Map Thread XX
- Thread starter Balkanized U.S.A
- Start date
- Status
soviet_killer
Banned
A sequel to my other Abygalia map, showing the various surviving civilizations. Peru is the remnants of the Andegavians who either didn't embark on the Great Trek centuries ago, or returned. Persia was reformed by a 'Chosen' and his entourage, like Alexander the Great, and Chian survived through sheer size. Not much lore for this one.
In-universe its meant to be a project of sorts, presented by a student at the Abygalian Academy to the 'Education Committee'. The Academy mostly trains mages and people with magical abilities, but it acts as the top educational authority in all other fields as well.
How did Seattle move all the way to Portland?
After WW4 which ended in an American Victory, the nations of North and South America united under one government, thus becoming the Pan-American Federation. However, the PAF's government isn't democratic as one might expect, this new "union" is a One-Party Military State, poising to take over the rest of the Americas, as of 2075, situations between the PAF and the 5 independent states is starting to warm up, but the future of the Americas is still uncertain.
Just my usual submission from the MoTF contest. Do tell me what you think, ask questions, whatever strikes your fancy.
The Franj people are one of the various Christian minorities present in the Middle East, whose history in the region dates back to the Crusades, starting in the XI century, when plenty of Europeans, not only warriors, but also pilgrims, priests, nobles and their women, flooded into the Levant, founding several States, notably the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but also the Counties of Tripoli and Edessa, and the Principality of Antioch, in a period that the Arabs called of Franj domination. Those States, although not particularly long-lasting, being eventually destroyed by the Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin and later the Mamluks, who restored Islamic rule over the region, were the basis for the Franj population, Catholic communities who spoke Eastern French, a local dialect of Old French with a good deal of Italian, Arabic and Armenian influences, one that would ultimately drift, through the centuries of isolation within the heart of the Islamic world, into a language in its own right, Eastern French, more commonly known as Franj. Which promptly began forming its own dialects, mostly based on the former borders of its various states.
During most of their existence, the Franj lived as loyal subjects of the Ottoman Sultan, being protected by his mandate. This situation changed with the decline of the Sublime Porte, when their cause was taken, without any permissions or even questions whatsoever, by the French Emperor Napoleon III, who proclaimed himself defender of their Eastern brethren, while the Russian Emperor did much of the same, again, without the Ottoman Christians themselves being asked their opinion on the matter.
With the fall of the Porte, the Franj found themselves stuck between European protectorates in the Levant and the newly-fledged Turkish Republic which, founded on very strong nationalist sentiments and a special hatred for the European powers, co-religionaries and claiming to work for the sake of their Franj brethren, who proceeded to be targeted by the Turkish nationalists as a potential fifth-column and suffer through several massacres at their hands, from 1909 to the 1920s, massacres which would ultimately result in the cleansing of Franj communities from their traditional homelands since the XI century, in Cilicia, in Antioch and in Edessa, leading to their relocation, either to the West, forming a great diaspora in Europe and North America, and to Northern Syria, where the French were more than willing to settle them, especially in the poorly-settled Northeast, alongside Kurds and Assyrians fleeing the wrath of the Young Turks. This especially affected the Cilicen Franj, who mostly fled into exile, with their largest community nowadays in the United States, the Antiochen Franj, who relocated mostly to Aleppo and other such Syrian cities, and the Edesois Franj, who helped build new cities in Northeast Syria.
Meanwhile, the Jherusalemiote Franj found themselves in their own divisive issue in Palestine, as the Balfour Declaration started the way to a division between Jewish and Arab States, with the Franj in the way. Eventually, some would be coopted to Israeli society, while other stood with the Palestinians, dividing the community and forming clear factions that took different sides in the conflict that has engulfed the region ever since. The Tripolen Franj of Lebanon are not particularly better off either, having to deal with the controversies of Lebanon, the Maronites and the Muslims of each stripe.
