Varkonia: Difference between revisions
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Up to April of 2019, Wubzy had been the leader of the Kaiserreich Protectorate, under Varkonia, and had been representing the Kaiserreich as voting member of the UNC. In mid-April, Wubzy decided to vote against the UNC Iceroad Proposal, which was planned to create a unified iceroad network between all UNC member states. His reasoning for voting against it was "We always approve stuff, I want some conflict here". He was the sole voting member to vote against the project. In the UNC, votes have to be passed unanimously; if even one voting member votes against it, the measure will fail. Wubzy's position as a voting member had been inherited and tolerated after Kaiserreich became a protectorate under Varkonia, however this stunt caused massive outrage among the entire UNC, especially within Varkonia, which had been embarrassed by it.
Wubzy had not actually been playing the game for months and his sole activity was participating in voting in the UNC. Other members of Kaiserreich, such as LazavPhenax, were increasingly becoming disgruntled with Wubzy's leadership in abstentia. The Red Duke of Varkonia reached out to LazavPhenax, and discussed how to improve the situation. Upon opening discussions, Lazav vented a great deal about Wubzy's incompetence and inactivity, and let the Red Duke know that in fact Lazav had ownership of all the groups, bastions, and snitches. Hearing this, the Red Duke suggested that Lazav should become the leader of Kaiserreich, since he was actually active, competent, and ready to lead. Lazav agreed, and the Senate voted in favor of this action on April 22. On April 24 LazavPhenax declared himself leader of Kaiserreich, deposing Wubzy<ref name=":0">https://www.reddit.com/r/Varkonia/comments/bgnpe6/formal_overthrow_of_lil_wubzy_and_zestysquidward/</ref>.<blockquote>''"Wub/wubzy hasnt logged into the server/contributed since September. Yet the reason I bring this all up is for the sole fact Wub still leads the country despite having no backing to his power, representing and voting on behalf of Kaiserreich on the global and alliance stage. When Valyria basically annexed our country under the assumption of complete inactivity, I was the one who brokered the transfer of our land back with the assistance of Mickale and the UNC beside us. The citizen had to step up on behalf of his nation because the leader kept flaking and saying he was going to get on to help, despite never doing so. As a result of that event, all reinforcements and bastion efforts were done under my name as he wasn't present. Can you believe that? A leader who can't place or destroy a single block in his own city, yet I am the one with all the actual power of said country. He isn't even a member of the Kaiserreich Discord server. Yet I am supposed to see him as my leader? I tolerated this for months because i was hardly in a place to complain.'' ''Now, as it is too destructive to our civilization to allow these ghosts to keep their grip on power, I formally remove lil-wubzy and ZestySquidward from their positions and make them provisional citizens for the time being."'' (LazaPhenax, 2019)<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>
Varkonia immediately recognized this change in leadership, and deployed security forces to the region to ensure stability. As part of this arrangement, Kaiserreich became a full province of Varkonia, with the unifying treaty being re-written to remove all references of Wubzy and formalize Kaiserreich's status within Varkonia. Several buildings were added to Kaiserkin's town square and Varkonian banners were erected throughout the town. Wubzy did not contest the change and the UNC supported Varkonia's actions. The UNC Icreoad Project would now go ahead without Wubzy's objections.
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==== Varkonia Alone ====
[[File:Varkonian XP Propaganda 2.png|thumb|Varkonian Propaganda featuring the King of Nox]]
For about a week after the leaving the UNC, Varkonia was without an alliance organization. The first action Varkonia took during this time was to declare
Additionally, relations had soured extensively with their former ally of Bloom. This was the result of Truckman making inaccurate claims about Varkonia during and after the UNC dissolution, to which Varkonia responded with an official Communique to Bloom<ref>https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRQRo5ONjjfsc72cUH5W5rjNkO9QH9APxkSKcHLqhogvS-Ntnfs6WvEYMzPukIr4j8puRKENVf-rOnr/pub</ref>, which later became known as the Denunciation of Bloom. It was increasingly believed in Varkonia that Bloom in general had deteriorated in terms of competence and had become a liability that could not be trusted. It was decided that, rather than engage with Bloom diplomatically and then be disappointed by their unreliability, Varkonia should instead avoid engaging with Bloom completely.
