Oh I'm sorry my brain didn't process the "West" part ... yeah, Morbihan and Finistère are 100% of Breton linguistic tradition.
Indeed. And while there is Francisque Mosellan, it doesn't cover that much of Moselle.
Is it about cultures or states? Lombardy and Emilia Romagna shouldn't be on the same color, same for Campania and Apulia.
Because for whatever reason, Austrians and Swiss don’t see themselves as ‘german’ as much as they see themselves as Austrians and Swiss. Meanwhile, the Flemish tend to see themselves as Dutch more although they have different religious majorities, but I did not want to divide an entire ethnicity based on religion.
I am not sure where you got that information, but I do not really think that's a true statement, at least not a generally true one.
I'm not really understanding Iberia...what criteria have you used to map that?
I got it from the wikipedia on Austrians, where they say "Today, the vast majority of Austrians do not identify as German"
en.wikipedia.org
I think the statement that was questioned wasn't the statement of Austrians seeing themselves as a separate group, which today is an undeniably majoritarian opinion among the citizens of the Austrian Republic, but the statement about Flemish people identifying strongly as a part of the Dutch nation. Even though I don't know any Flemish person, I know a Dutch person who assured me Flemish people were simply a different group (as would be Norwegians and Icelanders), and a Walloon person telling me that even if Flanders seceded, it would remain independant.
Yeah, I know the languages of Spain, I'm spanish myself. The point is, neither do asturians nor galicians identify themselves other than Spanish, maybe they do identify themselves as galician and spanish. Some part of catalan and vasque people do identify themselves as catalan or vasque and not as spanish, but they're not a majority of the population.I also researched a bit on Leonese and Aragonese, and some other ethnic groups like the Catalans and BasquesLanguages of Spain - Wikipedia
Personally I'd have the USSR hang onto Russia south of the Volga-Don Canal (an area that historically had a lot of Ukrainians anyway)
I have a general understanding of Spain's regionalism, but in short, it seemed that Galician was more distinct than Andalusian mainly because Galician had elements of ancient celtic culture and seemed more closer to Portuguese culture, more emphasized by the Galician language being its own language whereas Andalusian is a dialect of Spanish. As for Asturias, I didn't based the ethnic map on language alone, and Leonese culture seemed to be much more like Castilian rather than Asturian.
Nah, ur good dude, at the end of the day it's a pixelated map that I don't even benefit from other than being happy that I made it. It's just a hobby which I like to share, especially when talking about proposed states/countries.
First, bravo. This is incredible.Ever since making the Nguyen Dynasty map, I've wanted to challenge myself by doing something completely out of the blue and to making something that you can't find easily on the web, so that I did. This is a pretty info-dense collection of maps about the frontier regions of the Tang (there were surprisingly extensive amounts of info, the Tang really loved record keeping it would seem); it was very fun translating the sources to English and researching interactions the Chinese had with the native inhabitants in these areas.
So if you are ever in a very desperate need of a rather comprehensive resource about Tang Dynasty-established protectorates and their local autonomies, here you are. What do you mean its obscure?
Protectorates of the Tang Dynasty [OTL] by MarsandCadmium on DeviantArt
www.deviantart.com
Very interesting.
The basic premise here was Ethiopia conquering Constantinople which I've never seen before. The map has been done for a while and I have been working on the writeup for a month or two. I lost interest in being especially detailed after finishing up the New World section so the writeup is very detailed in some areas and covers very little in other areas. It's very long, so here's a summary: Migration Era/Early Dark Ages hijincks in Europe. A minor Ethiopian state becomes an Empire and takes Constantinople. Ethiopian monks convert Sri Lanka to Christianity and a large trading empire emerges from there. Jews are expelled from Ethiopia in several different periods. Many end up in West Africa. Europeans and Sri Lankans establish colonies around the world.
As usual questions and comments are appreciated.
- The Ethiopian Empire has come to dominate the Eastern Mediterranean. The empire has its nucleus in the Ge'ez-speaking state of Avalites, which emerged in the early 10th century. Avalites grew in power and wealth, and just a century after its founding, in 926, defeated the long-standing regional powerhouse of Aksum. This was the first of Avalites major conquests and in the following decades extended its borders west to the Nile and then up towards the Byzantine province of Egypt. The first war between Avalites and Byzantium was fought in 1023 and the two became archrivals. The Avalites came to be referred to as the Ethiopians by the Byzantines because of their geographic origin and as the centuries passed, the name was even adopted by the Avalites. With the Byzantines pressured by Turks, the Black Sea Norse, and Slavs, this rivalry came to a final, cataclysmic end when in 1380 the Ethiopians sacked Byzantium itself. With the city in the hands of the enemy, unoccupied themes put down their arms and came to the bargaining table. In 1382, Yaqob II of Ethiopia was crowned Caesar by the Patriarch of Constantinople. This new empire, commonly referred to as the Ethiopian, but also known as the Helleno-Ethiopian or Etho-Roman, became a cultural mixture of Ge'ez and Greek. The capital was renamed Negusopolis (City of Kings) in the 15th century, while the Orthodox Church was subsumed into the Ethiopian one. Having kept up with the times, Ethiopia is the premier power of the eastern Mediterranean. Its military is vast and its tendrils stretch far across the Middle East into neighboring countries that have adopted the Oriental Orthodoxy of Ethiopia. The empire's only weakness is its relative lack of industry, though the current, aging Emperor's son might change this when he comes to the throne.
- Though the Avalites' expansion to the north was the most dramatic, in the 10th century they conquered Aden and the Horn of Africa. Though Christianity was by no means unknown in India, it took the arrival of Ethiopian monks to cause widespread conversion. These monks, Andreyuase and Giyorgis were brought by Somali traders to the island of Eelam, where they set up their ministry. These two arrived at a time when the ancient Anuradhapura monarchy of Eelam was weak. The leaders of the four Desa Eelam held considerable power and had come to ignore the monarch himself. King Moggallana VIII was converted (at the time, the converstion was said to be inspired by a miracle but more recent accounts indicate it might have been the act of a weak, desperate king at wits end) and months later won a shocking victory over the forces of the Desa of Dakkina while his army was flying a banner with a cross. The King gained momentum from this victory and reunited the island under his rule. He invited many more Ethiopian monks to proselytize and the journey to the adoption of Christianity by all of Eelam had begun.
