Draeris

LAURENCE’S MISSION TO HYSPIA Adelric Barclay had summoned Cardinal Laurence Albarosa & Ailred Cardinal Reinmar to mediate a dispute between the Hyspians, led by Prince Antonia de Rivera, and the Sutican government. Adelric had in the months prior, investigated the Hyspians & their way of life: finding their newfound Canonist ideals to be oppressed by their liege, and their cultural self-determination undermined by a foreign culture. The Holy Mother Church, sympathetic to all Canonists that wish to stand close to the faith, heeded Adelric’s petition to invest themselves in this ongoing issue. His Majesty the Trade King composed himself reasonably towards the Hyspians and the Papal Delegation: offering a clear and concise path forward for the Hyspians, who would not be displaced if their negotiations with their liege did not lead to a workable conclusion. These agreements are mediated and backed by the Holy Mother Church, who assumes nothing but good spirited cooperation to follow from these talks. Laurence Cardinal Albarosa will remain in Hyspia to oversee this process, and to aid these young Canonists in their growth to a proper diocese and Canonist culture. It is with great rejoice that the Holy Mother Church and the Hyspian Prince, Antonio de Rivera, can declare Adelric Barclay as the ‘Hero of Hyspia’: who, along with the Hyspian people, is grateful for the Holy Mother Church’s dedication to the preservation of Canonist interests. The people of Hyspia furthermore declare House Barclay to be a permanent friend to their people, and the Albarosan clergy their eternal shepherds that shall lead their flock to proper worship. Both the Albarosan Prince-Archbishop & the House of Barclay gained honorary citizenship to Hyspia. Ailred Cardinal Reinman, with Alderic & the Palatinate Guard, return to the Holy See to report to His Holiness on what had transpired.

“So this is when I told her that I hated wig-“ “SHH!” Adrian interrupted, pressing his finger against his lips: both kneeling in the corner of Prince Philip's playroom in Johnstown. “What?” Judith Helvets exclaimed in sheer irritation, pushing Adrian slightly. Before Judith could speak further, Adrian would cover her mouth with his palm, beckoning to something above them. [!] Hovering over the two, was the left ear of Empress Anne. The ear spastically rotated from its floating position, desperately looking for any Helvets that would commit the crime of wrongspeak. Adrian would then whisper to Judith: “Her Imperial Majesty can hear anything.. Anywhere..”

“Quite adorable” Adrian would state, looking briefly at the document on notice board of New Reza “Half of the youth in Helena would never even earn the badge of Skill. In Urbe living rots the brain..” he would shake his head, continuing on his travel to the capital.

Homophobia is whack dawg

Capital looks like Disney land please god help us 😞

After many years on the counter: the time has come for me to depart from this community and move on with my life. I greatly appreciate my time on here and will leave with a lot of fond memories of people and experiences, that often transcended the medium of LotC and became memorable moments for me. No other game or online community to date has been so influential socially, and has made me feel as invested in its continued existence. Many friends I met on here have taken their seat at the table in my real life, meeting me on vacations or finding out that we go to the same school(s), cities, or circle(s). These friendships and experiences are something invaluable that LotC has given me: and for that, I will always be thankful to this community. While I had long felt the urge to finally close the LotC chapter: I always had too many friends, too many stakes and too much emotional investment in this server to leave. And why would I leave, as for most of the ride I really enjoyed my time here. My temporary ban and a horrid ongoing affair were the push I needed to finally check out. I want to apologize to everyone that had to endure me at my worst. Moments where I was excessively crude, incapable, or emotional. Even though most of my bad encounters can be attributed to my defensiveness, nonchalance or sense of justice for my friends: it filled my track record with disgusting stains regardless. And I genuinely feel bad for all the burned bridges that were uncalled for because of it. On the other hand, leaving this community that I feel genuine warmth towards does not feel voluntary to me. Continuing to have my ban reviewed, or to appeal when the time’s up, simply feels like a band aid on a grotesque stab wound. Since November I had to defend myself against false allegations from a player that made me seem utterly horrific and disgusting. Despite my innocence being proven with evidence, and a remarkable portion of players apologizing for their initial doubt in me, too much damage has been done for me to realistically enjoy LotC anymore. It has become a symbol of all the times that ‘friends’ started to openly question my morality, that my partner was contacted OOCly and that I had to fight and lobby to join even the smallest group on this server. Everywhere I went, my friends had to deal with ‘warnings’ and my superiors were sent ‘essays’ about me. While I wholeheartedly recognize that I was a toxic and troubled player in my own right, I know and my friends know that I never was the antagonist that I was made out to be. Our truth was heard and it mattered. I just do not feel the energy and will anymore to fight for every step forward on what should be a fun and relaxing medium. It makes my departure very sour, as I always hoped to leave in remembrance of all the great things that came to be because of this Minecraft server. Fortunately, there is little I regret and a lot that I have learned from, and that comfort is something that nobody was able to take from me. Thank you all so much for the unique and sometimes bizarre experience here on LotC, and I hope that everyone on here can find their happy out there.

