Great Golden War

The Great Golden War (occasionally referred to as the "Poo War" due to the Poo Sign), declared on 11/3/2020, was a war between the Empire of Uldarash and Bardonia following the Bardonian Illegal Mining Incident, where Bardonia refused to pay a 100,000 coins fine after a gold mining incident in the mesa.

Declaration
The night preceding the war declaration, the Silver Coalition attempted to form a last-minute peace accord between Uldarash and Bardonia. This proved fruitless, however, as the representatives of both nations believed that any compromise would sully their honor. At the close of the talks, the Empire of Uldarash informed Bardonia of their preferred hour of declaration, but due to the small size of Bardonia, the war was delayed for several hours until someone from both nations were online. The Silver Coalition also agreed to Uldarash's request to remain neutral, on the condition that large-scale griefing would not occur in the warring cities.

Inspired by Ardat Mosul's tactics in the Viper War, Uldarash founded a new town, called Siege Camp, and surrounded the entire town of Bardonia using a tactic known as a Dalatra's Ring. Additionally, in the early stages before the war the highly secret, as well as theoretical, Operation Carrot was proposed, although ultimately this plan was scrapped by Uldarash leadership as it was decided as being 'unreasonable and cruel'.

Once a member of Bardonia was online, Uldarash declared war. In response, Moyye, Senator of Bardonia, created the town of Alcoholism just outside the walls of Siege Camp. Alcoholism then declared war on Sanctuary, to which Uldarash responded with a declaration on the Bardonian Capital of Dorasterrock from Great Barrier.

The night of the declaration, Wurmbo trespassed onto Bardonian territory and stole 3 Bardonian horses along with their armor, hiding the horses in a dirt pit behind the walls of Siege Camp. As the Empire of Uldarash was constructing siege walls around Bardonia, Nybbles erected The Poo Sign just beyond the wall. The sign was taken down, but was reerected again. Nybbles was exiled from the empire for attempting to escalate tensions between the nations. While constructing the wall around the Bardonia, members of Uldarash attempted to fight off giant phantoms which circled above them. Bardonia prepared their defenses for war the next day, deconstructing their town hall and turning it into an obsidian stronghold.

At 9 AM EST, the Vastallosi Alliance of Western Rathnir, which both Uldarash and Bardonia were observer states in, held a meeting in Carvay, where last ditch efforts were made to end hostilities between the two nations, but this proved too little too late. The VAWR member nations unanimously agreed that they had to intervene in the conflict, considering that both nations were technically under their protection. After long negotiations, it was agreed, with the permission of both nations, that in order to prevent destruction, the VAWR would post peacekeepers in all the cities where war was declared. The VAWR agreed to intervene in the war on behalf of whichever nation was attacked by the other side.

Start of War
Beginning at roughly 3:30 PM EST, the war officially began. Starting at night, The Empire of Uldarash found themselves suffering from insomnia, seeing as a plentiful amount of members forgot to sleep the night prior. Thankfully, an unnamed cat helped them in keeping away the phantoms throughout the night while each member slept one by one. Some called these phantoms the "Spirits of War", seeing as they were so plentiful at the start of the conflict.

Forces
On the side of Uldarash, around 15 warriors and volunteers from New-Interland were stationed on the wall for battle. Around 12 Bardonian and a few VAWR warriors, as well as volunteers from Escharien, the Silver Coalition, and Vraelea were positioned on the roofs of Bardonia.

The Beginning
Both Uldarash and Bardonia stood in a cold stare, to the point of which some referred to the war as The Staring War and The Cold War during this period. Due to the VAWR's agreement with both nations, and since neither side wanted to lose the support of the VAWR, both sides attempted to provoke the other into attacking. Whichever side attacked first would likely be rejected from membership in the VAWR and would be put at a disadvantage against a larger force, as VAWR would intervene on behalf of the defending side. Several days were spent simply looking at each other as people simply patrolled the around wall, waiting for someone to attack. Some would occasionally start patrolling directly in front of the wall, which could have been perceived as a threat, yet no one acted on it. Players were told to document any proof of engagement from the other side before attacking.

The Fishing Competition
Eventually, a few members of Uldarash, most notably the self-proclaimed neutral fighter AlolanVulpix, walked down into Bardonia and began fishing. Some neutral spectators tried to get the Uldarashi citizens away to prevent accidental conflict, yet most of them kept fishing. Soon enough, both sides were fishing to the point that some declared a fishing competition. Tensions had drastically lowered despite several attempts to stage an engagement from each side. One such attempt being made by Wurmbo, who stated that he was hit off the wall after he fell from it. This claim was later debunked.

