used as an assassin to kill Queen Titania. Teztcal proclaimed that Number 1 doesn’t kill! He didn’t think she would do such a thing.
Trent and Obrom however were worried. It hadn’t occurred to them that Jyona was on a similar mission by the opposite court.
Puck also reminded them that killing Queen Mab would upset Midnight greatly. If they wanted Midnight to willingly allow them to sleep again, they needed to have the curse removed first. To that end Trent reviews what they have to do: Free Jyona, lift the sleepless curse, and kill Queen Mab.
Teztcal came up with an idea. He wanted to convince Midnight to kill her own mother. He then spit out the more ridiculous part of the plan. They needed to get Midnight to eat her mother’s cake. The other two had no idea what he was talking about.
Violet however, unintentionally played into one of his delusions. She stated he actually has the right idea. The fastest way to get Midnight and Queen Mab to clash would be to force Midnight into breaking some sort of taboo and make her mother retaliate.
Trent had a different idea. He suggested that they use someone Midnight cared about most as a hostage. Violet’s eyes shifted at the thought. She said nothing but Trent picked up that she didn’t like that idea.
Approaching the Barrier
Puck warns the party that once they pass the barrier, they can not follow and they have no way to hide the party from the Unseelie, so expect combat.
Teztcal of course had his own idea. And naturally it involved violence. He wanted to give the Unseelie Court a living sacrifice.
Violet scolds him. She didn’t like him even joking about that. But he wasn’t joking at all. He wanted to give Number 5 over to the Unseelie Court as tribute. No one else entertained that idea. Especially Obrom who would have been the sacrifice.
Puck lead them to the gate between the two courts. The location was a bit odd it felt like and looked like a cave. Except it was open to the sky. Almost like a rock maze cutting through cliffs.
Nearby Bloodshed
Obrom preemptively casts Armor of Agathys as they approached. They couldn’t see beyond the barrier, but they could hear something nearby. There was a battle going on. And almost right on the other side of the barrier. A fight that no doubt would involve them soon.
Puck stated that the Seelie kept their side of the barrier clear. The Unseelie Court which was filled with many more aggressive Fey did not. He pointed out that it was possible that their friend might be caught up in the combat ahead.
Signs of Jyona
Speaking of Jyona, They noticed her armor sitting right by the barrier. On the Seelie Court side that was. They rushed over to investigate. Jyona who had just been there moments before the rest of the party walked up noticed them rush by. She let out an audible gasp before she could even think. But once she realized what had happened, it took every ounce of her willpower to not break her invisibility and talk to them.
Teztcal tried to sniff her out using the armor as a means of doing so. but the nearby battle was masking all other smells. He could only get the scent of blood from all the fighting.
Trent started running in circles frantically searching. He desperately wanted to find Jyona. But they didn’t find her. And the entire party found themselves disappointed. Trent suggested that she might be deeper inside. And that the armor being here was itself a trick.
Violet approached them one last time with a final plea before they crossed over to the Unseelie Court. She begged them not to hurt Midnight.
Crossing the Barrier
Trent felt like they were being set up. Something about this whole situation didn’t feel right. But the three continued onward. Without any Archfey to help them. And knowing that they would most likely be fighting the entire way to Queen Mab, they braced themselves.
Teztcal took Jyona’s armor as they prepared to pass through to the Unseelie Court. He intended to give it to her once their rescue was successful. Little did he realize she had taken it off as to not make noise. For her mission to work, she needed to be silent while moving around while invisible.
Upon passing the barrier, they saw Gor-Venal fighting off a bunch of Redcaps. He immediately asked for assistance and didn’t question the untimely appearance of allies.
The Redcaps recognized the party as intruders. A few were sent a few off to inform Klevor. And the party recognized the danger hearing his name.
Teztcal immediately shifted to his Dragon form and blasted half of the Redcaps away in one breath attack. He yelled “Give me Number One!” But the Redcaps had no idea who that was. Or what what was for that matter. All they needed or wanted, was to kill.
Fighting Redcaps
Obrom insulted one of them stating they should be a mushroom, not a living creature. His nonsensical insult proved highly effective against the highly logical Redcap weakening it.
Trent meanwhile at long last had fully access to his Druid powers again and made use of them. He threw a giant mass of spike growth across the ground cutting off reinforcements. Unless the Red Caps were willing to harm themselves immensely that was. Naturally creatures of born out of actual bloodshed were willing to oblige.
But the ones that did make it through the Spike Growth were in no shape to fight when they emerged, making them easy pickings for the group. And they had Gor-Venal with them who was an incredible powerful combatant in his own right.
Gor-Venal told them it was good to be fighting at their side again. It was an acknowledgment of their power. A long way from their first meeting where he had attacked them.
The last 2 remaining redcaps attempted to flee. They were heading the same direction as the ones that had left to inform the Archfey. And the last thing the party wanted was a dangerous enemies attacking them right now.
Teztcal moved fastest and had the easiest means of dealing with them. He flew over the spike growth and finished off one of the fleeing fey. Trent’s Elemental was able to bypass the spike growth and finished off the other one.
Intruder
Gor-Venal wanted to know why the party was on the Unseelie Court side. He had wanted to get out of here, but as the party knew, only Queen Mab would let them leave this place.
Trent and Obrom both told their fellow Platinum Adventurer that they were here to look for Jyona. Unfortunately they were interrupted. But not by Unseelie this time. Before they could continue with their conversation, Obrom’s brand began to glow. A sign that Undead were nearby.
A dark knight on a horse showed up. And not be riding up to them. The monster appeared from nowhere like a mist or wraith.
Teztcal claims it was a centaur. Gor-Venal corrected him. The Monk pointed out that it was clearly a spirit of some kind. This was nothing like Obrom anything the brand had summoned before so he was blindsided by it.
Cursed Coin
Things only grew more alarming when it revealed it could speak too. “Give me the coin,” It demanded. Obrom patted his pocket. He had no intention of giving it up.
Gor-Venal rushed in to attack it. With lightning speed and punches honed from years of practice, he battered the monster. But it did not fade from his strikes.
Teztcal realized fairly quick based on where the monster was starring who it was going after. So he stood aside. This creature was going after Number 5. He didn’t care what happened to him. Trent was not pleased by Teztcal’s choice.
Obrom who already knew that the mounted ghost was hunting him fled back towards the barrier. But he couldn’t go through it again. He was stuck against an immovable wall with a creature hunting him for his cursed coin.
The Revenant rushed him, throwing all caution to the wind. And it paralyzed Obrom with its dire gaze filled with nothing but hatred for the being it was hunting. Not good when he was already pinned.
Wrap Up
Obrom is in trouble. And he can’t explain to the party why he won’t get rid of the coin. And they can’t afford to be weakened by extra battles when every moment counts in the Unseelie Court.