Map Thread XIV
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Zek Sora
Donor
Don't use a tool. Select your completed path, go to fill and stroke, and set the fill to whatever color you like. I know that made basically no sense, so here's Upvote's inkscape tutorial.
Witch0Winter
Banned
Hail Alban, She Rules the Waves!
But seriously, Interwar Europe is fascinating and a fantasy based on that is awesome. Anything you can tell us about the world? Also, is Inkarnate free?
Hail, to Emperor and Dominion!
Anything in particular you want to know? I'd be happy to share what I have in mind.
Yes, you just need to create an account.
Witch0Winter
Banned
Well, how close are the comparisons to our world? For example, did the Teutons lose to the Albans in the last war? In what ways has magic affected the wars and the world after (similar to interwar Europe I assume meaning the nationalist and communist politics and economic hardships)? Is there much technology in this fantasy world or are they stuck before guns?
Pretty close. The basic idea is there; Alban, Javel, Idria, Frisia, and Ogromniya (the original name of the Holy Equalist Union) fought a long, bloody war against Teuta, Veststad, Vasok, and Maniyya, triumphing after several years of stalemate in the fields and marshes of Frisia and Javel. The devil, however, is in the details; culturally, some of the nations are radically different, so far as being entirely different majority species. Most nations are human, although the Northmen are orcish, the citizens of Tír Aodán (and most other Gothic elves) are "high" elves, the Maniyye, the Sotorians, the Cyrilicans, and the Masgani are "desert" elves, and the Vasok are centaurs. Dwarves have a much larger diaspora; if you note the line of cave symbols along the southern Javelic coast, those are the original dwarven cities that were conquered by Javel 400 years ago. To elaborate, here are my notes on the subject:
Four hundred years ago, before the reign of Javelic Emperor Louis VII "the Opulent," the dwarven cities were among the richest and most prosperous locations in Gothis. Carved into the Tythastooth Mountains, the underground metropolices (Gepazka, Ondarroa, Mendaro, Loiu, and Lekeitio) once provided Gothis with a large portion of its runic metals and enchanted weaponry.
By Annum 879, the dwarven city-states were beginning to wane in power and influence. The Seventh Plague of Annum 862-869 had devastated the dwarves (it had originated in Mendaro, and unlike the humans and elves who dwelled on the surface, they had never built up a resistance to pathogens), Second was the invention of the Runic Engine by Teutan mage-inventor Dieter Scholzmann, which allowed the surfacers to more reliably forge their own enchanted weapons safely instead of relying on the dwarves to do so. The advent of flashpowder and musket further hammered the nail into the coffin of dwarven wealth, as enchanting a musket ball was far easier and cheaper than a halberd or a sword. As a result, surface business dried up. Dwarven weapons, while qualitatively better than anything the surfacers could forge using the Runic Engine, were simply too expensive when compared to domestically-produced weaponry.
By Annum 879, the once-mighty dwarven armies were decimated by plague, starvation, and economic collapse, leaving easy targets for the armies of the Javelic Emperor. In truth, by this point, it was inevitable that the dwarves would be conquered in their weakened state. It was simply a matter of which surface nation would try: Lejana and a number of Idrian states all had designs on the weakened realms, but what is notable about these conquests is that they were perpetrated for a single, simple reason: Emperor Louis wanted dwarven expertise for the greatest project until that time: the Victory Column, technically an impossibility for conventional architecture at the time, but not for enchantment.
When he conquered the dwarves, Louis VII displaced an untold number of them, using them as near slave labor in the construction of this great monument to his vanity. Over a thousand died during the ten-year construction period, and many more were displaced and could never return to their ancestral homes. Entire dwarven families were scattered across Gothis, and their descendants are often heavily persecuted and live in underground slums called "Stoneholds," and they are most often found in industrial centers and in mines, enduring backbreaking labor for meager pay. As fro the cities themselves, they are the last bastion of dwarven prosperity, although unlike the dwarves of the Stoneholds, the city dwarves have been almost completely assimilated into Javelic culture and society.
