New Reality Seeds

[a humble lich]

I might add a gold rush to Terra Australis to justify a high population of settlers.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by a humble lich

I might add a gold rush to Terra Australis to justify a high population of settlers.

Solid idea. And large amounts of gold wouldn't be necessary. Historically if a native wore some gold nuggets then you start gold fever. And there would be native Australians that would have crossed over to Terra Australis. Remember, its Northernmost peninsula is where Tasmania is, just across the Tasman straits.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

And there would be native Australians that would have crossed over to Terra Australis. Remember, its Northernmost peninsula is where Tasmania is, just across the Tasman straits.

That actually could argue *against* a native Australian crossing

Admittedly the data is pretty poor, but both the genetic and linguistic evidence suggests Tasmanian populations were very different from native Australians, maybe even entirely unrelated. Humans arrived in Tasmania at a time it was connected to southern Australia during the Ice Age, so its logical to assume they walked in from there, but even if that were true it is much less clear aboriginal population of either Australia or Tasmania in the last millennia were related to the people present in either region during the Ice Age.

Either way it's not at all certain anybody ever actually crossed the Tasman straits between the sea levels rising and the arrival of Europeans. It might seem somebody must have at some point, but there's no solid evidence.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by malloyd

That actually could argue *against* a native Australian crossing

Admittedly the data is pretty poor, but both the genetic and linguistic evidence suggests Tasmanian populations were very different from native Australians, maybe even entirely unrelated. Humans arrived in Tasmania at a time it was connected to southern Australia during the Ice Age, so its logical to assume they walked in from there, but even if that were true it is much less clear aboriginal population of either Australia or Tasmania in the last millennia were related to the people present in either region during the Ice Age.

Either way it's not at all certain anybody ever actually crossed the Tasman straits between the sea levels rising and the arrival of Europeans. It might seem somebody must have at some point, but there's no solid evidence.

Well, there were people in Tasmania, so if one of these natives wore a piece of gold and a 17th-century European Fisherman saw it, BOOM! brutal gold rush.

[Astromancer]

On this Q4 world, the Pontic-Caspian Steppe is submerged. As is a large area of the central Asian steppes. It's possible to sail from the deserts of Western China to the mouth of the Danube. The shores of this arm of the sea are more temperate and lush than the equivalent areas of Homeline simply because of climatic effects of water.

The Local year is 326BCE. Alexander is building a Navy to sail to the silk lands and conquer them. Homeline wants PC agents to travel with the fleet both to study events and to discover what links the Macedonian Courts have with the Cabal.

[PTTG]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

On this Q4 world, the Pontic-Caspian Steppe is submerged. As is a large area of the central Asian steppes. It's possible to sail from the deserts of Western China to the mouth of the Danube. The shores of this arm of the sea are more temperate and lush than the equivalent areas of Homeline simply because of climatic effects of water.

The Local year is 326BCE. Alexander is building a Navy to sail to the silk lands and conquer them. Homeline wants PC agents to travel with the fleet both to study events and to discover what links the Macedonian Courts have with the Cabal.

Not unlike my idea for a sea extending from the Arctic ocean into central Eurasia.

[Astromancer]

An interesting and complex political setting could be created by having Henry II follow up on his idea of having a Patriarch of France, just as Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople had Patriarchs. The idea was to insulate France from a Papal court dominated by the Habsburgs. If Henry of France would have done it then most European monarchs, or at least those isolated from direct Habsburg domination, would likely follow suit. Which would tend to reduce the Papacy to a minor Habsburg official.

This would annoy and displease Centrum. A strong Papacy would aid in creating a strong Habsburg universal monarchy and suppress the Protestants that lead to cultural and political instability. Homeline sees different issues. Europe's religious wars could get revved way up and with a weak Papacy, long term peace in religious matters could be impossible. The Cabal sees early modern Europe as one of its most important time periods. A collapse of the Papacy and the rise of national churches would likely lead to a period of austerity that would wipe out Renaissance Occultism.

The problem with all of this is that these three groups can't work together nor would they tolerate each other's preferred next steps.

Basically, this is a mixture of diplomacy and swashbuckling in a tight space.

