Rovina

Officially known as "The Free State of Rovina", the town of Rovina was established on 8/16/2020, in the center of a Mesa biome surrounded by a river to the North, East, and South. The town was established by Keechoo, as the area seemed fit for building, and had a plentiful amount of salmon. For this reason, Rovina has adopted Salmonism.

After a history of struggling with survival as a neutral nation, Rovina joined the Bimare Federation on 9/9/2020 to prevent an otherwise inevitable political and economic collapse.

Diplomacy
Rovina is a neutral state situated in the Southern end of the map. Despite their pronounced neutrality, Rovina has had several encounters with other nations and seeks a proper religious foothold over those whom they have established positive relations with.

Wars
Rovina was established as a neutral nation on the 16th of August, the day of their conception. However, there was a rough 8-hour period in which Rovina was not neutral. This led to the extremely short River Crisis, where 3 members belonging to the nation of Crab Season attempted to war Rovina, not realizing it was neutral and accidentally just flailing their weaponry in an attempt to flank Keechoo while he was working on the Valley Project. This was quickly shot down upon their realization and retreat, in which an alliance was made to ease tensions.

Rovina was also raided when Keechoo was offline, upon its collapse. Not much of importance was lost aside from anything mined that was kept in the main chests. Other chests were completely ignored.

Apollonian Accord
Rovina as a nation participates in the Apollonian Accord, mostly reserving their neutrality on war stances. Upon the proposal of a server highway, Rovina expressed concern over the idea of a sea or above-ground highway, due to their terrain in the mesa. As for world borders, Rovina accepts the majority of a nation's claims as their territory, not fully informed of any border conflicts.

The United Cities of Jagdas
The United Cities of Jagdas is a proposal from Rovina's leader, Keechoo, to unite the small towns and nations of Jagdas to ensure their safety. Though not officially discussed yet, as Rovina is still working on the project, the few known rules for the proposed nation regarding religion and neutrality. The name itself is still pending, though the United Cities of Jagdas is the first proposal alongside that of the Holy Roman Empire, or Holy Rovinan Empire


 * 1) The religion of the UCJ's capital must be the majority religion of the cities.
 * 2) The UCJ must be neutral.

Aside from these two rules, nothing else has been publicly said regarding the empire. No towns or nations have expressed significant intrigue for Rovina to take action any sooner, though a meeting was conceptualized to discuss the project. Such a proposal is now fairly underground, though, as Rovina has joined the Bimare Federation, which has already established such an idea.

Pre-Founding
Rovina's lands hold a vast amount of past history lost to time. It is believed that the mesa Rovina is built upon was once much larger, before several landslides and erosion came into play. Of course, as all mesas are formed, one large river is thought to have run through the entirety of the mesa before the majority of rock eroded away. From the abandoned mines, it can be inferred that several centuries worth of ancient history is hidden in the sands. It is believed these mines were once the field of battle through two ancient civilizations, as some are significantly more distraught than others, beyond saving. The majority of railways are completely twisted and in most cases there are no rails at all, suggesting that some of these mines may have been attempts to dig under the enemy, explaining the deeper mines below.

Post-Founding
After its founding, Rovina has maintained a steady way of life through fishing, farming, and diplomacy. Minor relations have been established with those of the St Benedict chapel and an alliance founded with Crab Season. The majority of major events can be found through established projects and operations.

Crab Season
The nation of Crab Season had originally attempted to declare war on Rovina before realizing its neutrality. Allying them, Rovina later found Crab Season was among the most controversial nations of Jagdas, who soon faded off as they were less frequent in their server activity after losing one of their wars.

The Dark Days
Just before The Dark Days, Rovina failed to maintain their nation, collapsing into a sole town. As a town without a nation, they faced the issue of deletion. For this reason, Rovina has been struggling to find a method of which to maintain independence. Without economic prosperity ensured, Rovina had plans to join their neighbor Apollo. However, the leader HerbDashwell failed to arrive before 9/9/2020, causing Rovina to collapse.

