It is up to the Senate to elect a new emperor to take my place. Any citizen could be chosen. I may make a bid to return to the position at some point in the future, but for now will relegate myself to just a standard citizen and will hand over the groups to whoever the Senate chooses. I may or may not run for senate, depending on who is chosen for Emperor.

It's been an honor serving as your Emperor for so long, since the founding of our first government roughly 2 years ago. There were many good times- far more than bad. However, it came to a point where I could not imagine Volterra without myself as its Emperor, where my sole purpose in game was complete devotion to the Empire, where I was our sole foreign representative, always on the front lines of any PR war. I felt massively responsible for the survival of our nation, so much so that I constantly logged in or subreddit pvp'd not for fun, but solely because of an obligation to provide a stable nation for the people I've befriended over the years. However, where 2.0 was generally more rewarding for your playtime, 3.0 is far less kind, and less fun for me.

So, I decided I need to cut the nonsense out of my life- the kind of stuff I deal with when people think I own 4 pylons, when people think it was I holding Malen’s leash, when people believe fake screenshots, when people raise their voices and threaten me in a recorded mumble channel because Gensokyo is too lazy to upgrade their pylon or walk to Abydos when their allies, Falstadt, have no problem with it at all, and insist instead that Volterra should destroy one of its 2 pylons or have effectively ~1.5 so Gensokyo can have 2 inefficient ones. I just can’t deal with that anymore, good luck to whoever takes my place.

Volterra has worked hard and achieved great things so far. I am so proud of what we have done and where we stand. We’ve hit a few bumps in the road but I see even better days ahead. The only thing which makes this game fun for me anymore is the community we built up, where we can laugh and talk with each other and work towards common goals in game and play other games as well. I’m so glad for that, and for meeting you all, but I think I need, at the least, an extended break from the leadership position. I’ll still be around, building up Volterra City as an architect, nothing more- no stress, just the fun of making a cool city with my friends.

Best of luck and may God save the new Emperor.