Their odd place in the Middle East explains the... complicated relationship of the Franj people with themselves, with different groups having very different loyalties. The Antiochen Franj are traditionally very loyal to the Syrian regime which took them in, and have been amongst the strictest supporters of Assad, while the Edesois Franj of the northeast have mostly joined the Autonomous Admnistration of North East Syria, with their own brigades and political parties emerging. Recently, the Syrian Civil War has seen the occupation and subsequent ethnical cleansing of Cirro, one of the greatest humanitarian disasters in the war, while the Franj have been prime victims of ISIS's violence, who call them, and all other Christian powers, "Crusaders", and find a special pleasure in their destruction, such as what happened in Raqqa, which the Franj call Calinicio and had a sizeable community until its occupation by the jihadists. Meanwhile, the Jherusalemiote community is sharply divided between pro and anti-Zionist groups, with a special hatred towards one another.
It is unknown what the future holds for the Eastern French language and its community. By the way things are looking in the Middle East, however, it might not be too long before the language exists only in diaspora, a situation that, if its Cilicen branch is anything to go by, would be disastrous for the future of this special language, born out of the dialect of the Crusader kings of old
__________________________________________
So, this was mostly inspired from me reading The Crusades Through Arab Eyes earlier this summer and then reading about the modern Assyrian community. I imagined what a Crusader-descendant community would look like, in the modern Middle East, and proceeded to invent a language for them, which I actually put to use in the map (I think everything is easily readable to English speakers though, if not just ask I'll explain)
Eastern French counts as a dialect, right? I mean, we don't know that much about it, and it was more of a pidgin than anything, but we do know it existed, so I hope this can go with the challenge, for I imagine the centuries of relative isolation would make Eastern and Western French diverge (for even if the Franj were very conservative in their language, then the French proper would change theirs from Old to contemporary French).
It was also a fun map to draw, even if... ya know... a bit dark. But yeah the answer to my wondering about a modern Franj community in the Middle East would be: they'd be doing poorly to terriby depending on the place
Eastern French
the language of the Crusades
the language of the Crusades
The Franj people are one of the various Christian minorities present in the Middle East, whose history in the region dates back to the Crusades, starting in the XI century, when plenty of Europeans, not only warriors, but also pilgrims, priests, nobles and their women, flooded into the Levant, founding several States, notably the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but also the Counties of Tripoli and Edessa, and the Principality of Antioch, in a period that the Arabs called of Franj domination. Those States, although not particularly long-lasting, being eventually destroyed by the Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin and later the Mamluks, who restored Islamic rule over the region, were the basis for the Franj population, Catholic communities who spoke Eastern French, a local dialect of Old French with a good deal of Italian, Arabic and Armenian influences, one that would ultimately drift, through the centuries of isolation within the heart of the Islamic world, into a language in its own right, Eastern French, more commonly known as Franj. Which promptly began forming its own dialects, mostly based on the former borders of its various states.
During most of their existence, the Franj lived as loyal subjects of the Ottoman Sultan, being protected by his mandate. This situation changed with the decline of the Sublime Porte, when their cause was taken, without any permissions or even questions whatsoever, by the French Emperor Napoleon III, who proclaimed himself defender of their Eastern brethren, while the Russian Emperor did much of the same, again, without the Ottoman Christians themselves being asked their opinion on the matter.
With the fall of the Porte, the Franj found themselves stuck between European protectorates in the Levant and the newly-fledged Turkish Republic which, founded on very strong nationalist sentiments and a special hatred for the European powers, co-religionaries and claiming to work for the sake of their Franj brethren, who proceeded to be targeted by the Turkish nationalists as a potential fifth-column and suffer through several massacres at their hands, from 1909 to the 1920s, massacres which would ultimately result in the cleansing of Franj communities from their traditional homelands since the XI century, in Cilicia, in Antioch and in Edessa, leading to their relocation, either to the West, forming a great diaspora in Europe and North America, and to Northern Syria, where the French were more than willing to settle them, especially in the poorly-settled Northeast, alongside Kurds and Assyrians fleeing the wrath of the Young Turks. This especially affected the Cilicen Franj, who mostly fled into exile, with their largest community nowadays in the United States, the Antiochen Franj, who relocated mostly to Aleppo and other such Syrian cities, and the Edesois Franj, who helped build new cities in Northeast Syria.
