Festival of War and Remembrance

The fourth war to come to the realm of MagicDuel was more unique than the previous three. First, the war only had one participating alliance, the Guerrilla Golemicarum alliance. It was the first civil war of the realm that occurred in a once-proud and strong alliance. Second, it is unique on its own because it happened immediately after the third war had slumped into a stalemate. It had started so fast that there was no time to finish the third war properly as no treaties had been signed.

Liberty, seeing his allies and his own soldiers falter, gave up and Jester was victorious, but at a costly price. But the enslavement of Khalazdad’s soul did not only break the enemy’s spirit, it was also considered as a loss by many others in the realm. The animosity of the first war had passed and many, if they did not love, surely did respect him; and if not him, then surely his offspring. The burning of Khalazdad’s soul had turned the already public opinion against Yrthilian to a new low when another incident had occurred that had sparked the embers of the civil war.

On the 27th of September of Year 4, a mere three days after the great clash of armies of the third war, a mere three days after Khalazdad’s soul was enslaved, Yrthilian had exiled his Second in Command, Grido. And he was banned from both court and land. Was it paranoia? Or was it perhaps betrayal of the highest order? The true reasons were hidden from many. Few had known that, before the third war of GG and KotB against CotE and Necrovion, Yrthilian had planned on passing the GG alliance to Grido.

But the third war came nonetheless and to appear strong and to prevent internal instability, Yrthilian kept to the crown and the leadership of the alliance. With wanting to defend Loreroot, Yrthilian and Liberty invaded Necrovion, which subsequently made a Lorerootian Alliance, the CotE, join the fight against GG and KotB. Now, with Yrthilian holding on to the alliance to prevent instability, he had exiled his Second in Command. Over the course of hours after the proclamation of banishment, Grido moved to rally support for a new cause: to depose King Yrthilian from the throne.

Irony is not Yrthilian’s friend.

The reasoning behind the banishment was that Grido was planning to take the Necrovion Sentinels alliance after the Golemus alliance had been taken by Peace. But along with the arrival of Jester as the leader of the Necrovion alliance, came his supporters.  And among those supporters were close friends, who Grido was unwilling to harm in such a way. Grido told Yrthilian of his plan, and of his reasons for not following through. Yrthilian, seeing this as betrayal, had thus exiled Grido.

Immediately after the banishment, Grido was invited to the Necrovion alliance by one of his friends. He declined, realizing that there was no need to betray the rest of his land by joining Necrovion, and so he rebelled against Yrthilian. Surely people would see that it was Yrthilian who had invaded lands, that it was he who forced Grido and others to fight against friends, that it was he who had burned the soul of a great man, and that it was he who was so paranoid that he exiled his own second in command, an indispensable asset to the land and alliance. Wodin’s relative weakness to most other strong fighters was blamed on Yrthilian as well, as it was he who was in control of his soul.

But it was not to be so. While Grido had acquired supporters, such as Metal Bunny, Emperor of the Bunny Empire, Grido knew he required more than just support to overwhelm Yrthilian. Grido and his supporters had appealed to the almighty Maker to undo his decision to make Yrthilian a King. A call to vote was issued, much like what happened when Raven had asked for the leadership of Loreroot, except the vote was held to depose Yrthilian, not elect him.

Much like the second war, there was no real battle. Thankfully, while there may have been vendettas, etiquette and manners were still upheld. The primary wages of this war were held on the forum, with each side convincing people to vote one way or the other. The third war was no more, as it was obvious that Liberty was morally supporting Yrthilian and the Necrovions were condemning Yrthilian’s actions, but no actual actions significant to the third war were taken. That war did not end, it simply turned cold, as the fire in men and women had turned to burn for either Yrthilian or Grido. The third war of MD transformed into the GG civil war in just a few hours.

The votes were cast and it was the first time that such a vote was held. But the way the votes were counted had met with opposition. Everyone was allowed to vote: those who were neutral, enemies, or allies,  People who had no relationship with GG and people who had been enemies of GG had their votes reduced in effect, but their votes were still counted.

Then there was the question of the merit of votes, as some votes had weighed more if they had better arguments. The content of the arguments, however, were scrutinized in a less intensive manner. The votes were counted and when viewed from different perspectives, such as GG citizens only, or acceptable arguments or even just the raw amount of votes, the outcome would change from a win or a loss for Yrthilian. In each aspect of the vote tally, it was a very close outcome. In the end, it was Grido’s side that had barely lost.

But the losing side was not content with the outcome. They debated the arguments that were for Yrthilian, as most of them simply stated that a king had the right to exile and nothing else. Grido’s side refused to admit defeat and maintained their revolution. And with help of a friend, it was successful enough.

Before the voting, Princess Peace had promised to return the GG alliance, regardless of the outcome of the vote. It was not specified, however, to whom she’d give it. Seeing as how it was Yrthilian who had enslaved her father’s soul, she naturally gave the alliance to the opposition on the 8th of October of Year 4. She did not mind, as she and many on Grido’s side were friends. As such, a new balance was obtained in Golemus Golemicarum.

On the one side was Yrthilian, who remained King of Golemus. But he had been estranged from his people, ostracized by neutrals and hated by his enemies for the deeds he had done. On the other side was Grido’s team, who had lost the vote, but had a firm grip on the alliance.

A cold war came into place, much like the end of the third war, and none ever admitted defeat.

New events took place so that no one would have to admit full defeat. The Era of the RPCs would soon end and while there were kings before, only now did elections take place for the other lands. Peace was voted Queen of Necrovion, reestablishing Khalazdad dynasty rule in Necrovion, as Jester resigned as alliance leader after his defeat. With Jester gone and Peace’s more peaceful approach, as well as friendly relationship with the GG Alliance, the stalemate of the third war ended in peace.

Lifeline became King of Marind Bell and Liberty slowly faded out of the picture, as the defeats on both the battlefield and the diplomatic field took their toll.

Firsanthalas became king of Loreroot, burdened with the arduous task of helping fellow Lorerootians to stabilize the land and its alliances and guilds.

The GG alliance formed the Second Triumvirate, consisting of Metal Bunny, Grido, and Burns.

It was in this situation the realm had entered a strange and eerie peace. It was mostly a cold war situation in the beginning, while other places were busy unifying and removing dissident voices. It was time that made some forget and put on a more friendly face, and that was all that was needed for some to be on speaking terms yet again.

The 4th year of MD had seen three wars, all of them started and ended within the length of the first war in Year 3. The Era of the RPC had also ended and the Age of Kings had begun in earnest.

We are now almost halfway through Year 5, who knows what time will bring?