Laurelian

Built by: Hay - Arbiter Laurelian (also known as the Laurelian Nation) is a city-state located in the far northeast hemisphere of the Shire. Laurelian is a major settlement located along the northeast of the Shire. It can be found at /warp Laurelian. Established in 1796CE, Laurelian rose from the discovery of the lush continent upon which the city was built - becoming the permanent home of the once-gypsy nation of the Laurelii.

Laurelian Temple at night.

Laurelian Today

Laurelian is a peaceful, neutral Nation that does not currently align with any other Empire or Nation on the Shire. Because of its status as a growing state, the Laurelian Nation's encompassing focus is achieving self-sustainability, consistent growth and a powerful economy. Out of the Capitol District of Annapolis, Laurelian carries out international goodwill with many Shire Nations - creating lasting relationships with Heads of States and granting citizenship to many Shirelings. The nation's economy has received a massive boost since the completion of the Laurelian Galleria which is open for trade among established Shirelings and shopping for Yeomen and Mavens. Exponential economic growth was achieved for Laurelian with the completion of her International port and trade district of Portsmouth and the farming district of West Gray. As the city's population grows, the need for housing has become apparent and several new housing districts will be added to the city to support her citizens.

The People of Laurelian

Ancestry

The Laurelii ancestry can be dated ~38 centuries into the Shire's future and an untold number of universes away. The earliest generations of Laurelii were survivors of the Modaoran MIEA crash-landing from the planet Modaora in the 92nd century Betelgeuse solar system of an undetermined universal plane. Though alien, the Laurelii have many of the same physical characteristics and needs as their neighbors on the Shire with only few subtle differences. Among the most distinguishable characteristics of the Laurelii is their graceful, almost ethereal appearance which belies their surprising strength, determination and tolerance for great extremes of cold and heat. You can often find a Laureli casually enjoying sub-zero temperatures and conversely scorching heat.

Culture

The most significant part of Laurelian culture is their dedication to the power of the universe's energy. The Laurelii have a physiological relationship with this energy and their entire existence is shaped around this relationship. Because the Laurelii have an extreme physical sensitivity to the amount of solar energy on the Shire, they are nocturnal and build their nation to suit the needs of a nocturnal people. Children are taught at a very young age to meditate under the night sky and replenish and cleanse their energy source regularly. The architecture of Laurelian also reflects the connection the Laurelii wish to maintain with the night sky and heavenly bodies found in them. While they do not believe in the ideals of a named "one true God," they do follow a code of honor that can fall easily under simply being kind, fair and honest.

Adapting

The Laurelii have managed to maintain the technology brought with them from the MIEA ship and through relentless ingenuity, have been able to use their advanced technology to create sustainable power for their great nation while building with the resources and materials found locally. The Laurelii have learned to splice the few remaining crops from their MIEA stock with the crops found on the Shire. Through much trial and error, they've been able to grow crops which fits their unique needs. The Laurelii have made seafood a large part of their diet, having no taste for the meat of animals found on land. They learn more and more every day about the Shire weather patterns, seasons and climate. They've embraced oceanic travel with ships but continue to study the physics of air travel using local technology.

Census

As of January 2016, the number of Laurelian citizens was recorded to be 670,240.

Districts

Laurelian is a very young nation and grows every day. There are ten districts within Laurelian.

• Annapolis: Capitol district - /warp Laurelian
• Portsmouth: Port and International Trade district
• Blood Moon Bay: Laurelian Temple district
• Queen's Crown: Water district
• Riverbend: Mansion district
• Siren's Song: Range district
• Carpe Nocturne: Spirit Forest district
• Devil's Cane: Spirit Forest district
• Lake Sirena: Shopping and Trade district - /warp Galleria
• West Gray: Farming district

City History

The Darkest Night

Once again, after years of peace, The citizens of Modaora were ripped from their sleep by the sounds of battle. This time, however, it was a war. Flamewry guards ran through the corridors of Modaora warning that the city was under attack and that all citizens were to remain in their homes with doors locked and away from windows. They were instructed to stay indoors no matter what they heard outside. For reasons unknown, the Modaorans were under attack, once again, by a foe who was invisible in the night. Flamewry militants guarded every hall in the city, every entrance and exit. Outside of the city, the Flamewry military shot into the darkness, yelled orders at each other and surrounded the city on all sides. They outnumbered the entire Modaoran population, 12 to 1, poised to protect the city from a force that seemed to be far greater than the Modaorans could have imagined. The Modaoran security force, just 300 men, was dwarfed by the militant Flamewry. Modaoran security stood watch around the city - waiting for what would happen next. A secret force was dispatched to an undisclosed location in Modaora's North Tower while another team guarded the route.