Meanwhile, the Jherusalemiote Franj found themselves in their own divisive issue in Palestine, as the Balfour Declaration started the way to a division between Jewish and Arab States, with the Franj in the way. Eventually, some would be coopted to Israeli society, while other stood with the Palestinians, dividing the community and forming clear factions that took different sides in the conflict that has engulfed the region ever since. The Tripolen Franj of Lebanon are not particularly better off either, having to deal with the controversies of Lebanon, the Maronites and the Muslims of each stripe.
Their odd place in the Middle East explains the... complicated relationship of the Franj people with themselves, with different groups having very different loyalties. The Antiochen Franj are traditionally very loyal to the Syrian regime which took them in, and have been amongst the strictest supporters of Assad, while the Edesois Franj of the northeast have mostly joined the Autonomous Admnistration of North East Syria, with their own brigades and political parties emerging. Recently, the Syrian Civil War has seen the occupation and subsequent ethnical cleansing of Cirro, one of the greatest humanitarian disasters in the war, while the Franj have been prime victims of ISIS's violence, who call them, and all other Christian powers, "Crusaders", and find a special pleasure in their destruction, such as what happened in Raqqa, which the Franj call Calinicio and had a sizeable community until its occupation by the jihadists. Meanwhile, the Jherusalemiote community is sharply divided between pro and anti-Zionist groups, with a special hatred towards one another.
It is unknown what the future holds for the Eastern French language and its community. By the way things are looking in the Middle East, however, it might not be too long before the language exists only in diaspora, a situation that, if its Cilicen branch is anything to go by, would be disastrous for the future of this special language, born out of the dialect of the Crusader kings of old
__________________________________________
So, this was mostly inspired from me reading The Crusades Through Arab Eyes earlier this summer and then reading about the modern Assyrian community. I imagined what a Crusader-descendant community would look like, in the modern Middle East, and proceeded to invent a language for them, which I actually put to use in the map (I think everything is easily readable to English speakers though, if not just ask I'll explain)
Eastern French counts as a dialect, right? I mean, we don't know that much about it, and it was more of a pidgin than anything, but we do know it existed, so I hope this can go with the challenge, for I imagine the centuries of relative isolation would make Eastern and Western French diverge (for even if the Franj were very conservative in their language, then the French proper would change theirs from Old to contemporary French).
It was also a fun map to draw, even if... ya know... a bit dark. But yeah the answer to my wondering about a modern Franj community in the Middle East would be: they'd be doing poorly to terriby depending on the place
Afrikaans came out as a language of its own from Dutch in a smaller amount of time than this (though still considerable). I imagine it won't be much of a dialect but a language of its own outside of continuous contact with the French heartland.
My map for the r/imaginarymaps discord telephone map game.
For reference, heres the bracket I was in.
What is the name around South America? I expect an Andalusian state will give a prime name to this alt-New Granada. Also, is New Amsterdam any less prone to flooding than Old Amsterdam?
My map for the r/imaginarymaps discord telephone map game.
For reference, heres the bracket I was in.
Kind of funny how the chain moved closer and closer to OTL, from "Manichaeans preempting Muslims" to "Muslims keeping Mediterranean dominance" to "USA fighting the Cold War".
My map for the r/imaginarymaps discord telephone map game.
For reference, heres the bracket I was in.
Bruce usually does world maps, whereas you usually do cards. The writeups for your maps tend to be about the length of the writeups for most of bruce's countries.
