Sand War

The Sand War (also known as the Surif Conflict) was a large multi-nation war between the Zamotz Union and the USSE Protectorate of Merconis in Eldham, which would lay the groundwork for the later Second and Third Sand Wars. 
The war's title, the Sand War originates from the allegations created by the People's Republic of Merconis which accused the Zamotz Union of partaking in illegal sand mining and also the fact that the border dispute which was the primary catalyst for the multi-nation conflict was located in the deserts of the Zamotz province of Swardia. 
The Sand War began on November 6th, 2021 (101 TE), and would end on November 27th, 2021 (107 TE) when the USSE National Assembly passed a vote for peace. This makes the Sand War one of the longest wars in Stoneworks history, lasting exactly three weeks long.
==Antebellum==
====Emergence of the Surif Border Dispute====
On August 19th, 2021, a rebellion broke out in the northwestern Wolfswood duchy of Samuel's Peak, then a region of Avaria. The Zamotz Union declared their support for the rebels, resulting in an escalation. The rebels sought Zamotian protection and agreed to join the Zamotz Union during the dispute. Conflict between Avaria and Zamotz would be averted through a diplomatic resolution, in which the rebels' territories joined Zamotz. The final deal was revised multiple times as territory was swapped, and the changes were not fully relayed to the Cartographer's Guild.
Following the Phoenix Crisis in September, an internal agreement within Zamotz saw the transfer of governance of the rebels' territories to the newly incorporated Province of Swardia. The Swardians brought considerable manpower and investment to the region, creating the major city of Surif. Gradually becoming one of the largest cities in Zamotz, Surif was also located in one of the regions that was never clarified in the August agreements between Zamotz and Avaria. This put the city front and center in future border disputes. 
Meanwhile, the People's Republic of Merconis became an official protectorate of the United Socialist States of Eldham sometime in October. Located east of the peninsula of Cromore, which itself was east of the lands ceded to Zamotz, Merconis was an island city-state whose territories were encompassed by the city of Oblitus Oris. As a protectorate, Merconis held the rights to free independent governance and had the ability to have their own foreign relations and elected leaders with the exception that they shall not jeopardize the integrity of the United Socialist States of Eldham's political interests in a fundamental or intentional way. Around this time, the Zamotz Union created a military alliance with the USSE, called the Treaty of Two Unions, which stated that "signing nations will agree to not begin or formally assist in any war or military conflict against the other nation; the only reason a nation may act against the other signing nation is out of defence or natural obligation."
Under the USSE's watch, Merconis saw exponential economic growth, propelled by the rise of a multi-million dollar cactus farming industry. The cacti were smelted en masse to produce entire barrels' worth of XP, which were then sold in bulk to military organizations across Eldham, such as the Ravenguard, for profit. Internationally, Merconis gained a reputation for being a reliable supplier of cacti for militaries regardless of their global affiliation, an image that would persist until escalations in the Second Sand War posed a direct threat to the leaderships' power. 
On October 29th, The Pale would integrate Wolfswood into their nation. Though the leadership sought for better ties with Zamotz, they were unaware of the prior agreement and would assume that the deserts of the city of Surif, located within the ceded territory, were a part of the Pale based off the world maps. Two days following Wolfswood's entry, Merconis purchased Cromore from The Pale, giving them a border with the Zamotz province of Swardia. This, however, meant that the disputed territories were also granted to them.
====Attempts & Failures to Agree Upon the Border====
Merconis had thought that they rightfully owned the land as they had paid for it but after realizations of wrongdoing on behalf of all three nations involved with the land transaction and not figuring this out sooner, all the nations attempted to bide for peace. As alleged by Zamotian officials at the time and later supported by the Bijon Files, Merconisan attempts for peace were not genuine.
Initial agreements resulted in a more defined border whereby the desert biome would be entirely under control of the Zamotz Union yet Merconis began to incorrectly interpret the border as lying directly East of Surif. This left the land still in a grey area in terms of control and claim as Merconis claimed the border was several chunks further West than the border clearly defined by Zamotz and Avaria, the nation that preceded the Pale, in earlier regional maps and agreements. 
====Border Skirmish & Occupation of Surif====
Later, a purpoted Merconisan border surveyor was looking at the area and determining where to build a wall using the incorrect claimed border of everything East of Surif belonging to Merconis when they were killed by a Zamotian resident of Surif. While Zamotz claimed the surveyor had attacked first and was wearing armor, Merconis claimed that the surveyor was attacked first and was not wearing armor. The Bijon Files would later investigate this incident, with the border surveyor, DonutAro, confessing that he operated under Merconisan orders to instigate a conflict. 
