NorthernEmpires

NorthernEmpires
View of the town on 19 January 2025
Owner
SFRricraz63
Town Members
265
Assistants
3368  HanSolo20  2econd2ight2eer  amwayloll  Overallsteak748  Spencer199
General information
Established: 4 January 2025
Status: Active

Official flag of NorthernEmpires, designed by  SFRricraz63

NorthernEmpires, abbreviated as NE, is a village on RetroMC, located in a snowy biome not far from DogTown. It is also the name of a 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 December 30th, 2024. Initially, he teamed up with two other players, with the intention of creating a town together. When this did not come to fruition as planned,  SFRricraz63 and  3368 decided to leave the town and founded NorthernEmpires on December 31st, 2024.

Early 2025

The village saw significant growth and activity during January 2025, with notable structures like  SFRricraz63's Great Fortress,  HanSolo20's cabin,  5osi's house,  3368's house and the community wheat farm being completed in Nordran, which at the time was the only city of NorthernEmpires.

On 10 January 2025, the NE Discord server was officially opened.

On 19 January 2025, the Art District, a flattened area specifically for creating pixel art (which is banned elsewhere in Nordran) was opened.

Also on 19 January 2025,  HanSolo20 was promoted to Assistant, followed by  5osi on 20 January 2025. With  5osi's promotion, his town of OshenLake (later known as Osehn) joined NE, becoming its first city with  5osi acting as Mayor.

On 31 January 2025, NE joined the Winfield Concord.

On 25 February 2025, the village warp /warp Nordran was created.

On 3 March 2025,  _69fps_ was promoted to Assistant.

On 30 March 2025,  SFRricraz63 announced a period of inactivity, with  HanSolo20 being appointed temporary Owner.

On 11 April 2025  _69fps_ was banned by RetroMC staff for X-raying and subsequently demoted.

On 14 April 2025, NorthernEmpires surpassed 100 members. However, many of the members that joined during this period did not stick around for long. Because of this and  SFRricraz63's absence, the village experienced a period of very low activity.

Late 2025

On Saturday 6 July 2025,  SFRricraz63 returned from his hiatus. To celebrate, the first ever NorthernEmpires weekly community event was organized, where more than 10 village members worked together to create a tall tower (Nordran Tower). Construction was led by village Assistant  HanSolo20, who is responsible for the design of the tower. In the following weeks, further community events were held each Saturday, where construction of the tower was continued.

On 26 July 2025, the Desert Island Survival event, organized by  5osi and held in territories close to OsehnLake, was held. After a total of 4 weekends dedicated to this event, it was concluded on 17 August 2025.

On 23 August 2025,  Spencer199 was promoted to Assistant - he became Mayor of the newly founded city of Northbay, located on an island archipelago some distance to the north-east of Nordran.

On the same day, the first part of the Nether Battle event was held, with participants joining either Red Team or Green Team. On 30 August 2025, the main part of the event was held. With more than 10 players in attendance, it significantly boosted the total player count on RetroMC and was considered a big success. Green Team was declared the winner.

On 2 September 2025, the Northbay boat building event took place, with  SFRricraz63,  Spencer199, and  HanSolo20 each contributing a small sailing ship.

From this point onwards, events were no longer held every Saturday, with some weeks being skipped. Starting on 21 September 2025, NorthernEmpires established an outpost in the Skylands.

On the weekly event of 18 October 2025, the community worked together to begin construction on a new station building which would connect NE to the Concord Rail Network. The building was designed by  HanSolo20, who guided construction efforts during the event. More than 10 players took part and built about 50% of the building, working under ardous circumstances of considerable lag, with the chat delay sometimes surpassing 30 seconds.

On 8 November 2025, the biggest event thus far took place in the newly renovated Nordran Coliseum: the Great PVP Tournament, which saw 10 participants repeatedly fight each other to the death. The event was a massive success, attracting not only participants but also numerous spectators. The event's popularity was certainly also helped by the fact that a total of $17,500 in prize money for the top 3 finalists was provided from RetroMC funds, organized by longtime valued NE member and RetroMC Admin  DogPool_.

