Ashina-Kingdom of God War

The Ashina conquest of the Kingdom of God, or the Ashina-Kingdom of God War, was a major conflict fought from June 13, 2021 to June 15, 2021, between the Ashina Empire and the Kingdom of God. The war was notable for its intense, violent build-up and nearly bloodless climax. It is the largest conflict ever fought in Alathra in terms of number of participants. The war culminated in The Siege of The Vatican.

Background
On June 11th, two days before the war was declared, the Kingdom of God's Anime Map art was griefed by an unknown perpetrator. According to the KOG, the perpetrators of the attack were citizens of Ashina, including Emperor KnightOfNotch himself. However, these claims came during the conflict and are unsubstantiated.

After the attack, there were heated disagreements between King Shepsicle of New Ashina City and Bishop Jmatt204. Jmatt204 claimed that there was inequalities in the reactions to the KOG's art. Many in Alathra were indifferent to the attack, considering the Vatican City complex to not be keeping with predominant architectural styles. KOG citizens considered these attitudes unfair, as New Ashina City had, at the time, a modern metropolitan style.



On June 13, assassin EpicMasterVic of the Pact of the Immortal Blood completed a hit on Shepsicle. However, they were not able to complete a hit on Hargreevs, a prominent citizen of Kais Kogong. This hit ended in disaster, as Hargreevs successfully fought off the assassin, and stole a book that revealed who paid for the hit, It was suspected by many in the Ashina camp that the Kingdom of God had ordered the attacks, as Hargreevs had mocked their map art the day prior. However, the KOG's connection was dubious. The book also stated that the same person had paid for a hit on Shepsicle earlier that week.



Hargreevs called a meeting at the Kais Kogong inn, where the Ashinians learned of the assassination. Vasya, founder of Kais Kogong and noted pacifist, attempted to placate them, proposing alternative theories on the involvement of the KOG, as they were not mentioned in the book. Nevertheless, the conclusion was reached that the Kingdom of God had assassinated one of the highest ranked members of Ashina.

But the true casus belli would not come until later that day, when Pope Mistapurple vandalized a Shepeyes location in Homo_Town, an Ashina territory a few hundred blocks east of the KOG's capital of Vaitcan City. Mistapurple had covered portions of the building in lava. This attack was witnessed by Shepsicle himself, who considered it a homophobic attack. On 9:18 PM CDT, a few hours after the attack, Emperor KnightOfNotch declared war on the Kingdom of God. The first skirmish of the war would begin just a few minutes later.

First invasion
As per server rules, the two sides could engage in skirmishes before the in-game SiegeWar began. A small invasion force of Ashina fighters consisting of 00sandwich, shalom1211, Grandpa_boob, and Shepsicle descended on Vatican City. While having a small advantage of numbers, KOG citizens were severely outmatched in martial capabilities. The netherrite-equipped Ashina quickly overwhelmed the iron-clad Kingdom of God. As the Ashina fighters steadily took loot from the citizens, the Kingdom of God side were eventually left without weapons nor armour. Grandpa_boob eventually found a way inside the complex, massacring everyone inside - although these casualties were mostly spectators, as he only managed to kill one KOG citizen in the melee. Pope Mistapurple flung himself wildly at the Ashina forces, dying over a dozen times.

EpicMasterVic's massacre
Later that very day, the assassin group the Pact of the Immortal Blood conducted an interview with zaktoslph of the Alathran Independent Press. During the interview, the PIB received some heckling from Kingdom of God citizen jupiterdude. EpicMasterVic left the interview and travelled to Vatican City, where the citizens were massacred and looted a second time. The entire population of the town, except for two citizens were killed several times by the single assassin. This massacre left the already badly-equipped KOG completely without resources, leaving the Kingdom of God's capability to defend themselves - at all - at question.

The Siege of the Vatican
By the time of the SiegeWar's official start on June 15, Ashina had built up a strong alliance consisting of the world's largest nations and many towns. Critics of the war suggested that the battle was now completely unfair due to the incredible advantage that Ashina had built up against the small nation, along with the setbacks they had now sustained.

At 9:30, the battle began. Alliance forces descended upon the capital. When they arrived, however, they had found the town completely deserted. In an underground complex, Ashina fighters found a book that mocked the fighters, stating that they took this game way too seriously. The Kingdom of God had abandoned their city to the invaders. After a few noneventful hours, the Ashina Empire occupied Vatican City, thereby annexing the Kingdom of God.

Aftermath
The war only continued the Ashina Empire's rapid expansion. Once the Vatican was claimed by Ashina, it was placed under occupation. As with the Ashina-Lothridge War before it, it gained the empire access to a different continent. Members of the city fled, with Jupiterdude relocating to Synbio to found the town of Final Rest. The Kingdom of God became Ashina's second largest occupied territory, after Aquendavia. However, most would not be seen after the siege. Popular consensus labeled the KOG as cowards, although a few critics thought that this outcome was inevitable, as the Kingdom of God could never realistically defend against an attack force of this size.

The conflict also strengthened the relationship between the Free Cities of Alathra and Ashina, with the FCA pledging their help in future wars. The siege marked the FCA's first military involvement and entrance to the wider stage of Alathran politics. From that point on, the FCA played a major role in the Northern Continent, helping to resolve the Rome-Redwood Dispute.

In addition, the sheer scale of the Siege prompted Mayor Crowe of Braudwell to propose the creation of a new international organization, the Alathran Union of Township Peace (AUTP) as a trade organization that would theoretically promote peace, though it soon collapsed after a disastrous first press conference.