The Republic of Lebennin is an independent and non lore faction located mostly in the Lebennin biome with presence in Pelargir and Ithilien, split from the Gondorian faction and created in June 2017.
This faction was created in order to focus on building, relaxing from real life and playing casually, which makes it welcome every player into the faction as long as they are willing to cooperate and stay active.
Owned Land and Cities
The Republic owns the entire biome of Lebennin, the southern regions of Ithilien, and a small part of Lamedon north of Linhir, it is also divided in 3 different Holds: The Northern Holds, The Plains and Linhir. Each hold provides a senator to the Council and has at least 1 major settlement. The territory of Lebennin is extremely green, filled with forests of varied density and huge fields where most of the cities and villages are set up. Some swamps can also be found, often times created during rainy seasons, but the terrain is generally excellent for any kind of crop and has allowed the inhabitants to thrive.
The Northern Holds
''The city where all began, the throneless capital, the old forgotten tower of Itharim now rises glorious and shiny up to the skies'' -Forgotten book from the Great Library.
Banner of the Northern Holds.
The Northern Holds are a combination of the eldest regions of the faction: Itharim, Dawnport and the City of Towers; it was also recently expanded after the former Gondorian Tarixxiv gave the Emyn Arnen to the faction. All of these holds were assimilated with administrative purposes. The current Senator of this hold is Andsnow.
Roleplay speaking, it is the wildest region of the faction. Despite the importance of their major settlements, the cities and builds are relatively small, and the terrain is full of dense forests, unstable hills ,and sometimes swamps created by the Streams' floods. Many of the important locations were planned builds that werecasted aside in order to build Linhir and other major places like Andaros or Emyn Arnen, but the region still holds an important treasury and it was the main hub of the Republic until Linhir became the capital. The biggest city is currently Luna's City, a great stronghold created as a shelter long ago. We can distinguish 4 major places:
Itharim was the most populated city of the faction and it became the capital until Linhir was in an advantaced construction stage; The city is ruled by Zeradash, who is also the senator. From the capital we can say that it is the oldest city of the faction. Built and expanded during the war against Gondor, it has become a symbol of the faction and it is also one of the easiest places for new players to arrive (after Linhir and Emyn Arnen, because they have public fast travel locations). The region is well know for its red wine, produced thanks to the water of the Streams; the capital is also famous for holding massive storages of athelas and diamonds.
The city of Itharim, current capital of the Northern Holds.
Dawnport was also a relatively important city. Surrounded by an interesting role, it was built by Bublica and it became temporarily the main harbor of the faction. Nowadays the city has decayed a little bit, but it is still worth a visit and a very comfortable place. The area surrounding the harbor isolates it well and makes it a haven if hard times ever return. The recent incorporation of Emyn Arnen has caused the trade routes to be more intense, and the city i receiving once again a positive impact.
Luna's Hold is located in the north-west of the region. It was originally a hold on itself ruled by Andsnow, but recently it got assimilated into the major group. Probably the most interesting of all the regions, it consists of a total of 3 settlements, from which the most important is Luna's City, also known as The City of Towers. That city was originally created as a fortress where most of the faction was evacuated during the war against Gondor. After the conflict ended, the city started growing and now an insane net of tunnels and chambers surround an entire mountain range, and in the center a valley with the city itself lays waiting for times of need. The city is ruled by Zeradash, who is the main builder. The City of Towers is rightfully one of the cultural centers of the faction; with features like the Great Library and all the secrets, rooms and elements that are present in the underground, the city is one of the jewels of all Lebennin and it is built and guarded proudly by the highest ranks of the Lunar Army. Luna's is also known because it keeps the main faction storages, since the war against Gondor, the underground rooms got filled with war equipment, materials, ores, precious stones and coin in order to spend them on faction trades and other matters.
Emyn Arnen was a region created very recently, as Tarixxiv gave Zeradash said waypoint and he incorporated it into the faction for new lore and build projects. The land is very unforgiving, and even now the Lunar Army is fighting against the orc raiding parties and hosts that have camped there for a long time, harassing the remaining Gondorian havens and entering the rest of the regions. It has a total of 4 build projects planned for a long period of time, but the waypoint itself does have a fortress which was given to Zeradash, so the land has been secured by the Army.
Minas Arnen, seat of power of Lebennin in Ithilien, surrounded by the local fauna.
The currently built settlements of the Holds are:
- Itharim: Capital of the Hold and first capital of the Republic. It is also the oldest city of the faction and hosts the Northern Treasury.
