History of the Fellowship of Elite Allied Republics

Prologue and Foundation
January 2006 was a dark month to be one of the League’s auxiliaries. It was the closing weeks of the Second Great War and the League’s lines had long been broken: each nation’s army fought with wretched desperation in filthy trenches as enemy planes dropped bombs overhead. Yet to be both an auxiliary of the League and a member of the Order of Defensive Security was to be privy to a hell of a very different and exquisite torment. For it was in that month that the founding chancellor Ruben couped the legitimate chancellor, causing many loyalists to leave the alliance. Some became prisoners of war forced to join the victor’s alliance, some managed to flee to allied or neutral alliances, while others chose to continue the fight and not surrender.

One of the latter was the nation of Aresia governed by Gaius Aurelian. One day, Gaius Aurelian collected the few survivors and proposed abandoning the country and establishing a new nation. If this attempt succeeded, the Aresians-in-exile would receive generous aid from the citizens of Crazy Rightists under their ruler, Marbles. A short while later the handful of exiles founded the Aethiopian Empire, and Marbles swiftly sent the promised financial aid. Because they had become such strong friends as a result of the war, however, they resolved to solidify their friendship by founding a new alliance, the Confederacy of Spartan Republics. The CSR was the first alliance to rise out of the rubble of the Order of Defensive Security, yet the idea of forming an alliance was not isolated to Marbles and Gaius Aurelian: Masta, the rightful chancellor, was planning an alliance while in exile with the ICP, likewise Turetel, the former Minister of Domestic Affairs, was also planning an alliance.

Perhaps to give hope to a Planet Bob where many of its inhabitants had been ruined by war, the benevolent Admin created two new spheres: White and Aqua. Sensing an opportunity to quickly become a power in a sphere, Gaius Aurelian consulted with Marbles and the two agreed that the CSR would be a white team alliance. They were beaten to the title of first official white team alliance by the new-born Siberian Tiger Alliance, yet they entered a sphere bereft of long-established hostilities and plentifully stocked with other small alliances. By the time the CSR had moved to the white sphere, Turetel had founded the International Democratic Assembly, and Masta had founded, with former ICP ambassador to the ODS, Canik, the Stoners Reeking Havoc. Of these three, the SRH received the largest contingent of ODS exiles, the IDA also had several, whereas the CSR had only two ODS exiles: the founders. This meant that Gaius Aurelian and Marbles were heavily dependent on new members, and they managed to recruit several dedicated members: Insaneirishman, Emperor Achilles, and Robster, each of whom would at some time or another hold a government position in FEAR. Robster at one point became the Internal Chancellor of FEAR.

For several weeks the three alliances pursued their own policies; the CSR even considering a merger proposal from grahamkeatley's equally young alliance TOOL. Despite their differing aims, all three wished to remain on good terms with one another. This led to discussions about a possible “Brotherhood Pact” between the three alliances. One day, however, Canik arrived at the CSR’s embassy and proposed a merger of the three alliances, even suggesting the acronym “FEAR” as the alliance’s name. Gaius, Turetel, Masta, and Marbles all liked the idea, so after some negotiation the new alliance was born: the Fellowship of Elite Allied Republics. FEAR’s first government structure consisted of elected ministers and an unelected senate consisting of the former founders of the three alliances, with the entire alliance being led by a Chancellor. By popular acclamation Masta was made Chancellor. The rest of that first government was: Bladegolem47 as Minister of Defense, Lord Boris as Minister of Intelligence, Darth Sexy as Minister of Domestic Affairs, Amoshi as Minister of Finances, and Insaneirishman as Minister of Foreign Affairs. FEAR was founded on February 24, 2006.

The Early Fellowship, Covering the Reigns of Masta and Bladegolem47
At first FEAR adopted a policy of diplomatic isolation. During its first month, the Fellowship's only treaties were a PIAT with TOOL and the SWF. In this way the war-weary veterans could regain their strength and channel their energy into building up the newer members. Yet these early days were not always idyllic: there was much to do and not many hands with which to do it. Furthermore, the Fellowship's aspirations towards being an elite alliance led to extra friction. The halls of the senate resounded with debates about whether it was better to recruit more members or to build up the existing membership. After another one of these debates, Senator Canik rose and spoke, “Senators, why do we not make our growth incremental? Instead of either having ongoing recruitment drives or prolonged periods of debarring nations from joining, why not set clear goals to give our actions direction and purpose? Let us first recruit the necessary nations so that we have fifty members, then we can focus on improving the strength of our membership, and once we have reached a respectable average nation strength, we can launch another recruiting drive.” This rational argument won hearty approval from the other senators, and Canik's plan was adopted. The tension between recruitment and strength resolved, for several months the senate was tranquil, the senators having nothing else to do except guide the growing might of FEAR.

