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The History of Illyriad (incomplete)

Printed From: Illyriad
Category: Miscellaneous
Forum Name: Histories
Forum Description: Official and Unofficial Histories of Alliances, Wars & Politics
URL: http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=3293
Printed Date: 20 Apr 2024 at 04:28
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: The History of Illyriad (incomplete)
Posted By: Nokigon
Subject: The History of Illyriad (incomplete)
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2012 at 19:55

Illyriad

2010- Major events

The birth of Illyriad

The game was started in the 21st of February,  in order to create a game with the depth of EVE Online, but as a normal free browser game. The Game Masters (GMs) wanted to make a game that they would wish to play themselves, which still changes as you logout, and which can work on as many browsers as possible. Most importantly, however, the GMs wanted to make a game which can be affected by the player, a game in which you aren't set into one direct play style but have options- Military or diplomatic? Alliance or no alliance? Peaceful or aggressive?- a game which is commonly called a sandbox.

Harmless and White

This is arguably the largest part of Illyriad's history. It is the story of the two first and greatest alliances in the game, and how they clashed and fought to the death.

When the game began, a number of players from EVE Online came to the game. Foremost among them was Jonny101, a player who in this game is known as Diablito. Others came from another game, and they formed Harmless? (at that time called DiggIK). The players from EVE formed Danger. Those from DiggIK had heard of Diablito, as in his role as Jonny101 he was a legend, who loved to manipulate people, to be the bad guy, so to speak. They therefore were curious, but wary- for good reason, as it turned out. Diablito wanted to be number one, and nothing would stop him from pursuing his aim. He immediately placed a spy in the rank of Harmless and joined an alliance called Danger, under Laura Christine (now EmilyJade).  With some friendly banter, a joking war was declared which didn't go much beyond a couple of tongue-in-cheek forum threads. But Diablito didn't agree- and offered KP the chance for DA to be destroyed. He offered to declare war on every alliance in the game, in return for some resources (advanced and basic) so that he could start off the first mercenary alliance, the White Company. KP replied with the promise to think about it, but in actuality he was never planning on agreeing.  Diablito didn't like this idea, and soon a number of exploits were put into operation, as well as a few low-scale raids. He joined White, and the two alliances had a very quiet battle. Harmless concentrated on their economy;  White on their armies. This continued for a number of weeks, until Diablito started to turn really nasty.

He offered to harass a player in Harmless, who shall remain nameless, until he quit the game. This was due to the complaints of impulsiveness coming from Harmless (the player was one of those unfortunate enough to be hit by thieves, and wanted revenge). Harmless never did this, and after Diablito's spy discovered that Mars, a member of Black (the White Company's training alliance) was in fact the alt of Naive, he started to begin the war in earnest. It soon became a question of waiting to when siege would come out, and then who would get siege engines first. The answer to that question is unknown, but White struck first.  He tried to siege HonoredMule's capital, but ultimately he failed due to the efforts of Harmless. Harmless then sieged and destroyed Diablito's capital, Gay Paris, along with Diablito's armies and strong commanders. Afterwards, LauraChristine's capital was razed, and it was at this point when White begged for peace. They claimed that White was being destroyed by inactivity, and Harmless decided to give them a chance. They limited retribution to the leaders of White, offered terms of surrender and waited for the White answer. But soon they discovered that this was merely a delaying tactic, that White and its allies were simply gathering their strength. And with this, Harmless decided to destroy White completely.

Medieval Knights

After the fall of Gay Paris, the capital of Diablito in the white war, Diablito quickly realised he needed allies if he was to win the war against Harmless. Unfortunately, the only one he could find was one that was in fact doomed to destruction and failure- Medieval Knights, led by Tubana.

Tubana led a group of people who rank amongst the most respected players of Illy, including The_Dude and Shrapnel.

To the advantage of Diablito, although it did not save his alliance in the end, Tubana was not in the habit of discussing his actions with his officers, and chose to regard the NAP with White as a confederation. Yet further to Diablito's and Tubana's detriment, Tubana was in the habit of attacking Dlords members, which goes to show that it is very unwise to have more than one enemy at one time. In fact, Dlords became a greater enemy to Tubana than Harmless, in fact.

Belargyle, the leader of Dlords, decided that enough was enough and formed a coalition of over half a dozen alliances, with Harmless and the Knights who say Ni (who later reformed as TMM- see later) being the most noteworthy.

Tubana lasted barely 24 hours of the attacks from the coalition listed above before quitting MK and- weirdly- chose to make yet another enemy, in the remnants of MK. He attacked The_Dude, who along with the other members of MK sieged one of his cities. Dlords handled the rest, which obliterated Tubana from the game. The man left just one legacy besides memories- a message inside TD's inbox. The message read simply, 'You suck.'  MK reformed as Phoenix, which is a fairly suitable name to my way of thinking- an alliance raising from the ashes of their old one. But hey, maybe that's just the poet in me.

But this was not the end for PX.  Shortly after Tubana was defeated, a peace agreement was signed between Belargyle and MK. The coalition swore to abide by any decisions made by the head of Dlords- but a short while later Ni broke the agreement. First, they attacked and defeated Rupe's armies, then they sent a huge multitude of forces at The_Dude. Sadly, none of the alliances who assisted Dlords took a stand against this, for which they all have their reasons. For instance, Harmless were unwilling to break their code of assisting only those allied to them, and chose to stand by their guidelines. For better or worse, the choices were made, and TD stood alone (the rest of Phoenix were sick of war and were unwilling to help) against the wrath of Ni. He left Illy then, returning only with the news of factions and the creation of the city move spell. Meanwhile, PX merged into Tranquil Vision, and Ni decided to leave them alone.

STA and S&B

In August, Skulls and Bones started relentlessly attacking one of the STA members, until they player left the game. Sta attempted to negotiate with S&B, but Zork (the leader of S&B) ignored their messages and continued to attack S&B. After some deliberation, the leaders of STA (Noryasha Grunk, duuvian etc) chose to declare war on S&B, and began sieging some cities. They maintained not to accept peace from Zork, although they would accept surrenders from members provided they left the alliance. Soon Zork feared that they had bitten off more than they could chew, and called in some favours from TRR and FoF. StA won through with the assistance of Crows Beak, however, and they continued to siege Zork until he and Borg left the alliance, when peace was negotiated.

Shrapnel

(-57, -115).

This place on the map is marked by a statue of gold, of a dwarf in armour wielding an axe and a shield. The square is specially named, with simply the words 'In Memoriam: Shrapnel'. In addition, one of the sister alliances to FDU is known as Shrapnel's Memorial Academy.  These two facts hint at comparatively little- that there was once a person in Illy called Shrapnel, that he died, that he was connected to FDU and that he was a large figure in Illyriad. But that isn't the full story of the man who in Illyriad was called Shrapnel, but in real life was called Case Deis.

Shrapnel was the founder of the Free Defence Union, one of the oldest and finest training alliance. His alt was called Grog, who as a character was a startling contrast to Shrapnel- Grog was the leader of the Unified Orc Scourge, and his primary interests (as stated on his profile) were beer and elf women. US have now merged into BSH, so both of Case's account's legacies live on today.

Case died on the 8th of October, 2010, to the shock of many. You can read his obituary here: http://starbeacon.com/legacy/x1644187719/Case-E-Deis

Rest in peace, Case.

TMM

An alliance, many months ago, was formed by Juno. The players were huge, with about half a dozen or so ranking amongst the top ten players in the land. There was the leader, Juno. There was Nige, Ragmanon, Butler, yosh*tribes, AVa64 and cog soldier. They called themselves the Mal Motshans, and as one might imagine they claimed residence in Mal Motsha. As a point for historical curiosity, it seems that Mal Motsha is doomed to be claimed by many nations, as the Dark Star Dominion, otherwise known as TCol and BSH have followed TMM's example (albeit in a less violent manner) and have claimed TMM. The full history is long and can be seen later on in the 2011 section of this history, but it is rather interesting that BSH (who are the closest thing that the game has to a descendant of US) have chosen to make their own claim on Mal Motsha. This is beside the point, however.

The Mal Motshans went about defending their claim on the land of Mal Motsha in completely the wrong way, as history appears to show us. They started sending threats to all inside Mal Motsha, saying that they had one extremely simple choice: Join, or die. A surprisingly small number of people took him up on his offer; it appears that most contacted were either stubborn or inactive. The unfortunate thing for TMM however (although maybe unfortunate is the wrong word- foolish may be closer to the mark) was that their ambitions led them to the path of US, who were still grieving over the loss of their leader, and possibly even more foolishly that of Toothless?. They gave the same threat they had been giving to others- and began their path to destruction.

You see, the people of Illyriad were outraged by the audacity of such a man that would attempt to menace an innocent alliance, an alliance of new players, and an alliance that was vulnerable after the death of its leader. The first alliance to answer the plea for aid was Dark Blight, US' long time ally, declaring war minutes after US did. Then Middle Earth United, then Harmless, then Goonies,

then Dlords, WOTP (now Curse), Peace, AEsir and finally Fremen empire (at the time Colonist Empires). TMM lasted barely two weeks before collapsing, the members fleeing the ruins of their alliance. They received no mercy however, although interestingly they asked for none. Soon, there was no trace of the Mal Motshans on the map.

TMM was something of a turning point for Illyriad. The players had a choice: they could sit by, and let the bloodbath happen, setting a precedant, or they could take a stand and fight TMM. It's my opinion that it is that, combined with the devastating penalties for siege in the game, that has paved the way for the Illyriad we know today- where wars are strange events, where the attack of a new player is an event for wonder and amazement. TMM was a turning point for Illyriad, where the game could have followed the path of Travian, Tribal Wars, Grepolis and many more, and become 'just one of those games' where to have even a hope of surviving you had to be there in the beginning. Or it could've done what it did, and become a game where newbies are defended, fed and encouraged. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?

WE vs PoS/VALAR/Calaquendi

This war does seem to be for slightly... dubious causes. Allegedly, the Prisoners of Society began to fight WE after Cyan, the largest player in WE, was accused of thieving from PoS, Calaquendi and VALAR members. Although the surviving members of WE, such as RMY Sgt-Shankstar, still deny the allegations to this day, they were believed by the trio of WE's enemies and they started to thieve, attack and eventually siege Cyan. Yearick and other WE members attempted to defend the man, but WE were badly outnumbered and Cyan and Yearick were sieged to the ground.

The First Tournament- Armok's Blood Bowl

While this tournament is not the acknowledge first tournament, since it was player built rather than designed by the GMs. It was the first competition between players, however, and for that reason it deserves its position in this list.

A position, or a 'flag' was chosen in the southwest of the map. The winner would either be the person to hold the location for 48 hours or for the longest period over 35 days. 8 players were allowed to participate, all from different alliances. No military aid was allowed to be given.

The players who participated were some random guy (actual name, not just me forgetting), Ulrich Heintz, Lionz Heartz, G0DsDestroyer, Amorphias (handicapped at one city), duuvian, Smoking GNU (handicapped at two cities and one inexperienced commander) and -hypocritical-. The third place contest got 50k gold and 1k adv res, second got 100k gold and 2k adv res, and the third place prize got the rest of the stockpile. This was 400k gold, 200 saddles, 3500 plate, 1000 swords, 1000 chain, 100 siege blocks, 1500 books, 2000 beer, 1250 cows, 600 horses, 1000 bows and 120k of the four types of basic resources. Most interestingly, however, GM Stormcrow offered 100 Brood mothers, Elder Weavers and Errant Knights.

In the end, the winner was Amorphias, with second going to duuvian and G0Ds coming third.

