Miracle at Spirit Fields

The Miracle at Spirit Fields, also known as the Last Battle of the Spirit Fields is the final and most devastating engagement of the Infernal Invasion of Vireth. On the 17th of Duskfal in the year 1426 A.C. the forces of Nadrus Archdevil of Lies and the Bastion Council met in a gargantuan conflict across the Spirit Fields beneath the gaze of the Bastion Dermonal. This engagement was meant as a distraction for a small elite force of operatives as they attempted to infiltrate the Infernal Capital of Diyu and strike a killing blow against the infernal leadership.

The operatives failed, and the infernal army began to win the day against only a small force of mortal survivors. By some miracle, as the battle began to draw to a close, witnesses claimed a single word sung out deafening the fighters, and a great light lit the skies to blind them. When their vision and hearing cleared, the infernal forces across the whole of Vireth disappeared, save for those still stationed within their three main capitals. The cause of the Miracle has yet to be discovered, but it has given rise to hope in this post-apocalyptic world.

## Prior to the Battle

The Bastion Council had met in a meeting three years prior to the Miracle at Spirit Fields to begin planning an operation to decapitate the infernal leadership. Three years of planning took place thereafter, deciphering infernal code, ancient maps, forgotten highways, and determining the best force, location, and timing of the attacks.

It was decided the elite force of operatives would infiltrate the main infernal capital of Diyu through a series of ancient subterranean dwarven highways turned drainage tubes that released excess cooling liquids and drainage from the Quizon Caldera's many canals, dams, and irrigation tunnels. At the same time, the bulk of the Bastion Council's forces would be tied up in their attack on the front lines of the infernal legions at the Spirit Fields, the location of constant war between Diyu and the bastion of Dermonal in which the Hobgoblins had held the line at the base of their city. It was planned that the battle would take days, as the operatives traveled through hundreds of miles of tunnels.

The effort of planning alone was immense, but the logistics to move every army of the Nine Bastions to a single point without drawing attention to the bastions themselves, then launch the attack as a surprise against a major infernal fortress upon a long contested region, was an effort that required mythical determination and cooperation. When their forces were set, the operatives in place, and the Bastions themselves settled into a defensive stand in their capitals, the battle commenced.

## Battle at the Spirit Fields

The Last Battle of the Spirit Fields was launched from the Dokir Fortress of the Hobgoblins at the foot of their mountain city. The armies of mortal kind marched forth and brought war to the invaders that had slaughtered their families and burned their nations to ash. However, as the Infernal Legions clashed with the Bastion Forces, word arrived within hours that the force of operatives had been found, and slaughtered to a man. The immediacy and devastation of the news brought a quick blow to the Bastion Forces who soon began to buckle. The Bastion Forces and the Dokir Fortress were both quickly surrounded as it was discovered the effectiveness of their subterfuge had been a ruse of the Infernals all along. It was days of fighting for nothing short of survival before hope sparked once again.

The Elven Bastion of Imeana was a month's march from the battle, second only to Dermonal in its distance to the planned conflict. The agreement had been that Imeana would join the battle with the bulk of their forces during its midpoint, but the agreement had fallen through due to the Bastion's Queen pulling her support from the Bastion Council. The Queen had planned to escape the mortal plane, pulling her city into the Fey and the source of creation, abandoning reality for the wondrous fields of plenty her people were promised in the Realm Beneath the Real. However, the Prince, a figure of Imeana's legends stated to restart their cycle of rebirth by killing the Queen and siring her anew, had fulfilled the first half of that legend and killed the Coward Queen, then gathered the forces of Imeana and marched through the Fey to the ongoing battle.

As the Dokir Fortress' walls finally buckled and the few pockets of resistance within the greater battle began to falter and burst, a horn sounded from the mountaintops. A great elven warrior atop a grand white stag blew the Horn of the Wild Hunt, and the warriors of Imeana atop their great elks rode forth from the Walls of Hell and drove a spike through the lines of the Infernal Legions straight to the heart of the Dokir Fortress. Hundreds of Bastion detachments joined with the Prince of Imeana, retreating back to the Dokir Fortress and refortifying in place.

Through two more days of fighting, despite the timely arrival of the Prince, fresh positioning, and incoming reinforcements, the Bastion Forces struggled to maintain line cohesion and hold against the overwhelming odds. The Prince of Imeana was slain by the Demon Lord Kyemos, but struck a fatal blow against the demon lord with his dying gasp. The bulk of leadership for the Bastion Forces were slaughtered or maimed, leaving their forces directionless and chaotic. The Last Battle of the Spirit Fields was an unmitigated disaster, the losses alone ensuring the nine surviving bastions would fall within days of its end. The outcome, however, was a miraculous occurrence.

## End of the Battle

As the fortress was broken and the survivors battled for every last second of life left to them, a great voice spoke a single word that deafened every combatant on the field, bringing an abrupt halt to the fighting. Immediately after, a light shone across the skies, blinding every eye capable of sight, even unto the Bastion on the Mountain. When the blindness faded and their hearing returned in ringing abundance, the 438 survivors of the 50,000 Bastion Forces discovered an empty field. The Infernal Forces across the entirety of Vireth had disappeared, remaining only within the three Capitals. In the single greatest failure of its history, the Bastion Council finally found victory.

It is still unknown what force could possibly have caused such a miracle short of a god, yet none have claimed responsibility for it. The survivors of Vireth sing its praises, whatever or wherever it may be. Only 438 survivors, combatants and command staff alike, walked away from the battle that day, returning home to fanfare and works of art in their image through-out the Nine Bastions. They also returned home with memories that would haunt them in their waking dreams, and a desire for peace that would cast them as traitors.

## Forces Detailed

### Infernal Legions

Uncountable Millions, No Survivors

* Diyu - Majority, no survivors
* Elrit - Minority, no survivors
* Aita - Minority, no survivors

### Bastion Forces

50,000, 438 Survivors

* Iriden - 15,000. Infantry(Major), Archer, Artillery, Cavalry(Focus). 141 Survivors
* Senix - 3,000. Mixed Mage and Witch Hunter Infantry. 33 Survivors
* Areqbri - 500. Infantry(Major), Shaman(Focus). 2 Survivors
* Kel'Korin Confederation - 9,000. Marine Infantry/Missile, Special Coastline Artillery Support. 89 Survivors
* Traktiera - 6,000. Knightly Orders(Focus), Levy Infantry(Major), Levy Archers. 53 Survivors
* Rethiln - 2,000. Infantry, Valkyries(Focus). 18 Survivors
* Dermonal - 10,000. Infantry(Major), Archer, Magi, Artillery. 88 Survivors
* Stondruic - 500. Mixed Artillery, Mobile Fortification, Artificer Corps. 14 Survivors
* Imeana - 4,000. Cavalry(Reinforcement). (No Survivors)