Alright, just a quick foreword, this is a TL I've made after reading @twistedirregular's Ethiopia TLs and several Ethiopia AARs on Paradox Forums. This is basically combining Earth's past with my Warhammer Fantasy Quest Dynasty of the Woodfolk on Spacebattles and the possible future that would impact the worldwide Jewish community, after my mind just wouldn't stop thinking of the possibilities. First chapter will be out as soon as possible.
Birth of the Conquering Lion - an Ethiopia/WHF TL
- Thread starter Ebanu8
- Start date
A Repentant Heretic
Banned
I think he is just going to apply some story elements from the quest, not making a true crossover/fusion.
Pardon the question, but do I know you?
Just wait and see.
The Prophecy of the Dragon
A/N: I’ll be conducting studies on the interior parts of a synagogue and on Hebrew prayers for this one. If I get anything wrong, please tell me where, and please don’t start flames on my thread, thank you.
11 February 1855, a year of peace, a year of ascension, a year that marked the end of a destructive internal conflict that left Ethiopia divided for nearly a century.
The year that Emperor Tewodros II ascended as Emperor of a newly unified Ethiopia, freshly scarred from its eighty-year civil war.
Many Ethiopians had reason to celebrate, seeing Emperor Tewodros II as a strong leader Ethiopia desperately needed in times of crisis and peace. As Ethiopian troops demobilised and returned to homes and families, the monarch was quickly issuing new decrees aimed at promoting the economic recovery and development of Ethiopia, mostly by improving the devastated agricultural sector as farm fields lay barren and destitute.
Many times, lurking rebels tried to retaliate, perhaps deluded in their attempts to regain their former power. Many times, they were repelled, and it seemed as if peace and normality would return to a formerly troubled Ethiopia.
Yet when an entire legion of strange, foreign soldiers appears in the middle of Axum, history would once again take a turn towards a different path.
And it all began with a prophecy.
The year 2489 IC, 2489 years since the founding of the Empire of Man by Sigmar Heldenhammer, now renamed the Empire of Adaemar, eighty-six years since the ascension of Emperor Elrohir Toddbringer to the Throne of Armenelos.
It was a time of peace and healing, nearly a century since the War of the Weeping Knives that saw the Druchii of Naggaroth utterly decimated with no hope of recovery, the cold, bitter lands having long since been claimed under Ulthuan’s sovereignty (which, in actuality, was Adaemari sovereignty).
The War of the Weeping Knives was one of the bloodiest and most brutal conflicts ever waged in the history of the World of Mallus, a war between the Druchii and a coalition-led expedition, combining the mighty war hosts of Ulthuan, Adaemar, the Karaz Ankor, Heimgard (the new name of Norsca), Abyssinia, and all other nations of the Old World and the Lizardmen and Amazonians.
Though severely outnumbered and outgunned, the Druchii gave as well as they got, and in a war lasting an entire century, the Druchii would wreak more havoc upon the combined expeditionary forces than they ever had on all other nations, Ulthuan included. Entire legions were massacred in well-placed traps, or died at the hands of mighty, terrifying beasts or powerful magic, and scorched earth tactics were their favourite tactics.
With the cold, bitter nature of Nagarroth, the scorched earth tactics proved detrimental to the expedition, and many died of attrition as a result. Entire years were spent bringing infrastructure up to standard before the war front could progress, and this severely stalled the war effort many times.
But the Alliance was patient, perseverant and tenacious, and gritting their teeth through it all, they slowly but surely inched closer and closer to the Druchii capital of Naggarond. And at last, at the climax of the endless battles fought in the bitter war, the Dreadful Witch King Malekith was slain at the hands of Emperor Finrod Toddbringer. Legends say he personally ripped out Malekith’s heart with bloodstained, gauntleted hands after a struggle that left both warriors brutally wounded.
Morathi the Seeress, malevolently beautiful and cruel, met her grim end at the hands of Ungrim Ironfist, Slayer King of Karak Kadrin, though the mortally wounded Dwarf King died of his wounds in the process.
