Gensokyo

''This article is about the country founded in 2.0. For the short-lived country in Civclassic that tried to steal Gensokyo's name, please refer to Appomattox.''

Gensokyo, officially the Heavenly Kingdom of Gensokyo, is a nation on Civclassic, mostly well-known for its magnificent Japanese architecture. Located in the (+, -) in a plains, Gensokyo is made up of a couple cities, most notably, Taozi, the capital and more modern Japanese city, and Roe Island, a more traditional Japanese village, complete with Bathhouse. Other cities within Gensokyo are Centi Island, and He Chengshi. Many locations use traditional Japanese characters as their names.

Gensokyo has had a very long history on Civ servers, being longstanding veterans of Civcraft 2.0, CivTemp, Civcraft 3.0 and Devoted 3.0. Although many regard it nowadays as a peaceful haven for building, throughout its lifetime, Gensokyo has had its large share of controversy throughout every iteration. Whether involved on the subreddit or in-game, however, Gensokyo still stands and survives as an old, renowned hallmark of these servers. Gensokyo mostly regards itself as a very popular tourist destination on Civclassic, mainly to Roe Island. On May 2019, it was host to the Third Civclassic Olympics. It also hosts irregular movie nights on their discord, and are generally a wholesome community of Japan-loving individuals (better known as weebs).

Gensokyo also has a range of rail connections to local destinations such as Zero Zero, Gabon, Nyasaland, Coventhia, and a long distance rail to Hjaltland.

Gensokyo was formerly a member of the United Northern Congress (UNC) before its collapse, and currently a member of the Entente, along with Hjaltland, Varkonia, and Nyasaland.

Civcraft 2.0 - The Age of Legend


Gensokyo's beginnings can be traced to the foundation of the state of New Detroit. On June 1st, 2014, it all began with a dream. Screenname von Gensokyo, former umbrella of unknown origins, settled in an abandoned crack house along the banks of the Sanzu River, just east of the city state of Mt. Augusta. To her west, Mt. Augusta was seen as respectable for its booming economic power, but Screenname saw Augusta lacked the manpower necessary to run the agrarian marijuana plantation she wanted. The simple solution was slavery, but slavery was explicitly outlawed by the Augustan constitution. To the east, New Danzilona was a total shithole, but it was able to stay afloat on the broken backs of an enslaved populace. Screenname believed these two tenets of ideology combined could create a regional powerhouse, and so she founded New Detroit, an independent free state where she could work without the confines of big government pushing her around. Mt. Augusta, failing to grasp the gravity of the situation and the unyielding ambition of Screenname, did nothing to stop the foundation of this state, and allowed it to exist. This would be the source of numerous contentions in the future.

The United Earth Directorate


United in their great respect for the mighty deserts of the region, and need for common recognition, New Detroit and the city of Goodsprings joined together in the voluntary organization the United Earth Directorate. While the organization never achieved anything of significant importance, it laid the foundation of friendship that would later motivate Goodsprings to allow its incorporation into Gensokyo.

Grundeswald's Proposal
In early August, Grundeswegian viceroy Kovio invited Screenname to come visit the city of New Salisbury. It was soon discovered the peoples of New Detroit and New Salisbury shared common culture and beliefs. Almost immediately that day, papers were signed to incorporate the state of New Detroit into the Kingdom of Grundeswald. New Detroit was given the cities of Griffin and Istanbul, which were Grundeswegian cities in the New Detroit area in dire need of local administration. New Detroit was also given the land of Yakumo, to cement New Detroit's place in the greater Grundeswegian area.

The Founding of Gensokyo
On September 1st, it was decided the New Detroit area was too geographically seperated and culturally different to be a direct part of Grundeswald. To remedy this, all of the cities in New Detroit were given statuses as autonomous states, and the Kingdom of Gensokyo was established, joining the Kingdom of Grundeswald in the United Kingdoms of Grundeswald and Gensokyo. At her personal request, Goodsprings immediately joined the Heavenly Kingdom of Gensokyo and signed papers solidifying the agreement.

