Student Athlete

THE RISE AND FALL OF INSURRECTION

Civitas Dei’s history cannot be written without the story of its predecessor Insurrection. Insurrection was a powerhouse guild forged together by several independent guilds bent on proving themselves in the WoE scene. Sir Siegfreid of Paws of Prophecy, Weightless of ProBlacksmiths, Raman and Tsieneb Elondra of Wasup Fool decided to unite their guilds to form a cohesive fighting force. Later on, they were joined by several other guilds like Pepperghost’s Kindred, BodyBump’s Midgard Alliance, Killer Zet’s JCI, Urd’s Shadow Glade, Sir Aragorn’s Fellowship of the Ring, Len’s Avatars of Astaroth, and several other small guilds. With our numbers increasing, we decided to form extension guilds like the once built by Hikaru Mithcristien and teray69. The guild’s original cavalry: Insurrection G.A.Y.S. under Nigel and three Insurrection Academy guilds were also formed to supplement our growing numbers. Insurrection had its golden years when together with legendary guilds Grand Lethal, Shadow Circle and Sustainer of the Realm roamed the WoE lands under the GSIS banner.

The beginning of the end was when Sir Siegfreid got hacked-deleted and Weightless had a fall out with some key guild members. Amabanal and yours truly (both just regular members of Insurrection) decided to call an IRL meeting with some active GMs who we feel were not satisfied with the direction our guild was moving. Basically our call was “We are not happy anymore, we are leaving insurrection… will you join us?” Abbhie, the co-GM of Midgard Alliance agreed. Their division was also looking for a change. Hikaru was a little hesitant, however with me and amabanal, both key members of the whole guild being very persuasive, he was left with no choice. Pepperghost needed a little more cajoling, but in the end had to agree since even his girlfriend and Kindred Co-GM Kwissy wanted to move with us. The other GMs of Insurrection were also informed, we even called Sir Siegfreid, who was now retired, of our decision to leave which he without hesitation wholeheartedly supported. It was supposedly a smooth transition however Weightless got a whisper of what was happening and demanded we break our respective Insurrection guilds immediately. The Insurrection board was also wiped clean which gave us no voice and no chance of giving our side of the story to the whole Insurrection.

A NEW BEGINNING

It was a rough start for us. There were some misunderstandings with the members who decided to stay with Insurrection. Some of our division members didn’t even know that we left. We had to track them one by one. Our first choice for guild name was Defiance, however Insurrection used it already (Gate of Defiance) so we settled with our second choice - Civitas Dei. Sir.Yvain/BodyBump GM of CD [Midgard Alliance Division], Vend-O-Crit GM of CD [Horus], Hikaru Mithcristien GM of CD [Zeus] and Pepperghost GM of CD [Kindred] formed the walls of the new guild. We will be later joined by t|dus GM of CD [Vae Victus], a beta guild who joined our ranks thru the efforts of John.Pierre, the co-GM of Horus. Our guild boards, “http://z12.invisionfree.com/civitasdei” was also born, thanks to the creative geniuses of the members of CD [MAD].

We had our first official EB last Aug 13, 2005. First in our agenda was explaining to our members why the GMs decided to leave Insurrection. Major decisions were made like guild tambayan, guild hierarchy (or the lack of it), guild Line-ups, siege strategies, and the like. It was also the first time we met our new members, the Vae Victus division. The day ended at the Marikina riverbanks drinking our fill of beer.

Our first official siege was last July 27, 2005. Our first major offensive was against the juggernaut RNB - Remarque.NihilMetus.Bisdak. We barely made it to the 3rd room of Melcedez as their numbers and their roving cavalry overwhelmed us. We were not perturbed, we saw our potential as a sieging guild.

Quoting BC’s commentary.
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QUOTE (BerserkerzCrit)

[Civitas Dei]

Insurrection, a stalwart ally since GSIS to TGIS until present XI Gates, has been split asunder. A big chunk broke away and formed a new guild named Civitas Dei. Led by Hikaru Mithcristien, and supported by Pepperghost (who played SW’s Sage in the Fatal Four-Way) and BodyBump, the new guild left Insurrection suddenly and decisively. Although Insurrection still remains, under the helm of Weightless, it is racked by internal turmoil. It remains to be seen how the break up will affect Insurrection, but at present both guilds are agitless.

Civitas Dei made its debut today with little fanfare. Maybe it is testing the waters and still finding out its capabilities. But already, CD challenged Geffen mainstay RnB at Mersetzdeitz, the Grand Circlet agit. Their numbers were small to enable them to punch through the defenses even though RnB’s forces were split into two to protect both its agits, the other being in Yesnelph.

It is noticed that CDs line up is composed of the butcher smiths and agi knights Insurrection was famous for. It lacks currently the 2-2 jobs specialized to break pre-casts and portal camps.
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BC was correct, during the early stages of our siege planning we saw the lack of 2-2 or support units in our lineups. There was a major push for more 2-2s in the divisions of CD, hunters were asked to switch jobs to bards and dancers. Knights were asked to build Crusaders. Pepper was busy recruiting sages in our guilds. That conscious effort can be seen today, Most CD veterans play support classes.

CIVITAS DEI HAPPY DAYS

After three months or so and after all the hard work the members have put it, we finally saw the fruits of our labor. By the end of 2005 we finally mustered enough troops to battle against strong and big guilds of Chaos. Our boards was buzzing, members were excited of every upcoming siege day. The guild immediately made a name and was even asked to be interviewed at MTV Philippines. Boss hunting, guild dungeon wars and guild siege wars were happening right and left; the members were very satisfied with what we have accomplished.

