Free Castle

Free Castle was a squatter settlement in the Aldovir Peninsula, located to the north of The Lunar City State of Lirgal and west of the Sironian city of Asalath. During its existence, it was considered to be an illegal proxy claim by the Sironian government and as such was removed by server admins.

It was originally founded in December of 2021 as a small squatter town inside the territory of the Empire of Aldovir (later Astyllea). While its Lunari inhabitants claimed that the castle was destroyed and looted by Astyllean forces, Sironia maintains that the castle's former inhabitants agreed to abandon it voluntariy.

It was later found by Arkanae Morningstar, who resettled it with Lunari PvPers on orders from the government of Lunaris.

History
In mid-April 2022, a Sironian merchant offended the Empress of Lunaris by selling "the Protection of Sakrelith". Although the details are still unclear, as to why or how this happened, General Skinnyee decided to travel to Lunaris and discuss the incident with the Empress as a sign of goodwill. Instead of being receptive to his discourse, the Princess reprimanded him for the behaviour of the merchant and patronisingly insulted his poor command of the Traveler's Tongue, which he was unfamiliar with as a Sironian islander. In response, Ythar II of Sironia also traveled to Lunaris and attempted to discuss the issue with the Princess as an equal, explaining the merchant had no official sanction and was simply an enterprising missionary of Sakrelism. However, despite repeated attempts to resolve the issue, the talks proved unsuccessful and so Ythar returned to Sironia with Skinnyee and the merchant. After a diplomatic missive was sent from Lunaris that implied the issue was still unresolved, Ythar sent an official letter to the Princess, it read: "Cope lmao", this was the last communication between the Sironian and Lunari governments.

Soon after this, it was noted by inhabitants of Asalath that activity was occurring within the old fortress known as "Free Castle". Upon further investigation, it was discovered that a small party of Lunari legionnaires had taken the fort and were now building up its defenses. A reconnaissance mission was able to contact the Lunari and it was quickly understood by the Sironians they had been sent there by the Princess to harass and inhibit the development of Sironia's largest town, Asalath. After a more heated encounter in which Joe Frank Kennedy of Azethvir was put under a temporary curse of Heart Disease by a Lunari witch-warrior, the Sironian government declared the Free Castle squatters as an Invasive Proxy settlement. In response to this, larger numbers of Lunari troops began to pour into the area, and soon after, claims on Sironian territory were invented in preparation for an offensive war.

The Lunari inhabitants of Free Castle fabricated a historical background on which to place their claims. This was done by inventing the Kingdom of Lóthra, which was said to have controlled the northern Aldovir peninsula, and was created in order to potentially expand claims over all of Sironia. The veracity of these claims has been disproven by Sironian archaeologists and historians, as there is no historical evidence for the existence of Lóthra. Free Castle was therefore supposedly created as a fortification against "Sagaviri invaders" and claims that it was one of the main settlements that served as a point of resistance against the rise of the Empire of Sagavir, although it is common knowledge that Sagaviri tribes in fact inhabited all of Aldovir before the Asara tribe united them.

It further invented Barony of Anráce, which supposedly would have prevailed the fall of Lóthra, being protected by the marshland and the hilly terrain that surrounded it. The settlement was called Kaithráce, now translated as Free Castle, to express their continuted opposition to native Sironian rule over their own territory. Local claims of the destruction of the settlement by Astyllean forces were also fabricated, as the settlement was abandoned after its former squatter inhabitants came to an agreement with Sironian authorities.

Free Castle War
After the entrance of Vanakunir into Sironia, the Lunari squatters became more aggressive, and began to send raiding parties out to Sironian cities. In response to this, Benalish Jenkins of Asalath surrounded the Free Castle with a claimed wall. This further enraged the Lunari, who opened a war ticket and the admins forced Asalath to attack the claim. Plans developed by the Vanakuniri general Skinnyee were being set into motion when it became apparent that large amounts of PvPers and Mercenaries from across Rathnir were going to assist the Lunari under the name of the BMW. Skinnyee lost all hope and the Sironian Homeguarde dissolved into chaos. Additionally, biased admin Kaykara banned many Sironians who could fight solely to keep them out of the way until the war was over.

Due to this, all of Sironia's trained forces had effectively been blocked from attending the battle by the Lunari. Thus, on the eve of battle, the only notable Sironian present was Benalish of Asalath. Although two volunteers from Tovarisha also attended, it proved an insurmountable task to even hold position against the extremely well-trained and equipped mercenaries. Despite this, Benalish and the volunteers held firm, establishing a position in the middle of the only bridge that crossed the swamp from the Castle to Asalath. The mercenaries hesitated and only advanced slowly at the beginning, fearing a diversion or ambush, but soon realised the mournful situation of Sironia. They eventually began a frontal assault of the bridge, but their advance was slow. Almost an entire hour passed before the Tovarishan volunteers had been slain and Benalish stood alone at the far side of the bridge. He held his position valiantly, but was eventually thrown off the bridge by the Lunari commanders, who spared his life out of pity, and then proceeded to sack the city as quickly as possible.

The terror and carnage wrought upon Sironia's largest city shocked the nation. The loss of population as the city fell was exacerbated as other town leaders resigned in disgust, with Gerianarsh and Verika being abandoned soon after. Other high-ranking officers, governors, and diplomats also quit, including Mad Havardr and SirMeows. This resulted in the first major collapse in Sironia's population since the deposition of Ythar II during the First Aldoviri Empire. Due to this, Skinnyee was able to convince the ailing Archon to appoint him Regent, and he began the reign of terror known as the Dictatorship of Orbit by allowing the Anra of Volstronn to annex Sironia.