Yet senator Canik, a man to whom inefficiency is anathema and whose fierce patriotism was uncommon in those days, would not let FEAR meander on in this laissez-fair fashion. Having observed the activity of the government, he gave an impassioned harangue against inefficiency, criticizing the government in general as well as individually. None felt the brunt of his critiques more than Darth Sexy of Sexy Paradise Island, the relaxed and jocular Minister of Domestic Affairs. Feeling himself wrongly accused, Darth Sexy resigned. Darth Sexy’s sudden resignation offended Chancellor Masta, who added his angry voice to the steadily rising clamor. The sudden resignation of Darth Sexy surprised Canik, whose intention had not been to oust the minister from the alliance, so he extended an apology to Darth Sexy and criticized himself for his hotheadedness. Yet the Minister refused to return, which led to further criticism from Masta. Now senator Gaius Aurelian rose and in civil yet effective words criticized the conduct of the Chancellor in the crisis, and accused Canik of having a savior-complex in regards to FEAR. Once these words had been said they could not be undone, and shortly afterwards Masta left the alliance he had nurtured from its inception. The resignation of the Chancellor, a minister, and several other members who were loyal to Darth Sexy, as well as several threatened resignations, led to widespread panic among FEAR’s members. “The alliance is falling apart!” they cried. At this point Curly Mullet, courageously rallied the membership with stern words that the alliance was not disintegrating. Leaderless, with harsh words spoken against one another, the senators decided to abide by Masta's last wish: that Bladegolem47 become interim chancellor.

Ascension of Bladegolem47
While Bladegolem47 was restoring the Fellowship's confidence, Lord Boris was busy in his country of Solamnia writing a new charter. This new charter would rectify some of the problems the crisis had revealed, namely an over sized government and the ability of ministers to resign without giving notice. The new charter, which exists to this day with some changes as the document governing the Fellowship, abolished the senate and renamed the ministries as directorates. By abolishing the senate, which had consisted of very active and dedicated members, they could be put to better use running the new directorates. Deciding that the alliance was still too fractious to handle a general election, Bladegolem47 wisely appointed the government. This government would guide the Fellowship to new heights of international prestige and power. That first government consisted of Bladegolem47 as Chancellor and Turetel as Vice-Chancellor; Lord Boris as Director of Defense; Curly Mullet as the Director of Press, Courts, and Crisis Management; Canik as Director of Recruitment; Amoshi as Director of Finance; Gaius Aurelian as Director of Foreign Affairs; Kage Katsu as Director of Domestic Affairs; and Robster as Director of Intelligence. Each Director threw themselves into their new roles with energy and determination. That summer saw the inauguration of Canik’s celebrated point system, which revitalized the Academy, as well as the ratification of the Fellowship’s first Mutual Defense Pact (with the Illuminati) negotiated by Gaius Aurelian. These were the fruits of Bladegolem47’s mature policy of allowing his subordinates to take the initiative. This style of governance was swiftly adopted by his Directors; the alliance becoming thoroughly meritocratic and open to new ideas as a result.

