Iria

Iria's five year history

Founding and the Corum Years (Early 2013)
Lottosprayer and HorizonLeap founded Iria in 2.0 and were soon joined by Wolf. Iria grew quickly and greatly benefited from trade. However the release of greifers from the Valkyria vault led to the decline of the Corum region Iria was situated in. Though Iria's allies may have fallen Iria kept growing. Soon the nearby Kilfordshire was annexed.

The Post-Corum Years (Mid 2013)
In mid 2013 this growth came to an end. Lottosprayer, the designer of Iria's -and one of the servers-largest structures, a giant cathedral, quit. This symbolic failure corresponded with an ineffective council and eventually Iria saw its darkest hours. INF raiders occupied the town, pearled citizens and destroyed most wealth.

The Revival Years (Early 2014)
After stagnation and inactivity in Late 2013 an "Iria Restoration Committee" was created. Iria grew less isolated as nearby towns were revived or created. Even the cathedral was torn down by owner and rebuilt. Iria continued to trade, helping supply the (doomed) HCF assualt on River's End.

The Renaissance Years (Mid 2014)
The NEA is created, uniting Iria with Fellowship, Garundistan, Bryn and others.

Iria Will Burn: The BMB War (mid-late 2014)
In mid-2014, Iria had a modestly large population, and a strong local economy. Then, a raiding gang who called themselves "The BMB" entered the picture. While poorly armed, they had large numbers. Their tactic of lighting everything in sight on fire was also devastating for Iria, which extensively used flammable wood materials in house construction. The recently completed Providence district of Iria mostly burned to the ground. Many Irians fled, with prominent Irian citizens Tamblers, Fraelyn and Michael leaving to start a new town under Iria that would become known as Sunder. Those who remained were determined, and one Irian, CD, famously put a sign outside house house that read “BMB proof”. The BMB continued to strike Iria, and left signs of their own, placing many signs threatening Iria with messages such as “Iria will burn.” Eventually the BMB were defeated and their base, Stormgarde, was destroyed. The Irians who remained came together to rebuild form the ashes. Many moons later, travelers would still report finding the odd “Iria will burn” sign in the forests and mountains around Iria.

The Eagle Crew War (late 2014)
Sometime after the BMB War, Iria had recovered, and Sunder had become a successful town in its own right. Iria had made friends with an industrious new town in the east, Hjatlland and a new PVPer had moved to Iria named deadkind, who had brought a small band of mercenaries with him, and started an army within Iria. The mercenaries resided in Greenville, a new district of Iria south of the Iria City that had been designed by OfUnknown. A new raider threat emerged, lead by two raiders named Eagle_Girl and Lysika_Lantariel, they began attacking Iria on a nightly basis, and our ally to the south, Fellowship. Unfortunately deadkind was nowhere to be found. But new fighters within Iria and Fellowship such as Jumpysnake and BlackXnt helped protect the town, reducing losses. As Eagle and Lysika enlarged their posse and began hitting new towns and even vaults, Irians remained active in guerrilla attacks against the raiders, particularly a new Irian, TangentialThreat. There were battles in many places, including the snow plains east of Weldon, and Lindor Island, a trading partner of Iria's, located next to Hjaltland. As Eagle Crew increased their power they set up a vault, which Iria snitched. Tangent, Jumpysnake, Tamblers, Fraelyn and the leader of Hjaltland, BlueSylvaer, launched a guerrilla attack against Eagle_Girl and an accomplice, trapping her in a fall trap. While her accomplice was killed, Eagle escaped using ingenious tactics. There was also a diplomatic crisis in this period, when Sintralin - the leader of Fellowship and Chair of the NEA was suspected of being complicit in the Eagle crew attacks. Eventually the Eagle_Crew was defeated, and Lysika_Lantariel revealed his true face – deadkind.

Normandy
When any nation moves new struggles and opportunities await. Iria faced a drop in players from those who did not wish to start from scratch. However the prospect of a new frontier reinvigorated the remaining members.

Iria was initially founded relatively close to the center as the town of Normandy. The frequency of early raids led to the migration far east, and Normandy was eventually annexed by Verda. Across the map from most major nations and still secretive due to fear of raids, Iria struggled to attract new players. In this secret period much progress was made, particularly in infrastructure, an extensive rail system linking the disparate islands and farms.

Age of inefficient XP
New XP farms were created and the old expanded as daily life became a rush to find the next limiting factor. Behind this veil of efficiency lay much more fundamental issues. Iria used intermediate cauldron recipes for far too long, the small number of Macromod users and the smaller number of trading partners compounded issues. Wolf was gone, new players would not come and Iria faced stagnation. Some notable developments occured in this time. The domestic rail station was constructed and the rail network expanded. Why did Iria stagnate? In part Iria lusted for an identity yet found none. Irian flags were not adorned on houses. There was virtually no trade, no diplomacy.

Towards the end of this period, Iria's ally, Anguish fell. Many Anguish members were originally Irian and the close proximity to Anguish was a significant factor for Iria's second settlement location. Early Iria's large size recruitment vigor meant that many players on both sides of the Somber War had roots in Iria.

Yet Another Revival
In early December the first stirrings of revival began. Quickly XP was saved and an advanced cauldron and the remaining armor factories constructed. More houses were built above ground and for the next few months progress, little by little was made. The largest events occurred in late February to early/mid March. Swift work was done to built up the still unfinished rail station. A number of old Irians, including Wolf returned and the international rail was completed.

Ongoing Projects
Iria's choice to remain hidden early resulted in a focus on underground infrastructure. Inside an ice cavern lays the underground station, a many month long work in progress. As Iria nears to completing the roof, it is the largest station on the server. Alas, a lack of neighbors restricts the amount of lines that can be realistically used.