Map Thread XIV

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B_Munro

WIP further along.

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Beedok

Beedok

Can't figure out how to do higher quality, so in two parts instead.
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The position is almost all done, but that colour scheme... going to need a lot of work for clarity's sake.
 
Upvoteanthology

Upvoteanthology

Donor
A cover of a GURPS scenario I quickly made. :D Pretty ASB, but hopefully still enjoyable!

Upvoteanthology said:
"Alexander’s empire survived his death on several other parallel Earths. On Iskander-1 (Q4, current year 1260), Alexander lived another 20 years and passed the crown on to his son Alexander IV. The TL4 Third Macedonian Empire rules from Kashmir to Venice under a decadent Buddhist Turkish dynasty; its main rivals are the Novgorodi city-states of the Baltic, a militant Hindu kingdom in Bengal, and Franco-Saxon Gaul."

Iksander-1
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From the highlands of Bhod to the Alps, the Buddhist religion penetrates into culture and lifestyle. After the death of Alexander III in 303 BC, he was peacefully followed by his heir to the throne, Alexander IV, who kept up his father's expansionist outlook. He finished the conquests of Rome his father started in the 310's, and solidified rule in Persia and India. Puppet dynasties were set up in Carthage, Persia, and Armenia, as Alexander IV had goals of keeping the empire intact for a long time. Decades passed, and Macedon appointed Greek vassals to lead parts of India and Parthia, even giving them the right to expand their own little provinces individually of one another. The system went well, especially as the line of succession became murky and unclear in the 100's BC, but it began to go awry when the Indian provincial lords converted to Buddhism, trying to blend in with the native culture. Religion, one of the main ways the Macedonian Empire held itself together, began to fall apart. The Buddhists began to revolt along with their governors, trying to fight their way through Persia and Babylonia into Macedonia itself. Once the Indian rebel army reached Cappadocia, however, it was already much too late for Macedon. The Achaeans seceded, along with Lydia and Rome, collapsing the remainder of the empire. By 65 BC, what once was the Alexandrian Empire became 24 squabbling kingdoms.

In the first century AD (not that there ever was a Jesus here), the Buddhist militias spread their religious influence into Persia and Babylonia. It was slow at first, but after several centuries of missionary after missionary, groups began to convert. Indian culture was common to see in the Middle East, especially with some sort of Greek influence. The Bhadrapala Dynasty of India stretched from the Indus to the Euphrates in the 300's, guaranteeing the preservation of the Buddhist religion in the Middle East for a long while. Meanwhile, in Europe, things went from bad to worse. Petty fights over religion were common, keeping any Celtic or Germanic tribes from uniting. The Romans built a brief empire in Hispania and the Alps, only to lose it a few years later. The Illyrian League was arguably the strongest power in Europe in the 400's, and they were small in comparison to the Macedonians. The King of Armenia founded some settlements in Dacia and Thrace, even establishing some proper footholds by 450. Even so, there was nothing noteworthy whatsoever, making Europe something of a backwater. However, in the 520's, a Greek scholar named Dimachus set out to reestablish the Macedonian Empire, using the unstable kingdoms as fodder for his slow ascent. After unifying Epirus, he moved into Pella, slowly but surely expanding out of Greece and into the rest of Europe. He took over Syracuse, Athens, and parts of Anatolia, before his pupils teamed up to take Sparta, Pergamon, and Tyre. The Second Macedonian Empire, reaching its peak in the 600's, managed to reestablish Greek culture in Anatolia and the Levant, while also giving it more exposure to the Buddhist religion. After the scholars saw the merits of Buddhism, some began to bring it back to Greece. This ultimately lead to the fall of the empire once more, as the Greeks began to see that the only way to hold Persia and India was to fully convert to the religion the foreigners practiced...

