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A legend almost as old as the sunstone itself, before the tribes of Mann as we know it existed, tales of Angelica being in distress for the sacred sunstone, a holy relic representing the sun, and used in sun worship by ancient priests was stolen from its sacred altar in the temple of the sun, and hidden away in a vault of a collector.
On that day, the power of the sun faded, and Elyria collapsed to darkness for more than a year, until at last the sunstone was found again by someone only known as the Sunbringer.
Ever since that day, a ritual is said to be performed about every 52 years, when the light of Angelica begins to fade. In this ritual, representatives from every tribe and kingdom have the honor of carrying this sacred relic for a distance, towards an altar of the sun where it will be the center of a ritual to call Angelica back until Angelica returns. Then, the relic is transported back to its temple in the same way, with a lot of celebration.
Some claim the ritual is a more recent tradition, based on misconceptions and inaccurate retelling of ancient stories. Perhaps we will never know the truth, but many Elyrians from all the different tribes and kingdoms wish to be one of the bearers of light in this once in a lifetime event, or alternatively being one of the holy guardians of the sun. Only few will have that honor though.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of public interest from candidates in Selene to take care of the sunstone, and the lore/RP responsibilities is brings. I have seen one candidate for the second price, but none for the first price.
Perhaps some whales are attempting a stealth solo-campaign, to hide the sunstone in a vault for their own benefit. Perhaps Selene just isn't interested in it, or perhaps people are still coming up with ideas.
In any way, I wanted to provide a person to rally behind, and I wanted to provide some lore and a fun event that the whole server can enjoy, rather than the sunstone sitting a vault somewhere.
I fully realize that having a server-wide event every real life year is risky, and the risk of losing the stone even in the first year is immense. That's a risk I'm willing to take. As it would promote a lot of server interaction regardless of the outcome.
I do not expect to keep the stone forever, but I will take care of it, the lore and the RP if I receive it, for as long as I hold it. And I will of course attempt to recover it in case it gets stolen.
I will create a semi-religious order around it with priest and knights/paladins, guardians of the sun, or guardians of the light, or a better name if we can come up with them.
This will be a community effort of course, so I will try to cooperate as much as possible with the community to make the lore and RP as interesting as possible for an as wide audience as possible. That is why I invented the ritual, to involve as many players as possible in a ritual that makes some sense within the lore. (the details can be altered to be even more solid in the lore, but the ritual itself should be inclusive to an extend.
Unburdened and unaffiliated
I only have the most basic package, which ensures that all of the 25000 EP will be spend on making a nice temple for the sunstone and improving the facilities for the organization/religion. All my energy, EP and effort will be solely for the benefit of the sunstone.
I will be unbiased and base my decisions what is best for the server in general, and not just the kingdom/duchy/county I have pledged to, simply because I am not affiliated to anyone. Most other people would be biased, even if they aren't trying to be. Counts and Dukes would be tempted to spend part or all of the EP on improving their County/Duchy. But I have no such burdens.
I’m sure there are still many people who haven’t decided on a kingdom to join, so a neutral candidate would be the best one to support.
Rather than each kingdom only supporting their own internal candidate, which will only benefit 1 kingdom regardless of who wins (and the other 4 kingdoms therefore lose), making it statistically likely to lose, and have the relic only benefit one of your opponents (unless they are willing to share, but why would they?).
The alternative would be to rally behind a neutral candidate who will organize a yearly (real time years) event so that the whole server can participate, regardless of affiliation or alliance. This will be better for the population in general, and more fun for current and future players.
During the rest of the year the stone will be in an underground location where it would have the biggest impact, where a temple of the sun will be created with the 25k EP that comes with the package.
I will attempt to proclaim that a neutral ground as well, but that depends on how much political power I can exert from diplomacy and status.
During most of the year, sunstone will be in an underground location (for example Hrothi or Waerd, but could be anywhere), benefiting their food yield, which will help them prepare food to spread around during the longest night.
However, during the ritual, the sunstone will be moved to an altar which is located in a fertile area (for example tropical wetlands, but could also be grasslands or some river delta, etc.) to serve two purposes:
Having some awesome lore and a community/religion/cult/organization to rally behind, whether you're a roleplay religious zealot or a holy knight or a priest or support in any other way.
