Uncensored History of the Grey Banner

Overview/Prologue
Many people's idea onto what the Grey Banner did or was is mostly not fully understood or set in stone. So, I thought I would create this page to help clear some air but also to incorporate some aspects that, though are considered retconned or non-canonical, actually happened. The Paragraphs below will be portrayed in a light similar to an alternate historical context. The pretenses of which are not to cause any more drama between the two groups but rather shed some light onto the incredibly interesting and complex historical events that took place. Characters will not be named as some people in what occurred have characters unmade and all of which will be referred to as their in game name. Admins or the mod team will be referred to as "The Primordials, or Primordial entity both because it'll sound less petty but also make it so that I'm not directly calling the administration team gods (Which would be cringe). Lets get started.

The Beginning
Before the concept of the Grey Banner had come to florican, its roots and founding members would come from a small cultist sect located near icebergia on a small island in modern day Tortuga. This cult would be in its infancy and within later periods of this era collapse under its own inactivity. Its values were that of neutrality and order within rathnir, and had planned to build a mighty fortress within the frozen oceans it's worksite sat in. Its total member count was around 25 to 15, but would only boast a total concurrent active base of around 4 to 6 members. Its founding leader, QuillowStuff, would go onto making political deals with nearby neighbors in hopes of some day attaining independence from their home country. This however, would come to a stand still and as this was occurring a new force within the cult would begin to surface. A player by the name of OctoGlobtor, would begin inciting that the cult should have a fundamentalist sect or group of radical individuals. QuillowStuff at first didn't necessarily enjoy the idea and often spoke of it as a joke or a idea not many people would want to apply to. Often stating that it shuts a blind eye to the true ideals of the cult. And though in a way this was true, OctoGlobtor would persist. It started first out as a joke, but would steadily become more and more true to form. Members within Exovulntur would often join in stating that they wouldn't mind being a terrorist.

OctoGlobtor would begin thinking of targets, and had heard in a call prior to his decision from Alohamora2006 that he should target the elves of Aurlunor. This would put him and what would soon become "My Terrorist Group" on its path into what is known today as the Grey Banner. "My Terrorist Group" would often be the name used as a stand in when recruiting new members, though recruitment would come later down the line as a discord did not exist for the purpose of housing said members nor did the terrorist group as a whole exist at all at this point. Though this would come sooner than had initially expected. You see, a banned player who was known as "Poland" at the time would be talking within the main halls of Stoneworks. Poland would reveal that he had a hidden base that might well still exist from his times as a strictly pvp player. The location and directions to such a treasure trove would prove vital as OctoGlobtor gained his trust and interest at their table and Poland would direct OctoGlobtor to his destination. Players such as Dagodian, and a few others would attempt to scam this new player out of the riches this ruined base may hold but were unsuccessful in most degrees. Upon stumbling onto the grounds in which this base was located, OctoGlobtor would begin to dig discovering a vast quantity of resources within a blanket of aecia and birch. Ugly, but still utilitarian as the former pvper had no need to decorate a home that would never been seen until today. Stacks upon stacks of iron, diamond, gold, and emerald blocks would fill the subterranean homestead as chests filled with stone, wood, and other necessities would be uncovered. Boots belonging to entropy, flags, heads, Athaz's travels all would be found within this dwelling and a sign posted onto the wall chiseled by OctoGlobtor would state "This is only the Beginning".

A Terrorist Infancy
In time a discord would be created prior, known as "The Grey Banner", but prior the young insurgent group would be often referred to "My Terrorist Group". The Initial Grey Banner discord would be founded and created by player Usernam0o0 would later down the line would prove to be dis-loyal to the cause and uninterested. Yet, at the time was infatuated with the concept of being within a secretive organization. The Grey banner would begin to accumulate new members within the first week, attaining a nimble and small configuration of 11 members. They would begin construction of new concepts and idea, bastions that would dot rathnir and new methods of terror toward their new adversaries. Aurlunor at the time had no knowledge of their existence. and would only hear about them from the Grey Banner's most toxic individuals. Most of the founding members had no quarrels with Aurlunor or its people personally, but players at the time such as Alohamora2006, and Jamoses did, and were the most vocal of the group. The Grey Banner's bad rep would initially come from these two individuals who at the time had a hard time discerning OOC from RP, but at the same time Aurlunor had made it nearly impossible to tell when or not they were in character often bringing OOC related incidents into RP or vice versa at the time. This would prove to be one of the biggest reasons as to why the Grey Banner had viewed Aurlunor in the light they did, and in many cases were incredibly frustrated by the Primordials interference into later events, often stating that the toxic behavior was more so from the side of Aurlunor rather than the Grey Banner itself, But I digress. In time a new system of configuration would come into play as members from Ryzan and other nations around the world would join in the bandwagon. Ryzan itself would be supported by the Grey Banner in its infancy, as Bardonia would come knocking at their door step capitulating them. 2 Shulker chests worth of gear would be handed to the Ryzani Resistance, yet all records of this gear would be lost. This would lay down the foundations for modern day relations between the country of Kyydrosil and the nation of Ryzan.