- After Moggallana VIII's defeat of the disloyal nobles of Eelam, he set off on a campaign to conquer the statelets of South India. Though Moggallana himself would be killed in battle, his successors continued his conquests However, they soon found that it was easier to establish a large sphere of influence rather than conquer territory directly. This sphere became known as the Eelamite Mandala, which referred to the fact that Eelamite control was concentrated in a center (in this case in Eelam itself) which was surrounded by rings of client states that were influenced politically and culturally by the center. In the case of Eelam, which is primarily an economic power, states on the rings of the mandala sent tribute of money or resources to the center. In return, the Anuradhapura monarchs promised protection and aid in hard times. Eelam's ships traveled all around the Indian Ocean, adding states to the mandala from the islands of New India to the southern tip of Africa. The Eelamites brought with them Orthodox Christianity, bringing millions more into the communion led by the Ethiopian Patriarch in the city of Zeyla. Though the mandala has waxed and waned, it remains strong simply because of how many men it can draw on and that it is not a threat to any nation except in an economic sense. Though it is unlikely to be a major threat, there is sectarian tension in the mandala between Hindus and Buddhists and Christians, with the latter being seen as newcomers that displaced centuries of traditional religion. These tensions are strongest on the Indian subcontinent and on the eastern borders, where the state of Beta Hindustan is fanatically Hindu and anti-Christian. Eelam is not an industrial powerhouse, but steam engines have been adopted in the core, and Eelamite merchants have been quick to grasp the possibilities of mass production of goods. It stands in a strong position given its massive population and ability to acquire nearly any resource.
- With no single, united church in Western Europe, that region is a mixture of large national states. Frankia, the strongest of these states, holds everything west of the Rijn and north of the Pyrenees. Though named for a Germanic people, the Frankians speak a Latin-descended tongue. Unfortunately, the Frankish realm is deeply divided. The four traditional subdivisions: Giselaria, Arnulfia, Septimania, and Aquitaine all have vastly different languages and religions. Giselaria in the northwest is the Frankish heartland and the most loyal province. It hosts the ancient capital of Melun, which is where the Bishop leading the Frankish church resides. Arnulfia, which comprises territories around the Rijn River, is populated by a mixture of Romance and Germanic speakers as well as a mixture of Frankish churchers, Roman Catholics, and Luciferians. The Luciferians, who follow a faith established by a dissenting priest in the late 15th century, are considered heretics and in many areas are persecuted by all other groups. The ethnic hodge-podge makes the region very difficult to rule and considerable power is in the hands of the mayors of the industrial cities along the Rijn. The two southern provinces of Frankia are entirely Romance-speaking (though different dialects prevail here) but are heavily Roman Catholic as the Roman Pope lives in Arles. These ethnic and religious differences are so pronounced that Frankia only survives because of its decentralized form of government that allows local leaders that understand the ethnic makeup of their population to govern. Unfortunately, this makes Frankia easy pickings for predatory neighbors and in recent years with the development of industry near the Rijn, the Slavones have discussed annexing that region to their Dutch client.
- The Frankians southern neighbor, the Visigoth Kingdom, is another realm named for a Germanic group where the people speak a Romance language. Aside from the the presence of a few Celts and Euskaldunak in the north, Iberia is fairly homogeneous in language and in religion. The people practice Arianism, which is a branch of Christianity that teaches that the Holy Trinity does not exist and instead Christ was created by God. Arianism is held to be heretical by most of Europe’s Christians, and therefore the Visigoths are somewhat isolated from European affairs. In response, they set their sights outwards and have established colonies around the Atlantic and have become heavily industrialized. Their traditional kings have, in recent years, relinquished power to two elected assemblies representing the interests of the burghers and the country landlords. By all accounts, Visigothia is on the rise.
- The British Isles have not fared well as far as unity is concerned. It is culturally divided in three between Brythonic Celts, Goidelic Celts, and Germans with each of these groups following its own branch of Christianity (though the Germanics are divided between three feuding churches) The premier power of the isles is Caledonia, which was born out of a Gaelic migration to the highlands. These Caledonians became a seafaring power and raided Scandinavia and the continent several hundred years ago. Since then they have become more peaceful, but maintain their maritime tradition and have colonies as far afield as Awya Yala and Central Africa. With resources from the colonies, the Caledonians have become somewhat industrialized. The Gaelic homeland, Éire, has been united as the Kingdom of the Gaels. This large kingdom has always had problems with unity and that has only increased recently as coastal cities industrialize and the hinterlands remain agrarian. The Kingdom is not necessarily doomed, but will more than likely go through some tough times as it sorts out its identity. The last stronghold of the Britons is the Kingdom of Prydain. On all its landward sides, it is surrounded by invaders to the island including Gaels, Germans, and some Euskara from their hegemony over Kernow. Prydain is a deeply traditionalist and agrarian state, and as the rest of Britain advances technologically, the Pritons are being left behind. The Germanic population of Britain is divided between the Angles and the Frisians, whose territory hugs the southern and eastern coasts. The Angles in the south are divided between the upper classes, which cling to Roman Catholicism, and the peasantry, which follows a radical form of unitarianism influenced by Arianism. This backwards nation is seeing its society crumble as the peasantry clamors for reform and the nobility refuses to change anything. The Frisians on the North Sea coast pay homage to a king based on the continent but are firmly settled in Britain. They are another mercantile and industrialized people, and their large population frightens the Angles and Pritons.
- It is one of the great ironies that the so-called Defender of the Faith, the Holy Slavonic Empire, does not host the Pope. The Empire descends from a confederation of Slavic tribes established there in the late 6th century. By 700, this kingdom, Valucitania (named for its first major king), had become thoroughly Catholic and was supported by the Papacy as a bulwark against roving hordes seeking to ravage Italy. Valucitania went through several dynasties and periods of growing and contracting before 1102, when, with the blessing of the Pope, Ludvik II was crowned Emperor of Slavonia. Since 1102, the Holy Slavonic Empire has essentially been the bulwark of the church and done what the Pope wishes to get done. Of course, the Empire has temporal aims, and has managed to become a powerful, militaristic state with dominance over the Germans. It is clear that the Slavonians have designs over their neighbors and Slavonic expansionism seems to be a problem on the horizon.
