Florida

Banner of Florida

**Florida** was a faction on the GeoMC.io server. At its peak, Florida was the primary faction of Gran Floridia, and controlled land spanning multiple continents, including North America and Europe. Additionally, Florida became a major faction in the second half of the server's life during the lockdown player spike and subsequent decline in late 2020.

The faction was lead by FriedBoJangles, and was supported by officers Fishely and Catbay10.

## History

##### Original Faction

Florida was the second faction to be created by FriedBoJangles. In January 2020, he created a faction named "ISIS" located in Syria. The faction was immediately controversial, for the name suggested future mayhem and shared the same name of a former problematic faction. Paris\_Labrador, an officer of Britannia, asked BoJangles to change the name or else the novel faction would be attacked. The name was changed, however the description that read "Islamic State of Syria and Iraq" was not. One day later, Paris would place a hit on the members of ISIS through hitman-faction D4C, who swiftly carried out the order with the slaughter of all online members. The hit resulted in the disbandment of ISIS, as well as the razing of their camp.

##### The Return

Despite the attack, BoJangles and Fishely would return to the server a week later. While most chests and structures had been ruined, an underground cocoa farm had been untouched completely, thus losses could be quickly recouped.

Although the hit had already been completed, the presence of Britannia about Europe and Africa made any faction set in the latter risky. So, Fishely contacted Wilba132 of GGRU in seek of guardianship while the faction was rebuilt. Wilba agreed, and a new faction was created in Papua New Guinea. Additionally, Fishely would create a faction titled "FSA" with his alt Jambokki to protect the cocoa bean farm in Syria until another method of money making could be created.

### **Papua New Guinea**

Following the creation of Papua New Guinea, the faction would be rejoined by Catbay10, as well as PuddyManJon and PersianGameFan3. A small base was quickly erected, as well as a few farms nestled within the mountains. During this time, the faction would not be involved in any conflicts and managed to survive the implementation of upkeep taxes by Woozer.

Within two weeks of creation, Papua New Guinea began to falter. The faction would lose both Persian and Jon, and became sparsely active. In an attempt to rekindle interest, it was decided to finally move the faction elsewhere within the world to become involved.

### **Yucatan Empire**

In February of 2020, the base in Papua New Guinea was transported to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The name "Yucatan Empire" was chosen in reference to the the Aztec Empire, whose culture would influence the appearance of the faction.

#### First Days

Funded by Fishely, the immediate area of the Yucatan was claimed, and later Belize and Guatemala. The first temple would also be built in this time, which housed the few blaze spawners the faction had managed to acquire.

#### Temple of the Sun

With the creation of the first blaze grinder, it became apparent that the method of constantly harvesting and replanting cocoa beans could be replaced. Blaze powder could be sold and reap an efficient profit, thus one of many nether journeys would begin to hunt down the remaining blaze spawners. In total, over 30 spawners had been collected, and soon a larger grinder would be needed. A 9-chunk area was excavated to create the Temple of the Sun, which became as the primary landmark of the Yucatan site until the server's closure. The exterior structure was built by BoJangles, and the inside was a dedicated to house Fishely's blaze grinder.

#### Cuban Expansion

As the faction's power grew, its sphere stretched from El Salvador to the tip of the Yucatan. Following the disbanding of the Smithsonian faction in Cuba, the Yucatan Empire was expanded to the western tip of the island. The land was then expanded to touch the then-existing Britannia claims that sat at the other end of the island.

#### Activity Crisis

Similar to issues faced during the Papua Era, the faction soon became regularly inactive. A second meeting was convened to discuss the future of the faction, and in it, three possibilities came up:

1. Continue as-is, but attempt to play more often to maintain the faction.
2. Disband the faction and join United Carolina.
3. Recreate ISIS to establish relevance.

BoJangles and Catbay were initially in favor of the third option, yet upon further discussion, recreating ISIS would only guarantee a swift wipe from the server, and this time for good. In the end, no decision could be made, and the faction would remain in decline.

#### A New Meaning

Since no decision had been made, BoJangles decided to shift the faction's focus to building. The construction of the temple complex caused him to burnout from the style, thus another landmark would need to be chosen.

In April of 2020, the Yucatan Empire expanded to Florida for the first time. BoJangles began from eastern Cuba and swallowed the unclaimed area of Miami before retiring for the day. At the time, Miami would become a secondary hub of the faction to cater to the few factions already present in the area.

The following day, BoJangles logged on to find that Epic\_\_y of United Carolina had claimed around the claims of Yucatan to block the faction from expanding in Florida. Although the move was made to preserve the lone chair that sat west of Miami, the move was observed as hostile by the Yucatan.

