GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 32: The Queen of Halberst

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

 

Orb Hunters

Edelina and the other Burners made to part the clouds with the power of the sun, eliminating the cover  where the Flesh Orb was hiding, but to no success.  With no magisters of the Moon or Animals, they had no way to track it, and Hans Hessen resorted to splitting their forces to watch for its return.  After having his torso untwisted by the magisters of Change accompanying Tauschun, Granmarg discovered that his entire 60-man retinue had perished during the short battle with the orb.  He requisitioned carts and wished the others luck in their pursuit before beginning the long march back to the Highland Forests to lay his fellows to rest

 

Little happened until he arrived in Bedrock, at which point Mielikki leapt into action.  He invited Lady Shrub to the palace of the triumvirate, and they walked by the courtyard where the dead were being unloaded while he tried to convey that yet another outsider had arrived and killed more of them.  Who was to say Terra wouldn't do the same?  Later that day, news arrived that Carmenta was headed west to deal with the orb, while Terra was apparently staying in northern Baronde to continue her work in moulding the land to yield more food.

 

This all reminded them that one of Carmena's titles was the "Lady of Harmonious Change", and while her domains were (allegedly) Life and Healing, that was certainly suspect.  So too was the eclipse that followed soon after.  In a discussion over how to deal with the eclipses (Granmarg: "What, you want me to punch the moon?"), they debated what it meant for cities to "turn into mazes" as was described in the Wrostish prophecy.  Pomegranite mentioned that the god associated with the Moon was Consus, the Blue Lord of Victory, whose other domain was Secrets.  Perhaps it would have something to do with that Path?  For now, Mielikki arranged to have bells installed on the watchtowers that ringed the city.

 

GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 31: The Orb of Flesh

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

 

Great Change

With the Imperial Messengers reinstated, communications with distant provinces were restored, and so Mielikki made a deal with Duccio de Segreti.  Through him, the earthlings would fund adventurers that delved down into the Labyrinth in exchange for any magical weapons they found.  Duccio, as a former Magister of Prophecy, was on the back foot and relatively desperate for funding, and was more than happy to operate as a cut-out to hide the true backers.  Hopefully, they'd get something they could use against Terra, Carmenta, and any other gods that returned.  Meanwhile, Pomegranite doled out payment to the inactive terramorphers who had finished dealing with the agricultural crisis in the north to begin the excavation of a pass through the northern mountains that would allow them better access to the coast.

 

He required Thicket's help, which was granted as the Grandmaster Terramorpher had his own pet project that could use assistance: spying on the former Terran faction of the priesthood and discerning who could be brought over to their side from those who had been cowed by Terra's killing of their highi priests.  Granmarg, still in the Elven Forests, established communications with the various merchant guilds operating out of Port Mineur in Lumene to expand ocean-going trade.  The earthlings had only a very small bit of coastline and were not an ocean-going people, so they would just contract the experts instead, a very earthling way of doing things.

 

When his training was complete, Granmarg began the long march back across the continent to the Highland Forests.  One day, when he was travelling through western Halberst, he heard a faint sound of rhythmic drumming seeming to come from thin air, which quickly faded.  This was too like the opening of the demongate to be coincidence, and so he turned back to the east and headed to the College.  Once there, he quickly gained a meeting with High Magister Jasper Sunmeadow, who agreed with his assessment and sent a messenger to fetch Grand Magister Curzo.