Istanbul Rebellion
On August 17th, 2014, Istanbul, which had previously been inactive since 2013, received a citizen by the name of GTAIVisbest who had lived in Istanbul in the summer of 2013, boosting its population to 1. With foreign support, notably from the nations of Mt. Augusta and New Danzilona, GTAIVisbest started the independence war, claiming the mountaintop city and rising in open rebellion against Gensokyojin forces. An evening-long standoff occurred, pushing rebel forces back. However, foreign troops from Mt. Augusta and New Danzilona arrived to reinforce the rebels, and the Gensokyojin militia eventually retreated back to territories south-west of Istanbul. The political and military situation between the two entities was never resolved by the end of 2.0.

The Yurtstead War
Grammatically challenged buffoon, chump, IQ-63, barely a primate and second class yeoman Seargent_Pepper, Aka: Gant, Aka: Founder of New Danzilona, Aka: Man with Head Thicker than a McDonald's Milkshake, Aka: Power hungry madman with an ego bigger than Screenname's, decided making the people of New Danzilona miserable was simply not enough, and he had to take his sadistic entertainment of pain and suffering to the foreign masses. He went down south of Holy Tree where he stormed the small town of Vind, murdered their leader, slaughtered the townsfolk, razed the city, and was lauded as a hero for it. He then stole the land, settled a single house around which he then proceeded to claim all the land in a 1000 - 1500 block radius of. Not content with his personal holocaust, he felt the need to cause more pain in the region. He forcibly evicted the populace of Syngrad from their homes, then evicted the residents of New Syngrad 1500 blocks away. He then tried to strongarm Screenname into giving up almost all of her expansion room and condemning her nation to death by asphyxiation. Screenname would not stand for this and boldly defied Gant's bullying. Her defiance took the form of telling Gensokyojins to settle on "Gant's land" regardless of what he said, founding the settlement of Yurtstead. Seeing as how Gant had never touched nor probably ever saw the land he was claiming, she figured it would open the door to renegotiation. Instead it opened the floodgates of war, as Gant gave Screenname an ultimatum to tear down all Gensokyojin buildings in Yurtstead or he would do it. Screenname sent a demolition team to comply, however instead of being thanked for her cooperation, a standoff ensued at the Yurtstead area. Figuring enough was enough, Screenname wasn't going to be pushed around by Danzilonan goons any longer. Her defiance lead to the bloody battle at Yurtstead, after which a peace treaty was signed and Gensokyo was given the land that was rightfully hers.

Gensokyo and the Holy Krautchan Empire


In late September Gensokyo joined the Holy Krautchan Empire with Grundeswald. Gensokyo's influence was completely diluted to the point of almost nonexistence. Gensokyo was given no official elector or recognition in the HKE. Despite Gensokyo's noticeable growth and geographic importance compared to other elector nations, some of which literally had a populace of only two citizens, Gensokyo never received official representation in the empire. As months passed, the populace of Gensokyo would stand for it no longer, and called upon their Queen to take action. With no other recourse, on November 10th Screenname issued an ultimatum to the HKE, demanding elector status and threatening secession if that demand was not met. The HKE complied and granted Gensokyo elector status.

Over the course of the next few months Gensokyo went on to create the states of Arreat, Cape Kogasa, and Kokoro. On February 12th, 2015, Xia joined the Gensokyojin Confederacy due to a lack of activity, similarity in culture, and close proximity. Eventually, Screenname was elected Empress of the Holy Krautchan Empire. The proceedings were notable for the staged assassination that occured after the main event, intended to test the reaction time of the Empress' security detail.

The Mock Battle of Istanbul


On March 29th, 2015, Gensokyo participated in a mock battle with Istanbul, in a scenario where Gensokyo attempted to retake the territory through military force. A large battalion of federal troops commanded by Empress Screenname stormed the rear of Istanbul in an attempt to flank the enemy. The high ground of the terrain proved unforgiving, and while Gensokyojin soldiers fought bravely and were more than a match for their Islamic enemies, they could not hold the area and were forced to make a tactical retreat.

