It's note worthing that pre-Norman Ireland had a tenuous relationship with the Catholic Church, which was used as a pretense to invade it. So I think it would be more realistic to have them follow Insular/Celtic Christianity
AHC: Form alternate/new ethnic groups of the world
- Thread starter Caravels of Portugal
- Start date
That’s kinda how it starts, with them retaining a distinctly Anglo-Saxon brand of Christianity and hostility towards Rome in part due to the Normans. When Ludwell encounters them in the mountains, however, that’s when the Russian Church gets involved and brings them into communion— after making sure the sect/tribe don’t adhere to anything out of line (the Filioque being absent from their creed and rejecting later doctrines from Rome).
HJR
Banned
Kreolski (Slav-Alaskans, Alaska Creoles)
Language - Kreolski (a creole of Russian, Serbian, and Tlingit), English
Ancestry - Russian, Alaska Native, Serbian, Montenegrin
Population - 21,000 (census of 2000), most in Juneau and Anchorage
History - The Kreolski emerged on the shores of the Gastineau Channel in the first years of the 20th century. The Russian Orthodox community in Juneau--comprised of Russians and converted Tlingit--was facing slow decline in the face of Anglo dominance, but the Klondike Gold Rush brought thousands of Serb and Montenegrin immigrants looking to make their fortune in the goldfields. When these dreams didn’t pan out, the South Slavs settled in Juneau, working alongside the Creoles in the docks and canneries, attending the same churches, drinking together and eventually marrying. By the time of statehood in 1959, the Kreolski were a distinct people, their numbers bolstered in the 1960s by the arrival of Russian refugees and again by family-migration from the Balkans during the 1990s.
Kreolski culture is a blend of Russian, Tlingit, and Serbian traditions. The two highest duties are to God and to family, and the Kreols are accordingly clannish, distrusting outsiders and looking to their own--a trend worsened by Anglo assimilation efforts in the early 20th century. The center of social life is the kabak, traditional drinking halls that host nightly meetings that range from feasts to cultural dances to business conferences. The Kreolski are universally Orthodox, but their services blend Russian and Serbian practices--the Christmas service, for instance, begins on Christmas Eve with the Serbian burning of the badnjak, then proceeds to the Russian all-night vigil, with Christmas itself spent eating pierogi and fish blini and drinking haskap rakija while the masked koledari go caroling. The Kreolski kolo dance resembles the khorovod more than its Montenegrin namesake, while folk music is played on an eclectic mixture of Slavic and Native instruments. Family life is of great importance, with grandfather-patriarchs (dedushka) overseeing the family’s finances, donations, and devotion to their lineage’s patron saint. The rise of digital technology has begun to chip away at their traditional lifestyle, but for now the ways of the 20th century still prevail.
The new millennium has still brought many changes. As the Juneau canneries declined, the Kreolski carved out a sphere of influence in the booming cruise and ecotourism industries, allowing them a thriving prosperity. Not all of this is legal--in 2009, an FBI sting brought down Kreolski racketeer Ivan Dragutovich Cognevich, resulting in the collapse of three local tour companies--but it is quite lucrative. The fact that 40% of Juneau’s population is Kreolski also lends them a great deal of influence, with the dedushkas organizing mass protests outside the State Capitol when they feel their interests threatened. Politically, the Kreolski’s power peaked with the election of Loren Leman to the governor’s seat in 2010, the first person of Russian or Native ancestry to win the governorship in the state’s history. As Alaska continues to warm, the booming cruise trade seems to promise similar prosperity in the middle-term, but as the Kreolski know, one must never speak well of the future.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This was inspired by reading about the IRL Serbian-Alaskan community, which peaked in the early 1900s between the Klondike Gold Rush and World War I. The soft PoD is no/different WWI, so hundreds of young Serbian-Alaskans don’t go off to die in the Balkans and the community doesn’t wither away, eventually merging with the surviving Russians and Russian-Tlingits. The general vibe I was going for was ‘Alaska Seminoles’, a very rich and influential ethnic group that is still clannish and distinct from the surrounding Anglo-American dominance, only with glacier tours and scenic hikes instead of casinos and airboats. Is it perfect? No, but nothing ever is.
Language - Kreolski (a creole of Russian, Serbian, and Tlingit), English
Ancestry - Russian, Alaska Native, Serbian, Montenegrin
Population - 21,000 (census of 2000), most in Juneau and Anchorage
History - The Kreolski emerged on the shores of the Gastineau Channel in the first years of the 20th century. The Russian Orthodox community in Juneau--comprised of Russians and converted Tlingit--was facing slow decline in the face of Anglo dominance, but the Klondike Gold Rush brought thousands of Serb and Montenegrin immigrants looking to make their fortune in the goldfields. When these dreams didn’t pan out, the South Slavs settled in Juneau, working alongside the Creoles in the docks and canneries, attending the same churches, drinking together and eventually marrying. By the time of statehood in 1959, the Kreolski were a distinct people, their numbers bolstered in the 1960s by the arrival of Russian refugees and again by family-migration from the Balkans during the 1990s.
Kreolski culture is a blend of Russian, Tlingit, and Serbian traditions. The two highest duties are to God and to family, and the Kreols are accordingly clannish, distrusting outsiders and looking to their own--a trend worsened by Anglo assimilation efforts in the early 20th century. The center of social life is the kabak, traditional drinking halls that host nightly meetings that range from feasts to cultural dances to business conferences. The Kreolski are universally Orthodox, but their services blend Russian and Serbian practices--the Christmas service, for instance, begins on Christmas Eve with the Serbian burning of the badnjak, then proceeds to the Russian all-night vigil, with Christmas itself spent eating pierogi and fish blini and drinking haskap rakija while the masked koledari go caroling. The Kreolski kolo dance resembles the khorovod more than its Montenegrin namesake, while folk music is played on an eclectic mixture of Slavic and Native instruments. Family life is of great importance, with grandfather-patriarchs (dedushka) overseeing the family’s finances, donations, and devotion to their lineage’s patron saint. The rise of digital technology has begun to chip away at their traditional lifestyle, but for now the ways of the 20th century still prevail.
The new millennium has still brought many changes. As the Juneau canneries declined, the Kreolski carved out a sphere of influence in the booming cruise and ecotourism industries, allowing them a thriving prosperity. Not all of this is legal--in 2009, an FBI sting brought down Kreolski racketeer Ivan Dragutovich Cognevich, resulting in the collapse of three local tour companies--but it is quite lucrative. The fact that 40% of Juneau’s population is Kreolski also lends them a great deal of influence, with the dedushkas organizing mass protests outside the State Capitol when they feel their interests threatened. Politically, the Kreolski’s power peaked with the election of Loren Leman to the governor’s seat in 2010, the first person of Russian or Native ancestry to win the governorship in the state’s history. As Alaska continues to warm, the booming cruise trade seems to promise similar prosperity in the middle-term, but as the Kreolski know, one must never speak well of the future.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This was inspired by reading about the IRL Serbian-Alaskan community, which peaked in the early 1900s between the Klondike Gold Rush and World War I. The soft PoD is no/different WWI, so hundreds of young Serbian-Alaskans don’t go off to die in the Balkans and the community doesn’t wither away, eventually merging with the surviving Russians and Russian-Tlingits. The general vibe I was going for was ‘Alaska Seminoles’, a very rich and influential ethnic group that is still clannish and distinct from the surrounding Anglo-American dominance, only with glacier tours and scenic hikes instead of casinos and airboats. Is it perfect? No, but nothing ever is.
There are Alaskan Creoles OTL, some of whom used to speak a mixed language. But incorporating Serbian influence is unique
Tagalogs - Luzon Muslims/Selurongese
Languages: Tagalog/Tagarug/Selurongese(Linguafranca), Gaddang, Kapampangan, Kumintang, etc.
Country: Sultanate of Selurong/Republic of Selurong
In 1500s the Bruneian missionaries convert the people of Luzon vigorously, I found out that the term Tagalog was likely geographic not an ethnic term prior to the Spanish as implied by some old manuscripts here it evolves to an Ethnoreligious term, the OTL Tagalogs are called as Comintanes or Kumintang in this scenario.
Languages: Tagalog/Tagarug/Selurongese(Linguafranca), Gaddang, Kapampangan, Kumintang, etc.
Country: Sultanate of Selurong/Republic of Selurong
In 1500s the Bruneian missionaries convert the people of Luzon vigorously, I found out that the term Tagalog was likely geographic not an ethnic term prior to the Spanish as implied by some old manuscripts here it evolves to an Ethnoreligious term, the OTL Tagalogs are called as Comintanes or Kumintang in this scenario.
Apollonians:
Location: Mars
Languages: Primarily Martian English (a family of dialects descended mostly from American English), though some try to preserve American English in formal use.
Religion: no official religion, but generally Christian -- largely Evangelical, Baptist, or Roman Catholic; minority Mormon, Jewish, irreligious, or other
Description: Named for NASA's Apollo Programme, the Apollonians are the descendants of American and American-aligned colonisers of Mars. After the US became the second country to establish a permanent base on Mars in 2010, it wasn't long before its Martian settlers began seeing themselves more as a community unto themselves than as Americans. Three or four generations on, the Apollonians largely resent having to take orders from Washington, and some radical factions propose forming an independent "Republic of Apollo." Realistically, however, this couldn't happen -- the Apollo settlements aren't self-sustaining yet, and depend on the US and its allies for food and terraforming as well as for trade and commerce. Additionally, the US military provides much-needed defense against China, India, and other nations and their Martian settlements.
Location: Mars
Languages: Primarily Martian English (a family of dialects descended mostly from American English), though some try to preserve American English in formal use.
Religion: no official religion, but generally Christian -- largely Evangelical, Baptist, or Roman Catholic; minority Mormon, Jewish, irreligious, or other
Description: Named for NASA's Apollo Programme, the Apollonians are the descendants of American and American-aligned colonisers of Mars. After the US became the second country to establish a permanent base on Mars in 2010, it wasn't long before its Martian settlers began seeing themselves more as a community unto themselves than as Americans. Three or four generations on, the Apollonians largely resent having to take orders from Washington, and some radical factions propose forming an independent "Republic of Apollo." Realistically, however, this couldn't happen -- the Apollo settlements aren't self-sustaining yet, and depend on the US and its allies for food and terraforming as well as for trade and commerce. Additionally, the US military provides much-needed defense against China, India, and other nations and their Martian settlements.
Name: Ugors
Language: Ugor (closest relative of Hungarian)
Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam
Ancestry: Magyars, Turks, Iranians, Indo-Aryans, Tibetic peoples
Phenotype: Central Asian, South Asian, occasionally West Asian or even European
Population: 1,000,000
Distribution: Kashmir (India, Pakistan, and China), Afghanistan (Wakhan Corridor), Tajikistan, recent immigration to Hungary and Western countries
Culture: Uralic, South Asian, Central Asian
History: The origins of the Ugors date back to the 8th century, when a rebellious branch of the Magyars, the ancestors of the Hungarians, decided to go their own way after refusing to accept the authority of the Khazars. This particular Magyar tribe, which accepted the Slavic term “Ugor” as their own endonym, migrated southwards across Central Asia into the Indian subcontinent, invading Kashmir and raiding the Hindu polities of the region. Although they wreaked havoc all over North India and Gandhara in the 9th century, by the 10th century their ruling class had converted to Mahayana Buddhism (and to a lesser extent Shaivist Hinduism), establishing the Ugor Shahis in the Karakoram Range. The Ugor Shahi dynasty, which flourished as an important hub of Buddhist literature and art in the early 2nd millennium, inevitably fell to the Mongols in the 13th century, who looted and destroyed much of the kingdom’s religious works. Under Delhi and Mughal rule, numerous Ugors escaped persecution by converting to Sunni Islam, although they maintained a degree of feudal autonomy. In the early modern period, Ugors were favored as mercenaries all over South Asia for their sheer tenacity and expertise of mountainous terrains. During the British colonial era, many Hungarian travelers visited Kashmir, and were shocked to discover a people speaking a very similar language to their own. The Indian Regiment (Indiai Ezred), which was comprised of Ugor volunteers serving in the Austro-Hungarian Army, fought alongside the Central Powers in the Great War against Britain and the Allies. Since India’s independence in 1947, Ugors have made countless contributions to Indian society as politicians, academics, and entertainers. The Ugor language, which is closer to Hungarian than even Khanty and Mansi are, still isn’t mutually intelligble with it due to 1300 years of separation and significant influence from neighboring Indian languages, as well as being written in the Brahmi script instead of the Latin alphabet. Along with the Romani, Ugors are the cultural and social link between Eastern Europe and South Asia, and despite being separated thousands of miles from their long lost Hungarian cousins, will never forget their common origins in the Urals long ago.
