![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Dawn of Magic
The GURPS gang tonight consisted of Bonnie ("Leif"), Marc ("Mushamee"), Mike ("Rufus"), and Stéphane ("Vinz"). Martin ("Kaeso") is traveling, showing bits of Canada to his lovely wife, Yoshie, who is more familiar with parts Japanese.
Time: Just before noon, Odin 16, 1002 Imperial Reckoning.
Place: Queen Hippolyte's palace, in subterranean Tenosia.
Last Event: The adventurers had returned home from exploring the ruins of Kapital, bearing a large gold statue.
After spending some time with wife Diandra and daughter Andromache, Leif decides to transform into a great bird and fly for a while. He cruises off through the sky portal to Tenosia's former location in the mortal world, looking to see whether Black Adolph's horde is within striking distance of the city-state's former location in the mortal world. He sees no sign of an army, however, and returns home.
Around this time, Vinz and Loclá have finished playing with their dildo collection, and Vinz decides to get some rest. He attempts dream divination on the subject of the assassin god's cloak. However, it aggressively and deliberately repels his dream sight. Even in failure Vinz finds success, though, for this tells him that the cloak appears to have strong wards against detection -- hopefully wards that will benefit its wearer.
Meanwhile, Mushamee and Hippolyte are up to games of their own. The results are . . . visionary for Hippolyte. At her climax, her goddess warns her that Black Adolph's 20 legions are making better time than previously estimated. They may reach Tenosia in more like two weeks than three.
Pillow talk in the Queen's boudoir thus turns to the serious matter of arranging to bargain with Adolph from a position of strength. Hippolyte charges Mushamee to take his associates and activate the many alliances and pacts they have made with forces natural and supernatural. She explains that she has dedicated all of her recent efforts to the logistics of supporting a huge combined army. She emphasizes that the group's objective is to call the allied forces into action as close to when they are needed as possible, to avoid logistical strain, but not to surprise them completely and find them unready -- and of course to verify both loyalty and readiness.
Stops for Mushamee and friends will include:
• Bone Temple, Tenosia: To consult with Recnam on the readiness of his undead horde.
• Indu, Indistan: To activate the alliance with the Shahim and see what aid he can pledge.
• Mahash, Kali: To activate the alliance with the Asok and gather what he can offer by way of princely house troops. Also, to speak with the Harb and request its supernatural aid.
• North: To find Brunhild and learn whether she managed to summon the ogres and trolls to defend the world against the Starfish-Men.
• Realm of Air: To learn what assistance Kerim Khan will provide against those who would despoil the world of which he is, in a way, a guardian.
• Roma: To speak with Vasili regarding the 1st Legion, Imperial Guard, and marines from the Occidental Fleet.
• Spirit Anaconda's Temple, Teclá: To negotiate with Spirit Anaconda and remind him of his promise to summon jungle spirits -- monsters -- to defend nature against otherworldly invaders.
• Toshtanag, Kotan: To activate the alliance with King Hathig and bring the Oriental Fleet marines and the Kotanese Horse into play.
For now, the plan is not to contact the lich-wizards, nor the demon prince who promised aid in return for being freed from Ruinas' prison. Such aid tends to be double-edged and too unreliable for the task at hand. It's best saved for truly desperate times.
Because Brunhild's situation is the most tenuous, the group decides that its first stop will be in the North. With Diandra's expert assistance, Rufus gathers food and warm clothing. Leif summons Granddad and asks for his help in locating his wife in their homeland; Granddad agrees. Everybody else braces for the icy cold of the month of Odin in the coldest land in the known world.
Toward evening, Kaeso, Leif, Mushamee, Rufus, and Vinz board Kaeso's disc, fly out through the portal to North, and arrive in the freezing dark. The Polar Fires light the sky, but nobody but Leif much cares about their beauty. It's too cold. The group focuses on the task of locating Brunhild, and follows Granddad's directions, dictated to Leif from the spirit world.
Soon the glow of more mundane fires is visible over a ridge. Kaeso sets down the disc and Leif sneaks up on foot. He evades a sentry -- a demon sentry -- on the rise, and peers into the valley below. Down in the icy depression he sees 60 or more demons having a raucous party, with Brunhild and half a dozen ogre and troll chieftains chained up nearby as unwilling guests. To the horror of Leif and Granddad, the host of the party is none other than Brunhild's demonic half-brother . . . the scum who murdered Granddad.
Leif and Granddad hasten back to report to the others. Granddad tells Leif that he suspects that the ogre and troll tribes will want their chiefs back, and that they might thus be allies here, but that he'll need more information to be sure. He can't go as a spirit because the demons will surely smell him. Vinz volunteers for the job.