So great was his wounds that Emperor Finrod died of his wounds, mourned by his surviving brothers and sisters, his children, nieces and nephews, and a score of relatives. His body was cremated in the columbarium of Middenstag, the City of Whispering Sorrows, his ashes scattered from the tallest peaks of Karak Ghumzul.
Finrod’s son, Elrohir, took his place as the next Emperor of Adaemar, and led the recovering Empire into an unprecedented age of prosperity not seen since the Last Everchosen War and the death of Tolcariath Toddbringer.
Yet now, he was to lead the Empire through perhaps more tumultuous times ahead.
And it all began with a prophecy.
The Grand Temple of Armenelos, a shining beacon of religious devotion and architectural advancement, host to places of worship for a score and a half of deities. Its domes and spires of marble and blue and yellow rose high in the sky, its walls of polished stone and engraved pictograms and inscriptions reflecting centuries of achievement and progress.
From the Jews of Abyssinia to the Muslims of Tusapu (formerly Araby), the Lady’s worshippers of Bretonnia and the Ancestor Worshippers of the Karaz Ankor, all were welcome within the Grand Temple’s halls, no matter the ancestry or religion.
And it was within its halls that Emperor Elrohir Toddbringer knelt before the Bimar of the Synagogue in the Grand Temple, his shoulders heavy with burden.
The Ner Tamid hung overhead, its burning fire filling the synagogue with the soft scent of scented oils, bringing a small comfort to Elrohir’s troubled mind as he prayed.
“Blessed are you, the Lord our God, King of the universe, who has withheld nothing from His world, but has created in it goodly creatures and goodly trees for the enjoyment of human beings.”
His heart was devoted, but beset with doubt and fear, even as he prayed.
“Oh Lord, I pray to you, still my troubled heart plagued with uncertainty and unbelief,” Elrohir continued, unable to stifle the quaking from his shoulders, “Calm my troubled mind haunted by nightmares, and grant me peace and tranquillity. I ask little of you, only that you enlighten me on why the nightmares plague my mind for over a week now. Is there meaning to these nightmares? Of innocent men, women and children burning in fire?”
A gust of wind blew through the Synagogue, and Elrohir felt a presence enter his mind.
“Elrohir, be calm. I come now to bring you the answers you seek.”
“W-What?”
“You were plagued by nightmares, were you not? They were not mere nightmares, but visions of the future.”
“The future?”
“Yes, but the calamities you witness will not occur in this world, but another, one called Earth. The birthplace of Judaism and Islam.”
“Wait, you’re saying that Judaism and Islam were not born on Mallus?”
“That, and there will be calamities that befall the world of Earth. In these calamities, many will come to persecute the Jews and Muslims of Earth, and clamour for their expulsion, their deaths even. Man, woman or child, they would be shown no mercy, and no remorse.”
“What would you have me do?”
Elrohir became less troubled and more steeled, and he prepared himself for what was to come.
“Go to the world of Earth, Elrohir. In the continent called Africa, there is a land called Ethiopia, freshly reunited from a civil war. Seek out the land, and establish it as a bastion. Go forth, and enact my will.”
The presence faded, and all trace of doubt and uncertainty vanished from Elrohir’s mind. Standing up, he bowed and gave thanks, and left the Synagogue.
As the guards outside stood at attention, he was approached by his bodyguard Oda Wilhelm Nobukatsu, a Samurai hailing from the province of Nordland, who bowed to him in respect.
“My Lord,” He intoned.
“Nobukatsu, tell my advisors and Warmaster Adhurd that I am summoning a strategic council,” Said Elrohir, “Send messages to the monarchs of our allies and the Eastern nations as well, tell them that I am summoning them on a matter of great import.”
“By your orders, Your Majesty,” Said Nobukatsu, “But what is so important that you need to invite so many leaders?”
Elrohir’s only response was this.
“I have received a Divine vision.
The Prophecy of the Dragon
11 February 1855, a year of peace, a year of ascension, a year that marked the end of a destructive internal conflict that left Ethiopia divided for nearly a century.
The year that Emperor Tewodros II ascended as Emperor of a newly unified Ethiopia, freshly scarred from its eighty-year civil war.
