Halfast

## Head of State

HyperSilence

**Halfast** was a planet colonized during the Eighth Era.

HyperSilence established it as a new home for Hollowers displaced for years after Dragonhollow winked out of existence at the end of the Seventh Era.

# History

### Advent

After Dragonhollow was consumed by the arrival of Nyx—the long foretold Eternal Night—the surviving Hollowers spread across the stars and settled on other planets.

With the sting of Retrohollow's failure faded from recent memory, the former Archpriest of Eris HyperSilence created a colony on the distant world of Halfast, having grown nostalgic for the simpler times of yore when he would roam with, live alongside, and occasionally kill his friends and foes.

Using the faster-than-light communications network Discord, he broadcast an open invitation for all Dragonhollow refugees to accompany him in building a new home. The planet was so remote that only those he personally reached out to could find it. Their journey was depicted in the books *Half a Hollow* and *GSS Invictus Log*.

### Emergence

HyperSilence's summons was heard far and wide and he was soon joined by a number of fellow expatriates. They settled in the land of Asgarth. A rampant infestation of angry pillagers made early life difficult.

Zen broke ground on the river town of Koan, providing an XP farm, fishing hut, and graveyard for the community. Alec settled there and built a hobbit hole. Not far downriver, Sharkberries and Boo built Iolanthe, home to fisher folk.

Jrod defeated the ender dragon Starsmoke.

An unknown thief stole many of Zen's personal belongings, leading Hyper to greatly extend the time taken for claim deeds to expire. At the same time, he made a survival kit available to all residents.

Despite Hyper's reminder that it was never intended to be a direct continuation, many veterans considered Halfast to be the spiritual successor to Dragonhollow. Others such as Wiz and Gabault were disappointed that person-to-person combat was prohibited.

During this period Halfast struggled to find its own identity and emerge from the long shadow cast by Dragonhollow, ultimately awaiting a time when the world became more comfortable with the balance between past and present.

### Rise

Sharkberries began an ambitious effort to renew interest in Halfast and grow the community, beginning with word-of-mouth efforts via Discord and the construction of the Camillia city-state, which would eventually became the planetary capital.

Inspired by his efforts, HyperSilence made it possible for anyone in the universe to reach Halfast and launched a promotional campaign designed to convince newcomers to visit the planet. He collaborated with Shark in the creation of the Fish Bowl, a new entrance point featuring parkours and random teleportation into the wilderness.

Ranks were reestablished and perks were added for citizens and veterans. Rules governing combat between residents were changed to be less restrictive in order to appeal to a wider audience without compromising the agency of those wishing to abstain.

HyperSilence chose Jinx, Zen, Sleekit, Tox, and Sharkberries to serve in his new ruling hierarchy as Arbiters of Halfast, charged with upholding the values of Halfast and issuing punishments when necessary.

To ease the struggle of his residents, Hyper introduced a number of quality-of-life improvements including the GPS, variable lighting, and a Bee Breeding Kit.

To encourage and regulate single combat between residents, a number of dueling arenas were built beneath the Fish Bowl.

Jrod and the Scylfings were the planet's primary threats, murdering newcomers and veterans alike, until the return of Greywatch offered refuge and the promise of resistance against deadly banditry. This led to the inception of Eternal Chaos, an alliance of convenience between former foes Alec and Jrod. The rivalry between the two organizations came to dominate the landscape of the Eighth Era.

By popular demand and in collaboration with the magician Lilac, HyperSilence reinstated the Survivor event by hosting Halfast Survivor, pitting his residents against the elements and each other in a battle over who could survive the longest. Alec was the first victor, claiming Phantom Armor that made him unseen to monsters he encountered in the wild.

On 8E:333, warriors gathered to do battle against a fierce ender dragon and each other in the first WeekEnd event with Eternal Chaos securing the lion's share of the loot. To prevent a recurrence their foes allied against EC during the second WeekEnd, but future WeekEnds saw the community put aside their adversarial differences and work together to defeat the dragons.

When both WeekEnds and Halfast Survivor came to an end, Halfast's zenith of popularity inevitably came to an end. Despite a redecoration of the Fish Bowl and a radically altered Nether that promised never before seen materials and environments, the decline continued until the world became a vacant memory of better days reminiscent of Sleepy Hollow.