The Wall's Wedding
In between this time, Wurmbo became Whiskeyknight's wife. A beautiful marriage was held with wedding music as the two rejoiced in marriage between Siege Camp and Bardonia's official territory, below a dirt smiley face built by Keechoo. Both sides seemed to be content despite the war still ongoing. Neither party attacked whatsoever, though the player yaykei, a rogue, kept trying to stage engagement from Uldarash by trying to kill members of both sides, including Dentro, the leader of Uldarash's Southern Capital Sanctuary.

Tensions Rising
Tensions, however, would continue to rise. Further attempts by lone individuals to stage a conflict would continue. Cizeek, a mercenary fighting for Uldarash, attempted to get hit by a fishing rod in the Fishing Competition to stage an engagement. Hungry for a war, some would argue that simply attacking Bardonia would not result in a world war and that no one would get involved, despite official statements of the contrary.

The Tipping Point
At night, several events of importance happened simultaneously. One member of Uldarash heard an arrow, which turned out to be a shot towards the ground by another Uldarashi citizen. When one citizen, Keechoo, asked where Moyye was, he simply responded to 'look at the other side of the wall.'

Despite this, it appeared the war would end soon. Some Uldarashi men got a little too close to the city, to the point where some were even in Bardonia. MLGkiddoritofan was spotted going through some chests, defying orders by the Uldarashi command. Upon hearing several people moving towards him, he teleported away. Screenshots from neutral sources proved his thievery, and the VAWR peacekeeper Infinick of Tlahatl confirmed the incident. Then, VAWR peacekeeper Essendor of Carvay witnessed Prince Corvus of Uldarash running amok in Dorasterrock. He asked him to leave and subsequently to tp in front of him. Corvus refused, since he was already far away, and tensions quickly rose to the point where direct conflict seemed inevitable.

Warfare


Soon enough, Uldarashi forces assumed battle formation as the they declared war while firing a volley of arrows at Bardonia. Due to Uldarash engaging first, as well as the theft of Bardonian items, the VAWR immediately sided with Bardonia and summoned their own forces for immediate battle. Soon enough, Uldarash lead the charge directly into Bardonian territory and took hold of a partially ruined fortress. Only 24 minutes remained before the war would end. Several people questioned the Empire's choice to engage.

Defenses
Bardonia had seen significant development to defend against the invading Uldarashi forces. The first defense an invader would come across would be the excessive wall of berry bushes planted to slow down and inflict damage on the attacking army. Next, a moat in which the only direct entrance was through a bridge made entirely of lit campfires was set up. Above the campfires on the bridge were cobwebs to slow progression even more. The bridge itself was protected by berry bushes as well making another way into the city better options.

In the scenario that Uldarashi forces made their way into Bardonia, bamboo was places to make it far more difficult to navigate and shoot arrows. Furthermore, the Bardonians were trained to to shoot through the bamboo accurately, allowing for guerilla attacks on the invading force. Uldarashi forces resorted to the bombing of the Bardonian defenses in an effort to clear their way past the wall.

Uldarashi Invasion and the Bardonian Bush Battle
Seeing as the invasion over the moat would be near impossible, Timeken and two others went off to the other side of Bardonia, where there were no apparent player defenders. Seeing the bamboo and berry bushes still plentiful, it was impossible to break them. So, Timeken placed TNT to bomb into Bardonia, finally gaining an advantage in what would have otherwise been a stalemate, though the bombs revealed lava, causing more hazards to form around the area of invasion. Several blocks of TNT were placed, and a nether portal was broken, before other Uldarashi citizens were fully notified, and arrived. With the sudden movement of forces, the Bardonians followed suit. The relentless arrow barrage from both sides persisted throughout the fight, and many were lost to the fire. Soon, two Bardonian warriors, BackToTheHub and Ezexus, saw an opening through the arrow barrage, and ender pearled directly into Uldarashi lines. This risky gambit proved hugely successful as the two Bardonian warriors were able to cut down multiple Uldarashi warriors, and opened the way for a Bardonian counter-attack.

The Trench
Bardonia's Dandelion Temple and The Gnasty Garlic tavern were damaged by the bombing. The entire city was turned into a battlefield. As a result of the heavy bombings, a trench like formation was created. Uldarashi Forces began to upon fire on the defending Bardonians, since neither side had an accessible escape from the trench and were forced to fight to the death. This did not bode well for the Uldarashi army as they experienced significant losses. Many Uldarashi warriors were slain in the trench, losing all their precious fighting equipment, while Bardonia and their allies sustained damage. In a massive ravine now exposed by the trench, Leafy_Sheep of Uldarash, equipped with powerful Netherite armor and said to possess god-like powers, made a last stand, holding off at least seven warriors before being overwhelmed by Bardonian forces.

