Goomlandia
Overview
Goomlandia is a country located to the east of the center of the map. 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.
Later History
Goomlandia under Grooge64 slowly transformed into a 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 a perceived hostile neighbor gone, Voidnest inactive, and Bagelonia merged into Mesadonia with a pro-Goomlandian Carpo_Diem, felt more secure and began construction 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. 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 is 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 seeing much development aat 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 is likely that Goomlandia will never be the great power it once was, but those who remain are dedicated to ensuring its survivial.
Government
Goomlandia is run as a direct democracy, where everyone contributes one vote to decisions. Taming_Ocelots is the current leader, and there is currently no formal co-leader. Many members hold advisory positions in the Cabinet, though the general public typically pitches in on issues. All decisions are meant to be 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, 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 over three quarters of members live, with a few in overseas territories.