The Grey Banner would utilize a system of underground bases, or bastions as they referred to them as. These bastions would dot across Rathnir's underground sphere, mostly within either Norfthorn or Aurlunor. The choice of Norfthorn was actually due to a misunderstanding as to where the celestial elves lived. At the time both nations were fairly inactive by OctoGlobtor's standards and made it incredibly easy for them to implant new bases into their country side. Roughly 20 or so bastions would be built in Aurlunor and Norfthorn together most of which would fall into decay or collapse in time. The idea was to implant as many members into their borders as possible and conduct guerilla attacks onto their cities and patrols. But after discovering the true activity of Aurlunor this plan would begin to fall under. Any concept of attacking Aurlunor head on, was considered a death sentence. This was not due to the military might of Aurlunor, but rather their ally Bardonia which they were vassalized to. As such new ideas and fear tactics would be utilized in the coming weeks to fight against Aurlunor. After many days and plans being conducted, certain members would occasionally blab about the inner workings of The Grey Banner and their goals. At the time the Grey Banner's purpose was unrestricted genocide under the pretenses of a fanatical cult or fundamentalist group. The Primordials, however, did not like this and casted down a set of commandments that would force the Grey Banner to switch their goal of heart into a terrorist group fighting for the sole purpose attaining new knowledge. Though this change would happen later excuses and other concepts were constantly thrown out to attempt in some sort of agreement between the two groups. Operations would begin however, once the Grey Banner hit around 20 or so members. Dagodian and Stopgaps5 would be sent out into Aurlunor to commence Operation Tree Fall.

Operation Tree Fall, was for the purpose of economically straining and attempting to destroy Aurlunor's economic values via the mass chopping down of their forests and flora. The incorporations of the occasional bandit hiring was also a concept that was attempted but after trying to hire Boltikk's skills in the sword, deaf ears fell onto the Grey Banner. Operation Tree Fall as a result would falter, as the two would be caught by Coffeecubus and her minister Nori (had a hard time finding their username). Though Stopgaps5 would leave un-scaved, the addition of Alohamora2006 and Dagodian who at the time were fugitives were harmed in the process. Days before Dagodian had killed a fox within the capital of Lhumar who turned out to be Nori, and was seen as a criminal by the state of Aurlunor. Alohamora2006 prior had committed other deeds prior to the Grey Banner which attained his reputation. Though the operation had failed and with OctoGlobtor not too far behind, both missing the chance to kill and attack Coffeecubus and Nori both unarmored, things took a turn for the worse. Around this same time a new batch of faces appeared within the Grey Banner. Most of which were Ryzani and one of which was Astr0. Astr0 was intrigued by the prospect of the Grey Banner and wished to conduct himself further within the sect. However after being bribed by an Aurlunorian official who was a mayor in Ryzan, Astr0 proceeded to leak all the names of current Grey Banner members at the time to Athos. This would be a staggering event for the Grey Banner and would nearly kill the will of many members including OctoGlobtor. But this would not be the end, as usual when the Grey Banner hits a road block, they keep on going in any way they can. And in this case they would create a system of informational flow that would rival the best security networks in Rathnir.

