Mount September

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Mount September
Flag of Mount September
General
Location-4966, 2238
DemonymSeptembrian • Tiberian
AllianceAugustan Federation
Government
GovernmentDirect democratic republic
Governing documentThe Constitution of Mount September
• Mayor
Vacant
• Judge
Vacant
• Judge
Vacant
• Judge
Vacant
• Diplomat
Vacant
Formation
Foundation date1 September 2020[1]
Preceded by
Culture
Motto"Lex Paciferat"
National anthemSeptember
MascotDecember
Links
DiscordpkBScuu

Mount September was a sovereign nation located in the -,+ quadrant. It was founded as a spiritual successor to the now defunct Mount Augusta. It seeks to preserve the openness and culture of Mount Augusta albeit as a fresh nation and not an identical copy. The city proper of Mount September occupied the northern half of an island formerly settled by the Maltovian territory of Compton. After CivClassic 2.0, the Mount September community remains active in Discord.

The canals of Mount September
Property map of Mount September, as of June 9th 2021

Geography

Mount September encompasses, from west to east:

  • Two nether islands, nearly halfway to Gabon;
  • A large island, which comprises the city of Mount September, (sometimes this island is informally referred to as Mount September, though the other claims are also part of Mount September as well);
  • Spratly Island (contested with South Augusta); and
  • The majority of the continent of Augusta, including most of the city of Mount Augusta.

Mount September maintains underground rail connections to Mount Augusta, Westminster, Varkonia, Gabon, Lusitania, and more.

Early history

Foundation

By August 2020 activity in Mount Augusta was at an all time low. The city state had officially moved to servers to CivRealms causing its CivClassic counterpart to be without a subreddit, constitution and eventually, discord server. Squareblob and Godomasta intended to revive CivClassics' MtA by slowly derelicting property, starting by HPOOM blvd. However, the effort it would have taken to acidblock and rebuild some of the infrastructure was deemed too high, and the prospect of a fresh start was too attractive. Construction in Mount September began on August 11th 2020. By September 2020 the basic forms of the downtown canal, roads and voter tree had been constructed.

Another debate was the legal one: the Mount Augusta constitution was deemed by some to be too complex and stale, so a change was seen as necessary; there was some doubt as to whether it would be better to write a new constitution from scratch, or condense Mount Augusta's into a more friendly format. The r/MountSeptember subreddit was banned on September 3rd 2020 (The "sunken park" was built in honor of this event), and the former was deemed as a better alternative. The original constitution was drafted by AllenY, which after a brief revision period was ratified on October 5th 2020.

Creation of the Mall and the Septem

On October 22nd 2020, the Mount September Mall officially opened, and was followed six days after with the creation of a local currency: the septem ($), worth seven diamonds, and its subdivision, the yiseptem (¥), worth 1/64th of a septem. The MtS Mall slowly but surely grew and now includes over half a dozen shops, selling building materials, food, enchanted items and various other things.

Most shops in the MtS Mall use the septem as currency.

December Revolt

On December 23rd, 2020 an event that would forever change the September political landscape occured. What started as an innocuous road naming ceremony evolved into pure chaos after South Augusta's leader, TheOrangeWizard murdered squareblob, who was then mayor. The crowd in the event was launched into a frenetic chase that led to the eventual pearling and subsequent freeing of TheOrangeWizard, who angered at this act immediately pearled ChickenWingGeek. Three brave ill-equipped Septembrians rushed to reclaim TheOrangeWizard's pearl but they were all pearled. Negotiations between South Augusta and Mount September soon started, inducing a strong backlash from the more critical sectors of society - the leader of this dissent, AllenY, was promptly pearled; thus crushing all opposition. The deal was to be sealed in Fort Briggs, however, AllenY removed Godomasta from groups mid-deal and locked TheOrangeWizard in the vault.

The ordeal ended when Wingzero54 teleported to TheOrangeWizard and accidentally let him through one of the doors, after which point he pearled Minemaster933 - Cooliomoose jumped in the vault and pearled TheOrangeWizard shortly after.

