Going it Alone: Dsasa Declares All DRIFT Members Noncombatants Except Himself

The conflict between DRIFT and YARR!/RE appears to have reached the beginning of the end, with DRIFT leader Dsasa deeming all of the remaining 5 members of his fledgling alliance noncombatants. This essentially leaves only Dsasa to fight the full ranks of YARR! and RE, who have already razed one of his cities in early fighting.

The early onset of the war, which was marked by Dsasa’s founding of DRIFT and subsequent war declarations, showed promise of blossoming into a true Broken Lands war, assuming that he would have been able to garner support for his cause and flush his ranks with war-ready accounts. Other murmurings mused that perhaps rising BL warlord Agalloch might lend support to DRIFT’s efforts either with TUF or Tuna, all in an effort to use this war as a proxy for challenging YARR!’s accelerated rise as a powerbroker in the Broken Lands.

None of this has come to pass, however, with the DRIFT/YARR!-RE conflict quickly playing itself into a predictable endgame.

The anti-climatic rise and fall of DRIFT is yet another example of the server’s failed use of temporary, place-holder alliances to conduct proxy wars in place of using the alliance brands that players typically support. Over the past 9 months, STOMP, Tuna, Unbow, and now DRIFT have all been established in varying attempts to both bring volunteers together under one banner and keep the stigma of war from affecting parent alliances. To this point, however, the use of these alliances has been largely unsuccessful, with none of these alliances having proven effective in winning a war.

Based on the arc of this current conflict, DRIFT appears to be on its way towards the same oblivion as similar alliances before it.

Conflict Between DRIFT and YARR!/RE Claims First City as Dsasa Razed

The fresh conflict between DRIFT and YARR!/RE continues to increase in intensity, as DRIFT’s founder Dsasa has lost a city to YARR! leader Ranalos. YARR! officials shared with the Times the combat report indicating the completed siege operation:

Falorna, belonging to Dsasa which was located at 197|-2403 has been razed by Ranalos.

Victorious battle against Dsasa’s forces at Falorna by Ranalos’s forces from Maligrad
Sent By:	System
Received By:	Ranalos [YARR!]
Date:	08 Mar 2016 05:16
Two opposing forces clash against each other.Cavalry comes into its own when able to strike hostile forces at will, and from unexpected directions – and nowhere is this more feasible than on open plains. Lightly armoured spear units, however, prefer terrain where there’s some cover available. Fighting defensively on open plains, cavalry draws strength from the ability to form and reform their lines of engagement depending on the direction of battle, and it is here where cavalry excels. Attackers: Unit: Quantity: Casualties: Survivors: Commander: Arryia  Stalwart 1 Damaged for 0, 600 health remains. Troops:  Ballistas 0 Troops:  Stalwarts Defenders: Unit: Quantity: Casualties: Survivors: Troops:  Crossbowmen 0

For Dsasa, his city of Falorna was placed in a precarious position for defending against sieges, with small and large hills as well as small and large forests surrounding the city, which was already precariously close to the dominant YARR! presence in the Pirate Isles. YARR! deployed multiple siege camps and maintained an effective blockade.

At this juncture, it is unclear whether or not this current conflict will develop into a protracted war or not. For DRIFT, despite Dsasa’s reported hostilities that led to the onset of war declarations, there has been no siege from the DRIFT team as of yet in response to YARR!’s siege operations, in spite of the fact that DRIFT does have another city in the Pirate Isles. That being said, the alliance’s lack of members and viable military cities begs the question of whether or not DRIFT has any chance at leveling the playing field, going up against the burgeoning YARR! alliance as well as the well-established Roman Empire, which very well may have sieges inbound to other DRIFT targets.

War in Pirate Isles As Dsasa Gets Aggressive With YARR!

An ex SIN and TUF member has purportedly launched an assault on YARR! and RE members, sparking a new war in the Pirate Isles. Dsasa, who has been in several Broken Lands military alliances, appears to have taken an aggressive stance against the upstart YARR! alliance, now finds himself along with several allies engaged in war with two formidable alliance.

In notes to the Times, YARR! members presented evidence of Dsasa’s aggression. “Dsasa launched attacks both on our allies in RE, as well as our own member Princess Botchface,” said YARR! member Solanar, who is understood to be the alliance leader Ranalos’ alt. “We are retaliating.”

Solanar provided this snippet from what appears to be global chat:

[01:43]<Dsasa> lol not really been wanting to exo but thanks for your consideration Dwarf male big grin, 😀
[01:43]<Dsasa> I’ll be taking down half of your alliance as compensation
[01:47]<Stukahh> Dsasa putting his big boy pants on?
[01:47]<Dsasa> I plan on it, but let daddy finish his planning first ‘
[01:47]<Dsasa> lol I got bored of sitting around

In addition, YARR! member Curmudgeon also sent the Times a screen shot of “dsasa attacking Princess Botchface before declaring war on Yarr!”

In order to carry out these attacks, Dsasa has left TUF and instead formed a new small alliance called The Drifters [DRIFT] — a now-common occurrence in Illyriad, used for players to assemble small groups of volunteers for a war without implicating their entire parent alliance. DRIFT’s current line-up includes the following other members: Attila the Hun, Fediglio, Kefka Palazzo, Lady Rowenna, silvanus, trina, and Bullock.

There is still little information about the conflicts that have taken place between DRIFT and RE, however, DRIFT’s diplomacy page indicates that war exists between they and RE.

This new war already has a siege as well. The Herald is reporting a fresh siege against Dsasa in the Pirate Isles:

Dsasa [Drift]

Falorna

[198|-2404] in The Pirate Isles

Ranalos [YARR!]

Mon 07 Mar 08:04

The siege is set up on a large hill to the southeast of the city, and an occupying army on the eastern square suggests that a blockade could be en route as well.

A neutral observer sent in this video of YARR! attacks on the city:

Stay tuned to the Times for more breaking developments on this war.