I am Duke Jay Blackthorn. I have remained in the background and stayed largely out of sight throughout the early stages of CoE’s progression. I was an early kickstarter backer at the Duke tier and have been eagerly awaiting a time when I can start nailing down more concrete plans for our future in this online world. I remained quiet mainly because the uncertainty of domain and settlement selection left me hesitant to release my vision/goals until I had confirmation on which biome, what race, what kind of land mass I would be working with. That time has finally come and I’m here to share a small taste of what we have in store and what we can offer, who we are after and hopefully encourage some of those who on the eve of their own domain and settlement selection may still be undecided on where to call home.

I introduce – Imperium in the kingdom of Aequitas

The vision of Imperium; Latin meaning complete power is one of a PvP powerhouse. We are a duchy aimed at providing a home to multiple groups of elite PvP players who want consistent neighbouring towns and counties of like-minded players for year-round “friendly” PvP. We encourage our neighbouring counties within Imperium to remain sharp in their abilities by consistently feuding with one another within a set duchy wide rules with the continued assumption that at the end of the day, we are all one, we are all part of the Duchy of Imperium. When challenged by an outside force we unite to defend out land and if/when the time comes to look across the waters in an act of war, we are a united group of warriors. We plan on creating a rewarding system to keep PvP within the duchy interesting and ultimately will base the Capital of Sapientia; a bustling riverside trade town around the eventual construction of an amphitheatre which will be treated as a PvP/duelling mecca. This amphitheatre will be host to frequent scheduled duelling and field PvP competitions sponsored by the aristocracy which will culminate with a regular (frequency TBD) Tournament of Champions in which the main event will feature a champion selected from each county to compete in 1v1 combat to win themselves fame and fortune whilst securing their county tax exemption until the next Tournament of Champions.

I must stress that whilst Imperium on the surface is geared towards encouraging a PvP focused community it far from ends there. Whilst I am a PvPer at heart, my vision for Imperium is one of an economic powerhouse and my vision for Sapientia in the county Legum Ordinum is one of grandeur. A strong PvP community consisting of a large army comprised of separate individual factions means a safer community for those who do not wish to participate in PvP. Where other less PvP focussed duchies may find themselves at the mercy of one rogue elite PvP group, the benefit of having multiple elite PvP groups around is that one out of control community will be dealt with swiftly and order will be restored. Furthermore, both sandbox MMOs and life itself have proven – war is good for business. War and constant PvP is resource demanding and nothing in a sandbox MMO environment encourages more turnover of supplies than player verse player combat. If you are a crafter in Elyria there is no better place to make a name for your expertise than a duchy that hungers for combat. There is no better place than Imperium and we have ample room for crafters and shopkeepers from every walk of life, we want YOU. The draw of the amphitheatre tournaments will encourage regular traffic booms for player run vendors in the heart of Imperium. Individual players and group leaders alike will be looking for any advantage they can get in equipment and consumables to give them an edge on the competition. Travellers visiting the festivities will be looking for non combat related goods from carpenters and artists to take home to their respective counties. Tavernkeepers will struggle to keep up with the influx of visitors looking for a meal and a place to stay and don’t forget that on any given day, Sapientia is a major trade hub with or without these grand events. Outside of the capital, whilst the lands will be taxed a modest price (no great civilization came without a price) constant applications for grants will be accepted, assessed and often approved for counts, mayors and even the smallest farmers looking to better themselves for the continued success of the duchy. Ultimately, when Imperium thrives, the people will reap the rewards.

I have been in frequent communication with King Emery of Aequitas since the kickstarter before he upgraded his pledge to king and we have a strong continued relationship. I have more recently began talking trade with my southern neighbours in the Duchy of Sommerlund and am in early negotiations with some of the northern duchies in Tylsia about an exchange of population (sending a few short cave dwellers in exchange for a few short tree people). I expect to ramp up negotiations on all fronts closer to launch.

My door is open for anyone who wants to speak with me before making a decision on where to set up roots. If you are undecided, or if you spotted a small slice of Imperium that you liked the look of, now is the time to contact me and have a chat. I haven’t delved too deep into specifics here, rather, if there is anything you want to know, I’d rather discuss it with you on a more personal level. I can be found under my name “Jay” in the below discord. This discord has recently been set up for the World of Warcraft classic guild Nothing personal (Arugal server) as well as Imperium on Chronicles of Elyria. I have made this decision because there will be a lot of crossover, I expect to bring many of my WoW community to Chronicles of Elyria and would love to have anyone from my Chronicles of Elyria community come and join us whilst we wait for the dawn of a new era. Understand this is a new discord and community at large, the WoW community I’m building here is less than a week old, but is coming along nicely, and I look forward to merging the two. One final note, understand this is an adult community and my duchy may not be for everyone. Whilst I will not tolerate abuse or bullying of any sort in my community, this is by no means an overly PC one. People swear, people make jokes at each other’s expense, we all want to feel comfortable doing so. If you are hesitant at the idea of this behaviour, we have absolutely no hard feelings and wish you the best.

https://discord.gg/fGXfYGS

I look forward to fielding any questions and getting to meet the community. Don’t be a stranger.