DB

I feel that the efforts on my behalf to write DB's history again would be wasteful, since I have already written one history. Whilst some events come into 2011, about half is in 2010, so I have decided to categorise it here.

http://illyriad.honoredsoft.com/wiki/Elgea:Dark_Blight/History

 

2011-Major Events

 

The King's First Tournament

Capture the flags! It was a fairly simple principle, in fact identical to the recent tournament to celebrate the game's second anniversary, except for there being less squares- 8 squares, at [500,500], [500,0], [500,-500], [0,500], [0,-500], [-500, 0], [-500,500] and [-500,-500]. The person who had held the squares for the longest wins the tournament. Easy as. As you could probably imagine, Harmless won the tournament- holding their squares by 95 days. In second place, Tranquil Vision, holding the squares for 43 days, whilst in third came the Curse of the Wolves, holding the squares for 35 days. After that was Goonies, then Invictus, Dwarven Lords, Murder of Crows, Good Company, Toothless, Prisoners of Society, Aesir, Unified Orc Scourge, Crows Beak, the Commonwealth, the Order of the Phoenix, Hey That's My Bike, Res Ipsa Loquitor and Free Defence Union. Harmless got 20million gold to their coffers, 50 Elite Praetorian Guardsmen per PARTICIPATING member, 200 prestige per participating member and an Obelisk to be placed on the map in reward for their victory. You can see this statue at [-282, -511]. Tranquil Vision got 10 million gold to their coffers, 35 Elite Praetorian Guardsmen per participating member and 160 prestige per participating member, whilst Curse got 6 million gold to their coffers, 20 Elite Praetorian Guardsmen and 120 prestige per participating member.

[500,500] was won by Harmless, [500,0] was won by Goonies, [500,-500] was won by Invictus, [0,500] was won by Tranquil Vision, [0,-500] was won by Harmless, [-500, 0] was won by Tranquil Vision, [-500,500] was won by Curse of the Wolves and [-500,-500], which was won by Harmless.  The alliances who won the square got 5 million gold to their coffers, plus 50 Praetorian Guardsmen and 100 prestige per participating member. Other statistics which may be of interest are as follows:

·         Harmless suffered the heaviest losses whilst attacking, losing 234k troops. After them come Invictus, then Dwarven Lords.

·         Tranquil Vision lost the most defending- a huge 477k troops were lost. After that came Curse of the Wolves, then Goonies.

·         HonoredMule lost the most troops during attacks, losing 64k troops, after which came Sloter5 then flipper.

·         Pasi lost the most during defence- 57k troops- after which came Shakyala then Tanis.

·         Out of all of the troops lost in attacks, 142k were Knights, 124k were trueshots and 113k were Stalwarts.

·         Out of all the troops lost in defence, 157k were Trueshots, 131k were Longbowmen and 95k were Pikemen.

·         85 siege engines were lost in the competition. Whoever sent them needs a lesson in how to fight :P

King's 2nd Tournament- Bloodthirst for Knowledge

This tournament came surprisingly quickly after the first. Two months is all the people of Illy had to replenish their forces, but this new tournament was different to the first. The first tournament was an alliance tournament; this was a one-player tournament.

The official line, in the role-playing aspect of things, was that a new museum of Natural History had been built at Centrum. King Sigurd, in the interests of achieving specimens of all of these different creatures, requested that the 'Lords and Ladies' of Illyriad send their troops far and wide to capture anatomical specimens of these creatures. The players of Illy would be paid 10 gold pieces for each piece of anatomical evidence captured, and the winners of the five categories- the Idividual and Alliance categories for Largest Collection and Most Unique connection, and in addition the Individual awards for best hunter of one specific animal. For the Individual winners of Largest Collection and Most Unique collection, they would receive 300 free prestige and 50 Elite Praetorian Guardsmen; for second 200 prestige and 30 elite praetorians and third they would receive 100 prestige and 10 Elite Praetorians. For each player in an alliance which wins a category, there is 150 prestige and 15 elite praetorians, for each player in a category runner-up there is 100 prestige and 10 Praetorian Guardsmen, and for each player in an alliance which comes third in a category there is 50 prestige and 5 Praetorians. Finally, each player who gathers the most animal parts from one specific animal get 100 prestige and 10 Praetorians. You couldn't steal the animal parts from other players.

For each animal part gained, a player could get 10 gold pieces.

Many people, when they read the rules of the tournament, assumed that Harmless would do what they had done in the previous tournament- and win. But in actuallity, it was Valar who was starting to take the lead, so Harmless resorted to less well known and simple tactics.

They identified their main and most dangerous competitors- for example, Boromir, the number one attacker. Then, they watched the spawn spots around this person's city, and when a legion or a host came up they would send one diplomat to this square, thus employing the 'locking mechanism' which exists so that when you send troops to squares, you don't arrive disappointed (it's basically that when you send troops to NPCs they're locked in place and won't respawn elsewhere. The Devs decided this was not an exploit, and with some grumbling Illy got on with it. However, it did them no good.

In the Alliance Category, Largest Collection, Valar won, Harmless came second and Peace came third.

In the Alliance Category most Unique collection, Valar won, mCrow came second and Peace came third (Harmless came fourth).

In the Individual Category Largest collection, Boromir won, darkone came second and ScottFitz came third.

In the Individual Category Most Unique Collection, Raritor won, Sloter came second and Boromir came third.

For Individual Hunters:

Alligator: Kurdruk

Anaconda: Rhea

Arctic Wolves: Tanis

Baboons:  torshavn

Black Bears: Jerec Cross

Black Panthers: _duQ

Brown Bears: pepe

Cobras: Sir-Les

Coral Snake: sooner

Cyclopes:  shawdow

Elephants: Empress Olivia

Fire Salamanders: Kumomoto

Gharials: Raritor

Giant Beetles: torshavn

Giant Rats: Boromir

Giant Scorpions: sooner

Giant Scuttlers: Boromir

Giant Snakes: Boromir

Giant Spiders: Boromir

Golden Monkeys: Kumomoto

Ice Salamanders: Gunfo

Jaguars: Yahweh

Leopards: Amorphias

Lions: Kumomoto

Mammoths: Gunfo

Massive Scarabs: _duQ

Poisonous Crawlers: Beerman

Polar Bears: Angrum

Pumas: torshavn

Rhinoceros: Amorphias

Roaming Trolls: darkone

Salamanders: threefootthree

Saurians: Beerman

Scaled Chargers: Boromir

Scritchers: Boromir

Simien Wolves: Korg!

Snow Leopards: Telchar

Tigers: Sir-Les

White Tigers: Beerman

Wild dogs: Boromir

Wolves: Boromir

12,972,554 NPCs died  in this tournament, and 5,099,860 player troops. This included 246 siege engines and 1662 Praetorian Guardsmen gained in the last tournament.

_duQ

Now, this incident definitely deserves it's place in the history book. It cemented the frame of mind which is held in Illy to this day, and made the game different to the other  games which are out there which do not care about new players and the like.

The Order of the Valar was an alliance that, like almost all other alliances, had a leader and then various officers. The leader was Azreil, but his main officers were players such as tigre, darkone- and _duQ, who you may remember from winning two categories in the second tournament. But _duQ had a player near him, a player called berberos. And after some territory squabbles between the two of them- there seems to be no true way to get to the bottom of this story. Berberos claims that _duQ thought he was too close to him, _duQ claims that berberos had insulted him and killed some of his caravans. I shan't take sides, but only tell you the facts. So, _duQ first bribed berberos to move, then threatened him and his alliance, Nightbringers, to remain silent. Eventually, _duQ placed a siege on berberos' town; but then Createure broke this siege with his cavalry. _duQ continued attacking berberos, in what he claimed was a great master plan to draw Harmless' troops away from them. If this is true, however, he was let down by the members of his own alliance.

Meanwhile, berberos had gone to GC. Lorre heard about it, and started announcing loudly in Global Chat about how he would defend berberos, even at one point leaving PA so that he wouldn't draw his alliance into it. _duQ didn't defend himself at this point, which in the eyes of some proved his guilt. Meanwhile, Createure continued to defend berberos.

A separate incident, which was actually the real reason that _duQ was ejected from his alliance, was that _duQ attempted to bump Anjire's caravans, then antagonise him by occupying close to his town. Things escalated, but then Azreil eventually decided enough was enough and kicked _duQ from the alliance.

KT

Come the spring of 2011, there was a small tidal wave of new alliances as the game enjoyed a surge of popularity- possibly due, in no small part, to the efforts of Beau Hindman. One of these new alliances was called Havoc Unleashed, and it was led by a man called Johnny112. He had a number of alliance members but a number of them didn't like his rule. They split off from the main alliance and formed a second alliance, known as Knights Templar. The players who formed this alliance were Baughb, StJude, Gaia Nutella Tulips, Majono and StJill. StJude was one of the most vocal players in Illyriad, which is probably why what started out as a war between alliances where nobody could use siege engines was turned into a war which earned the attention of some of the largest players in the game, and later turned into a war with some of the largest alliances in the game.

So, KT began, under the leadership of Baughb and with StJude as his spokesperson (anyone who wishes to take that time to browse the Politics and Diplomacy subforum will probably understand why I shy away from using the word 'diplomat'), to thieve and blight some of the smaller players of Havoc Unleashed. It was only a matter of time until they were caught, since that was in the era where large groups of players on GC would watch a diplo return to its home- before the age of diplo visibility radii. Sure enough, they were caught, and war was started between Havoc and KT. It was largely a newb war, but it spiced up when a couple of KT members researched the siege technology and placed two sieges and a blockade on Johnny 112's capital, sieges which Havoc were unable to remove until three large players, Amroth Anguireal, Belthazor and myself, Nokigon, destroyed the sieges and blockade. Myself and Belthazor hit KT with some thieves and scouts, before stopping and  allowing the conflict to continue at its usual rate. Soon, the alliance 'Empire of Qingdao' under the leadership of Clavicus Vile joined the fray, and after a couple of months of stalemate the war ended. Only for it to be restarted again, a couple of months later... That, however, sort of fizzled out. Around this rough time, Baughb was suspended for multiaccounting, then RES and Champ started fighting KT and Jude decided to declare war on nearly every alliance in Illyria. Soon Harmless joined the fight, but little records exist after that point because a far more momentous occasion happened and Jude drifted into inactivity. And with Jude, KT died pretty quickly.

King's Third Tournament- Harvest the Elementals

The official story, posted in the herald, was as follows. Elementals, apparently, have always existed in the land of Illyriad, and at this point in time Geomancer Herrolf, the master of Earth in the Circle of Five, announced that the Circle could now accurately predict where and when elementals will arise. He explained that they rose when the energies given out by death joined with the natural spirits in the land, and that the old tournament sites were therefore the place where hundreds of elementals would spawn over the next thirty days. In addition, they had heard troubling reports of these elementals spawning in abandoned cities, seemingly drawn by the death there like moths to a flame.

The reality.... the Third Tournament was here. The 8 tournament squares from the first tournament was the sites for elementals to rise, 4 times a day,  and to be able to capture these elementals you had to be the person occupying this square when the elemental was spawned. Originally there were elementals spawning into abandoned cities, however this was causing coding issues and were removed. 20 prestige was awarded for each elemental captured, and each person who got the most elementals in the individual squares would be awarded a commemorative statue.

I won't post a day to day account of this tournament, since this document is already 8 pages long on Word and to do that would push it all the way up to 10.  The long and the short of it was that the results are as follows:

-500|500 (Fire Elementals) : Won by Jezma of Crows.

0|500 (Earth Elementals): Won by Tanis of Curse

500|500 (Air elementals): Won by Capricorne of Crow

500|0 (Water elementals): Won by gixy of Curse

500|-500 (Fire elementals): Won by Mandarins31 of VIC

0|-500 (Earth Elementals): TIE between Sloter, Pasi and flipper of VIC, WE and Dlords respectively

-500|-500 (Air Elementals): Won by Llyorn of Jaensch of H?

-500|0 (Water Elementals): Won by Ector the Fury of Crow.

 

PA And Confederates vs S&B+Alts

I find myself in the interesting situation where two of the last few events that I have written in this history, I was involved in. One may take from this conclusion the thought that I am a nosy guy, or that I have my fingers in a lot of pies. One would probably be more accurate if he/she had taken the first conclusion.... but I digress.

