Phase Three: Battle of the Rim
This is the battle at the edge of The Pit. It will begin with the routing of the armies and pushing them back to The Pit and end with the fall of Elpidian.

1. Behind the Scenes - Enemy reacts to the bad news (7 tokens, 1 per)
   1. Billy - Harkan kills the bearer of bad news.
   2. Nathan - Gustav knows exactly what to do with this. Unleash the knights of Kael'Ras. "It is too early," Elpidian resists. "No. It is precisely the right time," Gustav insists.
   3. Kei - Wei is terrified and attempts to flee.
   4. Ian - Bramiel raises someone precious to the good guys.
   5. JT - The Nameless Vizier erases a key prisoner from existence, turning it into another nullman.
   6. Benjesus - The enemy calls in on a divine favor.
   7. Dani- A prophecy trap is set using the corrupted waters from an undead sandworm's raising rituals.
2. Advance to the Rim - the Alliance advances across the Fuligin Field, over the course of a week (14 vignettes, 2 per). Includes villains, NPCs, and PCs.
   1. Dani- A colossal spectral undead passively blocks the path.
   2. Benjesus - A major NPC uses newly restored faith to defeat undead and Pit-monsters in equal measure.
   3. JT - A minor villain defeats a major nation's best unit through guerrilla tactics.
   4. Dani- The enemy starts to fight dirty with psychological torture upon the advancing Alliance.
   5. Benjesus - An alliance faction gets cut off from the main forces and nearly dies of thirst/starvation lost in the desert. A chance (miracle or something?) change of route leads them back.
   6. Kei - Shara decimates an entire battalion - by the literal term of the word - using the Mastered Heart's ability to burn the unashamed.
   7. Ian - Prax enters a poioumenonic war-trance, and is many places at once. For much of the week, he becomes the war, and the Hunt is his heart. Prax and Sli share a moment out of time.
   8. Nathan - Tam Lin and Gerrick take charge of a stranded encampment of inexperienced NPC's, keeping every one of them alive through a hard, horrific night of siege. Tam Lin hardens a little in the process, and understands what it must be like to be a Troublemaker.
   9. JT - A battle is fought in a field with no faith, no magic, and no gifts.
   10. Benjesus - Quicksand, blessed by undeath, claims many lives. Those who die within lie just beneath the surface, ready to drag others under.
   11. Billy - A corrupted Gift is recovered by the alliance.
   12. Nathan - Mudpie is termporarily an avatar of Shem. He becomes a normal desert storm, warping the fuligin to normal desert where he passes, and making ash of the undead in a swath the size of a nor'easter. When he returns to normal, he will still have remnants of Shem in his head, altering his mind. He will also be, temporarily or for an indeffinite moderate time, short of energy.
   13. Kei - Deyn communes with the earthpower aether and summons a small tectonic disruption.
   14. Ian - The May Queen uses her cup, long held by Prax and now energized with narrative energy, to purge all fear from someone thought shattered by the war.
3. Behind the Scenes - Alliance commanders (7 tokens, 1 per)
   1. Billy - Thannas spends the day among the common soldiers, performing miracles of healing, and weeps at night at the pain and suffering he is still unable to defeat, as the weight of messianity causes him to hear the prayers of everyone within miles calling for help. He reaches out, even in his dreams, to help them, but it's never enough.
   2. Dani- Pajah Harami must give up the search for a lost wounded red cloak.
      • It has been two days since Alexei Baltatzis had dissapeared on the march. Two days and finally Commander Harami was having to face reality. The man he'd known through thick and thin for four years was lost in the dunes and would never rejoin the Red Cloaks. He'd been suffering from a wound in the arm when he dissapeared. While the field medic had done his best it was only a patch until they could get him to a proper field hospital at their rendevous two nights ago. His arm had still been bleeding slowly and by now if the thirst hadn't killed him, the blood loss and sun would have. But Pajah couldn't reconcile this in himself. "We don't leave our comrades behind." a small voice within him said over and over. He could barely look at the faces of his men as he finished his orders to continue the march and call back their last seekers. All he could see was accusation and distrust in their eyes. That's all he saw when he faced himself in the glass that night in his tent.
