Tactical Grace
07-03-2004, 15:57
I have written a very brief history of the Mercian Regions here, for the A Brief History of Everything project. Anyone who has served or fought against the Mercian Regions or associated with any of their members is welcome to add their thoughts and make corrections. Corrections are particularly welcome - I am working from a very long and extensive memory here, and I may have got a few things wrong, particularly the sequence of events in the early history.
Tactical Grace
UN Delegate / Minister of War / Defence Consultancy
Mercia The Next Generation (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Mercia_The_Next_Generation)
The Mercian Regions - Mercia, The New Mercia, Mercia The Next Generation
Historically closest ally: Evility
Historically worst enemy: Blue Moon
Founded late in 2002 by Playa Chk, Mercia was then a very large player-created region thrown into turmoil during the reign of the griefer Clarkus. After his eventual IP banning, The Sycamore Trees came to power. However, her rule was intensely disliked by many, and the region split, with a large number of exiles led by Playa Chk leaving to reside in her new region The New Mercia. A nation called Thompson also left to create and lead the invader region The Bing.
Mercia and The New Mercia were to have a close but cold relationship. The Moderators appointed Founders for both, with The Sycamore Trees getting Mercia and Playa Chk getting The New Mercia.
The griefer/crasher region Blue Moon was founded in late June 2003, thought by some to continue Clarkus's region-griefing project. Suspecting he was still pulling the strings, Mercia embarked on a cold war with Blue Moon that would last until November 2003, while The New Mercia entered into a non-aggression pact with them.
During this cold war, Mercia spied on Blue Moon and successfully undermined numerous invasion attempts on other regions, and fought in the defence of the region 2 miles past nowhere.
At the end of July, The Sycamore Trees and several of her allies were ejected from the UN for multiing offences, leaving Mercia in a power vacuum. The allied region Evility was also hit hard. Numenoar automatically took over as Delegate, but power was quickly given by the residents to Arkanarsk, the Defence Minister and right hand man of The Sycamore Trees. He steered Mercia through a series of crises, including a possible Blue Moon plot to invade Evility and unrelated invasion threats made against Mercia.
The Sycamore Trees was readmitted into the UN following an appeal and took over control of the region, but her rule had been undermined with the loss of several UN nations, and Arkanarsk was quickly back in power, a position he would maintain for a long time.
Eventually, The Sycamore Trees left the game, but not before defeating a 14-nation invasion of Mercia by Blue Moon on the eve of her departure. Her successors went on to defeat many other plots to invade the now weakened region, aided in this effort by their allies Evility. The former allies of The Sycamore Trees also gradually left the game, ending their lives in the graveyard region Spirits of the Past. Among them was Craziness and Weirdness, the Founder of Evility, controlled by The Sycamore Trees. The Founder of Blue Moon, Maine Road, eventually did likewise, necessitating the destruction and recreation of Blue Moon. Thus the rulers of three great regions locked in a cold war for 5 months, poetically chose to die in the same place.
In October, the forum puppet of Arkanarsk, Tactical Grace, was appointed to moderate the forums. In the interests of transparency, he switched his UN membership and appointed his deputy Spoffin to the Delegate position. The cold war continued, with numerous Blue Moon nations entering Mercia and quickly being ejected after screening.
At this time, several of Playa Chk's nations, including Playa Chk itself, were stolen by an account thief and left to die. The Sycamore Trees claimed responsibility and has been accepted as being the most likely culprit.
The leadership of Mercia entered into merger talks with that of The New Mercia, as the Founder nations of both were now dead and a reunification possible, with the players behind past mistrust gone. It was finally decided to move together into the region Mercia The Next Generation, created by Playa Chk, and renew the non-aggression pact with the now re-created Blue Moon. This was completed by the end of November 2003, but resulted in Evility unofficially declaring a cold war out of a sense of betrayal, the first shots of which were a failed invasion of MTNG's allies Scotland. The Sycamore Trees also returned briefly to steal another of Playa Chk's nations and sour relations between the Mercians and Evility further, including an attempt to organise an invasion by Evility against the Mercian Regions. After last-minute diplomacy and internal splits, this idea failed.