- In the early 15th century the Ethiopians attempted to conquer Rome itself in hopes of cementing their status as Roman Emperors. Though the Ethiopian army was more technologically advanced and larger, they were overextended and militarily defeated by the Italian Kingdom. Despite this defeat, the Ethiopians managed to lay waste to large regions of the Italian countryside and a number of cities. The sack of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church, dealt a serious blow to the Church in the minds of Italians. As the Catholic faith waned, Orthodox monks moved in. Over the next few centuries, the rump Italian Kingdom transitioned to Orthodoxy and was plagued by instability as the gentry demanded more of the ravaged countryside than the peasantry could produce. In 1601, these tensions turned to violence, and on the peasantry rise. The revolting peasants were harnessed by urban idealists, and the Italian Republic was formed. It is an exercise in making a real polity out of a hypothetical one. The founders of the country got to work reorganizing Italy along the lines of the state outlined in Plato’s republic. Unsurprisingly, this met with resistance, and few reforms were actually put into place though a philosopher king was installed. The modern Italy sees many subversive groups organizing against a government that major Christian leaders have condemned.
- The Balkans has been unlucky these past few centuries. On three sides are powerful, expansionist empires, which has led to weak states within the Balkans. The two most powerful and most independent of these are Dolmacija and New Greece. The Dolmacijans speak a Slavic tongue yet practice Orthodox Christianity and even accepted the Ethiopian selection of a Patriarch. The Dolmacijan and Slavonic tongues are not mutually intelligible but are closely related and both Slavic states are fierce rivals with each believing their form of Christianity to be superior. New Greece is the last refuge of the old Byzantine Empire. When Constantinople fell, a number of themes declared independence. Most were defeated by the Ethiopians, but the area that is now New Greece was able to maintain its sovereignty. It quickly became home to loyal Greek-speaking Byzantines from across the former empire. It still has an abnormally large population, and is stronger than most other states its size. Interestingly, the local Archbishop split from Constantinople and put his flock in communion with Rome. New Greece remains the black sheep of the Balkans and distrusted by all its neighbors. It has, however, been crafty enough so far to play these rivals against each other and maintain its independence.
- The New Roman Empire, also called Romany or Rumania, is the dominant power of Eastern Europe and northern Eurasia. After the collapse of Rome the Latinzed peoples around the Danube and Carpathians carved out their own kingdoms. By the time Constantinople fell to the Ethiopians, the Kingdom of Romany had established itself at Napoca stretching east into the plains. Indeed, the only thing stopping them from outright claiming to be the successor to old Rome was the Byzantine presence. With Constantinople fallen and no significant force on their southern border, King Marius II crowned himself Emperor of the Romans. For several decades, some Greek-speakers in the Balkans actually upheld Marius’ claim because they preferred him to the Ethiopian Yaqob II. The Rumano-Ethiopian Wars were inconclusive and ended with both powers unhappily conceding that the other would continue to exist. Since then, New Rome has continued to expand. It expanded north, defeating the Turkic overlordship over Norse and Slavic states there. It also expanded east across Eurasia until it reached the Contratlantic and from there, New Roman explorers established colonies on the wastern coast of Turtle Island. New Rome is a large state and its level of development is mixed but in general, it is one of the more industrialized states in the world. The current Emperor, Ioan II, is a reformer and hopes to build a railroad across the empire.
- Though on a different landmass, the states of Northern Africa are commonly considered to be an extension of Christian, Romance-speaking Europe. In the far east along the Atlantic, the Visigoths have dominance over several Latin-descended states converted to Arianism by the sword. In the former Roman province of Africa, the Romance-speaking descendants of the German Vandals have established themselves. Vandaly has a strong maritime tradition but has been tied up for centuries in preventing the Ethiopians from conquering them. The heir apparent to the Vandal throne, Augustine, is a seasoned sailor and has expressed interest in establishing Vandal colonies elsewhere in Africa and in the New World.
- Paganism is alive and well in Europe. Lithuania has managed to survive and carve out a space for itself as a strong regional power. The Lithuanians, though pagan, became allies of the Roman Catholic Church because of their help in fighting off Eurasian steppe nomads. This meant the Church and by extension Cathoic states turned a blind eye to the Lithuanian conquests of other Baltic-language states. By the dawn of the 15th century, the Lithuanians had built up their realm and managed to defeat a Slavonic invasion meant to convert the Baltics. Since then, the Lithuanians have remained a force to be reckoned with and have poor relations with all of their neighbors because of their paganism. Lithuania is one of the more industrialized states in Europe. Some of the Norse as well have remained pagans. Interestingly, the two Norse pagan states have evolved politically in parallel despite being separated by the Rumanians and Christianized Norse. The Leagues of the North and Dongard which are in Scandinavia and the Caucasus respectively function as loose federations of nobles. Between Norse tradition and the loose form of government, both the Leagues are fairly egalitarian and rely on popular councils. This lack of centralization has made them weak in comparison to their neighbors and the lack of Norse industry might allow foreign powers to conquer them.
- Despite ancient claims of a relationship between Israel and Sheba, an Ethiopian queen, the Avalites and the Ethiopian Empire did not treat Jews well. Perhaps inspired by the Ethiopian debtera, small groups of Jews wandered west across Africa starting around the year 1000 and established themselves in the small cities of West Africa. After the death of Ermias III in 1278 the succession to the Ethiopian throne was disputed. Interestingly, the more legitimate claimant, Dawit, ruled from Alexandria (then at the northern edge of the empire), while his brother Elias ruled from Avalites. During Elias’ eight year reign, Jews were expelled from his domain and many fled across the continent to the communities of West Africa. This massive influx of Jews into West Africa rapidly increased the rate at which conversion was occurring and by 1375 the first major Jewish empire in West Africa had been established on the Ger River (which was renamed the New Jordan by a particularly devout king in 1428) Since that time, the native African population and Jews from Ethiopia and later the entire Near East have mixed together, creating a unique Jewish society.