The Counter-Invasion
The Bardonian army managed to push back the armies of Uldarash and the fighting continued on near Siege Camp, where Bardonians reached the holding point of the wall. Tzseu of Bardonia used her magical trident, Shark Bait, to leap onto the Uldarashi siege wall, destroying the critical Uldarashi respawn points to prevent them from returning to the battlefield. After taking Siege Camp, a few Bardonians engaged in brief spawnkillings of Uldurashi troops, some of which pleaded for mercy. Loot from the Uldarashi army was buried and Uldarashi forces were significantly weakened, almost losing to attrition.

The Sacking of Sanctuary
Sanctuary, the southern capital of the Empire of Uldarash, was a floating city that had loose involvement with the war. Due to the founding of Alcoholism by Moyye of Bardonia, Moyye was able to invade. For this reason, several people ordered members of the Uldarashi army to defend Sanctuary, such as Emperor Dentro, and Keechoo, the Duke of Palovina. This led to Uldarash assuming Sanctuary was well-guarded.

This sentiment was broken when one member of Uldarash visited Sanctuary and found the Ziggurat completely deprived of it's contents along with holes in the furnace room. Bardonian agents Moyye, OneEyedOthinus, VAWR warrior 8jaaround of Carvay, and Lokki de Nuuk of Vraelea raided Sanctuary, destroying and looting most of it's chests, including highly valued blackstone. The city itself had barely been touched except for chests within the houses.

The Aftermath
Bardonia's defenses as well as their combat skill prevailed against the Uldarashi aggression. Troops of Uldarash were continually pushed back until the end of the war. The territorial losses of Uldarash, the ensuing secession of Paloro, and lack of significant damage dealt to Bardonia indicated a decisive win for Bardonia and their allies.

The Treaty of the West
The Bardonians arguably committed war crimes against Uldarash after the surrender, continuing repeated executions of Uldarashi citizens. Notably such slaughters included spawn killing the Uldarashi in their beds and 8jaaroud killing Emperor Dentro, despite having officially surrendered. During negotiations, the Uldarashi proposed a very generous peace deal, not only giving up the vast majority of their mesa claim, but all their lands in Ummarnu as a whole, with the exception of Kaahiru island. This deal was eagerly accepted by Bardonia and the VAWR, both of whom did not want to impose a harsh peace due to a desire for future diplomatic relations. The former Uldarashi territory in the Ummarnu Mesa were turned into a public mining space, where anyone from any nation could freely mine, but no nation could colonize. This free mining zone was put under the protection of the VAWR to enforce those rules. This peace deal, known as the Treaty of the West, was negotiated and agreed upon at the Grizzly Bear Bar.

Effects on Bardonia
Bardonia quickly rebuilt after the war, seeing it a major success, and claimed what remained of Siege Camp. Their defenses were collected and stored away in case Bardonia was ever declared war on again, but the obsidian tower still stands in place of the original town hall, fortified and ready to shelter the Bardonians as it did before.

Long-Term, after the war, Bardonia would see its rise to be recognized among the Great Powers of the World, following the Decline of the Old Guard. Bardonia, to this day, continues to grow as a household name in Rathnir.

Governmental reforms
The Empire of Uldarash saw a need for some sort of reform after their loss from the war. Though this reform was always in the back of citizens minds, only now was it voiced publicly. Most notably, Emperor WilusaWarrior of Uldarash, also the King of Talawa over Lukkawa and Lukka, officially stepped down the day after the war. A transition to a unified monarchy was in place, though Uldarash seemed to be on track to become a republic like it's predecessor Paloro. This however, did not take place, even with Dentro later on leaving his title as sole Emperor to be granted to the Regent Emperor WhiskeyKnight, who remains the Emperor to this day.

Long-Term, Uldarash found itself consistently centralizing in hopes to keep its nation from collapsing, and its players from turning inactive. This seemed to be a moderate success, and though Uldarash's claims are now far more stretched out than before the war, there have been no conflicts regarding the borders. Osudal toyed with the idea of its independence, remaining an independent nation for a little over a month, before complications had them turn back to an Uldarashi state. Overall, Uldarash has been recovering, albeit slowly, from the war.

Paloro
When the War was about to begin, Palovina stated it's intolerance for Uldarashi engagement, noting that Uldarash would lose the war if their forces were to engage first. Furthermore, Palovina announced it's secession from the empire in case of an Uldarashi offence. After the war, Palovinan leader Keechoo requested a minimum of $20,000 from the public to complete Palovinan secession. After receiving what Keechoo stated to be "far more" than the requested amount, Palovina seceded the day after, stating it would reform the nation of Paloro between Palovina and Felsonsvhon. Paloro has already established their own claims, only to be met with even more land than desired. The two states maintain neutral relations. After declaring independence, Paloro had seen a notable growth in citizens despite their political situation.