Lunar New Year

From the 12th to the 25th of February 2021, the lunar new year was celebrated in Mount September, drawing in attendance players from across the map. A special map art of the Chinese character 福 was created for the Lunar New Year. It is traditionally hung upside down during the Lunar New Year, and so the map art, rotated in an item frame, could be seen on many houses and public areas, such as the voter tree

For the duration of the celebrations, the voter tree was decorated with red floating lanterns and a large group of people gathered on the evening of the 25th to do various activities while drunk on Lusitan wine, such as parkour, as well as talk in a voice chat and run around the voter tree.

Godomasta's Mayorship

On the 28th of February Godomasta was elected Mayor, becoming the second Mayor of Mount September, succeeding Squareblob. The new mayorship came with a modified Cupboard, including the creation of a new Cup: the Cup of Defense, a position held by former mayor Squareblob. While the Diplomat position was not changed by Godomasta, Thraldrek, longtime Diplomat of Mount September, tended his resignation on March 17th, 2021,[2] and was replaced by RedDevel on April 4th 2021.

Godomasta would go on to fulfill another term, following in Squareblob's footsteps by completing two terms. As such he was made ineligible to run for a third term after his last one, and an election to replace him ended in the victory of Thraldrek.

Thraldrek's Mayorship

Thraldrek was elected Mayor on July 17 2021, winning with just the first choice votes.[3] He presented his cupboard the next day, appointing a total of seven cups, making it the largest cupboard in Mount September history.[4] Thraldrek was the first Mayor of MtS to belong to a political party, the Augustan Democratic Party (or ADP). The ADP platform relied on six main points: Stability, Transparency, Reform, Economic growth and partnership, Diplomacy and Growth.[5]

Mount September Ice Road Conflict

Armed UDF members stand in front of Nebula's (pictured to the right) bunker, near the Boomer iceroad

Main Article: Mount September Ice Road Conflict

In late August 2021, a conflict erupted in Mount September which would pit the Augustan Federation and the UDF against one another. This conflict started when minemaster933 sued SirTwiggles for harassment after the latter had supposedly purposefully set off @everyone snitches near Nebuland's bunker. During the trial, the UDF-owned Boomer Iceroad was brought up in the argument that using the iceroad set off the @everyone snitch, and UDF members interpreted the end of the trial, finding SirTwiggles guilty, as a threat to their use of the iceroad. Tensions peaked on August 26, when a large group of armed UDF members appeared at the ice road, seemingly ready to attack Nebula's bunker. However, tensions cooled as no side made a move towards the other, and UDF members eventually left. While KingOfTheMochas, NebulaSSR and Minemaster933 remained banned from the iceroad, the situation was dealt with without major armed conflict.

The conflict strengthened the perceived need for MtS to have a more advanced defense system in place and renewed efforts were made to achieve this.

KingOfTheMocha's Mayorship

Thraldrek did not seek reelection following his first term, leaving no clear successor as no member of his cabinet ran for his position. KingOfTheMochas, a relative newcomer to MtS who was serving as a Judge at the time, received the most votes and was elected Mayor on September 17th, 2021. KingOfTheMochas has shown to prioritize the militarization of MtS, overseeing a rapid increase in military infrastructure, including focusing significant effort on the completion of the AF Vault. Interestingly, KingOfTheMochas reduced the size of the cupboard significantly, centralizing many roles, notably defense, into the Cup of State. Politically, KingOfTheMochas has been more vocally opposed to "World Police" compared to his predecessors, but has also overseen increased diplomatic communication with the world's alliances, such as the CES and the UDF.

KingOfTheMochas successfully ran for re-election in the end of the November 2021 under the banner of the Septembrian Labor Party, however his second term has proved tumultuous for him.

It was during Mochas's second term that Gabon and Lusitania decided to leave the Augustan Federation, in late November and early December 2021 respectively, after multiple incidents. Both countries perceived the Federation as being nontransparent and not neutral, despite its claims to be. A recall vote was called by NebulaSSR[6] and several by Minemaster933[7][8] to remove Mochas from the position of Mayor, but did not succeed.

