Welcome to the story recaps for The Acolyte’s War! This will be updated as the story continues.

Act 1: The Rising Powers

Episode 1: Emergence

At first, on a weekend morning, there was the Acolyte. A newfound villain who had taken a community of 20 million people and more hostage, even with his humble beginnings. Many players began to rise up and defy the hooded tyrant, however, he did gain some allies, and some players refused to participate entirely. He organized every Minecraft player into his dominion- a twisted and unfamiliar world with several new mystical and natural elements compared to Minecraft proper, notably adding wildlife and folklore from Earth- as observed by those who left the war behind to find their own purpose.

As more players joined and became increasingly more of a threat, the Acolyte proceeded to summon his pawns, the Mooks. As standard enemies, Mooks carried a large variety of weapons. His allies constructed a castle for the Acolyte, thus giving him a breather in the war with the players, although, as the castle continued to be pummeled, the Acolyte felt uneasy and summoned more Mooks. Eventually, through monumental effort and a long campaign of the resolute Anti-Acolyte attackers, the Castle was brought down in its entirety, and the Acolyte was forced into the open again.

After all of his entities were felled through powerful player barrages, he had something in mind, however, due to the spirit of Halloween, an event that was imminent at the time, he summoned the Horseless Headless Horsemann from the Team Fortress 2 universe. The players faced it with ferocity, and it once again fell to Crusher48, who killed it previously in DTG2. As it fell back into its world, Blinky1001 claimed the Haunted Metal Scrap, and the Acolyte fled the scene.

Episode 2: Calling

While the Acolyte and his companions ran to the fields, a friendly allied player spread news of a resisting fortress. While they headed out to the location, the Acolyte proceeded to communicate with an unknown but pro-Acolyte party on Pesterchum, crucifixionTerminated [CT]. The Acolyte used his Pesterchum handle, godlyAdept [GA] to request backup from whoever was on the other side of the line.

The Players soon arrived at the fort, but did not have time to get themselves settled, even with its supplies and simple crafting, as the Acolyte soon led an attack on the fortress with his armies of Mooks. However, these soon fell, and with the Acolyte's firepower on his side shrinking, the Acolyte was supported by a large squad of Mooks, introducing armor for the first time in their ranks. The Anti-Acolytes, with much of an inventory at their disposal, were ready to meet this challenge, and shortly thereafter crushed his array of Mooks and set up a strong defense to the Player Fort.

In this time, Nullitor, an insidious player who had taken part in many wars past, revealed his plan, which resulted in the creation of the Tower of the Futility, a tower that would gauge players based on how much they attacked entities and not the Acolyte. Players with significant Futility were irritated at this threat and, spurred on by Pricey12345, began to assail the Tower with a large amount of entities brought in by the Player Fort. However, as the Tower summoned backup entities, attack became less feasible and the attackers retreated, thus fading the tower’s sidequest into inactivity, and it no longer was an irritant in the eyes of the players.

However, as they were making progress, the Acolyte went on the attack once more and summoned a battalion of Mooks to lay siege to the Player Fort, however, these were overrun by the defenders and their sheer numbers. As the Acolyte fell under more fire, a large wave of backup arrived from crucifixionTerminated, orders of his own finally being executed. This wave of backup included the Mook Tank and the Backup Portal, which combined the crowd power of Mooks and the offensive and defensive might of a boss into a blitzkrieg charge during which the Anti-Acolyte side suffered heavy losses. In addition, a hostile Gaster Shard awoke from dormancy, thus adding to the chaos and destruction. Even as the battle continued, the Mook Tank took a lot of damage, so the Acolyte casted an Entity-Based Shield on his creation before fleeing the scene into nearby woods. The battle continued to wage, and while the Mooks did punch a large hole in the enemy lines, the Mook Tank's assault was unsuccessful, and it was eventually destroyed via a crushing anvil blow.

