Hallowmere

## Notable Settlements

* Nova Zaeric
* Westernmere

**Hallowmere** was a region of Dragonhollow settled during the Sixth Era.

Though widely considered to be the most beautiful land of its day, its natural splendor and incredible vistas came at a price. Hallowmere was an environment so dangerous that it challenged even hardened veterans, leading to unprecedented loss of life.

# Geography

    Hallowmere was incredibly diverse, boasting a vivid landscape far more varied and visually stunning than any previously discovered regions of Dragonhollow.

It was a place of icy wastelands, tropical beaches, colored clay mountain ranges, haunted forests, snowy deserts, lava rivers, bald cypress swamps, and hundreds of other extraordinary biomes.

A great deal of the human habitation in Hallowmere was located on or near the Dire Straits, including the capital city of Hardship. The River Acheron also served as a major means of transportation and trade cooridor among those who lived upon it.

The land was also populated with many structures built prior to the Sixth Era, some in such disrepair to suggest they may have even existed in antiquity before the First Era. They ranged from simple brick cottages to maze-like underground labyrinths, soaring towers, and rotting shipwrecks.

Hallowmere was home to a number of Hyper Dungeons.

The region's border expanded every time a new resident arrived, a unique phenomenon made possible by the wizard Jack Firebane, though Tohbeh claimed credit for the idea itself.

# History

     Rumors slowly leaked out of the Twilight Project about a distant land with breathtaking scenery and magnificent treasure.

On 5E:303, an airship docked above the cafe in Sanctuary, with cryptic references to a future date and warnings regarding its destination. However, passage required the purchase of an unobtainable airship ticket.

The Herald accidentally mentioned offhand the "shores of Hallowmere" in the presence of MaccaMan, Bagger, and Tox on 5E:311. When Pandora's Box was opened a week later on 5E:319, residents of Pandora fled the complete annihilation of their homes and sought refuge in Sanctuary. Though the destruction had been carried out by her order as punishment, Eris took pity on her subjects and offered them free transport aboard the airship to Hallowmere.

That airship first arrived on 6E:1 and those aboard became known as the Hallowmere Pioneers.

Unfortunately, they soon discovered that they had simply traded one hellish nightmare for another as the supposed "pity" of Eris was replaced by gleeful amusement. Hallowmere was a deadly confluence of cave-ins, supermobs, bloodthirsty bandits, difficult terrain, and unyielding gravity.

Absurd was the first person to die in Hallowmere after he fell from the airship.

The propeller assembly on the original airship was damaged by charged creeper attacks and crashed into the sea not long after the Hallowmere Pioneers disembarked, stranding them in Mere Stop. Eris forcibly teleported them against their will to a new airship just arriving in an entirely different part of the region.

Tohbeh was the first resident to discover diamond, as well as the first to construct an enchantment table and establish a brewery. He was later eclipsed by other ambitious adventurers; Hyperion acquired the land's first beacon by raiding Venomere, Zen constructed the first tier-two beacon with regenerative capability, while Bagger and MaccaMan slayed the deadly ender dragon Darkscale.

Citizens gradually built homes in the area surrounding the airship, giving rise to a community called Hardship that became the de facto capital.

A number of factions vied for control of the land but none were entirely successful. A recruitment effort bolstered the ranks of Greywatch, but they came under attack from the Scylfings briefly occupied the capital on 6E:36. After they were attacked by the DragonSlayers, Zaeric entered into an alliance and trade partnership with Hyperion.

The Merry Men launched an invasion on 6E:44 that forced the Hooligans to flee twenty kilometers deeper into the wilderness.

On 6E:71, Eris named Retro as Hegemon and her sole representative in Dragonhollow, sparking a rebellion against his policies by outlaw revolutionaries. During the uprising, a series of explosions destroyed the airship and damaged sections of downtown Hardship.

The Hallowmere Best Build Contest ran from 6E:74 to 6E:118. Macca's residential tower Phoenix Spire was the competition's winning entry.

According to *New Beginnings*, a gigantic sinkhole swallowed Hardship and much of the surrounding environs on 6E:124. Retro ordered evacuations to Sanctuary, which had appeared in the skies above Hallowmere. The refugees relocated to the Hammerlands for the Seventh Era.

# Gallery

Aerial viewRiver valleyForested mesa plateausCypress swampTropical rainforestIce plains forestLush woodsArctic mountainsTypical HallowmereScrublandsMesalmao wtfStrange totemIce capLava pitsRuined towerRiver valleyTower with Hyper Dungeon visibleSunset treelineGiant pumpkinBlue mountainsAirship at Olde Mere StopAbsurd and Dap look dubiousDap swims from the airshipThe capital, Hardship

# Behind the Scenes

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

    Hallowmere launched on February 17, 2017 and ran for 124 days until July 3, 2017, making it the fifth-longest Dragonhollow map.

It was the first map to go away from a mostly vanilla Minecraft experience, incorporating new terrain with the Terrain Control plugin, a wealth of new biomes and structures with Biome Bundle, and new mechanics and enemies using Extra Hard Mode. The changes were suggested and partially implemented by head admin HyperSilence and lead developer Retro before the project was taken over by Acey with the idea of injecting excitement back into the server and giving old veterans a true UHC challenge.

The results were mixed, however; while most players enjoyed the new terrain and structures, they were split on the changes brought by Extra Hard Mode. Many felt the plugin made the game too tedious and/or unforgiving and a number of players like Sprankles and the DragonSlayers left the server entirely, despite Acey's attempts to address concerns by tweaking the plugin settings and fixing bugs.

On April 21, 2017, Retro purchased the Dragonhollow server from Acey and took over the development of Hallowmere.