Vinz casts a tread-lightening spell to avoid leaving tracks in the snow, and then pulls the assassin god's cloak around himself and disappears from sight. He easily sneaks through the demonic cotillion, noting the enemy's positions and numbers. On his way over to Brunhild, he witnesses the demons eating cooked human villagers and mocking the ogres and trolls for having "gone soft," as they no longer engage is such barbarism.
Eventually, Vinz reaches Leif's grandmother. Meditating on his reawakened memories of the Bright Secrets of the Mind, he works a telepathy charm and contacts the ogress mentally. Brunhild tells Vinz that the demons used black magic to snatch the chieftains from the heads of their tribal armies -- armies she inspired to march to the world's defense -- and aim to lure the tribes into the valley, then disappear to Hell, hopefully leaving the ogres and troll to blame and battle one another. Vinz assures Brunhild that aid is nearby and then returns to the others.
The team then spends some time planning a strike. Granddad tells them that the demons, especially their leader (his killer!), are cowardly, and that the biggest risk is that of the demons vanishing to Hell if bloodied -- potentially with the chieftains and Brunhild, when it becomes apparent that their attackers aren't hordes of ogres and trolls, but a group of demon-slaying heroes. Vinz is familiar with the Path of Sovereign Wards, however, and has a spell to block dimension-crossing efforts. This leaves the issue of how to attack 60-70 demons without endangering the prisoners.
Kaeso volunteers the use of his four invisibility elixirs for the raid. He also has a clever plan for releasing the captives: He will give Mushamee a spring-loaded harpoon affixed to a strong line anchored to the disk. All Mushamee has to do is jump down with this and use his blinding speed to thread the line through the prisoners' chains, and then pop the barbs on the harpoon. Kaeso can then gun the disc and zip off at speed, likely tearing the chains apart.
Of course, this will only work if somebody is already in place to aid the prisoners and foil the demons' efforts to carry them off the Hell. Thus, the second part of the plan is to have Leif, Rufus, and Vinz near the demon leader, invisible. Vinz will start casting his dimensional ward as soon as Mushamee appears on the scene, and when it goes off, he'll tug on Leif's arm to signal for Leif to assassinate his family's old enemy with a mighty blow.
With the plan made, Granddad draws on many years of hate to bless Leif's blade for the killing blow against his assassin. Kaeso hands out invisibility elixirs to Leif, Rufus, and Vinz, and drinks one himself. Then Kaeso flies off with Mushamee, the line and harpoon ready. The other three sneak off on foot, relying on Kaeso's potions to hide them from sight.
After a time, when Kaeso is reasonably sure his friends are in place, based on what Leif and Vinz said about the time needed to move into position, he zooms down from high above. Leif spots the disc, thanks to his incredible vision, and taps Vinz, who immediately starts working his magic. As Vinz casts, Mushamee leaps from the disc, harpoon in hand, and sets off at his lightning pace. Before the demons can react, he has already threaded the harpoon through the chains and hissed a message to Brunhild: "Tell the others to stay close when freed!"
Shortly thereafter, the demon leader starts shouting orders. To the heroes' surprise, he appears to tell them to begin the ritual to return home. The demons start dancing and chanting instead of attacking. It's down to a race between them and the invisible Vinz!
Mushamee tries to buy some time by flying at the demons nearest the prisoners. At this point, they're prepared for his charge, and Mushamee isn't invisible. However, he wields Demonslayer and is the foremost swordsman of the known world. Their defenses collapse before his onslaught, and in seconds, he destroys two demons who are over 40 feet apart.
Then Vinz completes his lengthy ritual. Shedding his own blood to guarantee success -- and relying on Kaeso's elixir to screen him from sight while the cloak isn't in his grasp -- he lets loose with powerful magic. All around the prisoners, a potent magical barrier springs into existence, blocking all forms of supernatural transit. When he's sure the ward is up, he taps Leif to signal that it's safe to act.
Leif wastes no time. He calls upon his inner strength and berserk rage, winds up with Necros' Spirit Reaper, and -- guided by Granddad's blessing -- strikes a blow for his entire bloodline. The demons' leader, Brunhild's evil half-brother and Granddad's murderer, is cut in half. Vinz's magic blocks the brute's exit to Hell, and he is well and truly destroyed here in the icy North, site of his treachery.
Rufus senses Vinz's spell, and contributes his own efforts to the confusion. He unleashes the Palintonic Bow at one of the remaining guards. Nine shafts cut through the air and slam into his target. The demon reels from the strike but doesn't collapse. Rufus whips out his blade and advances on his quarry.