PA was once, and in many ways still is (in its new form as II)  a greatly respected alliance with a great number of confederates. Some of those confederates included mCrow, WoT, and yes, the Cave of Knowledge. PA was always very vocal, with Lorre often standing up for what he believed in. And of course, there was the duQ business mentioned earlier. Lorre won a lot of respect with his actions.... but in a lot of fields, he lost it also.

Zork2010, a player only accessible through his sitter in S&B - at this point, we believed the sitter to be Borg, another S&B player- sent thieves to one of Lorre's cities, Tal'Pat'Ryn. A second wave was soon sent, as well as five armies from S&B players and a war declaration. However, this was a foolish move on the behalf of S&B, for Zork did not plan the arrival of many of the allies of PA. The following message was sent to all of the allies of Lorre: Most Loyal friends and Confederates of Lorre;
Respected Alliance, [Insert alliance name here]:
Lorre and Persona Armoniosa {P A} request your support.

Taken from the Diplomacy page in the Herald:
Skull & Bones [S & B] and Persona Armoniosa [{P A}] enter War Fri, Aug 05, 2011

War has been declared on {P A} after Lorre was hit by large number of thieves at his city “Tal'pat'Ryn.” These attacks were tracked to a former member of S&B. A second wave of thieves was launched, war was declared, and five armies were launched on Lorre along with several other armies launched at other players by S&B members. Tal'pat'Ryn’s defenses will soon fail - and with time, Lorre's city will likely fall.

Send these words to your finest soldiers:
Prepare your troops! Ready your diplomats!
We wait only for word from Lorre, at which time the counter strike will begin!

And, ladies and gentlemen, that is exclusive information from my inbox.  In any case, the point is the same. The confederates of Lorre went to war against S&B, but speaking from a Cave point of view when we sent a siege against a S&B city known as Alexandria, we were struck by countless cavalry strikes that went far and beyond the military force that our scouts had led us to believe that we would be facing. The reason for this? The sender of the cavalry strikes was not from S&B, but from a Curse player known as roller. And on the forums, a known troll called Lionz Heart- a troll, however, who had been high up in the Curse leadership- accused roller of being the sitter of both Zork and Borg. The plot, as they say, thickens. Soon after, S&B fled to Curse.

So, PA and co formed an embassy, contacted Iduna- the then leader of Curse- and we discussed condition. We were compensated for troops, and if I remember correctly Iduna was intending to punish roller in some way. However, the morning brought a new surprise. Roller, bringing the accounts Spirit and Borg, joined either VALAR or their sister alliance MAIAR. The S&B war was over, but a far greater storm cloud was gathering on the horizon.

 

VALAR War

So far, each year of Illyriad has involved the community going to war with one large alliance. Interesting coincidence; it leads me to wonder who the victim of 2012 will be... Anyway, shortly after roller took shelter in Valar Lorre and Amroth Anguireal, leaders of PA and Champ, declared war on Valar. At first, few people went to war alongside Lorre-  Valar was, at the time, the second biggest alliance in the game, after all. Curse was also involved since they were attempting to get revenge from roller and spirit for abandoning Curse. And then Harmless joined in, starting a true war for the first time in 18 months according to Killer Poodle. After Harmless joined the fight, there was something of a tidal wave of alliance joining. WoT, Dlords, mCrow..... A lot of alliance joined the war against Valar. Why? Well, in my mind Kurdruk put it quite well. It could be one or more of 7 reasons: 1) Harmless want revenge for losing a tournament. Quite petty.

2) It's because of a small group of people are finally using their armies to back up their mouths. Certainly, during _duQ and S&B Lorre in particular was very mouthy.

3) Valar are bullies and this was their comeuppance.

4) It's because of Roller and Spirit, etc- due to Valar taking in bloodsoaked refugees this massive tidal wave of war has been sparked.

5) CONSPIRACY!

6) Some players are bored. Actually, this is more likely than one would think- Harmless had fun as one of its 5 motives for war.

7) All, several, or some of the above.

The answer to these is one that you get for a number of important questions: the world may never know.  Whatever the reason may have been, war arrived, in all of its fury, and whilst many expected a decent fight despite the great disparity in size- as seen in Tournament II, Valar had some damn good fighters- Boromir, a member of Valar, was at the time No.1 in Attack. And anyway, Valar were still pretty damn big. If they had held back and let themselves get attacked, and only sent out troops to destroy sieges, then they might have been able to form a stand that would be remembered forever. They could have crippled a number of alliances, but after all it is very easily said but not so easily done. And anyway, Harmless were good tacticians. It was almost certainly less easy than the way which I portray the combat. But this eventuality exists only in my mind, and either way, this was not what happened.

Of course, not everyone joined the fight. Myself and Jasche, representing the Cave and VIC, both posted on the forums counselling peace, mostly because we were unhappy about the sheer weight of numbers, but as it happened our counsel was unnecessary. Peace arrived with the ejection of Azreil and darkone from Valar, and CristinaZah took the leadership of Valar in order to negotiate peace. The third world war of Illy was over.

 

Tournament IV: The Undead Horde

About halfway through December, the Rift was formed.  Thein game background to this was that one of the Circle of Five's mages had been performing experiments in Ursor with the aid of some of the shamans of the Blood Reavers, when his experiment went disastrously wrong. What this meant for Illyriad: a new tournament was here, and it was different to any that have come before.

The players had to occupy a standing stone with an army and then defend it overnight against the armies of Undead that came to meet you there. Alternatively, you could have occupied a square at the Rift in Ursor at 533|835. The object of this was that all the players were divided into Leagues according to their population, and they had to compete with other members of their League to gain experience for their commander. At the end of the thirty days, the winner was the one with the most experience for their commander in their League. He/she would get 450 prestige and a T-Shirt. For second would be 250 prestige an Illyriad T-Shirt, and third would be 150 prestige and a T-Shirt. The Undead varied in size and unit type, formed skeleton warriors to zombies to undead dragons. At the end of the tournament, the results were as follows.

League A - Population 100k+

1st - Naper

2nd - Naper

3rd - Torshavn

 

League B - Population 100k-50k

1st - Silverlake

2nd - Createure

3rd - Sir-John

 

League C - Population 50k-20k

1st - Sibh

2nd - Lune Noire

3rd - NightFury

 

League D - Population 20k-5k

1st - Stealthy

2nd - Arthurian

3rd - Grisna

 

League E - Population 5k-2k

1st - Ahaliel

2nd - BenDover

3rd - FortchernKavanagh

 

League F - Population 2k-500

1st - Locke

2nd - Sansoran

3rd - R-Man

 

League G - Population 500 and below

1st - Miradamian

2nd - Jadedthang

3rd - Lady Bethadhiell

Yes, that's right: Naper got first and second place with two different commanders in League A.

2012- Major Events

 

LWO War

The orcs of the Black Skull Horde had earlier in the year formed the tightest packed mega-confederation in the game with the Colony and the Skullcrusher's Horde, a mega-confederation that is called the Dominion of the Dark Star. Based in Mal Motsha, it was a force to be reckoned with. In addition, they had a couple of allies who were not in the Dominion; such as the Armory, or the Cave of Knowledge (although the Cave has since joined this group).


However, it is inevitable for an alliance of Orcs to be considered more aggressive, if not necessarily war-mongering, than most other alliances. And they were 'fundamentally opposed' to an alliance by the name of Love World Order, an alliance which was more of an anarchical alliance that promoted love and peace. This alliance started storming the cities of the Black Skull Horde with thieves, and when they were eventually caught they gave two reasons for their attacks. The first was that LWO was fundamentally opposed to BSH, as has already been stated, and the second was that they were allied to the Cave- who they considered to simply be DB.


 Since this offended my alliance, and in any case we were allied to BSH, the Cave went to war alongside BSH and TCol. The plan was that the Cave and BSH would perform the offensive, whilst TCol would stay in reserve and protect Dominion cities. As it turned out, this was unnecessary and TCol were free to give Dlords a run for its money in Mal Motsha. The Cave sieged 3 cities, and BSH sieged 2. Only one of the sieges, one from BSH, succeeded however- a combination of several bugs and forces from LWO killed a couple of sieges. However, the thing that defeated most of the sieges is the delaying tactics that LWO employed a number of times- whilst LWO Seaside amongst other cities were ready to fall, LWO attempted to call for peace. However, this was a delaying action, and sieges continued. Confessor's Palace, a city heavily defended by LWO belonging to Altaria, fell under a BSH siege reinforced by Cave troops. 


Eventually, LWO called for peace for real. Their main members scattered, and LWO was reduced to a fraction of their former power. Despite BSH originally attending to push for terms, Skull was persuaded that what had already been achieved was significant. This war was over.

 

Tournament V: The 2nd Anniversary

Surprisingly quickly for the GMs, the fifth tournament arrived around late February to celebrate the beginning of the third year that the game has been running for. And, in typical Dev style, they did it by killing a bunch of our troops.

For each of the regions in the game, there was a square. 37 in all, they were a variety of terrain types and biomes. An alliance tournament, the winner of each square gained 25 prestige and 10 Praetorian Guardsmen per participating player. There were no second place prizes. The alliance that had the total highest amount of hours held through the squares got 1 year's worth of free service at the Enjin website which included a bunch of excellent tools. In addition to this they got a Tournament statue, 50 elite praetorians and 50 scribes of Allembine per participating player. The second placed alliance gained 6 months of service from TypeFrag, a statue, 35 elite Praetorians and 35 Scribes of Allembine. The third place placed alliance gained the same as second, except with 20 elite Praetorians and scribes of Allembine instead of 35. The alliances that won squares are:

 

Harmless [H?]: Azura, Farra Isle, Kumala, Lan Larosh, Qarosslan, Ragallon, Rill Archipelago, Stormstone Island, Tallimar, Tor Carrock, Ursor and Windlost

 

Invictus [VIC]: Arran, Elijal, Keppen and Zanpur

 

Victrix [VICX]: Djebeli and Larn

 

Curse of the Wolves [Curse]: Fremorn, Meilla and Kal Tirikan

 

Murder of Crows [mCrow]: Kem and Norweld

 

Crows Nest [nCrow]: Keshalia and Tamarin

 

D'Haran Empire [DE]: Kul Tar

 

Toothless [T?]: Laoshin

 

The Crows [Crow]: Lucerna

 

Dwarven Lords [Dlord]: Mal Motsha, Taomist and Perrigor

 

Knights Virtue [~KV~]: The Wastes

 

~Tranquil~Vision~ [Peace]: The Western Realms and Middle Kingdom

 

Absaroke [Absa]: Trome and Turalia

 

EAGLES EYRIE [EE]: Wolgast

 

Some statistics are that 21,162,565 troops died in this tournament. 8112289 humans, 6439081 elves, 4971448 dwarves and 1637486 orcs- as well as nearly a thousand tournament reward troops and 1074 Scrawny Wolves.

Other statistics include: Sloter, fighting a 69k casualty battle in Tor Carrock, which was the biggest battle in the world at that time; Harmless posting a record for the largest number of troops on an encampment- 630k troops; Fremorn was the highest casualty square; and the poor Elf Trueshot, suffering 2.7 million casualties; Peace, losing 2.5million troops- the irony...


The Long Road


The Long Road was an alliance founded by a player known as Eternal Fire. This player had previously played Illyriad in a large number of different accounts, such as Kurfist and Attila the Hun, and his poor reputation acquired over these previous accounts would come back to haunt him in his latest visit. 


TLR was founded in late 2011. Some months after this, a few leading TLR members left the alliance to form a new one- The Liberation [HEAT]. Through the use of a spy, TLR discovered that they were preparing for war against TLR. TLR declared war pre-emptively and managed to win a victory against HEAT.