Government & Politics

Political System

Supreme Court

In Mount September, there are at most three judges who together form the Supreme Court of Mount September. The Supreme Court "has the power and responsibility of interpreting the law of Mount September"[9]. The Supreme Court is elected through direct universal suffrage. It may judge cases brought before it and may enact court sentences.

Judges of the Supreme Court of Mount September
Judge Term Judge Term
Start End Start End
AllenY 10/27/2020 2/4/2021 Cooliomoose 11/1/2020 11/27/2020
AmandaCC 2/4/2020 5/7/2021 12/3/2020 3/8/2021
Thraldrek 5/7/2021 7/17/2021 ImperatorMendes 3/8/2021 6/18/2021
AllenY 7/24/2021 10/14/2021 KingOfTheMochas 6/18/2021 9/17/2021
Thraldrek 10/20/2021 12/1/2021 BritishWanderer 9/22/2021 EOTW (12/18/2021)
Ahme63 1/30/2021 EOTW SamBonusG 12/6/2021 EOTW

Mayor

The Mayor of Mount September is elected through direct universal suffrage. With little official legal power, the Mayor essentially acts as a figurehead head of state, though the fact that they hold the groups to all public property is considerable. Traditionally, the mayor appoints trusted, hard working individuals to a "cupboard" with specific responsibilities.

Mayors of Mount September
Username Platform # Term Cupboard
Start Duration
Squareblob Independent I October 26th, 2020 2 months

(60 days)

Commerce: AllenY

Culture: hkl

Diplomat: Thraldrek

Infrastructure: Godomasta

December 31st, 2020 2 months

(60 days)

Godomasta II February 28th, 2021 2 months

(60 days)

Commerce: AllenY

Culture: hkl

Defense: Squareblob

Diplomat: Thraldrek [R] RedDevel [I]

Infrastructure: Jasonbird

Registrar: cooliomoose

May 18th, 2021 2 months

(60 days)

Commerce: AllenY

Defense: Squareblob

Diplomat: RedDevel [I]

Infrastructure: NEBULANDD

Thraldrek Augustan Democratic Party

(ADP)

III July 17th, 2021 2 months

(60 days)

City-Planning: Flameoguy

Commerce: SamBonusG [I]

Defense: Squareblob

Diplomat: RedDevel [I]

State: Godomasta

Transportation: NEBULANDD

KingOfTheMochas Independent IV September 17th, 2021 2 months

(60 days)

Commerce: SamBonusG [I]

Diplomat: RedDevel [I]

Infrastructure: Godomasta [I]

State: Squareblob [I]

September Labor Party

(SLP)

November 16th, 2021 32 days

(lasted until EOTW)

Note: [R] Resigned, [I] Incumbent, [D] Discharged.

Voting System

Mount September uses a Ranked Voting System. Voters may rank all candidates for a certain election in the order they wish. Only registered voters, as defined in section 10 of the Constitution[9], are allowed to vote in elections.

Direct Power of the People

All Residents can propose bills (including amendments) or propose recall votes (a vote that removes from office any government member) in the MtS discord server (#bills and #elections respectively), and all registered voters may vote on it.[9] This system in which citizens may propose legislation and recall votes is the reason why Mount September is often called a semi-direct or direct democracy, or a minarchy.

Political Parties of Mount September
Party Established Founder Platform
Great Oldfriend Party (GOP) January 27th, 2021 RedDevel Transfer political power to Oldfriends, more experienced players.
Augustan Democratic Party (ADP) July 13th, 2021 Thraldrek "work at every step to provide for a peaceful and flourishing democracy in Mount September"[10]
September Labor Party (SLP) October 29th, 2021 KingOfTheMochas Left-wing. Pro-democracy, pro-maternal leave, establishment of public housing[11]. Anti-troggers and anti-coggers.[12]
Septembrian Sexy Security and Safety Party (S4P or SSSSP) November 15th, 2021 SinjoroJoCrafter Radical Anti-World Police, stronger national defense, stronger property rights, dereliction reform, judicial reform.[13]
Defunct Political Parties of Mount September
Party Established Founder Platform
UCP-TAP United Coggers Party (UCP) March 18th, 2021 AmandaCC Restore the MtS Discord server cogboard.[14]
Troggers Advancement Party (TAP) April 14th, 2021 Kaprediem Promote troggers, a hybrid of coggers and troll face.[15]

Culture

Mount September's owes its cosmopolitan nature to the presence of many expatriates, newfriends and oldfriends alike. It has inherited many elements of Augustan culture and society, including some aspects of its political system such as direct democratic participation.