Kaeso, on seeing the bloodshed, takes off at maximum speed. The disc draws the line up into the air. It grows taut, but being made of amazing stuff, it does not yield. This snaps the prisoners' chains from their anchors, freeing the captives.
To be continued . . .
Time: Just before noon, Odin 16, 1002 Imperial Reckoning.
Place: Queen Hippolyte's palace, in subterranean Tenosia.
Last Event: The adventurers had returned home from exploring the ruins of Kapital, bearing a large gold statue.
After spending some time with wife Diandra and daughter Andromache, Leif decides to transform into a great bird and fly for a while. He cruises off through the sky portal to Tenosia's former location in the mortal world, looking to see whether Black Adolph's horde is within striking distance of the city-state's former location in the mortal world. He sees no sign of an army, however, and returns home.
Around this time, Vinz and Loclá have finished playing with their dildo collection, and Vinz decides to get some rest. He attempts dream divination on the subject of the assassin god's cloak. However, it aggressively and deliberately repels his dream sight. Even in failure Vinz finds success, though, for this tells him that the cloak appears to have strong wards against detection -- hopefully wards that will benefit its wearer.
Meanwhile, Mushamee and Hippolyte are up to games of their own. The results are . . . visionary for Hippolyte. At her climax, her goddess warns her that Black Adolph's 20 legions are making better time than previously estimated. They may reach Tenosia in more like two weeks than three.
Pillow talk in the Queen's boudoir thus turns to the serious matter of arranging to bargain with Adolph from a position of strength. Hippolyte charges Mushamee to take his associates and activate the many alliances and pacts they have made with forces natural and supernatural. She explains that she has dedicated all of her recent efforts to the logistics of supporting a huge combined army. She emphasizes that the group's objective is to call the allied forces into action as close to when they are needed as possible, to avoid logistical strain, but not to surprise them completely and find them unready -- and of course to verify both loyalty and readiness.
Stops for Mushamee and friends will include:
• Bone Temple, Tenosia: To consult with Recnam on the readiness of his undead horde.
• Indu, Indistan: To activate the alliance with the Shahim and see what aid he can pledge.
• Mahash, Kali: To activate the alliance with the Asok and gather what he can offer by way of princely house troops. Also, to speak with the Harb and request its supernatural aid.
• North: To find Brunhild and learn whether she managed to summon the ogres and trolls to defend the world against the Starfish-Men.
• Realm of Air: To learn what assistance Kerim Khan will provide against those who would despoil the world of which he is, in a way, a guardian.
• Roma: To speak with Vasili regarding the 1st Legion, Imperial Guard, and marines from the Occidental Fleet.
• Spirit Anaconda's Temple, Teclá: To negotiate with Spirit Anaconda and remind him of his promise to summon jungle spirits -- monsters -- to defend nature against otherworldly invaders.
• Toshtanag, Kotan: To activate the alliance with King Hathig and bring the Oriental Fleet marines and the Kotanese Horse into play.
For now, the plan is not to contact the lich-wizards, nor the demon prince who promised aid in return for being freed from Ruinas' prison. Such aid tends to be double-edged and too unreliable for the task at hand. It's best saved for truly desperate times.
Because Brunhild's situation is the most tenuous, the group decides that its first stop will be in the North. With Diandra's expert assistance, Rufus gathers food and warm clothing. Leif summons Granddad and asks for his help in locating his wife in their homeland; Granddad agrees. Everybody else braces for the icy cold of the month of Odin in the coldest land in the known world.
Toward evening, Kaeso, Leif, Mushamee, Rufus, and Vinz board Kaeso's disc, fly out through the portal to North, and arrive in the freezing dark. The Polar Fires light the sky, but nobody but Leif much cares about their beauty. It's too cold. The group focuses on the task of locating Brunhild, and follows Granddad's directions, dictated to Leif from the spirit world.
Soon the glow of more mundane fires is visible over a ridge. Kaeso sets down the disc and Leif sneaks up on foot. He evades a sentry -- a demon sentry -- on the rise, and peers into the valley below. Down in the icy depression he sees 60 or more demons having a raucous party, with Brunhild and half a dozen ogre and troll chieftains chained up nearby as unwilling guests. To the horror of Leif and Granddad, the host of the party is none other than Brunhild's demonic half-brother . . . the scum who murdered Granddad.
Leif and Granddad hasten back to report to the others. Granddad tells Leif that he suspects that the ogre and troll tribes will want their chiefs back, and that they might thus be allies here, but that he'll need more information to be sure. He can't go as a spirit because the demons will surely smell him. Vinz volunteers for the job.