"She'd rather want a man that smokes Rochefort's" Laurence would shake his head.

I didn’t mean to de-legitimize the past threads made on staff, the latest one being Harrison’s. What I meant with the sentence you quoted is basically in support of your criticism: that we found ourselves in a situation where unless big outrage is present, certain actions are not taken. That kind of mob rule may feel righteous because it is a moment where certain sentiments in the community are finally voiced, but I think we both agree that the system shouldn’t have failed in the first place. I hope that with the Safety Team, if there is overwhelming evidence of such a person roaming around: we can just go ahead and demand a(n investigation) ban. It would be a nice milestone if outrage threads are rendered obsolete, because people can venture to their staff teams again to address issues of whatever severity. Hopefully our team becomes obsolete in the future as well.

Thank you for your questions, I will do my best to respond to them. I will only quote your bold questions in my post to avoid cluttering, but I will try to answer all questions below them as well. “In a case of sexual harassment where the safety team is approached, what evidence is shown them?” In principle, if the Safety Team is approached, all evidence is visible to all members. This includes the two admins in our chat. This principle isn’t always applied however, as it does depend on how a case comes to our team. If the player comes to us directly, he or she will be put in a specific channel where we organize the evidence, case, et cetera. This channel is visible to the entire Safety Team: but players need to consent to this. If they do not want a specific person involved in the process: not only would the person in question recuse him/herself from the case and voting, but also from the process entirely. If the admins delegate a case to us, I will talk with the admin(s) involved to see how we will proceed with said case. Maybe certain specifications are given surrounding our handling of said case, which might change the answer to your question. But a scenario in which person A doesn’t want Safety member B to be involved, but B remains involved, will not exist on the Safety team. This will change who sees the evidence of a case, obviously. “Based on what criteria are new members chosen?” This question is more for Telanir as I did not have a say in the recruitment of this team. I was appointed Safety Manager after its foundation. Though from my experience, Telanir looked at our OOC credentials, affinity with the subjects involved (such as dealing with emotional situations, potential high (dis)stress, that you’re able to deal with the fact that you might become a target yourself, HR, et cetera) and a series of conversations held between himself and myself, where I had to answer questions about my motive or my experiences with certain subjects. What the contents were of the background check I went through, why I was entrusted and the other person was not, is something only Telanir would be able to answer. The roster isn’t definitive and is the only reason why Telanir will proceed with a new public announcement sometime later. Past infractions and public image are relevant, but not leading in the recruitment to this team. If you know my personal history on LotC for example, you might learn that people related to Courland 3 years ago or certain individuals in Haense are on hostile terms with me. You see comments appear on some forum posts or discords about my temper, a harassment accusation, jabs at my character, etc. While on one hand it is relevant to know why this sentiment exists and to what extend it is to blame to my own poor conduct, on the other hand, you must realize that nearly everybody has a similar story to tell. If we were to take all criticism or people’s luggage at face value, nobody that actively participated in communities on LotC would be qualified. You’d have to get total outsiders to which the community wouldn't respond positively as well: as seen by the levied criticism of admins “never logging on and talking to the community” etc. I believe staff like Hunwald are a perfect example of this: loved by one side, hated by others, exposed to do controversial things, but yet remains a highly competent GM that their team wants and basically needs. Needless to say, background checks were held. The fact that I’m here talking to you as the Safety Manager means that Telanir didn’t consider my luggage bad enough for it to sow doubt about my character or competency. Though the rosters aren't final, and maybe even I won't be on the next one. That is up to Telanir. “What pex will the safety team have?“ As our forum roles and IG roles need to be finalized, as far as I know, we’d only get access to logs, fly and invisibility. This is not final however, and is still subject to change. I think this will be cleared up in the official announcement 2.0 made by Telanir. “Why does it feel rushed?” Only some aspects of the entire project were rushed. The announcement was done relatively early because we felt that it should be known that we were handling the GGT – Harrison case, which was exposed quite extensively in Harrison’s thread. We knew this thread was coming, and didn’t want to leave an impression that their concerns weren’t heard. Telanir was on a flight however and we ended up coordinating it with Flamboyant and LotsOfMuffins, who finalized the post with us & the forum rank. Because the announcement was rushed, the project feels rushed. But I can assure that even before we came into the picture, the idea for this team, its jurisdiction and functionality has all been thought out by Telanir and then eventually by the rest of the team. It was made as a follow up to the “We have a crisis” post. “I personally am not entirely against the idea of the safety team, but there are a lot of factors that come into play here that have not been explained to us properly. “ We understand and regret that in the chaos we decided to poorly announce ourselves. But I hope that through answering DM’s, threads like these, future announcements by Telanir and myself and the conclusion of cases such as GGT/Harrison one: we can answer all your questions and show the community that we sit behind this wheel with expertise and good intentions.