Symbols

Flag

The Mount September Constitution describes its flag as: "a rectangular field, divided by a straight line from the bottom left corner to the upper right corner, the upper division being red and the lower division being blue"[9]. The color scheme is borrowed from Augusta's, and the diagonal division reminisces of Compton's flag (which uses black and green instead).

Monuments

PacStatue

Main Article: PacStatue

PacStatue is a statue located in Mount September that has become an iconic structure amongst Septembrians.

Currency

On the 28th of October 2020, the septem ($) and its subdivision, the yiseptem (¥)was created by AllenY. While still technically a private venture, the septem is widely accepted as the semi-official local currency. The septem is used in various shops inside the Mount September mall.

Running Jokes

Squareblob's Discord Profile Picture and the Squarist Deep State

Square's iconic discord profile picture

Squareblob's discord profile picture is very recognizable in MtS, and a customized version was adopted by Metriximor, which made the dog blue and added a black "M" on it's forehead. Since early 2021, a trend was formed around making a custom Square discord profile picture, and this in turn led to running joke about there being a "dog deep state" or "squarist deep state" in Mount September since many government members adopted variations of the Square profile pictures.

Special Discord Roles

The cultural interest of MtS in recruiting newfriends gave birth to many projects, including SeptBot, a discord-minecraft bot that automatically messaged accounts that joined the server for the first time[16] (although much of the infrastructure required for this had already been implemented). The bot also acted as a proxy for communicating with the new joins in real time, using unique discord channels as interface. To avoid spam (and after a particular event in which a banned player attempted to communicate through the bot), only users with the relay role could send messages.

Several months later, the admins announced that [!] (by then the de-facto "global" chat) would be moderated and act as an official global channel, with new players getting automatically added to it. Squareblob announced the end of SeptBot's newfriend messaging functionality on January 1st, 2021[17].

The discord channnel and role were recycled into newfriend-committee by Godomasta, an attempt at rewarding newfriends for good activity and behavior. By then one of the most active newfriends was Minemaster933, which prompted Godomasta to request his collaboration in the endeavor[18]. The project would only meet symbolic success, as minemaster would later become a very controversial player. Ironically, no newfriend ever received the newfriend-committee role (except for minemaster).

AllenY, then judge, used the channel to grant Honourary Doctorate of Letters, an amusing discord role.

Honourary Doctors of Letters (MtSU)
Date Name Reason
December 20th, 2020 hkl Not getting the reference of a channel description.
February 23rd, 2021 Squareblob Responding "phenomenology of semen" to an image posted by AllenY.
March 19th, 2021 Thraldrek For having "written such a voluminous amount of valuable literature".
April 6th, 2021 ImperatorMendes Posting a message about PacGaming and PacStatue.
September 13th, 2021 Godomasta Posting a message about a fictitious septembrian night.

Foreign relations

Diplomatic missions in Mount September
Nation Ambassador
Adina ImperatorMendes
Lambat AppleRadiation
Lusitania Metriximor