   3. Kei - Sorosiphia notes a tendency for one wing of the enemy forces to fade back the exact same distance and regroup after a certain strategy is used and decides to make use of it in a sudden ambush on their next regroup site.
   4. Ian - Prax mourns with a stoic commander.
   5. JT - Diplomatic tensions flair as the Tara'hinian cannot find Ledyim, and think him dead.
   6. Benjesus - The Irriton Complex presents the alliance commanders with a weapon and then leaves.
   7. Nathan - the lesser queen and her allies try and fail to freeze Angela Murray out of her command. Before she leaves, she gives them one crucial piece of intel leading to a necessary victory.
4. Clash at the Rim - vignettes of wins and losses all around the Rim of The Pit (14 tokens, 2 per)
   1. JT - A major NPC saves a legendary NPC from a gashadokuro.
   2. Benjesus - We see what a man is made of when he is literally pushed to the edge.
   3. Kei - A fault line is used to cause a collapse of The Pit edge and to win a battle.
   4. Nathan - Gerrick and Tam Lin get stranded, rescued by the inexperienced NPC team they protected.
   5. Dani- A minor nation's units are completely wiped out.
   6. Ian - Bramiel's newly-undead scion makes their debut with an early victory.
   7. Billy - Endhathef loses control and goes on a rampage.
   8. Kei - Avery finds himself pinned between the Pit and an enemy armed with iron. Jack the Diamond manages to reach him but is grievously wounded in their escape.
   9. Ian - Prax flashes back to his early medical training, and wonders if Shem could survive having The Pit amputated.
   10. JT - Ledyim Lilac uses Rindacsa's candle to lead his men out of a trap of undeath despair.
   11. Dani- Undead or fuligin-infused gnomes.
   12. Dani - Roving packs of wild fuligin predators
   13. Billy - Bluebird Hrielle kills a minor NPC and raises him/her to taunt a major NPC.
   14. Nathan - Mudpie feels the pull of The Pit, and uses the connection to transmit vital knowledge.
   15. Benjesus - Tom Fool steals Dullahan's voice.
5. JT - Rindacsa faces the Nullman
6. The Fuligin Twelve ride forth with Khanga, routing a portion of the Alliance front (7 tokens, 1 per)
   1. Benjesus - A "flu" sweeps across the alliance.
   2. Kei - The breaking of the lines causes the med tents to overflow, and named NPC healers struggle to keep up with the influx.
   3. Dani - Khanga feasts on the fear and blood of fallen faithful.
      • They came over the black dunes like a dark cresting wave. Khanga lead her followers but kept pace with the twelve until she saw her quarry. Sun faithful of Tarahin and Inisel and other nations were trying to combine their prayer efforts. But the Goddess didn't answer quick or strong enough. Khanga and some of her legion fell upon them writhing and quick. She twisted around men and broke their backs, she attacked Hul'tessaq with tooth and nail and weapon. There was one Tuq'tessaq that she eviscerated as he vainly tried to pray. She pulled entrails out of him and ripped into them as if they were her first meal in weeks. Blood and bile ran down her dark chin as she slithered toward her next enemy.
   4. Billy - Edela finds herself caught in a masterful doublecross by a previously undiscovered double-agent mole that severly hinders Allied intelligence.
   5. Nathan - Gustav figures out how to fool Mudpie's energy sense. Mudpie protects the wrong flank, to disastrous results.
   6. JT - Noraqqalmud, under siege, screams out blasphemy against the Silver Mother for creating the curse, betrays and kills his men, raises them as undead, and joins the enemy.
   7. JT - Lightning storms
   8. Ian - Casur Fhi distributes wondrous, newly-woven fuligin-filtering masks to the army, but ends up in the med tents from fuligin inhalation himself.
7. The Alliance rallies - the Alliance rallies against the onslaught of Grey and Fuligin, though some fall (14 tokens, 2 per). Includes villains, NPCs, and PCs. Major NPC deaths occur here.
   1. Billy - King Suk Boon-ja rides under the tattered star banner with the remains of his men against a unit of undead chthonians. He is drawn over the Rim to a series of ledges, where he and his men face the terror of falling into The Pit as well as the burrowing undead monsters. The King risks his own life to keep his men from falling, and he is blinded in the fight.
