Lelling

This looks awesome! How many of these castles are open for tourists? I really want to visit more cool historical locations around Europe some time ^^

Year 1326-1369: Empress Katarina III of the Illyrian Empire Image: Katarina's profile through her years as queen. Katarina III was a much more peaceful ruler than her mother, and during her reign became known as ‘the Gentle’. During her reign, she preferred to let her vassals expand her realm, while she focused on internal improvements and imperial politics. She was married to Basileus Bartholomaios III of the Byzantine Empire, who lost the title due to faction pressure, a loss she spent 17 years of her reign reversing in order to secure the inheritance of the title for their son. Image: Family tree showing Katarina's family, including close family as well as her family connection to her husband. Katarina had five children. 5.5.1328 - Nejc [heir] 5.10.1332 - Jurij 5.3.1334 - Bartolomej (becomes Pope Ioannes IX on 31.12.1357) 5.6.1335 - Leon 5.8.1342 - Katja Her full title at the time of her death was: Empress Katarina III of the Illyrian Empire, Queen of Illyria, Italy, Sicily, Croatia and Jerusalem, Duchess of Carinthia and Friuli, Countess of Krain, Aquileia, Istria, Kärnten, Treviso, Verona, Padua, Veglia, Steiermark, Rome, Protector of Jerusalem, and Maga and First-Among-Equals of the Hermetic Society. Image: Katarina's death screen, absolutely roasting this poor 61-year old lady who was actually quite nice. Except for all the assassinations. Katarina's biggest achievement was putting her husband back onto his rightful throne as Basileus of the Byzantine Empire after he lost the title to internal political factions, while still keeping peaceful relations between the two Empires. She died on 5.9.1369, and was succeeded by her son Nejc, who inherited all of her titles as Emperor Nejc of Illyria. She ruled for nearly 43 years. Katarina III secured her son's position as the heir to both the Illyrian and the Byzantine Empire, paving his way for greatness. Will Nejc make full use of the potential to unite two of the most powerful Empires in the known world, or will his opportunities be squandered before the ink is dried on the deeds of inheritance? Image: A timelapse of Katarina's lands and influence. Her realm tree: Her wars: During her reign, the size of her realm increased from 450 to 525 holdings. Lelling note: I'm rushing to finish this before the patch comes in on November 13th and changes the maps! About a hundred years to go - Halp!

Yes, the Raid Team will continue their break during the downtime. A large part of the downtime is that we realized the reason the Raid Team required the 1-month break had some underlying issues that couldn't be resolved as easily as we'd hoped. No, the Minecraft server will stay online ?

For as long as it takes ? Our minimum time framework was 14 days, but realistically it might take longer than that depending on the time we have & the progress made. It's also likely that different features will come out of "downtime" status at different times, as we gradually roll out things that have been finished. This is an important period of change for the community, and we don't want to rush any changes. The point of taking this downtime is that for once, we're not rushed to finish something by a specific deadline, but can instead take the time needed to properly move forward to the next chapter of OC.

Hello everyone! This year has been a blast, and in October, the Pink Day in LA fundraiser has been super successful, raising over $6000 CAD for cancer research! Thank you so much for all your contributions! Now that Pink Day in LA has come to a close, we've got some time between major fundraiser events to take a step back from our daily routine and focus on making sure this community is the best it can be. We're taking the opportunity to take a good look and update & upgrade several parts of the community, some of which have been largely unchanged since its founding in 2015. Now, it's hard to change the tires on a moving car, and this is why we'll be taking some time off from organising our regular events, so we can fully focus on improving the way things are, as well as have the opportunity to focus more on the social side of our community rather than just its events. Several sections of the community will be going on a scheduled downtime from November 12th onward. This includes the website, calendar, the majority of our discord, and our organisational teams. During this time period, no events will be scheduled on the calendar by our teams - but that doesn't mean we'll be gone. Our Teamspeak will still be online, and everyone will still be able to use it the way they have so far - to play games and have fun together! During this downtime, our managers and commanders will also have more time to play and socialise without having to focus on planning, scheduling, and organising, and just hang out and have fun! Here's to a bright & shiny future! -OC Staff

Year 1306-1326: Empress Katarina II of the Illyrian Empire Image: Katarina's profile through her years as queen. Katarina II’s rule was a period of constant warfare, and peace during her reign was rare and tenuous. One of the largest revolts, resulting in a 9-year civil war, broke out during her early attempts to centralize and imperialize the administration of her realm. She eventually succeeded in crushing the rebellion, and her later reign saw many ducal titles be reformed into imperial viceroyalties - uninheritable titles which can be given and taken by the Emperor at will. Katarina also claimed the Kingdom of Sicily for the Illyrian Empire, adding a fifth crown to the empire, and further destabilizing the Byzantine Empire, a destabilisation which both she, and her mother before her, used establish several members of the Lanik family. Towards the final years of her life, she secured a marriage between her daughter Katarina III, and the future Byzantine emperor, Bartholomaios, who is also a member of the Lanik dynasty, in hopes of uniting the two empires under a single ruler. Perhaps not insignificant are also the conquests of the Knights Hospitaller, who act as a vassal of the Illyrian Empire. They pushed deep into West Africa, claiming the region of Timbuktu. Image: Family tree showing Katarina's family. Katarina had only one child. 8.1.1308 - Katarina [heir] Her full title at the time of her death was: Empress Katarina II of the Illyrian Empire, Queen of Illyria, Italy, Sicily, Croatia and Jerusalem, Duchess of Carinthia and Friuli, Countess of Krain, Aquileia, Istria, Kärnten, Treviso, Verona, Padua, Steiermark, Rome, Protector of Jerusalem. Image: Katarina's death screen. Katarina continued her family's ambition to expand fully into the peninsula, claiming the Kingdom of Sicily as well as continued the administration reforms started by her mother. She died on 8.7.1326, and was succeeded by her daughter Katarina, who inherited all of her titles as Empress Katarina III of Illyria. She ruled for nearly 20 years. Katarina II completed her mother's ambition to conquer the entire Apenine peninsula, and helped secure a succession of Lanik dynasty members in the Byzantine Empire, which would eventually be inherited by her grandchildren. But will her daughter be successful in maintaining her family's position in the Byzantine Empire? Image: A timelapse of Katarina's lands and influence, also featuring the 9-year revolt. Her realm tree: Her wars: During her reign, the size of her realm increased from 348 to 450 holdings, and her personal direct vassals grew from 70 to 76 in number. She was involved in 10 wars, and never lost a single one. Lelling note: I'm starting to like the hidden fields a lot more now ?