Lands of Red and Gold, Act II

[naraht]

On the whole, I'd say that the worst case is not even as bad as what happened to the Māori. For the agricultural areas of Aururia, at least. The pre-existing population density is simply so much higher. Even with the worst possible plague toll, there will be over 2 million indigenous Aururians left at their lowest point. No way, no how are the European colonial powers bringing in enough people to outnumber that, even allowing for the fact that the population growth rate for the Aururians may still be slightly slower than for Europeans (still more vulnerable to disaeas).

So the worst case for the agricultural areas of Aururia is something like Mexico, where the majority of people are of indigenous (or mixed) heritage, and at least some vestiges of their languages remain used in everyday speech. With two possible exceptions: if enough slaves are imported to the Middle Country, the Atjuntja/Yaora may only be the plurality, and *Tasmania may be vulnerable for reasons which will be explored in the next regular instalment.

The best case is... well, a lot better than that.

According to Wikipedia, 750.000 - 1 million natives before settlement in Australia. Australian non-native population passed 2 million in the 1870s.

I probably missed it earlier, what crops for Aururia are particularly slave oriented (i.e. what is Indigo as opposed to Wheat)

Mexico may be a particularly good comparison in the range from the completely overwhelmed by Europeans in the North (the areas that eventually became USAian) to the areas down in the South which frankly were only really taken away from Native control in the first part of the 20th century. But I agree, Haiti/Jamaica are also possible models.

I know you indicated the peoples of far Western Australia, but I'm not sure how well they can keep the area around Perth from being overrun with Europeans. A border between a OTL Australianish state in the West and something with a majority native population in the Agricultural lands might be interesting. (I've never gotten to see a TL with a war across the Nullarbor)

(The Red Yam doesn't seem like it would make much of a difference in what the Nullarbor would look like even by the 21th century. As a friend of mine once said: "Some places in the world were never meant to be lived in".

 

[Jared]

The 100th chapter is fast approaching. Congratulations on making it this far with the timeline, Jared.

Merci. It's been a longer ride than I was expecting, but it's been fun.

For the couple of chapters in between, I'm planning to cover the fate of the Atjuntja (more or less), and then more about *Tasmania, then I have something more comprehensive planned for post #100.

I still like the idea of Islam spreading among the Malagasy. We know that *Indonesians are going to be taken as slaves in limited numbers as well. It would seem trivial to end up with a literate *Indonesian slave (perhaps from Borneo) who realizes that he can understand a lot of Malagasy. He's a bit of a language savant (on the order of Sequoya or Uyaquq) and works out a written language for the Malagasy, possibly an Abugida, or possibly based on the Jawi alphabet. He also begins the process of conversion to Islam - which nominally will require some level of literacy.

That's certainly one possibility to consider. It would be trickier than some of the other potential outcomes, but by no means impossible. The next instalment about the Atjuntja (#98 or 99, depending) will look at some of the religious changes which have started there, although that instalment will mostly be about political outcomes.

According to Wikipedia, 750.000 - 1 million natives before settlement in Australia. Australian non-native population passed 2 million in the 1870s.

The exact number of indigenous Australians in OTL is up for some debate, but either way, the ATL numbers are much higher. I've figured on 9-10 million as a ballpark figure for the continent. 2 million at the low point is by far the worst possible outcome, which assumes that the population is 9 million and that the toll of plague/famine/war is at its maximum. 2.5 million may end up being the outcome.

I probably missed it earlier, what crops for Aururia are particularly slave oriented (i.e. what is Indigo as opposed to Wheat)

So far, slaves are being used as much for mining and public works (roads, maintenance of public buildings) and domestics as they are for crops. Mining, at least, will probably continue to be a major source of non-employment for quite a while.

In terms of crops, the early ones are simply the cash crops which the Atjuntja already grow: spices (sweet peppers, Aururian ginger etc) and dyes (Aururian indigo). Others would also be feasible as slave crops, such as kunduri. Sugar in the tropical northeast, of course. In the longer-term, wildcards such as cotton are also possible - Australia grows a lot of cotton in OTL - although this would require good transportation links, since the good areas for that are a long way inland.

