Update on the progress of my Eastern Roman Empire Minecraft faction!
The medieval GeoPol server we're playing on started in February, and we're still going!
We have been through many wars, most of them victorious, but nowadays we're focusing on consolidating, don't want to end up like poor Justin II hehe.
I'll show case some of our most impressive settlements so far, there is still yet much to do, we have lots of other towns and fortifications that haven't prospered so much, if you wanna join on your own, or with a group of friends and help us out, be my guest and contact me in dms!
Our vassals also need more people, in particular the Exarchate of Italy and Diocese of Egypt, we're working hard on reconstructing Roma, blending aspects from late medieval Rome and byzantine Rome, call it a "what if eastern Romans managed to take Rome back at a later point in the medieval era".
Egypt is brand new and nothing has been built there. Alexandria hasn't been planned yet, but the Pharos lighthouse will be there.
Konstantinoupolis:
This is the capital of our Empire, founded by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great (Byzantium before hand yadi yada), it has everything a great capital needs, in fact, Constantine drew a lot of inspiration from the city of Rome itself when designing this city. It is probably one of the biggest cities on the server. Famous landmarks are Hagia Sophia, the Hippodrome, the Great Palace, the Theodosian Walls, Senate house and the Forum of Constantine.
Currently, we are building more houses for the people, we have plenty of free rooms in the insulas and lots of plots you can build in. We hold most of our RP events in this city, and we're planning on more as well.
We have a university and a library, still under construction, goal would be to write the entire bible down at some point, but also other categories of literature; be it the classics from antiquity, byzantine literature or books based on what's going on in the server, such as diaries, travel guides or legal documents.
Konstantinoupolis really needs a group, currently we're mostly made up of randoms, there is very little sense of community, difficulty in keeping activity going around. We might extend the city further out west, essentially making a new line of defences, and redesign certain parts of town, its going to change the port design, industrial area, farms, housing etc.
Adrianoupolis
This city lies to the west of Constantinople on a river delta (historicaly speaking it was on the eastern side of the river), it has a beautiful castle built on top of a hill, the plan in the future is to make the town around it, and with a new set of outer walls. Adrianople has only one resident, so we need more people here, preferably a friend group or something along those lines. If you desire a fresh start, lots of space for building and safety, then this is a good choice.
Thessaloniki
West of Adrianople lies Thessaloniki. This is one of our greater cities, it doesn't really need inhabitants, but more builders are sought after, as they are doing very well and technically have a lot of people in their town. Some famous monuments here such as the Rotunda of Galerius, Hagios Demetrios and the Hippodrome there
Athens
One of our greatest cities, comparable to Thessaloniki and Constantinople. This city, alongside Corinth, has gained some traction recently, there are cities with bigger needs than them, as they are quite active, but these are good places to see what our faction represents, as well as good starting places to learn about how the server works. Athens' pride is their fleet, it is probably the largest on the server. A very cozy city to live in.
Amorium
The heart of Anatolia, this is currently just a humble fort, but the plan is to turn it into a proper city, lots of potential. Terrain is very flat, the inhabitants are competent and they have big plans. It’s owned by the Domestikos of the East, the leader of the eastern army. Anatolia is under his juris dictation. Amorion was a very important town in Anatolia after the Early Arab Expansions, being so central in Anatolia and the road system.
Other places
We have lots of other towns, some are very humble, some are quite developed but players are inactive and some haven't even been built, so lots of potential for new players to establish their own towns with their friend group or clans.
Amongst these are Smyrna, Attaleia, Korinthos, Thera, Corfu, Ohrid, Philippopolis, Theodoro, Kallipolis. Rhodes and Nikaea are active, but in their infancy in developing. Kyzicus was a great town, but due to many reasons they had to abandon the town. The enormous walls and towers are unguarded and the houses empty, left behind and falling into ruin like many historical byzantine cities in the aftermath of the initial Arab invasions.
Thats all for now, take care, if you have any questions let me know!
[I managed to make this post into an AMA, no idea what it is so I just ended it]