The Gallic League
- Thread starter Tynnin
- Start date
The Kipchak Khante is what remains of the Golden Horde – there are a few other smaller Khantes that formed after the breakup of the Golden Horde but they’re not really worth mentioning.
At the moment I don’t see any one of the Mongol empires gaining the upper hand over the others – there’s too much going on and too many personal agendas for them to be working together at this point.
Let’s see…I usually start by jotting down everything I can remember for a given century and make notes on how different nations might interact using OTL as a point of reference (taking in mind that, for instance, I’m currently in the 14th century but most of my nations are at about a 17th century level when matched against the OTL). After this brainstorming I hit my library and the net to find the things I’d either forgotten about or never knew. When I have what I think makes a pretty good picture for a given century I then write up my notes, do a quick read to see if I think I should add anything else, and then post. Depending on what’s going on at work I can usually get a century out in about a week.
At the moment I don’t see any one of the Mongol empires gaining the upper hand over the others – there’s too much going on and too many personal agendas for them to be working together at this point.
Let’s see…I usually start by jotting down everything I can remember for a given century and make notes on how different nations might interact using OTL as a point of reference (taking in mind that, for instance, I’m currently in the 14th century but most of my nations are at about a 17th century level when matched against the OTL). After this brainstorming I hit my library and the net to find the things I’d either forgotten about or never knew. When I have what I think makes a pretty good picture for a given century I then write up my notes, do a quick read to see if I think I should add anything else, and then post. Depending on what’s going on at work I can usually get a century out in about a week.
The 15th Century brings into the world the “Mechanical Revolutionâ€. This period is also called the century of discovery as a number of scientific and technological discoveries are made. Not every empire will partake of these innovations as many of these were labor saving devices that would have put their slave economies into ruin.
For the Gallic League the discoveries of the 15th century came at a time of a labor and financial shortage. Into this monetary vacuum comes the development of private banks within the League. The High Monarchs of this century sought funding from the nobles and wealthy merchants to back the overseas ventures such as the 2nd Teution Independence War and the Cherokee Confederation.
There was more than just an awakening of inventions that marked this century there was also 3 major shifts in long standing Gallic traditions. Perhaps the first of these was unavoidable given the famine, plague, and shrinking treasury of the League – the weakening of the Gallic military. The League had always had a small standing army (between 100,000 and 75,000) but records from the time show active warriors at no more than approximately 60,000 and most of them guarded the Dacian border. Conversely to this was the rise in the number of elite units within the military, in part due to the Order of Teutates taking over the fight schools and in part due to the continued use of the same unites. The second is the dying out of the great houses such as the Boii and the Norii as citizens began preferring their clan or family names (an example of this is one of this century’s chief scientists Bruce Y Ovin Kelvin de Nori – who never went by anything other than Bruce Kelvin). It is doubtful that the third change was detected at this time but looking back through history it is easy to pinpoint the 15th century as the beginning of the end for the Weigh Station Riders.
Egypt will share in the inventions of this century, accepting some of the discoveries even better than the League - I speak of course of their earlier use of both the printing press and flash powder. The use of both of these though would be kept mainly to the area of religion.
Lusitania and Ghana would continue their love hate relationship. Despite their periodic conflicts (sometimes through 3rd parties, i.e. the Incans) they were still each others chief trading partners. Lusitania, unlike Ghana, will adopt many of the marvels of the Mechanical Revolution and this in part may be why Ghana suffered repeated revolts and civil wars during this time and Lusitania was able to increase their holdings. It is the Lusitanian success that brings them into conflict with the natives they continued to exploit and enslave and the Gallic League (which, due to some political backdooring, they go to war with over the issue of the slave trade).
The Kamiharou settlements will find an initial boost to their colonial efforts by the fact the natives (already sailors and traders in their own right) accepted them as gods – use of flash powder helped with this charade. By the time the truth is discovered the Kamiharou are there to stay.
For the Christian Kingdoms it is a period of great turmoil. After the purges of the previous century there was no one left to blame but an inattentive God. It seems that every other day there was a new preacher claming to have found the new path to righteousness. Most of these schisms were smothered under the boot of the Patriarch’s loyal soldier (the crimson guard) or by local authorities. But the Kingdoms had more than just religious turmoil to occupy their time, the Mongol empires made sure of that. For the Mongols the raids of other kingdoms were merely ploys by an ever changing line of rulers trying to maintain supremacy in between wars, civil wars, and famines that pitted one Mongol nation against the other.
1400AD-1406AD: The Second War for Teution Independence (though there are some that argue the first war had never ended and the Teution War for Independence started in 1390 and ended in 1406 with simply a 4 year period of rearmament between 1396 and 1400).
1400AD: High King Hefeydd seeks help from wealthy families to revitalize the diminished treasury. Though this marks the beginning of private banks within the Gallic League the banking system had been known since the heyday of the Kingdom of Judea. Not only had the Pharisees built great libraries and museums (most were later destroyed during the Mehrdadian conquest) but they also found themselves the Keepers of great vaults of wealth (as well as lenders) when the Patriarch of Neos Syracuse passed an edict making profit illegal. With the private resources of the nobles and merchant class the High King was able to begin the construction of a new armada.
Before even Hefeydd sought the finances of the nobles, and within a year of the end of the first war, envoys from the League were being sent to the Mayan Empire. By Beltane negotiations had been successful in swaying the Mayan’s to become League allies. With this news and the construction of several new ships well on the way High King Hefeydd dispatches a new army. The army will land in Mayan territory and make their way towards the Kingdom of Teutates.
The Mongol Empire and the Chi Empire declare war on each other (1400-1410).
1401AD: The Battle of Nochtli Hill. A combined Gallic/Mayan army lined up along a narrow length of open land at the base of Nochtli Hill (which was about a 10 miles into Teutates territory) to face off against a much smaller Teution force. At the height of battle however the Mayan’s switched sides again – there was talk of Lusitanian interference but nothing was ever proven. Surrounded, the Gallic army cut through the human noose and fought their way to the top of Nochtli Hill where they defended themselves for 3 days before being overwhelmed and captured.
For the rest of this year Mayan and Teution shores and shipping will be raided by the handful of ships and soldiers stationed on the islands of the Mayan Sea.
1402AD: The armada meant to hit the city of Teutates makes landfall on the Mayan peninsula instead. For the next 2 years, while raids on Teution ships and coast continue, the Gallic army will conquer the Mayan Empire (during the First War for Independence and the Battle of Nochtli Hill the Gallic army was made up of mostly foot soldiers, when the full strength of the Gallic League landed on the Mayan Empire the army was made up mostly of the Gallic light and heavy cavalry – though the Mayan’s had become familiar with domesticated animals such as the horse since first contact they were not ready for the power of such animals when it came to their use in war).
The Egyptian Empire builds the first steam engine.
1403AD: High King Hefeydd dies. His son Bowdyn (III) vows at his coronation that his father’s wish for the utter defeat of the Mayans and Teutions would be granted (1403-1423).
Byzantium declares war on Khazar (1403-1407).
1404AD: The Conquest of the Kingdom of Teutates begins. Hoping to bring the war to a quick close High King Bowdyn III distracts the Teution army with several false incursions into their territory before making his real push on the kingdom’s capital from land and sea. With most of King Xicohtencatl army out tracking down the Gallic guerilla attacks the city of Teutates would have to fight without relief for 5 days. The Teution King himself will lead one of the final counter attacks, taking 43 arrows before finally falling – if stories can be believed. When the news of the King’s death was taken to the other cities most capitulated rather than face extinction. King Xicohtencatl’s armies were not so easily convinced; they would fight on for another year and half.
1405AD: The steam engine is developed in the Gallic League (based on the Egyptian design).
1406AD: After six months the siege of Tenochtitlan (the regional capital of Mexica) ends in victory for the Gallic League. Within days the remaining war chiefs are forced to sign the Treaty of Tenochtitlan: The conquered territory of the Kingdom of Teutates and the Mayan Empire will dissolve their armies. All war ships and merchant ships will now belong to the Gallic League. The conquered territories will now be ruled by war chiefs and druids appointed by the High Monarch. All religions practices involving blood sacrifice are hereby ended.
1407AD: The first steam powered ship sets sail from the Massallii Arsenal (like the Egyptian ships the Gallic design is powered by two side wheel paddles). The Islands of the Mayan Sea are officially annexed.
1408AD: Flash powder is brought to the Egyptian Empire. The import serves well at different religious rituals and celebrations.
Muawiyah Sultanate attacks the Byzantine Empire in order to regain access to the Tigris and Euphrates (1408-1415). The Sultanate is never able to mount a significant threat and little is gained from the conflict.
1410AD: Egypt enters into two wars; the first is with Kanem (1410-1418) the second occurs several months later when Egypt tries to reestablish trade with the Aboriginals. The Aboriginals had suffered from the plague the Egyptians brought and were not as eager to reopen their native lands to trade. This series of conflicts with the Aboriginals will not be concluded until 1450.
Kanem attacks Ghana soon after declaring war on Egypt (both costal empires had been greatly weakened by plague and famine, which made them ripe for invasion as far as the Emir of Kanem thought).
There is a slave revolt in the Byzantine Empire though it is quickly subdued it does usher in a major change in Byzantine policy. The Rights of the Indentured are written in the wake of the revolt: this allows for slaves to buy themselves back from their owners.
Chi scholars begin experimenting with hallowed out logs and flash powder (over the next few years they come up with a design that is very effective at launching “shot†into an enemy).
1412AD: Flash powder makes its way into the Gallic League via trade with the Egyptian Empire. Though the flash and bang are impressive the powder does not makes an immediate impression on the people of the League (it makes even less of an impression on the people of Scanza when it reaches those lands around 1414). Making a much larger and immediate impact on Gallic culture is the completion of the Parisii School for Bardic Studies (it is to the Bards what the University of Etan at Vesuvius is to the druids). Within 20 years Paris becomes the center for music and theater within the Gallic League.
Flash powder also makes it to Lusitania in this year. Though domestically it doesn’t amount to much as a trade item but when used in their overseas holdings it makes subduing the natives much easier.
Egypt founds New Memphis in Australia. They also conclude a treaty with Ghana to coordinate their counterattacks into Kenem.
1414AD: A druid by the name of Bruce Kelvin develops the first small pox inoculation.
Byzantine faces a rebellion (of sorts) in the conquered Khazar territories. Tax revenue plummets after the Patriarch of Neos Syracuse issues an edict that all Christians should obey God’s law and not that of the secular authority – tithes still went to the Church but taxes were not paid to the state.
1415AD: Via a trade with the Lusitanians Ghana develops their own steam engine.
Heuon Faisal begins preaching in Byzantium. His angry rhetoric not only targets the nations that have ruled and abandoned Anatolia but the ruling government as well. He spoke out against the formation of empires and instead for a return to tribal existence – small pockets of self-sufficient roaming families. Heuon Faisal will wander the Byzantine Empire as well as the Gallic League, Egyptian Empire, and the Mongol lands before returning to Byzantium to die in 1462AD.
1418AD: Ghana and Egypt conclude their war with Kanem. The Emir is deposed and the kingdom will be ruled jointly by Egypt and Ghana.
Shortly after the conclusion of the Kanem war Ghana under goes a coup. The king is deposed in a 10 day bloody revolt.
Lusitania enters into a war with the Incan Empire (1418-1421). This marks the first time Lusitania uses native levies in their armies.
1420AD-1422AD: The Cheusthie Muir War.
The Byzantine Empire declares war on the Gallic League (in their attempt to gain control of the entirety of the Cheusthie Muir). Their first strike comes at Shiar Cashtal but is repelled. Subsequent attacks come all along the Greek coast (too many to prevent) but all foot holds are kept from being resupplied by the quicker steam powered ships of the League (though the Byzantine Empire does discover that the side paddles are particularly vulnerable to ramming - it is a weakness however that they are never fully able to exploit).
The printing press reaches the Gallic League (from the Chi Empire). It will be another 10 years before the device is completely accepted by the League - mainly due to druid misgivings. The only point in history that could match the druids (the High Council included) misgivings about switching from diligent transcribing to this machine is when Kelge first put his teachings into written form.
The printing press doesn’t become widely used in Egypt either at this time as many scholars protests a machine mass producing what they consider to be a form of art (however, only a short 2 years go by before the device appears all over the Empire).
A device that makes almost an immediate impact on Egypt is the invention of the Mechanical Thresher.
Riots in Kanem force Egypt to move additional troops into the region (once the riots are subdued Egypt imposes a heavy tax on Mehrdadian worshipers). Ghana, in Kanem territory directly under their control, outright forbids the worship of Mehrdad and begins murdering Kanemites (they conduct night assaults on people suspected of subversion, pulling them from their beds and leaving them dead in the streets).
1423AD: High King Bowdyn III dies, much of his reign had been focused on the pacifying of the Mayans and Teutions – even after the war the conquered territory was an unfriendly place. By the last years of High King Bowdyn III the area had become calmer allowing for his daughter Olwyn (II) to peruse a different focus (1423-1459). High Queen Olwyn II, even as a child, had been fascinated by tools and instruments (it is said her first toy as a child was a microscope – it is also said that this toy was soon broken when the child tried to take it apart). She begins to wean the League off of the dependence of the personal fortunes of the nobles and the merchants and focuses on trade and scientific development.
The Mechanical Thresher arrives in the Gallic League.
Rebellion in the Muawiyah Sultanate (among the issues, corruption and that the current dynasty has been dealing amicably with the Il Khanate – who have assumed the role as the center of the Mehrdadian faith). After 3 years of war the Muawiyah family is deposed (after 300 years as the ruling family) and Anid Al-fahl Farees is hailed as the new Sultan.
1425AD: The Mechanical Loom is invented in the Gallic League (the loom makes its way to Scanza, Egypt, and other nations along the trade routes).
The Farees Sultanate declares war on the Il Khanate (1425-1432).
1430AD: A new wave of missionaries heads for the New World, mainly Fadeyrianists and druids – Catholic missionaries will not make any concerted effort to “save the souls of the far west†for a couple reasons; they’re leery since their first failed attempt to win over the Toltecs and Mayans, they are concentrating their efforts on the invading eastern tribes and empires, and finally the might and reach of the Faith has been severely diminished by the lack of cooperation among the Christian kingdoms. The Fadeyrianists and druids make contact with a number of tribes while traveling the array of different landscapes of North Alrikia – probably the most influential tribes were group of peoples making up the trade empire of the Anasazi and the remnant kingdoms of the once mighty Mississippian Mound Builders (both the Mound Building kingdoms and the Anasazi were in a period of near collapse at the time of discovery but trade and help from the League eventually revitalizes these nations – the League of course had their own reasons for this, making strong allies in New World made it harder on both Scanza and Lusitania).
A major slave revolt in Ghana erupts through many of the southern regions. The roaming bands could have been subdued if not for the civil war that sprang up along the Niger River (the son of the deposed king had returned to reclaim the throne).
The Chi Empire enters into civil war when the Emperor dies suddenly with no direct heir.
Lusitania begins a new series of Native Wars (both in their north and south Alrikian holdings) that will continue through the rest of the century.
1432AD: High Queen Olwyn II travels to the North Alrikia with an army of 1000 to help in the formation of the Cherokee Confederation (by 1437 the small wars and skirmishes had ended and High Queen Olwyn II was officiating at the naming of Chief Ata-gul kalu).
There is a populous revolt in the Chi Empire. Tired of the unstable nature of Dynastic rule a new army rises to battle in the civil war – this one lead mainly by angry merchants.
1435AD: The Rail Wagon (though more often called the Iron Horse – later settling on the term train) is invented in the Gallic League. The Egyptian Empire had been working on a similar device; theirs will be completed by the following year.
The slave army in Ghana leaves the borders of that empire and settles along the Kongo River.
1436AD: The Egyptian Empire develops their own Rail Wagon.
1437AD: The first rail line is completed between Alesia and Massallia.
1439AD: The civil war in Ghana is ended; Mamu Obike (the son of the deposed king) is victorious. His first action is to end the exodus of slaves to the Kongo region.
1440AD: The Gallic League, Lusitania, and Scanza all develop steam ships propelled by screw propellers within months of each other (the side paddle ships will be phased out of the Gallic navy over the next 10 years – not that there were many to be phased out).
Egypt’s first rail line is completed between Memphis and Alexandria.
The “Mechanical Revolution†reaches Dacia.
1442AD: The slave army, in conjunction with the tribes native to the region, are able to defeat King Mamu Obike (though he is able to halt the flood of slaves over the border).
The Kingdom of the Kongo is established.
