Cycle of Millennia 2021 Session 9: Punches
Here is week 9 of my 2021 Dungeons and Dragons Campaign Cycle of Millennia. Lets go over session 9: Punches.
Don’t forget that this campaign has been ongoing for over three years. There is a lot of story to cover and I’m writing a book series to document it all. I am adapting this adventure into a book series. The first three are on Amazon.
!!!Trigger Warnings Abound!!!
This campaign takes place in an incredibly unpleasant setting. The party has dealt with Human Traffickers, Sex Slavery, Child Sacrifice, The Apocalypse, Genocide, Wicked Cults, and other related topics.
There is a God of Madness that is fond of causing auditory and visual hallucinations, makes use of psychic gaslighting, commands the literal legions of hell, and all around causes untold suffering in the setting.
Essentially, nothing is off the table in this campaign. If the above ideas are not ones you want to think about, I do not think this blog series is for you. That is not a problem and does not indicate any failings on your part. I am a storyteller that does not shy away from the darkest topics. It would be horrible for me to not warn my audiences of this in advance.
!!!Final Trigger Warning. Past this point there be dark topics!!!
Caic, Hadron, Rose, and the children went to the elf village. Hadron quickly got permission from the Elf Elder to visit. Though he was asked why the Barbarian thought that his people could be treated like animals to be observed
Grez searched the Mongress inn for food. But he found nothing edible. Remembering that all the food they had eaten before had either been hunted or picked from the nearby tree, he stepped outside and had fruit.
Velkora de-aged herself with her cursed philosopher’s stone. Given Kranaak’s cruel sense of humor, said curse also messed up her nose, and changed her eye colors. However, her nose was only slightly knocked out of being symmetrical. Just existing to bother anyone who looked at her. She didn’t notice this immediately though.
Schemes:
Grez explained to Oliver how to build colosseum the. The planner noted how three different ideas had been pushed. The Drow wanted an indoor building that was not exposed to the sky. The Orcs wanted one exposed to the elements but with no seats for spectators. The Monk told the builder that the best plan would combine the Orc’s idea with additional seating.
When asked why, Grez told Oliver that they could use the colosseum to make money for Mongress. Since the planner lacked business experience, and the Monk admitted that he was no expert either, he ran to Velkora to ask how to recruit salespeople. Grez shouted at him and asked what he should do next, but was ignored.
Harsh Truths:
Hadron sent the kids and Matron back to Lord Death. Then he asked Rose about what Thea had planned for the people of Mongress. Caic remained silent and listened. Though he already feared what she would tell.
Rose warned that the children were probably already doomed. Reminding them that the Cult of Orabaras was a sex cult that brainwashed children through a combination of Stockholm Syndrome and other unsavory activities, she told the two that they might as well give up saving them at all. Instead, she suggested Antoinette join them and talk to the Cultists.
The Vampire appeared as if called and stated that she had no interest in that. Reminding the three that for all her power, Thea was much more powerful and that even going into her domain put her in extreme danger. Then she left as if she had never been there at all.
Rose left as well saying she had Dragon things to take care of. Neither Caic or Hadron had any idea what she meant by that. But before she was out of sight, the assured them that after the full moon she would return and aid them against Nihilinn.
Punching Down:
Grez and Velkora met Henrick’s wife Mariette at Artin’s request. Grez threw insults as usual. Mariette, clearly not understanding the sort of person Grez was, tried to deescalate the situation. Instead, this allowed the Monk to lord his power over the noble who he had bested in their battle. In fact, calling it a fight at all was an insult to the word. More like a slaughter.
Caetha appeared to mock Velkora who had finally noticed her messed up nose. Grez couldn’t help but laugh at the situation.
Caic and Hadron returned to the necropolis and talked with Lord Death about how to deal with the Lycanthropy Curse and the Cultists. He once again reminded the pair that they could not mess this up. This was their one chance to catch that Necromancer and his Lich servants by surprise.
Back in Mongress, Velkora tried to get Grez to punch her in the face. She managed to find the one situation where the Monk refused to resort to violence. Then she left to try other options.
Threats:
Velkora entered her private magical pocket dimension and magically punched herself in the face so hard that she blew up her noise. Then using potions, healed it and painfully fixed it by force. She decided to never do that again.
Next she asked permission to speak to Thea and the witch summoned her. Thea revealed she had a certain chicken in her possession and wanted results quickly. Reminding Velkora that the only reason the invincible Death Knights had left the party alone thus far was because they were busy decimating Orabaras’ forces on the battlefield. Willing to use whatever means to force the party along, she told Velkora she would use this chicken’s true existence as a threat to motivate the party.
Who was this chicken? A certain Stone Giant who had caused the party no end of trouble long ago.
Velkora reappeared and Grez punched her in fury after hurting himself with a hammer. She didn’t lose her corrected nose, but he didn’t manage to make her bleed.
The party finally reconvened without incident and planned their next move. Or rather they all planned their next moves without discussing things with each other.
Grez returned to the Mongress inn in secret to speak to Caetha. At first she ignored him, but then he said something aloud that forced her to appear: kidnap Caic’s parents and force him to turn them into wereboars. This seemed like the perfect task for an Arch Demon like herself. Instead, She panicked which startled the Monk and refused to entertain such a plan. She vanished, leaving him confused.
Wrap Up:
Two days remain until the next full moon. The party needs to get their act together to prevent future tragedy.