Kaiphranos
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I've been enjoying the progression of these - I feel like some of these trees look a little lonely, though!
Map Thread XIX
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I've been enjoying the progression of these - I feel like some of these trees look a little lonely, though!
Alas, tis the result of trying to keep these from being too cluttered and being kind of stylised. You would not believe the number of things I tried to put on these maps that just didn't look right no matter what I did, usually because it jarred against the heavily stylised form of the islands... Best to think of these as visual landmarks and decoration for the map rather than implying Eryndros literally only has one olive tree and a trio of rosemary bushes.
Earth-120 Southern Cone in 1500
The Inca Empire was long gone. In their southern half various aymara and atacama kingdoms flourished and thrived thanks to the strong infrastructure and innovations that the incas brought centuries before, notable was the use of the wheel, bronze working and writing. It's not clear but it seems that writing was invented nearby the Titicaca, while the wheel was imported from muidcan merchants, who traded with the mayans, inventors of the american wheel.
Further south, the once first major mapuche kingdom was split in four after the death of lonko Quilapan. After a brief period of civil war, the western half decided to keep divided in three independent states sharing a common culture and language, while the eastern half expanded east into the pampas, reaching La Plata basin in 1200, were they established and founded a strong kingdom that later subdued the charruas, which formed a confederation of tribes in order to protect themselves from the mapuche invaders. North of the mapuche realm the guarani tribes banded together, heavily influenced by the aymaras and the mapuches, creating their own kingdom, fielding a strong army capable to defend their land, but most of their history they lived peacefully trading with neighboring kingdoms and tribes.
By the time the spanish conquistadors arrived, the Southen Cone was a thriving place full of bronze age kingdoms and civilizations. Writing was common in every major state and long roads connected the cities, ensuring trading between them. Massive plantations of maize, beans, quinua, mate and potatoes were more than enough to feed an evergrowing population that was calculated in 25 millions by 1500, but their advance was nothing compared to the invaders from the north.
The Inca Empire was long gone. In their southern half various aymara and atacama kingdoms flourished and thrived thanks to the strong infrastructure and innovations that the incas brought centuries before, notable was the use of the wheel, bronze working and writing. It's not clear but it seems that writing was invented nearby the Titicaca, while the wheel was imported from muidcan merchants, who traded with the mayans, inventors of the american wheel.
Further south, the once first major mapuche kingdom was split in four after the death of lonko Quilapan. After a brief period of civil war, the western half decided to keep divided in three independent states sharing a common culture and language, while the eastern half expanded east into the pampas, reaching La Plata basin in 1200, were they established and founded a strong kingdom that later subdued the charruas, which formed a confederation of tribes in order to protect themselves from the mapuche invaders. North of the mapuche realm the guarani tribes banded together, heavily influenced by the aymaras and the mapuches, creating their own kingdom, fielding a strong army capable to defend their land, but most of their history they lived peacefully trading with neighboring kingdoms and tribes.
By the time the spanish conquistadors arrived, the Southen Cone was a thriving place full of bronze age kingdoms and civilizations. Writing was common in every major state and long roads connected the cities, ensuring trading between them. Massive plantations of maize, beans, quinua, mate and potatoes were more than enough to feed an evergrowing population that was calculated in 25 millions by 1500, but their advance was nothing compared to the invaders from the north.
From my no islam timeline.
(blue: Aksum and the kingdom Of yemen)
Green the kingdom of Hejaz:
( ligth green ) establishment and expansion under Malik I : son of a tribal leader also called Malik who after the battle of Babylon saw the migration to Hejaz in the early 8th century , in 711 , he rallied his followers and more to war against the Banu taif , after some years he took the city of Taif in 718 he and his army destroyed the idol of the goddess Allāt, who was then known as the lady of Tā'if and many more idols , the quarish allied themselves with the taif , continued fighting for the next 7 years against the now king of Hejaz, allied himself with the enemies of the quarish in 725 he defeated them permently and took mecca ,he entered peacefully but violence ensued and the kabba and its idols where burnt , the king took the territory of both the taif and quarish , the consolidated for 12 years and fought a 20 year long war against the numerous tribes that once where his allies and won .
