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The 17th century has come to an end, and as the bright rays of the next century begin to roll in towards the world, it has become clear that this planet shall never be the same. Especially Europe. Beginning with the life of Francis Camaro in the mid-17th century, the Scientific Revolution has turned into a continent wide phenomenon, and beyond that. Scientists and philosophers from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and many other nations have began to unearth the answers to the greatest questions a man can pose - about his own existence, about the existence of the Universe, and life. Engineers and capitalists are delving deeper and deeper into technology, seeking to find the most efficient way to produce wealth, and their ambitions will soon manifest into something enormous. And most importantly, with discoveries comes knowledge, and with knowledge comes doubt. Indeed, people across the continent have begun to doubt the most basic principles that Western society and politics have been built upon. Where will this take them? The 18th century is a century of crossroads, and the paths that it's inhabitants will take shall decide the fate of their ancestors for millennia. The Enlightenment has begun.

But Europe isn't the only place in the world! What of the other continents and regions of the world? What is happening in the Vespucias, Asia and Africa? After all, sooner or later, the developments in Europe are going to affect them as well. So it is a good idea to catch up.


At first, the 17th century appeared promising to China, at the time still ruled by the Ming dynasty. Merchants from Portugal and the Netherlands brought silver to the nation at reasonably low prices, which was extremely valuable to the Ming, as they needed precious metal to cover their hyperinflating paper currency. However, the East Asian War between Portugal and the Netherlands weakened the standings of both powers in the region, and trade between Europe and China shrank. In addition, infighting and chaos in Japan at the time meant that their silver supply was also cut off. The prices of this valuable metal skyrocketed, which was disastrous to the peasantry as they had to pay taxes in silver. Ming China faced a number of internal problems as well - the recently conquered Manchu tribes were rebelling, there was growing disconnection between the extremely wealthy upper class and the poor peasants, and the Little Ice Age brought a host of it's own problems as well, spreading famines and epidemics across the land. The Mandate of Heaven was lost. The people were angry, and this anger was used by an upstart rebel from the Shaanxi province, Li Zicheng, who organized a great peasant army and took down the Ming dynasty, first in the northern parts of the country, then in the south, finally founding the Shun Dynasty in 1665. However, not all Chinese were in favor of this new radical government - a large number of Chinese refugees, mostly from Guangdong, led by Zhu Xiuling, the nephew of the last Ming emperor, fled to the islands south of China, settling in the most northern one and founding the nation of Lusang.

The 17th century was a turbulent time not just for China - Japan went through a host of it's own problems, named as the Sengoku period ("warring states period", named after the unrelated period of Chinese history) - the country was fractured into a number of competing states, each led by a warlord. The Emperor was powerless, but even the supposed real head of state, the Shogun, had troubles controlling the chaos. The Europeans traded with all sides in the conflict, providing them with valuable modern technology, especially guns. The 17th century saw the Sengoku period come to an end, however, as Japan had now been fully unified under the Toyotami dynasty. As the country was no longer in chaos, the recovery was swift, and the economy and societal development of the new, unified Japan increased a lot. Japanese silver was now as valuable as ever, and the country profited from this trade.

The before-mentioned East Asian War had considerable impact in South East Asia. Because of how far away the East Indies were from Europe, the two powers were unable to dish the war out by themselves and thus relied on local Asian allies. Ayutthaya sided with the Dutch during the conflict and made the right choice, as it's influence and territory expanded considerably. The Dutch also took over a number of Portuguese colonies in East Asia, like Taiwan and Macao. However, as the dust of the war settled, the Netherlands was unable to maintain the same intensity of trade, the standings of both merchant powers in the region weakened considerably, and over time, they lost many of the territories and ports they acquired. The appearance of the Lusang Chinese nation also shook the balance of the region, and Shun China began to flex it's muscles, slowly rising from the untouched isolated slumber that their predecessor lived through, which also came with sizable impact. Dark times were on the horizon.