A few months later, after some heated verbal rhetoric in GC (in other words a slagging off war) a state of war was declared between TLR and The Red Order under Thordor. Despite some offers of aid from leading members of nCrow, TLR once again won their war. However, some of the details of the terms of surrender meant that TRO had to give medals (involving giving RL money) to members of TLR. This caused a lot of outrage in the community and lead to Aesir going to war against TLR in retaliation. However, they backed down after public opinion then turned against them, and alliances such as BSH threatened to defend TLR. However, the term in the ToS about giving medals was quietly removed.


At this time, a lot of dissent started to brew in TLR. EF became paranoid and slightly erratic in his actions, and he alienated those around him. When EF ignored several important messages from The Duke of Shade, The Duke sent a few blockades to EF's capital. In retaliation, EF declared war. For many in TLR this was the last straw. Whilst the war went ahead, soon most people in TLR left to form a new alliance- Trivium. 


NC vs STEEL


This engagement was the first time that the alliance Night Crusaders, a relatively small fighting alliance, came to the attention of the wider community. They would later have a defining role on the future of Illyriad.


NC declared war on STEEL on the 9th of September... or perhaps more accurately, they declared war on Gimardoran, the leader of Steel Confessors. They claimed in their opening post that it was because "he annnoys us" and because they wanted to enjoy the war game. They added later that there were many issues that Gimardoran had caused between STEEL and NC.


This caused split reactions amongst the community; many felt that their honesty in their reasons should be applauded, whilst others thought that it was setting a dangerous precedent. Some even went so far as to claim that it would become the norm to fight people for the sake of entertainment, which would lead to them leaving the game.


HANSA and DARK both declared war on NC to defend STEEL, but this did not stop NC from razing Gimardoran's capital. KCrow also offered aid to STEEL. However, after NC razed Gimardoran's capital, they offered unconditional peace.


Tournament VI: The Dark Harvest


On October 1st, the Devs announced a new tournament. This was essentially similar to the last tournament- there was a square per region, and an alliance had to hold it for as long as possible. The area where the tournaments differed was that you gained points for holding the tournament square not for the longest period of time, but for holding it at the start of every hour. 


At the start of every hour, during the first week, ten souls were "harvested" by the alliance holding the square. After the first week, the bloodiest squares attracted more souls. The bloodiest square in each week attracted an extra 10 souls per hour; the tenth bloodiest attracted an extra 1, the second bloodiest attracted 9 and so on. It last for four weeks and ended at midnight on October 31st.


The prizes:

For EACH SQUARE (most souls gathered throughout the month):
1st Place: 40 Skyclad Warriors and a tournament sword to each participating player in that alliance.
2nd Place: 20 Skyclad Warriors to each participating player in that alliance.
3rd Place: 10 Skyclad Warriors to each participating player in that alliance.

For the OVER ALL winners (most souls gathered in total during the month):
1st Place: 6000 Prestige to the Alliance Prestige pool, an Alliance Tournament Statue, and a tournament victor's Gold Medal for all participating members of the Alliance.
2nd Place: 4000 Prestige to the Alliance Prestige pool, and a tournament victor's Silver Medal for all participating members of the Alliance.
3rd Place: 2000 Prestige to the Alliance Prestige pool, and a tournament victor's Bronze Medal for all participating members of the Alliance.


The Skyclad Warriors did cause some disappointment; they were less effective than Kobold Cohorts, and although they were supposed to have a Special Ability, this ability did not work.


The top 3 overall winners were:

1st  The Crows [Crow] with 60705 souls collected.

2nd   Crows Nest [nCrow] with 36682 souls collected.

3rd   Pending... [Soon™] with 35918 souls collected.


Individual square winners were:

Pending... [Soon™] with Arran, Azura, The Western Realms and Wolgast.
The Crows [Crow] with Djebeli, Lucerna, Perrigor, Trome, Turalia, Windlost and Zanpur.
The Crow's Wings [CrowW] with Elijal.
Slaves to Armok [StA] with Farra Isle and Rill Archipelago.
Elysian Fields [Shade] with Fremorn, Kal Tirikan, Lan Larosh and The Wastes.
Victrix [VICX] with Kem and Larn.
Toothless [T?] with Keppen. 
Crows Nest [nCrow] with Keshalia, Qarosslan, Tamarin and Taomist.
SnugglersCrowalition [HUGcr] with Kul Tar.
Kaendran Crows [KCrow] with Kumala.
Eight Hand Crow [eCrow] with Laoshin.
The Colony [TCol] with Mal Motsha and Ragallon.
Curse of the Wolves [Curse] with Meilla.
Calaquendi Crow [Calcr] with Middle Kingdom.
Murder of Crows [mCrow] with Norweld.
Dwarven Druids [Druid] with Stormstone Island.
Chosen Eagles [CE] with Tallimar.
Res Ipsa Loquitor [RES] with Tor Carrock.
AEsir [AEsir] with Ursor. 

There was some glitches on a few days of the tournament, but overall it was a reasonably popular tournament. This was the first "hold a square" tournament not won by Harmless; they did not compete fully.


Consone War


On the 2nd of July, 2012, Jasche announced in the Illyriad forums that a new "mega-confederation" had been formed. This was comprised of Invictus, World's End, Knight's Virtue (which later dissolved itself, although many of their members joined Consone alliances for the later war), Absaroke, Eagles Eyrie, Dwarven Druids, Fairy Road Authority, Eagles First Flight (although this was a training alliance), Knight's Temperance (also a training alliance), Sages of Illyriad and Victrix (although Victrix later left, remaining an ally). World End Siegers and Lords of the Frost later joined.


This dramatically changed the balance of power. Whilst the Crow Federation had existed for a considerable amount of time in the game, as had Harmless? and their close allies, Harmless and the Crowfed had enjoyed an amicable relationship for a considerable amount of time (until things went sour in late 2013). Consone and Harmless did not have the benefit of this relationship, and many Consone and many Harmless players openly criticised each other, and accused the other of bullying.


Allegations of bullying and oppression continued to blight Consone's history. Harmless claimed that Consone used the weight of their considerable size to allow themselves to conduct their negotiations with overt aggression. Consone claimed something similar in response to Harmless.


Eventually, Rhyagelle was involved in a resource dispute with their neighbour, Skeleton Boar (not members of Consone but friends/allies of Absaroke) which was over a Trove mine, which has led to the reference to the conflict as the "Trove War" (as Trove is worthless currently, many have used this as a basis for ridicule). Whilst the two alliance were making progress towards resolving this conflict, Absaroke, intervened to kill Rhyagelle troops occupying the Trove mine. In response to this, Rhyagelle (after attempting diplomacy) declared war on Absaroke.


Absaroke called on their ally Invictus to break Rhyagelle sieges. In response, Rhyagelle called for aid from their ally, Harmless. Within a few days, Dwarven Lords and Night Crusaders also declared their aid for Rhyagelle. Very quickly, Consone was at war with Harmless and their allies (this also included Res Ipsa Loquitor, who were fighting WE in an unrelated incident). A few weeks later the Dominion, Dark Empire and Nightbringers also joined the war on Harmless' side, and the Order of the Valar (in their seemingly determined aim to fight Harmless wherever possible) joined the war on Consone's side. Affirmative Action also joined the war a few months later on Consone's side, and Trivium and the Arkadian Kingdom joined on Harmless' side.


As Harmless was the alliance that declared war on Consone, many people accused them of using the new tournament (which had begun on the first of October, and Harmless had conspicuously not competed in this tournament- something which they had never done before) to allow Consone to weaken their troops before Harmless fought them. This allegation was denied by Harmless, but many people continue to believe it.


Consone were weakened by the tournament, were spread out across the map and many of their members were not militarised. By contrast, all of the alliances fighting them were regional fighting alliances, well prepared for a war. Despite Consone's size advantage they were comprehensively defeated. Fairy Roads Authority were the first to surrender, but after a few months and several razed towns Consone itself dissolved. Over March 2013 the various alliances in Consone surrendered to the Coalition.


However, this war caused lingering resentment and bad feeling from many of the main parties. It led to the dissolution of Frost and of WE, and the peace terms (which were heavy on the amount of cities which had to be razed) caused outrage, especially in EE. In addition to that, Dark Empire felt that the conduct of the war was handled badly, such as the siege which was held to take a Silversteel mine from VIC. It set the scene for the next world war, the Coalition War, that was to come later that year. It also began to divide the leading alliances in the server into very definite sides- the Coalition, led by Harmless, and what was later to be dubbed the "Grand Alliance".






Replies:
Posted By: Captain Ganoes Paran
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2012 at 20:44
Thats a great post Nokki Smile ,its nice to able to read about illy's history 
i cant wait to read the next part  


Posted By: SunStorm
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2012 at 21:35
You need the latest chronicle - the reincarnation of S&B and the subsequent war.  (we need a wiki with all these historical events so that one need only click on an event and they can chose to read all the different views/sides to each one by different contributors.)  

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"Side? I am on nobody's side because nobody is on my side" ~LoTR



Posted By: HonoredMule
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2012 at 22:17
That's a good read.  I think some key details/sense of timeline are missing (i.e. Harmless built a super-cluster early on that helped us coordinate very tightly; Diablito's biggest beef was allegedly that Naive was negotiating with him/listening to him brag at the same time as Mars was taunting him, though it was more like banter than taunting; siege engines came much sooner than siege operations and some interesting warfare occurred during this interim; a lot transpired between the destruction of Gay Paris and the destruction of LC's capital, such as White partnering with another alliance through one leader deceiving his members and fellow leadership into emnity with us, gunning for Braque in the south, and Harmless slowly chipping away at White clusters in the north; and just before White collapsed DLord and Knights who say Ni joined with us).  But there were also some details even I had forgotten.

It would be nice to see all this historical data compiled onto the wiki so it can be expanded with what everyone remembers and maintained.  (Elgea:History should be the starting point.)  It would be especially awesome to have all the major events compiled into a timeline, and once started, future expansion would be more detailed due to better turnaround time from event to recording of event.


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"Apparently, quoting me is a 'thing' now."
- HonoredMule


Posted By: SunStorm
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2012 at 22:33
Originally posted by HonoredMule HonoredMule wrote:

It would be nice to see all this historical data compiled onto the wiki so it can be expanded with what everyone remembers and maintained.  (Elgea:History should be the starting point.)  It would be especially awesome to have all the major events compiled into a timeline, and once started, future expansion would be more detailed due to better turnaround time from event to recording of event.
Yes, this is what I was thinking - though I shall leave it to someone more technology inclined than myself.  <--  doesn't even have a smart phone or any sort of pad/tablet....  *sigh*


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"Side? I am on nobody's side because nobody is on my side" ~LoTR



Posted By: wouterverbraak
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2012 at 00:47
Nokigon a great post every player needs to read.


Posted By: Aurordan
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2012 at 02:00
Good, but I notice you use a few unexplained abbreviations throughout the text, which is kind of confusing for someone not so familiar with a lot of old players and alliances. 


Posted By: invictusa
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2012 at 09:15
Originally posted by Nokigon Nokigon wrote:

He immediately placed a spy in the rank of Harmless and joined an alliance called Danger, under Laura Christine (now EmilyJade).

So Diablito is Emily Jade?

Or Emily Jade is the spy?


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...and miles to go before I sleep.


Posted By: Rill
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2012 at 11:07
Originally posted by invictusa invictusa wrote:

Originally posted by Nokigon Nokigon wrote:

He immediately placed a spy in the rank of Harmless and joined an alliance called Danger, under Laura Christine (now EmilyJade).

So Diablito is Emily Jade?

Or Emily Jade is the spy?

Neither.  Laura Christine,who was leader of Danger, is Emily Jade.  She changed her name in fall 2011.


Posted By: SugarFree
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2012 at 14:14
what about MK i have heard  about and this the_dude?

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Nuisance


Posted By: Kumomoto
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2012 at 14:59
Yeah. The end of the H?/Dlords/Ni vs. White/Black/MK war could be a bit flushed out. Nok-- if you need more info feel free to reach out to me. Basically, MK joined White and Black against H? and Dlords and Ni joined H?...


