Note: For the sake of the organization, this article will compile information from the official video uploaded by ish as well as additional information from POV videos uploaded by players who participated in the event, barring any contradicting information to ish's video, to create a comprehensive canon.
| “ | Glory to Aculon! | „ |
| ~ The Aculon Empire's motto. |
| “ | My friends, the Aculon Empire is the strongest nation in the world. Not because of one leader, but because of all of us. | „ |
| ~ Turkey's speech to the Aculon members after Elanuelo's crowning. |
The Aculon Empire, otherwise known as simply Aculon, is the main antagonistic faction Season 2 of the Minecraft social experiment web series ish's State.
A gigantic civilization situated on the Snow State and formed by its emperor Elanuelo, it was the single biggest empire in the entire world (prior to the formation of the Allies) ruled by a bureaucratic government consisting of Elanuelo and his various high-ranking officials. Growing to become the most powerful faction in the world, it sought to expand its rule across the entire world and would oppress, abuse, terrorize and kill anyone who stood in their way of world domination, including their own citizens.
Following Elanuelo's death at the hands of the Allies during the Battle of Aculon that was initiated by the assassination of baron AFreakinTurkey at Elanuelo's hands, the Aculon Empire would be reformed by its former crown prince ItzzEnder into the democratic Aculon Republic.
History[]
Elanuelo giving orders to the other settlement leaders from his bunker.
On Day 2, various settlements on the Snow State had formed on the vast island in order to band together and fight against the harsh climate. While these communities were seemingly independent of each other, all of them had secretly joined under the rule of the Aculon Empire, a growing political body formed by its emperor, Elanuelo, who governed his soon-to-be recognized government from an underground bunker due to being paranoid of potentially being assassinated. By leveraging his connections to the other leaders of the various groups on the island, Elanuelo's machinations formed the basis of the Aculon Empire through creating a network comprised of all the communities on the Snow State. Elanuelo would schedule meetings with the other civilization leaders and convince them to merge their settlements to develop a network that would form the Aculon Empire, in which they would receive high-ranking positions in exchange for their loyalty and performing assigned tasks. By the end of Day 2, knowledge of a shadow leader operating all the settlements for unifying purposes got out and soon began circulating through rumors.
On Days 3 and 4, sidefall—the leader of the United Plains State on the Plains State—made continuous efforts to reach out to AFreakinTurkey, one of the previous settlement leaders who had since risen to the rank of baron within the Aculon Empire. sidefall's efforts to reach out to Turkey and gain his favor drew the ire of HorusCrown—the leader of Pendaris on the same island, and a civil war nearly started due to sidefall's perceived shadiness regarding him reaching out for international alliances. At the end of Day 4, the two nations agreed to a peace deal.
The Quartermaster's House in which all the nation's resources are held.
On Day 5, the Aculon Empire saw a monumental amount of progress through Turkey's leadership, becoming Elanuelo's most trusted underling while he continued giving orders from his bunker. With a population of over 200 players spread out across various settlements on the island connected to Aculon's multinational network, the empire saw tremendous growth with players being assigned daily tasks under the commands of their cohort leaders and having entire lists of members, physical landmarks and overall hierarchy documented to maintain total order and cohesion. Aculon's greatest achievement thus far was almost certainly the Quartermaster's House where they stockpiled all their resources and distributed them amongst the population by using an algorithm determining a player's validity to withdraw certain resources. Late in the day, a player named Xeillious attempted to break into the Quartermaster's House to blow it up, but was caught by security and remanded into Aculon custody to await his scheduled execution the next day.
Many Aculon citizens attending the execution of Xeillious.
On Day 6, Xeillious' public execution was personally carried out by Turkey, who declared the population's glory to the Aculon Empire just before killing the criminal. Shortly after Xeillious' execution, Turkey—recognizing that the Aculon Empire did not have a written justice system—enlisted the assistance of a lawyer on the Snow State to implement a legal system. With his reputation as a "man of the people" cemented through his charismatic leadership, Turkey—although authoritarian at times—was ultimately a very well-liked individual who got things done, with some players even considering him a better fit for leadership than Elanuelo, whose continued self-isolation in his bunker lead to some players doubting if he even existed. While things were positive for the Aculon Empire on the surface, Elanuelo fumed with envy underground as he heard about Turkey's growing reputation not just among the Snow State, but the other islands who were reaching out to Turkey for alliances and diplomatic meetings instead of Elanuelo, which only caused the already paranoid emperor to become more fearful of his position being taken from him.