Fighting outside of the city continued for another half hour since the initial alarm and then suddenly stopped. The night had, in an instant, become deathly quiet. Muffled crying could be heard behind the closed doors of citizens' homes as children were consoled by their parents. The Modaoran security force stood by, completely unknowing of what was to come. Flamewry militants looked out of windows and stood with Modaoran security - waiting. Minutes crawled by, pregnant with the fear and confusion of the Modaorans; minutes that felt like hours.

Suddenly, three loud booms were heard outside. Modaoran security jumped and prepared for another round of fighting outside. The fight, however, was much closer than they could have ever anticipated. Flamewry militants, all at once, turned their weapons on the Modaoran security, killing them in cold blood and with ease. It took only moments to murder every Modaoran security official who, only seconds ago, stood with the Flamewry as brothers. Flamewry militants poured into the city by the dozens, moving in formation with planned routes throughout the city. Outside, Flamewry aimed weapons at the city and guarded all known exits, covering every possible route of escape. The Modaorans were trapped. Inside their homes, the Modaorans waited, oblivious that the Flamewry had just murdered their security force. Smaller booms could be heard within the city. A new panic had enveloped the citizens as they realized the attack had reached the inner walls. The citizens blocked the entrances to their homes with furniture and armed themselves with kitchen knives and whatever large objects they could carry. Children were tucked away into closets and under beds. Silence fell again. Every silence that fell over the city was torture to the minds of the Modaorans who were blinded by the walls of their homes. The Flamewry were working their way through to the North Tower of Modaora and they were on a mission. Flamewry who stood guard outside of citizens' homes awaited instruction quietly. The silence was deafening. The minutes that went by were lava poured on the minds of the Modaorans. All at once, every television in the homes of every citizen turned on to reveal a silent message. It revealed the unthinkable. "REMAIN SILENT. Modaora is under attack by the Flamewry. Arm yourselves. Protect the children. Our security force has fallen. We must fight together."

Nothing could have prepared the Modaorans for the depths to which their hearts would sink. Nothing would ever compare, not in a hundred lifetimes, to the nameless feeling that wrapped around their throats and gripped with the force of a thousand heartbreaks and the raging fury of every cosmic event in the universe.

They stood in front of their televisions reading the message over and over again; some in disbelief, some mad with rage, some terrified, some calculating.... ALL knowing what had to be done.

Another message. "Fight for your lives. Fight for your children. Fight together."

A minute passed. Another message. "NOW!"