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2012 at 17:30
Originally posted by SugarFree SugarFree wrote:

what about MK i have heard  about and this the_dude?
Damn it, I knew I'd forgotten something. Thanks for the criticisms all, this is just the 2010 section but it's really useful to know your opinions.


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2012 at 17:32
Originally posted by HonoredMule HonoredMule wrote:

That's a good read.  I think some key details/sense of timeline are missing (i.e. Harmless built a super-cluster early on that helped us coordinate very tightly; Diablito's biggest beef was allegedly that Naive was negotiating with him/listening to him brag at the same time as Mars was taunting him, though it was more like banter than taunting; siege engines came much sooner than siege operations and some interesting warfare occurred during this interim; a lot transpired between the destruction of Gay Paris and the destruction of LC's capital, such as White partnering with another alliance through one leader deceiving his members and fellow leadership into emnity with us, gunning for Braque in the south, and Harmless slowly chipping away at White clusters in the north; and just before White collapsed DLord and Knights who say Ni joined with us).  But there were also some details even I had forgotten.

It would be nice to see all this historical data compiled onto the wiki so it can be expanded with what everyone remembers and maintained.  (Elgea:History should be the starting point.)  It would be especially awesome to have all the major events compiled into a timeline, and once started, future expansion would be more detailed due to better turnaround time from event to recording of event.
Cheers HM- this is probably the most useful comment, plus it has one of the longest brackets I've ever seen ;-). I'll try to ensure I put all the info in that you've provided, and I'llprobably contact either you, Kumo or maybe KP in the future.


Posted By: geofrey
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2012 at 18:05
...And then Geofrey was born. 


Posted By: abstractdream
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2012 at 20:26
Good read.
Vet's should be encouraged to post (here or wherever) their own "stories" as HM suggested. Many newbs (myself :) are interested in these and other stories, histories, time lines etc. This sort of thing gives Illy a depth beyond what comes out of a box when we buy a new game. Joining a community like this and having access to the history (only 2 years, but what a history) strengthens the connection one feels as time goes on. I came to play, but after a few weeks I began to realize there is so much more to Illy than "play." It's this rich history that draws me in, making me want to connect in a way that is new to my experiences with "gaming."
IMHO :D

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Bonfyr Verboo


Posted By: KillerPoodle
Date Posted: 15 Mar 2012 at 04:04
Just FYI re the first paragraphs. Several players of H? are also Eve Online players (myself for one).




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"This is a bad idea and we shouldn't do it." - endorsement by HM

"a little name-calling is a positive thing." - Rill


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 23 Mar 2012 at 19:50
I've added Medieval Knights to the main section.


Posted By: Annibal FW
Date Posted: 24 Mar 2012 at 09:43
great read noki thanks for that. it helps a player understand old grudges and ancient friendships, and how the illy that we know was formed.
nice one


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 01 Apr 2012 at 10:25
I have added the King's First Tournament


Posted By: HonoredMule
Date Posted: 01 Apr 2012 at 13:43
I believe the position you stated for Harmless' victory obelisk is correct, but it's worth noting that it can no longer be seen there.

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"Apparently, quoting me is a 'thing' now."
- HonoredMule


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 01 Apr 2012 at 16:16
I noticed that after I put it on there, but after thinking about it I decided that either the GMs deleted it, for reasons known best to them, or you settled on it just to be contrary. Possibly both.


Posted By: HonoredMule
Date Posted: 02 Apr 2012 at 14:19
I vaguely recall that it may have been intended to exist for only one year.  I definitely didn't do anything to hide it.  Rather I felt it was a valuable relic for the entire server as well as for Harmless, commemorating the very first tournament.  /sniff

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"Apparently, quoting me is a 'thing' now."
- HonoredMule


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 20 Aug 2012 at 09:58
Added the majority of 2011 events.


Posted By: Quackers
Date Posted: 20 Aug 2012 at 10:48
Originally posted by Nokigon Nokigon wrote:

Added the majority of 2011 events.

Its a great read, thank you.


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Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so you will not be dependent on anybody.


Posted By: Chaos Armor
Date Posted: 20 Aug 2012 at 11:41
Originally posted by Nokigon Nokigon wrote:

Added the majority of 2011 events.

A great and informing read. Maybe this will help history from repeating itself...


Posted By: Rorgash
Date Posted: 20 Aug 2012 at 12:21
Summer is soon over, when winter comes so does the restless warriors, as they return from their raids in foreign lands, they return with riches in loot, home to their cities and their newly trained troops, All ready for battle!

War will soon be upon us...


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Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 21 Aug 2012 at 08:45
Originally posted by Chaos Armor Chaos Armor wrote:

Originally posted by Nokigon Nokigon wrote:

Added the majority of 2011 events.

A great and informing read. Maybe this will help history from repeating itself...
I doubt it. It is a game, after all, it's not like war's a particularly bad thing for everyone.


Posted By: Chaos Armor
Date Posted: 21 Aug 2012 at 11:47
Originally posted by Nokigon Nokigon wrote:

Originally posted by Chaos Armor Chaos Armor wrote:

Originally posted by Nokigon Nokigon wrote:

Added the majority of 2011 events.

A great and informing read. Maybe this will help history from repeating itself...
I doubt it. It is a game, after all, it's not like war's a particularly bad thing for everyone.

I was trying to make a joke which failed completely. 

Although that statement is quite true, Nokigon, your statement is I mean. It's just a game.

Speaking of war, will you be including the T.R.O. vs TLR war and the Aesir vs TLR and allies war? Or are they not major enough to be included?





Posted By: Bonaparta
Date Posted: 21 Aug 2012 at 13:11
Great work Nokigon. 

When can we expect next volume, after all history never stops.


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http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/a/p/95216" rel="nofollow">


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2012 at 10:08
To both questions above: Soon TM.


Posted By: _duQ
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2012 at 01:13
What a defamatory peace of crap about me!

Nonikon, you can't imagine how wrong you are about my personality and my goals as a player. I've always said it's all been a set up. And a set up using metagame (meaning not controlled by game rules and incoherent with the game fantasy) is nothing less than cheating.
I'm still wondering, was Berberos a real player or just another metagame cheat to push me (and later Valar) out of the way? But the mob has been deaf to any argument. As long as you had a black duck to lynch, culpability doesn't matter. 
Moreover, I wasn't kicked out of Valar subsequently to the Berberos-gate but because I was tickling Anjire, weeks later. And Lorre was just another bored player hoping to have, at last, a fight. He's lost several thousands troops to wrong timing and bad usage of terrain against me alone, before having to face Valar reinf. But I wont brag, because I know for a fact that Lorre is a good World of Tanks player, so it may well have been bad luck.


my History

When I joined, in april 2010, some already big players had already an edge over the others due to their seniority. They have been playing since before-the-game-existed. And I would become one of them if I had played regularly. As a game designer IRL, I know how detrimental to the fun of new players such unfair advantages can be.

In 2010, first game rule change. I was upset because I had planned my development with the first set of rules. If you change the rules, you change the game. And here no new server! An incoherent and unbalancing city teleporting system and naturally the old players increasing their unfair advantage. I did quit some months. Checking now and then for professional reasons, but not planning playing again.
One day, I got an igm from Azreil who planned quiting Illyriad Empire to found Valar with some IE brass. Fellowship is the most driving source of fun for me, so I decided to give it another try.

After several weeks, I was bored again. I appointed darkone as a sitter and let him do the daily clicking. I became active again at the very beginning of the second tournament. Although, the tourney itself was the worst case of farming sh*t (farming animals 4 time a day), my motivation came again from the fellowship. And to give you a better idea of who I am, I didn't care about winning the tournament, my goal was simply doing the best for my team.

After the tournament, I had 2 choices, either use a sitter or try to play the wargame by attacking the biggest fish in the pond. When I presented my choice to Azreil, he agreed with attacking H as the good move.
Problem was H was far too big to be attacked by numbers. So I began analysing the map, especially the traveling times between cities. And I began elaborating a global strategy. An open world, not enough travelling constraints, it wasn't an easy task. All those years spent playing tabletop wargames and my period as superior officer cadet (and all the warfare theories and books) sure came handy.

Suddendly, when I was almost ready to submit my plan, the worst part, the Berberos-gate. As the mob never allowed to explain what happened, I won't even bother to get into the details. Was it a premeditated cheat, an opportunistic one or just bad luck? I don't know and I don't care. Because I didn't pray on a newbie and I put up with all the subsequent attacks from the mob without retaliating although I had the mean to (well not, I guess, against Createure and Fluffy). 
What I know is that Azreil assured me that Valar had my back. After several weeks, things calmed down and I was back at planning a big scale attack against the bullys of this server.
At that point I needed infos about H coordination and mobility. So I tickled Anjire by settling next to a 20food square that he hadn't been claiming for months. The answer was quick and very H-ish, no attack, no war, yet some petty vans skirmishes, but the main action was some political pression over Valar.
Then, Azreil, darkone and some other, instead of being politically smart, did coward in front of the big H. We know how they were rewarded some months later.
I don't know if my plan would have worked because it was only a plan and it's how you operate it that counts in a military campaign. But at least Valar would have had some chances and a better political odd to negociate with third parties. When you say every one you're stronger, every one tends thinking you're stronger.
What Valar? Still alive? No! they just happen having bought the brand to H.


What is wrong in Illyriad?

I might mistaken, but it seems to me that Illyriad has quite a turnover of paying players.

The main problem of Illyriad is not the game in itself, it's this server. More exactly, it's
  • the way events in addition to unfair advantages have reinforced one unique dominant alliance
  • a conglomerate of rules and changes
  • and self-righteous players setting how any should think and play.

This server adopted a peacefull and farming approach. Which is fine with me as long as, I don't HAVE to play that way.
My problem with that and the general tendancy of electronic entertainment coming from (wrongly called) social games is that farming is addictive but not ludic at all (ludic, from latin ludere: intrinsically playful). It's a kind of false fun where the "fun" comes from the reward, the aftermath and not the playing experience (like in gambling).

The obvious richness of Illyriad comes from its diversity. So the first fun source should be discovery. But, as for any MMO, it's quickly spoiled by the sharing community.
Naturally, there is some fun due to expression (you can build how you want, where you want). But, again, eventually you will reach the 10 cities cap and fullfill your objectives one after another. But the main opportunity for fun is the mind challenge of the wargame. This server forbade it, not the game rules, the player's dynamics.
It's true that fighting is still possible, but you have to fight 1 vs 10 or 1 vs 100. Neither side can be challenging. Either, you're crushed or crush. You win by numbers not strategy.
The tournaments have been a way to let go some steam. But is it challenging? A bit, sometimes, but in actuality, it's a form of farming based on numbers, meaning the time spent playing the game.
Lastly, I reckon that the story, the narrative is an important source of real true fun. It's teh only part that pledge for long term servers.

I spent some time testing Illy's new features because it's part of my job to be up to date with game and playing genres. I'm afraid this server will only see the farming opportunities and not the challenging one. Guys there are some challenge with the trading. Think of monopoly, think of killing the competition over certain goods, etc. But remember that usually leads to military wars.

Lots of people oppose Illyriad with Evony, Travian and their clones. But illyriad has much more in common with those games than you know.

I've studied about 50 servers of that kind of game some time ago and it appears that server duration is what kills the real fun.
  • Because the map becomes crowded,
  • Because the pseudo-politics comes to a statu quo. (pseudo because it's way too simple to be called politics. It's like diplomacy the board game)
That's basically a description of Elgea.
Then, I have seen 2 big dynamics occuring, either, 1984-servers, some huge meta-alliance enforces an utopic (boring) peace or scavanging-servers, every one prays on newbies and loners. To be clear, both sucks.
Well, simply Elgea is in the first case. But if we had 20 Illyriad servers, I bet some would be scavaging-servers. So, in my professional opinion, Illyriad isn't that much different from Evony and Travian in term of player's behaviors. Diversity is the actual difference.


So what?

First of all, I been waiting for a new server since Q4 2010.

