The Making of Exodus

Original Exodus
What the original Exodus was going to be, taken from a drawn concept.

Mt. Evelyn

The construction of the island of Exodus began on March 5th, 2015. The idea was initially created on paper back in 2014. The drawing was of an island being bombarded, named Ultria. Building began on the westward and bottom-most point on the drawn island, which was named Alcane Cove. The cove was drawn in a triangular fashion with three levels to it. The only other area that was drawn and replicated in Minecraft to its own name was the Tylthe Caves, a complex cave system on the eastern side of the island.

The Southern Islands were drawn on paper, beyond Ultria. The name these islands went under was "Prenema". The picture had around 5 islands, with a big main island in the middle. What was built originally were four islands, three being accessible by the player, intended to be an introduction to the island of Exodus. The islands were finished before Alcane Cove was completed.

The beach connected to Alcove was also drawn onto paper, under the name of "Heath Beach", which included the same stone arches and spikes that were put into Minecraft. The name changed for the beach in the process of building it; Heath made no sense to what it actually was, a beach. It was instead changed to include its special land features that represent the area, the stone arches, hence, Stone Beach.

Mt. Evelyn was supposed to be the the biggest and only mountain on the island. The drawing had one huge mountain with all areas and activities going on around it. However, the sudden realization of how close Minecraft's height barrier (255) stopped any progress to continue the mountain higher, forcing me to stop just short of 255 to create the mountain's peak, hence why it suddenly flattens out. Sunset Ridge was built atop it.

Sastory Glen was not apart of the original drawing and was thought up on the spot. The area that it would take up in the original plan would have made it the largest village on Exodus. The cave system below was an afterthought and was never actually completed until years later.

Mt. Evelyn Temple was a way to cheat the mountain's incredibly sharp slope into looking important. The Portico was first built with three quartz pillars to keep the place where the temple would have been. The original idea of the temple was to just have it stop at the entrance, and no actual temple be present. It wasn't until Fort Bristel was created that I thought of somehow getting an entrance to it, and got creative.

Fort Bristel was originally the most northern part of original Exodus. The area was inspired by one of the ancient wonders of the world, Machu Picchu. The reason why was that I was planning to extend the mountain downwards a lot more to make it seem like it was actually built atop the mountain, instead of being in the bottom shadow of Mt. Evelyn. The entire area was a mix between lost battleground, fort and lost ruins.

The Sunset Ridge

The village atop Mt. Evelyn was supposed to be the last place that the player visited on Exodus before leaving. It was built as a peaceful area and home to a natural spring that created the Subrino Rapids, a random stream that I made to make the area look "more natural".

Solivagant Valley

The actual outline of the river was created after first Exodus was done, and was left there for maybe 6 months, because of school and I was on a build team at the time. The valley was not actually completed until 2018, despite being started in 2015. It was supposed to be a gorge, but was abandoned and a river was added.

Lost Mirari was not added until 2018 when I updated the current island with underground character to make it seem more diverse.

The Myres

Originally named "The Northern Fjords", this area was meant to be the final final area to visit on Exodus, and was the last area to be built of Original Exodus. There is still a remnant of what it used to be, as the wooded area between Sunder and Sabre is still called "West Fjord", for its westward-opening direction.

Andesholm was meant to be close to the edge of northern Exodus and able to be seen from the mainland. However, if you teleport to the Andesholm now and do some flying around, it is actually nowhere near Exodus, and is off the far coast of Arkus and is able to be seen from it with a high enough render distance. Andesholm still holds its name "The North Fjord" from when it had its previous nomenclature. The title was changed with the northern expansion to "The Myres" in 2017.

The Northern Expansion
Bored from school and eager to do something with my life, and wanting to add some more free space to the island to make it seem less cramped than what it really was, I began a northern expansion beyond the North Fjords.

Cajo Tor & Surrounding Area

Cajo Tor was originally meant to be the biggest forest on the island, and give some breathing room to the player to wander an open area after the cramped areas to the south. Mt. Mercy was planned to be the largest expanding mountain, with a town at its peak. I think it turned out pretty well. The Eastern Riverfront was an afterthought of having to expand land east of Fairlotte River, so I made some hills and an outpost that just so happened to be one of the biggest towns on the island, and one of my favorites. Mayfare was supposed to be an area where the player had to sneak around, and planned on making it bigger. However, without my knowledge of the /fill command, I placed every block that made up the area, and it got to a certain extent that I would waste too much time, and cut it and began building.

The Backwoods

I wanted to have a peaceful northern area that the player can end the struggles of their northern endeavors on a good note before venturing west. I wanted it to seem tundra-like, but with minimal snow cover.

The Westward Expansion
As you might have found out, my attention to lots of detail decreased over the years building this island, as life got in the way more and more. I was never on a time limit here, this was just a project to pass the time. Building this expansion (past the west woods) went on a whim and was completed the fastest.

