KatoLeAsian

KatoLeAsian, more often simply called Kato, is a builder, tavernkeep, and politician within the United Socialist States of Eldham. He joined the server at the end of May (maybe on May 28th to be exact), and is most well known for founding the city of Laria.

Biography
Disclaimer: Okay I felt weird about writing my own wiki page (preferring to write on the Laria page), but it sat empty for so long so figured I'd just get on with it. I'm gonna write it in the first person POV because it feels less pretentious than writing it in the third person. It will also be written mostly out-of-character, but maybe at some point I'll go and make separate in-character and OOC sections.

In world, I go by Kato. I founded the city of Laria (or Port Crelov as it was first named), and served as its mayor for most of current history.

I joined the server just a few days after Eldham launched (it was called New Rathnir at the time). I had no idea that they had just launched a new world, but figured that since it's newer, that there would be more opportunities available.

I scanned the nation adverts, and one of the first ones I saw was "The United Socialist States of..." and I immediately went, "yep."

After getting on the server and getting accepted for citizenship, I made the long trek to the South East corner of the world map. At the time, they had only claimed the tiny piece of land that sat isolated in the world's corner, which was supposed to be the site of the capital of the USSE (which never got built). I was very close, and had reached the eastern shores of what is now called the continent of Serrona. I crossed a small channel onto an island, and at the end of that island I saw a beautiful formation in the land - an arched cave in the side of a mountain in which a frozen over river flowed through. It had just reached sunset in-game time, and I quickly turned on my shaders to get a nice view and some nice screenshots. I had originally planned on settling down in the capital for some time to collect resources and create tools, but the location was just too nice. I told them that I wanted to found a city at this location - at this pretty little cave on the end of an island - and they told me to go for it. I can only imagine - or fear - how differently things might have gone had I stayed in Garkogorod like I had originally planned. Founding this city was the best decision I ever made on this server.

The city attracted many players, several of which went on to become good friends including, but not limited to, Sorray and DeathByCannabis. I had originally only planned to build a tavern & inn (The Out), and maybe a few other small, quaint builds. I would then accumulate a large amount of money to maintain land upkeep (which would have lasted a very long time with such a small land claim), and be relatively inactive. Boy how wrong I was.

The city's residents - who I didn't think I would get any of (and kind of hoped I wouldn't have at first) - kept the city growing and expanding. At first I was skeptical and hesitant as the city was growing to extents far beyond what I had first imagined. I have never been more happy to have been completely ignored in my entire life.

We prioritized aesthetics, and mainly just wanted to build a beautiful city (it was never intended to be the capital or a place to fight or anything like that). Our efforts paid off, and have since resulted in the largest build project I have ever undertaken and made in Minecraft. I very often walk a fair distance away to get a wide view of the city, and every time I smile in gratitude.

I wasn't particularly interested in server politics, I just wanted to build a nice looking place. However, once I got actual residents (again, what the hell... how did that happen), I quickly shifted into a more proper mindset of being a leader to the people living in my city. I had no interest in ever rising to a higher political position (never even considered the thought of becoming President or any other government office) - I was happy being mayor, and letting other people deal with the petty political nonsense. As such, my priorities were always directed inwards. I don't claim to be a perfect leader, but I at the very least hope that anyone who was my resident felt safe under my leadership: that they knew that I would always have their back, would always come to bat for them, and would always put myself in front of anything that might bother or trouble them (or try my best at the very least). I hope that I was able to provide a fun experience for them on the server.

I was also one of the few actual residents of the USSE to fight in the Kunir war when they invaded us. Facing veteran bandits from Rathnir, I knew we stood no chance. Nonetheless, I could not in good conscience stand by and let my town be overrun without a fight. We lost of course, and many of us (including me) were frustrated, fatigued, and disheartened by the events of that war. I took a break from the server, not planning to come back. I was incredibly heartbroken at the prospect that the city my friends and I worked so hard on would get robbed from us. Many of the city's main residents felt the same way, and it seemed that the city had died.

However, the land was resold to the USSE, and I and several of the city's chief builders returned. I knew that real life was still on its way back to beat the shit out of me, but I still had what remained of summer to work on the city. In the time that we returned, we were able to finish the city to the plans that we had drafted long ago.

Towards the end of August, real life caught up with me - just as we 'finished' the city. I stepped down as Mayor, and left a bit of money to keep the town above upkeep for a while. I'm now pretty inactive, and don't plan on returning anytime soon (not that I could anyways). I hope to visit and check in from time to time, but I wager that my time is done. We finished what we set out to do, and we built a gorgeous city. I also met some real cool people. That's pretty neat if I do say so myself.