Bit late to the thread, but I felt it was necessary to respond. The Safety Team's internal vetting and membership involves a degree of OOC that makes us at least more accountable than other layers of staff: because Telanir and Tythus would know our real life names, OOC employment, et cetera. This does not fully terminate the risk of ‘accelerating grooming’ or makes our team infallible, but it at least is a step to avoid misuse of our power or our ability to hide behind this staff title. We fall under intense scrutiny and I personally feel responsible for the quality of help and oversight we can give to players who feel psychologically harmed in this community, or find their ability to participate in it undermined severely. We wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment that if criminal or psychologically-harmful events take place, the victim should alert all proper organizations and/or the authorities. We can not, and will not try to, replace the role of actual police, family members or close ones. As a matter of fact, we will constantly suggest the involvement of parents or the authorities if the severity of the situation justifies that. But the fact remains that we have an active policy where we say as a server: we do not want certain people, who commit certain acts, on here. For this policy to be enforced: you need a team that adheres to a protocol and handles these cases, or else you'd get arbitrary enforcement or like in the previous cases: mob rule. It's ridiculous that it requires community outrage or a cohesive exposé on an individual for the responsible people to enforce rules, remove the person in question, et cetera. We cannot force people to trust us as a team, but I will personally put in the work to ensure that we show trustworthy conduct. As much as the launch of this team proceeded in a chaotic fashion, we must not forget that our mandate on this server is highly serious. All I can say for now is: please criticize us, reach out to us and keep us accountable. On our end we will help you do this by giving people that interact with us full access to all documents, transcripts, call recordings & arguments regarding their case. In the end, only time will tell if we managed to establish a team that helps this server or contributes to its existing problems with staff. Despite my own past wrongs and controversial history, I promise you to do my utmost best to stop the latter from happening. If you wish to join: please reach out to my discord so we can add you to the backlog of people to interview when we start to expand the team.

I’m glad the proper oversight is established over the Safety Team. Thank you, comrade.

The moderation team remains the norm in most cases and, unless players specify themselves or admins intervene, will go to the moderation team. I personally have extensive moderation experience outside of LotC and Xalid for example is an ex-GM. Others have experience in that field as well. Yes, not only did we have to send in our OOC resumes, but we also had to describe our experiences with (sexual) harassment, etc. My experience comes from being the chairman of multiple chapters and political organizations in my country, where I had to deal with a major HR component and resolve conflicts with that theme. Please await the safety page for more information about our credentials and how we can be held accountable.