TooDrew executing 5pyder for treason.
On Day 7, several players from the Aculon Empire ventured out to a fifth island that spawned between the four main islands, with several exploratory groups sent out to retrieve wool due to the Snow State's lack of sheep. Late into the day, Turkey made an announcement declaring him stepping down from the role as temporary emperor in light of Elanuelo's return. Before the day wrapped out, an alarm sounded across the empire due to a possible attack from Pendaris. As a result, Elanuelo left his bunker for the first time, ordered several high-ranking officials inside the castle and demanded they not let anyone inside. However, one player broke through the wall and saw what they were being shieded from: TooDrew and two other officials were abusing 5pyder, a baron who had defected from Aculon and was conspiring against them due to their tyranny before being killed on the spot by TooDrew, all whilst Turkey, Ender and many high-ranking officials watched.
Elanuelo leading his citizens in a show of unity.
On Day 8, Elanuelo emerged from his underground bunker for the first time to host a public ceremony in which he would be formerly crowned the emperor of the Aculon Empire. Prior to his coronation, all public officials were required to bring gifts to Elanuelo as a show of loyalty. After all the gifts had been received, Elanuelo had Turkey make a speech affirming Elanuelo's undisputed leadership as emperor, in which he also congratulated the rest of the Aculon Empire's members for helping make Aculon the strongest nation in the world. Afterwards, Elanuelo commanded a march down the pathway exiting the Aculon Castle as a show of the Snow State's unity and strength.
Several Aculon spies surveying players believed to be critical of Elanuelo.
Shortly following Elanuelo's coronation, the Aculon government took a sharp turn into a more authoritarian approach to treating its citizens, with Elanuelo believing that total unity of the Snow State was only achievably through maintaining a strong, unchallenged leadership. Elanuelo's knights would routinely boss around random civilians and most builders were displeased with the notion of having to halt construction on their personal builds to focus on building up the Aculon Castle. The general feel of discontent only grew when Elanuelo began sending spies to see if any of his citizens were criticizing his rule. In one instance of corruption, TooDrew, the leader of the Aculon Knights, blackmailed the grieving widow of a player named iPixel—who had recently lost her husband PresidentSteve_—into giving his armor, otherwise TooDrew would return with several knights to execute iPixel and her allies for treason.
Turkey leading the evacuation of several citizens.
With Elanuelo's leadership gradually leading to democratic backsliding on the Snow State, many citizens—especially Turkey's supporters—began to fear for their lives, believing that they would be executed if they were caught speaking out against Elanuelo, who was evidently becoming jealous of Turkey's soaring popularity. As a result, Turkey, aided by Aculon's crown prince, ItzzEnder, hatched a plan to evacuate the former's supporters to the Jungle and Plains States as part of SethHyphen and sidefall's nations, who were happy to welcome the refugees as they had taken notice of Aculon spies planted by Elanuelo across the world, including their islands. For the time being, the refugees remained in the Jungle and Plains States, refusing to re-enter the Snow State until a form of democracy was established. Turkey resigned himself to keeping up his façade of loyalty to Elanuelo in the hopes of changing his mind with a meeting at some point, not wanting to start a revolution.
As a result of the evacuations, Seth and sidefall create the first multi-island alliance and declare their nations as safe havens for refugees fleeing dictatorships.
aculon diplomats offering support to the Imamate.
On Day 9, the Aculon Empire went on a temporary lockdown as a direct result of the assassination of STORMINGHELL, the Sultan of the Sultanate. Having always admired and respected STORMINGHELL for his authoritarian rule over the Desert State, Elanuelo sent his diplomats to the various Sultanate militias that formed in the wake of the Sultan's death to offer support. By doing this, he successfully forged an alliance between the Aculon Empire and the Desert militias.
Elanuelo and Aculon's higher-ups hosting a meeting to discuss their current dilemma.
