Mol-Rehan, A History.

[Alden 209]

                                       Chapter Five

                                   Sowing Wild Oats

 

The Cataclysm of April that year, which had so devastated the

server, offered up a rare opportunity for change that couldn’t

be done while a map was still running in full swing.

New more powerful server equipment was installed to host a

map much larger and more reliably than before.

 

And on May the 10^th 2007, the new Wild was opened.

 

Those who had weathered the Cataclysm were compensated

for their losses.

And set out into the new world flush with silver coins for the

refounding of old towns.

 

         A hand drawn map of north-eastern Wild, by Bushmanla

 

This new map, called Gold 2 or Wild at the time, is the same

map that still runs to this day by the name of Chaos.

 

The sites of old battles and the ruins of great fortresses still

stand awaiting those daring enough to visit, and perhaps

daring enough to reclaim and reconquer.

 

                                          ***

 

Back in mid-2007.

In the northeast corner of the map sits The Landing, the

starter deed of the Whitelight kingdom of Jenn-Kellon.

From this town the Whitelighters would spread out over the

northeast landmass, claiming it as their territory and building

anew the deeds of the past;

Kyara the capital is founded in the near centre of the

northeast landmass.

Fort Mole would later come to guard a landbridge west of

Kyara.

Whosville stands on the north face of a mountain ranging the south west borders of JK.

Rivendell and Blackhorse occupy the large Whitelight Island.

And the towns of Independent Settlers and Valhalla mark the

western most borders.

A great highway is built all the way from The Landing to the

Whitelight, linking many JK towns and feeding off of tributary

roads.

 

In the far south of the map, on the central peninsula sits The

Shroud, the starter deed of the Blacklight kingdom of Horde

of the Summoned.

Spreading far and wide the Blacklighters moved great

distances.

Dark Citadel is founded on the southeastern archipelago,

overlooking the sea passage from the north of Wild to the

south.

Others like Liblian Outlawz, Asgard, Cruorem and Nexus

moved northwards to meet the forces of Jenn-Kellon.

 

                                            ***

 

Of all the Blacklight towns, Nexus was perhaps the most

active on the warfront in the early days of Wild.

 

Their town was a simple one, suited towards their basic

needs with little use of defensive structures.

Nexus focused on improving their fighting abilities, relying on

the mantra “Offense is the best defense†to keep their

enemies at bay.

 

Putting pressure on many JK towns in the north, the

members of Nexus gained valuable combat experience and

skills to match.

Becoming renowned in that time as a far roving threat.

Also organising hunting parties, the town of Nexus was the

first on wild to kill a unique creature, the Goblin Leader.

 

Although JK possessed great numbers, they lacked the

organisation to rally together when in peril.

Nexus used this to terrorise the divided kingdom.

Striking the entire breadth of JK territory, from Valhalla in the

west to The Landing in the east.

 

Under the continuing reign of Nexus, the Whitelight town of

Rivendell was forced to pack up and retreat further inside JK

territory for protection.

 

The Blacklighters, looking to continue their hold in the north,

construct a new deed called The Wall.

This deed gave them free access into the north, where Nexus

and its allies continued their campaign for some weeks.

 

But this continued pressure on the Whitelighters began to

bring them together, as it had done to the Blacklighters in the

past.

Concerted efforts were made by those in positions of

leadership in JK.

Utilising its greater numbers and industrial might, they

churned out vast stores of weapons and armour for the

making of war.

 

                             Fort Mole looking towards the WL, by Adoll

 

                                            ***

 

Though not the most skilled or experienced fighters, they did

have the massive numbers to make a fighting force, and now

they had the will to use them.

The Jenn-Kellon Crusade against the Blacklight had begun.

 

The town of Cruorem, founded barely shy of a week after the

opening of the new Wild server, would be one of the first to

fall.

Founded by a group of close friends, they came to accept

many members into their circle, long standing allies of Nexus

and the other HOTS towns.

But in June of 2007 they were attacked by the concentrated

force of the JK army, although they survived the attack, the

losses they suffered were too great and many of its villagers

lost the will to play.

And by the end of that month the town had been abandoned.

 

Once it had started, the JK army was near unstoppable.

Pushing BL forces aside, they made it the entire way south to

the Blacklight itself.

Founding deeds and building towers along the way.

 

Nexus itself also succumbed, although surviving a siege by the

JK army, various combat nerfs and changes caused many to

lose their enthusiasm for the game, resulting in the town of

Nexus disbanding due to inactivity.

 

Eventually the JK army pulled back after failing to destroy the

Blacklight as they had planned.

The Whitelighters built a new deed called Our Wall, to better

control access into their territory from the south.

 

No longer just a collection of individual towns, Jenn-Kellon

now united by their crusade begins to deal with the internal

issues of being a true kingdom.

This is brought to a head with one of the many invasions by

FacePunch.com, resulting in JK on JK warfare over some

territorial disputes.

 

             The Whitelight as seen from Kyara, 2007, by Miggy

 

                                           ***

 

Meanwhile Libilian Outlawz (LO), who had settled further

away from civilization in the true wilds, had decided to move

in on JK.

They had existed on the outskirts, training their fighting skills

for many months unhindered by the war between BL and WL.

But now had moved into a prime location, distantly west of

Kyara to make war upon the Whitelight kingdom.

 

LO had grown in those times, gone were the days when it

existed as a small group of friends doing what they loved.

The arrival of players from the other abandoned Blacklight

towns had brought with them a wider variety of skills,

cultures and personalities.

And LO had grown with them, becoming an entity in its own

right.

 

LO performed weekly raids around the poorly protected

starter deed of The Landing in the northeast.

Building their strength and reserves, as well as a reputation

for success.

 

Pushing from victory to victory, they mounted raids on the

major towns of Valhalla, Independent Settlers, Whosville,

Rivendell and others.

 

JK began to push back at them, constructing war deeds at

vital points, many skirmishes occurred around the area of LO

landbridge.

 

But this was not enough to stop the Blacklighter attacks, the

Jenn-Kellon army turned its attention on Libilian Outlawz.

 

                                        ***

 

On the 5th of August 2007, the Siege of Libilian Outlawz took

place.

The united forces of Kyara, Hammerfell, Independent

Settlers, Fort Mole and Whosville marched westward on the

fortified town of Libilian Outlawz.

 

The vigilant Blacklighters had spotted the marching army on

approach, and hurried to prepare a defense.

Isolated from the rest of BL forces, by great distances, they

had to rely on their own strengths to see them through the

coming fight.

 

The nearby forest known as Trollspawn was considered by

some to be a nuisance, because of the number of wild trolls

that lived there.

But it had provided a great opportunity for the warriors of LO

to train their combat skills and more importantly to raise a

force of undead Trolls in the name of the dark goddess.

 

The arriving JK army erected a siege encampment on the

outskirts of LO, for the storage of supplies and as a place to

retreat and heal.

From here they built their siege weapons and rallied the

troops.

 

Much skirmishing occurred here as the forces of LO harried

the attackers in an attempt to delay their efforts.

Making great use of the zombie Trolls and suicide charges

against the JK army.

But ultimately they were unable to prevent the siege

weapons of JK from breaching the walls.

 

With the walls breached, LO switched tactics from aggressive

manoeuvres outside their fortifications to taking up defensive

positions in the breach.

Hoping to hold out against the much larger force of

Whitelighters until reinforcements arrive.

 

                           The walls of Libilian Outlawz, by Chromega

 

Frustrated by their lack of progress, the JK army makes a

tactical switch of their own and attempts to avoid the fiercely

held breach by digging a new mine into the town.

But they had been delayed too long, while mining out their

tunnel rumour spread of approaching Blacklight

reinforcements.

The morale of the JK army began to diminish as their force

became divided over whether to continue the siege or to flee

before becoming trapped by the arriving reinforcements.

But in that moment the JK miners accidentally opened a

mineshaft and became trapped as they fell into it.

The slope was too steep for them to climb out on their own,

and they would need more time to dig out a new tunnel to

free themselves.

 

Now a panic swept over the JK army, surely a rescue tunnel

would take too long to dig and they would be trapped and

slaughtered.

If any orders were given, they were not heard as each

individual was forced to make their own choice in that heated

moment.

With most choosing to flee, abandoning their compatriots to

their fate.

Only a brave few chose to remain and free the trapped

miners.

 

The Blacklighters saw their opportunity and made a counter

charge against the fleeing JK forces.

The JK army tried to rally themselves at their encampment,

but were unable to reorganise themselves in time and ran for

the hills.

Every man for himself, the stragglers left to die alone as they

fled through the woodlands.

Only those brave few who remained in the mine survived,

though they were now cut off with their only hope of rescue

fleeing back east, forced into a brave but futile last stand.

 

After fierce battle, the tide had turned and LO had

successfully driven JK out of their land in a complete rout.

 

Although JK would continue to dominate the map in terms of

population and industry, Libilian Outlawz had shown not just

their own strength and will to persevere, but also the might a

kingdom could wield when they worked together against

great odds.

They would remain in the north, continuing to harass the

western borders of JK territory and holding their own against

a much greater army for many months to come.

 

Next Chapter: Lion Rampant

 

References:

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Nexus

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Cruorem

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Cataclysm

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Kyara

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Valhalla

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Fort_Mole

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Rivendell

http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/23054-wilds-history/

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Wurm_Server_Release_Notes_2007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyNxYcaHPcw

Edited October 23, 2015 by Alden

[Laurence 2]

Great history. Would love to see more stuff like this.

Edited October 19, 2015 by Laurence

[MaurizioAM 919]

Aug 5th 2007, wow that long ago... Representatives of Iron Peak were also there for that raid sadly we were not very well known back then but i had moved over with a group of friends from a game called Roma Victor at that time... I have to say that was my first real raid in wurm and such fun, great memories. We hit quite a few outpost deeds along the way, the money gained from this raid actually helped pay for the placement of our village.

 

Keep up the great write up of history. Great read, looking forward to seeing more.

[Cayce 235]

Nice read again, thank you
One question though: Where did you get that map of north-eastern Wild from? It's too small to really see anything interesting on it
Actually, I think it wouldn't be a bad thing to have bigger pictures in general for curious readers like me^^

[Alden 209]

Nice read again, thank you

One question though: Where did you get that map of north-eastern Wild from? It's too small to really see anything interesting on it

Actually, I think it wouldn't be a bad thing to have bigger pictures in general for curious readers like me^^

 

Found it on the Wiki, here's the original:

 

Unfortunately I'm struggling a bit with the forum bbcode and couldn't get the images to match text length.

I though it looked weird where the images where too large, rather than too small, but I might have to reconsider.

 

I'm thinking I'll just do a final version as a PDF instead

[Cayce 235]

Thank you very much
Aye, a pdf sounds awesome!

