Alexandria

The Free City of Alexandria, officially founded on October 30th, 2019, is a city-state located on the eastern coast of the continent. Alexandria gained independence from the Empire of Varathia on December 2nd, 2019. Known for its friendly population and unique tutorial building, Alexandria was founded with the desire to provide a friendly place for newfriends to learn about basic server mechanics and the history of the server. It is one of the most populated nations on CivRealms.

Alexandria is bordered by Bobanga in the south, Cantina and Varathia in the west, Accelerada in the north and Agotep in the north-east. It also has the Yamato territory of Port Paradis as an enclave. The Free City of Alexandria also includes the Autonomous Territory of the Trevie Kingdom and the Colony of Solitude.

Varathian Brewers Guild
Alexandria was originally settled by members of the Varathian Brewer's Guild. The Brewer's Guild, founded by TTastic in North Olendor, initially served as a guild for brewing alcohol. Soon, the guild became a major political force in Varathian affairs. The Brewers Guild was involved in multiple clashes against Emperor Aresot during the period leading up to Alexandrian Independence. In early October 2019, as Trinacrian-Varathian relations began to deteriorate, members of the Brewers Guild believed the threat of Trinacrian invasion was imminent, leading to the pearling (imprisonment) of the Trinacrian leader, Antreus. Due to internal division over the handling of the incident, discontent against the Emperor rose; Varathian citizens no longer believed their Emperor's interests aligned with their own. Tensions rapidly heightened and the desire for governing reform increased. Eventually, under mounting pressure and the threat of deposition, Emperor Aresot was forced under pearlpoint to establish the democratically-elected Varathian Senate. Shortly thereafter, as the Varathian political deadlock eased, an agreement with the Trinacrian Leader, Antreus, was signed, guaranteeing his release under the condition of complete banishment from Varathian lands.

In late October 2019, to the chagrin of the Varathian Senate and citizens, two-thirds of the Varathian Discord were deleted overnight. This sparked a new wave of discontent and soon after, the Senate ratified the First Varathian Constitution in order to limit the scope of the Emperor's powers.

Founding
Growing weary of the circumstances at home, Varathian Senator and Brewers Guild member TTastic journeyed through the harsh mesa wilderness at the eastern frontier of the Empire, searching for a suitable site to found a new city. On October 30th, 2019, after arriving on the eastern shores, the abandoned remnants of the then-unknown nation of Conqui were discovered. Upon this discovery, the ruins were used as a temporary base of operations as the region was scouted.

On November 1st, 2019, a nearby Aqua Nether portal was discovered to the North. On the same day, TTastic founded the City of Alexandria at this location. Initial development was lead by TTastic, Albyrt, and Jaydon_, members of the Brewer's Guild, who set up governance frameworks and constructed Alexandria's earliest buildings. They eventually formed the initial three members of the Alexandrian City Council. Soon, Varathian citizens across the Empire began migrating over, forming Alexandria's earliest citizens. On November 4th, 2019, Newfriend Manor was constructed. With a distinguished tutorial system for new players to learn server mechanics, as well as its role as temporary accomodations, Newfriend Manor became a landmark hub for new players to visit from across the map. Alexandria soon developed a reputation as one of CivRealm's premier newfriend towns.

Independence from Varathia
During its early days, Alexandria existed under the banner of the Varathian Empire. With a heavy emphasis on recruitment, Alexandria's population rapidly expanded over November 2019. Eventually, as Alexandria's booming population eclipsed the rest of the Empire, uncertain questions regarding the status of Alexandria within the empire grew more pressing. Under the growing calls for increased autonomy, the Varathian political party A Opposition Party was founded by Alycia with the goal of achieving greater devolution of governance for Varathian cities. With the uncertainties left unaddressed, tensions threatened to fracture the Empire, strengthening the desire for self-determination.

On December 2nd, 2019, under the backdrop of rising dissatisfaction against the Emperor, Alexandria declared independence from the Varathian Empire. The declaration of independence was not met with any military resistance from Varathia.

