Alexander Stuff

Alexander von Stuff (IGN: alx_1337) joined Stoneworks Rathnir on the 28th of February, 2022. He joined the Archonal Union town of Kaminhagen in the province Eisenland on the first of March, later also getting a double citizenship on Tortuga Isle in the Pirate Dominion of Tortuga.

Pre-Rathnir
Alx's story began in the firey underworld of the nether, where he was born to unknown parents, who by his clan's tradition set him out into the world to fend for himself by the age of 5. He was adopted into a crew of a nether merchant ship at the age of 6, where he spent a lot of his childhood doing hard manual labour. When he was 10, their ship was attacked by a group of feared demon pirates aboard their legendary ship, the Demonstrider. He was taken onboard the ship and became part of the crew, unwillingly at first, but adapting to the new lifestyle quickly.

These pirates, unlike normal demons, did not care for the blood hierarchy the demons traditionally followed. All loyalty was to and around the captain. Captain Mrorrdruk' though harsh he was, took Alx under his wing. He mentored him, teaching him how to fight, how to sail, and how to use navigational charts. This later inspired his great interest in maps. The crew and their prized ship had grown on him to be his home. They sailed for 20 years and 20 more, until what they thought would be their greatest catch yet turned out to be their greatest failure.

The end of the nether pirates
''The Demonstrider was heading at flank speed towards the Enderman Duke Krugtak's largest treasure ship, the ECS Bountiful. This was going to make them wealthy enough to eat meat off of gold for centuries. They raised their flag, the feared purple crossbones on a black background, cut the camouflage, revealing the 2 rows of cannons on their ship, and signaled the bountiful to surrender or face doom. Now they just had to wait.''

''15 minutes passed. Then 30. Then 45. The crew was now getting restless, cheering the captain on to give the order to close in on the ship. Yet some in the crew, including Alx and the Captain, knew something was fishy. But what's the worst they could do? No merchant ship could match the Demonstrider's firepower. The captain gave the order to move in at a slow speed.''

''This moment Alx would remember for the rest of his life. As they came within about 200 meters of the treasure ship, the Bountiful in its turn dropped its own camouflage, revealing a terrifying 3 rows of 15 columns of cannons, lined up for a full broadside. This ship wasn't loaded with gold, but it was loaded with cannonballs and gunpowder. The crew's morale sunk to the floor, and Alx's hopes at endless riches dropped. "HARD TO STARBOARD!" the captain yelled, trying to save the ship from imminent doom. The ship swung, tilted, and nearly had its crew thrown into the boiling lava of the nether seas. "FIRE THE CHASE GUNS!", the captain yelled. The shots were fired, and the Demonstrider's final battle had begun.''

''The Bountiful in its turn began a maneuver to position their ship to broadside the Demonstrider, shaking off the Demonstrider's shots like a mere scratch from a twig. Too preoccupied with outmaneuvering the Bountiful, and attempting to escape, the Demonstrider's crew failed to notice the second ship that had come out of the thick nether fog behind them. A beast of a warship, the ECS Nighthull was about twice the size of the Demonstrider, with a whopping 60 cannons on each side of the ship, obsidian plating, and an elite trained crew, the Demonstrider was no match for one of the Enderman Duke's main flagships. Its bow was pointed at the Demonstrider, and rapidly heading towards her.''

''Their only choice was to run, and so they did. The first ender pearls were already falling, and men from the Nighthull were beginning to cause chaos above deck. Finally, the order to abandon ship was given. Those who didn't burn in lava, such as some of the blazelike, were lucky. Most didn't make it, and even though the captain could've saved himself, he chose to go down with the ship. But not Alx. Alx wasn't about to just sit down taking this loss as is. His life may have just gone down in flames, but he was still alive. He made his way above deck through the chaos of the battle, drank the drank fire resistance and invisibility potions he had gotten from a nether witch in the accursed soul sand valleys, and jumped.''