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Almost immediately after the formation of the Entente, screenshots were sent via an anonymous account to the Red Duke of Varkonia and the rest of the Entente leadership. These appeared to show leaked conversations and plans within the newly formed UDF to attack the Entente and pearl some of its members due to the Evocator drama. A meeting was held in the Entente Presidium, in which Varkonia and the other members of the Entente analyzed the screenshots and determined that they were certainly fake. They decided to do nothing regarding this matter and adopt a 'wait and see' approach.
It turned out that the anonymous account also sent screenshots to the UDF leadership. These appeared to show leaked conversations and plans within the newly formed Entente to alt raid and attack the UDF over the prior drama between Icenia, Nyasaland, and Varkonia. These were also faked, but one of the few people online at the time was ChrisChrispie, who did not verify their accuracy and made a post on the subreddit under the title of Hostile Intentions 70, accusing the newly formed Entente of planning to attack Icenia and the UDF.
The UDF made an apology post over the matter<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/cew5zs/the_udf_formally_apologises/</ref> and both sides agreed to move on as if nothing had happened. Clearly a third party was trying to put the Entente and UDF against each other. Varkonia speculated it was someone with an interest in seeing both being weakened, likely to be Corvus- or NATO-aligned.
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In addition to expanding XP production, a new treaty was written with SPQR called the Sunfish Compact, which the Senate would pass unanimously. This was done due to SPQR being left without an alliance and in a precarious position on the border with NATO, which was unfriendly with it. SPQR would regularly supply Varkonia with a named salmon every month, such as the ''August 2019 Mola Mola,'' and the two nations would cooperate more closely. Sharing of supplies was one of the most important outcomes of this arrangement, as SPQR was actually extremely wealthy relative to its perceived presence on the server. It had many 'silent workhorses' who would not say much or take a stand on either side of political issues, but would generate large amounts of wealth.
==== The SPQR Rail Incident ====
On the evening of August 16, 2019, the Holy Jaded Empire (HJE) blocked off the SPQR-Commonwealth rail that was built and maintained by Langly, prominent citizen of SPQR<ref name=":1">https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/crstpo/hje_has_blockaded_sqprs_cw_rail_to_punish_for/</ref>. This was civilian infrastructure being used mainly by the people of SPQR and Commonwealth for trading purposes between the two distant and neutral nations. SPQR maintained its neutrality after the UNC dissolved, and the Commonwealth was also neutral to this point in the NATO-Mir war. Since it was a public rail, there was no strategic value in it either being operational or closed. Any military power would assume the rail to be snitched in part or in full, making it easily trapped and thus too dangerous to use in warfare. It was therefore surprising that HJE would shut down the rail without any dialogue, and furthermore that they would begin griefing it, especially considering that the rail predated HJE's claims to the land.<blockquote>''This was my project, built by me before anyone else even had claimed the land it is under. Now they've moved in over it, gotten themselves into a war, and are telling us to go around for refusing to take a side.'' (Langly, 2019)<ref name=":1" /></blockquote>The actions of the HJE were unfavorably viewed by neutral nations, and in particular was viewed negatively by Varkonia, as it showed HJE to be aggressive towards nations which had no active pvpers. NATO fully supported this action, with NATO-supporting players taking HJE's side in the matter.<blockquote>''How dare you stop us from entering your borders after we stopped you from entering ours'' (OrangeWizard, 2019)</blockquote>There was an important difference in this matter, which is that the UNC had barred combatants who were taking sides in the NATO-Mir war from entering their territory. The UNC never blocked passage of regular civilians, even those from NATO or Mir, from using public rails. HJE was effectively seizing neutral infrastructure and blocking neutral civilians from using it, most likely out of spite due to low opinions and mistrust of SPQR within NATO. The King of Nox began gathering support for SPQR to see how the impasse over the rail could be resolved. Varkonia went to the Entente to seek support for SPQR, which had deep cultural ties to Varkonia. The Entente agreed to provide support to SPQR because it believed SPQR to be in the right on this matter. A joint Entente-SPQR operation was conducted to clear grief from the rail and re-open it for public use. The operation successfully cleared the tunnel with no resistance. Mark_Antony recounted the events in detail in his post on the CivClassics subreddit to inform the public, explaining how SPQR tried and failed to reach any compromise with HJE diplomatically on August 26, 2019<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/cvuyxb/hostile_intentions_111_the_rails/</ref>. Flush, the spokesperson for the Entente, explained the Entente's involvement<blockquote>''This comment will serve to give context to the Entente's mission on the CW-SPQR line. For those unaware: the Entente provided assistance to the Romans working on repairing the aforementioned (public) line. This assistance was in the form of protection and removing checkpoints installed by the HJE.''