Language: Ugor (closest relative of Hungarian)
Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam
Ancestry: Magyars, Turks, Iranians, Indo-Aryans, Tibetic peoples
Phenotype: Central Asian, South Asian, occasionally West Asian or even European
Population: 1,000,000
Distribution: Kashmir (India, Pakistan, and China), Afghanistan (Wakhan Corridor), Tajikistan, recent immigration to Hungary and Western countries
Culture: Uralic, South Asian, Central Asian
History: The origins of the Ugors date back to the 8th century, when a rebellious branch of the Magyars, the ancestors of the Hungarians, decided to go their own way after refusing to accept the authority of the Khazars. This particular Magyar tribe, which accepted the Slavic term “Ugor” as their own endonym, migrated southwards across Central Asia into the Indian subcontinent, invading Kashmir and raiding the Hindu polities of the region. Although they wreaked havoc all over North India and Gandhara in the 9th century, by the 10th century their ruling class had converted to Mahayana Buddhism (and to a lesser extent Shaivist Hinduism), establishing the Ugor Shahis in the Karakoram Range. The Ugor Shahi dynasty, which flourished as an important hub of Buddhist literature and art in the early 2nd millennium, inevitably fell to the Mongols in the 13th century, who looted and destroyed much of the kingdom’s religious works. Under Delhi and Mughal rule, numerous Ugors escaped persecution by converting to Sunni Islam, although they maintained a degree of feudal autonomy. In the early modern period, Ugors were favored as mercenaries all over South Asia for their sheer tenacity and expertise of mountainous terrains. During the British colonial era, many Hungarian travelers visited Kashmir, and were shocked to discover a people speaking a very similar language to their own. The Indian Regiment (Indiai Ezred), which was comprised of Ugor volunteers serving in the Austro-Hungarian Army, fought alongside the Central Powers in the Great War against Britain and the Allies. Since India’s independence in 1947, Ugors have made countless contributions to Indian society as politicians, academics, and entertainers. The Ugor language, which is closer to Hungarian than even Khanty and Mansi are, still isn’t mutually intelligble with it due to 1300 years of separation and significant influence from neighboring Indian languages, as well as being written in the Brahmi script instead of the Latin alphabet. Along with the Romani, Ugors are the cultural and social link between Eastern Europe and South Asia, and despite being separated thousands of miles from their long lost Hungarian cousins, will never forget their common origins in the Urals long ago.
HJR
Banned
Name: Marquesano / Marakesano (formal); Parokano (Informal)
Language: Marquesan Creole (derived from Chilean Spanish, Native Marquesan, and Rarotongan Maori)
Religion: Catholicism, with syncretic practices derived from Polynesian mythology and witchcraft
Ancestry: Mixture of Polynesian and European (predominantly Peruvian and Chilean creole)
Distribution: Marquesas Islands Protectorate, Chile
History: See here
Language: Marquesan Creole (derived from Chilean Spanish, Native Marquesan, and Rarotongan Maori)
Religion: Catholicism, with syncretic practices derived from Polynesian mythology and witchcraft
Ancestry: Mixture of Polynesian and European (predominantly Peruvian and Chilean creole)
Distribution: Marquesas Islands Protectorate, Chile
History: See here
Name: Sapiens B
Languages: Azranit, Tyronit, and Rostok are the most common languages. Others exist. Only Azranit has anything resembling a full translation.
Ancestry: A separate genetic pool of Homo Sapiens who successfully colonized Eurasia in an alternate TL. Having invented travel to alternate TLs, they appear to be scouting our and other TLs for unknown reasons, possibly resource extraction or colonization.
Religion: Unkown, but believed to be some sort of Animism/Agnosticism.
Distribution: Worldwide on their native earth. Most incursions in our world are believed to have taken place within English-speaking countries and it is suspected that these language and culture seems to be the one they have the most information on.
Part 1
Sapiens B is the name for an alternate version of Homo Sapiens. They are Homo Sapiens, descended from lineages that in our timeline did not survive into the present day, with data suggesting a point of divergence around 70,000 BP, possibly coinciding with the Mt. Toba eruption.
Ara is the Azranit name for Earth. The Azranit are believed to be the most developed society of Sapien Bs. Along with the Tyronit and Rostok cultures, they seem to constitute what might be considered Ara’s ‘first world.’ Sometime in the last 100 years, they invented interdimensional travel and have begun to travel into alternate timelines, including our own.
Traits:
Sapiens B are morphologically indistinguishable from Homo Sapiens, from here on out, referred to as Sapiens A. On closer examination, some differences are apparent.
Genetically, they seem to have a slightly higher percentage of Neanderthal/Denisovan ancestry, typically between 5-7%. They also have one additional blood type, Rhesus incomplete, among an unknown percentage of their population. This blood type does exist among Sapiens A but is extremely rare (81 individuals, all from Western Australia or Papua New Guinea). This trait is theorized to come from Denisovan ancestry. Red hair is common among their Eurasian populations. However, it originates in the Neanderthal variant of the MC1R gene rather than the convergent but unrelated Sapien A gene for redheads.
Behaviorally, they tend toward less conversation and ‘small talk’ and have specific cues in their language for ‘pay attention, this is important.’ They appear to be less hierarchical and collaborate more freely, with a greater emphasis on lateral thinking than Sapiens A. Facial expressions and body language are similar but not identical to Sapien A’s. This trait is most noticeable when members of the two subtypes interact with their respective domestic animals. Dogs tend to be slow to ‘warm up’ to Sapien Bs, while Sapien As have a hard time with the genetically modified mammoths and domesticated jackals. Both have issues with their respective horse breeds. These differences seem only to apply to mammalian species domesticates.
Finally, Sapien B population sizes tend to be more dispersed than Sapien A populations using similar geography.
Prehistory/History:
Sapiens B may have diverged around 70 kya. Sixty-five kya, they entered through the Sinai into the modern Middle East, displacing Neanderthal populations. In our timeline, Neanderthal populations drove back these incursions. Eurasian populations of Sapien A are descended from populations that entered Eurasia around the Horn of Africa and Modern Yemen.
After settling Palestine and the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys, the population seems to have split, with one population reaching the Persian Gulf ultimately to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Australia, while another branch headed into Europe along the Mediterranean coast.
In both cases, Sapiens remained a coastal sea people, with Neanderthal/Denisovan populations dominating the interiors for a much longer time period. As to why one hint seems to suggest Sapiens B band sizes remained smaller for longer than Sapiens A populations. Only around 40 kya do we see Sapiens B band sizes increase and incursions pushing Denisovan/Neanderthal populations into absorption/extinction, mostly around 20 kya. Denisovan populations lingered longer in the high arctic around the Chukchi Peninsula until around 1000 years ago.
This may be responsible for the most significant divergence from our timeline, the failure of Sapiens B to cross Beringia into the Americas, with settlement only happening in the last 2-3 kya from Europe.
As the Holocene began, Sapien B populations began to settle into communities and domesticate animals and plants, much like Sapien A, with a pattern of similar but ‘not quite’ the same breeds and domesticates. For example, a canid descended from the Eurasian Golden Jackal rather than the Grey Wolf, horses, sheep, and camelids but no cattle, with aurochs being extinct, cats, but not ‘our’ cats.
Sapien B technology seems to be more fiber-based, with greater use of plant fibers in buildings and transportation, for example, great use of rope bridges, spindle/tension electricity generation, and more pedals, with Inca technology being the closest analog, though nowhere near as advanced.
Sapien B culture appears slower to take big steps, such as switching to agriculture full-time. In turn, they are quicker to adopt new technologies within a framework and spot problems, adopting culture-wide solutions with less internal ‘resistance.’ For example, when phonetic scripts were invented, they spread much more quickly among Sapien B societies, replacing pictograms within a much shorter timeframe. There is no such thing as a power grid among Sapien B cultures. Every house has solar, wind, methane, or spindle/tension electrical generation on sight (or more than one in combination). Industrialization again started slightly later among Sapien B societies but took off faster. It was also generally ‘greener’ due to the Sapien B tendency to notice small details and then work together to find solutions.
It should be noted that all of these things are tendencies, and the extent to which it is cultural versus genetic is highly debated. Sapien A children who have been fostered in Sapien B society, usually due to capture during conflict, have shown these same tendencies. However, the sample size of such children is rather small.
With the advent of Sapien B travel to alternate worlds, there have been some children born of mixed Sapien A/B ancestry, primarily the result of Sapien A’s captured/have stumbled onto Sapien B activities and brought to Sapien B worlds to train infiltrators, as well as a few deep cover agents having liaisons. Such children are usually raised in Sapien B settings and apparently suffer little to no prejudice. Again, the number of such instances remains tiny.
Appendix:
Artifact 1: English transcript of pages from a children’s book about famous historical figures. Provisional translations are noted with italics.
Look outside your window! Do you see your family mammoth or perhaps the village herd outside? If that is the case, you can thank the spirit/memory of Arat Romot.
She was a genetic artist and ecological engineer among the early settlers of North Timod (North America). She realized settlers were straining the ecological balance. This would have long-term consequences for soil health and water cleanliness.
In those days, ecological engineering was not seen as an important field as it is today. We hadn’t visited other worlds and did not fully understand the damage we humans could cause.
Unable to convince enough people of the full value of her work, she and a few trusted apprentices came up with another solution. She upgraded the intelligence, reflexes, and rate of reproduction of key species so that settlers adjusted their behavior, notably her work on the pug-nosed bear (short-faced bear) and the glyptodont.
Without her, we probably wouldn’t have tasty glyptodont stew or bread wraps. Can you think of what we might eat if we didn’t have glyptodont ranches?
It worked and slowed a lot of the ecological damage. But there were surprises. One species realized they were better in symbiosis with us. This, of course, is the bald mammoth (Columbian Mammoth).
Enhanced bald mammoths were smart enough to realize they were too big to dodge the flechettes of hunters. But they could prevent smaller animals like camelids, horses, and bison from escaping hunters. So the hunters learned to leave them alone. They also protected injured or separated hunters, even digging in the dirt to provide fresh water.
This, of course, led to mammoths becoming man’s best friend. Though your jackals might believe they are man’s best friend. Which do you think are better friends?
This was not the end of the story. To read the story of the hunter Jayonuk Kobut, who taught Bald Mammoths writing, turn to page 236
Languages: Azranit, Tyronit, and Rostok are the most common languages. Others exist. Only Azranit has anything resembling a full translation.
Ancestry: A separate genetic pool of Homo Sapiens who successfully colonized Eurasia in an alternate TL. Having invented travel to alternate TLs, they appear to be scouting our and other TLs for unknown reasons, possibly resource extraction or colonization.
Religion: Unkown, but believed to be some sort of Animism/Agnosticism.
Distribution: Worldwide on their native earth. Most incursions in our world are believed to have taken place within English-speaking countries and it is suspected that these language and culture seems to be the one they have the most information on.
Part 1
Sapiens B is the name for an alternate version of Homo Sapiens. They are Homo Sapiens, descended from lineages that in our timeline did not survive into the present day, with data suggesting a point of divergence around 70,000 BP, possibly coinciding with the Mt. Toba eruption.
Ara is the Azranit name for Earth. The Azranit are believed to be the most developed society of Sapien Bs. Along with the Tyronit and Rostok cultures, they seem to constitute what might be considered Ara’s ‘first world.’ Sometime in the last 100 years, they invented interdimensional travel and have begun to travel into alternate timelines, including our own.
Traits:
Sapiens B are morphologically indistinguishable from Homo Sapiens, from here on out, referred to as Sapiens A. On closer examination, some differences are apparent.
Genetically, they seem to have a slightly higher percentage of Neanderthal/Denisovan ancestry, typically between 5-7%. They also have one additional blood type, Rhesus incomplete, among an unknown percentage of their population. This blood type does exist among Sapiens A but is extremely rare (81 individuals, all from Western Australia or Papua New Guinea). This trait is theorized to come from Denisovan ancestry. Red hair is common among their Eurasian populations. However, it originates in the Neanderthal variant of the MC1R gene rather than the convergent but unrelated Sapien A gene for redheads.
Behaviorally, they tend toward less conversation and ‘small talk’ and have specific cues in their language for ‘pay attention, this is important.’ They appear to be less hierarchical and collaborate more freely, with a greater emphasis on lateral thinking than Sapiens A. Facial expressions and body language are similar but not identical to Sapien A’s. This trait is most noticeable when members of the two subtypes interact with their respective domestic animals. Dogs tend to be slow to ‘warm up’ to Sapien Bs, while Sapien As have a hard time with the genetically modified mammoths and domesticated jackals. Both have issues with their respective horse breeds. These differences seem only to apply to mammalian species domesticates.
Finally, Sapien B population sizes tend to be more dispersed than Sapien A populations using similar geography.
Prehistory/History:
Sapiens B may have diverged around 70 kya. Sixty-five kya, they entered through the Sinai into the modern Middle East, displacing Neanderthal populations. In our timeline, Neanderthal populations drove back these incursions. Eurasian populations of Sapien A are descended from populations that entered Eurasia around the Horn of Africa and Modern Yemen.
After settling Palestine and the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys, the population seems to have split, with one population reaching the Persian Gulf ultimately to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Australia, while another branch headed into Europe along the Mediterranean coast.
In both cases, Sapiens remained a coastal sea people, with Neanderthal/Denisovan populations dominating the interiors for a much longer time period. As to why one hint seems to suggest Sapiens B band sizes remained smaller for longer than Sapiens A populations. Only around 40 kya do we see Sapiens B band sizes increase and incursions pushing Denisovan/Neanderthal populations into absorption/extinction, mostly around 20 kya. Denisovan populations lingered longer in the high arctic around the Chukchi Peninsula until around 1000 years ago.
This may be responsible for the most significant divergence from our timeline, the failure of Sapiens B to cross Beringia into the Americas, with settlement only happening in the last 2-3 kya from Europe.
As the Holocene began, Sapien B populations began to settle into communities and domesticate animals and plants, much like Sapien A, with a pattern of similar but ‘not quite’ the same breeds and domesticates. For example, a canid descended from the Eurasian Golden Jackal rather than the Grey Wolf, horses, sheep, and camelids but no cattle, with aurochs being extinct, cats, but not ‘our’ cats.
Sapien B technology seems to be more fiber-based, with greater use of plant fibers in buildings and transportation, for example, great use of rope bridges, spindle/tension electricity generation, and more pedals, with Inca technology being the closest analog, though nowhere near as advanced.
Sapien B culture appears slower to take big steps, such as switching to agriculture full-time. In turn, they are quicker to adopt new technologies within a framework and spot problems, adopting culture-wide solutions with less internal ‘resistance.’ For example, when phonetic scripts were invented, they spread much more quickly among Sapien B societies, replacing pictograms within a much shorter timeframe. There is no such thing as a power grid among Sapien B cultures. Every house has solar, wind, methane, or spindle/tension electrical generation on sight (or more than one in combination). Industrialization again started slightly later among Sapien B societies but took off faster. It was also generally ‘greener’ due to the Sapien B tendency to notice small details and then work together to find solutions.
It should be noted that all of these things are tendencies, and the extent to which it is cultural versus genetic is highly debated. Sapien A children who have been fostered in Sapien B society, usually due to capture during conflict, have shown these same tendencies. However, the sample size of such children is rather small.
With the advent of Sapien B travel to alternate worlds, there have been some children born of mixed Sapien A/B ancestry, primarily the result of Sapien A’s captured/have stumbled onto Sapien B activities and brought to Sapien B worlds to train infiltrators, as well as a few deep cover agents having liaisons. Such children are usually raised in Sapien B settings and apparently suffer little to no prejudice. Again, the number of such instances remains tiny.
Appendix:
Artifact 1: English transcript of pages from a children’s book about famous historical figures. Provisional translations are noted with italics.
Arat Romot:
Look outside your window! Do you see your family mammoth or perhaps the village herd outside? If that is the case, you can thank the spirit/memory of Arat Romot.
She was a genetic artist and ecological engineer among the early settlers of North Timod (North America). She realized settlers were straining the ecological balance. This would have long-term consequences for soil health and water cleanliness.
In those days, ecological engineering was not seen as an important field as it is today. We hadn’t visited other worlds and did not fully understand the damage we humans could cause.
Unable to convince enough people of the full value of her work, she and a few trusted apprentices came up with another solution. She upgraded the intelligence, reflexes, and rate of reproduction of key species so that settlers adjusted their behavior, notably her work on the pug-nosed bear (short-faced bear) and the glyptodont.
Without her, we probably wouldn’t have tasty glyptodont stew or bread wraps. Can you think of what we might eat if we didn’t have glyptodont ranches?
It worked and slowed a lot of the ecological damage. But there were surprises. One species realized they were better in symbiosis with us. This, of course, is the bald mammoth (Columbian Mammoth).
Enhanced bald mammoths were smart enough to realize they were too big to dodge the flechettes of hunters. But they could prevent smaller animals like camelids, horses, and bison from escaping hunters. So the hunters learned to leave them alone. They also protected injured or separated hunters, even digging in the dirt to provide fresh water.
This, of course, led to mammoths becoming man’s best friend. Though your jackals might believe they are man’s best friend. Which do you think are better friends?
This was not the end of the story. To read the story of the hunter Jayonuk Kobut, who taught Bald Mammoths writing, turn to page 236
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Arshiya (𐨀𐨪𐨿𐨭𐨁𐨩)
Language: Arshiya (𐨀𐨪𐨿𐨭𐨁𐨩), with some speaking Uyghur.
Language Family:
Religion: Hinayana Buddhism (44.3%), Tibetan Buddhism (19.7%), Tocharian polytheism (11.2%), Shi'a Islam (8.1%), Hinduism (7.4%), Sunni Islam (5.5%), Chinese Buddhism (3.8%).
Location: Their ancestral homeland and current stronghold is in the northern Tarim Basin in Xinjiang (China). A large diaspora formed in the wake of the Qing invasion of Dzungaria, settling in Tibet (especially Amdo), western slopes of the Tian Shan (Kyrgystan and Kazakhstan), Ladakh and Kangra (India), Baltistan (Pakistan), Badakhshan (Tajikistan and Afghanistan), western Mongolia, and Uriankhai.
Culture: Similar to the culture of ancient Tocharians but with more Turkic, Mongol, Chinese, and Tibetan influence.