Food crops, while not impossible, are unlikely, simply because Aururia's not well-positioned to export them to any likely targets in Europe. Sure, it's possible to grow wheat, rice etc profitably in Aururia, but the transportation costs probably nullify any opportunity to export them.

Mexico may be a particularly good comparison in the range from the completely overwhelmed by Europeans in the North (the areas that eventually became USAian) to the areas down in the South which frankly were only really taken away from Native control in the first part of the 20th century. But I agree, Haiti/Jamaica are also possible models.

Different parts of Aururia probably would be comparable to different analogues. For the agricultural areas, though, at least the equivalent of the Valley of Mexico, rather than Mexico's northern provinces.

The best case is probably some kind of Siam/Thailand analogue, although that would require some luck on the part of the peoples in question.

I know you indicated the peoples of far Western Australia, but I'm not sure how well they can keep the area around Perth from being overrun with Europeans. A border between a OTL Australianish state in the West and something with a majority native population in the Agricultural lands might be interesting. (I've never gotten to see a TL with a war across the Nullarbor)

ITTL, the "south-western corner" of Aururia has a pre-contact agricultural population of 1.75 million people. They get hit worst than most with diseases, war and famine, but still, at their lowest point their population is going to be 500,000+ in 1740-1750. At which point they are going to rebound reasonably quickly.

No number of European immigrants are going to overwhelm those numbers. Particularly since it's likely that the Dutch will be the ones ruling *Western Australia, and in OTL the Dutch were not noted for sending large numbers of immigrants to their colonies.

The former slave population may be considerably higher than the European population, of course, though even then I'm not sure that the Dutch would be capable (or find it economically viable) to ship in enough slaves to outnumber the indigenous population. (Possibly European+former slave together may be the majority).

All of that said, it's entirely possible that ITTL there will be a war fought across the Nullarbor - though the participants may not be the obvious ones.

(The Red Yam doesn't seem like it would make much of a difference in what the Nullarbor would look like even by the 21th century. As a friend of mine once said: "Some places in the world were never meant to be lived in".

Quite. The Nullarbor is just too much of a desert climate, even discounting the problems of growing crops on limestone that drains water very quickly. Whatever the Nullarbor turns into ITTL, it won't be Aururia's food bowl.

 

[Dathi THorfinnsson]

All of that said, it's entirely possible that ITTL there will be a war fought across the Nullarbor - though the participants may not be the obvious ones.

Oy Gevalt! The logistics of that would be ... awful, to say the least.

 

[PlotVitalNPC]

These population figures for the pre-contact Aururia make me wonder what sort of population increase we could expect in the scenario where the lesser yam emerged far earlier, sparking northward expansion.

Just how many people could tropical *Australia support, if locally developed and adapted agriculture were at work?

 

[Jared]

Oy Gevalt! The logistics of that would be ... awful, to say the least.

Logistics, logistics, my kingdom for logistics!

In terms of a general scenario, picture a war between eastern and western Aururia. The technological level is very approximately WW1. This means that in a naval sense that battleships are more or less unsinkable - capital ships can damage each other but not sink each other. So any sort of amphibious invasion is right out, since it's simply too difficult to secure supply lines or guarantee control of the sea.

That means moving overland. Across the Nullarbor. Desert. No trees. Flat. Long distances. With WW1 technology. Which is not easy.

The closest analogy that I can think of is the back and forth of the North African campaign in WW2. Even that's not all that close, since the logistics are harder to manage here.

These population figures for the pre-contact Aururia make me wonder what sort of population increase we could expect in the scenario where the lesser yam emerged far earlier, sparking northward expansion.

Just how many people could tropical *Australia support, if locally developed and adapted agriculture were at work?

Do you mean in terms of the *seventeenth century in Aururia, or in the *twentieth century?

For the 17th century, the population would be higher, of course, but still the north's population would be much less than the south. In practical terms, you'd be looking at most of the growth in tropical Queensland, particularly on the east coast, but also inland. Technology plays a part, too; land clearing is much harder without iron tools, and iron working probably won't spread to the region until the sixteenth century.

