The Sigil Conflict

The Sigil Conflict
Event
Name: The Sigil Conflict
In-game name:
Alts:
Status: Armistice Declared
Date:
First joined:
Last seen:
Formed: January 15th, 2020
Abandoned:
Disbanded: January 17th, 2020
Location:
Coords:
Members:
Clans: Church of Francis, Bloc for Clans, The Order of Wilbur
Bases: Sigil
Schematic: {{{schematic}}}

The Sigil Conflict was a brief religious / political dispute that occurred at Sigil between January 15th and January 17th, 2020. The Sigil Conflict consisted of an armed religious uprising, a revolution, enforced political suppression and a subsequent battle and terror campaign. While war was never officially declared, and the conflict ended through legal, mutually-respected means, the Sigil Conflict was nonetheless a heated event that would prove to have a lasting impact on the server climate of early 2020.

Timeline

Below is a basic overview of the events that led to the Sigil Conflict, the conflict itself, and the aftermath:

January 8th, 2020

• Sigil is founded by VetoTheNeato

January 14th, 2020:

• The last member arrives to Sigil as the base prospers

January 15th, 2020:

• VetoTheNeato and cheesy_chips22 attempt to spread pro-Wilburian propaganda on Church of Francis property
• This leads Lord1 to initiate the "Franciallian Revolution of January 15th", with assistance from willowienal, demanding more rights and representation for Sigil-Francillians
• A skirmish ensues in Sigil, resulting in Lord1 killing VetoTheNeato; cheesy_chips22 eventually defects to Lord1's side
• After the violence comes to a close, a court battle occurs in the Church of Francis temple between the Church of Francis (headed by Lord1) and the Wilburians (VetoTheNeato)
• Tensions culminate during the court case as cheesy_chips22 slaughters VetoTheNeato during his testimony
• VetoTheNeato later backtracks and decides to convert to the Francis religion

January 16th, 2020:

• Several Church of Francis banners are placed throughout the city, with a bulletin board explaining the religion's apparent "uprising and annexing" of Sigil
• Members of The Order of Wilbur are banned from all Francillian premises

January 17th, 2020:

• The Francillian chapel is stripped of all map art and literature and signs are changed to Wilburian propaganda
• Lord1, iPyxis, Tenced and willowienal turn up to Sigil to find the culprit
• Lord1 kills GummyBearz14 but shorty after apologies and returns her stuff
• Lord1 interrogates Wawuwiva and willowienal attacks Lord1
• Sigil members online don't condone Lord1's actions and make it very clear in chat with the use of insulting and threatening Lord1, including nddragoon who was shorty after killed by Lord at his base 'The Quarry'
• Sigil is leaked by nddragoon
• Ostrich1414 announces his plan to enact revenge on the Church of Francis for their treatment of the people and Wilburians of Sigil, turning up to fight Lord1, Cutman and Unix_system, with Sellout9 coming to watch
• Lord1 is put on trial in the Bloc for Clans and is demoted as delegate for the Church for infringing the rules on killing other BC members
• In a fit of rage, Lord1 griefs Shitstania and Atherius in response

January 18th, 2020:

• Cutman's personal base is griefed in response to Lord1's previous actions
• Zepheron kills Lord1 after nether trapping him

History

Precursors to the Conflict

Prior to the Sigil Conflict, tensions were still quite high between the Church of Francis and The Order of Wilbur. The Holy Wilbur-Francis War had pitted the two religions against each other, and while the Order of Wilbur had ultimately emerged victorious, the Church of Francis continued to prosper and grow in the postwar environment. Furthermore, the Church of Francis had been spreading its influence around several Bloc for Clans affiliated bases, from building churches to displaying propaganda.

Meanwhile, on January 5th, 2020, the city of Yittrium is severely raided and looted, forcing its members to abandon it. This led VetoTheNeato, a former member of Yittrium, to establish a new base. This new base would become "Sigil", and several noteworthy, and new, players were brought there to build. Sigil would soon become a Bloc for Clans base, and a Church of Francis chapel was constructed on a hilltop above the city. Nevertheless, Sigil grew rapidly, showing promise of intense expansion within hours.