Expansion of Ya’fur and Malik III: Ya'fur father declared war against the confederacy that Malik I had beaten in 750 , but nearly beat him , but due to the riches of that Malik II gather due to expanding of a port city and the riches it gather the walls of mecca and taif proved to much for the tribesmen which allowed Ya'fur to hold them off and prepare a counter strike and he did winning numerous minor battles. Ya'fur then defeated on of the main members of the of confederacy and weekend them as whole after years of war , but he died near the end of the war his son who had accompanied him took the throne and became , Malik III finally defeated the confederacy and annexed their territory integrating or evicting their population .
Expansion of Malik V: after the great expansion the kingdom consolidated its gains and faced some rebelions it was agreed that the tribe of Dawas would be the buffer zone between the Jewish kingdom of Yemen and the Nestorian kingdom of Hejaz , still in the early 9th century the first Hejazi Yemenite war occurred with the Hejazis raiding deep in to the jewish kingdom but retreating do to the death of the king , after an aksumie invasion and the murder of the king of Yemen , the Yemenite civil war began to keep peace it was agreed that the king of Yemen would gift the buffer territory of the Dawas to Malik V in the mid-9th century.
(blue: Aksum and the kingdom Of yemen)
Green the kingdom of Hejaz:
( ligth green ) establishment and expansion under Malik I : son of a tribal leader also called Malik who after the battle of Babylon saw the migration to Hejaz in the early 8th century , in 711 , he rallied his followers and more to war against the Banu taif , after some years he took the city of Taif in 718 he and his army destroyed the idol of the goddess Allāt, who was then known as the lady of Tā'if and many more idols , the quarish allied themselves with the taif , continued fighting for the next 7 years against the now king of Hejaz, allied himself with the enemies of the quarish in 725 he defeated them permently and took mecca ,he entered peacefully but violence ensued and the kabba and its idols where burnt , the king took the territory of both the taif and quarish , the consolidated for 12 years and fought a 20 year long war against the numerous tribes that once where his allies and won .
Expansion of Ya’fur and Malik III: Ya'fur father declared war against the confederacy that Malik I had beaten in 750 , but nearly beat him , but due to the riches of that Malik II gather due to expanding of a port city and the riches it gather the walls of mecca and taif proved to much for the tribesmen which allowed Ya'fur to hold them off and prepare a counter strike and he did winning numerous minor battles. Ya'fur then defeated on of the main members of the of confederacy and weekend them as whole after years of war , but he died near the end of the war his son who had accompanied him took the throne and became , Malik III finally defeated the confederacy and annexed their territory integrating or evicting their population .
Expansion of Malik V: after the great expansion the kingdom consolidated its gains and faced some rebelions it was agreed that the tribe of Dawas would be the buffer zone between the Jewish kingdom of Yemen and the Nestorian kingdom of Hejaz , still in the early 9th century the first Hejazi Yemenite war occurred with the Hejazis raiding deep in to the jewish kingdom but retreating do to the death of the king , after an aksumie invasion and the murder of the king of Yemen , the Yemenite civil war began to keep peace it was agreed that the king of Yemen would gift the buffer territory of the Dawas to Malik V in the mid-9th century.
Sundry Sovereigns: An Exercise in Random Empires
Hey, does anyone ever finish a map, and then take the next year to work on a write-up? Well, this is one of those...
This was an idea I got a long time ago, which consisted of creating a handful of space-filling empires in odd places, then trying to fill in the gaps. And yes, it's a bit funky as a result. The world ended up getting really detailed in my head, as I tried to justify my choices, and the write-up just kept getting longer and more tedious until I realized there was no way it was ever getting done. So, what follows is a shorter version that gives a brief overview, with more details as annotations on the map. I'm willing to answer questions, but bear in mind that I didn't get to flesh out the course of events in the 20th century like I wanted to.