Vinz casts a tread-lightening spell to avoid leaving tracks in the snow, and then pulls the assassin god's cloak around himself and disappears from sight. He easily sneaks through the demonic cotillion, noting the enemy's positions and numbers. On his way over to Brunhild, he witnesses the demons eating cooked human villagers and mocking the ogres and trolls for having "gone soft," as they no longer engage is such barbarism.
Eventually, Vinz reaches Leif's grandmother. Meditating on his reawakened memories of the Bright Secrets of the Mind, he works a telepathy charm and contacts the ogress mentally. Brunhild tells Vinz that the demons used black magic to snatch the chieftains from the heads of their tribal armies -- armies she inspired to march to the world's defense -- and aim to lure the tribes into the valley, then disappear to Hell, hopefully leaving the ogres and troll to blame and battle one another. Vinz assures Brunhild that aid is nearby and then returns to the others.
The team then spends some time planning a strike. Granddad tells them that the demons, especially their leader (his killer!), are cowardly, and that the biggest risk is that of the demons vanishing to Hell if bloodied -- potentially with the chieftains and Brunhild, when it becomes apparent that their attackers aren't hordes of ogres and trolls, but a group of demon-slaying heroes. Vinz is familiar with the Path of Sovereign Wards, however, and has a spell to block dimension-crossing efforts. This leaves the issue of how to attack 60-70 demons without endangering the prisoners.
Kaeso volunteers the use of his four invisibility elixirs for the raid. He also has a clever plan for releasing the captives: He will give Mushamee a spring-loaded harpoon affixed to a strong line anchored to the disk. All Mushamee has to do is jump down with this and use his blinding speed to thread the line through the prisoners' chains, and then pop the barbs on the harpoon. Kaeso can then gun the disc and zip off at speed, likely tearing the chains apart.
Of course, this will only work if somebody is already in place to aid the prisoners and foil the demons' efforts to carry them off the Hell. Thus, the second part of the plan is to have Leif, Rufus, and Vinz near the demon leader, invisible. Vinz will start casting his dimensional ward as soon as Mushamee appears on the scene, and when it goes off, he'll tug on Leif's arm to signal for Leif to assassinate his family's old enemy with a mighty blow.
With the plan made, Granddad draws on many years of hate to bless Leif's blade for the killing blow against his assassin. Kaeso hands out invisibility elixirs to Leif, Rufus, and Vinz, and drinks one himself. Then Kaeso flies off with Mushamee, the line and harpoon ready. The other three sneak off on foot, relying on Kaeso's potions to hide them from sight.
After a time, when Kaeso is reasonably sure his friends are in place, based on what Leif and Vinz said about the time needed to move into position, he zooms down from high above. Leif spots the disc, thanks to his incredible vision, and taps Vinz, who immediately starts working his magic. As Vinz casts, Mushamee leaps from the disc, harpoon in hand, and sets off at his lightning pace. Before the demons can react, he has already threaded the harpoon through the chains and hissed a message to Brunhild: "Tell the others to stay close when freed!"
Shortly thereafter, the demon leader starts shouting orders. To the heroes' surprise, he appears to tell them to begin the ritual to return home. The demons start dancing and chanting instead of attacking. It's down to a race between them and the invisible Vinz!
Mushamee tries to buy some time by flying at the demons nearest the prisoners. At this point, they're prepared for his charge, and Mushamee isn't invisible. However, he wields Demonslayer and is the foremost swordsman of the known world. Their defenses collapse before his onslaught, and in seconds, he destroys two demons who are over 40 feet apart.
Then Vinz completes his lengthy ritual. Shedding his own blood to guarantee success -- and relying on Kaeso's elixir to screen him from sight while the cloak isn't in his grasp -- he lets loose with powerful magic. All around the prisoners, a potent magical barrier springs into existence, blocking all forms of supernatural transit. When he's sure the ward is up, he taps Leif to signal that it's safe to act.
Leif wastes no time. He calls upon his inner strength and berserk rage, winds up with Necros' Spirit Reaper, and -- guided by Granddad's blessing -- strikes a blow for his entire bloodline. The demons' leader, Brunhild's evil half-brother and Granddad's murderer, is cut in half. Vinz's magic blocks the brute's exit to Hell, and he is well and truly destroyed here in the icy North, site of his treachery.
Rufus senses Vinz's spell, and contributes his own efforts to the confusion. He unleashes the Palintonic Bow at one of the remaining guards. Nine shafts cut through the air and slam into his target. The demon reels from the strike but doesn't collapse. Rufus whips out his blade and advances on his quarry.
Kaeso, on seeing the bloodshed, takes off at maximum speed. The disc draws the line up into the air. It grows taut, but being made of amazing stuff, it does not yield. This snaps the prisoners' chains from their anchors, freeing the captives.
To be continued . . .