NATIONS

Nations bind towns into a political bloc, fight wars, and forge alliances. Everything is done by writing signed books and placing them on lecterns. The guide below covers forming a nation, integrating Independent Towns, and waging war, with a full book reference at the bottom.

What is a Nation?

A nation is a political collection of towns under a single leader. Nations can wage war, broker peace, form alliances, and pursue the path to becoming the Empire of Blothera.

Nations are made of towns. Citizens of any town in a nation are automatically citizens of the nation. You can be a citizen of multiple towns within one nation, but you cannot be a citizen of more than one nation at a time.

If you only want land and protection without political commitments, you might want an Independent Town instead.

Nations

A nation is a collection of towns under a single political leader.

Citizens of any town in a nation are automatically citizens of the nation. You cannot be a citizen of more than one nation.

Towns

Towns hold the citizens and land claims. Players join towns individually, not nations. Becoming a citizen of any town in a nation automatically makes you a citizen of that nation, but it does not enroll you in any of its other towns.

Any nation member can found a town. A player can lead one town but be a citizen of several towns within the same nation.

Diplomacy

War, peace, and alliances are how nations interact. All three are conducted through the Diplomacy Lectern.

Only the nation leader can act on the nation's behalf.

ON LEADERSHIP: The nation leader is a political figurehead. They have no automatic authority over towns they don't personally lead, and can be kicked from any town by that town's leader. Diplomacy is the leader's sole responsibility.

Lectern Types

There are three custom lecterns, each handling a different scope of action. Place the right book in the right lectern.

Nation Lectern
NATION

Nation-wide actions: forming, renaming, and managing nation leadership.

Nation lectern
Town Lectern
TOWN

Town specific actions: forming, info, joining, tax, expansion, and kicks. Used by both Independent Towns and nation towns.

Town lectern
Diplomacy Lectern
DIPLOMACY

Inter-nation relations: war, peace, alliances, integration, and scheduling battles.

Diplomacy lectern

To form a Nation

Nations now form around an existing town. Lead an Independent Town first; that town will become the capital of your new nation.

  1. 1Lead an Independent Town. Found one first if you don't already.
  2. 2Obtain a Crown by either:
    • Trading with another player.
    • Obtaining a Dragon Egg from the End and giving it to Burri at spawn.
  3. 3Wearing the Crown, place a Nation Lectern within your town.
  4. 4Place a Diplomacy Lectern within 1 chunk of the Nation Lectern.
  5. 5Sign a book titled form nation and place it on the Nation Lectern.

Your Independent Town becomes the capital. From there, additional towns can be founded under your banner.

NOTE: Crowns can also be traded between players. If you have a Crown but missed the quest, place a help book into each of the three lectern types to receive the help books.

IMAGE · Diplomacy lectern used to send an integrate request

Integrate Independent Towns

Nations can grow by absorbing Independent Towns through the integrate book. Integration is consensual: the target town reviews the offer and chooses whether to accept.

  1. 1Sign a book titled integrate with the target town's name on the first line.
  2. 2Place it in your Diplomacy Lectern. Take the resulting sealed delivery book.
  3. 3Place the delivery book in the target town's Town Lectern. The lectern must be inside that town's borders.
  4. 4The Independent Town reviews the request via the requests book in their Town Lectern.
  5. 5If accepted, the town joins your nation, adopts your map colour, and gains full access to nation-level mechanics.

You must be the nation leader. Vassalisation is not available for Independent Towns; integration is a one-way merge.

Book Types

Every book in the system falls into one of three categories. The category determines what happens when you place it on a lectern.

Information

Update automatically when placed on, or read from, a lectern. The same book stays in the lectern.

e.g. requests · info · who am i · help

EXAMPLE

  1. 1.Sign a book titled who am i and place it on any custom lectern.
  2. 2.The lectern returns a personal ID book listing your nation and town membership.
  3. 3.Opening this book on a custom lectern automatically refreshes the data.
Command

Instantly execute a command if your requirements are met.

e.g. form nation · form town · join · pay tax

EXAMPLE

  1. 1.Place emeralds in the chest beside your town lectern.
  2. 2.Sign a book titled pay tax and place it on the town lectern.
  3. 3.Tax is paid and the deadline extends.
  4. 4.You typically get back a receipt book confirming the action, useful for archiving history.
Delivery

Place on a lectern to receive a sealed delivery book; carry that book to the target nation or town and place it there.

e.g. declare war · request alliance · integrate · move capital

EXAMPLE

  1. 1.Write declare war with the target nation's name in the body.
  2. 2.Place it in your diplomacy lectern; take the sealed delivery book.
  3. 3.Place the delivery book in the target nation's diplomacy lectern.

