Lore Primer
Carpesian Archipelago and the Rest of the World
Carpesian Archipelago
The Carpesian Archipelago is the primary setting of Infaru 5, otherwise known as the "game world". These islands are where all the action happens in-game, and also happens to be where every player is from. Immigration is not common enough at this point in history for Carpesia.
Other Countries
Outside of the "game world", other countries exist and affect Carpesia in subtler ways. You cannot enter these countries. While the entire world is not mapped to keep things interesting, known countries include Aréole, the Ciotterman Empire, Yeliccia, and Pastiche. Some countries carry some history from previous iterations of Infaru, but any new information will be handcrafted and approved by Infaru staff. Carpesia trades with the nations of Yeliccia and Pastiche, both of which are vying for influence in Carpesia, whether this is through dominating trade or through spreading the religion of their home countries.
Game Mechanics
Professions
Professions are the primary way in which players form and interact with the economy. Shops using the SignShops plugin are critical in maintaining a functioning economy when professionals are not online.
Custom Crafting Recipes
To make the game more interesting for players with professions, some professions have access to unique recipes that normally aren't accessible in Minecraft. For example, all armor trims can now be crafted by the Artisan profession.
Seasons
The Carpesian Archipelago features all kinds of weather in the form of seasons. It also includes its own temperature system, which can harm the player at extreme levels. Practice common sense; avoid standing next to heat sources such as lava for too long especially in the summer, try to cool off by drinking water and wearing the right gear, and keep warm during the winters by keeping indoors with a campfire or torches.
Disease
In the world of Infaru, disease is a common issue. Staying out too long in the cold, drinking unclean water, or catching something from others will bring disease on players. Cures can be made to stop the disease, and players can build an immunity to most diseases over time. It's recommended to cure players as soon as possible before the contagion spreads, as the price to cure them all can become overwhelming quickly.
Brewing
Brewing is no longer restricted to magical potions in Infaru. A variety of new drinks can be brewed and distilled, including many forms of alcohol. Some teas are preferred for Čajra rituals and provide some minor psychoactive effects.
Weaponry and Warfare
In the 18th century, weapons have surpassed simple swords, shields, axes, and bows. Players can make a variety of new weapons, including but not limited to longswords, knives, spears, and rapiers. They each have their own bonuses and drawbacks.
Infrastructure
Certain pathway blocks, such as dirt paths and bricks, allow players to move faster than before when traversed. This is meant to replace past iterations use of "fast rails", and is also an alternative to other forms of travel that Minecraft players may be used to, such as elytra travel or iceboat travel. Additionally, the Movecraft mod is added to allow players to build small or large sea vessels to set sail around the islands. These ships are critical for trading large amounts of items.
The Nether and the End
In the Infaru world, the Nether and the End do not exist, or at the very least are not accessible in Carpesia. In return, players are able to buy building materials that would normally be found in the Nether and the End from trading posts located in the north-western and south-eastern corners of the map.
Prominent Groups
Clans
Starting in Infaru 5, the Clan System will serve as a means to better introduce players to Infaru. The purpose of clans is to provide a small community for new players to join and learn the ropes of the various systems in Infaru, and make friends along the way. We've learned the hard way that new players do not always have a good experience when they strike it alone, and without server information readily available to them, there's a higher chance they won't understand the game and leave. Clans also serve a purpose in lore; clans are a useful way of simulating family units without needing "family RP". Players don't need to jump through the awkward hoops of naming their mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters and cousins and uncles and aunts. If they're part of a clan, their clan is their family. Clan leaders are expected to have a decent understanding of the server, or at the very least have a willingness to learn, and a willingness to impart that learning on all of their clan members so everyone is on the same page. Clans are not necessarily meant to be antagonistic of other clans, but they certainly can be.
Religions
Jeanite Solarism
Originating from Areole with their first King Jean I who was the "first Prophet of the SUN", Sol Magna is a religion which worships the sun and has each king of the roughly 1800 year dynasty as the head of the faith. The Kings of Areole are able to make decrees changing certain parts of the faith, each being seen as a new revealed part of the faith or an update or revision upon previous decrees from past kings.
For many years, the religion was limited to within the kingdom but in more recent centuries the Kings of Areole have decided to spread the faith to areas outside of the kingdom or places they wish to make part of the kingdom such as in the Carpesian Archipelago. This then creates a relation between the foreign Jeanite Solarists and the King of Areole similar to what existed between catholics and the Pope during the 1800s when the Papal States existed in real life.
Čajra
Čajra is the primary religion of Carpesia.
Lore Drops
The following Lore Drops were made as a way to slowly introduce the Infaru playerbase to the new world they were stepping into with Infaru 5. They represent the broad strokes of history up until the year the game is supposed to begin, in the year 1789.
First Lore Drop
In the Aréolian-Pastichian war of 1499-1501, Pastiche lost control of the Carpesian Archipelago. Due to their far distance from the Aréolian heartland, the islands could not be directly ruled by the crown. Instead, they were handed over to the Solar Church, operating as a separate entity: The Monastic State of the Solar Order of Saint Mathis of Neploni.