Great Britain is very similar to OTL, only its power is based more in its industrial output than the strength of its navy. In Eastern Europe, the most powerful country is Vyatka, a wealthy, Turkic-influenced East Slavic nation that exports a lot of popular culture to the rest of the world. Between them, weird stuff is going on, with the Bohemian Crown and Sweden playing around with non-Westphalian systems of influence, and the Later Roman Empire being Horseshoe Theory made flesh. France, unfortunately, has been stuck in a cycle of autocracy and militarism keeps causing problems and keeps it from staying a great power. Meanwhile, Portugal has found its place as the world's center of business and finance.
South Periecia is a battleground between the Aragonese Empire and the Republic of Atacama. Ever since Atacama declared its independence from Aragon, it has been leading an anti-imperialist crusade against it, alongside its heavily armed native allies in the League of Independent Periecian Republics. Meanwhile, to prevent further secessions, Aragon integrated its colonies as viceroyalties, whose leaders are chosen by electors and share power with the Emperor in Zaragoza.
North Periecia, on the other hand, is more complex. One of the most powerful countries in the region is Tirtanger, an otherwise diplomatically isolated former English colony in the northeast. While it is secular, the same can't be said for Icaria, another English colony in the interior, which is theocratic and follows its own branch of Christianity. Icaria is much less powerful, mainly on account of being beaten by the other regional power in North Periecia, Corencacas. This country, in the south, was formerly a Portugese colony, settled by another Christian sect called the Timoteans. After gaining independence, it spread its influence and its religion to many of the surrounding peoples.
The weirdest thing going on in Asia is easily the State of Bhaddadesa. It follows the teachings of Soun Samnang, a Buddhist philosopher who believed that mankind was destined to build a purely enlightened civilization, and founded a puritan sect that grew popular as the kingdoms of mainland Southeast Asia declined due to endemic warfare. Once the Sultanate of Demak tried to take over the whole weakened region in the 1850s, a Sounist rebel leader named Chey Sopheap emerged and rallied all the nations against it, vanquishing Demak and creating the unified state of Bhaddadesa. Like in OTL, China was down on its luck in the 20th century, and Bhaddadesan ministers were quick to take a bite out of its territory. As times improved, China would form the East Asian Circle with Japan and Korea, working to fight Sounist influence. In South and West Asia, the Multan Sultanate is top dog, although what's left of the once-mighty Persian Empire is fighting to take back the role they believe was stolen from them.
Africa is currently dominated by two nations: the Sofala Sultanate to the south, and the Alzuari Kingdom to the north. The former is a successor to the Kilwa Sultanate, established in 1635 by Emir Abd al-Aziz with Persian aid, and its location along vital trade routes made it a nexus of European, African, and Asian cultures. It began expanding inland in the 19th century, eventually almost overextending itself, and undergoing political and social changes as a result. The Alzuari Kingdom is more recent, emerging in the 19th century when Hafiz al-Zuar unified the Tubu people and conquered Egypt. It has since tried to expand its influence to much of Africa and the Middle East, creating friction with both Aragon and Sofala.
Lastly, what we would call Indonesia and Australia is, in this world, dominated by the Sultanate of Java-Barifog. This is a successor state to the Sultanate of Demak, which took advantage of the power vacuum left behind by Persia as it receded from the Indian Ocean. It seized control of the spice trade and began establishing forts in Barifog (OTL Australia), but after their invasion of the mainland failed, the country went through a civil war, and in 1873 a coalition of planters and traders replaced the sultanate with a constitutional monarchy that gave them special privileges. Though careful not to make too many enemies, it has a long history of militarism, making it a useful ally for other countries to have.
It's over... It's finally done... I'm free...
I love, LOVE, this style. And I have to agree, the plant pixel art here is beautiful as well. Loving the aesthetic and can't wait to see some more
Nicely different! I am a bit confused about NE America: is that three countries, or is Tirtanger one country in two shades of orange and three major internal divisions? And is that blue state to its west Icaria? Who colonized that greenish-brown bit in central *Brazil?
