MotF 132: Deus Vult

[Upvoteanthology]

Deus Vult

The Challenge
Make a map showing an alternate crusade, of any religion.

The Restrictions
There are no restrictions on when your PoD or map may be set. Fantasy, sci-fi, and future maps are allowed, but blatantly implausible (ASB) maps are not.

If you're not sure whether your idea meets the criteria of this challenge, please feel free to PM me.

Please try to keep images posted in this thread a reasonable size - feel free to post a smaller version of your image and provide link to a full-size version if you want to.

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The entry period for this round shall end when the voting thread is posted on Sunday the 28th of February.

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THIS THREAD IS FOR ENTRIES ONLY.

Any discussion must take place in the main thread. If you post anything other than a map entry (or a description accompanying a map entry) in this thread then you will be asked to delete the post. If you refuse to delete the post, post something that is clearly disruptive or malicious, or post spam then you may be disqualified from entering in this round of MotF and you may be reported to the board's moderators.

Remember to vote on the previous round of MotF!​

 

[MrL567]

King of Spain yet Emperor of Africa

“The Spaniards are remarkable in their fervor. For the first time in millennia, the people of North Africa will see the light of Jesus Christ. Praise the Kings of Spain, for they have done what others have found impossible, retake the old lands of Africa!” Pope Julius II​

The Spanish focus there efforts more on Africa instead of the New World, eventually conquering the majority of the North African Coast. Meanwhile the Portuguese and other powers have more focus in the Americas due to more limited Spanish presence.

 

[Locheil]

(tried a new method of making maps, feedback on whether this is worse or the same level of bad would be appreciated )

(The big difference here, is that when the Mongols invaded they didn't run over the top of small Russian city states, they hit the brick wall of a highly organised set of Roman Legions. This driving back meant that the Mongols were unable to bring gunpowder into Europe until much, much later than OTL. This meant, for one thing, that technology has had a slowed pace. The Roman Empire have only just adapted inaccurate powder cannons bought from the Shang Dynasty in China, and while the Mongol and Persian empires have used cannons for slightly longer, rifles and the like are still a long way off. This has had the effect of slowing the rate of colonization in Novaterrum. Furthermore, a notion that Novaterrum was "pure" means that very many less Old World diseases have reached the New, as those ill stayed away to avoid "corrupting" the New World. This means that the Great Dying, was a great deal less Great, and natives still make up over half the population of Novaterrum.

KEY

Warm colors, i.e. yellow, orange, red. = Roman Capitoline Colony

Cold colors, i.e. green, blue, purple, = Native Territories.

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S.P.Q.N - Formed as a republic by one of the many, many splinter groups of the New Senate, the Senatus Populusque Novaterrum is nominally loyal to the Emperor and Senate, but enjoys a great deal of autonomy.

Mithrasia - Oh look, if it isn't everybody's favourite military cultists.

Mamertinia - The Emperor of Mamertinia claims descent from the Captain of the Mamertines, the mercenary group who began the Punic Wars.

Jovia - A union of the original states set up by the original Capitoline migration. They've lost the coast to what they consider the Roman "establishment". Almost constantly at war with the Shawnee.


Algonquia - Would like very much to be left alone, thank you.

Mohauqia - The Mohawk were convinced to separate from the Haudenosee due to Jovian machinations. The Jovian Senate began to immediately regret this, as they found themselves unable to control the unchecked expansion of the new Mohawk state.

Haudenosia - Hassled constantly by Roman settlers told to "Trek Northwest Fratrem" and by Mohawk raiders, the Four and a Bit Nations have certainly seen better days.

Eria - Even the High Chief of Eria is mystified as to how his slightly boring country came to be.

Lenapia - Less an actual country and more a dumping ground for non-latinised coastal natives.

Shaunia - Shown here is the iceberg-like tip of the Shawnee's tottering multicultural empire that expands to the Gulf of Novamedditerranea and the Mare Pelagia (Pacific Ocean).

Cherokia - In contrast, that is pretty much the entirety of the Cherokee's fast decaying state. The true Cherokee homelands are now a constituent part of Shaunia, meaning that the Cherokian state is feeling somewhat embarassed and disenfranchised.

BACKSTORY IN THE NEXT POST

 

[Locheil]

Historia Sancti Colonias (Or, The History of the Holy Colonies)

After his father's death at the hands of Pompey the Great for his part in Lepidus' uprising, Marcus Junius Brutus (the Younger) was adopted by his uncle.

Or at least, thats how it should have gone. But a mysterious fever swept through Rome, taking away poor Uncle Quintus and sending Brutus, and his mother and siblings, into relative poverty.

This event cause Brutus to blame his father, and he came to value loyalty above all other values.

This meant that, when Gaius Longinus came to him with his plan for betrayal, instead of agreeing he informed Caesar, who was spurred to action.

Within the week the betrayers were dead, and the Empire secure. The Ides of March passed forever into history as the date when, apart from his compatriots, Gaius Longinus gave an impassioned speech to the populace of Rome before his execution. He pleaded with the Romans to rise up and destroy Caesar. But it was far too late. Caesar was too popular and too powerful. His loyal compatriot was rewarded well: he was named Caesar's heir.

And as such, the foundation of the mighty Bruto-Caesarian dynasty formed. This mightiest of families ruled the Roman Empire with a marble fist for nearly 16 centuries, a record unsurpassed by any ruling family in all the world. But of course, all good things must come to an end. In Anno MDCXLIV (ITTL 1644) the ironically named Romulus Gaius Brutus Caesar died heirless, and no family member remained. The following civil war was brief and brutal, between the New Senate, who wished a return to their idealized days of democracy, the Scipios , the greatest of the remaining patrician families, and most importantly of all, the Capitolines, a sect of fundamentalists who worshipped Minerva, Juno and Jupiter above all else. The New Senate eventually reached an agreement with the Scipios, to share power amongst themselves. However the raging of the Capitolines had transcended their religious goals and had degraded simply into looting and burning and raping and really creepy praying.

So, the High Priest of the Capitolium, (who had created the Capitolines to helop him seize power, but was now worried they'd pick him for their next holy burning) declared he'd had a vision: there was new land, to the west across the Mare Atlanticum. Holy Land, pure land, where the Consentes Dei might be found.

Almost as one, the Capitolines packed up and went west, across the sea. Rome then promptly decided to forget about them and focus on the big problems, like Persia (again) and those bloody Mongols.

Over in the newly christened Novaterrum, a near half century of politics, angry natives, war, gold rushes, and at least one military conspiracy occurred at a rapid pace. Now, in Anno MMDC (1700), war is brewing. All over the place actually.

(I have just noticed the absurd size of that map IGNORE THE WHITE SPACES AND POOR DRAWING. PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN)

 

[Upvoteanthology]

PoD: The Fourth Crusade goes even worse than OTL, allowing Constantinople to fall to Muslim invaders months afterwards.​

After the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders, the unstable Latin Empire was founded as a last resort. However, it quickly fell to the hungry Rums, who killed the Emperor to assure their succession to the Latin throne. After the fall of Constantinople in the 1300’s, they quickly advanced to take over Greece, and then moved north to fight the Golden Horde, Bulgaria, and Austria. Having centralized their power beyond that of the smaller countries, the Rums managed to quickly expand into Central Europe. In 1485, Austria and its allies of Bavaria and Venice fell to the Muslim alliance. The Pope called for another crusade, but it was much too late. The armies of many Papal allies had been turned against them, and the subjugation of Christianity was at hand. The Spanish quickly focused on the Reconquista, making sure the Rums wouldn’t take any of their precious Iberian Peninsula. It was reminiscent of the eighth century, and essentially moved Europe into a second Dark Age. The Rums and its new puppets of Venice and Sicily fought a valiant war against the Papal States, a war which they eventually won in 1502.

A while after the conquest of the Christian church, a French explorer stumbled upon the continent of Alpin-rouge (OTL Central America/Caribbean). As the French were at war with the Muslims at the time (Eventually ending with the conquest of Avignon and most of Occitania), a mass exile to the former Aztec empire ensued. From 1560 to 1600, a large influx of European settlers from all walks of life moved into the region, many desperately getting jobs to convert the populous. The three allied cities of Tenochtitlan were taken over by a French-English-Italian alliance, with soldiers from Moravia and even Poland assisting with the conquest. With their homelands gone, the Europeans united together to form a new empire, which they named Zephyrus (After the Roman name for the southeastern wind). The church in exile founded new cities to base their Christian ideals off of, while much of Europe moved from their home continent to Alpin-rouge. The Spanish were tasked with taking down the Inca and the Mapuche, while the Zephyrussians worked to take down the Aztecs. The Rums eventually colonized Mustarshida, their name for OTL North America east of the Mississippi.

However, there was one group who was not too happy with this exodus; the natives. While much of the former Aztec empire was converted to Christianity, the believers in the Aztec religion still existed on the fringes. In a strange showing of unity between the Aztec people, a crusade was called against the Christians. They quickly mobilized an Aztec army to take down Tenochtitlan, and assassinated the Zephyrussian emperor, along with a few high-ranked Christian political figures. Soon enough, the empire was fractured, dividing into two factions. There was the official continuation of Zephyrus, belonging to the French settlers in Tlacocum (the Latin name for the area around Tenochtitlan) and New Carcassonne, and the “Union of the Church” in Avignon and New Latium. The Aztec crusader states, founded in majorly Christian regions, got along okay with the “Restored Aztec Empire”, the new major power in the area. The states remained fractured for decades, some dominating over others. By 1675, the major powers were the Restored Aztec Empire, the Tlacocum Remnant of Zephyrus, and the majorly-French (but Aztec-run) Yancuictlan. Eventually, the Aztecs would be pushed out for good, but they had the upper hand for a long while.

Full Map Here