Rig

1. Yes, but it's still not a genocide. You're talking about a tiny state in Idunia that was revealed to be a major cult that traffics human beings, souls, and kills people. I can't think of a real life comparison for that. Genocide has nuance, but this case is not explicit genocide. I'm also not offended, I'm just showing you that when the logic's inverted it doesn't work. A great example of a fucked up genocide borne directly from colonialism is the Rwandan Genocide, which is incredibly recent. Yes, it's tragic that children and women died in Haelun'or, but not every warcrime is tantamount to mass genocide, nor were the Haelunorians as a people ethnically cleansed. There has not been a mass organization of role-players going there solely to repeatedly kill their players and forcibly convert them to other cultures or religions. They were basically given the same terms Nazi Germany received at the end of WWII. Denazification. The settlement is still thriving and filled with multicultural elves now, which Aeus can attest as their leader. 2. Because people are clearly poorly informed or somebody 8-10 years ago gave something a bad name and it's not been changed yet. I've never heard of a Rhodesian Cross in my life before now and I've played in four different empires. 3. Yes, but villainy does not always equal fascism. And what's villainous for an outside group is not explicitly villainous for their in-group. It can be argued for instance that the threat on the Beastfolk by the Inquisition is reminiscent of fascist action, but that also falsely equates all acts of racism to being fascist, when the question is actually a lot deeper. Beastfolk on LoTC originally were produced by a Daemon who stole children out of their cradles and performed human experiments on them. Yes, it's wrong to target people on the basis of race, and the sins of the father are not the sins of the son, and that's racist. It can be argued there are structural forms of racism in the empire (like hating Kharajyr and Hou-Zi). However, equating it to being a pure fascist trope on the basis of White Supremacist imagery which doesn't exist in the nation, is a huge leap in logic. The Hou-Zi themselves were responsible lore-wise for enslaving the Oyashimans and Li-Ren if I remember, and colonizing them. Every group on the server (much like real life) has a troubled history with imperialism and colonialism, because those concepts are inherent to expansionism, and to the formation of a state. A book I like is "How Fascism Works" by Jason Stanley, we covered his 10 pillars recently, and if you examine them you'll notice only a few of them are partially applicable to the current state of the empire. There's a brief summary here. The idea isn't that you can't interface and be critical about games, propaganda, and media. The idea is that what you're saying is not cohesive. I'm not even really offended, a friend of mine even said "She's so close to the truth, but she's 8 years late". It's not that you don't have inklings of truth here or there, it's genuinely that the information is distorted, and it's not accurate to the current situation.

1. Not genocide, they still exist, just can't use the name or practice their racist ideology. It's a disservice to the actual victims of genocide to conflate the destruction of an apartheid state with foundational racist themes with how Romani, Jews, Palestinians, disabled folks, etc, have been treated. It's crass. Your own logic when turned on itself just doesn't work. 2. It's not called a Rhodesian Cross. Maybe saying it another five times will help. Maybe you need to make a Google Search? 3. The Empire on LoTC is monarchist and consists of a multitude of player bases who are (for the most part) sovereign and collectively work together. They have vibrant and thriving cultures that exist outside of the Heartlands. Most of the places which have been destroyed, such as Hanseti-Ruska, are likewise guilty of imperial colonialism, though they used a more neocolonial framework. There are ethical ways, which is why the staff exists, and you repeatedly calling a Maltese Cross a "Rhodesian Cross" (which again does not exist) is deliberately obtuse. Other people mislabeling a symbol does not produce a hate symbol. An old imperial city 10 years ago was called Johannesburg. Is that something that merits discussion too? Probably, the server used to be a lot worse in terms of tolerance, but ignoring history just dooms people to repeat it. With any real world understanding, your fundamentally illogical perspective collapses. You're trying to fit a square into a round peg.