Dynamic Power Transfer

The system is dynamic and persistent. It handles unexpected situations automatically:

  • Disbanding the only town in a nation (via dormancy or command book) disbands the entire nation.
  • If the nation leader is removed from all towns, leadership passes to the leader of the largest remaining town.
  • Nation and town members are automatically exiled from all towns if they become a bandit.
  • If the capital town is disbanded, capital status transfers to the largest remaining town.

War

War is the formal way nations resolve conflict on Blothera. Diplomacy, and so war, is the responsibility of the nation leader. Independent Towns cannot wage war.

A war is a best-of-three series of battles fought in arenas chosen by the system, near the defender's capital. Each battle is a 15-minute PvP fight; most kills wins. The first nation to win two battles wins the war.

Wars are now wars of vassalization. If the attacker wins, the defender becomes the attacker's vassal. Any other outcome (defender wins or a draw) leaves both nations sovereign.

Wars and battles are managed entirely through books and diplomacy lecterns.

Declare War

  1. 1You must be the leader of your nation.
  2. 2Get a book and quill, write the target nation's name on the first line.
  3. 3Sign the book with title declare war or war.
  4. 4Place it in your diplomacy lectern, take the resulting delivery book, and place it in the target nation's diplomacy lectern.
  5. 5The declaration broadcasts to the server, and the first battle is queued.

Scheduling Battles

  • Once war is declared, the system finds an arena chunk near the defender's capital and waits for a date and time to be picked.
  • The defender picks for battles 1 and 3. The attacker picks for battle 2. The picker uses the diplomacy info book at their diplomacy lectern.
  • If the picker doesn't schedule within 48 hours, the system auto-schedules.
  • Once scheduled, every member of both nations and their allies is notified, with countdown updates leading to the start.

Battle Compass

  • Once a battle is scheduled, nation leaders on both sides can claim a Battle Compass.
  • Sign a book titled compass and place it in the diplomacy lectern.
  • The compass points to the arena so your nation and allies can rally.
  • Only attacker and defender leaders can get one. Allies cannot. One per battle per nation. Don't lose it.

The Battle

  • Battles last 15 minutes.
  • The arena is a fixed chunk radius. A boss bar tracks kills for each side, and particles mark the borders.
  • Most kills wins. Tied kills means a draw, with no point awarded.
  • If only one side shows up, they win by default.

Arena Rules

  • Combatants who leave the arena mid-battle count as a kill for the enemy. Hold the line.
  • Bystanders may freely enter and leave, but PvP has no penalties inside, so they can kill or be killed.
  • Players in the arena are temporarily flagged as aggressors (see Bandit rules) for the duration of the battle.

Allies

  • Additional nations can join an existing war on either side.
  • Sign a book titled request join war and follow the standard delivery flow to the relevant diplomacy lectern.
  • Allies fight alongside their chosen side but cannot get a battle compass or schedule battles.
  • You must already be allied with the nation to request to join their war. Alliances are formed by signing a request ally book and delivering it to the other nation's diplomacy lectern.
  • Vassal nations automatically join their suzerain's wars on the same side and do not need to send a join request.

Peace

  • Either nation can sign a request peace book and deliver it to the other nation's diplomacy lectern.
  • Like all diplomacy requests, this can be reviewed in the requests book in a diplomacy lectern.
  • If accepted, the war ends immediately with no winner declared.
  • If rejected or ignored, the war continues until a side wins the best-of-three.

Ending a War

  • After the third battle, the war resolves automatically.
  • The nation with the most battle wins is declared victorious. Equal wins means a draw.
  • If the attacker wins, the defender becomes their vassal. If the defender wins or the war ends in a draw, both nations stay sovereign.
  • The winning nation leader receives 200 emeralds; battle winners receive 20 emeralds per battle.
  • The result is broadcast to the server.
  • If a nation in the war is disbanded mid-war, the war is cleanly cancelled and allies are notified.

Vassalage

A vassal nation is bound to a suzerain. Vassals retain their towns, members, and internal autonomy, but their foreign policy answers to their overlord. Block claims of a vassal nation contribute fully towards the suzerain's empire status.

  • Vassals cannot declare their own wars or form their own alliances.
  • Vassals auto-join their suzerain's wars on the same side.
  • Vassals render in their suzerain's map colour on the in-game map.
  • A nation may serve only one suzerain, and vassals cannot themselves take vassals (no sub-vassal chains).

Offering Vassalage

  • Sign a book titled vassal or offer vassal with the target nation's name on the first line.
  • Place it in your Diplomacy Lectern, take the resulting delivery book, and deliver it to the target's Diplomacy Lectern.
  • The target reviews the offer in their requests book and chooses to accept or deny.
  • Both nations must have a clean slate: no alliances, no wars, no pending requests. Any existing vassals of either side are released to sovereign when the agreement takes effect.