I want the stone to be as impactful as possible. While it’s impossable to provide for the whole server with the stone (in terms of food) I want to make sure the stone is noticed and enjoyed by as many people as possible, while at the same time having the most economic impact for many players.
During most of the year, a natural day/night cycle is not impactful because we already have one in most places, except underground or inside. That’s why it will be in a massive underground temple most of the year, preferably on neutral ground.
The exception would be during the longest night, where a natural day/night cycle doesn’t exist anymore, so during that time is when the ritual starts to “bring back the sun”. Where the stone will be carried like an Olympic flame (passed on from person to person so that many people can participate).
At the height of the longest night it will be located in a smaller temple/shrine in a very fertile location in order to provide food to as many people as reasonably possible with the sunstone. The altar will be on a high place (either a natural hill or mountain or an artificial hill, or tower or pyramid) to make sure it’s visible from a long distance.
I believe this way everyone can be happy. I’m open to suggestions on how to improve the idea, in any way (lore, architecture, the event, etc.).
In order to not benefit one kingdom over another in particular, I will negotiate with the supporting kingdoms to get some parcels of land on a border, preferably a 3 kingdom border. This land will not officially be part of either of the kingdoms. If any kingdom invades that land, the other kingdoms will start a holy war, alongside the guardians of the light.
I am Zimmah, my main is in NA-East, however, should I win this, I will main on Europe instead, and will probably end up giving away my County in NA-E and all goodies locked to NA-E.
I do originate from the Netherlands, and the reason I locked in to NA-East is because I'm currently living in Peru, which has crappy internet, and NA-East has the least bad ping. However, I am actually probably back in the Netherlands by the time the game launches anyway, so it may actually be better to play on EU anyway. (The reason I locked into NA-E is that even from EU, NA-E will still have reasonable ping, but from Peru, EU does not have good ping, so I was just betting on having a 'decent' ping in NA-E regardless of if I stayed in Peru or not).
Should I not win 1st or 2nd place I will stay in NA-E, but should I win 1st or 2nd place here I will become an active member in EU society and you'll see me a lot more around here. I just wanted to be open about this. Do with this info what you want.
Sidenote: Dutch is my native language, English my second, I am learning some Spanish (since that's my wife's native language) and I understand some German. Making it pretty easy for me to fit in a multicultural server like EU where many languages are spoken.
Currently I do not have access to my gaming rig, but once I do, I will also be a streamer/youtuber and plan to stream fulltime CoE.
I am not aiming for the Duke title, but if I receive it I will still be happy for it and I'll try to find a good place to fit in and help build the community.
But what if I just run off with the stone?
Honestly, I’m not that stupid, I don’t have the military or political strength to defend myself if I don’t keep my word, unlike some dukes who can do that. I will rely on my diplomatic skills to keep the stone secure, and the only way to do that is by being a trustworthy keeper of the stone. Running off with it is the quickest way to lose it. Unless you have an army. Which I don’t.
Thank you all for your support. I can guarantee that Selene won’t regret voting for me.
[-]/ praise the sun
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Just to confirm, this is indeed me
Count LizenÇace VeLeîjres of Mydra's Crossing, VII of the order of the IX.
Man that sucks... I guess when you buy into a high tier like that its hard to switch servers. I already traded my 10 coins for items but I hope you win it.
Thanks for your support, it's indeed fairly difficult to leave behind an account like that without a good incentive.
Not even mentioning the community building that is largely server specific.
Thank you for the coins anonymous gentlemann. The light will reward you in your need.
Some questions and concerns I want to address.
Q: if you’re Hrothi won’t that just mean you’ll be Demalion?
A: the Hrothi, the Waerd and the Yoru are known to build underground. The yoru aren’t available at the start, but the Hrothi and the Waerd are present in multiple kingdoms, so underground temples can be build almost anywhere. It doesn’t have to be the Hrothi main biome or even the weard main biome, there can be mountains and large caves anywhere.
Q: my kingdom already supports candidate x.
A: I have talked to most candadates and kingdoms, and it seems they are mainly interested in the duchy, which is the second place. There is little interest in actually winning it. And besides if everyone just supports their kingdom, only the one with the biggest/richest community will win, all the other kingdoms will see no benefit.