1. Then speak to the player? 2. Yes, people die during war, especially when their leader is a satanist who enslaves ghosts, and allows ghost worshipping cultists to live in their city. Oh no! They can't be racist safely in their own huge city anymore. What a disaster. By your logic the bombing of Dresden was genocide, because you have a completely uncritical view of history. 3. Yeah look up my thing in Google and you'll see it's completely written by me. But make up what you want. I've studied sociology and women's studies as part of my degree in the past 3-4 years. And I'm telling you, de facto, that the things you're saying are completely distorted. We're just not going to agree and frankly that's fine, but honest to God please go and do some reading because with people like you misrepresenting these things, it's just going to further enable actual corporatists and fascists to produce more rhetoric that WASPs love. Killing somebody in a video game is not fascism, and these themes are not inherently fascist just because there's a cross stitched onto some clothes. You're legitimately cracked.

1. The Rhodesian Cross is not a RL symbol. If somebody called it a Rhodesian Cross, speak to them, but that's not what it's called. 2. No? The Mystics there got destroyed and the people exiled. The people moved to other nations. A city being sacked isn't genocide. They lost their city in a time of war. Mystics kill people and enslave them as ghosts in rock btw, or enslave pre-existent ghosts. Seems pretty justifiable to me. 3. You've not really shed light on anything except your own ignorance on what you're talking about. Please just go take an ethnic studies class at your local community college or something.

This p much. Genocide is either: a.) The mass killing of a population for the desired result of their culture being destroyed. The Holocaust and other pogroms make good examples for genocide through murder. b.) The mass indoctrination and destruction of a person's native culture. That is why for instance the Red Power Movement took over Alcatraz, they were resisting the United States' attempts to terminate tribal sovereignty and bring the Indigenous into mainstream American culture. This could be an arguable case of genocide due to the systemic extermination of another culture over a long period of time (2-3 centuries?) Countless treaties violated, people displaced, their native languages lost. c.) There's things that fall in-between and then other arguable cases of genocide that can be made in international courts. You can read about it some more online. Neither of those things have occurred, majority of the protectorate states enjoy semi-sovereign status. They are just unable to declare war and are subject to certain laws (not to bring their religion into the Imperial heartlands). Their cultures are largely intact, independent, and their religions and way of life are unimpeded, asides from being levied in times of war and owing an oath to the Emperor of Man. The people who have overwhelmingly died are Maleficarum, AKA, blood-suckers, cannibals, ghost enslavers, and demon dragon worshippers. And Orcs, who harbor people whose fathers and grandfathers had a hand in attempting to mass kill and destroy the Emperor's family in recent IRP history. Orcs who have also practiced colonial expansionism in the past, and had an empire at one point themselves several times, and likewise most nations on the server have done this. It is a war narrative, and people who do not want to participate in wars can build a new house somewhere, or abstain from warclaims. War remains a mechanic nonetheless, and this is on par with saying that everybody playing Call of Duty has to factor in nonstop that it's American war propaganda. Most people don't play Call of Duty to LARP a Karbala HQ raid in Iraq, they're there to shoot other players, laugh, and run around the map. It's not that deep. As for the cross you're discussing, I think maybe you mean is the Maltese Cross, which has been mistakenly conflated with the Iron Cross (of Prussian, Weimar, and Nazi Germany fame). The Iron Cross has a stigma but had a long use prior to its adoption by the Nazi Party, and was a symbol more or less used by the Prussian/German militaries. The Swastika, however, will have a very hard time for a very long time being distanced from the actions of the Nazi Party despite its ties to Asia. However, the Warhammer connotation is not comparable to a Swastika, and falsely conflating them is going to derail the conversation. Many European symbols do end up coopted by White Supremacist groups at some point, and obviously like you said there's going to be people who appropriate these kinds of symbols. I don't doubt that there's a Skinhead gang out there with a stormtrooper logo from Star Wars. Yes, stormtroopers are a fascist symbol - however, Star Wars for example, has an antifascist mission, because George Lucas was against the Vietnam War and American expansionism himself. Does that make a stormtrooper equal to a swastika if it has dual meanings? I'd posit probably not. Warhammer is also a fantasy setting, and apparently was originally intended to be a critique of 1980's Britain under Margaret Thatcher. Whether you know it or not, you were saying and implying some pretty nasty things in your initial posts. In the same way you'd like other people to be mindful of your feelings, that's a two-way street, take some responsibility and move on.

