Exusia Chronicles: The Great War Part II
I apologize for the hiatus, but I needed time to regroup before resuming this epic story of antiquity.
The war with Parliament proved more arduous and costly than I could have ever imagined. Both sides were formidable and neither guild would yield in this trifling feud that was sparked over a mere grind spot. There was so much wrong with this situation and I had wished we could have resolved our differences peacefully. The other officers and members that sided with Shikoto (the leader of Parliament) had never even heard my side of the story, but the die had been cast and fate would have it no other way than for us to tear each other apart until only one guild remained. Parliament had taken most of our well geared players. However, we still had vastly superior numbers. Also prior to the schism, I had done 90% of our recruitment. In a war of attrition, I knew we would certainly outlast them.
Our forces clashed violently on numerous occasions for several weeks which added to the economic strain on our guild because it was more difficult to complete our guild missions while fighting off these enemies. Eventually, the frequency of these skirmishes died down and we began to enter into a cold war with Parliament. Neither side would actively search for the other, but if we crossed paths a bloody battle would ensue. Each of our guilds worked to get better gear and stockpile weapons (guild mounts and battle ships) to prepare for the next inevitable conflict. I even began to grind and train rigorously as well, so that I could defend my people from these heretics. Prior to the war, I served predominantly as a politician rather than actually playing the game. I knew that I could no longer rely on others to protect the weak and it was time for me to step up.
Eventually, enough time passed for me to begin selecting new officers without fear of any Parliament moles hiding within our ranks. Amongst them was Kuramasa (who would soon serve as my right hand) as well as a handful of other promising candidates that came along the way. Guild missions were back to being completed every day and our guild’s progress and income was finally on the rise once more. Unfortunately, it did not take long for further complications to present themselves.
Aside from Kuramasa (who was serving as my proxy), we had 5 officers in charge of maintaining Exusia’s operations and infrastructure. They were well compensated for their services to boot. On one occasion we had an informal meeting in discord where the officers and members were gathered. One of the newer officers who we will call Zetheral was also present. I presented to him and the others their responsibilities and expectations per our written manifesto as well as some small adjustments which were not in anyway more cumbersome, but rather labor saving. He immediately told me “no” in front of everyone present (roughly 15 in the conference call). I laughed it off thinking he was joking even though it wasn’t a proper time or place. He was serious though and I even tried to reason with him. In summary, he wanted officer pay with none of the responsibilities. One of the members in the call pointed out in surprise: “He told you no to your face!?”. I immediately demoted Zetheral for insubordination and proceeded with the discussion.
This marked the beginning of a period which I will call the dark times (circa March 2017). They were dark because our morale had never been lower which was primarily due to the prevailing attitude of our new leadership poisoning the guild’s atmosphere. This batch of officers were lazy and deceitful to put it bluntly. Earlier in the first part of this story, I had mentioned Pirate Island. Going to that grinding zone had always been taboo given our history there. We had no rules or policies prohibiting members from grinding there, but it was often frowned upon by our senior members who knew the tragedy of what had occurred there. Young and impressionable players that often frequented that area would often become influenced by the toxicity of the players there and become consumed with greed and selfishness. It was most certainly cursed.
These new officers began to neglect their posts and started to grind at Pirate Island and the guild members slowly became less altruistic towards one another. To compound matters further, the officers had almost completely stopped doing their quota of guild missions which halted our progress in keeping ahead of rival guilds. It also made earning enough income to invest in our members as well the war effort against Parliament more difficult.
Eventually, I grew tired of the officers’ excuses and having my mild yet firm admonitions ignored, so I gave the officers an ultimatum. I told them that they had until server reset time (roughly 12 hours away) to complete 3 out of 5 guild missions, or I would demote all of them. One of the officers, Illric expressed genuine remorse and tried his best to finish. The other officers expressed indifference and continued in their debauchery at Pirate Island, refusing to set their priorities. Upon my return, I noticed that only 2 guild missions were completed. Illric, wanting to maintain his rank and showing signs of genuine repentance had gathered what few members he could and did them alone without the help of the other officers. I was greatly angered by the outcome and saddened on Illric’s behalf, but was not going to go back on my word. As promised, I demoted all of the officers and began planning how to turn things around.
Upon learning of this, my second in command approached me and begged for me to give the officers a second chance. I protested, saying: “They’ve had enough second chances! I’ve given them weeks to get their act together, and still they persist in being stubborn and unproductive.”
Kuramasa then appealed to me that he would do everything in his power to retrain the wayward officers and go “drill sergeant mode” as he had put it. After some thought, I agreed and left the officers in his hands. Three of the officers were reinstated and given time to perfect their craft. In a matter of time the officers had made a complete 180 degree change. They were finally taking initiative, making themselves visible, and best of all giving results rather than excuses.
Things almost seemed perfect, but after 4-5 days of improvement they backpedaled into their old idle ways. Too furious and frustrated, I didn’t say a thing. Instead, I stayed up all night for roughly 8 hours grinding all 5 guild missions by myself (they could all be done in an hour or so if the whole guild came). This went on for days until finally I approached Kuramasa and said: “I thought you said you would retrain the officers!? They are just as worthless and lazy as before!”. He was confused and said that he didn’t know what I was talking about, but soon it became clear to both of us.
Another one of these officers who we will call Railim was very deceptive (think Starscream from Transformers). Prior to being demoted and later reinstated he would often message me privately to throw the other officers under the bus while excusing himself from any blame. Railim wanted to elevate his status by tearing others down. This same officer had planned to turn my second in command and I against one another. When I went to grind the guild missions all night and passed out from exhaustion, Railim would tell my second in command (who played mornings) that he and the other officers did the guild missions, taking full credit for my work. Upon learning of this treachery, I became greatly incensed. This time, I did not choose to demote them which will lead us to the next chapter of this massive conflict.
To be continued in part 3