Dear friends of LotC, In Telanir’s “We have a Crisis” post, he described a new initiative that he would take regarding the safety of its players within this community. This came after a series of incidents within our layers of staff and players alike, shaking the server and its trust in the staff team to its core. From this initiative, after two months of extensive conversation and brainstorming, we can now proudly announce the birth of LotC’s Safety Team. We will now proceed to answer the relevant questions: First things first: We are aware of the thread made by Harrison regarding the ban of Narthok, Swifty_Sam and Ggteixeira, and we are investigating the case mentioned. We have already engaged with both Harrison and Ggteixeira in what we experienced as a productive and good conversation. Updates regarding the case will be given privately to those involved. We just wish to express: we hear you. In response, we are going to speak with Hunwald and Dibbo9 regarding their decision to ban the players involved and see if everything has gone according to procedure and if all the information was applied correctly. This, however, does not dispute their great contribution to their server as diligent staff members, who, just like any human, do their jobs with the risk of making a mistake once or twice. We will look at the bigger picture of this case and resolve it accordingly. What does the Safety Team do? We ensure that all community members can feel safe when playing on the Lord of the Craft, with safety defined in its abstract sense. This can vary from harassment between players and groups, racism, sexism or more heavy topics such as grooming or pedophilia. Victims of any of the above can contact our team (contact details below) and initiate an investigation, from which the team shall decide how to proceed. The gravity of the situation will determine whether a Moderator or the Safety Team will handle the situation, if the victim hasn’t approached the Moderation team in the first place. After investigations conclude, the Safety Team decides what type of sanction or reform is necessary to not only bring justice for the victim(s): but how such a situation can be avoided in the future. Who is on the Safety Team and why? The initial recruitment process was done by Telanir through his personal E-mail, where applicants shared their real life resumes, credentials and experiences that justify their presence on this team. The focus was heavily put on finding members outside of existing staff teams to avoid bias and implement a form of community representation within this team. After Telanir’s selection, the following safety team members are recruited. Draeris Draeris#4899 Safety Manager DoctorD DoctorD#6351 Safety Team HR Xalid Xalid#7248 Safety Administrative Team Hedgehug Hedgehug#2111 Safety Team Member ArborGold ArborGold#7019 Safety Team Member Future additions to the team will be mentioned in the Safety Page, which is a w.i.p. For the LotC website. If you wish to join, please contact the Safety Team Manager (Draeris) or Telanir. Will there be persecution? Often when teams announce policy surrounding ERP, harassment, et cetera, a large portion of our community fears that it would mean in practice that being a controversial player, making politically incorrect jokes or participating in memeing means flirting with a ban hammer. Although we will not stray from the conventional guidelines that are enshrined in the rules, a general clarification would seem in place considering this existing sentiment. When we judge players over abstract and subjective things such as harassment, racism, et cetera, we look at the whole picture surrounding this player. For members of any community or any staff team to feign innocence as an individual, is an unsustainable model if we wish to actually enforce sanctions for the reasons stated above. In the end everyone at some point to someone would probably have stated something offensive, controversial or politically improper. We will take these words into account, but only in the context of the situation given. We will be extremely communicative in what details we have taken into account and will provide arguments for our verdict. Furthermore, every verdict will be made collectively as a team: personal bias or history with any member of the Safety team will not influence a verdict. We hope that due to our strict enforcement of neutrality and high standard of communication with the community, we can terminate the sentiment of arbitrary punishment or the staff being the fun police on this server once and for all. What are your next steps? We expect to finalize our handbook soon, in which we transparently structurize how we deal with certain situations and how we maintain proper functionality within the team. Furthermore, we will properly integrate this team into LotC: establishing a Safety page with our contact details, better visibility, proper permissions on the server necessary for investigation and establishing communication with other staff members. At last we will prepare for a new round of recruitment for this team, which we hope to have completed by the end of january. We will do our best to maintain a high standard of safety and social quality on this server. We wish to thank Telanir for understanding the severity behind the need for safety in an online community. We also wish to thank that community in advance for its cooperation and mutual dedication to make this server a place that is fun and safe for all of us. Yours truly, The Safety Team

Frankly, I get it. Defining the line between innocent political humor and genuine racism, hatespeech, etc is a very hard thing to do. Usually jokes of an offensive nature are done within a context of a friendgroup or pretext. It is hard for an outsider like a mod to take this into account, leading to either too weak or too heavy of a response. It's better to keep a Minecraft roleplay community focused on minecraft roleplay in its discourse: plenty of room for edgy humor and inside jokes in your personal Discord groups.

Narthok, you and I had an extremely toxic relationship together, and we found ourselves on opposite sides most of our runs on LotC. But credit where it’s due: the many people that didn't manage to permanently piss you off were treated well by you. You seemed like a good community lad and a fine bloke when it comes to leadership and standing up for your friends. Just that makes you already a valuable contribution to this server and makes it regretful that you'll have to leave. Godspeed with your real life and hopefully you'll find a pastime as satisfying as LotC.