''The Entente's involvement in this was voluntary. Only Varkonia was dutybound to assist their Roman allies, but we as a whole decided to assist our member in this matter. This is not in the least because we believe the SPQR to be in the right - especially in light of the NATO border incursion which took place yesterday (including NATO forces removing snitches well within Roman territory). Trying to bully the SPQR whilst they were literally in the middle of a meeting with ComradeNick to resolve this issue diplomatically is not something many of us were willing to stomach in face of a call for help. For those who tend to justify their every action in the form of whataboutisms: this is in stark contrast to the patient and highly compromising attitude the SPQR has had during negotiations and during the preceding border drama.''
''Going forward it is our hope that the unprovoked and unnecessary use of physical force, specifically against the SPQR, can be ended. Today's mission was harmless and extremely limited in scope. We have clearly signalled our intention to support the resolution of this issue through purely peaceful, diplomatic means and for the threat of coercion to be removed from talks. We have no desire for conflict arising out of this - to the contrary, we intend for today's mission to be preventative.'' (Flush, 2019)<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/cvuyxb/hostile_intentions_111_the_rails/ey70ifk/</ref></blockquote>This issue was highly contentious, resulting in some support for both sides. As issues like these occurred, it made remaining neutral in the NATO-Mir war more difficult. On the same day, August 26, 2019, NATO combatants, including HanTzu (on the account Destrudo) entered SPQR on the surface, presumably to make a point about enforcing travel restrictions<ref>https://i.imgur.com/PU5NUHW.png</ref>. NovaCeasar, leader of SPQR, requested Varkonia's help to remove them from SPQR lands<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Varkonia/comments/cvjrwm/call_to_arms_invoking_the_treaty_of_westmore/</ref>. 16d bounties were placed on those illegally crossing over, including HanTzu, by Mark_Antony.
Varkonia discussed the best way to proceed on the matter with the Entente, and it was resolved that NATO was likely acting out due to frustration with the negative PR over the rail incident, but was not a serious threat. Varkonia would move accounts to SPQR but would not engage with NATO. Nobody in SPQR had come under attack and the action was perceived as bait to escalate the conflict further. It is unclear if anything was raided in this time. At the end of the day, NATO withdrew back to Hallow, and a very uneasy peace would continue. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Varkonia, and by extension, the Entente, to remain neutral in the NATO-Mir war, largely because of provocations such as this incident, as well as the perceived toxicity of the commentary by NATO-aligned parties on the subreddit. However, Varkonia would still remain neutral and would not seek war with NATO.
==== 5,000 Diamonds ====
[[File:5000.png|thumb|Excerpt from [https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/d4jtq2/varkonia_after_demanding_5000_diamonds_to_release/ 5,000 diamond video]]]
Between July and September 2019, Thoths had been in contact with his friends in Mir, such as Magier and Walkers, and wanted to contribute to Mir. With Corvus being a mess due to the Evocator drama, Thoths was hoping to have fun in Mir and spend time with them. During this time period, there was growing pressure on Varkonia to free Thoths, as Thoths was in contact with his other friends as well, including Flush and Frensin of Hjaltland. The Red Duke was adamantly opposed to freeing Thoths because he had not seen any evidence that Thoths had changed his ways for the better, and knew that Thoths and Evo were still close friends, and believed they were likely closer friends than the others who were vouching for Thoths' freedom. Additionally, the only history that existed between the Red Duke and Thoths prior to this was of Thoths betraying Volterra and being pearled. The only message history between Thoths and the Red Duke at this point was of Thoths asking to be freed during that time period on Devoted 3.0, however that history was deleted and only the Red Duke's side of the conversation remained when Thoths petitioned to be freed on CivClassic 2.0. The communications the Red Duke received from Thoths were not apologetic for alt raiding, but rather accusatory, under the line of thought that Thoths had been wrongfully imprisoned to begin with. The Red Duke viewed all this as signs of dishonesty, and would regularly explain his position on the matter to those petitioning him, but they were not satisfied. The bottom line was that Thoths was friends with powerful people and because of that friendship there was preference to give him leniency despite the evidence of wrongdoing.
