New Reality Seeds

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

In Inca-5, the Black Plague mutated during its first appearance in West Asia in 1347 and the result was the incidence of the pneumonia plague increased to 100% among those infected by the West Asian strain. With a 90% contagion rate and a 90% mortality rate, West Asia, North Africa, and Europe suffered an 81% population decline. The mutated Black Plague spread into the majority of mainland Africa and Asia, depopulation the three continents.

It is now 1611, and Japan is the only major nation in the Old World that survived without infection, primarily due to their ships being banned from China during the time the plague depopulation East Asia. The Japanese have forbidden trade with the outside world in order to protect themselves from the mutated Black Plague. The Japanese know that they have been lucky, but they understand that they need to be vigilant to avoid mass death. The rest of the Old World maintains a population of 50 million people, kept in check by regular outbreaks of the mutated Black Plague.

In the New World, they are blithely unaware of the mutated Black Plague. The Inca have evolved into a expansionistic mercantile society, and they have successfully expanded their Empire to include the Mayan states of Central America. Incan troops battle Aztec troops every year, with the Aztecs losing two battles for every one they win. The Aztec client states are negotiating their surrender to the Inca, who are quite willing to let them govern their own affairs in exchange for trade and a modest tribute.

I'm skeptical. It's hard enough for an infectious disease to get to that level of lethality against anyone except people who are on the brink of starvation. To maintain it for centuries when evolution would pressure both disease and recipient to become more commensal would require outside intervention. It wouldn't help that rats and humans are biologically pretty similar so that any disease that lethal to humans is going to take a heavy toll on the rats as well.

[AlexanderHowl]

Pneumonic Plague has an untreated mortality rate of 100%, so 90% mortality is being slightly generous (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumonic_plague).

[Astromancer]

Byzantium missed a chance to secure it's eastern borders when Irene of Athen's sonConstantine VI turned out not to be able to take initiative. Part of this was his being raised by his mother and her allies to be passive and obedient, much was simply a character flaw.

Still, there was a real chance to gain stable borders for the Empire or even take back Palestine. Although Harun al Rashid ruled over a period of amazing prosperity, he wasn't himself all that impressive. And his generals were political appointments. Had Constantine VI been decisive he could have moved the border back to a defensible line and even kept his mother out of the government.

On this Q4 parallel, Constantine was decisive. He soon knew he wasn't a general, but could appoint generals and took no guff from his mother about their theology. (Irene trusted only Inconophile Eunuchs with high office). Constantine's policy didn't remove the threats to Byzantium, but he made them more manageable for a while.

It is now the year 1021, Constantine VI's great-grandson Constantine IX rules a strong Byzantium and has made a marriage alliance with the Bulgars. The Patriarch, a close relative of Constantine's first wife (died in childbirth and the child died too) is bitter. He wanted Constantine to marry his sister-in-law so that members of his family would hold the throne. Meanwhile, the Caliphate is wondering what a Byzantine-Bulgarian alliance might mean to their security.

Homeline's main question is "Why is the Cabal so active in this world?"

Further fun. Radical Greek Nationalists are flocking to this parallel. Why?

[AlexanderHowl]

In Harmony-5 , the idea of war is unexceptable to the population due to the waste involved. Instead, conflicts between groups have been solved through paired duels (a female duel and a male duel) after the terms of the duel and the terms of peace have been negotiated. If one side wins both duels, the other side agrees to their terms of peace. If there is a mixed result, both sides withdraw and will not try again until a year and a day has passed. The threat of war with every other neighboring nation makes every side keep to their agreements.

[PTTG]

So how often do people renege on the treaties, demanding the enforcement wars?

[AlexanderHowl]

Not often since the Egyptians first started keeping records in 3200 BC. When nations violate the peace, the nation is destroyed, their temples are looted and their gods forgotten, their histories and their records are burned, their territories and their people are divided between their neighbors, and their names are removed from the histories of their neighbors, simply replaced by a number that represents their place in the list of infamy for the region. For example, Rome does not exist in the histories of Harmony-5, it is just referred to as '13' or the Thirteenth Violator of the Peace of Europe, and it went extinct after it violated the Peace of Europe with the Rape of the Sabine Women in the 8th century BC.

[TGLS]

Or how often do non-state actors use violence?

[AlexanderHowl]

Violence is just as common in our world, it is war that is forbidden. Most nations have well trained armies, with equal numbers of men and women, in order to produce the best duelists possible from their population (and to benefit from enforcement wars). Quality, not quantity, is the focus though, with soldiers spending decades perfecting their combat skills through sparring against each other, just in case they are called to defend their nation's honor.

Duels are to the death. A duelist who wins becomes a celebrated hero of the victorious and usually retires to train future duelists. A duelist who loses usually dies and receives a hero's funeral by the victorious nation as a sign of respect.

[PTTG]

This sounds like a fabulous background for a character. Might be a Jinn worldline where the wish-granter was fairly generous.

[TGLS]

Then here's the trick. Would be imperialists send arms to local insurgents to build influence in a region. Ostensibly non-starter actors receive support from states that quietly oppose the others. Terror is used to pressure states from going ahead with duels.

The duelling system has other flaws. If one side refuses to negotiate at all, say because they consider the matter to be purely internal, what happens then?