Bamboo War

The **Bamboo War**, also called the **Pirate-Mercenary war** was a short conflict between the White Raven Brotherhood and the Masked Pirates over control of the western bamboo forest in northern Areth.

## Background

### Prelude

The war's beginnings traces back to when bamboo, a vitally important material, began to drop in quantity across the world. It eventually became a rare resource, with only two forests remaining and both of them being on Areth. One forest was controlled by the White Raven Brotherhood, while the other to the west was only partly controlled by the Brotherhood and partly unclaimed. The Masked Pirates to the north-west, seeking to expand their naval fleet, needed a steady supply of bamboo to craft string, which was a crucial component used in the construction of ships. With this, the Pirates set their sights on the western bamboo forest to claim the resources.

### Rising tensions

The Masked Pirates made the first move and claimed land in the forests west of White Raven territory, but the area was mainly built around a large uneven hill, which made defending the border difficult. As such, Captain Nautilus decided to claim the entire hill, also incorporating the portion of the bamboo forest that the Brotherhood controlled. The leader of the Brotherhood; Athelas, denounced the Pirates' expansion and declared the White Ravens' intent to defend their land, which Nautilus also opposed and refused to renounce his claim.

Athelas, fearing war on the horizon, sent troops to fortify the disputed zone, constructing a small wooden fort nicknamed 'the Nest' at the peak of the hill. Nautilus also began war preparations, setting the Pirates to work in manufacturing gunpowder to be used as ammunition on their new warship, the galleon *Red Bounty*, commanded by "Salty" Reeves. Nautilus further bolstered his forces by hiring several mercenaries from the Sea Marauders, who replenished the Pirates' depleted armoury with stacks of arrows and new armour sets. The stage was set for inevitable conflict.

## War

### Opening moves

Once the Pirates had gathered their forces at Anchor Cove, they began their march to war. Moving in a simultaneous advance, the army marched south towards the bamboo forest, while the *Red Bounty* sailed along the coast and anchored off-shore a distance away from the Nest.

In a coordinated strike, the *Red Bounty* began bombarding the Nest, while the Pirates' land force began an assault up the hill. Brutal fighting erupted as the Pirates attempted to scale the walls, but the terrain was against them and in favour of the White Raven defenders. Suddenly though, the *Red Bounty* scored a hit on the Nest's walls, killing two defenders and opening a breach for the Pirates to rush in through. Seeing that the fort was now compromised, Athelas ordered a retreat back to Raven's Reach for his forces to regroup. With their retreat, the Pirates took the fort and garrisoned it for a short time, before Nautilus ordered the next assault on Raven's Reach itself, in order to finish off the Brotherhood for good.

### Assault on Raven's Reach

Departing the Nest, the Pirates marched on to Raven's Reach, with the *Red Bounty* once again sailing down the coast alongside them. Upon reaching the White Raven capital, the Pirates began their attack, with the galleon bombarding the walls with its cannons. However, Raven's Reach was a far more formidable stronghold than the rudimentary wooden fort that was the Nest. As such, the *Red Bounty* could not cause a sizeable breach in the mighty stone walls, eventually running out of ammunition for its cannons and leaving the army without cover. With no way to get inside the fortress, Nautilus ordered a retreat back to the Nest, abandoning their advantage.

### White Raven counterattack

Now on the offensive, Athelas reorganised and rearmed his troops to take back the bamboo forest. Marching out to meet the pirates, the White Raven army first attempted to flank the Nest from the south, but the terrain around this area was deadly, surrounded by two cavernous ravines with only a small land bridge to cross (the perfect bottleneck). With no alternative, the White Ravens attempted to cross the bridge, but were pinned down and kept from climbing the hill by Pirate archers hiding in the trees. Realising the advance was futile, Athelas pulled his men back, searching for another angle of attack.

Athelas moved his army all the way back north to the coast, and they boarded boats that they sailed around the fort and landed on the beaches to its north. Beginning their march up the hill again, the White Ravens were able to reach the summit, and a bloody fight ensued. It quickly lost all organisation and turned into a frenzied brawl, one which took its toll on the White Ravens, who lost too many men and were once again forced to retreat. Returning to Raven's Reach defeated again, the beleaguered White Raven army seemingly accepted defeat. However, Athelas, unwilling to accept the loss due to them being so close to defeating the Pirates, gathered his remaining men and set out for the final attack.

### Final assault

Following the same plan from the last attack, the White Ravens landed their boats on the beaches north of the fort and marched up the hill. This time however, the Pirates made a critical mistake. Several Pirates had left the safety of the fort to loot the bodies of the fallen, and theses lone soldiers were caught off-guard by the entire White Raven army and killed, slowly depleting the Pirates' numbers. The survivors retreated back to the Nest and hunkered down for a siege, but it mattered not, the Pirates were now severely outnumbered by Athelas' forces. A final fight ensued beneath and inside the fort's walls, where the remaining defenders were either killed or routed, and the Nest (and by extension the bamboo forest) were retaken.

## Aftermath

### Surrender and peace

After the defeat at the Nest, and the loss of most of their equipment and soldiers, captain Nautilus surrendered to the White Raven Brotherhood. The two sides met in the neutral territory of the Zola Family, where a peace treaty was struck. As part of the treaty, the Masked Pirates were to provide money and materials as war reparations, and were also obligated to construct a second galleon that the White Ravens would take; the *Heron*. Finally, the Pirates would give up all claims to the bamboo forest, which was officially recognised as White Raven territory.

## Trivia

* One of the Masked Pirates was killed by friendly fire from the *Red Bounty* during the first attack on the Nest
* Many players have called the Bamboo War the best conflict on the server, as both sides had lots of fun being part of it, and no complaints or toxicity arose
* Drefvelin created an official lore video detailing the events of the war here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3UI8EB55z0&t=4s