“The substance seems to criticize the Emperor, yet the main target is Haense?” Reinhard would mutter, reading over the missive “sensibility is dead just like that Kogami merchant: spontaneous, convenient & just for the sake of it.” he would sip some wine like John de Balain constantly does when making comments “They might be good at fighting but boy do they lack in social skills. Can’t wait to defeat them only to see them randomly angry again in another sovereign state.”

That was quite the humiliation lmfao

THE HIROMI 裕美 GOVERNMENT: THE HIROMI KAIGI 裕美会議 CURRENT SETTLEMENTS: Koukyo (capital), Hifumi, Ennochi, Omusa, Ganbaru, Fujiwara, Miyachi, 40.068, 26.712, 13.091, 12.084, 11.395, 36, 28, total of 103.414 CURRENT EMPEROR: JIMMU FUJIWARA 1st Emperor of the Hiromi ROYALTY: Hatsuki Fujiwara, eldest son of Jimmu Koizumi Fujiwara, second son of Jimmu Hiromi Fujiwara, eldest daughter of Jimmu Mariko Sakashi, Empress CURRENT MURA’S: Hirofumi Sakashi of Koukyo, Fujiwara & Miyachi Watabe Katsuyuki of Hifumi Shinjiro Sugawara of Ennochi Yoshihide Kono of Omusa Takemoto Muranishi of Ganbaru --- KOUKYO THE HIROMI GO EAST The Hiromi expedition had found, to the pleasure of Mura Sakashi, two valleys where a settlement could be settled. These newfound hamlets were called Fujiwara and Miyachi respectively. As resources were gathered, farmlands were prepared and forests were planted, the hamlets would fall under control of the capital: with Mura Sakashi deemed responsible for whatever happens to the hamlets. If they are to grow to proper settlements, they would be Mura’s of their own. The expedition teams would scan the area for resources, specifically stone quarries, to determine whether these hamlets would be a mining or agrarian settlement in the future. The agrarian initiative went fairly well, with most urban housing now maintaining a small garden or farmplot depending on the size. The Hiromian society saw this as a sign of individual independence as much as collective responsibility, with a lot of social clubs for women forming around this new phenomenon. While the men would be out to work, the women now would tend to these agrarian installations as a hobby: the better your household yield, the more contributing your household was for the nation in general. Despite the scale being relatively small, if this trend maintains itself, it will be a massive aid against famines or future sanctions, if they were to come. HIFUMI THE SCIENTIST WILL FIND A WAY The Watanabe crisis was still unresolved, with many Hiromi scientists trying multiple compost formulas in the hope to find the one. Slightly better versions were found, which made the reforestation efforts just a little bit quicker. Merchants were stockpiling lumber in case the reforestation efforts failed, hoping to make a quick taiyou. ENNOCHI FORTIFICATIONS BEGIN Mura Sugawara began to slowly reconstruct the northern walls upon hearing about the reforestation efforts. An alliance with the Golden Kingdom was deemed imminent, but none believed the world itself was a friendly place. Hearing of Ganbaru’s new crankbow meant for Ennochi that the army still cared for its defense despite the eternal peace. In case the Watanabe crisis is solved, the Mura commissioned new plans for a residential district behind the northern inland walls, anticipating a consistent population growth. The ancient citadel was never imagined to be an Empire’s third city. The Mura had two choices essentially: either sent people to the new hamlets, or expand his city. He didn’t want to stagnate his population growth, but he couldn’t de the latter either. The future of Mura Sugawara's policy depended on compost. OMUSA THE SEA AS A WELL OF LIFE As fleets of fishermen boats bring in fish for the populace, Hiromian breeders would convene to discuss the rhythm needed in order to fish without rendering the sea empty of life. In the Hinto religion, everything had to be balanced, and the eternal growth of the Hiromi was not to undermine that. Looking at the stars as much as counting yields throughout the months, the Hiromi tried to pinpoint when the fish were breeding. If they were able to discover this, they would stop fishing before this season, and continue after all the eggs were placed. GANBARU THE CRANKBOW CAN BE MORE The crankbow became a hit in the Empire, with many wealthy citizens buying it as a decoration or for self defense. Despite this, the military was anxious to adopt these mass produced prototype weapons. While it rivaled a bow, it wasn't superior to it. The mechanism required strength and it was bigger than your average bow, it simply wasn’t economical. Understanding this, Ganbaru continued to experiment with upgrades for the Crankbow, hoping make its reload mechanism quicker, easier to use and its power greater. DIPLOMACY The eldest son, Hatsuki Fujiwara, was offered as a marital candidate to the Golden Kingdom, so that the countries could unite under this royal marriage. All prominent cities were offered a Mura status, meaning that their resources and tax income would be subject to greater autonomy. Furthermore, all existing nobility would keep their titles, but would be restyled to the framework of the Hiromi. RESEARCH Continued research: I.- Compost that increases the growth rate of tree saplings. II.- An upgraded version of the crankbow New research: I.-Cycles for responsible fishing MILITARY Hirofumi Sakashi of Koukyo, 2.415 manpower Watabe Katsuyuki of Hifumi, 1.128 manpower Shinjiro Sugawara of Ennochi, 819 manpower Yoshihide Kono of Omusa, 472 manpower Takemoto Muranishi of Ganbaru, 892 manpower

