The City-State of Luciensburg (Settlement Application)

[Neckbeardicus Prime, Riblord of Aesterwald 2136]

Settlement PRO MC Name: Sir_Niccum

 

Settlement Owners MC Name: Sir_Niccum, @Lionbileti, @Aengoth, @Temp(Rancidhound), @aiden0023, @ausubung(venstreni)

 

Settlement Name: Luciensburg

 

Proposed Settlement Locations (Highlight 3 on the map):

As per server rules, we are looking to upgrade our lair (Metina_Lair) to a settlement, lest further discussion and direction is made necessary by way of staff.

 

Settlement Lore (could include previous roleplay posts showing involvement with the community) (1000 words minimum):

Spoiler

 

The settlement of Luciensburg is the synthesis of two factions: the indigenous Metinan Company who initially settled the area-in-question and a group of Sedanian and Savoyard refugees led by Lukas Castile and Olivier Renault de Savoie, respectively. With the revolt ending hastily in-favor of the Imperial status quo, those refugees averse to the modernist Haeseni state fled south to the lands that border the Grand Kingdom of Urguan— a great forest occupied by petty sellswords under the employment of Bernard de Salier in his “Metinan Company”.

 

The Metinan Company itself is a confederation of outcasts and otherwise down-on-their-luck men. Shortly after arriving on the continent with his nephew, Renault, Bernard de Salier went into business with Arvedth Brodans of Ackaland— a mythical land in its own right— and established a fledgling enterprise of hired hands. Settling within the carmine walls of Karosgrad, the Company held secret meetings with the newly-crowned King Heinrik to discuss discreet employment by the state. Their presence illegal without a royal writ, the motley band went about taking foreign contracts so as to not alert the kingdom’s overzealous authorities or their Barclay oligarchs, who held a monopoly on government and military positions. Though their flow of coin was unhampered for a while, a series of notorious contractual incidents in the fledgling settlement of Talon’s Port led to the company’s banishment on grounds of banditry.

 

Quickly settling into the carmine walls of Karosgrad, the Metinans faced harsh opposition from the ruling class of the city— their sole quality permitting residence coming from claiming Vander lineage. The begrudged hospitality of the king came to a head, however, when the antics of the company caused severe damage to the city gate. At the same time, parties sent out from the fledgling city-state of Talon’s Port had been courting the favor of Haeseni elites. Given a choice between conscription and the noose, the Company fled to the gates of Providence in the Holy Orenian Empire. 

 

Upon arriving, Arvedth Brodans used local business contacts through the Novellen Company to arrange a meeting with members of the Imperial government. There they confessed a tale in which the Haeseni monarch put them up to molesting Orenian traders abroad as a larger foreign policy goal. Though the bureaucrats showed interest in the story, any notion of contract or award was dismissed. Finding no welcome, the Company found its armory confined to the wretched basement of a Raev shack near Southbridge— surviving from the income gained from their participation in petty feuds and their reliance to toe moral grey lines. This status quo did not last and the Company’s lukewarm welcome was snuffed after an altercation between Master Bernard and the city guards, where the company master was beaten and left to die after a verbal jousting with several of the city gatekeepers. In retaliation, a companyman managed to stalk and murder several of those involved before being arrested himself and barely talking his way out of a noose.

 

All this time, the Company had been scouting locations for an independent base of operations— free of assault from any native lord or clan. Finding an extensive cave network in the great Southern forest on the Almaran continent, the Metinans took flight to settle within its confines, eventually constructing a fort atop the highest hill in the land.

 

While the Metinans had been operating in Imperial borders, they had come into contact with soldiers sworn to Louis de Joannes— the Goats of Sedan. Striking up a casual relationship between drinks and dice, the two parties maintained a loose network of communication and cooperation. Unbeknownst to the Company, the Sedanians had been experiencing their own share of abuse at the hands of the Imperial bureaucracy. When their militant charter was inexplicably revoked by the Imperial government, the group continued to exist illegally before receiving a charter to operate under the Canonist Church.

 

Summary of the Sedanian Rebellion: 

After the vassalization of Sedan under the Orenian Empire, Sedan had formed the Goats of Sedan, the militia of Sedan headed by Alexander de Joannes. Once the militia was formed, the group had several victories, their most notable two being the successful rescue raid of Tiberius Hartcold from Sutica and a skirmish against the Farfolk.