India, or more correctly the Mughal Empire, was entering an age of prosperity, however. Throughout the 17th century, this juggernaut between the Far East and the Muslim world had to endure opposition from all sides, facing both Turkish attacks and warfare with the Marathas. The turn to the 18th century is marked in Indian history as the rule of Bahadur Shah II, more commonly known as Bahadur the Enlightened. Under his rule, the Mughal Empire conquered Baluchistan, taking it from the Ottoman Turks, and also defeated the Maratha opposition in the south of the nation, in Deccan. However, he is most commonly known as a very educated and down-to-earth ruler, he was especially interested in the education of his subjects and developing a more closely interlinked economy and society, in what is now known as the "Era of Light", or the "Indian Enlightenment". The previously severed trade ties with the West were restored, and Bahadur II grew interested in the sciences and technology that the Europeans brought, hoping to encourage to development of these fields within his empire. Because of the hostility for the Ottomans, India became the primary trade link between the West and the Far East, and profited from it in many ways.

Populated with powerful, wealthy, but often arrogant empires, Asia has become the dream world for the Europeans, a world of wonders and treasure - but trade with it was difficult. The Vespucias were blocking the way through the west, while travelling east meant either going through the Ottoman Empire or around Africa. And the Asians themselves were hardly interested in a fair exchange - outside of a few funny technological quirks or precious, precious gold or silver, there wasn't much that the Europeans could bring that would satisfy, say, the Shun or Mughal emperor. Something had to be done about this.


More and more colonists are arriving to the Dutch prime colony in Vespucias - New Netherland. Situated along the continent's east coast, this colony provides a multitude of resources from naval supplies to grain and metals for the motherland, and the denizens of the Old World see these virgin territories as a land of opportunity. Unlike most other European colonies in the Americas, New Netherland is self-governing, and the great range of nationalities and religions composing it have created a very free and pro-democratic environment. This self-governance is not viewed highly by the leaders of the Netherlands Free State itself, which would much rather prefer increasing central power in the colony to maximize profit. Time will tell if this brewing conflict will result in anything meaningful.

What the Netherlands had to actually worry about, however, was a new competitor in the colonization of the continent. The Kingdom of Sweden, uncomfortably squished between the Germans and Lithuania, began to look west, and in the middle of the 17th century, they began establishing colonies on Saint Brendan's Land, primarily using them as whaling bases and trade outposts. Soon enough, this colony of New Sweden began expanding to the continent nearby - the coasts of Flevoland. While their efforts have so far been weak and the number of Swedish settlers is very low, not to mention the conflicts with the nearby native Vespucian tribes, it's still an important event for the future of the region.

While the Dutch and Swedish colonies in North Vespucia are growing, Spain's mainland colony - Luisiana - has so far been stagnant. The flow of settlers has been very slow, and numerous border settlements had to be abandoned. There are two reasons for this trend. First are the troubles at home. In the end of the 17th century, Spain was embroiled in a long colonial war with France which drained the nation's treasury and weakened their standing in the region. The second reason was the hostile relations with the local Vespucian tribes. While the Dutch and Swedish settlers preferred trading with the locals (sometimes accidentally spreading diseases in the process) and maintaining peace, the Spaniards, whose main experience with dealing with locals came from genociding the Carib tribes and fighting long wars in Mesovespucia, answered with force. Numerous border conflicts between Spanish strongholds along the Missisippi and the local native Vespucians were heavy in casualties for both sides.

Luisiana wasn't the only place where Spain conflicted with the locals. The Yucatan peninsula, inhabited by Maya tribes, became a battleground for competition between the Spanish and the Empire of Mejico, a loosely bound Nahua state in Mesovespucia, led by a nativized Spanish dynasty. Both rival powers were slowly expanding into the region and trying to counteract each other's influence within it. Because of the difficult climate and the dense vegetation, however, it being a jungle and all, this push was slow.