References

  1. Announcement of Mount September : https://old.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/ikp69h/announcing_mount_september/ : Grabbed on 6 September 2020
  2. https://discord.com/channels/742831212711772261/742831405444104352/821795678632149032
  3. AllenY (July 17, 2021). “(...) Congratulations to Thraldrek ( @Thraldrek ) on becoming Mayor of Mount September! He received 8 out of 11 valid votes (a further 5 votes were invalid), giving him a majority without need for redistributing preferences. (...)” – via Discord (#announcements). Mount September. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  4. Thraldrek (July 18, 2021). “The government of Mount September is now open for business! The Cupboard has been shuffled in an effort to bring in some new bodies. Cup of @State will be @Godo and will be the @Mayor's second in command, a Deputy Mayor if you will. Should something happen to me, @State will be active in my place. They will perform general duties as required. Cup of @Defence will be filled by @Sussyblob and will deal with defensive duties. Cup of @Internal Affairs will be filled by @ugiufeartisuawion530. Similar to Cup of State, Internal Affairs will work to make sure general duties are performed as required. They are considered third in line, and are meant to be a bureaucratic position. Cup of @Commerce will be filled by @samsussyg. They will be responsible for Mount September's stockpile of materials and will work towards developing our economy. The Cup of Commerce will also be working alongside the @Mayor and @Diplomat in foreign affairs matters and will work towards maintaining and developing economic agreements and deals. Cup of @Transportation will be given back to @Sussylandd. As the name implies, they will work on transportation projects and maintain our current transportation infrastructure. Cup of @City-planning will be filled by @Sussyguy. They have demonstrated a good ability to perform this position already in their private time, and I believe they will serve the nation well. They will work to develop the city's public infrastructure and general layout. This position will work alongside other Cups as needed. @Diplomat will be filled by @RedDevel. (...)” – via Discord (#announcements). Mount September. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  5. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uzktoxTf4FH1zYRbmt4CctbIZMHUttlXkPgfMxdlcFI/edit
  6. NEBULA (November 30, 2021). “[Recall] KingOfTheMochas (I am not registered and will not vote)” – via Discord (#elections). Mount September. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  7. minemaster933 (October 22, 2021). “[recall] kingofthemochas” – via Discord (#elections). Mount September. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  8. minemaster933 (November 1, 2021). “[recall] kingofthemochas” – via Discord (#elections). Mount September. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xpg5Gx7-G4fVnXdZen6wMTezhm1PbfJcSxDAPBvZ7vw/edit
  10. ADP Platform July 2021https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uzktoxTf4FH1zYRbmt4CctbIZMHUttlXkPgfMxdlcFI/edit
  11. KingOfTheMochas (November 15). “I am running as the candidate of the September Labor Party. The platform platform of the SLP includes maternity rights, more public housing, and strong democratic rights” – via Discord (#elections). Mount September. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  12. KingOfTheMochas (October 29, 2021). “[...] the SLP will be STAUNCHLY ANTI TROGGERS” – via Discord (#culture). Mount September. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  13. MrJoCrafter (November 15, 2021). “I am running on behalf of the new Septembrian Sexy Security & Safety Party (or S4P). My platform includes - Introducing a formalized judicial appeals system - Taking steps to prevent foreign incursions into MtS - Reforming the dereliction system” – via Discord (#elections). Mount September. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  14. United Coggers Party https://discord.com/channels/742831212711772261/743481357283622993/830490304397443094
  15. Troggers Advancement Party : https://discord.com/channels/742831212711772261/743481357283622993/832086404380885003 : Grabbed on 20 April 2021
  16. Squareblob (October 27, 2020). “There is a new category at the bottom of the discord called relay. All new players are messaged by our bot, and any replies are relayed between discord and civclassic.” – via Discord (#newfriend-committee). Mount September. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  17. Squareblob (January 1, 2021). “I disabled SeptBot messaging new joins. Before newfriends were automatically added to [!] chat there was a bit more use for this and a reasonable response rate but now I think it has outlived its purpose. The relay channel category will continue relaying messages to/from the bot” – via Discord (#newfriend-committee). Mount September. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  18. Godomasta (March 9, 2021). “as minemaster and I have discussed, the main aims of the committe would be: *Recognizing newfriends with an industrious character that place an active effort in improving and maintaining Mount September. *Promoting activity and citizenry through activities such as events and collective projects. *Making all new prospective residents feel welcome in Mount September and the server.” – via Discord (#newfriend-committee). Mount September. Retrieved January 21, 2022.