You'd think a POD in the 11th century would throw a bit of a wrench into the whole "Balfour declaration" thing.Just my usual submission from the MoTF contest. Do tell me what you think, ask questions, whatever strikes your fancy.
Eastern French
the language of the Crusades
The Franj people are one of the various Christian minorities present in the Middle East, whose history in the region dates back to the Crusades, starting in the XI century, when plenty of Europeans, not only warriors, but also pilgrims, priests, nobles and their women, flooded into the Levant, founding several States, notably the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but also the Counties of Tripoli and Edessa, and the Principality of Antioch, in a period that the Arabs called of Franj domination. Those States, although not particularly long-lasting, being eventually destroyed by the Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin and later the Mamluks, who restored Islamic rule over the region, were the basis for the Franj population, Catholic communities who spoke Eastern French, a local dialect of Old French with a good deal of Italian, Arabic and Armenian influences, one that would ultimately drift, through the centuries of isolation within the heart of the Islamic world, into a language in its own right, Eastern French, more commonly known as Franj. Which promptly began forming its own dialects, mostly based on the former borders of its various states.
During most of their existence, the Franj lived as loyal subjects of the Ottoman Sultan, being protected by his mandate. This situation changed with the decline of the Sublime Porte, when their cause was taken, without any permissions or even questions whatsoever, by the French Emperor Napoleon III, who proclaimed himself defender of their Eastern brethren, while the Russian Emperor did much of the same, again, without the Ottoman Christians themselves being asked their opinion on the matter.
With the fall of the Porte, the Franj found themselves stuck between European protectorates in the Levant and the newly-fledged Turkish Republic which, founded on very strong nationalist sentiments and a special hatred for the European powers, co-religionaries and claiming to work for the sake of their Franj brethren, who proceeded to be targeted by the Turkish nationalists as a potential fifth-column and suffer through several massacres at their hands, from 1909 to the 1920s, massacres which would ultimately result in the cleansing of Franj communities from their traditional homelands since the XI century, in Cilicia, in Antioch and in Edessa, leading to their relocation, either to the West, forming a great diaspora in Europe and North America, and to Northern Syria, where the French were more than willing to settle them, especially in the poorly-settled Northeast, alongside Kurds and Assyrians fleeing the wrath of the Young Turks. This especially affected the Cilicen Franj, who mostly fled into exile, with their largest community nowadays in the United States, the Antiochen Franj, who relocated mostly to Aleppo and other such Syrian cities, and the Edesois Franj, who helped build new cities in Northeast Syria.
Meanwhile, the Jherusalemiote Franj found themselves in their own divisive issue in Palestine, as the Balfour Declaration started the way to a division between Jewish and Arab States, with the Franj in the way. Eventually, some would be coopted to Israeli society, while other stood with the Palestinians, dividing the community and forming clear factions that took different sides in the conflict that has engulfed the region ever since. The Tripolen Franj of Lebanon are not particularly better off either, having to deal with the controversies of Lebanon, the Maronites and the Muslims of each stripe.
Their odd place in the Middle East explains the... complicated relationship of the Franj people with themselves, with different groups having very different loyalties. The Antiochen Franj are traditionally very loyal to the Syrian regime which took them in, and have been amongst the strictest supporters of Assad, while the Edesois Franj of the northeast have mostly joined the Autonomous Admnistration of North East Syria, with their own brigades and political parties emerging. Recently, the Syrian Civil War has seen the occupation and subsequent ethnical cleansing of Cirro, one of the greatest humanitarian disasters in the war, while the Franj have been prime victims of ISIS's violence, who call them, and all other Christian powers, "Crusaders", and find a special pleasure in their destruction, such as what happened in Raqqa, which the Franj call Calinicio and had a sizeable community until its occupation by the jihadists. Meanwhile, the Jherusalemiote community is sharply divided between pro and anti-Zionist groups, with a special hatred towards one another.
