Pillager War

Goruid sea

Aphthonis

Galinisia

Coral Islands

The Great North

Former Shantouxian Area

Xandu

### Result

* **Overall:** Success in repelling raids into urban areas, but failure to eliminate pillager strongholds.
* Major attacks and raids on major population centres resulting in civilian casualties.
* Failed reorganisation of the League military.
* Thornian territorial gains in the Coral Islands, the Great Northern Expanse, and North Septia.
* Great Thornia achieves total independence from the League.
* Great Thornia's monarchy makes way for and supports the Northern Revolutionary Socialist Party.
* Xandu under Thornian occupation.
* Global economic devastation and weakened response to the combined disasters of The Great Plague and the Second Pillager War.

## Belligerents

### Faction 1

**First phase (December 2019)**League of Palus

* Despotate of Thornia

**Second phase (January 2020 - 27 March 2020)**

Great Thornia (from January 2020)

Kingdom of Aphthonis (from early March 2020)

**Third phase (27 March 2020 - 5 April 2020)**

League of Palus

* Great Thornia
* State of Xandu

Kingdom of Aphthonis

**Fourth phase (5 April 2020 - 7 May 2020)**

Great Thornia

* Xandu

### Faction 2

**Illager raiding parties*** Pillagers
* Vindicators
* Evokers
* Illusioners
* Ravagers
* Witches

**Hostile mobs**

* Zombified mobs (zombies, drowned)
* Skeletons
* Creepers
* Spiders

The **Pillager War**, also known as the **First Pillager War**, was an armed conflict fought between the League of Palus, the Great Thornia and pillager factions across the Goruid peninsula, the Xandunese mountains, and the Great North. As of April 2020, it also evolved into a political crisis as the League of Palus faced rebellion from its largest and most militarily powerful state, Great Thornia. The war had also evolved into a largely nationalist cause for Thornia as its empire expanded and it now occupies other states for the purpose of protection.

As of May 2020, the war was the longest running armed conflict in server history, as well as the one to have the largest number of changes to a faction (the League of Palus withdrew and re-entered the conflict at numerous times without ever officially declaring war or an emergency).

It was also considered to be the conflict with the largest geographical span, stretching as far north as the Great North, as far south as the southern tip of the Goruid peninsula, as far east as the Coral Islands, and as far west as the Xandunese mountains.

The First Pillager War devastated the global economy, severely disrupted the power structure of the world, and led to a weakened response to The Great Plague. The additional damage caused by the plague led to Thornia's inability to fend off the largest pillager invasion in history at the Massacre of Elysia in late August 2020. This led to the start of the Second Pillager War.

## Background

The conflict was started by the re-enabling of hostile mobs on the server. It was only a short time before this that the despotate discovered pillager outposts across the district's north and thus had limited time to prepare for an onslaught of attacks from pillagers.

The war has seen Thornia exercise the full-might of the industrial-complex that started in Ume City in 2016 that evolved into the modern League of Palus. This includes mass-manufacturing of weaponry, state-sponsored armor and shielding, and the advent of urban warfare.

## Timeline

### First phase (December 2019)

#### December 2019

Throughout early December 2019, pillager patrols and armies attacked Adanon and Renos in northern Goruid. Goruidian forces managed to fend off these attacks but poor preparedness for this new threat meant it was extremely costly to defend villages.

On 25 December 2019, Palus Urbem briefly fell to pillager forces with one of many pillager units briefly seizing control of the People's Palace. The city guard managed to fight off the waves of pillager attacks over several hours. The Despotate of Thornia dispatched large amounts of iron, pumpkins, and snow to mass-produce iron and snow golems to help fight off the pillagers.

### Second phase (January 2019 - 27 March 2019)

#### Goruidian January offensives

In January 2020, the Goruidian security forces began utilising artillery weaponry in battles. An offensive to the north was also conducted where a pillager fort was briefly besieged near Adanon. As a consequence of the change of tactics (advanced fire with a barrage of rockets and arrows) and using new weaponry (crossbows and rockets), military expenditure by the state government of Goruid grew significantly. The addition of iron and snow golems into the ranks of the military has allowed the Goruidian security forces to operate relatively independently of the rest of the league.

On 19 January 2020, to secure Great Thornia's claims over the Coral Islands, its forces seized control of it from a pillager patrol stationed on Guardian Island and proceeded to occupy it for a day.

#### Pillager January offensives

On 27 January 2020, a pillager patrol was defeated outside of Elysia, though it was followed by several waves of raids on Elysia. This battle (the Third Battle of Elysia Island) was won by Thornian forces (thanks to the re-introduction and a dramatic increase of iron golem guards in the town).

On 29 January 2020, Thornia faced its first defeat with Thornian forces failing to hold a pillager fort north of Elysia. The attempted retreat was a disaster, with elytra-enabled forces crashing to their deaths.