- Backwater Village: A small peaceful village focused on lumberworks. Located east of Itharim, its purpose is merely decorative and roleplay related.
- Dawnport: Ancient capital of a hold with its name, it was the main harbor of the faction until Linhir and half of Pelargir were claimed.
- Luna's city (The city of Towers): Former capital of its own hold and a roleplay focused city. It is probably the richest city of the Republic because of the huge underground storages, combined with the need of an intense trade system, the city is prepared for major disaster, with one of the headquarters of the Lunar Army and provisional senatorial rooms in case a major conflict arrives.
- Rivercross city: A big town located on the southern end of the hold. The city is under construction and shows the level of expansion the faction has been achieving. Since Andsnow was elected Senator in June 2018, the city is probably going to become major soon.
- Fort Vinchini: A fort located east of the Pelargir border. This fortress was originally intended to be a defensive fortification designed to guard any threat coming from the south into the Northern Holds. The fortress itself, though under construction, is planned to wrap around a bay that connects to the Anduin. The build is currently being constructed by CrazyShark178 & RoboWolf1132.
- Minas Arnen: This location in Ithilien was recently given to the faction; because of that, the construction of the place hasnt been completed. Minas Arnen is the fortress that was previously owned by Tarixxiv, located near the Emyn Arnen waypoint. The fortress was improved drastically after it was given to Zeradash, and now the entire region is under contruction, so Minas Arnen works as the central seat of south Ithilien and a massive military settlement. The fortress itself has suffered several orc raids but it stood strong under the watch of the Lunar Army
Linhir
''Wait, what? Who in the name of the White Tree gave those damn rebels the city?!'' -Angbor, Lord of Lamedon, after receiving the news about the reconstruction of Linhir.
Linhir's official banner.
The region of Linhir is a source of pride for the Republic. As a part of the old treaty with Gondor and the intention of reviving Lebennin and its beauty, Zeradash took the rights on the waypoint and made the construction of Linhir a priority. The hold was specifically created to have borders with both the Mouths of Anduin (Mordoran Dominion) and Dol Amroth, and it is formed by various settlements; being Linhir a huge city and taking a big chunk of the hold. The current owner of all the building projects is Zeradash, who is leading most of the faction's construction programm. This hold is becoming the core of the faction, and in June 2018 it was chosen as the Capital of the Republic. The current Senator of the hold is Zeradash.
As an interesting fact, Linhir is the only official waypoint owned by the faction. Another element is that, due to the lack of information about this city, some models are being taken from other cities like Lothric (Dark Souls series). The city will focus on the coastal presence as well as an impressive flax industry. The current visible locations are:
- Linhir (city and shire): Capital of the hold and the Republic, and an impressive city under construction. With a size compareable to Minas Tirith, it has already become one of the biggest cities in all of Middle Earth. Linhir is a really big location, it holds the faction guilds, embassies, political centre and also hosts the Lebennin Armada and one of the two headquarters of the Lunar Army. The city is also evolving into a flourishing location with the intervention of the flax industry and the huge amount of wheat fields around the build, combined with the silver mines and lumber production.
- Uinur: Uinur is a large generated village that is planned to become an interesting point of the landscape. The village will be improved over time and a big cathedral/fortress will be constructed soon. Uirun wasnt planned to be claimed or built, but it was ravaged by players and that forced Zeradash into establishing a build project, as he tries to make Lebennin a beautiful and homing region.
- Farstead: A small under construction port located at the northern end of Tolfalas. The town has only roleplay purposes, serves as a stop for many merchants... and some marines with other intentions.
- Linhir's Gardens: The Gardens are a group of decorative villages, paths and... gardens... full of all kind of plants and materials. Located on the road east of Linhir, it is being created and expanded by many players of the Republic, only to play and relax together while building.
- Greencoast: A small town located in the southern end of the hold, it serves as a stopping point for all the factional sea routes and trading galleys.
- Imphleth: An island located on the Bay of Belfalas; this island controlled the faction's salt production until it was discovered in other territories. Due to its small size, the island and the group of villages located there are ruled from the capital unless it grows in importance.
The Plains
"From the ashes, a new source of light comes. That is the truth, and the bury of life, a truth that must be kept by force, always to be repeated" -Zurisadai, founder of the Republic, after the destruction of Pelargir.
The old banner used in Lebennian Pelargir; currently the official banner of The Plains.
