Medieval America Mark III

Also, the slasher genre is recontextualized - consider that most slasher films (and many horror films in general) are centered around young people going on vacation, each of which embodies a sin, and usually only the virginal girl survives. Well, what about a bunch of young pilgrims, off to visit some obscure shrine in the woods who fall to temptation, and are thusly punished by the real-life manifestation of their sin
 
And now I'm picturing a church with a display of recontextualized horror villains representing the Seven Deadly Sins. Though some of these villains would likely share little in common with their current-day counterparts due to centuries of the telephone game of oral tradition.
  1. Pride: Freddy Krueger
  2. Sloth:
  3. Gluttony: Leatherface
  4. Greed: Leprechaun
  5. Lust: Pinhead
  6. Wrath: Michael Myers
  7. Envy:

I love the idea of the basic slasher storyline repurposed as an old-fashioned Christian morality play.
 
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Agriculture in Bajo Colorado

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When the Regression hit, Bajo Colorado immediattely saw dividends. While most of the major dams remained intact, nowhere near the amount of water previously consumed could be used, leading to most of it "uselessly" being discharged downriver. Gradually, the Colorado Delta began to recover its ancient ecology. Deer, beavers, even jaguars returned to the newly verdant country. Almost as soon as they did, humans followed to take advantage. Soon enough, they were practicing primitive horticultural practices in addition to hunter-gathering.

Prior to the Colorado Deluge and the Judgement of Vegas, Colorado was divided into a number of chiefdoms. These chiefs organized intensive agriculture in the delta, and facilitated traders coming from the north along the Colorado and from the south from the Sea of Cortez. Agriculture had to be extremely intensive in the swamps of the Colorado delta - they were constantly doing battle with the shifting coastlines, trying to shape the land but withot damaging the delicate hydrological and ecological system upon which their lifestyle. They developed subtle and ingenious techniques to maintain the necessary balance, centrally organized by the local chiefs and overseen by the priests of the Santa Muerte prior to the region's conversion to Mexican Catholicism.

Despite the high level of centralization and sophistication, the chiefdoms of antediluvian Bajo Colorado never managed to reach the heights of true hydraulic empires. Increasingly, the growth of New Mexico and Vegas lowered the amount of water received in the delta - it was still well above industrial-era levels, of course, but lower than what Bajo had received earlier in the new middle ages. Further, Vegas and New Mexico even attempted to exercise outright control over Bajo. Vegas was constantly extending its feelers down the Colorado to gain total control over the river, while the New Mexicans launched invasions from the Gila Valley. Even sea-raiders came out of the Sea of Cortez and would occasionally rule over the towns of the region. The loyalties of the chiefs constantly shifted as the situation permitted, but the influence of these outsiders was universally resented.

Things changed drastically after the Deluge. When, despite the best efforts of the sage engineers of Sin City, the great dam of Glen Canyon collapsed, the waters surged down the Colorado, wiping out cities, destroying the dams that had long tamed the mighty Colorado. Initially, of course, the delta got the worst of it. Entire cities were wiped away, uncountable deaths.

And yet, the delta was once again verdant. It was restored to nearly pre-industrial levels, fertilized with the silt and blood of Vegas's lost empire. New chiefs emerged out of the shepherd tribes of the surrounding highlands. With the help of the priesthood who now stood in a position of total spirital dominance, Bajo Colorado was rebuilt.

There are few free farmers in Bajo Colorado. The intensive terraforming and dam-building regimens of the earlier Bajo Coloradans was replicated as best as could be. Peasants work vast collective farm in a form of corvee labor, overseen by minor nobles responsible for each plot of land. Corns, beans, and squash are of course grown in proliferation - however, there is another more unusual crop: Saltweed.

