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.

GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 27: Fortress-City of the Dwarves

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

 

Cleaning Up

The earthlings drove off the last of the demons, and though Pomegranite fought with the Eyes Demon, he was turned to stone by its eye beams and it managed to flee with the rest of the stragglers before he recovered.  Good news came from their flanks as well, with the armies from Tauschun and Lumene also emerging victorious.  Empress Edelina ordered Ulrich's forces to deal with the Bile and to watch for further incursions while her army and the earthlings were freed to march back to their initial destination in the Dwarven Undersands.

 

Pomegranite asked if anyone else had seen the demon dwarf commander, which was obvious evidence of dwarven perfidy, but only Granmarg had, and he reasoned that it was just one of the shapeshifters they'd heard about.  Furious that nobody would recognize that the dwarves were behind this, Pomegranite stormed off.

Granmarg went to ask The Young Heron where his sword came from, and was shocked when he replied that it was the first sword ever forged.  It was cursed, and would corrupt almost any who tried to wield it into mindless murder, as had happened to Tharivol.  Granmarg asked if he could find an equally potent weapon, but was brushed off and told that the weapon did not matter, only the wielder.  This was confusing to Granmarg, as just prior to this battle, the Young Heron had said that if he fell, Granmarg was to take his sword and use it to slay Terra.

 

GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 26: Breaking the Demons

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

 

Atop the Brenther Foothills

The Legs Demon rolled over Mielikki, repeatedly trampling him with its many legs.  It was all he could do to hold the greater demon at bay as batted his tree trunk club aside like a toy.  Still, he managed to buy enough time for his troops to drive off the rest of the demons at a high price in earthling lives.  Since he wasn't winning the duel, Mielikki attempted to win the Legs Demon over with rhetoric.  Asserting entirely not in bad faith that they could live in peace, but it rolled away, ignoring him.  While the main swarm retreated, several demons attacked from range.  Tumours full of toxic gases, razor-sharp bone spikes, and tiny demons that crawled inside the mouth and nose were flung into Mielikki's ranks, killing dozens more of his soldiers.

 
Meanwhile, in the north, Pomegranite led his troops through an abandoned mine tunnel he had learned about at the College, arriving on the hilltop that was now controlled by the earthlings corrupted by the Eyes Demon's influence.  With no sense of remorse, he mercilessly slaughtered these "traitors", then had his magisters bombard the rest of the demon swarms downhill.  Thicket meanwhile lured the Eyes Demon's swarm into an ambush, where hundreds of demons were cut down while the commanders met in a Wizard Duel.

 

Thicket launched earth spikes from all around the Eyes Demon, while it attempted to use a variety of deadly eye beams to fry his brain and turn him to stone.  The duel broke off due to a retreat by the demons, and Thicket emerged unscathed while the Demon had suffered only some minor wounds.  The horde surged forward across the whole of the battlefield, but were mostly successfully driven back.  Mielikki and Pomegranite slew hundreds of demons each, but on the southern flank, nearly a thousand demons slipped around to target the earthling rear lines.

 

GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 25: Battle of the Brenther Hills

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

 

The Battle Begins

On the morning of the decisive battle, reports came to the Triumvirate of more earthlings with their brains scooped out being found at the edges of their army's camps.  Pomegranite and many of the magisters emerged from a planning session that had lasted all night with an idea for how to stop the lesser demons that spread Bile to allow the advance of the main army.  As the troops ate their breakfast, Thicket gave an inspiring speech, reminding the soldiers that they were fighting not just for the Highland Forests, but for the Empire and all life.

 

The Young Heron approached Granmarg and asked him to take up his sword if he fell in battle.  The earthling agreed to do so, though he was barely trained in the sword, preferring his fists.  His tone changed when the Young Heron stated that it could kill demons with a look that Granmarg understood instantly: Terra.  His warnings that it was cursed, and that Granmarg must be careful not to let its bloodlust consume him, went unheeded.  You use a sword to kill demons, and bloodlust for that was fine!

 

The earthling armies took up their formations on the hills as the demon army began their advance from the west, with one column charging out ahead in the center and seizing an elevated position the earthlings had left deliberately vacant.  Pomegranite had his magisters and archers rain invisible arrows on their position, slaying many, while Mielikki cautiously advanced up the south flank along with his reserves.  One demon, a pulsating ball of legs of all sizes and materials (which would be known as the "Legs Demon"), rolled up a sheer cliff and brought its horde up surprisingly close to Mielikki's.

 

GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 24: The Demonwar Begins

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

 

Demons and Gods

For now, the elves and earthlings failed to decide who would become their triumvirate Emperor, partly due to Pomegranite's and Thicket's anti-dwarf sentiment, and partly because even if it was going to be a dwarf, they'd need to go inform them.  Since the Demonwar was starting in the Dwarven Undersands, they could just go meet with them and discuss it with the dwarven King Barrend.  The other two emperors were decided rather quickly by comparison: Edelina would be the Empress of Lumene, Tauschun, and the Segretan League, while Curzo would be Emperor of Halberst, Baronde, and Wrost.