1445AD: Egypt begins building their own ships with the screw propeller propulsion.
The “Mechanical Revolution†reaches Byzantium.
1447AD: Edana Y Giorsal publishes her research on the manipulation of plant genes (OTL Mendel).
The civil war in the Chi Empire comes to a close and so does Imperial command. Provincial elections are held and the House of Commons and the House of Nobles are established.
1450AD-1456AD: The Byzantine Trading War.
Over the last 25 years, more or less since the Cheusthie Muir War, Byzantine ships had been searched, commandeered, and their cargos confiscated but Gallic patrols within the muir and the Mediterranean. Byzantium had been too busy facing revolts and dealing with social unrest within their own empire to demand much. King Duman, newly crowed, is young and needs something more than suppressing slaves and surfs to solidify his claim to the throne. In 1450, at the news of the latest Byzantine ship being searched by the Gallic League, King Duman declares war on the League.
King Duman will do a few things differently during this war. Shiar Cashtal will not be attacked; instead King Duman lands an army and put the city under siege. He also sends a much smaller force to the Danube, striking at the heart of Unaii lands. The bulk of his army though sails through the Mediterranean and lands in Celtibaria with the intent on taking control of what Plato called the Pillars of Hercules. Olwyn II falls for the bait and focuses on the war along the Danube and the siege of Shiar Cashtal, the warnings come too late about the landing of King Duman’s army in Celtibaria.
1452AD: Both the war along the Danube and the siege of Shiar Cashtal are ended. High Queen Olwyn II sends the army from Mezek to Ilium (the Gallic stronghold in Anatolia) with orders to invade and capture the Byzantine coast line. Olwyn II will first travel by ship to Rome, with the invasion of Byzantine the Roman army was freed up from coastal watch. With the Italian army she set sail again for Celtibaria where she will join up with another army forming at Numantia. By the end of the year Olwyn II is marching south to aid the Cartagennian army which had been fighting the Byzantines almost without help.
1454AD: With victories at Ilipa and Osuna and the sea battle off the coast of Abdera the Byzantine hold on Celtibaria is reduced to a handful of forts and fortified cites (Gades and Carteia being the primary strongholds). An attempt by the Byzantine general to land a force later in the year in Lesser Carthage fails – hardly half the number sent there return.
1456AD: King Duman offers peace. The two major points of the treaty allows the League to maintain control over much of the Anatolian territory they conquered and an end to all Byzantine shipping in the Mediterranean for the next 50 years. King Duman is deposed later this year by his cousin Dareh.
1459AD: High Queen Olwyn II steps down in favor of her daughter Mavis (1459-1486).
1460AD: Ghana builds their first Rail Wagon.
The Chi Empire develops the first hot air balloon.
1462AD: Information is leaked to the Gallic League that the Lusitanian Triumvirate had been supplying the Byzantine soldiers during their war with the League. High Queen Mavis commissions an inquisition into this matter but after 2 years the High Council forces the issue to be dropped for lack of evidence.
The Chi Empire develops the first parachutes.
1470AD: High Queen Mavis allows for the sale of arms to Cherokee Confederation – later that year the Confederation steps up their raids on both Scanza and Lusitania (the Scandinavian armies are surprised when the Cherokees begin using Egyptian Fire).
The “Mechanical Revolution†reaches China.
1472AD: Queen Hulda II of Scanza demands that the League stop shipping arms to the Cherokee Confederation. Negotiations will continue for nearly a year but eventually both the Oghma and the High Council advise the High Queen to suspend aid to the Confederacy for the time being (the following year Scanza is forced to offer peace to the Cherokees after a major defeat).
Byzantium attacks the Principality of Neos Syracuse (as expected, Khazar, heeding the Patriarch’s call for help, declares war on Byzantium, 1472-1477).
1475AD: Dacia declares war on Byzantium.
1479AD: High Queen Mavis enters into negotiations with Lusitania and Ghana over their slave trade (at the behest of our native allies in the New World who would like the repatriation of their peoples). With the invention of such labor saving devices as the mechanical pump, steam engine, the mechanical thresher, and the mechanical loom the practice of slavery is unnecessary. Lusitania and Ghana didn’t agree – the failure of these talks greatly sour an already weak relationship between these nations (though High Queen Mavis will make several more attempts at the negotiating table during the remainder of her reign).
1480AD: The Chi Empire develops the first successful gliders.
Dacia and Scanza go to war (1480-1484).
1486AD: High Queen Mavis dies (from her diaries we know she passed on with the deep regret at not being able to free the enslaved peoples of the world). Her daughter Rhiannon (V) takes up the Gallic crown and her mother’s cause (1486-1518).
1490AD: Ghana and Egypt build the Trans-African Rail Line.
1491AD: High Queen Rhiannon V is almost deposed when she openly challenges the High Council to a duel – a hasty removal of her by the Algiz allows time for tempers to cool. The argument was over the issue of slavery. Though abolished in the League for a number of centuries it was still practiced by other nations, the High Queen wanted to declare the practice illegal and back up the edict with war with any nation that continues to use slaves. Although many on the Oghma were swayed by the High Queen’s argument the High Council insisted that the Gallic League had no right enforcing their will on other nations.
1495AD: High Queen negotiates a new treaty with the Cherokee Confederacy allowing for the use of the Gallic military (particularly that of the navy) until such time as they can build and maintain their own fleet.
1497AD: The Cherokee Confederation sends notice to all nations that slave ships will be boarded and the cargo commandeered.
1498AD: A slave ship making its way from Lusitanian holdings in North Alrikia is halted and seized by the Cherokee Confederation. A few months later a second ship off the coast of South Alrikia is halted (this time the ship is not confiscated but allowed to continue once the human cargo had been returned to shore). By Beltane the Triumvirate had declared war on the Cherokee Confederation by sinking two Gallic war ships in the Mayan Sea (the ships and most of the crews were Gallic but the vessels were two of 15 on loan to the Confederation).
1499AD-1506AD: The Great Atlantic War.
With the sinking of an actual Gallic patrol in the Mayan Sea High Queen Rhiannon V declares war on Lusitania.
For the Gallic League the discoveries of the 15th century came at a time of a labor and financial shortage. Into this monetary vacuum comes the development of private banks within the League. The High Monarchs of this century sought funding from the nobles and wealthy merchants to back the overseas ventures such as the 2nd Teution Independence War and the Cherokee Confederation.
There was more than just an awakening of inventions that marked this century there was also 3 major shifts in long standing Gallic traditions. Perhaps the first of these was unavoidable given the famine, plague, and shrinking treasury of the League – the weakening of the Gallic military. The League had always had a small standing army (between 100,000 and 75,000) but records from the time show active warriors at no more than approximately 60,000 and most of them guarded the Dacian border. Conversely to this was the rise in the number of elite units within the military, in part due to the Order of Teutates taking over the fight schools and in part due to the continued use of the same unites. The second is the dying out of the great houses such as the Boii and the Norii as citizens began preferring their clan or family names (an example of this is one of this century’s chief scientists Bruce Y Ovin Kelvin de Nori – who never went by anything other than Bruce Kelvin). It is doubtful that the third change was detected at this time but looking back through history it is easy to pinpoint the 15th century as the beginning of the end for the Weigh Station Riders.
Egypt will share in the inventions of this century, accepting some of the discoveries even better than the League - I speak of course of their earlier use of both the printing press and flash powder. The use of both of these though would be kept mainly to the area of religion.
Lusitania and Ghana would continue their love hate relationship. Despite their periodic conflicts (sometimes through 3rd parties, i.e. the Incans) they were still each others chief trading partners. Lusitania, unlike Ghana, will adopt many of the marvels of the Mechanical Revolution and this in part may be why Ghana suffered repeated revolts and civil wars during this time and Lusitania was able to increase their holdings. It is the Lusitanian success that brings them into conflict with the natives they continued to exploit and enslave and the Gallic League (which, due to some political backdooring, they go to war with over the issue of the slave trade).
The Kamiharou settlements will find an initial boost to their colonial efforts by the fact the natives (already sailors and traders in their own right) accepted them as gods – use of flash powder helped with this charade. By the time the truth is discovered the Kamiharou are there to stay.
For the Christian Kingdoms it is a period of great turmoil. After the purges of the previous century there was no one left to blame but an inattentive God. It seems that every other day there was a new preacher claming to have found the new path to righteousness. Most of these schisms were smothered under the boot of the Patriarch’s loyal soldier (the crimson guard) or by local authorities. But the Kingdoms had more than just religious turmoil to occupy their time, the Mongol empires made sure of that. For the Mongols the raids of other kingdoms were merely ploys by an ever changing line of rulers trying to maintain supremacy in between wars, civil wars, and famines that pitted one Mongol nation against the other.
1400AD-1406AD: The Second War for Teution Independence (though there are some that argue the first war had never ended and the Teution War for Independence started in 1390 and ended in 1406 with simply a 4 year period of rearmament between 1396 and 1400).
1400AD: High King Hefeydd seeks help from wealthy families to revitalize the diminished treasury. Though this marks the beginning of private banks within the Gallic League the banking system had been known since the heyday of the Kingdom of Judea. Not only had the Pharisees built great libraries and museums (most were later destroyed during the Mehrdadian conquest) but they also found themselves the Keepers of great vaults of wealth (as well as lenders) when the Patriarch of Neos Syracuse passed an edict making profit illegal. With the private resources of the nobles and merchant class the High King was able to begin the construction of a new armada.
Before even Hefeydd sought the finances of the nobles, and within a year of the end of the first war, envoys from the League were being sent to the Mayan Empire. By Beltane negotiations had been successful in swaying the Mayan’s to become League allies. With this news and the construction of several new ships well on the way High King Hefeydd dispatches a new army. The army will land in Mayan territory and make their way towards the Kingdom of Teutates.
The Mongol Empire and the Chi Empire declare war on each other (1400-1410).
1401AD: The Battle of Nochtli Hill. A combined Gallic/Mayan army lined up along a narrow length of open land at the base of Nochtli Hill (which was about a 10 miles into Teutates territory) to face off against a much smaller Teution force. At the height of battle however the Mayan’s switched sides again – there was talk of Lusitanian interference but nothing was ever proven. Surrounded, the Gallic army cut through the human noose and fought their way to the top of Nochtli Hill where they defended themselves for 3 days before being overwhelmed and captured.
For the rest of this year Mayan and Teution shores and shipping will be raided by the handful of ships and soldiers stationed on the islands of the Mayan Sea.
1402AD: The armada meant to hit the city of Teutates makes landfall on the Mayan peninsula instead. For the next 2 years, while raids on Teution ships and coast continue, the Gallic army will conquer the Mayan Empire (during the First War for Independence and the Battle of Nochtli Hill the Gallic army was made up of mostly foot soldiers, when the full strength of the Gallic League landed on the Mayan Empire the army was made up mostly of the Gallic light and heavy cavalry – though the Mayan’s had become familiar with domesticated animals such as the horse since first contact they were not ready for the power of such animals when it came to their use in war).
The Egyptian Empire builds the first steam engine.
1403AD: High King Hefeydd dies. His son Bowdyn (III) vows at his coronation that his father’s wish for the utter defeat of the Mayans and Teutions would be granted (1403-1423).
Byzantium declares war on Khazar (1403-1407).
1404AD: The Conquest of the Kingdom of Teutates begins. Hoping to bring the war to a quick close High King Bowdyn III distracts the Teution army with several false incursions into their territory before making his real push on the kingdom’s capital from land and sea. With most of King Xicohtencatl army out tracking down the Gallic guerilla attacks the city of Teutates would have to fight without relief for 5 days. The Teution King himself will lead one of the final counter attacks, taking 43 arrows before finally falling – if stories can be believed. When the news of the King’s death was taken to the other cities most capitulated rather than face extinction. King Xicohtencatl’s armies were not so easily convinced; they would fight on for another year and half.
1405AD: The steam engine is developed in the Gallic League (based on the Egyptian design).
1406AD: After six months the siege of Tenochtitlan (the regional capital of Mexica) ends in victory for the Gallic League. Within days the remaining war chiefs are forced to sign the Treaty of Tenochtitlan: The conquered territory of the Kingdom of Teutates and the Mayan Empire will dissolve their armies. All war ships and merchant ships will now belong to the Gallic League. The conquered territories will now be ruled by war chiefs and druids appointed by the High Monarch. All religions practices involving blood sacrifice are hereby ended.
1407AD: The first steam powered ship sets sail from the Massallii Arsenal (like the Egyptian ships the Gallic design is powered by two side wheel paddles). The Islands of the Mayan Sea are officially annexed.
1408AD: Flash powder is brought to the Egyptian Empire. The import serves well at different religious rituals and celebrations.
Muawiyah Sultanate attacks the Byzantine Empire in order to regain access to the Tigris and Euphrates (1408-1415). The Sultanate is never able to mount a significant threat and little is gained from the conflict.
1410AD: Egypt enters into two wars; the first is with Kanem (1410-1418) the second occurs several months later when Egypt tries to reestablish trade with the Aboriginals. The Aboriginals had suffered from the plague the Egyptians brought and were not as eager to reopen their native lands to trade. This series of conflicts with the Aboriginals will not be concluded until 1450.
Kanem attacks Ghana soon after declaring war on Egypt (both costal empires had been greatly weakened by plague and famine, which made them ripe for invasion as far as the Emir of Kanem thought).
There is a slave revolt in the Byzantine Empire though it is quickly subdued it does usher in a major change in Byzantine policy. The Rights of the Indentured are written in the wake of the revolt: this allows for slaves to buy themselves back from their owners.
Chi scholars begin experimenting with hallowed out logs and flash powder (over the next few years they come up with a design that is very effective at launching “shot†into an enemy).
1412AD: Flash powder makes its way into the Gallic League via trade with the Egyptian Empire. Though the flash and bang are impressive the powder does not makes an immediate impression on the people of the League (it makes even less of an impression on the people of Scanza when it reaches those lands around 1414). Making a much larger and immediate impact on Gallic culture is the completion of the Parisii School for Bardic Studies (it is to the Bards what the University of Etan at Vesuvius is to the druids). Within 20 years Paris becomes the center for music and theater within the Gallic League.
Flash powder also makes it to Lusitania in this year. Though domestically it doesn’t amount to much as a trade item but when used in their overseas holdings it makes subduing the natives much easier.
Egypt founds New Memphis in Australia. They also conclude a treaty with Ghana to coordinate their counterattacks into Kenem.
1414AD: A druid by the name of Bruce Kelvin develops the first small pox inoculation.
Byzantine faces a rebellion (of sorts) in the conquered Khazar territories. Tax revenue plummets after the Patriarch of Neos Syracuse issues an edict that all Christians should obey God’s law and not that of the secular authority – tithes still went to the Church but taxes were not paid to the state.
1415AD: Via a trade with the Lusitanians Ghana develops their own steam engine.
Heuon Faisal begins preaching in Byzantium. His angry rhetoric not only targets the nations that have ruled and abandoned Anatolia but the ruling government as well. He spoke out against the formation of empires and instead for a return to tribal existence – small pockets of self-sufficient roaming families. Heuon Faisal will wander the Byzantine Empire as well as the Gallic League, Egyptian Empire, and the Mongol lands before returning to Byzantium to die in 1462AD.
1418AD: Ghana and Egypt conclude their war with Kanem. The Emir is deposed and the kingdom will be ruled jointly by Egypt and Ghana.
Shortly after the conclusion of the Kanem war Ghana under goes a coup. The king is deposed in a 10 day bloody revolt.
Lusitania enters into a war with the Incan Empire (1418-1421). This marks the first time Lusitania uses native levies in their armies.
1420AD-1422AD: The Cheusthie Muir War.
The Byzantine Empire declares war on the Gallic League (in their attempt to gain control of the entirety of the Cheusthie Muir). Their first strike comes at Shiar Cashtal but is repelled. Subsequent attacks come all along the Greek coast (too many to prevent) but all foot holds are kept from being resupplied by the quicker steam powered ships of the League (though the Byzantine Empire does discover that the side paddles are particularly vulnerable to ramming - it is a weakness however that they are never fully able to exploit).
The printing press reaches the Gallic League (from the Chi Empire). It will be another 10 years before the device is completely accepted by the League - mainly due to druid misgivings. The only point in history that could match the druids (the High Council included) misgivings about switching from diligent transcribing to this machine is when Kelge first put his teachings into written form.
The printing press doesn’t become widely used in Egypt either at this time as many scholars protests a machine mass producing what they consider to be a form of art (however, only a short 2 years go by before the device appears all over the Empire).