This is because having the lesser yam helps, but it's still not a complete solution. The soils along the Top End are still poor, and those of the Kimberley even more so. Monsoon climates are also rather bad for the lesser yam since if the soil gets flooded during the wet season, the crop is likely to rot in the ground.

The big problem is water management, which might be possible with twentieth century technology - big dams etc - but is much harder without.

So, short version, the spread of the lesser yam would certainly add something to the population. Maybe 1-2 million, mostly in Queensland. But the biggest change that would come from that is facilitating contact with the broader world.

 

[PlotVitalNPC]

Logistics, logistics, my kingdom for logistics!

In terms of a general scenario, picture a war between eastern and western Aururia. The technological level is very approximately WW1. This means that in a naval sense that battleships are more or less unsinkable - capital ships can damage each other but not sink each other. So any sort of amphibious invasion is right out, since it's simply too difficult to secure supply lines or guarantee control of the sea.

That means moving overland. Across the Nullarbor. Desert. No trees. Flat. Long distances. With WW1 technology. Which is not easy.

The closest analogy that I can think of is the back and forth of the North African campaign in WW2. Even that's not all that close, since the logistics are harder to manage here.



Do you mean in terms of the *seventeenth century in Aururia, or in the *twentieth century?

For the 17th century, the population would be higher, of course, but still the north's population would be much less than the south. In practical terms, you'd be looking at most of the growth in tropical Queensland, particularly on the east coast, but also inland. Technology plays a part, too; land clearing is much harder without iron tools, and iron working probably won't spread to the region until the sixteenth century.

This is because having the lesser yam helps, but it's still not a complete solution. The soils along the Top End are still poor, and those of the Kimberley even more so. Monsoon climates are also rather bad for the lesser yam since if the soil gets flooded during the wet season, the crop is likely to rot in the ground.

The big problem is water management, which might be possible with twentieth century technology - big dams etc - but is much harder without.

So, short version, the spread of the lesser yam would certainly add something to the population. Maybe 1-2 million, mostly in Queensland. But the biggest change that would come from that is facilitating contact with the broader world.

Particularly by way of breaching the disease transmission threshold long before any Europeans are actually going to Aururia, I imagine. The plagues would certainly throw history off of perceivable patterns, before letting populations rebuild.

 

[Jared]

Lands of Red and Gold Interlude #10: A Most Orthodox Christmas

This instalment gives a flavour of how another history might view a more obscure piece of AH.com culture. This chapter is in time for Christmas; that is, Orthodox Christmas. As with all special posts, this should not be treated in an overly serious manner.

* * *

Taken from intell.allohistory.com

Allohistory.com: The Series was an episodic series, officially weekly but in practice by a timeframe known as Whenever the Writers and Editors Get Something Finished. The series followed the meanderings of the Nulliverse Exploration Ship Allohistory.com and its mostly-dysfunctional crew, as they ventured between alternative universes.

Under the command of Brother Uno, the ship and its crew often fought the Fishers, that is, when the crew were not fighting each other. The crew’s explorations were bound by a slightly modified version of the Time Directive:

“No reference, identification or explanation of ship or mission to the mono-universally aware. No interference with the social development of any alternative universe. No references to multiversal space or the fact that that there are civilizations in other timelines. These restrictions are absolute unless they hinder the crew from obtaining porn, booze or just having fun.”

Allohistory.com: The Series was originally created by Pasture, but was expanded by many writers and optimistic contributors over the last few years. Various spin-off series were often talked about, but like an Aururian meet-up, never seemed to come to fruition.

Crew Members of the NES Allohistory.com

BROTHER UNO – Ship commander, whenever he can be bothered. Often nicknamed “Number One” [1]. Possessed of incredible charisma, he would have the pick of otherworldly women on different timelines, if not for LADY POTTER’s tendency to catch his eye at the appropriate moment, while casually holding some pruning shears or similar gardening implement, while murmuring “I hope you’re pleased with yourself.” Not noted for skill with conventional weapons, but has the unerring ability to convert everyday objects into weapons at need, even if the damage they inflict is mostly psychological. Keeps a journal of his daily life [2], the Liber Mortivita. Ship’s rumours are that any mere mortal who opens the Liber will find their skin shrivelling at the touch, and that anyone other than Br. Uno who reads more than a few lines will die screaming. No-one knows if this is actually true, but so far no-one has been keen to find out, either.