The kingdoms seem very tribal, so whichever kingdom wins will definitly keep the stone for themselves.
I will make sure that everyone who supports me will benefit. Anyone who was in the race for the sunstone and gives up their position in the race (they can still aim for second spot of course) will be rewarded with a very high rank position in the organization. Considering a single kingdom (especially the smaller kingdoms) are unlikely to win, this is already more than most kingdoms (by definition) can gain.
If your kingdom/candidate does not choose to support me, you can still as an individual choose to support me, and you’ll be given a suitable reward. Your support will not go unnoticed, and you won’t be forgotten.
Q: how will you be neutral in a game that doesn’t support neutrality?
A: I am not affiliated to any kingdom and do not plan to be (exception if I accidentally win the Duchy I’ll have to choose a side), but I do not plan to. Much like real world politics, some small independent countries can exist, usually in between the border of two larger countries (Monaco for example, or the Vatican, which is located inside another’s country but acts independently). As long as your organization has enough political support from various other independent nations, those nations can collectively guarantee your independence and therefore guarantee your neutrality.
Of course, this requires the coooperation of at least two kingdoms, because if only one kingdom supports my independence then effectively I can not be neutral, as I would be bound to the whims of a single monarch. However if two kings guarantee my independence, I can be neutral, and over time gain the trust, support and recognition of the remaining monarchs over time. (This is exactly how small countries don’t immedialty get blown up in the real world).
Sure, a feudal society is different, but even in a feudal society city states existed. As well as powerful independent religious organizations. There definitly is place for a neutral (i.e. not aligned with one Kingdom in particular) organization.
Q: surely you’d need to be located somewhere, so in effect your location decides your aligeance doesn’t it?
A: I’ll attempt to find a suitable place in between two or three borders of supporting kingdoms, and declare that space neutral ground, in effect creating a small neutral area (probably county sized or smaller, definitly smaller than a duchy). The organization could pay taxes to all kingdoms involved, or be exempt from taxes altogether because of the religious and economic value it brings. That is something we would need to work out between the kingdoms involved.
I will give every supporter the opportunity to directly or indirectly interact with the sunstone. For example those who were supported by their kingdom but stepped down to support me will be given the highest rank in the organization, giving them a lot of power and status, as well as the ability to choose the representatives of their kingdom who will be allowed to carry the sunstone during the event.
Others who support me can be high ranked priests or captains of the guard, or fill other high-status roles within the organization, given that they are capable and interested of course.
Once the organization grows big, financial rewards or exclusive in-game information can be shared with top supporters. The priests of the sunstone won’t only be tasked with guarding the sunstone, but also with acquiring knowledge of other relics and establishing a library/museum of relics and magick. Early supporters will be trusted with some of the exclusive information that may be clues to finding relics.
Better to count your eggs and pick the winning side, if you’re in a small kingdom you have little hope of winning versus the candidates of the bigger/richer/more influential kingdoms. There are 5 kingdoms, of which one is a double kingdom, of which only one candidate can win. It’s obvious that the smaller kingdom candidates won’t stand a chance even if their whole kingdom supports them, and if the more powerful kingdom wins, you’ll once again be left behind (and the power gap between the stronger and weaker kingdoms will only grow, as the relic could be a powerful “selling point” to potential new recruits). It is therefore wiser to support a neutral candidate that will reward you and your kingdom for siding with me. That way, you will be almost guaranteed to share in the victory, while if you just blindly support your kingdoms candidate, you will be guaranteed defeat, and will be left empty handed, as even if you collected several thousands of coins, they will be worth absolutely nothing if you don’t reach first or second place.
If the kingdoms are rational (and I expect them to be), the smaller kingdoms would realize that they are in fact the smaller kingdoms, and they would support me. If even 2 of them are rational, that already means I am likely to win the race even against the biggest kingdoms. Which means the not so small kingdoms would also benefit by supporting me, or be left out completely. Rationally then it follows that even the most influential and wealthy kingdoms should support the winning side, for no matter how influential you are, you won’t stand a chance against the combined effort of all the other kingdoms combined (this holds true even if 1 or 2 or even 3 kingdoms do not choose to support me).
Better to win together than lose alone. Let’s proof that cooperation is possible.