On 30 January 2020, the pillagers responded by attacking Elysia again in the Fourth Battle of Elysia. This battle was by far the most intense in Elysia's history with large numbers of vindicators, ravagers, and witches also joining on the side of the pillagers. Civilian casualties were minimal but the loss of iron golems was substantial. Thornian forces were victorious but were slowed by the civilian stampede trying to evacuate the town centre.

#### Pillager February offensives

On 5 February, a pillager force invaded Elysia, starting with an assault on construction workers on Elysia Stadium. The Royal Iron Guard were already stationed at strategic points in the city and allowed for a swift defeat of the pillager forces. On 8 February, another pillager force invaded Elysia after ambushing a timber operation north-east of the city. This time, Thornian forces were utilising their recently added service dogs in combat. Friendly fire between player troops and iron golems occurred in battle. The battle was also fought in the Elysia River with combatants fighting while struggling in the water.

#### Thornian offensive in The Great North

On 11 February, a Great Thornian expedition to The Great North fought numerous battles across about a dozen desert and savanna villages. The small expeditionary forces were eventually defeated in a village on the eastern border of the former Shantouxian Area.

#### Palus Urbem falls again

On 17 February, Thornian forces attempted to defend Palus Urbem against multiple raid waves on the city. Thornian forces were close to defeat on numerous occasions, and lost control of the city until 19 February when reinforcements from Elysia managed to annihilate the occupying pillagers forces with a barrage of arrows across rooftops. The city has remained under direct Thornian control since rather than returning it to its previous federal territory status.

### Third phase (27 March 2020 - 5 April 2020)

#### Xandunese entry into the war

On 27 March, Thornian forces stationed in Shanjing to protect the Thornian architects helping to revitalise the city come under attack from a massive pincer attack by pillager forces. The Royal Iron Guard was forced to fight on both sides of the Shanjing River across an area twice the size of the Elysia city centre. The pillager armies were repelled with minimal loss of civilian life. The Thornian government decided to rename the Royal Iron Guard as the Federal Guard in order to continue legally stationing troops in Xandunese territory.

### Fourth phase (5 April 2020 - 7 May 2020)

The Crown of Great Thornia decided to end the monarchy in Great Thornia proper, and to invest its resources towards creating a more unified version of the League of Palus called the Commonwealth. This was caused by the frustration due to the lack of resources being deployed or coordination by the League government, leaving Great Thornia to fight largely on its own. The Commonwealth and Aphthonis formed a new third faction in the war after the Crown-controlled Federal Guard defected to the Commonwealth. This third faction merged back into the pro-League faction after the Commonwealth was dissolved and the Northern Revolutionary Socialist Party re-established Great Thornia and took it out of the League.

The first armed engagement after the rise of the NRSP was an attack on Volovna by a smaller pillager force. The Thornian Army managed to swiftly repel the attack.

An expedition to the Northern Jungle from 21 to 22 April saw Thornian forces engage regular hostile mobs around the town of Dobrado in Aphthonis. After fending off mob attacks on the village, Thornian forces crossed the border into the unclaimed jungle region where bamboo and panda colonies were eventually located. More than enough bamboo was collected to begin growing them en-masse in Volovna for distribution throughout the rest of the country. However, it was deemed too costly to bring back pandas from such a deeply land-locked area.

Another in-land expedition in Aphthonis saw Thornian forces discover several villages near Petrodis. The expeditionary party's attempted return to its base in Petrodis failed catastrophically after it visited Fylakasanisi (where it also discovered that the waters between the island and mainland are shallow enough to cross on horseback). The expedition discovered that Fylakasanisi was coincidentally neighbouring territory controlled by pillagers (of which they had a stronghold or fort). The expeditionary party engaged the pillagers in a battle, and managed to capture the stronghold for a few minutes. In an attempt to disengage from the battle and flee, the forces were cornered and surrounded by pillagers, eventually succumbing to the overwhelming force. The expeditionary party also lost a horse in the exchange of arrows. This was the first military defeat in Aphthonis.

On 7 May 2020, the Crown of Great Thornia announced that the state of war has been considered to be over. A policing operation and state of emergency will replace the state of war with immediate effect.