- Currently, West Africa’s premier power is the Imperium of the New Jordan, which was established at the start of the 16th century through the conquest of the various Jewish statelets of the region. The Imperium is culturally Afro-Judean and has the highest percentage of Jewish migrants in all of West Africa and is heavily urbanized. Bizarrely, its form of government is directly inspired by Rome and Byzantium. Though not the first Jewish kingdom to establish New World colonies, New Jordan has several small colonies on the eastern tip of Awya Yala. To the east on Lake Chad is the Libian Confederacy, a union of Bantuoid city-states established by peoples coming down from the Jos Plateau and conquering the native Chadians. Like New Jordan, Libia has been fully converted to Judaism. Libian merchants dominate the trading routes from Ethiopia to West Africa and the various city-states are exceedingly wealthy. This has prompted some tension between Libia and the poorer New Jordan. To New Jordan’s west is Ratz Keshem (land of rain) which was established by Jews leaving the crowded cities along the New Jordan river. Under a series of average Nasis (kings), Ratz Keshem has taken up a position as a strong but inoffensive and inwards-focused power. The final Jewish power in Africa is the Kru Empire. It began when the Jewish Kru peoples went on a conquering spree and carved out a large kingdom. Though the Jewish faith has been adopted, the state remains more culturally African. The Kru are very militaristic, devout, and expansionist and have a large colony they call Goshen at the mouth of the Ifióni River in Awya Yala. Goshen has been the site of many atrocities as the Kru attempt to spread their faith by the sword. Recently, the Kru and New Jordanians have clashed over influence in the still-pagan highlands that lie between the two kingdoms. The last non-Jewish power in West Africa is the Ashanti Kingdom. Though controlled by the Ashanti, the Kingdom is populated by a variety of groups all opposed to Jewish expansionism. The Ashanti appear to be on a collision course with boat the New Jordanians and Kru. Technology, West Africa is only slightly behind the curve. The New Jordanians, Kru, and Ashanti have all become heavily invested in the creation of new, powerful weapons while the more mercantile Libians have invented a number of labor-saving devices to help cut costs and enrich the trader class.
- Central Africa has been heavily Christianized by Ethiopian Debtera. These monks cut across the jungles of the Zahir Basin and managed to establish outposts on the Atlantic. In their wake they left a jumble of statelets all in theory practicing the Ethiopo-Greek Orthodox faith though in actuality their form of Christianity is heavily influenced by native folklore. The only major opposition to the Ethiopian Christians in Central Africa is the Paramount Bigmanship. Established by a powerbroker (big man) in the town of Kogba, this nation is a confederacy of chieftaincies all following the lead of Kogba. They are firmly anti-Christian but have no organized church of their own which has proven to be a problem. On the southwestern coast there are a series of European colonies. Most of these are quite small and consist only of a couple of port cities surrounded by barely-controlled wilderness though this is changing daily as the Europeans become more willing to venture further from the coast. The largest native power on this coast, Gwmbundu, is led by an Orthodox ruling class but largely populated by folk religionists. Gwmbundu’s culture is a strange mixture of Western Christian, Eastern Christian, and native African. Despite this, it is fairly powerful and led by leaders that recognize they must reform their state if they are to compete with Europe. The Southeastern coast of Africa is part of the Eelamite Mandala. Like all parts of the Mandala, it is a jumble of religions and tongues though Eelamite Orthodox Christianity predominates. The Enlightened Autocracy of Asaniya exists in this region. Asaniya was founded by Buddhists from western India fleeing a bloodthirsty Eelamite occupation. Refugees streamed in and a large state with an Enlightened Autocrat chosen from among the ranks of the monkhood was created. Though ethnic Indians were the majority at first, as the Enlightened Autocracy has expanded inland it has converted many Africans who now make up the majority. As with Christianity in Africa, Buddhism there has been heavily influenced by indigenous beliefs.
- After conquering the Byzantines, the Ethiopians focused reconquering the Arabian provinces that had fallen out of the Byzantine grip during their wars with Ethiopia. This brought Ethiopia into contact with Persia and war broke out between them. Fortunately for the Ethiopians, the Persians were in the midst of a conversion to Christianity at that time, and the Ethiopians reframed their campaigns as a war of conversion. The Zoroastrian monarchy was vanquished and a devout Christian state established in its place that exists to this day. The Persians have never fully recovered their power since their conversion and at the very end of the 16th century the Manichean Qakass hordes overran the east of Persia. The Qakass, a Turkic-people, have developed into a settled gunpowder empire that exerts influence in both India and Central Asia. Their cousins, the Turks, have had less luck. The Turkish hordes ravaged both Eastern Europe and the Near East between the 12th and 14th centuries but were soundly defeated towards the end of that period. The last stronghold of this people is in northern Arabia. There, nomadic Turks settled down among the native Bedouins. Their state, Turky, is wholly unimportant to world affairs and is treated as a relic of a past age by its Ethiopian neighbors. The other major power of this region is Armenia, which can trace its descent from the ancient polity of the same name. Armenia has grown somewhat, having gobbled up parts of the Byzantine Empire during the Ethiopian conquest. It remains Christian and is the industrial powerhouse of the Near East with an army that is growing in size and capability.
- Though the southern half of India is controlled by the Eelamites, the northern half is a collection of varied independent states. Much of the southern Indian interior and central India is Buddhist. Nashik is the premier Buddhist power and has built up its military in hopes of defeating the Eelamites on land. On the eastern coast, the port city of Opatiyāpuram which was founded by the Eelamites, has left the Mandala and gone its own way. The city fathers of the Opatiyāpuram republic are some of the most cutthroat merchants in the world. North along the Ganges, Hinduism is still predominant. The two primary states of the river are the Circle of Jharkand, an alliance of Hindu states protecting against Christian expansion, and the Adityan Dynasty. East of Bengal, Buddhists again make up the majority. The Sublime Confederacy, a theocracy following divergent form of Buddhism with a high priest, controls the area along the lower Brahmaputra River. It is a massive mixture of different languages but is surprisingly united in its antipathy towards unbelievers.