Unfortunately for the Aculon Empire, the death of STORMINGHELL lead to the creation of the Alliance of Democratic Nations, consisting of the most powerful groups on the four islands, but excluding Aculon and the Sea People. As a result, the Allies toppled Aculon in their combined population, technically making them the most powerful nation in the world. While the rest of the Aculon Empire continued their daily routine, the higher-ups discussed their current dilemma regarding the Allies' usurpation of them as the most populous faction. Elanuelo, however, was more concerned with Turkey's continued support from his citizens, as one of his spies caught Turkey in the act of illegally evacuating several citizens off the Snow State through his underground tunnels the day prior, as well as his spies catching Turkey handing out with the leaders on the Plains State. Due to this, Elanuelo's paranoia went into overdrive as he came to the conclusion that Turkey must be plotting to overthrow him. However, Turkey had no intentions of overthrowing Elanuelo, only desiring to turn the Aculon Empire into a legitimate democracy and bring the Snow refugees home so that Aculon could then join the Allies and finally achieve world peace.
Several Aculon builders constructing Elanuelo's project.
The day prior, Turkey reached out to Elanuelo to plan a meeting, which he accepted under the condition that it be held in the Aculon Castle the next day and that he come alone, as he needed extra time for his builders to finish an unknown project he was developing. Later that day, Elanuelo sent more diplomats to the Desert militias, as well as the Sea People to establish alliances, charming them by promising to restore order to their chaotic islands.
Elanuelo interrogating Turkey in front of his top officials.
On Day 10, the Plains Leaders assured Turkey that they pledged full support to him before he took off for the Snow State, suspecting Elanuelo to have set up a trap. When Turkey arrived, he waited at the Aculon Castle until Elanuelo showed up and called for his top officials to attend the meeting. As Turkey began to speak, TooDrew, one of Aculon's barons and the leader of the empire's knights, interrupted to go do "something special", but Elanuelo stopped them, asking Turkey to sit on the throne. Turkey reluctantly did as was requested before the emperor asked him how it felt to be on his throne in front of everyone. Before Turkey could get a word in, Elanuelo told him that he knew Turkey was allied with the Plains State, believing him to desire the throne for himself. Shocked, Turkey adamantly denied Elanuelo's accusations, but there was nothing he could do to change his mind as Elanuelo revealed he knew of the evacuations Turkey had been leading. Knowing he was outmatched and about to be disposed of, Turkey nervously declared his departure, but Elanuelo noted he'd just come back with an army before insincerely apologizing and gesturing at TooDrew to activate the trap set up. With the flick of a lever, a piston opened a hole in the throne that Elanuelo pushed Turkey into, sending him into a pool of lava that killed him.
The Aculon Empire's military forces gathering at the Aculon Castle.
Immediately following Turkey's assassination, Elanuelo ordered his top officials still loyal to him to kill all of Turkey's supporters, commencing a purge that wiped out many of Turkey's loyalists and led to the surviving few retreating to other islands, including ItzzEnder, the crown prince. Once Turkey's surviving followers swam to safety, they informed the other islands of what happened. Meanwhile, Elanuelo—having given a speech twisting the truth of his crimes to unite the empire together—ordered the Sea People, the Imamate and the Emirate to come to the Snow State before putting the island on a full lockdown. Knowing it was only a matter of time before the Allies declared war and having anticipated this very event coming to pass, Elanuelo ordered the entirety of the Aculon Empire to either stand guard at the Aculon Castle or join him inside the Iron Torch, a gigantic defensive tower and the project his builders had been working on. As expected, the Allies declared war on the Aculon Empire, who cautiously awaited their arrival.
The Iron Torch; Aculon's defensive military tower.
After war was declared on Aculon, the Allies organized their military forces and prepared to avenge the deaths of Turkey and his supporters, meeting at the island in the middle of the world before boating to the Snow State. Once the Allies arrived, they discovered the barren island and the Iron Torch where most of its citizens resided so they could rain arrows on the Allies. With no time left to spare, the Battle of Aculon commenced.
Aculon soldiers firing arrows from atop the Iron Torch.