The plains is the newest regions of the Republic. In February 2018 the city of Pelargir was split between Lebennin and Gondor; and it caused the creation of the hold of Pelargir with the city as the capital. After the events following the incorporation of Emyn Arnen Nukerubberducky, Zeradash and Dramoth (the main builders) were kicked and forbidden to resume the construction of Pelargir by the end of August 2018. As the city had taken a lot of work, Zeradash redesigned the hold, and made new projects. The most relevant one is Andaros, the future capital of the hold which will have the same building style as Pelargir did, except for the harbor material which will be used in Linhir. The construction of Andaras was started by CrazyShark, but it recently got stopped due to his inactivity.
The name of the region itself is a bit ironic; as, despite the presence of many plains, the northern regions are filled with dense forests and hills, which is another factor that makes constructing difficult in the area. Even though many attempts were made to develop this region, it became almost impossibledue to the lack of members. Lebennin is still a small faction so it was never capable of settling all of the holds properly
Minor Settlements in the faction
- The Northern Bastion: A secret fortress Located in the Forodwaith Mountains. It was a productive mine of precious stones; however, this resource has been found in different locations such as the City of Towers, so the bastion has fallen into decadence.
- The Eastern Guard: A small white fortress built in Mordor, by the road between Minas Morgul and Barad-Dûr; meant as an agression to Mordor and an outpost in case of invasion. Few soldiers inhabit that place for obvious reasons.
- The Streams: This recent build project had only decorative purposes and was drawn to beautify the biome. The Streams are a series of 4 fortresses that protect the birth of each stream that the Republic claims. The names of the fortresses are Stone, Snow, Water and Earth; from East to West. Their names represent the key components that made the Lebennin biome such a thriving one.
Recruitment and Members
To secure the activity of the faction (specially because of the casual factor) now there are certain requirements to join the Republic; right now, you must have at least +75 alignment with Gondor in the server and you must have been active for some days before getting acess to any city and its public property, there are also some basic requirements:
- The new member must know and respect the rules of the server.
- The new member must cooperate, offer a helping hand and avoid actions which affect other members or the faction negatively.
To become a citizen the recruit must ask the appropriate ruler. After being accepted, that player needs to go to a certain hold and join as a citizen to get acess to said hold's capital: after that, the player becomes an official member of the faction and is automatically welcome in any city or location owned by the Republic. One of the things to note is that a player usually gets acess to the majority of a city after being accepted, so the faction is very serious while treating griefs or other illegal situations. The Republic does not allow dual citizenship with any other faction.
Ranks and groups
The faction has currently 4 different ranks:
- Citizen: the requirements to enter are shown above.
- Knight/Defender: Both of them are ranks of the Lunar Army, a voluntary group whose players swear to defend the well being of the Republic. These players lose some freedom and are forced to obey the senator's orders (fighting during wartime and working during peacetime). The defender swears to protect the lands of Lebennin, which would force him to enter the war in case of invasion, while the Knight is in charge of defensive and offensive matters at the same time. It's the first step in order to become a ruler.
- Ruler: In charge of a main city, the ruler is responsible for the recluitment, building, expanding and all the matters that affect a city and its hold. However, the ruler is not allowed to impose any order to a member (unless he is a member of the army at his service), otherwhise he could be removed from his rank and even the faction. To become a ruler, a player must have proven an extreme loyalty and availability in case of any emergency. The ruler is usually the best candidate to become a senator of his region.
- Ambassador: This rank is available for one member of the closest factions to the Republic, the player with this rank is a fully recognised member of the faction and lives at the respective embassy at the capital.
We can also distinguish two main groups related with internal decisions:
- The High Council: A group formed by every senator as well as the Lunar Commander (or the Son of the Thunder) ; they decide matters like war, trade, relations with other factions and strategies. Every vote counts as 1, even if a ruler directs two cities because of any circumstancy.
- The Assembly: A group formed by every member of the faction, they decide all matters and vote for any action that could affect the cities or members of the community. Every player has the same vote as long as they are full members of the Republic.
Military ranks:
One of the Lunar Squadrons standing in formation in Linhir.
The military ranks were designed by the Lunar Army for a better coordination in terms of war and military actions. The decisions taken by the high ranks are independent from the High Council; however, the Council is responsible of allowing the intervention of the Lunar Army. The Different ranks are listed below.
- Lunar Commander: The main leader of the army, coordinator of every action taken during a war and responsible for them. In case of war he is free to give war-related orders, but he must report every decision to the Council periodically, even if the commander is a member of it. The current commander is Zeradash but the commander isnt the senator in order to prevent the rise of overpowered players in the faction.
