Upton Ulster
| People's Sub-sea Settlement of Upton Ulster | |
|---|---|
 Flag of Upton Ulster | |
| Officials | |
| Founder | stxnmusic |
| Speaker-Secretary | stxnmusic |
| Town recognition | |
| Rank | Councillor |
| Date founded | May 1, 2021 |
| Date recognized as Councillor | August 24, 2021 |
| Geography | |
| Town hall coordinates | 22586, 64, -3518 |
| World | New World |
| Ward(s) | Ward 2 |
| Transit | |
| MRT | XE50 Foobar |
| Rail facilities | Mensah Station (IntraRail) |
| Water transit facilities | (AquaLinQ) |
| Etymology | |
| Nickname(s) | U.U., dub-U, bootleg East End |
| Demonym(s) | Ullurian |
| Political affiliations | |
| MPO(s) | Federated States Epsilonian Republic Metropolitan North Association |
| Lore | |
| Population | 55,000 |
| Motto | From each according to her ability, to each according to her need. |
Upton Ulster is a fully underground town created by user stxnmusic. It is located at Expo Line station XE50 Foobar in the north eastern side of the New World, at the southern end of Ward 2. It is currently accessible via both the Expo Line as well as the AquaLinQ AQ700 line, connecting the town to Stackton, Metamesa, Esterland, and Strynbury. The town closest to Upton Ulster is East Mesa, located to the northeast of the town at XE52 East Mesa. The town is a member of the Epsilonian Republic, one of the largest MPOs on the server. It was granted official membership on 6 June 2021. The town is also a voting member of the Metropolitan North Association, a regional MPO dedicated to the community surrounding the Northern Ocean. It became a voting member on 10 June 2021. It is currently the southernmost member of the MNA. It has been formally recognized by the MRT as a [Councillor]-level town. The official recognition occurred on 24 August 2021.
History
Upton Ulster has a long and storied history. The study of its history is formally referred to as upteropology. This study is usually divided between the historical lore behind the founding of the town, which has been passed down orally through generations and has only more recently been recorded, and the factual in-game history surrounding its mayor and its relationship to the server.
Lore
Upton Ulster was created almost by accident. A group of miners originally from New Bakersville, Anthro Island, and Prismarine had come across the location of the town while building the Expo Line East extension. They'd petitioned the intercity government at Central City to reserve a plot with a station along the line with which to build their town as a reward for mining the various ores they'd found in the area. The organization granted their wishes under the condition that when their town had been established, they'd participated in intercity politics. The miners agreed and Upton Ulster was founded.
Prehistory
No people were indigenous to the exact location of Upton Ulster due to the treacherousness of the land at its surface, and the extreme weather that plagued the area. The closest tribes to the area were the Göxi tribe (native to current-day East Mesa), the Kiidee tribe (native to current-day Bawktown), and the Seesinaya tribe (native to current-day Stackton). All three tribes referred to the region where Upton Ulster is currently located as a variation of the word 'Mærdert', or the Arid Death. The region was known for its extreme climate and lack of arable land. Because of these factors, the area was desolate and sparsely populated for most of civilized history.
Mineral Collectors' Association
During the 20th year of the intercity era, the MRT System planned an extension of its Expo Line to the far east. Three building teams were introduced for digging, skeletons and elevated construction, and station interiors. The builds were staggered so that the digging crew would be ahead of the skeletons crew, and so that that crew would be ahead of the interior crew. Upon arriving to the site of XE50, the digging crew found multiple mineral ores not far deep from the surface. Originally, the crew had planned on pocketing the ores and only dig far enough for the support beams of the elevated tracks and stations. A small section of the crew, fearing repercussions, reported the discovery of the ores to the MRT's contracting partner. On the third day of construction of the station, a mercenary police division hired by the MRT invaded the construction site and arrested and detained around 250 members of the digging crew. Upon hearing the news of the arrests, crews across the server, as well as the other two crews responsible for building the remainder of the Expo Line extension, held a general strike. Unfortunately, MRT operators were unable to join the strike, and the parts of the MRT already built still ran during the strike. The cost of the delays in building were still detrimental, however, and after only three days of protesting, the MRT folded and released the detained crew members. That same day, the group of protesters wrote a draft of a doctrine that promised the establishment of a group dedicated to protecting the rights of construction workers, now known as the Mineral Collectors' Association. Their headquarters would be established at the site of what is now Upton Ulster's Expo Line station.
Cade Upton and Kaleb Ulster
In the 27th year of the intercity era, Cade Upton and Kaleb Ulster, husbands as well as two of the most senior members of the MCA at the time, petitioned both the MRT and the United Cities to build a town at the headquarters of the MCA. Small franchises and other amenities had already been built to serve the area, but no residences had been built, due to the abnormal climate and geography of the area. Their plan was to build the town completely underground, making the planned dwelling the third in the New World to be subterranean, following East End and Vault City. At first, the petition was ignored by both the MRT and the United Cities. Dissatisfaction among the members of the MCA grew and two weeks after the dissolution of the United Cities, the MCA staged a second strike, this time bringing the entire MRT system to a halt. Both Upton and Ulster led the strike, holding protests at both the headquarters of the association and at Central Park in Central City. After just 18 hours of walkouts and protests, the MRT accepted the petition and officially awarded the site of XE50 Foobar to the MCA. The future town would take the name "Upton Ulster" and be managed by the two namesake association members.