- Though the Eelamites never outright outlawed other religions in their realm, it was clear that the Christian ruling class did not approve of them. Prompted by fears of the outlawing of Hinduism, a Hindu prince named Sinha led a voyage to establish a colony to the east. Sinha’s people settled on the territory inhabited by the Iloko people. Though this archipelago was occasionally visited by Eelamite traders, Sinha renamed it New India. As the initial settlement, Varunapur (Sinha gave thanks to the sea for his safe arrival) prospered, Hindus flocked to New India and established colonies of their own. Under Sinha’s descendants and then a rival house that displaced the descendants, the kingdom of Beta Hindustan grew and prospered. In the five and a half centuries since its foundation, Beta Hindustan has converted the entirety of New India to Hinduism and killed off everyone that refused to convert. Its merchants and sailors have come to dominate the western edge of the Contratlantic Ocean as far south as Thuni Karanhapa and north into Nippon. It is behind the curve technologically but still fairly advanced. Though Beta Hindustani traders have always been present on the Chinese coast, they have managed to take territory along the coast in the past century. These lands have been converted by the sword to Hinduism. In the frontier of New India, various tantric cults and divergent forms of Hinduism took root. One of the most insidious and long-lasting of these was the cult of the thugs, bands of worshippers of the goddess Kali who lurked in the New Indian interior and strangled both natives (who were believed to be evil) but later turned on Hindu travellers. After 1400, the Beta Hindustanis undertook several campaigns to root out the thugs. Most of them were not killed and merely moved to other islands where the government had less authority. This cycle repeated itself until 1633, when the considerable thug population of Thuni Kurunhapa declared an independent kingdom. This state, the Kingdom of Strangulation, is a rather egalitarian theocracy comprised of a number of thug clans. The thugs suffer from the fact that both their neighbors, Beta Hindustan and Thirrama, detest them and are jointly planning to eradicate thuggism once and for all.
- China has fallen on tough times. Around 1620, the dominant Qi Dynasty was in the midst of a crisis in which foreign influence threatened to tear the empire apart. The dynasty played their cards all wrong and the outraged people rose in revolt across China. This marked the start of a period of warlordism in which a dozen different states have come to occupy the former Qi Empire. The largest states include two different families that claim the old title of Emperor. The Yan Dynasty holds Beijing and is stronger but the Jiangsu-based Wu Dynasty has made deals with the Hindustanis to receive aid in conquering all China in exchange for favorable trade deals. The final major player is Sanhe in the southwest, which has a long non-Han tradition. Between these major powers are a jumble of states with many forms of government ranging from Manichean kingdoms to technocracies. This disunity has been a good opportunity for the Koreans, Nam Viets, and Beta Hindustanis to increase their influence and carve out loyal client states. Though the Chinese states are in a constant state of war in theory, actual fighting is rare.
- Korea has done very well for itself. Though historically a Chinese client, starting in the 14th century the Koreans shifted towards trade with the Eelamites and Betu Hindustanis. The monarchy enriched itself while building up a military and allies to gain its independence eventually. In the 1530s, the Koreans revolted against the Qi Dynasty and won. In the following decades, they became mercantile power and moved in on Nippon and into unclaimed regions of Siberia. Their biggest break came when the Qi broke up. When that happened Korean forces streamed into Manchuria and across the sea into Shandong where they annexed land and carved out buffer states. The Koreans of the late 17th century are a first-rate power with productive cities and a strong army and navy. Alongside the Beta Hindustanis, they have weakened the Nipponese Emperor by conquering and acquiring vassals across nearly half of Nippon.
- Thuni Kurunhapa, the land of the west, is divided into three worlds. In the west, the Christian Eelamites and Ethiopians dominate. In the north there are the Beta Hindustanis and the thugs and in the east are the native peoples. The native peoples of Thuni Kurunhapa are far from a monolithic single group but are frequently treated as such by people unfamiliar with this remote continent. The dominant native power is the Thirrama Empire. Thirrama was founded by the Ngiyampaa peoples in the early 1400s. Urged on by their high priests, the Ngiyampaa conquered all their neighbors and integrated them into a multiethnic but monoreligious empire. The Thirrama have run out of settled people to conquer but remain just as belligerent as before, something that does not sit well with either the also-devout Beta Hindustanis and Ethiopians. In the south, the Thirrama are plagued by Ethiopian-influenced pirates from the island of Lutruwita. The Lutruwitan pirates have established bases on the uninhabited islands to the east of Thuni Kurunhapa.
- While the Eelamite presence in Thuni Kurunhapa is comprised of coastal tribes with mercantile ties to Eelam itself, the Ethiopians and Beta Hindustanis have settled down large number of migrants in their slices of the continent. In the far southwest, a stream of Jews settled after a round of pogroms in Ethiopia in the 1570s. New Zion, the state they established, has prospered but has a low population and is seeing Ethiopians encroach on its territory. The first Ethiopians in Thuni Kurunhapa were the wandering monks, the debtera. Starting at the very end of the 14th century, small groups of debtera landed on the continent and wandered into the interior. They succeeded in bringing Christianity to the tribal peoples of the interior but this form was very syncretic. The debtera also brought foreign forms of political organization to Thuni Kurunhapa. They broke the old tribal systems and replaced them with Ethiopian style states with themselves as sorts of spiritual leaders ruling over decision-making councils. These debtera states have survived thus far, but the Co-Primates of Negusopolis have indicated a willingness to do away with this practice.
- The first major contact between the New and Old worlds was in 1327 AD, when Pethuru Reddy, an Eelamite sea captain led an expedition west from Pakropatnam in search of islands rumored to be there. Reddy set up a settlement to trade with the natives, and in the following centuries more Eelamites would follow him and establish colonies. They would come into contact with the Tawantinsuyu but both sides retained amiable relations and engaged in commerce with each other. Though Reddy and his successors did not make the voyage to the New World intent on death and destruction, the various diseases of the Old World wreaked havoc on the New World. Measles, smallpox, and cholera, collectively known as Reddy's Gift, spread like wildfire through the developed Tawantinsuyu cities and from there to the Arawak Thalassocracy, and finally to Turtle Island. The already-decaying Thalassocracy's demise was hastened as seafaring came to a halt with the onset of disease and regional governors declared independence. The unfortunate death of an Tawantinsuyu Sapa Inca led to that realm's shattering into a dozen pieces in late 1345 as various claimants asserted their right to rule. The more urban Tawantinsuyu and Arawak territories were much harder hit than the decentralized states of Turtle Island, which also benefited from a lack of prolonged contact with the Old World until a century or so later. Though the impact of the Old World on the New was more politically noticeable than the reverse, both ends did contribute crops and diseases to the other, which has led to the use of the term Unity of the Worlds in reference to history post-1327.
