Carson (Civcraft)

Carson is a syndicalist city. Located at -1200, +4250, the city is fully open to the public and accepts all comers, whether they want to become part of the FWC or just live in the city. Geographically located within touching distance of Commonwealth (2.0) and the sadly abandoned Lio, Carson prides itself on strong diplomatic ties to all of the cities in the minus plus area.

With no government to speak of, Carson instead works on a system of cooperatives, with each cooperative nominated to fulfill a certain role based on the suitability of the people operating them. As a result, decision making is done in a very organic way, with suggestions for major changes posted to the private subreddit and then discussed and voted on.

Becoming a member of Carson is therefore rather straightforward; a prospective member can simply ask to join. All that is expected of a Carson resident is a willingness to work and the capacity to get along with a wide range of people.

Civcraft 1.0
Carson was originally conceived towards the end of Civcraft 1.0, during and after the height of the Blackstone Keep/Gimmick Brigade conflict. blueavenue, seeking to do something truly unique and create an environment devoted to the creation and propagation of culture, created the idea of building a city in the ocean - as opposed to on land, or in the sky, or in the island - and building an aesthetically stunning and culturally powerful haven within. As such, he established some simple principles and defined a basic charter. Work began soon after; utilising novel piston mechanics and the efforts of a concentrated but hard-working group, good progress was made on filling in a large portion of sea near 1.0s legendary Columbia (1.0). Unfortunately, due to the events that brought about an end to Civcraft's first iteration, work was never completed.

Foundations
For the first few weeks of Civcraft 2.0, Carson was based around the northern portion of what is now the Carson Plains cooperative area. Colloquially known as 'the staging ground' or 'Old Carson', this area saw the very basics of Minecraft centralized towards itself; mining, farming, excavation and, critically, a meeting point. The staging ground remained as so for a few weeks until progress was moved southwards to a hills biome, where the hub of the current Carson Plains biome now stands. The staging ground is now host to a large potato farm and the former site of Las Malvinas; visitors can find Little Marienberg, a house dedicated to the Prussians that visited for Erich_Honecker's funeral.

Once work had been shifted to the Carson plains proper, workers also started to fan out to establish a foothold in other biomes. The first of these camps, the earliest cooperatives, were established in rainforest and forest biomes; the La Paz and Eastwood cooperatives. Soon after, a desert biome kilometres from the staging ground was colonised and Peyote was born. The first formal cooperatives (mining was done on a more fluid basis, with Foofed mining thousands of kilometres over weeks), these provided a steady stream of resources to produce the enchanted equipment required for faster progress.

Erich Honecker's Funeral
On June 2nd, 2013, the Carson staging area (Carson Plains) held the funeral service and entombing of the late, great Erich_Honecker_. The event was presided over by Sami_Ghani and attended by many prestigious mourners such as the Prussian] council, the famous author Timmy123180, and Lucifielle I of the End.

Initially, the ceremony went very well; bouquets of roses were planted in the ground in commemoration, in addition to burning crosses and dirt swastikas. A book, to be entombed along with Erich, was signed by every attendee of the service. Also, a small homage to the 1.0 Prussian end town, Marienburg, was constructed, to honour the distance that the Prussian council had travelled to attend the service.

Following the meet at Carson Plains, the congregation moved to Erich's tower, where Sami_Ghani gave a moving service before Erich's final words. Unfortunately, the actual entombing was far from straightforward. Several members of the party fell into the tomb along with Erich and several inappropriate blocks, such as dirt and wood, were placed into the hole that was to be sealed. This debacle continued for several minutes until, frankly, everyone got bored.

Curiously, the man we had all assumed dead had in fact been caught up in a battle against evil, taking place in what we can only assume was hell. On the 12th July, 2013, Erich posted a video of his epic struggle, presumably taken on his mobile phone camera that he had cleverly switched off before his 'death', so as to conserve battery.

Completion of the Foundations
Following two months of hard work, sporadically carried out by all members of the community and consistently by great socialist hero iebagi, the hole in the ocean that would form Carson's base was finally finished. A render, posted by ariehkovler, heralded the official completion date of the hole: the 7th July 2013.



Landmarks and Surroundings
Carson is comprised of a central city that has been dug deep into the ocean, connected by rail and ice-road to several different biomes housing the 'cooperatives'; individual and privately managed organisations that pool resources to the benefit of the FWCC.

