The Commonwealth

For the Civclassic iteration, see The Commonwealth (CC); for the 2.0 iteration, see Commonwealth (2.0).

The Commonwealth (CMC) is the continuation of the monarchy which was first founded in Civcraft 2.0 by Sashimii, and later on Civclassic by Cowguypig. The third iteration was founded on CivMC by Reffelruz, who joined the nation and the game in the early days of the Classic Era. Though Reffelruz retains a primary administrative role in the early settlement, Peter5930 - who remained king up until the end of the Classic Era - remains so today, despite his complete absence from the game for several years. Hence, the nation is in practice a theocracy, having deified its last king and its selective monarchy evolved into a permanent symbolic monarchy. The Commonwealth plan to focus on attracting tourism through cultural work and social events, as well as accommodation of interstate travel and trade via Shopside, as is a tradition for the nation going back to 2.0. The Commonwealth resides in the multi-level jungle surrounding Mount Olympus, on the equator west of the world-centre; plans for several boroughs have been made in the area, following the 2.0 formula of boroughs being right next to each other.

The DOTEK
On the 9th of August, 2021, reffelruz, council representative of Fort Victoria in the The Classic-era Commonwealth, nailed a book titled "the Doctrine of the Eternal King" or "DOTEK" to the door of Westminster Parliament. The document was a political diagnosis of Peter's kingship; that it had been acknowledged - by the people's continued worship in his absence - that Peter was more than an earthly ruler. Since the original founding in 2.0, the Commonwealth has been a selective monarchy, meaning the host of the crown chooses their own successor; Peter's continued role at the top of the Commonwealth hierarchy following his death, according to reffelruz, is akin to godhood, which would be reinforced by the rules of succession and the extraordinary nature of his story, which strongly correlates with those of gods and mythic heroes across countless cultures. The DOTEK argues that such continued deference would not be afforded to a lesser king, and so, going forward, the kingship of Peter ought to be depicted in the fashion of the cosmic and invoked as the sacred cultural cornerstone of the nation and spiritual ruler for all time, seceding the title of King to the world of permanent cultural myth, which rests above the world of parlimentary affairs, and as such ought to dictate its nature.

The Council never responded to reffelruz's letter.

Enter CivMC
Following the end of the Classic era, the Commonwealth did not pursue territory on any of the Civ servers which led up to CivMC. Discussions occurred on the topic of a revival on CivMC weeks before launch on May 26th 2022, but nothing definitive was planned. Less than a week before launch, reffelruz made an announcement and attempted to rally CWers for the revival. The response was mostly surprise, and most of the active players from the Classic era were already dedicated to new groups. reffelruz deleted the post, discouraged by the mostly negative response. Then the server was delayed, and he made a second announcement, having been encouraged to take advantage of the delay by former-CWer specificlanguage. The CWers that remained active but did not join other groups signed up for the revival.

On June 2nd, reffelruz set out into the newly launched map to search for a location to claim in the name of the King. Having no contact with anyone out in the wilderness for days, reffelruz became weary from his travels, lonesome and a bit discouraged. Eventually though, he came across a large rock at the head of two rivers, forming a perfect cross at the base of the rock. reffelruz saw the landmark as having great symbolic significance, as the name Peter means "rock", and the story of the King contains - as reffelruz interprets in the DOTEK - numerous connections and parallels to Jesus Christ, who was killed on a cross. reffelruz saw this landmark as a sign from the king bidding him to endure as He did, and this renewed reffelruz's hope for the future of the nation, and his resolve to carry on was restored. He declared the location to be a holy site of the King, and dubbed the landmark "King's Cross".

There he met Bgbba, chieftain of Yoahtl, who informed reffelruz that the nation planned to settle in the area; saddened, but ultimately glad that King's Cross would fall into the hands of a former ally, reffelruz would continue on his search after telling the chieftain to take good care of the spot, as it was very special. Bgbba also believed that the spot was very special, though no specific reason was specified for his belief.

reffelruz journeyed south, coming across Mount Olympus, a snow-peaked mountain at the centre of a circular jungle mountain range. The spot had massive potential, and reffelruz marked it as a possible claim. However, having still little interaction with those who signed on to join him, he became once again discouraged at the prospect of a nation. He then returned to King's Cross, compelled somehow to see it again.