Eventually, Lysika of Mir would approach the Red Duke on September 9, 2019, asking about the status of both Thoths and Evo. The Red Duke explained the plan was for neither to be freed until the end of the NATO-Mir war, as both were perceived to pose a significant threat to Varkonia should they enlist the support of NATO. That position then changed to potentially freeing Thoths sooner, although with much hesitation. Lysika informed the Red Duke that Frensin was hoping to trade the pearls of Thoths and Ahri. Ahri had been pearled by Mir as Ahri had originally been supporting NATO at the onset of the war, but had since left NATO and was playing in Gensokyo while exiled. This meant the Entente was very interested in his freedom, and from the perspective of Flush and Frensin, freeing Thoths and Ahri together would solve two problems at once. However, since it was Varkonia which held Thoths' pearl, Varkonia needed to be convinced to free Thoths, and Varkonia at the time viewed Ahri's pearling as legitimate and unrelated to Thoths.
The Red Duke asked the Speaker of the Senate and the King of Nox what it would take for it to be worth it to free Thoths, believing him to be untrustworthy and almost certainly a threat considering their history. The King of Nox decreed that Thoths could be freed for the sum of 5,000 diamonds. The Red Duke and the Speaker believed this amount to be excessive, but ultimately the Red Duke forwarded this total to Lysika. This was explained as essentially being insurance: should Thoths break his word and target Varkonia, at least Varkonia would have the sum of diamonds to compensate them. Mir was outraged by the amount set for Thoths' release. [https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/d4jtq2/varkonia_after_demanding_5000_diamonds_to_release/ Lysika created a meme video over the matter, comparing the Red Duke to Sintralin.]
Eventually the Red Duke took the matter into his own hands. He was uncomfortable with the schism that had formed and was growing between himself and his friends in Mir. He disregarded the King of Nox's demand for 5,000 diamonds, and would not be negotiating on behalf of Ahri- that would fall to Flush to work out a separate arrangement with Mir. The Red Duke asked for two stacks of diamond blocks (1,152 diamonds) for Thoths freedom. Mir agreed, the amount was paid, and Thoths was freed.
Nobody was happy with this outcome. Mir felt betrayed by Varkonia, which had up to then been on relatively good terms due to their long histories together, despite earlier disagreements about the NATO-Mir war. The Entente felt undermined by Varkonia because Thoths' pearl was the only leverage the Entente had over Mir to get Ahri freed. The Entente would pay a separate fee to Mir for the release of Ahri. The King of Nox was not happy as Thoths was freed for less than 5,000 diamonds. The Senate was not even consulted on the matter.
Thoths was pearled by Mir less than a week later for betraying Mir and passing information to NATO. Lysika and the Red Duke would apologize to each other over the way the situation was handled, with the Red Duke being particularly apologetic about not articulating his rationale better and not having made more reasonable stipulations. With Thoths being pearled again so soon, everyone felt a little foolish, but moved on.
Thoth's exiled account was spotted heading towards Corvus on Nevrast snitches.
==== The Second Transition of Government between Varkonia and Nevrast ====
On August 30, 2019, Nevrast officially joined the Grand Duchy of Varkonia as a province and Seldomshock became a Senator. This was largely due to deteriorating relations between Seldom an Corvus, as well as a desire on Varkonia's part to help Nevrast should Corvus lash out. It was also strategically important because Nevrast was just south of Corvus and it would be very difficult for Corvus to reach Varkonia without setting off snitches within the swamps of Nevrast. Unlike the first transition of government between Varkonia and Nevrast, this would not be considered a meme later on. As a result of joining Varkonia, Nevrast also fell under the protection of the Entente by default.
==== Varkonia Goes to War with LSD and Laconia ====
''Main Article: [[Entente-Laconia War]]''
[[File:VarkoniaVault Sept2019.png|thumb|12-ring Varkonia Vault in September 2019, with functioning snitch grid marked by coordinates and sky defenses.]]
