New Reality Seeds

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

I need to both look up the story and do something with the idea.

That's probably Murray Leinster's Sidewise in Time.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by malloyd

That's probably Murray Leinster's Sidewise in Time.

You are right, it was Sidewise in Time. The year of publication was 1934. The world after the Reality Quake (let's put it in Q5 so Centrum won't just nuke them) would be interesting. A world at the start of the New Deal period that has gotten a powerful heads up about how strange the universe really is. Let's assume that FDR jumped into the New Deal just as forcefully as ever before and the shock of the Reality Quake prevents any strong resistance from cohering for a longer period.

Picture this Reality Quake world in 1939. Hitler wants to start the war, but he's heard rumors that several nations got advanced technology. He doesn't know if he wants Germany to face unknown "Wunderwaffe" in hostile hands. Hitler would do anything to find out who has what.

This world Aftershock-1 might face a Hitler that actually respects intelligence and believes that he can learn from others. Just as crazy, just as evil, and far more deadly.

[Astromancer]

Aftershock-2

The Aftershock designation is for worlds that have gone through often bizarre disasters and civilization is more or less intact. Aftershock-2 went through a series of Reality Quakes much like the events of the Murray Leinster story Sidewise in Time. Unlike the Leinster story, about 40% of the planet has been switched out for other realities. Further, although the in parallel evidence is that this was a mainly No Manna world, at present the parallel is 40% Low Manna/30% Normal Manna/30% High Manna.

When the Reality Quakes happened the local year was 1934 (as in Leinster's fiction) and the Tech Level was six. World War II did not happen in this world, Stalin, Hitler, Franco, and Mao, all disappeared from this world (giving those in the know nightmares about the innocent worlds they might have landed on).

In Russia Bukharin took over and used the NEP and greater respect for human rights to stabilize the state. Germany saw the Nazi government collapse and a restoration of the Weimar Republic only in a more socialist form. Spain's civil war is a damp squib, with the right-wing collapsing early and completely. Without backing from the Soviets or Japan's interference Chiang Kai-shek cleared out both the Communists and the more ordinary warlords in spite of the dragons that showed up at the same time. Japan and Korea were split between the 65% of those lands were flipped back into the 1700 and 1800s, and the 35% that now resembles a 1960s Tokusatsu film's optimistic view of the 21st century. It took time to bring those nations together.

Although large areas of the USA were transformed, the USA came through the crisis in a more coherent state than most large nations. Sections of the country were thrown into alternate histories, distant pasts, or futures as diverse as Star Trek and Kamandi, but the major power centers and transport network weren't brought down. FDR, who benefited from advanced medical treatments from a Chicago that came from 2250CE, took firm control of the nation.

The British and French Empires had a rougher time but they came through intact. Ireland, which became the largest area of pure High Manna on Earth, got Northern Ireland back, in the main exception to Britain's holding her Empire.The Dutch lost control of the East Indies mainly because Java and Bali were overwritten by a 21st century Majapahit that was never conquered and is a stable constitutional monarchy with a strong commitment to human rights and simply told the Dutch to leave. Portugal mainly became medieval and its empire was simply taken over by neighboring colonies.

The local year is 1985. Democratic Socialism and Absolute Monarchy are the competing ideals, with the first the clear winner. The Tech Level is 10^ and magic makes the Effective Tech Level 12^ or higher.

Homeline, Centrum, and the Cabal are deeply disturbed by a Parallel with such high magic and technology and experience of Reality Quakes. At present, the dominant view on Aftershock-2 is that any attempt at sidewise time travel, or anything similar, will bring another "Crisis of 1934." Many people want to keep it that way.

[Astromancer]

Stray thought. Aftershock-2's 1940s would be a great time to adventure especially in East Asia and the American West.

[PTTG]

60 million years ago, the development of lignin in plants allowed a massive increase in the amount of plant matter that was permanently buried, as the fibers could not be decomposed by many organisms at the time.

These buried plants became the coal and oil deposits of the modern world.

If we assume an insect or fungus found a supercharged way to decompose lignin, that could put an early end to the carboniferous. Throw in HEAVY inertia, and by the present day civilization is stalled with no access to effective hydrocarbon reserves.

[maximara]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

As written the "ETL" was meant to be seven. Still, even if Sorcerers were rare in Greek myth there were there. The Greeks also had Spirit Mediums/Shamans that dealt with the dead and had little or no public respect/status. In areas favored by the gods, forensic analysis of crime, medicine, agriculture, or the arts, the ETL is 10. Otherwise, if the area of endeavor is profitable, but not favored by the gods, the ETL is 8 for the rich and on the border between 6 and 7 for everybody else.

Magic and the favor of the gods tends to make the rich and powerful disdainful of technology. So technology is slowing down.

The problem with that idea is Niven's Law: "Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology."

Past a certain point common magic is technology.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by maximara

The problem with that idea is Niven's Law: "Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology."

Past a certain point common magic is technology.

Common Magic is technology. If all the best people, backed by the Gods, want to keep the Vulgar Plebs in their place, maybe many important and necessary magics aren't common. This world has many of the faults of both the Victorian period and the Hellenistic period. Snobbery can kill, especially when the snobs rule state, church, and society.

[Ashtagon]

Originally Posted by PTTG

60 million years ago, the development of lignin in plants allowed a massive increase in the amount of plant matter that was permanently buried, as the fibers could not be decomposed by many organisms at the time.

These buried plants became the coal and oil deposits of the modern world.

If we assume an insect or fungus found a supercharged way to decompose lignin, that could put an early end to the carboniferous. Throw in HEAVY inertia, and by the present day civilization is stalled with no access to effective hydrocarbon reserves.

OTL, the major coal deposits were formed in the carboniferous period, 360-300 million years ago. That's rather earlier than the 60 million you put down. Typo or bizarro ATL? Maybe a double-blind ATL?

[Astromancer]

Something bizarre has happened on Aftershock-4. In the year 1939, Germany disappeared. New islands, with what seems to be the same area as Germany, have appeared between Tasmania and New Zealand. Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and Czechoslovakia found themselves paced in the space Germany held and a new arm of the Baltic Sea was between them and the USSR.

The German and Austrian peoples were all transported to North America. The Americans and the Canadians received a heads up that let them take the German leadership and military into custody. FDR got an extensive list of social programs through Congress. Canada took a similar path.

It is now 1942, FDR (who is suddenly in vibrant good health) is presiding over a strong economic boom. The vast majority of the New Americans are now New Dealers. The leftover unreconstructed Nazis are bitter isolated and seeking power.

This Q6 world jumped from a No/Low manna world (80%/20%) to an 80% Normal Manna world with equal areas of Low and High Manna. Technology seems to have progressed at an accelerated rate. It's still a TL7 world, but the tech is more like the 1950s than the 1940s.

Centrum is shocked and disoriented. Homeline is just about as disoriented but they've received an offer of alliance from the Cabal. The vile and infamous Midwinter Aton proudly satanic pro-Nazi Mages, plan to take this world over. Neither the Cabal nor Homeline can allow that.

[PTTG]

Originally Posted by Ashtagon

OTL, the major coal deposits were formed in the carboniferous period, 360-300 million years ago. That's rather earlier than the 60 million you put down. Typo or bizarro ATL? Maybe a double-blind ATL?

Ooops. Maybe a research failure on when exactly the carboniferous was.