Peace Talks Hanging By a Thread
Both sides demand compensation

The initial ceasefire on Jaunary 13, 2000 encountered heavy turbulence directly afterwards. When all parties sent delegates to the negotiating table on the 15th, accusations were bitter and tensions were high. The victim of the war, Lindsholm, demanded territorial, economic, and military compensation. Lindsholm’s main ally, Marcusburg, supported its ally’s claims. On the other hand, the Phoenix Confederacy demanded compensation, claiming that had Marcusburg not entered the war, they would have won. Confederate delegates aimed for a balance of power, after claiming that they only started the war to take over parts of Lindsholm in order to strengthen themselves so as to narrow the power gap between themselves and Marcusburg.

The Confederacy was absolutely unwilling to lose any of its original territory while Lindsholm and Marcusburg argued that the Confederacy had in effect lost the war and needed to cede land. The bitter arguments moved Lindsholm and Marcusburg closer into a single political bloc, so closely so that the Phalanx Treaty Organization (PTO) and United Commonwealth of Lindsholm (UCL) have been continuously referred in peace talks as the PTO/UCL. With the formation of the PTO/UCL, the Confederacy intensified its demands for compensation for the sake of the balance of power. The notion of not punishing the Confederacy, another term – “rectification” – has been used in place of “punishment”, had been uncomfortable with the PTO/UCL. When the Confederacy wanted compensation, the PTO/UCL was outraged and peace talks collapsed on the 16th as the Confederacy reneged on past verbal agreements in light of the new development.

A last ditch attempt at peace resumed talks five minutes before renewed conflict was to take place. Although details are sketchy, there have been unconfirmed rumors that President El Cid II of El-Hussaq has been replaced as main negotiator for the Confederacy by the Ethnarch of Rattanjeetland. Another rumor has stipulated that land in the upcoming Land Rush has already been divided between both sides. Right before peace talks collapsed, rumors of splitting the Mapp up into two bipolar blocs, involving all unaligned powers, spread panic among all neutral nations, who have avoided direct damage but have been nervous nevertheless. When asked about the possibility of a bipolar world, none of the delegates at the peace talks responded, although analysts have called the development “unlikely and deleterious to all involved”.

However, it is in general agreement among the peoples of the Mapp that the ceasefire is faltering and that war may resume at any time.