A device that makes almost an immediate impact on Egypt is the invention of the Mechanical Thresher.
Riots in Kanem force Egypt to move additional troops into the region (once the riots are subdued Egypt imposes a heavy tax on Mehrdadian worshipers). Ghana, in Kanem territory directly under their control, outright forbids the worship of Mehrdad and begins murdering Kanemites (they conduct night assaults on people suspected of subversion, pulling them from their beds and leaving them dead in the streets).
1423AD: High King Bowdyn III dies, much of his reign had been focused on the pacifying of the Mayans and Teutions – even after the war the conquered territory was an unfriendly place. By the last years of High King Bowdyn III the area had become calmer allowing for his daughter Olwyn (II) to peruse a different focus (1423-1459). High Queen Olwyn II, even as a child, had been fascinated by tools and instruments (it is said her first toy as a child was a microscope – it is also said that this toy was soon broken when the child tried to take it apart). She begins to wean the League off of the dependence of the personal fortunes of the nobles and the merchants and focuses on trade and scientific development.
The Mechanical Thresher arrives in the Gallic League.
Rebellion in the Muawiyah Sultanate (among the issues, corruption and that the current dynasty has been dealing amicably with the Il Khanate – who have assumed the role as the center of the Mehrdadian faith). After 3 years of war the Muawiyah family is deposed (after 300 years as the ruling family) and Anid Al-fahl Farees is hailed as the new Sultan.
1425AD: The Mechanical Loom is invented in the Gallic League (the loom makes its way to Scanza, Egypt, and other nations along the trade routes).
The Farees Sultanate declares war on the Il Khanate (1425-1432).
1430AD: A new wave of missionaries heads for the New World, mainly Fadeyrianists and druids – Catholic missionaries will not make any concerted effort to “save the souls of the far west†for a couple reasons; they’re leery since their first failed attempt to win over the Toltecs and Mayans, they are concentrating their efforts on the invading eastern tribes and empires, and finally the might and reach of the Faith has been severely diminished by the lack of cooperation among the Christian kingdoms. The Fadeyrianists and druids make contact with a number of tribes while traveling the array of different landscapes of North Alrikia – probably the most influential tribes were group of peoples making up the trade empire of the Anasazi and the remnant kingdoms of the once mighty Mississippian Mound Builders (both the Mound Building kingdoms and the Anasazi were in a period of near collapse at the time of discovery but trade and help from the League eventually revitalizes these nations – the League of course had their own reasons for this, making strong allies in New World made it harder on both Scanza and Lusitania).
A major slave revolt in Ghana erupts through many of the southern regions. The roaming bands could have been subdued if not for the civil war that sprang up along the Niger River (the son of the deposed king had returned to reclaim the throne).
The Chi Empire enters into civil war when the Emperor dies suddenly with no direct heir.
Lusitania begins a new series of Native Wars (both in their north and south Alrikian holdings) that will continue through the rest of the century.
1432AD: High Queen Olwyn II travels to the North Alrikia with an army of 1000 to help in the formation of the Cherokee Confederation (by 1437 the small wars and skirmishes had ended and High Queen Olwyn II was officiating at the naming of Chief Ata-gul kalu).
There is a populous revolt in the Chi Empire. Tired of the unstable nature of Dynastic rule a new army rises to battle in the civil war – this one lead mainly by angry merchants.
1435AD: The Rail Wagon (though more often called the Iron Horse – later settling on the term train) is invented in the Gallic League. The Egyptian Empire had been working on a similar device; theirs will be completed by the following year.
The slave army in Ghana leaves the borders of that empire and settles along the Kongo River.
1436AD: The Egyptian Empire develops their own Rail Wagon.
1437AD: The first rail line is completed between Alesia and Massallia.
1439AD: The civil war in Ghana is ended; Mamu Obike (the son of the deposed king) is victorious. His first action is to end the exodus of slaves to the Kongo region.
1440AD: The Gallic League, Lusitania, and Scanza all develop steam ships propelled by screw propellers within months of each other (the side paddle ships will be phased out of the Gallic navy over the next 10 years – not that there were many to be phased out).
Egypt’s first rail line is completed between Memphis and Alexandria.
The “Mechanical Revolution†reaches Dacia.
1442AD: The slave army, in conjunction with the tribes native to the region, are able to defeat King Mamu Obike (though he is able to halt the flood of slaves over the border).
The Kingdom of the Kongo is established.
1445AD: Egypt begins building their own ships with the screw propeller propulsion.
The “Mechanical Revolution†reaches Byzantium.
1447AD: Edana Y Giorsal publishes her research on the manipulation of plant genes (OTL Mendel).
The civil war in the Chi Empire comes to a close and so does Imperial command. Provincial elections are held and the House of Commons and the House of Nobles are established.
1450AD-1456AD: The Byzantine Trading War.
Over the last 25 years, more or less since the Cheusthie Muir War, Byzantine ships had been searched, commandeered, and their cargos confiscated but Gallic patrols within the muir and the Mediterranean. Byzantium had been too busy facing revolts and dealing with social unrest within their own empire to demand much. King Duman, newly crowed, is young and needs something more than suppressing slaves and surfs to solidify his claim to the throne. In 1450, at the news of the latest Byzantine ship being searched by the Gallic League, King Duman declares war on the League.
King Duman will do a few things differently during this war. Shiar Cashtal will not be attacked; instead King Duman lands an army and put the city under siege. He also sends a much smaller force to the Danube, striking at the heart of Unaii lands. The bulk of his army though sails through the Mediterranean and lands in Celtibaria with the intent on taking control of what Plato called the Pillars of Hercules. Olwyn II falls for the bait and focuses on the war along the Danube and the siege of Shiar Cashtal, the warnings come too late about the landing of King Duman’s army in Celtibaria.
1452AD: Both the war along the Danube and the siege of Shiar Cashtal are ended. High Queen Olwyn II sends the army from Mezek to Ilium (the Gallic stronghold in Anatolia) with orders to invade and capture the Byzantine coast line. Olwyn II will first travel by ship to Rome, with the invasion of Byzantine the Roman army was freed up from coastal watch. With the Italian army she set sail again for Celtibaria where she will join up with another army forming at Numantia. By the end of the year Olwyn II is marching south to aid the Cartagennian army which had been fighting the Byzantines almost without help.
1454AD: With victories at Ilipa and Osuna and the sea battle off the coast of Abdera the Byzantine hold on Celtibaria is reduced to a handful of forts and fortified cites (Gades and Carteia being the primary strongholds). An attempt by the Byzantine general to land a force later in the year in Lesser Carthage fails – hardly half the number sent there return.
1456AD: King Duman offers peace. The two major points of the treaty allows the League to maintain control over much of the Anatolian territory they conquered and an end to all Byzantine shipping in the Mediterranean for the next 50 years. King Duman is deposed later this year by his cousin Dareh.
1459AD: High Queen Olwyn II steps down in favor of her daughter Mavis (1459-1486).
1460AD: Ghana builds their first Rail Wagon.
The Chi Empire develops the first hot air balloon.
1462AD: Information is leaked to the Gallic League that the Lusitanian Triumvirate had been supplying the Byzantine soldiers during their war with the League. High Queen Mavis commissions an inquisition into this matter but after 2 years the High Council forces the issue to be dropped for lack of evidence.
The Chi Empire develops the first parachutes.
1470AD: High Queen Mavis allows for the sale of arms to Cherokee Confederation – later that year the Confederation steps up their raids on both Scanza and Lusitania (the Scandinavian armies are surprised when the Cherokees begin using Egyptian Fire).
The “Mechanical Revolution†reaches China.
1472AD: Queen Hulda II of Scanza demands that the League stop shipping arms to the Cherokee Confederation. Negotiations will continue for nearly a year but eventually both the Oghma and the High Council advise the High Queen to suspend aid to the Confederacy for the time being (the following year Scanza is forced to offer peace to the Cherokees after a major defeat).
Byzantium attacks the Principality of Neos Syracuse (as expected, Khazar, heeding the Patriarch’s call for help, declares war on Byzantium, 1472-1477).
1475AD: Dacia declares war on Byzantium.
1479AD: High Queen Mavis enters into negotiations with Lusitania and Ghana over their slave trade (at the behest of our native allies in the New World who would like the repatriation of their peoples). With the invention of such labor saving devices as the mechanical pump, steam engine, the mechanical thresher, and the mechanical loom the practice of slavery is unnecessary. Lusitania and Ghana didn’t agree – the failure of these talks greatly sour an already weak relationship between these nations (though High Queen Mavis will make several more attempts at the negotiating table during the remainder of her reign).
1480AD: The Chi Empire develops the first successful gliders.
Dacia and Scanza go to war (1480-1484).
1486AD: High Queen Mavis dies (from her diaries we know she passed on with the deep regret at not being able to free the enslaved peoples of the world). Her daughter Rhiannon (V) takes up the Gallic crown and her mother’s cause (1486-1518).
1490AD: Ghana and Egypt build the Trans-African Rail Line.
1491AD: High Queen Rhiannon V is almost deposed when she openly challenges the High Council to a duel – a hasty removal of her by the Algiz allows time for tempers to cool. The argument was over the issue of slavery. Though abolished in the League for a number of centuries it was still practiced by other nations, the High Queen wanted to declare the practice illegal and back up the edict with war with any nation that continues to use slaves. Although many on the Oghma were swayed by the High Queen’s argument the High Council insisted that the Gallic League had no right enforcing their will on other nations.
1495AD: High Queen negotiates a new treaty with the Cherokee Confederacy allowing for the use of the Gallic military (particularly that of the navy) until such time as they can build and maintain their own fleet.
1497AD: The Cherokee Confederation sends notice to all nations that slave ships will be boarded and the cargo commandeered.
1498AD: A slave ship making its way from Lusitanian holdings in North Alrikia is halted and seized by the Cherokee Confederation. A few months later a second ship off the coast of South Alrikia is halted (this time the ship is not confiscated but allowed to continue once the human cargo had been returned to shore). By Beltane the Triumvirate had declared war on the Cherokee Confederation by sinking two Gallic war ships in the Mayan Sea (the ships and most of the crews were Gallic but the vessels were two of 15 on loan to the Confederation).
1499AD-1506AD: The Great Atlantic War.
With the sinking of an actual Gallic patrol in the Mayan Sea High Queen Rhiannon V declares war on Lusitania.
...and the colonization begins...
It took me a while to recognize the Aboriginals=Aboriginie. I'm not too sure on if you had made notice of them within the installment but the map did help. Maybe you should show a map locating TTL's names for geographical features, i.e. Upper South America & Lower Canada/Maritime Provences.
It's a good installment. I liked the fact that slavery is introduced amongst the new innovations within Europe. I was under the fact that the League didn't really possess an insitution of slavery as Egypt or Dacia. Could you sort of clarify that assumption?
On seperate tangents:
1. Is Gaelic music within TTL progressed beyond the traditional Bard stories & yarns? Has there been new genres developed? (i.e. "rock and roll" being radically different from Jazz)
2. What did Bruce Kelvin do?
3. I like the fact that gunpowder ("Flash Powder") isn't as in high demand as OTL. Is the crossbow created yet? Is the sword still the standard arm for the average warrior?
4. Has there been a trend within the League on newborns being named after dead/live Kings?
5. Have highways been developed?
-> BTW- good job on the installment!
It took me a while to recognize the Aboriginals=Aboriginie. I'm not too sure on if you had made notice of them within the installment but the map did help. Maybe you should show a map locating TTL's names for geographical features, i.e. Upper South America & Lower Canada/Maritime Provences.
It's a good installment. I liked the fact that slavery is introduced amongst the new innovations within Europe. I was under the fact that the League didn't really possess an insitution of slavery as Egypt or Dacia. Could you sort of clarify that assumption?
On seperate tangents:
1. Is Gaelic music within TTL progressed beyond the traditional Bard stories & yarns? Has there been new genres developed? (i.e. "rock and roll" being radically different from Jazz)
2. What did Bruce Kelvin do?
3. I like the fact that gunpowder ("Flash Powder") isn't as in high demand as OTL. Is the crossbow created yet? Is the sword still the standard arm for the average warrior?
4. Has there been a trend within the League on newborns being named after dead/live Kings?
5. Have highways been developed?
-> BTW- good job on the installment!
Yes, slavery has been abolished in the League for some time now. The tension is between the League and Lusitania (and other nations using slavery). Lusitania has been enslaving and selling native North Alrikians to nations around the world – though chiefly to Ghana. So…League’s sense of individualism, honor, territoriality + the fact that the League is now allied to the Cherokee Confederation and the Anasazi = War.
Slavery around the world:
The Christian Kingdoms (Dacia, Khazar, Novgorod): They don’t have slaves per se but they do have surfs, which isn’t all that much better.
The Mongol Empires: They do have slaves though it is more of a system of indentured servants (they can’t make their own money but their period of slavery is generally finite, i.e. the slave has to work off a given debt).
China: They do have slaves, a similar system to that of OTL Rome and Egypt (used for things like teaching noble children, they can even make their own money).
Ghana and Lusitania: They have slaves and they treat them as slaves (i.e. slave = property).
Egypt, The Gallic League, Scanza: Do not have slaves.
1)Gallic music is still in the style of the Bardic Ballad. At the moment I’m not sure if a “rock-n-roll†style of music would develop in the League (scratching beard thoughtfully)….Celts like drawn out stories.
2)Bruce Kelvin developed the first small pox inoculation in 1414AD.
3)For the Gallic League the sword and short bow are the weapons of the warriors with Egyptian Fire being used as a first assault/defensive weapon (yes, at this time the crossbow has been developed).
4)The trend is the same as in any other nation as far as child naming goes. Names of ancestors are often used over and over again especially if the person was of high regard.
5)Yes, the League has a vast network of roads, bridges, and now a developing rail system (but highways as in a four lane motor way, no not yet). Although, foot traffic along the roads tend to be mostly trade and military (your average Celt is a homebody – the farm and or closest city is their world).
How’s that?
Slavery around the world:
The Christian Kingdoms (Dacia, Khazar, Novgorod): They don’t have slaves per se but they do have surfs, which isn’t all that much better.
The Mongol Empires: They do have slaves though it is more of a system of indentured servants (they can’t make their own money but their period of slavery is generally finite, i.e. the slave has to work off a given debt).
China: They do have slaves, a similar system to that of OTL Rome and Egypt (used for things like teaching noble children, they can even make their own money).
Ghana and Lusitania: They have slaves and they treat them as slaves (i.e. slave = property).
Egypt, The Gallic League, Scanza: Do not have slaves.
1)Gallic music is still in the style of the Bardic Ballad. At the moment I’m not sure if a “rock-n-roll†style of music would develop in the League (scratching beard thoughtfully)….Celts like drawn out stories.
2)Bruce Kelvin developed the first small pox inoculation in 1414AD.
3)For the Gallic League the sword and short bow are the weapons of the warriors with Egyptian Fire being used as a first assault/defensive weapon (yes, at this time the crossbow has been developed).
4)The trend is the same as in any other nation as far as child naming goes. Names of ancestors are often used over and over again especially if the person was of high regard.
5)Yes, the League has a vast network of roads, bridges, and now a developing rail system (but highways as in a four lane motor way, no not yet). Although, foot traffic along the roads tend to be mostly trade and military (your average Celt is a homebody – the farm and or closest city is their world).
How’s that?
I went and put this map together so you can get a better idea of the borders between The Gallic League and the Byzantine Empire.
If anyone is interested I got the map from
http://geography.about.com/library/maps/blindex.htm
If anyone is interested I got the map from
http://geography.about.com/library/maps/blindex.htm
The 16th century begins a new age of the high seas. The majority of ships are still powered by both wind and steam but ships solely powered by steam will become the primary naval vessel by the end of the century. Ship design will undergo a major change through out the empires as cannon development and deployment phase out the use of Egyptian Fire ballistae. Ships become more than glorified troop transports and floating ramrods and instead there is a constructional shift towards sea going fortresses. The Kamiharou make the first steps in this direction but it is quickly picked up and spread throughout the world.
While the Gallic League and the other nations of the world fought over land and sea there was a different type of war being fought on a more basic level. Through the diligent work of our druids and scientist diseases such as diphtheria and tetanus will begin to be driven from the populous (advance will continue to be made in this and other fields throughout the century and on into the next).
Though two major wars will be fought in this century, one of them being the first global war, it will be a century of relative peace for the Christian Kingdoms. There will be some minor border disputes but mostly their conflicts will be confined to religious idiosyncrasies argued between the Holy See and the House of Bishops. The greatest challenge comes when Temujin II appears out of the Siberian steppes as the new Khan of the reunited Mongolian Empire (Novgorod however will face the brunt of the invasion and it will not be until the Patriarch intervenes that peace returns).