Great Ez2War
Main Article: Ez2War

On February 10th, 2020, RavenRavenRaven officially transfered the control of Unitas to Accelerada. This transfer was contested by the Western Empire, which led to a heated conflict on the CivRealms Discord about the claim. During the very height of this conflict, ThePayman, representing the Ez2Empire, declared that the Ez2Empire now also claimed Unitas. The server was down at this time, so a lot of Discord PVP ensued. After the server went up again, people started preparing for what was to come.

On February 11th, 2020, a raiding party from the Ez2Empire attacked Accelerada. They destroyed multiple chests and snitches before moving on to Alexandria. These raids continued for three days while citizens and supplies were evacuated. This attack against Alexandria led to the formation of the Fight or Die Coalition. After the initial raid on Accelerada and Alexandria, the Ez2Empire launched multiple raids in the following days.

During the days leading up to the attack on the Ez2Vault, Alexandria launched a propaganda campaign in their Discord. The goal of the campaign was to get the citizens of Alexandria to not leak any sensitive information to the Ez's. This was achieved by declaring Shut The Fuck Up Friday, where all citizens had to not say a word in public Discords, and by repurposing the WW2 slogan "Loose lips sink ships".

On saturday, February 15th, 2020, the Coalition launched their initial attack against the Ez2Vault. The attack marked the beginning of a week long siege, which resulted in the breaking of the Ez2Vault. On sunday, February 16th, 2020, during the siege of the Ez2Vault, TTastic was pearled by CivRealmsPolice (Ez2Clutch). His pearl was kept in the core of the Ez2Vault, where it remained until he was freed at the end of the siege.

Signing of the Shit Just Works Constitution
On March 4th, 2020, the Council of Alexandria, along with a handful of citizens, gathered to rework the Alexandrian judicial system. The goal was to make a new constitution to replace the old one. After much discussion, a new document known as the Shit Just Works Constitution was written. The constitution was finalized and signed on March 5th.

One of the more notable changes with this new constitution was the establishment of the Alexandrian Cabinet, which serves to advise the City Council. The Cabinet is divided into two parts: the Ministers and the Representatives. The Ministers are appointed by the Council, while the Representatives are elected on a monthly basis by the Citizens.

Bobanga Conference
Main Article: Treaty of Tenochtitlan

On March 17th, 2020, members of the Fight or Die Coalition met with the Bobangan government to discuss the future of the Bobangan jungle. This was a direct result of the Ez2War, where the First Scholar of Bobanga, DarkyDu, had participated on the Ez2 side of the war. After 6 days of discussion, the members of the Bobanga Conference agreed upon a new partition of the Bobangan Jungle. The Result was that Alexandria gained new Land in the eastern jungle, Anvard gained land in the southern jungle, Miletos gained land in the western jungle and the new nations of Eslenti and Cantina (formerly known as Risunsky and Sons) were founded. In addition to this, Bobanga also agreed to recognize the Yamato claim over Port Paradis.

Unofficial Skirmishes with Savaguard
On April 8th, 2020, following Twinkieminer's status as a wanted individual and guarantees that Twinkie would not get pearled by Savaguardians within his refuge of Alexandria, Saren Solaris, Jester of Savaguard at the time, attempted to pearl Twinkie. Twinkie was showing new player Chickenwinggeek around the Alexandrian Aqua Nether and exploring potentially good locations for a hotel next to the water when Saren unexpectedly approached him and initiated combat. Twinkie eventually escaped into the water, and evaded pearling. However, he was banned from Civrealms for a period of time due to alleged speed hacks. Popular opinion was largely that Saren in his evidence video simply did not know how to hold the sprint key, however, Twinkie was still banned.

Coup + Liberation During the USA War
While fighting in the USA War, City Council were forced to pack up all citizens and travel to Heaven in order to make war plans. Using this to their advantage, a portion of the remaining population led by TwinkieMiner began a coup, announcing it by constructing a giant, obsidian spider in the Alexandria Bay as a base of operations. With all members off fighting the war, the small group was able to successfully occupy the city from the Obsidian Spider.