- Most of South America was once unified under Tawantinsuyu (Incan Empire) though control around the fringes, especially the Atlantic coastline, was always weak. Tawantinsuyu collapsed from the diseases brought by Reddy's Gift. The eight divisions of the Empire (the Suyus) each went their own way with powerful military governors at their heads. Though most of these states eventually collapsed, their names are used for the regions of the continent and in three cases, the names of extant states. Quechua, the official language of the Tawantinsuyu realm, is still used for governance and trade and across Awya Yala (which is, unsurprisingly, a word of Quechua origin) while the Tawantinsuyuan pantheon is worshiped in many different forms by disparate peoples. The most direct successor of the old Tawantinsuyu state is the Realm of the Sapa Inca, which is ruled over by the descendant of the last Emperor. The greater part of his territory is centered around the city of Cuzco, which, while not nearly as opulent as it once was, is the center of native civilization in Awya Yala. Dividing the Sapa Inca's territory is a revival of the pre-Tawantinsuyu Chan Chan state by culturally Quechua people attempting to embrace their distant ancestors. Other neighbors include Near Collasuyu and Near Antisuyu, both of which were fully Quechuized at one point and have evolved to have culture of their own.
- Further east, Tawantinsuyu culture took hold among upper classes, but the peasants, though they may have adopted the Tawantinsuyuan pantheon and considered themselves subjects of the Sapa Inca, were not as thoroughly Quechuized as peoples closer to Cuzco. The premier power in that part of Awya Yala is Far Antisuyu, which has evolved into a highly stratocratic regime led by warrior-kings. Its largest southern neighbor, Sachasuyu, is heavily tribal and divided into several large, ethnically-distinct kingdoms ruled over by a major city. Straddling the border between the old central provinces of the Tawantinsuyu and the new ones is the Mekhanocracy. There, Movima-speaking engineers have attempted to irrigate their fairly barren land and turn it into an aquatic paradise. The whole country is widely regarded as being insane. These states have had to contend with Old Worlder colonies on their borders. They have handed different newcomers differently as these groups have very different styles of colonization. The Eelamites have been fairly well received as their intentions seem wholly mercantile and any conflict with native states arises from greed. Other newcomers, including the West Africans and Pritons, are more needy and seek to arrange the life of inhabitants or even rid the region of its native people. Prydain has taken steps to push out all free natives, and while the New Jordanites and Kru do not do that, they insist upon their conversion to Judaism. Daristan is the most populous of the colonies, having been settled by Zoroastrians fleeing Persia after the rise of a Christian dynasty that outlawed the nation's traditional faith.
- The northern part of Awya Yala has long been an an area where continental Tawantinsuyuan civilization and the maritime influence of the Thalassocracy have mixed. With both those states now gone, this region is home to states that combine these two heritages with no larger power oppressing them for it. The two primary nations of the region are vastly different. Karnako is a maritime kingdom and the largest successor of the Arawak Thalassocracy. Though outmatched by the Europeans and West Africans, Karnako's fleet is strong and its merchants have even crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Its leaders hold delusions of grandeur and hope to one day recreate the Thalassocracy. It neighbors the State of the Coca Growers. Coca has long been an important crop in Awya Yala, but after the collapse of Tawantinsuyu, the semi-Quechuized Nasa Yuwe peoples developed a faith centered around use of the coca plant for hallucinogenic purposes to connect with the Tawantinsuyu gods. This cult came to control the monarchy, and the country has shifted so that the large landowners are dominant because of their control of coca growth. Unsurprisingly, their neighbors treat the Coca Growers as freaks and try to have little to do with them.
- In the far south of Awya Yala the Mapuche peoples have carved out a massive, semi-nomadic empire. The pre-Unity of the Worlds Mapuche were a small, irrelevant tribe on the far southern border of the Tawantinsuyu, but following the introduction of horses by Eelamite traders in the 14th and 15th century, the Mapuche became highly-skilled riders and used their newly-acquired horses to invade the Tawantinsuyu province of Far Collasuyu. The Mapuche of 1678 are extremely hostile to all outsiders with the exception of the Eelamites, who they have initiated trade with and receive old world inventions
- The Arawak Thalassocracy began roughly in the year 950 when one warlord conquered several neighboring tribes of Arawaks. This warlord, Yugchikin, became the first Great Captain of the Thalssocracy. The Thalassocracy was a confederacy of tribes and city-states, each led by a Captain that paid tribute to the Great Captain. The Thalassocracy had control over all the commerce of the Ifironiá and through the taxes levied on merchants by the Captains, the Thalassocracy was extremely prosperous. The Thalassocracy stretched from the northern part of Awya Yala into southern Turtle Island and had control over some parts of Yax Imix. It was a cosmopolitan civilization and every faith and language of the New World could be found there. Though dominated by the Arawaks for the first two hundred years, a dynasty of ethnically Taíno Great Captains shifted the center of Arawak civilization away from its historic nucleus in Awya Yala to the island of Ayiti. The term Arawak, however, remained in use as a denonym for all people of the Thalassocracy while also referring to people of the Arawak ethnic group. Though they were by no means pacifists, the people of the Thalossocracy avoided major wars, seeing them as wastes of time and energy as well as distractions from merchant work. However, in late 11th Christian century, then-Great Captain Bohechío raised an army to fight the Mayan Confederacy. The Confederacy had become a major nuisance for Thalossocratic traders and the Captains wished to be rid of it so much they authorized the first major offensive operation in their country's history. Tens of thousands of men landed on the borders of the Confederacy and sacked its capital of Tikal. The constituent cities of the Confederacy were broken up into land for ambitious Arawak captains while many Mayans fled southwards to the small hill colonies. From this point onwards, the Captains of the Thalassocracy became more willing to wage war to increase their power. The second and last major war occurred around 1250, when the Huehuetlatoani of the Aztec Triple Alliance declared a ban on Arawak traders in his country's ports. The then-Great Captain of the Thalassocracy sent envoys to convince the Huehuetlatoani to rescind the order, but when nothing came of that, a punitive expedition was sent into Aztec territory. This army marched from the port of Coatzacoalcos to the Valley of Mexico, where it sacked Tenochtitlan itself. There, the Hueuetlatoani was killed in a freak accident when Arawak soldiers mistook him for a commoner. With the head of the Triple Alliance dead, the Arawaks changed their mission from punishing the Aztecs to conquering them. Shortly after the sack of Tenochtitlan, a young Guanahatabey officer that had distinguished himself in combat was raised to the position of Captain of the Valley of Mexico, giving him one of the largest domains within the Thalassocracy. After the defeat of the Aztecs, the Thalassocracy had no rivals in the region, and remained a hegemon until the arrival of the Old Worlders a century and a half later. The Thalassocracy had been heavily weakened by disease and broke apart as European nations picked off the Captaincies one by one until the last Great Captain was killed in a battle of the coast of Ayiti by the Caledonians. The cultural legacy of the Thalassocracy, however, remains. Even now, two dozen or so small states around the rim of the Ifironián Sea maintain the maritime and mercantile traditions of the Thalassocracy and continue to call their leaders Captains. In many states, however, the people have all but forgotten the golden days of the Thalassocracy and have reverted to less commercial pursuits. Within the European colonies, the merchant and sailing classes were heavily repressed, as they represented an organized system that could become the core of a resistance movement. Unlike Tawantinsuyu, there was never one primary culture of the people of the Thalassocracy. The many different peoples of the Thalassocracy all shared their cultures with each other, creating a single hodge-podge. This stands much in contrast to Tawantinsuyu, where the language and traditions of the Quechua were handed down to all the other people of Awya Yala. Though ruins, a title, and a maritime focus have been handed down from the Thalassocracy, there is not overarching Thalassocratic cultural heritage in the Ifironián Sea.