Native to the delta, Saltweed is a very special plant. It is incredibly tolerant of high salinity water, which makes it ideal for the more brackish and coastal regions of the delta. It can even be frown with ocean water. Cultivated saltweed can have a yield up to 2000 kilograms per hectare, comparing favorably to wheat and barley. Further, its salt secretion actually allows for some limited salt harvesting, giving the Bajites some extra income. It is the staple crop of Bajo Colorado. Indeed, following the Deluge and Bajo Colorado's rise from a minor set of chiefdoms into a proper polity that bears the occasional headache aong the courtesans of the mighty hydraulic empires, saltweed has begun to become a staple cross the west. Carried by the priesthood, the infertile coasts of Baja Colorado and the Sea of Cortez have been introduced to this curious new crop, and traders to the north and west are trying to sell Californian and New Mexican farmers on these magic beans. Saltweed may well prove to be Bajo Colorado's greatest contribution to the civilizations of the Southwest - indeed, it may prove to be the desert's greatest gift to the world.
 
It's worth noting that the only dams we know with certainty collapsed are directly downstream of Glen Canyon.

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Each and every other dam would have to be looked at on an individual basis to see how long it would reasonably last.

This does pose something of a problem, however - just look at all of those dams upstream of Glen Canyon. If one of them collapses, it will no doubt accelerate the pace at which Glen Canyon degrades - indeed, it may collapse in such a catastrophic manner that it leads to a surge that destroys Glenn Canyon. We've already stretched Glenn Canyon's lifespan to the absolute upper limit predicted by experts (~700 years) assuming super diligent maintenance by the Vegasites, but looking at all of those dams upstream that lay well beyond the capability of the Vegasites to maintain, it seems likely that one of them would fail (catastrophically or otherwise) well before ~2700 AD, which would require a radical re-writing of the Vegas timeline and the Bajo Colorado timeline, and by extension more minor revisions to all of the Hydraulic Empires.
 
I would support shortening the lifespan of the Vegasites. IIRC they arise in the 2200s and collapse in the 2700s, perhaps it would be wiser for them to collapse in the 2500s.
 
And now I'm picturing a church with a display of recontextualized horror villains representing the Seven Deadly Sins. Though some of these villains would likely share little in common with their current-day counterparts due to centuries of the telephone game of oral tradition.
  1. Pride: Freddy Krueger
  2. Sloth:
  3. Gluttony: Leatherface
  4. Greed: Leprechaun
  5. Lust: Pinhead
  6. Wrath: Michael Myers
  7. Envy:

I love the idea of the basic slasher storyline repurposed as an old-fashioned Christian morality play.
Interesting. Wonder how the likes of Ghost Rider, Spawn and Hellboy would be recontecturalized to fit into general medieval American society.
 
Interesting. Wonder how the likes of Ghost Rider, Spawn and Hellboy would be recontecturalized to fit into general medieval American society.
Well, Ghost Rider is basically a modern version of the Headless Horseman. Which in itself, is one of the most famous mythical figures in American folklore.
 
Ketchikan Borough

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  • System of Government: Noble-Mercantile Republic
  • Head of State: Headmen, elected by the Town Council
  • Religion: Eco-Buddhism
  • Population: 75,000
  • Totemic Symbol: Salmon
Ketchikan is the first of the great cities of Laska. Indeed, sailing north from the Salish Sea, one only finds the chaos of the Broken Coast leading up to it. True, their are ports, but they are chaotic, constantly switching hands between clans and tribes, constant conflict between Buddhists, Orthodoxes, and the syncretic meshing of the two. To make matters worse, raids from Haidaland by the stoogies of the Admiral do vex the Cascadian sailor. Only when they have seen the Twenty Totem Poles and have entered the Tongass Narrows can the merchant breathe easy - at least, relatively.

Ketchikan was once a thoroughly Alaskan city, its identity forged in the Great Raids of the 23rd-24th centuries. It served as a gateway for the fleets sailing down to the Broken Coast to Cascadia, and the gateway for colonists who struck out for the south. Ketchikan was often disputed between the Governor and the Admiral in the early history of Alaska, though more often than not it was loyal to Joono. In these days of yore, it was a thoroughly feudal state ruled by a great war chief who called on his loyal warriors to do battle with the Athabaskan and the Buddhist. Many great heroes of Laskan lore hailed from the Salmon Capital of the World, from Orry Wrangel to Leland the Legless. But everything changed when the market opened up.

As the age of great raids and southerly colonization began to slow down, Cascadian merchants began carefully plodding their way up the Inner Passage to take hold of the riches of the far north. When the market arrived in Ketchikan, the culture of the city changed. Rather than being a race of sailors and warriors, the Ketchikanders became a race of sailors and merchants. The sermons at Church saw more and more influence from Buddhist thought, and great totem poles began to be carved with Cascadian figures. Tensions grew between the Ketchikander merchants and the Governor in Joono.

When Chief Dale "The Unready" died in 709, the City Council of Ketchikan proclamed its independence, finally destroying the fiction of the "Three Systems, One Nation" model of Alaska. Today, Ketchikan does battle with Baranoff and Joono in the Alzandar archipelago, and pushes for the syncretization and conversion of Alaska to Cascadian Buddhism.

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A fourth draft history of the Caribbean


2000s-2200s: Mass death and rebound, basics of regional economy and culture established. The various islands are roughly Catholic but divergence sees the spread of Voodoo, especially in Haiti and the Lesser Antilles.

2300s - 2400s: The Americans launch the Bahamian Crusade and conquer the Bahamas as part of a continuation of George Washington II's policies which saw increased American trade, piracy and privateering in the Carribean. Many Gullahs acted as the sailors of the American ships engaging in such maritime actions in the Caribbean. Continued American agitation in the Caribbean causes a collapse in already existing regional powers leaving a power vacuum which the Americans were unable to fill due to their distance. Instead, the Dougla exploit this gap in power and begin their raids ending in the rise of Santanoo.

2400s-2600s: Following the collapse of Santanoo's Empire and the War of Saints, Voodoo Haitians are able to form a successor empire to the legacy of Santanoo and conquer most of the Caribbean due to the lack of any regional powers due to American agitation (Gitmo surviving directly from 2000s is a bit unrealistic IMO. I would prefer it if they were destroyed early on but America re-established Gitmo a century or maybe even a few centuries before 3000. Anyhow, if we go with what has already been written about Gitmo, it would be in this period they become a Territory). They were fairly tolerant at first, this is how Voodoo spread to Louisiana. They worked with the Floridians to expel the Americans from the Bahamas. They would constantly have to battle the Mexicans.

2600s: There is a massive civil war within the Carribean Empire that sees much of the Haitian elite replaced by Cubans and a rise in intolerance by the religious establishment. Rastafarianism is heavily persecuted against and followers are driven into the interiors of several islands or flee to Central America. The new ruling elite use their initial zeal to conquer southern Florida, coastal Yucatan, Mosquito Coast and they are even welcomed by the Voodoo population of Louisiana due to persecutions against them and Louisiana is made a tributary. However, the Caribbean Empire would be forced to halt their expansion due to fears of spreading themselves thin.

2700s: The Mexicans decide to launch a Crusade against the Neo-Mayans and the Voodoo. A couple coastal Neo-Mayan city states are conquered as well as the Caribbean holdings in the Yucatan. The second Mexican crusade uses the conquered cities as a launching point to invade the Caribbean Empire which is dealing with severe bureaucratic issues.

The Crusade conquers most of Cuba until the God President of Mexico dies and a civil war erupts in Mexico over who inherits. Cuba is still mostly Catholic at this point. Due to the conquest of much of the Cuban lands, many devout Voodoo Cubans flee to Hispaniola and across the Caribbean but the loss of their core territory has heavily shaken the empire and many regions declare independence.

This leaves the Free and Sovereign Republic of Cuba.

There might also be an Bahamanian Crusade, launched by the Americans.

2800s: The Caribbean Empire breaks up after a particularly bloody civil war that sees the region engulfed by piracy. The violence in Mexico comes to an end with the region divided between several different states (Jalisco, Veracruz, Yucatan, Mexico...). In the void left by the fall of the Caribbean Empire, New Orleans and Cozumel become very important alongside Maracaibo whose king has converted to Clearwater Scientology.
2900s: A resurgent Cuban state attempts to seize the Bahamas and Miami but fails and it collapses back in on itself.
 
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