Virunum
| Virunum | |
|---|---|
| Place | |
| |
| Name: Virunum | |
| Alts: Verillium (as of 2017) | |
| Status: Rebuilding | |
| Formed: Summer 2015 | |
| Members: pippenger, ostrich1414, JavelinFury, indy64, peppy42, brntrogdor, worldruler086 | |
Virunum was a base founded by pippenger in the Summer of 2015, under his alt The_Fulgurator. One of Pippenger's last major projects before his temporary, albeit lengthy, hiatus from the server, Virunum was a city that hosted the creative construction from a large variety of skilled players. The site of major battles and destruction, Virunum also served as a turning point for the server, as much changed in the little time it had existed.
In the Summer of 2017, the United Alliance annexed Virunum for their own and placed worldruler086 in charge as the Senior Commander; he later changed the city's name from Virunum to Verillium, which it remains today. Here, he focused on major rebuilding and renovations, making very good progress.
History
Not-So Humble Foundations
In Summer 2015, established player Pippenger was looking to begin a new mass-scale project on SimPvP; this project eventually became "Virunum", which was named after an ancient Roman city of the same name. However, rather than use his usual main account, Pippenger used his brother's account, The_Fulgurator, as a secret alt; at the time, very few truly knew who The_Fulgurator was. As he conceived the idea behind Virunum and plotted the location for its construction, Pippenger began to invite some of his most trusted allies to the location in order to assist him in his next big project. Some of these players included ostrich1414, JavelinFury, indy64, peppy42, and brntrogdor.
Once the location was chosen, which happened to be a plains biome far from spawn, Pippenger built a small, temporary granite village on the outskirts of the city for the new arrivals to stay in before construction commenced. When everybody arrived at this location, Pippenger was ready to begin work.
Birth of a City and ostrich1414's Hiatus
Virunum quickly flourished as construction began at a rapid pace; every player contributed their work in unique ways, and the city soon became a hub of creativity, as well as practicality. Some additions to the city were iron and gold farms, canals, a massive center plaza, and various buildings with distinct purposes and functions. Though the city grew quickly and looked astounding even in its early days, it received very poor record-keeping and not many pictures were taken. Unfortunately, one of the only surviving pictures of early Virunum is of ostrich1414's shitty house:
Shortly after Virunum's foundation and initial construction, ostrich1414, who only built his atrocious house and worked on city maintenance, went on a long hiatus in August 2015. Missing much of Virunum's progression and the following battles and bloodshed that occurred there, ostrich1414's hiatus lasted from mid-2015 to January 2017, where he returned to a griefed Virunum.
The Great War and Virunum's Destruction
In late 2015, Pippenger, using his many secret alts to infiltrate other teams and bases, had attacked and raided Gregoria, the capital city of the clan Nameless. Claiming it for The Principate, Pippenger had just begun the most destructive war in SimPvP's history, the Great War, and severely angered Nameless; they later founded a new team, known as the Blue Orchid Cult, and declared war on The Principate.
As war between the Blue Orchid Cult and Principate waged on, Dakkadok's city Nos Astra was found by the BOC and promptly raided and griefed. Shortly after the destruction of Nos Astra, things were beginning to heat up even more, and Pippenger's use of his secret alts, including AllSixSix, bloystercultist, and Porkington, only furthered the destruction and damage of the Great War.
Eventually, the BOC found Virunum, and completely destroyed the city. Where the downtown plaza once was now stood a massive cobblestone mountain, reaching up to the height limit and widening far down the base. Multiple buildings caught on fire and burned, and others were raided and looted. After the BOC left, the city looked like a post-apocalyptic nuclear site: Virunum was destroyed, and all hope was lost for its revival. All of its members immediately left, far too distracted by the Great War, but also out of sadness for the destruction of their city.
In January 2016, Fluz43 posted a photoshopped image of Pippenger's real-life face, as well as other personal, sensitive information, causing him to promptly leave the server and marking the end of the battle between the Principate and the Blue Orchid Cult.
The Establishment of Verillium and a New Era
After Pippenger's departure from the server in late January 2016 and the immense destruction and damage in the city, Virunum was ultimately neglected by the server as it barely resembled its former self and was nothing more than a heap of cobblestone and carnage. However, upon ostrich1414's return to the server in January 2017, he logged back on to find Virunum destroyed and in disrepair, and instantly took an interest in the city.
Shortly after the foundation of the United Alliance in May 2017, ostrich1414 and JavelinFury decided to annex Virunum, as they did with many other former bases on the server. As Virunum was a large mess, they recruited worldruler086 to rebuild the city, establishing him as the Senior Commander of Virunum. However, to differentiate the city from its past, worldruler086 decided to give the city a new name: Verillium. Aside from it being a marker of change, the city was also renamed as the UA wanted it to remain a secret throughout the server as nobody would know what or where Verillium was.
Under worldruler086 and the UA, Verillium became an essential base; the massive cobblestone mountain that plagued the city's center was being removed at a rapid pace as each day he logged on, worldruler086 worked to dismantle it, with the ultimate goal of fully eradicating it and rebuilding the city. Though Verillium is far from complete, its future looks bright as there are already plans to continue its history.
On October 6th, 2017, the UA collapsed during the War of Monarchia, putting The Royal Allegiance in its place. The new RA, led by clipchip, instantly took control of Verillium, though work continued as usual and worldruler086's work only increased. As of now, he has plans to rearrange the city's interior structure, with the additions of new buildings and landmarks.
The Holy Wilbur-Francis War
The first major event to take place at Verillium in years involved The Holy Wilbur-Francis War in late October 2019. Worldruler086 attempted to use the city as a means to bring together the two warring opponents, The Order of Wilbur and the Church of Francis. Thus, members of each side were allowed to visit and build in the city, which was designated by worldruler086 as a neutral zone.
On October 24th, 2019, The Order of Wilbur, represented by ostrich1414 and AntHand, and the Church of Francis, represented by Lord1 and Tenced, met together in the heart of the city to propose and sign an agreement. This agreement ensured that, despite the war, no harm or destruction would occur in Verillium on behalf of either organization. This was out of a mutual respect for worldruler086 and his designation of the city as a neutral, all-inclusive site.
On November 18th, 2019, Lord1, on behalf of the Church of Francis, officially surrendered to the Order of Wilbur, thus ending the Holy Wilbur-Francis War. Later that day, a peace conference and victory celebration was held at Verillium, with the Order of Wilbur accepting and recognizing the Church of Francis's surrender and its terms. A large group of Wilburians participated to celebrate their war victory, adorning the city's central tower in Wilburian memorabilia.
Gallery
Here are some pictures of Virunum and Verillium, most of which are more recent as there are not many older pictures:
