NorthernEmpires
| NorthernEmpires | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Official flag of NorthernEmpires | |||
| Owner | |||
 SFRricraz63 | |||
| Town Members | |||
| 303 | |||
| Assistants | |||
 3368
 rxe09_sp | |||
| General information | |||
| |||
| |||
NorthernEmpires, abbreviated as NE, is a village on RetroMC, located in a snowy biome not far from DogTown. It is also the founding village of the Imperial Union of Nordheim nation, the first of its kind on RetroMC after nations were introduced in 2026.
It is owned by
SFRricraz63, who co-founded the village along with
3368 on 31 December 2024.
The village uses a unique system of so-called cities which function as semi-independent towns. The capital and oldest city is Nordran.
NorthernEmpires is one of the most active and largest villages on RetroMC and has hosted several large community events.
History
Prehistory
SFRricraz63 first joined the server on 30 December 2024, initially teaming up with two other players to create a town together. When this fell through, he and
3368 left and founded NorthernEmpires on 31 December 2024.
Early 2025
January 2025 saw significant growth in Nordran, then NE's only city, with notable structures completed including
SFRricraz63's Great Fortress,
HanSolo20's cabin,
5osi's house,
3368's house, and the community wheat farm.
The NE Discord server opened on 10 January 2025. On 19 January, the Art District, a flattened area set aside for pixel art, which is banned elsewhere in Nordran, was opened, and
HanSolo20 was promoted to Assistant, followed by
5osi the next day. With
5osi's promotion, his town of OshenLake joined NE as its first city, with
5osi as Mayor (the town was later renamed Osehn; see Relations, below).
NE joined the Winfield Concord on 31 January 2025. The village warp /warp Nordran was created on 25 February, and
_69fps_ was promoted to Assistant on 3 March.
On 30 March 2025,
SFRricraz63 announced a period of inactivity, appointing
HanSolo20 as temporary Owner. On 11 April,
_69fps_ was banned by RetroMC staff for X-raying and subsequently demoted. NE surpassed 100 members on 14 April, but many new members did not stick around, and combined with
SFRricraz63's absence, the village entered a period of very low activity.
Late 2025
SFRricraz63 returned from his hiatus on Saturday, 6 July 2025. To celebrate, NE held its first weekly community event, in which more than 10 members worked together to build Nordran Tower in the Castle Corner district, designed and led by Assistant
HanSolo20. Further community events followed each Saturday, with tower construction continuing in the following weeks.
The Desert Island Survival event, organized by
5osi near Osehn, began on 26 July and concluded on 17 August 2025 after four weekends.
On 23 August 2025,
Spencer199 was promoted to Assistant and became Mayor of the newly founded city of North Bay, on an island archipelago northeast of Nordran. The same day marked the first part of the Nether Battle event, pitting Red Team against Green Team; the main battle followed on 30 August, drawing over 10 players, boosting RetroMC's player count, and ending in a Green Team victory.
On 2 September 2025,
SFRricraz63,
Spencer199, and
HanSolo20 each contributed a small sailing ship to the North Bay boat-building event. From this point, events were no longer held every Saturday, with some weeks skipped. NE established a Skylands outpost starting 21 September 2025, and the Nordran Line was completed and fully functional by late October.
At the 18 October 2025 weekly event, over 10 players began construction on a new station building at Chum Haven to connect NE to the Concord Rail Network, designed and led by
HanSolo20 (see Chumhaven, below). About 50% of the building was completed despite considerable lag, with chat delay sometimes exceeding 30 seconds.
NE's biggest event thus far, the Great PVP Tournament, took place in the newly renovated Nordran Coliseum on 8 November 2025, with 10 participants fighting to the death.
Diffract_ won,
SFRricraz63 took second, and
kubiklive20 finished third. A $17,500 prize pool, organized by longtime NE member and RetroMC Admin
DogPool_ from server funds, helped drive the event's massive success with both participants and spectators.
Tournament winner
Diffract_ was promoted to Assistant that same day and, inspired by the event, founded City of Champions just over a week later; construction of the Champion Line began shortly after. A hide-and-seek event followed on 16 November, with round winners receiving $500 prizes, again funded by
DogPool_.
The first Spleef Tournament was held on 28 December 2025 in City of Champions' spleef arena, following a format similar to the PvP tournament.
HanSolo20 took first place, helping seed spleef's growing popularity, and the event again drew large participation and spectator turnout.
Starting 29 December 2025, the NE staff team built a group entry for the annual Winter Wonderland Contest, while
HanSolo20 and
MKguinea each built individual entries. NE swept the top 3 places:
HanSolo20's entry took 1st, the group entry 2nd, and
MKguinea's entry 3rd, together earning thousands of dollars in prize money.