It is unknown what the future holds for the Eastern French language and its community. By the way things are looking in the Middle East, however, it might not be too long before the language exists only in diaspora, a situation that, if its Cilicen branch is anything to go by, would be disastrous for the future of this special language, born out of the dialect of the Crusader kings of old
__________________________________________
So, this was mostly inspired from me reading The Crusades Through Arab Eyes earlier this summer and then reading about the modern Assyrian community. I imagined what a Crusader-descendant community would look like, in the modern Middle East, and proceeded to invent a language for them, which I actually put to use in the map (I think everything is easily readable to English speakers though, if not just ask I'll explain)
Eastern French counts as a dialect, right? I mean, we don't know that much about it, and it was more of a pidgin than anything, but we do know it existed, so I hope this can go with the challenge, for I imagine the centuries of relative isolation would make Eastern and Western French diverge (for even if the Franj were very conservative in their language, then the French proper would change theirs from Old to contemporary French).
It was also a fun map to draw, even if... ya know... a bit dark. But yeah the answer to my wondering about a modern Franj community in the Middle East would be: they'd be doing poorly to terriby depending on the place
Crazymachines
Banned
The Northeast, 50 years after WWIII
1. Aquasco Republic
"why are all ya'll shootin at each other!? can't we all just get along?"
2. United States of America (Mt. Weather)
formed out of the remaining government in the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center, officially moved the center of government back to D.C. a few decades ago, but the majority of administrative functions still operate out of Mt. Weather.
Allied with ACRA, and is officially in control of it, but its very clear who really wears the pants in that relationship
3. Appalachian Guard
An association of multiple militias with the shared goal of protecting the local population from depredation and injustice.
the guard was formed in response to the New Redeemers invasion of West Virginia, and has somewhat successfully kept them from gaining ground in the areas they control.
4. State of West Virginia
the state government used to be far more stable before it was invaded by the new redeemers. being nommed on by everyone.
5. Christian State of America (New Redeemers)
one of the most powerful factions west of the rockies, the CSA is a theocratic fascist state controlling most of Kentucky and Tennessee with origins in the Klu Klux Klan. aggressively expansionist, it recently invaded west virginia, reducing the WV government to an insignificant rump state.
6. State of Pennsylvania (Altoona)
thanks to the destruction of its major cities, and higher birth rates, the region is now majority amish, and has a plurality of amish in the government.
7. Philadelphia City Council
trying to rebuild but seriously lacking in allies and funds.
8. Scranton
"hi, we exist!"
9. State of New Jersey
NYC isn't Chernobyl, but being so close to Manhattan isn't exactly healthy
10. State of Delaware
turns out being a tax haven doesn't exactly help in the nuclear apocalypse
11. Coastal Warlords
a mix of petty gangs, opportunistic mercenaries, and pissed locals
12. Atlantic Coast Recovery Administration (ACRA)
its a stereotype that remnants of the US military are usually more concerned with trying to appear legitimate than actually helping people,
but the Atlantic Coast Recovery Administration has by all accounts done a fantastic job of doing just that, getting housing built, the population educated, and reelectrifying the vast majority of the region.
13. State of Vermont
Nuclear war was catastrophic for everybody, but the state of vermont weathered the storm far better than most. the state government has adopted many progressive and socialist policies over the years and now has built up a strong welfare state. its legislature has settled into a two party system between the Democrats and the Progressives
14. Adirondack Military District
Run by the The 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum.
of course, at least temporarily, democratic functions must be halted until the situation improves (it's been 50 years you dolts!)
15. State of New York (Albany)
corrupt, inefficient, and enormously unpopular. it's been getting more democratic over the years, though. so there's that
16. State of New York (Syracuse)
broke away from Albany over it's immediate post war policy of refusing to allot rations to children on the grounds that they couldn't work.
17. Buffalo
see above /\
18. Attica Freedmen
Territory controlled by the Attica Freedman, a gang originally formed by prisoners of the the Attica Correctional Facility who rioted and took control, shortly after the bombs dropped. its membership and influence have since greatly expanded.
