I'm crap at writing Fronts, so I thought I'd put this out as a challenge to see how you, bold adventurers, would do it.

I have a difficult time writing Fronts, both in AW and DW. I think this is because I am often missing that "sweet spot" where Dooms, Portents, and Stakes need to be, and I'm left with a series of events that don't hang together.

Here's where the first session left us: the characters come to a bustling town just on the other side of the mountains from a vast empire. The valley below is littered with dungeons from Ancient Times(TM). There is a violent priesthood wiping out a pacifist sect. There's too many people in town, come to seek their fortunes by plundering the dungeons. There's an ancient evil that's going to enslave the world in one of those dungeons. And before the characters can dispose of it, they need a lantern and a key.

So, here's what I have.

Front: The Compact of Dul'zeem

Description: Long ago, the demon tyrant Dul'zeem made a covenant with Humans, and it is soon drawing to its end. When Dul'zeem returns, the world will be plunged into a hellish tyranny. The demon tyrant is unwittingly worshipped as Bellagis the Gore Lord by a militant sect. Meanwhile, Dul'zeem's two servitors, Hexpus and Hamilthar, prepare the way for their overlord's return.

Cast
Hexpus, the Fear Worm (disguised as Emin, a timid locksmith)
Hamilthar, the Shadow Vizier, torn to pieces and being reassembled by goblins
Morgus, Sainted Agonist of the Gore Lord
Bishop Xanthar, a gluttonous official of the Imperial Cult
Screable, goblin orkaster and thrall of Hamilthar
Krumx, Stab-Bringer of the goblins of the valley

Grim Portents
- Goblin Spikers get more aggressive
- Sun Monks are hunted down
- Panic spreads through town
- Screable is possessed
- Goblin slavers raid the town
- The Eye is Found (optional: Hamilthar is remade & The Valley becomes a Shadowland)
- Hexpus receives the Eye
- Father Calin is captured
- Hexpus crafts the Key of Fear
- Father Calin is delivered to the Gore Lord's Maw
- The Great Conjunction begins

Danger: The Priests of Bellagis (Religious Organization)
impulse: to establish & follow doctrine
Doom: The doctrine of bloodlust and war is unchecked and security lost (Impoverishment)

Stakes:
- Can any of the priests be reasoned with?
- Is Morgus all he appears to be? More? Less?

Grim Portents
- Sun Monks are hunted down
- Father Calin is captured
- Father Calin is delivered to the Gore Lord's Maw (i.e., Dul'zeem's prison)

Danger: Hamilthar's Cage (Abandoned Tower)
impulse: to draw in the weak-willed
Doom: Mists fill the valley, making it trebly dangerous. (Usurpation)

Stakes:
- Will Krumx turn against Screable?
- What happens to Hamilthar if he is not remade?

Grim Portents
- Goblin Spikers get more aggressive
- Screable is possessed
- Goblin slavers raid the town
- The Eye is found
- Hamilthar is remade
- The Valley becomes a Shadowland (create a new Front: The Valley of Hamilthar)

Danger: The Key of Fear (Demon Prince)
impulse: to open the gates of Hell (i.e., to free Dul'zeem)
Doom: Dul'zeem rises, the Compact ends, and the Empire is plunged into a thousand years of demonic rule. (Tyranny)

Stakes:
- What kinds of fear does Hexpus revel in?
- Will Hexpus be defeated or merely thwarted?

Grim Portents
- Panic spreads through town
- Hexpus receives the Eye
- Hexpus crafts the Key of Fear
- The Great Conjunction begins

* * * * *

Problems I think I'm having:

1. The overall order of Grim Portents doesn't flow from one to the next. Like, it's not necessary for there to be panic for Screable to get possessed.

2. I think some of those Portents should be rewritten, but I don't know to what. They feel off, but I don't know what that aforementioned "sweet spot" is, so I'm left with a vague sense that they're not working.

3. The Portents from each Danger aren't evenly distributed. I feel like this will make Dangers feel disconnected or obsolete when they should still be in your face.

4. The fact that the town is bursting at the seams and there are bunches of dungeons in the valley make me feel like I should write another Front about the Imperials' foolish treasure-hunting that would be really cool to run concurrently to the Compact of Dul'zeem. But I also like spinning plates. Is this ever advisable?

5. What are some "best practices" for writing Fronts, Dangers, Portents, Dooms etc. so that I can do this with less agony in the future?

Edited to put in Stakes Questions.