The sight of a city located within a huge pit sunk into the ocean is really the landmark sight of Carson. Buildings are currently sparse, but, once completed, should provide compelling viewing; skyscrapers and huge projects, all meticulously planned, rising out from the ocean. Aside from the city itself, the various cooperatives are also host to unique and eye-catching features. La Paz Cartel, for example, boasts a huge, office-like structure that dominates the landscape of an otherwise tranquil rainforest; Peyote, too, dominates a barren desert with their UFO-like cacti cell. Every biome currently under use is landmarked by industrial-scale activity.

Current Landmarks


Carson Library: Another Las Malvinas project, the library is a two story building that stands in the center of Carson. One of the most eccentric builds in the city right now, it uses netherbrick and quartz blocks, deployed in spiralling patterns, to provide a unique and exciting feel. Design and construction was completed by Babycham.



CIC Tower: The first official skyscraper to be built in Carson, the CIC tower currently houses the co-op CIC, and doubles as the primary station for Carson International Rail Lines. Designed and constructed by iebagi and FeenixPhire, the tower boasts open space, a roof pool, and a main office for the heads of the CIC, Jacinth_Joy and mattamattress. It also provides housing for CIC members and is, currently, the tallest building in Carson.

Future Landmarks
Considering a majority of time invested into Carson has been spent digging out the City of Carson, many landmarks have been planned to be constructed all throughout Carson and it's surrounding cooperativess. Most of these builds have been completed on the Carson private build server, CarsonCraft.

Carson Theatre: The theatre of Carson is a project funded and built by Las Malvinas. Boogaberg has handled most of the construction. The First 2.0 drama awards are planned to be held here. It has a high tech lighting and current system, designed by mattamattress. Big Blue has not yet established whether he prefers salted or sweet popcorn, but whichever he chooses will be sure to be the preferred snack of Carsonian theatre goers.

The District Gates: A potential identifying factor of Carson will be the four district gates. Mostly planned by FeenixPhire, these will be huge structures that beckon visitors and residents alike into the underground districts they hold behind, areas that will be made for the free enterprise of citizens. While none have even entered construction, three of the four have been built previously on Carsoncraft.

The Carson Museum of Civcraftian History: The museum is a grand-scale project currently undergoing planning by Theodius with supervision from FeenixPhire. Intended to have a very classical look that matches well with the rest of the city, the museum will house hundreds of exhibits from around the world and the one left behind in 1.0, including the Crown of the Pumpqueen, Jacinth_Joy, and a New Leningrad Lenning Note, now considered a rarity following the destruction of the printing plates.

Economy
Carson is prosperous and self sustaining. Whilst the land itself, being contained within an ocean biome, is infertile and unsuitable for the production of any meaningful produce, the ingenious method of collating the efforts of small, highly specialised cooperatives into a central pool in Carson provides the entire range of food, XP, mineral resources and building materials required

The Federated Worker's Cooperatives of Carson is the central cooperative body of the various businesses that contribute to Carson. A purely administrative body, the FWCC add a level of governance and accountability to the movements of each cooperative.

Economically, Carson works off an idealised mutualism system but has essentially ended up becoming more similar to syndicalism. The cooperatives, and their workers, are frequently private and entitled to work independently; however, to receive the full benefit of the city, operating in a public capacity and pooling resources is encouraged. As such, there are a range of different methodologies being employed by the cooperatives. Some will send their entire inventory to Carson, with the surplus being sold or stockpiled, whereas some will provide a limited inventory and retain some of their produce to sell for private endeavours.

Whilst capitalist activities and internal markets are discouraged, citizens of Carson that produce goods without removing value from the system are entitled to do with them as they please. Tourists and traders are, too; previously, there had been no plan to introduce shops in the main Carson area. Discussion led to the decision to open up a foreign market and exchange in the city centre.

Carson Farming Cooperative
The Carson Farming Cooperative is an informal term for the amalgamation of each and every XP resource related cooperative. As the functionality and requirements for operations of these areas is so similar, the group as a whole function more like one large cooperative than as individual smaller ones. Listed below are the various farms and encampments that make up the farming cooperative.

For a point of reference, the de facto 'leaders' of each cooperative are listed in italics next to each.

La Paz (CSimplify): A cocoa, carrot and pork farming organisation, La Paz offer huge contributions to the XP economy of Carson. A major supplier of cocaine, La Paz jealously regard the peyote peddled by their cacti manufacturing compatriots due to its status as Carson's favourite recreational drug.