Early 2026
HanSolo20On 18 January 2026,
SFRricraz63 met with the king of Mitéria,
kubiklive20, in a remote, secure location also attended by NE assistants
Spencer199 and
HanSolo20. In an unprecedented deal, an entire chest of iron blocks (15,552 iron ingots) was traded to the Mitérian king for roughly $50,000.
The "Red-Green War of NE" began 14 February 2026, following a format similar to the 2025 Nether Battle. The two teams built their bases over two sessions, on 14 and 18 February, before the main battle on 21 February, in which each side sought to infiltrate the enemy fortress and destroy its "core" (a redstone ore structure) while defending its own. Both teams initially failed to breach the other's core, leading to a drawn-out battle on the fields between the fortresses that drained both sides' resources, until
Krissofer successfully infiltrated Green Team's base, securing the win for Red Team.
Meanwhile, on 15 February 2026, RetroMC owner
JohnyMuffin hosted a spleef tournament using NE's purpose-built arena.
NE acquired the village Farpoint on 28 February 2026, with
SFRricraz63 taking it over on the nation's behalf following the departure of its caretaker (see Farpoint, below, for the full ownership history).
City of Champions founder
Diffract_ retired from the assistant team on 4 March 2026 after nearly 4 months of service, followed by
Spencer199 on 8 April after over 7 months.
2econd2ight2eer, an early City of Champions assistant, also retired that summer.
Corwyn mayor
Overallsteak748, of the newly founded city Corwyn, was promoted to Trial Assistant on 13 June 2026, and
Spencer199 returned to the assistant team the next day.
Following the introduction of nations into JVillage on 7 April 2026, NorthernEmpires became the first nation under the new system. As of 20 September 2026, it remains the largest of the server's five nations, with 25 member villages.
Late 2026
NE became involved in the FishTown War on 11 August 2026. At the VillageTown Summit of 5 September, United Steves of America president
everminingkid agreed to NE leader
SFRricraz63's demands, ending the conflict.
Members of the NE nation began terraforming the site of its new capital city starting 18 August 2026. On 1 September, Corwyn mayor
Overallsteak748 was promoted to Assistant.
The Second NorthernEmpires PVP Tournament took place on 12 September 2026 at the 'Temple of Champions' in City of Champions. Organized by
HanSolo20 and
SFRricraz63, the event drew 14 participants, nearly 50% more than the 2025 original, necessitating a group stage followed by single-elimination playoffs.
SFRricraz63 won, defeating
zavdav in the final, with
Pittofer taking third. A $30,000 prize pool, the largest of any NE event to date, was split among the top 8 finishers, funded jointly by
DogPool_ and
CruxyMC from server funds.
With the NorthernEmpires village and nation sharing the same name causing frequent confusion, nation members voted in August 2026 on a shortlist of proposals to rename the nation, settling on Imperial Union of Nordheim (IUN).
NE founder
SFRricraz63 officially announced the new name in a speech delivered at the Nordran Town Hall on 10 October 2026. The event drew dozens of attendees and pushed the server's concurrent player count to a new record of 55. In the speech,
SFRricraz63 laid out IUN's plans going forward, including a new job system intended to give citizens stable income tied to gameplay features while funding IUN's projects, expert-assisted support for member villages seeking to connect to the Concord Rail Network, and continued backing of server-wide infrastructure such as highways and rail lines.
In light of this renewed push for events,
Diffract_ began construction of a major Halloween event in Sky Champions, intended as the third installment of the Red-Green team battle format, this time centered on Bridge party duels. As of this writing, the project remains a work in progress.
Structure
NorthernEmpires is separated into several territories known as cities. Each city is headed by at least one Mayor, who is always also an Assistant. The cities are somewhat autonomous, with the Mayor being able to set rules regarding build style and generally being in charge of approving new construction, as well as having access to the NE village funds for claiming land. On the other hand, any projects involving external entities such as the Winfield Concord, as well as proposals to move or delete builds, are still to be discussed among the entire NE staff team.
Initially, NorthernEmpires existed only as the town of Nordran. With
5osi's promotion on 20 January 2025, his town of OshenLake (later renamed Osehn) joined NE, becoming its first city with
5osi acting as Mayor. Later cities were added under this same system.
