Crusalis

*Warning: This article contains a lot of Meta and Discord drama. Proceed with caution*

Spades' presence on Crusalis is recalled by many members of the Papal States with a mix of nostalgia and disapproval. During this period, the played as the Papal States in Rome, eventually annexing the Provence area and securing control over two crucial coastal nodes in the Congo. However, this iteration was plagued by significant resource constraints, primarily arising from unfavorable and unrealistic node conditions, an unusually rugged terrain around Rome, and allegations of direct administrative misconduct towards the group, which will be discussed in more detail later.

## History

The iteration would be notable as c0mmie's estonia metagroup, that previously played /int/craft, EpochCraft and a few other servers would join forces with Immune, later on Takeouts, the leader of a more obscure off-server pvp group, would also join Spades. This would expand the group into being the 4th most populace on the server and having a good pvp base that would rival other PvP factions on the server such as The Koel in France and the Vinovians in England.

The group would build up Rome to a decent base building historical structures like the Pantheon and alongside having Urbino a more "memey" base where newfags and thought to be insiders would be sent too. The Papal States would forge relations with neighboring Naples, Ferrarra, Venice as well as collaborating with the Kalmar Union, France and Byzantium. The group would quickly be antagonized by a few groups such as the Holy Roman Empire, The Ottoman Empire and the laughably ignorant Corsica. It seemed the Papal States had a good future on Crusalis, but it was not to last.

### HRE-War

The HRE war would be the first war that the Papal States fought in, The group would mostly act as a distraction against the much larger Austria, whom had more allies. The Papal States executed this distraction tactic effectively, managing to capture Innsbruck and diverting both Mamluk Mercenaries and Austrian troops towards the southern front. This diversionary effort played a pivotal role in enabling Prague to secure a victory against the HRE and ultimately contributed to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.

### Warzones

Crusalis had a unique feature that many other geopols did not have. The server would occasionally open up warzones in certain areas (which was later on almost every week due to the admins trying to boost player count). The Papal States actively participated in the Genoa warzone, although they never ended up capturing the nodes due to the overwhelming numbers of adversaries they faced. Instead, the group focused on using these warzones as a means to accumulate kits and gear efficiently. They engaged in kit farming operations, successfully amassing a considerable number of kits from various factions, including England, Burgundy, Corsica, Milan, Savoy, and the Ottoman Empire, among many others. This strategic approach allowed the Papal States to enhance their resources and bolster their position within the server's dynamic geopolitical landscape.

## Downfall

The decline of the Papal States, although its more significant repercussions unfolded later in the server's timeline, can be traced back to the server's inception. Rome, an historically significant and prominent European city, was notably disadvantaged with basic and flint nodes, a configuration that not only departed from realism but also placed the Papal States at an inherent stockpile disadvantage compared to other nations. This initial disparity compelled the group to depend on labor-intensive mining activities and meme raids as their primary means of resource accumulation, setting the stage for the challenges that would shape their experience on the server.

### The Crusade

The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire marked a significant turning point in the Papal States' experience on the server. In an unusual move, the server administrators allowed the Papal States to declare a Crusade against the Ottoman Empire, raising initial hopes for a promising campaign. The Papal States found themselves with valuable allies in Venice, Naples, Hungary, and the remnants of Byzantium in Greece. However, the course of this Crusade took an unexpected and challenging turn.

The administrators set a specific war time at 1:30 PM EST, which posed difficulties for the predominantly American members of the Papal States. This time constraint limited their ability to muster a sizable force, resulting in only 10 participants being available for the Crusade. The admins' rationale for this timing was to accommodate players from the Ottoman Empire, who would find it more convenient due to the later hour. This decision was questionable, especially considering that many of the Ottomans' members were teenagers and the war occurred on a Friday night.

As a consequence, despite a few minor victories in the Balkans, the Crusade was ultimately compelled to surrender. This outcome had a significant impact, leading to the dissolution of the alliance between Venice and the Papal States. Matters escalated further when Venice and Milan used their ally permissions to enter Rome, leading to a confrontational 12 vs. 6 encounter in which Venice surprisingly suffered a defeat.

### Iberian War

The group would fight Portugal and Spain alongside Morocco and Granada. England would join this war due to several members making light out of their officer Elkool's dad being deceased, claiming his dad Ronnie McNutt'd after finding out about his sons Minecraft career. The war would result in a lose for the Papal States due to the group being prevented from leaving and Morocco not performing to expectations . This would be the final war of Spades on Crusalis.

### Admin Corruption against Spades (with proof!)

Following the war in Iberia, The Head Admin of Crusalis would ban Roma and blacklist the group from participating in future Crusalis servers. The admin would claim immune and the leadership of Rome would hire Ostrich, a player that had never been in Spades, to dox the admins over server-issues. While there is no concrete evidence this person ever doxed MDJay, it did not matter as the action was final.

Following this, it is now widely believed by the members of Spades as well as several other groups on the server that the ban was an act of hatred towards Spades and that this dox was merely a scapegoat in order to justify the blacklist to the server population. There is some anecdotal evidence of this such as the group not being allowed to represent itself on node sweeps and tickets from group members being ignored, there is also stronger evidence. I will provide the following evidence of MDJayy's hatred of the group below. While it is unlikely this will result in the admin being removed or any actions being taken by the Crusalis staff, considering as md does all of his work for free, please consider this when joining Crusalis.

MDJay asking for someones dox and LARPing about knowing l33t hax0rs, double standard much?One of many examples of MDJay's disdain towards the factionMDJay attempting to inside SpadesMDJay switching up his story, claiming that the alleged dox was a collective action by all members of the group.MDJay claiming that members immune and c0mmie\_ hired this individualMDJay refusing to show evidence of Spades hiring people to dox CrusalisMDJay not showing evidence (x2)