- It is ironic that despite being one of the last territories added to the Thalassocracy, the Valley of Mexico is one of the last vestiges of that dead empire. This is because the Thalassocracy's Captains in Mexico ruled over a hostile population and learned quickly how to cement their power. While the Thalassocracy collapsed elsewhere, the Captains in Mexico were in a better position and able to hang on. As Reddy's Gift wreaked its havoc on the Ifironián Basin in the late 14th century and early 15th century, several major revolts emerged as most of the Valley of Mexico rose against the still distinct Arawak upper crust. This proved to be the last hurrah of the Nahuatl in that region and since that time the Arawak and Nahuatl populations have begun to meld. Today, the Captaincy is a land power and not even especially mercantile. A small Nahuatl remnant exists on the western border of Mexico under the name of the Triple Alliance Beyond the Ridge. These Aztecs are even more bloodthirsty than their ancestors and are obsessed with the idea of reconquering Tenochtitlan. Unfortunately for them, most people in Mexico have no interest in seeing a new regime.
- To the east of the Valley of Mexico is the former Arawak Captaincy of Maayaka (land of the Mayans) The coastal regions of the peninsula are controlled by Thassalocracy-descended states that vary in their degree of Thalassocratic-Maya cultural synthesis. These states squabble among themselves and because of decades of poor administration seem to be on the way out. They surround the Kingdom of Yumpetén, which is dominated by ethnic Mayans. The Mayan Confederacy that was defeated by the Thalassocracy in the 11th century was decentralized and the Mayans of Maayaka remembered this, so, when Yumpetén rose to power, it was designed to have a strong central administration and a standing army. Recently, the King of Yumpetén has been focused on building his military up to Old World standards and purchased a large number of firearms from the Pritons. Though the term Mayan commonly refers to the inhabitants of the Maayaka Peninsula, people speaking Mayan languages live through a large swath of Yax Imix and the majority of them did not ever live under the Mayan Confederacy. K'ich'e, a kingdom south of the Mexicans, is a state founded by these people. It is rather inoffensive and isolated in its jungle cities. To the east in the Guatemalan Highlands, is the state of the Hill Mayans. This large country was founded by inhabitants of the Mayan Confederacy fleeing the Arawak invasion. Within several generations, the Hill Mayans built mighty cities out of a previously undeveloped land. Though initially they hoped to reconquer the Maayaka Peninsula, the Hill Mayans have given up those dreams and seem content to stay in their highland cities. Their nation is prosperous and produces significant quantities of iron. Perhaps it is on the verge of an industrial revolution of its own. There are a number of European colonies scattered throughout Yax Imix. The majority of these are small and have not seen significant European settlement. The outlier is the Caledonian colony of Fearann de Naomh Brianann, which has been heavily Gaelicized and divided into estates that are worked by native and imported slaves.
- The Miami Ascendancy's predecessor, the Miami Kingdom, had existed since time immemorial. The Ascendancy itself was born in the chaotic years following Reddy's Gift. With populations devastated and the old order overturned, Big Turtle, a particularly ambitious Miami leader, took his warriors to battle against neighboring tribes. They fell like ninepins and Big Turtle kept conquering until his death. Rather than rule as a despot, Big Turtle gave newly-conquered territories considerable autonomy while granting them protection. Big Turtle's successors, elected by a council of elders from the Miami and other tribes, ruled well and the Ascendancy expanded through both conquest and osmosis. Now in the 17th century, the Ascendancy stretches from the Atlantic to the Misiziibi River. Its semi-republican form of government has served it very well and the Miami sphere is very strong politically. Though the different constituent states of the Ascendancy are still very much culturally distinct and retain their separate languages, Miami has fallen out of use as the language of government and a creole has formed in its place that is used by people across the entire nation. Though not as technologically advanced as the states of the Old World, the Ascendancy is in many ways an advanced state. The Miami Creole has been codified using the Latin alphabet and is taught at Greek-style universities. These universities produce philosophers and inventors that have brought the Miami to the verge of an industrial revolution. Though the Ascendancy may not be a major power at the moment, it is on track to become a wealthy, industrial nation.