[Alden 209]

                                     Chapter Six

                                   Lion Rampant

 

Ever since the days when the kingdoms of Jenn-Kellon and

Horde of the Summoned where first introduced, many had

pined over the idea of having a kingdom of their own.

 

Imagining their ideal world where many kingdoms battled it

out over far ranging territory, where alliances where made

and broken, and where grand stories could be told.

Not content with the clichéd story of ‘Good VS Evil’ that so

many fantasy games touted.

 

To that end an alternative was offered to improve the

political dynamics of the game.

The new kingdom of Mol-Rehan (MR) was introduced, and

much like Jenn-Kellon it was a Whitelight kingdom with a silly

name.

 

The citizens of Mol-Rehan, like those of JK and HOTS, had

their own unique appearance to visually differentiate

themselves.

Worshippers of the Whitelight Pantheon, they favoured

Magranon the god of conquest above both Fo and Vynora.

 

In the far west of the map on a small spit of land, nestled

between the coast and tall mountains, sits the town of Gold

Coast, the starter town of Mol-Rehan.

 

To assist with the establishment of a new kingdom, as a

limited time offer, free kingdom conversions and teleports to

the MR starter town where offered to anyone who wanted it.

And eager for a new experience, many accepted.

 

                                            ***

 

The Jenn-Kellon town of Whosville was founded in the very

first days of the new Wild server, 7 months before the

creation of the Kingdom of Mol-Rehan.

Nestled between the shores of the Whitelight Lake and the

mountain range spanning east-to-west on the southern

borders of JK territory.

 

The name of Whosville itself has a history spanning all the

way back to the very first maps of Wurm Online.

 

Loyal as they were to the Whitelight kingdom of old, the

villagers of Whosville longed for new adventures, and chose

to answer Mol-Rehans call.

 

The new Whosville was founded under Mol-Rehan banners in

the far southwest of the map.

Settled on a small peninsula that guarded the entrance to a

tranquil bay in the heart of MR territory.

Whosville would be crucial to the establishment and growth

of the new kingdom.

Providing the curious new players with a foundation of

talented veterans to supply them and teach them the lessons

necessary to survive on Wild.

 

The Blacklight town of Libilian Outlawz also sought change.

Leaving Horde of the Summoned, they converted to Mol-

Rehan and retained their fortress in the north, taking colours

of red and gold.

 

                          Libilian Outlawz as Mol-Rehan, by Chromega

 

The unique circumstances of Mol-Rehan’s creation meant

that far ranging groups of players, many of whom had

perhaps never interacted in any way, now found themselves

on the same side.

Bringing with them their wide range of experience and

creating an open culture.

Former enemies and rivals put aside their differences,

discovering that not all foes need to be enemies, the new

vibrant community of Mol-Rehan took shape.

 

MR's population swelled as veterans and new recruits alike

flocked to join them.

 

The larger part of MR’s population had come from the

members of HOTS who had grown tired of the imbalances

between the WL and BL kingdoms.

Friendships between those who moved on and those who

remained in HOTS stayed strong, and in recognition of their

close relationship a non-aggression pact (NaP) was

established between the two kingdoms while MR was still

finding its feet.

 

But not all in HOTS where so cheery about the situation,

The exodus of players to MR would clear the path for a new

generation of leaders to take on the reins of HOTS.

A generation with no ties of loyalty to old friends, and

resentful of the old guard who they perceived as abandoning

them for the novelty of a new kingdom.

 

                                          ***

 

Mol-Rehan’s rise was meteoric.

The veteran warriors of HOTS provided the kingdom’s combat

experience, while the famed crafters of JK made great works

and constructions.

But outweighing them both was the mass influx of new

players drawn by the opportunity to start at the ground floor

of a new kingdom, creating a solid base of industry and

manpower that even the populous Jenn-Kellon struggled to

match.

Mol-Rehan was well on its way to becoming a legitimate

kingdom in its own right.

 

Activity across the Wild server increased, and not just in Mol-

Rehan, each kingdom finding players both new and old to join

their ranks.

 

Skirmishing became common place once again, but the

warfront of old had forever changed.

No longer where there just two kingdoms slugging it out over

long decided battlelines.

In a war between any two kingdoms, the third would always

be a kingmaker, acting as the great equaliser in an alliance

against a more powerful foe.

 

                                              ***

 

The northern lands of Wild became a hotly contested

battleground once again, with the fortified town of Libilian

Outlawz still holding its place in territory that JK considered

its own.

 

Lacking the will and manpower to defend their own kingdom

inside their own heartlands, many fled the kingdom of JK,

taking refuge with Mol-Rehan, who were more able to

provide for them.

Amongst them the town of Rivendell, another JK town

founded at the very beginning of the new Wild map, holding

their claim in the north alongside JK and the other new MR

converts.

 

This was perhaps the lowest point for Jenn-Kellon.

What advantage they had in the past, when the only faced

the Blacklight kingdom, was now gone as Mol-Rehan held

similar numbers, similarly skilled crafters and reputedly the

best fighters on Wild.

 

Mol-Rehan built more wardeeds in the north to hold JK’s last

bastions in check.

Valhalla, the JK town in the southwest of their territory

battles the MR war deed of Vindicators Den.

The JK capital city of Kyara is surrounded by MR converted

towns that keep the area in lockdown.

The JK war deeds of CV and Waterworks are constructed in

the northwest to harass Libilian Outlawz.

 

Everyday MR wins another victory against the formerly

colossal force of JK.

Much of JK's forces choose to withdraw from Wild rather

than face the might of Mol-Rehan, making for themselves a

more peaceful existence on the JK Home server.

And almost as if in assistance of this great exodus across the

waters, the very first ships are introduced to Wurm, no longer

will players be expected to swim over server boundaries.

 

                             The old fortress of Pannonia in Whosville Bay

 

With little left to fight against, the MR war effort slows.

Eventually MR are given a Home server of their own, and

they lose a large part of their industrial capacity as players

less interested with PvP move over there to make a more

peaceful life for themselves.

 

But there is little to fear for MR as only a spattering of Jenn-

Kellon resistance remains, and only murmurs of hostility are

heard from HOTS while the kingdom of Mol-Rehan holds a

seemingly unassailable position on Wild.

 

Next Chapter: Mercurial Fates

 

References:

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Wurm_Server_Release_Notes_2008

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Wurmpedia:Current_events

http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/23054-wilds-history/

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Kaer_Morhen

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Libilian_Outlawz

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Dark_Citadel

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Rivendell

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php?title=Woodscove&oldid=36154

Edited October 26, 2015 by Alden

[Alden 209]

                                 Chapter Seven

                                Mercurial Fates

 

As the year 2009 began, the kingdom of Mol-Rehan

continued to hold a firm grip on the Wild server.

Jenn-Kellon had largely retreated to the Home server, and all

but surrendered the north.

The Horde of the Summoned had little interest in upsetting

the balance of power, choosing to avoid confrontation with

the more powerful kingdom by sticking to the Non-

Aggression pact held between them.

 

The stage was set, it seemed, for a quiet and uneventful year

ahead.

But this was not to be the case, a series of dramatic and

unexpected events where about to occur that would shift the

influence and control of the server in unexpected directions.

 

The first of which occurred in march of that year.

 

                                            ***

 

Since their first inception the Home servers had always been

a place of respite from the hardship and warfare of the Wild

server.

And for those who chose to never visit Wild, the Home

servers where a place of creativity and relaxation where the

only things to fear where the occasional wild creature and

rowdy neighbour, much like the Freedom servers of today 

outside of Chaos.

 

Life on the Home servers was safe and separated from the

events on Wild, enemies from other kingdoms couldn’t cross

their borders and extra rules were in place to protect a

players possessions from their less trustworthy neighbours.

 

Some built their deeds for efficiency, creating perfectly

optimised workspaces with not a single tile of land or a

wayward brick going to waste, where they could operate as

captains of industry.

Others chose to build grand designs, idyllic castles, model

villages, mazes and more.

All where possible when unbound by the need for defensive

design.

A simple fence provided all the protection they might ever

need.

Until one day in mid-march when that suddenly changed.

 

Without announcement or explanation, the barriers that held

back invaders where lifted quietly one night, to the confusion

of many.

Some took advantage of this opportunity to take from those

unlucky few who found themselves completely unprepared

to handle this new situation.

Although there were many who opposed this, even those on

Wild, vulnerable towns on all sides found themselves victims

of foreign invaders.

 

Those on that lived on the coast where the most vulnerable,

the open ocean acting like a highway for the ship borne

raiders arriving like the Vikings of old to raid and plunder.

 

While most invaders where of the opportunistic sort, others

took this opportunity to pursue grudges against neighbours

and Home server deeds owned by members of other

kingdoms.

 

For many this sudden and drastic change was far too much.

No one was prepared for the devastation and the sudden

need to fortify everything they owned.

 

This would ultimately lead to the creation of the Freedom

servers which were entirely separate from the PvP aspect of

the game.

 

                                                                  Through the trees

 

                                           ***

 

The ability to ride animals is introduced to Wurm on April the

25^th 2009, just a month after the change to Home servers.

Now wurmians can travel at great speed over land and charge

into battle as cavalry.

But thanks to the limited capacity for animations at the time,

they all appear to be surfing on the backs of their mounts.

 

                                           ***

 

Under the banners of Mol-Rehan, Libilian Outlawz still held

their fortress in the north.

A position that was practically uncontested on Wild with the

only opposition they might face in either JK or HOTS too busy

focused on raiding the Home servers and elsewhere.

 

LO had very open and trusting policies with regards to some

of its villager’s player accounts.

Many of the most skilled accounts freely shared their

passwords with others inside the village.

This allowed them to create and improve items for

themselves without bothering the owner of the account to do

it for them once they were online.

Alongside crafters, they made use of enchanters, builders,

farmers, miners and more.

Meaning that any one person who was online, as long as they

had access to an account, could effectively use the most

skilled account for whatever task was required at the time.

 

While this policy was very successful in terms of convenience,

its nature of trust would be the ultimate cause of LO’s

downfall.

 

Some players, making use of hacked .Jar files to give

themselves an unfair advantage, where causing a stir.

This resulted in a crackdown resulting in as many as thirty

banned accounts.

 

One of the players making use of a hacked .Jar file resided in

LO and had access to many of the shared accounts.

This meant that any account that the suspected cheater had

logged into was technically guilty of hacking the game.

And in Mid-May of 2009 the members of Libilian Outlawz

logged in to discover their best fighters, crafters, builders and

gatherers had all been banned for suspected hacks.

 

All their most valued player accounts where gone in one

devastating swoop.

And although there was much protestation against players

losing their accounts for someone else’s wrong doing, the

results of the ban stuck.

 

Players whom had spent many months or even years

developing their accounts were left with nothing.

Some chose to start again on new accounts, but many more

stopped playing all together.

 

                                          ***

 

Libilian Outlawz had been undone, and there where those

who revelled in their loss.

Those players amongst JK whom had felt resentment at MR’s

rise to dominance savoured vindication by the sudden turn of

events.

And the armies of JK returned to Wild preying on this

moment of weakness, intending to take back the northern

territories.

 

The first to fall was Libilian Outlawz itself.

Mere days after the bans came into effect, JK rolled up on the

town.

LO had only a handful of players and unskilled accounts left

to defend itself, reinforcements were called in from the

southwestern heartlands of MR and a host of warriors from

Whosville and other towns arrived to assist.

 

They were able to secure some of the artifacts stored in LO

and perform a rescue of players trapped there by the siege,

but could not prevent the towns destruction.

From their nearby outposts to the east, JK raided for days on

end against the now vulnerable town.

And when all the walls were turned to ruins, JK camped out

amongst them, draining the token over a period of days.

Despite the valiant efforts of the defenders, after countless

hours of battle and siege, on May the 16^th 2009 Libilian

Outlawz had been made to disband at the hands of an

enemy.

 

                                              ***

 

JK finds themselves the dominant force once again in

northern Wild, many towns are forced to capitulate and

convert to JK in avoidance of their wrath.

Only the town of Rivendell remains, a solitary presence of MR

influence in the north.

 

                                              ***

 

With MR in disarray JK pushed their advantage to gain control

over other parts of Wild.

 

The new JK town of Sparta was founded in a key defensive

position on the south-eastern peninsula.

Between the sea and steep mountainside, they controlled all

access from that southern region.

 

The Home servers which had been so devastated, where

closed for the last time making way for the new Freedom

server of Independence.

 

On Wild, both the Artifacts and Unique creatures were reset.

JK used their resurging numbers to find and dig up all

twelve artifacts in record time before anyone else had the chance,

hoarding them away on their capital deed of Kyara where

they remained unused for many months.

 

Rivendell had endured now amongst the constant JK threat in

the north for some months as the last MR outpost in that

province, and JK sought to make a final push claiming the

entire northern part of Wild as their own.

 

                                           ***

 

In secret from the westernmost JK deed of Valhalla, they

constructed a long road through thick forest, over which they

could move supplies closer to Rivendell.

Building a defensive chain of guard towers along the way.

 

Reaching a desert northeast of Rivendell, on a tall ridge the

war deed of Hostis Ad Portarum (HaP) was founded in August

of 2009.

 

From here the JK army made daily raids against the town of

Rivendell, in the hope of wearing them down and beating the

warriors of Mol-Rehan in a battle of attrition.

 

In their weakened state, the forces of Mol-Rehan could not

compete with JK’s industrial might, churning out weapons,

armour and building material at such a high rate.

The time and resources that JK invested into HaP was

overwhelming, and the town of Rivendell would find itself

under constant siege day in and day out for the next two

months.

 

Warriors, crafters and builders from all across the territories

of Mol-Rehan were called in to assist Rivendell in their time

of need.

Many travelled a great distance away from their own homes,

which may have needed defending of their own, to answer

Rivendells call.

 

Raids and counter-raids between Rivendell and HaP tested

the limits of endurance for the smaller number of MR players

trying to survive the merciless assault.

Networks of trenches, tunnels, thorn pits, dirt mounds and

walls turned the battlefield between the two deeds into a

Wurmian version of no-mans-land.

 

But eventually in mid-September, the reinforcements that

arrived to assist Rivendell made their way back to the homes

they had not seen or tended to in two entire months of

constant warfare.

 

Hope of a successful defense diminishes.

And on the 25^th of September, noting the weakening forces of

Rivendell, the JK army makes a final push.

Commencing a final eight hour raid against Rivendell, tearing

down its walls and ousting the few remaining defenders.

JK camps the deed for several days, and finally by the 28^th of

September the town of Rivendell is disbanded.

The last MR bastion in the north is defeated.

 

                                             ***

 

It had been a difficult year for MR having lost much of its

former numbers and the northern territories.

But they were provided with much needed breathing room

when JK decided to fortify its own position rather than

continue an offensive against MR.

 

Using a tactic that had been of great benefit in the past, MR

moved to become a threat to JK towns far across Wild.

A tactic designed to keep JK on the defensive, making them

lose focus on more aggressive pursuits until MR could strike

back.

 

With this plan in mind, commenced a raid on the JK town of

Sparta in southeast Wild.

 

By now Sparta had become a powerful and well established

deed, the veteran of many raids and sieges, it was well

fortified and a point of pride for JK’s southern forces.

 

On December the 12^th 2009, the Mol-Rehan raid against

Sparta was just beginning when they found unexpected

visitors from the Legion of Libila (LoL) arriving.

 

LoL was a clique of veteran players under the HOTS kingdom.

Although they were a Blacklight town, they held a greater

allegiance to the Whitelight kingdom of JK who had taken

them in after some bad blood occurred between them and

the new HOTS Emperor.

 

LoL had taken up a position between the MR raiders and their

ships anchored on the shoreline, effectively cutting off an

escape route.

 

The MR forces where highly suspicious of these clearly hostile

actions, but they technically held a NaP with the Blacklighters

and would not want to risk appearing the aggressor by

breaking it.

But that would not be a concern for long, as the forces of LoL

moved in and made the first attack.

 

MR held the higher ground between the walls of Sparta and

the shoreline, but LoL had cavalry and where able to

outmanoeuvre them.

 

In the end, the raid was abandoned and the forces of MR had

lost four of their number to this surprise attack and the

apparent breach of a longstanding pact.

LoL itself declared that it was not affiliated with the actions of

HOTS as a whole, and was not following any declarations or

pacts that were being upheld by the current HOTS Emperor.

 

Regardless the tensions between the once friendly kingdoms

of MR and HOTS had increased, with Mol-Rehan now

suspicious of all HOTS activity and Horde of the Summoned

preparing themselves in-case of retaliatory raids from MR.

 

                                        ***

 

By the years end, Mol-Rehan had fallen from a position of

seemingly unassailable power, from dominating all of Wild to

consolidating what was left into their heartlands in the

southwest.

As if that was not enough, a long standing pact was hanging

by a thread and the threat of another war on a second front

seemed imminent.

 

A bitter taste of how unexpectedly the tide may turn.

 

Next Chapter: Ashes of the Phoenix

 

References:

Mol-Rehan Archives.

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Wurmpedia:Current_events

http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/23054-wilds-history/

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Wurm_Server_Release_Notes_2009

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Whosville

Edited October 30, 2015 by Alden

[MaurizioAM 919]

More more...

[Alden 209]

                                    Chapter Eight

                              Ashes of the Phoenix

 

The citizens of Mol-Rehan had learned a harsh lesson in 2009

with the disbanding of LO and the loss of the northern

territories, and as the new year of 2010 rolled in they were

determined to reinforce their holdings in the southwest

against further loss.

 

The Capital of Whosville had been expanded in size with new

defensive terraces at its centre and an ever expanding shanty

town of 1x1 wooden huts in its perimeter, the Whosville

peninsula was entirely walled off to protect the lesser

fortified settlements and new players of the region from the

coastal raiders that plagued them.

New roads and highways were built, the road between Gold

Coast and Whosville in particular was reinforced by a long

chain of guard towers to make the route safer for transport

and the maintenance of kingdom infrastructure.

 

New deeds were founded, new friends were made and new

enemies appeared on the horizon.

 

                                             ***

 

Late in the previous year, on December 21^st 2009, a new

religion and champion update came into effect.

This update gave anyone who chose to be a champion a 75%

damage reduction, in addition to many other benefits,

supplemented by any armour they might be wearing.

The downside however to becoming a champion meant that

death for a character became permanent after they had been

killed three times.

To become a champion required a character to have 50 or

greater faith and to convert themselves at either the

Whitelight or Blacklight depending on their Deity.

Jenn-Kellon held control over the Whitelight in the north.

And Horde of the Summoned controlled the Blacklight in the

south.

Mol-Rehan, in the far southwest, would have to travel a long

distance and fight through enemy territory to reach either.

 

The damage reduction afforded to Champions made it a very

valuable option, and unlike Champions today there was no

limit to the number of players that could be Champions

simultaneously.

 

For a non-champion to kill a Champion in one on one combat

was almost impossible, and the kingdoms of JK and HOTS

would champ up as many of their players as they could, using

this position of advantage and their control over the WL and

BL to deny access to any outsiders.

As a result, Mol-Rehan was unable to secure any Champions

of their own at that time.

 

This imbalance of power would not go unnoticed.

 

                                               ***

 

Ebony Veil (EV) was the Capital of HOTS, constructed upon an

artificial island in the centre of a lake, the lake itself lay on the

border between HOTS and MR.

Its construction had been allowed by Mol-Rehan back when

HOTS and MR enjoyed more peaceful relations.

From this fortress of steep earthworks and Tall Stone Walls

the Champions of Libila made their staging grounds for a new

war.

 

The historic Non-aggression Pact that recently stood

tenuously between HOTS and MR came to a dramatic end

with the sudden onslaught of an army of Blacklight

Champions.

 

Sallying out from the dark fortress of EV, the Blacklighters

crossed the border directly into the Mol-Rehan heartlands,

using their status as Champions to crush all opposition.

Back and forth from EV they went, devastating one town and

retreating for supplies before moving onto the next.

On and on the slaughter went, with every town and fortress

of MR coming under vicious siege in one brief weekend of

destruction.

 

The Blacklighters knew no fear, relying on their champion

damage reduction to win the day for them.

MR fought hard and would lose many lives for every single

death they inflicted on HOTS.

 

One by one each town of MR fell under the might of this dark

crusade, until their remained only one.

The MR starter deed of Gold Coast was the final enclave of a

once great kingdom, now seemingly defeated.

 

                                           ***

 

This was the darkest moment of Mol-Rehans’ history.

All they had regained as a kingdom after the previous defeat

in the north of Wild, was undone.

They faced a foe many felt was unbeatable.

Only a stubborn few stayed the course, some thought them

determined to see out Mol-Rehan’s last moments.

 

The Blacklighters pressed on to make the final blow that

would kill a kingdom.

But the last day of Mol-Rehan dragged on, with every death

they returned again, defeated in every engagement they

faced against HOTS.

But there would always be another defeat after the last,

again and again HOTS would kill but always their victory

would be beyond the next battle and then the battle after

that, forever out of reach.

 

Under valiant leadership the stray forces of MR had been

rallied.

The House of Mol-Rehan was founded as the new capital city

of MR, east of Gold Coast in a large valley protected on three

sides by tall mountains that marked the northern edge of MR

territory in times past, all the many stragglers and refugees

fleeing the unending torment of HOTS domination

consolidated themselves there.

 

The Champions of Libila crashed against those united

defenders, and found that the tide had turned.

Where before the Blacklighters where fearless, there damage

reduction making them far stronger than any MR warrior,

now they remembered the cost of becoming a Champion.

 

Those Champions who had lost a life or two in the campaign

now where reluctant to stand on the front line, for fear of

permanent death.

In turn the other Champions took losses and they too pulled

back from the fighting.

Battle after battle Mol-Rehan pressed on and the army of

HOTS slowly came to realise they had crippled themselves.

 

                                            ***

 

The most experienced and skilled fighters of HOTS retreated

to the safety of EV in fear of the permanent death that

awaited them should they continue the fight, soon followed

by the remainder as the Blacklight army continued to shrink.

 

The warriors of Mol-Rehan began a long and arduous counter

campaign against the HOTS Capital, constructing over many

days a long chain of towers up to the very doorstep of EV.

Here they founded the war deed where they could face the

Blacklighters on even terms and eventually break the

strength of HOTS.

 

The Blacklighters raided and harassed the construction

efforts, skirmishing was constant both day and night on land

and water.

 

After several days and weeks of siege the Capital city of

Ebony Veil was destroyed, the Blacklighters remaining

amongst the ruins fighting for the scraps that where left until

they were all finally driven out by the valiant Mol-Rehan

conquerors.

 

There, in the now longstanding ruins of EV, the kingdom of

Mol-Rehan had done what many thought impossible.

Returning from the very brink of destruction by the will and

determination to never give up.

 

But there was little time to celebrate this watershed moment,

while the new enemy in the south had been defeated an old

enemy in the north was stirring.

 

                            The siege of Ebony Veil, by Candee, 2010

 

                                             ***

 

The armies of Jenn-Kellon, although also embattled with

HOTS, had not taken such a heavy blow as Mol-Rehan.

Their position and control of the Whitelight meant they could

field a Champion army of their own, which had saved them

from a HOTS incursion from the south.

 

Now they marched from the town of Valhalla against a war

weary Mol-Rehan, hoping for an easy victory.

They met in the mountainous crags that marked the northern

borders of MR territory.

Here they battled for many days, skirmishing back and forth

on rocky terrain, but never would JK penetrate into MR

heartland the way HOTS had done.

 

The fighting between MR and JK was a long exchange of back

and forth between the kingdoms until the location of the

Whitelight was moved.

The WL had remained for years deep inside of JK territory and

now out of recognition of its unfair placement, so far-off from

Mol-Rehan, it was moved to a location more equidistant

between MR and JK but still within JK lands.

 

The JK army pulled back from their offensive on MR to better

secure the more vulnerable WL, improving the already built

guard towers in the area, and constructing new war deeds as

close as they were allowed in a large perimeter around the

WL.

 

Mol-Rehan gathered her armies and broke through the JK

lines and destroying their fortifications, taking control of the

WL for a time, now able to recharge their artifacts and gain

more Champions of their own.

 

But this position was over extended, supplies and

reinforcements could not be acquired with ease, JK used their

better position to take back the WL once again.

 

The war between MR and JK went on like this for some time,

both powers competing for the top spot on Wild but finding

themselves evenly matched.

Victories and defeats were spread evenly on both sides,

dragging into an effective but contested stalemate.

 

                                           ***

 

All the while HOTS held very little presence on the server,

after their defeat and the crushing of their capital, they were

beset by internal conflicts.

 

Rival factions within HOTS battled for leadership over the

kingdom, becoming heated to the point of civil war.

BL on BL fighting came to a head with the mass killing of its

own players and the assassination of one of its Champions,

who now suffered a final death, resulting in the exile of many

Blacklighters.

 

In disarray and suffering after an exodus of many veterans,

HOTS had limited options in choosing targets.

Reduced, out of necessity, to waiting until the larger

kingdoms were distracted by engagements in the north

before they could strike out against targets of opportunity in

the south.

This would largely put them in conflict with Mol-Rehan,

having to not only face off against the powerful JK army of

the north but also the ragtag HOTS bandits of the south.

 

                                                  The town of Eden, July 2010

 

                                            ***

 

It was at this time on October the 28^th 2011, that the Epic

servers opened.

 

Epic was another vision of what Player versus Player combat

could be in Wurm Online.

Rather than the slow and strategic campaigns of Wild, Epic

would be fast and tactical.

Sporting faster skill gains, easier to navigate maps and player

made kingdoms.

 

Epic has a history and story of its own worth telling, but I will

leave that task to someone else.

 

As players from all over flocked to Epic, eager to give the new

cluster a try, Wild found that it had been usurped as the

favoured PvP server.

 

                                           ***

 

The compounding effects of sweeping mechanical changes,

new servers and Wurms problems with player retention

meant that Wild had seen fewer and fewer players over the

last year.

 

With its dwindling population, more dramatic changes were

made to Wild in order to keep it relevant.

 

Beginning on December 19^th 2011.

Each of the kingdoms; Mol-Rehan, Jenn-Kellon and Horde of

the summoned where removed and all their members

converted to the Freedom kingdom.

Village based alliances where used as a lightweight version of

the player made kingdoms available on Epic.

 

Changes to many raid mechanics; such as Catapulting,

Lockpicking and Bashing, came into effect.

Severely affecting the ability to harm anyone hiding behind so

much as a low stone wall and making many basic deeds

simply impervious to any kind of attack.

 

Wild was connected to the other Freedom servers by its

border in the east and renamed as Chaos.

 

Next Chapter: The Eye of the Storm

 

References:

Mol-Rehan Archives.

http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/23242-the-seige-of-ev/

http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/29053-the-history-of-gravy-and-downfall-of-ebony-veil-as-told-by-candee/

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Wurm_Server_Release_Notes_2010

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Silron_Valley

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Wurm_Server_Release_Notes_2011

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Wurm_Server_Release_Notes_2012

Edited November 3, 2015 by Alden

[Cayce 235]

It's too bad you won't do some writing about epic too, you're doing that so good!
But it's very interesting to read about Wild too of course. Please keep up the good work

I think that this story should get a place in the Wiki by the way!

[Alden 209]

                                     Chapter Nine

                              The Eye of the Storm

 

It is January 2012.

The population on the Epic cluster continues to rise, while on

Chaos it continues to fall.

All the activity on Epic leads to new updates to the combat

mechanics, changes and benefits of which spread back to

Chaos.

 

But Chaos has its problems.

For whatever reason, the dramatic sweeping changes that

occurred on Chaos to stem the exodus of players has not

worked.

Its population has fallen further, and those that remain find

their ability to engage enemy towns and players in combat is

hampered by the new alliance system and changes to many

of the fundamentals of raid mechanics.

 

The Hunt of the Ancients is introduced to both Chaos and

Epic.

A player versus player event that doles out rewards to the

alliance that can win its challenge.

 

Many more changes to combat mechanics occur over a

period of months. Altering the way that players choose to

engage one another.

 

But still the activity on Chaos is quite low.

 

                                           ***

 

The Empire of Mol-Rehan Alliance, the alliance of villages on

Chaos that made up the former kingdom of Mol-Rehan, did

their best to keep Chaos active and alive though many of

their number had moved over to Epic.

Often patrolling enemy territory, despite their lack of

population relative to the other kingdoms, hoping to find

some excitement and a story to tell.

 

Some skirmishing and traps occurred on an infrequent basis.

But perhaps the most notable event of that year, for the

impact it would have on the future of Chaos, is the founding

of Kratos.

 

Mol-Rehan had for a long time been at a disadvantage on the

server due to their position in the far west.

In times past, the western border had connected to the Mol-

Rehan Home server but it had long ago been removed along

with the Jenn-Kellon Home server to the east.

As a modern alternative, Chaos had been connected to the

Freedom Isles, where they could live in relative peace.

But that crossing lay all the way over on Chaos’s eastern

border, effectively isolating Mol-Rehan unless they were

willing to risk the crossing past the mainland and territorial

waters of either JK or HOTS.

 

Likewise the HOTA zone was in the central east of Chaos with

a rugged mountainous border between it and MR territories.

 

Mol-Rehan had few secure locations to operate from on that

side of the server.

But there was a hugely ambitious plan to rectify the situation.

 

On the 23^rd of October 2012, the mountain fortress of Kratos

was founded on a lone steep sided peak that jutted out into

the sea.

 

Deep inside on enemy territory and surrounded on all sides

by established and long-standing hostile strongholds, with

the powerful JK fortress of Sparta just a stone throw to the

north, it was a daring project.

 

Founded above the former town of Helms Deep, its towering

heights providing views of the archipelago to the south, a

wide stretch of water and the HOTA zone to the west, the

Freedom border in the east and the fortresses of JK holding

the gap between mountain and sea to the north.

 

From there it was a short sail of only a few minutes to either

the Freedom border or the HOTA zone, depending on

whether Mol-Rehan was seeking either trade or trouble.

 

It’s founding was not without incident however, the other

kingdoms, and JK in particular, were not willing to let MR gain

such a beneficial outpost.

 

Even at an incomplete stage the fortress of Kratos appeared

formidable, those that wished it gone could do little more

than hassle its construction by stealing supplies and

distracting its builders.

 

But eventually its construction would be completed,

providing MR with a secure position in the south east and

perhaps their strongest fortress to date.

 

                                                                            Kratos, 2015

 

                                              ***

 

With the southeast peninsula now a contested territory,

Jenn-Kellon increase their activity in the deed of Sparta

hoping their greater numbers will win the day for them.

 

But the warriors of Mol-Rehan are entrenched, and from the

many tiered mountain fortress of Kratos, they make their

own assaults against the JK holdings that surround them.

 

With their ambitious efforts, Mol-Rehan had singlehandedly

returned activity to Chaos and forced the other kingdoms

into action.

New players, spurred on by the renewed life in Chaos and the

hard work of recruitment campaigns, flock to join the ranks of

MR.

The arrival of fresh talent brings about an increase in

industry, a greater output of war supplies and a fresh player

base eager to try out frontline combat.

 

While JK has both the numbers and the veteran players,

boasting some of the best crafters and fighters of the time,

they cannot match the enthusiasm of an expanding Mol-

Rehan while their own hold on Chaos is shrinking.

 

                                           ***

 

As the new year of 2013 rolls in, Mol-Rehan makes its mark

with their new territory in the southeast holding strong,

expanding their influence to make themselves the dominant

force at HOTA and ensuring the continued growth of the

kingdom.

 

Chaos is leaving the slump it had been in for over a year,

dragged out of it specifically by the actions of one kingdom.

Skirmishing is increasing, specifically in the southeast, and

numbers are returning.