Many Ethiopians had reason to celebrate, seeing Emperor Tewodros II as a strong leader Ethiopia desperately needed in times of crisis and peace. As Ethiopian troops demobilised and returned to homes and families, the monarch was quickly issuing new decrees aimed at promoting the economic recovery and development of Ethiopia, mostly by improving the devastated agricultural sector as farm fields lay barren and destitute.
Many times, lurking rebels tried to retaliate, perhaps deluded in their attempts to regain their former power. Many times, they were repelled, and it seemed as if peace and normality would return to a formerly troubled Ethiopia.
Yet when an entire legion of strange, foreign soldiers appears in the middle of Axum, history would once again take a turn towards a different path.
And it all began with a prophecy.
IIOII
The year 2489 IC, 2489 years since the founding of the Empire of Man by Sigmar Heldenhammer, now renamed the Empire of Adaemar, eighty-six years since the ascension of Emperor Elrohir Toddbringer to the Throne of Armenelos.
It was a time of peace and healing, nearly a century since the War of the Weeping Knives that saw the Druchii of Naggaroth utterly decimated with no hope of recovery, the cold, bitter lands having long since been claimed under Ulthuan’s sovereignty (which, in actuality, was Adaemari sovereignty).
The War of the Weeping Knives was one of the bloodiest and most brutal conflicts ever waged in the history of the World of Mallus, a war between the Druchii and a coalition-led expedition, combining the mighty war hosts of Ulthuan, Adaemar, the Karaz Ankor, Heimgard (the new name of Norsca), Abyssinia, and all other nations of the Old World and the Lizardmen and Amazonians.
Though severely outnumbered and outgunned, the Druchii gave as well as they got, and in a war lasting an entire century, the Druchii would wreak more havoc upon the combined expeditionary forces than they ever had on all other nations, Ulthuan included. Entire legions were massacred in well-placed traps, or died at the hands of mighty, terrifying beasts or powerful magic, and scorched earth tactics were their favourite tactics.
With the cold, bitter nature of Nagarroth, the scorched earth tactics proved detrimental to the expedition, and many died of attrition as a result. Entire years were spent bringing infrastructure up to standard before the war front could progress, and this severely stalled the war effort many times.
But the Alliance was patient, perseverant and tenacious, and gritting their teeth through it all, they slowly but surely inched closer and closer to the Druchii capital of Naggarond. And at last, at the climax of the endless battles fought in the bitter war, the Dreadful Witch King Malekith was slain at the hands of Emperor Finrod Toddbringer. Legends say he personally ripped out Malekith’s heart with bloodstained, gauntleted hands after a struggle that left both warriors brutally wounded.
Morathi the Seeress, malevolently beautiful and cruel, met her grim end at the hands of Ungrim Ironfist, Slayer King of Karak Kadrin, though the mortally wounded Dwarf King died of his wounds in the process.
So great was his wounds that Emperor Finrod died of his wounds, mourned by his surviving brothers and sisters, his children, nieces and nephews, and a score of relatives. His body was cremated in the columbarium of Middenstag, the City of Whispering Sorrows, his ashes scattered from the tallest peaks of Karak Ghumzul.
Finrod’s son, Elrohir, took his place as the next Emperor of Adaemar, and led the recovering Empire into an unprecedented age of prosperity not seen since the Last Everchosen War and the death of Tolcariath Toddbringer.
Yet now, he was to lead the Empire through perhaps more tumultuous times ahead.
And it all began with a prophecy.
IIOII
The Grand Temple of Armenelos, a shining beacon of religious devotion and architectural advancement, host to places of worship for a score and a half of deities. Its domes and spires of marble and blue and yellow rose high in the sky, its walls of polished stone and engraved pictograms and inscriptions reflecting centuries of achievement and progress.
From the Jews of Abyssinia to the Muslims of Tusapu (formerly Araby), the Lady’s worshippers of Bretonnia and the Ancestor Worshippers of the Karaz Ankor, all were welcome within the Grand Temple’s halls, no matter the ancestry or religion.
And it was within its halls that Emperor Elrohir Toddbringer knelt before the Bimar of the Synagogue in the Grand Temple, his shoulders heavy with burden.