Petitioning for Vassalage

  • Sign a book titled submit vassal or petition vassal with the prospective suzerain's name on the first line.
  • Place it in your Diplomacy Lectern, take the resulting delivery book, and deliver it to their Diplomacy Lectern.
  • Same clean-slate requirement applies to both sides, and the target must itself be a sovereign nation.

Releasing a Vassal

  • A suzerain may release a vassal at any time. The vassal returns to sovereignty and regains the right to conduct independent diplomacy.
  • Sign a book titled free vassal or release vassal with the vassal's name on the first line.
  • Place it in your Diplomacy Lectern, take the resulting delivery book, and deliver it to the vassal's Diplomacy Lectern.

Declaring Independence

Vassals can rebel against their suzerain by declaring independence. A rebellion is a war fought 1v1 between the rebel and the suzerain. Co-vassals stay neutral and do not auto-join either side.

  • Sign a book titled independence. The body is optional; the suzerain is inferred automatically.
  • Place it in your Diplomacy Lectern, take the resulting delivery book, and deliver it to your suzerain's Diplomacy Lectern.
  • You are provisionally sovereign for the duration of the war. Third parties can ally with you.
  • If you win or draw the war, you stay sovereign and any new alliances forged during the rebellion stick.
  • If your suzerain wins, you become their vassal again and all rebellion-era ties are wiped clean.

More Information

Looking for how towns work? See the Towns guide for founding, joining, tax, and expansion.

The canonical guide for nations and war lives in the in-game help books. Sign a book titled help and place it in any custom lectern. The type of help book you receive depends on the lectern.

This works in any area, claimed or unclaimed, in any lectern, by any player.

Insert a who am i or me book into any lectern to receive a personal identification book displaying your nation and town membership.

BOOK REFERENCE

Every book the plugin recognises. Searchable and filterable by lectern.

CATEGORY
LECTERN

COMMAND

16

Books that perform an action immediately when placed.

Battle Compass
DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: War Compass / Compass

Gives the nation leader a compass pointing to the next scheduled battle arena.

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSMust be nation leader; nation must be at war; battle must be scheduled
Disband Town
TOWN LECTERN

also: Dissolve Town

Permanently dissolves the town and releases its claims.

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSMust be town leader; town must not be dormant
Exile Town
TOWN LECTERN

also: Kick Town

Removes a player from the town.

FIRST LINEExiled player's name
REQUIREMENTSMust be town leader; target must be a town member; town must not be dormant
Expand Town
TOWN LECTERN

also: Expand

Starts a 5-minute expansion session that grows the town's borders organically.

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSMust be town leader; chest of emeralds adjacent to lectern; town not at max size; town not dormant
Form Nation
NATION LECTERN

also: Found Nation / Make Nation / Create Nation

Establishes a new nation with the player as its leader; the host town becomes the nation's capital.

FIRST LINENew nation's name
REQUIREMENTSMust be wearing an unused Crown; player not already in a nation; must lead an Independent Town; lectern must be inside that town; a Diplomacy Lectern must be within 1 chunk of the Nation Lectern; name must be unique and 3 to 24 chars
Form Town
TOWN LECTERN

also: Found Town / Make Town / Create Town

Founds a new town with a small disk of claimed land around the lectern. Nationless players found an Independent Town; nation members found a town under their nation's banner.

FIRST LINENew town's name
REQUIREMENTSChest with 10 emeralds adjacent to the lectern; player must not already lead a town; nation towns must be within their nation's admin range and far enough from foreign towns
Join
TOWN LECTERN

also: Join Town

Requests membership in the town (the leader must accept).

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSMust not already be a member; must not have a pending request to this town; must be a citizen of the town's nation or be nationless; nationless players can only join Independent Towns
Leave Nation
ANY LECTERN

Renounces citizenship of your nation.

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSMust be in a nation; must not be the nation leader; must not lead any town
Leave Town
TOWN LECTERN

Renounces citizenship of the town.

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSMust be a town member; must not be the town leader
Pay Tax
TOWN LECTERN

also: Tax

Pays 5 emeralds to extend the town's tax deadline by 7 days and prevent dormancy.

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSMust be a town member; chest with at least 5 emeralds adjacent; lectern must be in town territory
Rename Nation
NATION LECTERN

also: Rename

Renames your nation.

FIRST LINENew nation name
REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; lectern must be in your own nation's territory; new name unique and 3–24 chars
Rename Town
TOWN LECTERN

also: Rename

Renames the town.

FIRST LINENew town name
REQUIREMENTSMust be the town leader; new name unique and 3–24 chars; town must not be dormant
Colour
NATION LECTERN

also: Color

Sets the banner colour shown for the nation on the map.

FIRST LINEColour name
REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; lectern must be in your own nation's territory; colour must be valid
Town Leader
TOWN LECTERN

Transfers town leadership to another player.