Tactical Grace eventually succeeded Playa Chk as Delegate of MTNG.
Mercia and The New Mercia self-destructed after the last of the nations remaining died or left, and were refounded in January 2004 and March 2004 respectively. Mercia was refounded by Spoffin, and The New Mercia by Playa Chk. Spoffin, having held the position of Defence Minister at MTNG, left to rebuild and lead Mercia against invaders in general and Blue Moon in particular.
Other highlights of Mercian foreign policy include taking part in invasions of Blue Moon and Corinthe's famous attempt on The Pacific, the defence of 0000 United Democratic Nations, and tipping off many a region that trouble is heading their way. The stunningly successful counter-invasion of LUE, conducted by a rapidly assembled army of Generalites and professional soldiers led by MTNG dubbed "The Incompetant Army" by an astonished and angry Cosmo Kramerica as it poured in, resulted in MTNG being ejected from the Sardaukar Confederacy Defence Trust (SCDT), and its consequent admission into the Alliance Defense Network (ADN).
The Mercian Regions have settled onto a character of broadly Centrist politics and are for the most part region defenders / anti-crashers.
A partial list of wars, battles and supporting operations in which the Mercian Regions have been involved, along with forces from other regions:
2 miles past nowhere - (August 2003) - Defence - win
Hawaii - (August 2003) - Defence - win
Blue Moon - (September 2003) - Invasion - win
0000 United Democratic Nations (probably October 2003) - Defence - win
The Pacific - (October 2003) - Invasion - lose
Scotland - (December 2003) - Defence - win
LUE - (January 2004) - Counter-invasion - win
France - (January 2004) - Counter-invasion - lose
Cuba - (January 2004) - Defence - win
West Alerica (January 2004) - Counter-invasion - outcome uncertain
Ios - (January 2004) - attempted counter-invasion - failed to get entry
Greater Nova York - (March 2004) - Defence - win
Byzantium - (March 2004) - Defence - win
Forum 7 - (March 2004) - Invasion - win
In Hawaii, Greater Nova York and Byzantium, MTNG got involved late and contributed little to the victories, while several other ventures listed failed. However, Mercians like flying the flag in a good fight, it was all damn good fun, so whatever.
Tactical Grace
UN Delegate / Minister of War / Defence Consultancy
Mercia The Next Generation (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=Mercia_The_Next_Generation)
The Mercian Regions - Mercia, The New Mercia, Mercia The Next Generation
Historically closest ally: Evility
Historically worst enemy: Blue Moon
Founded late in 2002 by Playa Chk, Mercia was then a very large player-created region thrown into turmoil during the reign of the griefer Clarkus. After his eventual IP banning, The Sycamore Trees came to power. However, her rule was intensely disliked by many, and the region split, with a large number of exiles led by Playa Chk leaving to reside in her new region The New Mercia. A nation called Thompson also left to create and lead the invader region The Bing.
Mercia and The New Mercia were to have a close but cold relationship. The Moderators appointed Founders for both, with The Sycamore Trees getting Mercia and Playa Chk getting The New Mercia.
The griefer/crasher region Blue Moon was founded in late June 2003, thought by some to continue Clarkus's region-griefing project. Suspecting he was still pulling the strings, Mercia embarked on a cold war with Blue Moon that would last until November 2003, while The New Mercia entered into a non-aggression pact with them.
During this cold war, Mercia spied on Blue Moon and successfully undermined numerous invasion attempts on other regions, and fought in the defence of the region 2 miles past nowhere.
At the end of July, The Sycamore Trees and several of her allies were ejected from the UN for multiing offences, leaving Mercia in a power vacuum. The allied region Evility was also hit hard. Numenoar automatically took over as Delegate, but power was quickly given by the residents to Arkanarsk, the Defence Minister and right hand man of The Sycamore Trees. He steered Mercia through a series of crises, including a possible Blue Moon plot to invade Evility and unrelated invasion threats made against Mercia.
The Sycamore Trees was readmitted into the UN following an appeal and took over control of the region, but her rule had been undermined with the loss of several UN nations, and Arkanarsk was quickly back in power, a position he would maintain for a long time.