This situation quickly escalated as just a couple of hours later, Merconis marched into Zamotz with their leader, xPotatoes, and two soldiers, and declared a kill on sight order, or "KOS", on the citizens of the town of Surif, as revenge for the allegedly unprovoked attack on their surveyor. This resulted in the citizens of Surif calling in one of the Triumvirs of the Zamotz Union, King Okomi I, to investigate. Upon arrival, he was allegedly attacked by the Merconian forces and fought alongside the citizens of Surif, killing xPotatoes and the two soldiers. Zamotz reports that xPotatoes later returned and attacked again, alone, and took off his armor during the fight, resulting in a quick death. It is unclear whether or not this is disputed by xPotatoes. After the citizens of Surif and King Okomi I defeated the Mercosian force, they reported this incident to the USSE and the Zamotz council. On top of this all, Merconis claimed that Zamotians had begun mining sand in their territory which opted the name the "Sand War" as both a play on the dispute over the desert and the alleged sand destruction. 
====Negotiation with the USSE====
Tensions heated up incredibly quickly as minor conflicts quickly spread into heated "toxic" arguments. Despite Merconis' status as a Protectorate of the USSE, and failures from both sides to inform all involved parties extensively of the situation, the Zamotz Union agreed to declare war on Merconis on November 6th, 2021 which according to the USSE violated the Treaty of Two Unions between the United Socialist States of Eldham and the Zamotz Union which had stated that neither side shall declare war or have aggressions towards one another. 
The Zamotz Union claimed that acted in self defense for the citizens of Surif, and therefore did not violate the treaty and that Merconis had in fact violated the Treaty of the United Front by declaring a kill on sight order against civillians of Surif. As the USSE was heavily caught off guard by the dispute and lacked proper complete information or evidence suggesting criminal activity from the conflict, the USSE had not taken any serious action yet but intended to reprimand and take disciplinary action in Merconis for possible violations of the Treaty of the United Front. 
==Declaration of War==
====Initial Declaration ====
The first declaration of war came from the Zamotz Union and was against Merconis."The Zamotz Union declares war on Merconis: It's been several days. Days of bickering on both sides, days of disputes and attacks. Most of the world, even the countries involved, hardly understood what was going on. Today, however, the Zamotz Union had a moment of clarity. After a peace agreement was settled between the Zamotz Union and Merconis over a border dispute at the Pale, the agreement was violated today. Merconis claimed that the border was right next to the Zamotian town of Surif, and that a portion of desert was theirs. They then stated that we destroyed their desert through an excavation site in the disputed territory, which existed there before Zamotian citizens even settled in the area. They stated that we attacked a Merconian surveyor, when he dealt the first blow. They stated that we killed him when he was not wearing armor, when he had not only provoked us, but took off his armor shortly before dying. Lie, after lie, after lie. It hasn't stopped, and it likely won't. Unless if we take action. On behalf of the terrorized people of Surif, whom had a KOS (Kill on Sight) order issued upon them by the Merconian leadership, the Zamotz Union will no longer tolerate their lies. The Zamotz Union has declared war on Merconis. If you wish to see additional proof, or have any questions, feel free to DM me. Thank you and have a good day."
====USSE Attempts for Peace====
Immediately after the announcement of war from Zamotz, the USSE General Secretary Chelovek Serebra, attempted to bide for both powers to come to a peace agreement and begin negotiations. While negotiations did begin, they were largely futile as enraged arguments made up most of the time, and testimony from the citizens of Surif and Merconis contradicted each other constantly. 
Despite the aggression, the USSE and Zamotz Union came to an initial deal that revoked Merconisan foreign policy privileges, $150,000 in war reparations, and a public apology by Merconis for their role in escalating the dispute. The proposal passed under the USSE's government, and the Zamotz council unanimously voted in favor of the proposal (18-3-0, where "3" represents abstentions). Notably absent from this agreement were the Swardians themselves, whose representatives did not vote on the proposal amid strong opposition from the Surif citizenry. Triumvir Okomi Hokan, who had maintained constant communication with Swardian officials and citizens, vetoed the proposal whilst making a case for the people of Surif in a politically charged speech.Maybe you all will hate me for this, but I don’t think this is something that I can stand idly by and watch.
When I arrived at the eastern end of Surif, I was greeted by the small civilian town force that was stationed there. They had quickly gathered up in response to an attack on their city earlier by a single Merconian, followed up by the arrival of more Merconians. Their leader wielded an enchanted netherite sword, while the Surif men had low enchantment items. It was a terrifying sight; yet, they stood. 
They stood against their adversaries, and held their own. Perhaps this was meant as a PR attack on us, but to them, it was a rallying cry. The people that had lived on this land for over a month were attacked, and they will not stand for it. They knew that Merconis was a part of the USSE, that this could escalate; yet, they stood. 