   2. JT - A major NPC is thrown into The Pit and hits the invisible barrier of curses, blasphemy, and esoterica that keeps people from teleporting in when they try to teleport themselves away to safety during the fall. They are ripped to pieces in the moment.
   3. Benjesus - Toves and other servants of Death make a last united stand against the Grey armies.
   4. Dani- Earthquakes.
   5. Kei - Deyn finds himself cut off from his unit and must conceal himself in a hastily-created shelter of stone and earth to avoid enemy detection.
   6. Dani- Wormriders make a charge that results in a victory but also heavy losses of their own number and steeds.
      • The Zef'tassaq wormrider 'calvary' were led by Harr'neldeqh Bhertten in their final great charge against the Alliance. She was not their normal leader but had been raised as others a bit more seasoned and qualified had fallen, some with their worms, some without. She rode an enormous worm that had survived its previous rider. Although she was a bit less experienced she had the heart of a great Iniseli warrior and when she saw the Enemy forces nearing too close to the Pit edge she sounded the call. Fifty of the great worms formed a near impenetrable undulating wall of razor sharp teeth and freight train speed. They had no trouble herding their enemy together and driving them off the Pit. They drove nearly 6000 enemy troops over the edge but the worms weren't made for sharp stops and more than half of the worms and their riders were lost over the edge, including Harr'neldeqh and her giant mount.
   7. Nathan - Gerrick, Tam Lin, and the inexperienced NPC's lure the enemy into a vicious trap.
   8. Kei - Avery finds a hidden route allowing an Allied force to hit the enemy from behind, enabling a successful pincer attack that all but destroys an enemy batallion.
   9. Ian - Prax flashes back to Sourav's death and Aeon-apotheosis at the moment that an NPC dies. Buoyed by the redemptive power of sacrifice, he does not lose heart, and his forces rally.
   10. Benjesus - Rhomara's sealcasters are slain, but she emerges transformed and victorious.
   11. JT - A swordfight suspended on a narrow ledge over the Pit becomes a fight of legend.
   12. Billy - A mastered Gift is obliterated by Fuligin.
   13. Nathan - Mudpie slays a powerful enemy, but a terrible cost to his energy when the blasphemous backlash knocks him on is ass.
   14. Ian - Bramiel's scion is slain.
8. Ian and Dani- Prax and the 13 Hunters face Khanga and the Fuligin Twelve. (Dani and Ian)
   • The Fuligin Twelve rode beasts from the pit, each one different, as they were each different. Truly they were also beasts from the pit, or rather the race from the pit. Each was humanoid but they all varied. Rikerrdh had a thin elongated body reminiscent of asterians and shemiir and rode an eight legged centipede-like animal . Shaalerith, the only female, had an unearthly beauty which was terrifying when viewed with her pitch black skin, eyes, and hair. She wore no clothes as she rode her winged vulpine steed and men of many races were felled in their distraction. Falltev was short and stout with the quickness of a halfling race and he rode a beast reminiscent of a rhinoceros crossed with an ostrich. Pryherrgh was enormous and muscled and had wings like a fallen angel. He was mounted upon a bear-like beast with a snake neck and head that stood ten foot at the soldier. Dalssek really did look like a human but his ability to completely rip the faith out of a person made many speculate if he wasn't closer to a psionist. He rode atop a goat like beast that ran on its hindlegs only. Jarggel was also massive and appeared to be somewhat ogrish atop his large beast with the head and tail of a mouse and the scaled body of a lizard. Aldmerrik was the smallest at only a foot and a half. He rode a mechanized steed as tall as a giraffe that brayed like a mule from its flesh components. Brankiil was completely hairless and it was almost impossible to see the black flames licking over his head unless something with color was behind him. He rode an almost mundane horse that breathed the same black flames. Xyggarn was reminiscent of an animalman, or many animalmen. His snout was that of a boar but long luxurious fur covered him rather than bristles. His horns were two feet long and spiraled slightly like an antelope but his hooves were more reminiscent of the minotaur. His eyes though were pure predator. He rode and sometimes ran next to a feline steed whose neck and limbs were covered in razor sharp quills. Cadiibh was the giant among them at 18 feet tall. His toes still scraped the ground as he rode a massive beast with beetle jaws. Faaltew seemed saurian but his mix of plates and horns and scales made him hard to define as well. He rode a winged terrier that shook men to death like rats. Yyrgh rode a giant hairy caterpillar which already had butterfly wings. He was elfish in stature and features but his body had a hole right through where a normal elf's heart would be. It was no wound, it was simply a hollow space like is seen in the stretched ears of some Taggarus humans. They rode alongside Khanga once more. They're final charge took place as Prax and the 13 Hunters came into view around a ridge.