PIPER – Overly ambitious ship first mate. Often nicknamed Number Two, to his good-natured disgust, or Brother Dos to the multilingual. Wears an eye patch, perhaps as a fashion statement or to look more like a pirate, since he has two perfectly functional eyes. Catchphrase: whenever given a compliment, he responds: “Is that good enough to get me promoted?”

CALCULATION MACHINE – Ship computer (allegedly). Capable of making the most advanced computations of any artificial thinking machine in existence – in its own words, as smart as 6000 difference engines. Notoriously temperamental, and will abuse crew members it dislikes, or make them lodge any questions via punch cards or in pure binary. Catchphrase: “It doesn’t work that way, tyllau tin.”

Has peculiar obsessions, such as mocking all republicans, and criticising any timeline that the ship visits which does not have a unitary British Isles. Do not, under any circumstances, refer to an Irish-centred pan-Celtic movement in Calculation Machine’s presence. Once when the ship visited a timeline where Ireland and Brittany were united, Calculation Machine locked down the ship completely and refused to let anyone out for three weeks. The ship’s crew once started abbreviating its name to Calmac, but this merely meant that it became obsessed with a united Scandinavia rather than the British Isles, so they went back to calling it by its full name.

TULLY – Ship pilot. Hails from, well, that’s a good question, really. Continuity is not always a virtue when writing an episodic series. According to one version of his backstory Tully first joined the ship when his homeland was being overrun by prospectors who had heard rumours of a second gold rush. (Or as some called it, Cali-fornication). According to another version, he is the commander of the forces of an unnamed Grand Duchy. According to yet a third version, he is a Kogung whose hometown is unspecified.

Alarmingly competent most of the time, but as is typical with the series, his level of ability varies depending on the writer and the needs of the plot. Once piloted the ship to conquer North America by accident, although in keeping with the writers’ approach to continuity, this event was never referenced again. Chose the ship mascot, a gray goose, a fact which keeps him in perpetual argument with STRAW MAN.

WERRUNG – Ship co-pilot / morale officer. Originally hails from a backwater part of Durigal, possibly Tarra Borun [Mornington Peninsula, VIC], although he has always been evasive about exactly where he lived or what he did before joining the ship. Tries to achieve inner peace and clarity of thought, and encourages other crew members to do the same, usually without success. Is sometimes accused of trying to use logic, but is usually persuaded not to bother. Cultivates an aura of balance, most of the time, but has a few berserk buttons, particularly any suggestions that chimes should be involved in Christmas.

GUUNAMA – Security chief. Says little, hence is very popular with those Series writers who are uncomfortable with dialogue. Master of all known weapons, except halberds, which by sheer narrative coincidence means Guunama is regularly locked in rooms full of halberds and no other weapons. Takes his name from the end of days (aka the Cleansing) from the ancient Yadji religion, which is a good indication of what happens when he finds a good weapon. Catchphrase: “Want this <gun/cannon/effing big gun/current weapon of choice> to be the last thing you ever see?”

BEENY – Security goon. Always assigned to any planet-based missions, and is almost inevitably the first to die after landing, in a variety of unexpected and sometimes entertaining ways [3]. Fortunately, Beeny learned very quickly that death is not permanent so long as you’re wearing a red shirt, and so is never seen on planetary visits without one.

STRAW MAN – Security goon and Noroonist [emu-ist] priest. Theoretically works as a member of the security crew, but in practice spends more of his time in the Temple of the Holy Noroon (all hail her beak). When not converting other crew members to the true faith, he tries to find timelines where Teegal is part of a unified Aururia. Has a prosthetic leg (and scars in the other) from an unknown war injury, but refuses to admit that his leg is fake.