Code of the People's Sub-sea Settlement
Over the next few years, Upton Ulster would fall out of the interest of the zeitgeist, as it would transform from a small cluster of buildings to a bustling town of tens of thousands. Members of the MCA and their families would frequently move to the town to seek employment and receive further support from the union of MRT construction crew workers. The town would soon house close to 85% of association members due to its popularity. In the first year of the modern era, not long after the death of both Upton and Ulster, the citizens of the town gathered at the town hall and voted on a new draft of the doctrine of the MCA, which would be officially named the Code of the People's Sub-sea Settlement. The MCA as it was was dissolved and a new organization was put in its place: the Congress of New World Laborers, or CNWL. The Code, as it's informally referred to as, is the CNWL's main doctrine. This new organization has expanded to defend the rights of workers across all industries of the New World.
Modern Era
During the Modern Era, the town has expanded its reach as part of the initiative of the Congress. It has sought out intercity transit service by building a new central station named after famed Ullurian musician Brenda Mensah, as well as a large port located about 1 kilometer away from the center of the town. It has also joined three Metropolitan Planning Organizations in order to further their influence and reach. These organizations are the Federated States, the Epsilonian Republic, and the Metropolitan North Association. It joined the MNA latest, and is most active in the policies and practices of the MNA.
In-Game History
stxnmusic originally joined the server around 2015. They'd spent a large amount of time as a guest before signing up for membership in 2016. They'd gotten accepted as a member in January of 2016. Later that year, they became a citizen. They'd not been interested in evolving further beyond that rank, and hadn't had plans of starting a town. They'd become less active on the server over the next couple years. In June of 2018, after regained interest in the server, they'd been awarded JS7 Foobar to build a town by. They'd begun building the town immediately after being awarded the station, but soon lost interest yet again. Over the COVID-19 pandemic, stxn gained more time with which they were able to begin working on this town. With the help of the WorldEdit, they'd been able to build up the town past any other point they'd built before.
Divisions
The town is planned to be divided into districts called levels. The current area cleared underground to make the town will soon be known as Level A, which is planned to be informally referred to as Old Town. Two more districts are planned to be constructed within the next year. Level B is set to be the town's new gubernatorial districts. The town's city hall, satellite offices for its three MPOs, as well as its foreign embassies will all be located in this district. Level C is set to be split between a new residential district and an entertainment complex complete with a concert venue and spleef arena.
Transportation
Upton Ulster is served by both rail and sea connections, with more transport organizations planned to debut service in the upcoming months. Currently, AquaLinQ and the Expo Line serve Upton Ulster at the same locale, tentatively named Level A Station, but planned to be named after a member of the historic Mineral Collector's Association. The town's warp rail station, Mensah Station, has also opened to IntraRail services. Three main ports-of-entry are set to serve the town: Level A Station, Mensah Station, and an international seaport currently under construction to be named at a later date. As the town observes a semi-closed border policy, entry to and exit from the town are concentrated in heavily monitored areas.
Level A Station
The intermodal center currently known colloquially as "Level A Station" is the only port-of-entry currently open to the public. All arrivals from the Expo Line and AquaLinQ are processed at this station. There are two levels to the customs checkpoint that connects the station to the main town. The exit checkpoint is unstaffed and not secure, since Upton Ulster's government has opened the town's borders for emigration. Upon entrance, however, passengers must present documents pertaining to their citizenship, as well as pass through a security checkpoint before gaining access to the town. A diagram of current services can be seen below.
| Preceding station |  Minecart Rapid Transit
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metamesa toward Cypress
|
MRT Expo Line | East Mesa Terminus
| ||
| Preceding station |  AquaLinQ
|
Following station | ||
| Metamesa toward Stackton
|
AQ700 | Esterland toward Strynbury
| ||
Mensah Station
Mensah Station (full name: Brenda W. Mensah Memorial Warp Rail Station) is currently the main warp rail station in Upton Ulster. It's built underground, a few blocks above Level A. The station is a through station holding ten tracks, with capacity for small or medium-sized standard gauge trains. While Tri Waters Rail planned on being the first in serving the station with a shuttle to East Mesa, IntraRail's services were able to reach the station first, serving multiple destinations along the Expo East corridor. BluRail has also planned on serving the station on one of its express routes, which is yet to be built.
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Appendix
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| Stackton | – | East Mesa, Bushburg | ||
| Metamesa | – | |||
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| Kaleville | – | Anthro Island, Strynbury |