 

While it may have largely been a quiet year, the seeds of

future conflicts and conquests had been planted by the

machinations of Mol-Rehan.

 

Next Chapter: Order Unto Chaos

 

References:

Mol-Rehan Archives

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Wurm_Server_Release_Notes_2012

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Wurm_Server_Release_Notes_2013

Edited November 6, 2015 by Alden

[Alden 209]

                                   Chapter Ten

                              Order unto Chaos

 

While Player Made Kingdom’s had been active on the Epic

servers for some time, Chaos for more than a year had

suffered under a heavily restricted system based around

village alliances.

 

Deeds were practically invulnerable due to the restrictions on

catapulting, lock picking and wall bashing.

Even the simplest square fort was an impenetrable haven,

reducing many would be battles into running matches

between shelters.

 

But on February 1^st 2013, that system was scrapped and

PMK’s based on the templates of the Whitelight kingdoms,

Mol-Rehan and Jenn-Kellon, were allowed for the very first

time on Chaos.

 

The Mol-Rehan alliance chose to adopt the name they had

been operating under for some time now.

Recognising their territorial and military dominance they

would no longer be a kingdom but instead, an empire.

On the third of February 2013, in the capital deed House of

Mol-Rehan, The Empire of Mol-Rehan was founded.

 

                                                                           Fire and Sand

 

                                              ***

 

With the introduction of PMK’s came a renewed vigour for

the Chaos server.

Recruiters redoubled their efforts and brought in greenhorns

by the boatload from the Freedom Isles.

Old veterans reunited with their friends and refounded old

deeds.

 

Forges, long dormant, saw their first sparks of fire in over a

year as industry was reforged, and new weapons and armour

created.

 

And the old restrictions on catapulting, lock picking and

bashing where removed.

Open skirmishing and raids returned, becoming more

common than they had been in sometime.

 

But not every kingdom was able to revitalise itself under the

new PMK’s as Mol-Rehan had.

 

                                            ***

 

Ever since the destruction of Ebony Veil, the old capital of the

Blacklight kingdom, Horde of the summoned had been a

fractured community.

Factional infighting plagued the kingdom as separate groups

battled for political control, fostering a collection of mini-

kingdoms battling one another for supremacy on and off for

months at a time.

 

And while the difficulty of later years had been no less kind to

the other kingdoms, HOTS was perhaps the hardest hit by the

opening of Epic and the changes to Chaos.

 

While JK and MR were able to later reform themselves under

PMK’s, HOTS was forced to use the old kingdom model as the

Blacklight PMK template was not yet available.

 

Unlike PMK’s ,which have better control of player

management and leadership functions, the old kingdoms

required an NPC to crown a player as its leader.

Like the Lady of the Lake that crowned the Grand Prince for

JK, and the Stone of the Sword that appointed the Chancellor

for MR, HOTS had their Emperor appointed by the Cobra

King.

And this crowning NPC offered only a small random chance of

becoming a king once approached, meaning that many would

need to try before being granted the opportunity.

 

In early 2013 the Blacklight kingdom was still as divided and

factional as ever.

Access to the Cobra King had been walled off by one of the

groups vying for control of HOTS, ensuring that only their

own would be able to attempt to gain the crown and denying

all other Blacklight factions.

Leaving the kingdom without a king for quite some time.

 

In an effort to give the ailing kingdom a chance to rebuild

itself, the Empire of Mol-Rehan formed a Non-aggression

Pact (NaP) with the Horde of the Summoned.

Hoping their diplomatic efforts would one day cultivate good

relations should HOTS ever rise to the level of prominence

they once held and to maintain peace in the south of Chaos.

 

For the most part, the many disparate factions of HOTS

where happy to accept and abide by the terms of the NaP.

But not all, others both inside and outside of the Blacklight

kingdom plotted to take advantage of Mol-Rehan’s mercy.

 

The Empire of Mol-Rehan turned its attention northwards

towards the armies of Jenn Kellon, trusting that the NaP

would hold the south in check.

But leaving HOTS to its own devices had backfired on more

than one occasion in the past.

 

In early March of 2013 a group of Blacklight agitators, in an

apparent effort to test the limits of the NaP, founded the

town of Bloody Waters in a position closely bordering on MR

territory and overlooking a large body of water vital to MR’s

free movement across Chaos.

From there they proceeded to scout into MR lands, and even

began sniffing around the walls of nearby Mol-Rehan deeds,

hoping perhaps to taunt someone from MR into inadvertently

breaking the NaP.

 

But MR are determined not to be the aggressor, and allow

these transgressions to occur so long as no overtly hostile

action is taken by those rogue bands out of Bloody Waters.

 

Through diligent intelligence efforts, the Empire of Mol-

Rehan traced rumours of Bloody Waters and the alliances

they were garnering with the northern kingdom of Jenn

Kellon.

They discovered that Bloody Waters was indeed planning on

breaking the NaP with MR in a sneak attack once they had

built up enough supplies.

 

The Empire is aware of its precarious situation.

HOTS, and Bloody Waters in particular, is in no position to

defend itself, if MR takes the initiative and acts now they can

destroy any devious plots long before they become a threat.

This will however be politically disastrous, making MR the

one to break their own pact and potentially be seen as using

their might to bully a helpless kingdom and putting a black

mark on any future attempts at diplomacy.

If they however choose to honour the pact by doing nothing,

they risk waiting for the inevitable attack to occur and

potentially suffer a great loss.

 

In an effort to reduce the rising tensions and cease dealing in

backroom rumours, MR sent an envoy to Bloody Waters to

hear their official intentions and to determine if they were

willing to abide by the NaP.

But outside the very gates of Bloody Waters, the lone envoy

from Mol-Rehan was openly attacked and driven away in a

hail of arrows and accusations.

 

Many in Mol-Rehan considered the NaP broken by the hostile

actions of Bloody Waters and wished to end their nuisance by

officially dissolving the NaP and declaring war.

 

But Mol-Rehan was approached by another faction of HOTS

who did not wish to involve themselves in a war they knew

could not be won, they disassociated themselves from the

actions of Bloody Waters and urged Mol-Rehan to maintain

the NaP.

 

It was true, these Blacklighters told them, that the lone town

of Bloody Waters had no intention of remaining peaceful with

Mol-Rehan but others in HOTS certainly didn’t want open

warfare.

Bloody Waters had been a burden on the already strained

kingdom, killing and looting its own fellow Blacklighters who

were not willing to join their cause.

 

The Empire of Mol-Rehan agreed that the NaP should stay in

place, but the lone town of Bloody Waters would be exempt

from the pact.

 

It was at this time when the Horde of the Summoned finally

gained an emperor.

Bloody Waters had been using their control over the Cobra

King to deny access to anyone outside of their own group

from attempting to gain the dark regalia of the HOTS

emperor.

Ensuring that the title would fall only to one of their own.

 

This then meant that Bloody Waters was now the new capital

city of Horde of the Summoned, right on Mol-Rehans’ border,

evoking a memory of the dark days when the armies of Ebony

Veil marched over the heartlands of Mol-Rehan.

 

Now that HOTS had some semblance of leadership, they

found a host of new recruits willing to rally to them.

The new Blacklight emperor was even brazen enough to

attempt to capture towers belonging to Mol-Rehan and

expand their territory through conquest.

 

This was the break that Mol-Rehan needed, no one could

contest that Bloody Waters had been the aggressor and had

broken whatever pretense of a NaP still existed between

them and MR.

The forces of Mol-Rehan easily drove back the invading

Blacklighters and prevented their capture of any territory.

 

But this was not all Mol-Rehan had to fear.

The emperor of HOTS used his position to appoint all the

kingdom titles to his friends and allies.

These publicly visible appointments revealed earlier rumours

of a JK-HOTS alliance to be true, as a well-known figure of

Jenn Kellon leadership had appeared on the HOTS council.

 

The larger part of HOTS, not allied with Bloody Waters, was

strongly against this new emperor for both inviting war with

Mol-Rehan and turning HOTS into a puppet kingdom under

the thumb of Jenn Kellon.

 

It appeared JK had been plotting to force the Empire of Mol-

Rehan into wars both in the south and north of Chaos.

 

The situation appeared dire, Mol-Rehan would be stretched

thin dividing its war efforts between both Jenn Kellon and

HOTS.

But in an ironic twist of fate the long fractured and divided

kingdom of HOTS found themselves motivated towards a

single uniting cause; the ousting of their Jenn Kellon overlords

and the warmongering emperor.

 

Within days of the traitorous alliance being revealed the

Emperor in Bloody Waters was forced into abdication and

fled into the north seeking sanctuary with his Jenn Kellon

masters.

 

The remnants of HOTS reaffirmed the Non-aggression Pact

with the Empire of Mol-Rehan in full, and would enjoy

peaceful relations for some time to come.

That is, until the next inevitable betrayal by HOTS occurred

some months later.

 

                                          ***

 

The Empire of Mol-Rehan knew that JK would likely have had

an attack plan ready to implement once there plot to turn

HOTS against MR had succeeded.

 

But by the willingness of Mol-Rehan to remain faithful to the

pacts it had declared, and the hasty actions of the plotters, it

had failed.

 

Setting back JK’s invasion plans for a time, giving Mol-Rehan

the opportunity to make some plans of its own.

 

                                          ***

 

Ever since its founding almost a year before, the mountain

fortress of Kratos had been a thorn in JK’s side.

Effectively nullifying their hold on the south eastern

peninsula of Chaos.

And in an effort to both reinforce their own holdings and put

greater pressure on Mol-Rehan, Jenn Kellon founded the

wardeed of The Hot Gate.

Situated between the MR fortress of Kratos and the JK

fortress of Sparta, The Hot Gate was founded in a natural

choke point between steep cliffs in the east and open waters

in the west.

 

The threat that this wardeed posed to Kratos was not

insignificant, if Kratos fell so would MR’s primary hold in the

east, their safe passage to the Freedom Isles and the access

to trade and new recruits that came with it.

 

The Empire of Mol-Rehan took the fight to the enemy, rather

than give them time to attack on their own terms.

For weeks they kept JK on the defensive, besieging The Hot

Gate and skirmishing with the defenders.

 

Until finally the line was broken, and Mol-Rehan emerged

victorious.

This left the fortress of Sparta more vulnerable to attack, and

took any offensive plans off the table for JK.

 

                                                        Outside The Hot Gate, 2013

 

                                          ***

 

The Empire of Mol-Rehan had seized the opportunity

provided by PMK’s and further established their various

footholds across Chaos.

In only a few short months their influence had spread greatly,

and Mol-Rehan grew to become the dominant force on the

battlefield.

 

Jenn Kellon, unable to match the might of Mol-Rehan in open

combat, had moved to less reputable forms of strategy.