The native populations of North Alrikia, having finally begun to recover from diseases and major migrations brought on by New World colonists, draw the battle lines and face the invasion with renewed determination. But too much of their efforts are spent warring amongst themselves to have significant impact on Scanza, Kamiharou, and even the Cherokee Confederation. If not for the League the land would have been carved up much like Australia is beginning to be. Though ostensibly we interfered to help bring peace, in reality we sent armies and envoys for the purposes of expanding our territorial control on the continent (we will meet neither intention to any significant degree).
1500AD: Lusitania moves quickly to recapture the islands of the Mayan Sea and sends 1500 soldiers and 50 ships (more than half of them steam ships). They are able to overpower the native wind powered ships and the small Gallic fleet (7 ships). The land battle for the islands however would not go as smoothly and although many of the smaller islands will be conquered both Cuba and Taino will remain under siege for the entirety of the war. Lusitania lands a second army near Teutates, and marches a third north over the border into the lands formally held by the Mayans.
Rhionnon V sends the Celtiberian army to the Lusitanian border (the High Queen will later arrive to personally take command).
In Marta the Gallic League suffers a second major defeat off the Lusitanian cost – losing another 7 ships and only sinking 4 Lusitanians. The Triumvirate will maintain an effective blockade of the Mediterranean until the end of 1503.
In Meitheamh (June) a Cherokee war party is able to sneak aboard and commandeer 2 Lusitanian war ships. They are able to sink 2 additional enemy ships but only 1 of the commandeered vessels is able to escape.
The Farees Sultanate goes to war with the Il Khanate (1500-1508).
The Byzantine Empire goes to war with the Il Khanate (1500-1506).
1501AD: The Cherokee Confederation seizes several Lusitanian outposts and colonies along the Atlantic cost.
High Queen Rhionnon V brings Scanza into the war. King Knut immediately dispatches war ships – by the end of the year Lusitania will have no merchant or war ships north of the Mayan Sea.
Fighting in the Mayan Highlands bogs down into a pattern of raids between the Gallic and Lusitanian forces. The Lusitanian army outside Teutates is forced to give up their siege and retreats to the relative safety of their Cuban harbor. Late in the year a Gallic army under the command of war chief Manauia marches over the Mor Abhainn (OTL Rio Grande) into Lusitanian held territory.
The Gallic Mediterranean Fleet (the western armada) attempts to break the blockade but fails. With the loss of another 5 war ships High Queen Rhionnon V goes to the Oghma to order the construction of more ships. An aspect of the Brehon Codex are the Preservation Laws – which places limits on the amount of land being cultivated, mines being dug, and trees felled. These Laws, more than any other, have limited the number of ships that had been built by the League. Pressure from the High Monarch and the Oghma forced the High Council to temporarily lift the Preservation Laws. Construction of new ships would commence almost before the High Council had agreed to suspend the Laws and would continue night and day until the end of the war.
1503AD: Gallic forces in the Mayan Highlands are able to beat back the Lusitanian army and take the invasion into enemy lands.
Lusitanian Triumvirate is able to bring Ghana into the war, the blockade of the Mediterranean is passed to their control so that the Triumvirate can send ships north to battle the Scandinavian fleet that was now threatening to invade the Mayan Sea.
In Mean Fomhair (September) the Lusitanian border finally collapses under the Gallic assault. The Triumvirate relocates to their holdings in South Alrikia (for the first time since colonization the Lusitanian holdings in South Alrikia are collectively called New Lusitania). A month later, just before the start of Renewal, the Mediterranean Blockade is breeched by the Gallic armada.
The Kamiharou declares war on the Ogedei Khanate (1503-1510).
1504AD: The Battle of Four Fleets. In Nollag (December), the spearhead forces of The Gallic League, Scanza, Ghana, and Lusitania meet off the cost of New Lusitania when the Gallic/Scanza fleets tried to take Bibia (an major port at the mouth of the Amazon). The battle would be fought to a technical draw – the port would not be taken but the damage inflicted upon the Lusitanian/Ghana fleet was significant (especially for Ghana as many of their ships still used the side wheel paddles). For the rest of the year the war would be confined to several small encounters in the Atlantic.
1505AD: Scandinavian war ships are able to push the Lusitanian armada out of the Mayan Sea, a week later the campaign to recapture the islands is undertaken by Cherokee and Gallic forces.
By the end of the year Ghana withdraws from the war.
Byzantine Empire goes to war with Khazar (1505-1509).
1506AD: The Duman Treaty of 1456 expires (the treaty had put a halt on Byzantine shipping in the Mediterranean Sea).
The Triumvirate asks for a truce. The Treaty of Numantia is signed a few weeks later: The borders between the League and Lusitania will return to what they were before the war. Lusitanian holdings in North Alrikia will be forfeit. Half of all remaining Lusitanian war ships are to be scuttled. The slave trade (over the Atlantic) will be halted – slaves already in servitude must be allowed to buy their freedom (a byproduct of the treaty is that Lusitania and Ghana receives an influx of revenues from the Cherokee Confederation as that nation attempts to regain their people).
1507AD: The Lusitanian Triumvirate returns home. One of their first actions is to closes their ports to foreign ships. To further the impact of this action they begin to expand their control of trade routes and goods by settling in areas dominated by other nations (in the coming years they begin to settle once again in Africa and encroach on Egyptian and Kamiharou holdings in Australia).
Chief Fala of the Cherokee Confederation begins expanding his territory.
1510AD: The Preservation Laws are reinstated.
Egypt learns the use of hot air balloons and cannons from China.
China starts importing their first steam engines from the west (within 15 years they begin building their own engines).
1511AD: China launches their first steam ship, the Emperor Chi.
Before the end of the year the Kamiharou launch their first steam ship (also the first ship to be armed with cannons, 10 flank guns and 2 forward).
1512AD: Hot air balloons arrive in the Gallic League. They become widely used as outposts along the Leagues various borders (a message system similar to the Arabian “Tower System†is developed – throughout Arabia and Egypt there was a system of Towers from where messages were sent by way of mirrors and torches).
The formula for flash powder is learned by Egypt.
Byzantium renews their war with the Il Khanate (1512-1517).
1515AD: On a visit to Memphis, High Queen Rhionnon V witnesses a cannon demonstration. When she returns to the League she immediately issues orders that the League should develop their own.
Shah Ismail (an inventor living in the Il Khanate near the Byzantine border) begins experimenting with electricity by improving the “Baghdad Battery†(which has been in limited use since about the 7th century BC for electroplating). He is captured during the war between the Il Khanate and the Byzantine Empire (Shah is spared when he explains that although captured as a soldier of the Il Khanate his real work lay in science. Intrigued by this, the Byzantine noble takes Shah and his research back to Byzantium).
1517AD: In both the Gallic League and the Egyptian Empire the first cannons made of iron are created (within 10 years the cannon will be developed by all of the surrounding kingdoms). Over the next 10 years both nations under go major refits of their navies – exchanging Egyptian Fire ballistae for cannons.
1518AD: High Queen Rhionnon V dies and passes the Gallic League to her daughter Epona (II) (1518-1529). Rhionnon had also named her son Maccus to rule assuming that Epona has no children of age upon her death or abdication.
High Queen Epona’s first action as monarch was to christen the first Gallic Cannon ship, the Gods of the Ancestors (100 meters long armed with 10 cannons).
A few weeks later Egypt launches their first cannon ship, the King and the People of Egypt.
The launching of the Gallic and Egyptian cannon ships immediately catches the attention of every other western sea faring nation. Over the coming years there is a clear competition between the kingdoms to build bigger and more powerful war ships.
1520AD: There is a resurgence of the Great Plague in Egypt, the outbreak started in several southeastern villages when the Empire began expanding further into central Africa (these pockets of outbreaks along the southeast will continue over the next 5 years).
The Byzantine Empire declares war on the Farees Sultanate (1520-1522).
China declares war on the Mongol Empire (1520-1530).
1522AD: The first “Hand Cannons†are developed within months of each other by China, Egypt, and the Gallic League. These clumsy, loud, and inaccurate weapons however will not be widely accepted by the Gallic League.
1525AD: Egypt’s overseas trade had been hurt by the closing of Lusitania’s ports to foreign shipping. Because of this Egypt establishes their own colonies in the New World (their ships land in South Alrikia founding New Thebes on the cold southern plateau).
Ghana begins to expand more into central Africa eventually coming into more and more contact with the Kingdom of the Kongo. War will breakout before the end of the year (1525-1534).
1527AD: Outbreaks of the Great Plague appear in Ghana and the Kingdom of the Kongo.
In preparation for colonization into the midland of North Alrikia Scanza sends out several expeditions to map and survey.
1529AD: High Queen Epona II is poisoned and dies (her husband had died a year earlier during a hunting expedition, now leaving their only child Bran orphaned). Her brother Maccus is suspected but with no evidence and because of his over zealous hunt for his sister’s killer he is cleared of any charges. Maccus is crowned High King in the following month (1529-1554), within a year he adopts his nephew Bran as his son (Bran is killed in a tavern brawl at the age of 17).
1530AD: Cannon making develops across Asia.
The Mongol Empire collapses. Though the war with China didn’t help, it was the years of famine due to poor harvests that were the leading cause of the collapse.
1532AD: The Great Plague reappears in a few costal cities of the Gallic League but the outbreak is more prevalent in the conquered territories of North Alrikia, where it will prevail until 1534.
The North Alrikian Wars (1532-1597).
As the Cherokee Confederation, Scanza, and Kamiharou press further inland the native tribes of North Alrikia begin forming coalitions of their own to battle the invasions. With tribes fighting tribes and groups of native tribes banding together to fight the “outsiders†it was inevitable that they would search out for anything that would lend the upper hand. News would spread quickly about a powerful tribe in the south that battled the slavers, worships the land, cures the sick, and who helped the Cherokees establish their own lands. Envoys will be sent to the Gallic League and High King Maccus will see them all. High King Maccus’ attempts to increase the League’s influence in North Alrikia will draw us into these wars on more than one occasion (fighting for several tribes at once, sometimes against Scanza and the Cherokees). High King Maccus’ dreams of expanding Gallic territory would ultimately fail, he would instead be written into history not as a great conqueror but as a peace maker. Pressure from the High Council and the Ogham not to get too involved in affairs and lands so far from the heartland will force Maccus into a position of enforcing peace treaties between tribes instead of ruling them.
Ghana learns cannon making from Lusitania.
1535AD: The Egyptian Empire begins the Skirmish Wars with the Kamiharou (over territory in Australia, which won’t end until 1547) and Lusitania (over trading with natives in Australia and South Alrikia, a trade treaty is established in 1537).
Byzantine Empire renews their war with the Farees Sultanate (1535-1542).
1537AD: The Il Khanate collapse into warring factions.
1547AD: Ghana begins sending armies into Ghana controlled Kanem in search of Kongo rebels and escaped slaves.
1550AD: Egypt begins annexing southern section of Kanem due to Ghana’s aggressive moves in the half of the kingdom they control.
Togus Chang is named as the Great Khan, though he will henceforth refer to himself as Temujin II. Like many in the Mongol kingdoms Temujin II is a Christian and along with his wars of conquest he takes special care to convert/purge his people of pagan faiths. His wars with the remaining Mongol factions will take a further 5 years.
1554AD: High King Maccus dies. His son Malvin is crowned the new High King (1554-1560).
Byzantium learns cannon making from the Lusitanians.
1555AD: Byzantium sends ships to colonize Australia and the islands of the Egyptian Ocean (they are immediately thrust into conflict with the native populations).
Rashid Al-Tabib is hailed as the new Caliph (creating the Tabibid Caliphate out of the ashes of the Il Khanate).
Temujin II begins his “War with the Westâ€.
1560AD: High King Malvin drinks himself into an early grave (an event that is hardly rare in the Gallic League). Malvin will have no issue and so the position of High Monarch is opened to the Oghma.
Byzantium goes to war with the Egyptian Empire (1560-1562).
Tabibid Caliphate invades the Byzantine Empire (1560-1563).
1561AD: Raibert Conway (originally from the Po valley though he had been living in Alesia for 20 years) is elected as the new High King (1560-1577).
1564AD: The Tabibid Caliphate invades the Ogedei Khanate (1564-1565).
1565AD-1572AD: The Pan-Oceanic Naval War.
This marks not only the first global war but also the first use of Man-of-Wars that had been built by all sides of those in this conflict. Sea battles will be fought from the North Sea to the Tangaroa Ocean (OTL Pacific) though the majority of the encounters will occur in the Egyptian Ocean (OTL Indian). Land battles were also fought but the conflicts were small and undeceive.
The war starts because of skirmishes over territorial expansion in Australia between Egypt and Byzantium. The first broadsides are delivered in Mean Fomhair (September) when Egypt overtakes and sinks two supply ships meant for Byzantine colonies.
The war may have been over before the end of the year if Byzantium not brought in on their side the Ogedei Khanate (though periodic conflicts had arisen between the Khanate and Byzantium some bribery and the chance to battle the Ogedeii long time enemy the Egyptians was enough to sway the Khan).
In return, Egypt brings China into the war (a long time ally of Egypt and foe of the Ogedei Khanate).
Before the end of the year Byzantium brings Lusitania into the war (Lusitania had never been happy about the trade treaty they had signed with Egypt and saw this as an opportunity to renegotiate for a better deal). This, of course, brought the Gallic League into the foray.
1566AD: Temujin II halts his “War with the West†after Patriarch Ivan X threatens the Great Khan with excommunication. He sets his ambitions instead on bringing the wonders the “Mechanical Revolution†to his people.
Scanza joins the Naval War on the side of Egypt.
Ghana joins the Naval War on the side of Byzantium.
1567AD: The Incas join the war on the side of Byzantium. Their maritime experience is as limited at this time as their navy is small, however, their attacks on Egyptian colonies in South Alrikia do their part in keeping Egypt and her allies from focusing on a single front.
1570AD: The Kamiharou are brought into the war on the side of Egypt. The Emperor had sworn to remain neutral (and profit by trading with both sides) but in Beltane (May) an Incan patrol mistakes a Kamiharou merchant ship for one from China and sinks it.
Lusitania withdraws from the war as their efforts to conquer the Maori require more of their attention.
1571AD: The Kamiharou begins plating the hulls of their ships. The success of this defensive measure is shared with their allies.
Ogedei Khanate withdraws from the war when a combined invasion force of Kamiharou and China are able to take control of vast sections of Ogedei coastline.
The city of Byzantium is put under siege and both Cyprus and Crete are captured by Egyptian forces.
1572AD: The Byzantine Empire calls for a truce. The Treaty of Memphis, signed later this year, ends the war. The most noteworthy outcome of this war is the creation of Mutual Protective Treaties which makes the Pan-Oceanic Naval War only the first in a series of global wars.
1577AD: High King Raibert dies. His daughter Arienh is crowned (1577-1611).
1580AD: An Egyptian inventor develops the Kerosene Lamp. It will take more than a decade for this new lamp to pervade into Egyptian society. Although, since the development of Egyptian Fire there has been an industry collecting the oil seeping to the surface of the desert landscape until a more abundant source or efficient means of collection is developed, output of the new lamps will be limited.
Also making an appearance in history is the first Matchlock rifle (developed in Egypt).
1585AD: The Kerosene lamp arrives in the Gallic League from the Egyptian Empire. This lamp burns longer and brighter than the standard oil lamps and is quickly adopted, though due to the limited supply only temples receive the new invention.
The matchlock rifle is first used in the Gallic League, like the hand cannons these weapons will make a limited impact on the Gallic League. Though, several units of sharpshooters will eventually be developed, and the rifles will be issued to soldiers but only as a first strike measure (to be abandoned for the sword upon the call to charge).
1588AD: A Byzantine inventor by the name of Fazlur Zavos develops the first Electric Motor capable of converting electric energy into mechanical energy.
1590AD: Egyptian inventors develop the Steam Drill (aiding in the search and depth of water wells, although it was developed to aid in the discovery and depth of oil wells).
Fazlur Zavos creates the first electric magnet (capable of lifting 10x its own weight).
High Queen Arienh meets with the leaders of over a dozen North Alrikian tribes to end the continental wars. Though a general truce is called (though not always abided by) talks will continue until 1597 and will eventually include representatives from Scanza, Cherokee, and Kamiharou.
