New Reality Seeds

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

Originally Posted by PTTG

It's hard to imagine a more ethically one-sided Civil War than IRL, but making the Southerners into human-sacrificing bloodthirsty Satanists might do it.

???

You mean they weren't??

Theoi-11 diverges in 1455 at the First Battle of St Albans, the traditional first battle of the Wars of the Roses. At dawn before the first charge, the forms of Demon Lords Beelzebub and Asmodeus, towering over a hundred feet high, appeared. Asmodeus procalimed himself the patron of the House of York, and Beelzebub announced his patronage of the House of Lancaster. All noble and royal participants of both sides were granted health, superhuman strength, and black poison swords. The non-noble and non-royal participants were split between running away and trying to kill their former lords.

Those who ran spread the news that both sides of the conflict were damned souls, and the common folk and lesser nobles rose up in rebellion. This also caused problems in Scotland, France, and Burgundy, who had supported the two English factions.

A new force, the House of Tudor, arose (thirty years earlier than OTL), and Edmund Tudor became Edmund III of England. In order to avoid demonic entanglements, Edmund proclaimed the Schism of London, founding a seperate Church of England.

The year is 1515, Edmund's grandson Henry VII rules in England (not the same one as in OTL), Europe is in turmoil as the Schism of London has spread, causing so-called "Protestant" national churches to spring up everywhere. (There is no unified Protestant doctrine.) Witch hunts are popular, although there is no evidence (to outtimer eyes) of any actual witches. The Roman Holy See is very political, and a seperate Budapest Holy See is proclaiming crusades against the Protestants and the "Anti-Pope" (but they're less popular).

There are a few noble survivors of the Battle of St Albans, either trying to carve out their own empires or overthrow the Tudors. Most of them are active devil worshippers, but again there is no evidence of any supernatural forces.

Incidentally the battlefield at St Albans is a Very High Mana location, and in fact the only magically-active location on this Earth.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

Can I suggest a Theoi timeline or two in which gods act like, you know, gods? You know, like arrogant egocentric adulterous scumbags? None of this anachronistic kind-hearted far-sighted liberal nonsense?

I dunno. If you need somebody to act like an egocentric adulterous scumbag in order to provide a change point, human leaders are capable of that. You really only [need] divine intervention for the alternates that require kind-hearted far-sighted leadership to produce.

[Astromancer]

Theoi-12 diverges in 410AD when Heracles and Romulus appear and drive the Visigoths off. The appearance of the son of Zeus and the deified founder of Rome has led to a revival of Faith in the Pagan gods and violence from and against Christians. Much of the violence from and against the Christians comes from Christian bishops denouncing the pagan gods as devils deluding the people. The Visigoths and similar groups are at present fearful of both being attacked by supernatural beings and being caught up in religious riots.

Whether or not this will be good for the Roman Empire's longevity is yet to be determined.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Theoi-12 diverges in 410AD when Heracles and Romulus appear and drive the Visigoths off. The appearance of the son of Zeus and the deified founder of Rome has led to a revival of Faith in the Pagan gods and violence from and against Christians. Much of the violence from and against the Christians comes from Christian bishops denouncing the pagan gods as devils deluding the people. The Visigoths and similar groups are at present fearful of both being attacked by supernatural beings and being caught up in religious riots.

Whether or not this will be good for the Roman Empire's longevity is yet to be determined.

I take it Theoi-12 was discovered not long after the PoD? (An interesting alternative is that it was an historical echo discovered before the PoD, and someone from Infinity witnessed the change.)

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

I take it Theoi-12 was discovered not long after the PoD? (An interesting alternative is that it was an historical echo discovered before the PoD, and someone from Infinity witnessed the change.)

As written, the first. However, your suggestion is more fun. Having events unfold in real time could be exciting.

[Astromancer]

Gordon-Rogers-2 seems to diverge after WWI. Science and technology seem to speed up after 1918. Slowly at first, TL7 is achieved in 1937. The USA and the UK both start WWII with jet fighters, jet bombers don't show up until 1944. Weirdly high historical inertia keeps WWII mainly similar but with a slightly more favorable outcome for the western allies.

The space race stars earlier and TL8^ is reached in 1960. Twenty years later, in 1980, TL9^ was reached. The faster technological development seems to have allowed the USSR to delay hitting the limits of command growth until 1975. The development of cheap fusion in the 1960s reduced the importance of oil and fossil fuels.

In many ways the local year, 1988, is a Raygun Gothic cold war spy setting. There have been moon bases since the 1960s and Mars settlements since 1975.

Note: Mars in this parallel is semihabitable with the ruins of ancient civilizations. No living Martians have been encountered and they seem to have practiced cremation or other means of destroying corpses. Similarly, they seem to have rejected depictions of their appearance. The buildings and artifacts suggest a largely humanlike form would have been the most likely.