As the Tank fell into a critical state, the Gaster Shard, a hostile entity the Acolyte placed into stasis previously with a well-timed Hide Spoiler spell, broke out of stasis and attacked the largest entity it could find: the Mook Tank. Unfortunately, This removed any chance of the Mook Tank not exploding, unleashing an earth-shaking blast which launched the Gaster Shard skyward. The Gaster Shard, damaged from the explosion, shattered into energy, opening up a powerful interdimensional rift in the sky. The sky within the rift was black and star-filled, as if it was in outer space. As the rift closed, a few shadowy creatures emerged from the portal. The rift closed before anyone could ask any questions- or examine the monsters in their true detail.

After the confusion, any stranded Mooks left on the battlefield surrendered to the inhabitants of the player fort, while the Anti-Acolyte players continued their pursuit of the Acolyte.

Episode 3: Tides

Undersea, close to the shoreline, Persecles, a military commander of the reptilian and fearsome Argynth empires, who was praying at the time, noticed the shadowy figures from the dark portal emerging to despoil the land. Interpreting the silhouettes as signs of demons, went back to his home city to organize an investigation. Along the way, he encountered Thucedotus, his second-in-command, who would be instrumental in organizing the troops. Thucedotus occupied Persecles with a friendly contest of shooting skill, however, his was only a short delay for Persecles. He revealed his plans to Thucedotus concerning the demons he saw in the sky, and thus they organized a meeting amongst the townspeople.

In a dense forest near the Player Fort, the Acolyte had a brief chat with crucifixionTerminated before being confronted by the players. However, this time around the Acolyte held a defensive advantage, and began summoning increasingly large numbers of Mooks. The players utilized large amounts of summons and crowd-control tactics, but it was to no avail. The huge amounts of Mooks overwhelmed the Anti-Acolyte team and they were forced back, with the Acolyte’s forces for once being the pursuers.

Episode 4: Counter

Back under the sea, Persecles strode out for his town meeting clad in armor to raise awareness of his cause. In a short yet popular speech among the city folk, he announced his intentions to perform a search with the backing of his army for his assumed demons, and he and his army mobilized for the journey and they set off to make landfall.

Business at the player fort had been prosperous, as it grew both in membership and in structural progression. The players were happy to find a spot to retreat to, especially as they had captured an enemy Mook Leader and sent him there. On the way in, they met a few new faces: Ninjatwist, a new party member eager to join in on the Anti-Acolyte mission, and the Red Shirts, Mooks who betrayed the Acolyte's orders to join the Anti-Acolyte forces. Thankful for the respite, the Anti-Acolyte players took the few turns before the Acolyte's army arrived to prepare for battle.

The Acolyte's forces enjoyed the benefit of a more armored force, as not only did Mook infantry come equipped with heavier armor on some units, but they enjoyed the protection of the Mook Infantry Fighting Vehicle, an armed transport that can carry Mook units into the fray and offer fire support. In spite of these boons, the Anti-Acolyte entities, with Ninjatwist among them, were enough to destroy the Mooks even with these benefits with their prepared array of defenses and with the backing of the Player Fort. Even the might of an airborne wing headed by a Mook Gunship was too little to wipe out the entrenched positions of the Anti-Acolyte resistance. The loss of the Mook forces throwing themselves against the walls of the reinforced Player Fort left the Acolyte vulnerable- an opportunity the players took to inflict critical damage, forcing the Acolyte to flee once again, with his Mooks in tow.

At the end of the monumental battle, Ninjatwist was so impressed by the players' prowess and determination that he joined their party, vowing to make himself useful. As the party of Players, with Ninjatwist in tow, gave chase to the Acolyte, the party of Argynths, with Persecles in front, gave chase to the mystery of the shadowed figures. The Major marched inland, ever closer to finding out what landed from the rift, and ever more eager to battle the interlopers.

The Acolyte gave up his chase at a beach close to the forest. The players and Ninjatwist would inflict serious damage to the Acolyte there, despite summoning Mooks to his disposal. However, the Acolyte would not suffer his most notable defeat there at the players' hands- a biologically primitive abomination surfaced from under the water, grasping the Acolyte with a tentacle and delivering a horrible beatdown to the unprepared sorcerer. The Acolyte managed to escape, but not before losing his health and dignity.