Eventually, The Sycamore Trees left the game, but not before defeating a 14-nation invasion of Mercia by Blue Moon on the eve of her departure. Her successors went on to defeat many other plots to invade the now weakened region, aided in this effort by their allies Evility. The former allies of The Sycamore Trees also gradually left the game, ending their lives in the graveyard region Spirits of the Past. Among them was Craziness and Weirdness, the Founder of Evility, controlled by The Sycamore Trees. The Founder of Blue Moon, Maine Road, eventually did likewise, necessitating the destruction and recreation of Blue Moon. Thus the rulers of three great regions locked in a cold war for 5 months, poetically chose to die in the same place.
In October, the forum puppet of Arkanarsk, Tactical Grace, was appointed to moderate the forums. In the interests of transparency, he switched his UN membership and appointed his deputy Spoffin to the Delegate position. The cold war continued, with numerous Blue Moon nations entering Mercia and quickly being ejected after screening.
At this time, several of Playa Chk's nations, including Playa Chk itself, were stolen by an account thief and left to die. The Sycamore Trees claimed responsibility and has been accepted as being the most likely culprit.
The leadership of Mercia entered into merger talks with that of The New Mercia, as the Founder nations of both were now dead and a reunification possible, with the players behind past mistrust gone. It was finally decided to move together into the region Mercia The Next Generation, created by Playa Chk, and renew the non-aggression pact with the now re-created Blue Moon. This was completed by the end of November 2003, but resulted in Evility unofficially declaring a cold war out of a sense of betrayal, the first shots of which were a failed invasion of MTNG's allies Scotland. The Sycamore Trees also returned briefly to steal another of Playa Chk's nations and sour relations between the Mercians and Evility further, including an attempt to organise an invasion by Evility against the Mercian Regions. After last-minute diplomacy and internal splits, this idea failed.
Tactical Grace eventually succeeded Playa Chk as Delegate of MTNG.
Mercia and The New Mercia self-destructed after the last of the nations remaining died or left, and were refounded in January 2004 and March 2004 respectively. Mercia was refounded by Spoffin, and The New Mercia by Playa Chk. Spoffin, having held the position of Defence Minister at MTNG, left to rebuild and lead Mercia against invaders in general and Blue Moon in particular.
Other highlights of Mercian foreign policy include taking part in invasions of Blue Moon and Corinthe's famous attempt on The Pacific, the defence of 0000 United Democratic Nations, and tipping off many a region that trouble is heading their way. The stunningly successful counter-invasion of LUE, conducted by a rapidly assembled army of Generalites and professional soldiers led by MTNG dubbed "The Incompetant Army" by an astonished and angry Cosmo Kramerica as it poured in, resulted in MTNG being ejected from the Sardaukar Confederacy Defence Trust (SCDT), and its consequent admission into the Alliance Defense Network (ADN).
The Mercian Regions have settled onto a character of broadly Centrist politics and are for the most part region defenders / anti-crashers.
A partial list of wars, battles and supporting operations in which the Mercian Regions have been involved, along with forces from other regions:
2 miles past nowhere - (August 2003) - Defence - win
Hawaii - (August 2003) - Defence - win
Blue Moon - (September 2003) - Invasion - win
0000 United Democratic Nations (probably October 2003) - Defence - win
The Pacific - (October 2003) - Invasion - lose
Scotland - (December 2003) - Defence - win
LUE - (January 2004) - Counter-invasion - win
France - (January 2004) - Counter-invasion - lose
Cuba - (January 2004) - Defence - win
West Alerica (January 2004) - Counter-invasion - outcome uncertain
Ios - (January 2004) - attempted counter-invasion - failed to get entry
Greater Nova York - (March 2004) - Defence - win
Byzantium - (March 2004) - Defence - win
Forum 7 - (March 2004) - Invasion - win
In Hawaii, Greater Nova York and Byzantium, MTNG got involved late and contributed little to the victories, while several other ventures listed failed. However, Mercians like flying the flag in a good fight, it was all damn good fun, so whatever.