New Reality Seeds

[PTTG]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

That would be the way the Cabal sees it.

Building a Homeline/Cabal alliance to study and eliminate or drive off the birds would be the goal of this setting.

Ah, the Sesame Street Coalition.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by PTTG

Ah, the Sesame Street Coalition.

Take the point or the laurel crown.

[Astromancer]

This Q6 world diverged in the mid 19th century, how is a vast mystery but on Tassili n'Ajjer(named for a major Prehistoric site in the Sahara desert) the monsoon systems of the prehistoric Sahara returned between 1845 and 1860. The scientific community debates when the change started and the new equilibrium took hold.

Once the late 19th century Europeans figured out what happened there was a land rush. France was dominant in the area and carved out a vast new France in the former desert. The French ruled but the population came from all over the Mediterranean basin, Eastern Europe, the Arab lands, Persia, and French-speaking Africa. By the 1930s this new African France had a population twice as great as European France.

The local year is 1942, Charles de Gaulle has an army ready to retake Europe. America is sending troops to aid the Franco-British forces. The German army under Rommel is determined to conquer this new France.

Basically, a much bigger messier African campaign for WWII. Assume that African France is torn by complex disputes involving faith, class, ethnicity, language, and race. Note: The Dry season will still roast the PCs and the monsoon rains will drive them insane.

[adm]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

... By the 1930s this new African France had a population twice as great as European France...

This makes for a very different WW I part of Germany's willingness to roll the dice in 1914 was Germany's larger population. With a large African population to draw on, Germany may fall to France by 1917. Czarist Russia may survive this war.

In WW II I would expect a France with more willingness to fight on as well, France really did not have a suitable extra-European location for a government in exile, that was not under the UK's thumb. If France can pull off a second Dunkirk from Marseilles, Africa will not be that attractive to Germany and Italy, unless Hitler is willing to wait on Operation Barbarossa.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by adm

This makes for a very different WW I part of Germany's willingness to roll the dice in 1914 was Germany's larger population. With a large African population to draw on, Germany may fall to France by 1917. Czarist Russia may survive this war.

In WWII I would expect a France with more willingness to fight on as well, France really did not have a suitable extra-European location for a government in exile, that was not under the UK's thumb. If France can pull off a second Dunkirk from Marseilles, Africa will not be that attractive to Germany and Italy, unless Hitler is willing to wait on Operation Barbarossa.

I admit I fudged WWI, let's say that African France wasn't ready or able to contribute in the 1914-1919 period. As to the rest, I was simply revving up the Africa campaign for the sake of drama.

[Astromancer]

This is less a developed world than a detail that can be dropped into many early 21st century Earths and taken in multiple directions.

Large sections of Siberia were once claimed by the Manchu Emperors of China. Russia seized these areas in a manner that exceeded their outrageous levels of high-handedness. Of late, in our world, China has hinted they want their land and resources back.

This could go in several ways. Deepen the collapse of the USSR in the 1990s or introduce cheap alternate energy sources so that Russia can't ride an oil boom and China might see an easy path to regain stolen lands. Similarly, an unstable China might use a crusade to take back stolen lands as a means to renew national unity. Either way, a Sino-Russian war would be a massive thing and would radically alter and shake the world.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

Some time ago on another thread, I posted a description of Urfult-1, and introduced the "Urfult" designation for a world damaged by Homeline action. Urfult-1 was reduced to post-apocalyptic ruin by Homeline terrorists triggering a nuclear war.

Urfult-2, on the other hand, was damaged by accident.

Ten years ago, Urfult-2 was a Echo parallel - Echo-163, at the time at Local year 1854. The only visitors at the time were sociology students examining the pre-Civil-War United States and pre-Meiji Japan.

One of the students, thanks to lax security, brought some books for light reading and, through simple laziness, accidentally left one book behind. The book was found by a local, who read it and was inspired by it.

What the reader thought of the book initially is unknown, but when historical events in the book played out, he obviously began to take the book seriously. All of it.

The book was Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.

Nothing was really noticed until Local year 1862, when the timeline shifted up a Quantum (from 6 to 7). When the timeline was examined, it was discovered that a number of Confederate politicians had been assassinated by what appeared to be each other, the Confederacy was under martial law and ruled by a junta of Southern generals, John Wilkes Booth had vanished, President Lincoln's son William did not die from typhoid, and the Emancipation Proclaimation had been made a year early. While the American Civil War was continuing, the end was in sight and the Confederacy was in chaos.

Deeper investigations revealed a series of articles published in various newspapers in 1857-58, written by an anonymous author calling himself "A Frightened Man". These articles insisted that the slave-owners of the American South were vampires, raising slaves to farm for blood, and that they were plotting to create their own nation where all living men would be enslaved by undead monsters. Various details and statements made in these articles pointed to the novel. Events that have since taken place since then -apparently predicted by "A Frightened man" with uncanny accuracy - have convinced at least a small lunatic fringe of conspiracy theorists.

More investigating uncovered a secret society called The Dawn. This group is apparently behind the assassinations that destabilized the Confederacy. They seem to be led either by "A Frightened Man" or a disciple, and they are throughly convinced of the existence of a secret culture of vampires ruling the American South.

The Dawn has a habit of murdering public figures mentioned in the novel as vampire supporters or minions, as well as the more vocal sort of Southron bigot (in the process they have killed off many of the early leaders to of Ku Klux Klan, killing the KKK before it could be born). They also secretly protect members of the American government, and it is possible that their interference had somehow saved William Lincoln's life, although the exact details are sketchy.

Where this will lead in the future is up in the air, as not even the most determined cliodynamicist is willing to predict the results of the behavior of a secret 19th-century cult of assassins who get their guidance from a work of 21st-century horror literature.

The sociologist who, as a young student, accidentally dropped the book, was pilloried in Homeline's press and was forced to resign from his teaching position in disgrace. Infinity reviewed all of it's security procedures for visiting researchers to inhabited timelines. And historians got more fuel for the arguments over historical butterfly effects.

[Astromancer]

Kwel! Although Lincoln being humiliated and driven from public life would be more likely as a result of that book being left behind.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Kwel! Although Lincoln being humiliated and driven from public life would be more likely as a result of that book being left behind.

If the book were publicly disseminated, sure. It's not, though, just a few concepts from the book. The book itself is in the possession of loonies who think it's some sort of Holy Writ, a warning from some Higher Power.

The only locals who know of the book's existence are the inner circle of The Dawn. If they have their way it won't be released until Saint Lincoln has Passed On and the "Vampire Menace" is eliminated.

[Astromancer]

This world lacks a designation just yet, though something relating to Centrum interference is likely. In late autumn 1864, Robert E. Lee and several other leaders of the Confederacy were assassinated by Southern Fire-Eaters (die hard CSA fanatics) determined to avenge what they saw as accommodationism. Lincoln still got the 13th Amendment through and a 14th amendment that included all the functions of the 15th amendment as well as labor/union rights and limits on corporations claiming full human rights. The problem was that the CSA wouldn't quit.

There was simply no one in charge who could authoritatively surrender the South. Most Southerners were ready to quit, the CSA had long since lost the respect of the common people (it took long campaigns to change people's minds about the CSA in later generations). The problem was that there were enough die-hards to maintain a constant guerrilla war for decades.

The USA is still racked by terrorism in the year 1895. Democracy is a sick joke in most European political circles. Much of the massive late-19th century immigration to America never happened. Security concerns and economic collapse caused by endless terrorist campaigns is withering democracy.

Centrum is proud of their achievement in this Q7 world. Certain Homeline agents are working to beat the Fire-Eater Terrorists and renew democracy, but it's a hard slog.