### The Border War

In response to United Carolina, it was decided the best course of action was to claim more land. First, the remaining portion of Florida was claimed by the Yucatan, now touching the border of the Rosewood area. Then, the remainder of Georgia and Alabama was blitzed by both Fishely and BoJangles. Finally, the Yucatan Empire was rebranded as EZLN.

Immediately, United Carolina enemied EZLN. Additionally, the Texan Empire and Britannia would later enemy the faction. While little could be done by United Carolina at the time, Britannia launched a standoff outside of the temple complex. Since the new claims required scores of chunks, most of the gains made in Central America were unclaimed to free room. Furthermore, parts of the Yucatan had been unclaimed, thus freeing room for a snaking Britannia claim to surround parts of the faction home.

Thanks to the ability to toggle PVP in claims, EZLN members were spared from any violence during the assault.

#### Negotiations

Later that evening, a ceasefire was called so that negotiations could begin. The immediate issue was Florida, specifically who would own what parts and how much. EZLN demanded Florida in its entirety at first, but were also open to a scenario where only the peninsula would be controlled. United Carolina, however, wished to maintain their claims in Rosewood, thus all of Florida was out of question.

Eventually, it was settled upon that a horizontal line would be drawn from northern Tampa to Orlando that would divide the state in half. Florida would own the southern portion, and United Carolina would claim the rest of the north. Moreover, Florida would concede its claims in Alabama and Georgia for the ability to freely claim in Arkansas and Oklahoma.

### **Pan-American Union**

#### Rebirth III

In accordance to the treaty, EZLN unclaimed north of the new border, and spread west to the Plains. Now situated in Arkansas, the faction was renamed to "Pan-American Union" in reflection of claims throughout the Americas.

With the new land, multiple projects were begun, such as a plan to build a proper capital in Arkansas, a Joint Security Area at the border with United Carolina, and a bunker in Tampa.

##### Tampa Bunker

Though there had been a secure area in the Yucatan, the PAU lacked a proper bunker nevertheless. Given the proven volatility of the region, creating a bunker was a must.

Ground was broke in late April of 2020 on the bunker, which would feature two layers of walls and a gap lined with water. Slabs would line the bottom of the walls to prohibit attempts to remove the water with a sand cannon.

##### Arkansas Capital

Though Florida was now an important area of the PAU, the new western claims were free to be claimed. With such, a second bunker was begun directly besides the faction home.

Construction began alongside work in Tampa, but was put on hold until work in Florida was completed.

##### Joint Security Area

To mark the treaty between United Carolina and PAU, BoJangles created a Joint Security area that would be shared by both factions. The peace houses, which were divided by the boundary, would be occupied by both.

On the PAU side, a large building was constructed to greet visitors to Tampa, and was completed in May of 2020.

##### The Period of Nothing

The new treaty between United Carolina and the Pan-American Union would never be carried entirely. United Carolina became sparsely active during the next few weeks, preventing a majority of southern Florida from being utilized. The primary members of United Carolina, Cobra and Epic, were asked multiple times by the PAU to honor their side of the deal, but were given weak promises that it would at some point in the future.

With the beginning of May, the members of the PAU began to plot action against United Carolina. Unlike the Border War, the conflict would need to be taken to their capital, thus plans to cannon Carolina City were created.

### The CUC-PAU War

#### Claiming of Carolina City

Building a cannon would be tough. A claim would need to be placed outside the city walls, and destruction would have to occur with at least one member of the faction online. Unbeknownst to the PAU, however, United Carolina, now called the Communist Union of Carolina, would soon have a power deficit. Once reached, their claims could be returned to wilderness or replaced by another faction.

On May 21st, the opportunity arrived. A member of CUC had been kicked due to inactivity, and Carolina City was quickly occupied by the PAU.

#### War Begins

Upon discovering the loss of their capital, the CUC declared war on the PAU. Additionally, their membership of the Western Powers drew other factions into the conflict.

An immediate strike force appeared appeared outside of Tampa, comprised of Nevada, Cascadia, and the Texan Empire. Due to the disability to PVP within claims, no melee broke out. Instead, the force attempted to cannon the JSA complex, but failed to do so.

#### Tampa Defense

Upon the force's retirement, defenses were swiftly created. The Peace House was covered with water, a trap was built in front of it, and a network of tunnels were created to connect the bunker with the trap. A lava cast would also be built at the border, eventually reaching as high as the build limit.

#### Siege of Tampa

For the next few days, the Western Powers sieged Tampa. Frequently the siege would remain at standstill, for members of the PAU would frequently log off while multiple attackers arrived. In one skirmish, PAU members Fishely and BoJangles stationed themselves besides the new trap. PHTS member shredded\_lettuce would be knocked into the trap by Fishely at this time, thus becoming the first casualty of the war. The next day, a melee would break out in the forest north of Tampa, resulting in a retreat of the online WP members. Later into the siege, a tunnel-bore was discovered outside PAU claims in the Gulf of Mexico while lettuce happened to be inside. Quickly, he logged off from the server, but would later escape after the site was claimed and trapped.

