The Imperial occupation of The East Pacific started on 16 August 2008 when a group of nations called the Empire invaded The East Pacific (TEP). The Empire’s Empress, Lady Phedre, seized control of the position of delegate from Gnidrah, the previous delegate. Gnidrah was an inactive delegate, one whose inactivity allowed the region to be seized. Shortly after the invasion, a nation known as Biyah joined TEP’s forums, Biyah was later reveled to be Lord Rahl, a high ranking member of the Empire.
The Empire’s public goal was to give The East Pacific an active delegate. Some of the natives seemed optimistic about the usurpers. Others, including 1 Infinite Loop, were willing to compromise. Lord Rahl was also willing to compromise. These compromises eventually resulted in some low level noble titles in the Empire and moderator status over the Empire’s forums. However, 1 Infinite Loop revealed Lord Rahl’s IP address. This act shattered relations between usurper and usurped. It also assisted in the reveal of Biyah’s identity as Lord Rahl.
There was obvious friction between invader and the invaded, which was a result of the actions of members of both organizations, the natives of TEP and members of the Empire. Another point of friction was The Empire’s conduct, which was exceptionally arrogant. To demonstrate this arrogance, quotes from two Empire leaders are needed. A quote from Lady Phedre: I am your God’s granted ruler, The East Pacific is now my throne. And a quote from Lord Rahl: You have stood in sin. Sink to your knees. Beg the Empress for mercy, or you fall to us.
1 Infinite Loop, the founder of the confederated East Pacific, threatened to quit, as the game was loosing it’s charm (due to the Empire’s behavior and conduct, no doubt). However, he was convinced to stay through the pleas of fellow East Pacificans. This event would prove significant later on, as Loop would assist in the eventual liberation of TEP.
In October, Grindrah, the former and, at the time, current legal delegate, officially resigned all posts and titles in The East Pacific. This nation ceased to exist sometime in December, 2008. His negligence resulted, or at least assisted in, TEP being conquered by the Empire.
In early December, Lady Phedre ejected around 150-200 nations from The East Pacific. The actions of Lady Phedre prompted A Slanted Black Stripe, then a nation that wasn’t involved in regional politics, to get involved. On the advice of 1 Infinite loop, A Slanted Black Stripe and Dannistaan started a campaign to unendorse Lady Phedre. They did this through telegrams. Dannistaan was a nation that was trusted by the nations of The East Pacific, while A Slanted Black Stripe was not (As I said before, ASBS wasn’t involved in regional politics, so the natives had every right to not trust him). The Empire wasn’t going to give up TEP easily, even though they were starting to decline in activity. They too sent telegrams to the nations of The East Pacific. Their telegrams claimed Dannistaan and A Slanted Black Stripe were traitors. On 21 December 2008 Lady Phedre officially resigned, but not before ejecting several nations endorsing both A Slanted Black Stripe and Dannistaan. This ungraceful exit was a messy affair, resulting in a tremendous amount of work for ASBS, due to the Christmas holiday being close at hand.
On 24 December 2008, A Slanted Black Stripe assumed the position of delegate of The East Pacific. However, due the awkward timing, he wasn’t able to immediately repair Lady Phedre’s damage. Over the holiday, he sent telegram’s to the various nations Lady Phedre ejected, telling them The East Pacific is free. Together with Dannistaan, and several other prominent nations of The East Pacific, they went about reforming and crafting a new government. There was a tremendous amount of work to do, including overseeing the elections for all the new posts, including the magisterium, TEP’s legislative body, and most prominently the position of the Delegate. The elder’s, as they were titled then (Nations who had been in TEP for along time), accomplished their goal of crafting a new government on 11 January 2008, with the ratification of the Concordat (The guiding document of TEP). Shortly after the ratification of the Concordat, Todd McCloud won the January Elections for delegate of The East Pacific.
Conclusion: The Empire’s influence on TEP has been enormous. Without that invasion, TEP wouldn’t be the region it is today. They stirred the natives into action, causing them to take action against the invaders. Those natives eventually fought off the invaders and created the current government of TEP, which has had five delegates (eight, counting those who have served more than one term). TEP has even had one former member of the Empire serve as delegate, Lady Edea, who served one term as delegate.