And I must admit to curiosity about Poland-Galicia-Hungary-Romania-Yugoslavia-Albania. Are they all somehow under the greasy thumb of Bohemia?
Random quick map: the Americas from "Ink from the New Moon", from the "Alternate Americas" volume of the What Might Have Been series.
In this world Buddhists fleeing persecution in China discovered America (more specifically, the NW coast of it) and established settlements. They were followed by the Song government, who was interested in the gold some of them had stumbled across, and later by a great number of Song refugees fleeing the Mongols, and later still by the Mongols (who once again discovered that they weren't all that good at long distance naval conquests).
By the time Columbus showed up (somehow unbutterflied), independent (if loosely recognizing the sovereignty of the post-Mongol Zhuo dynasty) Dawn Lands Chinese had settled most of north America west of the Mississippi and north of Mexico (where the Aztecs arose even stronger from the chaos Chinese diseases had spread) and claimed sovereignty over the mostly independent tribes and petty kingdoms east of the Mississippi, with trading posts/forts and Buddhist temples as far as the Atlantic coast. Columbus was treated genially by his hosts, given a demonstration of superior Chinese gunpowder rocket technology, and sent home with a load of valuable goods to demonstrate the benevolence and superiority of Dawn Lands civilization.
This, unfortunately, only whetted European appetites, and whatever advantages the Chinese had in gunpowder tech were duplicated by Europeans as quickly as European gunpowder weapons were OTL duplicated by the Japanese. The United/Unified Sandalwood Autocracies (a European translation which doesn't really grasp the subtleties of the word) of the Dawn Lands were also not a very militarized society, retaining the old country distaste for professional soldiers and having faced since the Mongol invasion of almost two centuries ago no threat worse than the Mexica, barbarians who had only recently figured out gunpowder and horses. The Great Barbarian Invasion from the Eastern Sea got started by the mid-1500s and went on for over a century and a half.
In the end, the USA and the major civilizations of Meso and Andean America were victorious: the Chinese were at this point well into a Industrial Inflation (like a Revolution, but slower and with less science backing it up) and had a good bit of steam-powered industry in place, if as yet no trains or steamships. Their lands west of the Mississippi were almost unassailable, and while Europeans made a good start on conquering the woodlands peoples, in the end they were driven out by the Chinese and their tribal allies. Only among relatively backwards and isolated peoples along the eastern rim of the continents were Europeans successful in permanently establishing themselves.
The year is now 1800. With the great treasures in american silver and gold remaining in local economies, but at the same time early industrial technology slowly propagating both west to Olde China and east to Europe, the global economy is quite different. Technology remains pretty steampunkish, with some interesting input from cut and try chemistry, but science is finally getting underway as a real discipline in both the USA and the more outwards looking European societies. (Currently divided China proper has gone down some weird philosophical rabbit holes). And in the powerful but reactionary Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, a fuse has been lit...
In this world Buddhists fleeing persecution in China discovered America (more specifically, the NW coast of it) and established settlements. They were followed by the Song government, who was interested in the gold some of them had stumbled across, and later by a great number of Song refugees fleeing the Mongols, and later still by the Mongols (who once again discovered that they weren't all that good at long distance naval conquests).
By the time Columbus showed up (somehow unbutterflied), independent (if loosely recognizing the sovereignty of the post-Mongol Zhuo dynasty) Dawn Lands Chinese had settled most of north America west of the Mississippi and north of Mexico (where the Aztecs arose even stronger from the chaos Chinese diseases had spread) and claimed sovereignty over the mostly independent tribes and petty kingdoms east of the Mississippi, with trading posts/forts and Buddhist temples as far as the Atlantic coast. Columbus was treated genially by his hosts, given a demonstration of superior Chinese gunpowder rocket technology, and sent home with a load of valuable goods to demonstrate the benevolence and superiority of Dawn Lands civilization.