The Hakurei-Trenzalore Incident
On September 1st, 2014, Trenzalore was incorporated into the Gensokyojin Confederation and in honor of the incorporation was given a new name; "Hakurei" and under the newly formed district of "Cape Kogasa". At this time Hakurei, as it was then known, was definitively uninhabited and had been griefed by suspected /pol/ nazis. The city was eerie and quiet with its imposing walls and broken ruins. Different conversations were had about restoration and habitation but nothing much ever came to be. On April 4th, 2015, The honorable St_Leibowitz published a "Poland-ball" style comic to r/civcraft and to r/gensoukyou that was styled as a tour of the territories belonging to Gensokyo. This included the empty city of Hakurei(Trenzalore). It also alluded to the name and ownership changes. Unbeknownst to him, Ardent Trenzalorian supporter, Perdikkas13, happened to be scrolling through r/civcraft as slow as humanly possible when he happened to see the Comic. Infuriated by the lack of respect given to his and the other former citizens of Hakurei(Trenzalore) over the obviously artful destruction of the city and the former citizens' wish to preserve the haunted shithole they knew as Trenzalore, he went on a patriotism-fueled rage through the gensokyojin subreddit swearing at every mention of the city. Some of their more educated statements include "Who the fuck gave you the rights to Trenzalore?" and "First, learn the fucking history of the town before you fucking claim it". He also insinuated to The Empress Herself that the city's current state of ruins was indeed the best way to preserve it. Screenname quickly dispatched an executor to negotiate with the distressed individual and peacefully resolve the situation. After a discussion about the city's best interests, an agreement was reached. The city was to be called Trenzalore again and was then registered as a historic monument. Perdikkas13 was granted full control of the city's direction, free from both domestic and international influence as per the language of the treaty. Ternzalore remained Gensokyojin territory, and St_Leibowitz also edited his comic to reflect the changes.

Holy Tree Drama
On June 14th, 2015, a conflict erupted over border territories between Holy Tree and Gensokyo. Gensokyojin citizens had an immediate Déjà vu as they had posttraumatic stress attacks remembering Yurtstead. Nearby Mount Augusta and New Danzilonia were affected with the border conflict as well but to a lesser extent. Enraged after seeing nearby territories as an encroachment near their city, despite being a year since they were active, recently revived Holy Tree citizens demanded three nations to give up parts of their land to restore ownership. Land settlements reclamation from New Danzilonia and Mount Augusta were easy enough as changes for them were negligible for them to care. When Holy Tree demanded that Gensokyo bend backwards to their wants too, a firm "no" was returned. This angered Holy Tree's "de facto" mayor, Callid13 so much, he blamed the negative response on Gensokyo's bellicose policies. An immediate "cold war-like" state started between the two nations, if one wishes to call Holy Tree one. With one or two randoms pearled near the border of Holy Tree, the city closed it's borders on June 14th. An immediate negotiation thread was started to alleviate the crisis. What followed was a long and very aggravating series of back-and-forth negotiations with Callid, marked by strange occurances such as whole cities disappearing without a trace. This was eventually settled with the treaty of New Phoenix.

After a gruelling and frankly boring border conflict had come to a close, New Detroit was free to focus on policies of addressing the crumbling infrastructure. With no obstacles in sight, public works projects began in the city with the aim of restoring New Detroit to her former glory. It seemed that finally, Gensokyo was close to entering an era of peace and consolidation.

The Goten War- The Breaking Point
On August 3rd, 2015 a sudden betrayal that shook Gensokyo to its very core occured. Selenanight, the leader of New Detroit's Goten district, along with her lieutenant Hatsumei, declared unilateral secession from Gensokyo without warning. This came as a shock to many members of the nation, partly due to the unusually hostile and aggressive conduct of the secessionists. Selena declared that the reason for her dastardly uprising was because of poor treatment by Gensokyojin officials. It has also been proposed that they did not approve of non-Goten citizens using Goten infrastructure but this is highly unlikely given that the rebels had no problem using non-Goten infrastructure and resources, and only a true hypocrite would apply such a double standard. In a display of possibly even greater stupidity, newly elected mayor and bike seat sniffer, Prof_TANSTAAFL, in defiance of standing international treaties with Gensokyo and against all ethical decency, unconditionally supported the rebel insurgence. Unconditionally. Although this broke the MTA-Gensokyo friendship treaty, Prof declared that even if Goten had demanded real money, they would still support them with military force. The rest of MTA's war-hungry populace, excited at the prospect of war with New Detroit, was eager to fall in line behind him, and they sharpened their swords for a hostile takeover.