9. The Enemy line collapses - vignettes of victories as the Enemy falls back further (7 tokens, 1 per)
   1. Dani- The Cult of the Mouth tears a large fuligin creature limb from limb.
      • There are many tales of bravery from this war. But this is one of insanity. The Cultists had regained their own insanity when the Hul'tessaq Manifest gained control over the Worms of Law. Because of that their ability to help the cause wavered a bit. It was never clear whether they were going to be effective in a battle or not. But there was one fight in which the Cultists suddenly acted as one unified unit rather than their normal disorganization. A fuligin beast had just risen out of the Pit and started toward a small group of Cultists who were having a chat about moon tides and kingly responsibilties. As the great black creature neared them its maw opened to reveal several rows of dark sharp teeth. As one the Cult of the Mouth turned to face the creature. There was an odd two seconds where the eight eyes on the creature blinked in confusion at the sudden attention and then the Cult of the Mouth fell upon it. Almost none of them even had a weapon at hand but that seemed to matter little. They tore at its furry legs with tooth and nail. One armed cultist used a butcher's knife to hack at it's tall underbelly. The creature thrashed and flailed but it was for not. Within half a minute the cultists had it by each of its 7 legs and they pulled as if in a great game of tug-of-war. Soon it only had three legs left but they weren't done. The creature could no longer stand and so one Cultist straddled its neck and began to gouge out each black eyeball. Within five minutes the creature was gasping its final breath as the Cultists continued to claw at its remaining leg and pull more great tufts of fur from its ravaged coat. Within another half a minute the strange effect seemed to have disappeared. Many of the Cultists wandered off, some to continue their conversations, a few to play a game no one has ever heard of and only one was still hacking away at the neck of the beast.
   2. JT - Enemy aerial cavalry arrives but is routed.
   3. Nathan - Tam Lin and Gerrick work together to take a powerful and valuable prisoner.
   4. Benjesus - Alliance assassins strike in concert.
   5. Kei - Wei, whilst trying to flee, is caught and slain by Allied forces.
   6. Ian - Prax slices one of Bramiel's wings off, but he escapes anyway.
   7. Billy - Bluebird Hrielle is defeated as his undead slaves are destroyed by holy powers. The Grey Commander reveals his name.

Phase Four: Harkan's Last Stand
This is the battle with Harkan's core forces. It will begin with the push back from Harkan's forces and end with Harkan's death.

1. Harkan rides forth (Billy)
2. Major losses for the Alliance - The core of the Grey and Fuligin Armies has a series of sweeping victories (7 tokens, 1 per, all NPC deaths)
   1. Kei - While attempting to rejoin the bulk of the forces, Avery runs afoul of a band of fuligin monsters. He manages to escape, barely, but the wounds received prevent him from returning to the field.
   2. Dani- Faith dies permanently in various minor NPCs as Harkan's full might sweeps over them.
      • As Harkan rode forth one of the great tragedies of this war took place. Some call it the field of lost faith and that's exactly what it was. Harkan's aura ripped faith away from the faithful in the Third Army and they were forever changed. A change of one's soul by an outside force is always Shem-shattering. Some lay down on the field and wept, unable to lift themselves from the dark sand even as their blood soaked it. Others went into a frenzied panic, trampling their fellows in an effort to run and retreat. Still others continued to cry to their gods, unbelieving of the sudden silence. But the prayers fell on deaf ears as they were ridden down by the Harkanians.