As the last message was sent via Modaora's emergency broadcasting system located in the North Tower, a secret task force, who had trained for this moment since the discovery of The Book scrambled to deploy Modaora's defense systems. Flamewry militants could be heard plowing through the last of Modaora's security force and making their way up the North Tower. In the residential towers, doors flung open as brave Modaorans lunged at the heavily armed Flamewry with household items, kitchen knives, sports equipment. They were no match, but they fought. Thousands of Modaorans fell within moments of courageously throwing their doors open and running into the jaws of the wolves who dressed in sheeps' clothing. Every fallen Flamewry was a victory but for every Flamewry who was killed, a hundred Modaorans gave their lives. Screams pierced the walls of the city, echoing into the darkest night in Modaoran history. Three more booms were heard outside of the city and the brave Modaorans who fought with paper against steel were about to be met with another onslaught as a second wave of Flamewry prepared to enter the city. The few Modoarans who were successful in killing Flamewry who guarded their exits evacuated everyone they could to the North Tower; dozens, maybe, of the 9,000 citizens who remained either fighting, dead or hiding. The first stage of Modaora's defense system deployed. A bright shield of energy enveloped the city, setting ablaze, all at once, hundreds of Flamewry forces who ran straight into it. The Flamewry began shooting all weapons at Modaora's walls only to watch them burn in her forcefield. The battle was now between the Flamewry forces inside the city and the remaining fighting Modaorans. Flamewry went from door to door spraying their weapons throughout the rooms. Pools of blood formed from under beds and behind closed doors. The fighters, upon seeing this, had left themselves from a place of humanity and gone to a place of drowning rage and simultaneously unleashed their darkest most powerful selves onto the remaining Flamewry. Paper against steel mattered no more. The Modaorans fought with god-like power, taking out one Flamewry after the other. Unworldly battle cries boomed through the city as Modaorans collectively satiated an almost-evil hunger for Flamewry blood. A single Modaoran in his immeasurable rage was able to take out half a dozen Flamewry. The Flamewry numbers dwindled and some were seen trying to flee the city, only to be burned in her forcefield. Modaorans completely mad with rage continued pummeling already-dead Flamewry. Flamewry men were being thrown from balconies and out of windows into the burning energy of the city's forcefield. Flamewry's decapitated heads were thrown at other Flamewry who tried to run away. The tables had turned and the Modaorans were no longer trapped with the Flamewry, the Flamewry were trapped with them. Outside, the Flamewry continued shooting at Modaora's forcefields in vain as they watched their men die horrific, animalistic deaths - being gutted and then torn in half, having limbs ripped from their bodies and then left to bleed out, sliced from navel to chin, having their throats ripped out by bare hands. The rage which pumped through the veins of these fighters turned them into creatures that drank the blood of the Flamewry after tearing their necks open from ear to ear.

A dozen of the 300 fighters bound heavily through the city toward the Main Tower, ravenous for the Flamewry who were making their way to the location of The Book. The remaining fighters continued committing atrocities with the, now terrified, Flamewry that remained in the city. With every plea for mercy and every scream for help, the fighters only grew more bloodlust.

The second stage of Modaora's defense system was ready to deploy and the task force waited in the reinforced bunker which held the defense system controls and The Book. They watched a wall of monitors in simultaneous horror and pride as Modaoran fighters tore through Flamewry. Once the second stage of her defenses were deployed, there would be no salvation for anyone left behind - so they waited. They waited in horror and anguish as they saw just how many Modaorans were lost.

A loud boom was heard just outside of the bunker. They could see on the monitors that the Flamewry had made their way to them and were trying to get in. A dozen of them were ready to do whatever it took to steal The Book.

Silence fell again. But this time, it did not carry the weight of Modaoran fear. It did not have the distant whimpers of scared children. It was broken by the sound of blood trickling, gargled moans of Flamewry left to suffer and then die. The Modaoran fighters stood in pools of blood, some holding torn-off limbs of dead Flamewry, some wiping Flamewry blood from their mouths, some with a distant gaze of absence.

Lights went out in the corridor where the Flamewry were making every attempt to enter the bunker. There was a moment of confused silence and then the sounds of steel ripping through flesh, struggle, the gargles of men choking on their own blood, bones cracking, bodies being thrown. And then another silence. When the lights came back on, a dozen Modaoran men, covered in blood, stared up at the surveillance camera.

With all of the Flamewry inside the city dead, the fighters began the painfully arduous task of searching for survivors. They went from home to home, moved bodies around, checked in closets and under beds. There were so many dead. The rage had left them and in its wake, were trembling hands and sorrow.

The Darkest Day

After scouring the entire city for survivors, the Modaoran fighters found 172 people. 8,500 brilliant, peaceful souls were lost in the attack on Modaora. Only 500 remained. Outside of the city walls, Flamewry were still making futile attempts to get into the city, continuously firing weapons at her forcefield. The injured survivors were taken to the city hospital to the healing chambers where they would be healed before being moved a location under the city - safe from the second stage of Modaora's defense systems.

Once the survivors and The Book were safely contained in the underground chamber, the second stage of Modaora's defense system was deployed.

Her forcefield surged with power and pulsed as it prepared to teleport the city away to a set of coordinates in the middle of one of The Shire's oceans. The remaining Flamewry retreated as more of them were burned in the forcefield. The pulsing became more rapid until it was a hum and with a deafening boom, a shockwave was emitted, reaching outward 100 miles. The city was teleported to it's new location and everything living within the 100 mile radius of the shockwave was turned to dust. The terrain was turned to ice and silence fell over the region, once again.