Nordran
Directions: /warp nordran
Founded in late December 2024, Nordran is the oldest town in NorthernEmpires as well as its capital city. It has expanded over time and now covers several distinct districts. The oldest part of Nordran is known as the Old Town. The Graveyard and Fun Fair districts are located to the north, and Colosseum to the east. The town then expanded west into the Central Nordran area, characterized by its orderly street layout. This district contains the Town Hall (built by
HanSolo20) and the Nordran Cathedral (built by
_69fps_), both constructed in February 2025. To the northwest of Central Nordran lie several districts for specific purposes: Embassy Row, Industry, Farm, and Port districts; the intermediate and relatively empty Castle Corner; and the residential Grasslands district. To the west of Central Nordran lie the Woodlands district, characterized by its many oak trees, and the Mountain View district, an open grassland sandwiched between ocean to the north and mountains to the south. The Art District is located to the far north of the Old Town, while the outlying town of Chumhaven is located to the northeast.
Chumhaven
The tale of Chumhaven is quite a tumultuous one: a railway link was established between Nordran and its eastern neighbor, DogTown — in fact, this was the very first iteration of the Nordran Line, back in its infancy, providing a direct connection between the Fun Fair district and DogTown. This all took place in mid-2025. Along a section of this railway, a small village was established without knowledge or permission. After this was discovered,
SFRricraz63 used signs to post a message to the inhabitants, informing them that while their town was illegally built along an existing build and could thus theoretically be moved by server staff, they would be allowed to continue living there if they agreed to integration into NorthernEmpires. One of the town's members griefed the sign, leading to them being banned. The remaining two active members,
heavy1weaponsguy and
KidManBigstuff, agreed to the conditions, naming
heavy1weaponsguy as Mayor and choosing the name ChumHavenStation for the town. The two players were subsequently invited into the village, and
heavy1weaponsguy was promoted to Assistant. In a surprising turn of events,
heavy1weaponsguy was banned soon after for X-raying, while the other player was never seen again. ChumHavenStation thus became a ghost town. A station had already been built in the area following the players' bans, but it would later be superseded.
Eventually,
HanSolo20 was put in charge of managing the district and renamed it to its present name, Chumhaven. Under his leadership, the existing station was renovated and rebuilt to connect NorthernEmpires to the Concord Rail Network. This renovation work began at the 18 October 2025 community event, continued through December 2025, and was finally completed in March 2026.
City of Champions
Directions: /v warp champions, or from /warp nordran, head to Town Hall Station, take the Nordran Line to Central, then change for the Champion Line to Champions. For Sky Champions, use /v warp sky, or take the stargate at Exit B of City of Champions station.
History
City of Champions was founded by
Diffract_ on 16 November 2025 and named four days later. Sitting on Champions Peninsula alongside the smaller district of Meowser City, it was conceived as a dedicated hub for minigames and infrastructure built around Saturday events and competitive play.
2econd2ight2eer served as an early assistant before later retiring from the role.
Construction progressed quickly after the city's founding: the spleef arena, designed jointly by
Diffract_ and
HanSolo20, was completed by 30 November 2025, followed by a sumo arena on 12 December and the City of Champions metro station on 22 December.
The spleef arena went on to host the 2025 Winter Spleef Tournament on 28 December 2025 and the server-wide Valentine's Day spleef FFA, organized by RetroMC owner
JohnyMuffin, on 15 February 2026 — cementing the city's status as the server's premier hub for such events.
In February 2026, City of Champions acquired an existing sky colony, named Skypex (or Sky Champions), linked to the main city via a dedicated stargate at the metro station. This laid the groundwork for void-based minigames and future event variety.
Founder
Diffract_ departed around April 2026, and
TERRIXXA was named the new mayor on 3 August 2026. Since early 2026,
TERRIXXA had also been building the Temple of Champions, which hosted the Second NorthernEmpires PVP Tournament on 12 September 2026.
As of 8 October 2026, a new station bearing the same name is under construction as part of an extension of the Champion Line.
Trivia
- The spleef arena is popular enough to have its own official server warp:
/warp spleef. - Many of Champions' minigames are directly inspired by modern PvP servers such as Minemen Club.
- Hidden beneath Champions Square is a secret 2-storey "backrooms"-style gravel trap, built to catch unsuspecting players.
Meowser City
Meowser City is a smaller district on Champions Peninsula, founded and named by
MKguinea before being integrated into City of Champions under unified peninsula planning. Development so far is limited to a tower and a station, with further plans yet to be executed.
Lucaria
Directions: /v warp lucaria
Lucaria is a city of NE located far from Nordran, created by its mayor
amwayloll. The town's buildings feature a unique combination of styles reminiscent of European architecture. The old town of Lucaria is built on the shore and includes several notable buildings, such as the houses of important NE members like
SFRricraz63,
amwayloll, and
HanSolo20; Hotel Lucaria, where players can stay; the Drunk Cherry pub; a church; and the Nordran Office, which provides help to citizens of NorthernEmpires whenever they need it.
