The Sicarius Wars

Sicarius_wars.pngThe Sicarius Wars
The Sicarius Wars were an important series of conflicts that occured during the early months of 2010, spanning from late January to mid February.

The Sicarius's opponents were the three strongest factions of that time; The Claws of Peace, The White Knight Order and The Zamorakian Empire.

Leaders
The factional leaders throughout the Sicarius wars were as follows:

Kel Sicarius - Sicarius, late January, left on business.

Rai Sicarius - Sicarius, early February.

Nal Sicarius - Sicarius, shared owership with Rai.

Jedi Rovin - White knight order, entire Sicarius war span.

Russia - The Zamorakian Empire, entire Sicarius war span.

Ran Longclaw - The Claws of peace, ex-Sicarius, entire Sicarius war span.

In the late weeks of February, Nal Sicarius pulled out of leadership when his daughter was shot down by members of the Zamorakian Empire. Shortly after, Kel Sicarius returned, taking over from Rai, and promptly brought the Sicarius in to hiding.

Under Kel - how the war began
The war initially began after a series of skirmishes involving members of the Sicarius and Zamorakian Empire. These occured due to several underhand deals and betrayals between the two parties, who were originally allied.

Russia, leader of the Zamorakian Empire, quickly employed the help of his allies, the White Knights and the Claws of Peace. They then became known as the C.W.Z.

During the war, with Kel as the leader of the Sicarius, the fights proceeded tactically, and no losses to the Sicarius faction occured. Notable skirmishes include the battle upon the Miscellanian Docks, and the great war of Falador, which brought numerous Sicarius, including Rai and Nal, to promotion.

Kel Sicarius began recruiting en masse mid January in anticipation of the war, pushing his standards aside to gather cannon fodder and meatshields.

Under Rai and Nal - how the war progressed
After Kel Sicarius left on business, leaving Rai and Nal Sicarius in charge, the war progressed immensely. Many losses were made on both sides as the schizophrenic Rai Sicarius drove the Sicarius in to fight after fight, forgetting to let them rest on many occasions.

It was through Rai's suicidal and brutal attacks that Nal's daughter died, thus causing him to step down. It is unknown whether this was intentional or not.

Under the combined leadership of Rai and Nal, the Sicarius entered many battles in which the odds were highly stacked against them. Notable examples include the Second war of Falador, in which 7 Sicarius took on a combined 20-25 members of all opposing factions. Mid battle, many Rovins appeared to defend their brother Jedi, but quickly dissipated as the new and viscous tactics of the Sicarius overwhelmed the efforts of the opposition. After the battle however, the were ambushed as they cleaned up their wounds, being forced to retreat to Lumbridge Catacombs.

Under Rai - how the war ended
As Nal stepped down, the fighting proceeded under Rai's reign for just under a week, with small battles happening all over Asgarnia. The biggest opposing faction during this time was The Claws of Peace, for whom Rai had a personal vendetta against and thusly targeted them as a priority over the others. The war finally ended on the day of Kel's return, in the midst of a final, massive onslaught against the Claws in Rimmington. Unlike the others, Rai disobeyed Kel's orders to retreat, instead staying to continue a hopeless attack against the full weight of the claws.

Rai is recorded to have survived a full 5-10 minutes before being forced by Kel to teleport out, thus ending the war.

The victors
Despite the opposition's death count being significantly higher than the Sicarius', the final actions made by Kel Sicarius in an attempt to preserve his family meant that the C.W.Z became the victors on technical grounds. The Sicarius stayed in hiding for little over 3 weeks before returning to the public eye again.

Outsider help
Many outsiders joined in on various skirmishes, including the Gravitic Swarm, the Rovin Family and the Nourom Coven. Most outsider help came about whilst Rai and Nal were in charge, due to this being the most destructive and chaotic phase of the war.

Several extra units of military operatives travelled over from W31 in order to help Jedi Rovin in the Canifian Skirmish, which, after Jedi was defeated, ended in a mass of OOC arguments.

Impact on Modern Fighting
The events of the Sicarius wars had a number of effects on the way Modern Fighting is performed. The most obvious of these was the "Teleblock and Pile" tactic, in which the victim(s) were teleblocked and then subsequently piled to death.

In response to this tactic, many roleplayers began wearing Forinthry braces in order to negate the Teleblock effect. This practice stopped in June '10 when it was brought to light that the Forinthry bracelets do not actually repel teleblocks casted by anything but revenants.

Another impact on modern fighting was the incorporation of speed and light weaponry. Prior to the wars, many people used the largest weapons and armour types they could find. Afterwards however, many roleplayers began fighting in light, if any, protection, and using quick and easily concealed weaponry such as daggers. This influence can still be seen today.