### Midgard

    On 9E:1, HyperSilence invited residents to return to Halfast and explore the unspoiled wilderness of a new land known as Midgard.

Absurd became the opening casualty of the Ninth Era and Jrod mined its inaugural diamond, while Boiled Rice was the earliest to obtain elytra wings. Jrod drew first blood from an enemy by killing Lex, the beginning of a streak of mayhem that would leave Lex with dozens of deaths but in possession of Jrod's elytra, an outcome both were satisfied with. Gabault, Alec, and Jrod slayed the ender dragon Aeriax on 9E:2 and claimed its egg for Eternal Chaos. AKVothe was both the earliest to construct a beacon and upgrade it to full strength.

Boiled Rice discovered the first Hyper Dungeon on Halfast, a Hyper Mansion that he mistook for a regular woodland mansion. With some difficulty, he managed to clear it with the help of Jrod on On 9E:8.

    On 9E:18, ethereum was introduced as the official currency of Halfast to be redeemed for items in the Midgard Markets.

Over time, the broadcasting of death coordinates over Discord proved a boon to claim-raiders, allowing them to locate and scavenge abandoned properties for valuables such as beacons and elytra.

Alec first discovered and raided the Crystal Dungeon on 9E:250.

On 9E:253, the monstrous world serpent Jörmungandr emerged from the deepest ocean trench on Halfast, sending thousand meter tsunamis crashing across Midgard causing flooding as far inland as the Eternal Depths. The protective seals of the golden shovel immediately failed and led to widespread looting, but as Midgard sank beneath the seas its populace made for the unsullied shores of Asphodel.

### Asphodel

    On 10E:1, HyperSilence announced that Asphodel was open for travel. On the very same day, oDRLo raced to face down and defeat the ender dragon Rhadamanthys, the fastest in recorded history to do so, in turn becoming the first to possess a dragon egg and obtain elytra. Among all citizens, Y earned the dubious distinction of suffering the opening death of the Tenth Era but also mined its first diamond. Tox forged the land's first beacon.

Asphodel remained lightly populated. Most newcomers died and then disappeared, while many veterans were reluctant to settle there for a variety of reasons. It was widely known that the region was to be short-lived, soon to be abandoned. The lack of claims protected by the golden shovel jeopardized new construction. And visits were further complicated by rumors of a dangerous shrinking border. Even HyperSilence himself was often absent.

Nevertheless, a number of isolated individuals established a presence in Asphodel.

### Novigrad

    HyperSilence welcomed travelers old and new to the land of Novigrad on 11E:1. The first person to step foot on its soil was Jrod. Though FlyingPokemon was the initial casualty of the Eleventh Era, he also excavated a diamond before all others.

On 11E:2, adventurers from the Knights of Ishtar defeated the ender dragon Orochi and KingOfDaWild collected its precious egg as a battle trophy. Seven days later he became the first mortal on Halfast to die during a Blood Moon.

MonsterKay became "The Watcher" on 11E:14, an all-seeing eye who broadcasted everything she saw across the universe.

On 11E:36, the Novigrad Nest became accessible in The End, offering all residents the chance at defeating unique ender dragons and obtaining valuable loot.

With no organized factions present to challenge or counter their ascendancy, the Knights of Ishtar quickly became the most influential presence in Novigrad. After being the first to construct a beacon and bring it to full power, they invited a confederacy of allies to settle on the islands of their Archipelago. On 11E:40, they risked open war by trying to assassinate Gabault, who narrowly survived the attempt.

Gabault became the first person to visit all 52 biomes in Novigrad during his mapping expedition of the entire region.

    On 11E:46, the Novigrad Market greatly expanded and the Novigrad Black Market opened for business, offering a number of items in exchange for ethereum.

FlyingPokemon became the era's first "Top Survivor" on 11E:48 after winning the opening month of Novigrad Survivor.

On 11E:52, HyperSilence announced that three new ranks—Warrior, Knight, and Sorcerer—were available for purchase in order to support Halfast. Sharkberries was the first to do so.

After winning the second month of Novigrad Survivor, Gabault was the first Top Survivor to enter Top Survivor Hall and use a Top Survivor Key to purchase prize rewards. He went on to repeat his victory back-to-back in the third month.

