Raiding and Defending is a metagame "invented" long ago where people use the World Assembly and endorsements and the WAD (WA Delegate) to take over a region. Forest has had this happen to it a few times, though only to unseat the Delegate and end his unbroken streak of how many days he's been in it. Raiders do this metagame to conquer regions (or mess them up) while defenders do the opposite, they hunt raiders and mess up their raids, and restore afflicted regions.
The battle in St. Abbaddon yesterday was where all of raiderdom -- some 167 people, total -- attempted to pile in the region following a failed trigger at minor due to variance (i.e. the amount of time it takes for regions to update). In response the New Pacific Order called upon all of her members, and 80+ Pacificans former and current answered, along with the treatied Feeders (TSP, TEP, and TWP) and other offsite resources. TNP aided the raiders, and they alone tipped the balance as the NPO had 150 people on Kitsco, the native delegate, at the height of the pile. Kitsco woke up before the region updated and kicked out the raiders.
In total, some 300 players piled into the region yesterday. It is truly an historical event, in terms of piling and sheer number.
Forest is neutral and does not endorse R/D as a region. However, her members are free to support whichever side (raider, defender) they want without reprimand.
The New Pacific Order, before you ask, is neither raider nor defender, but uses the two sides as tools for its own political goals.
As for the why the battle was fought, it is just politics. The raiders supported a native banned from the region by his regionmates and the natives were aided by the NPO because they are the Order's protectorate. How that came to be dates a year and a half ago, when the raider-backed guy was kicked out in a similarly massed pile, this time defenders vs. raiders.