In early September, 2019, the group known as the [[LSD|Latvian Soccer Dogs (LSD)]], led by [[ashnwill]], was building a vault in the southwest quadrant of the map. This group, and in particular, their leader, had an extremely bad reputation with Varkonia. A debate was had within the Entente over how to react to this news. The Red Duke argued for immediate intervention to disable the vault that was being built, known as [[Hotel California]], on grounds that the group operating it had a very poor reputation and that they would use it as a base to raid Icenia and other nations. Others in the Entente, such as Frensin, agreed, and a military operation was planned to swiftly capture the nascent vault, pearl any defenders, and snitch it. A large motivating factor was the concern that, with the NATO-Mir war dragging on into its 7th month, allowing LSD to build a vault in the region would inevitably lead to a future conflict with the Entente. It was the opinion of the Red Duke then that, if conflict was to be inevitable, then the Entente, which was militarily prepared, should strike immediately before the LSD could fortify, which would have made it much more difficult to deal with later on. This was a major reversal of the neutrality Varkonia vouched for at the onset of the NATO-Mir war, primarily because the Varkonia Vault was now nearly complete and much more easily defended. On September 7, 2019, the attack would commence, with combined forces from the Entente and SATO disabling the LSD vault. The Red Duke and the King of Nox would both join the efforts in person. The next day, Ashnwill would surrender himself, and he would end up in the Varkonia Vault. An official post would be made by Britishwanderer explaining the situation<ref>https://old.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/d1d0dj/the_ententes_statement_regarding_yesterdays/</ref>.
On 28 September, [[Laconia]] attempted to tear down the LSD vault pyramid, with intent to transport thousands of diamonds back to Laconia. A force of 13 players was brought to ensure the safe transport of the materials. The Entente noticed the movements and prepared for an attack, suspecting that they would be tearing down the vault pyramid for diamonds. The Entente decided to delay the attack until the LSD and Laconian force had left the remains of the vault. A joint contingent of Mir and Entente forces chased the LSD-Laconian force. 6 Laconians were pearled, leading to a loss of ~700 diamonds. All of the soccer dogs in the Laconian force survived, except for Topher3001 who was exile-pearled (but later freed by mistake). One Laconian leader, Tofee_Dodger, was also pearled. This was the most decisive naval battle in CivClassic 2.0 history, being a total loss for LSD-Laconian forces, and each pearled player dropping stacks of diamonds upon their demise. Varkonia upgraded ashnwill to be prison-pearled after this event, where he would remain until the end of the server, with widespread support, particularly among Icenia, encouraging his continued imprisonment.
The direct involvement of Laconia in this matter expanded the conflict from just Entente-LSD to Entente-Laconia. In Early October, 2019, the Entente attacked Mt. Doom, Laconia's capital. The timing was not ideal for Varkonia, with only Seldomshock able to participate on behalf of Varkonia, significantly less than was expected. The Entente forces were repelled. Entente analysts believe the defeat was due to several factors:
# The attack was initially staged at bedrock, then later in a sub-surface skybridge. This meant the tunnel and low-lying skybridge were vulnerable to Laconian counter-attacks.
# Varkonia did not provide any commanders for this assault, resulting in fewer players able to organize the effort.
# Exiled players were able to thwart the advances of the attackers by reinforcing obsidian in the path of the attack. Since they were already exiled, the only way to deal with this was to prison pearl them or to dedicate a handful of attackers specifically to killing them.
# City Bastion mechanics were broken, allowing players to place them and immediately reinforce them to full-strength, making it almost impossible to advance the attack bridge due to not being able to reinforce it.
The Entente's attack tunnel was captured and disabled by Laconia, who began mustering additional forces, including NATO-aligned and Corvus-aligned fighters on alts. On October 17, Laconia counter-attacked, with the support of Baes20, and griefed portions of Hjaltland's 2nd Vault, Eternity. This happened due to the odd hours of the attack, the incomplete vault snitch grid, and the Entente not expecting Laconia to go on the offensive. The attack was a reminder that wars are complicated, and that the Entente was not infallible, reducing the deterrence it had previously enjoyed.
==== Imprisonment of Evocator ====
[[File:Corvus Pearl.png|thumb|Seldom's alt adjacent to the Corvus Vault, being chased by rain_of_fire6 and exile-pearled Evocator (Ronald_Raiding). Progress on the Corvus Vault can be seen in mini-map in the top right.]]
Simultaneously to the escalation in conflict with the LSD and Laconia, Corvus was hard at work building a vault and snitching the trench that fully surrounded their city. By chance, Seldomshock had logged in to an alt account that was inside Corvus while he was looking for accounts to send to the Entente war effort in the south. He happened to be directly adjacent to the Corvus vault, which didn't exist when he last logged out on that account. Seldom was able to gather intelligence on Corvus and its and level of construction. Significant efforts had been undertaken since the pearling of Evocator, who was online at the time, likely aiding and commanding the construction efforts. Seldomshock was pearled in Corvus, and then later released after he explained he was just trying to get his account out of there. Following some consideration, Varkonia came to the realization that Corvus was preparing for War with Varkonia over Evocator, and their militarization efforts were an alarming wakeup call that Varkonia would soon be on the frontlines of war. To slow their efforts and disorganize their players, the Varkonian senate voted to upgrade Evocator to prison pearl. Evocator was imprisoned on September 23, 2019, and would remain there until the end of the server.