History
Lucaria was founded on 23 June 2026. After a bit of familiarizing with the area,
SFRricraz63's house was built on 13 July 2026. At the same time, the first roads began to appear. Later, on 15 July 2026,
amwayloll's house was built, which serves as a temporary town hall. There are plans to eventually build a castle in Lucaria, which will serve as the permanent town hall. On 16 July 2026, the famous Hotel Lucaria and the Nordran Office were built. The next day, on 17 July 2026,
HanSolo20's house appeared. Another famous building is the Drunk Cherry pub, built on 19 July 2026. Lucaria kept developing, with new streets, more houses, and a river named after the city being added. On 27 July 2026, Lucaria experienced its most important day yet: the city received a flag representing its identity, and — more significantly — held its grand opening for settlers.
Gallery
North Bay
Directions: /v warp northbay, or take the Nordran Line from Town Hall to Chum Haven, then ride to Osehn via the Concord Railway, and continue through the waterway.
ℹ️ Notice: 🚧 This section is under construction. 🚧
If you want to contribute, please contact
HanSolo20.
North Bay is a coastal island town built around a sandy, beach-side settlement, blending simple village-style wooden structures with more ornate stone architecture, including a Gothic-style cathedral and a tall clock tower overlooking the water. The town is connected via waterway to the former NorthernEmpires town of Osehn. North Bay is currently led by
Spencer199, who serves as its mayor.
Corwyn
Directions: /v warp corwyn
The city of Corwyn was founded by
Overallsteak748 with the intent of catering to newer and less experienced players, providing them with food farms, shops to easily make money, and a place to show off their building skills.
History
Corwyn was officially founded on 11 May 2026.
In mid-June 2026,
rxe98_sp joined the project and went on to construct a wheat farm in the town.
In late July 2026,
Overallsteak748 began construction on the huge sugar cane farm he had been planning for the past month.
By early August, the farm itself had been completed; however, security measures were still being constructed as of 5 August 2026.
Gallery
-
A picture of the town's skyline -
A gif of the RMC Sugar CO. sugarcane farm located at Corwyn (click me!)
Art District
While Nordran does not have rigid building regulations, pixel art is banned in order to give the town a harmonious appearance. The Art District, located some distance north of Nordran in a grassy area, is intended to provide space for pixel art and other creative builds with fewer restrictions, ensuring it does not visually impact the town itself. The project was originally started by
BeefCheeks1 to create a dedicated area for artistic expression. It was later continued by
3368, with significant contributions from
CallMeMrSeal and assistance from other users.
Farpoint
Directions: /v warp farpoint
Farpoint is a town located at around X=15000 Z=19000, originally founded as an independent village before being absorbed into NorthernEmpires.
The town was founded on 28 August 2024 by
KingDaKa4. In February 2025,
KingDaKa4 sought to temporarily give Farpoint to someone else who could continue its development, and ownership was handed over to
Q0AL on 14 February 2025.
KingDaKa4 left the server for the last time in April 2025, making
Q0AL's ownership of Farpoint permanent.
After
Q0AL was banned from RetroMC, ownership of Farpoint was transferred to
SFRricraz63, the owner of NorthernEmpires, on 28 February 2026. The acquisition by NorthernEmpires was done simply to preserve the town's history rather than to actively develop it further, and
Vyrvin was appointed mayor to manage the city.
As of 28 February 2026, there are no active plans for the city in any way, and its status remains inactive.
Infrastructure
Railways
The cities of Nordran, Champions, and DogTown are served by a shared subway system known as the Metro of NorthernEmpires and DogTown. It was primarily designed and built by
Diffract_, with other users occasionally contributing.
The network currently consists of three lines, and has around 20 stations:
- Nordran Line: Connects DogTown to Nordran, serving all of Northern, Western, and Central Nordran.
- Champion Line: Bridges Champions Peninsula and Nordran, and will soon also serve South Nordran.
- Rosie Line: Serves all areas of DogTown.
Two further lines are planned:
- The Fairground Line, which will serve DogTown's Fairground.
- An as-yet unnamed line connecting Mountain View and Israel.
Chum Haven station, northeast of Nordran, serves as the interchange between the Nordran Line and the Concord Railway.
Roads
Due to the size of the NorthernEmpires and the fact that it contains different locations, there is no uniform standard for roads.
