Pandora

Pandora
Place
Name: Pandora
In-game name:
Alts:
Status: Inactive
Date:
First joined:
Last seen:
Formed: 2016
Abandoned:
Disbanded:
Location:
Coords:
Members: indy64, ostrich1414
Clans:
Bases:
Schematic: {{{schematic}}}

Pandora is a small town founded by indy64 sometime in 2016. Based off of a previous town he had made, the creation of Pandora was mostly symbolic, according to indy64: it was to represent peace and solitude in a server of war and mistrust, and the primary use of wood to construct it was to symbolize its inevitability to fall in such a violent server, aligning with indy64's many personal experiences.

History

The Fall of Virunum

Before creating Pandora, indy64 had been assisting pippenger with his latest city, Virunum, in 2015. Here, indy64 was constructing a neighborhood of the city primarily made of oak wood that would resemble the future Pandora: in fact, the neighborhood itself was known as Pandora, made of large wooden structures along the central city plaza. Indy64 remained here for sometime, working on his section of the city thoroughly.

In late 2015, during the height of the ongoing Great War between The Principate and the Blue Orchid Cult, Virunum's location became very unsafe as BOC members discovered the city and severely destroyed it, covering the city's center in a massive cobblestone mountain by pouring lava and water all over it. Likewise, indy64's Pandora neighborhood was set on fire and meticulously destroyed, with only slight remnants of it remaining today. Due to this merciless destruction and devastation, indy64 fled Virunum and never returned, vowing to stay peaceful and solitary as he desired to avoid any future conflicts that would result in the destruction of his creations.

The Creation of a New Pandora

Sometime between early-to-mid 2016, indy64, overcome with grief, decided to construct a highly symbolic version of Pandora not far from spawn, located in an open plains biome surrounded by roofed forests. Naming it "Pandora", it was meant to reflect his previous neighborhood of Virunum, as well as the conflict he had experienced as a whole. Pandora became much like the previous one, though significantly taller: it became a very high structure of oak wood that connected to another high structure, with a monorail system between the two. Indy64 also constructed a small village beside the first one, with a large central plaza in front of it. Here, he spelled out his plans for the town as a highly symbolic one: a town that would represent peace in a server filled with war and violence, using his past experiences during the Great War to help fuel this idea. Though the creation of Pandora was a unique one, indy64 relatively stayed quiet about it, and construction began to severely slow down as he became less active.

The Great Fire

Sometime in January 2017, indy64 logged on to Pandora during a a thunderstorm, and found his town to be extremely vulnerable: the small village was immediately struck by lightning, and an immense fire broke out in the town. Unfortunately, indy64's sound was turned off while he was working, and he did not notice the fire until a few minutes later. However, during this time, the fire had consumed a large portion of his town, and much of the west side was burnt down. Indy64 eventually noticed and quickly fixed what he could before realizing his mistakes, putting out the fire.

This fire only added to indy64's philosophy on Pandora, however, and proved symbolic in its own way: though a town of peace may exist on a server so violent, such a town can also succumb or be consumed by this violence, proving that, no matter where you are on SimPvP, we are all vulnerable to the sins of the server, and peace is a difficult thing to artificially maintain.

Ostrich1414's Arrival and a Potential Annexation

While he was working on his memorial city Quinsigamond in February 2017, ostrich1414, a fellow ex-Virunum member with indy64, began talking with him in chat, learning that indy64 had died and respawned at Spawn, unable to return to Pandora. Ostrich1414 invited indy64 to Quinsigamond to stay for a short time, and while there, indy64 gave ostrich1414 the coordinates to Pandora. The two had been discussing a potential relationship between the two towns, as both had similar missions: one of peace, and one of memory. Though in the midst of building Quinsigamond, ostrich1414 quickly departed and arrived at Pandora, where he waited for indy64. However, after a few days, indy64 never returned, and, disillusioned, ostrich1414 came back to Quinsigamond, never hearing from indy64 again.

Sometime in the summer of 2017, upon the creation of the United Alliance, co-founders ostrich1414 and JavelinFury were discussing potential bases to annex as part of a new program to restore and revive old bases that were no longer being used. During this time, ostrich1414 had remembered indy64's Pandora, and suggested it to JavelinFury; the problem was, indy64 was also a member of Vallaryn, and UA members JavelinFury and clipchip were opposed to Vallaryn. If the UA were to annex Pandora, this may have caused a war between Vallaryn and the UA, especially at a time of tension after the two Great Wars (a few of Vallaryn's members were former BOC members or players who have angered JavelinFury and clipchip). Though they put this into perspective, ostrich1414 and JavelinFury were very close to annexing Pandora for themselves using its materials and loot, especially since ostrich1414 was the only non-Vallaryn player to have access to it. However, after much deliberation, the UA ultimately decided not to annex Pandora, as they wanted to avoid a future conflict with Vallaryn and ostrich1414 wanted to respect indy64's message of peace in the town, not plaguing it with war.

Since then, the town has been largely abandoned, and stands today as a testament of peace versus war.

Gallery

Here are some pictures of Pandora, as it stands today: