Goomlandia
Overview
Goomlandia is a country located to the east of the center of the map, and it contains the geographic center of the world, (0,0). After being part of a union with Voidnest under Goomnest. Goomlandia was recreated after the Voidnestian Secession and experienced a time of troubles called the Goomlandian Decline. During the Decline, the nation's land was annexed by Bagelonia twice, the leadership went on vacation, and the faction almost disbanded. Goomtown (then Bageltown) was occupied by the Sylvian Union where many valuables were stolen, and the splinter states of VOC and Richard were formed. When Goomlandia's leadership and members returned from vacation, the Goomlandian Renaissance began, initiating the rapid growth in activity and wealth, and the aesthetic improvement in the country's architecture. Goomlandia was a close ally of the now defunct Vanskovich . Once power transferred to Grooge64, the country continued to increase in wealth and influence. Goomlandia is known for being an urbanized and developed country; its capital, Goomtown, is the largest city in Elgeis.
Early History
Goomlandia is the oldest extant nation formed on the Eastern continent. It was one of two nations that merged to create Goomnest before it reformed after the Voidnestian Secession. Goomlandia originally comprised of awesome_ketchup and goomyman77 who shared power and possessions as diarchs. As Goomlandia expanded with the additions of Grooge64 and Carpo_Diem, and later Killerpop90 and Multimob, the system was revised so each member would have their own items while only awesome_ketchup and goomyman77 would share.
Shortly before the unification of Goomlandia and Voidnest, awesome_ketchup was removed from the position of diarch by goomyman77 due to his inactivity, granting goomyman77 complete power. The wealth of Goomlandia continued to grow in this time, but no formal treasury or government structure was established until the creation of Goomnest.
Post-Goomnest History
After being reformed in the aftermath of the Voidnestian Secession, and having appointed Brokate to Coleader, Goomlandia was diplomatically pressured by (and later occupied by) Bagelonia and the Sylvian Union during the Bagelonian Question. This event forced their cession of Jaune and the Eastern Wolf Woods as well as the town of Chêne. VOC and Richard were created from Goomlandian citizens seceding and claiming Goomlandian territory as their own. Goomlandia recanted all land claims except for the small province of Goomy City (the area of Goomtown and Champignon). This was the final stage of the Goomlandian Decline.
After several refuted attempts at a land grab by the then-sovereign VOC (dissolved by FlyingGMM and Vailan in goomyman77's absence), Goomyman77 was able to return from his hiatus along with many other members, thus starting a giant reformation of Goomlandia.
Bageltown was renamed to Goomtown and burned down in the planned Goomtown BBQ, during which all players were invited to come and burn Goomtown in order to make way for new, more aesthetic buildings. A close alliance was formed with Vanskovich, and a wall was built around the province of Goomy City. Goomtown was completed at the outbreak of the Great Western War, during which Goomlandia remained neutral despite strong arguments from both sides to join their cause. Afterwards, the province of Clappia was rebought from Richard. The economy industrialized, mimicking the model of the Sylvian Union and Vailan. The population continued to grow, as did Goomlandian territory. The Botanian isle of Loinami was bought from Vanskovich as a private enterprise. Goomlandia later obtained the remainder of Botania as a gift from Vanskovich. During the first meeting of the Mesa Convention, Goomlandia doubled its landmass, acquiring their ancient province of Vieux-Banastair (now called New Toeland) and the mesa east of it (now called the Gold Coast).
Goomlandia strengthened its foreign ties, building an embassy and heavily investing in Vanskovich. Multiple alliances were formed with the eastern mesa states through the Mesa Convention. Goomlandia also fought in the brief Turtle Time War against an encroaching new player, which gave the Goomlandian military its first practical war experience. Leadership shifted to Brokate, then Grooge64 a month before the national anniversary due to Goomyman77's resignation because of fatigue.