But, this was not the only enemy they faced. You see, back at the Council of Ministers, a treaty was negotiated. One where Zamotz dropped their sword, apologized, knelt down to kiss the boot of the Communists, and pocketed the majority of the money given as compensation to the people of Surif. A blatant injustice, the people of Surif should be insulted; and yet, they stand. They stand, ready to die for their country, and have proven nothing but undying loyalty to Zamotz. The people of Surif have helped make Swardia prosper since they first settled in the deserts. They have stood ready to aid Zamotz, and will continue to do so despite the terrible treaty negotiated to them. Because they don’t have the voice or political prowess to convince most of you here. However, I stand. 
I stand for the people of Surif, for the ones who were the victims yet never had a say in this treaty. I stand for justice, for proper compensation for them. It is what’s right, and Zamotz has the power to do what is right. We are not a country of losers, ready to concede at the hands of our allies. We are the Zamotz Union, and when one of us gets kicked, we all feel the pain in our stomach. We all take the hit, and we all punch back. Therefore, when the people of Surif are attacked, I stand.
 
As per the wishes of the people and mayor of Surif, I will be vetoing the treaty proposed by bjorgian, linked below. Thank you for your time.
The speech and subsequent discussions changed the stance of much of the government, though a vocal segment of the government remained in favor of the treaty. A subsequent vote to overturn Okomi's veto in the council failed, by a margin of 7-3-11. 
The veto was criticized by many USSE citizens as being a show that Zamotz had no actual intention to preserve peace and instead desired to simply win a war to enforce their rule, something seemingly backed up by screenshots of Zamotian government officials stating they'd like to get rid of Merconis all together as they seemingly saw the nation as a nuisance. Many USSE citizens accused the Zamotz Union of participating in imperialist anti-democratic tactics to destabilize and invade the popular government of Merconis despite no formal demand of land from Merconis being made by the Zamotz Union. 
====The Okomi-Surif Terms====
Note: The colloquial term for the proposal, simply "Okomi-Surif", will be used past the first instance to avoid any bias.
After the vetoing of the original negotiations between the USSE and Zamotz, the people of Surif drafted a counter-offer in conjunction with the Zamotz government, titled the Okomi-Surif Terms by the Zamotz government, but known as the Okomi-Surif Demands by Merconis and the USSE. The terms were as follows:
1. Merconis leaves the League of Vircon 2. xPxtatoes is replaced by Donutaro 3. Merconis issues a formal apology to the people of Surif 4. Merconis pays 150,000 in war reparations 5. Should Merconis attack Zamotz again, they will lose their protectorate status under the USSE 6. The USSE will take over Merconis’s right to establish diplomatic relations with other countries and to conduct foreign policy as long as Merconis is under the USSE as a protectorate. 7. Merconis must respect the previously agreed-upon borders. 8. Should Merconis violate any terms of this treaty, they will lose their protectorate status under the USSE.
Subsequent discussions with Merconisan officials made DonutAro a plausible compromise candidate for the Surif citizenry. The Merconisan border official had taken on a much more conciliatory stance on the dispute than the incumbent leader had and was largely viewed by Swardians as an "acceptable" replacement with a genuine desire for peace. A growing dislike of xPotatoes and mistrust with the USSE at large motivated the other demands, which were intended to make Merconis militarily unable to pose a threat to Surif in the future.
Okomi-Surif was quickly and harshly disagreed to by the USSE as the demanded terms violated the USSE Constitution and criminal codes and therefore could not be passed into law by the USSE National Assembly because of both multiple sections of the Constitution and legal precedents set by the USSE's relations with Achadhia. 
Support from Merconis would also be needed in most respects for it to even possibly pass, but a referendum was held in Merconis that was unanimously against Okomi-Surif which later cemented the USSE's refusal to accept them. The refusal by the USSE and Merconis to accept Okomi-Surif brought outrage as Zamotians accused the USSE of downplaying the alleged wrongdoing of Merconis, claiming they were motivated purely to preserve, if not spread Xeroism. This prompted outrage from the USSE who were now only infuriated at the purported lies being spread about them trying to "preserve and spread" communism when the USSE was naturally helping Merconis since it was its Protectorate, but also anger began to be fueled towards Zamotz for trying to force the USSE and Merconis to sign a series of demands that were "anti-democratic" as it endorsed the overthrow of a popular local leader, "against their people's wellbeing" as it would cast them out of their pre-existing military alliance which would degrade their military capabilities, and "chauvinistic" as the demands stated that the USSE should militaristically invade Merconis and dissolve its protectorate status should another conflict arise. Under intelligence gathered, the Zamotz government rejected the USSE's characterizations of xPotatoes' popularity. No poll would ever be conducted within the Merconisan population.
