Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the oldest and largest city on the server in area. The city was the original home of some of the oldest members on the server and is home to the infamous Jerusalem Project as part of the modernization and upgrading process into a capital server center.

## History

### Founding and Early Days

The city was first discovered by CardinalCyrusXV (Nick) on the first day of the server and was the first established settlement. The first players took residence within the city and established basic roadways from spawn to the growing village. The city's population boomed rapidly as more people logged onto the server and made their way down the established roads. In its early days the population was nearly that of the largest settlements in the server today. A wall was built around the city along with a small tree farm to provide for its many inhabitants.

### Golden Age

A growing anarchy among the city called for the establishment of an official authority due to the growing population. The previous de facto leader of the city Nick had shifted his focus from the city to building a personal residence at spawn, leaving a further gap in any form of administration that might have been in the town. Ian Little, one of the wealthiest inhabitants of the city, was named as the warden of Jerusalem and granted control of the city to combat this problem. Around this time a sub faction was created within the city called the Pit o' Hell in a cave within the city. In addition, the first business was established in the city market named the Romanian Meat Market. These times where considered the golden age of the city with the population reaching a peak of roughly 7 or more citizens.

### Conflict

The city in many of its early days where plagued with crime and murder. Items where often taken from homes and farms while Nick continued to massacre random civilians on sight. The village iron golem was also killed along with the previous villager inhabitants causing a need for outward expansion and exploration for resources. One of these expeditions encountered the nearby village of Mecca which was burned to the ground. This marked the beginning of the city's first political actions and the start of internal strife.

### The Jihadist Revolution

The burning of Mecca lead to the Jerusalem resident JerryPickles to call a Jihad against Jerusalem for the liberation and protection of Mecca. A Civil War began within the city with the burning and pillaging of Jerry's house within the city and Daniel joining Jerry's cause. Severely outnumbered, the Jihadist movement fled the city to seek refuge elsewhere, leading to the Great Dismal Swamp skirmish and the creation of the Unholy land. The Warden of Jerusalem saw the Unholy land as blasphemy and swore to destroy the land with the help of Nick, leading to an official declaration of war by Jerusalem on the Jihad.

### Constantinople Occupation

Before any action could be made against the unholy land Nick declared Independence from the city to found the city of Constantinople in the nearby Golan heights under Mount Sinai. The new breakaway state was far more aggressive and expansionist than its Jerusalem counterpart, seeking to claim the cities of Mecca and Jerusalem for itself. This lead to the Jerusalem-Constantinople war were an ultimatum was sent to Ian for the surrender of Jerusalem and to the Jihadists for the city of Mecca. The Jihadists swore to put up a fight for Mecca, however on the contrary Ian sought to avoid violence with the powerful Constantinople to prevent the destruction of the city. An agreement was made between the factions for the surrender of the city and the integration into Constantinople with Ian acting as a puppet government. At this point the city diminished even further as several residents left the city to found the neutral city of Malta across the Mediterranean as to stay out of and avoid the ongoing conflicts of the server.

After the annexation of the city, Jerusalem did not take a major part in the 1st Jihadist war nor the Battle of Mecca. Nick however sought to consolidate his newly conquered territory, especially with the growing pit o' hell faction within the city and not wanting another internal conflict like the Jihad. Nick went about doing this by ordering the eviction of all non-Byzantine residents of the city, causing the city to diminish in size and power even further. Following Constantinople's victory over the Jihadists in the Battle of Mecca, all non-Byzantines were forced to leave the city, completely solidifying Nicks control. At the same time peace talks began with the Jihadists in the ruins of Mecca, however after coming to an agreement it soon turned into a discussion about Jerusalem.