Not long after, TwinkieMiner was banned from the server. Given the opportunity, TTastic, Albyrt, Le_Brine, NoahRavn, ieatazz69, Jaydon_, and FreeStyleJr08 were able to rush into Alexandria and disable the obsidian spider. ChickenWingGeek and DarkCenturion were briefly pearled but quickly called in backup from the USA, resulting in their pearls being dropped. Rebel Beni_Shapiro was almost pearled but frantically kited to a safe, prebuilt bunker. Jaydon_ was pearled saving the life of ieatazz69. The rest of the City Council withdrew back to Heaven to continue the war effort, the city returning to City Council control upon peace negotiations with ChickenWingGeek over handing over groups back, coup member SH1LL4RYCLINTON cleaning out the spider bunker before quitting, and the coup's USA allies being mass banned and losing the war, effectively ensuring permanent City Council rule.

Alexandria remains one of the most active nations on the server, with widespread objection to Stonato's comment that it was a "failed state" serving as an initial catalyst in the series of events that led to him being banned from his own server's discord.

Geography
With an area of 2.78 km2, Alexandria is a vast country stretching over many different biomes, including mesa, jungle, swamp, desert and volcano. The City of Alexandria itself is built in the Bay of Alexandria on the coast of the mesa biome.

City of Alexandria
The City of Alexandria is the capital of Alexandria and is home to most of the Alexandrian population. It is a vast and populous city stretching over 500 blocks from its northernmost to its southernmost point.

Landmarks
Alexandria is home to many different landmarks, most of them inside the city itself.

Tree of Dionysus
Towering over the city form the top of Mt. Mountain, the Tree of Dionysus is one of Alexandrias older landmarks. It can be accessed by a little path going up the mountain.

Newfriend Manor
The Newfriend Manor was one of the first buildings built in Alexandria. It serves as a place for newfriends to store their stuff and set their spawn. In addition to its practical purpose, the newfriend manor also houses the tutorial, which shows newfriends how the plugins of the server work.

The Great Lighthouse of Alexandria
Standing at 129 blocks tall, the Great Lighthouse of Alexandria guides travelling ships into the harbor of Alexandria. It is said that as long as the fire burns in the lighthouse, Alexandria will remain free.

The Great Lighthouse of Alexandria is built by Azzeaters Inc.

The Temple of Serapis
Dedicated to the god Serapis, this temple built in the ancient Doric style and is situated on the artificial hill known as Paper Mache Mountain, just west of the Newfriend Manor.

The Temple of Serapis is built by Azzeaters Inc.

The Alexandrian Amphitheater
The Alexandrian Amphitheater is a place for plays and other cultural events. It is located just north of Le_Brine Square.

The Alexandrian Amphitheater was built by eyzrnx.

Le_Brine Square
Le_Brine Square is a hub area in the northern part of Alexandria. It is known for its giant statue built in honor of Le_Brine.

The Statue of Athena
The Statue of Athena is one of the central monuments of Alexandria. The statue resembles an angel facing the bay. The statue is also sometimes referred to as the Statue of Convoys Mom.

The Town Hall of Alexandria
The Town Hall of Alexandria is a place for the government of Alexandria to assemble and discuss political issues. It also serves as an in-game voting center.

The Town Hall of Alexandria was built by noahravn.

Trevie Kingdom
The Trevie Kingdom is an autonomous region inside Alexandria. Ruled by king sergeirocks100, and lies just west of Alexandria. It is accesible through the western tunnel.



NikkoMura
NikkoMura is an asian-themed town located north of the City of Alexandria. NikkoMura was founded on February 23rd and is ruled by mayor NikkoSama.

Solitude
Main Article: Solitude

Solitude is an Alexandrian colony on the Thomas Archipelago. It was founded on March 29th, 2020 and is ruled by Jaydon_.

Solitude is a major exporter of bones and slimeballs, due to its abundance of wolves and slimes.

Athens
Athens is an Alexandrian town located on the east coast of the Alexandrian jungle territories. It was founded by FreeStyleJr08 on March 22nd, shortly after the Bobanga Conference, in the newly gained jungle territory.

Lightning Island
Of the coast of Athens lies the historical site of Lightning Island. Lightning Island is the location where, on January 21st, 2020, noahravns boat was struck by lightning, thus stranding him on the island. He was subsequently rescued by Le_Brine and they built a house and made a little monument on the island to honor the shipwreck.

