After the escape of the separatists, a number of those at the temple, Chrysocolla, Laveer, Keena, and Raijin make chase on the giant snake. The separatists are on the smaller sky ship and not the leviathan. This ship is much faster than the larger Leviathan, and the snake struggles to keep up.

Nevertheless the union members slowly close the gap. As the snake flies over the Skyship Raijin leaps from its back and lands on the roof of the ship. Hearing the noise Augustin and Rurik cautiously move to the roof, here they are set upon by an enraged Raijin. The trio appear to be evenly matched, Raijin’s katana moving so fast it is a blur, as he parries the blows the pair of separatists try to land on him.

The stalemate is prematurely ended, as the skyship plunges towards the ground as it approaches the Rjanslaf fragment, faced with the choice of retreat or facing a large part of the separatist army Raijin, with a show of great acrobatic ability leaps into the air and back onto the waiting snake.

Meanwhile Pennington has scrambled some of her own flying machines, Basian and Al along with a detachment of troops moved to secure the Leviathan. This was done very quickly and proved a decisive tool.

The remains of the union’s troop headed off to defend those clans who were already under attack by the separatists, with the declaration of the truce the separatist forces retreated from the clans, back to the central command of the separatists. While there was much activity in the Union camp Brother Simon, asked to go to the bathroom. The knight guarding him agreed, standing outside the bathroom they hear a cry from the guards in the courtyard below, they smash down the door, to see Brother Simon escaping with wings strapped to his back, flanked by 2 Hareppi. Neither set of guards can do anything, and Brother Simon escapes to join the seperatists.

With the battle lines drawn, a message filters through the guildhalls, a truce has been signed, and there will be no fighting for a week to allow civilians, and those who don’t wish to take a side in the conflict to vacate the area where the fighting is expected to break out.

Over the next week both sides honour the truce and people are evacuated, the leviathan proves a great asset in this, its cavernous cargo bay allowing the movement of large quantities of goods and people.

During the truce a number of Zwerginn came to Basian Meade, although their leaders decided to side with Rurik, who the Zwerginn people have seen as the best way to integration with the archipelago, many dislike this choice of allies, particularly Derrick Greymist, who has been accused of attacks on the Zwerginn by the union. To this end they join with the union is return for a place in its ranks.

Shortly after the end of the official truce, the major players of the union are invited to a feast at the spequorii settlement. Suspecting treachery members of the union decided to investigate the situation, they find that it is indeed a trap to capture the heads of the union. Putting their own clans on guard the Union plans its counter attack.

At the end of Cyrus’s performance, Servius Tullius moves towards the Bard, Spequorii guards draw their weapons, in response the various brewers and barmen, milling about and distributing drinks pulled out the variety of weapons patrons of the guild houses will recognise as the tools used when a bar brawl needs to be prevented. There is a quick scuffle, the superior weapons of the spequorii against the element of surprise and dirty tactics of the brewers hard men, where the brewers win out.

However at the same time as the feast the men of stronghold are attacked, although an attack was on the card, the level and speed of the attack was unexpected. One major complication was the use of a weak point in the wall, which must have been put in during the original construction. Coupled with this surprising rear entry, there was another unexpected factor, as the troops of stronghold began to push back the attackers, the storms began to swirl, multiple bolts of plasma rain down from the storms to melt the stone of which stronghold is built. The heat of the bolts cutting through the air causes shockwaves which result in explosive damage.

This is very different from the explosion used on the knights of unity besieging the Rjanslaf library, and the tacticians of the union believe another unknown storm mage was fighting for the separatist during the war, although their identity could never be confirmed.

Many forces would crumble under such an onslaught, but the knights stood true, with their home falling apart around them, they began a tactical retreat bring their wounded with them. The union began to regroup around the Sedlak settlement, the next most heavily defended union encampment after stronghold, also having been made storm proof by the legendary builder Enki Sedlak, offered better protection should this unknown force strike again.

One the note of Enki, with the retreat to the Sedlak settlement, his last construction begin to activate, an Iron Golem, it moves around the settlement inspiring the iron. To the weapons and farm implements serving as weapons, it will say “Be sharp, cut our Enemies. Be strong, do not break. Keep the Sedlak safe.” To the Iron hinges and bar on the gate it will say “Be strong. Do not Rust. Do not burst. Resist all other than the Sedlak who try to open you. Keep the Sedlak safe.” To the pots and pans it will say “Clatter in the wind when the enemy comes upon us, either in numbers or when they sneak. Warn us. Keep the Sedlak safe.” And to the net above the settlement, preventing people coming over the walls it will say “Like razor wire, cut our enemies. Like solid bars, resist their entrance. Like hooks, cling to them. Keep the Sedlak safe.”

With the destruction of Stronghold, the Union plans its counter attack. The separatist command seems to be focused on the Rjanslaf library. Lukas, who is acting very oddly, having more mannerisms of Justinian, the fallen Union leader, whoes crown he wears, than his normal self; devises a cunning plan. Mustering the full might of union troops a full strength attack on the library should draw out all the separatist forces into a single decisive pitched battle.