 

The rulers of the various provinces all left to raise their armies, with Halberst and Baronde still planning to devote half of each of theirs to deal with the uprising in Baronde as had been agreed.  On the morning of their departure, Pomegranite and Uthemar of the elves had a private meeting a ways southeast of the college, away from prying eyes and under the wards of Pomegranite's Path of Secrets.  Theren, the Young Heron and Blademaster, would accompany the earthlings so that the elves' greatest warrior could join the battle sooner.  More importantly, Pomegranite asked what they knew about Terra and the threat she represented.

 

Uthemar stated that, though they couldn't be sure, it was his belief that Terra was a demon.  Every being that came from another reality were collectively referred to as demons, and, in his experience, were hostile.  As for how she'd gotten into their reality without a Demongate, as far as he knew, the demons had built the gates themselves, but must have had a way into this reality prior to that.  Perhaps they could punch smaller holes like the portal under Bedrock.  There was, unfortunately, no quick way to test whether Terra was a demon, and as demons could appear in a bewildering variety of forms, including some shapeshifters, they could not go by her appearance, though golem-like demons had been witnessed in the past. 

 

GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 23: The Imperial Council

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

 

The Wrost Question

Curzo, now Grand Magister after his appointment by election had been finalized that morning, was the last to enter the council chamber, just as Crown Prince Tye of Baronde was leaving to put down the rebellion that had broken out in the north of his kingdom.  Those present took their seats around the 8-sided stone table had been raised from the floor, and the imperial council was called to order.  Mielikki laid out the earthling position of distributing the power of the Emperor to three lesser co-Emperors, a type of governance that had been proven to work in the Highland Forests over the centuries.  Grand Magister Curzo chimed in to point out that this would also offer the provinces much more autonomy, a concession which would hopefully allow everyone to unit against the crises of the Void Beast and looming Demonwar that the Empire now faced.

 

Dimitri of Wrost began to voice their approval, but was cut off by King Neville Tallfellow of Baronde who claimed that they first had to determine if the new Republic of Wrost would actually be recognized as the rightful rulers of the province, or as usurpers.  Unsurprisingly, the monarchy of Lumene didn't want to recognize them, while the city states of the Segretan League were fine with a republic.  Uthemar of the elves was able to sway Queen Edelina by advising that it would be best to avoid a lengthy civil war now, before the end times.  The King of Baronde was still unswayed, citing the rebellion in his homeland that, according to him, had clearly been incited by the orcs of Wrost, despite their claims of innocence.

 

The earthlings knew for a fact that Wrost had been fomenting dissent in the College and the Highland Forests all the way across the Empire before they'd caught their spy, so it was extremely unlikely that they'd done nothing in the Kingdom of Baronde, which was on their southern border.  Mielikki suggested that Wrost cooperate and raise an army, to be commanded by Baronde, to put down the rebellion.  Despite their reservations at putting down a rebellion that was likely very close to them ideologically, Dimitri took the position that it was more important to show they could cooperate with the monarchies in the Empire.  King Tallfellow was still unpleased, but seeing that Wrost would be recognized regardless of what actions he took, and with Baronde on the back foot with the Path of Prophecy gone, he ultimately agreed to the plan.

GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 22: A Sense of the Divine

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

 

What Makes A God

The Triumvirate sent a messenger to inform Ulrich of their goddess problem, and then decided to screen their advisors for those who were true believers.  Most of them were in the clear, though several were unsure what difference it made whether she was truly their god or a "only" a being capable of all the same feats.  Mielikki's all claimed to not believe, but he had his suspicions that they were just saying what he wanted to hear.  They finally found a single sympathizer in Groutite, one of Granmarg's men, though even he was hardly a zealot, and when questioned as to where his loyalties lay, suggested that they could work out their problems with Terra if they went and talked to her.

 

Granmarg didn't accept this fencesitting and they escalated into an argument about Terra killing the priests.  Eventually, this was settled by Granmarg stating that in the event of a hypothetical civil war in the Highland Forests, he would surrender to the people rather than kill earthlings, even if that would result in the earthlings he was supporting being put to death, because at least he wouldn't be personally responsible.  After a bit more discussion with the other members of the Triumvirate, due to his insistence that he wouldn't send "anybody else to go die", Granmarg went to meet with Terra.

 

The crystal sphere, or New Temple, as it was coming to be known, had been readily adopted by the priesthood, and many of the faithful packed the outer ring of chambers.  When Granmarg announced himself to an attendant priest, the man bowed and led him in to the heart of the geode where Terra's personal chamber lay.  On the way, Granmarg asked if any more people had been killed by Terra, or if that had been a one-time thing, and the priest replied that only the one group of heretics had been smote.  They arrived at the doors to Terra's chamber, and the priest ushered Granmarg in.