This came at the displeasure of the local population, who adhered to Čajra and were used to the more tolerant religious policies of the Pastichian crown.
The Archon of the order, Marc-Olivier Soldonné, was appointed directly from the religious center of Saint-Gourd and was given absolute authority to shape the island into a righteous bastion of the church far away in the northern sea.
Second Lore Drop
In the decades following the establishment monastic rule in the Carpesian islands, the many Archons, priests and officials of the Solar Order tried carrying out their religious mission. However, there was much resistance from the local population and merchant elites, the latter of whom relied on their Čajra religious ties with the Yellicians and Ciottermen for commerce, and thus their power and wealth.
Due to the widespread resistance to conversion, the order focused their efforts on the smaller island of Tarbor by investing further into it and basing their operations there. This helped them convert the initially resistant population, but, in the long run, caused tensions and put a wedge between the northern and southern islands. Over the years, the two drifted, with the more Solarist Tarborese finding an identity of their own compared to the larger and strongly Čajra Carpesian island.
Another much smaller group was perceptive to conversion: the inland aristocracy. The aristocracy benefitted much more from cooperating with the powers that be than the merchants and peasants. A number of them cynically adopted the faith to gain favor from the monasteries, and some of the peasants bound to them ended up joining their overlords. However, this was all a very small number.
By the end of the century, about a third of the population under the order were practicing the Sol Magna faith, which not only was a massive disappointment, but due to the divisive policies used to achieve that goal, made the monastic rule extremely unpopular with a great majority of the populace.
By the 1600's, the Solar Order of Saint Mathis had failed to progress their conversion efforts on the Carpesian mainland beyond a small minority of the nobility, which came at the great displeasure of their Aréolian overlords. On paper, the order was independent from the far away kingdom; however, this was not true in practice. The Archon of the order was appointed by and served at the pleasure of the head of the church of Sol Magna, which coincidentally also was always the King of Aréole, making them a de-facto vassal of his.
In 1607 Jean-Jacques XXXIX was crowned King, and became very angry with the lack of progress, leading him to appoint 18 different Archons who all did not find any way to further the conversion effort, until the year 1612, when Archon Séverin Laffitte found what he thought was a cunning solution: banning non-Solarist merchants from commerce on the island.
This decision, while popular with the King, was not as cunning as he thought. While some merchants cynically converted, the lack of commerce from the lucrative Yellician and Ciottermen trade routes crippled the once powerful merchants and burghers, as well as generally slowing down the island's economy. This all only turned the Carpesian political elite against the solar order, many of whom started scheming and plotting for ways to re-open those much needed routes.
Third Lore Drop
Following the crippling non-Solarist commerce ban, the merchant elites of Carpesia found themselves weakened and bitter. Looking for ways to re-open the trade routes at all costs, they plotted with foreign powers, biding their time and waiting for the perfect opportunity to create a situation where commerce could be re-opened.
Such an opportunity came in the 1622, when it became evident that the King of Pastiche, Ferdinant de Chatsburg, would declare war on Aréole as to restore the honour of the crown and reclaim some lost lands; a delegation was covertly sent to the Pastichian court swearing that the merchant ships of Carpesia would side with their former overlords and help occupy the island in the event of a war. The delegation however was not as covert as the thought, and was intercepted by Aréolian ships on their way back to Carpesia, the delegates being forced to confess the plot. This accelerated the course of war, giving the Aréolians cause for war against Pastiche and beginning a second war between the two kingdoms.
Despite the plot being exposed, the merchant elites of Carpesia held up their end of the deal, helping Pastichian warships enter the Carpesian strait, inviting them into the harbor of the major port cities of Sinos and Vidinia, enabling them to occupy the island of Carpesia proper and later Tarbor. Unfortunately for the conspirators, they had seemingly put their money on the wrong horse, with Pastiche losing battle after battle due to their unpreparedness; the northern kingdom was facing total anihilation, until the King of Pastiche begged his cousin twice removed, the Emperor of Slorbia, to intervene and save his realm, which he obliged to at a hefty cost. Thanks to his cousin his crown survived, though at a loss, and the fate of Carpesia was uncertain.
Due to the islands causing such trouble between the two realms, the Emperor of Slorbia, mediating the peace treaty, suggested the islands be made into a neutral princedom ruled by his nephew Leonard von Chatsburg, and all the conspirators executed, which all sides ultimately agreed to as a fair compromise on this matter. A peace treaty was signed in 1634, and the Princedom of Carpesia was born.
Following his coronation as Prince of Carpesia, the new ruler found himself with a lot of work cut out for him. For hundreds of years the Solar Order ruled the islands and their institutions were deeply ingrained in the administration of things; the bureaucrats were all made to be professed Solarists, and mostly were trained in the letters by the Order. While this was convenient, it was very unpopular with the populace, and as a new monarch in a precarious situation something had to be done to gain favors from the locals.
The professional civil administration, seen by many Čajiar Carpesians as unfair and bothersome, was gradually replaced by a "feudal" administration managed by some locally sourced landowners and village heads; the new nobility was given land, privileges and rights as to be able to fulfil their administrative duties, while the few cities were chartered and given mayors. By 1652 the old civil administration of the Solar Order was fully abolished and a new monarchical order was in place.