Then how to avoid the statu quo effect?
It's important to solve that problem in order to get the most of the narrative source of fun.
The statu quo is the plague of MMO RT builders (sorry I reserve the word strategy for games like Total War series).
Without having spend much time on it, I think one answer can lie with the AI (Artifical Intelligence meaning the NPCs).
Something like players having to swear allegiance to their local factions. Then factions being at war with each other. And if you create a player alliance, the alliance also pledges to a faction. It give to the devs the means to create challenges without preventing farmers to farm, to have a narration tool that has an impact on gameplay and on game dynamics.
I know that a group of creative game designers can come up with many workable solutions.


Posted By: LordOfTheSwamp
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2012 at 06:43
Originally posted by _duQ _duQ wrote:

What a defamatory peace of crap about me!
 

No, it isn't. It's heavily biased, inevitably selective in its coverage (as Noki can't have full knowledge of events), and in places of questionable accuracy; on the "_duQ incident" it seems to suck up to Lorre absurdly, downplays the role played by Createure and others, etc. ...

But it is neither "defamatory" nor "crap"

Originally posted by _duQ _duQ wrote:

After the tournament, I had 2 choices, either use a sitter or try to play the wargame by attacking the biggest fish in the pond. When I presented my choice to Azreil, he agreed with attacking H as the good move.

Now that is without a doubt one of the most interesting things I've ever read on this forum.

It's the first I've heard of it, and there's no way to know if it's true, but it's certainly an interesting assertion.


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"A boy is building sandcastles on a beach. You go and kick down his castle. You could say that it only reflects how you play with sandcastles. Others may think it reflects who you are." - Ander.


Posted By: SugarFree
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2012 at 08:36
really? Az was not the brightest bulb in the store, but he knew he and VALAR did not stand a chance against H?'s power. 

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Nuisance


Posted By: _duQ
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2012 at 10:24
Sure! Clap

And Noki can't have full knowledge of events but you can.
And you're not being defaming when you imply that I lie about Az.
And you're not biaised, because you've never been one of my detractors in the past.
And you're not illustrating what I said about right thinking people "knowing" the official holly truth.
And my reply wasn't at all analysis and thoughts about Illyriad but was fully dedicated to a parochialism quarrel.

And remember what everyone knows: _duQ kills puppys each time he sneezes and he eats children for breakfast.

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Posted By: _duQ
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2012 at 11:58
Not a chance?
1st, can you tell me how many troops H and Valar had in summer 2011, before and after the tournament?
Assuming the numbers were bad, what about travelling time, recalling delays, siege camp setting delay? Timing is essential in Illyriad combat. And timing allows strategy, even if I don't remember anyone using actual elaborate strategies in Illyriad... yet. 

There are plenty of stratagems (actual stratagems not the game rules' stratagems) allowing to take down a superior force:
  • Drawing reinforcement to 1 place: either the enemy takes the bait and you attack elsewhere or he doesn't and you destroy the first target
  • Attacking weakest or loneliest players
  • Scorched earth policy
  • forcing a cav attack by being just in range for the cav but not the other troops
  • etc.
In term of pure numbers, Valar shouldn't have been able to win the 2nd tournament. But more active players, less troop-consuming hunting, new player mentoring dedicated to hunting, appropriate recruting (Boromir, Angrum, Kurdruk, etc.) have been the keys. How do you that happened? By chance?

A war would have been much more difficult, but "not a chance" looks like H propaganda to me.


Posted By: LordOfTheSwamp
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2012 at 12:20
Since I'm assuming that was directed at me...

Originally posted by _duQ _duQ wrote:

And Noki can't have full knowledge of events but you can.

I think I've always been clear that Illy is too complex for one person to understand, and that people should always be mindful of their ignorance (e.g.   http://wisdomofkurdruk.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/so-its-war/" rel="nofollow - http://wisdomofkurdruk.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/so-its-war/ ,  http://wisdomofkurdruk.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/the-danger-of-ignorance/" rel="nofollow - http://wisdomofkurdruk.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/the-danger-of-ignorance/  , and  http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/seeing-the-good-and-the-bad-in-h_topic3901.html" rel="nofollow - http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/seeing-the-good-and-the-bad-in-h_topic3901.html   http://wisdomofkurdruk.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/so-its-war/" rel="nofollow - )

Originally posted by _duQ _duQ wrote:

And you're not being defaming when you imply that I lie about Az.

At the time, Az assured me that he was trying to calm you down and avoid war. You posted here that you and Az were plotting war. Someone's not telling the truth. I have no way to know which of you it is.

I regard your past actions as a menace to the peace of Illyria (and I turned out to be right), and I'm still angry that Az ran away when the war started and left the rest of us to try to work out what on earth was going on - so I'm not a fan of either of you, but I'm in no position to tell which of you is/was being less than truthful.

Like I say, yours was an interesting assertion. I'm not in a position to say more than that. But it certainly was interesting.

Originally posted by _duQ _duQ wrote:

And you're not biaised, because you've never been one of my detractors in the past.

I have always been quite clear on this. I regard peace in Illyriad as a good thing, and I have frequently held up both you and Lorre as prime examples of people who threatened that peace. So certainly, I am not a fan.

I also didn't enjoy being one of the people who had to sort out the "war". I didn't enjoy watching good players quit the game (remember DakotaStrider and KingAtreus?). I didn't enjoy having to explain to 80 mystified players that H? and the jackal-pack could destroy everything they'd worked to build if they felt like it and that neither I nor anyone else knew why it was happening. I didn't enjoy watching players I had previously respected turn into a misguided lynch mob. The "war" was the single most unpleasant experience I've had in Illyriad, and I nearly quit the game over it. And I hold you partially responsible for that. So absolutely, I'm not your fan.

Originally posted by _duQ _duQ wrote:

And you're not illustrating what I said about right thinking people "knowing" the official holly truth.

Correct. I am quite clearly not illustrating that.

Originally posted by _duQ _duQ wrote:

And my reply wasn't at all analysis and thoughts about Illyriad but was fully dedicated to a parochialism quarrel.

Actually, as an analysis it was pretty interesting. Your conclusions, I would argue with. The basic observations are pretty solid. But if you wanted a discussion about that, you should perhaps have posted elsewhere. Instead you decided to post in Noki's history thread.

So, I ignored the off-topic analysis, and focused on your utterly incorrect assertion that Noki's post was defamation and "crap", and on the entirely relevant assertion that you made that you and Az were plotting war - which was, as I said, a really interesting comment.


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"A boy is building sandcastles on a beach. You go and kick down his castle. You could say that it only reflects how you play with sandcastles. Others may think it reflects who you are." - Ander.


Posted By: Kumomoto
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2012 at 13:57
Originally posted by LordOfTheSwamp LordOfTheSwamp wrote:


Originally posted by _duQ _duQ wrote:

After the tournament, I had 2 choices, either use a sitter or try to play the wargame by attacking the biggest fish in the pond. When I presented my choice to Azreil, he agreed with attacking H as the good move.

Now that is without a doubt one of the most interesting things I've ever read on this forum.

It's the first I've heard of it, and there's no way to know if it's true, but it's certainly an interesting assertion.


We knew this.


Posted By: _duQ
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2012 at 16:29
Quote
Actually, as an analysis it was pretty interesting. Your conclusions, I would argue with. The basic observations are pretty solid. But if you wanted a discussion about that, you should perhaps have posted elsewhere. Instead you decided to post in Noki's history thread.

History allows analysis.
My own experience is necessarily relevant to my analysis and part of the method I used to analyse.

But dully noted.
I will copy the relevant parts in a more relevant topic as soon as I have some time, perhaps tomorrow.
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Posted By: KillerPoodle
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2012 at 16:40
Originally posted by Kumomoto Kumomoto wrote:

Originally posted by LordOfTheSwamp LordOfTheSwamp wrote:


Originally posted by _duQ _duQ wrote:

After the tournament, I had 2 choices, either use a sitter or try to play the wargame by attacking the biggest fish in the pond. When I presented my choice to Azreil, he agreed with attacking H as the good move.

Now that is without a doubt one of the most interesting things I've ever read on this forum.

It's the first I've heard of it, and there's no way to know if it's true, but it's certainly an interesting assertion.


We knew this.


I also know what you had for breakfast.


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"This is a bad idea and we shouldn't do it." - endorsement by HM

"a little name-calling is a positive thing." - Rill


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2012 at 19:34
Firstly, if Luna browses over this, I don't mind the debate in the history despite the terms of the Traveller's Tale. I always welcome criticism, so long as it is constructive. The only thing I would object to is generalising- the bit about you is in the scale of the whole thing rather small.
 
Anyway. I actually disagree with the statement that it is heavily biased. It may emphasise the actions of some over others, possibly wrongly, but I have never once in that complimented Lorre or Createure or anyone. Quite possibly, wrongly, but anyway. My largest objection to that piece is the shortness, as I feel that it was an important event and I don't think the  piece does it justice.
 
_duQ. Thanks for imforming me about the Anjire thing; my main source of information, unfortunately, is the forums and as you can probably imagine this is not a particularly trustworthy source. I should really be grateful that this is the first protest that I have received.
 
Your analysis about Illyriad is interesting, very much so. In a lot of your points I completely agree with you, and most certainly agree that the one server is the main cause of the atmosphere in the game- in a charitable mood, I'd call it peaceful; in an angry mood I'd call it dull. However, this is beside the point of the post. I never ONCE wanted to have this thread as a debate on the comparative merits/disadvantages to the game, and I think you based the majority of your post on an impression given to you by a sentence that was not intended to give that meaning. If it offended you, I apologise. If you would like me to change it, I will. I have never been one of the lynch mob. A quick forum search will reveal that my alliance was one of the few alliances that was involved in the S&B war, but not in the Valar war. Why? One was a fair cause. The other was cruel and in my opinion unnecessary.
 
Please, however, do submit the reasons for the berberos incident. As far as I'm aware, the only explanation ever given is that you wanted to secure your cities and you deemed berberos too close. If there is another side to the story, then I would appreciate it if you told me and I will adjust the account accordingly.


Posted By: G0DsDestroyer
Date Posted: 11 Sep 2012 at 17:47
Originally posted by Nokigon Nokigon wrote:

 


In the end, the winner was Amorphias, with second going to duuvian and G0Ds coming third.



I thought I got second in Armok's blood bowl

Confused



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http://live.xbox.com/en-US/MyXbox/Profile?gamertag=G0DsDestroyer" rel="nofollow - Tia mi aven Moridin isainde vadin


Posted By: lorre
Date Posted: 03 Oct 2012 at 18:03
i wasnt mouthy i was just uhm loud? :p loved it noki

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The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies.
Napoleon Bonaparte


Posted By: Loud Whispers
Date Posted: 04 Oct 2012 at 20:37
They said Illyriad had depth... I've just seen the surface of the ocean.


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 31 Oct 2012 at 09:09
Updated _duQ and added Tournaments III and IV.


Posted By: Kumomoto
Date Posted: 31 Oct 2012 at 20:57
The other thing, Nok, was that the White war wasn't just the community going to war with White. It was a confederacy (white, black, MK) against another confederacy (H?, Dlords, etc.)... So the statement that each year there is a war where the community goes against a single alliance might not be entirely true?


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 01 Nov 2012 at 08:11
I was thinking TMM for 2010, Valar for 2011, and there may not be one for 2012.....


Posted By: Kumomoto
Date Posted: 01 Nov 2012 at 09:05
Originally posted by Nokigon Nokigon wrote:



I was thinking TMM for 2010, Valar for 2011, and there may not be one for 2012.....
Ahh...kk.


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 10 Nov 2012 at 09:10
And added LWO and Tournament V.


Posted By: Beecks
Date Posted: 10 Nov 2012 at 22:04
Originally posted by Nokigon Nokigon wrote:

And added LWO and Tournament V.