1597AD: High Queen helps to write the North Alrikian Accords. Although the Gallic League promises to enforce the treaty if necessary against those other than native tribes it was up to the natives to keep the peace or fight the wars amongst themselves. Tribal boundaries are established but due to the nomadic nature of even the sedentary native cultures and the fact that many mid and north continental tribes were not included in the treaty it will be sometime before actual borders are respected.
While the Gallic League and the other nations of the world fought over land and sea there was a different type of war being fought on a more basic level. Through the diligent work of our druids and scientist diseases such as diphtheria and tetanus will begin to be driven from the populous (advance will continue to be made in this and other fields throughout the century and on into the next).
Though two major wars will be fought in this century, one of them being the first global war, it will be a century of relative peace for the Christian Kingdoms. There will be some minor border disputes but mostly their conflicts will be confined to religious idiosyncrasies argued between the Holy See and the House of Bishops. The greatest challenge comes when Temujin II appears out of the Siberian steppes as the new Khan of the reunited Mongolian Empire (Novgorod however will face the brunt of the invasion and it will not be until the Patriarch intervenes that peace returns).
The native populations of North Alrikia, having finally begun to recover from diseases and major migrations brought on by New World colonists, draw the battle lines and face the invasion with renewed determination. But too much of their efforts are spent warring amongst themselves to have significant impact on Scanza, Kamiharou, and even the Cherokee Confederation. If not for the League the land would have been carved up much like Australia is beginning to be. Though ostensibly we interfered to help bring peace, in reality we sent armies and envoys for the purposes of expanding our territorial control on the continent (we will meet neither intention to any significant degree).
1500AD: Lusitania moves quickly to recapture the islands of the Mayan Sea and sends 1500 soldiers and 50 ships (more than half of them steam ships). They are able to overpower the native wind powered ships and the small Gallic fleet (7 ships). The land battle for the islands however would not go as smoothly and although many of the smaller islands will be conquered both Cuba and Taino will remain under siege for the entirety of the war. Lusitania lands a second army near Teutates, and marches a third north over the border into the lands formally held by the Mayans.
Rhionnon V sends the Celtiberian army to the Lusitanian border (the High Queen will later arrive to personally take command).
In Marta the Gallic League suffers a second major defeat off the Lusitanian cost – losing another 7 ships and only sinking 4 Lusitanians. The Triumvirate will maintain an effective blockade of the Mediterranean until the end of 1503.
In Meitheamh (June) a Cherokee war party is able to sneak aboard and commandeer 2 Lusitanian war ships. They are able to sink 2 additional enemy ships but only 1 of the commandeered vessels is able to escape.
The Farees Sultanate goes to war with the Il Khanate (1500-1508).
The Byzantine Empire goes to war with the Il Khanate (1500-1506).
1501AD: The Cherokee Confederation seizes several Lusitanian outposts and colonies along the Atlantic cost.
High Queen Rhionnon V brings Scanza into the war. King Knut immediately dispatches war ships – by the end of the year Lusitania will have no merchant or war ships north of the Mayan Sea.
Fighting in the Mayan Highlands bogs down into a pattern of raids between the Gallic and Lusitanian forces. The Lusitanian army outside Teutates is forced to give up their siege and retreats to the relative safety of their Cuban harbor. Late in the year a Gallic army under the command of war chief Manauia marches over the Mor Abhainn (OTL Rio Grande) into Lusitanian held territory.
The Gallic Mediterranean Fleet (the western armada) attempts to break the blockade but fails. With the loss of another 5 war ships High Queen Rhionnon V goes to the Oghma to order the construction of more ships. An aspect of the Brehon Codex are the Preservation Laws – which places limits on the amount of land being cultivated, mines being dug, and trees felled. These Laws, more than any other, have limited the number of ships that had been built by the League. Pressure from the High Monarch and the Oghma forced the High Council to temporarily lift the Preservation Laws. Construction of new ships would commence almost before the High Council had agreed to suspend the Laws and would continue night and day until the end of the war.
1503AD: Gallic forces in the Mayan Highlands are able to beat back the Lusitanian army and take the invasion into enemy lands.
Lusitanian Triumvirate is able to bring Ghana into the war, the blockade of the Mediterranean is passed to their control so that the Triumvirate can send ships north to battle the Scandinavian fleet that was now threatening to invade the Mayan Sea.
In Mean Fomhair (September) the Lusitanian border finally collapses under the Gallic assault. The Triumvirate relocates to their holdings in South Alrikia (for the first time since colonization the Lusitanian holdings in South Alrikia are collectively called New Lusitania). A month later, just before the start of Renewal, the Mediterranean Blockade is breeched by the Gallic armada.
The Kamiharou declares war on the Ogedei Khanate (1503-1510).
1504AD: The Battle of Four Fleets. In Nollag (December), the spearhead forces of The Gallic League, Scanza, Ghana, and Lusitania meet off the cost of New Lusitania when the Gallic/Scanza fleets tried to take Bibia (an major port at the mouth of the Amazon). The battle would be fought to a technical draw – the port would not be taken but the damage inflicted upon the Lusitanian/Ghana fleet was significant (especially for Ghana as many of their ships still used the side wheel paddles). For the rest of the year the war would be confined to several small encounters in the Atlantic.
1505AD: Scandinavian war ships are able to push the Lusitanian armada out of the Mayan Sea, a week later the campaign to recapture the islands is undertaken by Cherokee and Gallic forces.
By the end of the year Ghana withdraws from the war.
Byzantine Empire goes to war with Khazar (1505-1509).
1506AD: The Duman Treaty of 1456 expires (the treaty had put a halt on Byzantine shipping in the Mediterranean Sea).
The Triumvirate asks for a truce. The Treaty of Numantia is signed a few weeks later: The borders between the League and Lusitania will return to what they were before the war. Lusitanian holdings in North Alrikia will be forfeit. Half of all remaining Lusitanian war ships are to be scuttled. The slave trade (over the Atlantic) will be halted – slaves already in servitude must be allowed to buy their freedom (a byproduct of the treaty is that Lusitania and Ghana receives an influx of revenues from the Cherokee Confederation as that nation attempts to regain their people).
1507AD: The Lusitanian Triumvirate returns home. One of their first actions is to closes their ports to foreign ships. To further the impact of this action they begin to expand their control of trade routes and goods by settling in areas dominated by other nations (in the coming years they begin to settle once again in Africa and encroach on Egyptian and Kamiharou holdings in Australia).
Chief Fala of the Cherokee Confederation begins expanding his territory.
1510AD: The Preservation Laws are reinstated.
Egypt learns the use of hot air balloons and cannons from China.
China starts importing their first steam engines from the west (within 15 years they begin building their own engines).
1511AD: China launches their first steam ship, the Emperor Chi.
Before the end of the year the Kamiharou launch their first steam ship (also the first ship to be armed with cannons, 10 flank guns and 2 forward).
1512AD: Hot air balloons arrive in the Gallic League. They become widely used as outposts along the Leagues various borders (a message system similar to the Arabian “Tower System†is developed – throughout Arabia and Egypt there was a system of Towers from where messages were sent by way of mirrors and torches).
The formula for flash powder is learned by Egypt.
Byzantium renews their war with the Il Khanate (1512-1517).
1515AD: On a visit to Memphis, High Queen Rhionnon V witnesses a cannon demonstration. When she returns to the League she immediately issues orders that the League should develop their own.
Shah Ismail (an inventor living in the Il Khanate near the Byzantine border) begins experimenting with electricity by improving the “Baghdad Battery†(which has been in limited use since about the 7th century BC for electroplating). He is captured during the war between the Il Khanate and the Byzantine Empire (Shah is spared when he explains that although captured as a soldier of the Il Khanate his real work lay in science. Intrigued by this, the Byzantine noble takes Shah and his research back to Byzantium).
1517AD: In both the Gallic League and the Egyptian Empire the first cannons made of iron are created (within 10 years the cannon will be developed by all of the surrounding kingdoms). Over the next 10 years both nations under go major refits of their navies – exchanging Egyptian Fire ballistae for cannons.
1518AD: High Queen Rhionnon V dies and passes the Gallic League to her daughter Epona (II) (1518-1529). Rhionnon had also named her son Maccus to rule assuming that Epona has no children of age upon her death or abdication.
High Queen Epona’s first action as monarch was to christen the first Gallic Cannon ship, the Gods of the Ancestors (100 meters long armed with 10 cannons).
A few weeks later Egypt launches their first cannon ship, the King and the People of Egypt.
The launching of the Gallic and Egyptian cannon ships immediately catches the attention of every other western sea faring nation. Over the coming years there is a clear competition between the kingdoms to build bigger and more powerful war ships.
1520AD: There is a resurgence of the Great Plague in Egypt, the outbreak started in several southeastern villages when the Empire began expanding further into central Africa (these pockets of outbreaks along the southeast will continue over the next 5 years).
The Byzantine Empire declares war on the Farees Sultanate (1520-1522).
China declares war on the Mongol Empire (1520-1530).
1522AD: The first “Hand Cannons†are developed within months of each other by China, Egypt, and the Gallic League. These clumsy, loud, and inaccurate weapons however will not be widely accepted by the Gallic League.
1525AD: Egypt’s overseas trade had been hurt by the closing of Lusitania’s ports to foreign shipping. Because of this Egypt establishes their own colonies in the New World (their ships land in South Alrikia founding New Thebes on the cold southern plateau).
Ghana begins to expand more into central Africa eventually coming into more and more contact with the Kingdom of the Kongo. War will breakout before the end of the year (1525-1534).
1527AD: Outbreaks of the Great Plague appear in Ghana and the Kingdom of the Kongo.
In preparation for colonization into the midland of North Alrikia Scanza sends out several expeditions to map and survey.
1529AD: High Queen Epona II is poisoned and dies (her husband had died a year earlier during a hunting expedition, now leaving their only child Bran orphaned). Her brother Maccus is suspected but with no evidence and because of his over zealous hunt for his sister’s killer he is cleared of any charges. Maccus is crowned High King in the following month (1529-1554), within a year he adopts his nephew Bran as his son (Bran is killed in a tavern brawl at the age of 17).
1530AD: Cannon making develops across Asia.
The Mongol Empire collapses. Though the war with China didn’t help, it was the years of famine due to poor harvests that were the leading cause of the collapse.
1532AD: The Great Plague reappears in a few costal cities of the Gallic League but the outbreak is more prevalent in the conquered territories of North Alrikia, where it will prevail until 1534.
The North Alrikian Wars (1532-1597).
As the Cherokee Confederation, Scanza, and Kamiharou press further inland the native tribes of North Alrikia begin forming coalitions of their own to battle the invasions. With tribes fighting tribes and groups of native tribes banding together to fight the “outsiders†it was inevitable that they would search out for anything that would lend the upper hand. News would spread quickly about a powerful tribe in the south that battled the slavers, worships the land, cures the sick, and who helped the Cherokees establish their own lands. Envoys will be sent to the Gallic League and High King Maccus will see them all. High King Maccus’ attempts to increase the League’s influence in North Alrikia will draw us into these wars on more than one occasion (fighting for several tribes at once, sometimes against Scanza and the Cherokees). High King Maccus’ dreams of expanding Gallic territory would ultimately fail, he would instead be written into history not as a great conqueror but as a peace maker. Pressure from the High Council and the Ogham not to get too involved in affairs and lands so far from the heartland will force Maccus into a position of enforcing peace treaties between tribes instead of ruling them.
Ghana learns cannon making from Lusitania.
1535AD: The Egyptian Empire begins the Skirmish Wars with the Kamiharou (over territory in Australia, which won’t end until 1547) and Lusitania (over trading with natives in Australia and South Alrikia, a trade treaty is established in 1537).
Byzantine Empire renews their war with the Farees Sultanate (1535-1542).
1537AD: The Il Khanate collapse into warring factions.
1547AD: Ghana begins sending armies into Ghana controlled Kanem in search of Kongo rebels and escaped slaves.
1550AD: Egypt begins annexing southern section of Kanem due to Ghana’s aggressive moves in the half of the kingdom they control.
Togus Chang is named as the Great Khan, though he will henceforth refer to himself as Temujin II. Like many in the Mongol kingdoms Temujin II is a Christian and along with his wars of conquest he takes special care to convert/purge his people of pagan faiths. His wars with the remaining Mongol factions will take a further 5 years.
1554AD: High King Maccus dies. His son Malvin is crowned the new High King (1554-1560).
Byzantium learns cannon making from the Lusitanians.
1555AD: Byzantium sends ships to colonize Australia and the islands of the Egyptian Ocean (they are immediately thrust into conflict with the native populations).
Rashid Al-Tabib is hailed as the new Caliph (creating the Tabibid Caliphate out of the ashes of the Il Khanate).
Temujin II begins his “War with the Westâ€.
1560AD: High King Malvin drinks himself into an early grave (an event that is hardly rare in the Gallic League). Malvin will have no issue and so the position of High Monarch is opened to the Oghma.
Byzantium goes to war with the Egyptian Empire (1560-1562).
Tabibid Caliphate invades the Byzantine Empire (1560-1563).
1561AD: Raibert Conway (originally from the Po valley though he had been living in Alesia for 20 years) is elected as the new High King (1560-1577).
1564AD: The Tabibid Caliphate invades the Ogedei Khanate (1564-1565).
1565AD-1572AD: The Pan-Oceanic Naval War.
This marks not only the first global war but also the first use of Man-of-Wars that had been built by all sides of those in this conflict. Sea battles will be fought from the North Sea to the Tangaroa Ocean (OTL Pacific) though the majority of the encounters will occur in the Egyptian Ocean (OTL Indian). Land battles were also fought but the conflicts were small and undeceive.
The war starts because of skirmishes over territorial expansion in Australia between Egypt and Byzantium. The first broadsides are delivered in Mean Fomhair (September) when Egypt overtakes and sinks two supply ships meant for Byzantine colonies.
The war may have been over before the end of the year if Byzantium not brought in on their side the Ogedei Khanate (though periodic conflicts had arisen between the Khanate and Byzantium some bribery and the chance to battle the Ogedeii long time enemy the Egyptians was enough to sway the Khan).
In return, Egypt brings China into the war (a long time ally of Egypt and foe of the Ogedei Khanate).
Before the end of the year Byzantium brings Lusitania into the war (Lusitania had never been happy about the trade treaty they had signed with Egypt and saw this as an opportunity to renegotiate for a better deal). This, of course, brought the Gallic League into the foray.
1566AD: Temujin II halts his “War with the West†after Patriarch Ivan X threatens the Great Khan with excommunication. He sets his ambitions instead on bringing the wonders the “Mechanical Revolution†to his people.
Scanza joins the Naval War on the side of Egypt.
Ghana joins the Naval War on the side of Byzantium.
1567AD: The Incas join the war on the side of Byzantium. Their maritime experience is as limited at this time as their navy is small, however, their attacks on Egyptian colonies in South Alrikia do their part in keeping Egypt and her allies from focusing on a single front.
1570AD: The Kamiharou are brought into the war on the side of Egypt. The Emperor had sworn to remain neutral (and profit by trading with both sides) but in Beltane (May) an Incan patrol mistakes a Kamiharou merchant ship for one from China and sinks it.
Lusitania withdraws from the war as their efforts to conquer the Maori require more of their attention.
1571AD: The Kamiharou begins plating the hulls of their ships. The success of this defensive measure is shared with their allies.
Ogedei Khanate withdraws from the war when a combined invasion force of Kamiharou and China are able to take control of vast sections of Ogedei coastline.
The city of Byzantium is put under siege and both Cyprus and Crete are captured by Egyptian forces.
1572AD: The Byzantine Empire calls for a truce. The Treaty of Memphis, signed later this year, ends the war. The most noteworthy outcome of this war is the creation of Mutual Protective Treaties which makes the Pan-Oceanic Naval War only the first in a series of global wars.
1577AD: High King Raibert dies. His daughter Arienh is crowned (1577-1611).
1580AD: An Egyptian inventor develops the Kerosene Lamp. It will take more than a decade for this new lamp to pervade into Egyptian society. Although, since the development of Egyptian Fire there has been an industry collecting the oil seeping to the surface of the desert landscape until a more abundant source or efficient means of collection is developed, output of the new lamps will be limited.
Also making an appearance in history is the first Matchlock rifle (developed in Egypt).
1585AD: The Kerosene lamp arrives in the Gallic League from the Egyptian Empire. This lamp burns longer and brighter than the standard oil lamps and is quickly adopted, though due to the limited supply only temples receive the new invention.