Upon their immediate collapse, Keechoo did not realize the nation would fall the second the day began. As such, The Cult Of The Pumpkin raided Rovina, using lava to burn down the majority of the Tower of Salmonism. Keechoo suspected HiveOfHyborgs to be the leader of the Pumpkin Cult, having hired SirPookie as a hitman to raid the nation with lava. The cows and chickens were also slaughtered, some being freed. When Keechoo came online later in the day, the lava was removed and Rovina was established again as a town. The cows were easily retrieved, as not all of them were killed, which the same cannot be said for the chickens (Despite the cult's apparent goals of making sure animals are treated fairly and with respect, akin to Salmonism's goals with fish). A demand to Hashkee, who houses Hyborgs, was sent out under the title "Rovinan Demands". These demands included removing all pumpkins from the town, and kicking out HiveOfHyborgs. Rovina then outlawed the unauthorized use of pumpkins in their own town, and now waits to hear from the leader of the Bimare Federation for a response on joining the nation, as Keechoo claims they would likely respond faster than HerbDashwell of the Apollonian Accord. Though the majority of items were lost, one nation donated several blocks of iron, and another donated 5,000 dollars to help get Rovina back on its feet.

Bimare Federation
On 9/9/2020, soon after the collapse and raiding of Rovina, Rovina opted to join the Bimare Federation, a collection of cities under one banner. Due to the size of the nation, Rovina was able to quickly expand territories and reclaim any lost land. Soon enough, Rovina decided to help their struggling neighbor of the Benedictine Chapel by claiming their statue under an outpost. The Chapel had collapsed, as it lacked a nation, and Rovina thoroughly checked the city for any sign that they would return. And until a sign comes, Rovina will be preventing the statue from any raids, as the Tower of Salmonism had suffered. Unfortunately the massive statue had already lost part of the left foot, but overall there is not much damage to be seen. This decision to claim the statue, however, has been somewhat worrying, as Rovina did find a copy of "The Holy Sea" renamed to "Heresy, do not read" upon their investigation of the Benedictine Chapel's inner workings.

Operations
The Ruins Project, started in 8/15/2020, before the town was established officially, is an operation to convert the mesa the town is based upon to a fertile land. So far, the project has seen fair success, as the majority of the town is currently laying atop dirt and sand established from the operation. The project has not had an official ending. The entire reason for the project's beginning is unknown, though there are several ideas that the project was inspired by the Gods. This claim is only one of many, and the true purpose or reason for the project is not well known by any of the individuals in Rovina.

The Valley Project was conceived and completed on the 16th of August. A river was strewn through the only unprotected area of the town, dividing the wild and town areas to prevent mob leakage and encourage fish population growth. This would later prove to be fairly lackluster for promoting fish aside from squids, and mobs are no longer a problem as Rustland was established on the other side of the river.

Border History
At the start of Rovina's founding, Rovina quickly claimed all plots eligible with a total 8 chunks. This can be seen with the first provided image to the right. Having a few claims, Rovina was incapable of expansion unless they were to inherit their neighboring town of Mount Dulac. Upon sending an invitation to join Rovina, however, Mount Dulac soon collapsed, leaving it to ruin and Rovina to stand still with their borders. Upon the arrival of The Dark Days, Rovina's nation had collapsed, and subsequently the town. Rovina was soon erected again in a panic after its short raiding. Unlike the Benedictine Chapel, however, Rovina was not struck as hard. The major areas of Rovina's eocnomy were claimed back, being the original spawn, the animal pens, the major chest area and the location of The Salmonist Tower, which was burned down. The Salmonist Tower was claimed to prevent further damage.

To prevent another collapse, Rovina soon joined the Bimare Federation and was now able to claim far more land. This gave them a nation bonus plot modifier of +100 plots to claim. Of course Rovina was one to take advantage of this, and they now own around 30 plots. Overall though, it does not appear that the borders have changed too much from their original form.

As for claims, Rovina does not have many. Some have been proposed by Hashkee, to prevent claim overlap and such, though Rovina's claimed borders are fairly small given their current borders cross the river they are situated on, so using the Eldress River as a guide for a border is not so helpful for them. There were some ideas presented to claim the remnants of Mount Dulac, though it most likely cannot be salvaged in its current state.

