Many Elyrians will choose to own land or a house as a way to establish their families, store their gear, and provide a safe spot against the elements. Others may choose to live the nomadic life, eschewing all efforts to settle down. If one chooses land, it can be used to farm, develop cities, build houses, and much more.
Land can be bought from your Count using the Land Management Table in the County Seat. All unclaimed parcels of land will display with the "deeds" pinned to them, Simply take the contract, sign your name, put any required money "into the table", and take ownership of the land. Once you've purchased a plot of land, you own it and can legally build on it.
To avoid rampant plots of abandoned land in the world, we've added a system for repossessing abandoned land via Adverse Possession. If a parcel of land has not been visited by owners or family members in the last 28 real-life days someone can attempt to take possession adversely. Propose your own contract at the Land Management Table and maintain ownership for 28 days, and the land becomes yours with the terms you set.
The nice thing about this is it gives the Count "notice" that you're claiming the land. If he sees the contract and doesn't like it, he may come and fight you off the land. If he does like the contract, maybe you were fair and generous, he may actually come help you defend the land from the previous owner.
All that said, it takes almost a full two months to gain land this way from the moment someone abandons the land. One month for it to become officially abandoned, and one month for someone else to take ownership.
Before Exposition, nobility will use a web interface to select their land. This will start with the highest nobility and descend within them by IP. The Kings will choose their Kingdoms first along with the rest of their land (Duchy, County, etc.). Then the Dukes will choose, likely aligning themselves with a King. Then the Counts will do the same. Finally the Mayors and Barons go last.
During your selection period you'll know a bit about the land - natural resources, city and population size, neighbors, etc. - which will help you choose where to establish yourself. You'll be able to make alliances on the forums and communicate with players choosing land near your own. Land owners without a title will enter Exposition via choosing a family, and may then choose their land in-game.
Each parcel of land is 64x64m (4096 square meters), which can hold many buildings. A typical starting building might be 36 square meters, as an indication.
To create a building, you'll first need to engage an Architect for design. They'll create a blueprint with a layout for you to approve. Then, when building you'll have many options for customization - materials, room sizes, number of floors, and more. After something is built - whether a house, commercial building, or military outpost - modular changes can be made to upgrade, expand, or enhance the building.
Housing in Chronicles of Elyria is designed to address several different design mechanics including: