Secession, Vol 1

§lTHE§r §l§0SECESSION§r §l§0OF§r §l§0ANSGAR§r §l§o§0As it happened§r §l§o§0From someone§r §l§o§0who was there§r §dTweetabix 2020§r

§lPRELUDE§r §l§o§0UNREST HAD BEEN §r §l§o§0BREWING§r §0Like a finely aged Grox-brew wine...§r §0The hard men of Ansgar had grown tired of leeches. §r

Enter stage left, §dOKX§r §dAn old guard of Norlund, in recent times his horse business had fallen on hard times. His old vending machine was in the way of progress.§r

§2KANNIN §r§0master builder§r §dSirBoss001§r §0was setting the foundations for his epic CivRail station, desperately needed to bring tourists to Kannin, Norlund's capital.§r

This was the latest in a long line of builds SirBoss had slaved away on in Kannin. §0After the death of Terry, SirBoss, and other amazing builders including Sir Grettir, Mirakles and Tym17, looked to a different source for funding.§r

The tireless §l§4Shameless Shamus§r §l§4Jarl of Norvansgard§r §l§4was grinding away for the master builders of Norva and Kannin, so that they §r §l§o§4never had to work a§r §l§o§4day in their lives.§r

In particular, Shamus and the other Vikings repeatedly repaired Kannin's Blast Furnace, using their own wealth. Veria and the rest had voted against federal taxes designed to fund it in favour of their own private factories, excluding Kanninites.

But there was another side to this Minecraft nation. §0A Discord server made to service the Minecraft nation started to look the other way around. That is to say, as I wrote in chat about a week before...§r

"Hey! Good morning everyone! Welcome back to the official minecraft server of the Norlund Discord Server!" §0What I meant was, there's a lot of chat goes on in there.§r

Endless laws, constitutions, trials... §0But does any of it really mean a damn thing?§r §0No.§r §0Only one thing matters: who is king, and who pledges allegiance.§r

§lChapter One§r §l§4Staking a Claim§r

Shamus ran an election campaign for King. I supported him because he was a practical, smart leader. The other candidate, Mammoth, was entirely a figurehead. Shamus won over 60% of the vote which was confirmed by referendum.

But only a few days later, Shamus did something, in my view, very Kingly. §0He killed the anarchist scum that tarnished both Discord and Minecraft.§r §4RainofPain125.§r

There's a lot we can write about "Rainie", but the point is, this was a good thing for Norlund. §0The Discord didn't like it. It had betrayed an obscure Norlund law. They laid into Shamus.§r

Shamus had finally had enough. It was time for the Vikings to strike out on their own. And if that was all, likely it would have been quite peaceful. But it's a bit more complicated than that.

The Free State of Ansgar submitted a map which included a claim to Kannin, a town the Vikings had contributed to greatly since their arrival. An important trade and transport connection, with the all important §l§0AQUA NETHER portal.§r

What this essentially was, was the excommunication of the other towns of Norlund, in which those Discord politicians who actually play Minecraft usually live- while letting Kannin rot. Those towns include Veria, Tallum, Florentia, and Yoslan.

Veria is a town of comparable wealth to Ansgar. The Glasgow to Kannin's Edinburgh, except they're fully collectivised. The lack of commerce makes the town beautiful but empty of purpose. §0Florentia, well I've never seen it.§r

Tallum is a poor town, but it contains the Vatican City, Norlund's biggest build, where the Holy Father Leobenet resides. I could have lived there once, but I worship Odin now. Such is life. §6Amen to that!§r

Yoslan is a Chechen styled town east of Veria. My own connection is to one of its key members, §5Antea 420§r §5Who brought me into the Norlund fold two months ago almost to the day. They are pro-Monarchy, but wanted Mammoth.§r

§lChapter Two§r §l§0What Next For§r §l§0Terry's Norlund?§r

Kanninites organised amongst themselves to determine their future. §0Bhieex, builder of the Crack, e414, master merchant, potion seller Wolftale, and the horse master Gingerbuddie all conversed.§r

But they made a fatal mistake. They brought in Verian leader and Prime Minister of the now very much former state of Norlund, §l§4Groxlord.§r §l§4And worse, §r§l§5Okx §r§0returned from Carbon to stir the pot.§r

Between them, Grox and Okx turned the Kanninites against the new Free State. §0Grox and his Verian chums backed up their claim to Kannin by contracting a powerful militia...§r §l§4Cantina. §r

These strongmen were paid, at an unspecified date, for an unspecified length of time, to engage the Vikings in combat if needed. §0Cantina had also recently led to the dissolution of Savaguard. §r

Neither Cantina nor Veria can say how much they were paid to back up Veria's claims to Kannin, but you can bet your house (or your landlord's house) on it being much higher than if they'd contributed to Kannin's blast furnace in the first place.