The Allies charged the gates of Aculon and quickly tore down the walls of the Aculon Castle to get inside as soldiers atop the castle shot at them. Once the walls were destroyed, the Allies stormed into the castle and began making their way up the ladder leading to the top of the Iron Torch, only for several of their members to die from fall damage, the lava walls or falling stalactites. As the Aculon Empire appeared to be coming out on top, the Allies began scaling the side of the tower using blocks and jungle trees grown from bone meal for easy access, causing those inside the Iron Torch to begin dropping lava whilst continuing to shoot arrows at the Allies climbing from the sides to deter them. Inevitably, however, several members of the Allies reached the top of the Iron Torch from the ladder and began placing TNT to hinder Aculon's attack, killing several players. As Aculon soldiers continued firing from above and fighting off the ever-growing horde of players, Elanuelo shot at a man-made tower opposite him where several of the Allies stood, only for a Snow defector to break the block he was standing on and sending him plummeting to his death, killing him instantly.
The Iron Torch standing abandoned and in ruin after the Battle of Aculon.
The moment Elanuelo perished, the Aculon Empire officially surrendered. However, the Allies continued to slaughter the remaining Aculon soldiers until the Iron Torch was completely overtaken by them, with the rest of Aculon's surviving forces having fled for their lives, including that of yeetspeak and the rest of the Sea People, marking the end of the Battle of Aculon. However, after the dust had settled and the Allies returned home to their respective islands, they realized the severity and pointlessness of their barbarism towards the surrendering Aculon soldiers. Nontheless, the Allies had successfully won the war, slain Elanuelo and toppled the dictatorship of the Aculon Empire for good.
TooDrew being pardoned for their crimes.
In the days following the Battle of Aculon, a the International Peace Council was established by the nations that made up the Allies and a few smaller nations spread across the world to cement the newfound world peace achieved following the collapse of the Aculon Empire. The first order of business for the new world alliance was to pardon the surviving members of the Aculon Empire who took part in the war, including TooDrew and yeetspeak, allowing them to come out of hiding and resume living their lives instead of living as fugitives of war.
The stature of Turkey overlooking the Aculon Republic's graveyard.
Once the Snow State was safe to go back to, the Snow refugees returned to the island accompanied by ItzzEnder, who reformed the Aculon Empire into the democratic Aculon Republic under his rule. As the republic's new leader, ItzzEnder's first act was to tear down the Iron Torch and construct a graveyard commemorating all those who perished in the Battle of Aculon, with a stature of Turkey looking on. For a short time, numerous Aculon sympathizers and loyalists still roamed the world until they were brought to trial.
With the regime dissolved and reformed into a democratic nation, the Aculon Empire became nothing more than a part of the world's history as people finally began to move on, leaving Elanuelo and his empire's quest for dominance in ruin.
Structure and Notable Members[]
The Aculon Empire was organized to function as an absolutist monarchy ruled by a supreme leader and governed by a government system composed of individuals hand-picked by the emperor to lead sub-factions within the empire. The Aculon Empire divided its sub-factions into "cohorts" responsible for a specific set of tasks to keep its citizens busy, as everyone who was part of the empire was handed out daily tasks to complete under the leadership of those in charge of their cohorts. Overall, 22 cohorts existed and were each named after a letter in the NATO photonic alphabet. At its peak, Aculon had over 200 members.
Following the Battle of Aculon, the Aculon Empire was dissolved and in its place, ItzzEnder reformed it into the Aculon Republic, with a greater focus on democracy an freedom.
- Emperor: The supreme ruler of the Aculon Empire with absolute authority and at the very top of the empire's hierarchy. Responsible for hand-picking individuals to form the government structure. It's unknown if ItzzEnder kept the "emperor" title upon his ascension to leader given its ties to Aculon's initial structure as an authoritarian empire.
- Elanuelo: The founder of the empire and its leader throughout Days 1-10. For the first seven days, he ruled from beneath his secret underground bunker only accessible to the leaders of the other Snow settlements, creating the basis for the Aculon Empire by forming a network comprised of all the communities on the Snow State. He was responsible for the assassination of AFreakinTurkey, the purging of his supporters and the declaration of war on Aculon by the Alliance of Democratic Nations. He was killed in the Battle of Aculon by a defecting Snow State member digging out the block he was standing on, letting him fall to his death.
- Crown Prince: The heir to the Aculon Empire and the effective second-in-command, ranking just beneath Elanuelo. The crown prince would be set to take over the empire in the event of Elanuelo's death or retirement. ItzzEnder held this role until the aftermath of the Battle of Aculon, where he succeeded Elanuelo as the new ruler.
