GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 40: Mindartis Doltoran, God of Magic and the Void

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

 

Friendly Fire

The enormous glowing orb above Mindartis vanished as he waved one hand and a wide black circle appeared on the ground, surrounding Mielikki and Felosial the elf.  They scrambled out of the way, with Felosial rushing past barricades to Mindartis himself, who was supported by an orcish magister.  Mielikki broke to the left to deal with an old man holding a walking stick.  The prismatic god struck out with one hand at Felosial, dodged both that strike and a bolt of lightning loosed from his other hand.  Mindartis continued his assault with a kick to the neck, but Felosial parried with her bow.

 

On the far side of the street, Mielikki knocked the elderly magister to the ground with one swing of the headsman's axe, and a swing of the man's stick only bounced off of the earthling's hardened stone armour.  Grand Magister Curzo and Barbena the dwarf judiciously avoided the circle and ran to the right, closing with a pale human woman in a poofy dress who bore a painted parasol displaying an echidna.  Felosial, so busy fending off Mindartis' endless wave of attacks, failed to notice when the orc cast a magic missile, and the bolt of magic bludgeoned her right side.  She turned to retaliate, but the orc retreated out of reach.

 

The circle filled in, the ground inside turning black as night, before it expanded up into a sphere and collapsed inward, taking with it everything inside and leaving a perfectly round crater several feet deep.  Another circle appeared under Felosial's feet, and she sidestepped to avoid it, but took a blow to the collarbone and was left reeling.  Barbena won the scuffle on the right, submerging the parasol-wielding magister in sand, and moved to flank Mindartis.  Likewise, Mielikki finished off the old man on the left, and Felosial even managed to take the orc out with an arrow to the throat, though she was then knocked to the cobblestones by a blow from the god.

 

Curzo vaulted over the barricade and fired off a barrage of missiles at Mindartis, who spun, stretched out an arm, and then closed his fist.  The spell unwove, Curzo realized that he was no longer able to use magic, and then Mindartis loosed a beam of light that melted the flesh off of Curzo's left arm.  With everyone convening on him, Mindartis summoned another black circle on the left side of the street, covering the fallen forms of the orcish magister and the old man.  He retreated behind it while continuing to blast his foes.  While Felosial fell back and away from the god, Curzo took a moment to concentrate and regained control of his magic.

 

Barbena charged toward Mindartis, but before she could reach him, he threw a ball of fire that set her aflame and she collapsed, unconscious.  When the circle imploded, they finally saw its effects on the unconscious magisters who had been inside.  It was as though they had been cut with a hundred fine razors, their clothing and skin equally tattered.  The next circle blocked Felosial and Mielikki, and Mindartis casually strolled over to Barbena's body to kick her.

 

Blood burst from the impact like a fountain.  Curzo was close enough to see that Mindartis' foot seemed to pass through Barbena until it suddenly found purchase and tore a hole before passing through again.  When he had made contact, his translucent body had shifted to being red, and a moment later, when his foot came free, he had shifted to blue.  It seemed that even if they were able to hit him, their blows would not wound unless he was in the right phase.

 

The black circle collapsed, further flaying Mindartis' "allies", and then reappeared around Barbena.  Mindartis gave her one last kick before backing away to safety.  Curzo sprinted forward, cast a spell to shrink Barbena, and then picked her up and dove out of the radius.  He was hardly safe, though, as this left him directly in front of the god, who shot him through the kidney with a conjured arrow made of twinkling green light.

 

Mielikki attempted to get Mindartis' attention, shouting that Theirastra Miniamne was a pushover, and now they were coming for him next!  In response, the glowing elf glanced at him, then turned back to Curzo, who was still staggered, and plunged his hand into his chest.  Before he could finish off the Grand Magister, at a bellow from Mielikki the Imperial army enacted their Boulder Onslaught strategy. The troops surged forward in carefully-timed waves and adopted a loose formation, designed to avoid combat magic from the many enemy magisters, as well as Mindartis.

 

With Thicket's stratagem, they drove back Mindartis along with the tattered remnants of his army.  Their victory was short-lived, however, as the enormous magic sphere Mindartis had been preparing reappeared above the army and detonated in a series of shockwaves, killing hundreds and throwing their force into disarray.

 

The Wall 

In the wider battle, Pomegranite's troops held their ground, cautious that Baelynna had a similar trick hidden up her sleeve.  Prince  Morkral, known as The Wall due to the massive bulk of his twin greatshields, took command of Thicket's army and charged down the wide main boulevard and into Eva's forces.  The two met on the streets, and though Eva landed the first blow by sandwiching him between two walls of Void, Morkral proved the greater warrior and the blows of his greatshield knocked her from her feet.

 

The duel came to a sudden end when a strike with the shield's edge caught Eva by the neck and sent her head flying from her shoulders.  Their commander slain, her troops routed.  With the College's forces on the back foot, the Imperial armies continued their advance.  Mielikki traded spellfire with Mindartis, while Eva's replacement bombarded Granmarg.  Morkral returned command to Thicket, and their troops marched forward.

 

 

Notes:

Mindartis' colour-shifting means that he is insubstantial and highly resistant to damage most of the time.  Now that the PCs know, they can make a Per+4 roll to time their attacks correctly.

 
I realized while writing this that I've never mentioned it, but the reason why shrinking spells are part of the Path of Secrets is that they are used to hide things. 

 

Despite my encouragement to use All-Out Attack (Feint), Thicket's player refused and just Rapid Striked repeatedly instead.  It's probably the better move to make 4 attacks on a 14.

 

There was some cheering when Morkral defeated Eva, which turned to groans when it turned out that she had actually died.  As Mielikki's player noted during the game, Eva was the main scholar on the project to open portals to the Path of the Void, which would be necessary to fight it with armies.  With her death, that may no longer be an option.