The Ancient Hermit would not let the players leave, however- it encircled the players with its spawn and appendages, forcing them to fight. After the players subdued these obstacles, the Hermit itself faced them directly, using its bulk and spray of ink to crush the Anti-Acolyte side. However, the players persevered and bested the monstrosity, forcing it beneath the waves once more. With it dealt with, the players could progress further along the beach to continue their chase against the battered Acolyte.

Episode 5: Sanctity

Persecles had come far in his quest to rid the world of the demons. However, he would not find them- at least, not intact. Instead, his army came across the site of what was once an epic battle- or an epic defeat. Scars and lightning marred the landscape, tearing into the earth. As Persecles's soldiers advanced cautiously, the figure responsible for the damage appeared in a flash of lightning, prompting a defensive response from the Argynths. Thankfully, the being acted benevolently, and explained its actions as the Operator, a guardian entity of sorts. Persecles had become deluded on his path, and blamed the players for the demons' incursion, despite the Operator's attempts to guide him otherwise. The Argynths continued on their crusade, and the Operator left them to suffer from their misdirection.

The Players continued to pursue the Acolyte, unwilling to let him rest from his damage. As the Acolyte tried to rest and think of another plan, he heard gunshots from behind him, as Ninjatwist had caught up and started the attack. The two fought viciously, and after a tense standoff, the Acolyte scored an opening and prepared to grievously injure his attacker. The players intervened and punished the Acolyte greatly, sparing Ninjatwist critical damage. A larger-scale battle ensued, with the Acolyte sending more of his Mooks to try to avoid damage. These Mooks were not enough protection, however, and the Acolyte lost a great amount of his health. Before the Players could damage the Acolyte further, Persecles and his troops broke onto the scene, engaging the players immediately. The Acolyte fled in the ensuing chaos, leaving the players occupied with the Argynth Major.

Persecles, intent to purify the world of the demons he saw, sparred with the Players, and his soldiers followed suit, fighting against the entities the Players had summoned. A dozen soldiers came forth, battling until they were too injured to continue. As the Major sustained more and more damage, he called for his troops to defend him, which they did. In a desperate move on the brink of defeat, he called for elite cavalrymen to charge the enemy lines, but it was too late. Blinky1001 used a charge attack to critically injure Persecles, spearing him through the torso.

The Major's demoralized force surrendered immediately, unwilling to take further losses. Ninjatwist approached a defenseless Persecles with sword in hand, asking for an explanation to the attack. He received an apology for Persecles' mistake and wrongdoing, and a vow to devote his army to the players' cause. Trust was uneasy at first, but Persecles assured Ninjatwist that he was eager to deal with the Acolyte, as the Major now blamed him for the demons' appearances. He wished to stay behind to receive backup and treatment for his wounds, wishing the players luck and wisdom on their quest.

On the way to the next battle, the Pro-Acolyte players felt bonded to their Anti-Acolyte kin, as they fought together in the clash with Persecles. They agreed to work together from now on, for the sake of defeating the Acolyte. They only served as hindrances to Anti-Acolyte progress before, and they feared treachery from the Acolyte who may see his loyalists as expendable- or punishment for their treachery once the war was over.

Act 2: Battle And Tension

Episode 1: Union

After pursuing the Acolyte for some time, the players came across a savanna, and tracked him across it while Major Persecles called for reinforcements to help the players. They found a group of Mooks hiding within the grass, and after some fighting, the Mooks were beaten back- until they summoned vehicles for reinforcement.

The players were forced to retreat to and commandeer a well-stocked base maintained by a pair of other players who had until then separated themselves from the fighting. Their base and entities suffered greatly in the attack, but the Anti-Acolyte faction could finally set up a foothold to counterattack the Mook army. The Mooks gave up attacking the players and fled, and Major Persecles and his reinforcements arrived, eager to fight anew.

