Victory needs no explanation; defeat allows none.
- Unknown.
- Unknown.
I have spent the last little while at a loss for what to write about. Whilst I occupy the position of Ab Antiquo’s sole columnist, I have yet to produce a column for the new look establishment and surely that is a contradiction in terms? Something about trees, forests and no sounds springs to mind. Then, in recent weeks, holy water began to fly for one reason or another and suddenly things were happening. It piqued my interest: After all, it might give me something to write about.
The issue was simple, though - I did not need to write about anything due to the fact that, to an outside observer such as myself, too much was already being written about it by both sides. To see a detailed overview of what is going on, you can read either the articles by Liander or Seyda; and for the mind numbingly inane attempts at ‘banter’ that fly so freely in place of actual weaponry there are any number of threads where you can find it. I either had no need or no interest, respectively, to add to that. My remit here is opinion, theoretical work and general philosophy… not whatever that mess is.
The last few days finally gave me my inspiration.
In past pieces, I have called for a variety of things that ultimately boil down to the following key ideas:
- We need more diversity.
- We need more activity.
- One can sometimes inform the other.
This is great. In theory, anyway.
I have no care for how the conflict started. If anything I doubt that those fighting it do either. In the rush of battle when the flood of adrenaline hits you, all else is pushed aside and you only look at the targets you have in front of you.
And it is that that I wish to talk about.
One can say what one likes about Seyda, ladypeacek and their combined bloodlines - and I will not, because that is not the point of this piece - but one thing that anyone with half a functional mind has to acknowledge is that they are, for the most part, eminently experienced when it comes to conflict and the prosecution of war. And before you say, all smart like, something along the lines of ‘but Andre lol Seyda like killed Yggdrasil rofl’: Grow up, no she did not, you are a puerile moron.
Both of these ladies have led clans and done well in those positions. Both of these ladies have fought wars, led war parties and won wars. They know what it takes to defeat the foe and be the ones left standing, bloodied but unbeaten, at the end of it. You can bet, absolutely and one hundred percent, that their people are well drilled and able to follow instructions. In short, if you are of a mind to pick a fight with them or theirs, you best have a plan.
And that, that right there, is the problem. Din Kolesi, the House of Caedis, the de Bouillon bloodline and whoever else is going to be coming out of that particular clown car clearly do not, did not and likely will not ever have a plan.
I understand attacking someone because you are tired of them. I have done it myself, in the past, to prove a point. I will likely do it again at some point for similar reasons. That is fine, it is understandable and I appreciate the desire to silence someone you disagree with. The key issue, though, is that you simply cannot get to that point and carry out the act without a little bit of forethought. You have to understand that there will be a reaction, and you need to be prepared for that.
You clearly were not.
Whilst it is true that neither side has particularly covered themselves in glory for one reason or another so far in this conflict, the fact remains that by any objective reasoning Seyda and her people are winning. Sure, sure, your friends will continue to slap you on the back and tell you that they are glad that you are having fun and how amazing you are. The thing, though, is that you are not. You have, arrayed against your common foe, a force that should vastly outnumber anything they can field against you. You have the numbers, but you entirely lack the coordination, planning and experience that it takes to win a sustained, prolonged war.
The House of D’dary have, often and loudly, claimed that ‘nothing is a waste when you are having fun’, and it is true… to a point. If your side spends wisely and efficiently to achieve the goal that has been set out and you achieve that goal whilst having fun, then yes, nothing has been a waste. But when you spend thousands of coins to scroll someone that did not need scrolling, only to have them play the now famous game of wartime limbo (like you should have known they were going to do all along, by the way) and thus render all your effort absolutely meaningless - you have been wasteful in terms of coin, weapons used, efficiency and, crucially, fun itself.
You have taken a fairly simple premise - ‘we do not like Seyda’ - and somehow managed to completely lose the plot. You have been hitting non-combatants (even we, the House of D’dary, bullies extraordinaire, do not do that anymore), and last night you followed that up by hitting one of the leading members in a completely unaffiliated and notably neutral clan. And all of this after crowing about draining people on ‘their side’ with very little blood like it was some sort of victory, and then turning around and complaining when they do it to you.
Seyda and her people may be reacting, but your side is reactive and that rarely goes well in any form of conflict. Especially in a conflict you started.
You may dislike her, you might even be justified in that dislike, but all else aside and regardless of what is being said in the papers - her side is going to win this thing where it matters on current form. At the end of the day, when the dust settles, that is all that matters and it is all that anyone will remember. You have the numbers and you had every chance to have this play out a different way, but a lack of vision, imagination and organisation has, and will, cost you.
You let pride get in the way. You thought it was more important to ‘banter’ than to actually pay attention to the art of war. You failed in all stages of planning and preparation. You failed in organisation. You failed in execution. From day one, you people have not taken this seriously. Seyda has.
And that is why her side is going to win this one in the streets, barring an absolute gods-damned miracle. Mistakes are opportunities to learn and improve oneself. Learn from this and for the love of anything you like, improve.