## Timeline

* Palus Insurgency (indecisive)
* First Battle of Elysia Island (Despotate victory)
* Second Battle of Elysia Island (Despotate victory)
* Insurgency in the Elysian Fields (8 December 2019 - 7 May 2020; Thornian victory)
* Battle of Palus Urbem (League victory)
* 4 January offensive near Adanon (indecisive)
* Battle of Guardian Island (19 January 2020; Thornian victory)
* Third Battle of Elysia Island (27 January 2020; Thornian victory)
* Battle of Raiga (29 January 2020; Pillager victory)
* Fourth Battle of Elysia Island (30 January 2020; Thornian Pyrrhic victory)
* Fifth Battle of Elysia Island (5 February 2020; Thornian victory)
* Sixth Battle of Elysia Island (8 February 2020; Thornian Pyrrhic victory)
* Expedition to The Great North (11 February 2020; numerous Thornian victories; ultimately defeated in an unknown village in the former Shantouxian Area)
* Second Battle of Palus Urbem (17-19 February 2020; Thornian Pyrrhic victory)
* Battle of Shanjing (27 March 2020; Thornian and League victory)
* Start of the League-Commonwealth division (5 April 2020)
* Volovna Incident (14-15 April 2020; decisive Thornian victory)
* Operation Panda (Expedition to the Northern Jungle; 21-23 April 2020; successfully retrieved bamboo, failed to retrieve pandas)
	+ Battle of Dobrado (21-22 April 2020; Thornian victory)
	+ Panda Extraction Operation (23 April 2020; failed)
* Operation Cattle Ranch (Expedition in-land in Aphthonis, north and west of Petrodis; 2 May 2020; successfully discovered nearby settlements)
	+ Battle of Fylakasanisi (2 May 2020; decisive Pillager victory, 1 horse lost)

## Outcome

Between the official start of the conflict on 8 December 2019 and the end of it on 7 May 2020, the world has faced a ripple-effect of changes. Pillager raids into urban areas had largely been fended off and ended through improved policing and defence tactics. However, pillager outposts/strongholds remain an issue for all parties involved. Great Thornia's replacement policing operation will attempt to isolate strongholds into controlled, isolated zones.

The League of Palus was a relatively new alliance at the start of the conflict, and what was supposed to be a test of its strength ended up demonstrating that it was completely ineffective and protecting its member states. This led to Great Thornia's withdrawal from the League, and it replacing the League as the protecting power over Xandu. This has left the League as something of a rump state with only Umia and Septia remaining as nominal member states.

The end of the conflict saw no nation take the mantle of superpower from the League. Great Thornia was officially declared a neutral state, the Chen dynasty was effectively completely neutral (now that Xandu is no longer a functioning member of the League), the League itself has lost its two richest member states, and the Democratic Federation of Tyavyli has not developed enough to extend its power beyond its own borders.

## Impact

### Military organisation and technology

With much of the conflict occurring deep in Thornian territory, the responsibility of repelling pillager attacks have fallen largely on Great Thornia. However, as it occurs within areas covered by the League of Palus, by right the rest of the league's members should be participating in the conflict. Goruid (as a member of the league) has largely been abandoned by its allies in the league and has thus been forced to integrate deeper with Great Thornia. Great Thornia's limited policing operations thus evolved into a fully-fledged anti-mob military (the Royal Iron Guard), which later became the league's de facto military force.

Use of artillery has also steadily increased with the deployment of crossbows and rockets in several engagements, though tactics have largely reverted to traditional sword combat and shock troop tactics. Thornia (via Goruid) has also become the largest producer of weaponised rockets in the world.

### Politics and diplomacy

#### Early reorganisation and disagreement

The war has been considered to be an attack on Thornia by the Despotate and its successor governments. Despite the League of Palus being a military alliance, at no point has another member state offered to help Thornia in the war. This has fuelled distrust of other member states and has also led to the belief that the alliance will no longer protect Thornian interests. Instead of withdrawing from the alliance, Thornia has reduced its commitment to the league to defence from other nations. Punitively, Thornia has also re-routed almost all resources meant for the shared military organisation of the league to fighting pillagers.

As of late February 2020, Thornia has pushed its military forces to its limit to retake control of territories abandoned due to pressure from allies in the league. This time, these new territories have become major sources of trade revenue and tribute. These territories were later consolidated into the Kingdom of Aphthonis, which officially joined the war in March. In March 2020, Thornia also began modifying its foreign policy to seriously consider peaceful trade relations and non-aggression with the Democratic Federation of Tyavyli.

#### Failed reintegration of Great Thornia into League affairs

By late March 2020, attempted negotiations with Tyavyli proved to be fruitful with the federal government (though its promises were not fulfilled) and disastrous with the state of East Tyavyli. The Crown of Great Thornia decided to redirect its focus towards aiding the development of other member states of the league, with Xandu being the first to accept the Crown's offer. Shanjing was chosen to be the first settlement to undergo uplifting, but in the middle of the project the city came under attack by a large pillager force. The Royal Iron Guard managed to repel the attack, and the Crown decided to rename the guard to the Federal Guard in order to not have its presence protecting the city regarded as an occupation.

This all came apart as pillager attacks continued and little to no help was given to Thornian forces. The Crown of Great Thornia dissolved itself and made way for the much more aggressive Northern Revolutionary Socialist Party to take power in Great Thornia, as well as to remove it from the League. This finally brought an end to Thornia's failed attempts to get League help, but also ensured that Thornia would no longer be forced to aid its former allies if they request for help in the future.