North Vespucia was still seen by Europeans as useless forested and frozen land, but all of that was about to change. It didn't seem to have many resources, but it was perfect for settler colonialism, and as the Amsterdam System locked the borders of Europe, this was where the Europeans could release their pent up energy. For now.


The primary indigenous South Vespucian state, the Inca, carried on to the 18th century more or less peacefully. The close trade links with Portugal via the Silver Road came off as a double-edged sword. On one hand, the Incas had their first experience in acquiring and using modern technology, and their standing in the wide world increased. The army was modernized and began to adopt locally manufactured gunpowder weapons, and much like the Mughal emperors, the Sapa Incas were interested in cultural exchange with the Westerners (although, in their case, it was the Easterners). However, the trade also brought diseases which the people had no resistance to, and in the 1630s, a massive smallpox epidemic ravaged the land. By the 18th century, the population of some regions still hadn't recovered to the pre-smallpox levels, but the danger of such a massive epidemic has more or less vanished by now. Relations with Portugal remain cordial.

However, while the Portuguese were willing to trade and stay in Manuela, this was not the case with a brand new power in the continent - the French. After acquiring New France in the Franco-Spanish War, they were rapidly starting to exert influence on the northern parts of South Vespucia, and they almost certainly had heard of the riches that the Incas held. A few French exploration missions along the Andes resulted in skirmishes with Inca units, the relations between the two nations soured. As the reigning Director of the Estates-General Pierre Fatio, the closest person to the head of state of France, did not even hide his intentions to carve out a French colonial empire in South Vespucia, the Incas might have to prepare their weapons for a battle for survival.

And this wasn't even th only case of troubling news for the Tawantinsuyu. The Kingdom of Britannia, an isolated Puritan absolute monarchy on the edge of Europe, was now growing interest in joining the race for South Vespucia. King Edward VII agreed to launch a number of exploration missions led by Admiral James Kent towards the southern part of the continent, past Manuela, to determine the feasibility of setting up an English colony there. The British had a number of ambitious plans - redirect the course of the Silver Road, perhaps conquer up to the Andes, and hopefully hold the monopoly in trade between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans due to their position right at the straits. Time will tell if these ambitions are feasible.

South Vespucia might end up as a new battlefield for the European powers, but this time, they are not alone. The Incas are willing to defend their empire and their way of life by any means necessary, and who knows - perhaps that will is going to shatter, or maybe the Europeans will discover that gnawing on a cat's tail is not a good idea.


For almost two centuries, the Ottoman Empire had been a dominant force in North Africa. While Egypt and Tripolitania were under it's direct control, the Maghreb - Morocco, Tunis and Algeria - were dominated by it as vassals and protectorates. Morocco was the last to fall to Ottoman domination, doing so in 1648, during a succession crisis. The Turks simply moved in troops to oust a rebellious prince and install a friendly government, and at the same time, the Portuguese annexed a portion of the nation's coast. What the Ottomans were interested in was employing the Berbers as corsairs and pirates for raiding Christian ships and cities for loot and especially slaves, a very valuable commodity.

Isolated from others by the world's largest hot desert and two wide oceans, Sub-Saharan Africa entered the 18th century without feeling much impact from the events going on elsewhere. Only the southern parts of the continent were affected by European colonialism, especially the southernmost tip, where the Portuguese established the Colony of the Cape. It was a very valuable colony with a strategic position, and the Dutch tried to conquer it during the East Asian War, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Other powers were also looking forward to establishing bases on the coast of Africa, but this massive, densely forested and deadly continent, filled with malaria spreading insects and hostile native empires, seemed uninviting.


A new era is dawning across Europe. The light of knowledge and reason is bound to touch upon all, from the wealthiest noble to the poorest serf. New ideas, ideologies and beliefs are about to arise and reshape the landscape of the planet forever. In this enlightened era, where will Lithuania stand?