Dandelion War

The Bardonian Wars are a series of conflicts surrounding the rapid expansion of the Republic of Bardonia after the dissolution of the Trillium Alliance in the wake of the Great Rathnir War which was fought between the Trillium Alliance and global coalition lead by Yimmu-Audal. The Bardonian Wars are dated as commencing with the announcement of Bardonian Mobilization, made by Chancellor Unic0rnb0i on January 14th, 2021. The Chancellor voiced Bardonian's ambition to unify all of Rathnir 'under a single banner of true peace.'

Hostilities were ceased on January 20th when Bardonian officials declared the their world conquest to be over. One of the consequences of this war was the birth of the Third Bardonian Republic.

Looting of Urnu-Arrak
The Looting of Urnu-Arrak took place on January 17th, 2021. The Council of Elders of Yimmu-Audal refused to accept Tzseu as Empress and elected Gray_Is_Yes as Emperor instead, despite the terms of the peace deal of the Great Rathnir War stating that Tzseu was to ascend to the throne. Bardonia, citing a breach of the peace treaty as their reason, subsequently declared war on Yimmu-Audal and laid siege to Urnu-Arrak only eight days after the Battle of Urnu-Arrak ended the Great Rathnir War. The war was swiftly ended when Gray_Is_Yes, the only member of Yimmu-Audal to participate in the war, was shot by Bardonian forces.

Attack on Dorasterrock
In the night from January 17th to January 18th, multiple players using invisibility potions headed to the Bardonian capital, Dorasterrock, and blew up various buildings as a means of guerilla warfare. Shortly after the attack, Bardonian officials accused the Industrial Workers of Rathnir of being behind the attack, announcing that 'anyone involved will be executed and any nations or towns they are part of will be annihilated.' While the IWR feigned ignorance at first, they claimed responsibility for the attack on January 20th. The announcement stated that the IWR 'intend[s] to keep sponsoring such attacks' and that Bardonia should '[e]xpect more attacks in the future.'

War of The Last Bastion
On January 17, Dex_Og of the Last Bastion declared a lands war on an Escharian town, likely Lileanen. Escharian Emperor Emeritus Siegfried von Aspach responded to this by denouncing the declaration as an 'aggression from a Bardonian'.

"Escharia has done nothing but antagonize me for my entire time on this server. I have been a bardonian [sic] for only a little while, and this would have been coming regardless of Bardonia. Mark my words. Escharia will be mine. Scorched and ash or regal and tall, it will be mine. I'll rule coals and pebbles if i have to. Blood for the blood god baby!"

Due to negligence of crucial documents regarding the war declaration by Dex_Og, the so he had to be declared a second time on January 19th.

Battle of Aezenfjord
The Battle of Aezenfjord was a conflict in the Bardonian Wars. On the January 18th, 2021, the Sørveien Empire announced that they had done a sacrifice to the Blood God and received a message 'telling all those whose witnessed this ceromonial [sic] event that the Sørveien Empire is the holy successor of the Valdreech [sic] Imperial Republic'. They further announced their ambition to reconquer former VIR territory, starting with Aezenfjord, a protectorate of the Escharien Empire.

The announcement was initially met with scorn from former enemies of the VIR, but it was also opposed by some its former members who wanted to defend their now independent nations. The Republic of Posavaria, itself a former territory of the VIR, announced their intention to defend Aezenfjord anprevent the Sørveien Empire from continuing its conquest. It was quickly discovered that the Sørveien had private ties to high-ranking Bardonian officials and that Bardonians would be sending soldiers to assist their friends. Many nations not allied to Bardonia suspected the Sørveien conquest of Aezenfjord to be a proxy war orchestrated by Bardonia to further their expansionist agenda. Subsequently, multiple nations condemned Sørveien aggression and pledged support to the defenders of Aezenfjord.

The Republic of Posavaria and the Sørveien Empire briefly negotiated in an attempt to resolve the conflict through diplomacy. Posavaria reqeusted Sørveien give up their claims to Posavari territory and realign with the regional alliance instead of Bardonia. Sørveien refused and offered Posavaria to become a protectorate of their Empire. Peacetalks were subsequently abandoned.

Due to a conflicting schedule, Emperor d3bi of Escharia was unable to take part in the battle. Expecting this to lower the moral of Escharien troops, they sought to postpone the battle. Sørveien were unwilling to do so, but offered to keep Bardonian forces out of the battle if d3bi would not participate. Sørveien and Bardonia were condemned as dishonorable warriors by many nations and likely agreed to this in order to prove themselves as honorable. The belligerent parties agreed to the following terms of war.
 * 1) Allies are permitted to participate in the fighting.
 * 2) Foreign volunteers are permitted to participate in the fighting.
 * 3) The use of invisibility is permitted.
 * 4) Mercenaries are not permitted to participate in the fighting.
 * 5) The use of end crystals as a means of combat is prohibited.
 * 6) Unnecessary destruction of structures and theft of foreign equipment is prohibited.
 * 7) Neither Bardonia nor d3bi will participate in the fighting.

Shortly before the battle, members of the Crescent Concordant, of which Posavaria was a part, joined the defenders, believing Sørveien and Bardonia to threatened the openly anti-Bardonian alliance.

On the 19th of January, 2021, the Sørveiens attacked from the northeast of Aezenfjord. The initial Sørveien assault was repelled by the defenders and the attackers were chased back to their siege tower. Following another short skirmish, the Sørveiens were killed, their beds were broken, and the siege camp was cleared out. Having won the initial engagement, the defenders returned to the city to wait for the official conclusion of the war.

Not long after the siege camp had been eliminated, Sørveien leaders began to claim that the defenders had broken the terms of the war by hiring mercenaries. The defenders responded with confusion, not understanding what these allegations were referring to. Sørveien did not explain their allegations and invited their Bardonian allies to join the battle on their side. This caused outrage among the defenders who complained that Sørveien was violating the terms of war. Bardonia led the next assault on the city, quickly breaching the defenses and killing all the defenders, breaking all their beds, and eliminating the entire defense.

While the defenders of Aezenfjord successfully defended against initial attacks, the final result of the conflict was another crushing defeat against Bardonia.

Many of the defenders refused to surrender Aezenfjord to Sørveien, claiming that Sørveien had not followed the initial agreement thereby voiding the result of the war. Additionally, many defenders believed they had actually won the battle and that Bardonian interference after the initial defeat of Sørveien was to be disregarded. However, when Sørveien threatened to repeatedly attack Aezenfjord and raze the city if it was not ceded to them, the caretaker of Aezenfjord yielded.

Shortly after the fighting ceased, Posavari officials released an official account, describing the defenders' perspective of the conflict.