War of the Black Flag

The War of the Black Flag was a major war in Eldham fought between the Zamotz Union and the Pirate State of Barbossa. Tensions between the two countries began as Barbossan bandits and Zamotian bandit hunters clashed in several skirmishes on the island of Zamotz and Barbossa's mainland. After negotiations between August 4th and 6th failed, an assault on the Isle of Krakens was conducted by the Shirokanezan Anti-Bandit Force. The battle, which took place on August 8th, was known as the Battle of the Kraken Isles.

Prelude
The Shirokanezan Anti-Bandit Force was founded during the Tesumasima, a time of political turmoil in the island of Zamotz. During this period, bandits were paid to kill natives on the island to prevent them from forming an army capable of resisting outside colonists, whom had colonial ambitions to take over the island. Shirokaneza, a city on the north-west of Zamotz, scraped a force large enough to kill individual bandits as they raided cities. Seeing their first victory at the city of Indusia, the Shirokanezans would slowly gain more numbers and equipment to counter-attack any further bandit raids on the island.

Eventually, the Anti-Bandit Force would begin its operations internationally. Although some Shirokanezans fought alongside Druk Yul in the Horse War, the Barbossan raid on Goldenvale was met with opposition from the Anti-Bandit Force, sparking the first skirmishes between the bandit hunters and pirates.

Skirmishes before August 4th
Although Shirokaneza was largely successful in its first encounter with Barbossa, killing the leader of the bandit group there, it would soon suffer a minor defeat. Two bandit hunters infiltrated the Isle of Krakens to kill several bandits located inside of the city, posing as tourists. Although they accomplished their objective, much of the city population assembled and surrounded the bandit hunters, killing them both.

The situation only worsened as Barbossa began conducting raids on the island of Zamotz, killing natives and attempting to assassinate the Queen of Shirokaneza in the struggle. Another pirate, Rockbrazil, attempted to kill builders on the island but was intercepted and killed. Controversy ensued as to whether he was affiliated with Barbossa, as the pirates denied sending him despite his residency in the Isle of Krakens.

The August 4th Meeting
After a Barbossan ally, the Empire of Aldovir, threatened to go to war with Shirokaneza, the two sides began diplomatic talks for a peaceful alternative to conflict. Although Aldovir eventually withdrew its threats to Shirokaneza, Barbossa stood its ground. Shirokaneza felt that their demands to Barbossa were justified, demanding the end of bandit harboring in cities such as the Isle of Krakens. Barbossa, on the other hand, believed that this was a demand too extreme, as they were a country founded by and largely populated by pirates. Ultimately, negotiations froze on August 5th with the Barbossan leader, Sarlican, exiting negotiations; on August 6th, the Zamotz Union would send an ultimatum to Barbossa, doubling down on their demands and threatening war if Barbossa did not comply.

War
As Barbossa publicly declined the ultimatum minutes after it was sent, both sides began immediate preparations for war. There were still communications between the two main belligerents - discussions over the peace terms and location of the battle were all agreed upon by both sides.

Shirokanezan Preparations
The Anti-Bandit League was aware of Barbossa's wide connections across all of Eldham. Already believing themselves to have better equipment and experience in the field, the only issue would be the numbers advantage. Some Zamotians believed the battle could be won without any additional support, but mercenaries from the Empire of Aristios were hired to reduce the numerical disadvantage regardless. Three generals - ElKool, Hanzu, and Zayshi - worked together to coordinate the Anti-Bandit League in its entirety before and during the battle, whilst Inverse commanded the Aristian mercenaries. A small defense force was also left behind at Shirokaneza during the battle, to intercept any Barbossan raiders if needed.

Barbossan Preparations
Knowing that the Anti-Bandit League's individual soldiers could hold their own against some of the better trained soldiers of the realm, Barbossa sought to maximize its numerical advantage. Using its connections from abroad, the Pirate State was able to create a vast coalition of countries across Eldham. The cove within the city of the battle, the Isle of Krakens, saw gatherings between allied forces of various countries in the hours before the battle's official start. Commanders of each country were left with a general plan and with control of their respective armies, with no central chain of command.

Pre-Battle
The coalition forces, although partially centered at the cove, were scattered out across the city. The Stoneguard legion of men, which held positions on the wall, quickly fell under attack by Shirokanezan raiders, and were decimated early on. Other soldiers who strayed too far from the cove would also find themselves swarmed and killed, contributing to high early losses for the coalition without much damage being done to the Anti-Bandit Force. The early losses sustained ruined plans set forth by coalition leaders, and no backup plan had been coordinated beforehand.

Battle
Shirokaneza pushed into the city after taking over the walls, fighting small groups of soldiers that were still scattered in the city. As most soldiers from other countries did not have a way to break through the Barbossan barricades, many found themselves stuck and unable to rejoin their comrades, eventually being killed by the Shirokanezan force. Others would fall into holes dug by Shirokanezans and have no way out. Among these was Captain Leuxos, one of the highest ranking members of the Barbossan force, whom fell in with some of their own soldiers. The disappearance of the captain during the battle only added to the lack of coordination between the coalition forces.

Another major encounter took place on the bridge of the cove. Soldiers from Goldenvale and Uraka, numbering roughly 14 in total with most from Uraka, met the Zamotian force to block their passage to the other side. Most coalition members had withdrawn their men from this region, opting to provide support through bows or, in some cases, retreating altogether. This left the Uraka and Goldenvale men unreinforced whilst Zamotz's men continued piling up throughout the clash. Although the death toll on both sides from this encounter is in dispute, it ultimately ended in a defeat for the coalition, with the Zamotians pressing forwards and critically wounding the Imperator of Uraka, eliminating him from the battle.