Episode 2: Fencing

Major Persecles notified the players upon their reunion that his forces had located a Mook outpost, which could give the players directions to the Acolyte's location. Arriving at the fortress, the players encountered some Argynth Scouts under Persecles's command facing heavy resistance from the Mook outer guard. While the Players breached the walls' defenses, the Argynths handled the Mooks outside. Eventually, the players breached the defenses, and the Anti-Acolytes charged their way inside.

The inside of the outpost was a maze of machine gun nests, sniper posts, enhanced Mook squads, and Smash Mooks that would endanger ground forces, especially Argynth troops, greatly. The players ran from one gauntlet to the next, protecting the Scouts as they gathered data on the Acolyte's whereabouts. The Argynths sustained serious injuries in the fighting, and quite a few perished- however, in a battle with a Smash Mook, one foot soldier was battered to death, but sunnyau used a time-warping item to bring the lucky soldier back to life, earning Persecles' gratitude in the process. All of this bloodshed would be well-spent, however- with the relevant information gained, the players would finally know for certain where the Acolyte was hiding this time.

An Argynth relief force had been dispatched to Persecles' aid, besieging the ransacked Mook outpost and taking many prisoners. The Major himself worked with a scout to decipher the Mooks' technology, and eventually they determined the Acolyte's location. Persecles hastily promoted the Scout and assigned him to teach the Argynth soldiers how to use the Mook tablet, and stayed behind to muster even more forces. All the while, the Players used the Argynth-gained coordinates to track down their old foe.

Episode 3: Opportunity

The Acolyte sat alone in a desert, sitting on a dried log and taking in the arid air as he messaged his subordinates on his laptop. However, he seemed more urgent than his pose would suggest, messaging crucifixionTerminated, or Belial, about how he needed to shake the players off his tail. He ordered Belial to another world, apparently to quiet another rebellion against the Acolyte. Belial lacked the confidence to perform the orders on his own, but the Acolyte refused to offer any assistance himself, only sending another party to reinforce Belial before cutting him off from the conversation.

The players caught up with the Acolyte as he wrapped up his order to Belial, and a battle ensued. The Acolyte sent attack after attack after the players, but they weathered the storm and continued to chip away at the Acolyte's health. Ninjatwist, by this time a powerful ally to the players, attempted to do some damage, and was critical for one segment, but the Acolyte locked him away in a twisted metal coffin for a good portion of the fight. The Acolyte mustered more defenses so that players would have to break certain requirements to damage him, but the players pushed through and beat down the Acolyte regardless of these thresholds, with Sky High doing particularly heavy damage and sunnyau getting the Acolyte down to half health.

With the Acolyte clearly on the losing side, he needed a way out, and quickly. He stunned the players in place, charging up a highly destructive spell with his hand. The Acolyte swiped down with his hand, and a massive claw of dark magic rained from above, sundering the land behind the Acolyte and tearing a massive chasm into the desert. The magic energy remained on the Acolyte's arm for a bit, fading only as he jumped across the chasm to escape.

Episode 4: Breachers

Mooks swiftly made it to the chasm for their ultimate fight with the player forces, guarding the Acolyte's side. The players put their building skill gained to work, constructing a bridge across the chasm and attacking the Mooks guarding it as they got within range. As they got across the chasm, the Mooks executed one final assault on the Player positions, only to be beaten back, forced to retreat to a castle the Acolyte had built in the middle of a stone basin.

Only a few players would remain to challenge the next encounter- the Acolyte had put up a shield around his base, protected by four regenerating Shield Control Towers. Thankfully, Ender_Smirk, one of those persistent enough to rise to the challenge, created the Enchanted Iron Colossus- an Iron Golem strong and massive enough to pound the towers into dust. Through carefully damaging the towers, Ender_Smirk and his allies, including Argynths which had recently arrived over the bridge, overcame the obstacle, only for the Ultimate Shield Control Tower to emerge as the final test.