Werewolf isn't white, I am Jewish, a number of other people in the Empire come from a multitude of different backgrounds. Some of our knights play Quali and are proud RL muslims. One of my favorite friends who helped found the empire is Iraqi. The Rhodesian Cross itself isn't necessarily 1-to-1 a fascist symbol, it's the Rhodesian Flag that is. The cross itself has existed in multitudes of governments (European, yes) and if we're going to begin restricting symbology that's always tied to real life governments, it's going to make it insanely difficult for people to come up with things. In the case of the Empire, the cross symbol (AFAIK) was taken from Warhammer as well. Just saw Werewolf post above me so I'll leave it there. Sorry you're having issues IRL, everybody on the server is, otherwise I don't imagine people would have 1 day of playtime on here broadly across the board. That being said, you're free to have disagreements without resorting to ad hominem against a diverse player base. Edit: Looked up the "Rhodesian Cross". Doesn't exist? https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbols/search ADL is not a perfect resource, I used Google too, but couldn't find anything.

"The Grand King is a pragmatic dwarf," said Rhys. "I imagine he will attempt to resolve this dispute and share access to his mines. Maybe after a discussion between him and His Imperial Majesty, this issue shall be laid to rest, and the tensions likewise shall dissipate."

Empire side: "Stop complaining and role-play on the server." The whiners: "Werewolf's not gonna let you suck it." Real interaction I saw yesterday from a misogynist who orbits your player base. No, being female (or LGBTQ) does not excuse misogyny, and I'm relatively amused that the so called "intersectional crowd" (who btw think that an elven supremacist, homophobic state was still free to continue existing) is no doubt going to double down on this behavior, or facetiously throw the person under the bus as if that individual's behavior is not somehow emblematic of what's going on in their private chats, which no doubt include other players with similar opinions. The claim of genocide is particularly strange, because most of the groups have been vassalized and not wiped out. Their cultures have not been cleansed either. The only group to face genocide was coincidentally one that has advocated historically for genocide against other elven cultures, and has high elven nationalist beliefs. Majority of the groups that exist under the Empire have been allowed to keep their cultures with the stipulation that those cultures don't bleed into Core Imperial Territories (I.E., human realms that fall under direct control of the Emperor himself, and not a protectorate-state such as Caurost, Norland, or Idunia). For instance, Cursed Children can live in Idunia, but not in the rest of the Empire. There is a substantial amount of autonomy given to client states of the Empire. Yes, the Empire is relatively racist and arguably practices some form of apartheid, though I've seen a very mixed population there that's treated well with comparison of many nations I've seen on the server in the past. It's really only recently that nations have become melting pots rather than ethnic states. There has been some progressivism IRP and OOCly occurring for many years, the fact this Empire is insanely more humane with comparison to the ones that preceded it is a huge part of that. I played in an actual group that more or less got brutally destroyed in a war. The difference was that we ran it back and kept complaints to a minimum. It's possible to have fun on the server despite all of that. These claims of toxicity are also ridiculous. Yes, people are going to minimize the childish whining and be sarcastic about it. If you have the right to complain, then other people have the right to critique your complaints. Genuinely, if you want the Empire to change or want it destroyed, you should role-play about it instead. If people break the server rules, report them. This much discourse over a player group in-game is getting ridiculous. If you cannot make role-play changes in role-play, and you leave the server over it, you were here for the wrong reasons to begin with. To be clear, I'm not saying any of these things to be rude or to slander you, but I want to give you a counternarrative. I don't expect you to take everything at face value, but there's a reason many nations willingly joined the Empire for IRP reasons on the basis of geopolitical factors, societal factors, and other variables outside of being terrified of getting destroyed. Numendil, Koyo-Kuni, and Caurost didn't need to join the Empire but did so for varying political reasons that didn't include a huge amount of fear. You can't conquer (nearly) an entire map without at least partial consent from the people inhabiting it. A coalition would form to attempt to take them down if that were the case.