Grooge64 Administration
Goomlandia under Grooge64 slowly transformed into an industrial and diplomatic powerhouse under his much more cautious leadership. Vanskovich merged into Goomlandia following an inactivity plague, then later left Goomlandia and their home region entirely, migrating to the Northeast. VOC, similarly plagued by inactivity, left the server and gave their former land to Goomlandia, expanding the size of Goomtown and restoring control of its harbor. With their hostile neighbor gone, Voidnest inactive, and Bagelonia merged into Mesadonia with a pro-Goomlandian Carpo_Diem, the situation felt more secure and soon construction began on a wall around Goomtown. Goomtown continued to expand as goomyman77 became its mayor, and the then-main export of Goomlandia, haste potions (known as "steroids"), were developed in this time. Also developed was 'propaganda'-- the Goomlandian word for mapart-- which remained a uniquely Goomlandian activity for many years, with Goomlandian designs spreading all over the world. An alliance with Vailan, much debated internally, was agreed to to secure protection from perceived future threats from the Sylvian Union. As the horizon grew more peaceful and secure, many economic projects were undertaken throughout Goomlandia, providing unique exports abroad and amenities domestically. This growth continued through various periods of conflict, where Goomlandia consistently maintained a self-admitted policy of letting others fight wars while they profitted off both sides. During this time, Goomlandia also made an unlikely friendship and later alliance with Fianna, a move which at first upset the Vansk population but later was accepted.
Goomtown experienced several more "occupations" but these were more lighthearted parties than actual occupations; though some did cause damage to the city, the occupiers made sure to make repairs later. During the Balkan Troubles, Goomlandia initially supported CSA, but decided to not become involved after the situation became more volatile. A month later, Vanskovich merged into Goomlandia, and the return of many Vansk members increased Goomlandia's immigrant ratio and total population. Goomtown grew to be the largest city in the world and held an important role in world trade and culture. External settlements of Goomlandia, such as Iskallia, Glavnaya, Rapture, Krosnox, and the province of Richard also saw much development at this time.
The Goomlandian Collapse
Despite Grooge's general success as leader, he would eventually go largely inactive, with many in Goomlandia and beyond speculating as to his whereabouts. Eventually, the country voted to replace Grooge with more active leaders, placing Goomlandia in the hands of Stonkseleksl as leader and Saashin as co-leader.
While, on the surface, Goomlandia seemed to be doing well, the actions of its most famous members would shove the nation into its darkest hour. On December 8th, 2021, it was revealed many members of Goomlandia, most notably Goomyman77 and Grooge64, were revealed to have been allegedly involved in MedimaNN's raid against Fianna. In retaliation for their involvement, Fianna put forward an ultimatum, asking Goomlandia to pay large sums of diamonds and, most consequentially, return parts of former Bagelonia to them. This proved to be very controversial, as these areas had been given as a gift of trust to Goomlandia by Fianna, after they were ceded to Fianna by Bagelonia (mediated by FlyingGMM) Since then, parts of this land, most notably Jaune, had been heavily developed and even encompassed by the walls of Goomtown. In the end, however, Goomlandia had no choice but to accept Fianna's ultimatum.
The allegations against Grooge and Goomy, two of the nation's core members, would split the nation between those who wished to remove them from the faction for their actions and those who wanted to defend them. Stonks and Saashin, the leaders of the country and foremost members of the first faction, expressed disgust with the members of the country who chose to defend Grooge and Goomy. Believing the country to be not worth saving, they left, leaving Goomlandia with no leaders and in a very vulnerable place.
In the next election, only two Goomlandians ran for office, both of them completely inexperienced in politics: ACanadianGuy, a zealous supporter of transparency and prosecuting Grooge and Goomy for their crimes, and Taming_Ocelots, who was more moderate. Taming was soon elected as leader, and she soon appointed Canadian as co-leader. Despite her inexperience, she vowed to do her best to help her country rebuild. Canadian soon set to work organizing a formal trial for Grooge and Goomy. For a while, Goomlandia's wounds seemed to be healing, despite the clear inexperience of its new leaders.
However, on January 4th, 2022, a series of events caused Goomlandia to reach perhaps the lowest point in its long history. First, sensing the weakness of the Goomlandian state, kaab claimed the Voidnest region, with the intention to tear down the wall surrounding Voidmouth. Critics pointed to the fact that coblue had left Voidnest before it had even disbanded. In the resulting uproar, two Goomlandians who had largely kept out of politics, crazyjuplup and Insidious_Apple, left the country to each form their own countries, Krosnox and Tree, respectively. This left Goomlandia greatly weakened and slightly overclaimed, though no one would act on that weakness until the evening of that day.