==== Outbreak of War with Corvus ====
Several days after being imprisoned, Evocator made a post on the subreddit, placing a 500d bounty on all Varkonian citizens, and a 250 bounty on all citizens of the Entente (later revised to 500d on all Varkonians and 250d on all fighters in the Entente)<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/d9st8j/upgraded_to_prison_pearl_by_varkonia_without_any/</ref>. This was considered as a declaration of war on Varkonia, and by extension, the Entente. The Senate debated whether to directly attack Corvus before it could further complete its vault. Intelligence reports indicated that the Corvus trench had not yet been fully snitched, and that a sneak attack may be possible via a skybridge. Varkonia went to the Entente and plans were drafted for an assault on Corvus. Before this could happen, the situation escalated with Laconia and Laconia would take precedence over Corvus.
[[File:Ulexos.png|thumb|Senate discussion from 2018 about Ulexos illegally snitching Gabon.]]
Ulexos, a wanted criminal from the UNC days for illegal snitching, was spotted near the border of Nevrast on October 1st, 2019<ref>https://i.imgur.com/sZLPYjW.png</ref>, and was subsequently pearled and vaulted in Varkonia. It was unknown at the time that Ulexos was a member of Corvus, however it soon became clear that he was not only just a member of Corvus, but also a high-ranking member, because he was the owner of the group D<ref>https://i.imgur.com/521BJ7k.png</ref>, which Impasse and then later Corvus had their main snitches on. While Ulexos and Corvus demanded answers, Varkonia was trying to put together the pieces and consider who it was that they had just pearled.
The next day, October 2nd, 2019, coltguy97, a relatively inactive member of Corvus, seemingly inexplicably walked into the city of Varkonia. Seldomshock informed him to not travel to Varkonia, although Coltguy would dispute this and claim he was never informed. He was promptly pearled and vaulted in Varkonia, bringing the total of Corvus-affiliated pearled held by Varkonia up to 3. Coltguy made a post about this on the subreddit, whereby Corvus attempted to give Varkonia bad PR for its actions<ref>https://old.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/dc62yy/dont_try_to_be_a_tourist_in_varkonia_worst/</ref>.
==== Corvus Attacks the Varkonia Vault ====
After the pearling of Coltguy, that same night Corvus launched a major military operation into Varkonian territory. 8 Corvus accounts were involved in digging a tunnel from Corvus to Varkonia, with a bunker being built just outside of Varkonia’s city. It was discovered and Entente troops rapidly moved up to the Varkonia Vault to mount a defense. The Corvus forces retreated, and Varkonian-led forces closed in and removed the set-up site, found to contain attack supplies including many compacted obsidian. Varkonian-led forces then travelled down the tunnel to Corvus, where the involved accounts began logging back in. Varkonia went about digging its own tunnel to Corvus, however, there was a push towards de-escalation before any further operations were conducted. No fighting occurred, Corvus was simply out-maneuvered from having been spotted, and they abandoned their effort to attack Varkonia's vault. It's clear that Coltguy was simply bait, whereby Corvus was hoping to break the Varkonia vault overnight and more easily break the pyramid, the reinforcement of which would not be fully matured from Coltguy being vaulted earlier that same day.
