Varkonia: Difference between revisions

The first Senate was tested by the Alpoko-Gabon Crisis, a serious dispute between Varkonia's neighbors: the [[Alpoko|Kingdom of Alpoko]] and the Principality of Gabon. Gabon had established itself within the claims of [https://i.imgur.com/XD2Oi1g.png Alpoko], which had been considered a dead nation for months prior to Gabon's founding, however Alpoko decided to return and restore its old land claims on the 12th of July 2018. The two states began discussions, searching for possible resolutions to the competing land claims. The capitals of Gabon and Alpoko were only separated by 500 blocks, and the entirety of Gabon existed within the old claims of Alpoko. As tensions began to mount, [[Bloom]] became involved in the crisis as a third-party arbitrator. However Bloom failed to set an agreeable path for peaceful resolution. Alpoko would not compromise on its beliefs that most of Gabon should be returned to Alpoko and that a third of the leftover Gabon territory should become a trading territory mutually administered by Alpoko, Bloom, and Gabon. Initially, Varkonia remained neutral in this dispute.

[[Mount Augusta|Mount Augusta (MTA)]] in early October 2018 was a tumultuous state. Members of [[Rhodesia]], a member state of [[FRIENDS]], had been discovered breaking bastions of the MTA Vault. This followed weeks of violence and raiding by players using Rhodesian bunkers under the city. Hearing the reports of violence, Varkonia began to mobilize a taskforce led by S4NTA in the defense of MTA. Before the Varkonian military could arrive, [[Hallow]], a FRIENDS-ally of Rhodesia, had pearled offending members of Rhodesia and retreated from the area. However, while in MTA, S4NTA, Mirians, and members of the Varkonian taskforce, including Mtndew98, disabled the bunker Rhodesia was using with reinforced obsidian, in an attempt to reduce the recurrence of violence in the city emanating from it. The operation was a success and the Rhodesian bunker was disabled.

The owner of the Rhodesian Bunker, pds, allowed Baes20 to represent him in the MTA court system and filed charges against the taskforce<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/mtaugustajustice/comments/9khp2n/trial_request_rhodesia_vs_s4nta_two_heart/</ref> for damage to his property. This case directly impacted sitting Varkonian Senators, and the Senate as a whole acknowledged that it was a facetious and ungrounded case; the taskforce defended MTA against a party aggressing against MTA, and was now being sued in MTA by the aggressing party. However, HanTzu, a leader of FRIENDS and Judge in MTA, picked up the case and began processing it<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/mtaugustajustice/comments/9lxdug/trial_rhodesia_vs_s4nta_two_heart_mtndew98_venus/</ref>. Due to the sluggishness of the case, HanTzu's term expired as Judge and there was a delay before the next judge would pick up the case. Even at this early stage, HanTzu described the case as a "Mess" due to the multiple defendants and lack of clarity over who had authority in the case. At this point, MTA, [[Mir]], Nevrast, Rhodesia, and Varkonia were all directly involved with the court case.

Furthermore, GetSkinny alleged that Citylion was biased in the court case and could no longer serve as an impartial judge due to the fact that Citylion had been granted Gabonese citizenship, which automatically granted Citylion Varkonian Citizenship under the rules of the Transfer of Government between Varkonia and Gabon. While this is true under Varkonian law, the allegation was rejected in MTA, leading to a recall vote on Citylion from the MTA court system posted by Tvman<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/MtAugusta/comments/9vh7i1/recall_citylion_as_judge/</ref>, citizen of MTA and leader of Tvtopia, a UNC ally of Varkonia. The recall vote failed, however the mounting political pressure and weeks-long case had exhausted Citylion. Pds, who was disgusted with the whole process, dropped charges, and citylion ruled that the case was closed with charges dropped<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/mtaugustajustice/comments/9ub3gg/verdict_charges_dropped_pds0303_vs_s4nta_two/</ref>.

Just as it was thought the case had ended, a mistrial was requested and approved by MTA judges, with crimeo leading a continuation of investigation into the charges. Individual cases were then levied against the defendants, however Varkonian citizens were not prosecuted in the following cases, with their involvement ending on November 10 2018. As a result of the case, Citylion sued GetSkinny for defamation from the Rhodesian court case, alleging that GetSkinny's claim of Citlyion's bias due to holding Varkonian Citizenship was false and defamatory. Crimeo picked up this case and ruled that GetSkinny was guilty of defamation<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/mtaugustajustice/comments/9yjgu4/verdict_citylion_vs_jamietechqueenskinny/</ref> on November 19 2018, and sentenced to two days exiled in the MTA vault. To this day Getskinny has not fulfilled this sentence, making GetSkinny one of the oldest criminals to avoid MTA justice on the server.

The Transition of Government between Varkonia and Westmore<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/9q5dcv/announcing_the_transition_of_government_between/</ref> was proposed by Senator BritishWanderer on October 21 2018, and was approved by the Varkonian Senate and signed by the Duke of Westmore and Red Duke of Varkonia. Passage of the treaty brought Westmore into Varkonia and guaranteed Westmore protection as well as a seat on the Varkonian Senate. It united another beautiful town under the Varkonian banner, as well as expanded Varkonian security capability with extended snitch coverage north of Varkonia. Westmore maintained its voting status within the UNC after its unification with Varkonia, and its union was well-received by citizens and foreigners alike.