ACanadianGuy, seeing the invasion of Goomlandia's land and the flight of its people, came to see all of these issues as the faults of Grooge and Goomy. Forgetting about the claim system and the democratic process of Goomlandia, he used the very powers given to him as co-leader of Goomlandia to unknowingly push it to the brink of collapse. Against the advice of his fellow Goomlandians and the orders of his leader, he kicked Grooge and Goomy out of the faction, making the faction greatly overclaimed. Soon after, looters descended on Goomtown, hoping to obtain the valuable materials housed in the city. Realizing his error, Canadian left the faction as well, but not before making good on his promise for more transparency... by leaking Goomlandian internals to everyone.
Taming_Ocelots and BossMasterOrigin soon logged on to see the Goomlandian Capitol's prized Diamond Dome being swarmed by looters and mined out. While Bossmaster guarded the Capitol, Taming ran around Goomtown, unclaiming things to bring the country back under the now greatly reduced claim limit. Many countries, most notably Montrose, offered to temporarily claim important areas out of a desire to keep the historic country from falling completely. Eventually, the city was secured and the looters left, but not without griefing the Capitol and surrounding areas. Goomtown was eventually reclaimed and the stolen diamond blocks collected and retuned to Goomlandia, but the damage to the country's dignity was already done. It seemed likely that Goomlandia would never be the great power it once was, but those who remained were dedicated to ensuring its survival.
Post-Collapse History
Taming_Ocelots soon negotiated a compromise with Coblue, allowing him to take down the section of the city wall surrounding Voidmouth if he unclaimed Voidnest, paid Goomlandia a fine, and repaired the surrounding area afterwards (as several buildings were built into the wall). After this compromise was negotiated, Grooge64 retreated into his storehouse of Gabe Head, and has remained there for well over a year and a half as of the time of this writing. goomyman77, so upset by the events that had befallen the country and what he saw as a betrayal by nearly everyone involved, similarly retreated within the walls of his house and did not emerge until six months later. The nation went quiet, with only Taming_Ocelots keeping it running, for an extended period of time. She initiated a gradual rebuilding of the country, and slowly members began to return to activity. The trial against Grooge and Goomy was cancelled after interest in it both internationally and internally declined, MithicSpirit began maintaining the industry of the nation again, Taming began building an underground city (named Briza) beneath the southeastern iceberg sea, and later Goomy came out of his house and immediately started building again. Doctor_Hound, FlyingGMM and the MMI in general came to an agreement with Goomy to return the province of Jaune (most of the development in the previously siezed land) to Goomlandia, as everyone involved became convinced that siezing a highly developed section of Goomtown directly contradicted their earlier promise not to harm Goomy should he cooperate with the MMI investigation into the Fenian thefts. Notably, Doctor_Hound (the owner of the siezed land who had since merged his country into Montrose) refused to negotiate with Taming_Ocelots, believing her to be an incompetent leader-- an idea which many Goomlandians took offense to, as she had already shown her capability in managing some of the worst crises the nation had experienced. Shortly thereafter, Insidious_Apple asked Goomy to rejoin Goomlandia by merging Tree into it, apologizing for what he came to believe was a fear-motivated response of leaving, and promising to stand by the nation in the future.
