The residents soon realized that the Queen’s Wall was not necessarily a successful solution to the Ponerinae problem, as in May 1987, a band of militants blew a hole in the wall, led by some of the Formicinae ants that were abandoned in Outer Gesnalt with the building of the wall. These rebel Formicinae ants, calling themselves Pentuta, meaning ‘betrayed ones’ in Formicinaen, sought retribution and killed over 200 residents of Hersta, before they were arrested by the Queen’s Men.

While this was happening, the Ponerinae ants launched a surprise attack on the city through a tunnel under the wall, which they had been digging for months. A further 500 residents of Hersta were massacred in this attack before the Herstan Army arrived on the scene. Warfare continued for three days, until finally the Ponerinae ants retreated and the wall was repaired and the tunnel filled in.

In January 1988, after months of devastation, King Tubalo Mudupu, the leader of Outer Gesnalt, requested a meeting with Queen Pertiofony to discuss the possibility of a peace treaty between their kingdoms.

The two leaders met in a special room which was built in the wall and proclaimed by both parties as ‘neutral ground’.

In late February 1988, a peace treaty was drawn up and signed by both Queen Pertiofony and King Tubalo. As part of the treaty, Herstan refugees living in Outer Gesnalt were allowed reentry into Hersta. After the transferal of these refugees, no further contact was to be made between any Formicinae and Ponerinae ants under any circumstance under pain of death.