On the same day,  Diffract_ was promoted to Assistant.

On 16 November 2025, a hide-and-seek event was held, with winners of each round recieving $500 in prize money, once again provided by  DogPool_ from server funds.

On 28 December 2025, the first Spleef Tournament was held, which just like the last major events, was very successful and saw rich attendance of participants and spectators.

Starting on 29 December 2025, the NE staff team constructed a build as a group entry into the annual Winter Wonderland Contest.

2026

The meeting as witnessed by  HanSolo20

On 18 January 2026 a meeting took place between the leader of NorthernEmpires,  SFRricraz63 and the king of Mitéria,  kubiklive20. In an unprecedented trade deal, an entire chest of iron blocks (equating to 15,552 iron ingots) were given to the Mitérian king in exchange for a payment of around $50,000. The meeting, which took place in a remote location to ensure absolute security, was also attended by NE assistants  Spencer199 and  HanSolo20.

Starting on 14 February 2026, an event known as the "Red-Green War of NE" took place. In a similar fashion as the Nether Battle event of 2025, the two teams spent two event sessions building their bases on 14 February 2026 and 18 February 2026, followed by the main battle on 21 February 2026. The object was to infiltrate the enemy fortress and destroy their "core" (a structure made of redstone ore blocks) in order to win, while preventing the other team from doing the same. Things did not go as planned, as both teams initially failed to reach each other's cores, leading to prolonged battles on the fields between the fortresses, draining the resources of both teams. Eventually  Krissofer successfully infiltrated the green team's base, handing the win to red team.

While this was going on, on 15 February 2026 RetroMC owner  JohnyMuffin hosted a spleef tournament, using the purpose-built arena in NorthernEmpires.

The village Farpoint was acquired by SFRricraz63 on behalf of NorthernEmpires on 28 February 2026. The village had previously been owned by  Q0AL, who had become its caretaker after the departure of the original owner  KingDaKa4.

On 4 March 2026  Diffract_ retired from the NE assistant team after almost 4 months of service. This was followed by the departure of  Spencer199 on 8 April 2026 after having been an assistant for more than 7 months.

As mayor of the newly founded NE city of Corwyn,  Overallsteak748 was promoted to trial assistant on 13 June 2026.  Spencer199 returned to the assistant team on 14 June 2026.

After the introduction of nations into JVillage on 7 April 2026, NorthernEmpires became the first nation under the new system, being founded on 7 April 2026. As of 19 July 2026, the nation is one of two on the server (the other being the Miterian Empire) and by far the largest, with 12 member villages.

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 known as Osehn) joined NE, becoming its first city with 5osi acting as Mayor. Later cities were added under this same system.

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 Funfair districts are located to the north, Coliseum to the east. The town then expanded to the west into the Central Nordran area, characterized by its orderly street layout. This district contains the Townhall (built by  HanSolo20) and the Nordran Cathedral (built by  _69fps_), both constructed in February 2025. To the northwest of Central Nordran are located several districts for specific purposes, these being Embassy Row, Industry, Farm, and Port districts, the intermediate and relatively empty Castle Corner, as well as the residential Grassland district. To the west of Central Nordran lies Woodland district, caracterized by its many oak trees, and Mountainview 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.

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 the town 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. The project was continued by  3368, with significant contributions from  CallMeMrSeal and assistance from other users.

Chumhaven

The tale of Chumhaven is quite a tumultous one: A railway link was established between Nordran and its eastern neighbor of DogTown. 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 inhabitats, 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 in the town if they agreed to integration into NorthernEmpires. One of the town 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 to the village and  heavy1weaponsguy promoted to Assistant. In a surprising turn of events,  heavy1weaponsguy was very soon after banned for X-raying, while the other player was never seen again. ChumHavenStation thus became a ghost town. Eventually,  HanSolo20 was put in charge of managing the district, and renamed it to its present name Chumhaven. It was chosen as the location for a new railway station building to connect NorthernEmpires to the Concord Rail Network. As of 11 January 2026, the building is under construction. [confirm dates]

Osehn/OshenLake

ℹ️ Notice: : 🚧 This section is under construction. 🚧
If you want to contribute, please contact  HanSolo20.