La Paz has, in latter years, become infamous as a labyrinth. Farm operator CSimplify has gone a bit mental in his older years and decided to spend his days completely changing the layout of the place on a daily basis, leading to much confusion when travellers from the other cooperatives pass through the plantation.

Peyote Cacti Plantation (g10greg56): As the name suggests, Peyote produces cacti for XP production on an industrial scale. Employing aggressive marketing techniques, Peyote were initially one of the most outwardly mobile organisations, selling cacti to any and all who request it.

Operating from a single, huge cacti cell (3x3 chunks in size), the output of the Peyote Cacti Factory eclipses that of any other in the Civcraft world, and, with another cell currently nearing completion, the cactus requirements of Carson are sure to always be met, labour allowing. Construction is currently ongoing on a second cacti cell, slightly larger than the previous in size - Theodius is looking for workers to finish the task.

Carson Plains (blueavenue): A wheat and potato farming operation, they take their name from the original staging ground of Carson prior to the ocean seabed excavation efforts.

Dorner Island (blueavenue): Dorner Island is the result of heavy development upon a mushroom island previously used solely for the farming of beef. Now the focus of a huge, checkerboard-patterned experimental facility, people sailing near the island often veer off, hearing the tormented screams of thousands of pigs. Quite what goes on in Dorner Island is a closely guarded secret, but you can be sure that it isn't pleasant and probably illegal.

Eastwood Logging
Contact: TheJDz

One of the earliest and most ambitious cooperatives, Eastwood logging operates from a forested island. Having levelled the landscape and replanted it in a systematic, orchard-like pattern, Eastwood provides the entirety of charcoal, oak and birch requirements for Carson.

Recent redevelopment efforts has seen the creation of a winding cliffside wall and balcony around the island, giving it something of a fort-like appearance. The orchards are now lined with fences and hedges, giving it a very relaxed yet secure appearance; iron doors secure the trees from outside influence.

Expansion of Eastwood Logging led to the creation of the currently inactive Cedar Bluff. Cedar Bluff is a snowy hilltop logging camp devoted to the harvest of spruce logs and pumpkins and is perhaps the most isolated cooperative, but an important one nonetheless. Recent efforts to connect the camp to Carson has seen the creation of one of the longest single destination railways.



Las Malvinas
Contact: Babycham, MrsEmery, Jacinth_Joy, kylemcinnes

Las Malvinas is a closed island community, housing a tight-knit group of friends who joined the Carson project during 1.0 after finding that their own goals, and membership circles, were closely entwined with Carsons. Once excavation had been completed, Las Malvinas created one of the very first building in Carson, the printing press and public library. As a cooperative geared towards providing a dose of culture and intrigue to Carson, as opposed to the more mundane stuff, they also intend to host various events in the future.

Las Malvinas has recently found a surge of members and this has reflected in the structures and evolution of the area. Originally, little more than three houses and a storeroom existed; now, visitors will find the foundations of a fort, upwards of seven houses, a sailor's tavern and a radio broadcast station.

Work recently finished, too, on Babycham's luxurious cultural palace, a defining landmark of the current Las Malvinas landscape.

Carson Infrastructure Cooperative
Contact: Jacinth_Joy

The CIC, or Carson Infrastructure Cooperative, deals with the large-scale services and amenities that every member of Carson and its cooperatives make use of; so, the roads, railways, canals and public buildings. The CICs flagship project, now complete, was the first leg of the Carson subway, which uses two trainlines across the cardinal directions to connect each cooperative to Carson.

Since the establishment of the initial rail-line, many more have been dug. Most recent is the huge expansion of the N-S line to Haven, likely Civcrafts first major international rail. Prior to that, lines were opened to the cities friends and trade partners, Fort Ironside and Lio, plus the creation of additional lines between La Paz and Eastwood and Carson Plain to the potato fields.

The Gimmick Brigade/Carson Defence Cooperative
Contact: TeaJizzle

The Gimmick Brigade is Carson's designated defense cooperative, operating in a more similar manner to a militia than an organised police force or army; members of different cooperatives will join the Gimmick Brigade and then be expected to drop tools when defensive action is required. Calling the ultra-secure, obsidian-cast Gimmick Tower home, The Gimmick Brigade is different from other cooperatives in that it will only ever take from the system; with no means of production, it relies upon the city to provide the relevant equipment required to fight.