History: The ancient Tocharians do not go extinct or get assimilated by the Old Uyghurs in the 9th century and continue to reside as agriculturalists in the northern Tarim Basin. Their cousin ethnic group is the Kushinna, who fled the Tarim Basin and settled in the Yenisei valley in Siberia. They remained as subjects of various empires such as the Mongols, Chagatai Khanate, and Dzungar Khanate, during the rule of which they saw considerable religious freedom. Many of the Arshiya were forcibly converted to Islam but conversion to Islam usually coincided with assimilation into the Uyghur and Hui populations, and as the Arshiya identity and culture were inextricably tied to both Buddhism and pre-Buddhist Tocharian polytheism, converts to Islam were generally shunned. During the Dzungar rebellion, the Arshiya readily cooperated with the Qing government and to avoid reprisals, many of the Arshiya fled into neighboring regions, where most of these diaspora populations ended up adopting the religion of where they settled in. Nowadays, they are generally on good terms with the Communist government and enjoy state patronage and protection, as opposed to their Turkic Muslim neighbors.
Language: Arshiya (𐨀𐨪𐨿𐨭𐨁𐨩), with some speaking Uyghur.
Language Family:
- Indo-European
- Tocharian
Religion: Hinayana Buddhism (44.3%), Tibetan Buddhism (19.7%), Tocharian polytheism (11.2%), Shi'a Islam (8.1%), Hinduism (7.4%), Sunni Islam (5.5%), Chinese Buddhism (3.8%).
- Predominantly Hinayana Buddhist with some Sunni Muslims and Chinese Buddhists in Xinjiang.
- Mostly Tibetan Buddhist in Mongolia, Uriankhai, and Tibet, with a Tibetan Buddhist minority in Ladakh.
- Mostly Hindu in Kangra and Ladakh, with a small Hindu minority in Baltistan and Tibet.
- Mostly Sunni Muslim in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
- Mostly Shi'a Muslim in Baltistan and Badakhshan, with a small Shi'a minority in Ladakh.
- Tocharian polytheism is heavily syncretized amongst the Buddhist and Hindu populations.
Location: Their ancestral homeland and current stronghold is in the northern Tarim Basin in Xinjiang (China). A large diaspora formed in the wake of the Qing invasion of Dzungaria, settling in Tibet (especially Amdo), western slopes of the Tian Shan (Kyrgystan and Kazakhstan), Ladakh and Kangra (India), Baltistan (Pakistan), Badakhshan (Tajikistan and Afghanistan), western Mongolia, and Uriankhai.
Culture: Similar to the culture of ancient Tocharians but with more Turkic, Mongol, Chinese, and Tibetan influence.
History: The ancient Tocharians do not go extinct or get assimilated by the Old Uyghurs in the 9th century and continue to reside as agriculturalists in the northern Tarim Basin. Their cousin ethnic group is the Kushinna, who fled the Tarim Basin and settled in the Yenisei valley in Siberia. They remained as subjects of various empires such as the Mongols, Chagatai Khanate, and Dzungar Khanate, during the rule of which they saw considerable religious freedom. Many of the Arshiya were forcibly converted to Islam but conversion to Islam usually coincided with assimilation into the Uyghur and Hui populations, and as the Arshiya identity and culture were inextricably tied to both Buddhism and pre-Buddhist Tocharian polytheism, converts to Islam were generally shunned. During the Dzungar rebellion, the Arshiya readily cooperated with the Qing government and to avoid reprisals, many of the Arshiya fled into neighboring regions, where most of these diaspora populations ended up adopting the religion of where they settled in. Nowadays, they are generally on good terms with the Communist government and enjoy state patronage and protection, as opposed to their Turkic Muslim neighbors.
Subsouthrons
A highly specialized aboriginal ethnic group of Northern Antarctica. They migrated to Antarctica from Fireland tens of thousands of years ago. The Subsouthrons are a very isolated ethnic group divided into different nomadic communities that occasionally interact. The Subsouthrons have a natural very high body temperature. Their main food are Penguin which they hunt all year around. Also they hunt seals and by chance scavenge whale Carcasses. They dress themselves in sealskin. Their huts are usually out of whalebones and sealskin. The Subsouthrons have an unique language unknown to any other human populations. They have dark skin, black hair. The Subsouthrons never had been discovered until the early 20th Century when Amudson encountered them. Their discovery lead to a huge uproar in the international scientific community. The Subsouthrons have a limited population of a few hundred individuals.
Name: Subsouthrons
Language: Subsouthronese
Population: 200-300
Location: Antarctica
Religion: Traditional Religion
Appearence: dark skin, black hair
A highly specialized aboriginal ethnic group of Northern Antarctica. They migrated to Antarctica from Fireland tens of thousands of years ago. The Subsouthrons are a very isolated ethnic group divided into different nomadic communities that occasionally interact. The Subsouthrons have a natural very high body temperature. Their main food are Penguin which they hunt all year around. Also they hunt seals and by chance scavenge whale Carcasses. They dress themselves in sealskin. Their huts are usually out of whalebones and sealskin. The Subsouthrons have an unique language unknown to any other human populations. They have dark skin, black hair. The Subsouthrons never had been discovered until the early 20th Century when Amudson encountered them. Their discovery lead to a huge uproar in the international scientific community. The Subsouthrons have a limited population of a few hundred individuals.