JewC Jew Episode
After the nearly catastrophic spring, the summer was widely perceived as a golden age in terms of tranquility and growth. Yet there was a cloud on the horizon. Before the point system, which did away with this problem, FEAR used to offer $1 million upon joining. This led to several nations pestering government officials for the promised money, even though it was clear they would have to wait their turn and the money was always eventually sent. Amoshi, the DoF, became convinced that several new members were scamming the alliance, and he singled out as chief culprit the new recruit JewC Jew. JewC Jew had sent several messages to government officials, yet there was no evidence that he was defrauding the alliance. Amoshi nonetheless continued to advocate the expulsion of JewC, and when JewC made a joke about getting undeserved aid, Amoshi unilaterally banned him citing the joke as evidence. The other directors were divided whether this was the correct action, and Curly Mullet launched an investigation. At first it seemed that the Fellowship would decide to accept the banning, with several venerable members such as Marbles and V-Dogg leading the attack, but then Canik, Gaius Aurelian and Curly Mullet began to voice doubts. After his investigation, Curly Mullet ruled that JewC was to be unbanned, yet placed on probation. Throughout the entire ordeal JewC professed his loyalty to FEAR, displaying a great deal of fidelity for so new a member. Enraged, Amoshi resigned and was soon joined by FEAR-founder Marbles. The resignation of Marbles from the Fellowship led most of the former CSR members to leave: Insaneirishman, Robster, Emperor Achilles all left in solidarity with their former monarch. The slow accumulation of resignations once again threatened to rend the Fellowship in two, yet at this point Bladegolem47 spoke resolutely defending his Director’s ruling and adamantly declared that their would be no repeat of the spring. The Fellowship greeted this statement with great shouts of enthusiasm, and very quickly the Fellowship returned to normalcy, a testament to FEAR's natural resilience.

The Flag Story
Prior to this crisis there had been one other notable spat, which is worth describing because of its pleasant outcome. The lands of the Fellowship are saturated with luxury and nearly always idyllic: the stream of Conciousness meanders through the lush meadow-land eventually flowing into the picturesque Loch Random Ness, whose surface reflects the ever changing topography of the Spam Volcanoes. Many members buy extravagant country estates at the confluence of the stream and the Loch, so as to enjoy the beautiful views. Such exposure to luxury and beauty are bound to turn the mind to aesthetic matters, and the chief object of such thought is always the Flag. Such a thought progression happened to Canik while he was savoring a brief holiday from his many duties as Director of Recruitment. Having sailed down from the capitol, Sagacity, Canik ensconced himself in his villa, and began to work on new designs for the flag. He was not alone in his vexillogical obsession, for further down the coast Gaius Aurelian was likewise doodling sketches while enjoying the panoramic views. At the end of their respective holidays, they returned to Sagacity and began to debate changing the flag in front of the Elite Assembly.

Canik exhibited several of his designs in Sagacious galleries, and shortly thereafter Gaius Aurelian did likewise. For a week or so flags were all the rage, and Amoshi and Lord Boris began to express their disdain for such frivolous pursuits, being of the opinion that government should focus on concrete, practical tasks. Nonetheless elections were held for the most popular design, and for a time it seemed Gaius Aurelian’s design would be adopted, yet Ivory Jarl of Inner Cyrily pointed out that Gaius Aurelian’s design might not scale well, and so a new design was needed. Ivory Jarl soon provided it; a simpler flag consisting of a white wolf head in a black circle on a red field. The flag was made official, yet Canik was still dissatisfied, and returned to his villa and improved upon Ivory’s original design. He created three versions which he presented to the Elite Assembly, and the present flag soon won out over the others. Now by this time Amoshi in particular had become increasingly hostile towards Canik’s vexillogical pursuits, yet Canik persevered and the new flag was debuted in a recently signed treaty. It was then that the Admin himself commended FEAR for its new flag, saying it was one of the better ones he had seen, and Canik was validated beyond a shadow of a doubt that it had been right to change the flag.

Ominous Omens
The summer closed with two ominous events. The first was the extortion of $90,000,000 from FEAR’s oldest ally, the Illuminati by GOONS. The second was the high-handed behavior by officials from the Global Order of Darkness (the new home of both Amoshi and Darth Sexy) towards FEAR government and diplomats following a FEAR member mistakenly sending a recruitment message to GOD. This member had dual citizenship and had been flying his second alliance’s alliance affiliation, and had sent the offending missive on that alliance's behalf. GOD condemned him to ZI, and when FEAR contacted GOD about this they were met only with insults. GOD was allied with GOONS and both alliance’s questionable behavior towards the Fellowship and its ally seemed to some to be more than coincidence.

