Centrum Glacies 2021 Session 8: Beast Mastery
Week 8 in 2021 of this Dungeons and Dragons Campaign in Centrum Glacies changed everything story wise. Let’s take a look at what happened in this session. It started with some beast mastery.
Like my other campaign, I’m turning this one into a book series. However I’m still working on that project. Give it some time.
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 once the book series starts hitting virtual and real shelves.
!!!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.
Most recently 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 at large is currently succumbing to magical wounds that appear to be turning them into Demons.
!!!Final Trigger Warning!!!
The party continued through the Peacemaker Temple. They had now fought several enemies that could only be defeated with unique items that Volun, one of the Mythril Adventurers and leader of the Peacemakers had granted them. No one in the group liked that he had complete control over their actions.
In the next room, they passed Hydra Statues. They expected them to come to life and attack, but nothing happened even though they waited. Their guide said nothing and they left the room through the only available door.
In the next room they found a ring. Trent was compelled to wear it. The pattern of being granted an item and then fighting some terrible foe was about to happen once more.
Trent was given a vision by Volun to return to the statues. It was clear where their next battle would take place. The Druid was curious what this item would do and prepared to fight these legendary enemies.
Hydras:
As expected the Hydras came to life when the party returned to that room. However, before Trent could make use of his new item, the creatures struck first. Malcolm was the closest and fought back against multiple sets of jaws.
Trent used the ring to control one of the Hydras and fight the other. It was a strange feeling. He left his body and didn’t just control the Hydra. He was the beast. Meanwhile his body was exposed to danger and completely defenseless. Something he needed to keep in mind.
The group tried to kill the non controlled Hydra quickly, but they had to fight through multiple heads. Several more regenerated before they could slay the beast. A good thing that the creature Trent controlled also gained some new heads. The monsters battled it out while the party was safe from injury.
After killing first, Trent made the second Hydra commit suicide by smashing its heads against the nearby wall. Apparently the Peacemaker Temple was built of strong stuff. Even the constant swings of eight heads wasn’t enough to leave a single dent.
Moral Implications:
Though the act disgusted him, Trent thought about how it was better for that beast to be free in death, then shackled in life. Malcolm even pointed out how the Hydras had been statues for a long time. Faustus even confirmed that they had been there his entire life. It seemed like killing them both had been the right move.
Volun however thought differently. He taunted Trent and reminded the party that they had won this fight by removing free will from the creature. What they had done was no different than what he planned to do to the entire world. Removing free will for the good of everyone. He was just planning to use the Law of Mind Aspect of Magic to do it.
Apephe somehow remined one of the most sensible members of the group. This was of course the fact that she was an evil Dragon. Even if her current adorable form didn’t make her look like one. Reminding them to ignore Volun’s words, the group continued on. Once more only one hallway was open to them.
The Dagger:
In the next they found a dagger. This time it was Joyna was compelled to use it. But she had a plan she wanted to set in motion. She refused to be Volun’s pawn.
Trent summoned a beast to try and offset traps. So a dinosaur trampled through the Peacemaker Cathedral halls. A strange even that was. Though not the strangest thing happening in the area given the circumstances.
Rather than clearing a path or removing any traps, the dinosaur fell into a pit. Volun taunted the group pointing out that free will was slowing them down. They only had one correct choice to make. Any other options would be rendered pointless.
Joyna didn’t want to play his games. She walked on the walls to try and avoid the traps. She thought herself clever since she didn’t need to use her new weapon. Ironically, she knew what it did without even being told. After all, she made magical items.
Forced to Play:
Volun was not amused of course and used the Mind Law to force her to use her new item. Joyna was not happy that her own will was removed if even for a moment. At least she had the small victory of forcing the Mythril Adventurers’ hand
Annoyed, she teleported past multiple pit traps using the daggers magic. At the end of this trap filled room, she saw a switch and flipped it without wondering what it did.
This led to another hall and another switch. All this work was growing tedious. Apephe complained about how big this Cathedral was and asked Faustus why it needed to be set up this way. The Warlock, still not fully well in the head told her that he had no idea.
The party was worried about more traps as they progressed through the halls. Yet found none. Volun taunted them once more, pointing out that their free will was slowing them down once more. And now Anxiety was clouding their judgment too. Things that wouldn’t matter once he fixed that.