With the Union forces on the Separatist’s doorstep the two armies face each across the plain of the Rjanslaf fragment. The battle is opened with the shout of “Unleash the Menagerie… errm please.” from Lukas. The Separatist’s look uneasily at each other, a bowler hat can be seen bobbing about in the Union ranks. All of a sudden the ground beneath the Separatists begins to shudder and collapse beneath their feet. Coming out of the ground all around the troops are animals (in the loosest sense of the word) of all shapes and sizes. Razor toothed voles, electric voles and various other creations of Vesper are unleashed upon the Separatists (and where one or two get a bit over excited the union as well)

With the savage onslaught of the animals, it is the separatist Zwerginn who step into the breach, fighting with savagery closer to that of the animals they were facing than that of their human allies. The Zwerginn who had joined with the union, seeing their kin enter the battle, broke rank and charged into the battle, for the first time in a millennia according to the Zwerginn records, Zwerginn fought Zwerginn, those who had seen the Zwerginn in battle before, noticed and increased fervour in their style, this battle being the biggest deciding point in Zwerginn history.

It is at this point that the storm mage Brother Simon entered the battle, the storms above the union forces began to pulsate, the air begins to tingle, Brother Simons arms lifted into the air chanting, all of a sudden he stops, he looks around expectantly, but the explosion he had been looking to create and decimate the union warriors didn’t come. In the union ranks chrysocolla falls to her knees, writhing in pain, a warrior bends to help he up, but she shout for him to stay back, he glances her eyes, which are know swirling vortexes of energy, similar to the storms themselves, before for she slips into unconsciousness, she say “ I think I can keep it contained.”

The next manoeuvre for the union was to neutralise this threat, Artemis Velen decided to deploy his talents, raising his arms, bolts of lightning come crashing down around Brother Simon, in response Brother Simon puts his hand out, lightning from the sky channelled through his body, and a cone of plasma shoots out from his out stretched hand ripping open Artemis, who falls to the ground.

Seeing his ally fall Raijin jumps in to save him, and enter into single combat with Brother Simon, while a union fighter takes Artemis back to the medic tent. These two fighters are evenly matched, blow meeting blow and the clash of steel on steel, both armies watching as these two fighters battle across the field, eventually it appears Raijin is getting the upper hand, as Brother Simon falls to the ground, just as Raijin is about to land the final blow, Brother Simon rips off his outer layer revealing mechanical wings, he blasts into the air, and away from the field, Raijin screams at he enemy to stand and fight, but Brother Simon flies over the horizon.

Raijin turns; preparing to lead a full charge into the separatist ranks, when over the edge of the fragment appears the leviathan. It sails over the heads of the Separatists, and from a platform slung under the sky ship Timothy Bygone and Pennington drop glass containers. These rain down on the ranks, smashing and revealing chunks of storm ore. Glowing in the storm light they explode, although their physical damage is significant, it is nothing compared to the panic it puts into the troops as they begin to scatter. However in the midst of the chaos Prepatook Whillikers rises from the separatist reserves on a flying horse, backed up by bird riding squirrels, they rise into the air and begin attacking the platform. Timothy stands over Pennington beating the birds away with a long stick. Some of the squirrels leap from their birds onto the platform, and begin attacking timothy, they climb up his body and start punching him with tiny fists. Pennington start to beat them off and knocking them off the platform. The pilot of the leviathan pulls up taking the pair to safety as the squirrels return to the battle raging below.

As they return to the fight Rurik is beginning to rally the troops for a counter attack. The separatist warriors attempt one last charge. They crash into the union ranks, harried from above by the squirrel riders, the union forces begin to crumble. Lukas shouts commands, riding up and down the ranks trying to maintain the moral. However as it looks like victory is in sight for the separatists, one of the separatist warriors stabs Rurik in the back, the men around him look shocked, one strikes the mystery assailant around the head, his helmet comes loose, revealing Al who has infiltrated the ranks, just as the warrior is about to strike again, he falls to his knees, gurgling with a knife in his back. The man behind him removes his helmet revealing the face of Basian Meade, the pair fight their way out of the separatist formation, a warrior slings the injured Rurik over his shoulder, and takes him back to the command post.

With Rurik down the Separatists loose momentum, and the battle grinds back to stalemate. The two commanders Augustin and Lukas try manoeuvre after manoeuvre to try and break their enemies lines, but neither gives any ground. Then on the top of a hill, a figure appears, Coskun, carrying a banner. Then behind him appears a large force of undead warriors, Coskun shouts out a battle cry, “For the exalted one!” The undead march down the hill towards the battle, and there is a moment of tension as both sides wonder which side this new force will enter on. But it is the the side of the union, the undead begin to fight the separatists, and quickly their morale is broken, no rallying call from Augustin will stop them, the separatist force begins to rout.

The fleeing Separatist forces go back to the edge of the Rjanslaf fragment where Derrick Greymist has a large fragment prepared, some of the remaining separatist join the civilians of their clans on this fragment, while other surrender to the union forces. With the Union troops approaching, Derrick Greymist casts off. Their destination the fragment stack, with the destruction of the separatist military, the securing of the whole archipelago and receiving surrender from the separatists on a messenger rock, the union decided to leave the separatists to the stack. Artemis and Chrysocolla were handed over to the most capable hands of Auran and under his care made recoveries. Rurik was also seen to by medical staff, his wounds weren’t fatal although they severely weakened him, and he never properly recovered.

The forces of the Tirrani and the Rjanslaf were so heavily hit in the war that they never fully recovered. Intent that they should not become very minor clans in the emerging structure of the Confederacy, Rurik, Augustin, and some of their clan members left the stack in the Flying machine in Rurik’s possession. It is rumoured that they joined the Sky Pirates where Rurik and Augustin became like pirate Kings, it is also suggested that O’Sheas still have contact with them.