Interactions with Martian artifacts have led to the discovery of repeatable ESP and other Psi phenomena. This has led to serious competition in Martian archeology.

Society in this parallel is lively and prosperous. As neither the Bretton Woods system has collapsed nor the Oil Shocks happened before oil was being replaced, the economy and social conditions more closely resemble the 1960s than post 1975 Homeline.

[fchase8]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Well, you see, they were going to do that, until they decided to lump Neptune-6 into the mix, where Neptune sank France and all other cultures that didn't revere horses or the sea under the ocean after the Gauls sacked his temple on Neptunalia. Then they decided that keeping the Neptune name would be wise

Could a Hollywood studio or the like sue Infinity for copyright infringement if Infinity named a timeline 'Waterworld' or the like?


To be fair, perhaps Waterworld didn't come out on Homeline. It was released in real life in 1995, which would be right around when Van Zandt went public with parachronics. Even if it did come out, it could have been quickly forgotten amid the discovery of other worlds.

Or maybe it became more celebrated, for being an 'alternate world' (though it actually is supposed to be set in the future), a rare Hollywood depiction of such at a time when alternate worlds would be all the rage.


I wonder how parachronics would effect Homeline pop culture. Would the bright timeline not become obsessed with post-apocalypses like our world? Or would Homeliners be more interested, as such worlds could now be found, a few even visited?

Certainly, Homeliners would be less interested in space, aliens, etc. Maybe also less interest in old comic book heroes.

And someone would have adapted The Man In the High Castle a lot sooner.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by fchase8

Could a Hollywood studio or the like sue Infinity for copyright infringement if Infinity named a timeline 'Waterworld' or the like?


To be fair, perhaps Waterworld didn't come out on Homeline. It was released in real life in 1995, which would be right around when Van Zandt went public with parachronics. Even if it did come out, it could have been quickly forgotten amid the discovery of other worlds.

Or maybe it became more celebrated, for being an 'alternate world' (though it actually is supposed to be set in the future), a rare Hollywood depiction of such at a time when alternate worlds would be all the rage.


I wonder how parachronics would effect Homeline pop culture. Would the bright timeline not become obsessed with post-apocalypses like our world? Or would Homeliners be more interested, as such worlds could now be found, a few even visited?

Certainly, Homeliners would be less interested in space, aliens, etc. Maybe also less interest in old comic book heroes.

And someone would have adapted The Man In the High Castle a lot sooner.

I'd point out that historical epics are mentions as popular imports. Dealing with worlds where the past is playing out now clearly leads to interest in the wonders of the past.

[fchase8]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

I'd point out that historical epics are mentions as popular imports. Dealing with worlds where the past is playing out now clearly leads to interest in the wonders of the past.

Yeah, historical movies would definitely be popular, from off-world epics to intimate stories shot on Homeline. Indeed, the Homeline-made ones might be more popular, as the past often isn't as cinematic as audiences want (the famed Time Tours King Arthur debacle).

Homeline movies & programs might use footage of battles, castles, and other background combined with manufactured personal footage with Hollywood stars.

Unfortunately, the most cinematic timelines are also the ones Infinity most restricts visits to, from Azoth-7 to Yrth. But could use depopulated Ariane for 1915 setting, and covered-up filming in Johnson's Rome or Gernsback.

What would the Infinity policy be on importing past/alternate Hollywood stars? Echoes would likely be off-limits, but what about living, underappreciated actors & directors from depressed close parallels like Campbell and Lenin-1? To say nothing of close non-parachronic parallels (like our real world)...

[Astromancer]

Try this idea...

People kept on looking for Terra Australis even after they'd found Australia. In this Q5 world, Terra Australis is real. It was discovered by Tasman in 1642. At least to the extent that Europeans knowledge of Terra Australis. Native Australians had been there for millennia. The island of Tasmania in Homeline is in the same place as the northernmost peninsula of Terra Australis in this world. Antartica is part of Terra Australis.

The local year is 1706. Large colonies have set up in Terra Australis by France, Sweden, England, and Holland. The land of Terra Australis is cold, but there are large temperate areas and when you have European crops, farm animals. and farming techniques, large amounts of good farmland. There are large deposits of valuable minerals. The forests are vast and filled with fine hardwoods. There are wide navigatable rivers that make these valuables accessible.

As per the normal behavior of early modern European society, the division of the continent isn't going peacefully. Unlike North America, there aren't large areas dominated by one power. This leads to sudden shifts of alliances both to exploit opportunity and to fend off attacks.

Into this volatile mix comes the Cabal. For unknown reasons, the Cabal seems to find the mountain range that divides the temperate and subarctic lands from the ice sheets. Homeline wants to know what the Cabal is up to. Finding out what the Cabal will require negotiating a complex and dangerous political situation in a vast frontier.