Major Persecles, Ninjatwist_, and all others worked together to tear the final tower down, finally allowing access to the Acolyte's final fortress. Ender_Smirk earned a Spoil of War from the Ultimate Shield Control Tower for his efforts and strategy.

Episode 5: Confrontation

Major Persecles, the Argynths, and the players would exchange some heartfelt farewells as the players progressed into the Acolyte's fortress. Persecles himself, as well as the majority of the entities the Players created, would stay outside to besiege the castle. However, forces within the fortress were oddly sparse, both inside and outside- the players passed through to the Acolyte with little resistance. Very few Mooks remained to skirt by the players, unwilling to challenge them.

When the players confronted the Acolyte in his central chamber, he was oddly still, with a crystalline portal-manipulating device behind him. The Acolyte called it the Night Crystal- set on a countdown to something major. Regardless of this countdown, the players attacked the Acolyte with utmost fury, beating him down severely. Ninjatwist_ had called for aid from other players, allowing them to contribute to the final fight against the Acolyte. The Acolyte and the arena around him took a massive beating from the players, getting him down to a state where his health was genuinely critical.

However, in the end, his plan with the Night Crystal succeeded, and the Acolyte used the portal it generated to whisk himself away to parts unknown. Before the players could mount a pursuit, a different portal opened up, swallowing the players and Ninjatwist_ whole. They continued on their destination through a gentle vortex in space for quite some time, guided to a destination unclear.

Act III: Through the Doorway

Episode 1: Unexpected Visitors

The players floated through the portal vortex for an unknown period of time, before they felt themselves being dragged down into a new place, reaching their destination. They landed on the Land of Lead and Mesas, a canyon-like place dotted by strange ammunition-shaped formations, populated by Luke Ingram, a reticent teenager who had been transported to the planet for a SBurb session. The Pro-Acolyte Army had been intending to attack Luke yet again when the Players arrived at Luke’s home base, which he rushed out to defend. Luke allowed players access to his Alchemiter, since they were allies for the time being. This gift would not go unused, as not only did the Mook forces begin to drop Grist, the monsters of SBurb that inhabited Luke’s planet would eventually join in the battle, as both a further source of Grist and a distraction against the Pro-Acolytes. Ninjatwist eventually found his way back to the party during a guerilla attack on the Mook forces, and became friends with Luke quickly.

After some time of fending off the Mook Army, the commander of the attacking force, Belial, emerged to attempt to end the fight himself, having received his orders from the Acolyte. After a quick but eventful battle, Belial was soundly defeated by Ninjatwist, working together with the other players and Luke. While damages to the Anti-Acolyte side were severe, they had won the day. Some fierce banter was exchanged between Belial, Luke and Ninjatwist, but before anyone could turn the tension into a new round in the fighting, Belial warped away from the party, organizing a hasty retreat of the Mooks back to the Worldforger to receive new orders.

With the Pro-Acolyte forces gone, Luke could get to work on his plan- he had his server player, Lyra Xandine, build up a tower to the second Gate of his world in peace, free from any attack that could collapse it. From there, he and the rest of the party could plan their next moves against the Acolyte and continue to gather Luke’s friends. As the party make the trip to the top of the tower, Ninjatwist_ admitted that he admired the Anti-Acolyte team, and gave Torix, who had dealt the heaviest damage to Belial, one of Belial’s weapons, the Length of Demonic Chain, for use against the Acolyte. With that, Luke’s Sprite threw each player through the gate to go to Lyra’s planet.

Episode 2: Reorganizing

The players arrived at Lyra’s planet- a wasteland of metal scraps and metallic white platforms- through the gate, where Lyra welcomed the party with a smile. She and Luke struck up a conversation concerning their plan, which was to keep in touch with their friends Kate and Cody and see if any new developments arose, while trying to reunite with them as quickly as possible. Luke proposed that the team build up Grist to use a similar tunneling method to get to Cody’s planet, which Lyra agreed to, and the party set out on a monster hunt.