And although their schemes had failed for now, they could be

expected to continue the underhanded approach of secret

alliances and plots of betrayal in times to come.

 

The Horde of the Summoned, while largely grateful for Mol-

Rehans’ assistance in maintaining their freedom, was still

politically unstable and at best an uncertain ally and at worst

a potential knife in the back.

 

Next Chapter: A Fortress of Freedom

 

References:

Mol-Rehan Archives;

The Battle of the Hot Gate written by RomaN;

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/King_Cobra

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Wurm_Server_Release_Notes_2013

Edited November 9, 2015 by Alden

[Cayce 235]

Looking forward to reading about the next two years

[Alden 209]

                                Chapter Eleven

                          A Fortress of Freedom

 

The revitalisation of Chaos was the hallmark of 2013.

By only mid-year several great battles had been fought,

fortresses had been torn down and built up, and political

plots had set a kingdom against itself.

 

The Empire of Mol-Rehan held control from west to east over

Chaos in an unbroken span of territory, cutting off the north

from the south.

The Horde of the Summoned in the south peninsula was

fighting a never ending war of succession.

And Jenn Kellon in the north, recuperating from their last

defeat, forged new arms and plotted once again the downfall

of Mol-Rehan.

 

Amongst all these happenings a new contender arrived, one

who wished to bring a change to the stifled politics of Chaos,

instigate measures of real diplomacy and bring an end to the

hatred between kingdoms caused by old grievances. 

 

                                           ***

 

Working in secret from a well-furnished cave hidden deep in

the mountains.

A close group of trusted acquaintances toiled together to lay

the ground work for their ambitious project.

For six months they worked, both in game and on the forums,

to cultivate a fertile position for their scheme to take hold.

 

They opened up diplomatic channels with the other

kingdoms, always remaining neutral but probing them on

their willingness to allow new groups the chance to grow.

Finally in early July of 2013, after many months of hard work,

the town of Fort Freedom was founded.

 

Just south of the Freedom Isles starter town of Hunters Lodge

in central Chaos, situated right on the border of the Hunt of

the Ancients.

It was hoped their convenient proximity to Hunters Lodge

and their allegiance to the Freedom name would attract

others from across the Freedom Isles to their cause.

 

And it did, for a while at least, but maintaining a kingdom

under the banner of Freedom Isles would prove difficult.

Much like HOTS at the time, they were not a PMK and

suffered from the downsides that resulted.

Unlike HOTS, who struggled around the ownership of the

kingdom crown, Freedom Isles had no crown to speak of and

no means of managing the kingdom in the same way that

others could.

 

But it was not only internal mechanical difficulties that

plagued them.

Roaming groups from both Mol-Rehan and Jenn Kellon paid

visit to Fort Freedom, eager to observe their defences and

test their reaction times.

But neither kingdom was willing to stick around for too long,

through Fort Freedom’s deft handling of politics and

propaganda they both believed the Freedom Isles town to be

allied with the opposite kingdom, with neither MR or JK

having a nearby refuge to retreat to they feared being ousted

by a host of reinforcements riding down on them in the open.

And for a while this arrangement would keep the Hunters

Lodge region in relative peace.

 

                                            ***

 

By August 2013, the latest in a long line of usurpers had

recently taken the crown of HOTS.

And ever eager to establish a sense of legitimacy as the true

leaders of the Horde, began a campaign against the Empire of

Mol-Rehan.

 

Skirmishes occur along the borders between MR and HOTS,

with HOTS once again breaking the NaP that Mol-Rehan had

created for the Blacklighter’s own benefit.

Although Mol-Rehan had little trouble driving away the

invaders, there was some concern about the standing MR

policy of non-aggression, clearly which ever group was

leading HOTS on that day of the week could not be trusted to

reciprocate.

 

Almost as if HOTS wished to aid Mol-Rehan in its decision,

they moved up from mere border skirmishing and began a

raid on an MR deed, a raid that was easily pushed back by the

defenders.

The Empire of Mol-Rehan dissolved all notions of maintaining

a NaP and retaliated against the HOTS threat by besieging

their now capital city of Commoragh.

 

At almost the same time forces from the northern kingdom of

Jenn Kellon marched southwards and gathered at their

fortress of Sparta.

From there they began a raid on the MR deed of Hades Wall.

Hades Wall was Mol-Rehans answer to the JK’s Hot Gate, a

forward defensive position protecting the fortress of Kratos

from invasion.

Founded in a strategic position holding the chokepoint

between mountains in the east and the shoreline in the west,

the gigantic wall was intended to deny JK land access to the

south eastern peninsula.

 

The timing of the attacks, from both HOTS and JK, suggested

at the time that an alliance between the kingdoms had been

renewed.

 

Later, with Hades Wall still under repair from the last invasion

the armies of Jenn Kellon descended again.

This time breaching Hades Wall and beginning an attack on

Kratos itself.

But the defenders where able to hold them at bay, and the JK

army retreated home unable to penetrate that mountain

fortress.

 

                                             ***

 

Once again the Horde of the Summoned had under gone a

change of leadership, the new empress ousted the old

emperor.

 

Under her leadership the Horde turned away from making

needless war at its own expense and focused itself on

restoring the burnt out kingdom.

 

The Blacklight capital of Commoragh would be rebuilt and

recruitment campaigns went into full effect.

For the first time in a long time HOTS saw growth within the

kingdom as old rivalries where set aside, at least for the

moment.

 

This was the growth that the Empire of Mol-Rehan had been

hoping to see from the Blacklight kingdom when it had

offered its non-aggression pacts in the past.

While it may have seemed a good opportunity to forge

another NaP, considering the long history of HOTS betrayals

put a damper on that idea.

Mol-Rehan would not take action against the Horde for now,

but would remain vigilant of the Horde’s plans and

occasionally keeping an eye on their progress.

 

But HOTS chose to interpret Mol-Rehan’s reluctance to form

a NaP as hostile intent, with scouting and the occasional

skirmishes that resulted reaffirming their opinion.

 

The empress of HOTS, feeling under threat, consulted with a

clique of JK veterans known as the League of Gentlemen.

They came to the agreement that the League would provide

their military strength and experience to HOTS in exchange

for receiving kingdom titles and a for having a say in kingdom

affairs.

 

But the League soon over stayed their welcome, using their

position as strong fighters to dictate orders and turn the

Horde into a puppet kingdom of Jenn Kellon, causing a great

deal of internal strife as they lorded over those in HOTS who

didn’t have the power to stop them.

 

Not satisfied to merely have control of the Horde as a

puppet, the League decided to take direct control of the

Blacklight kingdom and seized the site of the Cobra King.

The empress, who had done so much for the struggling

kingdom, chose to abdicate her crown and leave Chaos after

facing increased pressure from Jenn Kellon and the League.

 

                                            ***

 

All the while, Fort Freedom continued onward towards its

goals.

Its walls now rising high and strong, former recruits from the

Freedom Isles now more experienced and capable of dealing

with the threat posed by the other kingdoms.

 

The Empire of Mol-Rehan, witnessing the lengths that Fort

Freedom had gone to in assisting new players on Chaos,

decides to officially declare a non-aggression pact in the faith

that this new kingdom would have a greater respect for such

agreements.

 

Fort Freedom, and their sister deed of Asgard, had for some

time been building up the infrastructure of the surrounding

Hunters Lodge area.

But the nearby deed of Pardranor took grievance with what

they saw as Fort Freedom infringing on their territory.

 

Pardranor and Fort Freedom, both Freedom Isles towns near

Hunters Lodge, had co-existed quite peacefully before.

But it had come to the point when their differing long-term

ambitions began to conflict.

While Fort Freedom wished to build up a strong presence for

Freedom Isles on Chaos, Pardranor aimed to eventually

become a PMK themselves, putting the two sides at

loggerheads.

 

The leadership of Fort Freedom called for calm, but

Pardranor was unwilling to tolerate their presence and

threatened to call in their allies from Jenn Kellon.

 

Pardranor struck first, beginning what some would call the

Freedom Civil War.

Fort Freedom was able to hold back Pardranor’s initial attacks

for about a week.

That is until a host of Blacklight mercenaries, under the

command of their masters in Jenn Kellon, joined Pardranor in

their war against Fort Freedom.

 

Knowing they couldn’t hold out against the combined might

of both Pardranor and HOTS, Fort Freedom contacted Jenn

Kellon asking them to stay out of the fighting, but Jenn Kellon

refused and sent a detachment of its own forces to assist the

Blacklighters already engaged in the fighting.

 

Fort Freedom stood alone, a single Freedom Isles deed

against the alliance of Pardranor and the kingdoms of the

Horde and Jenn Kellon.

 

The Empire of Mol-Rehan saw the way that the battle was

turning, and knew that Fort Freedom could not survive this

on their own.

Offering an unconditional alliance, Mol-Rehan hoped to

prevent the JK/HOTS coalition from gaining a foothold in

central Chaos.

 

After a few days of deliberation, Fort Freedom accepted the

assistance of Mol-Rehan.

The Empire’s forces arrived and together with what remained

of Fort Freedom they ousted the JK/HOTS alliance from the

Hunters Lodge area in under a week.

Restoring peace and order to the region.

 

                                              ***

 

Fort Freedom had long known the disadvantages to

remaining a Freedom Isles deed.

With no crown to govern with, and surrounded on all sides by

powerful kingdoms the difficulties posed to them by staying

neutral where insurmountable.

 

The decision was made then to join with the kingdom that

had offered its support when their need was greatest,

And the Empire of Mol-Rehan gladly accepted them.

 

The initial dream of Fort Freedom had been an ambitious

one, to act as a catalyst for a change in kingdom politics on

Chaos.

And with their absorption into the Empire and things

returning to the way they were before, their dream would

appear to be a failure.

 

But for a short time at least their efforts and handling of the

political situation had forced the other kingdoms into action,

increasing server activity and disturbing the established

kingdom power structures, making them the fulcrum of the

server.

 

And although Fort Freedom may have been integrated into

the Empire of Mol-Rehan, losing its identity as the lone

maverick village, the dream still lived of an entity that could

influence the balance between the three kingdoms.

 

                                         ***

 

As 2013 was coming to a close; the Empire of Mol-Rehan,

through diligent labour and effective leadership, had seen its

territories expand greatly from the previous year despite the

larger part of the server being set against them.

 

The Horde of the Summoned had finally, and with great

effort, dragged themselves out of the rut they had been stuck

in for so many years and returned to its former place as an

influential power on Chaos.

Only to be struck down once again, not this time by an

internal squabble but by the imposition of Jenn Kellons will

on HOTS internal affairs.

 

Jenn Kellon had once again attempted to seize control of the

smaller Blacklight kingdom, and this time succeeded.

