Epoch of Eulyros

The Lore: by LordFandon and InternetNinja

As it is written in the year 548, of the First Landorian Age

Landoria:

This kingdom represented the heartland of Arminian agriculture and other nature-based industries. It had a thriving population and a militia based army that could be called to action by King Elessar Shadow-Hunter in times of need- in addition to the professional army of its vassal, The Duchy of Kusalom. After years of unprecedented growth (usually by peacefully absorbing neighboring states into the whole, while largely leaving them intact) and prosperity, it began to stagnate. A desire to, keep things as they are lead to fewer and fewer expansions and new laws. Eventually several of the vassal states split off from the Landorian government and declared their independence following the death of King Elessar. Though this had been building for some time, it was happened so suddenly that the new King Everin Shadow-Hunter was unable to rally his civilian army to retake the states before they became established by themselves- or worse. . . be absorbed by the now independent Kusalom. Wishing to avoid a military takeover in the future, as many of the former vassal states held no favorable opinion of the Kusalomic administrations expansionist attitude; the new states signed renewed vassal-treaties and trade agreements with their former, and now current, parent and quickly flourished under a renewed Landorian banner. Having annexed nearly all of the states that declared independence during the latter years of the reign of the great King, Elessar Shadow-Hunter; his successor cast off the Kingship and enthroned himself as Emperor Everin ShadowHunter in the year 545. Now, her strength recovered, Landoria seeks to conquer the rich lands of neighboring Eulyros. To that end, Everin commanded the fielding of an expedition in 548 to be placed under the command of the celebrated veteran Landorian commander, Madfast Hillborn. As the expedition set out to the North they encountered little resistance and construction began on the Capital of New Aidolon, in memory of a land from Landorias past, long abandoned. From this new city- the influence of Landoria could not be denied, soon the entirety of Eulyros would be under the command of a grand Empire. Then again. . .

Kusalom:

The Duchy of Kusalom, once a stalwart ally of the Landorian Kingdom, fell away from its subservient attitude following the death of beloved Lord-Duke Nicholas Fandon in the year 540, and in 542 it too seceded from the Kingdom and set out to conquer the lands of its fellow vassals. The Wars of Kusalomic Annexation lasted from 542545, and when they were completed both Landoria and Kusalom emerged as the two dominant powers of Arminia, having split the land between them. Emboldened by his success and envious of his Landorian counterpart, young Lord-Duke, Dorian Agalor Fandon, proclaimed himself Emperor of Kusalom and began to greedily monitor the more temperate lands that belonged to the Landorians for any sign of weakness. Then it isnt any surprise that as the Landoria Expedition prepared for its sojourn into Eulyros, a counter-part was being created in Kusalom. To be led by the Emperor himself- a force of the fearsome Kusalomic Knights, builders, laborers, architects, and some of the greatest scientific minds marched northward, and with great bravado they built an Imperial highway from Kusalom Keep as they went to send a message to Landoria: Eulyros belongs to Kusalom. Settling deeper into the country then the Landorians- and locating the vast snowy peaks way up in the hinterlands, the capital of VhorDaen was founded.

Church of the Holy Cube:

The Church of the Holy Cube is an ancient organization that predates most of the known kingdoms of today. It has roots in some of the earliest texts of recorded history, and its influence is far-reaching. The worship of the Church focuses around a holy block, the first block, through which the rest of the world is formed by the Gods. Though both Landoria and Kusalom rule themselves, they both host the Church of the Holy Cube as their state religion and have numerous temples, cathedrals, and churches throughout their settlements. Over time the Church has grown into a sort of nation in its own right, even going so far as to move its headquarters from Marseni (the capital of Landoria) to a new holy city. As its influence continued to grow, the reigning High Priest became as much a player in politics as the leaders of both nations. Because of its close ties with both kingdoms, the Church was inevitably brought along with them both as they expanded to the new world. The church has no official settlements in the new land besides its bases within Kusalomic and Landorian towns, though rumors abound of a holy city called Ipsus being constructed out in the wilds.

Premise:
People can be Kusalomanians, Landorians, Crusaders, or ANY new thing they choose to create that is native or NOT native to Eulyros. Through the admin factions we will be controlling the flow of the game, and ultimately, if it is the will of the player, the Expeditionary forces will fail to conquer the land.

Technical Wizardry:
Time
I propose we use Minecraft time only to keep track of important IG (in-game) dates. As InternetNinja and I discussed earlier, time will only be used to keep track of events sanctioned by the admin team. For example, say there is an important siege: we will want to keep track of that particular date so we will move the official time forward. We predict these events will happen with regularity so things suddenly appearing will not become a serious Lore-breaking problem. After all, weve left things open to user-created storyline, so we should give our players leeway to create as they wish and accommodate them with important historical timelines as needed. Lets use the calendar thusly. Say something happens in winter: then the event is said to have happened: 42rd Day of the Season of Winter, 548 1 Landorian Age . . . which can be written shorthand as: Winter-42 , 548 [1 LA] Because there are only four seasons, there are roughly 91 days in every season except winter which has 92 for a total of 365 days in a calendar year. As a personal note here: I like this system, because Ive always wanted to say it nd was the 32 day of the month!
nd st st

Currency
The standard currency of Eulyros will be the Kusalomanian Mark, shortened to Marks on the users interface. This currency will be used as a medium of trade and will not have a tangible marker or item in-game. This will give us the ability to use automatic-player shops and for trade to flourish even when merchants are not online. To that end we should look into NPCs to give player shops a better hint of realism (but only if it doesnt kill our available memory). The ways to get Marks will be, killing monsters, and selling material to the admin owned stores in the 3 original capital settlements.

Land Claiming:
Much like in AoM, we will have a land-claiming thread, but unlike AoM we will have different sets of rules for different types of claims:

Large Projects- A project which is designed to encompass a large area (75sq Blocks+) and have multiple players
working on it together. Kingdoms, empires, large towns, forts, and fortresses all fall into this category. You must mark the boundaries of your land with torches at a distance no greater than 10 blocks apart. (you may also utilize other blocks for boundary markers so long as at least one torch is included and the markers are no greater than 10 blocks apart.) Claims must be accompanied by a forum post in the appropriate thread with the reason for the claim and other appropriate information which will be expanded upon later.

Claims must also have an accompanying map of the claim, using MS Paint, or whatever other programs you see fit to use: as long as the entire claim is outlined (EoE will provide overview maps of the terrain for you to use.) General coordinates of the area (XYZ) are required. Claims are first come first serve.

One man MAY NOT claim land for a large town, fortress, city, or Kingdom. A dedicated group with a dedicated forum thread must be formed before land can be claimed for large projects.

Small Projects-A project which is designed to encompass a small area (-75sq Blocks) and have multiple players
working on it together. Modest homes, small villages, manor estates, Inns, and outposts all fall into this category. You must mark the boundaries of your land with torches at a distance no greater than 10 blocks apart. (you may also utilize other blocks for boundary markers so long as at least one torch is included and the markers are no greater than 10 blocks apart.) There is no requirement to provide a map of your claim.

General coordinates of the area (XYZ) are required. One man MAY be allowed to claim enough land for a modest home, small village, manor estate, or other small-scale project. However, lore-related reasons must be provided for the structure. However, in the case of villages or projects designed to house more than the builder or his family an appropriate forum thread must be provided.