Rovina's outpost is simply used to protect the ruins of the Benedictine Chapel. Of course, the main Chapel is not under their protection, only a statue situated in a single chunk of land. Rovina has no use for this claim outside of protecting it from further raids until a successor to the Benedictine Chapel appears again. WilusaWarrior, a former member of the Chapel, has already created a new town to reclaim the lost territory, and is currently the most eligible for earning back the statue. Until then, of course, it is simply left in Rovina's hands.

Etymology
Rovina, translating to "Ruin", is named after the old mineshafts that the town is built on. To the west of the town stands a hill of rock built entirely on the mineshafts of past civilizations. Original concepts for names were among those of Fiski, and Echibini. Both were scrapped as the ruins provided the largest influence on the town during its foundation.

Culture
Rovina is a town largely built off of fishing. Squid and salmon are a frequent food source in Rovina, though Rovinans are taught at a young age to respect the fish that they frequently feed off of. The majority of ink sacs gathered in the town are from squids which have died of natural causes, and fish are checked thoroughly before they are killed for food.

Religion
Rovina follows Salmonism, where the main belief is that upon death, the selfless and holiest would be reincarnated as tropical fish, which cannot be fished or eaten to any degree. Pufferfish are thought to be royalty of other nations, and are treated with similar respect.

Salmon and cod are those of normal individuals. And, despite the respect they garner, squid are frequently considered sinners.

St. Benedict Chapel
Some of the religion of Rovina has been partially influenced by that of the St. Benedict Chapel. Frequent visits from those of the St. Benedict Chapel have resulted in a slight belief towards the Legend of Benedict. However, this belief is largely scattered and not many follow the legend in truth.

Structures
The structures of Rovina were largely fractured and spread apart upon its founding. The order of structures are based upon when they were established.

Bridge of Mines
The Bridge of Mines is the main entrance to the town, constructed entirely from stone and wood extracted from old mineshafts scattered throughout the region. Over time, the bridge has seen its fair share of usage, and was made salmon-friendly upon further establishment of Salmonism, allowing both squids and salmon to travel under the bridge without harm. Beforehand, the bridge was built in shallow water, and nearly blocked off any passage.

The Salmon Chapel
The Salmon Chapel is, simply put, an old chapel in which copies of The Holy Sea are stored, the main book detailing Salmonism. A lectern is also stationed, in the scenario a group of people wishes to hear a Salmonist's teachings. Overall, the chapel is roughly 12 blocks tall, made entirely of stone bricks, glowstone, and glass.

There are, however, plans to revamp the chapel in the future, for a greater variety in blocks. This is planned after the Tower of Salmonism is completed.

Tower of Salmonism
Beginning construction on 8/21/2020, The Tower of Salmonism is a roughly 60-block tall structure composed of six parts. It is made primarily of spruce, and is intended to function as the main building of Rovina, hoping to overtake the Salmon Chapel.

The base, made of terracotta, to keep the tower steady, is a simple block to level the ground. The aquarium is the lowest part of the actual "tower", composed of several tropical fish, one named Jimbo, one salmon, kelp, and sand. The lobby is the 3rd piece to the tower, housing a window to view Rovina through. It is the only part of the tower one may enter.

The shaft is a thinner area, in which smoke from the tower exits through. Then finally, the top piece is comprised of fences, logs, and a glowstone top to complete the piece.

The sixth part is the "core" of the tower. It is 56 blocks tall, nearly 2x the height of the actual tower. This is in hopes to further draw in tourists for a furthered Salmonist cause. While Salmonism is a religion that does not require one to force itself on others, Rovina largely has taken it upon itself to fulfill this duty either way, as it is not deemed an unholy action by The Holy Sea.

Unfortunately, on 9/9/2020, Rovina had collapsed, and the Tower of Salmonism, in all of its glory, was razed down to the aquarium at the base. The Tower of Salmonism is now planned to undergo a full remake, as the original had a 2-block and 1-block center combined, which made for a fairly unsatisfying mash-up. Several nations offered spruce to help reconstruct the building after its burning, but were denied.