The largest confrontation took place in the interior of the cove, at a waterfall flanked by small buildings. After briefly falling back to their headquarters to reequip themselves, one Shirokanezan still in the city dug a tunnel to gain access from the city of Saigon to the center of the coalition's headquarters. The Anti-Bandit Force quickly took control over the ground level of the region, with attempts by the coalition to retake it resulting in failure. Zamotian soldiers would also attempt to swim up the waterfall, with most attempts being botched by the coalition's archers. The few Zamotian soldiers that did make the journey up managed to damage the coalition army, but progress was quickly beginning to slow as their armor began to break.

The Anti-Bandit Force reequipped and remaneuvered once more, this time scaling the walls and eventually reaching the coalition force after weathering heavy archer fire. After more losses were taken by the coalition, both sides agreed to an armistice on the evening hours of August 8th.

Aftermath
The battle was largely viewed as a Zamotian victory on both sides. As part of the pre-negotiated peace terms, Barbossa no longer be a pirate state - rather, it would transform into a mercantile state that removes all bandits & pirates from its land, and would not engage in any conflicts with the Zamotz Union, directly or indirectly.

Globally, the perception of anti-bandit leagues began to shift. With a single anti-bandit league able to destroy a coalition led by bandits, the idea of fighting back bandits on a global scale began to gain traction. The Zamotz Union hailed the victory as a turning point in this regard, stating that:

Losses
The true death toll for both sides remains unknown, though it is widely accepted that the coalition suffered significantly higher losses than the Anti-Bandit Force. According to the plugin, only one Zamotian soldier died as opposed to 35 Barbossan soldiers. This figure underestimates the true death toll of both sides, as it only includes Zamotians killed by Barbossans, and Barbossans killed by Zamotians, which means that the kill & death toll of the remainder of Barbossa's coalition is not counted. Death messages on the chat logs in the Stoneworks Discord were counted to find 88 Coalition deaths and 3 Zamotian deaths. This figure may overestimate the Barbossan deaths, however, as it may include the repeated deaths of soldiers whom already lost their armor. Captain Leuxos from Barbossa has put their personal estimate of the death toll at around 20 unique soldier deaths on the coalition's side. Moreover, there is an unknown civilian death toll, as reporters and neutral spectators would often be killed by soldiers unable to distinguish them from the enemy.

The Coalition sustained severe loss of equipment. Various sets of armor were taken or lost in the battle, and items of sentimental value also went missing amidst the chaos. The Isle of Krakens saw various parts of the city damaged by explosives, and Sarlican, the leader of Barbossa, had his house looted of its valuables.

Analysis
Despite being outnumbered and not expected to win the battle, the Zamotz Union had convincingly defeated the Barbossan coalition. Commanders from both sides weighed in after the war's conclusion to give their opinions as to why this outcome came to be, and largely came to the same consensus.

For Zamotz
Among other things, the Battle of the Kraken Isles proved that in some cases, a small force of elite soldiers is preferable to a large army. The soldiers of the Shirokanezan Anti-Bandit League had several advantages, some of which their enemy lacked, including but not limited to:


 * Fully upgraded sets of armor & weaponry for each soldier
 * High chemistry between soldiers
 * Coordination between commanders and soldiers
 * Skilled leadership

Throughout the battle, the Anti-Bandit Force faced continuous encounters against enemy soldiers. The Shirokanezan leadership knew when to temporarily withdraw and reequip, and when to remanuever to continue catching the enemy off-guard with every blow dealt. Moreover, especially since the Aristian force was small, coordination between the Anti-Bandit Force and the Aristian mercenaries was not necessary to gain any advantage on the enemy.

Against the Coalition
The clear advantages of Barbossa's coalition stopped at their numerical superiority. Although there were undoubtedly experienced commanders on the enemy side, this does not matter when there is no unified chain of command for the entire Coalition. Compared to the Third Coalition's leadership at the Battle of New Dorasterrock in Rathnir, where a handful of Viodoxan generals mostly controlled over a hundred soldiers, each separate army group at the Barbossan Coalition enjoyed a considerable degree of independence. In fact, many of the major blunders of the Coalition can be attributed to this error mixed with a mutiny by some armies to fully commit to battle with Shirokaneza.

The Stoneguard Legion and other soldiers on the walls of the Isle of Krakens were never reinforced in time to stave off the Anti-Bandit Force's early raids, mainly due to a lack of communication and a lack of willingness by some armies to engage in a full battle with the Zamotians in the early phases of the battle. During the actual battle, the Urakan and Goldenvale armies were left with nothing more than archer support from the rest of the Coalition as they faced off against Shirokaneza. Even during one of the final phases of the battle, when the Coalition was regrouped at the top of the waterfall, there was no clear leader of the coalition. Some commanders or even soldiers attempted to call on the entire Coalition to jump down and fight Zamotz head on, but never did more at a handful of soldiers jump down the waterfall at a time, with the rest opting to provide only ranged support. The leader of Uraka spoke about his discontent after the battle:

Other smaller causes for defeat were present in the Coalition, including a lack of fully upgraded armor sets (some men fought in Protection 2 armor or enchanted iron armor) and, ironically, Barbossa's own defenses. Although the Anti-Bandit Force and the Barbossans were able to break the barricades put forth to delay Zamotz's advance, other Coalition members could not. This would leave them trapped and oftentimes isolated & swarmed by Zamotian soldiers.