Enter the Turks. They hailed from the steppes of Central Asia, usually absorbing the culture or religion of whatever land they conquered next. After keeping their empire in the north for centuries, they were forced to migrate south after the Nirrun ran them out of their regular hunting grounds. Some began to move west, others moved south into Kashmir. Eventually, both groups rounded the Caspian Sea, assimilating with the Anatolian Greeks and Persians. Most were Buddhist, a religion the more educated Turks had practiced for a while already. Some of the nomadic groups continued to move through Anatolia, welcoming the more temperate environment. Most Buddhists had avoided Anatolia since the rise of the Second Macedonian Empire, as they knew whatever Hellenic kingdoms remained there would execute them before they could do anything. However, the Turks, not staying in any one place for too long, were able to spread the principals of Buddhism without being caught. Many began to purposefully do this, as an effort to get to the top of the social ladder by being the ones to destabilize the elite. For those in the smaller dukedoms, it worked like a charm, as the populous revolted against the corrupt kings who called themselves Macedonian. They continued to spread their power until they unified into something of a single polity, moving into Thrace and Greece. Many began to educate themselves like Dimachus did centuries before, and one of the Turkish chiefdoms proclaimed the Third Macedonian Empire, taking power for themselves. Being Buddhist, they were able to avoid most of the pitfalls of religious fallout. The first two empires had practiced the Greek religion, and were destabilized by Buddhists challenging the beliefs of the kings. This time, they had the Buddhists in Mesopotamia to help them conquer any Greek rebels (as there were many). By 1100, the new dynasty was decadent and sprawling, with more and more of Europe slowly falling under the boot that was the Third Macedonian Empire (not that it was very Macedonian anymore).

By 1260, there are three major competitors to the Empire; there are the Alathians in Gaul, a bunch of pagan Franco-Saxons. After them, there's the League of Holmgardr, a group of *Novgorodi city-states allied against the Macedonians. Then, in the east, there's the Kingdom of Gangaridda, the major Hindu power with a vendetta against Buddhist India. Will the three powers be able to surround and collapse the non-Buddhist regions of Macedonia, or will the Turks prevail as they did against the principalities two hundred years earlier?
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Miranda Brawner

Miranda Brawner

That looks great, Becca! I like ancient POD scenarios a lot, and I especially enjoyed the comment about the Macedonians' historical fanboy stage. It sounds like they read so much alternate history that they tried to make it real.
 
Upvoteanthology

Upvoteanthology

Donor
Miranda Brawner said:
That looks great, Becca! I like ancient POD scenarios a lot, and I especially enjoyed the comment about the Macedonians' historical fanboy stage. It sounds like they read so much alternate history that they tried to make it real.
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Thanks so much! :D I've been feeling bad about not putting out many maps lately, so you can expect more Worlda stuff from me in the future!
 

Goliath

Upvoteanthology said:
A cover of a GURPS scenario I quickly made. :D Pretty ASB, but hopefully still enjoyable!
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This is really awesome! I like a lot of it- especially the borders within the Alexandrian Empire and the *Novgorodian League. I feel like China's been a bit wanked from the original scenario though, or am I wrong?

Blind said:
We need more ISOT maps!!!:'(
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:extremelyhappy:

While we wait for Beedok and JCW3, here's some more ISOTs.

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For the World घ (Gha), there's only one state- Ghana (घाना- 'Ghaanaa') - ISOTed to a world by itself. Here's the world 110 years after the ISOT. Numbers of Language-Speakers are exclusive to Native Speakers- there's about 420 million people living in the world now.

