GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 37: The Conspiracy Revealed

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

 
Two Names

Now sitting in front of her, Mielikki realized that Edelina might have had a hand in Eremon's death given how it secured her rule.  He went down the line of succession in his head: first two of her cousins, Duke Henri de Solei and Duchess Juliette de Capan, while third in line was Luana.  The rest of the audience was uneventful; Edelina was somewhat placated by Mielikki's assurances that every army in the Empire assembling in her province was not a threat, but they were unable to press her on whatever secret knowledge she was concealing.

 

Pomegranite had his agents look into the others who were present for Astraeus' return and got some leads.  Prince-Consort Louis had recently taken up the Dwarven Game, a wargame which had become popular in Lumene that Mielikki was familiar with, and was by all accounts quite good.  Baron Philippe, Hugo's son, seemed genuinely touched by the earthlings' condolences for his father's death despite their war several years back.  Henri and Juliette were both still in the capitol as well, though Juliette was close to the church and Henri was a drunkard and a gambler.

 

Meanwhile, Granmarg and Thicket overheard a rumour that mysterious white lights had started appearing in Courcillon at night.  They were said to appear in mirrors or windows, and with no obvious source.  Mielikki arranged for a chance meeting with the Prince-Consort and arranged a game for that evening while the others went to hunt the white flame.  Louis was glad to know that the game was popular in the Highland Forests as well, and expressed his regrets over their province's relations, noting that it was all politics and nothing personal.  Hopefully, their people could meet in more friendly terms such as this going forward!

 

GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 36: Running in Circles

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

 

Threats Old and New

While the Triumvirate were preparing for the journey to Wrost to find Curzo, they heard news from Lumene.  In the dead of winter, demons had attacked Baron Hugo's manse outside Mont Villay, and he and his daughter had been slain.  Empress Edelina had called the armies of Tauschun and the Segretan League to aid in tracking down the demons, but had declined to call on the provinces of the Empire that did not fall under her authority.  The earthlings continued with their plan and left the Highland Forests with only their personal retinues.

 

Once they were in Lumene, they heard more dire news: when the sun god Astraeus had returned, Edelina, her brother Eremon, and many other nobles had been there to meet him, when demons had attacked.  Many were slain, including Eremon, while Edelina had been gravely wounded.  At this point, Mielikki realized that the Segretan army would naturally march through Halberst, where they would likely fall under the dominion of Queen Baelynna.  To counter this, Pomegranite dispatched his bird, Bird, to Ulrich with an ensorcelled letter that only he would be able to read, asking for him to attempt to convince the Segretan leadership to march around and through Baronde instead.

 

The rest of their journey through the borderlands of Lumene was uneventful, and they proceeded down a series of gentle slopes into the marshes and swamplands of the Grand Duchy of Wrost.  Confusingly, the grand duchy was named after the capitol, so their journey to Wrost wasn't over yet.  On their way, they heard no news of Consus, which was likely due to him being god of secrets, but many had fled the city when the mazes had appeared.  Indeed, on arriving in the orcish city, they found that it was still struggling with the aftermath, and that many thoroughfares now suddenly ended in a ten foot blue stone wall.

GURPS Fantasy Warriors Session 35: Expanding the Inner Circle

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

 

Preventative Measures

Now knowing one method to nullify Baelynna's complusion, the Triumvirate proceeded back to Segreta in secret before rejoining their retinues and trekking through the snow to the capitol of Tauschun, Kaskorata, to speak with Ulrich.  Mielikki arranged an audience with the child King Peter to keep up the pretense of conducting trade negotiations, and they made a deal for human food in exchange for earthling farm labour, then went to Ulrich's office to "finalize" the deal.

 

They asked him what he knew of Halberst, and he was aware that messengers they had dispatched were not returning, but little more.  Pomegranite relayed that Baelynna, the goddess of bloodlust and thought had taken over the College using the Path of Thought, and that Emperor Curzo was missing.  Ulrich nodded for him to continue, and he said that they were now seeking protection from this mental domination.  For that, they needed a Magister of the Path of Blood, but they couldn't go to the College and figured Ulrich might know one.

 

He confirmed that he knew a friendly magister in the city, but suggested an alternative to boiling their brains: would it not be possible to use the Path of Secrets to hide away one's consciousness, such that they compulsion being placed upon them was ineffective?  With a flash of insight, Pomegranite suddenly realized that not only would it be possible, but that he already knew almost exactly how it could be done.  (Secretly, he'd already suspected this, but had hesitated to bring it up because it might make him seem more suspicious.)