PASTURE – Security goon and ship mechanic/engineer. While he hails from London, he is actually half-Danish. This would be a useful skill when the ship travels into regions where Danish is spoken, if not for the fact that most of the time the inhabitants of other timelines can mysteriously all communicate in English. Notionally responsible for ship maintenance and engineering, though in practice this usually involves creating the problems rather than fixing them. More time is spent arguing with STRAW MAN and BEENY (until Beeny inevitably dies) about nuances of Noroonism – or about just about anything else. Catchphrase: “You keep using the word radical, but I do not think it means what you think it means.”

JOHANNES CHIMPO – Ship librarian and archivist. A member of the genus Pan, which coincidentally is exactly what you will get hit with if you point out this fact. Excels at finding out all kinds of interesting facts, which are usually obscure and entertaining, though not necessarily helpful for the mission, or relevant to the question asked. Theoretically also responsible for recording the ship’s adventures for later reference [4], though no written evidence has yet been provided to confirm that he has actually kept any records.

Being a non-human anthropoid, Johannes is not strictly capable of much human speech. While perfectly able to communicate in writing if he wishes, whether for reasons of amusement or spite, he prefers just to speak by saying “Jo! Jo!” and expecting crew members to understand what he means. Mostly, they’ve gotten into the habit of understanding him, if only because the alternative is worse.

LADY POTTER – Ship communications. Also doubles as researcher and historian whenever the ship’s crew is having more than the usual trouble in making sense out of JOHANNES CHIMPO. Quick-witted and a logical thinker, which can make her quite out of place when interacting with the typical ship crew member. On one occasion, persuaded Number Two (aka PIPER) to steal Johannes’ mojo, in an effort to force him to speak normally. Alas, he simply started saying “Mojo, mojo” over and over instead, so BR. UNO made Number Two give Johannes back his mojo.

CICI – Ship mechanic [5]. Excellent at repairing all manner of problems on the ship, including improvising with unorthodox materials, or at building new devices needed for ship missions. Seldom seen without holding a tool of some description. Once repaired a leak in the ship’s hull using nothing but Jell-O and a nine-volt battery. But if you value your life, no matter what you do, when you are in her hearing don’t mention the war.

CANG – Ship physicist. Hails from Lancashire. The only crew member who understands multidimensional physics; unfortunately, the other crew members are less capable of understanding him. Uses his knowledge of advanced physics to get the ship and its crew out of many predicaments, although there are lingering doubts as to whether this is by good skill or good fortune. In practice, this means that whenever an enemy plan is foiled, Cang gets the credit, even if it is not obvious how he helped.

ALLOANTHRO – Ship doctor. Originally hails from <CENSORED>. Graduated from <CENSORED> University with degrees in <CENSORED> and <CENSORED>. Has a pet wolf named <CENSORED>. Has more of a graveside manner than a bedside manner, but mercifully is nonetheless masterful at medicating the myriad mysterious maladies manifest in multiversal meandering. Catchphrase: "This won't hurt a bit. Would I lie to you?"

SHAVED APE – Ship cook. Variously claims to hail from Aotearoa, Indus and Aururia, despite none of those lands being noted for the presence of native pongids. Capable of cooking anything that a person asks for, provided that the person asks for spicy sausages. Joined the ship’s crew so that he could search for spicy food throughout the multiverse. Noted for trying any food ever found, particularly if it makes his face go red, eyes water, or in extreme cases breathe a fire hot enough to reignite the ship’s engines. Catchphrase: “Mmmm, spicy.”

CAXTON – Ship cultural attaché. Lives in perpetual hope that the rest of the ship’s crew will never work out that this is a useless non-job like, as he would point out, most politically-appointed roles. Has a habit of reminding the crew of all of the famous people he has met while visiting other timelines, and can consume a limitless amount of alcohol, provided that the alcohol is real ale. Adores Schwenck & Seymour operas, and seeks out their counterparts across timelines. Possesses encyclopaedical knowledge of witenmagemotary and parliamentary trivia. Catchphrase: “But that’s not real ale.”