 

In 1808, a harvesting festival was held in Providence, a meeting between vassals taking place at the same time in the palace. At this meeting, relations escalated as Virgil DeNurem publicly assaulted Louis de Joannes, attacking him and denouncing Louis as “a disgrace to the Empire.” After hearing the shouts from the palace, Lukas Castile and Peter de Joannes rushed to the meeting, finding the door to be locked. Lukas demanded for the door to be opened after recognizing the screams to be Louis’, attempting to bash open the door to get in. The room then fell quiet for a minute, Virgil left the room, silent. Lukas demands for the Imperial Knight to halt, however, he refuses and continues to walk out of the palace. Lukas had then forcibly stopped Virgil, causing Emperor Joseph II to leave the meeting hall as well to see the commotion that Lukas caused at the front entrance of the palace. Joseph II commanded Lukas to let Virgil leave, Lukas hesitantly letting him do so. These events had caused increased tensions between Sedan and Oren.

 

After several years of the militia being formed, the government of Oren called the Goats for a private meeting discussing their militia. Due to militias being illegal under the ORC, despite the Goats getting specific permission from the Emperor to have the militia in the Empire, the Arch-Chancellor Franz Sarkozy denounced the militia, calling for the Goats to be disbanded. However, the Arch-Chancellor decided that in order to appease the group after disbanding them, he would write up a contract to have the Goats assimilate themselves as an auxiliary branch under the ISA. Due to the unfairness of the contract towards the Goats, Alexander de Joannes and Lukas Castile declined the offer.

 

Despite the militia being disbanded, the group quickly went to Jude II, Pontiff of the Church of Canon, to ask for a knightly order. After the generosity of the Pontiff, Lukas Castile, Alexander de Joannes, Louis de Joannes, and Owyn de Joannes were knighted, forming the Chapter of Saint Alexander and the Holy Goat, nicknamed as “The Goats of Sedan.” However, forming this chapter was frowned upon by the Empire.

 

Roughly two years after the knightly chapter was formed, the Orenian government held a meeting with the Pontiff to discuss the knightly chapter. Once the meeting concluded, the Pontiff disbanded the Goats of Sedan.

 

After the disbanding of the Goats of Sedan, Oren had declared the citizens of Sedan to be traitors towards the Empire; the Empire’s reason for coming to this conclusion was of the following: failure to pay their property taxes to the Empire, operation of an illegal military organization, and declaring public dissatisfaction towards the Empire and the Emperor. During this time those within Sedan had reached out to Master-and-Proprietor Bernard de Salier to establish a contract with the Metinan Company. Renault de Salier was sent to negotiate terms with Olivier Renault, Havelock and Prince Louis of Sedan. Following terms being agreed upon between the parties a Metinan Banner was planted in Sedan as a symbolic gesture. Because of this public denouncement of the Sedanian people by the Empire, the Imperials took Caius de Joannes, a child, into custody within a few days of the contract being created. This caused immediate action from Sedan, conducting a rescue raid to save Caius with one-fifth of the soldiers being Metinan Mercenaries. In the midst of the conflict between the two, Caius was able to flee from the custody of the Imperials, fleeing to Sedan. After these events, Sedan had declared themselves independent from Oren, declaring themselves as the Principality of Sedan.

 

Oliver Renault, who at the time was one of the leaders of the Sedanian Rebellion, had been the one who had formally hired the Metinan Company to help in the protection of Sedan. The Company had fought in the Battle of Southbridge, which was one of the major battles during the Sedanian Rebellion with Bernard, Arvedth, and Renault each rallying for the defence of Sedan. Despite the battle resulting in an Orenian victory, the Company helped bolster the numbers of the Sedanian rebels. As Oren and Sedan began to size one another up it was found that less than half of Sedan’s anticipated numbers were able to bolster the defences. Of the thirty soldiers remaining the Metinan Company made up nearly a half. This realization resulted in the Spring Contingency being planned by Prince Louis of Sedan. During this planning phase the Company had maintained a strong relation with Olivier Renault who had discovered old documents of his ancestor Jon Renault. With these documents detailing a grand city the Metinan Company sought to see them realized with Olivier and his close companion Lukas Castille. After the burning of the Sedanian manor, the Company began its march home, now with its numbers bolstered by the faction of Sedan that did not want to seek refuge in Haense.

(Additional groups may contribute to the background of the city's establishment, so I might extend this even more in the coming days)

ADDITIONAL POSTS:

https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/199116-lair-app/

 

 

Settlement Government Structure Explanation:

The city-state of Luciensburg is to be led first and foremost by a council of its founding nobility, the Domini. At the head of this council is the mercenary Bernard de Salier as regent, or “Interrex”. Each of the additional members on the council fulfil roles much like a traditional feudal privy council. Since it is a council of nobles, those who prove their noble lineage and have the manpower to support their claims are eligible for a seat on the council, so long as they convince a majority of those already seated to vote in their favor.

 

At the city-level is the Council of Commoners, strictly for the lowborn. It is responsible for managing the general laws and revenues of the city and its immediate area, as well as electing executive town officials such as the Lord Mayor (strictly a lowborn position) and stewardry. Each household in the city (there are 38 households in the city pomerium) is allowed a single vote, while other household occupants are allowed to vote for a fee. The head of the Council of Commoners, the Lord Mayor, convenes over the council’s operations. He holds an unprecedented amount of power as the sacrosanct protector of the commoners— able to intervene in affairs between nobles and commoners to protect his folk— though he must legally keep his doors unlocked around the clock to hear the pleas of his peers. Interference with his power is punishable by death. Under him are the stewardry, who maintain a census of occupied households, collect rents, and evict squatters.

 

Settlement Builds and Infrastructure (photos required):

Spoiler

 

 

 

How does this settlement offer a unique niche not already found in an existing polity on the server?:

This settlement offers a unique niche not already found in an existing polity by re-exploring a strictly feudal human nation, unlike the great royal bureaucracies of the Haeseni Kingdom and Orenian Empire which both share very similar centralized policies. With multiple sources of power combining in the city, intrigue and conflict within its walls is bound to occur, creating a gunpowder environment that is fun for players old and new. Unlike the modern, progressive tendencies of the other nations, we value the “regressive” nature of actions and desperately want the internal role-play conflict that is barred elsewhere. We feel that our extremely simpilized city republic will be a boon to new and younger players who can additionally form together and find power through the sword. This will re-introduce a more dynamic element to the server by promoting more conflict. In particular groups that want to “climb the ladder” and pursue a more guild focused style of roleplay similar to Anthos/Athera will benefit from this sort of city due to its decentralized and less controlled nature as opposed to the more centralized nations that are the norm.

I would like to further emphasize that it is not our group's intention to recreate or ride on the tails of past polities. It is our whole intention to create a new polity with its own culture and customs.

 

How does your settlement tie to the greater lore and narrative set by the community on LotC?:

Luciensburg is deeply ingrained in the greater lore and narrative set by the Lord of the Crafty community. Its core is formed by the descendants of the ancient houses of Savoie and Rovin, the city itself named after the progenitor of the Savoyard line: High Pontiff Saint Lucien I. The genesis of the group is rather fresh in that it is the result solely of in-character happenings; while the de Saliers and their Company of Metinans were already settling in the area, the de Savoies and Castiles are refugees from the besieged manor at Sedan and the de Astrea lineage is responding to a call for Savoyard unity. This settlement is built on the foundation of houses disgruntled and unable to work within the more progressive confines of the currently established Canonist nations.

 

Have you ever run a settlement on LoTC before and what experience do you have with leadership within roleplay communities among the current groups of players?:

Spoiler

 

During Athera, some of my infamous companions and I ran one of the most active settlements on the server (Vanderfell, Kingdom of Aesterwald), that consistently topped nation activity metrics before its demise. Beforehand, we were jointly responsible for leading the Order of Saint Lucien— a church order that was the exception to the rule on Lord of the Craft for it had nearly fifty active players at its peak. I have since formed and lead various smaller groups and experiments such as the Company of the White Cross, Johannesburg Capital Police, Velian settlement at Colonia Acquium, High Marshal of the Joannites in the War of the Two Emperors, and The Metinan Company; as well as having led efforts in the Grand Kingdom of Urguan and Trade Nation of Sutica.

 

Lionbileti has been on the server for years now and has played both diplomatic and martial roles in that time. His characters have been in high leadership roles in the nations of Courland, Renatus, and Norland— the later of which he was a nation leader twice. 

 

Aengoth has been a longtime Dwarf player and role-play creator, having played his namesake dwarf Aengoth Starbreaker for nearly a decade. With that character, Aengoth was thrice the leader of the Starbreaker clan and twice the High Priest of the Brathmordakin. He has additionally played minor human characters throughout the years, notably in Anthosian Salvus, the Order of Saint Lucien, and Company of the White Cross. 

 

Rancidhound is a longtime Event Team member and was a co-organizer of hardcore event lines in the MANTICORE Initiative and Mordskov. He has held high positions in nations before, having been the spymaster of the First Orenian Empire and the leader of the Hounds of Petrus— a nation military in Athera— as well as a longtime officer in the famous Order of the White Rose.

 

With us are the newer players Venstreni and aiden0023. Venstreni was part of the leadership of Esbec and its associated monster hunting guild, and would like to emphasize that he is an A+ student in school. Aiden’s characters have already held high positions despite his brief time on the server: he was once general of the Ves City Guard, one of three core leaders of Ravensburg (which was one of the most active charters last map), and one of four core leaders of the recent Sedanian revolt in Oren.

 

 

Do you understand the metrics for maintaining activity and the grounds for settlement removal, along with the standing polity cap?:

We understand that, as per the rules, we will be expected to maintain 1% of server activity as a settlement. We understand that failure to maintain that activity for three consecutive weeks or for the majority of weeks out of two months will flag our settlement for eviction and removal.

[Zindran 306]

This application has been accepted! You will be contacted by WT management via discord soon.