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Of all the states of Sub-Saharan Africa, barring perhaps South Africa, Ghana was the best prepared to be ISOTed into a world on its own. Little to no existing violent causes (either ethnic or religious) fairly stable Democratic institutions, agriculture that could provide for the economy, but also an economy that was not wholly dependent on agriculture.
That is not to say that everything went well. Rather, it is to say that things did not become the apocalyptic nightmare that they might've if, instead, South Sudan was ISOTed. Farmers and rural communities quickly began moving outwards, settling new areas, and by 2126 West Africa is rather densely populated- having avoided any sort of major famine or disease and growing rather exponentially*.
Living standards have remained stagnant, or declined; quite a lot of that population is illiterate, and though cell phones are somewhat widespread they aren't that reliable. TVs are the ultra-luxuries that they were in the 70s (no, not the 70s of the U.S., but the 70s of Africa), and mass media has somewhat less 'mass.' Nevertheless, though sometimes corrupt, the various Agricultural Republics of the interior, and the better-off naval trading City-States of the Coasts are all fairly good in terms of rule of law and allowances for genuine multi-party elections (sure, family dynasties may control some parties, but the blatantly nepotistic ones lose coalition allies and fall from grace). Bustling slums and shanty-towns abound, but they are filled with surprisingly innovative and ingenious ideas that may prove to benefit societies.
One thing that has become particularly contentious is the issue of language. English (now having very much become both the English of Accra and the Language of Accra) was often imposed on the interior. A language of elite, the educated, the Socialists, and the Anglican and Catholic Churches, it was often billed as the 'Anti-Tribal' language. Yet by now, English-speakers (more often Native Speakers) are their own tribe. The first settlers of Brazil were very mixed from all over, and so chose English as a common tongue, but Akan speakers have since outnumbered English ones in the New World.
English was replaced in the last 60 years as the language of business and education, by a standardized register of the Akan/Ashanti/Twi languages (much like OTL China, current 'Pan-Ashanti/Pan-Akan' Nationalists wish to treat a group of related languages as mere dialects of a single one). The Akan homeland has become the Western-most part of Africa (Liberia/Sierra Leon), but its speakers extend far to the east amidst very different languages, and to the more recently settled shores of Brazil.
Other Kwa languages (a branch of Niger-Congo) commonly spoken include the Ewe and the Dangme. The Ewe in recent years formed the largest counter-balance to Akan power (though still only numbering at about a fourth of the Akan). The Dangme, on the other hand, have no independent state, but in this era of nationalism (or 'tribalism') are becoming increasingly violent in their demands for an independent homeland. Settlement of new areas has so far mainly occurred when population exceeds food supply, but while some Dangme Nationalists advocate a violent overthrow of their Akan/English/Ewe rulers, others are suggesting that the Dangme migrate en mass to a new land they can call their own.
More culturally different (and more religiously mixed, since these groups include not just Christians and animists, but also Muslims) are the speakers of Gur languages (another branch of Niger-Congo- these branches are as different as Romance and Germanic languages). The Dagbani and the Mamprusi they rule over trade up and down the Niger River. As their populations grow, due to the natural wall that is the Sahara, and ideology that is nationalism, many are seeing the need for a little living space to the south.
As technology has ensured high growth rates, though not necessarily happy living standards, the peaceful and democratic state that West Africa has been in may be ending. The old, fairly Liberal Elite, ruling in aristocratic republics with borders that totally disregard language, won't go down without a fight, and the less powerful but still influential Churches and Socialists are loosely united with them (at least against the Nationalists that is). But much like Europe in the 19th century, Artists, Activists, and now even Politicians are clamoring for new 'Nations' on linguistic and tribal lines. In a few of the backwaters of the Akan areas have seen Anti-foreigner violence already. This next century is set to be rather explosive.


*In OTL, Kenya quadrupled in 50 years. In this world, the human population quadrupled in the same amount of time, and then repeated that feat again in the next 50 years.

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That wasn't bleak enough, so have another, more bleak ISOT.

