Order of St Marcus

The Order of Saint Marcus is a guild of builders and urban planners which focuses on constructing impressive or interesting structures across the server, and encourages players to work on improving the look of their town or city. Anyone may apply to join the Order, and progression through the ranks is based on an individual's skill and level of contribution to the Order's goals.

The group is based in Mount Augusta, and was founded in February 2018 by Logic_Man and Gobblin. Today, the Order of Saint Marcus has expanded to construct many buildings across the map. The Order also operates and manages multiple historical monuments such as the Pillars of Iria in Iria and will soon be opening the St Marcus Archives located on Level 1 of Shardore Tower in Mount Augusta. Saint Marcus refers to Marcus Flaminius, an important historical figure of previous Civcraft iterations and a major player in the Maester Alliance - an order focused on preservation of stories and texts written in-game.

Goals
The Order of Saint Marcus has the following goals;
 * Construct appealing buildings to improve the look and feel of cities in which the Order operates.
 * Widespread construction of Lodges - serving as a safehouse, meeting place and storehouse for members.
 * Acknowledging and recognizing the historical past of players, communities and cities.
 * Promote good quality architecture and world building across the server.

Ranks of The Order
What classifies as a 'building' is up to the discretion of existing Fellows of the Order. For a building to be counted, it must be added to the List of Builds list on the wiki, must display at least one flag of St Marcus on the exterior of the building that is positioned in such a way that it will be seen by anyone attempting to enter the building (multiple entrances require multiple flags). Builds that are a combination of players efforts can be counted towards multiple player's building count.

Journey of the Placed Block

Joining the Order
The Order is always looking for new builder and the requirements to join are simply a desire to build. The Order will never require any members to leave their desired town of residence. If you are the first member of a town to join the Order, it will be your duty to construct the appropiate lodge - and you will be in charge of the Order within that city.

Upon joining the Order it is requested that any future builds you create display the banner of the Order to show your association. If you are building in a town with an already established Order presence - building materials will be provided for you to construct the buildings of your choice.

The Order is simply a union of builders that are aligned with the three goals of the Order and to allow builders, who are often the most isolationist members of city communities, to unite under one flag.

You may be requested to build buildings in your town but will be under no obligations to do so. These buildings may include; Lodges, opportunity shops, museums and libraries.

Structures
Members of the Order have already constructed many buildings across Iria and Mount Augusta. Details for major developments are provided below, but minor builds that exist include; multiple homes in Iria, the Irian Church to Canalism & the Northeastern in Mt Augusta which operates as a safehouse for any Irians which find themselves in the city. The Order also has purchased naming rights to Marcus Tower in Mt Augusta.

Lodges
Lodges are the first and primary building of the Order. There are two designs that are used between cities - with the goal being to allow lodges to be easily recognized. The Grand Lodge is constructed in cities that are deemed to be significant and influential in the region that they are constructed or a city that provides enough resource funding to the Order to deem such a building possible. The Grand Lodge contains meeting room, chestrooms, beds and food access. The second design, is a standard lodge built in cities that do not quality for a Grand Lodge. the minor lodge contains a viewing deck accessible for all players and a meeting room. Grand Lodges currently exist in Mount Augusta and Iria. A lesser lodge exists in Pinnacle.

'Markies' - St Marcus Opportunity Shop
St Marcus Opportunity Shop is an initiative of the Order that offers permanent purchasing of cobblestone for diamonds, to give new or poorer players a simple way to make money for themselves. St Marcus Opportunity Shop currently only operates in Mt Augusta.

Shardore Tower


Shardore Tower is the largest construction being undertaken by the Order. This building is located in Northeast Mt Augusta and contains:
 * Floor 1: St Marcus Archives - this floor will contain public access to the records, documents and books that Saint Marcus has gained access too. The first floor contains scattered bookshelves, a raised walkway and greenery. As well as the central tower that contains access to all other floors of the tower. The building can be entered from all cardinal directions and supports horse access.


 * Floor 2: Shardore Observation Deck - the observation deck contains four streams of water descending down from the central tower with large windows positioned around the entire tower, the tower also contains access to an exterior walkway that allows views of Mt Augusta.


 * Floor 3: Club 66 - Club 66 contains the 24/7 live band: Golden Maesters, as well as a bar.
 * Floor 4: Scriptorium of the Order and the Maester Alliance - The Scriptorium will be the symbolic center of the Order - it is still being designed.

Museum of Irian History
The Museum of Irian History is a museum located in the housing district of Iria - this large building contains exhibits including exact replicas of real buildings located in 2013 Iria and stories reflecting on the cities past struggles and victories.

The Pillars of Iria
This monument is an exact recreation of the pillars during early Irian 2.0 times, the pillars once stood as the center of the city of Iria. On these pillars, you will be able to see the original laws of Iria - including the existence of taxes that were abolished during wolfeyes391's rise to power.

The Gijharian Estate III
This home is located in the southwestern corner of the Irian housing district - this home is based on the Irian buildstyle in 2014. It's name comes from the Gijharian Estate I and II, two homes which existed in Iria and served as homes to Gobblin.

The Anti-Grid Movement in Mt Augusta
The Order has begun a focus on making Mt Augusta look more like a city, and less like a creative server by implementing buildings that mount or modify the road in a way that allow for a more fluid transition between different player's blocks. The current progress undertaken by the Order includes: Unity Terrace (collaboration with Romec), Tunnel of Love (collaboration with Romec), May 2018 Order of St Marcus and Maester Alliance assembly redevelopment, Terrace of Acacia (collaboration with scramble0), Tunnel on Tenpo Lane, Tunnel to scramble0's plot (collaboration with scramble0), The Garden of Eden (collaboration with the Maester Alliance).

Historical Roots and Connection with the Maester Alliance
The Maester Alliance is an ancient guild of writers and archivists which focuses on recording the histories of the Ages, preserving literature, and encouraging players to write and produce cultural works. The Alliance dates back to the First Age of Civcraft, and is a well-respected institution in its own right.

The Order was established during the 'long night', a period of time between Civcraft 3.0 and the Second Era of Civclassics where the majority of maesters fell into eternal slumber and the torch of the Alliance was passed through the Ages by one or two individuals. During the latter part of this timespan, one of the last maesters joined forces with a skilled architect to plant the seed of a new, culturally focused group for the Civ-genre. GrandMaester Marcus_Flaminius was named patron saint of the group, in recognition of the significant time commitment and effort given by this player to the Alliance across the Ages, and in memory of his apparent eternal slumber.

The Order therefore shares a common root system with the Maester Alliance, although it is a much younger group in comparison, and functions as a ‘sister’ guild; both groups co-exist and collaborate on some projects, but ultimately have separate goals. Players are welcome to join either (or both).