Okomi-Surif, despite passing unanimously in the Zamotz council (20-3-0), was not entirely approved of by the warhawks, or the "pro-Surif" camp. Growing mistrust with the USSE caused some officials to privately acknowledge that an ideal treaty would see the USSE removed from Onthukhan affairs entirely but supported the compromise nonetheless to avoid conflict. 
There was also a large amount of anger as generally speaking, the USSE did not approve of Merconis' behavior to begin with so the accusations that they were sympathizing with Merconis' mistakes was not only seen as incorrect but insulting as it slandered the USSE's willingness to establish peace. The treaty made between the USSE and Merconis put the country in a spot where they were obligated to defend Merconis despite the latter breaking the foreign relations clause of the same agreement. The Zamotz Union believed that the USSE was complicit by not voiding the treaty and revoking Merconisan protection, which the USSE refused to do under the grounds that Zamotian allegations of Merconisan aggression were, at the time, unsubstantiated.
====USSE Declaration of War ====
After the vetoing of the first proposal, the National Assembly of the United Socialist States of Eldham unanimously agreed to recognize a state of war against the Zamotz Union for their declaration of war against a USSE protectorate and their alleged violation of the Treaty of Two Unions. General Secretary Chelovek Serebra of the USSE gave a lengthy international announcement of this at which point he stated the following:"I would like to start by saying that the statements from the League of Vircon are not true. Last night the U.S.S.E, Merconis, and Zamotz came to an agreement. We decided in reparations and a set border. The Zamotz senate even agreed to this. Yet select leadership in the Zamotz Union decided to veto those terms. So once again the sovereignty of Merconis is in question. It is clear that one side wants peace, and the other does not. -According to our treaty with Merconis, and the legal code of the U.S.S.E, this is an act of aggression against the U.S.S.E and our sovereignty. -The U.S.S.E holds that the Zamotz Union does not have the right to bring into question the sovereignty of our protectorate. Further, we believe that this act of declaring war on our protectorate, without having discussed the matter with us, is a betrayal of the spirit of our alliance with Zamotz and a de jure violation of the treaty itself. As such, the National Assembly of the U.S.S.E recognizes that a state of war has existed between the U.S.S.E and the Zamotz Union since the moment that they declared war on Merconis." 
====Prompt Response from Allies====
Allies of both nations were quick to respond to the declarations of war. The USSE and Merconis received international support from Rodinnbrok, Nova Azcoria, Valreach, the Pale, Liberum, Paloma, Tovarisha, the Commonwealth, Vulpinia, and Xeka. Notably, the alliance that Merconis is part of, the League of Vircon, voted overwhelmingly against joint military support for Merconis, but still allowed a corps of volunteers to participate, that included the Secretary General himself. 
On the other hand, the Zamotz Union called none of their allies into the battle, due to a combination of not wishing to further destabilize international interactions and the belief that their army was fully capable of defeating the Merconian coalition. As a result, they received no formal international declarations of support, and a few volunteers from the Eldham Entente made up the entirety of foreign allies fighting alongside the Zamotian army. 
== Prebattle Week ==
==== Establishment of the Prebattle Week ====
Prior the only battle of the war, a week existed where both opposing parties began rapidly arming their militaries, militarizing, building fortifications, sending propaganda, and more. The first battle had been set for November 13th but was eventually delayed to the 20th which meant the "week" was actually two weeks in length. This meant that the duration that the nations were at war with one another made this conflict one of the longest wars in Eldhamite history.
==== Smear Campaigns & Propaganda ====
Over the course of the Prebattle Week, both nations created a massive amount of propaganda and made attempts to smear the opposition in order to establish morale of soldiers and decentivize other nations from intervening on the other side of the conflict.
On November 11th, propaganda had been posted depicting the United Socialist States of Eldham as Adolf Hitler and Merconis as a racist Japanese caricature which resulted in the propaganda being taken down to prevent breaking of the rules. This resulted in outrage from members of the USSE and certain citizens of the Zamotz Union claimed that they were hypocrites as the USSE had published propaganda depicting the Zamotz Union as pigs. The Zamotz government denounced the propaganda made by its own citizens. Eventually after threats of opening tickets with administration over the propaganda, the arguments ceased.
==== Establishment of the NFZ/NAZ & Criticism ====
On November 10, 2021, the Mayor of Surif, badibedo, created the National Front of Zamotz (NFZ). The party's platform was explicitly anti-socialist and expansionist, in response to widespread hatred of the USSE in Surif. The USSE was outraged by the party's declaration, denouncing it as fascist (with their party statement being seemingly ultra-nationalist and advocating for centralization) while noting parallels in its name to a real-world fascist United Front political party in the UK. No mentions of a "National Front of Zamotz" party exist on the Discord, though badibedo's registration of the Nationalist Association of Zamotz was edited. The name of the political party was eventually changed to the Nationalist Association of Zamotz (NAZ) as per request of the server administrators for having the same name as a fascist political party.
Within the Zamotz Union, any citizen could declare a party with little to no scrutiny until they endorsed a candidate during an election. The NAZ never endorsed a candidate or published any statements within the Zamotz Union, and was thus never officially recognized. Nevertheless, the founding of the party also called into question the reliability of the claims made by the people of Surif against Merconis. Some USSE individuals speculated that Surif had ulterior motives as they wished to destroy socialism at any costs, claiming that Surif intentionally refused peace negotiations in an obstructionist move to provoke conflict. Non-Swardians within the Zamotz Union generally saw badibedo's move as political theater that aimed to capitalize on growing anti-socialist sentiment caused by the negotiations process. Badibedo ultimately never tried to influence federal policy with his party, with his party declaration being largely ignored by Zamotians, including most Swardians, whilst provoking anger in the USSE. Regardless of intent, badibedo's party declaration bolstered the case within the USSE government that war was inevitable. 
"The National Front of Zamotz calls for expansion of the Union and pushes for a closer relationship between provinces. We are against socialism, and we will crush them by any means necessary. We want to create an economy that will uphold the union, we want a stronger Zamotz." -Badibedo on the platform of the NFZ.
==== Spying & Espionage ====
Both nations at various points claimed the opposing side was utilizing spies. It is estimated (at the time of this article being written) that at least three people have been arrested in the USSE on accusations of espionage or treason. The USSE however did not make any official statement on the matters.
In the Zamotz Union, government officials are believed to have suspected that the USSE was using spies to find confidential information about the military and the so-called "actual" intentions of the government in declaring war. This began after the screenshots of Badibedo's political party registration were leaked to the public.
==== Preparations for War ====
Both sides of the conflict quickly began to prepare for war, the USSE would start constructing a large fort directly outside Oblitus Oris named Fort Merconis where the first battle was to be held. This fort was surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands, of berry bushes and a moat of lava. The entire fort was covered in buttons and trapdoors to avoid the placing of redstone blocks to get over obstacles. Door-ways were also blocked with a slab that forced people to crouch in order to get through doorways and stairwells were made to be intentionally annoying to get up and to be easily flooded with lava should be necessary.
The Zamotzians would make a small camp named Fort Drigo Southwest of Oblitus Oris within Merconisan territory as a claim to quickly travel to Fort Merconis from. Both nations extensively began a process of mass-producing potions, armor, weapons, and more.
==== Further Attempts at Negotiation ====
The USSE would extensively attempt to make peace with the Zamotz Union over the Prebattle Week despite initial failures, all of which would ultimately approach failure as well. Arguments against the Okomi-Surif Demands were constantly made but ultimately the Zamotz Union refused to budge and continued war. Eventually the consensus amongst much of Zamotz would be that the war should continue either way in order to enforce their rule and demands while the USSE had not wanted the war at all.
==== BijonGate ====
On November 13th, 2021, a Simulami citizen and independent journalist by the name of Bijon began extensively interviewing both sides of the conflict and attempting to gain information behind what really happened at Surif. Eventually he would release a document aptly named "The Merconis and Zamotz Conflict" where he intended to expose criminal activity and organized mischief that had led to the crisis and that this entire war was intentionally provoked by members of Merconian leadership.
In this document, the border surveyor who was publicly identified as DonuTaro confessed that he felt guilty and informed Bijon that he had attacked Surif intentionally and had been ordered by xPxtatoes, leader of Merconis, to attack Badibedo of Surif and that the attack happened well within Zamotzian territory. This was the first time evidence had been brought to the table that decisively told the full story of what happened. DonuTaro then confessed to Bijon that xPxtatoes had used the set-up "attack" to enforce a demilitarized border against Zamotz bordering Surif and had created what was formally called the "Zamotz Invasion Defense Base," more commonly known as Fort Santiago, in order to enforce it. 
This meant that xPxtatoes had illegally commit conspiracy, ordered Merconian citizens to assassinate foreign government officials (Badibedo), and had violated the first section of the Treaty of Two Unions by attacking USSE allies and that evidence now decisively existed for the first time proving this. While Zamotz had alleged that xPxtatoes had done this from the beginning, no actual evidence was actually given to prove their explanation of events. The USSE suspected xPxtatoes had not been completely truthful from the beginning, but was unable to present charges do to a complete lack of evidence initially, however once Bijon released his formative document, they could proceed with charges. The document and controversy as a whole erupted as what has become known as 'BijonGate'.