By Annum 879, the dwarven city-states were beginning to wane in power and influence. The Seventh Plague of Annum 862-869 had devastated the dwarves (it had originated in Mendaro, and unlike the humans and elves who dwelled on the surface, they had never built up a resistance to pathogens), Second was the invention of the Runic Engine by Teutan mage-inventor Dieter Scholzmann, which allowed the surfacers to more reliably forge their own enchanted weapons safely instead of relying on the dwarves to do so. The advent of flashpowder and musket further hammered the nail into the coffin of dwarven wealth, as enchanting a musket ball was far easier and cheaper than a halberd or a sword. As a result, surface business dried up. Dwarven weapons, while qualitatively better than anything the surfacers could forge using the Runic Engine, were simply too expensive when compared to domestically-produced weaponry.
By Annum 879, the once-mighty dwarven armies were decimated by plague, starvation, and economic collapse, leaving easy targets for the armies of the Javelic Emperor. In truth, by this point, it was inevitable that the dwarves would be conquered in their weakened state. It was simply a matter of which surface nation would try: Lejana and a number of Idrian states all had designs on the weakened realms, but what is notable about these conquests is that they were perpetrated for a single, simple reason: Emperor Louis wanted dwarven expertise for the greatest project until that time: the Victory Column, technically an impossibility for conventional architecture at the time, but not for enchantment.
When he conquered the dwarves, Louis VII displaced an untold number of them, using them as near slave labor in the construction of this great monument to his vanity. Over a thousand died during the ten-year construction period, and many more were displaced and could never return to their ancestral homes. Entire dwarven families were scattered across Gothis, and their descendants are often heavily persecuted and live in underground slums called "Stoneholds," and they are most often found in industrial centers and in mines, enduring backbreaking labor for meager pay. As fro the cities themselves, they are the last bastion of dwarven prosperity, although unlike the dwarves of the Stoneholds, the city dwarves have been almost completely assimilated into Javelic culture and society.
There are also plenty of cultural and historical differences. For example, this timeline's version of Napoleon never crowned himself Emperor, since Javel's version of the ancien regime was already an "Empire." Instead, he kept the title of First Citizen, which remains the Javelic head of state to this day. There was also never a Byzantium, as we know it, as the High Elves of Tír Aodán never converted to Trinitarianism in the way the Greeks did to Christianity, instead keeping their religion--the Seven Pillars--more or less dominant.
Pretty deeply. The way magic works in this world is that every schmoe on the street has some level of connection to Haljasbene, the realm of souls and thoughts and the origin of all magic and spirits. However, there are those who are more genetically attuned to Haljasbene--the magi. They are essentially living punctures in reality, through which arcane power in the form of mana can flow. Thus, while normal people can be affected by magic due to their small presence in Haljasbene, only magi can shape that into spells in the mortal plane.
Magi have thus alternated between being oppressed and in power. For example, in Ogromniya, the alt-Romanovs were a powerful family of magi who built the old Empire, and were overthrown by an alliance of the clergy and the industrial working class, establishing the Holy Union under the philosophy of Equalism--all are equally inferior under the dominion of the gods, and thus no one should truly rule a nation.On the other hand, the Northmen hated and feared magi--and for a sort of good reason, considering that orcish mages are more powerful than the magi of any other race. Thus, they have a history of sequestering magi away from the rest of their populations, a practice that dates back to their tribal years.
Magic is also a dividing force in religion. The main religious faith in Gothis is Trinitarianism, a polytheistic religion similar in some ways to classical Greco-Roman mythology. Like our Christianity, there are three main groups of Trinitarians: Orthodox Trinitarianism, Serene Trinitarianism, and Independent Trinitarianism (hich itself is a huge number of smaller sects scattered across the globe). They differ on a number of things, but most strikingly on how they interpret magic theologically.
The tech is roughly similar to 1920s Europe. Some areas like medicine are behind, due to the prevalence of magic, but overall there isn't a lot of difference in Gothis.