In our boards we even have a thread where we voted our most memorable moments…best guild dungeon wars…best sieges…best boss hunts. Battles versus Armada, Apocalypse, Grand Lethal, RnB, Stronghold, etc, were all so memorable.

Excerpts from our members
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QUOTE(Phoebus Apollo - CD[ZEUS] co-GM)

Favorite and Most Memorable Siege
Against sa Strong Hold. Kung tama ang pagkakaalala ko, naglalaban ang CD and Armada sa Luina agit ng sumawsaw ang SHRC. Pepperghost declared war againts SH and he posted it in the proChaos boards. Sobrang laggy ang laban at hirap magpush ang CD dahil sa pagpasok natin ng emp ay madalas ma dc. Then I saw some of the SH gms na nasa labas at naddc rin. So I suggested na hold ng ZEUS division ang 3rd room para di makapasok ang GM ng kalaban habang yung MAD at KINDRED divisions will try to penetrate the emp room, that time yung HORUS naman nasa gates nakikibakbakan to keep SH busy. Tandang-tanda ko pa habang kinokontra ako ng ibang memberss na hindi uubra ang ganong strategy. Sabi nila “di ang kalaban” at di makukuha sa ganoong paraan. After another 20 minutes “Civitas Dei” occupied Guild Luina. Dami pa pero ito ang pinakagusto ko. Bow!

QUOTE([v.v.s.]Blacksmith - CD[HORUS] co-GM)
… di ko makakalimutan ang sakit ng tyan na binigay ng CD members sa tambayan… maghapo’t magdamag meron tambay sa west kafra…. mula tawanan… kulitan… tampuhan… habulan…. hack-an… iyakan…. hanggang… nag-aalisan….di maiiwasan… they come and go… return… then go again.
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RPC 2006 — JOINING BROTHERHOOD - BLOODPACT

When we formed Civitas Dei, there was a short discussion about the 2006 RPC. The GMs were convinced that playing a major part in it would be disadvantageous. We saw what it did to Insurrection last 2005 RPC. We lost several members due to misunderstandings, GMs had to make sacrifices, members were placed on pressure situations…where was the fun in that? So when Coalescence (old buddies of Pepper during the early days of RO) invited us to join the Blood Pact meeting, we were ready with our answer “Civitas Dei likes to siege however we are not capable of sacrificing too much of our time for RPC, we can only play a minor role”.

During the Blood Pact meeting at Lokfu restaurant, Civitas Dei was picked as the Wild Card representative. The members of CD present during the meeting were very much surprised, we didn’t even know that we would be a part of the ballot. Pepper tried turning it down explaining that we are new to the group and it would not be proper, however several GMs of Blood Pact decided it is the best way to go. CD was picked from a random ballot, so CD should be the one supported by the group.

During the course of the 2006 RPC, CD was playing handicapped. Hikaru Mithcristien of CD [ZEUS] had to go in hibernation due to work and was only able to participate during the first half of the Agit Lords. Several key members of CD were hacked including the core of CD [MAD] and the GM of CD [HORUS] Vend-O-Crit. However, the guild did not falter, several inactive members decided to go out of their retirement to give support to our Blood Pact brothers and the hacked members decided to continue playing despite the setbacks. That 2006 RPC was very memorable, Civitas Dei guildsmen were so driven, Pepperghost was a very capable war commander as he dedicated a lot of his free time supporting and planning the Agit Lords scene. CD played huge roles in the offensive and defensive campaigns of Blood Pact. We were there when Skoegul fell from Shadow Circle’s hold, we sent our most trusted breakers to wear the Untouchables and Coalescence emblems to help multiply their castles. It was all worth it, thanks to Blood Pact voters, CD won a spot as a wild card representative.

For Team Civitas Dei, Pepper played his own Professor, joining him from CD are Gene playing the Champ Lion Heart and JC playing the Clown M!shra. The other slots were members from Trojans, Manus Deus, Stronghold, and Armada. They had several practices battling the representatives from Coalescence and Alliance. They even practiced with the representatives from Iris, the powerful guild Ninja. During the first round of eliminations, they defeated the powerhouse guild of Grand Lethal. They lost to Team Alliance on the second round. It was a tough loss however it was an easy pill to swallow as we lost to a very experienced Ally.

CIVITAS DEI TODAY

After RPC 2006, the members had a general meeting to discuss the future of our guild. The main concern actually was that GMs Peppper, Hikaru, Sir.Yvain and Vend-O-Crit won’t be able to dedicate most of their time in running a guild. Several members still wanted to siege however who will run our warp/save point? Who will make plans? Who will recruit members, who will give the supplies to members? Since we didn’t want to run Civitas Dei with sub-par performance, we had to come up with a new solution. Coalescence offered us one.

We formally retired Civitas Dei as a sieging guild and merged our active members with Coalescence. We formed the extension Coalescence[CD] with the GM MyNameIsOfNoImportance owned and controlled by Hikaru Mithcristien. Our sieging numbers has dwindled down due to retirement, however, once in a while we still muster our veterans and siege under the Civitas Dei banner.

Our guild is no longer siege active however the members are very much in touch with each other. Guild meetings now happen IRL thru gimiks and outings. The friendship we have formed for the past 3 years has transcended above the game and we foresee ourselves as guildmates IRL.

We will forever be united.

QUOTE(Nehftali_Grahf - CD GM Party Support Priest)

Everything cOmes tO an end. Even the mOst pOwerfull being in the wOrld dies, but the memOries is always be remembered timelessly nOt in the histOry boOks nOr in every stOry Of every bard but inside the heart Of every member Of Civitas Dei whO gOt a unseen chain that binds them all tOgether… called Friendship…

what am i sayin`.. ROK ON!!!

This was done with the help of the whole CD guild.