Politics
The Free City of Alexandria is ruled by the Council of Alexandria. The Council of Alexandria are advised on matters of state by the Cabinet, which is made up of the Ministers and Representatives.

The more practical affairs of the city are managed by the bureaus. The head(s) of the bureaus are appointed by the council.

Council of Alexandria
The Council of Alexandria consists of the following members:


 * Albyrt
 * TTastic
 * Le_Brine
 * noahravn
 * ieatazz69

Cabinet
The Cabinet advises the Council of Alexandria on matters of state. The Cabinet is made up of the Ministers and the Representatives

Ministers
The Ministers are appointed advisors to the city council.

The following are the current Ministers as of 4/7/2020:


 * HikorutheGamer
 * Fitian
 * Jaydon_
 * UnrealJesus

Representatives
The Representatives are the elected representatives of the citizens of Alexandria. Their job is to advise the city council and represent the interests of the citizens. There are always two representatives in the Cabinet. The position of Representative was created with the signing of the on March 5th, 2020. Elections are held on the second sunday of every month. The first elections were held on March 15th, 2020.

The current representatives are:


 * ChChris34
 * chickenwinggeek

Bureaus
Many practical affairs of the city are delegated out by the Council to the different bureaus. All bureaus have at least one head of the bureau, who is responsible for making final decisions for bureau and for recruiting new members to help with the tasks of the bureau.

Bureau of City Planning
The Bureau of City Planning is responsible for building roads and infrastructure, along with planning out further expansions for the city. They also manage the cities adress system and zoning laws. The Bureau of City Planning is also responsible for creating national heritage sites in the Free City of Alexandria.

The Bureau of City Planning is led by blablagame and noahravn and currently has the following members:


 * meinsword
 * HikorutheGamer
 * Fitian

Bureau of Finance
The Bureau of Economics is responsible for managing and expanding the cities economy. This also includes building publicly owned farms.

The Bureau of Economics is led by Le_Brine, UnrealJesus, ieatazz69 and noahravn.

Bureau of Elections
The Bureau of Elections is responsible for managing the elections of Alexandria. They are responsible for making announcements about upcoming elections, keeping track of candidates and tallying up the votes.

The Bureau of Elections is led by noahravn.

Bureau of the Aqua Nether
More recently set up under Chickenwinggeek, the Bureau of the A.N assumes responsibility of the languishing Double Diamond program, which had a backlog of un-mined diamond ore spanning multiple weeks at the time of creation of the Bureau, as well as miscellaneous responsibilities in the AN such as designating pits. It was implicated in the memey creation of the Alexandrian Aquanether Autonomous Zone on 7/13/2020: a protest created by chickenwinggeek after he lost to a cat in representative elections despite the common convention of cats not counting as "people" under the constitution. Royalist elements of the Alexandrian Monarchist Party were also nominally involved, as well as active member of the Bureau A.N. Odyssey18.

Guides
In addition to the bureau members, the Council of Alexandria also delegates the role of guide out to some citizens. Guides are responsible for helping newfriends out by giving them tours of the city and teaching them about the plugins of the server. They also have the permission to add people as members to the namelayer group.

The following people are currently guides:


 * Hikoru
 * noahravn
 * ieatazz69
 * Alexson
 * UnrealJesus

Currency
Since it started as a city in the Varathian Empire, Alexandria originally used the Imperial Credit as its currency. As of 2020, Alexandria has completely made the switch to using the Brine as its new national currency.

Brines are worth 1/16th of a stamina. There are multiple banks around town where you can exchange your stamina for Brines, although only the Bank of Alexandria is nationally owned.

Factories
Alexandria has most factories, including a bast furnace, publicly available to its citizens. The reparation of the bast furnace is funded by the national treasury.

Mining
Alexandria has access to an aqua nether portal, which all citizens are allowed to use. Mining should be kept to the pit. There are two rules for mining in the pit:


 * 1) Don't be a tit, flatten the pit! Any random holes in the middle of the pit are forbidden, as they are a safety hazard.
 * 2) Don't mine any diamonds that have been left out in the pit. They have been left there as a part of the Double Diamond Program.

