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 used the terramorphers who had been stationed at the Mountain's Maw 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.

 

The Grand Magister immediately ordered a handful of Void Magisters sent to the southwest of the province to try to find the source, as well as a swarm of messengers who would ask the residents of the villages in the region.  Another messenger was sent to the Child King Peter of Tauschun to see if they had similar reports.  Granmarg sent a letter back to the Highland Forests informing the rest of the triumvirate of this possible demonic incursion along with a request for his advisors to come to the College with a small contingent of troops.  They were dispatched, and Pomegranite sent along his own advisor, Drirtollor, to keep tabs on them.

 

Only a few days later, they received a message from Ulrich in Tauschun.  The Changed, thought largely subdued, had suddenly reappeared.  Over several days they had marched out into an elaborate chain of bodies stretching across most of the province.  Shortly after, multiple scouts had all reported the same thing: the Changed were suddenly lifted off their feet and began being rapidly pulled through the air to the south.  Whatever had happened to them there was uncertain, as none of the scouts who had been stationed at the southernmost isthmus where the chain terminated had returned, but the timing suggested that the drums had sounded when the last of the Changed arrived there.

A New Demonic Threat?

Tauschun was now raising an army to investigate, but was not requesting formal aid as of yet.  Though he had to wait for his retinue, Granmarg informed the triumvirate and the College that he would head south to the capitol of Kaskorata to meet with Ulrich, intent on observing whatever happened next.  Just as they arrived, the College received another report.  A strange orb of "flesh" had appeared in the south of Tauschun and was moving erratically around the region.  The two who had been sent to investigate had died in horrific ways, their bodies stretched, contorted, and broken on approach.  Both of the bodies were found to bear the Mark of Clio.

 

As this now looked like a possible demonic incursion, Ulrich was calling for Empress Edelina to raise the troops of Lumene and the League in order to confront it.  Granmarg took this as an invitation, and began the march south with his band.  Back in the Highland Forests, Mielikki noted approvingly that their had been no request for aid from the two goddesses, which implied Ulrich might be open to joining their anti-god coalition.  On arriving in the capitol, Granmarg arranged a meeting with Ulrich in his office (rather large for "just" a spymaster).

 

Ulrich was informed of Curzo's thoughts on the matter, and granted Granmarg's request to go south and observe the actions of Hans Hessen and the rest of the provincial army.  He had one condition though: Granmarg was not to start hostilities on his own.  Granmarg was happy to reply that he would only interfere if a battle had already broken out, and went on his with with Ulrich's well wishes.  He and his retinue left Kaskorata without even pretending to speak to King Peter, the official ruler of Tauschun.

 

Soon enough, he found Tauschun's forces, and they were closer than he'd expected.  Hans Hessen explained that while the orb's movements were unpredictable, in general it was travelling north.  For now, they awaited the arrival of the armies from Lumene and the League.  Granmarg surveyed the assembled troops of Tauschun and discerned that they still had not recovered from their two prior wars, and had lost multiple skilled combatants in Tharivol (slain reportedly at the hands of the Young Heron), Dietrich (contract ended), and the Knights of the Blazing Sun (slain in the battle with Luana).  In the event of a "normal" war, they would be quite weak, but who was to say what mattered against the orb?

 

While they waited and followed the orb, nearby villages were warned of the (potentially) approaching danger and the residents were able to flee into woods to hide until it passed.  Of note, there were no signs of even a single one of the Changed.  However, Granmarg and his advisors (except for Bramble) found the Mark of Clio had appeared on their bodies again.  For most, this was the third time.  They did their best to conceal the Marks with cloaks or other clothing, and if this drew any suspicion from the humans around them, none was voiced.  Granmarg reasoned that while some people may have had a mental compulsion to defect to the Changed in the past, that had probably just been because they weren't strong enough.  He and his advisors were all very strong, so they should be fine.

 

The army of the Segretan League, led by the two Lords Duccio and Aginor, arrived shortly and was heralded by an eclipse, while Lumene's forces took almost a month.  By the time they showed up, the orb was drawing close to Kaskorata.  Empress Edelina took command and after a quick observation of the flesh orb determined that it was most likely a demon, but it would not do to act rashly.  The two who had been sent to investigate it in the past had been attacked, but they had been bearing weapons and wearing armour.  This time, they would send a messenger who was entirely unarmed.

 

Aginor was chosen, and he dutifully rode out to meet with the orb.  He attempted to speak with it, but received no response, even when he raised his voice to a shout.  Still, he managed to return without having been killed, which Edelina took as supporting her theory.  Granmarg chimed in: obviously it wasn't responding to speech, but as it seemed to use Change magic, perhaps they should now send a Magister of Change to attempt to converse using magic somehow.  Edelina was convinced, a volunteer found, and the magister rode out to attempt it. 

 

Communication

The magister raised a hand, and then found that his limbs had been spaghettified.  The orb grew a single giant eye, long arms with multiple elbows, and a scorpion stinger before flying directly toward the assembled army.  The troops readied their weapons, and Granmarg approached Edelina to ask for her instructions.  She beseeched him to fight alongside her champions, at which she gestured to Hugo, the crossbowman, and Felix, a youth with a golden glint to his eyes who hefted his greatsword with ease.

 

Drirtollor was ordered to retreat, observe the battle, and flee to report to the Highland Forest if the worst happened, while Granmarg's advisors prepared to join their commander.  Hans gave the order to lure the flesh orb forward until it was surrounded while their archers and magisters rained arrows and spells upon it.  It fell into his trap and suffered wounds from the fire but did not stop.  Instead, it grew wings and accelerated.  The orb closed with the frontline, and scores of Tauschun soldiers were transformed into horrible mockeries of human form, at which point the champions launched their assault.

 

As they drew close, the flesh orb fixed Hugo in its giant eye, and his feet spread out into a thirty foot wide "carpet" surrounding him, leaving his legs and midsection emaciated.  Granmarg continued on and launched a flurry of blows that the orb deflected with a myriad of spontaneously-grown hands that decayed immediately.  In retaliation, the orb moulded his torso around his Mark, twisting him into a spiral.  He attempted to continue pummelling it, but his now unfamiliar body caused him to lose his balance and topple over.

Hugo loosed his crossbow, hitting the orb with a heavy bolt that caused injury but drew no reaction.  Felix finally arrived and struck with his sword, drawing only a small amount of blood before the wound sealed, followed by Bramble who struck it with his spiked arm-flails.  At this point, the orb flapped its wings and flew up into the sky.  Hugo shot it again with their only ranged weapon, while Felix raised his sword as it melted and a golden blade of pure light replaced it.

 

Bramble put his hands together as a platform for Granmarg to jump off of, and the Boulderstruck leapt up unto the air.  He wrapped his arms around the orb and bring it back down to the ground, but a bony protrusion suddenly bulged outward, pushing him away and leaving him to fall.  Felix swung his sword of light and the blade reached all the way to the orb, scorching it badly, but neither that nor a last quarrel from Hugo were enough to fell it, and the orb flew up and into the clouds. 

  

Notes:

Granmarg thinks that the elves (or dwarves) have some kind of secret demigod they're hiding.

 

He also thinks they need to implement state atheism to counter Terra's soft power, despite believing that she is in fact their god.

 

"It's all fun and games until you're in the katamari" -Mielikki, on the flesh orb

 

Mielikki: "I think the volunteer magister of change should have a name, so he's less likely to die"
Me: "Alright, so Magister Redshirt rides out..."

 

Bramble needed a special move, because he didn't have one yet.  He can now "Spin 2 Win", where he targets all adjacent targets with 4 attacks each capped at 8.