The Francillian Revolt of January 15th

On January 15th, 2020, VetoTheNeato and cheesy_chips22, devout Wilburians (with cheesy_chips22 being a veteran of the Holy Wilbur-Francis War), marched up to the Church of Francis chapel and began chanting pro-Wilburian propaganda. Outraged, Lord1, with assistance from willowienal, decided to fight back against them, declaring oppression and accusing Sigil of neglecting to consider and affirm the rights of Sigil-Francillians. Lord1 considered this move a revolution, dubbing the pro-Francillian rebellion "The Francillian Revolt of January 15th". As the two parties clash, several players are wounded and killed, with Lord1 eventually killing VetoTheNeato and declaring a victory over the Wilburians.

As the tensions calmed down a bit, the belligerents decided to move to the Church of Francis chapel for a discussion, establishing the temple as a makeshift courtroom. During this time, cheesy_chips22 defects to Lord1's side, and as VetoTheNeato and Lord1 verbally attack and accuse each other, cheesy_chips22 suddenly kills VetoTheNeato in the middle of the court case.

Eventually, VetoTheNeato would succumb to Lord1's threats and accusations of Francillian mistreatment on behalf of the city of Sigil; he would agree to recognize and grant full rights to the Church of Francis in response to the tragedy. Furthermore, VetoTheNeato even decided to convert to Francisism, with Lord1 baptizing him later that night.

The Francillians Retain Control

After the Francillian Revolt, on January 16th, Sigil quieted down as building and progress continued as normal. However, the Church of Francis had put up hundreds of Francillian banners, signs and other pieces of propaganda, effectively "annexing" the city as a Francillian territory. This was only made apparent when Wilburians were explicitly banned from key sites in Sigil, most notable the Church of Francis chapel.

The Battle of Sigil

On the morning of January 17th, members of the Church of Francis would discover all Francillian items and memorabilia had been stripped from the chapel, instead replaced with Wilburian propaganda and banners. Lord1 demanded to know the culprit behind the act of blasphemous vandalism, but no one would come forward. This resulted in Lord1 and willowienal recruiting fellow Francillians iPyxis and Tenced to assist them in finding the culprit at Sigil.

As tensions began to flare, several fights ensued. GummyBearz14 is murdered by Lord1 in a fit of rage, despite GummyBearz14 having been an innocent, neutral party who was unaffiliated with the issue at large. Later, Lord1 conducts an intense interrogation on Wawuwiva, a prime suspect; however, willowienal would defect and attack Lord1, as willowienal and Wawuwiva were close allies.

Things take a turn for the worse as the members of both Sigil and the Bloc for Clans begin to harshly condemn Lord1 for his actions, citing several BC rules being broken as a result of his tirade. Nddraggon, a fellow member of Sigil, becomes especially vocal against Lord1's actions, showing intense disapproval. He is later targeted and attacked by Lord1 at his base "The Quarry", which was linked with Sigil; nddragoon was killed immediately. Angered by his death and the unlawful events unfolding at Sigil, nddragoon publicly leaked the base's coordinates in response. The portal link between Sigil and the Quarry is later broken.

Ostrich1414, who had been on a hiatus from SimPvP for about two weeks, had received a briefing on the events unfolding in Sigil. An avid Wilburian and a close ally to many of the players being affected by the Francillian tyranny, ostrich1414 logged on to the server and declared his plan to target and attack Lord1 and the Church of Francis as an act of revenge for their treatment of the people and Wilburians of Sigil, and the unlawful killing of GummyBearz14. Ostrich1414 attained the coordinates to the city's portal and flew to the Church of Francis chapel, placing two stacks of TNT all around it and igniting it, destroying the temple irreversibly.