Post-"retirement"
During my "second" retirement, I took a short hiatus from everything related to Stoneworks - I didn't even check the Discord servers for a week or two. However, I got back into the habit of checking the nation's discord, and would frequently check in for a few minutes one or two times a day in order to annoy people and cause chaos.

In keeping in touch with the nation during my retirement, I was slowly and unknowingly pulled closer and closer out of inactivity. Though, again, I mostly checked in just to mess with people, I was also still making decisions for Laria, making suggestions for the government, and just generally contributing to the community simply by talking in the Discord.

Before I knew it, Quintus Solokov - a longtime resident of Laria, good friend of mine, and (at the time) current President of the nation - was approaching the end of his term in office. And that meant that the next Presidential elections were beginning soon. There were two candidates, the first time in the nation's history in which there was no single, clear candidate, but two strong candidates who had to actually compete: Urabon, and Silver (also known as Chelovek). Urabon was founder and mayor of Kazkaya, and Silver was initially a resident of Laria who moved on to revive Vostroya.

After hearing the positions and platforms of both candidates, I quickly realized that Silver was the right candidate for the job. He held many of the beliefs that I did in regards to what needed to be done and changed in the nation. I was sick of USSE isolationism as that meant we had little to no allies, and would be alone if another invader came knocking at our door. Urabon felt that our military was sufficient on its own, but Silver seemed more receptive to the idea of increasing our diplomatic profile. As such, I announced my public endorsement of Silver for the presidential office.

Silver won, having gotten over 60% of the votes. Upon the race being called, I was approached by Silver with an offer. He asked me to be a commissioner - he wanted to create a new commission for foreign affairs, and asked me to be the head of it. He stated that he liked my ideas in regards to diplomacy and foreign relations, and wanted my advice and input in those realms. I was hesitant as I wasn't very active on the server, and - as stated previously - had never held any desire to be in a government position past mayor. However, Silver assured me that he understood my situation and hesitations, and that he'd be accommodating and flexible with me. As such, I accepted the appointment, assuming one of the highest authority positions in the nation - despite the fact that I had previously declared that I would never strive to be anything more than a Mayor. Thus, with the term of Quintus ending, the Silver Cabinet would begin their term by finally ending USSE isolationism.

I remained an advisor during and after the Silver Cabinet. Much has happened to the USSE since the last update - wars, expansions, betrayals, alliances, etc. During a particular period of strife and chaos, I grew tired and frustrated at the red tape required to act to enforce justice. As such, I became a bandit in order to deliver true vigilante justice. Unlike most other murderhobo-ing bandits, I truly only hunted those who deserved it - and I never harmed someone poor or unarmed. I acted as an informal, under-the-table enforcer for the USSE - independent from formal command and the tediousness and inefficiencies of government orders.

GenSec Urabon was sitting leader during the Barbossan war, which saw a brutal crusade against the nation. In the post-war days, Silver was re-elected GenSec in hopes of helping the nation recover. However, real life circumstances forced his temporary inactivity, and he was removed from office as a result. His replacement left much to be desired, having been replaced by a young child who lacked good judgement and decisiveness. He went through 2 deputy secretaries before I had had enough and volunteered for the position. I was approved, despite the GenSec being hesitant to appoint a deputary secretary at all. I immediately took charge, and cracked down on the inefficiencies and weaknesses of the sitting administration. A short time later, the next election cycle was due - in fact, an election cycle was already past due, but the sitting administration had forgotten to conduct elections. I organized the next elections, and ran for GenSec. At the same time, Silver returned from his inactivity, and asked me if he could be my DepSec to which I agreed. We won the election by a 3:1 margin, and I became the General Secretary of the USSE. In reality... I actually ran because Mystic paid me 5 dollars irl on a dare to become Gensec.

Presidency
I took office on April 1st - PERFECT timing. The very first day, I used the cover of April Fool's Day to take supreme power over the nation and forcing the National Assembly to vote themselves out of existence. All democratic channels and processes were locked down.

