Benlodoro

Benlodoro is a small island kingdom that had existed in the now destroyed world of Eldham but which was recently reestablished in the world of Abexilas. In Eldham, the mushroom island of Benlodoro was located in a body of water colloquially called the Sea of the Golden Sun. It was situated east of the Heliosan exclave of Pittrock, and closeby to the nation of Aristios. (In Eldham, it existed from December 2021 to the Autumn of 2022, with the vast majority of actions occurring in the Winter and Spring of that year.) The current iteration of Benlodoro is located on a iceberg, in a wide field of such in a cold sea south of the continent of Talasi. It's closest substantial neighbor is the Triarchy of Azrael to the north on the same continent and Chimeria to the southeast on the continent of Razzako'ra. 
== Government ==
The ruler of Benlodoro is King MC_Dripmeister. MC_Dripmeister has arranged a hierarchy in the government of Benlodoro to be between himself and a person second-most in authority called the Jurist, whose title is held by a man named Piltio. Piltio, the Jurist, is also the Patriarch of the Benlodoran religion of the Church of the Golden Sun. 
MC_Dripmeister selected Piltio to be Jurist because of his great wisdom. For this reason, along with being second-in-command, MC_Dripmeister refused to overrule most of his decisions, leaving Piltio as a de-facto co-ruler in Benlodoro. 
== Etymology ==
The name of Benlodoro is derived from the Greek word "dóro"(δώρο) meaning gift, and the name of a mysterious man named Ben-Lo whose history is known only by Piltio. The name of the nation thus means "Gift of Ben-Lo". 
== Vexillology ==
The Flag of Benlodoro consists of two colors, blue and yellow, in the form of the sea, the sun and land respectively. The base of the flag is the island shore of Benlodoro which has a path extending toward the sun, which is rising above the sea around itself. The sea and sun have much esoteric, spiritual meaning in Benlodoro, that is attributed to Piltio's works.
== History in Eldham ==
(As previously stated, there are two iterations of Benlodoro, one of Eldham which no longer exists and the second which is currently ongoing in Abexilas. For Benlodoro's Abexilas history, scroll down to it's section. Also, in-lore dates are not included.)
=== Origins ===
The origins of the Benlodoran people lie far outside of Eldham, from a place King MC_Dripmeister calls the "Old Kingdom". It is, of course, a previous kingdom that the Benlodoran people formed, but located in a seemingly infinite wilderness that exists far away from Eldham. It is unknown as to why the Benlodorans left their ancestral land and migrated to Eldham, or even how they discovered the land of Eldham, but it probably came out of the desire to leave their excessive isolation and to discover the riches that lie in Eldham's populous land. 
=== Migration into Eldham ===
The Benlodorans, leaving their wilderness, knew well that with Eldham's great population there would also be little land left unclaimed. The Benlodoran nomads of this period were few in comparison to the innumerable people and nations of Eldham. The Benlodorans, knowing that continental land was valued and protected, scoured Eldham in search of unclaimed islands. They eventually stumbled upon the least populous region in Eldham, Elastra, where they found its severely sparse eastern frontiers, wherein lied the Sea of the Golden Sun and their destined island of Benlodoro. It was thanks to the man named Iacopo, an explorer of the Benlodorans, that after searching for thousands of blocks, had helped discover the island of Benlodoro. King MC_Dripmeister made landfall with the island on the Summer of 112 TE (19 December, 2021). When they arrived, the Benlodorans quickly deconstructed ruined buildings on the island and began settling by building a castle, for they immediately realized a power surrounding them that they obliviously provoked. 
=== Growth from the Prospect of War ===
Soon after settling, the Benlodorans were confronted by the nation of Aristios, in, reportedly, a demand to "join or die". Hysteria erupted in Benlodoro, in walls around the island being constructed in a single day, and with the central stone castle keep being completed shortly thereafter. Hundreds of thousands of coins were harvested from it's people mining, industry and production was established, and everyone in Benlodoro had been equipped with necessary equipment for war. King MC_Dripmeister knew that he and his people were outnumbered 12:1, so he quickly explored Elastra in search of allies. He first discovered the tribe of Aestivia to the northwest (a land claim of many players), to which the two had found great mutual benefit and a sense of similarity. There was the giving of gifts and the sharing of techniques. The ruler of Aestivia even had so graciously given MC_Dripmeister 200,000 coins simply for his desire to protect people like himself. After allying with Aestivia, King MC_Dripmeister had developed the desire to raise Elastra from a region of poverty and oppression into a place where the young, weaker nations, that were surrounded by their larger oppressors, could find respite, strength, and growth in alliance. He went on to discover Chimore, Mr. Gaming1's Zerronic Empire, and Texi_Is_Here's I.T.S.U, all of which were young, emerging powers of their regions that were inclined and grateful to accept King MC_Dripmeister's offer of alliance. After many significant advancements, Benlodoro continued to make efforts at appearing as a legitimate nation. Benlodoro, after preparing for war since birth, would eventually gain respite in independence.