THE HIROMI 裕美 GOVERNMENT: THE HIROMI KAIGI 裕美会議 CURRENT SETTLEMENTS: Koukyo (capital), Hifumi, Ennochi, Omusa, Ganbaru 37.800, 25.200, 12.350, 11.400, 10.750, total of 97.500 CURRENT EMPEROR: JIMMU FUJIWARA 1st Emperor of the Hiromi ROYALTY: Hatsuki Fujiwara, eldest son of Jimmu Koizumi Fujiwara, second son of Jimmu Hiromi Fujiwara, eldest daughter of Jimmu Mariko Sakashi, Empress CURRENT MURA’S: Hirofumi Sakashi of Koukyo Watabe Katsuyuki of Hifumi Shinjiro Sugawara of Ennochi Yoshihide Kono of Omusa Takemoto Muranishi of Ganbaru --- KOUKYO THE HIROMI KAIGI CONVENES The island capital of Koukyo was thriving from trade with the other Mura’s; as trade vessels kept coming and going. In the top floor of the Higashi fortress the Mura’s convened in attendance of His Majesty Jimmu Fujiwara. The topics on the agenda were: I.- The deforestation of the Watanabe Forest II.- The expansion of distance defense capabilities III.- The eastward settling of the Hiromi Island IV.- The expansion of the Hiromi fleet For Koukyo, the small port hamlet on the mainland would prove to be a crucial logistic point. The city was prepared for a massive expedition sent eastwards into the northern part of the island. A couple of ships and a small cavalry convoy would stick to the coast as they wanted to find open fields for a new eastward settlement. The Hiromi Kaigi furthermore issued a new policy to all of its citizens with gardens or land, called the “Seichou Doctrine” , where the government would provide unused seeds from farms for the populace to grow themselves. This was an attempt to make the populace less reliant on the agricultural Mura’s of Omusa and Ganbaru, and facilitate population growth by providing more security to Hiromian families. HIFUMI DEFORESTATION IS TACKLED The second biggest city Hifumi was struggling to rival the magnetic attraction of the island Koukyo. Not only was the capital more fortified and economically stronger,but Hifumi was originally a military citadel: its infrastructure was not meant to handle a large population. With slums stretching awkwardly towards a sudden wall: separating the cramped urban landscape with the toxic swamps of the mainland island. Mura Watabe Katsuyuki struggled with the recent deforestation of the Watanabe forest, which was the primary source of lumber for the Hiromi. It had caused great concern in the Hiromi Kaigi: as a grand fortification project was anticipated in Ennochi. Therefore, the Mura would lobby in Koukyo for further help on this issue. In there, it was decided that a collective research effort was to be initiated by the best herbalists of the Empire to find a better compost to increase the growth of trees. ENNOCHI THE MURA GRINDS TO A HALT Mura Shinjiro Sugawara had ambitious plans for Ennochi to be more fortified in case of a Golden Kingdom offensive. However, the recent deforestation of Watanabe meant that for the time being, all construction was halted. Ennochi was the oldest city of the Empire, rumoured to be the birthplace of the famed Nakimoto dynasty who died out during the War of the Mura’s: an era in which the Hiromi were a less enlightened shogunate. If weren’t for the island benefit of Koukyo, Ennochi would be the most fortified city already. But the walls on the back that weren’t facing the coast & water were starting to rot and show signs of imminent collapse: as consistent neglection and economic priorities rendered the barely used defense wing useless. Scared by an offensive however, the Mura sent an envoy to the Golden Kingdom to discuss a treaty of trade. Golden Kingdom goods would be sold in the Hiromi Kingdom, in return for a non-aggression pact. The eastward expansion would be kept secret as to not instigate tension. OMUSA THE PEOPLE GO TO SEA Omusa was by no means a relevant player in the Empire, but was nevertheless ambitious to stay ahead of Ganbaru and overtake Ennochi, who now was facing bad circumstances. While traditionally an agrarian Mura, Yoshihide Kono thought it was time for a diversion. If he was to sell more goods to the Empire: his influence in the Hiromi Kaigi would increase exponentially. Therefore, he commissioned the construction of 25 fishermen boats who would start fishing the coastlines. They would mostly fish in the uninhabited area towards the east, as to avoid Kuokyo fishermen and the political fallout that could happen. Yoshihide furthermore sent out an excavation team in the region to look for the possibility of a stone quarry to rival that the one in Ganbaru and Koukyo. GANBARU A GARRISON IS FORMED Ganbaru once started as a trade outpost for Omusa, but has now become a village respectively. Being the farthest settlement from the capital, while also the closest to the uncharted continent, Mura Takemoto Muranishi felt it was necessary to prepare his populace for conflict. During the evening, all able-bodied men would train with the garrisoned soldiers and practice on dummies. They would not be enlisted in the army, but they were hoped to establish a soldier’s physique and basic battle skills. A missive would be sent to Koukyo & Hifumi for more investments in the city’s fortifications. Although a proper response would be unlikely, considering the Watanabe crisis. Ganbaru also instructed its engineers to review their bows for the possibility of an improved version. Renowned scientist Naofumi Hirama would attempt to combine the mechanics of drawbridges & levers to make the shooting of a bow easier, and thus better to use by lesser trained soldiers. DIPLOMACY A missive is send to the Golden Kingdom, inviting them to converse about the possibility of a trade- and non-aggression agreement. In return for promising to stay on the island, the Hiromi hope to appease the Golden Kingdom sufficiently for them to consider their neighbour a safe ally. RESEARCH I.- Compost that increases the growth rate of tree saplings. II.- A first version of a crossbow. MILITARY Hirofumi Sakashi of Koukyo, 2.300 manpower Watabe Katsuyuki of Hifumi, 1.075 manpower Shinjiro Sugawara of Ennochi, 780 manpower Yoshihide Kono of Omusa, 450 manpower Takemoto Muranishi of Ganbaru, 850 manpower

Discord: Draeris#4899 Civilisation (Name): Hiromians Capital (Name): Hiromi Government (Empire, Republic, etc, you may go into details): An oligarchy of feudal lords who oversee a mostly ceremonial emperor who in their religion is sent to earth to conquer it, (Shintoistic). Racial Distribution (Primary Race, probably minorities?): Hiromians (mankind) are ethnically very homogeneous, but are dealing with a small group of natives called the “Shibuna’s”. Racial traits (as needed): Yellow-ish skin, squinted eyes, generally a weaker physical posture although prone to collective work. Religion (Whatever you prefer, you may be creative): I will base it off Shintoism as the RP posts come. Technology & Arcana (that is notable; have you pursued magic? Be fair and remember to do tradeoffs): No magic at all. Description (Culture, history, politics etc): Obsessed with order & serving their spiritual leader the Emperor, the Hiromians participate in a very structured society that is driven on the idea of an eternal conquest of the entire realm. Ancient families have possessed the land for generations and employ most of the populace in collective-esque hamlets called “mura’s”. All the lords of the Mura’s gather in the Meeting of the Realm where they discuss and vote on affairs of state. Due to the nobility-oriented politics, most of the people are invested in the internal intrigue, succession and so forth. They have been struck by famine and a succession crisis when the current Emperor was a frail & weak baby. Although still frail, the Emperor is capable enough to perform his public functions and visit the Mura’s on the daily. Geography & location (As detailed as you wish, with a note on the map below as to where your realm would be in existence): On the island top right. Size (Tying in with racial distribution, as well as geographic location. Be just, the map is only that big): Several disconnected settlements along the western coast of the island, which are the Mura’s. ((Sorry on a phone but this is really exciting!))

((Nicely done!))

[!] touché

[!] The letter is trampled by the millions of citizens of Helena dancing to the tunes of a lawful and civilized society, nobody caring to pick up the now crumbled letter.