The Fourth Great War, or the War Against GOD
The Fourth Great War began on September 8 following the New Polar Order’s declaration in support of its MDP partner Brotherhood of The Storm. This pitted the forces of ~ against the Unjust Highway, which was led by GOONS and \m/. GWIV came at a time when FEAR clearly perceived that the Unjust Path and its allies bore them no love. Regardless of this, FEAR was obliged to enter the war when their ally Illuminati would be called upon by their allies the GGA, who were allied to Polaris. When the Illuminati did enter the war, declaring on GOONS, FEAR declared on GOD citing a recent spying incident as the primary causus belli. At the time, the declaration was heavily flamed by UJP members, yet it made good strategic sense: GOONS already had many alliances fighting it so FEAR could produce a greater effect by fighting GOD, still undefeated, even though it was facing ONOS and NoV.

Given GOD's past actions, the soldiers of FEAR keenly awaited the war's start. The tenacious onslaught soon produced a rapid decline in GOD’s strength, and Kaiser Martens, ruler of one of the most admired military forces in the Cyberverse, commended FEAR, saying the victory over GOD would have been much harder, even impossible, had FEAR not declared. Elated by the victory, the Fellowship’s triumphant soldiers agreed to a ceasefire while terms were discussed. Yet although GOD was defeated on the field of battle, they remained wily during the negotiations. Occasionally they appeared meek and conciliatory, other times they were haughty and arrogant. Furthermore they refused to publically acknowledge FEAR's victory over them. Eventually GOD agreed to pay FEAR $17 million in reparations, and although this small sum angered many companions, Lord Boris and Bladegolem47 maintained that reparations, no matter how small, were better than none. In many ways the last act of the war was FEAR's posting of the surrender terms on the Cybernation forums, a thread heavily flamed by GOD. The war against GOD was FEAR’s first war.

The End of an Era
The well-earned victory, even with its disappointing aftermath, led to a new confidence in the Fellowship. As the victorious columns of soldiers returned from the front, Lord Boris thanked them warmly, for it was they who had made possible the victory. There was now a minor change in government, with JewC Jew being promoted to Director of Recruitment and Canik becoming the Director of Intelligence. Having studied with Canik, JewC further expanded the DoR by creating FEAR recruiting squads, leading to a considerable increase in members. During the Fourth Great War, FEAR had become allies with Norden Verein (NoV), then ruled by Kaiser Martens. Because of this alliance, the Fellowship's soldiers were soon marching towards hostile nations again, having been called to assist NoV against the Libertarian Socialist Federation. For the Fellowship the war was brief and it was fought civilly without ideological hatred of the LSF, since many of the Fellowship's members had been traditionally close to Planet Bob's communist alliances.

In October Gaius Aurelian embarked on his last mission as DoFA before falling victim to catalepsy. Getting together with Atlantis, Illuminati, The Phoenix Federation, Siberian Tiger Alliance, The German Empire, The Order of Light, and a handful of smaller alliances, he tried to get the alliances to agree to a bloc unifying the white sphere. The most seriously considered options were a PIAT/NAP/ODP/ bloc, but eventually the discussions fell apart due to Atlantis-TPF hostility.

It was on November 11 that Bladegolem47, the second chancellor, decided to end his reign with grace and dignity and appointed his trusted Vice-Chancellor Turetel as successor. Bladegolem47 received heartfelt and glowing commemorations from the alliance that he had led to unprecedented levels of greatness and success. These panegyrics praised his ever-present composure during the various crises and his resolved mien that demanded obedience.

Turetel ascended to the chancellorship with the resounding endorsement of the Fellowship speeding his transition into the highest office. An original founder of the alliance, he was perhaps the most prolific patron of young Fearlings, having already donated over $200 million. Gifted with an approachable and kindly manner, Turetel inspired those under him and maintained the meritocracy that Bladegolem47 had instituted.

Having always remembered that FEAR was constitutionally democracy, Turetel resolved to call elections in late December. These would be the first elections in FEAR’s history. The subsequent elections elected a new and capable government: Mad Larkin as DoF, Lartize as DoD, Curly Mullet as DoC, Canik as DoI, JewC as DoR, Emperor Achilles as DoFA, and Fernando as DoDA, while Lord Boris, the Director who had led FEAR to victory in GWIV, was elevated to Vice-Chancellor. The government was inaugurated in January 2008.