The System
A system of 3 levels would be created with the sole purpose of trickling down information in a way to avoid data leaks, though at the time it was still prone to some hazard, compared to the Ryzani resistance of the early era, it was a vault of information. Level 1 being the least secure and essentially full of somewhat public information, to level 3 where only the most trusted are allowed. This would in a way create some form of divide between the 3 levels with level 1s never actually doing much in the Grey Banner, as they weren't trusted as much. Level 3s were the most active and at the time there was about 7 to 6 who were actively participating in the affairs of the banner. Projects such as turning the main bastion, the HQ of the Grey Banner, into a more pleasant and delectable sight to be hold was the first of many construction projects, utilizing the schematics of prebuilt structures to found the ground works for a complex and tasteful underground fortress. A surface level structure to allow for easy entry and terraformed lake that would create an area in which an ancient town may set. New lore for the species, and its people were created. It was a time of prosperity, but it wouldn't last long. Operations which involved planting IEDs (Improvised explosive device) across Aurlunor would prove to be the next course of action. around 50-60 or so of these bombs were planted across Aurlunor under trees, in mineshafts, caves, and many many more would be used to create an atmosphere of fear, of which still go off to this day. Though soon after a cease fire would commence for a short period of a week. Between the two groups attempts before had failed between OctoGlobtor and Coffeecubus, but in this case it had worked. The Grey Banner was without purpose and the cease fire would be strategically called off by OctoGlobtor as an attempt to keep the now dying Grey Banner alive. Their unity was from their heinous attacks and agreed upon racism toward elves, but in time this ideal would fade away.

The Mid Point
The introduction of a new member, VikingSlayer, would assure in a new era for the Grey Banner. VikingSlayer and his band of merry men, such as Jaws, and Krepsulan would also be a well welcomed party of members. VikingSlayer would be implemented as OctoGlobtor's second in command for his duties in previous games as a leadership role. And would help guide the Grey Banner toward the right direction. A spy network would come into play as a new strategy would be insisted. a number of multiple spies would be implanted into Aurlunor's ranks easily and effectively with the total number coming to around 6. Their job was to sit in their as sleeper agents, wire tap their communications and gather intel onto what they would plan next. But the long term goal was to instate themselves as leaders within their ranks and tear them apart from the inside out. This was actually largely successful, and if it were to have persisted for long enough it is said that they would have accomplished their goals to take over Aurlunor. This new spy network would prove to be one of the best things VikingSlayer would implement, which would achieve a passive activity for the Grey Banner's members. By this time the Grey Banner would be some what known to the public as Aurlunor had consistently denounced them for their crimes and members had talked back to their target in the occasional toxic fit. Members who were being toxic at this point, were sub-sequentially silenced and kindly asked to "Shut the fuck up, you're making us look bad.". The implementation of the spy network allowed for the greater utilization of psychological warfare tactics and the spread of misinformation. The occasional announcement of fake and real projects the Grey Banner was researching and conducting created a state of paranoia in Aurlunor's high council. and the constant stretching of numbers made it even harder to consistently guess their next act or exact numbers. Lies and truths became the same thing as the Grey Banner discord was never sent to the public for use. Often Aurlunor attempted to attain the discord to no avail, going as far as to ask for the link directly in an attempt of getting the members banned for certain memes. Of course the Grey Banner wasn't clean either and was compiling a set of lists and images depicting Aurlunor as the more toxic group and even committing petty acts.

Memes were made of the nation often being targeted toward either the nation or people of the nation, though meant to be light hearted, the stoneworks discord held a different philosophy onto what can be joked about or memed on, most of the Grey Banner's members did not hold the same ideals as the Primordials, but made sure to follow the rules.... Sometimes. In time Coffeecubus would often refer to The Grey Banner as "The Grey Banners" which is still said to this day by non-Aurlunorian players often to piss off former Grey Banner members.