- Son of the Thunder (second general): This rank is given to the second in charge of this army, he advices the commander and has as much power as his chief while giving orders. The current second general is Zurisadai and operates outside of the game because of some problems, his advice is as important as Zeradash's and he is one of the current senators.
- Soldier: Every Defender or Knight is considered a soldier in the army; if they receive orders in war time, they must be obeyed unless it results impossible because of real life circumstances.
- Agent: This rank is absolutely private, it's members were only known by the Lunar Commander and they were the official spies of the faction. They didnt appear as members anywhere and apparently had no connection with Lebennin. They were mostly used for intel. or infiltration, although few members had this rank. This rank dissapeared due to the Council's current policies
Members
This is a list of all the public members of the Republic:
- Zeradash: Founder, Lunar Commander, Senator of Linhir.
- Zurisadai: Founder and citizen of the Northern Holds.
- Bublica: Knight of the Northern Hold.
- B_LastDragon: Citizen of the Northern Holds.
- Tarixxiv: Citizen of the Northern Holds.
- Ninja_Mickey: Citizen of the Northern Holds.
- CrazyShark178: Knight of the Northern Holds.
- Voetball: Citizen of the Northern Holds.
- Beaniemaster2004: Citizen of Linhir.
- Andsnow11: Knight of Linhir, Senator of the Northern Holds.
- GijsvanDuijn: Citizen of the Northern Holds.
- NukeRubberDucky: Defender of The Plains.
- Dramoth: Defender of The Plains.
- LockeryOW: Citizen of the Northern Holds.
- Robowolf1132: Citizen of the Northern Holds.
- ArcadeAsgard: Citizen of the Northern Holds.
- BryanPikachu: Citizen of the Northern Holds.
- Colodorado8: Recruit.
Rules
The Republic follows basic rules that are easy to respect and only require to be friendly:
- As a member of the faction, you must help other members if they ask for itand you must also be respectful with everybody. This includes giving resources and even money, the Republic's treasuries (and the senators who run them) have the obligation to give small amounts of coin to players if they are asked and the player in question needs them.
- As the cities have public storages, you are free to give or take whatever you want, however, if the item is valuable or there's a high amount of stuff, you must warn with a signpost and replace in a short period of time, otherwise it will be considered a theft and reported. It is completely forbidden to take items from a player's house without permission.
- As the Republic recently approved a trading system, trade between members is forbidden and it is mandatory to help other members for free; trading goods from the public warehouses without the region's senator permission or for your own profit will be considered theft and reported.
Diplomacy
The rules of the Republic themselves forbid any hostilities against the Free Peoples. Note that the following list shows the attitude of the Republic towards other factions, it may not be mutual. Non mentioned factions are inmediately considered neutral, they may not be listed because of a lack of communication.
Friendly Factions:
- The Shire
- Rohan
- Dale
- Arnor
- Lothlórien
- Every Dwarven kingdom
- Tauredain
- Dorwinion
- High Elves
- Wood Elves
- Umbar
- Astrasi Empire
- Avari
- ¿Woodmen?
Neutral Factions:
- Moredain
- Gondor
- Mordor
- The Khaganate of the East
- Angmar
Hostile Factions:
(Kill on sight in case of entering the territory)
Due to the current neutrality of the faction in the ongoing events, the Republic is not hostile against any faction, and allows trade and relations with every player in the server.
The Black List:
This list shows all the players who caused serious damage to the Republic. No matter the current state of the player, he will be always remembered for his/her crimes. The list is the following one:
Noone is currently on the Black List :D
History
*WARNING, REMEMBER THAT THIS IS NOT A LORE FACTION*
The Republic was founded by a group of refugees who were searching for a new life after the fall of Pelargir. A big group of people followed the road north until they started being ravaged by orc batallions; the refugees decided to stay inside of an old forgotten tower, Itharim, and defend themselves there.
Some time passed and that people started building a city around the keep. The invasions went on so a group of citizens decided to march east in search of building a safe settlement by the river, which was called Dawnport because the arrival took place while the Sun rose and was being reflected on the waters of the Anduin. The cities grew and a new feeling started growing, mainly because of the lack of help that was received by Gondor; after some time, two humans who leaded the construction of the new city of Itharim, Zeradash and Zurisadai, began the preparations to create a new group of states from the cities, independent of Gondor.
