A private server · An invitation

Alderwick Estate

The lamps have waited long enough.

A cosy Victorian countryside adventure for Minecraft 1.21.1, with an undercurrent of mystery.

Read the invitation How to join
Painted key art of Alderwick Estate: a red-brick Victorian manor with green slate roofs, a windmill and a steam train on a viaduct, lit by warm lamps.
The house on the rise, as it was.

The Steward's Office, Alderwick

To whom it may concern, and it does concern you,

You have been invited to a private server, and the estate would like you to know what you are walking into before you wipe your boots.

Alderwick Estate is a modpack about lamp-lit rooms, village gossip, and old machines waking after a long sleep. You will restore a great estate one building at a time, get to know three villages that each have opinions about you, and find out what happened here.

It is mostly gentle. Danger exists in the wilds, some of it clearly signposted, and retreating is always sensible. The house itself is safe and lit from your very first night, and the library keeps books for exactly that night.

  • Built on NeoForge, Create, MCA Reborn & FTB Quests
  • Mods 94, every version pinned
  • Tone Cosy, curious, quietly strange

With the estate's compliments,
E. Ward, Steward

Chapter I

Why the estate is dark

Three generations built it. One of them put it to sleep.

  1. First

    Augustin

    Built the house on a rise, with a tall belvedere tower so he could see his orchards from his desk.

  2. Second

    Edmund

    An engineer. Filled the grounds with machinery and ran a railway out to the town of Ironmere.

  3. Third

    Lenora

    Ran the estate for decades. Exacting, practical, never without a notebook.

About twelve years ago, in a single season, Lenora shut it all down.

She stopped every machine by hand, in a particular order. She let the staff go with wages and references, closed the house room by room, and left. She never gave a public reason.

Last winter, Lenora died. Her will put the estate into a trust with two custodians' chairs.

“Light first, then hands, then water.”

The staff's one remembered instruction

Asleep, not broken

The machinery was put to sleep with care. Waking it is your job. In game, /estate ledger lists what each restoration needs. Go on, hover one.

  • The coach-house press

    DormantPressing

  • The mineral works

    DormantSorting

  • The windmill

    DormantTurning

  • The boiler house

    ColdSteaming

  • The electric wires

    SilentHumming

  • The railway to Ironmere

    QuietRunning

Chapter II

Who you are

The will names its custodians. You'll be one of them.

The Heir

The first player to join is always the Heir: Lenora's great-niece or great-nephew, raised far from the valley.

Everyone after draws one identity from the will and keeps it for good. It changes how people greet you, which villages warm to you first, and the letters that find their way to you.

Every identity has a story of its own. Don't look it up.

Chapter III

Three villages, three opinions

Each one has already decided something about you. Each one can be persuaded otherwise.

The market village at the gates

Alderwick

Families here worked at the house for three generations and still talk about “before the closing” and “after.” The village is split down the middle about Lenora.

First impressionDivided

Festivals

Charter Day
The founding charter, read aloud. Bring a chair.
Lamplighting Night
On the first frost.

The Harvest Fair

Every autumn all three villages meet in one place, and the Golden Apple goes to the best produce. Feelings run high. Marrows run higher.

Chapter IV

People worth knowing

A short directory, compiled without anyone's permission.

Elias WardEstate steward · start with him
“Ah. You'll be the new custodian. Do wipe your boots; the foyer has had twelve quiet years and would like a thirteenth.”
Formal, dryly funny, still says “Miss Lenora.”
  • Alderwick

    Mara Voss

    Mechanic

    Blunt, brilliant. Her mother was the estate's chief mechanic.

  • Alderwick

    Juniper Bell

    Grocer & matchmaker

    Currently in a freight-rate war with Ironmere's stationmaster.

  • Alderwick

    Constable Hale

    The law

    Slow, fair, procedural.

  • Bramblemead

    Tomas Reed

    Miller

    Talks weather first. Keeps a copy of something Lenora told him.

  • Bramblemead

    Nell Finch

    Innkeeper

    Food before opinions.

  • Ironmere

    Orin Pike

    Stationmaster

    Precise to the minute.

  • Ironmere

    Dr. Ada Wren

    Electrical engineer

    Lectures in numbered points.

  • Ironmere

    Warden Crowe

    The law

    Severe, consistent, strict about tools.

Chapter V

How things work here

The house rules, more or less.

Talking to villagers

  • Right-click with an empty hand to talk. Anything typed in nearby chat gets an answer.
  • Topic buttons unlock as the estate is restored and trust grows.
  • Sneak + Right-click opens the normal MCA screen and shop.
  • Gossip isn't always accurate. You can tell a chatty villager to hush.
  • Without AI, villagers still answer with written lines, shops, requests and the law.

Skills

  • Levelled by doing. Press K for skills, each with a perk tree.
  • Skill XP is never lost, even on death.
  • Quests never stall: if a step needs a level, you're raised to it after finishing the prior step.
  • Machines use their owner's skills. Unowned machines work at level one and can be claimed with a wrench.
  • Training sites sit around the estate: ore rocks, regrowing trees, fishing spots and combat camps.

The law

Village chests, barrels and crops belong to someone. Theft is remembered, and so is help.

  • Constables may ask for restitution or a short stay in the lock-up.
  • Running makes it worse.
  • Ironmere fines industrial theft hardest.

Playing together

  • A narrated fly-over plays on arrival. Sneak to skip; /estate intro replays it.
  • Villages notice whether custodians squabble or share.
  • People say different things to each custodian. Compare notes.
  • The library has books for the first night. The house is safe and lit from the start.

Fair game: the white placards

Ruins marked with a white placard are yours to salvage. Mind the notes.

  • Old Rook Mill

    Rotten floors.

  • Harrow Foundry

    A fallen chimney.

  • The Flooded Pumpworks

    Bring a boat.

  • The Blackglass Works

    High danger. Leave if it turns.

Chapter VI

Getting started

Four steps from here to the foyer.

  1. 1

    Install the pack

    In CurseForge, choose Create Custom Profile → Import and pick the Alderwick client ZIP. Allocate 6 GB of memory (8 GB is comfortable).

  2. 2

    Connect

    Multiplayer → Direct Connection with the address from your invitation. Keep the pinned mod versions and dismiss any update prompts.

  3. 3

    Answer “Who are you?”

    On first login MCA asks. Keep your name, choose gender, pick Vanilla, then Accept.

  4. 4

    Find the steward

    Open the Quest Book in slot one, read the introduction letter, and go and find Elias Ward.

Keep these handy

  • KSkills and perks
  • What each restoration needs
  • When in doubt
  • Replay the arrival fly-over

See you at the gates.