- ItzzEnder: The second-in-command of the Aculon Empire and heir to the throne who betrayed his emperor to assist Turkey with the evacuations of several citizens. He was nearly killed by Elanuelo's soldiers during the purge of Turkey's supporters and would fight alongside the Allies in the Battle of Aculon. In the aftermath of the battle, he would take Elanuelo's place as ruler of the Snow State after bringing back the Snow refugees and reform Aculon into a democratic republic.
- Dukes: High-ranking individuals who each control a sector of Aculon's economy, such as farming, mining and building. AFreakinTurkey occasionally operated as a duke for certain sectors, although there were more notable ones like Treypex.
- Barons: The leaders of the 22 cohorts of the empire, which are small divisions primarily consisting of around 8-12 players each assigned to daily tasks. In some cases, various barons were allowed to answer directly to the emperor as opposed to the dukes above them. .
- AFreakinTurkey: A high-ranking baron who served as the temporary "emperor" of the Aculon Empire for the first seven days whilst Elanuelo hid in his bunker. Due to his high standing, status and down-to-earth demeanor, he became a popular leader amongst both the citizens of Aculon and the other states who reached out to him to conduct diplomacy instead of Elanuelo. He was assassinated by Elanuelo with the help of TooDrew on Day 10 and his death sparked the beginning of the end for the Aculon Empire, leading to the Battle of Aculon and the dissolution of the empire. He was incorrectly identified in ish's video as Elanuelo's second-in-command, a role taken by ItzzEnder.
- TooDrew: The leader of the Aculon Knights responsible for designing the trap that caused Turkey's death. Following the Battle of Aculon, they temporarily went into hiding before emerging and being pardoned for their crimes.
- Lords: The lowest-ranking nobility title of the empire responsible for representing their superiors (the barons). They also functioned as the heirs/successors and occasional substitutes for the barons if they were unavailable, as well as the superiors of Aculon's Quartermaster.
- KaNukei: The leader of Cohort Charlie who desired to create a library to house the history of every faction on the server.
- CaptainMagmar_: The leader of Cohort Hotel who co-founded the Snowtel and helped with many different buildings. He died whilst building up the defences for the Iron Torch.
- Citizens: The civilian populace of the Aculon Empire.
- Shrimpatine: An anthropomorphic British shrimp who owned a pet squid named "Not Shrimp". He died fighting for the empire in the Battle of Aculon.
- PresidentSteve_: A player who got married to iPixel on Day 6, but unfortunately died some time later and had his items repossessed by TooDrew.
- iPixel: A player who got married to PresidentSteve_ on Day 6.
- LordBurney: A citizen who helped organise the evacuations of the Snow Island and was one of the many people executed on the Day 10 massacre.
Bases of Operations[]
- Snow State: The main island setting of the Aculon Empire and where the regime originated from.
- Aculon Castle: The primary headquarters of the Aculon Empire that hosted the throne room, which additionally served as the main meeting quarters for Aculon's higher-ups and where Elanuelo could make announcements to his citizens. It was demolished following the Battle of Aculon and a graveyard dedicated to all the players that perished was built in its place, overlooked by a statue of Turkey.
- The Iron Torch: A large defensive military tower sticking out of the Aculon Castle and completed around Days 9-10 prior to the Battle of Aculon. Elanuelo ordered it built in preparation for the ensuing war he knew would come after his planned killing of Turkey and his supporters. The tower spanned several dozens of blocks tall, with its floor being built out of stone brick walls so players could use the holes formed by them as arrow slits to fire upon their attackers and with lava coating the roof, surrounded by fence gates to prevent it from spilling. Following the Battle of Aculon, the Iron Torch was torn down.
- Quartermaster's House: The home of Aculon's Quartermaster and the building where the Aculon Empire kept all its resources for purposes of storage and distribution. The distribution of resources to players was carried our via a complex request system wherein those in charge of distribution would determine the eligibility of players requesting certain resources and how much they were to receive. The request system was built on an algorithm developed by the empire.
- Aculon Castle: The primary headquarters of the Aculon Empire that hosted the throne room, which additionally served as the main meeting quarters for Aculon's higher-ups and where Elanuelo could make announcements to his citizens. It was demolished following the Battle of Aculon and a graveyard dedicated to all the players that perished was built in its place, overlooked by a statue of Turkey.
Gallery[]
ish Video[]
Alternate POV Videos[]
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