4/25/09 - Special Edition, "WAR!"

This afternoon, by EST, the Cold War which has dominated the Darkfall world ended. The real war has begun.

Throughout the day, as siege challenges announced and armies clashed, the Agon Tribune has struggled to collect the facts on this conflict, and we present them for you here. This information will be updated as the day and night progress.

--Edit--
A server crash has ended the day's sieges, and the information below is updated to show that.

In total three settlements changed hands: Mahtisoturit's hamlet on Yssam (CotC) fell to the Hyperion Kingdom while Kvitstein city (Hyperion) fell to the Death Alliance. Bladethorpe and Spear Waters hamlets (Hyperion) both fell to the Coalition of the Chillin'. The server crash cancelled the remaining sieges.

The Combatants

Today's clash marks the single largest act of war in the history of Darkfall. So far, the sides are as follows:

• The Coalition of the Chillin'. Lead by Awful Company, the CotC initiated today's fighting with a declaration of war against no less than four Hyperion Kingdom settlements simultaneously. Their offensive was launched through landless members of the alliance issuing cash challenges against Hyperion cities, leaving Coalition settlements invulnerable to siege at the cost of a significant cash outlay and the vulnerability of individual shard-bearers.
• The Hyperion Kingdom. Led by the Duchy of Wessex, the Kingdom is under siege. Five clanstones are under attack across their frontier, with the remainder locked down in sieges declared by friendly clans, to lock down those clanstones and keep the cities safe. Today's fighting is the ultimate test of Hyperion's ability to defend itself. Joining Hyperion is a mercenary alliance including TheMercs and Rainbow Ninjas, among others.
• The Death Alliance. Led by the Lords of Death the Death Alliance is taking advantage of the Coalition offensive to take some territory of their own--when asked, LoD clanleader Obs stated that Death did not plan today's events in advance, they are just siezing the opportunity. Aiding Death are the SB Alliance of the Tribelands, including such clans as the Shipwrecked Pirates and Dreadnaughts, and the Cairn Alliance including Sun, Blood and others.
• Primal Alliance. Primal clan KarnAanug took advantage of the chaos as well to besiege Mortis Consortium at Issar Ruins.
  

Battlefronts

Eight sieges were declared today. They are as follows

-Coalition of the Chillin Attacks
All of Coalition of the Chillin's challengers are against Hyperion Kingdom settlements.

• Long March. Belligerents: Mahtisoturit v. Duchy of Wessex. Status: Successful Hyperion Defense. This was the second siege declared today, as well as the second siege resolved. Mahtisoturit's Yssam homestead was taken immediately by Hyperion forces, ending the threat to the Duchy itself, but it is believed this attack was a feint to draw Hyperion troops away from the real centers of combat.
• Alberworth. Belligerents: United Front v. Bewahrer der Welten. Status: Inconclusive. Bewahrer's island city lies close to the Hyperion frontier. Forces from the successful defense of Kill Cult's island moved to support the Coalition offensive. The siege of Alberworth was cancelled by server crash.
  
• Bladethorpe. Belligerents: Divine Legion v. Hyperion Royal Court Lands. Status: Successful Coalition Siege. Bladethorpe is the only hamlet under attack, and is the third Hyperion holding to fall tonight.
• Spear Waters. Belligerents: RUS Corp v. Crusade. Status: Successful Coalition Siege. Spear Waters fell early in the day and was missed by the Tribune until after the servers crashed.
  

Death Alliance Attack
The Death Alliance made one assault, against the northern Hyperion city of Kvitstein.

• Kvitstein. Belligerents: Kill Cult v. Haven. Status: Successful Death Siege. Kvitstein was the only challenged city fall today, and did so under strange circumstances. It seems internecine warfare within the Hyperion Kingdom had the Society of the Anvil, which has apparently lost its core leadership, attacked the city and sacked its keep. When Death declared its challenge the Society of the Anvil then launched a counterattack, supported by mercenaries, against the Kill Cult city of Seelie off the western coast of Agon to end the siege. Kill Cult's defenders included troops from across the Death Alliance, as well as forces from SB. SOTA forces employed cannons and, briefly, a warhulk, but retreated without taking the city. Kvitstein soon fell to a mixed Death/Cairn force.

Primal Alliance Attack

• Issar Ruins. Belligerents: KarnAanug v. Mortis Consortium. Status: Inconclusive. Launched via a cash challenge, the KaarnAanug offensive stationed its shardbearer in the NPC city of Whiteclaw and barricaded it with naked characters against attack. The siege of Issar Ruins was cancelled by Server Crash.

Defensive Sieges
The Hyperion Kingdom launched two defensive sieges to lock down its cities from further attack. The Realm of Kirdain 'attacked' the Hundred while FreneZy 'attacked' the Silver Sun Republic. We assume these sieges will not result in territory actually changing hands, as they are meant to lock down the cities of all four participants.

This concludes the Special Edition for 4/25/09. The Agon Tribune encourages any readers with screenshots of or information on the day's events to send them to the Tribune's email address. This is a day of days, every piece of intelligence is welcome.

Good Luck,

Edmund Grain

Editory in Chief

agon.tribune@gmail.com