The early days of my term were difficult - I received major pushback on passing policy and laws that I vouched for in my campaign, as well as even in my cabinet appointees. I was frustrated by the politics that permeated the nation - how I had to give appointments to individuals in order to receive support that was to be given anyways. I attempted to institute reforms that would've prevented the very issues that caused the nation's most recent downfalls, and was met with severe opposition. I relented at first, having some cabinet positions filled with appointees not of my choosing, and policies that I couldn't pass but could at least enforce for the duration of my term. These were policies of pacifism, diplomacy, and purely consensual expansion.

However, the patience of myself and my team - as well as their skills and merit - eventually won out. Cabinet appointees that I was forced to assign all eventually dropped out, and my preferred appointees took their places. My policies - though not codified by law - payed out and won loyalty and respect from former critics and enemies of the USSE. This proved incredibly useful during the breakup of Uraka.

During my term, the Uraka civil war had ignited, and the USSE was thrown back into independence. The groundwork I had inadvertently laid with my dedication towards good-faith politics and antiwar stances easily paved the way towards rekindled treaties and alliances after Uraka fell, as well as new, groundbreaking alliances with new major powers - especially after our vouching of support for the Old Banners Rebellion. These connections and relationships warded off several plans to attack the USSE during the fall of Uraka.

Additionally, during my term, the USSE met its economic peak - the nation and its people had never been richer. Furthermore, we received several requests for other nations to join us. First, Marley of Vanshire approached me in order to come under the USSE as a protectorate - sealing off the Sea of Lelo'e. Additionally, Medtremar switched from protectorate status to autonomous state status, incorporating more deeply into the USSE. Finally, Andrimar - former DVR - approached me to join the USSE as well in a surprising turn of events. It was my policy as President that the USSE never initiated the idea of land incorporation first, and that the prospective joiners mustcome to us with the offer with the consent of their people (irrespective of their government structure). As a result, through no intention of my own. the USSE reached its newest territorial height under my administration.

Towards the latter half of my term, I received an offer from Caty, Healy, and Philly (close allies from the Old Banners) to join the Imperium as a partner/member state. We had just signed a defensive pact with the Imperium, and were still incredibly close with Old-Banners-now-Imperium leaders. After much debate and consideration, the USSE voted in favor of joining the Imperium.

Relationships
Note: this is not all encompassing - just because someone may not be listed on this list does not mean that I do not consider them a friend. This list mainly consists of people who had a noticeable, concrete effect on (mainly) Laria or its history, or in some cases on my character's notoriety and status. This list is also not set in stone.

DeathByCannabis - a dirty commie, and a good friend. One of the earlier residents of Laria, and even built a few houses that weren't half bad. He later left the city and nation to found his own city - Gol. Gol was later conquered, and so he came back.

Qdiggitydog - an infant toddler, and a friend. He was a very early resident of Laria - I think the 4th or something. He layed the roads of the New City, had his own brewery in his basement, and works as a bartender at the Out.

Pietri - frankly, he's kind of a nut. He's hilarious though, and also German. He was technically the 2nd ever resident of Laria... He built a castle on top of the island's mountain overnight, and I was surprised to see that a castle had sprung out of nowhere when I logged on one day. It was hard getting in contact with him too. Anyways, he's weird so we kind of gave him the mountainous end of the island to have for himself. He turned it into an industrial sector, and also raised an artifical island all by himself. Again, he's kind of a nut.

Mr_BluePig - he's a pig, but strangely enough he isn't blue. Anyways, he became mayor of Laria after I retired.

Pogge - was the founder and mayor of Staroslav/Crosotex - the rival town of Laria for a while. Staroslav was ugly as shit, and later abandoned. Larian builders converted it into a ruins, and now the town finally looks kind of okay! He's also Australian and is used to looking at things upside down, which might be why Staroslav looked so bad.

Silver - another dirty commie, but this one stuck around and became president. He lived in Laria when he first joined, but then moved out to have sex with walls in Vostroya. Anyways, he appointed me commissioner of foreigners, and lets me mod abuse people sometimes. Sleep Silver, always sleeping on the job.

Sorray - she's annoying, she's a nerd, and she's a very good friend. She built at least half of Laria by herself, and was responsible for pushing its growth. Much of the city, and my overall experience on the server, would not have happened were it not for her. She also started the pun war, which dragged on for too long. I think she started another pun war, but I don't have time to log on and check. Did I mention that she's annoying?

AlainaArianrhod - I have no idea what the hell her last name is. Anyways, she's also an annoying nerd. She was a foreigner who visited the USSE, moved into Laria, and became mayor after BluePig resigned. She's also a cringe stoneworks staff.

MysticYourHeart - menial labor