Really Is This Needed solos his way into position
Come, Comrades, and hear a joyful tale of sorrow and destruction, a tale of the region Gardeshia.
Gardeshia was like so many regions in our fair game. It was of a decent size, 27 nations in all, to be pleasant and active. It had a founder, Karvoco, to look after and protect it and delegate, DaemonMan, to vote on Assembly and Council issues. Like so many regions, Gardeshia had a small forum to talk about the affairs of the day and maybe start up a Role Play or two, though inactive it may be. Finally, it had a modest government and a defense force, which was more of an act than an actual military, but no one seemed to complain. Indeed, Gardeshia was an idealistic and happy little region, content with its position and membership, content with being safe and secure, content with being far removed from the wars and affairs of Crashers and Defenders, content with never having to fear from any real threat.
However friends, we could not have a tale without plot, without conflict, and it is here we find the man who broke the picturesque scene of Gardeshia, an anonymous no one who was determined to bring hell itself down upon this graceful symbol of peace, our central protagonist, our anti-hero, a man appropriately named Really Is This Needed. This crafty villain had a plan which should be the envy of any fiend: to attack, destroy, and refound a Founder region. This move in and of itself is entirely unheard of in this day and age. Since the advent of influence, destruction of a region with a founder and the size of Gardeshia by anyone other than their founders are so far and few between they are not worth mention here. But Really Is This Needed, motivated by his own unknown and nefarious motives, was not about to let history dictate his wants.
An obstacle stood in our subject's way, though, experience. Really Is This Needed had never done anything like this before, in fact he didn't even know if it was possible. So he did what so many other people in his position would have simply refused to do, he started asking questions, and for his troubles, he was rewarded. The very community of the World was all to willing to provide answers to the troubling questions he had to ask; indeed it was possible to destroy and refound a region that had an active founder, all one needed was enough influence and a will to do so. Really Is This Needed was overjoyed, for he had a fair amount of influence, be he was concerned, would it be enough? Surely there must be a way to secure more influence, to put himself in the perfect position to succeed in his dark desire, the complete and utter destruction of Gardeshia. So our hero set out to find someone, anyone to help him fulfill his will and in doing so he stumbled upon the perfect accomplices, Crashers renown not just for their mastery of their craft and their longevity but also for their flair for the unusual. The group Really Is This Needed had to have, his one hope for success, had to be Lone Wolves United.
Lone Wolves United, one of the oldest and most infamous Raider groups in existence, known for its raids on Feeder regions and its declaration of war on the defender region XKI, is lead by an absolute sycophant who simply goes by the name Evil Wolf, the Second Founder, may Father Founder Scardino find peace, and his Khan, the vicious and quick-witted Tikal Wolf. It is this group of violent malcontents that Really Is This Needed contacted for support in his task, and support he did find. Founder Evil Wolf, overjoyed at the prospect of opening up a new front in the Crasher/Defender wars, quickly agreed, for he too was curious if indeed an active Founder region could be destroyed in this age of Influence. Founder Wolf was quick to promise and supply no less than 5 Wolves to assist Really Is This Needed in his tasking free of catches so long as LWU was credited afterward in helping with the region's destruction. Really Is This Needed agreed and felt it was finally time to make his move.
At Founder Evil Wolf's urging, Really Is This Needed made his move at the update. With an Influence level of "Power" on par with even the longest residing nation of Gardeshia, he was confident he would succeed. Really Is This Needed started ejecting, quickly dwindling the region of 27 natives down to 4 nations, not counting himself and his LWU support. It is here, however, Really Is This Needed made a rookie mistake, for you see with every nation he ejected, his influence dwindled and when it came time to ban those with Power Influence levels, his own influence had fallen from that of Power to that of Duckspeaker. Beside himself, and with the threat of the founder returning at any moment to destroy his dreams, he retired for the night, believing that, at the very least, he was safe from outside threats. Alas, he was not.
Gardeshia in the aftermath of the attack.
The banishment of so many nations into the loving army of Kandy had attracted the attention of an unlikely antagonist, the one time pro-raider Mahaj. It is well known that Mahaj has a deep hatred of the practice of Griefing, or the destruction of, traditionally, founderless regions. Motivated by this and his suddenly new-found feelings of Defenderism, Mahaj rallied a small force to oust Really Is This Needed from Gardeshia at the very next update. The young newbie was found asleep at the wheel and suddenly outnumbered six endorsements to eight. Luckily, this was not the Lone Wolves United's first rodeo. Through a clever management of switchers and troop management, Khan Tikal was able to manage the threat that Mahaj and his forced posed with still being able to support the holding efforts of their allies, The Black Hawks, in several regions. With Really Is This Needed surviving to live another update, Mahaj was banned from Gardeshia at the urging of Founder Wolf. Mahaj, deducing through a telegram conversation with a Wolf partaking in the operation and through observation of several nations flying the LWU battle-standard, was quick to propose a Liberation Proposal against Gardeshia, which was not passworded, but would have to wait days for it to take effect, giving Really Is This Needed ample time. So, with the threat effective neutralized, Really Is This Needed hoped to finish what he had started at the next coming update. But the Mistress Fate, she had other ideas.
Before the net update could hit, Gardeshia's founder Karvoco woke up to a region he no longer recognized. Acting with only a limited understanding of the situation, he started ejecting all nations endorsing Really Is This Needed including our hero himself, ending the operation prematurely. Understandably, Really Is This Needed was beside himself and apologized profusely to his Lone Wolves United backers, but Founder Evil Wolf had an entirely different view on the situation. He lauded Really Is This Needed for his efforts and congratulated him in showing the world that, indeed, a Founder region could be destroyed not just by a large and well coordinated Raider group, but even by a determined Lone Wolf such as Really Is This Needed, one without formal membership to any organization. Really Is This Needed was confused, surely he had failed in his task, so Evil Wolf decided to clarify.
Founder Wolf commissioned his finest writer to spin a tale on the exploits of Gardeshia and of Really Is This Needed to show the world that no region is safe from the Raider/Defender Wars, no region is protected. If we choose, we will find you, if we want, we will destroy you, if we desire we will control you and there is nothing anyone can do. Hide behind your founders, your passwords, your endorsements, influence and delegates, it will do you no good. For even if we do not destroy you, will shall damage you beyond recognition, we shall turn your region into the next Graveyard of Gardeshia, for no one is safe. So if you are a Defender, you'll do well to look over your shoulder, and if you are a neutral you'll do well to choose a side, for there are many others like Really Is This Needed out there, and Lone Wolves United shall eternally be at their side to guide and influence them.
Take heed in my words, dear Comrades, and learn well from the tale of the Torment of Gardeshia.
Nice gameplay. I like the way it shows that having a founder isn't the end-all and be-all of safety. A founder has to pay attention once in a while to actually make the region secure. Sure, it's not near the requirement that a founderless region's delegate faces. But obviously it was more than this particular founder was capable of providing.