==== The Trial Proposition ====
After the release of BijonGate, the USSE made another proposition for peace which was the closest to actually achieving it. This included many of the original first demands such as reperations, a defined border, etc., but now included a clause that the USSE would lead a trial against xPxtatoes for his crimes with a neutral Uraki judge and the Prosecution being led by Zamotzians of their choosing. This was the most popular of later peace attempts, having overwhelming support from the USSE and international community and even a majority of Zamotzians wanting to opt for this. However, because of the objection of a few high government officials, this would not pass which meant that war was now inevitable.
==Warfare: Battle of Oblitus Oris==
==== DDOS Attacks & Battle Delays ====
The war was originally set to begin at 1:00 PM EST on November 20th, 2021. Soldiers began congregating in the area two hours prior to when the battle was supposed to happen, but shortly before the battle was intended to begin the server began experiencing extreme DDOS attacks which shut down the server.
The battle was postponed to 2:00 PM EST, but yet again because of DDOS attacks was forced to be postponed to 3:00 PM EST. Despite the fact that the DDOS attacks kept on continually happening, the war was never changed from 3:00 PM EST. While many USSE government officials and even some Zamotzians proposed moving it to another date, many decided against this as the first battle had already been postponed two weeks from when war was first declared.
==== Overview of Battlegrounds ====
The battle was set to occur at Fort Merconis which was on the North Merconisan mainland directly Southwest of Oblitus Oris. It featured three towers, including two large ones known as the First Tower and Second Tower respectively going North to South. It was surrounded by a moat of lava and a gargantuan amount of sweet berry bushes intended to slow down enemy advances and prevent easy scaling of walls. 
The fort itself was outfitted in buttons and trapdoors on every single surface to prevent the extensive placing of redstone blocks which could be used during war time in claims. Various corridors and virtually every single staircase was additionally outfitted with trapdoors so that they could be flooded with lava from above to further slow down advances and kill of those without fire protection. 
==== Zamotzian March from Fort Drigo ====
At 3:00 PM EST once the war had begun with the plugin, Zamotzians began quickly marching North from Fort Drigo. They then went onto the roads outside Oblitus Oris and went East towards Fort Merconis.
==== Defense of Fort Merconis ====
Once the Zamotzians began running down the road to Fort Merconis, they were met with a barrage of flaming arrows and were shot at with fireworks. The Zamotzians made there way into a tiny tower on the Northeastern edge of Fort Merconis and crossed through scaffolding bridges. In these lower levels of Fort Merconis that they had crossed into, USSE and Allied troops attempted to fill it with lava to varying effect as most of these attempts were stopped as Zamotzians blocked off the lava with redstone blocks. For the first moments of the battle, the Zamotzians were stuck at the lower levels of the fort because of the massive amount of troops preventing their entry up.
At around 3:09 PM, the Zamotzians advanced to the top of Fort Merconis where the first major melee fighting occurred. Around two dozen soldiers began fighting ferociously at this point as Zamotzians gradually trickled in from a partially blocked stairwell with USSE and Allied troops waiting at the top for them. Dozens of wolves, likely numbering over 100, were sent after Zamotzians to further slow down their advance but were almost immediately slaughtered. The USSE troops adorned the "Jester" job tag while the Zamotzians used the "Janitor" one. 
==== Capture of the "First Tower" ====
After around 3 minutes of fighting, at about 3:11 PM, USSE and Allied soldiers began to move into the so-called "First Tower". Zamotzians followed them but remained confined to the lower levels and stairwells were immediately plugged with redstone blocks and filled with lava. Those USSE and Allied soldiers still on the rest of the base were quickly murdered by Zamotzians and violent combat occurred in the stairwells and lower levels of the First Tower.thumb|Video clip showing the first of what would be many lag spikes and server crashes throughout the battle.|leftAfter a few moments, Zamotzians moved back into the so-called "Two Little Towers" where they exchanged arrowfire with the USSE soldiers at the top two levels of the First Tower. After futile attempts to redstone block their way into the First Tower, they began slowly coming up through the stairwells of the First Tower.
At around 3:25 PM, troops from the Pale were pushed out of the Lower Battlements, severely deminishing the number of those protecting the First Tower as TNT began to be blown up in the lower sections of the First Tower by Merconisans which encouraged them to start running. At around 3:27 PM, TNT was reported at the top levels of the First Tower. The top floor contained chests and supplies filled with armor, tools, and potions for people to continually respawn and keep fighting. At least one block of TNT exploded resulting in around half of these supplies, mostly potions being lost.
thumb|Video clip showing USSE and Allied soldiers in the Second Tower just before Zamotzians starting entering the towers from the top using crimson wine.