Name: Subsouthrons
Language: Subsouthronese
Population: 200-300
Location: Antarctica
Religion: Traditional Religion
Appearence: dark skin, black hair
Name: Sassanians
Language: Sassanian (Italian-influenced Persian dialect written in the Latin alphabet), Italian, Latin (liturgical language), historically Aramaic/Syriac
Religion: Western Rite Nestorianism (non-Chalcedonian Nestorian church in communion with the Assyrian Church of the East, but incorporating Roman Catholic liturgical practices used in the Latin Church)
Ancestry: Mesopotamians, Persians, Italians
Phenotype: Southern European, sometimes West Asian or North African
Population: 150,000 (100,000 in Italy, 50,000 outside of Italy)
Distribution: Italy (particularly Lazio but also other parts of the country), Southeastern France, Italian-speaking Switzerland, Southern Austria, Coastal Slovenia, Istria and Dalmatia (in Croatia), along with its diaspora in the Anglosphere
Culture: West Asian, Southern European
History: Following the 7th century Arab conquest of Sassanid Persia, its native Zoroastrian community, fleeing persecution, fled eastward to India. However, another non-Muslim Persian community, namely the Nestorian Christians who schismed from Oriental Orthodoxy and Chalcedonianism at the Third Ecumenical Council in 431, fled westward to the fellow Christian territories of Europe, particularly Italy and the surrounding regions. Although at first they were viewed as unwelcome heretical outsiders, due to their doctrinal differences, over the centuries they were eventually accepted by the locals out of common hatred for the growing Islamic threat to the east and south. Both Latin Rome and Greek Constantinople competed to gain their favor as allies of the church, but ultimately the former won the day. During the Great Schism of 1054, instead of adopting Greco-Byzantine rites, they adopted Latin-Frankish rites, although the schism never really affected them anyway as they weren’t even Chalcedonian to begin with. Gradually they began calling themselves Sassanians instead of Persians, as they believed that they were the last true preservers of the ancient Sassanid heritage, and Latin eventually replaced Aramaic/Syriac as their liturgical language (Persian and Italian both replaced it as their spoken vernacular). Sassanians have made numerous contributions to Italian history throughout the 2nd millennium, whether it be sailing and trading in the Mediterranean, or contributing to the Renaissance, or fighting naval wars against the Ottomans, or participating in the Risorgimento. Under Mussolini’s fascist regime, speaking Sassanian was strictly prohibited, and many Sassanians were forcibly assimilated into Italian society. In the present, Sassanians are a recognized historical minority protected by the Italian government, with their own unique culture that still retains its original Iranian elements, albeit very much Italianized over the last 1400 years. The Iranian government has been sponsoring the establishment of Sassanian-language education and media in recent years as a way to reconnect with their long-lost brethren. Sassanians are unique in that them and Ossetians in the Caucasus are Europe’s only indigenous Iranic ethnicities.
Language: Sassanian (Italian-influenced Persian dialect written in the Latin alphabet), Italian, Latin (liturgical language), historically Aramaic/Syriac
Religion: Western Rite Nestorianism (non-Chalcedonian Nestorian church in communion with the Assyrian Church of the East, but incorporating Roman Catholic liturgical practices used in the Latin Church)
Ancestry: Mesopotamians, Persians, Italians
Phenotype: Southern European, sometimes West Asian or North African
Population: 150,000 (100,000 in Italy, 50,000 outside of Italy)
Distribution: Italy (particularly Lazio but also other parts of the country), Southeastern France, Italian-speaking Switzerland, Southern Austria, Coastal Slovenia, Istria and Dalmatia (in Croatia), along with its diaspora in the Anglosphere
Culture: West Asian, Southern European
History: Following the 7th century Arab conquest of Sassanid Persia, its native Zoroastrian community, fleeing persecution, fled eastward to India. However, another non-Muslim Persian community, namely the Nestorian Christians who schismed from Oriental Orthodoxy and Chalcedonianism at the Third Ecumenical Council in 431, fled westward to the fellow Christian territories of Europe, particularly Italy and the surrounding regions. Although at first they were viewed as unwelcome heretical outsiders, due to their doctrinal differences, over the centuries they were eventually accepted by the locals out of common hatred for the growing Islamic threat to the east and south. Both Latin Rome and Greek Constantinople competed to gain their favor as allies of the church, but ultimately the former won the day. During the Great Schism of 1054, instead of adopting Greco-Byzantine rites, they adopted Latin-Frankish rites, although the schism never really affected them anyway as they weren’t even Chalcedonian to begin with. Gradually they began calling themselves Sassanians instead of Persians, as they believed that they were the last true preservers of the ancient Sassanid heritage, and Latin eventually replaced Aramaic/Syriac as their liturgical language (Persian and Italian both replaced it as their spoken vernacular). Sassanians have made numerous contributions to Italian history throughout the 2nd millennium, whether it be sailing and trading in the Mediterranean, or contributing to the Renaissance, or fighting naval wars against the Ottomans, or participating in the Risorgimento. Under Mussolini’s fascist regime, speaking Sassanian was strictly prohibited, and many Sassanians were forcibly assimilated into Italian society. In the present, Sassanians are a recognized historical minority protected by the Italian government, with their own unique culture that still retains its original Iranian elements, albeit very much Italianized over the last 1400 years. The Iranian government has been sponsoring the establishment of Sassanian-language education and media in recent years as a way to reconnect with their long-lost brethren. Sassanians are unique in that them and Ossetians in the Caucasus are Europe’s only indigenous Iranic ethnicities.
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As outlandish as this might seem, it is similar to the Jasz in Hungary.
Name: Tutarits
Language: Mainly Tutarit Guanche Dialects, Other Berber Languages, Maghrebi Arabic, Spanish French, Italian.
Origins: During Early 14th Century to 15th Century Guanche suffered a famines due to draughts that plagued the islands. This led to reformation of their culture and saw massive migrations outside their islands with the goal of colonization and raiding in mind. Tutarits reffer to descendants of Guanche "Vikings" who established themselves as rulers over pretty much entire Barbary Coast as well as Italy and Southern France.
Population: Exact numbers are unknown because of the number of mostly formerly muslim berbers who took some of the culture and religion of their Guanche overlords over the centuries however these are jot considered Tutarits even if they are considered Guanche. It is believed there is 2.5 to 4 million Maghrebi guanche who descend from Tutarit Caste Today.
Religion: Guanche today still more or less follow their ancestoral deities even though Christianity and Islam have become large minorities among the Ethnic Guanche even in their Home Islands. Traditional faiths, Catholic Practises and Marginalized Forms of Islam like Ibadism, Sufrism and Zahirism all blend together to create a vibrant folk religion that is deemed heretical and infidelious by Christians and and Muslims alike. This has seen multiple call to Jihads by Muslim authorities who had to flee deeper into the Saharan desert with the goal of re-establishing themselves on the coasta nd kill of the Mushriqun Guanche however these attacks have been adversarial to Islamic characteristic of Non Guanche residents of the Coast and inadvertantly made Guanche synthesis more popular.
Tutarits in particular pay extra emphasis and service to deities and spirits of war, stars and sea due to their historical profession. Musqa in the form of idols are often worn by Tutarits as good luck charms and it is not uncommon for animal sacrifices, particularly goats, to be slaugtered for divination and worship purposes. Chaciraxi is an important deity for Tutarits due to importance of stars in navigation. She is also identified with Virgin Mary, Khadija and Dihya.