The matchlock rifle is first used in the Gallic League, like the hand cannons these weapons will make a limited impact on the Gallic League. Though, several units of sharpshooters will eventually be developed, and the rifles will be issued to soldiers but only as a first strike measure (to be abandoned for the sword upon the call to charge).
1588AD: A Byzantine inventor by the name of Fazlur Zavos develops the first Electric Motor capable of converting electric energy into mechanical energy.
1590AD: Egyptian inventors develop the Steam Drill (aiding in the search and depth of water wells, although it was developed to aid in the discovery and depth of oil wells).
Fazlur Zavos creates the first electric magnet (capable of lifting 10x its own weight).
High Queen Arienh meets with the leaders of over a dozen North Alrikian tribes to end the continental wars. Though a general truce is called (though not always abided by) talks will continue until 1597 and will eventually include representatives from Scanza, Cherokee, and Kamiharou.
1597AD: High Queen helps to write the North Alrikian Accords. Although the Gallic League promises to enforce the treaty if necessary against those other than native tribes it was up to the natives to keep the peace or fight the wars amongst themselves. Tribal boundaries are established but due to the nomadic nature of even the sedentary native cultures and the fact that many mid and north continental tribes were not included in the treaty it will be sometime before actual borders are respected.
Huh. The Gallic League is playing peacemaker while the others play conquerer. I like the fact that Scanza isn't really doing much to expand their boundaries. Is it because they are just consolidating their numbers during that century? Is the usage of the sword being outdated due to the import of guns into the picture?
TheLoneAmigo
Donor
Nice. Some questions:
1. What is the primary design of ship used by the Kamiharou? More similar to junks, or outrigger canoes, or those giant ships that the Chinese used in OTL?
2. What happened to the Polynesians?
3. What is the fate of the Aboriginals both inside and outside of colonial regions? Are they beginning to adapt to the new technologies of the invaders?
4. What is everyday life like in some of the countries, especially the Gallic League?
5. How much of a press is there in the various nations?
6. How settled are the Mongols in the various regions?
1. What is the primary design of ship used by the Kamiharou? More similar to junks, or outrigger canoes, or those giant ships that the Chinese used in OTL?
2. What happened to the Polynesians?
3. What is the fate of the Aboriginals both inside and outside of colonial regions? Are they beginning to adapt to the new technologies of the invaders?
4. What is everyday life like in some of the countries, especially the Gallic League?
5. How much of a press is there in the various nations?
6. How settled are the Mongols in the various regions?
G.Bone: Scanza has had trouble expanding because the tech gap is so small, plus they’ve had their share of wars, famines, and diseases. They were involved in the North Alrikian Wars of the last century, which halted a lot of their plans for expanding, but in the same sense has spawned renewed urgency to explore and colonize the lands not named in the North Alrikian Accords. The Gallic League is probably resisting the change to modern weapons the most but there are some stalwarts of the sword in Scanza.
TheLoneAmigo:
1) The Kamiharou ships have developed from a combination of early Cog and Polynesian canoe. By now I envision a ship that probably looks similar to a Ventian Galley (15th/16th Century) – not so tall as long.
2) The Polynesians were absorbed by the Nihon culture, though as in any cultural assimilation you’re going to actually get more of an amalgam. With that in mind I’m using the Hawaiian Kingdom of the 18th/19th century as my cultural compus for the Kamiharou.
3) The Aboriginals in Egypt regions face enforced settlement or exile (though, those that do conform do get all the perks privy of other Egyptian citizens). In Kamiharou controlled areas the natives are in constant conflict with the invaders. The Lusitanians are merchants and slavers, I think you can guess what life is like for the Aboriginals in these areas.
4) The League is largely an agrarian society. You can be a Druid and spend your life as a scholar (though there are non druid scientists) interrupting the signs of the gods, investigating the natural world, or nose deep in the law of the land. You can be one of the relative few who settle into the life of a merchant/craftsman. You can study to be a Bard. You could become a soldier and answer the will of your ancestors to protect the Gallic way (the study of war is standard for all Gallic citizens though for the last few hundred years military services has not been mandatory. As a soldier your weapons, clothing, food, etc. are all provided for you by the High Monarch - in exchange for your service a stipend is paid to your family for the loss during harvesting times). For about 70%-80% the answer is just to be a farmer. Education is mandatory though only through primary – secondary and tertiary are generally reserved for those going into the druidic life. For entertainment there are always games (almost always involving swords in some way) and shows/plays preformed by local bards. For the average citizen (even though travel has become easier with the building of railways) your world is the 20 or 30 miles around the area you were born (you depend on bards and your elected officials and Vates to keep you posted on what’s going on in the Empire). Assuming an extreme illness or great fall you’ll probably live to be about 55 (medical/scientific knowledge at this time is about 18th/19th century OTL).
5) The written word is very popular in the League (this is a land after all that loves a good story). There isn’t a national press but there are local “papers†that keep people up dated on regional news (mostly the weather). Other nations with a developing press: Egypt, Scanza, China, Ogedeii Khanate. Nations with little to no open press: the Christian Kingdoms, Ghana, Lusitania, Mongol Empire, Kipchak Khanate, Incan Empire, and the North Alrikian Tribes (though only because they don’t as yet have a means to have an open press).
6) The Mongols are firmly in control of much of Siberia and central Asia and have permeated into former Bactria – though with the assimilation of the two cultures the Ogedeii Khanate is very far from the original conquers that crossed the Himalayas.
How’s that?
TheLoneAmigo:
1) The Kamiharou ships have developed from a combination of early Cog and Polynesian canoe. By now I envision a ship that probably looks similar to a Ventian Galley (15th/16th Century) – not so tall as long.
2) The Polynesians were absorbed by the Nihon culture, though as in any cultural assimilation you’re going to actually get more of an amalgam. With that in mind I’m using the Hawaiian Kingdom of the 18th/19th century as my cultural compus for the Kamiharou.
3) The Aboriginals in Egypt regions face enforced settlement or exile (though, those that do conform do get all the perks privy of other Egyptian citizens). In Kamiharou controlled areas the natives are in constant conflict with the invaders. The Lusitanians are merchants and slavers, I think you can guess what life is like for the Aboriginals in these areas.
4) The League is largely an agrarian society. You can be a Druid and spend your life as a scholar (though there are non druid scientists) interrupting the signs of the gods, investigating the natural world, or nose deep in the law of the land. You can be one of the relative few who settle into the life of a merchant/craftsman. You can study to be a Bard. You could become a soldier and answer the will of your ancestors to protect the Gallic way (the study of war is standard for all Gallic citizens though for the last few hundred years military services has not been mandatory. As a soldier your weapons, clothing, food, etc. are all provided for you by the High Monarch - in exchange for your service a stipend is paid to your family for the loss during harvesting times). For about 70%-80% the answer is just to be a farmer. Education is mandatory though only through primary – secondary and tertiary are generally reserved for those going into the druidic life. For entertainment there are always games (almost always involving swords in some way) and shows/plays preformed by local bards. For the average citizen (even though travel has become easier with the building of railways) your world is the 20 or 30 miles around the area you were born (you depend on bards and your elected officials and Vates to keep you posted on what’s going on in the Empire). Assuming an extreme illness or great fall you’ll probably live to be about 55 (medical/scientific knowledge at this time is about 18th/19th century OTL).
5) The written word is very popular in the League (this is a land after all that loves a good story). There isn’t a national press but there are local “papers†that keep people up dated on regional news (mostly the weather). Other nations with a developing press: Egypt, Scanza, China, Ogedeii Khanate. Nations with little to no open press: the Christian Kingdoms, Ghana, Lusitania, Mongol Empire, Kipchak Khanate, Incan Empire, and the North Alrikian Tribes (though only because they don’t as yet have a means to have an open press).
6) The Mongols are firmly in control of much of Siberia and central Asia and have permeated into former Bactria – though with the assimilation of the two cultures the Ogedeii Khanate is very far from the original conquers that crossed the Himalayas.
How’s that?
The 17th century sees continued war in North Alrikia as tribes battle each other in an endless tug of war over hunting grounds and agricultural land. The only supervising factor in the whole affair is the North Alrikian Accords and the Gallic Leagues occasional intervention. As seems to be the theme for the century intervention is the cause of several wars during this time as the Protective Treaties between Egypt and China, Egypt and the Gallic League, and Byzantium and Ogedii Khanate are the cause of much death and destruction.
There is a great leap in communication technology at this time. In the matter of a few decades messages that had been carried diligently by the Weigh Station Riders will now be carried by wires and sound. Though Riders become obsolete the horse (as a mode of transportation) will never go out of style – more or less cementing this fact are the first impressions of the Egyptian invention the noisy and unreliable “horseless carriageâ€.
Ghana faces a seemingly endless ripple of social upheaval. For the second time in its history a slave army is able to slip through the King’s fingers and escape the brutal clutches of their “masters†to found their own land (with a little help from the growing abolitionist movement and the League).
1600AD: Egyptian spies learn the Byzantine secret of the electric motor and magnet. This information is brought to the Gallic League soon after this act of espionage.
Even after the defeat of the Byzantine alliance at the end of the Pan-Oceanic Naval War Incan raids into Egyptian territory continued. An Incan raid in this year does not end with a retreat and so Egypt declares war on the Incan Empire (1600-1603).
China declares war on Mongols (1600-1610).
1601AD: The Incan/Ghana War (1601-1603).
Having overestimated his abilities to stand against the Egyptians the Incan Emperor Mayta writes to King Dabir of Ghana for aid. The long time supporters of Incan expansion and rivals of the Egyptians agree and join the war against Egypt. With Egypt claiming the war was instigated by the Incas and now that Ghana had joined the conflict it was necessary for the Gallic League to honor our Protective Treaty with Egypt and enter the war.
Little would be accomplished by the war as there were no major victories or defeats before the Incan Empire and Ghana called for a truce (it is largely accepted that the main reason for the truce was Ghana’s failed attempt to enlist Lusitania).
1602AD: Facing continued aggression from Lusitania as the merchant slavers expand into territory the Kamiharou Emperor had earmarked for himself war erupts between the 2 seafaring nations (1602-1607).
1607AD: Lusitania calls for an end to the devastating war with the Kamiharou (though evenly matched luck would play a large role in this war). For example, the deciding event occurs on the 14th of Feabhra when the main Lusitanian armada, meant to push Kamiharou from Australia, is scattered by storms – the remaining ships are easily forced into the jagged shoals of the Great Barrier Reef (the loss of so many ships, the life’s blood of the Lusitanian empire, forces no other response but to ask for peace).
1608AD: Though meeting much opposition to the proposal, High Queen Arienh does manage to change the status of Teutonica from conquered territory to full member.
Egypt almost goes to war with the Kamiharou but the issue is mediated by China (as to keep themselves out of the war as they would be obligated to because of the Protective Treaty) and war is averted.
There is a major border skirmish between Ghana and Egypt that will carry over into the following year (shipments of rifles had been discovered not only in Ghana controlled Kanem but also in the hands of slave rebels – Egypt is immediately suspected and so patrols are sent into Egyptian territory to investigate). With no direct proof and not wanting to enter into another war with Egypt at this time Ghana focuses its wrath on arresting people in Kanem.
The Tabibid Caliphate goes to war with the Kipchak Khanate (1608-1611).
China launches the Golden Dragon, a massive ship of the line with a length of 270ft and mounting 82 cannons.
1609AD: The first elected Vates from Teutonica arrive for the opening session of Samhain.
Kamiharou launches their own ship of the line, the Kamikaze – 300ft and 60 guns.
1610AD: Ghana goes to war with the Kingdom of the Kongo (1610-1612).
1611AD: High Queen Arienh dies. The Gallic League passes to her son Daryn (1611-1631).
1612AD: The Gallic League launches their first ship of the line, War Chief Brennus – 200ft and 40 guns. Egypt, Scanza, and Lustitania follow in the next few months with their own ships of similar designs.
1614AD: Egypt almost declares war on Ghana but mediations, once again conducted by Chinese ambassadors, calm both sides into standing down. The Incan war, the war with Ghana, plus the two near wars with Kamiharou and again with Ghana force the Egyptian Civic Council to rethink their global entanglements. The decision is made to end the administration of Kanem.
1616AD: Druid Marcus Devlin publishes his collective studies (simply known as The Devlin Studies) of the night sky, correcting some miss conceptions and adding several moons and 3 new planets to our solar system.
1618AD: Ending all pretence of hunting down slaves (especially since now they no longer have Egypt as a protector), Ghana openly declares war on Kanem (1618-1624). Though Egypt had largely withdrawn from Kanem the Egyptian appointed Vizier still had Egyptian trained soldiers at his command which enabled him to fight a very successful defensive war.
1619AD: The Australian Colonial War (1619-1624).
On the 30th of Lunasa, working on a plan more than a decade old, Byzantium and the Ogedeii Khanate begin bombarding Egyptian ports in Australia. Within days of this attack a Byzantine army marches into Syria.
News of this attack quickly reaches the League and in accordance with the Protective Treaty with Egypt the League declared war on Byzantium. This, however, was expected and before our armies could mobalize and a lock down on Byzantine shipping could be put into place a Byzantine merchant vessel exploded in Massilia. Damage was significant, many war ships lost, and the Massilia Arsenal burnt down. Attacks on our shipping in the Mediterranean will be swift, greatly hampering our naval forces. The Army out of Mezek is ordered to the Byzantine border and the army in Ilium is ordered to begin sending war parties into Anatolia.
1620AD: Through the first two months of the New Year Byzantium continued their military assault on Egypt and the League (there was no concentric front as Ogedeii and Byzantine war ships harassed the rather lengthy coastlines of our two nations). In Eanair (January) the land war changed to a defensive war, Byzantium held large sections of Syria and Judea in Egypt – thankfully they were never able to fully take the Grand Canal (though the damage done in the two separate assaults caused the waterway to be closed for several months). In the League Byzantium/Ogedeii didn’t “hold†any territory though every day brought news of enemy marines striking as far inland as 20 miles.
The war turned to the Egyptian Ocean where Byzantine and Ogedeii war ships were matching the Egyptian/League victory for victory.
Druid Gaius Macnair creates the first submarine. Frustrated with the limitations of the simple window box for viewing the undersea world Gaius constructs the first submersible made of wood and pitch and a steam air pump. Gaius’ ambitions however overextended his abilities as a designer – he and his machine were never seen again. His work, however, caught the attention of several others and investigation into this field will continue.
The Tabibid Caliphate invades the Kipchak Khanate (1620-1626).
Scanza begins a renewed push to lay claim to territory in North Alrikia. They will be involved with a number of wars over the next 20 years (which over the next few years of the Australian War becomes an unnecessary distraction for the League).
1621AD: After delaying their entry into the war (dishonorably dragging their feet) China sends her first ships into the forays of the Australian Colonial War. The balance of power shifts but only for a short time as a few months later (as feared by the Chinese ministry) the Mongols gladly take the Ogedeii offer to join the war. 100,000 Mongols and a fleet of 80 ships are sent towards China (though when compared to Chinese ship design the Mongol fleet was about a half a century outdated).
A group of Chiefs from the North Alrikian tribes arrives in Alesia. Scandinavian aggression on the northern continent is threatening to breach the Accords and they want the Gallic League to hold up their end of the treaty. High King Daryn begrudgingly orders 6 ships to leave the Mayan Sea and take up a position off the coast of the Cherokee Confederation.
1622AD: A Greek by the name of Xanthos Nike develops the first Telegraph. His invention is immediately recognized as a useful breakthrough and telegraph lines begin being constructed between military bases.
A flurry of negotiations keeps several Chiefdoms from attacking Scanza, an action that would have drawn the League into a war they had no time to fight. High King Daryn dispatches 4 more ships, this time ordered into the North Sea and serious talks are held with Scanza.
1623AD: King Balder of Scanza agrees not to send soldiers into the uncharted territories (he also reasserts that no actions will be taken against members of the North Alrikian Accords as long as no action is taken against Scanza). By approval of the Riksdag, King Balder, however, doesn’t stop armed settlers from continuing to spread into the uncharted territories. Inevitably, classes occurred between Scandinavian settlers and native tribes – as long as they weren’t part of the Accords battles were fought.
A major slave revolt erupts in Ghana (supported by Kongo rebels).
1624AD: Ghana calls a truce with Kanem to deal with the slave army.
Though the Kamiharou are never officially named as part of the Egyptian alliance their timely invasion of the Ogedei Khanate goes a long way to ending the war (bribery and several visits from Egyptian and Chinese officials were enough to stoke the Kamiharou on and off war with the Khanate). The Ogedei withdraws from the war to face off against the Kamiharou (1624-1633).