FIRST LINENew leader's username
REQUIREMENTSMust be the current town leader; target must be a member of the town; target must not already lead another town
Nation Leader
NATION LECTERN

Transfers nation leadership to another player.

FIRST LINENew leader's username
REQUIREMENTSMust be the current nation leader; target must be a nation member; lectern must be in your own nation's territory
Withdraw Join
TOWN LECTERN

also: Stop Join / Cancel Join

Cancels a pending join request.

FIRST LINETown name to cancel
REQUIREMENTSMust have a pending join request to that town

DELIVERY

11

Books that produce a sealed letter you carry to another lectern.

Integrate
DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: Integrate Town

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the target Independent Town's Town Lectern proposes integration into your nation.

FIRST LINETarget town's name
REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; target must be an existing Independent Town; lectern used to deliver must be inside the target town's borders
Break Ally
DIPLOMACY LECTERN

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the target's Diplomacy Lectern dissolves the alliance.

FIRST LINEAllied nation's name
REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; lectern must be in your own nation's territory; alliance with target must exist
Declare War
DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: War

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the target's Diplomacy Lectern declares war.

FIRST LINETarget nation's name
REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; target must exist and be a different nation; nations cannot already be at war or allied
Request Ally
DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: Alliance / Ally / Offer Ally

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the target's Diplomacy Lectern proposes an alliance.

FIRST LINETarget nation's name
REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; cannot already be allied with target; cannot be at war with target
Request Peace
DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: Peace / Offer Peace

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the target's Diplomacy Lectern proposes peace.

FIRST LINETarget nation's name
REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; must currently be at war with target
Join War
DIPLOMACY LECTERN

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the ally's Diplomacy Lectern asks to join their active war.

FIRST LINEAllied nation's name
REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; must be allied with target; target must be at war; you must not be allied with the enemy
Relocate Capital
TOWN LECTERN

also: Move Capital / Change Capital

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the target town's Town Lectern makes that town the new capital.

FIRST LINETarget town's name
REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; lectern used to write the letter must be in the current capital; target must be a non-capital town in the same nation
Offer Vassal
DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: Vassal

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the target's Diplomacy Lectern offers to take them as your vassal.

FIRST LINETarget nation's name
REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; must not be a vassal yourself; lectern must be in your own nation's territory; target must be a sovereign nation with no diplomatic ties or ongoing war
Petition Vassal
DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: Submit Vassal

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the target's Diplomacy Lectern petitions to become their vassal.

FIRST LINEProspective suzerain's name
REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; must not already be a vassal; your nation must have no diplomatic ties or ongoing war; lectern must be in your own nation's territory; target must be a sovereign nation
Release Vassal
DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: Free Vassal

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in the vassal's Diplomacy Lectern releases them from vassalage and restores their sovereignty.

FIRST LINEVassal's name
REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; target must currently be your vassal; lectern must be in your own nation's territory
Independence
DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: Declare Independence

Creates a sealed letter; placing it in your suzerain's Diplomacy Lectern declares a war of independence (rebellion). The suzerain is inferred automatically.

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; must currently be a vassal; lectern must be in your own nation's territory; neither you nor your suzerain may be at war

INFO

9

Books that display information when read or placed.

Diplomacy Help
DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: Help Diplomacy / Help

Prints a guide to alliances, war, peace, and battle scheduling.

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSNone
Diplomacy Info
DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: Info

Shows current relations, war status, scheduled battles, and (for defenders) the battle-time picker.

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSLectern must be inside a town claim of your nation
Diplomacy Requests
DIPLOMACY LECTERN

also: Requests

Lists pending diplomacy requests (alliance / peace / join-war) with clickable Accept and Deny buttons.

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSMust be the nation leader; lectern must be inside a town claim of your nation
Identity Book
ANY LECTERN

also: Who Am I / Whoami / Me

Shows your name, nation, and towns (with leadership status).

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSNone
Join Requests
TOWN LECTERN

also: Requests

Lists pending join requests for the town with clickable Accept and Deny buttons.

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSMust be the town leader; lectern must be in the town's territory
Nation Help
NATION LECTERN

also: Help Nation / Help

Prints a guide to founding, leading, and renaming a nation.

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSNone
Nation Info
NATION LECTERN

also: Info

Shows nation name, founding date, capital range, towns, and members.

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSLectern must be inside a town claim of your nation
Town Help
TOWN LECTERN

also: Help Town / Help

Prints a guide to founding towns, membership, expansion, and tax.

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSNone
Town Info
TOWN LECTERN

also: Info

Shows town name, nation, founding date, tax deadline, dormancy status, block count, and members.

FIRST LINE-
REQUIREMENTSLectern must be inside the town's territory