So much has happened as of late with Metepec that every time I write up a new post something else happens and everything changes. So here's what we're doing in regards to all our lovely interactions:

The Ostra Conflict:

War was declared on us to take our land, and we were raided before we retaliated by occupying Ostra's land, not annexing it. Since then we've been faced with a conflict where our enemy only raids and griefs us late at night when we're all asleep because real life requires that of us. I'm not making excuses, that's how wars can be fought, and zorbig has even checked with the staff to make sure his grief isn't excessive to the rules. Nonetheless, dealing with this mess is annoying and tiresome so we're ready to be done with it. So we're taking the following actions:

• Nasaghast, who has been a vocal and physical supporter of the Ostran raiders against Metepec, has been freed after being wrongfully pearled. We acknowledge that the manner in which we pearled him was unethical and scummy and we publicly apologize for doing so. However, given his support of Ostra, which Ostra has publicly confirmed, we believe that freeing nasaghast for wrongful pearling is adequate enough.

• We are not giving up Poctl. It's our land, we use it and allow other nations in the area to use it. When we downsized our claims a few weeks earlier we specifically chose to keep it. Ostra tried to buy it, but the offer was so low and we didn't want to get rid of it that we turned it down, so Ostra declared war on us.

• The server map, which was generously updated by Outkast, contained a mistake misrepresenting Ostra's and Poctl's borders. This will be updated as soon as possible to accurately reflect their true locations.

• Considering Ostra is willing to let things go as well, we will not pursue reperations or pearl time as punishment for the grief to Metepec. The bounties we placed will be called off and the world can keep on turning with a little less enmity.

• After this point, continued hostilities will be the fault of Ostra. We will continue to defend ourselves as necessary.

The MasterOfParadox Situation:

When several of his members joined Metepec, MoP offered to have Rijeka merge into Metepec, which we accepted. He was allowed continued leadership over Rijeka as well as participation in Metepec affairs. Despite what he may think or say, we upheld these terms. At some point he got into an altercation with Devonmartino and Eviloker and was told he'd be pearled if he came onto their land. Somehow that's where he ended up and was pearled. Now instead of taking this issue to the Metepec leadership, Valhalla offered to free MoP and pearl most of Picarona, which he accepted. This set off the whole chain of events leading up to now, although I'm not blaming this all on MoP, Metepec certainly dug it's own hole with bad decisions. Nonetheless, for his role in all this and general incompetence as a leader, we decided to remove MoP's role as leader of Rijeka and exile him from the empire for 2 weeks. The result of this was MoP dramatically quitting, then coming back the next day and throwing a fit demanding Rijeka back. After some intervention by d00k, we decided to give the people still living in Rijeka their choice of remaining in the empire and choosing their own leader, or they could choose independence with no strings attached. I personally talked with them, and they chose independence. Metepec has effective immediately relinquished claims over Rijeka and wishes them well in their endeavors.

Dealing with Valhalla:

The other loose end in all this is Valhalla, who after being brought in by MoP, currently have the pearls of Devonmartino and Evilloker in their possession. Despite what popular opinion may think, Metepec doesn't really have much say in what is done with their pearls. We have requested their release on multiple occasions, but there isn't much we can do beyond that. We have punished our (now former) member for his role in causing this and have tried to negotiate the release of the pearls. We hope that Picarona will see the return of it's members soon.

While these actions probably don't resolve everything or make up for over a week's worth of drama, we hope that this is a good step towards making things right with the rest of the server.