With their new puppet in place to wage wars on their behalf,

they could now threaten Mol-Rehan from both south and

north.

 

But Mol-Rehan had seen enough treachery, betrayal and

cowardly attacks from kingdoms unwilling to face them on

equal terms.

Under a constant threat from those who saw no avenue of

attack as off limits, they sought to put themselves forever

into a position of strength from which they could not be

dislodged, so that they might never fear the underhanded

strategies of others.

 

No longer would the Empire be on the defensive, forever

reacting to the advances of the other kingdoms.

It was time to take battle to the enemy.

 

Next Chapter: The Fall of Sparta

 

References:

The Mol-Rehan Archives.

An interview with MaurizioAM.

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Wurm_Server_Release_Notes_2013

http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/83785-chaos-server-general-info-and-faq/

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/User:Rosedragon

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Player:Snoph

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Settlement:Hunter%27s_Lodge

Edited November 13, 2015 by Alden

[Alden 209]

                              Chapter Twelve

                            The Fall of Sparta

 

By the early days of 2014, the Empire of Mol-Rehan had

proven themselves the dominant military force on Chaos

through their numerous victories in the previous months,

even outnumbered against an alliance of enemies.

But military dominance was not enough, and they still found

themselves vulnerable against opponents willing to continue

the fight outside of the fields of war.

 

A victim of their own success, as the dominant kingdom Mol-

Rehan had become the target for others to rally against.

And any use of underhanded strategy against them was seen

as justified by how powerful Mol-Rehan had become.

 

Though the Empire of Mol-Rehan had always treated its

lesser enemies with a great amount of leniency, in fear that

otherwise they may be called out as bullies and oppressors, in

the then climate of hostility and backroom deals they

couldn’t expect to receive the same courtesy.

 

For too long the defensive and diplomatic approach had kept

the empire on the back foot, always reacting to the advances

and manoeuvres of the enemy instead of leading the charge,

leaving them vulnerable to ambush and betrayal.

But a shift in policy would find the situation on Chaos turned

on its head, taking a stance of proactive aggression the

Empire of Mol-Rehan was able to shift the other kingdoms

into a defensive position.

 

Even the most fortified of deeds, no matter where they were

hidden on Chaos, found they were still within the reach of the

empire.

The enemies of the empire would be kept on their toes,

never knowing where the next attack would come from.

 

But maintaining such a relentless pace would be exhausting, a

variety of targets in different kingdoms would need to be

under constant siege for the strategy to be effective.

And at such a rate it would only be a matter of time before

Mol-Rehans best fighters leading the charge became burnt

out, leaving the kingdom vulnerable.

 

It was not enough to target isolated and vulnerable enemy

deeds, Mol-Rehan needed to achieve a more symbolic

victory, one that would send a message to all enemies of

Mol-Rehan for years to come.

 

                                          ***

 

For two years now the mountain fortress of Kratos had stood

strong, forming the backbone of the eastern territories of the

empire.

Kratos provided Mol-Rehan with safe passage and trade to

the Freedom Isles, easier access to the Hunt of the Ancients

and undermined Jenn Kellon's hold on the southeast of

Chaos.

 

But the boon of Kratos was always under threat from the

north.

The fortress of Sparta stood only a few minutes ride away,

well-fortified and populated by some of Jenn Kellon's best

fighters.

For years, even before it became an empire, Mol-Rehan had

struggled and fought with Sparta but had never achieved

definitive success.

 

Sparta was a point of pride for Jenn Kellon, so far away from

their capital of Kyara in the north and yet able to

independently defend itself.

 

If Sparta could be removed, Jenn Kellon would lose a valuable

foothold and possibly even the entire southeast peninsula.

 

                                            ***

 

For weeks Mol-Rehan planned and prepared, gathering the

supplies they would need for war.

 

And on the 22nd of March 2014, they set their plan in motion

against the fortress of Sparta.

Once gathered just to the south in the many tiered mountain

fortress of Kratos, the armies of Mol-Rehan set forth.

But the short span of land between Kratos and Sparta was a

no-mans-land of defensive barriers to hinder travel.

Instead the armies of Mol-Rehan took to the waters in a

grand fleet, intending to bypass the many land defenses built

on Sparta’s southern face.

 

Northwards they sailed from the boatmine beneath Kratos,

the well prepared forces of Mol-Rehan divided into four

teams each with their part to play in this campaign;

The Catapult Team would be operating the siege engines

needed to bring down the longhouses built atop Sparta's

walls and breaching the gatehouses from which the

defenders would attack.

The Construction Team would build a safe space for the Mol-

Rehan forces to store their supplies and retreat to if

necessary, as well as aid in the undermining of Sparta's walls

once the longhouses had been destroyed.

The Perimeter Team would be building a long fence from

west to east on the north side of Sparta, to prevent Jenn

Kellon reinforcements from arriving too quickly.

And the Fighter Team would engage the defenders of Sparta

and protect the other teams, allowing them to do their jobs

without distraction.

 

The Mol-Rehan fleet sails far to the north, being careful to

give the shoreline a wide berth in case they should accidently

enter the enemies local range and alert them.

Even Sparta's shoreline is reinforced with tall dirt walls,

preventing the easy landing and disembarkation of ships.

But they have no intention of landing right at Sparta, instead

they travel well past before bringing the fleet closer to shore

and sailing south once again.

 

Eventually the armies of Mol-Rehan make landfall and are

immediately engaged by Jenn Kellon tower guards, but they

make short work of them and begin unloading supplies and

the unfinished catapults they would need.

 

The designated teams quickly spring into action;

The Catapult team adds the final material to each of its

catapults and wheels them southward to the walls of Sparta,

escorted by the fighter team, and within five minutes of

landing has already begun their barrage using the massive

supply of prefabricated shots they brought with them.

Just behind the siege lines, the construction team digs out a

safe mine and has a stone safe house built around it only 10

minutes after landing.

The Perimeter team stays near to the landing site and begins

felling trees for the wood they will need to construct the

perimeter fence.

The fence will span from the landing site at the shore to the

mountains cliffs in the east, with constructed gatehouses

where it intersects the road so that the forces of Mol-Rehan

may still pass.

 

While the other teams are busy, the fighters engage with the

defenders of Sparta.

Having completed the safe mine, the construction team

moves forward onto Sparta’s outer dirt wall and begins to dig

a breach so that the catapult team might more easily access

the inner dirt walls of Sparta.

Working in tandem, the catapult team destroys the

longhouses all along the northern edge of Sparta’s inner dirt

wall and the construction team moves forward again to dig a

breach into Sparta’s inner citadel.

 

Almost exactly 3 hours after landing; the perimeter team has

completed the long fence that will protect Mol-Rehans north

flank from sudden Jenn Kellon reinforcements.

They move south to aid the construction team in breaching

Sparta.

 

More Jenn Kellon defenders arrive and are holding tight

inside inner Sparta waiting for the breach to open and the

fighting to start, meanwhile the catapult team begins

punching holes into the individual houses inside inner Sparta

that the fighters will need to move through.

 

The breach is opened and the fighting begins in earnest, the

fighter team pushes into Sparta with the Jenn Kellon

defenders battling from room to room and house to house.

The construction team works to widen the breach so that it

cannot be rebuilt in a hurry.

 

Four hours after landing; and the house to house fighting is

still going strong, although the defenders have begun to run

low on houses to fight from.

It was during this prolonged skirmish that the Sword of

Magranon was lost to the defenders of Sparta who secreted

it away in the vaults beneath the town.

The Jenn Kellon forces begin to lose morale as the likelihood

of a successful defense diminishes.

 

Five hours after landing; and Jenn Kellon reinforcements from

the north have charged on the Mol-Rehan siege lines.

Ushering forth from a secret tunnel, they managed to take

Mol-Rehan by surprise.

The Mol-Rehan army is forced to abandon its efforts in Sparta

for a short time as they need to avoid becoming trapped on

deed as they come under attack from both sides.

Mol-Rehan manage to rally and drive away the attackers, but

it was all a ruse.

In the confusion the trapped defenders of Sparta picked up

anything of value they could carry and fled.

Mol-Rehan now has uncontested access to the fortress of

Sparta and continues their work.

 

Almost 6 hours after landing; the forces of Mol-Rehan

discover where the entrance to Sparta’s underground vault is

and proceed to bash open the minedoor protecting it.

But unfortunately the Sparta mayor, while still inside, had

closed off the mine entrance with a shaker orb and reinforced

the cave wall to make it invulnerable to all attacks.

Even on a full PvP server, reinforced tiles on deed could only

ever be removed by the deeds mayor, effectively creating

impenetrable vaults for item storage.

A common strategy that Jenn Kellon had been exploiting in

the months past whenever a Mol-Rehan raiding force showed

up, effectively removing any incentive to raid by putting all

loot out of reach.

The forces of Mol-Rehan abandon any attempts to get at the

loot within the vault and continue to grind down Sparta’s

defenses for the next 36 hours, all the while being taunted by

Sparta’s inaccessible mayor.

 

Not content to deny Mol-Rehan the spoils of war they also

deny them the opportunity for thrilling battle.

Jenn Kellon sends an endless stream of alts to harass Mol-

Rehan without risking their main characters; dropping dirt

piles on the ground, dragging away catapults and unhitching

draft animals from carts.

Resulting in literally hundreds of dead bodies all belonging to

the alts as they are killed again and again for more than a real

time day.

 

But eventually Mol-Rehans work is done, the fortress of

Sparta entirely abandoned by Jenn Kellon, had been ground

down to nothing so that it could never threaten Kratos again.

 

And with that the siege of Sparta was over and the armies of

Mol-Rehan returned home, exhausted and weary with

nothing to show for the victory except the knowledge that

their position in the south eastern peninsula had been made

that much more secure.

 

                                           ***

 

Although Mol-Rehan had come away seemingly empty

handed, the blow the siege had dealt to Jenn Kellon would be

a tremendous one.

As Mol-Rehan had intended with their plan of a symbolic

victory, the name of Sparta would forever inspire hatred and

fear, but yet not in the way it was originally planned.

 

Though the siege was over and the deed destroyed, the true

controversy that surrounds the name of Sparta had not yet

occurred.

 

After past raids months before, Mol-Rehan had petitioned for

methods by which an invader could remove reinforcements

from cave tiles and in so doing unmake the impenetrable

vaults that went against the spirit of full-loot PvP on Chaos.

But their pleas had gone seemingly ignored.

It was during the discovery of Sparta’s impenetrable vault

during the raid, which prompted once again for Mol-Rehan to

remark on the ability to exploit such features, imploring again

for some method to be implemented to deal with these

situations in the future.

