Florestria

Florestria
Place
Name: Florestria
In-game name:
Alts:
Status: Inactive and griefed
Date:
First joined:
Last seen:
Formed: February 20th, 2019
Abandoned: May 2019
Disbanded:
Location:
Coords: x: 161003, z: -128742
Members: ostrich1414, SkykirryChycho, MrBulletRage, AntHand, egnaroky, MoWobbler, Bapada63, Chris_cord
Clans:
Bases:
Schematic: {{{schematic}}}

Florestria was a city founded by ostrich1414 and SkykirryChycho on February 20th, 2019. Located in a flower forest along a lake, Florestria features a series of beach houses and buildings which were dedicated to forming a lush, tranquil lake community. Florestria quickly grew in size, transforming into a wealthy, powerful city.

In May 2019, Florestria was abandoned by its inhabitants as they searched for a new area to build a new city; this was due to a diplomatic crisis taking place during this time, with the threat of Florestria's destruction looming over them. The city has been inactive since then, with all of its former members relocated to Yittrium.

On December 23rd, 2020, Florestria was severely griefed by the Church of Francis during The Imperial War, putting an end to the base's long period of inactivity and leaving behind ruins.

Below is a picture of Florestria's core members, drawn by Florestria's co-founder SkykirryChycho:

History

A Search for a New Home

After first joining the server on February 4th, 2019, SkykirryChycho was brought to the public base Quinsigamond by ostrich1414. As the city was somewhat damaged due to various griefs and raids, SkykirryChycho made it her mission to repair the base, and did so very effectively: she was able to completely fill in a massive crater that plagued the south side of the city, as well as other miscellaneous repairs. However, as a major griefing threat loomed over the city, SkykirryChycho and ostrich1414 decided to move out and settle in a new location, far from any intruders.

On February 19th, 2019 ostrich1414 discovered the location which would serve as the future base, and on the following day, February 20th, the city was officially founded. SkykirryChycho built the first house there, a beach house located along the shores of the large lake, and ostrich1414 attempted to emulate her style shortly thereafter. Ostrich1414 also devised the name of the city at this time, choosing the name "Florestria"; as the city was located in a flower forest, ostrich1414 incorporated the Spanish word for flowers, "flores", in the title. A few days later, ostrich1414 built the city's first tower, Verduras Tower, modeled after the Pippenger Memorial Tower in Quinsigamond, and featuring the same farming silo design. Below is a picture of early Florestria and its first three buildings:

Florestria Grows

Shortly after, Florestria began to grow significantly, with the addition of many new buildings and farms. Ostrich1414 constructed a cactus farm and a sugar cane farm, and SkykirryChycho continued her beach house designs with a guest house and a banner museum, among other things.

Around late February - early March 2019, three more players were added to Florestria's members list. MrBulletRage, an ally of SkykirryChycho, was brought to the town, where he assisted with landscaping and terraforming. Ostrich1414 also brought the player AntHand to Florestria; in turn, AntHand brought his own ally, egnaroky. AntHand contributed significantly to the town's growth, colonizing a nearby island on the lake and constructing another tower, as well as a yacht and a series of docks and bridges. Below is an image of Florestria during this time:

By mid-March, the latest addition to the city was MoWobbler, who assisted AntHand in his construction of Florestria's greatest project yet: Florestria City Hall. AntHand served as the head of architecture while MoWobbler focused on furnishing the interior, and SkykirryChycho was elected as the city's mayor. Nearby, ostrich1414 constructed the Embassy of Struthio, his main base, as well as an afk fishing farm. Sengorn_Leopard would visit during this time, and in late March he built an automatic flower farm, cementing Florestria's status as a floral powerhouse. Overall, the city had grown in size, quality and membership significantly by the beginning of April 2019.

The Pufferfish Genocide

Perhaps Florestria's darkest moment (aside from ostrich1414 accidentally throwing SkykirryChycho into lava) was the Pufferfish Genocide of March 2019: egnaroky, attempting a disruptive, yet harmless prank, hid pufferfish all along Florestria's roads. When stepped on, the player would take damage and be inflicted with poison. Enraged, ostrich1414 declared war on the pufferfish, threatening to "relocate" them to camps and execute them. Forcing AntHand to comply against his will, ostrich1414 mercilessly slaughtered several innocent pufferfish, eradicating the creatures from Florestrian society. To this day, the genocide remains the city's darkest hour.

A Breathtaking City

Late March - April 2019 became a crucial point in time for Florestria; the city began to grow and expand significantly, increasing in size, density and usefulness. AntHand began work on a blimp soaring above the lake, adding a unique touch to the city's aesthetic. The blimp houses a working gunpowder farm, which can be accessed via a portal on the ground. AntHand and egnaroky also began working on a massive gold farm nearby, recruiting ostrich1414 and MoWobbler to assist them in acquiring obsidian through their state-of-the-art obsidian machine.