Goomlandia, under Taming_Ocelots, had therefore regained an active group of people, its industrial prowess, and a verifiable presence on the world stage. FlyingGMM had become a good friend of Taming, and the two decided to improve relations between their countries, despite varied positive and negative opinions from the other Goomlandians (many of who held deep-rooted racism against Montrosians, as well as spite from the then-recent collapse). goomyman77 ran for coleader in late 2022 and won, because no one ran against him, and he helped Taming build positive relations with Montrose with the reconstruction of Chene, an ancient destroyed Goomlandian town on land that had previously been siezed during the collapse (and also during the earlier Bagelonian Question). Following this reconstruction, Doctor_Hound (and Montrosian assembly, though they garnered so much resistance to the cessation because of Goomlandia's rejection of their military alliance offer that it nearly didn't pass) decided to return all the previously siezed territories to Goomlandia for a sum of diamonds, restoring Goomlandia to its former borders . Eventually, despite Montrose's MANY (probably around 20) offers to form a full military alliance, the two countries settled on a series of trade agreements, though even they were not instituted without significant criticism. Also drawing criticism was the Goomlandian decision to go to war on the side of Montrose and Wohlstand in the 2023 Floppaist Crusade against Ozai, which ended in a stalemate, or a glorious victory depending on who you ask. However, after this crusade, many Montrosians became upset with what they saw as Fianna's outrageous years-long inactivity and massive amount of overseas territory, and threatened to kick them out of Montrose if they did not cede the entirety of their land claims except their homeland of Dwarf Island to nearby nations. Therefore, a meeting was called with Goomlandia, Vostok, and Redstone Valley, where Goomlandia purchased the entirety of the rest of Bagelonia as well as the southern territory of Soraryius for the sum of 1 stack of diamond blocks and 3 enchanted golden apples. awesome_ketchup's house had had massive amounts of valuables (including stacks of netherite and 17 enchanted golden apples) stolen from it in late 2022, which was later discovered (with the help of an Istamorian informant and the Ozan WikiLeaks staff) to have been carried out by an Istamorian, BunnyJr, as well as covered up by Morizuza and the rest of the country. In retaliation, Goomlandia (with the help of Montrose due to Goomlandia's earlier defense of them and their desire for improved relations) declared war on Istamor, which immediately dissolved with many members fleeing to Ozai. BunnyJr gave his items to Clodovo (who returned them to Goomlandia immediately) and Morizuza before leaving the server for good, but Morizuza managed to hide them before being captured by Goomlandian forces later that day. They built a 11-layer obsidian prison around Morizuza, but he was broken out early next morning by Kai_Equinox, who summoned a wither and blasted through the obsidian. The two are still on the run from the Goomlandian and Montrosian governments. awesome_ketchup later went on to travel 1 million blocks in the nether, obtaining 17 new enchanted golden apples along the way, a trip which took 36 total hours and remains the single biggest achievement in nether exploration to date. The population rebuilding after the collapse caused an entirely new distribution of people throughout the country, with most members living in farther locations from one another and much less people concentrated in the city of Goomtown. With this new space, Goomtown began a process of heightening, tearing out much of the older parts of the city in favor of gigantic skyscrapers that used mass quantities of expensive materials. Also, a new art movement was launched, with propaganda again being made but with a completely different designing process-- being pre-planned, pixel for pixel, and using many intricate designs and border patterns rather than focusing on a single object or design at the center of the image. As such, it is very easily distinguishable from earlier Goomlandian art.
Culture
Goomlandian culture is heavily focused on architecture, art, and accumulating wealth. Voidnestian influences, such as a love of peace and aversion to direct conflict, played a major role in shaping Goomlandian culture, but Grove Tribe and Vansk influences are present as well. For example, the vast majority of Goomlandians refuse to wear netherite armor unless necessary, often settling for diamond, gold, or dyed leather, despite not following the Grove Faith which forbids netherite. Development and maintenance of industry was a major part of culture for many of Goomlandia's early years, but now it has shifted to art. As such, Goomlandian designs of both propaganda and buildings are becoming more complex and colorful. The architecture style of Goomtown has slowly shifted over time, but there is a particular emphasis on a repeating pattern of logs and window ledges, often with 3-4 in succession on each wall and lampposts on the corners of flat rooves. Briza and other underground projects are becoming more important in Goomlandian architecture as well, with many underground halls being constructed throughout the country.
Government
Goomlandia is run as a direct democracy, where everyone contributes one vote to decisions. Taming_Ocelots is the current leader, and goomyman77 is the current co-leader. Many members hold advisory positions in the Cabinet, though the general public typically pitches in on issues. All decisions made through a direct vote in the Goomlandian Server, although it is not unheard of for the leader to take unilateral action. Goomlandian citizens are guaranteed ownership of personal possessions, although it is common for Goomlandians to allow each other to freely take from their storages.
Goomlandia is extremely opposed to codification and any sort of legal system, decrying it as unnecessary and often criticizing countries who codify their systems. While this has benefitted the country in some ways, such as being able to take ad-hoc, pragmatic decisions, it has harmed it in other situations where no protocols exist on how to act.
Population
The current population of Goomlandia is 13, with a varying amount being active, voting members. The capital, Goomtown, and its outlying towns contain the majority of the population where many members live, with a few in overseas territories.