=== Acquisition of Formal Independence ===
Following many long attempts to form communication with Aristios, Benlodoro, after paying 200,000 coins, would be granted independence and a spot on the map of Eldham in late April of 2022. Since its inception it had always been separate from Aristios, but with this it became officially so and Aristios would no longer be perceived a threat. 
=== Unification with Zerronic Empire and Decline ===
King MC_Dripmeister's long time collaborator, Primo Mr. Gaming1, made an offer to him during Benlodoro's waning days which set it into a 'union' with the Zerronic Empire. King MC_Dripmeister would lose his nation title of Benlodoro but keep the title for his island (the land claim), becoming second-in-command to the Primo. In reality however, the King would in technicality become a vassal to him. During that time, a warrior of Benlodoro named Andrew or Andronicus began to go insane most likely due to boredom. He would randomly beat up the King and others in fits of rage. Eventually, he would challenge the King and his knights to battle, slaying many, but was eventually bested and expelled from Benlodoro, never to be seen again. Following this, morale plummeted but King MC_Dripmeister began some projects to restore their resolve. A cheese factory was constructed alongside a section of the walls that it lied in. Many jam presses filled the then renovating central keep, with battlements being installed on one of it's sides. There was also plans to lengthen the height of all the walls, but this never came to be. National interest in development began to decline ever since Benlodoro achieved independence. Isolated in the middle of a sea, in the smallest and least populated and thus least active region in Eldham, the life of a Benlodoran appeared bleak. Politics was uneventful, there was little meaningful interaction with others, and there was a severe lack of adversity, struggle, or purpose, which all led Benlodoran morale to plummet. Promises of glory and conquest, their main source of motivation, did not come to fruition. As a consequence, inactivity beset the nation and it began to crumble. Benlodoro lay compromised, it drained through it's reserves of money in upkeep and the land claim eventually dissolved. Benlodoro was sacked, and at a time it ceased to exist. In Benlodoro's remission, it's Jurist, Piltio, had gone missing. After such, Benlodoro ceased to appear a national enity on further maps of Eldham. A little after Benlodoro ceased to be an active nation (a couple months), the Zerronic Empire went to war with a coalition formed by a neighbor called Glanra. The capital Cinfras was attacked, occupied, and annexed into Amagoria, thus ending the Zerronic Empire. The last request of one of King MC_Dripmeister's subjects would be to aid the Zerronic Empire in the war, but the King would decline, saying that "We have freedom in Isolation, we've failed to appreciate that.". Such was the motto of Benlodoro.
=== Dissolution and Return to the 'Old Kingdom' ===
Following Piltio's disappearance, records thereafter are flimsy in information and held only by King MC_Dripmeister. The island of Benlodoro would be sold to either Primo Mr. Gaming1 or a neighbor in Aristios for 100,000 coins. The King and his remaining subjects would then make their way back to the 'Old Kingdom' outside of the world. Preceding the fall of the Zerronic Empire, those left behind would appreciate the then crumbling but imposing Keep, and by the empire's fall, all Benlodorans left Benlodoro. King MC_Dripmeister would occasionally make trips to Benlodoro to inspect the derelict island. One last time, he'd came to see the many holes lining the collapsing walls, looking like the many stacks of cheese he'd make himself, and he'd go through the crumbling Keep, past the emptied cellar, to the coffers of the Royal Bunker lain bare with cobwebs throughout, once glistening full of diamonds, iron, gold and many precious artifacts. One last time he remembered the simple elegance of his Kingdom, where it stood as a shining, golden sun amongst a sea of plain, empty sea. At Benlodoro's dock, staring at it all, King MC_Dripmeister left his Eldham cheese, jam, potions, armor, sword, pickaxe, and crown behind and set off by boat, through the Sea of the Golden Sun, out of Eldham, never to return again. Looters, explorers, and journalists would come and go through the ruins of the island until the end of Eldham, questioning what had been there before they mined in.
== History in Abexilas (Ongoing) ==
=== Migration into Abexilas ===
Likely for the same reasons which had drove them to migrate to Eldham during their last phase in the Old Kingdom, something stirred within the minds of the Benlodorans which drove them to once again migrate out to a new world. By leaving to the Old Kingdom, the Benlodorans had unintentionally avoided the cataclysm of the War of the Comet. However, when they would inevitably get bored of ruling over the infinite wilderness of the Old Kingdom, the Benlodorans were again late to settle the new world of Abexilas and it was this same situation which happened during their first days in Eldham; the Benlodorans were left to scrounge for islands across the world. 