At first, negotiations took place with Gondor, but after some time and the reject of the Gondorian Lords, the recently coronated king Tarixxiv ordered raids and assaults against Itharim, and so the Conflict began. As the gondorians had more power and the cities were under construction, Zeradash stopped any Dawnport project and ordered the evacuation of Itharim to the White mountains, where Luna's City was being built as a secret fortress by then.
After some weeks of only psycological aggresion, Gondor and the Confederacy signed a treaty that declared it an official faction and stopped every Gondorian agression (as well as the allies' who supported them and inquired the Confederacy). Soon after the war, Zurisadai dissapeared and some rumors were spread about betrayal and worse crimes against the Free Peoples.
Since then, the projects were resumed and the Confederacy growed, up to a point that some citizens from Dawnport decided to sail from its harbor to The Sea in order to find new lands and colonize them, far away from the Gondorian territory and troubles. However, the colony fell into decadence and now its villages and castle show the shade of the former project that was once planned. That destiny was shared with the Northern Bastion, which was almost abandoned after the mines became less profitable and important sources of gems were found in the City of Towers.
In December 2017, the Confederacy managed to get the rights on Linhir and started creating the fourth region, but at the same time the faction got surrounded by two Gondorian wars (the civil war at Dol Amroth and the Mordoran invasion) that caused a lot of tension between the administrators. A few days later, Tarrixiv, king of Gondor, stepped down; and the Confederacy started a big reforming project which was finally approved the 24th December, Creating the Republic of Lebennin, yet the new alliance petition wasnt answered by Gondor, and it left the faction in a state of tension.
In January 2018, after some hard times related to a temporal decay of Gondor, the Republic tried to seize Lebennin as a safety measure against the expansion of the Mordoran Dominion and the Principality of Dol Amroth, which resulted in the restoration of the relationship with Gondor and the expansion of the territory to the entire biome, including half of Pelargir and a chunk of Lamedon surrounding Linhir. After a massive investment made by the faction, it was ready to construct both the cities of Linhir and Pelargir, cities that would become the cores of the faction, but that needed a lot of work.
Lebennin grew and flourished while new members came to populate the land and help with the construction of Linhir and Pelargir. With the total neutrality and global spirit, the leaders used the autharchy in the most efficient way possible, spending most of the faction's resources in minor settlements, gardens, ships and of course the major cities in order to populate the land and convert the biome into a great, prosperous country.
In June 2018, after celebrating the First Anniversary of the faction, a new period of elections and reforms was called. By the end of the month, Bublica had stepped down and Andsnow11 was elected Senator of Luna's Holds by the faction members; at the same time, the Northern Hold was created, a Trade System was established and Linhir became the capital of the faction.
By the end of July 2018, Zeradash was given the Emyn Arnen waypoint and builds. As he is tied to the faction, he made a project to claim a territory of Ithilien in such a way that the trade routes could be made by sea and that the land was not isolated. As that included an expansion from the biome of the waypoint, it gave some conflict with Gondor, the previous owner; but after a series of negociations the problem was sorted out and a total of 3 builds (in addition to the waypoint) were included on the map and starting having drawings while the Lunar Army occupied the land and started pushing the orcs away from the biome.
The problem was not sorted out however. The negociations were eventually cut by the end of August, and as a result, Gondor removed the Alliance of the Fair streams with the Republic of Lebennin, as Zeradash had broken the border agreement contained in it. The most significant event was the removal of Lebennin from Pelargir, which led the entire massive project and almost 8 months of work to lay wasted. As an answer, most of Northern Ithilien was claimed sortly afterwards and Zeradash swore that he would not intervene in server politics anymore while he was a senator. Lebennin enters now in dark times after the loss of one of the major workplaces it had and the reduction of the activity due to the university/highschool/work resuming in real life. That didn't stop the faction from building the dozens of remaining projects though, and so the faction stood strong.
The rest of the year continued without any major event. Linhir kept growing, and eventually more than 50 builds were built inside the walls, together with the harbor. At the same time, Andaros and The Plains were declared inactive due to the growing lack of available members (irl speaking, mostly because of university and work) but the construction of the two main waypoints of the faction was continuous. Emyn Arnen grew and a great fortress now guards the waypoint, while smaller projects of villages, castles and even decorative cities were improved and sometimes finished. By 2019, the faction had done absolutely nothing new, other than building, trading and gathering resources. Diplomatic relations were not affected by this period of isolation (except for the ones with Gondor) but Zeradash, now the only active leader, insisted on staying away from any kind of faction politics in the server, as the toxicity problems seemed constant to him and he wanted to keep Lebennin and its people away from all of that.