Admittance into the Gimmick Brigade and, therefore, access to armament, is reliant on the PvP skill of the applicant, as adjudged by TeaJizzle. There are, however, 'regular' members. Arguably as important as the fighters themselves, they are charged with the production and upkeep of potion stocks in addition to ensuring equipment is accessible at whatever location it is required.

Despite the focus on defense, and fighting, the Gimmick Brigade is very much focused on not creating any sort of universal police force. They are concerned with protecting Carson and her neighbours interests and will not engage in cross-map bounty hunting.

Notable Residents
blueavenue - Carson is blueavenue's child. The original charter and fundamental philosophies (mutualism and stateless society) were a result of his thinking. Unfortunately, he has cast away the shackles of freedom and descended into a socialist nightmare; workers dig away for hours upon end, well in the knowledge that Big Blue is watching from his incredible extensive CCTV network, ready at any moment to order legions of communist lackeys to drag them to the gulags.

iebagi - Great socialist worker/hero iebagi has been one of the driving forces behind the filling and excavation of the Carson digsite. Thousands of gravel and beach dust blocks later, there are rumours that even he is questioning his san(d)ity in the face of yet more ocean floor filling. Current location is unknown.

Erich_Honecker_ - He's just a voice, or was until he died. Squeezed an extra few weeks out of his Civcraft life to assist with the initial setup and morale of the Carson project.

littlevenk - Enjoys the fine things in life - pearls and Prot IV. An eager hand in all things but perhaps enjoys killing stuff the most. A modern-day Sherlock Holmes, his meticulous and intricate sleuthing methods have given birth to a new type of detective work; 'investivenking'. Whilst sometimes a little too aggressive with his words, venk is nevertheless a reliable worker for Carson and an adept fighter.

mattamattress - A grumpy turtle. Vehement in his opinions but an important figurehead in spurring on both the mundane and delicate work in Carson. Constantly breaded, this can however be justified by the sheer amount of work he puts into seeing Carson, and Civcraft, succeed. Plans on opening up a bread shop in Carson eventually. In addition, he has patented a playdough set that not only lets one create spagetti hair with playdough, but allows hair to be created with bread instead.

g10greg56 - Guilty of eating too many cookies, greg is nevertheless an important worker and didn't even mind heading into arse end of nowhere to help expand Carson's melon operation in line with a particular set of XP changes. Greg is famous for falling in holes profusely, many times losing a set of prot to the fall. Ironically, he has decided to call the largest hole on the server his home.

Teajizzle - Mover of Bedrock; the Bedrock Dragon. TeaJizzle is half redstone engineer and half warrior; when not inventing another brilliant device to help encourage progress in Carson, he is armed to the teeth and assisting those less fortunate fight the griefers that plague them. As a result, he is a member of two cooperatives: the meta-based Carson Engineers, which come up with innovative macro scripts and redstone devices; and the Gimmick Brigade, Carson's designated defence cooperative.

Babycham - Most handsome member of Carson. Despite his frequent putdowns, most of which are extremely brutal, Babycham is actually one of the kindest members of Carson and is, above everything else, interested in making sure people are treated fairly and are diplomatic towards eachother. The de facto leader of the Las Malvinas cooperative, he designed and built the Carson library.

Jacinth_Joy - A force of nature. Did incredible work with the CIC railway, digging literal thousands of metres of wide, tall, tunnels and laying down thousands of rails. Also the head of the Pumpkin Court, a secretive group of magi and knights dedicated to the proliferation of Pumpki.

Ave3ng3d7x - The one and only Bane, who records his hit podcast, Bane Talks Civcraft, in his state-of-the-art studio in Las Malvinas. A prominent P dealer in 1.0s Mt Augusta, he often found himself at odds with Theodius, a drug peddler from the +,+.

MrsEmery/Theodius - The situation of MrsEmery is a tricky one. The passed player Theodius has possesed his former maid MrsEmery, and they are considered the same identity. She runs Peyote and produces all of the cacti of Carson. Even though MrsEmery and Theodius had a relationship in the previous map, she is rumored to be sharing a summer home with FeenixPhire (and a few kisses along the way.) This is odd because even though her soul has been replaced by Theo's, her sexuality has stayed the same.

Boogaberg - A professor of Goyim mechanics and official multiculturism officer for Carson, great wizard Boogaberg has proven the success of social mobility in Carson, rising from the position of simple potato farmer to theatre proprietor.

Image Gallery
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