The world आ ('aa', like in the first vowel in 'father') has Armenia (आर्मीनिया- 'Aarmeeniyaa'), Ireland (आयरलैण्ड- 'Aayarlaend'), and Iceland (आइसलैण्ड- 'Aaislaend').
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700 years after the initial ISOT, the world has a bit of a medieval-punk feel to it. In the early days after the ISOT, Ireland and Iceland went through some dark times, with a Far-Right Wing populist group attempting to quell famines by killing the starving, and ultimately deciding to invade somewhat more prosperous Iceland to provide a national distraction. Armenia, totally isolated and unaware of the other's existence collapsed into civil war. Just before Ireland fell to civil war as well, a colony of Americans, ethnic minorities, and others unhappy with the state of things but still able to afford the trip was founded in Delaware. Within a century, many historical records were lost, population levels collapsed, and things had gone positively backwards.
Things have gotten better. A world where the printing press, radio machines, and some steam engines still exist is definitely better without gunpowder or nuclear weapons. And despite the fact that global literacy is down to 50%, women are treated better than they were in our medieval world, germ theory is still around (even if the Scientific Method appears truly dead), and many places are fairly secular, or at least religiously tolerant. World population is a measly 70 million.
Two centuries ago, when Irish states (speaking a sort of Celticized English) on the rim of Europe felt a bit ambitious, they followed the Icelandic traders to the west, to the continent that was dimly remembered to exist. Finding American states even more backward than themselves (lacking horses, since those of the original colonists went extinct, for instance) they started pulling several conquistadors. Though hardly literate and very poor in their engineering abilities, the New Worlders had been good enough as farming land to keep their population high, and without diseases from the old world many of them simply escaped and migrated deeper into the continent. Today, the Merkan Union stands as a unification of hundreds of 'native' tribes resenting rule over their cousins by Irish Republican Lords to the East. The Merkan has begun to catch up in some to the Irish and Icelanders, and has been able to resist invasions by the Free League of Kanta, but it has a long way to go.
The Old World has somewhat lost interest in the New- there's hardly any new resources worth trading that are valuable in this divergent Earth. Dominating trade instead, is the connection from the Irish lands to those of the Armenians, who were firmly contact about three hundred years after the event. Even today, Gibraltar and the Bosporus (called Bospros) still hold preeminent places as trading straits between the Irish and the Armenians. Gibraltar has a Republic whose President for Life is in many ways an Absolute Autocrat, but at least he knows what he's doing. Bospros is a rather anarchic confederation of statelets, each seeking their own interest.
The Irish Bishops in Dublin, Rome, and Jerusalem may all debate on the holiest spot in Christendom, but the majority of the world is some form of secularized Christian. The Armenians may be a tad more into Fire and Brimstone, but that's only because the largest Armenian settler state, Aroyerkiria, was founded by Hetanist Pagans. Not really historically accurate Pagan revivalists to begin with, Hetanism has evolved over the centuries and may nowadays look like a cross between Zoroastrianism and Scientology in its beliefs and aesthetics. The Hetanist monarchy, much to the annoyance of some of the more radical priests, is very very tolerant of Christians though- with roughly 50% of the population still being Christian, many Churches are state-funded. Still, the Monarchs are slowly trying to push for Hetanists to get the best settlement lots as new areas are expanded to in the east, and a tax on conquered Christians in OTL Kuwait hasn't gone down well. For now, Aroyerkiria is an almost mythical land in the East, a counter-balance to the Western one of Merka.

The islands of Ireland and Iceland, and mountainous Armenia, are no longer great powers. They are poorer backwaters, more culturally significant than anything else.
 
Upvoteanthology

Upvoteanthology

Donor
Goliath said:
This is really awesome! I like a lot of it- especially the borders within the Alexandrian Empire and the *Novgorodian League. I feel like China's been a bit wanked from the original scenario though, or am I wrong?
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Sadly enough, I can't confirm or deny that statement. :/ I don't actually have the spare change to get any of the GURPS scenarios, so I had to go off the three line summary I was given at the top of my description. I'm planning to do Britannia-7 next, but I don't know how I'm going to access anything more than the summary I currently have.
 