Double Diamond Program
The Diamond Program is a system where citizens who find diamond ore in the pit can post a screenshot in the discord and then someone will mine the diamond with a silk touch and give the person two diamonds instead of one. To participate in the Double Diamond Program, here's what you do:


 * 1) Find some diamonds in the pit or near Alexandria. There's not a concrete limit to how far away from town the double diamond program covers, but don't expect anyone to travel to the other side of the world just to mine 2 diamond ores for you.
 * 2) Don't mine the diamonds, instead post a screenshot of the diamonds and you coordinates in the #diamond-spotting channel on discord. You can also include f3 in the screenshot to show the coordinates.
 * 3) Wait for someone with a silk touch pickaxe to mine the diamonds. This might take some days, as there aren't many people with silk touch pickaxes and they're often busy with other stuff.
 * 4) You should now be owed 2 diamonds per ore you found. Someone from the council will give you your diamonds next time you're online.

It is also possible to set up a "diamond mailbox" at your house, so you don't have to be online at the same time as someone from the council to receive your diamonds. A diamond mailbox is basically a locked donation chest that only you have access to, that accepts 2 diamonds at a time. The diamond mailbox should be placed next to the door of your house and have a sign saying whose diamond mailbox it is. Ask in the #diamond-spotting channel on discord for more info.

Farms
Alexandria has many different privately owned farms. Due to its rough climate, it is not possible to grow crops like wheat, carrots and potatoes. It is, however, possible to grow cacti in the mesa and swampland biomes. Alexandria also grows cocoa in their territories in the northern jungle and nether wart in the volcano biome to the north. It is also not uncommon for Alexandrian citizens to privately own farmland in other nations.

Infrastructure
Alexandria has a very developed net of infrastructure, including rails, roads and canals.

Rails
Alexandria has rail connections going from Alexandria Central Station to the cities of Olendor, Port Paradis and Accelerada. These rail lines are part of the Greater Eastern Railway System.

Metro
In addition to its international rails, Alexandria has an internal metro system connecting important areas of the city by rail. There are also plans to connect this metro system to other settlements around the country, including the Trevie Kingdom and NikkoMura.

Roads
Alexandria has two major road connections. The Alexandria-Olendor Highway goes north out of the city and connects to the cities of Accelerada, New Jersey and Olendor. The Trans-Bobangan Highway goes south-west out of the city and connects to the cities of Puerto Vexler and Anvard. It is planned to expand the highway with connections to Tenochtitlan and Dar al-Vexler. In addition to these two roads, a western road connecting to the Olendor-Bobanga road is also under construction.

The City of Alexandria is connected to the Trevie Kingdom by the Western Tunnel.

Aside from its external connections, Alexandria also has a well organized internal road network. All the roads inside the city are named and all plots have adresses, making it easier to keep track of locations of specific plots. The organization of roads and adresses is done mainly by the Bureau of City Planning.

Canals
Alexandria is connected to Accelerada by the Alexandria-Accelerada canal. this canal runs from the Canal District of Alexandria to the river that runs through Varathia. This canal therefore also connects Alexandria with every nation along the river, including New Jersey, Varathia, Trinacria, Agotep, The Commune, which is now owned by Wheatistan, I.C.O.R., Oklahoma and Carbon. The river runs out into the Bay of Chicago, which means that, with the canal, it is possible to sail through the continent from the west coast to the east coast.

Dropbear
The official state religion of Alexandria is the Church of the Holy Dropbear. Its followers gather in the #dropbear channel of the Alexandria Discord, where they perform their sacred rituals.

Alexandrian Copypasta
Alexandria is known for its high quality copypasta. Whenever someone says something that is deemed copypasta-worthy, it is swiftly copy pasted in the #copypasta channel on the Alexandria Discord.

Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional anthropomorphised steam locomotive. On January 26th, 2020, ieatazz69 accidentally copy pasted the introduction of the Wikipedia page for Thomas the Tank Engine into the Alexandria Discord. This quickly spiraled out of control, with everyone spamming different variations of the sentence "Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional anthropomorphised steam locomotive.". Thomas the Tank Engine thus became the first Alexandrian Copypasta.