New Beginnings

June to August 2022

Following the closure of a server called ConspiracyCraft in 2020, a tight-knit group of players including FroTheLoaf, Seasmy, RexTheGreat37, Feizty, and Flatus sought a new server to spend time, eventually settling on CCNet in June of 2022. The group established the medieval-style town of Fairwood in North Texas, and joined the nation of Canada, to later be known as Empire of Columbia. Seeking a change of scenery, they migrated further south and settled in Costa Rica, establishing San Marcello in August 2022.

San Marcello, later renamed to San José, would undergo significant rapid development in the following months — with the exception of its roads system — to become one of the most developed towns in the Americas, which were still quite sparsely populated at the time following the downfall of American Syndicate.

A tower at Fairwood, designed and constructed by RexTheGreat37. The area has since been regenerated.

New Caribbean Empire

September 2022

Dissatisfied with Canada's change of allegiance following a server-wide political switch-up, the residents of San José opted to start their own nation, which had borne the names of Loafistan, Fro Empire, and Loafia, before the team settled on New Caribbean Empire, which was officially founded by FroTheLoaf on September 21, 2022. For the following month, FroTheLoaf focused heavily on diplomacy and expanding NCE's frontiers, Seasmy developed and constructued a number of forts around Latin and South America, and RexTheGreat37 continued to develop San José.

The San José City Hall, designed and constructed by RexTheGreat37. The building's interior would remain undeveloped until around a year later, when San José came under the ownership of recon927.

The Cultists

September 2022

It just so happened that on New Caribbean Empire's exact day of founding, another tight-knit group of players led by Skulled613, known collectively as Cultist, appeared on CCNet in South America. Seeking rapid growth and ultimately the creation of their own nation, they got in touch with the leaders of NCE and began negotiating terms for their temporary membership in the nation.

A sign posted by members of an enemy town in South America.

Attack on Plumberg

New Caribbean Empire's first serious siege was against a younger nation called Fron, located in the Hudson Bay area. Fron had repeatedly stolen crafts and harassed NCE members -- particularly residents of Cultist. Skulled, who had effectively become one of the leaders of NCE by this point, sought to eradicate the threat by launching a full-scale siege against Plumberg, Fron's capital.

To NCE's rather inexperienced playerbase, the siege against Fron presented a number of unique challenges. One major factor was Fron's alliance with Empire of Columbia, which resulted in several experienced movecrafters taking part in the siege on the side of Fron. Within the first few days, NCE had exhausted nearly its entire movecraft fleet and needed to print more. A small rift also began to open between a number of NCE's members, particularly regarding Fro's absence throughout the siege.

Despite the challenges faced, NCE pulled through and successfully conquered Plumberg, eliminating a number of Columbian aicraft in the process. Within days, Fron's members had either relocated or left the server entirely.

A September 2022-era map of Eastern Canada. Towns marked in blue belong to Empire of Columbia, while the capital city marked in white is Plumberg.

A New Banner

November 2022

Following the nation's success at Plumberg, Skulled and the other Cultist players made the decision to remain in NCE on one condition: that the nation incorporate 'Cultist' into its name somehow. The two parties eventually -- though reluctantly -- agreed on New Cultist Empire. Some figured the arrangement would only be temporary.

Rex would continue to develop San José, Skulled would expand Cultist City into the server's largest town by population, and NCE would go on to rapidly gain territory throughout the Americas. Over the following months, NCE quickly grew to become a notable nation on the server.

A number of new players began to call NCE home. One of the new players in particular, named MVPan, quickly impressed both NCE and the rest of the server with his building skills, and was soon promoted to the nation's High Table. Pan originally settled in Haiti alongside player Josgbr, but would soon relocate just a small distance west, to the island of Cuba.

A large bridge in Haiti designed and constructed by MVPan. A small caravel, also designed and printed by MVPan, bears the legacy New Caribbean Empire flag.

