[UPDATED] Han Declares War on Stark, Cites Insults, Betrayal, Peace With Stomps As Casus Belli

Cities involved in the Han/Stark war. Han is depicted in green, while Stark is in blue.

A third war theatre has opened up in the Broken Lands, this time between Almenly neighbors Shu-Han [Han] and House Stark [Stark]. In what appeared to be a loosely-structured war declaration posted in the diplomacy section of the BL Illyriad forums, Han’s alliance account laid out a rambling casus belli that was at times difficult to follow. However, what is clear is that at the center of Han’s war declaration is a longstanding grudge with Stark leader Phoenixfire and his recent controversial moves to downgrade his alliance’s land claim and make unilateral peace with Stomps without consultation of claimer alliance.

In the post, entitled “Phoenixfire The Traitor,” the Han press office reels off a visceral attack on PF, questioning his loyalty as an ally:

How much can you trust Phoenix? When will he flip again? Whose side is he really on? He is no ally to the LC coalition, and he is not abiding by his oath to Stomps. He is a liar. He is a manipulator. He is a coward and a traitor that will brought justice by Shu. If he wanted to get out of the war there was better ways of doing it. For example at the very least let the coalition know. It would have been a lot better if he had told anyone from the coalitions he was flipping instead of not saying anything. So this is my question to House Stark’s allies. Would you want to be an ally to someone who might just tuck his tail and run then leave you in the wind?

The rhetoric in the Han document heavily leverages PF’s recent decision to exit the Stomps/claimers war and significantly reduce his land claim footprint in the Broken Lands, opting instead of a so-called “claim free zone” that lacked specificity and underwent several changes after public criticism. Han sought to highlight PF’s apparent failure to remain consistent in his positions as an alliance leader in Illyriad:

Hours after negotiating peace with Stomps and dropping his LC, Phoenixfire stated “we will think about reinstating our original claim once we have fully settled our homeland. Once that has been done no one will be able to challenge our claim by settling.”. How can someone trust one who lies so blatantly? He has no honor to stick for even a day to his peace deal. Instead he instantly began conspiring against his oath to Stomps. . . Despite his attempts of breaking LC solidarity, PhoenixFire promised  “Stark won’t be making peace until everyone else has.” Shortly after this promise, PhoenixFire backed out of the war with Stomps and dropped his land claim. After LC alliances demanding answers, Phoenixfire simply replied “people were abusing land claims and we weren’t having fun anymore.”

“Hello, neighbor:” Han and Stark’s claim-free zones buttress right up against one another. Photo Credit: BL Land Claim Map

Han’s new military campaign to bring PF to what the alliance considers to be “justice” appears to have been persuasive enough to have elicited the sympathies of some in Trivium [TVM], as well as support from Broken Blades [B!B], who co-declared war, ostensibly more in solidarity with Han than as an apparent combatant, since B!B has not issued a statement as of yet.

Lord Moonpie, Praetor Diplomaticus of Trivium, elaborated on some previous dealings with Stark in support of Han’s accusations: “Stark previously declared war on Han and demanded that they leave Almenly. The matter was resolved diplomatically with the help of TVM and RE.” He also went on to outline a similar argument as Han in PF’s mishandling of Stark’s role in the current Stomps/claimers war: “Some people in the Land Claim movement are upset by this and feel betrayed by his actions.”

Noticeably absent from the war banter in the Illyriad forums has been Phoenixfire himself, who has yet to answer these accusations levied publicly by Han. However, in comments left on the Times, PF in part addressed his issues with Han. In an effort to explain his abrupt policy changes that went from stating “we will think about reinstating our original claim once we have fully settled our homeland — Once that has been done no one will be able to challenge our claim by settling” to his refutation of land claims altogether in the wake of negotiating for peace with Stomps, he admitted: “Yes I have said both of those. The first was said when we actually had a part in the war, and the second was said when i thought we would still have to fight Stomps in order to keep our DoH. When we realized the DoH was doing its job of helping us avoid conflict we realized it is doing what we wanted the land claim to.”

PF went on to characterize his change of position simply as an evolution in his gaming ideologies: “So you are against people changing their mind on an issue over the course of weeks? You must be against everyone then, because if you haven’t noticed a lot of people change their minds on issues almost daily and most views on said issues are situational.”

