Verdandil

Verdandil is a faction based in aesthetics, atmosphere, and roleplay, and was originally founded by TheScruffyLJ (or aelerch95 as he was known then) in late May of 2014. The faction started as a small, exclusive community meant only for friends, but over the years, the faction became much more involved with the larger community. The goal of Verdandil is to create a enviroment similar to how factions were during the "faction golden age", where role-play is not limited to purely pretending and survival is given a deeper meaning in the lore.

## Culture

Verdandil was originally founded by a group of players who separated from the faction Yggdrassil to escape the controlling nature of it's leader, Bananasquash. They created Verdandil as an anti-thesis to Yggdrassil, choosing private ownership over communal storage and aesthetic appeal over tactical/practical architecture, two tenets of Verdandil's culture that are still upheld to this day . The early founders of Verdandil were all very close friends who were very new to Massivecraft. On top of this, most of them had a background in hardcore factions as expert looters and it's for this reason that early Verdandil associated very little with the larger community, and practically never invited recruits whom they didn't know personally. Verdandil's long tradition of looting lived on as the faction started to plunder the many ruins left behind by the factions of old. This lasted all the way up until the the introduction of the plugin, MassiveRestore, and once the ruins disappeared, so did Verdandil's tomb raiding tradition. Boredom eventually set in, and most of original Verdandil either exclusively role-played in Regalia or had left for other factions and other servers. It was during this time that Boogjangels, the current leader, completed multiple renovations, turning Verdandil from a purely survival faction into a hybrid role-playing/survivalist faction. The goal was to create a semi-lore compliant environment similar to the way factions behaved during the "faction golden age", and to foster a community that brought the role-play and survival communities together. This new "mission" has succeeded to a certain degree, but has become more and more difficult as the two communities continue to split further apart. Verdandil now serves mostly as a glorified storage facility, yet it members are still extremely close and supportive of one another, hopefully for years to come.

### Rank Structure

Verdandil's rank structure follows the default structure almost perfectly, save for a few differences. Recruits are still called recruits, members are called Citizens, officers are called Vassals, and the leader has the title of Chancellor. All faction members are given a faction title in cyan to signify their rank except recruits, whose permissions are greatly limited, similar to those of an ally. Verdandil's formal governing process is through the high council, where vassals will be asked about their opinion and ideas on the matter, then the decision will ultimately be made by the Chancellor. Occasionally, the Chancellor might pick a Vassal to serve as their Steward, a rank that serves as faction leader in the Chancellor's absence.

## Build Style

Ever since it's founding, Verdandil has always kept rigid building codes which have created several beautiful, flowing cities and villages. The goal of Verdandil's many architectural styles is to achieve perfect functionality without ever sacrificing aesthetic beauty, and this has been upheld rigorously for over 3 years. Verdandil has several different settlements, all with their own unique style:

**Aerathel**

The faction's first settlement, Aerathel was never meant to be more than a small outpost village but eventually grew to become the faction's capital and undisputed centerpiece. The city was built in sections over time, making the exact definition of an unplanned city as well as incredibly complicated, with winding streets and buildings packed into every available corner. The theme was originally planned to look like something Lothar (the proto-Cielothar) would build, but eventually evolved to look more like a mix between human and high elven construction styles, something that would eventually play into it's custom lore.

**Korindor**

Situated roughly 800 blocks east of Aerathel, Korindor hugs the coast of New Ceardia's eastern ocean. Originally the site of another faction by the same name, the original Korindor served as one of Verdandil's closest allies. The new village of Korindor was created to serve as a monument to the once great faction, with a massive castle overshadowing a small nordic village that sits below it.

**Graniteshire**

Verdandil's second settlement after Aerathel, Graniteshire is home to the "Granitebeard ranch", a massive barn and storehouse that was built sometime before early Verdandil settled the area. The surrounding area was colonized to look like a small little farming community of simple dwarf folk, with a beautiful custom windmill, several cozy hobbit holes, and flowing fields of golden grain.

**Virdenwald**

Virdenwald is the most recent addition to Verdandil's lineup, but has proven to be one of it's most spectacular. Originally serving as the home to a faction of former Verdandil members who had left to pursue their own interests, amends were eventually made and Virdenwald (then called Swindlburg) merged back into Verdandil. Virdenwald is still a work in progress, but is already quite incredible with it's unique theme. The town is built to appear like something typical of human construction, yet it's all built around the crumbling ruins of an enormous elven temple.

## Foreign Relations

Relationships with other factions, including allies and enemies.