GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 28: Combing the Desert

Characters:

Granmarg The Striking Vanguard, The Boulderstruck, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate
Pomegranite The Treefallen, The Spymaster

Mielikki The Field Marshal, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

Thicket The Grandmaster Terramorpher, Member of the Earthling Triumvirate

 

In Search of the Demon Hole

Having found the demons, Pomegranite dispatched Bird, his trained messenger bird, to notify the dwarves as the earthling armies took their formations.  Thicket was the first to engage, leading his troops in an ambush that slew hundreds of the demons, while Granmarg charged straight at the thickest part of the horde only for them to fade away, luring him into the open.  Pomegranite and Mielikki took advantage of their College magisters and launched furious volleys of magical projectiles into the enemy.  Between all their terramorphers, the earthlings ascertained the location of the Demon Hole, though unfortunately it was quite distant, so a quick hit and run wouldn't be possible.

 

Then the horde crashed down upon them.  The Triumvirate easily held their own, but Cliffside was driven back and forced into a retreat.  Granmarg's charge continued on, his forces ignoring ranged fire thanks to their hardened stone shells, and he quickly engaged the Centipede Archer Demon in a duel.  His foe loosed a living arrow directly into Granmarg's mouth, but he overcame the pain, chewing and swallowing the wriggling demon.  Then, like a bolt of lightning, Granmarg was suddenly upon his foe, landing a series of blows too fast to see.  The demon's head swole and then exploded in a fountain of gore, and the rest of his troops made short work of the remaining lesser demons, driving them back.

 

On the other end of the battlefield, the Bees Demon attempted to lure Cliffside's beleaguered forces into an ambush, only to be caught off guard by a sudden charge from Thicket that soon found their armies in pitched battle.  The swarm of bees with human faces flew in, bellowing a horrid wail as they closed.  Thicket threw dozens of stone spikes at them, but soon they were upon him and struck as one their stingers in perfect unison, the weight of the blow knocking him from his feet.  He was only down for a moment, though, and sprang back up at the same time as hurtling a boulder at the swarm of bees, which crushed them all.

By now even the further away demons had been roused, and ever more surged into their lines.  In response, Pomegranite used his Path of Secrets to compress the perceived distance between two points and brought his own army to the front, slaying hundreds of demons as they went.  To the south, a small contingent led by Sigillaria, one of Pomegranite's advisors, continued to pummel the demons with fire from the College magisters while Cliffside's army met with the Eel Demon.  The two commanders met, but the greater demon was as slippery as its namesake, nimbly flying between all of Cliffside's rather amateur blows, until it froze in the air and began to slowly chant the word "eels" over and over.

 

The chanting continued to grow louder as the Eel Demon reared its head back and with a final scream of "EEEEEEEEEELS" shot out a pure beam of white eel-energy that pierced Cliffside's torso.  The supreme commander fell to his knees, and a second beam sent him reeling to the ground.  His troops barely managed to rescue him before he could be devoured by the demon.  However, as it seemed the Eel was not much of a commander, the rest of the battle went heavily in the earthings' favour and the demons were driven back again.

 

Pomegranite's army continued their advance and he soon was confronted by the Mantrap Demon, which vomited up dead earthlings onto him.  He was forced to slash the bodies of his fallen comrades with his daggers to avoid being crushed, then turned invisible.  Unfortunately, the demon saw through his wards and enclosed him in its gaping maw when in a sudden turn of fortune it toppled and fell over at his feet, freeing him.  Thanking his luck, Pomegranite stabbed into its bone hide, and it writhed for a time before standing upright and fleeing, taking a few more minor wounds from Pomegranite as it did.  The rest of its horde of lesser demons followed in its wake.

 

Mielikki reversed his formation and rushed around the rear of the battlefield to target the Demon Hole which was being protected by the Mantrap and Eel Demons, figuring that Cliffside and Thicket could hold the leaderless demons on the flank.  Granmarg pursued the fleeing Mantrap but struggled to land a blow until it suddenly turned and captured his reinforced fists in its maw, melting them off at the wrist and leaving him "barehanded" temporarily.  He dodged back out of the way and then used his magic to regrow the lightning-enchanted layer of stone, and then launched a thunderous blow at its trunk that knocked it backwards and onto the ground.

 

Granmarg then leapt onto the demon, mercilessly pummelling it and though it struggled to stand and flee, the greater demon was slain.  The Striking Vanguard then gave the order to continue the charge, and he and his troops slammed the demonic tide, pushing ever closer toward the Demon Hole.

 

 

Notes:

Commanding Bird is an IQ roll, because Pomegranite doesn't have the proper Path (Animals).

 

In his duel with the Centipaur, Granmarg succeeded on four consecutive attacks on a 9. 

 

The Eel Demon's Eel Beam inflicted Eel Madness as well (you can only think of the words "Eel" or "Eels"). 

 

The current death toll is 300 earthlings (about 1/8th their number) to 7000 demons (a little under 1/3 their number).  The earthlings are poised to win quite easily, provided nothing goes wrong.

 

The Mantrap Demon kept spending FP all the way down to one short of -1x which is instant unconsciousness but then died to hitting -5x HP .  RIP, it almost worked.