Assassins:
They followed the newest opened hallway. And got jumped by Peacemaker Assassins halfway down. Joyna was caught by surprise and almost died. Trent was also hit in the ambush and lost concentration on keeping his animal ally summoned. The dinosaur vanished into the void. Returning to wherever it had been before. Malcolm almost fell in the final push of the surprise. These minions of Volun proved once more how well trained the Peacemakers were.
However, there was a reason that these killers had not attacked the party in a while. They had an exploitable weakness. Removing their masks instantly defeated them. And it revealed their identities. The members of the group still standing proceeded to do so. But something was strange this time around.
One had Joyna’s face! Including the eyepatch covering her gouged eye. The other wore Malcolm’s face. This spooked the group. What sort of trick was Volun playing here? If it was to make them surrender it wouldn’t work.
But something was wrong. After defeating the assassins, Volun spoke to them sounding confused. He hadn’t told any assassins to try and kill them. In fact he claimed to have never sent assassins after them. He started freaking out and left the party in silence.
The party was rattled but had no choice but to continue on. But they had questions. If Volun was telling them truth and had never sent assassins after them, who had? And why did they wear the faces of Peacemakers? Or in this most recent case, their own?
An Old Enemy:
After hitting one last switch, the party found themselves one room away from Volun’s office. Faustus knew that room better than anywhere else. He had been here several times. The room right next door was the meeting chambers. The spot where the Peacemakers discussed their plans. But now that room was silent.
But not for long. Earlier Joyna had used magic to see if anything else lurked in the halls and had found nothing. Yet a familiar face appeared in the shadows. The party recognized him. The hooded figure led the Assassins that kept attacking them. And they knew he served Volun. By his own admission.
Yet unlike all the other enemies they had fought, he went straight for Faustus, claiming that he was “surprised they made it this far. But not any further.”
He had bested multiple members of their party in their last fight. But the group had grown much stronger. Meanwhile, the Assassin fought exactly as before. That just meant he took many of their combined resources to fend off. He was fast and had multiple enchanted knives. He even threw a few at the others while trying to hack Faustus apart.
The others managed to fend him off after an intense fight. He fell to the ground in defeat. Wanting to know his identify, Malcolm stepped forward to remove his mask. That is when the trouble began.
Hassan:
For you see. There was no face there at all. But how could that be?
Laughter echoed around the room. And the faceless assassin rose to the ground without using his legs. His body faded to mists until he returned just behind Faustus. Who unfortunately had a tangible neck to grab.
The being introduced itself as Hasan. Not himself. It. Faustus continued choking as the creature spoke in multiple voices that shook the room. Joyna and Trent both struck quickly. But their attacks hit only air. The creature faded despite that. But only reappeared as two more creatures.
The group continued trying to attack Hasan. This only caused it to split further. More and more of the hoodless figure crammed into the room with each failed strike. But each new spirit had a face. The party didn’t know who any of them were. Though one specific one rattled some memory. A woman’s face with snake hair. Why did that seem familiar?
While their attacks proved ineffective, Hassan kept speaking in its multivoice. Here is a summary of what was spoken:
Hassan did not serve the Peacemakers. It was Legion and served a higher power than something inconsequential like the Mythril Adventurers. Every being it killed became a part of it. Hasan stole its victims faces and erased any memory of those killed from reality. Every single face the party saw now was someone they had once known.
Cursed:
As it finished talking, four of its apparent bodies moved forward and grabbed the party. Poor Apephe included. The Dragon had been stunned into silence by this turn of events. They didn’t attack, but the party was defenseless against them and none of their defensive actions repelled the malevolent entity.
Eventually Hasan left leaving the party terrified. But its horrifying voice of many sounds had one last comment to make. Where it had touched them all, a tattoo like brand formed. A Demonic looking skull leered at them from their right arms. Its voice told them that their Demonic Transformations were progressing. Its master would be pleased with the results.
It finally left. The party stood in silence and looked around. What had just happened? What was that thing? How was it powerful enough that Volun who controlled a fundamental law of the world didn’t know what it was?
Realizing that they knew even less than they thought, the group took a moment to catch their breath. They knew this fight would be intense. But a creature from the darkest nightmares had approached them just now.
Wrap Up:
Volun is ahead but the party just encountered a creature that ignores the rules of Magic themselves. Danger just increased tenfold if not more.