At 3:28 PM, it is believed that Zamotzians including creamymynoteblock had used either potions of levitation or crimson wine to breach the top floor of the First Tower which at this point was mostly people who had respawned and were getting prepared to get back out and fighting as most soldiers at this point were fighting in the lower floors, had escaped to the Second Tower, or surrendered. At this point the kill count began to explode massively as people were constantly spawn killed at the top floor of the First Tower and people could only flee by jumping out battlements and arrow slits.
Shortly after, at around 3:29 PM, the rest of the USSE soldiers began to rush into the top floor of the First Tower to fight off the advancing Zamotzians after they noticed the massacre happening. They were however fought back and most died in the ensuing chaos. Right after this attempt, the Pale charged the First Tower and temporarily retook it, reclaiming the land they had lost. This would further be chaotic because constantly lag spikes were happening and the server shut down on two separate occasions during the battle because of the previously mentioned DDOS attacks. Many soldiers were also combat tagged, diminishing the amount of people to fight on the side of Merconis. Spawn kills continued to happen until Zamotzians began demanding their soldiers to not kill people who were unarmored, but many soldiers did not listen to these commands. The Second Tower was lost soon after this, and troops were unable to flee to it as scaffold bridges had been broken. Intense fighting continued to happen scattered over the next twenty minutes as people logged on and off trying to flee the scene. Some of the most violent of this fighting happened in the actual town of Oblitus Oris where various troops had hidden to run away or teleport from the battlefield. Some people such as xPxtatoes intentionally threw themselves at the Zamotzians while unarmored and were killed 20+ times adding to the kill count.
==== Call for Surrender ====
At around 3:30 PM EST, the battle was decisively lost as virtually every single USSE soldier had either now fled or lost their stuff. The call to surrender in its entirety would be given around this time by General Secretary Chelovek after he saw that the fort had been lost and they had lost all of their defensive positioning and good gear.
==== "The War Chicken" ====
There was a chicken contained in a class tube in the middle of Fort Merconis that survived and watched the chaos, that after the war became known as the War Chicken our Doug 2 and a symbol of perseverance in the face of obstacles.
==== Surviving Footage of the Battle ====
* Footage from GreenskinGouger (Zamotzian POV) Shows the beginning of the battle.
* Footage from Creamy (Zamotzian POV) Shows the beginning of the batle.
* Footage from Earth (USSE POV) Actual battle starts at around an hour and thirty minutes. Shows most of the battle.
* Footage from AGR3SSION (Zamotzian POV) Shows various satirized clips from the battle.
*Footage from Runik (Admin Spectator POV) Shows the middle of the battle from a flying spectator POV, specifically including the capture of the First Tower.
== Aftermath ==
==== The Kazkayan Agreement ====
The first attempt to achieve peace after the war was the Kazkayan Agreement. It was created shortly after the loss of the Battle of Oblitus Oris with the intention to end the war. It elaborated on Okomi-Surif and was written by Xeroise Ronango'O to maintain peace in the region and to get the Zamotz Union to finally agree on something after prior attempts to establish peace prior to the battle had all but failed. The terms read as follows:
1.) Merconis shall hereby leave the League of Vircon in its entirety.
2.) The present head of government in Merconis, xPxtatoes, shall be impeached on violations of breaking internal criminal law in the United Socialist States of Eldham for Attempted Murder (C02c) and Conspiracy (C05). Additionally, his impeachment will be further justified for violations of Article One of the Treaty of Two Unions between Merconis and the United Socialist States of Eldham. This impeachment would bar xPxtatoes from ever gaining Citizenship in U.S.S.E. territory or running for public office.
3.) Any person who acts against criminal U.S.S.E. law in defense of xPxtatoes and the former Merconisan government shall be charged with Co-conspiracy as per Conspiracy (C05) in the U.S.S.E. legal code.
4.) Merconis, or the United Socialist States of Eldham, shall pay $150,000 to the Zamotz Union for damages to Surif and the surrounding area caused by xPxtatoes and his followers.
5.) Merconis shall lose Protectorate status in the U.S.S.E. and become a formal Territory as dictated by the U.S.S.E. Constitution which dictates a loss of true democratic local government. This would last until stability and peace can be achieved and a new local government can be created at which point the status of Territory can be removed as dictated by Section 12, 13, and 14 of this document.
6.) The United Socialist States of Eldham will take over Merconisan rights to establish diplomatic relations with other nations and their abilities to conduct foreign policy as long as Merconis is under the reigns of the U.S.S.E.
7.) Zamotz Union and the United Socialist States of Eldham shall recognize the presently existent border between the Zamotz Union and Merconis as formally legitimate. 
8.) The United Socialist States of Eldham hereby volunteers to construct a formal border wall between the legally recognized borders of Merconis and the Zamotz Union to prevent further territorial destruction and an unanimous consensus of where the border is for everyday citizens of both nations.
9.) The United Socialist States of Eldham will appoint a Territorial Governor to oversee Merconis and assure peace is maintained and recovery from the war occurs.
10.) The United Socialist States of Eldham and Zamotz Union shall end their state of war between one another.
11.) The United Socialist States of Eldham and Zamotz Union will hereby agree not to engage in formal acts of war or aggression against one another. This includes state-sponsored banditry or killing, griefing, illegal annexation of the other’s land, and extensive threats of aggression.
12.) The government of Merconis shall be headed by two leaders. This will be the Civilian Governor who will be DonuTaro, which will control the Territorial state of government, Merconian legal system, and establishment of peace, the regaining of stability in the region, and shall be responsible for bringing problems and concerns of Marconis’ citizens to the U.S.S.E.'s government. 
13.) The other leader to lead Merconis as dictated by this document shall be the State Governor who will be appointed by the U.S.S.E. They shall control the foreign relations of Merconis, construction and reconstruction within Merconis, act as an advisor to DonuTaro, and will maintain the power to veto and reverse decisions made by the Civilian Governor should they be detrimental to the long term stability of Merconis.
14.) The United Socialist States of Eldham shall only maintain the Territorial status of Merconis for a month and a half, unless the Merconian people themselves desire to remain a Territory. After this period, they will be permitted to democratically choose how to further progress their government whether it be further integration into the U.S.S.E. as a State, Autonomous State, Protectorate, or simply becoming an independent nation.
15.) DonuTaro shall have amnesty for past criminal involvement in Merconis.
The proposal was approved by the USSE and passed the Zamotz council unanimously (17-2-0). Both sides disagree on what happened afterwards. According to the USSE, after around three days of attempting to pass the Kazkayan Agreement, it was rejected by the Zamotz Union despite being approved of overwhelmingly. The Zamotz Union claimed their reason for refusing it was because of its sections on the future of Merconis. They stated they had wished to hear from the people of Merconis in regards to what they want. Most of Merconis' citizens refused to show for the Zamotz Union's talks and when a survey was held, 100% of the Merconisian populated stated they disapproved of the Zamotz Union and that they would refuse to accept DonuTaro as a leader of Merconis and that they still overwhelmingly approved of the USSE. After this, the Kazkayan Agreement was put on the backburner as it appeared the Zamotz Union's government was not stuck because they did not want anyone except for DonuTaro to lead this newly formed Merconisian government, but the Merconisian people overwhelmingly rejected him, often stating his only contribution to the nation was "getting Merconis into war and building a farm".
The Kazkayan Agreement was only voted on by the Zamotz council on November 20th. The following day, after the proposal was passed, Zamotian diplomats reported to the government that the USSE was having trouble enforcing the demands after xPxtatoes refused to relinquish control over Merconis, prompting the creation of a new Discord server. Talks between the USSE and Zamotz stalled, though the Kazkayan Agreement was never vetoed by Zamotz despite concerns that it was becoming unenforceable. The Agreement lost its recognition after being superseded by the Central Eldham Peace Treaty.
After a long four days of desperately trying to achieve peace after the battle, negotiations began to quickly break down as people such as Xeroise Ronango'O left group chats and talks after feeling they had been consistantly ignored for over a month. According to the USSE, this also began a process where the Zamotz Union began to ignore messages from the USSE regarding the achieving of peace. At this time, people from Merconis began to flee to Rathnir fearing that their government would be taken over by Zamotz and DonuTaro.
==== Central Eldham Peace Treaty ====
After a surplus of indecisiveness regarding what to do after the war, the USSE negotiated the sell of Merconis on November 23rd to the nation of Uraka, then a Zamotz ally, in exchange for money to make up the USSE losses in the war. This resulted in the signing of the Central Eldham Peace Treaty which was signed by the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Merconis. This officially meant that Merconis would be absorbed into Uraka as a vassal state with their own local government, meaning the land had now gone from USSE hands to Urakan ones.
At the time, Zamotz officials were separately negotiating with Uraka, giving Zamotz unofficial representation in the creation of the Treaty. At the time, it saw some opposition from Pro-Surif officials who believed that the treaty did not go far enough to weaken xPxtatoes' power, as he retained some power under Uraki vassalization. This time, however, dissenting voices in the council were drowned out by a much larger camp of the government that wanted a peace deal to allow the government to move on from the situation. Today, the CEPT is widely viewed as a failure in the Zamotz Union, as xPxtatoes ultimately regained full control over an independent and emboldened Merconis (renamed to Merkonis) that would go on to instigate the Second Sand War.
Category:USSE
Category:History
Category:Events
Category:Eldham
Category:Lore
Category:Battles
Category:Onthukhan
Category:Vulpinia
Category:Traveler's Era
Category:Drakaes