Furthermore, as the city expanded along the shorelines of Lake Florestria, many unique buildings and pieces of architecture arose. Some of the more notable entries are: Florestria Arena, a PvP arena built by MoWobbler; Lakeview Inn, a hotel built by ostrich1414; Florestria Music Hall, a concert hall featuring the song "Sicko Mode" by Travis Scott played via note blocks, both constructed by MoWobbler; and the Embassy of Struthio, built by ostrich1414. The city became a unique blend of fun and useful buildings, from SkykirryChycho's bouncy house to ostrich1414's nether wart farm. The skyline also began to develop its own distinct look, and plans to expand the city around the perimeter of the lake were brought into full action.

The latest member of Florestria, Bapada63, was introduced to the city on April 17th, 2019. An ally of ostrich1414's, Bapada63 immediately began work on the Florestria Cartography Center, while ostrich1414 created a map art museum nearby. As the city grew, expanded and thrived, the city entered the height of its creation.

Tragedy Strikes Florestria

Late April to mid-May were some of the worst times for Florestria, ultimately resulting in its abandonment. However, the city had continued to grow in size prior to this, with expansion across the lake taking place and various farms being introduced. The most important creation during Florestria's final days were its massive gold farm, looming behind the city. Chris_cord was also introduced as the final official member of the city, where he contributed greatly, even creating its last project, his personal house.

The first tragic event to occur was on May 8th, 2019: MoWobbler's treehouse, one of the city's finest builds, had been greatly destroyed by a lightning strike. Although he replaced it, the treehouse would never be restored to its former glory.

Despite this sad occurrence, a much more sinister event was looming in the background: Florestria's demise. Antzakes1, a controversial player on the server, had a secret alliance with one of Florestria's members, AntHand. In late April, Antzakes1 had discovered ostrich1414's main city, Struthio; using this piece of information, he was able to gain AntHand's trust, resulting in an exchange of Struthio's coordinates for Florestria's coordinates. AntHand had believed that Antzakes1 would make a good fit as a Florestrian, but Antzakes1 used this information for more sinister reasons.

Meanwhile, ostrich1414 was very aware of this activity: the entire city of Struthio and its allies were planning a full-out war against both Antzakes1 and AntHand. Further tragedy struck when the two allies raided Java Linsghey, another city made by ostrich1414 and his allies. This added more insult to injury, and tensions only worsened: Antzakes1 repeatedly made threats towards the safety of the two cities, and coordinates for both began to secretly float around to different players on the server. Both cities of Struthio and Florestria realized they were not safe, and destruction could occur at any moment.

Eventually, tensions finally culminated: on May 9th, ostrich1414 conducted an attack on AntHand as revenge, feeling as though AntHand had betrayed him and the rest of Florestria for trusting Antzakes1. While AntHand was AFK at the gunpowder farm, ostrich1414 placed four blocks of TNT around him, igniting it. AntHand exploded and was killed immediately, while all of his drops were destroyed. As ostrich1414 fled the city, AntHand officially quit and destroyed his tower on Pussy Island, leaving the city as well.

Florestria is Abandoned

After the attack, AntHand and ostrich1414 began to talk and realized that they had been tricked: Antzakes1 threw away his alliance with AntHand, using him solely for the purpose of gaining Florestria's coordinates. Furthermore, Antzakes1 had wanted ostrich1414 to murder AntHand in order to incite chaos without doing so himself. Both Struthio and Florestria realized that waging a war was unnecessary, and both cities promptly decided to move on. AntHand and ostrich1414 both admitted their wrongdoings during the entire ordeal and made up, with AntHand joining the team once more.

Eventually, in mid-May, Florestria was officially abandoned as everybody relocated to a new location significantly farther out. This new city, Yittrium, would serve as a new life and a fresh start for the team, hoping to avoid the casualties and events that had occurred at their old city.

Final Destruction

For well over a year, the abandoned Florestria would lay dormant, untouched and unused (except by its former members here and there). Unlike many other bases from its time, including Yittrium itself, Florestria would escape the same fate of being griefed, even with many new players gaining access to its coordinates. Unfortunately, it would take a major war for the once-proud lakeside village to fall.

On December 23rd, 2020, the Church of Francis extended their griefing campaign of People's Coalition-affiliated cities to Florestria. This was during the height of The Imperial War, a war which saw many bases destroyed and abandoned. Florestria was targeted by the COF, and was relentlessly griefed into obliteration. Few was left behind at the base's ruins, and although the grief was mourned by its former members, it was nonetheless an inevitable consequence of war, finally laying the city to rest.