Within 48 hours, Augusta had aggressively annexed the rebel territory without making a single effort to negotiate with the Gensokoyjin government, telling them to negotiate with the rebels themselves. The rebels, with the unconditional backing of Imperial Augusta saw absolutely no need to negotiate with the under-strength Gensokyojins and refused to even speak. Facing overwhelming odds, the brave Gensokyojin immediately shifted into defense of their homeland. The Army of the Sanzu immediately mobilized by destroying most bridges between Goten and New Detroit city, as well as setting up military blockades on all remaining roads.

Gensokyo knew full well they were under-strength, and called upon their many allies who were actually capable of honoring a treaty. Many Chanadians and members of the HKE arrived at New Detroit to prepare for the next move, and to meet the challenge that MTA had presented. In an unexpected turn of events, Hjaltland and allied Tigercrew mercenaries also arrived to aid the fledgling coalition. This was a show of good faith that Gensokyo was not soon to forget. Once the massive army was assembled, Gensokyojin high command had urged the coalition to attack Goten as soon as possible, and force a confrontation with Augustan forces. Indeed, they were confident their now superior numbers would be able to win the day in a pitched battle. This was a blunder that would cost Gensokyo and the entire coalition dearly, as the Tigercrew forces hadn't even arrived by the time the attack was ordered. These forces could have tipped the balance, but were left behind in the rush to a decisive confrontation.

The invasion began in the wee hours of the morning. The small force defending Goten retreated in the face of the advancing coalition forces, and Goten was secured without a fight. However, the battle was far from over. In an amazing display of diplomatic bullshittery, Augusta somehow managed to leverage their Defensive Pact with Nox into an Offensive Pact, and bolster their meat shield into a capable invasion force. News that Nox had betrayed the HKE began to trickle in, and hope among the occupying forces in Goten began to wane. An order to fall back behind the walls of New Detroit came. The Augustan-Nox invasion force was assembled quickly. It now outnumbered the forces in New Detroit, and they wasted no time crossing the Sanzu River to attack New Detroit. The entire Coalition army was routed without a fight, as the sight of the Nox warriors caused them to break ranks and flee for their lives in panic. A long and arduous retreat to the eastern territories of the ++ began, and New Detroit was sacked and occupied. A vote was started by the bloodthirsty Augustan soldiers to annex New Detroit and all of Gensokyo's western territories into MTA, but it failed by a slim margin. The villains in Goten smugly relished in their victory, blissfully unaware that they were merely pawns in Mount Augusta's imperialist game. Due to interference from Bryn, Gensokyo was persuaded to let Goten go independent.

The End of New Detroit
This was merely the first phase of Imperial Augusta's scheme to aggressively assimilate nearby territory, and everyone knew it would not end there. Augusta would likely pay off more people to revolt in Gensokyo's fringe holdings or just openly annex the territory unconditionally as they attempted to with New Detroit City shortly after their invasion, citing democracy as a magically infallible benevolent system, and that any action taken by popular vote was immediately justified. They knew they could do this as they had already broken the friendship treaty and gotten away with it, and no longer had to honor any agreements they made, again citing democracy.

The writing was on the wall. Gensokyo could not coexist peacefully with this new, imperialist Mount Augusta. The "peaceful democracy" was now fully controlled by people who only desired Gensokyo's total destruction. With little options available, Screenname was convinced to abandon Gensokyo's ancestral home in the west in favor of the more secure and defensible eastern lands of Touhou. It was once again the ones who had settled the Goten conflict who came to the oppressed Gensokyojin's aid. Bryn agreed to purchase the entirety of Western Gensokyo for over 10000 diamonds, and ensure it would not fall to Augusta's greed. Believing that their beloved homes were in competent hands, the people of Gensokyo, giving the Western territories one last nod and a wink, set off to the sealed Eastern paradise of the Touhou region to begin again.

The End of 2.0
Now free from the bonds of aggressive foreigners, and purged of dissidents and inferiors, Gensokyo continued its inward perfection by focusing on cultivating a nation as beautiful as its neighboring Prussia. A call was sent out to recruit builders from all around. Some were a wasted effort, and caused extensive damage, and some proved to be a true asset to Gensokyo. One in particular, Topaz4293, would rise to become Gensokyo's preeminent builder. This would cause a shift towards a focus on building to promote Gensokyojin culture rather than aggressive foreign policies. More cities were built in the east, such as Mayohiga and Higan. Many more players were recruited that would stick with Gensokyo to this very day. Gensokyo began to recover from the disasters of August, and it seemed that the future was bright. This was not to last, as it had been announced that Civcraft 3.0 was coming, and the world plunged into the darkness of apocalypse.

CivTemp - The Calm Before


Gensokyo initially re-established itself as the bustling port city of Galveston in the state of Texas on the island of Soleado. It focused mainly on tourism and naval supremacy. The tropical climate allowed for large bushels of marijuana to be grown which allowed weed to become the primary Texan export. Unbeknownst to the people of Texas, danger was brewing on the island of Soleado. The vengeful spirit of King Tuckyashirtin, the long dead last ruling monarch of the Asstech Empire, was growing restless. Excavations into the ruins of his temple and subsequent burial site had been going on for weeks, excavating building supplies, artifacts, and anything that looked like it could be sold at a pawn shop. The turning point came with the extraction of the Royal Slab of Tuckyashirtin, a slab chiseled with a list of people that owed the former king money. Fearful he would not be able to extort them later, Tuckyashirtin was determined to get the slab back at all costs. Breaking the bonds of death and returning to the mortal plane, he spent several days trying to break out of his triple sealed coffin. After finding that he was facing the wrong way, having been buried upside down as a joke, he righted himself and escaped.

Meanwhile in Fort Tuckyashirtin, the now ironically named capital building of Galveston, Texas, Screenname was hanging up numerous artifacts recovered from the temple, including the infamous slab. King Tuckyashirtin approached the Fort and demanded the return of his slab, threatening unholy disaster should it not be. In true Gensokyojin fashion, a stand-off occurred. Screenname refused to return the slab, feeling that if somebody wanted it that bad, it must be worth something. She refused to return the slab to him unless he paid a million diamonds for it. Tuckyashirtin would not even entertain the subject. Screenname did not consider some ugly emaciated corpse standing around making terrible sound effects to be a genuine threat but Tuckyashirtin wasn't fucking around. The first "plague" was to bombard the city with an ungodly amount of newfags, hopefully to overload the city's capacity and destroy its infrastructure by sheer force. In less than a day though these new people were assimilated into Gensokyojin culture and only benefited the city. The second "plague" was to play terrible terrible touhou remixes over a loudspeaker truck in the city square. This was unsuccessful due to the population's terrible taste in music, and his speaker system was eventually short circuited by the island's ungodly humidity.

The third "plague" was something but nobody was really paying attention, having completely forgotten about the king by this point, the novelty of his appearance having worn off. The new fad at the time was growing oversized fruit. The Galveston Watermelon festival was very successful that year. Screenname mocked the king, noting he was out of ammo at this point, having only promised three plagues. However, Tuckyashirtin was far from finished. Slowly the sea level began to rise drastically. The rate of the rising ocean would engulf the city within hours. What Tuckyashirtin had failed to account for was the large number of seaworthy vessels docked around the city. Knowing that the jig was finally up but determined to hold onto the slab out of pure spite, Screenname mobilized the population to evacuate on the ships. King Tuckyashirtin attempted to give chase aboard the unoccupied ship, the SS Catpeter, but due to the ship's construction being made almost exclusively out of rocks, he would drown in the attempt.

CivCraft 3.0 Blues


Civtemp was gone, and the opening of 3.0 was marked with confusion and disarray. Members of Gensokyo were spread out across the entire map, and wandered for many a day searching for a place to call home. In the land of Eilon, home to massive trees with that blocked out the very sunlight, Gensokyo had finally found a new home. With the aid of Gensokyo's elite corps of builders, a new city rose beneath the canopy in under a week. This new city was christened as Morieji, and became the nerve center for the nation even as more ambitious plans for a capital began to emerge. It wasn't long before Gensokyo came to have neighbors. Alpoko and Volterra both settled their nations next to Gensokyo, as Eilon was a small and crowded land.

Talks to confirm the claims of Gensokyo began internally, with one faction vying for an aggressive land claim that spanned an entire quadrant, and another wanting a more modest claim. In the end, the former faction won Screenname's support. This showed a trend in growing factionalism within Gensokyo. All attempts to reform Gensokyo's government into something more robust fell through, with both factions never willing to compromise on anything, and getting more hostile with eachother by the week. Through the mediation of Prince Ahrimanne, the two factions were able to maintain a tense coexistance, and civil war was averted for the time, but the cracks in the old Gensokyojin aristocracy were beginning to show.

Things were about to go from bad to worse, as 3.0's mechanics proved themselves once and for all to be completely bone-headed. Volterra, the most powerful of Gensokyo's neighbors, quickly made a move to claim as many of the pylons in Eilon as they could, e-lawyers be damned. Gensokyo, wanting a pylon of their own, attempted to strike a compromise with Volterra. Although talks were making good progress, a new challenger entered the arena. A mysterious nation on Gensokyo and Volterra's border, Province, claimed the last two pylons available on Eilon before Gensokyo could create one. This threw a wrench into the gears, as Volterra was unwilling to crack down on Province and led Gensokyo into a dangerous situation. Talks of war began to seep in amongst Gensokyo and its allies, and internal factions within Gensokyo grew discontent with these rumors. Some called for war, and some called for a peaceful solution. As if things couldn't get any worse, waves of raiders began to descend upon Eilon. Volterra was hit the hardest, and even lost one of their pylons in the attacks. Gensokyo was not spared either, and one of their highest-ranking members was slain while attempting to flee the city of Morieji with a large sum of diamonds in tow. In the midst of the chaos however, Gensokyo was able to claim two pylons, at the cost of potentially provoking Volterra.

Gensokyo decided to claim the pylons, despite the risk of angering Volterra. The pylons were constructed in hidden locations, and the people of Gensokyo hoped that their prospects in Eilon were secure. These hopes were short lived, as mysterious assailants destroyed the pylons in daring midnight raids. Rumors began to circulate, and told damning tales. Not only was Province responsible for the raids, but they were in league with Volterra. Gensokyo's intelligence service wasted no time following up on these leads, and this resulted in a series of covert operations to undermine Volterra's influence throughout the server. Although these operations were successful for the most part, they painted a larger and more concerning picture: 3.0 was dying, and these artificial conflicts driven by confusing design choices were a symptom of this fact. When a new server, Devoted, appeared on the horizon, some in Gensokyo saw potential for a promising new start, and an escape from the clusterfuck of 3.0.

Devoted
The great migration to Devoted began while 3.0 was still in its death throes. The Gensokyojin settlers found themselves in a land vastly different from the suffocating shade of Eilon's canopy: a vast grassland, dominated by rivers and great mountains. This land seemed promising, and the settlers wasted no time setting up shop.

Almost immediately, the fledgling colony was beset upon by barbarian raiders. Unusual in their ferocity and persistence, the raiders bore a particular animosity towards Gensokyo, and tried to snuff out the heavenly kingdom before it was able to establish itself in the new land. The people of Gensokyo were almost pushed out, but decided to stand their ground. Plans for massive fortifications were drawn up, and construction began inbetween raids. An unusual, octogonal boundary was dug out for this settlement, which in all of the chaos never received an official name. Most referred to it affectionately as "The Octagon".

The fortifications consisted of a massive trench dug around the fortifications, and a convoluted trap bunker where the few valuables were stored. The process of digging the trench was gruelling, and began to wear down on the settlers, who previously only knew lives of relative peace. In the midst of construction, massive wars began to break out across the world of Devoted, and Gensokyo was invariably dragged into these conflicts out of a lust for revenge against the raiders. This period would see a rise in militarism amongst the Gensokyojin populace not seen since 2,0, and they would frequently attempt to take the fight to the raiders by whatever means they had available.

The digging in the trench dragged on for weeks. Some of the workers wondered if it was even worth it, others called them foolish for doubting the effectiveness of the Octagon. There was no denying that, when completed, the Octagon would certainly be an oddity. Tensions were rising between the workers, and as if conditions at the dig site couldn't get any worse, plague broke out. The plague arrived suddenly and without warning, and ravaged the workers as the dig site. It was dubbed "trench flu", and halted work on the Octagon for some time.

Despite the hardship, the trench was eventually completed. Work then moved to build the city within the imposing walls of the Octagon, and Gensokyo's builder corps set out to design the layout and theme of the unnamed city. After all the blood, sweat, tears, piss, shit and cum that was sacrificed to dig the trench, it was only natural that the barbarian raids that necessitated such fortifications relented and then stopped almost completely when it was completed.

Work on the city, somehow, proved even more difficult to construct than the trench. This was not due to the sheer amount of hard labor required, but because of good old-fashioned bureaucracy. Gensokyo's builder corps and Queen Screenname could not seem to agree on what the city should look like, and although compromises were attempted, the crown eventually went silent on the matter. Although the builders assumed this gave them the green light, there was still hesistation in the air. The city was left in a state of disrepair, with its fortified skeleton remaining as the only prominent structure.

The queen throughout most of these trials voiced her displeasure at the preceedings to various factions of Gensokyo, about each other. This caused an air of paranoia and slight distrust, but the people of Gensokyo soldiered on regardless. At the time, they had no idea just how displeased Screenname was at almost every direction Gensokyo was taking, and Screenname had the frustrating habit of not addressing such issues head on, preferring to take a more subtle and noncomittal approach. Even the queen's closest subordinates and family members were kept in the dark about his true intentions, and it would only be a matter of time before frustrations with this attitude took a more radical turn.

In the meantime, head architect Topaz and Prince Numbers von Gensokyo embarked upon a series of public works projects in the various provinces of Gensokyo. The greatest triumph of these works was Topaz' greatest feat of construction yet: the palace of Senkai. The massive, gilded temple soon attracted interest from around the world, and it quickly became the envy of many. Despite its beauty, few outside of Gensokyo had laid eyes on it, and its location was kept secret for the time being. Meanwhile, the shell of the Octagon was conspicuously left out of these projects.

Although the projects made steady progress, a scandal that shook the foundations of Gensokyo soon manifested. It was revealed that Screenname, who was relatively silent throughout most of this period, was actually quite busy. As it had turned out, Screenname was seceretly gathering a clique of loyalist army officers within the highest echelons of Gensokyojin politics. Their objective was to undermine almost every prominent member of Gensokyo who was still active and unaware of this plot; including Topaz and her builder corps. Further evidence was revealed of an earlier plot dating all the way back to Devoted, in which Screenname plotted to launch a full-scale political coup against Prince Numbers, with plans ranging from banishing him to out-right dissolving of the royal family in order to strip him of his titles. This was the first anyone had heard of these actions, causing shock and feelings of betrayal. The grim reality began to set in. Queen Screenname, the founder of Gensokyo, appeared to be going rogue.

Screenname, however, was unaware that this information was spreading in Gensokyo. At the time of the scandal, he was on hiatus as per usual. The few remaining active members of Gensokyo, all members of the nobility, left to contemplate their next moves. For a while, they considered moving on from Gensokyo entirely, and leaving to go their seperate ways. They tried this, but they couldn't stay away from Gensokyo for long. After six months of self-imposed exile, the nobles returned with a plan of action.

Teams were dispatched to covertly wrest control of Gensokyo's various settlements away from Screenname. When all was said and done, the dissident faction was now in control of most of the country. When Screenname returned from his hiatus, he was met with an announcement from the dissidents that the people of Gensokyo had taken matters into their own hands. After being confronted by the dissidents, Screenname appeared apathetic at the prospect of being ousted from power, but defiantly proclaimed his innocence in all charges. This was the extent of his reaction, and with no further incidents the coup was successful. With power wrested away from Screenname, Numbers von Gensokyo was crowned King of Gensokyo.

This was such an arduous process that by the time Gensokyo was back and ready to make up for lost time, the world of Devoted was ending. Knowing what had to be done, they embraced the apocalypse and unveiled their golden city to the world, which before hand had been only seen by cartographers. Each map maker who visited the Golden City was asked not to reveal it to the world, so that others could have the same feeling coming over the mountains and seeing the glistening valley. They had held true to this.