On 11E:75, the outer borders of Novigrad grew by one kilometer to a total of 8k, expanding the province a total area of 64 kilometers2.

    As the Knights of Isthar aggressively spread their faith across the land through a combination of philanthrophy and power, they clashed with those who vehemently rejected their beliefs and saw them as little more than a cult of zealots. A wave of temple desecrations and attacks on Ishtar worshippers led to violent reprisals, eventually leading to open war. This Ishtari Conflict was characterized by a series of military stalemates and proxy struggles over Novigrad Survivor and loot left by dragons from the Novigrad Nest.

On 11E:137, Gildor Inglorion emerged victorious as the Top Survivor of the fourth month of Novigrad Survivor, the first person in history to win such a competition in the same month they joined the community.

HyperSilence re-opened the Dueling Arenas, making two available to the public on 11E:142. Asphodel Arena was for serious competitive battles, where death resulted in a lost inventory and an end to one's Top Survivor streak. In contrast, Elysium Arena allowed casual low-stakes duels where inventories and XP were kept upon death and Top Survivor streaks were unaffected.

Jrod was named Top Survivor of the fifth month of Novigrad Survivor on 11E:169.

The war between the Knights of Ishtar and their enemies from the Unbroken Chain heated up when Jrod executed a nighttime aerial raid on their headquarters and killed both FlyingPokemon and KingOfDaWild during the Second Battle of the Sapphire Spires. However, they had their revenge on 11E:195 when Kingkauw trapped Jrod at the Emmey Cube and blew him up with TNT. This paved the way for Kingkauw to be named Top Survivor of the sixth month of Novigrad Survivor four days later.

    KushBandit was named Top Survivor of the seventh month of Novigrad Survivor on 11E:230.

On 11E:257, the Novigrad border expanded by four kilometers to 12k, giving the province a total area of 144 kilometers2. Cherry blossoms, sniffers, trail ruins, and other curiosities were found in this untapped wilderness. To celebrate the occasion, HyperSilence remodeled parts of Skyloft Palace and made the Update 1-20 Kit available.

DaVinci was named Top Survivor of the eighth month of Novigrad Survivor on 11E:261. After a long absence, the Arbiter Sleekit returned to be crowned the ninth Top Survivor of Novigrad Survivor, a feat he twice repeated in the tenth and eleventh months. Newcomer Dunjelo broke his streak by winning the 12th contest, but Sleekit again emerged victorious for the 13th contest to become the all-time winningest victor of Top Survivor in history.

# Points of Interest

### Asgarth

*A vast land of expansive biomes overrun by pillagers and bees settled in the Eighth Era*

### Midgard

*A region settled in the Ninth Era with narrow biomes and rumored extensive cave systems densely packed inside a twenty kilometer radius*

### Asphodel

*A transient and shrinking land of the Tenth Era*

### Novigrad

*An Eleventh Era province with mangrove swamps and ancient subterranean cities stretched across an eight kilometer radius*

# Behind the Scenes

*The following is out-of-universe information about real-world Halfast.*

Half-Assed was a Minecraft server created by HyperSilence on July 10th, 2019. Though previously whitelisted, it was made public on October 18th, 2019.

The server was officially rebranded as Halfast on February 17, 2020 to follow the server's in-universe lore name on the Wiki. A new map called Midgard was launched on July 30, 2021. Halfast's third map, Asphodel, opened on April 9, 2022. A fourth map, Novigrad, opened on October 14, 2022.

Halfast's early lore borrowed heavily from Norse mythology, in contrast with Dragonhollow which often incorporated the ancient Greek mythos. The first map, Asgarth, was another spelling of Asgard, home of the Old Norse gods. The second map, Midgard, was the Norse name given for the Earth, sometimes translated literally as "Middle-Earth" which inspired the fictional setting of J.R.R. Tolkien's works, including *The Lord of the Rings* and *The Hobbit*. Later maps went against convention, with Asphodel being named after a location in the roguelike video game *Hades*, itself a reference to the Asphodel Meadows of Greek mythology where—rather appropriately, "where the souls of people who lived mediocre lives remain," and Novigrad after the city of the same name from the Witcher universe.