Solitude

This alliance has disbanded.

Solitude is an alliance affiliation that has appeared in a variety of incarnations, all linked to each other through lineage, ideology, or imagery, directly or distantly. It was first created by former Vox Populi revolutionary and Senate member Gatherum.

Incarnations

Solitude (1st)

Being the first ever incarnation, this was a personal affiliation worn by Gatherum (under the pseudonym, Ventus ex Gutter) as a method of self-imposed exile without the danger inherent in residing on None, with Gatherum claiming that she, "needed a break from politics”.

Despite Gatherum's previous association with Vox Populi, Solitude participated in no insurrections, nor even did it participate in any technology raiding. It vanished when Gatherum crossed the gods, who destroyed her original body.

Blissful Solitude (1st)

This affiliation was created and used by Gatherum's friend and fellow former spy, Francesca, sometime during the Sileath-BTA War. Notably, it also housed a fledgling Bird of Passage. It was a transitional affiliation that Francesca wore during her search for a new home, which had eluded her since the disbandment of Vox Populi.

The affiliation's only notable action was an announcement of moral support to Sileath regarding the aforementioned war. It was met with mixed reactions.

Blissful Solitude eventually came to be the temporary affiliation for the first Crimson Guard, and was under the simultaneous protection of the Orange Defense Network and Nueva Vida while the Guard was in its planning stages. It was discarded when the plans went underway. The protection, however, did not carry over.

Solitude (2nd)

The flag of the second Solitude. It features a ghost white tree which the Bird of Passage named the Tree of Humility, symbolising nature's ultimate dominance and power over man. This may have been derived from pantheist thought. However, the flag shares its overall simplistic design with the flags of the Goon Order of Neutral Shoving and its eventual successor, the Goon Order of Oppression, Negligence, and Sadism. Whether or not this suggests any links to either is unknown.

Having left the Crimson Guard for various reasons, the Bird of Passage created a new Solitude, complete with a declaration of existence and a flag.

This is arguably the most well-known incarnation due to its status as a one-man alliance that regularly engaged in bold and, within the perceptions of many a digiterran, irrational operations. It was comparable to the Prism Protection Front in its model, but differed in objective and method.

This is most exemplified by its Fourth Call, included in its declaration of existence, which was itself a declaration of war on the Viridian Entente in support of the Federated Allied Independence League, the latter having been engaged in combat with Viridia in support of the Global Defense Initiative in the VE-GDI War at the time. This was done under the powers theoretically granted by the New Moldavi Doctrine, compounded by surrender terms offered by Solitude to Viridia.

Because Solitude had no official treaty with FAIL, Viridia enacted their Impero Doctrine, recognised Solitude as a rogue affiliation, and sentenced it to a one-time Zero Infrastructure. Solitude fought an even battle with several nations in Viridia before being exposed to the latter's nuclear arsenal, at which point, Solitude succumbed.

When both GDI and FAIL disbanded during or due to the war, Solitude offered white peace to Viridia. Viridia was disinclined to agree, yet consented regardless because they had no one else in attack range.

This Solitude was known for its faith in Rebel Virginia, the leader of FAIL. It also informally considered the Crimson Guard its "blood ally."

It eventually died away without a disbandment notice not long after the Seventh Call, when the Bird of Passage applied to the Realm of the Rose. He did not pass the application process and eventually resorted to tech raiding, until he was recruited by Bel Air. It is unknown what ultimately became of the Bird.

Blissful Solitude (2nd)

The second Blissful Solitude would, again, serve as a transitional affiliation for Francesca, but also for Baldr and several others. Unlike its predecessor, it did not have any specific directives as a whole. Its occupants would move on to undertake their own separate projects, only one of them relating to Solitude.

Akatsuki

Akatsuki was an announced insurrection against The Sweet Oblivion by Francesca and an unknown second conspirator, the latter of whom rumoured to have planned the operation extensively. Neither of them were nuclear-capable; however, they did possess substantial warchests relative to their smaller size, thus giving them an advantage over the Oblivion's lower tiers.

The affected Oblivion nations suffered massive casualties; despite this, Akatsuki could not withstand the military might of the Oblivion and its allies and was eventually thwarted and destroyed.

It should be noted that the name "Akatsuki" was not consistent among the conspirators. Francesca used the "Akatsuki" affiliation while the unknown second conspirator remained on "Blissful Solitude" for reasons unclear.

Possible Incarnations

((O))

The second and final flag of ((O)). The tree in the center was never named by Lezrahi and its symbolism cannot be determined. It is markedly different from the Tree of Humility as it was seen on this flag's predecessor.

On the early morning of 28 January, 2010, the one-man alliance, ((O)) (or Sön, as it was known on Digiterra itself due to character restrictions), declared war upon both the New Polar Order and The Foreign Division, effectively placing it within the \m/oralist coalition in the then-ongoing global war. It later made declarations upon The Order of the Paradox, the Independent Republic of Orange Nations, and The Order of Righteous Nations, placing it within the C&G side of the subsequent TOP-C&G War.

This alliance was notable for bearing the Tree of Humility from the flag of Solitude on its first flag. However, a post by its sole member, Lezrahi, indicated that they were not aware of the prior use of any elements of the flag of ((O)), and that the inclusion of the tree was a mere coincidence. The veracity of their claims is disputed.

That flag of ((O)) was eventually succeeded by another, which bore a different tree.

((O)) disbanded later in the war, with Lezrahi joining \m/.

Solitude (3rd)

The flag of the third Solitude.

On 15 October, 2011, Maverick87 announced the formation of an alliance bearing the Solitude name, with eight total members and a protection agreement with the New Pacific Order, an action that was noted by some to be a contradiction, both of its own name and the principles of the previous incarnations. This, combined with the knowledge that Maverick87 was known to have visited the grave of Gatherum approximately one month prior to his alliance's formation, lead some to accuse him of having a past identity.

The gods struck him down later that day, confirming the suspicions, yet without disclosing his previous identity. The other nations on the affiliation were not similarly affected, but were placed under the gods' watch and investigation.

Given Maverick87's ambiguous origins and this Solitude's lack of members traditionally associated with past incarnations, as well as its non-isolated and formal approach to diplomacy, it is not generally regarded as a legitimate incarnation. Its flag also lacked the usual imagery, foregoing the Tree of Humility or similar in favour of a winged star over a maroon backdrop, likely to better link it to the Red sphere. Maverick87 himself admitted that he understood that his alliance's actions did not suit the name, but claimed that he, "didn't enjoy the thought of getting rolled for being different either”.

In light of Maverick87's execution, this Solitude fell silent; however, it was not long before it was re-founded by its other members, again under a protection agreement with Pacifica (see below).

Solitude (4th)

On 29 October, 2011, the third Solitude was reformed, reorganised, and announced again by Seannnnnnn, who acted as its new emperor. It retained all of the identifying elements of the previous Solitude, including its flag and Pacifica's protection. Like the third Solitude, it was met with mixed reactions. This alliance disbanded on 27 November, 2011.

Related Alliances

Outer Heaven

Main article: Outer Heaven

Outer Heaven is an alliance wholly independent from Solitude, and is not an incarnation thereof; however, the alliance's official flag and its war flag were both created by Gatherum’s disembodied soul, who incorporated the Tree of Humility from the original flag of Solitude as a textural overlay. Gatherum herself was slated to be part of the alliance as its main graphics editor, despite being among the dead. She, however, disappeared from contact during the TOP-C&G War for reasons unclear.