- Southeast of the Miami there are a number of smaller states. Though independent and autonomous, they are eclipsed by the much-larger Ascendancy. In the east, on the Cheesiepook Bay is the Pamunkey Kenaaneedom. Kenaanee is the Pamunkey word for friend, and the Kenaanee style of government is one in which all people are meant to be friends and equal. To achieve this, private property is abolished and popularly-elected village councils make all major decisions. Men and women are equal within the Kenaaneedom, and the current Grand Being is a woman. Like the Miami, the Pamunkey are crawling towards industrialization, but at a slower pace. In the center of the southeast of Turtle Island is the Tsalagi Confederation, which is inhabited by Tsalagi people. Unlike other nearby states, it is intolerant of most other ethnic groups, and is rather warlike. Unsurprisingly, it is disliked by its neighbors and there is talk of a joint Visigothic-Miami-Blachicola expedition to end the Tsalagi threat. The Blachicola Republic is descended from a group that migrated from further inland and rose to prominence after the collapse of the Thalassocracy. They have adopted a semi-republican form of government with an absolute monarch and a semi-elected Consul.
- The small, disorganized peoples of the Central Plains of Turtle Island saw their way of life change forever when horses arrived from the Old World. Quickly these small tribes transformed themselves into large, dangerous hordes. The balance of power here has changed many times in the past three centuries. The major powers of the present may be descended from centuries-old hordes, but none of the cururent powers have been in that role for more than a century. The oldest of these young states is the Great Comanche host. The Comanche were early adopters of horses and some of the first to realize the potential for expansion they provided. They have been dominant in the south for centuries. The Great Host rose around 1620, when a warlord in the central part of its modern territory united the surrounding tribes during a period of disunity. There have been several previous large Comanche states. In the north, the Red Horde is currently dominated. The horde is led by Lakota speakers. It has had to contend with Miami expansion and because of the Horde's technological and organizational disadvantage, appears to be losing its fight. The Black Horde, named for its position in the west, is also run by Lakota. It is much weaker than the Red Horde owing to its smaller size and the more difficult territory it encompasses. The Black Horde also differs from the Red in that it has a much percentage of its population that lives in permanent settlements; many of these are in the mountains or foothills. In recent years, the High Chief of the Black Horde has taken to staying most of the year in a settlement on the Bighorn River. Their neighbor, the Fellowship of the Grass Houses, is a loose federation of Shoshone-speakers that came into existence to protect against plains raiders.
- Several large countries exist in the Mountain and Intermountain regions of Turtle Island. They are by no means industrialized, but have integrated a number of Old Worlder technologies and become more urbanized in recent years. The largest of them is south of the Ibióni River and is the Empire of the Rarámuri. It has benefited greatly from the introduction of horses and iron, but its people still practice a nomadic pastoral lifestyle, occasionally moving between large settlements. Despite this, the Rarámuri Empire projects strength and is feared by its neighbors. Their armies are well-known for the speed at which they move on foot. Their neighbor, the Tohono O'odham, have built an agricultural state out of the desert and have produced engineers famed throughout the New World. Finally, there is the League of Villages and Folks, a multiethnic confederation of settled villages on the upper stretches of the Ibióni River. The League has its roots in an agreement made three-hundred years ago and recently, its political system has become dysfunctional as a group of towns in the southeast has developed its own vision of how the League should be run. Both the Rarámuri and Tohono O'odham cultures have spread beyond the borders of those countries proper. People praying to the Rarámuri Great Father and Great Mother can be found hundreds of miles up the west coast. The only major state in this part of Turtle Island is the Nootka Confederacy. The Confederacy grew quickly from a small, informal alliance established after they were pushed out of their homeland to a strong, semi-industrial state very quickly. The Nootka set aside old grudges and aligned themselves with New Romany, and with their help, developed significant maritime skills that they have used to conquer the Hawaiian islands. Like the Miami, the Nootka are on the verge of becoming an industrial state and when they do they will be a power to be reckoned with.
- The Europeans have only a small foothold on Turtle Island. The organized remnants of the Arawak Thalassocracy as well as coastal states influenced by the Arawaks were able to push out most of the early settlers, though most native states were willing to tolerate trading posts provided these posts did not bring mass settlement with them. The exception to this is the region around the Uesto River in the southeast of the continent, where the Caledonians and Visigoths have established agricultural colonies worked by migrants from Europe that have been turned into serfs. In the northeast, the Caledonians have established Fearann de Naomh Alban. However, unlike other Caledonian colonies, Fearann de Naomh Alban was not established by a proclamation of the king but was instead created organically when the population of the large North Atlantic island of Kalaalitun became to large for the barren island to support, leading to migration to the larger continent to the west. Though the settlements of Fearann de Naomh Alban fly the Caledonian banner and profess to be loyal subjects in reality the colony is populated by difficult-to-manage frontiersmen.
- The old world is dominated by Christian powers but the majority of people in the new world continue to practice native faiths. Five major practices have emerged as dominant over large areas. In Awya Yala, the religious practices of the Quechua were brought to all corners of Tawantinsuyu and people follow these gods to this day, though on the coast where there is Eelamite influence, there are a number of converts to Christianity. Similarly, the sea-worship of the Arawaks has been spread around the Ifironián Sea. In this religion, the god of the sea is considered the premier deity and offerings are left to him to prevent disaster.
- The major religions of Turtle Island are referred to as the Three Great Cults. They are not centralized religions or indeed religions at all in the Old Worlder sense, but is more of a framework within which native beliefs function. The Cult of Motion originated among the naturally athletic Rarámuri peoples and is focused on the worship of athleticism and physical endurance. This Cult can be found in the Rarámuri homeland but also up into the plains. The Squirrel Cult originated in the Scahentoarrhonon and spread to the Miami during the Miami Conquest. The Squirrel Cult celebrates industry and labor. Practitioners often belong to lodges which function as proto-labor unions. The dominance of the cult is partially responsible for the industrialization of the Miami Ascendancy. In the west, inspired by Rumanian Catholic monks, Niitsitapi Messianism emerged. Adherents to this cult believe the end of the world will come in the Christian year 1693 and that in order to survive, people must follow the teachings of the Niitsitapi messiah. Like the other of the Great Cults, Messianism does not require converts to give up their earlier beliefs but rather fit them into the universe of the cult’s teaching. Along the coasts of Turtle Island, Christianity has been growing because of the work of missionaries from Europe.
- The technological divide in this world is largely between coastal states and interior ones. The most advanced states, which include the Slavonians, Visigoths, Armenians, and Koreans have developed steam-run factories and are well on the way to the mass production of goods. A number of states are on the verge of an industrial revolution of their own while there are many more, particularly in the New World, the African interior, and Thuni Kurunhapa that are barely industrial.