What's really strange is that they were friends of the Ansgar. They acted as an independent nation to hold Rainie's Pearl, during the show-trial of King Shamus. §6(Remember that?)§r

Meanwhile, Yoslan started to make noises that they would like to become independent from Veria's Norlund- meaning Veria would lead a Republic and Yoslan a Kingdom, likely under Old Man Mammoth.

So it was that Okx, a Carbon citizen, and Neo, a former Viking and Norl who left for Carbon due to the Discord politics, allied with Grox, a Kannin-starving commie backed up by imperial Cantina, a militia stationed continents away...

... and between them the Carbonite and the Communist convinced the Merchants of Kannin that the best thing for their homes and businesses was... to secede from the Free State and join the Republic of Norlund!!??

I knew I had to speak out. §0And I would.§r §0But first I had to learn...§r §0the value of silence.§r

§lChapter Three§r §l§1Tweet Biscuits 007§r

The secession of Ansgar happened at 7am my time, I didn't hear about it til about 12pm, and then couldn't do much about it til about 8pm. §0People from all sides wanted to get me on side. It's nice to be wanted...§r

§5Father Leo §r§0asked me, which side are you on?§r §9Old friend Antea§r§0 asked me, what are you thinking?§r §1The Kanninites §r§0invited me into their new Discord.§r

But as ever their fake generosity was hugely outdone by §4Shamus, §r §2Mirakles, §r§4Tym, §r§2Grettir,§r §2the whole Viking crew.§r §2When this is all over I might build a buttered bread, so I know which side mine is. §r §2They invited me to the inner circle.§r

As Veria twisted our words and foreign nations vied to reignite old wars on our turf, I had to evacuate my home and businesses from Kannin. §0Joseph, Grettir, and the whole crew escorted me throughout. §r

I passed Okx. He did not suspect. §0I listened and restrained myself from major contributions as I watched Grox and Okx lie to my Kannin friends. §r

I did this because I believe in the Free State of Ansgar. §0Think of me what you will, a liar, a spy, whatever, but I believed in something. §r §0I shared everything Grox and Okx told Kannin with the Vikings.§r

There was one other group I wanted to contact. The great builders §l§0Koojikii, §r§0Hitmehn and FPFK. §r §0Kooj hates the bureaucracy like the rest of us, but we can't just promise chill vibes, we have to prove it to him.§r

Later, Yoslan's Antea and Fireball attacked villainous Okx as he was caught doing Carbon's dirty work in their territory. §0It was only then I began to show my disdain for this discredited official.§r

§lChapter Four§r §l§6Plot Twist§r

§l§2NeoTide, §r§0a former friend of the Vikings and now Carbonite, had even helped them design their brand new vault. §r §0But now he was back.§r §l§0And he was helping§r §l§5Okx.§r

We watched him head towards us on the Norlund snitches, which we had taken control of. §0It was at this point by coincidence, §r§l§0Hantzu §r §0killed Neo in Tallum as he rested. Apparently Neo had been accused of... something.§r

Can I even tell you what despicable thing Neo is accused of? §0The Vikings told me. But Grox and Okx kept it a secret from the Kanninites. Suspect!§r §0What it is, is terrible. But uninmportant.§r

Neo is now pearled. §0It also happens another Discord politico and Norl, Meo, was associated with him and was alt banned.§r §0Good for Ansgar?§r §0Yes... but also no.§r

The Kingdom and Republic of Norlunds, for it is they, immediately accuse the Vikings of having brought in an outside contractor to pearl Neo. §0Emphatically, this is§r §l§0Fake news!§r

§lChapter Five§r §l§0The Long Good §r §l§0Friday, Starring§r §l§0Bob Hoskins§r

As Friday gives way to Saturday's early hours, here are the facts: §0Neither side wants a war. Cantina would lose profit, and Ansgar would lose men. Savaguard would be dragged in, Norlund would be ruined. §r

Cirex left the Vikings, but remains on good terms with all sides. §0Many call on Shamus to resign. None of us want this. We love our strong leader. But we have elected SirBoss, respected by all except Okx, as our diplomat.§r

§lKay Sera Sera§r §l§o§0What Will Be, Will Be.§r §l§o§0The future's not ours to see.§r §l§o§0Tune in for part two, by me. §r