During the final days of the MTA Court Case from Hell, the immense pressure of providing legal services in MTA's court system got to GetSkinny and induced an episode of insanity. She, acting as Queen of Gabon, called for independence from Varkonia. This motion was rejected and, with worries about her ability to govern, popular belief in Gabon and Varkonia that she should step down and let BritishWanderer lead Gabon began to mount. Getskinny would not surrender her rule of Gabon, however, and declared war upon Varkonia and Hjaltland<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/9vgf6t/declaration_of_war_by_gabon_against_varkonia_and/</ref>. Given there was no local support for the Queen, the war ended within an hour on November 9 2018 in a decisive Varkonian victory with no casualties and no collateral damage to Gabon. GetSkinny was exile-pearled by Varkonia and BritishWanderer was hailed as the Lord High Chancellor of Gabon, restoring Gabon's union with Varkonia and ending the revolution.

Despite the hesitation, the first Transition of Government between Varkonia and Nevrast started off written in the now standard format used in previous governmental transitions. However, while the treaty was under review by Nevrast, edits were made on behalf of Nevrast to lighten the nature of the document and intentionally give it some ambiguity as far as how serious it was meant to be taken<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/a21395/announcing_the_transition_of_government_between/</ref>. Ultimately the treaty was approved by the Varkonian Senate and signed by the Leader of Nevrast and the Red Duke of Varkonia on December 1 2018.

Relations between [[Columbia]] and Varkonia had been positive since the origins of Varkonia. The Red Duke was on friendly terms with the Chancellor of the newly independent Empire of Columbia since early August 2018. Over time the Varkonian monarchy also forged a stronger relationship with the Columbian leadership, leading to direct rails being established and several guest visits. In late August 2018 the Red Duke visited Columbia to help clean up grief in the city alongside hamboy_jr and Shadedoom. Varkonia's support for Columbia during the Fish Troubles<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/971vrg/official_very_long_columbian_perspective_and/</ref>, along with increased trade, building advice, and reception of Columbia's embassy within Vakronia City, all led to the signing of a mutual defense pact called the Treaty of Vendemmia<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/a26nwi/varkonia_and_columbia_treaty_of_vendemmia/</ref> when hamboy_jr became Chancellor.

==== Establishment of the Kaiserreich Protectorate ====

[[File:Partition Of Columbia.png|thumb|This map, by Metriximor, shows the partitioning of Columbia between Kaiserreich and Lusitania circa May 2018]]

Prior to joining the UNC, Kaiserreich was an independent nation with close ties to [[Lusitania]]. In early 2018, Kaiserreich partitioned the former nation of Columbia with Lusitania. [[Metriximor]], King of Lusitania, laid claim to Columbia’s capital city on May 29, 2018 after Columbia went into decline and remaining Columbians, including KnotNSA, joined Lustania<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/8mxyqq/lusitania_expanded_claims/</ref>. Kaiserreich claimed Columbian land to the north at the same time in a combined effort. This lasted until July 2018, when shadedoom rallied Columbians to return and reclaim their historic territories, largely succeeding. This process created animosity between Columbia and Lustitania and Kaiserreich, however, as both were very reluctant to return lands to Columbia. Ultimately, neither Lusitania nor Kaiserreich were powerful or influential enough to put up resistance.

Kaiserreich opted to join the UNC in September 2018 to counter the rising pressure from Columbia, thereby putting to rest potential disputes over their territory. As a member of the UNC, Kaiserreich enjoyed closer ties with the other UNC member states, particularly Varkonia. Varkonia opened up Kaisserreich’s first and only XP shop within its embassy in Kaiserreich, aiding the development of the local economy, and providing a considerable profit to Varkonians, who were able to sell at higher rates due to their monopoly in the far-flung region.

The migration of newfriends, including Doommad and Kiwi, into the region in December 2018 started a curious series of events. These newfriends, who would later found [[Valyria]], originally traversed the border regions of the map into Hallow’s territory. They were soon pearled by Hallow and told to leave their territory. Shortly after, they migrated into neighboring Kaiserreich, and began pillaging it. Every house had been gutted, every factory broken, and the Varkonian Embassy had also been vandalized. The Red Duke, seeing the persistent presence of unfamiliar names on snitches at the Varkonian Embassy, personally made the journey up to Kaiserreich to investigate. The destruction he found was considerable, and since Varkonian property had been damaged, he immediately took charge of the situation and organized a meeting with Flushy and HanTzu of Hallow, Kiwi and Doommad of Valyria, and LazavPhenax of Kaiserreich. The result was a negotiated settlement whereby the Valyrians would return their stolen items and pay some reps to Kaiserreich while abandoning their plans to settle in Kaiserreich.

The Kaiserreich-Valyrian Incident exposed massive shortcomings in the Kaiserreich government’s ability to protect its own citizens and coordinate with its allies. Without the Red Duke’s intervention, it’s unknown when Kaiserreich would have realized the extent of the damage, and it would probably have been much harder to do anything about it. In acknowledgement of Varkonia’s support, LazavPhenax and Wub of Kaiserreich agreed to have Kaiserreich become a protectorate of Varkonia on December 10, 2018, allowing Varkonia to take the lead on international matters and increase security within the territory<ref>https://old.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/a50vxi/establishing_the_protectorate_of_the_kaiserreich/</ref>. The Senate quickly and unanimously ratified this agreement. As a protectorate of Varkonia, Kaiserreich remained a voting member within the UNC.