The city of Nordran's roads are, apart from rare exceptions, 3 blocks wide and made entirely from gravel. This style of road was initially popularized by early NE member and former assistant
PacmanSyu and has been maintained since.
Other cities within the NorthernEmpires have developed their own distinct road styles to reflect their local themes and surroundings. Champions, for instance, uses wood planks and grassless dirt paths to mirror real-life pavement textures, most notably along its Waterfront Promenade. North Bay, meanwhile, favours a wood plank and sand combination to reflect its tropical theme. Elsewhere, some settlements make use of gravel and cobblestone paths to provide varied texturing across the Empire.
Stargate Network
A multitude of stargates are spread around NorthernEmpires and other villages, such as DogTown, Fillbrick, Zeno, and others. The first NE stargate, located in the old town of Nordran, was created by
SFRricraz63 on 8 January 2025 and allows travel to around 30 other locations.
An independent stargate is also located at City of Champions station, serving as a dedicated portal between the main Champions area and Sky Champions.
Foreign Relations
Foreign Embassies to NE
The following villages have built an embassy to NE in Nordran's Embassy Row:
| Village | Owner | Embassy opened |
|---|---|---|
| RMCURA |
|
to be determined |
| PumpkinWood | to be determined | |
| Mitéria | to be determined | |
| Isometrycality |
|
8 January 2026 |
IronMonkAwesom0NE Embassies in other villages
NorthernEmpires is represented by embassies in the following villages:
| Village | Owner | Embassy opened |
|---|---|---|
| RMCURA |
|
to be determined |
| Mitéria | to be determined | |
| DogTown | to be determined | |
| Zeno | to be determined |
Relations with other villages
DogTown and NorthernEmpires are immediate neighbors, separated by an agreed undeveloped buffer zone where their claims meet directly. The two are strong allies, sharing several members, a direct road connection, and the same railway network — the Metro of NorthernEmpires and DogTown — with the Nordran Line serving as the direct connection between the two towns. This network also links to the Concord Railway via Chum Haven station.
The village of Osehn (formerly known as OshenLake), owned by
5osi, joined NorthernEmpires on 19 January 2025, becoming its first city. However,
5osi left the assistant team on 22 November 2025, after which Osehn became independent.
NorthernEmpires maintains good relations with the village of RMCURA, founded by longtime NE member
Q0AL. A stargate connects the two settlements, as the distance between them makes a railway impractical. Following Q0AL's ban from the server in February 2026, RMCURA has been owned by
Spencer199.
The Sicilian Necropolis, owned by
KiKi57435, is located northwest of Nordran, roughly opposite DogTown. Relations remain friendly, though the town is currently inactive, with no ongoing development or player activity. Plans to connect the two towns by road and railway were discussed but abandoned as of January 2026, leaving the buffer zone between them undeveloped.
The Dog Massacre
ℹ️ Notice: Being a dramatized retelling of actual events, this section contains much truth but should also not be taken entirely seriously.
The Dog Massacre of 19 January 2025 is a tragic event in the lore of the Minecraft town Norther nEmpires, marked by the actions of a griefer known as
SKMartin. The incident involved the deliberate killing of dogs belonging to residents
SFRricraz63,
QueenOfAsh, and
3368, as well as the destruction of property beneath
QueenOfAsh's home.
On 19 January 2025,
SKMartin infiltrated NorthernEmpires, targeting three of its prominent residents. The griefer killed several dogs that had become symbolic companions within the town, sparking grief and outrage among its citizens. In addition,
SKMartin griefed the area beneath
QueenOfAsh's house, leaving destruction in their wake. Despite the best efforts of the server's administrators, the dogs could not be restored, and their loss was deemed irreversible.
One of the most troubling aspects of the event was
SKMartin's use of a powerful VPN, which allowed them to bypass the server's security measures and evade bans. As a result, their true identity and whereabouts remain unknown, and they are considered an ongoing threat to the server.
The Dog Massacre has since become a defining moment in the history of NorthernEmpires, remembered as a significant tragedy. Memorials were established to honor the lost dogs, and the event has been woven into the town's lore as a reminder of the fragility of peace. The community remains vigilant, with increased efforts to fortify the town against future attacks.
The massacre serves as both a cautionary tale and a unifying moment in the town's history, ensuring that the memory of the event — and its victims — will not be forgotten.
Credits
| Player | Contributions |
|---|---|
 Overallsteak748 |
Work on Corwyn section |
| Lucaria section including screenshots | |
| Art District & Dog Massacre sections | |
| Remainder of the article | |
 Diffract_ |
Rewriting and reorganizing |