This is the best topic on the forums Clap Thanks for keeping it updated :-D


Posted By: Androu
Date Posted: 27 Mar 2013 at 12:23
Bump! This History of Illyriad is the most complete i have found, it is also very interesting and informative. thankyou for your effort :-)

One request, History is still in the making! would it be possible to keep this updated? or start a wiki of the history of illy so others can keep it updated. 

We cant learn from our past if none remembers it...


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 27 Mar 2013 at 12:45
Working on it, Androu... This last war is the biggest in the history of Illyriad and is barely in the realms of history. I've been trying to do it justice by taking my time in the writing.
Thank you for your time, though :-)


Posted By: Ossian
Date Posted: 27 Mar 2013 at 13:18

We are waiting Tongue


Posted By: John Marston
Date Posted: 27 Mar 2013 at 19:29
Ah the Harmless v White war..... those were the days!

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Veni, vidi, vici


Posted By: The Politician
Date Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 00:03
Originally posted by Androu Androu wrote:

Bump! This History of Illyriad is the most complete i have found, it is also very interesting and informative. thankyou for your effort :-)

One request, History is still in the making! would it be possible to keep this updated? or start a wiki of the history of illy so others can keep it updated. 

We cant learn from our past if none remembers it...


+1


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In war there are rules, in politics however, there are no rules.


Posted By: Mayflower
Date Posted: 28 Mar 2013 at 17:18
Awesome read. Thanks!!

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http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/a/p/105635" rel="nofollow">


Posted By: Androu
Date Posted: 17 Mar 2014 at 09:40
would a Proper Wiki like this one http://illyriad.wikia.com/wiki/History be helpfull?


Posted By: scaramouche
Date Posted: 17 Mar 2014 at 19:26
First of all I want to compliment the OP on a well written post, full of information and facts, many of which I'm not familiar with due to most of these events being prior to my starting this game.

Secondly, I noticed a good few examples where it was written that it seems there have been instances of where past players have been completely destroyed in previous wars..which surprises me that some peoples in the current war state that players being destroyed now is a step too far?
It seems what is happening now is nothing new.

Thirdly...does the OP plan to carry on with this post to bring it up to date?

ok..ignore the third part..ive just seen a reply from Nok which answers that.

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NO..I dont do the Fandango!


Posted By: Chaos Armor
Date Posted: 17 Mar 2014 at 23:09
Originally posted by Androu Androu wrote:

would a Proper Wiki like this one http://illyriad.wikia.com/wiki/History be helpfull?

I'd suggest that we all compile the knowledge of Elgea into http://arcanum-illyria.com/wiki/Main_Page" rel="nofollow - Arcanum Illyria . Then it's all in the same place and contributors can focus on one site full of information instead of a couple of sites that are rather incomplete.

And in the spirit of the thread, I once again give three cheers to Nokigon for his excellently written compilation of history. And hope that one day, when he's less busy, he will complete it.


Posted By: Mr Damage
Date Posted: 18 Mar 2014 at 05:34
"So far, each year of Illyriad has involved the community going to war with one large alliance. Interesting coincidence; it leads me to wonder who the victim of 2012 will be..."

Has this trend continued?Ermm


Posted By: Rill
Date Posted: 18 Mar 2014 at 05:35
Yes, there is predictably a large war at the end of summer/beginning of fall.  There are sometimes wars at other times, of course.


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 18 Mar 2014 at 20:10
2010- TMM
2011- Valar
2012- Consone
2013- Coalition

Trend is irrefutable :P

Also, thanks for the nudge. I got badly distracted by the war, but I will do some work on this on the weekend.


Posted By: Kumomoto
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2014 at 04:20
Originally posted by scaramouche scaramouche wrote:



Secondly, I noticed a good few examples where it was written that it seems there have been instances of where past players have been completely destroyed in previous wars..which surprises me that some peoples in the current war state that players being destroyed now is a step too far?
It seems what is happening now is nothing new.


Totally not the case in previous wars. There are less 5 folks who have been actively run out of this game (had more than half their cities wiped out) in all the wars in Illy combined until this recent one.

In this most recent one, there are more than 40 already. You do the math.


Posted By: Mr Damage
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2014 at 05:05
I actually agree with you there Kumo, you may have threatened to do so but it never actually came to pass because the other sides have always surrendered. You guys won't be surrendering and your opposition won't be relenting so destruction/extermination whatever you want to call it seems inevitable. 

On a side note, if you want to talk cease fire/peace treaty with me I'm happy to do so, perhaps it may influence others to do the same. Despite neither parties wishing to relent, I am happy to agree that H has lost and will continue to lose this war unless the balance shifts dramatically, I don't need you guys to admit it or pay me to say so. Its only a small step but its a start, you guys have been great to fight with across all of the wars. Igm me to discuss further or if not, ignore this post.


Posted By: Deranzin
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2014 at 10:01
Originally posted by Kumomoto Kumomoto wrote:


Totally not the case in previous wars. There are less 5 folks who have been actively run out of this game (had more than half their cities wiped out) in all the wars in Illy combined until this recent one.

In this most recent one, there are more than 40 already. You do the math.


And, unless I am mistaken, all those previous cases were also leaders in their alliances/sides.

Which is obviously not something that one can claim now ... LOL


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Just like a "before and after" ad ! ahahahaah :p


Posted By: KillerPoodle
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2014 at 16:24
Originally posted by Mr Damage Mr Damage wrote:

you may have threatened to do so


I know several people have said this recently but I checked over several of the negotiation threads in our forum and I don't think we ever threatened anyone with total destruction.

I'd love to see an official statement where we did.



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"This is a bad idea and we shouldn't do it." - endorsement by HM

"a little name-calling is a positive thing." - Rill


Posted By: scaramouche
Date Posted: 19 Mar 2014 at 16:48
Originally posted by Kumomoto Kumomoto wrote:


Originally posted by scaramouche scaramouche wrote:



Secondly, I noticed a good few examples where it was written that it seems there have been instances of where past players have been completely destroyed in previous wars..which surprises me that some peoples in the current war state that players being destroyed now is a step too far?
It seems what is happening now is nothing new.


Totally not the case in previous wars. There are less 5 folks who have been actively run out of this game (had more than half their cities wiped out) in all the wars in Illy combined until this recent one.

In this most recent one, there are more than 40 already. You do the math.


I'M not a mathematician tbh...but hypothetically...the 5 people run out of the game in the past, can it not be the equivalent to 15 people in todays war considering the far greater numbers of people and alliances involved at this present time??

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NO..I dont do the Fandango!


Posted By: Mr Damage
Date Posted: 20 Mar 2014 at 03:34
Originally posted by KillerPoodle KillerPoodle wrote:

Originally posted by Mr Damage Mr Damage wrote:

you may have threatened to do so


I know several people have said this recently but I checked over several of the negotiation threads in our forum and I don't think we ever threatened anyone with total destruction.

I'd love to see an official statement where we did.


Perhaps not in your forums, I was referring more to GC comment. I was not making aspersions that it was a good or bad thing either way, just that it has happened and the main reason it didn't occur was that the opposition conceded before it could. You KP cannot say it hasn't been said via IGMs from your members categorically either because you do not see every mail they send. I may have one or several from one of your members offering annihilation of one of ours, I'll send it if I get time to search for it. As I said, its not a judgement, threats are part of war.


Posted By: BellusRex
Date Posted: 20 Mar 2014 at 16:32
I'd have to say there may be some truth in what Kumo says about 5 people being "run out" of the game, in the sense that deliberate efforts were made to destroy their cities until they left Illy. That's not the same as someone continuing to lose cities because they refuse to surrender and keep fighting. It's just not credible to think one side unilaterally ceases operations in a war because the other side won't consider terms.

As for what KP says, it may not be in H? forums, but it was certainly said to us many times in the last war that EE would keep losing cities until we surrendered, and would also suffer even harsher terms of surrender the longer we did not. Many of us have iGM's to this effect, from H? directors, not just random members. It's easy to point to forum posts that support that as well.

H? has undeniably told others on many occasions that the more the community tried to force a course of action on them or question their decisions, the more determined and possibly greater those punitive actions would be. People were punished for forum and GC statements, and we have "official"communication where we are told a player must lose cities because they were "stupid".

My point, I suppose, is if the actions occurring now are so terrible, then seek or offer terms. We were told it was our own pride that kept things going. I can only point out that that goes in the other direction as well.




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"War is the father of all things..."


Posted By: John Louis
Date Posted: 20 Mar 2014 at 16:57
@ BellusRex

With the greatest respect, I wish to point out the following:

1. In your first paragraph you state that it is not credible to think that one side will unilaterally cease operations because the other side won't consider terms - I must respectfully disagree. In war (from experience I will refrain from drawing RL comparisons, however tempting) once a side has accomplished its goals they will happily agree or even propose an end to hostilities with the other side because their goals have been achieved, without demanding that the other side must "surrender" first. And besides, no terms have been offered other than Team A must surrender - those are not terms they are called ultimatums.

2. I have come to accept now that your side will not propose a ceasefire or even suggest real terms for an end to this conflict - so be it. I suspect this is because your side's true aim (and I also accept not everyone from your side may feel this way, but the ones that count clearly do) is to destroy Team A (as they know they will never surrender - this is simply a fact).

Sure, you will deny it, say that we just need to surrender or whatever. However, the simple truth is (in my humble view) that the facts speak for themselves.

Beware Team B - the world you are creating is the world you will have to live in when everything has finally been said and done.

Happy gaming everyone.


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 20 Mar 2014 at 17:22
I would like to request that you have this conversation elsewhere, so this doesn't get locked.



Posted By: BellusRex
Date Posted: 20 Mar 2014 at 17:50
John Louis

I respect what you said, and ultimatum may be a fair view. If so, H? have given many themselves. When they destroyed Consone, and EE was the last alliance that had not yet surrendered, they could  have done just as you suggested. They did not. We had to publicly surrender, and accept punitive terms for reasons such as i've already mentioned.

Ceasefires are not viable in a game like this, since the time is used to rebuild military, etc. I'd be more than happy to consider "real terms". I don't think just stopping the hostilities is an option, some sort of post war actions or agreements are going to be a must. Speaking solely for myself here and not as part of EE's Council, I'm not a fan of punitive terms, especially demanding further cities. Nor do I want exorbitant resources paid, or florid public surrender statements.

I don't believe we have ever received even an idea from Team A of a starting point for discussing ways to end this. Aside from the just stop thing, which is obviously a non-starter. There are many of us who would like to hear a truly honest response as to a realistic settlement of the war.

And my thanks to you for the chance to have a rational discussion. Apologies to Nokigon if this has lead away from your thread. I'm happy to continue in IGM.





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"War is the father of all things..."


Posted By: KillerPoodle
Date Posted: 21 Mar 2014 at 21:55
Originally posted by Mr Damage Mr Damage wrote:


Perhaps not in your forums, I was referring more to GC comment.


There is your difference.  Your side has stated officially to the coalition that if alliances do not surrender they will be destroyed.  H? never made such a statement in the last war and were in fact very careful not to remove more than a certain fraction of any players account (with the occasional exception).

What we did say was - you can surrender now and your alliance will lose X cities or you can keep fighting and lose more than X.  "more than X" != "all your cities".


Bellus - Your alleged reason for war is that H? and their allies did things that were "bad".

If you have done and continue to do those same bad things (and worse) then (a) that makes you hypocrites and (b) it makes mockery of your justification for war in the first place.






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"This is a bad idea and we shouldn't do it." - endorsement by HM

"a little name-calling is a positive thing." - Rill


Posted By: The Duke
Date Posted: 22 Mar 2014 at 02:18
.

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"Our generation has had no Great Depression, no Great War. Our war is spiritual. Our depression is our lives."


Posted By: abstractdream
Date Posted: 22 Mar 2014 at 03:41
This discussion should be taken elsewhere. It is not history.

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Bonfyr Verboo


Posted By: dantem
Date Posted: 29 May 2014 at 10:35
noki can continue the story?? It was good learning about the history...but would like to know more including what caused the current war...lots of people are sayin different things...

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I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade... And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.


Posted By: scaramouche
Date Posted: 30 May 2014 at 07:29
as long as NOK's opinion on the reasons for this war  are a true as possible otherwise it could be perceived as being biased considering he was on one side of this current war.
In which case would cause others to argue and turn this thread into a heated debate and the thread being closed.


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NO..I dont do the Fandango!


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 30 May 2014 at 10:18
1) A biased opinion is still a useful one from the point of view of relevant history.
2) The only people who truly know what happened are the alliance leaders in the war, all of whom are biased.
3) I will attempt to make my account as unbiased as possible.


Posted By: geofrey
Date Posted: 30 May 2014 at 15:15
Havoc war against Knights Templar

This is my perspective of the war between Havoc and Knight's Templar (some taken from my profile page). I was a new member and part of HAVOC at the time. I was not an officer, but just a lowly grunt with a hunger for battle. Johnny112 was the driving force behind HAVOC, and was a prominent member of the GC community at the time. 

--------------------

Both located in Keshalia, HAVOC soon entered a territorial dispute with Knights Templar, who was primarily lead by STJude. Words were spoken and later regretted by HAVOC in global chat. HAVOCs diplomatic officer at the time made some threats and promises in GC, that STJude used as a rallying point against HAVOC. HAVOC tried to make ammends for the ill comments, but the damage was done and WAR broke out. 

KT and HAVOC both being relatively new to Elgea, began small scale warfare. Thousands of troops were lost in the skirmishes and thousands of resource stolen by the thieves. Mages cast spell after spell to annoy the opposition. However KT always seemed one step ahead of HAVOC, and were able to successfully evade any coordinated effort HAVOC could put together.  KT attempted to siege Johnny112's town, but a few heroes come to HAVOC's rescue and broke the siege. But the war was far from over for Geofrey. Ultimatley KT won the war due to their superior numbers, timely coordination, and stronger public opinion. HAVOC conceded defeat and Knight's Templar gained prominance as a force to be reckoned with. 

After the initial war I broke out from HAVOC, and many of Keshalia Lords followed me in the exodus of HAVOC. Affirmative Action was created. An unlikely alliance of all races born out of the desire for action.  Their first mission was one of vengeance and justice. Geofrey had long detected a spy in the ranks of HAVOC. It was the only way KT could of attained the information they had durring the HAVOC KT war.

After performing my own investigation I sniffed out the spy, and began executing justice for traitors and spies. A coalition of allied forces from many alliances supported Geofrey's attack against the spy. My primary supporters of retribution against the spy was Amroth and Kale Weathers (Who founded The Colony). 

A siege was enacted and led by Geofrey's #1 Commander, Volstagg, to burn the enemy city to the ground for the lord's transgressions. The siege was a success and the city fell under Volstagg's command. The spy and traitor was a member of Knight's Templar at the time, But StJude had lost his mind and annexxed the majority of KT strongholds out of Keshalia. KT was unable to arrive in time to save the city from justice. 

After The city was gone, I declared peace with the player in question, saying we are even. 


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http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/a/p/45534" rel="nofollow">


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 11 Jun 2014 at 13:36
I'm still alive! Added 2012 events.

Also, I would like to make an open request for anyone interested. Generally in these histories I've covered why events have occurred and the significant events during the wars. However, I would be very interested in hearing your side of the events- but just your accounts of significant battles and whatnot during the war. I do NOT want a debate about why things have happened or disagreements with other people's versions of events; please IGM me if you have a problem with my account.

So, I'd be interested in hearing, for example, how you maybe defended your city from siege, maybe some of the larger events in your wars such as the fall of your enemy's capital, some of the larger attacks- maybe some battle reports. 


Posted By: Chaos Armor
Date Posted: 11 Jun 2014 at 21:43
Yay! Glad to see you're still updating it!


Posted By: geofrey
Date Posted: 11 Jun 2014 at 21:56
Affirmative Action's Final battle In the Great Trove War: 

After a brief yet deadly conflict resulting in the loss of over half a million troops, Affirmative Action has yielded to the Black Skull Horde and agreed to the Horde’s peace terms that includes staying out of the Great trove War. Instead of summarizing the events I'v copied several reports from the conflict below to tell our story. 

 

Consone War Council: News from The Eastern Front (Meeting Notes)
The Black Skull Horde (BSH) enters the Great Trove War by declaring war on Consone alliance World’s End(WE). WE calls for aid against the Horde’s ruthless onslaught of troops. Affirmative Action pledges to not stand by idly while friends suffer and answers the call for aid. Geofrey orders an army comprised of thirteen thousand Dwarven RuneRiders from Dunsinane, led by General Macbeth, to ride swiftly to the aid of the besieged WE city.

 

Macbeth’s Report:

We left Dunsinane with the orders to save a city, but all we saw when we arrived was smoke and ashes. The city was burned to the ground, every man woman and child destroyed by the Black Skull Horde. We were too late, the speed of the dwarven Cavalry wasn’t enough.

 Outside of the burnt city was a sea of orcish spearmen holding up on a small hill. Leftovers from the siege and awaiting orders to return home, we were able to catch them off-guard. We were outnumbered 4 to 1, but the ashes of the fallen city stirred something inside us dwarves and my army rode like rain on a mountain and charged straight into the heart of the enemy ranks.

 The fighting was fierce but the small hill left little room for spearmen to escape the wrath of Rune Riders. After suffering massive loses I knew retreat wasn’t an option, and the orcs refused to yield. We charged their lines until every last orc was dead. While a victory, it was surely a loss to loose so many good dwarves, having lost 9 out of 10 riders.

  

Mal Motsha spies report in after the attack:

Horde Furious. Unannounced attack by A.A. causing uproar. Cheap Victory, BSH won’t stand for it. Horde will invade.

 

Consone War Council, Update from A.A. (Meeting notes)

The BSH quickly declared war on Affirmative Action so they could settle the score. In a surprise move the Horde mobilized a large scale invasion of A.A. territory on the Mal Motsha/Keshalia River. Within days after declaring war,  Geofrey’s town of Iron Fjord had several incoming BSH armies. The Orc Horde has also already setup 3 occupying armies outside of Geofrey’s city. Affirmative Action’s true military power rested in Zanpur, several days journey from the town of Iron Fjord.

 Fortunately for A.A., Scouts were able to infiltrate one BSH town and learn that they were preparing a massive siege in the small forest outside of Geofrey’s city.

 Geofrey had dispatched troops 2 days in advance of troops appearing outside of his city. Armies that had been raised to protect confederate allies were now being used to protect King Geofrey’s own city. 

 

Iron Fjord Commander Magnus’ last correspondence with Alliance Capitol: Blackstone:
 

It all happened so fast. We saw orcs coming so we got everyone inside the wall and barred the gates. Only a few thousand of them at first. Nothing we couldn’t handle. But within an hour there was nothing but orcs as far as you could see. A sea of green skin and metal armor, with spears poking up all over the place. They had the North, East, and South exits completely blockaded. We were able to get in friendly reinforcements to the city through the west gate before it was overtaken.

 And then we saw them. Friendly armies arriving only a few hours after the BSH arrived. Over a Hundred Thousands troops. Cavalry from the plains of Zanpur, Royal Dwarvish Infantry, Bowmen from the southern forest. It would of taken days to get here, those scouting parties must of paid off.

 Army after army clashed into the Black Skull Horde. Killing 2-3 orcs for every allied troop destroyed. But it wasn’t enough. The Horde always won. We witnessed Commander Thor and his Stormborn Dwarvish infantry in their fancy axes and armor get overtaken by the Horde, but not before taking out 3 times as many orcs.   That’s when we knew the Orcs weren’t going away. They didn’t fear death, they lived for it.

 Waves of warg riders have been spotted on their way to the city, they will make it through the gate, and when they do we don’t have the power to oppose them. I have witnessed the loss of our strongest offense. This city will fall. I do not fear my death, but I hope that the alliance will survive this horrible ordeal.

 

 Peace.

 The Dwarvish fortress was burned and pillaged. All the wealth of the Northern most A.A. outpost lost to the Black Skull Horde.

 With Affirmative Action suffering the same defeat they tried so hard to save WE from, it was time for peace and rebuilding. Dignitaries from both sides met and Affirmative Action yielded to the Black Skull Horde terms, pulling A.A. out of the war. 



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http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/a/p/45534" rel="nofollow">


Posted By: Nokigon
Date Posted: 12 Jun 2014 at 00:37
Thanks very much, Geofrey- that's precisely what I was looking for.


Posted By: bansisdead
Date Posted: 12 Jun 2014 at 09:28
Great writing Geofrey, and thanks too the hard work of Noki and other contributors, alliances like AA, WE and BSH will not be lost in the annals of history.


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http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/a/p/124253" rel="nofollow">


Posted By: StJude
Date Posted: 25 Jun 2014 at 17:37
Geofrey old friend! Howdy Sir.

A point of clarification, I have no idea if Gaia Nutella Tulips is still playing, but you got the wrong guy :(

We were able to stay one step ahead for two reasons. 1.) We placed an alt in the alliance led by Clavicus Vile's Orc alt, whose name I forgot. Since HAVOC was allied with Clavicus Viles's alliance, we could see your troop and diplomat movements. We also would sit and watch "chat" where information was fairly free flowing giving us an insight into plans.

To GNT's credit, he never betrayed Havoc. He was a fun loving guy and someone we loved dearly.

/For my homie


Posted By: Flavius Aetius
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2014 at 01:17
Originally posted by StJude StJude wrote:

Geofrey old friend! Howdy Sir.

A point of clarification, I have no idea if Gaia Nutella Tulips is still playing, but you got the wrong guy :(

We were able to stay one step ahead for two reasons. 1.) We placed an alt in the alliance led by Clavicus Vile's Orc alt, whose name I forgot. Since HAVOC was allied with Clavicus Viles's alliance, we could see your troop and diplomat movements. We also would sit and watch "chat" where information was fairly free flowing giving us an insight into plans.

To GNT's credit, he never betrayed Havoc. He was a fun loving guy and someone we loved dearly.

/For my homie

It should have been Empire of Qingdao. 


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Cry havoc and let slip the eagles of freedom - The Raven King


Posted By: StJude
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2014 at 19:01
Is that you CV/Kurfist?


Posted By: geofrey
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2014 at 21:22
Originally posted by StJude StJude wrote:

Geofrey old friend! Howdy Sir.

A point of clarification, I have no idea if Gaia Nutella Tulips is still playing, but you got the wrong guy :(

We were able to stay one step ahead for two reasons. 1.) We placed an alt in the alliance led by Clavicus Vile's Orc alt, whose name I forgot. Since HAVOC was allied with Clavicus Viles's alliance, we could see your troop and diplomat movements. We also would sit and watch "chat" where information was fairly free flowing giving us an insight into plans.

To GNT's credit, he never betrayed Havoc. He was a fun loving guy and someone we loved dearly.

/For my homie

That fiend told me he was the spy. Fun spirited to the last! 

After the destruction of that town we were on very good terms until he stopped logging in for awhile. Nice to see you popping in here Jude. Can I expect you to declare war anytime soon? 




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http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/a/p/45534" rel="nofollow">


Posted By: Flavius Aetius
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2014 at 21:26
Originally posted by StJude StJude wrote:

Is that you CV/Kurfist?

Indeed, like the Roman name?


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Cry havoc and let slip the eagles of freedom - The Raven King


Posted By: StJude
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2014 at 22:50
Sorry for the OT Noki! Good stuff this!


Posted By: Consul Zynot
Date Posted: 13 Sep 2014 at 04:32
Great Post! Clap


Posted By: abstractdream
Date Posted: 18 Apr 2015 at 23:57
I'm ready to read the next installment. It's been a long time. I hope Noki is considering writing it.

Something I'd like to request: the story behind the founding of the Dark Star Dominion. It may be that those players and that info is gone but if not, I'd sure like to read about it.


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Bonfyr Verboo



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