NorthBay

ℹ️ Notice: : 🚧 This section is under construction. 🚧
If you want to contribute, please contact  HanSolo20.

Champions

ℹ️ Notice: : 🚧 This section is under construction. 🚧
If you want to contribute, please contact  HanSolo20.

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.

A picture of the town's skyline

A gif of the RMC Sugar CO. Sugarcane farm located at Corwyn (click me!)

History

Corwyn was officially founded on 11 May 2026.

In mid-June 2026,  rxe98_sp joined the project and would go 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.

In early August, the farm itself had been complete, however security measures are still being constructed as of 8/5/26.

Lucaria

Lucaria is a city of NE located far from Nordran and 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. It includes several notable buildings, such as houses of important NE members like  SFRricraz63,  amwayloll and  HanSolo20, Hotel Lucaria that players can stay in, the Drunk Cherry pub, a Church and the Nordran Office which provides help for 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 streets, building more houses and excavating a river named after the city. 27 July 2026 became the most important day for Lucaria, with the city getting a flag that represents its identity, but an even greater event being the grand opening of Lucaria for settlers.

Gallery

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Infrastructure

Roads

Due to the size of 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 intially popularized by early NE member and former assistant  PacmanSyu and has been maintained since.

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.

Railways

The city of Nordran features a subway system called the Nordran Metro. It was primarily designed and built by  Diffract_, with other users occasionally contributing.

At Chumhaven station, northeast of Nordran, the Nordran Metro connects to DogTown to the east and Osehn to the north. This northward railway, built as a viaduct, is the link that connects both NorthernEmpires and DogTown to the Concord Railway.

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	Q0AL (now  Spencer199)	to be determined
PumpkinWood	MKguinea	to be determined
Mitéria	kubiklive20	to be determined
Isometrycality	IronMonkAwesom0	8 January 2026

NE Embassies in other villages

NorthernEmpires is represented by embassies to the following villages:

Village	Owner	Embassy opened
RMCURA	Q0AL (now  Spencer199)	to be determined
Mitéria	kubiklive20	to be determined
DogTown	DogPool_	to be determined
Zeno	OustInsurrection	to be determined

Relations with other villages

DogTown and NorthernEmpires are immediate neighbours, with an agreed undeveloped buffer zone between the towns where their claims touch directly. They are strong allies. Both towns share several members and have established a direct road connection as well as a railway link connecting DogTown to both the Nordran Metro and the Concord Railway.

The SicilianNecropolis, owned by  KiKi57435, is located northwest of Nordran, roughly opposite of DogTown. Relations are friendly. There was discussion about connecting the two towns by road, but as of January 2026 this idea has been abandoned, with the buffer zone between the towns remaining undeveloped.

The village of Osehn (formerly known as OshenLake), owned by  5osi, joined the Northern Empires on 19 January 2025, becoming is first city. However as of 22 November 2025, {user-nowiki|5osi}} left the assistant team and Osehn became independent.

NorthernEmpires and the village of RMCURA, founded by a long time NE member  Q0AL, have good relations. There exists a stargate connecting the two, as the two cities are too far apart to feasibly build a railway. Since Q0AL's departure from the server in February 2026, RMCURA has been owned by  Spencer199.

NorthernEmpires and Fieldland have a trade agreement for ore. [clarification needed]

The small village of Arenosa has previously [specific date needed] invaded NorthernEmpires' territorial waters, threatening its sovereignty. However, the situation was peacefully resolved and the towns are now in good relations.

Relations with Sebastion are considered "bad", according to  SFRricraz63.

Other Notable Events and Lore

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 January 19, 2025 is a tragic event in the lore of the Minecraft town NorthernEmpires, 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 January 19, 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
amwayloll	Lucaria section including screenshots
3368	Art District & Dog Massacre sections
HanSolo20	remainder of the article