Mt. Venard 

I wanted a huge mountain that gave way to the lowlands lying below. This was built listening to scary stories, and took a very long time to complete.

Far Reaches

I just wanted the ultimate exploring area to venture between the few areas to the west. I had to at least give it some detail for the looks and the story, and I think the use of bone meal was pretty excessive, but I think it turned out great.

Adriondaats

I wanted the west edge of Exodus to have spikes, and it got spikes. You can't go further.

Windmill Mountain

Not necessarily part of the Far Reaches, nothing of interest if really here at all. It is just a mountain to connect the mid-west to north part of Exodus, and doesn't really serve a purpose story-wise. It is just a place to explore.

Nomenclature
Here is where I reveal how all the areas on this island were named, and if it means anything or has a deeper meaning.

Exodus

The island was not originally called 'Exodus'. When it was drawn, I titled the island "Ultria", and, seeing that an Ultria was already built within the skylands a while before (Old Ultria), it made the name unusable. The name didn't come from the story whatsoever, I didn't even have a story at the start of construction. The name came from a song that was one of my favorites at the time, Droid Bishop - Exodus. I remember deciding on that name while building the Stone Beach.

Mt. Evelyn

This name was actually taken from one of the other islands that I drew before. The tallest mountain on that island was Mt. Evelyn, and I thought "what the hell, I'll use it", and there it was.

Alcane Cove

In no way related to "alkane", the word Alcane was a play on the word "Arcane". Looking back on it now, I probably shouldn't have tried to be smart and call it that. That sound's cooler... Too late now, I suppose.

Stone Beach

Originally named "Heath Beach", changed to Stone Beach because of the stone spires and arches that line it.

Sastory Glen

Step 1: Think of a naturally created thing. Step 2: Call it something weird.

Fort Bristel

Changed one letter from the word "Bristol", from Bristol, Tennessee.

Tylthe Caves

I couldn't tell you why I named it this.

Sunset Ridge

It lies atop a mountain ridge, and there are good sunset views there, why not.

Subrino Rapids

One of the names that I am proud of that came from my head. Sounds weird but whatever.

The Myres

From somewhere I heard someone call swamplands "myres" and I thought hah, okay.

Sunder & Sabre

I wanted twin cities, this is what I got. I wanted to words that started with the same letter and both had 2 syllables.

Andesholm

Used from the naming convention of the nordic countries, I wanted it to have a snowy feel and a snowy name.

Solivagant Valley

When you feel alone, you want to be alone, you name something like that.

Solace

Named to represent a solace (or safe place) that one can go to when they are near the forest.

West Woods

It's west. Really.

Synister Sylvania

Switching 'i' for a 'y' in the word sinister, and "silvania" meaning a wooded area, with the first 'i' again traded for a 'y'.

Dyradid

One of the names I came up with out of the blue one day, and remembered it for being quite a strange name. It has no significance to the past tense.

Mt. Tacenda

A name from an expired word explaining something that should not be talked about in public: It isn't really a mountain at all, just a big expanse of hills.

Sough Path

Sough for the whistling of the wind that would be flowing fast throughout the cuts in the hill.

Cajo Tor

A random word, and another word taken from the sneaky browser and project, the Tor Network.

Fairlotte

For both the river and town, I wanted something that seemed so solemn and nice for the longest river on the island.

Mayfare

Play from "Mayrose", a surname from one of my childhood friends.

Mt. Mercy

No mercy.

Cierra

Changed the S to a C from the name "Sierra".

Caesura

The word "caesura" is a musical term that means to stop playing. It was given to the city to mark it as a stopping point for travelers on the river, as well as trading ships sailing the skylands.

Merryvetta

"merry", denoting a happy atmosphere to the place, and "vetta", to make it sound like.. a flower. I don't either.

Jaded Canyon

At this point in building in this area, I was pretty jaded.

The Backwoods

A wooded area. Behind a lot of mountains. Closed off from the rest of the island.

Mt. Venard

Name taken from a person that I knew at the time I was building the mountain, thought it was pretty different.

Warren - Town of Rabbits

The word "Warren" has some relation to rabbits.

Shadow Stream & Swamp

Based off of both of these things being in the large shadow of Mt. Venard.

Selfridge Woods

Based off of a song from The Northerner: Selfridge.

Borrasca

The name was used from a creepypasta I remember from years ago, building the island. I named this area what it is because part of the lore had a place high in the mountains that produces a grinding sound, like in the game.

Far Reaches

Not that far really, at this point in building the island all creativity has been drained from me.

Adriondaats

I thought of a really dumb and strange name to fit for a strange place with strange geography when I built it.

Windmill Mountain

There's a windmill on the mountain. Original.