#### World Summit Truce

The GeoCraft World Summit had been scheduled to take place on May 30th, over a week since CUC was overclaimed. For the summit, a global truce would be held so that leaders could meet in Corsica.

BoJangles, Catbay, and Fishely would attend the summit. On the agenda was to figure out a solution to the war, yet at it's conclusion, the war would remain.

#### Destruction of Carolina City

Following the summit, the PAU decided to use the truce as an opportunity to leave Tampa. They traveled to Carolina City and began to demolish its structures. Block by block, the recently-rebuilt capital was removed, and the few buildings at its flanks were burned.

#### The Final Siege

On May 31st, the war resumed. Thanks to the recent summit, the WP appeared with a large force, including two hired mercenaries. PAU would be rejoined by PersianGameFan3 at this time, and hid underground in the tunnel network.

Samy112, a member of Nova Morayshire, managed to chorus into the tunnels. Inside, he was met by all members of the PAU, who quickly killed him. Samy would become the second and last casualty of the war.

Following the death of Samy, the WP offered the PAU an opportunity to talk.

#### War's End

After chatting with the Western Powers, it was realized that the war had been the fault of CUC's failure to carry out the Border War agreement. TonyDangermouse, leader of the WP, decided that the alliance would no longer support the conflict, thus ending the war. Additionally, the CUC would now have to relinquish its claims in Florida to the PAU in return for Carolina City. Finally, the PAU would be granted membership into the WP.

### **Florida**

With claims to the entirety of the state, the Pan-American Union was renamed to Florida.

#### Middle Earth Raid

Soon after joining the Western Powers, PHTS member shredded\_lettuce was killed by the members of the Middle Earth faction when they had teleported him there to trade. Angered by the attack, the Western Powers swiftly formed a task force to physically reprimand the faction.

Upon the arrival of the force, Middle Earth found themselves greatly outnumbered, opting to hide inside one of their houses and bait the fighters in. The task force was not deceived, and fired TNT upon the building to create a new entrance. Once open, the task force poured inside the home and killed the hiding Middle Earth members. Members who had fled the skirmish, such as leader ZikZakZoom, were later hunted down in the Bay of Bengal.

Middle Earth would surrender to the Western Powers hours after the attack, and granted the task force to not only have lettuce's belongings back, but their player heads and gear as well.

#### Development of Tampa

In early June, the faction returned to the surface. The fortifications about the city were demolished, and new projects were begun. These projects would include a future railroad, nature park, museum, and city hall.

##### Tampa Museum

The first Florida museum was originally built in Tampa. Though its life was limited, the museum would host various items collected throughout the faction history, including many books and player tools.

#### Florida Bunker

Despite the already existing bunker in Tampa, the need for a better secure bunker was obvious. Thus, in the middle of southern Florida, ground was broke on a new bunker to serve the faction.

Over the span of a week, a 4x4 chunk area would be excavated from the surface to bedrock, and upon completion, multiple lava walls were cast about the perimeter. Additionally, sand walls surrounded the bunker, and a multi-layer roof protected the top.

##### Design

The interior went through multiple iterations before it was constructed. The bunker originally would have had a theme similar to a base Fishely and BoJangles designed on another server, but after a few attempts, a new look was chosen. This new design was inspired by a base from another server as well, with major influences on the spawn and storage area.

##### Features

In its final form, the Florida bunker would feature a multitude of uses crammed together underground:

* Blaze Grinder
* String Farm (Cave Spiders)
* Slime Grinder
* Potion Room (Defunct)
* Automatic Potion-Brewers
* Museum
* Parkour Area (Built by Fishely)
* Enchanting Room
* Three Player-Bedrooms
* Two Storage Rooms
* Vault

#### Change in Course

For the majority of early June, the server remained peaceful. No wars would occur in this time, yet in mid-June, the unbanning of cranerja would create panic amongst the server. Upon his return, Craner would recreate Impero Romano in Rome.

### The War on Terror

#### The Western Powers Respond

Within days of returning, Impero began their assault on the server. In the crosshairs were smaller unaffiliated functions, most of whom would leave for the Towny server. Next would be the established factions, some of which Impero had fought before.

In the event that a member was attacked, the WP began stocking up for war. Thanks to the new infrastructure, Florida began to quickly stockpile gear and potions for the looming war.

#### War Begins

In June of 2020, the Western Powers declared war on Impero Romano following an assault on Rome by Moravia Magna.

In the initial skirmish, Impero were unwaverred by the coalition, yet a later victory by the attackers would make the day an overall stalemate. In addition, the coaltion would deploy a wither, nicknamed "Poggers", to attempt to break past the Roman defenses, yet was eventually killed by Craner once the attackers had left.