The War For Almenly

While the motivations for the Han/Stark war remain convoluted at best, the prospect of two relatively similarly-sized military alliances next to one another in Almenly may make for balanced albeit lightweight war in the Broken Lands. And both alliances have been quick out of the gate to put military might behind their rhetoric. Phoenixfire initiated the first siege of the war, against EvilBanking7’s city of M3:

Player Being Sieged: EvilBanking7 [Han] City: M3 [-276|-2691] in Almenly Sieger: Phoenixfire [Stark] Date/Time: Mon 20 Jul 08:19

That siege was quickly answered by EvilBanking7, who set up a siege on PF’s city of Winterfell, the House Stark capital that also happens to be behind enemy lines in Han’s land claim:

Player Under Siege: Phoenixfire [Stark] City: 1. Winterfell [-279|-2655] in Almenly Sieger: EvilBanking7 [Han] Date/Time: Mon 20 Jul 19:0

As this is a new war, little is known about the composition of the armies or where the intense bitterness between Han and Stark will lead. The Times will continue to update the story as more information becomes available.

[UPDATED 7:42am, ST: The war declaration thread for this war appears to have been deleted on the Illyriad forum. For reference, we are reprinting Han’s entire declaration below.’

You all have seen this name. PhoenixFire, a  proclaimed hero of the Land Claiming (LC) Coalition. A figure cheered on by BL alliances and Elgeans alike as he resisted Stomps. A symbol of resistance that rivals that of Che, but like Che, our Phoenix is not pure of heart. Within this week Phoenixfire has made some movements. I’m sure everyone in the forums is aware of him flipping sides and leaving the LC coalition.
 
 
The reason he flipped is because a DoH fits House Starks ideal rules for claiming a piece of land or so he says. I believe differently as Phoenixfire has stated before he wants House Stark to get stronger before they make a Land Claim.  The reason I believe is he went to a DoH is because STOMP took a city from him and he knew he was a weaker link in the coalition.
 
This brings the question of honor to the table. How much can you trust Phoenix? When will he flip again? Whose side is he really on? He is no ally to the LC coalition, and he is not abiding by his oath to Stomps. He is a liar. He is a manipulator. He is a coward and a traitor that will brought justice by Shu. If he wanted to get out of the war there was better ways of doing it. For example at the very least let the coalition know. It would have been a lot better if he had told anyone from the coalitions he was flipping instead of not saying anything. So this is my question to House Stark’s allies.
 
Would you want to be an ally to someone who might just tuck his tail and run then leave you in the wind? I would think not. To House Starks allies I recommend you think  about your relationship with him. In war your honor is what counts. There is also ways to get out of war without turning your back on your allies.  Would you really want to side with him?
 
Another thing to think about is He cannot be trusted to stick to his deals. Hours after negotiating peace with Stomps and dropping his LC, Phoenixfire stated “we will think about reinstating our original claim once we have fully settled our homeland. Once that has been done no one will be able to challenge our claim by settling.”. How can someone trust one who lies so blatantly? He has no honor to stick for even a day to his peace deal. Instead he instantly began conspiring against his oath to Stomps.
 
We know PhoenixFire attacked BL alliances that did not rashly enter the war against Stomps. He declared himself a leader of a “true military alliance” as he gave Stomps their only raze due to his spread-out and unsupportable cities. He continued to persecute alliances that were prioritizing centralization while throwing himself into a war where most of his power lay on the complete other side of the world, the side that Stomps had control.
Despite his attempts of breaking LC solidarity, PhoenixFire promised  “Stark won’t be making peace until everyone else has.” Shortly after this promise, PhoenixFire backed out of the war with Stomps and dropped his land claim. After LC alliances demanding answers, Phoenixfire simply replied “people were abusing land claims and we weren’t having fun anymore”.
 
Perhaps a fair sentiment…if we skip over that House Stark under PhoenixFire’s direction forcibly removed a newb from his territory while he happily operated under his LC. A shining example of PhoenixFire clinging to moral superiority when he has none.
We’ve stated many things against Phoenixfire and this hopefully shows what type of player he really is. We have stated what he plans to do after the war is over. We hope this brings insight into why the Shu is doing what we are doing. We feel this was cowardly on Phoenix’s part and he should face justice. The overall part of this is Phoenix doesn’t want to fight for a Land Claim but he wants one. He wants to be able to force people out of his land without fighting for it. He is using everyone hoping STOMP/LCers finish each other off then post up a LC after all of it is said and done as stated above. Hopefully this shows his true colors.