Thank you! I'll finish it soon with more details.
The POD is actually a sucessful Fourth Crusade that retakes the Holy Land (only temporarily). Byzantium took the respite to recover itself and finally conquer the Turks. Most Turks are now Orthodox; the remaining Muslims have migrated to other Islamic nations.
Incidentally, this sets in motion a chain of events that end with an scientific revolution in the libraries and universities of the Islamic world, and which culminates in an industrial revolution. Details are a little sketchy right now, but I'll get into more detail once the map is done.
Can it be thrown? Perhaps as a a propaganda demonstration by a Western fucker?
Witch0Winter
Banned
For a first time, you did a really great job. Much better than my first attempt.
I hope you keep it up, I'd love to see more fantastic maps from you!
Still working on the legends and writeups for my two (nearly) completed maps, but here's a very work in progress one. I posted a Nazi victory map on the last thread, and while it was mostly bog-standard I was pretty proud of it. I was never really satisfied with the original, though, so I'm starting fresh. As always, feedback is appreciated.
Europe is pretty much complete. Can't decide if I want to partition Switzerland or just leave it as is.
Europe is pretty much complete. Can't decide if I want to partition Switzerland or just leave it as is.
Some plans I have for the rest:
- The US and British colonies in the Americas and Oceania uniting (something Hitler was afraid of and Churchill probably would have liked)
- Brazil going Integralist but staying on the US' side (Brazilian Integralism was a really weird ideology and would probably be disliked by more orthodox fascist regimes)
Still working on the legends and writeups for my two (nearly) completed maps, but here's a very work in progress one. I posted a Nazi victory map on the last thread, and while it was mostly bog-standard I was pretty proud of it. I was never really satisfied with the original, though, so I'm starting fresh. As always, feedback is appreciated.
Europe is pretty much complete. Can't decide if I want to partition Switzerland or just leave it as is.
Europe is pretty much complete. Can't decide if I want to partition Switzerland or just leave it as is.[/QUOTE]
Leave the Swiss alone.
What happened to the Free France?
How did Italy get so much land?
If Portugal is under a Italian control government, what of the coloines in Africa?
Did Japan beat the US?
Tallest Skil
Banned
Though it doesn’t technically violate the Monroe Doctrine, I don’t see the US allowing Germany to take French Guiana. And what do you mean by uniting colonies?
Free France in Africa is partitioned between Italy and Germany. The rest is essentially a US protectorate.
The Levant, Tunisia and various Mediterranean islands (plus the Sudan and the Horn of Africa, but I haven't gotten to that yet) were ceded at the end of World War II, while the Aragon region was annexed during the Iberian War (Spain got too big for its britches, tried to challenge the Reich, and went down hard in '53).
Part of the Mittelafrika complex due to, once again, the Iberian War. Germany was planning to buy the colonies anyway.
No, but they did a bit better than OTL. Firstly, they did meaningful damage to the oil tank farms at Pearl Harbor, limiting the US Navy's capabilities at the beginning of the Pacific War (as an aside, the other Axis powers gave up on Japan, realizing that wouldn't do them any good). In addition, the Soviet Union attempted to invade Manchukuo much earlier than OTL, primarily through desperation. This, as you would expect, didn't help the Soviet Union at all. It did keep the Kwantung Army in Manchukuo, though (this will be important later).
Japan lasts about as long as OTL, but the main result of all this is that the USA's atomic bombing targets have a much more tactical aspect: people are less confident they'll be demoralizing enough to end the war on their own. Three bombs are dropped, but none in the home islands: Hsinking, destroying the Kwantung Army, Pingfang, destroying Unit 731 (some of their chemical weapons ended up being used against Chinese forces near the end of the war), and Cam Ranh Bay (which was not attacked by the US), eliminating the last of the Imperial Japanese Navy. More attacks are threatened, but Japan's military leadership is overthrown and peace is accepted. Japan is still occupied, but they keep Sakhalin and the Kurils when a peace treaty is signed in '51.
Once again, still a work in progress.
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