Avalon Resolution

I’ve finished ironing out the most important elements of the island exploration rules. With that done, I was able to do all the rolls for Avalon.

It’s time for me to crash, but here are the exciting highlights to tide you over until we get the proper lore written up. (Get it? Ha. Nami would get it.)

Setup

Avalon, once a jewel of Nyrothian culture and progress, was all but destroyed in the cataclysm when its automata went berserk. Once, its rocky heights were covered in sky-scraping buildings; now, all have been stripped bare by the automata, leaving only the factory producing the deranged machines in the center of the island, and a lost city in the east (Padonia) held by a small number of automata that somehow were not affected. Most of the fertile valleys between these canyons are now controlled by automata. A few valley settlements still survive; their people have used remnants of Avalon’s geomancy to encase them in rock and crystal. It is a meager existence, but it keeps the marauding automata out—mostly.

Decision

Bilgewater had several options:

• Loot the place.
• Snoop around looking for something interesting.
• Unify the survivors and the non-crazy automata into a defensive alliance.
• Launch an all-out assault on the factory that’s producing the berserk automata.

They decided to go for the riskiest and most dangerous option, the assault on the factory.

Resolution

Here’s how it played out, in summary.

Bilgewater decided to risk Twisted Fate and Gangplank on this adventure, giving them bonuses but risking the loss of these Champions for a week of matches.

Manashock (Research)

Bilgewater had an option to significantly weaken the factory’s automata by conjuring up a disruptive magical shockwave. Bilgewater is not that great at the sciencing, even with the Marai there to help, and failed.

Plant explosives (Espionage)

Twisted Fate rolled a critical success (appropriately enough) on his mission to plant bombs in the factory. The blast destroyed some of the automata before the battle, evening the odds somewhat.

Naval bombardment

Bilgewater’s troops led the Nyrothian survivors and the automata from the ruined city of Padonia to the factory. This drew the berserk machines out into the open, where a truly devastating barrage of cannonfire from Gangplank’s pirate fleet (RNG OP!) drastically reduced their numbers.

Battle

Seizing their opportunity in the wake of the bombardment, Bilgewater’s swarthy buccaneers charged into the fray alongside their Nyrothian allies and obliterated the enemy automata. The factory was finally put out of commission. Bilgewater itself suffered no serious casualties, though many Nyrothians did perish in the battle.

Injury checks were rolled for both Twisted Fate and Gangplank. (There is a 10% chance of a Champion being injured in battle.) They both passed.

Subnexus

Avalon’s nexus was discovered beneath the central factory. This was a difficult challenge for Bilgewater, not being a very strong Research faction (to put it mildly). However, they rolled another crit, and with the help of the Marai they brought along (a prize for their victories in the first part of the arc) they just barely pulled it off.

The subnexus has been realigned to the way it was before the cataclysm, enabling the denizens of Avalon to once again invoke the full power of their magic and rebuild their long-destroyed cities.

Conclusion

As the moon ascended into the Nyrothian sky, the arcane fires creeping along the ruins of the factory guttered out. Looking around, Bilgewater’s Champions and Summoners, and their new allies, found themselves seemingly surrounded by faint figures. The wind howled as the figures drew closer, wreathing them in eerie black mist. Against this dark shroud, their glowing features could at last be distinguished. The Nyrothians fell to their knees, weeping at the sight of these gaunt spectral faces; these were the restless spirits of tens of thousands of their kin who had fallen to violence, famine, and disease in the dark centuries that followed the cataclysm. The spirits seemed almost not to notice the living, instead reaching down to offer their hands to the souls of those who had been slain in the assault on the factory as they arose from their still-warm bodies to join the throng in joyous embrace. The black mist fell back to the sea, and the ghosts of Avalon disappeared from mortal sight.

Thanks to the bold action of Bilgewater’s motley crew, proud Avalon is safe once more. The League has officially commended the Champions and Summoners of Bilgewater for their selfless actions and heroic success. (Favor +10.)

Deeply grateful for their aid in reclaiming their isle, the inhabitants of Avalon have granted Bilgewater access to a hidden cache of artifacts and spellbooks from before the cataclysm. Nami and the other Marai have eagerly accepted, and are now combing through them in search of a means of forging a new moonstone. (330 points of bonus Research progress. Research stat increased by 10 for the rest of the arc.)

A battalion of warrior automata from the ruined city of Padonia have offered to join Bilgewater. There are no longer enemies to fight on Avalon—and it may be some time before Avalon’s inhabitants recover from generations of war against berserk automata. Instead, they will accompany Nami and the other Champions of Bilgewater on their quest to restore Nyroth. (Strength 10 military unit acquired for the remainder of this arc. No shelter, upkeep, or barracks space required.)

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