When he arrived, there was no sign of a settlement in the area, except for a tiny wheat farm in the field. He messaged Bg, prepared to give up the nation in favour of a religion based out of Yoahtl. Bg informed him that Yoahtl had left the area to avoid certain "goons". Undeterred by this bit of information, and encouraged by Bg to go for it, reffelruz jumped to claim the area surrounding King's Cross. He climbed to the top of the rock for a good vantage point on the area, and to explore the clifftop. When he reached the top of the rock, he checked his coordinates, and he couldn't believe what he saw.

He, and the rock, were standing precisely over the coordinate -5900 -3000, which is the name of the king (Peter5930). This was a divine experience for reffelruz, who was absolutely ecstatic. He immediately went to Bg to tell him about it, and Bg at first completely misunderstood reffelruz, thinking he was seeking encouragement to found the Commonwealth. When Bg understood, his mind too was blown, and he insisted that reffelruz go forward with the claim, who was very happy to do so, no longer needing encouragement.

Unfortunately, there on top of the rock was Fellowship, who had just moved into the area to build a city based off of Minas Tirith from Lord of the Rings. Despairing that the rock was claimed, reffelruz attempted to contact the leaders of Fellowship to propose a monument on top of the rock. They responded in words but gave no answer. Then, a second time: still no answer. He soon learned that among the leaders of Fellowship was Vah, an infamous member of Lexington, the Classic-era nation which fought a six-month war against the Western Alliance and crucified Peter. reffelruz gave up on the rock, choosing instead to take the reality of the situation into account of the symbolism of the location. He could claim the eastern section of King's Cross, and build a monument at the base of the rock instead, looking upon the symbol of the king, over the river, just out of reach.

He accidentally overclaimed Sovia (CivMC), who contacted him about it. reffelruz immediately removed the claim post and apologized. Sovia was pleased and graciously invited reffelruz to found the Commonwealth to their immediate north, an area which included the eastern section of King's Cross; reffelruz accepted.

All was well for a couple days, but as players were still just arriving at the claim, Fellowship began moving their claim into the CW claim, both by making reddit posts and by building farms in CW claims. reffelruz commented on the post to inform them, but the post was promptly deleted and replaced with a new one, this time eating even further into CW claims, including King's Cross. All attempts to reach out to Fellowship, as before, were met with non-answers and dismissal. Seeing no hope for a peaceful life and enjoyable game experience under these circumstances, reffelruz reached out to CW's other neighbours to get their word on the situation. Local settlements recognized the CW claim but were unable and unwilling to defend it. Discouraged and unsure of what to do, reffelruz received a short message from Bgbba, consisting of only two words: "revive CW".

The Return of the King
reffelruz got in contact with the leaders of Petrichor, who had claimed the southern portion of King's Cross at the time, and would later claim the eastern portion as well. He requested that they receive the western portion from him; though it was now contested by Fellowship, reffelruz proposed to relinquish all current claims in the name of the King in exchange for this one favour. Shadedoom, a minister of Petrichor, agreed to bring this forward to Fellowship, though he did not understand the importance of the landmark at the time. Vah agreed to the terms; the site for the monument was secured, and construction promptly began once reffelruz decided what it would be: a redesign and recreation of the famous End tower which stood at the centre of the King's End Citadel in the Classic era. The tower was completed on June 21st, the summer solstice - yet another remarkable coincidence, as Peter's journey to the End and back corresponds to other solar and seasonal myths, in which the god or goddess is imprisoned in the realm of death for six months of the year, causing the seasons.

With the site established, reffelruz headed southwest back to Mount Olympus, where he soon staked a new claim. That is where the Commonwealth resides today.

[To be Continued...]