==== Corvus-Varkonia Negotiations ====
On October 5, 2019, The General Secretary of the Entente established communications with Roguex7, who represented Corvus. A preliminary ceasefire was agreed while talks were arranged<ref>https://i.imgur.com/kZXRIeS.png</ref>. On the 8th of October, Varkonia reached out to Corvus to inform them of a tunnel that had been constructed towards Corvus, dating back to the initial onset of war. It was hoped that Varkonia could explain that this tunnel was not a violation of the ceasefire<ref>https://i.imgur.com/hX1ctHO.png</ref>. Corvus tried to characterize it as Varkonia having violated the Ceasefire, but this was dispelled. Varkonia believed it was actually Corvus which was violating the ceasefire, and proved this through documentations by Seldomshock. On October 12, Corvus-aligned pvpers were responsible for several violations of the ceasefire, making incursions into Nevrast and attempting to pearl Seldomshock, who then placed a bounty on Mikhail_Smirnov<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/dgqi0a/35d_bounty_on_mikhail_smirnov/</ref>. Corvus responded indicating that those actions were not sanctioned, with Rogue saying he was getting upset that people in Corvus were undermining the peace process<ref>https://i.imgur.com/abYlmIz.png</ref>. Negotiations were tense, and Varkonia was increasingly getting frustrated, because from their perspective Corvus was attempting to take the moral high ground on the Subreddit, meanwhile negotiations were stalled and they were violating the cease-fire regularly in Nevrast. Corvus then attempted to accuse Varkonia of planning an attack, then withdrew that accusation<ref>https://i.imgur.com/lFuymjz.png</ref>.
On October 20, 2019, Corvus pearled ObtainableSpatula, leader of ImperialTruidance, member of the UDF, which was neutral in all of the ongoing conflicts<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/dkda36/why_did_corvus_attack_and_pearl_a_head_of_state/</ref>. This was seen as an escalation of Corvus aggressiveness in general.
The Next day, on October 21, 2019, NovaCeasar, leader of SPQR, was pearled in Roma, the capital of SPQR, while offering to give a tour to what turned out to be a member of Corvus. She was vaulted in Corvus, with the promise of being freed in a reasonable amount of time<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/dkse3i/pearled_in_roma_by_epicydes_and_held_by_stim_in/</ref>. She would soon be transferred to the HJE and remain pearled there until the end of the Infinity War. This was highly regrettable to the Entente, which was engaged in warfare on two fronts and due to the server mechanics at the time, breaking a defended vault would be nearly impossible. Should the wars continue, SPQR would have to be undefended due to its distance from friendly nations and proximity to hostile nations.
On October 23, 2019, since private negotiations were not getting anywhere, Varkonia made a public offer for peace to Corvus and explained it actions up to that point<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/dm3y4u/regarding_coruvs_an_explanation_and_a_way_forward/</ref>. This was seen widely as a positive step. The main points of the peace offer were:
* Varkonia releases Coltguy97 immediately.
* Varkonia holds a trial for Ulexos, who's maximum sentence would be 1 month exiled.
* Varkonia releases Evocator after a maximum sentence of 6 months. He could be released after 3 months if determined to be on good behavior by the Varkonian Senate.
* Varkonia and Corvus cease hostilities towards each other.
* Varkonia and Corvus agree to non-agression towards each other going forwards.
These conditions were widely seen as extremely lenient- Varkonia would commit to releasing everyone currently held by them, and Corvus would not have to offer anything in material, simply allow the people currently pearled to serve finite sentences and promise not to attack Varkonia. Evocator rejected the proposal, and Varkonia withdrew the offer. To Varkonia, this showed that Corvus was not interested in peace, but rather wanted an escalation of conflict. Varkonia would continue to hold the Corvus pearls until the end of the server, unable to reach agreements with any of the players.
The result of the failed negotiations was astonishment at Corvus's refusal and off-and-on skirmishes between Varkonia and Corvus. Several new accounts periodically would get pearled in Varkonia on their way to Corvus, as the Varkonia Vault was located in the middle of an ocean that new players would often use to travel through. Seldom would continue to evade all attempts at pearling him in Nevrast.
==== The Transition of Government between Varkonia and Aurum ====
[[File:Aurum.png|thumb|Flag of Aurum]]
On October 16, 2019, Aurum, led by Deserve (SirFriendzone)<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/deoact/announcing_aurum_a_callout_for_something_better/</ref>, requested to join the Grand Duchy of Varkonia soon after its formation. The territory was the easternmost so far to request to join Varkonia, and was rapidly approved by unanimous vote of the Senate. Aurum would be a valuable and strategically important part of Varkonia near the center of the map. Aurum contained grasslands, mesa, desert, and some inherited builds and structures from earlier in the map. SirFriendzone invested significant wealth into developing factories for Aurum, including a compactor, xp cauldron, and ore smelter. Snitches were also put down in Aurum to help with its defense, and Aurum would contribute diamonds to the Varkonian war effort.
== Government ==
Line 1,257 ⟶ 1,335:
[[Category:CivClassic 2.0]]
[[Category:In Progress]]
[[Category:Northwest Countries (CivClassic 2.0)]]
==References==
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