Distribution: More than two thirds of Tutarit population resides in the former territories of Barbary coast where they make up a plurality of the population however large communities exists all over Mediterranean and Western Mediterranean in Particular. Sicily has the largest tutarit population in europe with 300 000 identifying as Tutarits and around 800 000 identifying as non Tutarit Guanche.
Language: Mainly Tutarit Guanche Dialects, Other Berber Languages, Maghrebi Arabic, Spanish French, Italian.
Origins: During Early 14th Century to 15th Century Guanche suffered a famines due to draughts that plagued the islands. This led to reformation of their culture and saw massive migrations outside their islands with the goal of colonization and raiding in mind. Tutarits reffer to descendants of Guanche "Vikings" who established themselves as rulers over pretty much entire Barbary Coast as well as Italy and Southern France.
Population: Exact numbers are unknown because of the number of mostly formerly muslim berbers who took some of the culture and religion of their Guanche overlords over the centuries however these are jot considered Tutarits even if they are considered Guanche. It is believed there is 2.5 to 4 million Maghrebi guanche who descend from Tutarit Caste Today.
Religion: Guanche today still more or less follow their ancestoral deities even though Christianity and Islam have become large minorities among the Ethnic Guanche even in their Home Islands. Traditional faiths, Catholic Practises and Marginalized Forms of Islam like Ibadism, Sufrism and Zahirism all blend together to create a vibrant folk religion that is deemed heretical and infidelious by Christians and and Muslims alike. This has seen multiple call to Jihads by Muslim authorities who had to flee deeper into the Saharan desert with the goal of re-establishing themselves on the coasta nd kill of the Mushriqun Guanche however these attacks have been adversarial to Islamic characteristic of Non Guanche residents of the Coast and inadvertantly made Guanche synthesis more popular.
Tutarits in particular pay extra emphasis and service to deities and spirits of war, stars and sea due to their historical profession. Musqa in the form of idols are often worn by Tutarits as good luck charms and it is not uncommon for animal sacrifices, particularly goats, to be slaugtered for divination and worship purposes. Chaciraxi is an important deity for Tutarits due to importance of stars in navigation. She is also identified with Virgin Mary, Khadija and Dihya.
Distribution: More than two thirds of Tutarit population resides in the former territories of Barbary coast where they make up a plurality of the population however large communities exists all over Mediterranean and Western Mediterranean in Particular. Sicily has the largest tutarit population in europe with 300 000 identifying as Tutarits and around 800 000 identifying as non Tutarit Guanche.
New Swedes (Nysvenskar):
Language: A dialect of Swedish, with a heavy Finnish influence over the vocabulary; with lesser influences from Dutch/German and Lenape/Algonquian
Origins: colonists from the Swedish Empire in North America; mostly descended from ethnic Swedes, Finns, and Livonians.
Religion: almost entirely Lutheran, though Calvinism is practiced among the Dutch, and some German-descended communities are Amish, Mennonite, or Quaker. Small communities of Jews, Polish and Livonian Catholics, Slavic Orthodox Christians, and Tatar/Turkish Muslims also exist, mostly in the major cities.
Description: In OTL, the colony of New Sweden was a colonial venture in what would later become the English colonies of Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The colony lasted only from 1638-1655, before it was conquered by the Dutch during the Second Northern War and incorporated into their colony of New Netherland. In this timeline, however, Sweden was able to defend its North American colony. Over the next several decades, Sweden's colonial outposts grow into major cities, including Fort Christina (OTL Wilmington, Delaware), Uppland (OTL Chester, Pennsylvania), Sveaborg (OTL Swedesboro, New Jersey), and (most importantly) Kingsessing (in what would become OTL Philadelphia).
Despite occasional hostilities, New Sweden counts New Netherland as its closest military ally (apart from Sweden itself, of course). England is a mutual threat, and surrounded as they are by Virginia and New England, the Swedish and Dutch colonies have been forced to cooperate (though of course their own rivalry is not forgotten). Meanwhile, France holds Quebec and Louisiana and maintains a sphere of influence over the Ohio River Valley. Newfoundland is home to English, French, Swedish, Dutch, and Danish forts -- all of whom share the island in a tense peace.
I wanted to write this because I live near Philadelphia, and I never realised that my hometown used to be Swedish of all things. I kind of like scenarios where the colonial powers get in each other's way, preventing any one of them from establishing total hegemony over the continent -- more rivalries between Europeans means more opportunities for indigenous peoples, plus lots of new cultures and peoples!!
Language: A dialect of Swedish, with a heavy Finnish influence over the vocabulary; with lesser influences from Dutch/German and Lenape/Algonquian
Origins: colonists from the Swedish Empire in North America; mostly descended from ethnic Swedes, Finns, and Livonians.
Religion: almost entirely Lutheran, though Calvinism is practiced among the Dutch, and some German-descended communities are Amish, Mennonite, or Quaker. Small communities of Jews, Polish and Livonian Catholics, Slavic Orthodox Christians, and Tatar/Turkish Muslims also exist, mostly in the major cities.
Description: In OTL, the colony of New Sweden was a colonial venture in what would later become the English colonies of Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The colony lasted only from 1638-1655, before it was conquered by the Dutch during the Second Northern War and incorporated into their colony of New Netherland. In this timeline, however, Sweden was able to defend its North American colony. Over the next several decades, Sweden's colonial outposts grow into major cities, including Fort Christina (OTL Wilmington, Delaware), Uppland (OTL Chester, Pennsylvania), Sveaborg (OTL Swedesboro, New Jersey), and (most importantly) Kingsessing (in what would become OTL Philadelphia).
Despite occasional hostilities, New Sweden counts New Netherland as its closest military ally (apart from Sweden itself, of course). England is a mutual threat, and surrounded as they are by Virginia and New England, the Swedish and Dutch colonies have been forced to cooperate (though of course their own rivalry is not forgotten). Meanwhile, France holds Quebec and Louisiana and maintains a sphere of influence over the Ohio River Valley. Newfoundland is home to English, French, Swedish, Dutch, and Danish forts -- all of whom share the island in a tense peace.
I wanted to write this because I live near Philadelphia, and I never realised that my hometown used to be Swedish of all things. I kind of like scenarios where the colonial powers get in each other's way, preventing any one of them from establishing total hegemony over the continent -- more rivalries between Europeans means more opportunities for indigenous peoples, plus lots of new cultures and peoples!!
I'd like to hear more about your world. Do you have any ideas about what the Ohio River Valley (and the rest of the Midwest) is like?