The Ner Tamid hung overhead, its burning fire filling the synagogue with the soft scent of scented oils, bringing a small comfort to Elrohir’s troubled mind as he prayed.
“Blessed are you, the Lord our God, King of the universe, who has withheld nothing from His world, but has created in it goodly creatures and goodly trees for the enjoyment of human beings.”
His heart was devoted, but beset with doubt and fear, even as he prayed.
“Oh Lord, I pray to you, still my troubled heart plagued with uncertainty and unbelief,” Elrohir continued, unable to stifle the quaking from his shoulders, “Calm my troubled mind haunted by nightmares, and grant me peace and tranquillity. I ask little of you, only that you enlighten me on why the nightmares plague my mind for over a week now. Is there meaning to these nightmares? Of innocent men, women and children burning in fire?”
A gust of wind blew through the Synagogue, and Elrohir felt a presence enter his mind.
“Elrohir, be calm. I come now to bring you the answers you seek.”
“W-What?”
“You were plagued by nightmares, were you not? They were not mere nightmares, but visions of the future.”
“The future?”
“Yes, but the calamities you witness will not occur in this world, but another, one called Earth. The birthplace of Judaism and Islam.”
“Wait, you’re saying that Judaism and Islam were not born on Mallus?”
“That, and there will be calamities that befall the world of Earth. In these calamities, many will come to persecute the Jews and Muslims of Earth, and clamour for their expulsion, their deaths even. Man, woman or child, they would be shown no mercy, and no remorse.”
“What would you have me do?”
Elrohir became less troubled and more steeled, and he prepared himself for what was to come.
“Go to the world of Earth, Elrohir. In the continent called Africa, there is a land called Ethiopia, freshly reunited from a civil war. Seek out the land, and establish it as a bastion. Go forth, and enact my will.”
The presence faded, and all trace of doubt and uncertainty vanished from Elrohir’s mind. Standing up, he bowed and gave thanks, and left the Synagogue.
As the guards outside stood at attention, he was approached by his bodyguard Oda Wilhelm Nobukatsu, a Samurai hailing from the province of Nordland, who bowed to him in respect.
“My Lord,” He intoned.
“Nobukatsu, tell my advisors and Warmaster Adhurd that I am summoning a strategic council,” Said Elrohir, “Send messages to the monarchs of our allies and the Eastern nations as well, tell them that I am summoning them on a matter of great import.”
“By your orders, Your Majesty,” Said Nobukatsu, “But what is so important that you need to invite so many leaders?”
Elrohir’s only response was this.
“I have received a Divine vision.
A Repentant Heretic
Banned
Yeah, I think you need to move to the Fandom section for that. It is an outright crossover.Just wait and see.
It is, but I also plan to make a timeline as well. Both to fill the sort of gap in the Imperial history and to establish the Ethiopian alternate timeline.
Taking inspiration from @twistedirregular's Meiji Ethiopia TL, I'll be making a conquering Ethiopia capable of uniting Africa, with some immigrant help from Russia and Japan. Maybe a little Germany as well. With some differences of course.
When's the PoD? I seriously doubt Ethiopia could establish a Pan-African Empire within the context of that TL's PoD. At best, you might be able to expand up to what Menelik intended to conquer and with the inclusion of Yemen. See below for quote:
"While tracing today the actual boundaries of my Empire, I shall endeavor, if God gives me the strength, to re-establish the ancient frontiers of Ethiopia up to Khartoum, and as far as Lake Nyanza with all the Gallas and the Arussi country up to the limits of the Somalis, including the Province of Ogaden." -- Menelik II.
Just curious, what do you mean by PoD? Also, I am aware that we cannot unite the continent in just a short time; we'd need up to decades of work, not only enfranchising the tribes and other displaced European immigrants, but also building the necessary infrastructure to facilitate our conquests.
I'm asking, what's the point of divergence? Aksum never collapses? Zagwe Dynasty survives? Amda Tseyon expands further with more success?
I'll be doing so from during the Age of Princes, so plenty of time for Ethiopia to modernise.