The Emperor Achilles Affair
The new government had only been in power for a few weeks when a new crisis flared up. Emperor Achilles, although a skilled diplomat, could also be somewhat temperamental. When his trades fell apart he declared he would allow his nation to be deleted and rebuild, if his last attempts at trade offers failed. To prevent his deletion, and the perceived loss of FEAR's investment in it, Canik declared war on the Myrmidon Empire, leading Emperor Achilles to leave the alliance for good after Canik threatened to deploy his recently acquired nuclear warheads if Emperor Achilles counter-attacked. Assistant Director of Foreign Affairs Raikage, as his final request, of succeeded Emperor Achilles. Gaius Aurelian came out of retirement to be the new ADoFA. It was only a short time later that Turetel declared his intention not to run again. His successor, Lord Boris, was the first truly democratically elected chancellor.

"We're Losing an Ally Each Week!"
By the middle of February, the Fellowship was no longer as close to its old allies the Illuminati as it had been. Rumors reached the ears of FEAR members that the Illuminati had been going around to other white team alliances asking them to merge with them, adding that FEAR was also going to merge into them. This cooled relations between the alliances, and this coolness perhaps prevented the Fellowship from trying to right Illuminati's course, which was now headed straight towards war. On February 29, Illuminati was attacked by a coalition of alliances. In their last act of friendship, the Illuminati requested FEAR not come to their aid, thereby sparing the Fellowship from inevitable destruction.

Only a short while later, on March 8, Wolfpack—FEAR's other long-standing ally—was attacked. The war was a very long one and Wolfpack held out gallantly. Although the Fellowship was extensively ridiculed for this action, it respected Wolfpack's wishes that it remain neutral. The Fellowship did promise to help rebuild the Pack when they eventually got peace. Roughly a month after the war's end, the Fellowship delivered over $50 million to their ally—a sum which may seem small today, but was the largest amount of money the Fellowship had ever sent out till then.

The JewC Jew Episode, Part II
JewC Jew had proved himself a talented and valuable member since his trial in August. However it now emerged that he and Emperor Achilles had been planning an alliance for nearly three months, recruiting FEAR members into the project. Not only was he planning a break-away alliance, JewC had also decided to run for chancellor of FEAR: if he won, then the plan would be shelved, if he lost he and Achilles would found their alliance. When this was discovered, Lord Boris put JewC and his accomplices on trial, which returned a verdict of guilty. The trial was very emotional for the Fellowship, since JewC was the father figure for the younger members. The defendants were subjected to permanent-ZI, by FEAR members and member's of their ally, Wolfpack.

The Mighty Labors of Lord Boris
April was an exciting month for the Fellowship. Lord Boris's diplomatic skills had secured a ToA with IRON. Gaius Aurelian had become Director of Finances and had created the FEAR Bank, which in its first month delivered $50 million to Wolfpack nations, paid off the "Point Aid Debt," and lent out around $50 million to FEAR nations for growth. In May, Gaius Aurelian announced FEAR: Total Growth, which was designed to push FEAR to the 2 million NS mark. The project got off to a good start, but after Gaius Aurelian's retirement, it stagnated.

No such stagnation could be found on the diplomatic side, where Lord Boris led FEAR from success to success. After the treaty with IRON, Lord Boris secured MDoAPs with TPF, TORN, and TOOL. The treaty with TOOL, which was principally negotiated by Canik, was much celebrated, since for nearly a year the two alliances had had only a PIAT with one another despite the deep affection they shared for each other. By the end of his second term, when he announced his retirement, Lord Boris had reshaped the Fellowship. At the beginning of his first term the Fellowship had balanced on the precipice of becoming an international outcast. Now it was well connected, enjoying strong friendships with excellent alliances.

The Return of Turetel
When Lord Boris announced his retirement there was not one companion who did not weep bitterly at this great loss. They pleaded with him to remain, yet his mind was made up. After a week of setting his affairs in order, he quietly left the alliance for TORN, enjoying amicable relations with all remaining members of the Fellowship. With Boris gone, all eyes looked to Turetel for leadership.

When he was elected it was his second time as Chancellor. His first success was the Fellowship's admittance to the Common Defense Treaty, an effort spearheaded by Canik, now serving as Vice-Chancellor. As war once again began to threaten the Cyberverse, Turetel prepared the Fellowship for the inevitable conflict. In the war that followed (sometimes called GWV), the Fellowship acquitted itself well.