When fire meets wood
''The pirate age had ended long ago, beginning with the feared Demonstrider's rapid defeat at the battle of the Karrdak Strait. The prominent pirate captains were hunted down and either killed in battle or hung, and the rest lost morale and gave up their pirating ambitions. And now Alx was wandering the nether fields aimlessly, hunting wretched hoglin to survive. He didn't really have a goal, at least not until recently.''

''From the Piglins wandering the lands surrounding here, he had heard of a land full of life, empires and opportunity: A surface landmass called Rathnir, which one could access through magical portals the Rathnirians had created. Two years ago this had been, and now he found himself slowly doubting if this mysterious land even existed. But one glimmer of hope still remained, for the landscape was changing. It was more rugged, more used and been built upon. Could this be it? Could this be where the Rathnirians access the underworld?''

''Alx woke up to a man towering over his limp body. Everything hurt. He couldn't remember the details of the kerfuffle, but he damn well knew there had been a kerfuffle, and even though his race doesn't have any blood and therefore can't bleed, he could still tell he was badly injured. And yet he didn't recognize this man standing over him, who wore a dirty brown trench coat and a painted wooden mask resembling a hamster's face. Who was this? Did he beat him up? Questions racing through his head.''

''He crouched down beside Alx and spoke to him: "Do you speak Traveler's Tongue?". Alx understood this as Traveller's Tongue, which he had learned a little bit of from the Piglin merchants who wandered the plains and interacted with rathnirians. He didn't know a lot of the language, but he could muster enough words to communicate his basic message. "I... looking for... Rathnir", he said with a thick, growly underworld accent. "You Rathnir?", Alx asked. "Yes I am from Rathnir", answered the stranger in a much more refined version of the language. Come on, I'll take you to my city. It's in Rathnir, and we can get you patched up there", offered the stranger, helping Alx to get up.''

''As Alx got up, he got out one last question: "What... your name?" "I'm Hamster Van Niemandsland, mayor of Kaminhagen. But you can just call me Hamster", answered the stranger as they began making their way to the nether portal.''

On Rathnir
Alx joined Kaminhagen on the first of March, after Hamster had brought him to the city. There he learned to speak both the Traveller's Tongue and the language of Eisenland, Eisendel. As his first deed for Eisenland, he built a three-story apartment building in Kaminhagen. Around this time he also joined the I.A.U. military. There he fought in a couple of squatter wars, and partook in a few battles of the Kartek-Ecclesia war as a volunteer. There he learned basic military skills as they are practiced on Rathnir. In Eisenland, he witnessed two elections, and after the second of them he became the Minister of the Interior's secretary. Around that time he also created his own town in the IAU's newly acquired territories of New Teschen, Ejznturn, named after the large deepslate tower that was going to be constructed in the center of it.

Shortly after this election however, he began feeling as though his true home was in the sea, and from tales and stores he had heard, he had a good idea where his heart pulled him next...

Clear Seas and New Horizons
''Though he had grown to consider Eisenland his home, his nomadic nature wouldn't rest. A lack of successful adventures and the growing division within the country pushed him to search for new horizons. He got into his boat on the shores of these new lands Eisenland had acquired not too long ago, and set sail, leaving his work, his attempt at "his very own town with blackjack and hooker''

''Seagulls squawking and waves hitting the shores. All sounds heard from the Kaminhagen docks on that day. He got in the boat, a creaking sound followed by splashes of water all around him. It was time for Alx to go.''

Three days and three nights he had sailed, finally seeing land ahoy before him, concluding his excursion to the northwest. ''The boat struck land, rather roughly, jolting Alx out and onto the sands of this Island's shore bluntly. He looked up, and saw the eyes of an enderman staring down at him. Panic struck him, knowing his adventure was about to come to a short but gruesome end.''

''This panic died down however, as he realized the enderman looking at him was unlike the others, and wasn't trying to detach his head as punishment for looking into his eyes. The man stretched out his hand, helping Alx to get on his feet and welcoming him in a strange accented version of traveller's tongue. "Ahoy, ya silly little landrat. I haven't seen yer face 'round here befor'! How bout ye introduce yerself before scaring up all the fish for me arr!"''