[fchase8]

Conspiracy, 2000

(an Infinite Worlds write-up for GURPS Conspiracy X)

Current Affairs: China begins to challenge American supremacy post-Cold War, as Europe slowly unifies.
Divergence Point: 1990s; a non-existent Paul Van Zandt does not discover parachronics.
Major Civilizations: Western (empire with rivals), Chinese (empire), Orthodox (empire), Indic (empire).
Great Powers: United States of America (representative democracy, CR3), European Union (feudal league of democracies, CR3), People’s Republic of China (dictatorship, CR5), Russian Federation (dictatorship, CR4), India (representative democracy, CR3).
Worldline Data:
TL: 7 (though advanced TL seems secretly present)
Quantum: 3 Mana Level: High
Infinite Class: Z2 Centrum Zone: Inaccessible

At first glance, this is one of the many close parallels without Paul Van Zandt or parachronics. It is the year 2000: George W. Bush and Al Gore are running to succeed Bill Clinton; Boris Yeltsin of Russia resigned, with Vladimir Putin ascending; the European Union is launching the euro; Y2K passed without a hitch.

[fchase8]

Just Because You’re Paranoid Doesn’t Mean They’re Not Out To Get You

Yet this world gives every parachronic traveler the creeps. The mana level is high, psionics works, but there are no known magicians or psychics - and both feel different. The American military-industrial complex is larger than it ever was on Homeline, and there are also many more reports of aliens, monsters, etc. over the past fifty years. Strange signals abound, indecipherable even to Infinity. Government observation and even intervention, for “national security,” is more pronounced, and confusing.

“It’s like The X-Files turned into a worldline,” one early I-Scout remarked. Indeed, the initial name was “X”, before Infinity nixed it (too ominous). Still, “Conspiracy” is a restricted timeline, with only high level I-Cops allowed to visit. Word is that even ISWAT treads lightly - the division that dare not say its name is certainly involved.

It’s not just the general paranoia. It is a high mana close parallel, without wizards, and the mana feels different. “Instead of the air we breathe, mana here is the water we drink,” said one Paralabs researcher, “Or perhaps the blood in our veins.” Magic seems to draw not from the natural world, but people, more akin to psionics, which also exists on this world, but is more variable.

Then there’s all the mysterious signals bouncing around. Early I-Scouts detected multiple encrypted frequencies, but even with Infinity’s advanced science, no one has broken them. There are hints of other tech far ahead on this world, from impossibly stealthily aircraft doing impossible maneuvers, to signs of energy weapons and even nanotech.

Officially, the history of the world is the same (until no Van Zandt), but there are a lot of alien abductions, monster sightings, and such that never happened in Homeline history. And even those that did are different - the official Roswell story is basically the same as on Homeline, but details are different, and looks a lot more like a cover-up. The strangeness all seems more prevalent in the United States and the last half-century, but there are also unique foreign myths and inexplicable archeological finds.

[fchase8]

Outtime Operations

Infinity’s initial I-Cop foray was outside of Phoenix (“Base X”), to monitor two military installations that are too large and hard to observe, in New Mexico and Nevada. However, in only a matter of weeks the agents detected that they were being observed, in all sorts of ways, from magic & psionics to TL8+ spy equipment, nanotech, even ‘men in black’ that didn’t show up in telepathic sweeps. The I-Cops fled in their conveyor, burning everything behind them.

Since then, Infinity has two smaller operations, outside the United States. One on the outskirts of Calgary (“Mulder”) monitors news feeds and other public information, including a massive amount of fringe conspiracy theory (everything from nutty chat rooms to a well-funded journal on cryptozoology). Another, in the desert of northern Mexico (“Scully”), monitors the twin American bases, and other secretive actors (from corporations to cults) - it is believed that ISWAT operates out of here. More recently, a third operation (“Skinner”) was opened in the Cotswolds of England, to research the timeline’s strange mana and psionics.

Infinity is also worried about what is going to happen to the national security apparatus if there’s a successful Al-Qaeda attack on America next year, as was averted on Homeline, but occurred on so many non-parachronic close parallels. National security measures are already quietly heightened on this world; who knows what a Department of Homeland Security could get away with here.

Thankfully, Conspiracy is on Quantum Three and inaccessible to Centrum - but that’s the same timeline as lots of other strange & dangerous worlds, from Reich-5 and Shikaku-Mon to Merlin-1 and Azoth-7. Indeed, even with hints of weird, a parallel this close should be nearer Homeline. Reality Abzu, a close 2013 parallel with lots of ancient cuneiform inscriptions and catchy pop songs, is on Quantum Five (see GURPS Horror: The Madness Dossier). But there are those in Infinity who think any non-parachronic close parallel that diverges without Van Zandt is hiding something.

Also, this world would seem tailor-made for The Cabal, its high mana making its advanced wealth ripe for plucking, but as far as Infinity can tell, no Cabal mage wants to go to. Intelligence gleamed from a low-level Cabal follower indicated that The Cabal knows Conspiracy exists, but there’s some prohibition on going there. The only other high mana worlds Infinity has seen that about are those with active gods…