Ferrymen War

The Ferrymen War is a conflict that started on April 19th, 2021, and ended on May 5th, 2021.

Overview
Uni, The Supreme Chancellor of Bardonia, publicly denounced The Ferrymen after Bardonian Nightguards were attacked 4 times repetitively by them in the Bardonian capital and surrounding area. These engagements are known as the Battle of Bardonian Fort Lee where 6 Bardonian troops fought off 5 Ferrymen and lost many of their troops but still held their ground. This denouncement lead Bardonia (along with The Helping Hands, and Anti-Bandit League) to prepare for war.

Soon after, the first engagement took place. Sewer Mafia (mostly aligned with the Helping Hands and Anti-Bandit League) initiated a raid on The Ferrymen's tower, where several players with only stone axes ran at the tower and got sliced down repetitively, all wearing the skin of GreenTomato5 in the honor of GreenTomato. During this raid some of The Ferrymen were reported killed and their armor badly damaged. Dozens of copies of GreenTomato's head decorated the Ferrymen's territory, along with many others that were killed in their previous raids.

Soon after the first engagement, words of an upcoming war declaration from The Ferrymen on Bardonia spread quickly. As a response to the hearsay, choochie15, a citizen of Vraelea, voluteered to claim a Dalatra's Ring around The Ferrymen's tower. A well-known tactic was suggested by Mobius, the leader of The Anti-Bandit League and Grand Lieutenant of Bardonia, and Chancellor Uni. The funds were sent from the Bardonian treasury and not long after, a claimed ring encircled The Ferrymen and their tower. Thanks to the distraction caused by the Sewer Mafia and attention to building on their own land, the Ferrymen did not notice this.

Before Bardonia could accept or create a war request of their own, a lands war was declared out of nowhere by ViewedMarquis, Theios-Essukdal's Grand Bashar, with the land of Jirn. This influenced a meeting that was being hosted by Uni at the time to switch from a talk of tactics to a rallying call of war. Nations agreed to unite under a single banner for this next upcoming battle which would decide Rathnir's future.

In response to this, the Ferrymen began to prepare for the upcoming battle. An advertisement was placed calling for enlistment into their ranks, offering looted gear to those who joined. Their ranks more than doubled on the eve of the battle. A wall and other defensive structures were added around their original tower.

Battle of Bardonian Fort Lee
On April 18th 5 the Ferrymen raided New Dorasterrock killing a few and escaping with some gear stolen and camped outside the walls. Later a group of 6 Bardonian soldiers gathered on the walls and prepared for a counter attack. The troops jumped down to give chase to the Ferrymen. The fighting began at the construction zone for Bardonian Fort Lee where fighting was intense with cobwebs being placed all over by the Ferrymen to slow down the Bardonian charge, although the Bardonians lost 4 of their 6 troops they managed to force the Ferrymen into retreat and killed 3 of the 5 and managing to retrieve a large portion of their gear. But sadly this was only going to be a skirmish compared to what was about to happen next.

First Battle of Istanboulder/Charge of Stone
In retaliation the member states of the Anti Bandit League rallied their forces as they prepared for battle against the Ferrymen. In the first attack/raid on the Ferrymen base at the ruins of Istanboulder. In this battle multiple Sewer Mafia members and several Niedene Spirits lead a raid on the Ferrymen tower at Istanboulder using only stone axes and wielding no armor except the skin of Greentomato in honor of him. Although all of the attackers were quickly defeated and killed many Ferrymen reported to have died or have weakened armor. Soon after the first engagement, words of an upcoming war declaration from The Ferrymen on Bardonia spread quickly. As a response to the hearsay, choochie15, a citizen of Vraelea, volunteered to claim a Dalatra's Ring around The Ferrymen's tower. A well-known tactic was suggested by Mobius, the leader of The Anti-Bandit League and Grand Lieutenant of Bardonia, and Chancellor Uni. The funds were sent from the Bardonian treasury and not long after, a claimed ring encircled The Ferrymen and their tower. Thanks to the distraction caused by the Sewer Mafia and attention to building on their own land, the Ferrymen did not notice this. Before Bardonia could accept or create a war request of their own, a lands war was declared out of nowhere by ViewedMarquis, Theios-Essukdal's Grand Bashar, with the land of Jirn. This influenced a meeting that was being hosted by Uni at the time to switch from a talk of tactics to a rallying call of war. Nations agreed to unite under a single banner for this next upcoming battle which would decide Rathnir's future. In response to this, the Ferrymen began to prepare for the upcoming battle. An advertisement was placed calling for enlistment into their ranks, offering looted gear to those who joined. Their ranks more than doubled on the eve of the battle. A wall and other defensive structures were added around their original tower.