 

The Empire of Mol-Rehan had no hope of gaining access to

Sparta’s vault, and so abandoned it completely untouched for

the warriors of Jenn Kellon to come by and reclaim it at their

leisure.

But for days afterwards none from Jenn Kellon showed up,

instead choosing to rely on the impenetrability of the vault to

keep their secreted treasures safe, not at all concerned about

leaving it totally unattended and undefended.

 

Days after the raid was over, almost exactly 51 hours after

the siege force landed north of Sparta and long after the site

had been abandoned by Mol-Rehan, their plea over these

impenetrable vaults received and answer.

 

It was revealed then that something had been done about

the reinforcement issue, but it had gone unnoticed for

months by all.

The disintegration spell had been implemented, allowing for

the removal of reinforcements on cave walls.

Though it was an incredibly difficult spell to cast, requiring an

extremely powerful cast just to stand a small chance of

success.

And each cast requiring a huge amount of favour with a

priests chosen deity.

 

Mol-Rehan returned to the site of former Sparta with three

Champions of Magranon and all the soul gems they could

acquire.

But after several more hours, and having burned through all

of their valuable gems with no luck whatsoever, they found

that the reinforcements in fact could still not be removed.

 

After some further trials on the Test Server it was revealed

that the new spell didn’t work as intended, and Mol-Rehan

had wasted further time and resources over the Sparta vault

for nothing.

 

And so the developers, noting it as a bug, manually removed

the reinforced tile that blocked the entrance into Sparta’s

Vault.

 

And it was this move, the involvement of a developer in what

some saw as an ongoing event, which left the dark stain on

the name of Sparta.

 

Almost three whole days after the armies of Mol-Rehan had

landed north of Sparta, the safe mine beneath its now ruins

had been opened and its contents no longer out of reach.

 

                                           ***

 

The fallout from these events was massive, and soured the

experience for many people.

The well organised and well executed raid of one of Jenn

Kellons most formidable deeds should have been the Empire

of Mol-Rehans most triumphant victory to date, but instead

and unfortunately it was overshadowed by the controversy

that occurred there.

 

For their losses, the thoroughly demoralised citizens of

Sparta where partially compensated with a gift of; 8kgs of

Glimmersteel, 8kgs of Adamantine, 20kgs of Seryll and 5kgs

of rare Seryll.

A worthy treasure in its own right, but perhaps not in

comparison to what was lost.

 

Over the proceeding months, the remaining forces of Jenn

Kellon consolidated themselves in the north allowing the

Empire of Mol-Rehan to take the entire south eastern

peninsula with little resistance.

 

And with Jenn Kellon in full retreat, Mol-Rehan where able to

refocus their efforts on the Blacklighter threat that had been

growing in the south ever since the introduction of a

Blacklight PMK Template a few months past in January of that

year.

 

In the end, the Empire of Mol-Rehan’s initial goals had been

fulfilled and the fortress of Kratos, so vital to the empires east t

erritories, had been secured for the foreseeable future.

 

Next Chapter: Still in draft

 

References:

The Mol-Rehan Archives.

An interview with Emoo.

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Wurm_Server_Release_Notes_2013

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Wurm_Server_Release_Notes_2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFH7dA9_O1A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq-R0qaNFs0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgoL2QDN6_A

http://www.wurmpedia.com/index.php/Player:Emoo

[Postinglels 1,270]

I love how concise and informed the author is about LoG and it's largely solo actions against the whole of MR. But then hardly surprising seeing as LoL only gets four kills and gets crushed. Topkeks for all

[Gavin 971]

I finally got around to reading this and it's a really good write up that bought back alot of memories, it's of course missing a few small things here and there but in general it's almost spot on.

 

Just to try and help make it as accurate as possible, a few things I see missed, this is all post Gold2 reset:

 

 

After we disbanded Nexus and Cruorem most of Cruorem's members went and joined Asgard which was located where Kratos currently is, there was also a strong polish community there called Kaer Morhen. We sieged those deeds too and most of them went and joined Dark Citadel. After we attacked DC for a long time too most of the HoTS members (excluding LO) grouped together and founded a deed called 'Final Destination' which was located ontop of the mountain west of the original Blacklight location. This deed was founded sometime prior to June 2008 likely April or May.

 

We didn't know they existed for quite a long time, they all kept rather quiet. That was until in July 2008 a few Fort Mole (JK fortress) players went and joined BL for a challenge and the remaining members quit, this was mainly Erazor Caesar Chumpy etc. They were actually relatively strong and often raided Homestead Bay. Eventually we attacked them and they eventually got fed up and quit.

 

 

In this part here:

Quote

The JK capital city of Kyara is surrounded by MR converted

towns that keep the area in lockdown.

 

I would probably expand on this a little more, what happened was in June 2008 Rivendell (JK at the time) got into alot of arguments with the remaining JK that didn't convert to MR, and they decided they were going to go MR. Over a weekend Bier from Libilian Outlawz chained deeds all the way from LO to Rivendell, and after they converted Rivendell they planted a deed called 'Deedhopping Online' slightly east of Rivendell which we sieged significantly. As it was a small deed in a rather bad location we had them overpowered a bit, it was only really Balmore and Taya there usually but then Dadd from Woodscove founded a s20 village called Thunderdome (back then a s20 village cost like 10 gold or something, it was the largest deed in Wurm, deed guards were actually strong back then too) across the bay from Kyara. JK responded by founding the Waterworks deed which still exists now.

 

We couldn't really do anything as MR activity at the deed was insane but after around 2-3 weeks they left it somewhat empty. JK started sieging the deed in the middle of June 2008 and by July 2008 we had the deed disbanded, this somewhat built momentum for us and we had lots of inactive players become active again and we quickly disbanded Rivendell and pushed MR all the way back to LO, where they founded LO Landbridge. I'd probably say this was the biggest 'comeback' in JK's history and for quite a while MR were on the retreat. I'd say this is when the balance of power started shifting towards JK.

 

Rivendell then refounded close to HaP, where you already have that history covered.

 

Aside from that, it all looks great for that period of the server.

 

 

For the champion period, when BL (specifically Legion of Libila) was really wrecking MR - I think you missed out the part where they were putting lots of pressure on us too, I actually have a screenshot that was saved on our forums from their advancement from back then. As you covered earlier we chained deeds from our main land all the way to the Blacklight really early in the map. During this time BL wasn't just putting pressure on MR but they were putting pressure on us too. They chained deeds / towers all the way from the blacklight to where Hunter's Lodge currently stands and founded 'Legion of Libila' their main village. Whilst they were wrecking MR, their main village was actually much closer to JK - they chained towers north attempting to take over the Whitelight and got stuck at 'Our Wall' where we held them off. Picture from our util below from this time, roughly 2009

 

 

I also have this picture from back when the mass champing was getting a little silly and we champed 7 people in the same second:

 

I also don't see any mention of our attempted push to take over the HoM area. In May 2010 we founded Gates of Hell, MR responded by founding Purgatory - we had a back and forth fight for 2 months but eventually were pushed out. I think this would probably be the time that MR started gaining the balance of power back.

 

 

FYI if you want me to delete this post just ask. I don't want to crap up your thread but would really like to see this added into it. Feel free to use the pictures.

 

Let me know if you want me to try and dig anything else up, the Kyara forums haven't been wiped since 2004 or something silly so there is thousands of pages of historic threads from these times. It's just unfortunate that 99% of the pictures posted are dead as the image hosts have removed them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 21, 2015 by Gavin

[Alden 209]

Thanks Gavin, I did smoosh lots of things down into single sentences.

 

But I love reading write-ups from different perspectives, post away.

[Klaa 4,872]

Heh LO Landbridge's founding... Due to the need for bringing pets and zombies over dirt bridges (fording wasn't a game mechanic then) that area quickly became a focal point. In many ways the deed actually wasn't fortified all that well.

 

Retained in my memory as that fond period (half a year) when we in LO discovered firsthand (on the receiving end) how much Rolf had really buffed archery from its relatively useless state. Due to dual-wielding weapons being popular at the time, nearly no one had decent shield skills as well. Granted it helped as Rolf buffed shields over the next months as he also tweaked and nerfed archery. Rest of us in LO quickly began training archery skills, shields, and the like as well; though, took time to catch up.

 

Also discovered and reported an issue over archery skill being gained quickly by using bows in melee fighting.

 

Ah the flame wars in the forums back then. Fun times, fun times.

 

Hmm believe Purgatory is the section halfway through chapter eight; though, not specifically mentioned as the fighting in Purgatory Pass, in the mountains north of HoM.

[genghiskahn 6]

Sorry for the bump, but I think this post deserves it.

 

Awesome to come back after a couple of years and be able to relive all of this! Thanks OP!

 

Just reading the name Silron Valley almost brought a tear to my eye

[Bittereinder 265]

Bump.

Keep Chaos history alive

Great times, unlike what Chaos has become today.

 

As an former Fort Freedom member I would like to point out that:

 

- The Padranor PMK was NOT founded before the Freedom Isles Civil War.

By the end of the war, with MR's help, we had chased Xristoff and his crew from their land. They were offered a place in JK and decided to settle in the Independent Settlers area, naming there new deed Pardranor once more. Only a year after, they declared themselves independent from JK!

 

- It was Padranor that DOW'ed, but it was actually Fort Freedom that has the upper hand in the beginning due to us having more land and manpower. We managed to get a view kills and tried to besiege Pardranor, but the game completly bugged due to freedomers attacking a Freedom deed. This happend right when MR was also raiding a JK didn't and managed to get a lot of loot, but a DDOS attack happend and Wurm went down for almost a week.

 

The Freedom Isles civil war made quite an impact on the geopolitical situation of Chaos in 2013-2014. MR managed to get a foothold right next to the HOTA, which was the catalyst for MR's conquest of JK controlled area of Sparta and Guardians of The Light.

Edited May 5, 2018 by Bittereinder

[Zerobyte 287]

Another bump - reading this remembering all the good times and tactics - I'd moved to home server and basically given up from burnout before the LO bans, just reading about this for the first time.

 

Still laugh to this day remembering Balmore's whos cares approach and running out naked, gathering trolls then suiciding - and the "troll bomb" was born haha

 Bier flat raising those crazy high walls.  Still thinking we had the best spot ever gold 1, with the thorn death pits.

 

Made alot of friends from all sides, still speak to some this day. Anyways, bump to keep the memories alive

 

[Tilda 651]

Thanks for bumping this Zerobyte, it is pretty much exactly what I've been looking for recently  Very well written, for one who has had zero interest in pvp in wurm so far, the history is a big blank to me, but this stuff is fascinating. Will take a bit of time to read it all but bookmarked now!

[wipeout 1,355]

This deserves a bump it has been 2 years and a lot of new players have joined us since then, hope that more people will get to read this amazing post ❤️