This, unfortunately, only whetted European appetites, and whatever advantages the Chinese had in gunpowder tech were duplicated by Europeans as quickly as European gunpowder weapons were OTL duplicated by the Japanese. The United/Unified Sandalwood Autocracies (a European translation which doesn't really grasp the subtleties of the word) of the Dawn Lands were also not a very militarized society, retaining the old country distaste for professional soldiers and having faced since the Mongol invasion of almost two centuries ago no threat worse than the Mexica, barbarians who had only recently figured out gunpowder and horses. The Great Barbarian Invasion from the Eastern Sea got started by the mid-1500s and went on for over a century and a half.
In the end, the USA and the major civilizations of Meso and Andean America were victorious: the Chinese were at this point well into a Industrial Inflation (like a Revolution, but slower and with less science backing it up) and had a good bit of steam-powered industry in place, if as yet no trains or steamships. Their lands west of the Mississippi were almost unassailable, and while Europeans made a good start on conquering the woodlands peoples, in the end they were driven out by the Chinese and their tribal allies. Only among relatively backwards and isolated peoples along the eastern rim of the continents were Europeans successful in permanently establishing themselves.
The year is now 1800. With the great treasures in american silver and gold remaining in local economies, but at the same time early industrial technology slowly propagating both west to Olde China and east to Europe, the global economy is quite different. Technology remains pretty steampunkish, with some interesting input from cut and try chemistry, but science is finally getting underway as a real discipline in both the USA and the more outwards looking European societies. (Currently divided China proper has gone down some weird philosophical rabbit holes). And in the powerful but reactionary Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, a fuse has been lit...
So Tibet was a secular pro-West state like Taiwan and Japan, I assume?
In the northeast, those are three separate countries, two of them being protectorates of Tirtanger. I was calling the one to the southeast Francesca, France's main colony in North America. The one in the southwest is Cannica, which is supposed to be a heavily Anglicized successor to the Iroquois Confederacy. And yeah, Icaria is the light blue country.
The casually ignored olive-colored country in OTL Brazil is Diamantina, and in my notes, I have its heritage marked down as "English/French". Let's just have it be French, the English get enough in this world.
And that big, ominously red country in Eastern Europe is the Later Roman Empire that I mentioned in the description. I thought it would have been obvious, but now that I see that I didn't annotate it or put it in the key, I realize I made a dumb. It's one corner of the map that definitely deserves more fleshing-out, but I've established in my notes that there was a big Hungarian Empire that collapsed, and in the ensuing chaos, a radical ideology (possibly a form of Christianized Sounism) emerged and took over. As for Bohemian influence, no. The two countries hate each other.
The third entry in what's become a little trilogy of summery, Greekish islands. Though these still remain style experiments as much as anything Encheleia has slowly been accruing a more solid imagery in my mind, strongly Greek/Mediterranean with a somewhat peaceable feeling akin to someone out of Kiki's Delivery Service. Like a mid 20th century feel without quite so much reliance on mass tourism or implications of recent conflict. It's probably not helped by the fact that this style evokes a mid 20th century warm, summery tourist poster/postcard vibe. I feel like I've gotten more confident with the pixel-art work on these as they've gone on as well, these may well be the best plants I've done on any of them.
Love it.
If you add a tiny further splash of pastel colours, you’re half-way to illustrating a Wes Anderson movie
Being Canadian I thought it would be a cool idea for me to make alternate versions of Canada. A reminder that all of the maps are set in 2020.
TIMELINE 10000
Commonwealth of Canada
Following the British victory in the war of 1812, Its Canadian colony grew larger and while the US cease expansion due to its weakening forces. In the 1870s a war occurred between the British and Russians due to the situation in Central Asia. The Canadians would cease Alakasa in the following invasion and a later British victory however would pay around $25 Million for Alaska to help rebuild relationships with Russia. During the great war, the USA and Canada would get into conflict with each other as the USA join the Central Powers. The Canadians still win thanks to the US never recovering from its civil war. By 2020 Canada is one of the new superpowers in the world other than Brazil, which has taken the USA placed.