Regardless of the Kamiharou invasion the war wouldn’t have lasted more than another year. Even though there had been no major defeat or victory for either side (though Byzantine had been driven from Syria) the war came down to a matter of resources – Egypt and the League could afford to loose more than Byzantium.
Traditionally the Gallic League dealt harshly with their defeated enemies (in this case High King Daryn wanted large sections of Anatolia returned to the League, restorations, and the entire Byzantine fleet dismantled). However, Egypt feared a devastating treaty would have a detrimental effect on the trade in the region. In the end, Byzantine would keep most of their fleet (We did, after all, have the right to claim ships to replace those destroyed in battle) but all munitions would have to be turned over to the Egyptian Alliance.
There were some interesting developments due to this war. It was the first full scale war where rifles were used. The effectiveness of our light and heavy cavalry were diminished so too the frontal charge however due to the increased use of successful faints and flank attacks these lessons were not taken to heart.
Also as a result of the Australian War we see the ground work for a breakthrough in antibiotics. Antibiotics had been known to the League for some time but while working with the wounded of the recent war they found that the usual treatments for fighting infections were insufficient. New attention is given to finding the answer to this problem.
1625AD: The Gallic League celebrates 2000 years of existence. Delegates from all over the world are invited to join the festivities in Alesia. The crowning event of this celebration is the announcement by High King Daryn that in the wake of the latest global conflict he is reopening the Olympic Games as a means to promote peaceful competition among the nations (the ancient games began in 776BC but were closed in 164BC after the Greek Revolt).
Telegraph lines begin to be built in Egypt and Scanza (Ghana and Lusitania also build their own lines but the innovation will be confined to merchant and military use for a number of years).
1626AD: The Olympic Games officially open. High King Daryn (an athlete in his own right) not only opens the games but also participates. Athletes from a number of nations convene to compete. In a surprise move, invitations are even sent to the Christian Kingdoms, but what was even more surprising was that they accepted. After a poor showing at the games and the arrest and expulsion of several Dacians, Novgorods, and Khazars for openly trying to convert Gallic citizens the 1626 games also mark the last time for the next 50 years that the Christian Kingdoms participate.
The pro-Egyptian government in Kanem is overthrown, ushering in a period of instability that won’t abate until 1656 (during this time there will be 22 different Emirs).
Byzantium withdraws from much of the Tigris and Euphrates in the wake of their loss during the Australian Colonial War as they pull more troops to offset Khazar aggression to the north. The rivers now become a point of contention for both the Farees Sultanate and the Tabibid Caliphate as both claim the land for their border.
1628AD: A group of scientists and doctors working at Cularo in the Alps discover an aggressive bacteria fighting agent derived from blue-green mold. They call their discovery Penicillin.
Dacia reinstates the Dacian Games (founded in 32BC but were halted in 420AD when the Duras Amphitheater was closed and turned into a church). The Dacian Games never gain the same popularity as do the Olympic Games. For athletes training for the Olympic Games however the Dacian Games do become a stepping stone to Olympia (The Olympic Games are held every 4 years as to the Dacian Games which are held every 2 years).
1630AD: Telegraph lines begin being built to link the towns and cities of the Gallic League (like other inventions there is about a decade’s gap before telegraph lines begin to be built in Teutonica).
China begins building their own network of telegraph lines (also in this year their first factories are built to manufacture their own steam engines, electric motors, etc.).
Ghana learns of Kongo’s actions in the last slave revolt and declares war (1630-1634).
Khazar declares war on Byzantium, they will be in conflict with each other for the next 40 years (1630-1670) as territorial claims fly back and forth followed by military support.
Abequa, a soldier in the last Ghanaese slave revolt (spared the dismemberment that so many other captured soldiers received by a last minute plea and bribe by his master - a man sympathetic to the plight of the slaves), begins preaching in secret to continue the revolt against the Ghana overlords.
1631AD: High King Daryn dies. Daryn’s first born son and his eldest daughter died during the Australian Colonial War leaving the crown to be passed to his youngest child Ann (1631-1653).
Kamiharou set up their own system of telegraph lines but given the fact that their empire is made up of hundreds of islands the invention makes little inroads into their society.
1632AD: High Queen Ann begins ordering the closing of the Weigh Stations. Though there are several incidents of unrest (some of them bloody) most closings are handled peacefully. As it turns out the Stations commanders were only biding their time.
1633AD: Despite seizing several ports and large stretches of coastline the Kamiharou are never able to match the Ogedei on land. After years of back and forth battling a truce is called.
1635AD: A Scandinavian inventor by the name of Erik Herjolf invents the thermostat.
1636AD: Emperor Yoritsune XVI, the 16th reincarnation, suddenly declares war on China (after his fleets have struck first along the Nihon coast) (1636-1640). This decision goes against both the popular opinion and the opinion of his war council as China had become a close ally of Kamiharou over the last few hundred years.
1639AD: The Mongols and the Novgorods go to war. No one is clear on what started the conflict though the most accepted reason seems to be that a Novgorod rail road survey team was mistaken for the scout party of an invasion by Mongol outposts (1639-1645).
1640AD: High Queen Ann officiates at the closing of the last Weigh Station (the line linking Alesia to Kelhiem). According to first hand accounts High Queen Ann, in a voice full of sorrow, read the last dispatch as it arrived from Kelhiem – “We yield to the future.†Written by Olaf Yaws, captain of the Weigh Station riders.
Two hours after the final message was received via weigh station a new message is received by telegraph, “Massive revolt in Kelhiem.†This revolt is joined a few hours later by an attempted coup in Alesia as an army of Riders marched on the palace. The coup fails and after 10 days of fighting so does the revolt (though many were sympathetic to Riders’ right to fight for the existence of what had been a Gallic institution, it was, however, their fight to win or lose and so the small revolt never gained the popular support the Riders had hoped for).
Abequa is captured and killed. His master is also murdered and his lands are forfeited to the crown, his slaves are sold throughout the empire.
In the wake of the Australian War, and the most recent battles with Kamiharou, a debilitating debate begins in the House of Commons, later to be carried to the House of Nobles with equal ferocity. The debate rises between the Confucius and the Buddhists, the Confucius look to the restriction of contact and knowledge but the Buddhists believe the opposite. While the issue of isolation is debated it is decided that trade and contact with other nations should be reduced (which only led to further depression in areas hurt by the wars).
Erik Herjolf develops the “Spark Motor†(a self starting motor).
1646AD: Emperor Yoritsune XVI is murdered by a group of his highest ranking guards. Since the 14th century the Emperors had become excessively distant, decedent, corrupt, and mentally unstable (the rampant incest I’m sure had much to do with this) after fighting China to a draw and the endless colonial missions to “Settle all the lands touching the Sea†had finally pushed the populous too far. The Royal family and many of the governing officials throughout the empire are executed.
1648AD: Druid Ervin Gaynor publishes his life’s work, The Path to Perfection. Wherein he outlines his theory of evolution and the role nature plays in shaping the development of species.
Ghana begins sending scouting parties into Kanem and the Kingdom of the Kongo again in search of the mounting number of disappearing slaves. These incursion stop short of all out war after a series of heady negotiations between the three kingdoms hammers out a new treaty. At the top of the treaty are two points: an agreement to return any slaves caught trying to cross the border, and Ghana relinquishes control of the rest of Kanem (which is a victory for a young warlord by the name of Nadeem Khan who was chiefly responsible for this portion of the treaty).
1650AD: Fighting in the Chinese Houses had been becoming more and more biligerent over the last few years but in this year the House of Commons is nearly destroyed in an explosion (it is never discovered who was responsible for the bombing). Prime Minister Lei Sying closes both Houses and orders soldiers into the streets.
Followers of Abequa, who have been leading the latest exodus of slaves, rise up in full revolt. Their attempted coup fails miserably and the army is soon making all haste for the southern border (eventually founding a land named for their martyred leader). This latest uprising brings into the open the whispers of debate within Ghana – whispers that even had lips and ears on the King’s council. Should Ghana rethink its slave practice?
Makani, one of the original guards involved in the murder of Emperor Yoritsune XVI (who had also surprisingly survived the purges and infighting of the last few years), rises to the be the new Emperor of the Kamiharou.
Erik Herjolf develops the Thor Battery (the first storage battery).
1652AD: The Abequa War (1652-1654).
Ragged and near to death ambassadors from the slave state of Abequa arrive in Alesia (via Egypt). The Abequan ambassador pleas for Gallic League support. Keeping with tradition of never turning away those trying to found their own land High Queen Ann agrees and issues orders to the armies in Lesser Carthage to advance into Ghana. The war is short as King Gyamfi of Ghana didn’t feel the fleeing slaves worth a prolonged war with the League.
1653AD: High Queen Ann dies with no heirs. The crown passes instead to her second cousin Arion Connor (1653-1680).
1656AD: Nadeem Khan is elected Emir by the majority of the Kanem factions and begins a new dynasty.
1660AD: King Gyamfi of Ghana executes 10 members of his advising council. Thousands more will be arrested and killed over the next 5 years as attempts are made to purge the abolitionist movement.
Though the issues in China were bloody and rancorous the events never fully turned into a civil war. By majority popular vote the nation decides stay the international course they were on – though they do end their mutual protection treaty with Egypt.
1662AD: A word on the political philosophy known as Byzantine Anarchy. Initially conceived by Heuon Fisal in the 14th century, it had gained a certain amount of momentum among the lower classes. Seeing a potential danger the Emperors adapted the philosophy and bastardized it so that Heuon’s words marked a new era of radical adherence to the state. With Byzantine’s continued defeats over the last few decades the state philosophy is getting a new interpretation. There is a return to the original message that begins in this year, but it is not long before two similar though opposing views develop.
1665AD: Ghana civil War – between the King’s armies and the abolitionist (1665-1671).
1669AD: The abolitionist army captures several war ships and flees to South Alrikia.
1671AD: The remnants of the abolitionist army disband, ending the Ghanian civil war.
1675AD: Ever since the development of the Iron Horse (though the term train begins to be used more commonly at this time) there has been much investigation into bringing the steam car to the roads of the Egyptian Empire. In this year the first working prototype is developed but the machine is noisy, unreliable, and some had a tendency to explode (those that were experiments into the notion of internal combustions – using, among other things, gunpowder as a power source. These early designs find limited use in Egypt and none outside the nation (say for China who begins looking into developing their own steam car).
Tibor Zakarij, author of The Reinterpreted Word, advocates for a total separation from state government and a return to the noble existence of peaceful, self sufficient, nomadic life. Hasad Eilidh (a doctor by education), author of Original Thought, also advocates for the return to nomadic life but he sees the return to individual groups much like the cells of a human body. Each cell has a purpose and is protected by a collective conscious. The obvious distinctions between the two major groups of thought lead to an endless conflict that at times consumes the Byzantine Empire in blood and fire for the next 2 decades.
1680AD: High King Arion dies. His son Ambrose (II) is crowned the new High King (1680-1716).
A Greek scientist by the name of Dorian Haden is the first to send his voice through the air with his new invention the Telephone.
Egypt invents the Flintlock rifle (the faster rate of fire and greater accuracy makes the change over from matchlocks easy; however, distribution is slow at first as the rifle is difficult to manufacture.
1682AD: The telephone is brought to Egypt and Scanza (from here the invention makes its way around the world over the next 20 years).
1685AD: Flintlock rifles make their way into the Gallic League. The rifle is rejected by High King Ambrose II when during the demonstration the gun misfires injuring the soldier using it.
1686AD: Dorian Haden develops the first phonograph.
1688AD: An Egyptian scientist by the name of Sabola Hafsah develops the first viable “Horseless Carriage†powered by gasoline (the byproduct of kerosene) and Thor Batteries.
1691AD: The first horseless carriages begin appearing in the Gallic League. These vehicles meet with little excitement as they still remain noisy and unreliable and so will promote little interest.
There is a great leap in communication technology at this time. In the matter of a few decades messages that had been carried diligently by the Weigh Station Riders will now be carried by wires and sound. Though Riders become obsolete the horse (as a mode of transportation) will never go out of style – more or less cementing this fact are the first impressions of the Egyptian invention the noisy and unreliable “horseless carriageâ€.
Ghana faces a seemingly endless ripple of social upheaval. For the second time in its history a slave army is able to slip through the King’s fingers and escape the brutal clutches of their “masters†to found their own land (with a little help from the growing abolitionist movement and the League).
1600AD: Egyptian spies learn the Byzantine secret of the electric motor and magnet. This information is brought to the Gallic League soon after this act of espionage.
Even after the defeat of the Byzantine alliance at the end of the Pan-Oceanic Naval War Incan raids into Egyptian territory continued. An Incan raid in this year does not end with a retreat and so Egypt declares war on the Incan Empire (1600-1603).
China declares war on Mongols (1600-1610).
1601AD: The Incan/Ghana War (1601-1603).
Having overestimated his abilities to stand against the Egyptians the Incan Emperor Mayta writes to King Dabir of Ghana for aid. The long time supporters of Incan expansion and rivals of the Egyptians agree and join the war against Egypt. With Egypt claiming the war was instigated by the Incas and now that Ghana had joined the conflict it was necessary for the Gallic League to honor our Protective Treaty with Egypt and enter the war.
Little would be accomplished by the war as there were no major victories or defeats before the Incan Empire and Ghana called for a truce (it is largely accepted that the main reason for the truce was Ghana’s failed attempt to enlist Lusitania).
1602AD: Facing continued aggression from Lusitania as the merchant slavers expand into territory the Kamiharou Emperor had earmarked for himself war erupts between the 2 seafaring nations (1602-1607).
1607AD: Lusitania calls for an end to the devastating war with the Kamiharou (though evenly matched luck would play a large role in this war). For example, the deciding event occurs on the 14th of Feabhra when the main Lusitanian armada, meant to push Kamiharou from Australia, is scattered by storms – the remaining ships are easily forced into the jagged shoals of the Great Barrier Reef (the loss of so many ships, the life’s blood of the Lusitanian empire, forces no other response but to ask for peace).
1608AD: Though meeting much opposition to the proposal, High Queen Arienh does manage to change the status of Teutonica from conquered territory to full member.
Egypt almost goes to war with the Kamiharou but the issue is mediated by China (as to keep themselves out of the war as they would be obligated to because of the Protective Treaty) and war is averted.
There is a major border skirmish between Ghana and Egypt that will carry over into the following year (shipments of rifles had been discovered not only in Ghana controlled Kanem but also in the hands of slave rebels – Egypt is immediately suspected and so patrols are sent into Egyptian territory to investigate). With no direct proof and not wanting to enter into another war with Egypt at this time Ghana focuses its wrath on arresting people in Kanem.
The Tabibid Caliphate goes to war with the Kipchak Khanate (1608-1611).
China launches the Golden Dragon, a massive ship of the line with a length of 270ft and mounting 82 cannons.
1609AD: The first elected Vates from Teutonica arrive for the opening session of Samhain.
Kamiharou launches their own ship of the line, the Kamikaze – 300ft and 60 guns.
1610AD: Ghana goes to war with the Kingdom of the Kongo (1610-1612).
1611AD: High Queen Arienh dies. The Gallic League passes to her son Daryn (1611-1631).
1612AD: The Gallic League launches their first ship of the line, War Chief Brennus – 200ft and 40 guns. Egypt, Scanza, and Lustitania follow in the next few months with their own ships of similar designs.
1614AD: Egypt almost declares war on Ghana but mediations, once again conducted by Chinese ambassadors, calm both sides into standing down. The Incan war, the war with Ghana, plus the two near wars with Kamiharou and again with Ghana force the Egyptian Civic Council to rethink their global entanglements. The decision is made to end the administration of Kanem.
1616AD: Druid Marcus Devlin publishes his collective studies (simply known as The Devlin Studies) of the night sky, correcting some miss conceptions and adding several moons and 3 new planets to our solar system.
1618AD: Ending all pretence of hunting down slaves (especially since now they no longer have Egypt as a protector), Ghana openly declares war on Kanem (1618-1624). Though Egypt had largely withdrawn from Kanem the Egyptian appointed Vizier still had Egyptian trained soldiers at his command which enabled him to fight a very successful defensive war.
1619AD: The Australian Colonial War (1619-1624).
On the 30th of Lunasa, working on a plan more than a decade old, Byzantium and the Ogedeii Khanate begin bombarding Egyptian ports in Australia. Within days of this attack a Byzantine army marches into Syria.