Soon after his life's work was complete, Leonard von Chatsburg died of goose bone induced asphyxiation in 1663 at the age of 55; leaving his son, Hans von Chatsburg to take the throne.
Fourth Lore Drop
By the sunset of the second prince's reign, Carpesia was becoming a blooming trade hub. Finding itself at the gate of the great eastern sea, Pastichian, Yellician, and Meridian merchants alike would often stop by the island before heading blind into the blue expanse. This came to the delight of the local artisans, whose wealth burgeoned alongside the capital's port, who could appreciate exotic goods from the new world and the Meridian mainland which became extremely rare following the long isolation of the country.
This recovery did not only happen on its own, however. Thanks to sly investment from the crown, the port grew quickly from a shameful slum to a little burg; taking a development which would have never happened before well after the turn of the century and making it happen in only a short thirty years. In the end, the reign of prince Hans saw the islands prosper, with the aristocrats and burghers once again seeing the levels of wealth their ancestors knew before the time of strife.
Hans von Chatsburg died peacefully in his sleep in the year 1691, to be replaced by his young son Peter von Chatsburg, who would be crowned at the break of winter. Would the good times carry over with the new prince? Or was there a storm brewing in the horizon? Only time could possibly tell.
By the beginning of the 18th century, the ending of various wars in Meridia had led to the highest amount of unemployed sailors that the world had ever seen. Many sailors, coping with the loss of employment, turned to piracy for wealth. Being deemed enemies of the state, pirates began to raid the ports of the empires that once employed them. These pirates plagued the seas more than ever before, and Carpesia was no exception to this phenomenon. With trade being of utmost importance to the Carpesian nobility and landed gentry to maintain their luxurious lifestyle, it was critical that piracy at Carpesian ports was squashed. Peter von Chatsburg was in a troublesome bind; Carpesia was at its limit of soldiers and sailors, and the abolition of the Solar Order meant von Chatsburg had little influence over Solarist nations and acquiring military help from them. With great reluctance, von Chatsburg turned to non-Solarist nations for assistance. The Ciotterman Empire, looking to expand its influence, was quick to take on the role. However, the majority religion of Čajra was still oppressed by the minority of Solarists. Before the Ciotterman Empire would do anything to assist the tiny island nation of Carpesia, the Princedom would have to relax its prosecution of Čajrabenika.
Fifth Lore Drop
In the near century following the reforms of Prince Leonard the Reformer, Carpesia's government had become increasingly patchwork-like. Lords and village heads held a large amount of power, and by the 1740's the Prince had very little power. This was in contrast with the other Meridian states, which almost all had either already undergone processes of centralisation or were in the middle of them. When crowned in 1744, the new Prince chose the regal name of Leonard II, signalling his intent to make changes to the structure of the state, possibly in line with Carpesia's neighbors. His first undertaking was an attempt at modernising the country's legal system, which was split in two main categories: Customary Carpesian Law, also known as popular law, and Common Tarborese Law.
Customary Carpesian Law was and is the dominant legal system on the island of Carpesia, its core principles being community and togetherness. Unlike more standardised systems of law, the popular law was mostly arbitrated by village heads, lords and even the Prince in important or undecided cases, and was based on tradition, taboo and cultural norms. Verdicts could vary wildly village by village and region by region, with the quality of judges vastly differing due to the lack of qualifications.
Meanwhile the island of Tarbor observed what many thought was a much fairer system: common law. In Common Tarborese Law, magistrates appointed by the Prince would arbitrate disputes, while still often basing their judgement on tradition and norms. Furthermore, they would consult each-other and past judgements in order to make decisions, which led to much more consistent verdicts.
The Prince early on attempted to bring common law to Carpesia, but found strong resistance, allowing him to only do so in the capital, Sinos, as well as its hinterland in a limited capacity where traditional judges kept their power.
Sixth Lore Drop
Thanks to generations of feudal stewardship, Carpesia found itself trailing behind other countries by the tail end of the early modern period; most of the population remained agrarian, cities stagnated and much of the political power stood in the hands of the nobility, an incredibly small group dominated by only six people.
The landed aristocracy established over a hundred years ago consolidated itself, inheriting, claiming and buying nearly all the land on the islands over a few generation and driving the rural population of the islands into tenancies and serfdom. This system held the islands back, putting much of the population in abject poverty and concentrating much of the wealth into the hands of the few.
In the past, the nobility held an incredible amount of power over even the Prince, however the last few sovereigns had managed to put them in check, and put a considerable amount of the legal power into the hands of the crown; allowing it to unilaterally pass laws, organise an administrative state, and other such things, as long as it would respect the traditional and property rights of the aristocrats. Despite this, the landed aristocracy remained extremely powerful, holding much of the wealth and often using their economic power and private armed forces to coerce the prince into doing their bidding.
Inspirations Behind The Lore
Generally, Carpesia is based off of the island of Malta, and the environment is meant to be somewhat Mediterranean (if the Mediterranean had real winters).