#### Nifhlheim Raid

Amidst the conflict, a high-valued target for the coalition would be the Nifhlheim bunker. Located in Greenland, the bunker was used by Impero and its allies to regear after Rome had become a battleground.

Due to its remote location, getting to the bunker to launch an assault was hindered greatly. For example, the coalition force attacked the bunker following the initial siege of Rome, yet would come up empty handed after they were spotted.

A second attempt to raid the bunker, however, would be granted to the coalition when Rof2000, a member of the Niflheim faction, was online. Following his ban from the GeoCraft discord, Rof went to the server to voice his frustration at the server owner and admins. While he was online, BoJangles, Fishely and PHTS member shredded\_lettuce built a wither outside of the Nifhlheim border and broke into the bunker. Later, Rof would log off the server during the raid, and would have to be coaxed back by shredded\_lettuce to finish the raid.

#### Change in Direction

As the war against Impero progressed, the WP would suddenly find themselves fighting alone. Moravia, who had started the war as an ally, switched sides and began fighting with Impero. Despite the greater disadvantage, the Western Powers carried on and began to draw up plans to attack Moravia at their base in Northern Russia.

#### Skirmishes against Moravia

Now with Moravia as an adversary, Florida would become involved in multiple fights with its members, including:

* jirkakrelov was attacked by a WP war party in Czechoslovakia, but managed to outmaneuver his attackers and escape.

* kralanton had attempted to attack members of the Warsaw Pact faction in Eastern Russia, but fled when BoJangles ambushed him and broke his armor. Kral and BoJangles would later duel on fairer terms in Poland, but the battle ended in a draw.

* Awestar was surprise-attacked inside of Impero claims, yet surprised the attackers when Fishely, Catbay, and lettuce were spleefed into a trap.

* Samy112 attempted to attack MW2C inside CUC claims, but was caught by an invisible BoJangles and was forced to flee.

#### Insiding Moravia

Although he had been a member of Moraiva at the time, Samy\_112 had previously been associated with the WP and had enigmatic allegiances. Working off of this, Florida reached out to Samy and offered to return to him his former base in Tunis in exchange for his cooperation. Samy agreed, and subsequently betrayed Moravia by destroying the contents of its bunker whilst smuggling out its valuables to the WP. This stash included multiple weapons and artifacts, most of which ultimately ending up in the possession of the Florida Museum.

#### War's End

Despite the efforts of both sides, the War on Terror would end in a stalemate. To the WP, the lack of results was a victory, for it meant that the threats that kept the factions underground and uneasy was no more. To Moravia and Impero, however, the war ending meant an end to their stint on the server since they had began the conflict in the first place merely for fun. Now with little more to do, these players began to step away from GeoMC, marking the beginning to a downward trend that would end with the server's closure.

The War on Terror did not mark the end to major combat on the server, however. Instead, Florida and its WP allies soon found themselves at war once again.

### War of CUC Succession

#### The CUC Crisis

Prior to Florida's enrollment into the Western Powers, CUC had come under increasing scrutiny over their lack of participation in server conflicts. For instance, CUC's failure to meet their end of the Border War Agreement caused a war that would drag in other members of the WP to fight Florida (then PAU). Similarly, CUC had failed to partake in the War on Terror, instead watching from the sidelines despite the WP guidelines.

As a result of their failure to contribute to the alliance, the CUC was awarded two strikes, one originating from the CUC-PAU War, and another for failing to adhere to guidelines.

#### The Greater Axis Pact

While the CUC's loyalty to the WP was being questioned, a new revelation suddenly came to light: the Greater Axis Pact. Unbeknownst the WP, CUC had secretly attempted to join Moravia and Impero, thus switching sides and backstabbing their allies.

The Greater Axis Pact would never be created, but its existence would be revealed to the WP by foe-turned-friend Samy112. News of the pact angered the WP greatly, and it was decided that the CUC would receive their third and final strike, resulting in their removal from the faction. Moreover, the WP declared war on CUC.

#### The Big Battle

Upon the declaration of war, the CUC and the WP arranged to fight at 5:00 PST on July 6, 2020. Before the battle, BoJangles would kill Lloyd\_Lyle in Carolina City, only to discover that he was attempting to burn the area and was allowed to continue.

At 5:00 PST, the WP war party had formed outside of Chair City and began their attack. They moved into Carolina City, but found it unoccupied because Epic and Cobra had abandoned the city for a fortified position in California. Using the nearby faction warp, the war party teleported to the Pacific coast and made their journey to the fort on the state's interior. Upon arrival, the force charged up the hill under heavy arrow fire, and managed to reach the top and oust the defenders. Epic and Cobra then began to retreat, but were caught and killed by the force.

Once both were killed, the CUC surrendered.