=== Exploration ===
Unlike those early days within Eldham where there were at least a few sandbars, reefs, or desolate islands left for inspiring rulers to occupy, in Abexilas, despite it's early existence, virtually all inhabitable land is claimed by some ruler or people. Benlodorans were left with few options for settlement. Arriving in Abexilas, King MC_Dripmeister and his trusted companions accumulated a modest fortune from mining illegally around the heartlands of the world. Thereafter, the King led some expeditions with the explorer Iacopo and the fisherman Idbay to various places around the center of the world. With hubris, upon finding a desert island, the King proclaimed Benlodoro re-established upon one of it's peaks, later discovering that the island had been claimed by Akashiro. Disappointed but still determined to find land for his people, the King and Idbay rowed east from the desert island to an area of sea filled with icebergs. These icebergs, they considered, were the closest possible thing to proper, unclaimed land. But it is land in loosest possible sense; they set foot on pieces of floating ice such that if it wasn't for the vicious cold, the 'land' would be melted into the sea. No matter they thought, as long as they owned something to stand on they thought it better than figuratively kneeling on and to another's land. Having voyaged for so long at sea, the fisherman Idbay began to go insane, spouting drivel and nonsense whilst speaking in vuglar Benlodoran. Somehow inspired by his madness, he would go on to finding the first 'hum-uh-nuh', which is the word in the language for an ice hill or peak. The two found 2 more appreciable humuhnuhs, with the last being most satisfactory, having ample area to inhabit, although very steep and jagged. On the third discovered humuhnuh, the King finally proclaimed Benlodoro re-established at the humuhnuh's peak on the Spring of 15 VE. (1 June, 2024).
=== Establishment of the Second Kingdom of Benlodoro ===
Iacopo, the explorer, was busy illegally mining-out the desert island he and King MC_Dripmeister had discovered when Benlodoro was reestablished by King MC_Dripmeister and Idbay. Returning home with sacks filled with gold and iron, Iacopo laid them at the King's feet which the King then took to buy his title in Abexilas (the land claim). The first structure of this new Benlodoro was constructed by Iacopo. It is a tall column and mine shaft which anchors the humuhnuh to the seafloor and which provides Benlodorans access to the ground below the seafloor to mine-out. It was around this time that Piltio had returned from his long disappearance. King MC_Dripmeister restored his titles within Benlodoro and Piltio set out to completing scholarly and theological work as he had done during Benlodoro's time in Eldham. Everyone united, they began to toil in the mines. Everyone filled Benlodoro's coffers with coins so that their King could afford his nation title. One day, while fishing, Idbay recognized a person in a boat on the horizon. It was the legendary Ben-Lo, champion of the Benlodorans. There was much applause. Ben-Lo often went missing in Benlodoro's history. To the Benlodorans, wherever he was, there was good spirits and victory, and whenever he left, he left despondence and depression. To the Benlodorans, he was seemingly a spirit of good luck. With his help, much of the humuhnuh was terraformed, with him creating a helpful tunnel to the mineshaft from the shore, creating a tree plantation, an igloo, and mounding dirt around the barren iceberg to grow potatoes. Following his return, on multiple occasions, Idbay and Ben-Lo would team up to go on raids to steal animals to then raise at Benlodoro. During these, they'd break into many temple ruins, committing 'devious licks' and pilfering much loot from them for Benlodoro's sake. Another day, hungering for steak and at the request of Piltio for books for his activities, Idbay and King MC_Dripmeister ventured out to the far north in search of cows. That time they had no interest in stealing, so they found a rancher from whom they bought a pair of cows: Dontavious Junior the Third and Fat (Redacted), or so Ben-Lo had later named. Idbay and King MC_Dripmeister boated through twisty rivers, carried the cows through tall, rocky mountains, down their steep and unstable slopes, past a jungle, through many torrentuous seas, all the way back to Benlodoro. The journey spanned thousands of blocks. They returned, exhausted, to drop off the two cows off at a freshly made pasture Ben-Lo had created. With that, all the essentials the Benlodorans needed was established. But the Benlodorans, through many devious actions and struggles, had also gained a streak of mischief, defiance and darkness. King MC_Dripmeister flattened the peak of the humuhnuh and began, single-handedly, to construct a Keep made of deepslate, in opposition to the requests of Piltio of keeping the structure light and elegant. King MC_Dripmeister, at the requests of Idbay and Ben-Lo of making the future keep look more 'opium', began building the structure in a dark and imposing fashion. A dark keep is beginning to rise in the place of a snowy peak. Blue flames crawl out of fire pits lining it's entrance, leading to a cyan carpet-way, leading to a throne made of bones. A new banner, one of a black sea and of a sun made of the same cyan-blue flames was made by the King for the entrance of the Keep. A new sinister spirit has been rising amongst those in Benlodoro.
== Current Status ==
King MC_Dripmeister continues to build the central keep of Benlodoro and his subjects continue to toil away in the mines, also fishing, ranching, and farming potatoes. The King has named the iceberg which Benlodoro sits on 'Humna', which is a shortened word for humuhnuh. It is also the name King MC_Dripmeister has now given for his land title. (It is now the land claim's name and capital of the nation claim of Benlodoro as one cannot have both possessing the same name of Benlodoro.) Piltio hates the name of the iceberg, saying it's nonsense. 
Category:Nations
Category:Eldham
Category:Traveler's Era
Category:Abexilas