The Second Battle of Istanboulder
On 4/20, at 7:53 EST, the battle of Ferrymen commenced. The Coalition of Bardonia, TE, Uldarash, Viodoxa, Aurlûnor, and many more, gathered in a small stonebrick fort (built by Signore_Ravioli) to the southeast of the Ferrymen fort, a large structure of netherrack and wood. Notably, many members of Boulderov,the ancient founders of Istanboulder, were present at the battle. They would prove to fight among the hardest for the defense of their beloved cultural homeland. Unic0rnb0i organized the fighters into 4 groups of 5-10 people each, as it was noticed from the Ferrymen's youtube that they'd often lure people into groups of 4-5. The Ferrymen brought more players from wherever they come from to assist in the defense.

When the war started, the coalition waited in the Area420 fort for about 30 minutes before attacking. Many Ferrymen sat between their fort and the coalition outpost, one with a large herd of angry dogs. The coalition eventually attacked outwards, and Adzy and Adderral were both chased back to the netherrack fort. There was an initial skirmish on the southeast wall of the town, where 2 defenders stood on the walls of the fort, and Adzy and Adderral were attacked by the teams. The group tried to build a ladder up the wall, but the Ferrymen blocked this with cobble above it. Bardonia and Theios-Essukdal went around the southern side, and Uldarash and Viodoxa the northern side. There were several small skirmishes where individual Ferrymen would bring the groups to different areas, spitting some teams up. Small groups from Uldarash and Viodoxa's team came into the small passage between the fort's northern gate and the walls of the proper town. The Ferrymen kept a large force here, though, so there was heavy fighting in front of this area. Adzy had left the gate open when getting in, and some Uldarash players almost got inside, but were pushed out as they tried to enter. One defender then placed blocks over the gates so they couldn't come through them.

There was significant fighting all around the wall after this first battle near the gate. In the forest on the western side, a large melee broke out that saw the deaths of many players on both sides. Milenkhov, Tizt, the60th, Adzy, Adderral, Ye_Haw, Wooef, and more scored many kills for the Ferrymen, while Unic0rnb0i, ViewedMarquis, DHVO, yaykei, Crezyman, d3bi, Canine14, and more scored many kills for the coalition. During this period, the teams had lost cohesion, but were still mostly in large groups, fighting in separate areas around the walls. Many in the anti-bandit league discord were using unspecific calls like "I'm being attacked over here"- this did not help the effort and created confusion. The longest chase of the battle happened with The60th, who was chased by many soldiers until he was cornered against the wall in the river and killed. There was one Ferrymen player who ran around the coalition forces naked with a speed potion, and they drew a few coalition players away from the main battle this way.

After the battle ended, the Ferrymen had more kills and kept their fort defended. The coalition returned to their outpost, called Area420, and grabbed their stuff and fled. The Ferrymen then surrounded this outpost, and as people left, killed them. Unic0rnb0i was notably chased and then killed for the first time in PVP during this conflict.



Effects
This battle marks the first time a new group swiftly established itself in Rathnir by force. They obtained much of their gear through banditry and pvp, and were able to repel a united effort of the server's largest nations. Bardonia has fractured significantly, being supposedly disbanded hours after the loss. Many players vowed to abandon Rathnir and flee away to Sabrim. Bardonia is currently seeing intense fracturing and internal conflict during this time.

Much of Theios-Essukdal vowed this at first, but changed their stance to a more prolongued guerilla operation against the Ferrymen.

"Fuck you and your faux-robinhood selves. Even if Theios-Essukdal falls to ruin, and all we control is Urnu-Arrak, we will continue fighting you until the day Rathnir collapses. If you destroy us, we will come back. We will be a thorn in your side for eternity, and we will not let our souls join you on your vile boats. Fuck you, welcome to Rathnir."      -Ningal Mistic II Audalad

On May 5th, 2021, the admins issued a blanket ban on the Ferrymen due to a new rule (pvp groups must actively develop lore and world building to justify their influence on Rathnir). The newly formed Empire of Charon, which had been carved out of Viodoxan territory, collapsed as quickly as it had risen. Although a minor succession crisis occured, with the communist "Union of Charon" claiming the fallen empire's territory, Viodoxa quickly regained control of their land and reintegrated it.