   3. JT - Rindacsa goes on a rampage and loses control when she realizes just who the Neverman erased.
   4. Ian - Mara Tslea is carried off into the sky as Bramiel returns to the field, whole once again and wielding a terrible grey blade. She falls into the Pit singing songs of the sea and victory.
   5. Nathan - Gerrick is wounded in the fight, and taken out of action, but still gives commands from the back, proving a brilliant commander. Tam Lin acts as his "avatar" on the field.
   6. Benjesus - Rhomara becomes reckless and is overwhelmed.
   7. Ian - Aisling Caillte is choked to death by an undead monster with no light behind its' eyes.
3. Miracle at the Rim - in face of enormous losses, a Miracle occurs (1 token, 7 authors? maybe?)
4. The Final Advance - the fall of the core of the Grey and Fuligin Armies. This should see the conclusion of almost every arc. (21 tokens, 3 per)
   1. Kei - A second Bulyemeh rises from The Pit.
   2. Dani- An undead sandworm bears a powerful villain into battle.
      • The bloated grey sandworm rode over the sands. Every one of its segments is near to bursting with fetid innards and the scent of it can be smelled almost before the sound of passing sand can reach us. On its back ride two figures. The first seems elfish in stature and features but much has changed within her. Her once white hair is streaked through with fuligin dust. There are such great amounts of miniscule fuligin shrapnel that has been embedded in her skin it appears almost piebald. But the most disturbing feature is her eye sockets. They are completely empty and pitch black. Her companion has a head of a large cat, the front hooves and body of a bull with the hind legs of an enormous toad. He wears a twisted wooden crown across his feline brow and never stops smiling. His smile is oddly reminiscent of the Puck's upon committing some horrible mischief. R'heedha Valsoraa, Witness of the Pit & her slave Bhorim, a child of Baal have finally joined the fight. /Now/ it begins.
   3. Benjesus - A massive joint faith effort/sacrifice tears apart a major fuligin contingent.
   4. Billy - An enormous, fuligin-infused moth. Ybraulk's triumph.
   5. Kei - Deyn leads his company in a sneak attack against a larger enemy force. The enemy is defeated, but Deyn is the only man left standing of his company.
   6. JT - Jheshemirath helps Rindacsa recover before her Ring can exact it's terrible curse.
   7. Billy - An enemy cannibal has eaten our dead and gained their power.
   8. Ian - Rafu runs off on his own, speaking softly to the assembled armies, allowing a savage ambush to take place.
   9. Dani- The Red Cloaks make a final stand against a fuligin creature never before seen.
   10. Benjesus - A major villain is teamed up on by several legendary NPCs.
   11. Ian - Despite the best efforts of our healers, Casur Fhi's condition worsens. Prax flashes back to Sourav saving a pilgrim with silvran healing breath, his earliest memory of his ambition to tend the afflicted, and he returns having lost his sleep-breath power but gained a much more powerful version of his silvran racial ability. Fhi recovers and incorporates his recovery narrative into his breathing masks.
   12. Kei - Shara wins a desperate duel in which she wields the Sword with the skill of thousands of elves but still doesn't know what she's doing, trusting instinct.
   13. JT - Noraqqalmud strikes the enemy from behind, dooming himself but saving thousands.
   14. Nathan - Tam Lin and Gustav have a "foe-tossing-charge" moment, they clash, and their fight ranges all over the rim. Tam lin faces certain death from a trap laid by Gustav, but Ansley sweeps in with the Troublemakers, allowing Tam Lin to finish pursuing and finish off Gustav. Tam Lin must rely on the Erlking the way Gerrick relies on the Troublemakers.
   15. JT - Ledyim suffers a mortal fuligin wound-- his faith severed from him, the Gods are deaf to him (and his descendents?) now.