Near The End
For a solid 3 months spy operations within Aurlunor would be increasingly conducted and after multiple attempts to stage wars with Aurlunor against other nations failing, more drastic operations were to be conducted. Around the same time, the 6th barbarian rally would occur, and the Grey Banner would utilize wire tapping to attain new members from thrown out squatters and would publicly denounce Aurlunor for their actions against said players. This, however, would be taken poorly by every other nation and completely memed on in rathnir announcements. To be fair, the Grey Banner wasn't a nation so squatters didn't bother them at the time. In fact they were embraced since they too themselves were essentially squatters in Yimmu-audal. Sleep7, Miniman, and Fennec were all players from the rally and would be the first to both be recruited and the first to form the second cell of The Grey Banner. The Banner had been wanting to create cells for a time now, with the original Idea starting from both Stopgaps5 and VikingSlayer, but a similar concept originated from OctoGlobtor in the infancy of the Grey Banner with the bastions. This was near the late era of the Grey Banner and would only progressively get more and more daring nearing the end of its age. The spies within Aurlunor would begin to reach higher levels of intelligence, and would utilize their ability to see channels as a means to insight more devious crimes. One such spy, Baltamor, would find a weak point in the walls of Lhumar, and would use this to his advantage discovering a hole in the palace's defenses. This was immediately notified to the higher ups within the Grey Banner. And a plan was enacted. Just 2 days ago the server had essentially shat on the Grey Banner for liking squatters then instantly got distracted by the coalition war. This war was to be ongoing, and Coffeecubus had been punished by the primordial entity for speaking out of line prior for 4 days. As such, this was a prime opportunity and likely Aurlunor would move its gear to different spots as intel suggested by the spies. An operation was at hand.

The Heist was planned poorly due to the lack of time and preparation, they had not believed that such a thing would or could exist at this time. and so instead of selecting what they should steal, they instead opted for a total theft of the nation's artifacts and gear within Lhumar. Initially it was planned to get Baltamor a bandit tag so that stealing would be allowed but instead they would use a loop hole in the system. Utilizing a bandit known as Username0o0 to aid in the operation, Baltamor would break the chests in the palace and the bandit would pick them up "Stealing" the objects then passing them over to Baltamor as he would place them in shulker chests. But before the operation had begun, 2 members of the Grey Banner who were long time spies, Ceejayred and Khellis, would scout out the area making sure that no one was in the capital at the time of the thievery. One had logged off to prep for the queue after restart while the other stayed on within the mines, gazing at Greentoss. Greentoss would spot him in the caves asked why he was there, and Ceejayred with a Nat 20 would talk his way out stating that he just wanted to go mining there and changing the subject. An hour passed and Greentoss had TPed away from Lhumar, the clock was ticking. for 15 agonizing minutes the 3 of the members except for Ceejayred would log back on and continue the op. OctoGlobtor and VikingSlayer would act as a new set of eyes watching from the thieves perspective watching every corner. They had struck gold. Stealing every single artifact from the flaming pearl to bedrock, netherite sets, diamond blocks, iron, gold. Everything they could fit. Though there was a mess up as Sel's room in the palace had strange restrictions, you could place blocks but not mine them. As such, a single shulker box would be left there as a clue to the Aurlunorian. Once the operation was over, the Grey Banner celebrated and had not thought of if they would be caught. Days prior a candid snapshot of most of the spies were taken in the hub by Sel. But was swiftly forgotten. Along with other extremities that were caught in the making yet some how passed by the Aurlunorians. At first they had thought it was hackers that some how got in, but were shocked to find it was the Grey Banner. Months prior a large scale campaign to make the Grey Banner look like a joke in the eyes of the public had finally made its bill and their ability to do what they please was increased with little resentment or knowledge of most of their operations and tasks. The Primordials were pissed from what the Grey Banner had done, and swiftly forced them to give back what they had stolen including Smut Aurlunor had crafted. The chunks in the palace were not fully saved as some books were lost to time.

Not far after a kill squad after retconning the event was sent after to kill Baltamor which in terms of rp is just some random ass attack on some dude in Yimmu-audal. Humblemerchantman would note about this stating it almost caused an international incident. The pressure on the spies that had lived with the elves for 4 consecutive months would be a problem. One notable member, Ceejayred who had to miss the operation after getting caught, would take his toll wire tapping Aurlunor while making attempts to have them realize who he was as a spy. He had bursted into their VC screeching at them telling them word for word who he was and his actual motives. Though not a task given by High Chieftain OctoGlobtor or Second in command VikingSlayer, neither could blame him. No other Grey Banner member knows what he actually said in there. But one way or another his rage was quelled and he had some how resolved the whole situation. Once and for all peace between Aurlunor and the Grey Banner was at hand. And the Grey Banner would look to a new goal. A goal of becoming a nation.

The End
In the final days of the Grey Banner, all members were informed of their new roles and after some haggling and political pressure toward the nation of Daelyria they would get their wish. The Grey Banner would disband, and its discord ridded of its members and achieved for the foreseeable future.