Aggressive Expansion

November to January 2022

On November 17th, the nation of New California Republic, led by idcDebug, agreed to merge into New Cultist Empire. idcDebug was given the rank of Duke, and NCE's territory expanded greatly.

Around this time, z4nityy and a number of other players established the nation of Western Syndicate. z4nityy had previously been a member of American Syndicate, the western hemisphere's previous superpower, and sought to restore the region to its former glory. This would mark the beginning of a months-long conflict between NCE and Sahara Syndicate, which was heavily affiliated with Western Syndicate.

In January, after FroTheLoaf was banned and various other Caribbean founding members stopped playing, RexTheGreat37 decided to give Skulled the go-ahead to rename the nation to Cultist Empire. The Caribbean tricolour flag was abandoned in favour of a simpler flag that better fit within the Cultist theme.

Large Undertakings

April to May 2023

Having embraced the Cultist theme and in dire need of a new fortress, Skulled613 asked MVPan to design a brand-new, massive and highly-detailed fort dubbed Cultist Tower. Pan spent ~12 hours designing the entire build, which was then printed on nations by a half-dozen Cultist members over the course of several weeks.

In addition to the massive fort construction project, RexTheGreat37 began working on a basic website for Cultist Empire — which can still be visited today at cultistempire.com — for the sake of documenting the nation's builds and accomplishments. Skulled also commissioned some custom-designed Cultist armour and tool textures, which CCNet's management added to the server resource pack. The fort, website and textures each took more than a month to complete and had to be done in secret, adding to their difficulty.

In May, the Cultist team chose to host a PvP event at their brand new fort to reveal the new projects and undertakings. The Cultist Empire website was released, the Cultist armour textures were made public, and Cultist Tower was finally unveiled.

Cultist Tower, designed by MVPan, during its grand reveal event in May 2023. Players would warp to a set point, make their way up the gold corridor, and fight to the death on the fort's main platform while simultaneously searching hundreds of signs for treasure coordinates. Two phoenix-shaped zeppelins, also designed by MVPan, flank the tower above.

The Blip

July to August 2023

Cultist Empire's heyday came to a close in late July of 2023. On July 29th, Raven Rock, one of Cultist's primary forts at the time, was deleted by staff members, citing a lack of decoration. This outraged Cultist's leadership, who had previously voiced a number of other complaints regarding the staff team's conduct. Cultist leadership made the decision to disband Cultist Empire, abandon the server, and play elsewhere.

The exact details are obscure and somewhat contentious, but what followed was a widespread purge of Cultist members and allies from CCNet. Most Cultist leaders (with the exception of a notable few) and their close friends and allies were banned from the server, and Cultist Tower had its upkeep disabled for the sake of its preservation. Cultist Empire no longer existed as a nation on CCNet.

Cultist Returns

March 2024

After more than 6 months away from CCNet, Cultist Empire's leadership team made their return to CCNet, regaining control of Cultist Tower and re-establishing CE's presence on the server. CE merged with Imperio Lusitano, which had been CE's closest ally for more than a year, and its leaders became Cultist officials.

In the following months, CE waged war against Thracia and Floritania, and successfully drove Eterna Maya, a new and aggressive nation in South America, away from the west. MVPan re-established his building projects and began developing San Pan in South America before heading north to build Belmopan in Central America.

Cultist leaders also constructed two new forts: Cultist Order in the Midwest, and Varpa in Brazil. Leadership also regained control of Guantanamo and San José, which had fallen into the hands of Eterna Maya during Cultist Empire's abscence.

SupercellGmtv pictured in front of Varpa.

Caribbean Empire

August to September 2024

After many months of constant grinding and war, leaders Skulled613, Extinction and idcDebug made the decision to leave CCNet, handing the reigns to MVPan and Dragonic to take control of Cultist Empire as leaders. Seeking a clean slate to build a new brand, nation members voted to change the nation's name back to Caribbean Empire, complete with a new flag, a new phoenix, and a new website. Cultist Tower once again went into a state of preservation, and the nation's capital was moved to St. Pan's Cathedral in Central America.