Every last one of the Flamewry was obliterated and the survivors were safe.

Leaving

One-by-one, the survivors of the attack filed out of the underground bunker. They stood on an icy field at the place that they thought was going to be their new home. They couldn't go back to the city as it was covered in the blood of the attack and was now a target for more. They couldn't stay because there was nothing left for them, with the land now an icy grave. Their only option was to carry on, somehow; search for a new home.

New Hope for a New Home

As the refugees set off on their sojourn to new lands, something very small caught the attention of a little girl no older than 8. She knelt down and moved a piece of debris to reveal the petals of a single flower. This flower, a Mountain Laurel, was the only surviving flower on a withering bush. There was a brief moment of understanding and collective hope as the group paused to watch the magic of this little girl carefully dig out the tiny part of the bush the flower lived on and replant it in a cup. They would not leave a single survivor behind, not even if that survivor was a flower. The flower and that moment would forever become the symbol of hope for the refugees.... a symbol of survival. Survival - a universally given right. A right that these survivors vowed not to die for, but to LIVE for. And not only would they survive, but they would thrive beyond any aspirations of the past.

These brave refugees traveled across great masses of water and through treacherous lands. As the gypsy band of travelers put miles between themselves and their old home, something magical happened. The pain of their past fell away and drew them closer to a past they had never known but were always tied to. Countless nights spent under clear skies, renewed their bond with the energy of the multiverse. Their alien bodies began to remember something that had been a part of their DNA and soul selves since the dawn of their own time in that distant universe 38 centuries into their own future. The older members of the gypsy refugees struggled to remember lessons learned of their alien traditions and together, as they walked with backs against the setting sun, they reincarnated traditions that were long dead. Somewhere along their 11 year journey, these hopeful refugees realized something very profound. They were no longer crash survivors. They were no longer refugees of war. They were no longer leaving home. Home was in every night they spent under moonlight. Home was in every old tradition made new. Home was in every step they took together and every tradition they made their own. They had become nameless but knew exactly who they were.

How a Single Flower Created a Nation

If anyone asked these moonlight travelers when their new lives began, no matter who it was, they would all have the same answer. Their new life began the moment one little survivor would not leave behind another little survivor - the tiny Mountain Laurel. The Laurel had become as much a part of them as any other member of the group. No longer, barely surviving on a dying bush, the Laurel thrived and had grown strong and resilient, a proper bush with brilliant bunches of deep red and pink flowers. As the nomadic gypsies grew stronger as a people and more resilient by the day, so did the Laurel bush that traveled with them.

"We are the Laurels," they would say as they all took turns caring for the bush. "We are Laurelii."

And so it was done.

The Laurelian Nation named for the single Mountain Laurel who stood strong as they did, found their new home after traveling 11 years and thousands of miles. And as their first order of business, built a great temple in its honor - in their honor. Plans for their great new nation soon followed and thus began the journey of prosperity for the Laurelii; a journey that would renew the bravery of their ancestors and utilize lessons learned from their troubled past.

Build History

Laurelian City began as a single temple that was built in the Ice Region formerly known as Modaora. Upon completion of the Laurelian Temple, and several terraforming projects, Hay was awarded the rank of Archduchess. Upon realizing the finite amount of space Modaora had - being flanked on all sides by other regions, Hay made a bold and possibly server-breaking decision to move the massive Modaora city to the middle of the ocean and Laurelian Temple to a whole new region. It took the better part of a week to move the major builds and the infamous Hayfkave to their new homes. And the server survived without so much as a blip during the process. After the moves, massive terraforming took place to remove all traces of building footprints in Modaora and turn the Laurelian Temple's new home into a region fit for the city it would hold. A large bay was terraformed for the temple where it now sits, beautifully. Terraforming the massive land mass took a little over a week to complete. Two large rivers were carved into the West and South sides of the land to create a single continent for the city. The continent was then separated by roads into the city's districts and each district was terraformed to fit their particular needs. The first block was placed May 21 2015.

References

Hay