Devoted had eventually come to an end, but Gensokyo was now facing a new beginning.

Early CivClassic
From the ashes of Devoted rose Civclassics, a land full of promise and supposedly free of the evils of Devoted. Gensokyojin settlers eventually founded a settlement at an archipelago near the center of the world, building a small town around a school house. The island they lived on was dubbed "Roe Island". Public works projects were under way before long, but were initially hampered by waves of raiders possessing strange magical abilities. It wasn't until they were struck down by the heavens that Gensokyo was left to its own devices once again. The settlement at Roe Island grew beyond its humble beginnings, and soon became a tourist destination. In particular, the massive bath house that dominated the town was a popular retreat for the weary.

Once work on Roe was mostly finished, Numbers desired a large capital city worthy of Gensokyo. Ambitious plans were drawn up for a massive metropolis spanning the river to the east of Roe Island. The grand city was to be called Taozi City, and the planned scale surpassed many of Gensokyo's previous settlements by a significant margin. The builders got to work on the project, and the long process of constructing Taozi City began.

It wasn't long until the flames of war once again plagued the world. The Somber War was waged on a scale not seen for some time, and even Gensokyo couldn't avoid involvement. A small detachment of troops was sent to participate in the final assault on Lexington's vault, and gave a good account of themselves in the fighting.

As progress on Taozi continued, player counts began to wane and skilled labor was getting harder and harder to come by. Matters were further complicated in April of 2018, when Numbers von Gensokyo was severely injured in a freak lawnmower accident. He was put into a coma which he did not awake from for over a year, and the sudden absence of their ruler caused some debate as to who would take charge. Over time, the king's privy council as a whole assumed de facto control over Gensokyo. Dark rituals were performed to bring their ruler back to conciousness, which eventually succeeded in November 2019, but at what cost to the souls of Gensokyojin?

Recent History
Sensing an opportunity to reassert themselves, in late December 2018, Screenname's supporters abroad attempted to push his claim to the throne, and argued that Gensokyo was too inactive to resist such a claim in the first place. This backfired, as the resulting controversy caused Gensokyo's people to come back in droves to defend their honor, effectively reviving the nation from the brink of oblivion. As the subredditpvp fizzled out, work resumed on Taozi City once again, at an even greater pace than ever before.

On April 2019, Gensokyo joined the United Northern Congress (UNC), becoming one of the major members of the alliance as it rose to prominence in the server. During this time they remained neutral in the then ongoing Infinity War between NATO and Mir. On July 12th, following months of frustration at the beaureocracy of the UNC, in particular the obstructionism from some of the smaller member states, Gensokyo, along with Varkonia and Nyasaland, resolved to leave the bloc to form a new one, together with Hjaltland, The Entente.

The Entente became the preeminent diplomatic and military power in the server overnight, but it initially chose to remain neutral in the ongoing war. Tensions were high for some time with Mir over their continued imprisonment of Gensokyo's Prince Ahrimanne. After days of tense negotiations, a deal was reached, and he was released following the payment of a massive ransom, fitting for a prisoner of such stature. Following the agreement, relations between the Entente and Mir began to warm, paving the way for further collaboration.

Before long, it became known that NATO had been collaborating with the rogue states of Laconia and Corvus, as well as supporting the invasion force of Ransakistan, who had been carrying out unprovoked terrorist attacks against civilian targets, wreaking mass havoc and destruction accross the server, including Roe Island. In the face of such atrocities, Gensokyo and the Entente could no longer remain neutral, and decided to step into the war on Mir's side. Gensokyojin combatants took to the front lines, and played a crucial role in the construction and logistics of infrastructure which led Coalition forces to victory.

With the end of the Infinity War, the forces of Evil which had been plaguing the server and Gensokyo in particular for years were scattered, and all but eliminated. Gensokyo peers into a bright, hopeful future for the server, though nobody can say how long it is to last.

With renewed initiative, Gensokyo continues to prevail.

I tell you what bro, these guys like anime and shit.

= References