19. Erie
Pros: the industrial sector is much revitalized
Cons: it took a nuclear holocaust to do it
20. Nantucket , Martha's Vineyard
"ya like fish?"
1. Aquasco Republic
"why are all ya'll shootin at each other!? can't we all just get along?"
2. United States of America (Mt. Weather)
formed out of the remaining government in the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center, officially moved the center of government back to D.C. a few decades ago, but the majority of administrative functions still operate out of Mt. Weather.
Allied with ACRA, and is officially in control of it, but its very clear who really wears the pants in that relationship
3. Appalachian Guard
An association of multiple militias with the shared goal of protecting the local population from depredation and injustice.
the guard was formed in response to the New Redeemers invasion of West Virginia, and has somewhat successfully kept them from gaining ground in the areas they control.
4. State of West Virginia
the state government used to be far more stable before it was invaded by the new redeemers. being nommed on by everyone.
5. Christian State of America (New Redeemers)
one of the most powerful factions west of the rockies, the CSA is a theocratic fascist state controlling most of Kentucky and Tennessee with origins in the Klu Klux Klan. aggressively expansionist, it recently invaded west virginia, reducing the WV government to an insignificant rump state.
6. State of Pennsylvania (Altoona)
thanks to the destruction of its major cities, and higher birth rates, the region is now majority amish, and has a plurality of amish in the government.
7. Philadelphia City Council
trying to rebuild but seriously lacking in allies and funds.
8. Scranton
"hi, we exist!"
9. State of New Jersey
NYC isn't Chernobyl, but being so close to Manhattan isn't exactly healthy
10. State of Delaware
turns out being a tax haven doesn't exactly help in the nuclear apocalypse
11. Coastal Warlords
a mix of petty gangs, opportunistic mercenaries, and pissed locals
12. Atlantic Coast Recovery Administration (ACRA)
its a stereotype that remnants of the US military are usually more concerned with trying to appear legitimate than actually helping people,
but the Atlantic Coast Recovery Administration has by all accounts done a fantastic job of doing just that, getting housing built, the population educated, and reelectrifying the vast majority of the region.
13. State of Vermont
Nuclear war was catastrophic for everybody, but the state of vermont weathered the storm far better than most. the state government has adopted many progressive and socialist policies over the years and now has built up a strong welfare state. its legislature has settled into a two party system between the Democrats and the Progressives
14. Adirondack Military District
Run by the The 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum.
of course, at least temporarily, democratic functions must be halted until the situation improves (it's been 50 years you dolts!)
15. State of New York (Albany)
corrupt, inefficient, and enormously unpopular. it's been getting more democratic over the years, though. so there's that
16. State of New York (Syracuse)
broke away from Albany over it's immediate post war policy of refusing to allot rations to children on the grounds that they couldn't work.
17. Buffalo
see above /\
18. Attica Freedmen
Territory controlled by the Attica Freedman, a gang originally formed by prisoners of the the Attica Correctional Facility who rioted and took control, shortly after the bombs dropped. its membership and influence have since greatly expanded.
19. Erie
Pros: the industrial sector is much revitalized
Cons: it took a nuclear holocaust to do it
20. Nantucket , Martha's Vineyard
"ya like fish?"
Last edited:
My entry into Aidans phone game. First time doing a propaganda poster like this but im pretty happy with how it turned out!
Other entries for bracket 4
Scranton had better reunite the USA under the glorious leadership of the Trash Baron or I want my money back.
Soviet style Java facing enemies mostly holding hammers and sickles? Wait, is that stripe on the Dutch flag orange or is the filter just doing that?
My entry into Aidans phone game. First time doing a propaganda poster like this but im pretty happy with how it turned out!
Other entries for bracket 4
Attribute this to my limited artistic and imagination skills
I just found those tools to be easiest to draw and fit into the map and be suitable for the types of metaphorical violence/motion i wanted to imply
- Status