   16. Dani- Aleel'aqallah, after a trying time and several failed attempts, succeeds in assassinating a key enemy commander
       • Aleel'aqallah swears internally. "Finally!" she thinks to herself as she sees the undead abomination make a wide turn to return to the carnage on the sand below her. It's still a mile and a half out but she has enough time to get into position. This is not the way she'd like to do this. She was an assassin. She didn't generally take down her targets in the middle of a battlefield. But this one had eluded her time and again. It was 'the sight'. It wasn't as bad as dealing with a prophet but it was close. The target just --evaded her. Over and over. Only once had she been close enough to see those empty black sockets. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been that close to a target and not made the deal. With her new found consequence and skill almost nothing should have been able to get away. But get away she did. Pieces of her people whispered to Aleel'aqallah and reassured her that this wasn't her fault. Witnesses lived outside the rules and they were almost impossible to kill. Aleel'aqallah scowled to herself as she ran quickly and easily down the dune and out onto the flat sand. She didn't care about 'the rules'. She was going to take down the Witness anyway. She needed to be out of the picture if they were to have a chance of taking down the King she served. The rotting, undead sandworm-- NO! She wouldn't think of it as one of them. The rotting, undead /corpse/worm was upon her now and she ran alongside it, using her riding hooks to swing up onto its back, behind the riders. She put the hooks away and drew the knife she trusted most. As she moved forward the Witness cocked her head and then abruptly tugged on her hooks, making the worm undulate wildly. Aleel'aqallah's heart sank even as her stomach lurched. "She did it again!" she thought as abruptly there was no worm beneath her for half a second. She started to fall just as the enormous side of the worm was returning to ram her. She instinctively lashed out with her knife, trying to get ahold in the soft place between the overlapping segments. Her knife surprisingly caught, held for half a moment as she slammed into the side of the worm. Then a great ripping echoed through the creature. It was just an animated bag of juices at this point in its decomposition. Now a great slit tore right through it, and innards begain to flow onto the sand as the entire worm deflated. The riders were swallowed into the slit as Aleel'aqallah fell into the sand. As soon as she gained her feet she ran to catch up to the remains that still hadn't come to rest. A runaway freight train can go fairly far before rolling to a stop. She saw no sign of the servant but she found the fallen elf. Her sockets were filled with fetid juices and she was clawing at them, trying to clear them. For once she seemed blind to her surroundings as Aleel'aqallah's most trusted knife found its new sheath.
   17. Billy - King Suk Boon-ja has no time to get to the healers, so he rides forth without sight. His men guide him by voice during the fight, and he stands for a long time with their aid, but one by one, their voices stop coming as they are killed around him. Eventually, he, too, falls.
   18. Nathan - Angela Murray returns, and gives her life to save large swaths of allied forces from certain death. She is now returned to her god.
   19. Ian - Bramiel is pulled from the sky by the united Hunt and slain by Prax wielding Foiche Maru, now blazing with Life.
   20. Benjesus - Dullahan chases Tom Fool into the Catacombs.
   21. Nathan  - The last gift of Father Crane, long after his death
   22. Nathan - Both of Mudpie's gods do something, ironically at the same time and with the same intent, to make sure he lives through to face the Pit. Mudpie loses consciousness here, and can only be awakened by Inelle protecting him from the divine backlash. Mudpie is split into primal and celestial halves. Inelle loses her portion of the Gift in the process.
5. Kei and Billy - Shara vs. Styrah Rhee and Rosamonde
6. Benjsus and Billy - Nas vs. Harkan
7. Vignettes of Victory - 7 tokens, 1 per (any loose ends)
   1. Kei - Enemy survivors surrendering.
   2. Benjesus - A surviving death priest holds a service for those lost.
   3. Billy - Edela personally sees to the execution of the spy that nearly cost them the battle. Spymasters gather and ask questions.
   4. Dani and JT- The scene of a field hospital trying to evacuate remaining patients.
   5. Ian - Prax tends blossoms of the World Tree that somehow survive in the fuligin fields.
   6. Nathan - Gerrick and Ansley offer Tam Lin a home in Carterhaugh, Innesmoor, and the two Mudpies get back together with the party.
   7. Billy - Cork quietly picks over the corpses on the field, unnoticed by others, picking up loot.
8. Gathering of the Heroes (no tokens, resume normal play as Heroes gather and begin to descend into The Pit)

Notes:

1. Samuel Jericho. That is /still/ all, no matter what anyone says.