TIMELINE 310
Republic of Williamiuland
William of orange would unite the Kingdom of England and the Dutch republic into one state. Once then they would soon launch several colonization efforts in the Americas. The United States still declares independence and its upward colony, Williaumland, name after William of orange, remain as an Anglo-Dutch colony. in 1867 the Dominion of Williamumland was established and would soon fight with the anglo-dutch, the US and other states against France, Russia snd Serbia in the great war. In 1984 the nation voted to become a republic, leaving the Anglo-Dutch empire however it still has great relationships.
TIMELINE 6213
The Provisional Republic of Canada.
In 1983 a third world war broke out between NATO and the Warsaw pact. On May 23 1988 a nuclear war occurs as the two sides believe that nuclear weapons were launch. following the nuclear war and nearly and estimated 2 billion dead (both wars, nuclear strikes and radiation all added together). By 1998 the Canadian government and its citizens ahs re-arisen from their bunkers and would quickly expands across the former nations. In the west, the Canadian government establish its capital in Vancouver (which avoided being nuked) In 2008 the international community regain contact with each other and trading soon begins. Canada is still in a provisional government (est to end in 2028, 40 years following the end of WW3)
TIMELINE 151
Republic of Quebec
Following the French and its allies to victory in the 7-year war, The French gain total control of America. However, those damn Canadians and Louisianans were angry at not paying their taxes and fought a successful war against them. The French would also battle against British napoleon btw. The Canadians or Quebec I guest would never expand west and so Alaska would take most of the western states.
TIMELINE 109
Dominion of Western province
The British decided to divide the Canadian colonies into 2 dominions. Both of them are basically Australia and New Zealand but in North America.
TIMELINE 80
Kingdom of Vinland
The Norwegians would stay their colonies of Vinland. The vinish expands and becomes the first independent state from a European state in the Americas. Eventually, the Greater Empire of Vinland dissolves into a bunch of states and the remainder state remanded as modern-day Canada. Scandinavia is also the superpowers of this world. Nordic nations are pretty much the British of this timeline.
TIMELINE 40
The Federal Socialist Republic of Canada
The race riots in the USA in the 60s turn violent and soon political division cause the nation to experience a civil war. Because of this, the European nations become more soviet aligned and before you know it the USA collapses by the late 80s. This allowed the Soviets to win the cold war and the remaining European and western nations became Communist. by the 1990s a revolution occurred and in Canada and soon the whole country became a socialist state and is apart of the Moscow pact, a larger version of the warsaw pact. However, the Soviets are forced to fight proxy wars in the middle east and also china hates them Russians. Also, the American Union is the Russia to the US, IE they still have a cold war-like tension as well as having a CSA.
TIMELINE 1000
The Unitarian States of Canada.
The Fascist party of Canada would spark a coup against the government allowing the Germans to land in North America and invades the rest of the USA and Canada following the victory of its invasion of both the Uk and Russia. Following the German Reich victory in the second world war, a cold war occurred between the Germans and Italians against the Japanese. Canada is a fascist state however is independent thanks to the fascist coup and rebellion while the Americans are puppet states. The unitarians are however salty hover Japan taking it west coast. The Canadians are also a founding member of the Great Pact of steel, a new form of the axis powers.
TIMELINE 500
Iroquois Confederacy
The Europeans would fail to colonize the Americas and only have a few small colonies and ports. Because of this Europe never become a colonial power and the Americas, Africa and Asia are never colonized. In the great lakes, the Iroquois Confederacy would grow to become a major regional power and would act as the USA of some sort. With this Europe still trades with the natives as they soon grow into new countries. Their main rivals are the Aztecs and the Inuits of the north. They have also maded an alliance with England who fought with each other in the great war in 1925.
I hope you enjoy this. It took me a while to make.
Last edited:
TL 109 doesn't appear to have any Canada in it's Canada.
New Britain Mapping
Banned
Where did you get that map from?The United Kingdom of Egypt:
Constituent Kingdoms of the UKE.
Flag of the UKE, bearing the blue standard of the reformed monarchy.
Just a playful idea. In a world where the Egyptian Monarchy was much stronger, they reform as a "United Kingdom of Egypt" with 5 constituent kingdoms. Also, apparently they'd be ruled by this guy:
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