slaying maleficar

the real truthnuke is you people need to spend more time on the server and less time on the forums FR

The Demon King reclined on his throne as bloodstains scorched his flesh-armor; the dense plates resembling a ferrum carapace, covering him from head-to-toe. It was uncertain to many what his motivations might be, but he did enjoy his experiments. Inferi were plentiful and manifested differently every time. Though, in his mind, none could hope to match the pride he had in Vorrul and the Angel, Vriza was satisfied with all of his creations. He said then to Skulltaker, the centurion of his legion. "I do not like to intervene in the affairs of the other leaders. However, it was about nigh time that somebody imposed hierarchy once again. This shall be the first step in stabilizing the Black Pontiff's domain so that his problems stop bleeding into mine."

"Glory to the Empire!" Professed the Acaelanite, Rhys aen Sov.

The King of the Demons looked towards Skulltaker ( @Shadowy). "It seems that instead of attempting to avenge their dead, they have resorted to infighting once again. They are not too dissimilar to our friends in the Black Church. Perhaps we should do them a favor and remind them who their true enemies are." With a chortle, the king and his loyal lieutenant continued their journey through Western Azura.

"The Kharajyr fears the Imperial Musin." said Inquisitor Gaius, upon having his automaton friend ( @tasty_cheesecake) illustrate a piece of propaganda on the matter of Kharajyr-Musin racial relations from memory.

It was ironic that Vriza's desire to slay Inferi and Warlocks often led him to kill people who were wholly uninvolved in the conflict. Alas, when the devil-spawn woman did not provide the name he asked for, it instilled in him lasting distrust. He knew little of the man he and his "men" killed, but the Demon King knew only that had the woman just spoken the name 'Ezau' nobody would have died. That irony alone brought cruelty-lacquered laughter from his maw. The mere omission of the truth resulted in devastation. Had he known this devil-spawn soldier was the brother of his student, it would have evoked even more laughter, because fate itself could not pen something more tragic. "If you had only spoken her name," he remembered saying to Eira. "He'd still be alive." A clerical error, these things happen.

this reminds me of a PessPess post

"For peace, stability, and justice!" proclaimed Inquisitor Germanicus, before he resumed his duties.

In terms of sheer activity, Caurost, Cerulia, and the Empire. If you're looking for whimsy and activity, Koyo Kuni.

Sul Amirsan aen Sov smiles broadly upon reading the notice and then makes his way over to visit his cousin Adriel.

Thank you Mestvin, that looks very nice!

Sᴏᴍᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ᴛʜɪs ᴛʜʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍɪɢʜᴛ ʙᴇ ᴛʀɪɢɢᴇʀɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀs. Rᴇғᴇʀs ᴛᴏ ᴍᴜʀᴅᴇʀ, ɢᴏʀᴇ, ᴅɪsғɪɢᴜʀᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇᴍᴇs ᴡʜɪᴄʜ sʜᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴇ ᴄᴏɴsɪᴅᴇʀᴇᴅ 16+. This vision is accessible solely to practitioners of Naztherak and Inferis players. Music! The darkness creeps into your vision as spots form behind your eyelids. In the hazy murk where dreams dwell in your sweet and succulent mind, you bear witness to the gravity of one’s actions, and the machinations of netherspawn. Within that small village in the mountains, amidst the pines and their breeze, however, it was not the usual scent of tea which lingered on the breeze, but instead the fiendish delights of a ravenous beast. With horror, you bear witness to an Inferis, once a man, devouring a demon of likewise composition. Thereupon the Champion of Velkuzat’s horns, dangling chimes echoed, their ringing signifying the Twisted King’s victory. Demon King, he proclaimed boldly, for all Inferi who did not serve the Black Pontiff or The Grey Lady fell into his wicked domain. “That forbidden world which mirroreth thine own. Moz’Strimoza, the Primeval Plane, where the Five Pentacle Lords dwell. The Lord is my shepherd; he leadeth me on the true path to liberation. Beneath arid skies, ye shall want not. Thou shalt transform and be rendered into the transcendental shape. Iblees, thy Daemon of Salvation. For it is Ruin that entreateth new life. Temptation provoketh curiosity; curiosity instilleth innovation.” The Scrolls of Faith echoed dimly throughout your mind, the harsh scrawl unfolding in Ilzakarn. The towering Twisted Kings fighting on the bridge. A smaller one brandished a spear of aurum, but struggled to lift its shield before it fell to the ground. Never one for an easy conquest, the Demon King cast his own shield aside and relied upon the diabolical mightiness of his carbarum warpick– Ruricsbane. The face of the hammer stared malevolently at the newfangled Zar’akal; once a Canonist’s weapon, now turned into the dismal plaything for the King of Demons. The spear jutted out for Vriza’s face but was caught on the picked end of his warhammer. This was not without a graze, however. Sparks trailed from his armored flesh, the head of the spear gliding down and scraping his flesh-wrapped vambrace. Wisely, the fierce Zar’akal opponent sought to prepare to lurch and bite the Demon King’s arm, but he found instead only a harsh reprisal. Vriza roared and then swept out with his warhammer, catching the Zar’akal square in the face. The beast stumbled backwards, but did not relent even as he flew into the water. However, the Demon King was no mere Zar’akal – he brandished no sorcerous arts, and he cared little for demons – his hunger guided him. No, he was not a mage – he was the strongest of his species in his own mind, though a fear of death and humiliation trickled sorely behind his ears like a disjointed song of self-loathing, whose torturous voice called him “depraved, sinner, weakling.” Vriza pushed the beast down beneath the weight of his own magnanimity as he crashed down into the Zar’akal beneath him in the water. A sickening, twisted snap accompanied the Twisted King, as he let out a howl of agony. The King of Demons pressed down with a vise grip and grappled the weaker Zar’akal, before he bashed him into the riverbed and shattered his ribs. “Submit!” - “I submit!” However, submission is not the way of kings, nor shall it be. As you bear witness, you see a courageous demon of indistinct features leap forward as Vriza prepares to deal a fatal blow with a boomsteel mace to the smaller Zar’akal’s head. Unfortunately, the blow rang out with a clamor, and sent the other Inferis reeling to the ground. BOOM! You bear witness to horrors that cause your hackles to rise. Even Twisted Kings themselves cannot look upon this horrible act with ease. It cannot be said how long it has been since one Zar’akal ate another, but the avarice of Vriza is so great as he sups, that he spares nothing. The bones twist and bend, the marrow is suckled from them, all after he devours the beast’s skull. All he had to do was devour the skull! Yet… he continues eating. With horror, you awaken from your nightmare, but you find no repose from the horrible images which flash to life in your brain. That familiar name was seared into your eyelids in Ilzakarn… V̶̺̼̞͕̗̗̺̬͛̐̽̆͂̔̚ʀ̶̨͔̩̲͂͊̎͐͆̓̍̐̎͐͛̂ɪ̸̧̡̀̃̌́̽̉̃̊̐͊̈͑͑̄ᴢ̴̢̧̻̰͉̲̫͙̠̠̠̣͇̖͓̇̈́̇̋̑̌̿̓̚͝ᴀ̵̨̢͉̐̐͝!̴̧̹̹̦͛̾̔̀̍