When we last ventured to the Great Basin…
The members of the Task Force were preparing to engage the League Against Koncord Eminence to flush out their leader Ambition, also known as Vessimur Yutros the Herske of the Forum. After a late night of discussion, you all agreed with Zorro and decided to use the captured barrel of Cylex from the Taerwyn Dock Explosion to bomb Ambition’s quarters at the Central Forum.
Blue Eyes was the unfortunate bomb mule, and as they were placing the explosives outside Vessimur’s window, the rest of you were readying for combat by casting buff spells, including:
- Heroes’ Feast: Gain 1d8 + 5 (13) temporary hit points. +1 morale bonus on
attack rolls and +4 morale on saving throws against poison and fear effects.
- Status: Jusa can monitor your vitals.
- Life Pact: If anybody drops to 0 hp, they gain 1 hp from all allies within
30 ft, those allies loss 1 hp. It cannot raise the dropped creature above 1 hp, and can only be triggered once per round.
- Perfect Placement: Gain a +1 insight bonus to AC and Reflex saves. Against
AoO, the bonus becomes +3.
- Healing Token: Jusa can channel healing spells through you.
Meru:
- Aura of Doom
- Sword of Divinity (Burst of Glory): +1 sacred bonus on attack rolls and
saves against fear effects, plus 11 temp hp.
Zorro:
Total Effects:
- +2 bonus on attack rolls (+1 morale, +1 sacred).
- 24 temporary hit points (I think different sources stack in 1E, but couldn’t
find a definitive answer).
- +5 bonus on saving throws against fear effects (+4 morale, +1 sacred).
- +1 insight bonus to AC, +3 against AoO.
- Life Pact, Status, Healing Token.
The blast detonated, dealing 180d6 points of damage for a total of 620 points of damage. The Delegate Tower for the Principality of Vi was completely destroyed and the adjacent towers belonging to Trobreryn and the Empire of Xylte were heavily damaged.

Unbelievably, Ambition and his understudy Ardent did manage to survive the blast, although they were both near death.
The you converged on the tower as your enemy scrabbled to response. Evidently, Ambition had stationed the rest of LAKE in the immediate vicinity, with almost every member entering the fray within three rounds of combat. Also flooding the scene where patrols of Bastion of the Sky guards attempting to rescue survivors and break up the fight. Highlights of the fight include:
Ambition emerged from the rubble and channeled negative energy from the approaching patrol of guards, seeming to regain a bit of stamina.
Wil knocked-out Ambition with one swift punch, taking the enemy leader off the field.
Meru used Blindness/Deafness on Fractal, leaving the young wizard groping around the fountain in the center of the courtyard.
Dauntless put Zorro and Blue Eyes to sleep, then attempted to convince them to not fight. Zorro agreed if they would let the boys out of the dreamscape.
Devious uses Suggestion on Wil, telling him to “go home”.
Dauntless does release Zorro and Blue Eyes from the dreamscape, although they do immediately imprison Zorro in a Forcecage. Zorro escapes the cage by using spell recall to cast Dimension Door.
The blind Fractal cast Anti-Summoning Shield, impeding the use of summon monster spells like those favored by Redfern. His aim is off, due to aforementioned blindness, but with the guiding hand of Dauntless he is still relatively on-target.
Curious exchanges blows with Zorro while Dauntless flees from the melee. Ultimately, Curious is able to down Zorro.
Jusa is bound to the stake and burned, thanks to Ardent. While she is freed when Ardent dies, the secondary effects persist, with Jusa viewing all of you has unfriendly creatures and attempting to leave the battle.
Meru is just barely out of reach of the still-unconscious Ambition, and thus until to perform a coup de grace with the Sword of Divinity.
Gwen casts Dispel Magic, Greater to remove the Suggestion on Wil and suppress the effect on Jusa casting her to view you all as unfriendly.
Jusa brings Zorro back from the dead with Inspiring Recovery.
Dauntless casts Feeblemind on Meru, which they fail the save for due to a natural 1 on the die.
Ambition regains consciousness, raises and quickly dispatches Wil and Meru with powerful blows from his long sword before dropping Jusa and casting Antilife Shell to keep the guards away.
Redfern summons a swarm of monkeys with Mad Monkeys that pull the other cylex bomb from Zorro’s Handy Haver Sack.
Gwen uses her active casting of Call Lightning Storm to denote the other Cylex bomb that Zorro had prepared earlier.
The blast deals another 615 points of damage, killing (in no particular order)
- Ambition
- Devious
- Eaton
- 21 guards
- Jusa
- Wil
- Zen
- Redfern
- Blue Eyes
- Fractal
- Curious
- Creative
- A swarm of monkeys
- An elephant
- A lion
The only survivors of such a mighty blast being:
- Gwen, who swaps position with her hawk familiar, sacrificing them to save herself.
- Meru, who is protected by the Sword of Divinity in exchange for becoming the mortal mouthpiece of Kieros, Herald of Divinity.
- Dauntless, who was the only combatant too far away as she attempted to leave the battlefield.
With the Koncord of Kieros in shambles, it is now on the few surviving members of the Task Force to help rebuild the alliance of nation-states.
Be sure to read the Epilogue too!