Hanse Library Robbery
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The Hanse Library Robbery was a heist committed on October 15, 2023 by Cascadian citizens 3llies, Paradox_1080, and 8kwng of the Hanse Library in what was then Wien, Styria. Tens of thousands of gold worth of items were stolen, including the exclusive Hanse Library head, a priceless, one of one head representing the library itself. The fallout included a major scandal against Cascadia, where the perpetrators lived, and the recovery effort by the Cascadian Government that occurred over the following couple of months. The scandal lasted into the Wagner War, with the event often being used by Wagner nations to brand Cascadia as a nation of scammers, however the robbery became largely forgotten afterward.
Background
Hanse Library
The Hanse Library was originally a shop that sold primarily Netherite, started by HowAboutAStone in 2022 in what was then Wien, Austria. Eventually in January of 2023, it was turned into a library, and quickly became the largest, most beloved, and most famous library on the server during this time. From player memoirs to transcriptions of real world literature, the library was a cultural icon. HowAboutAStone became very rich during this time, and would amass vast riches in items, including heads, mending books, and more. Eventually, EarthMC itself gifted the Hanse Library with an exclusive one of one head, known as the Hanse Library Head. Throughout this time, the Hanse Library was the place to go if you wanted to find in game literature on the server. However, during the summer of 2023, HowAboutAStone gradually became inactive some time before the robbery. The town and nation the library was in changed hands to Bobbobster, who changed the nation name to Styria.
Perpetrators
Paradox_1080 and 3llies were Cascadian citizens who both joined in late 2022. Both were frontiersmen, and as a result were a part of it's respective political faction, prominent in Cascadia during this time. Both had relatively successful political careers under the Frontier during this time as well, both serving tenures as representatives, 3llies having experience as a secretary for what was then the Department of Social Services, and Paradox having been Vice President under WrestlingWithGod's cabinet.
8kwng was a more nomadic player, hopping from nation to nation in North America, eventually ending up in the town of Oceanside, now Astoria, where he became a councilor. He was friends with many frontiersmen at the time, including the other perpetrators, which led to him joining in on the plot. He also had a history of robbery, robbing around 800 gold from the town of Nenetsia, however this was not known to anyone until long after the library robbery.
Robbery
WIP
Scandal and Recovery Effort
Immediately upon discovery, Bobbobster DMed the president EmpressCorgo on October 17, demanding to know why his town was raided by Cascadians. She responded soon after, stating she'd look into it, however she was mostly preoccupied dealing with the political chaos at the time. Furthermore, when hearing about it, Karn4 and other Osoyans used the robbery as a way to bash the Frontier in their political rivalry, although a couple of them supported the robbery at first.
News spread of the robbery, with Styria declaring war on Cascadia on October 18. Despite this, their leader, Bobbobster, called for diplomatic talks, which occurred immediately afterward. Throughout the same day, multiple other nations would join in, denouncing or declaring war on Cascadia. Milgorn123, Cascadia's then Secretary of State, published a statement saying that Cascadia did not authorize the robbery, that they were in diplomatic talks with Styria concerning the robbery, and that the perpetrators were never in the Cascadian government. The claim that the perpetrators were never in the government was false. This would be called out by Somalia under 8set in their denouncement statement, made just a couple hours later. Over the next few hours, Russian Dominion, Maranhao, and Carpathia joined in on the denouncement, with Yakutia declaring war as well. The final event on October 18 was the Rocky Mountain Brotherhood's declaration of war on Cascadia over the robbery, with a long announcement written by it's leader, REALlimpopo. It accused Cascadia itself of committing the robbery and not just a few citizens, claiming Beamz30, then Vice President, was involved in the robbery, though this was not true. He also called out the false claim Milgorn made in his announcement, and complained about the embargo Cascadia and her ally Brazil made against his nation earlier due to the fact that ironically, he had stolen the nation he then owned from Cascadia just two months before.
On October 21, TylenolEC, leader of Laurentia and close ally of Cascadia, went to 8kwng with Frontiersmen WrestlingwithGod and Beamz30, successfully convincing him to voluntarily give up the stolen items he had. This included the Hanse Library head, which was the most valuable item stolen. He made an announcement in Laurentia celebrating the victory, and contacted HowAboutAStone to give the items back, also having a line with Bobbobster.
A few days later, on October 23, the Spanish Empire declared war on Cascadia for not recovering the stolen items fast enough, and included a list of items that Bobbobster, owner of Styria, still wanted returned. Veracruz and Iowa joined in with their own war declarations just a few minutes later. Then Somalia upgraded their denouncement to a war declaration, claiming Cascadia refused to take responsibility, and unlike Spain, claimed Cascadia outright refused to recover stolen items, which was erroneous. They then made a quip claiming the tied election between Flatvent and EmpressCorgo just the night before was rigged, which would later become a common claim during the Wagner War. Finally, on October 29, the Rus Empire, then the largest meganation on the server sent their own denouncement, supporting Spain, claiming Cascadia was delaying a solution.
Soon after, the town of Wien and it's nation was given to bubuxcx, who renamed the nation to Austria, and would later merge it with Hungary to create Austria-Hungary. On November 26, EmpressCorgo gave a double chest of mending to the town of Wien, which was taken mostly from the supply of the nation shop. Finally, on January 17, 2024, Corgo gave the requested stack of beacons to bubu, and the conflict was considered resolved. Bubu personally gifted an enchanted golden apple as thanks to Corgo herself.
WIP
Aftermath
Most of the war declarations and denunciations never amounted to anything, as no actual military action occurred. After the heat surrounding the robbery had died down, the scandal was mostly used by those who already hated Cascadia beforehand, such as during the Wagner War to brand Cascadia as a nation of scammers despite the recovery effort. The town the library was in, Wien, became part of Austria-Hungary, then switching hands over time. Eventually, the town was overclaimed by towns from the Netherlands, and the library currently stands in the town of Bratislava, untouched with empty shelves. Today, the library has been forgotten by most, as most players joined the server long after it closed down anyway. The ones who do remember it, remember the library specifically for the robbery and it's fallout, leaving a legacy as one of the stranger and more unique events in Aurora's history.