Almost immediately afterwards, ostrich1414 flew over to Lord1, Cutman and Unix_system, who were occupying Sigil in search of any anti-Francillian forces. He began shooting down at them from the air, and an intense air/land battle ensued, with Sellout9 later arriving to watch. While ostrich1414 stayed almost exclusively in the air, Cutman and Unix_system would attempt to bomb him with end crystals while Lord1 shot at him. Sellout9, however, served as a neutral party, and ultimately convinced both ostrich1414 and Lord1 to cease the fighting and initiate a peace conference.

Ostrich1414, Sellout9 and the three Francillian soldiers all congregated at GummyBearz14's house, where a peace conference was held. Ostrich1414 pressured Lord1 to take responsibility for the destruction of Sigil and the killing of several innocent players, while the rest of the Bloc for Clans flamed Lord1 for his drastic actions and the violence and base destruction it culminated into. In defense, Lord1 argued that his actions were justified due to a legitimate threat against the Church of Francis and a perceived lack of respect. Nevertheless, peace had been achieved at Sigil, albeit through an armistice rather than a concrete peace treaty as neither party could come to a mutual agreement with the other.

Later that night, VetoTheNeato fled to Shitstania with IAmTheSheriff in hopes of recouping after the unfortunate events. Lord1 heard of this, and imminently traveled to the small spawn base. Veto watched from behind spawn wall as Lord blew up a small portion of Shitstania's upper layer and fled.

The BC Trial

After Sigil had been abandoned and the battles and violence had ceased, Lord1 was put on trial on behalf of the people of Sigil and the Bloc for Clans. Headed by NeutralistNoodle, each member of the BC was able to voice their opinions, for or against, regarding Lord1 and his future in the BC. Opponents of Lord1 saw him guilty of several "war crimes" and BC law breaking, while proponents saw the event as nothing more than a hyperbolic meme taken a bit too far out of context.

Eventually, a vote was held on behalf of the delegates of the Bloc for Clans after an intense voice call on the Discord server. It was decided that Lord1 wouldn't be stripped of all of his titles and powers in the BC, alas he stepped down anyway, but he would be allowed to remain a basic member.

After-Trial Response

Almost immediately after being removed from power in the Bloc for Clans, Lord1 retaliated by griefing both Shitstania and the first Atherius base, citing a plan to grief all BC bases, old and new. However, this claim was short-lived, and Lord1 backed out on it, citing these events as a mere product of his "emo phase".

On the 21st of January, the delegates voted in favour of reinstating Lord1's executive power in the BC, remaking him a delegate for the Church.

Aftermath

The day after the Sigil Conflict had ended became one of the weirdest days in SimPvP history. It began with a majority of the server angry at Lord1; in fact, several former Sigil members, BC members and members of The Dominion joined together to grief Cutman's base in response to the conflict.

Later, Lord1 attempts to access spawn via the Pvp world; however, he is ambushed by Zepheron, who portal traps him and kills him immediately after.

However, the day would end with the entire server coming together in unity as The Second Siege commenced, with a common goal of stopping a Spanish YouTuber named MrCramYT from creating a video on SimPvP. This would result in Lord1 once again being accepted into SimPvP society as he assisted the Second Siege tremendously, instating TNT bombers around spawn and even killing MrCramYT himself.

Nevertheless, the Sigil Conflict would be the first major event of player violence and political strife on the server for 2020. This conflict itself can be seen as a continuation of the Holy Wilbur-Francis War; while war was never declared, the Battle of Sigil and the tensions and violence between Wilburians and Francillians came to a climax months after the war's end, proving that the "meme war" had long-lasting effects on server relationships.

Many Sigil members joined VetoTheNeato's Takyon shortly after the Sigil incident, leaving some to believe Takyon is a direct successor to Sigil, much like Florestria to Yittrium.

Official Pardon

Over a month past the Sigil Conflict, Lord1 was formally and officially pardoned at the Simpvp Summit of 2020 after admits wrongdoing and apologizes to the base's founder, VetoTheNeato.