News of this attack quickly reaches the League and in accordance with the Protective Treaty with Egypt the League declared war on Byzantium. This, however, was expected and before our armies could mobalize and a lock down on Byzantine shipping could be put into place a Byzantine merchant vessel exploded in Massilia. Damage was significant, many war ships lost, and the Massilia Arsenal burnt down. Attacks on our shipping in the Mediterranean will be swift, greatly hampering our naval forces. The Army out of Mezek is ordered to the Byzantine border and the army in Ilium is ordered to begin sending war parties into Anatolia.
1620AD: Through the first two months of the New Year Byzantium continued their military assault on Egypt and the League (there was no concentric front as Ogedeii and Byzantine war ships harassed the rather lengthy coastlines of our two nations). In Eanair (January) the land war changed to a defensive war, Byzantium held large sections of Syria and Judea in Egypt – thankfully they were never able to fully take the Grand Canal (though the damage done in the two separate assaults caused the waterway to be closed for several months). In the League Byzantium/Ogedeii didn’t “hold†any territory though every day brought news of enemy marines striking as far inland as 20 miles.
The war turned to the Egyptian Ocean where Byzantine and Ogedeii war ships were matching the Egyptian/League victory for victory.
Druid Gaius Macnair creates the first submarine. Frustrated with the limitations of the simple window box for viewing the undersea world Gaius constructs the first submersible made of wood and pitch and a steam air pump. Gaius’ ambitions however overextended his abilities as a designer – he and his machine were never seen again. His work, however, caught the attention of several others and investigation into this field will continue.
The Tabibid Caliphate invades the Kipchak Khanate (1620-1626).
Scanza begins a renewed push to lay claim to territory in North Alrikia. They will be involved with a number of wars over the next 20 years (which over the next few years of the Australian War becomes an unnecessary distraction for the League).
1621AD: After delaying their entry into the war (dishonorably dragging their feet) China sends her first ships into the forays of the Australian Colonial War. The balance of power shifts but only for a short time as a few months later (as feared by the Chinese ministry) the Mongols gladly take the Ogedeii offer to join the war. 100,000 Mongols and a fleet of 80 ships are sent towards China (though when compared to Chinese ship design the Mongol fleet was about a half a century outdated).
A group of Chiefs from the North Alrikian tribes arrives in Alesia. Scandinavian aggression on the northern continent is threatening to breach the Accords and they want the Gallic League to hold up their end of the treaty. High King Daryn begrudgingly orders 6 ships to leave the Mayan Sea and take up a position off the coast of the Cherokee Confederation.
1622AD: A Greek by the name of Xanthos Nike develops the first Telegraph. His invention is immediately recognized as a useful breakthrough and telegraph lines begin being constructed between military bases.
A flurry of negotiations keeps several Chiefdoms from attacking Scanza, an action that would have drawn the League into a war they had no time to fight. High King Daryn dispatches 4 more ships, this time ordered into the North Sea and serious talks are held with Scanza.
1623AD: King Balder of Scanza agrees not to send soldiers into the uncharted territories (he also reasserts that no actions will be taken against members of the North Alrikian Accords as long as no action is taken against Scanza). By approval of the Riksdag, King Balder, however, doesn’t stop armed settlers from continuing to spread into the uncharted territories. Inevitably, classes occurred between Scandinavian settlers and native tribes – as long as they weren’t part of the Accords battles were fought.
A major slave revolt erupts in Ghana (supported by Kongo rebels).
1624AD: Ghana calls a truce with Kanem to deal with the slave army.
Though the Kamiharou are never officially named as part of the Egyptian alliance their timely invasion of the Ogedei Khanate goes a long way to ending the war (bribery and several visits from Egyptian and Chinese officials were enough to stoke the Kamiharou on and off war with the Khanate). The Ogedei withdraws from the war to face off against the Kamiharou (1624-1633).
Regardless of the Kamiharou invasion the war wouldn’t have lasted more than another year. Even though there had been no major defeat or victory for either side (though Byzantine had been driven from Syria) the war came down to a matter of resources – Egypt and the League could afford to loose more than Byzantium.
Traditionally the Gallic League dealt harshly with their defeated enemies (in this case High King Daryn wanted large sections of Anatolia returned to the League, restorations, and the entire Byzantine fleet dismantled). However, Egypt feared a devastating treaty would have a detrimental effect on the trade in the region. In the end, Byzantine would keep most of their fleet (We did, after all, have the right to claim ships to replace those destroyed in battle) but all munitions would have to be turned over to the Egyptian Alliance.
There were some interesting developments due to this war. It was the first full scale war where rifles were used. The effectiveness of our light and heavy cavalry were diminished so too the frontal charge however due to the increased use of successful faints and flank attacks these lessons were not taken to heart.
Also as a result of the Australian War we see the ground work for a breakthrough in antibiotics. Antibiotics had been known to the League for some time but while working with the wounded of the recent war they found that the usual treatments for fighting infections were insufficient. New attention is given to finding the answer to this problem.
1625AD: The Gallic League celebrates 2000 years of existence. Delegates from all over the world are invited to join the festivities in Alesia. The crowning event of this celebration is the announcement by High King Daryn that in the wake of the latest global conflict he is reopening the Olympic Games as a means to promote peaceful competition among the nations (the ancient games began in 776BC but were closed in 164BC after the Greek Revolt).
Telegraph lines begin to be built in Egypt and Scanza (Ghana and Lusitania also build their own lines but the innovation will be confined to merchant and military use for a number of years).
1626AD: The Olympic Games officially open. High King Daryn (an athlete in his own right) not only opens the games but also participates. Athletes from a number of nations convene to compete. In a surprise move, invitations are even sent to the Christian Kingdoms, but what was even more surprising was that they accepted. After a poor showing at the games and the arrest and expulsion of several Dacians, Novgorods, and Khazars for openly trying to convert Gallic citizens the 1626 games also mark the last time for the next 50 years that the Christian Kingdoms participate.
The pro-Egyptian government in Kanem is overthrown, ushering in a period of instability that won’t abate until 1656 (during this time there will be 22 different Emirs).
Byzantium withdraws from much of the Tigris and Euphrates in the wake of their loss during the Australian Colonial War as they pull more troops to offset Khazar aggression to the north. The rivers now become a point of contention for both the Farees Sultanate and the Tabibid Caliphate as both claim the land for their border.
1628AD: A group of scientists and doctors working at Cularo in the Alps discover an aggressive bacteria fighting agent derived from blue-green mold. They call their discovery Penicillin.
Dacia reinstates the Dacian Games (founded in 32BC but were halted in 420AD when the Duras Amphitheater was closed and turned into a church). The Dacian Games never gain the same popularity as do the Olympic Games. For athletes training for the Olympic Games however the Dacian Games do become a stepping stone to Olympia (The Olympic Games are held every 4 years as to the Dacian Games which are held every 2 years).
1630AD: Telegraph lines begin being built to link the towns and cities of the Gallic League (like other inventions there is about a decade’s gap before telegraph lines begin to be built in Teutonica).
China begins building their own network of telegraph lines (also in this year their first factories are built to manufacture their own steam engines, electric motors, etc.).
Ghana learns of Kongo’s actions in the last slave revolt and declares war (1630-1634).
Khazar declares war on Byzantium, they will be in conflict with each other for the next 40 years (1630-1670) as territorial claims fly back and forth followed by military support.
Abequa, a soldier in the last Ghanaese slave revolt (spared the dismemberment that so many other captured soldiers received by a last minute plea and bribe by his master - a man sympathetic to the plight of the slaves), begins preaching in secret to continue the revolt against the Ghana overlords.
1631AD: High King Daryn dies. Daryn’s first born son and his eldest daughter died during the Australian Colonial War leaving the crown to be passed to his youngest child Ann (1631-1653).
Kamiharou set up their own system of telegraph lines but given the fact that their empire is made up of hundreds of islands the invention makes little inroads into their society.
1632AD: High Queen Ann begins ordering the closing of the Weigh Stations. Though there are several incidents of unrest (some of them bloody) most closings are handled peacefully. As it turns out the Stations commanders were only biding their time.
1633AD: Despite seizing several ports and large stretches of coastline the Kamiharou are never able to match the Ogedei on land. After years of back and forth battling a truce is called.
1635AD: A Scandinavian inventor by the name of Erik Herjolf invents the thermostat.
1636AD: Emperor Yoritsune XVI, the 16th reincarnation, suddenly declares war on China (after his fleets have struck first along the Nihon coast) (1636-1640). This decision goes against both the popular opinion and the opinion of his war council as China had become a close ally of Kamiharou over the last few hundred years.
1639AD: The Mongols and the Novgorods go to war. No one is clear on what started the conflict though the most accepted reason seems to be that a Novgorod rail road survey team was mistaken for the scout party of an invasion by Mongol outposts (1639-1645).
1640AD: High Queen Ann officiates at the closing of the last Weigh Station (the line linking Alesia to Kelhiem). According to first hand accounts High Queen Ann, in a voice full of sorrow, read the last dispatch as it arrived from Kelhiem – “We yield to the future.†Written by Olaf Yaws, captain of the Weigh Station riders.
Two hours after the final message was received via weigh station a new message is received by telegraph, “Massive revolt in Kelhiem.†This revolt is joined a few hours later by an attempted coup in Alesia as an army of Riders marched on the palace. The coup fails and after 10 days of fighting so does the revolt (though many were sympathetic to Riders’ right to fight for the existence of what had been a Gallic institution, it was, however, their fight to win or lose and so the small revolt never gained the popular support the Riders had hoped for).
Abequa is captured and killed. His master is also murdered and his lands are forfeited to the crown, his slaves are sold throughout the empire.
In the wake of the Australian War, and the most recent battles with Kamiharou, a debilitating debate begins in the House of Commons, later to be carried to the House of Nobles with equal ferocity. The debate rises between the Confucius and the Buddhists, the Confucius look to the restriction of contact and knowledge but the Buddhists believe the opposite. While the issue of isolation is debated it is decided that trade and contact with other nations should be reduced (which only led to further depression in areas hurt by the wars).
Erik Herjolf develops the “Spark Motor†(a self starting motor).
1646AD: Emperor Yoritsune XVI is murdered by a group of his highest ranking guards. Since the 14th century the Emperors had become excessively distant, decedent, corrupt, and mentally unstable (the rampant incest I’m sure had much to do with this) after fighting China to a draw and the endless colonial missions to “Settle all the lands touching the Sea†had finally pushed the populous too far. The Royal family and many of the governing officials throughout the empire are executed.
1648AD: Druid Ervin Gaynor publishes his life’s work, The Path to Perfection. Wherein he outlines his theory of evolution and the role nature plays in shaping the development of species.
Ghana begins sending scouting parties into Kanem and the Kingdom of the Kongo again in search of the mounting number of disappearing slaves. These incursion stop short of all out war after a series of heady negotiations between the three kingdoms hammers out a new treaty. At the top of the treaty are two points: an agreement to return any slaves caught trying to cross the border, and Ghana relinquishes control of the rest of Kanem (which is a victory for a young warlord by the name of Nadeem Khan who was chiefly responsible for this portion of the treaty).
1650AD: Fighting in the Chinese Houses had been becoming more and more biligerent over the last few years but in this year the House of Commons is nearly destroyed in an explosion (it is never discovered who was responsible for the bombing). Prime Minister Lei Sying closes both Houses and orders soldiers into the streets.
Followers of Abequa, who have been leading the latest exodus of slaves, rise up in full revolt. Their attempted coup fails miserably and the army is soon making all haste for the southern border (eventually founding a land named for their martyred leader). This latest uprising brings into the open the whispers of debate within Ghana – whispers that even had lips and ears on the King’s council. Should Ghana rethink its slave practice?
Makani, one of the original guards involved in the murder of Emperor Yoritsune XVI (who had also surprisingly survived the purges and infighting of the last few years), rises to the be the new Emperor of the Kamiharou.
Erik Herjolf develops the Thor Battery (the first storage battery).
1652AD: The Abequa War (1652-1654).
Ragged and near to death ambassadors from the slave state of Abequa arrive in Alesia (via Egypt). The Abequan ambassador pleas for Gallic League support. Keeping with tradition of never turning away those trying to found their own land High Queen Ann agrees and issues orders to the armies in Lesser Carthage to advance into Ghana. The war is short as King Gyamfi of Ghana didn’t feel the fleeing slaves worth a prolonged war with the League.
1653AD: High Queen Ann dies with no heirs. The crown passes instead to her second cousin Arion Connor (1653-1680).
1656AD: Nadeem Khan is elected Emir by the majority of the Kanem factions and begins a new dynasty.
1660AD: King Gyamfi of Ghana executes 10 members of his advising council. Thousands more will be arrested and killed over the next 5 years as attempts are made to purge the abolitionist movement.
Though the issues in China were bloody and rancorous the events never fully turned into a civil war. By majority popular vote the nation decides stay the international course they were on – though they do end their mutual protection treaty with Egypt.
1662AD: A word on the political philosophy known as Byzantine Anarchy. Initially conceived by Heuon Fisal in the 14th century, it had gained a certain amount of momentum among the lower classes. Seeing a potential danger the Emperors adapted the philosophy and bastardized it so that Heuon’s words marked a new era of radical adherence to the state. With Byzantine’s continued defeats over the last few decades the state philosophy is getting a new interpretation. There is a return to the original message that begins in this year, but it is not long before two similar though opposing views develop.
1665AD: Ghana civil War – between the King’s armies and the abolitionist (1665-1671).
1669AD: The abolitionist army captures several war ships and flees to South Alrikia.
1671AD: The remnants of the abolitionist army disband, ending the Ghanian civil war.
1675AD: Ever since the development of the Iron Horse (though the term train begins to be used more commonly at this time) there has been much investigation into bringing the steam car to the roads of the Egyptian Empire. In this year the first working prototype is developed but the machine is noisy, unreliable, and some had a tendency to explode (those that were experiments into the notion of internal combustions – using, among other things, gunpowder as a power source. These early designs find limited use in Egypt and none outside the nation (say for China who begins looking into developing their own steam car).
Tibor Zakarij, author of The Reinterpreted Word, advocates for a total separation from state government and a return to the noble existence of peaceful, self sufficient, nomadic life. Hasad Eilidh (a doctor by education), author of Original Thought, also advocates for the return to nomadic life but he sees the return to individual groups much like the cells of a human body. Each cell has a purpose and is protected by a collective conscious. The obvious distinctions between the two major groups of thought lead to an endless conflict that at times consumes the Byzantine Empire in blood and fire for the next 2 decades.
1680AD: High King Arion dies. His son Ambrose (II) is crowned the new High King (1680-1716).
A Greek scientist by the name of Dorian Haden is the first to send his voice through the air with his new invention the Telephone.
Egypt invents the Flintlock rifle (the faster rate of fire and greater accuracy makes the change over from matchlocks easy; however, distribution is slow at first as the rifle is difficult to manufacture.
1682AD: The telephone is brought to Egypt and Scanza (from here the invention makes its way around the world over the next 20 years).
1685AD: Flintlock rifles make their way into the Gallic League. The rifle is rejected by High King Ambrose II when during the demonstration the gun misfires injuring the soldier using it.
1686AD: Dorian Haden develops the first phonograph.
1688AD: An Egyptian scientist by the name of Sabola Hafsah develops the first viable “Horseless Carriage†powered by gasoline (the byproduct of kerosene) and Thor Batteries.
1691AD: The first horseless carriages begin appearing in the Gallic League. These vehicles meet with little excitement as they still remain noisy and unreliable and so will promote little interest.
I couldn't find Abequa on the map...
Also, by this statement:
Does this mean that Egypt is really close to the League in the "present day"?
Also I was looking through the archives and the term "Gaelic League"* was acutally used by a past poster (by the name of Rafi), whom had it emerge in Britain, and was more of a confederation and based on the navy rather than on Continental Europe.
Kind of cool how the idea of "Gaelic League" gets applied in different terms by different posters...
*It was in the TL "Light in the East"
Also, by this statement:
Does this mean that Egypt is really close to the League in the "present day"?
Also I was looking through the archives and the term "Gaelic League"* was acutally used by a past poster (by the name of Rafi), whom had it emerge in Britain, and was more of a confederation and based on the navy rather than on Continental Europe.
Kind of cool how the idea of "Gaelic League" gets applied in different terms by different posters...
*It was in the TL "Light in the East"
TheLoneAmigo
Donor
Do the Kamiharou have a capital, or does the Emperor still live at sea?
"Iron Hores", I think, is a much better term than train. Why would they adopt the term "train"?
"Iron Hores", I think, is a much better term than train. Why would they adopt the term "train"?