B_Munro

Upvoteanthology said:
Sadly enough, I can't confirm or deny that statement. :/ I don't actually have the spare change to get any of the GURPS scenarios, so I had to go off the three line summary I was given at the top of my description. I'm planning to do Britannia-7 next, but I don't know how I'm going to access anything more than the summary I currently have.
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I have a copy of GURPS Infinite Worlds.

"On Britannica-7 (Q4, local year 1141) Boadicea threw off Roman rule in 60 AD and established a matriarchal Celtic tribal union, Brittia, that spread into Ireland and Scotland over the next centuries. An Irish cultural-technological upsurge in the sixth through eighth centuries extended Brittia across the North Atlantic and its influence deep into Europe: it has alternated holy wars and very profitable intellectual exchange (reaching TL4 [1]) with the Saracen Caliphate in Rome for the last 200 years."

So, not much there either.

(Query about your map: since the Gallo-Saxons and presumably the Scandinavians and assorted others (Germans? Novgorodians?) are also pagans, how does the King of north *Britain and Ireland rate "king of the Pagans" status? Is he like a Pagan Pope or something? :) )

[1] Essentially late-medieval-early Modern, I think, before the scientific revolution has started.
 

Jcw3

Banned
Blind said:
We need more ISOT maps!!!:'(
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On this note, I'm sorry to announce the cancellation of my I.S.O.T. series, at least for now. I have the Russia map finished, but I don't feel like doing the write-up, and I'm managing a quest on sufficient velocity, so I likely won't finish the map series anytime soon.

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Cliff-notes- Russia following a natalist, military-dominated, expansionist state that claims all of Europe and Asia, constantly at odds with settler states. Currently bombing a German state. Guatemala and Panama have cordial relations, and are trying to keep Russia out. The Caribbean Commonwealth (St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda) are keeping the English language and the civilized British world alive. They don't count Zimbabwe as a civilized English state, since it's black and far away. Zimbabwe's doing well for itself, was remarkably lucky post I.S.O.T., and managed to keep itself together. Sri Lanka collapsed for a while, but the Sinhalese managed to kick out the minorities to various statelets in northern India, and is presently trying to settle India. Unfriendly with Russia.

Mauritius is settling Madagascar, friendly with Zimbabwe, not really talking to Russia. Cook Islands is an autonomous Russian overseas province.

Again, sorry to cancel this series on you.
 
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Upvoteanthology

Upvoteanthology

Donor
B_Munro said:
I have a copy of GURPS Infinite Worlds.

"On Britannica-7 (Q4, local year 1141) Boadicea threw off Roman rule in 60 AD and established a matriarchal Celtic tribal union, Brittia, that spread into Ireland and Scotland over the next centuries. An Irish cultural-technological upsurge in the sixth through eighth centuries extended Brittia across the North Atlantic and its influence deep into Europe: it has alternated holy wars and very profitable intellectual exchange (reaching TL4 [1]) with the Saracen Caliphate in Rome for the last 200 years."

So, not much there either.

(Query about your map: since the Gallo-Saxons and presumably the Scandinavians and assorted others (Germans? Novgorodians?) are also pagans, how does the King of north *Britain and Ireland rate "king of the Pagans" status? Is he like a Pagan Pope or something? :) )

[1] Essentially late-medieval-early Modern, I think, before the scientific revolution has started.
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Hey, thanks! :) I prefer doing the ones with earlier PoDs, if there are any more of those it'd be great if you could point me to them. From what I've seen, I might want to eventually do Jihad-1, Lucifer-6, Lenin-4, and possibly either Siva-4 or Siva-6. Which ones do you think would be the most interesting? :p

As for your question about *Uber-Scotland, it's about what you said. I'd say it's more of a self-proclaimed title than anything, but they're also one of the more powerful purely pagan countries that are uninfluenced by Buddhist principles in Europe. There's probably some sort of pope-eqsue title involved, though. :p

The TL sorting seems pretty interesting, what are the different levels of modernization?
 
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