The Grand Union of Sorligste

The Grand Union of Sorligste was once a collective governing body of numerous nations in the very southern regions of Rathnir. It comprised of Soumere, Frostmarch/Valdic Empire, Regalia, Cirencester, Pahonja, and Greenland.

Pre-Union
A union between the nations of Sorligste was not a foreign concept to Sorligste. Many attempts had been made over the months to unite the continent, such as the Sorligste Confederation in December. Around January, the nations of Frostmarch and Kronesia announced D.E.A.S.S, the Defensive and Economic Alliance of the Southern States, which was to prevent annexation of their nations by a foreign power. In late March, talks between Frostmarch and Soumere began about unification. Soon later, Pahonja, Regalia, Cirencester, and Greenland began talks on the union. A constitution was drafted in late April, a actual one in early May, and the votes to join the union in mid may. Ultimately, every single nation voted to join, and the union officially began on May 19th 2021 EST.

Quick Stagnation
As soon as the union was formed, quickly all of the states began to suffer stagnation. Frostmarch was stuck at 18, with most of them leaving to Eldham to form the Grand Colony of Xeka. A lot of Soumere's population (excluding Not_venice) had also became inactive, quit, or left for Xeka. Cirencester and Regalia were practically dead, and Pahonja only had a single person left. The only town truly thriving was Not_venice, and would stay that way

Fear of Invasion
During the Viodoxan Civil War, Sorligste was heavily pressured by Uldarash into joining Viodoxa's side in the civil war, despite clearing not wanting to fight Tortuga and Ulfaeng. Leaks from a donator chat in the Stoneworks discord showed Uldarash joking around about annexing Sorligste, without Sorligste saying anything about that, causing the fear that Sorligste would be kicked from the SRDA for not joining the war and weeks later invaded by Uldarash. This was a serious concern to the government of the union, considering the relationship between Uldarash and Lumaire/Soumere in the past. Trust in the SRDA to help Sorligste completely fell, however they could not leave the SRDA because they would not have any allies to help the union if they did.

The Mushroom Valley Crisis
On July 9th, a town was discovered by the union called MushroomValley by the town of Vesturperla, since it was right next to the city. Quickly the union found out that it was apart of Osteria, and Viewed, the leader of Osteria was immediately contacted about it. At first, it was not looking good for the union, as Viewed claimed MushroomValley, the entirely of Vesturperla, Iceland, and almost touching Not_venice. Sorligste wasn't going to accept them taking land for free, including the second biggest city in the union (Vesturperla). Knowing the beef with the SRDA earlier, the union's government figured the SRDA was not going to help in the event of a war, so Sorligste was all on it's own.

The next day, July 10th, a union between Azuria, The Abyssal Isles, and Osteria was formed as The Magisterium, with their leader being BackToTheHub. The leader BackToTheHub took a different approach compared to Viewed, and instead negotiated to only take the city of MushroomValley, and the area to reach it for 125k ingame currency. The deal was made and the money was obtained, and the land was annexed into The Magisterium.

Fall of the Union and Annexation
Following the crisis, it wouldn't be the last one. The next day, it was found out that there were 2 squatters, Ederan and an unnamed squatter attempting to claim Sorligste land. The unnamed squatter was going to claim the capital of the State of Frostmarch and declare independence, however it found trouble obtaining legitimacy due to them claiming the capital city, being Bardonian, and not even having a claim there. Ultimately it failed and the claim was never officially made.

The second squatter, Ederan, was located in South-West Soumere on an island. These squatters made their claim to the land and they actually had a claim there, and went off of Sorligste not accepting their culture, due to Sorligste outlawing Entropy worship, which is what Thedour-Ra did. Ultimately, war was declared around 20 hours later by the State of Frostmarch.

That same day, a "proposal" was sent to Sorligste by The Magisterium, which was Sorligste would join them as a providence, and be guaranteed military help and protection from other nations. Obviously Sorligste did not want this, but a discussion had to be held with the government.

On July 14th, at 5:00PM EST, the war began with Ederan and Sorligste, with Tortuga supporting Sorligste. The army of Ederan was easily wiped by a surprise attack by the union and Tortuga. The one kill needed was gotten by HoSt441133, and the city was occupied for the remaining time left. Overall it was a sweeping victory by Sorligste and Tortuga. More info can be found on the war here.

Soon after the war had concluded, and the government had time, they finally told The Magisterium that they declined their proposal. Almost right after this, the town of Not_venice was raided by some of The Hands, and a netherite set and some Protection IV diamond sets were stolen. It was apparently to hunt down the bandit oAsr, however despite him not being there they still attacked, It's unknown if the armor and items were ever returned.

The union government, figuring that invasion by The Magisterium was next, had already had plans to be annexed by Tortuga if that were the case. And since to the government that was looking more and more likely, the union made a last ditch attempt to save them selves from annexation by The Magisterium.

On July 14th 2021, at 7:20 PM EST, the Grand Union of Sorligste collapsed and was integrated into The Free States of Tortuga, which would later become the Tortugan Empire.