A_MUNOZ – Ship cartographer. Spends most of his time trying to find a way to render the multidimensional perambulations of the ship’s voyages into an intelligible two-dimensional format. Guards his role as cartographer carefully, and does not welcome any interlopers. As he once remarked: “I owe it to candour and to the amicable relations existing between the ship’s crew members to declare that I should consider any attempt on other crew members’ part to extend their own system to any portions of this ship’s cartographies as dangerous to our peace and safety.” Also noted for confiscating the drawing implements of anyone who produces an allohistorical map with that damned Teegalese border.

DOUBLEALEPH – Ship cat. Possesses an unerring ability to identify any onboard guests who are allergic to cats, and accompany them constantly. For a few episodes, CALCULATION MACHINE was sulking and refused to give access to the ship’s weapon systems, so CICI rewired all of the ship’s guns so that their controls were linked to a ping-pong ball on a string, and DoubleAleph chased the ball so that the guns could fire on targets. Otherwise does very little, but does that very photogenically. Catchphrase: “Screw your Mitsubishi, I've a horse outside”.

LOST SHAOLIN – General layabout. Originally joined the crew as a refugee from a timeline where Shaolin monks colonised Saxony, for reasons which no-one has ever fully understood. According to rumour, his true name is Aazeonzaajyutjaan, which may be why he goes by his new moniker. With his old order destroyed, his new mission in life seems to be loaf about life in as much comfort and with as little effort as possible. Appears to possess an inexhaustible supply of blue wine, although he is less inclined to share it with the rest of the crew; perhaps one the reasons that they tolerate him is because they are always looking for ways to steal it.

QUASAR6000 – the ship’s battle computer. Took over the ship once when it felt that the series was in danger of turning too serious. Alas, Quasar6000 spoke only in quips, which made it impossible for the crew to work out what was going on. The crew arranged for CALCULATION MACHINE to take back over through a complicated scheme involving a toothbrush, a fossilised dinosaur egg, a cabbage, a cloned credit card, and the Blacks football team.

Non-Crew Member Main Characters

MONTY – The owner and publican of the Axis Bar, at the centre of the multiverse. Slow to anger, and usually extremely tolerant of the antics and variable-competence of the ship and its crew members. But if he ever gets truly angry, you never want to see him pick up a weapon: no-one ever survives the full monty.

THE LIGHT SCOUNDREL – Bouncer in Axis Bar. Well, mostly a bouncer. (Sometimes they splat.) He has a girlfriend. Once worked as a crew member on board the ship, but chose to leave after too many crew members expressed irritation about his tendency to remain calm under pressure. He has a girlfriend. When not on duty at Axis Bar, he is also the warden of the Pond, where all of the Fishers and other worst villains of the multiverse – okay, the worst who were captured – are kept. (Good thing he enjoys fly fishing.) He has a girlfriend.

* * *

[1] Although the script-writers simply shorten his name to Br. Uno when writing it down.

[2] And death, according to some rumours, though if so, the afterlife has turned into an interesting party.

[3] Except, strangely enough, if the ship goes anywhere on Christmas Day (New Style and/or Old Style).

[4] Although why anyone would want to revisit the typical ship’s adventure is a question which never seems to get answered.

[5] In this allohistory, mechanic has kept its broader nineteenth-century meaning of anyone who is skilled in the use of tools, machinery, or other specialised equipment; it is something of a cross between engineer and artisan.

* * *

Thoughts?

 

[mojojojo]

JOHANNES CHIMPO sounds like a great character, I hope we get to see more of him

 

[othyrsyde]

JOHANNES CHIMPO sounds like a great character, I hope we get to see more of him

Indeed. Cici also intrigues me, especially this war.

 

[Beedok]

I'm embarrassed at how few I managed to work out.

 

[naraht]

The exact number of indigenous Australians in OTL is up for some debate, but either way, the ATL numbers are much higher. I've figured on 9-10 million as a ballpark figure for the continent. 2 million at the low point is by far the worst possible outcome, which assumes that the population is 9 million and that the toll of plague/famine/war is at its maximum. 2.5 million may end up being the outcome.



So far, slaves are being used as much for mining and public works (roads, maintenance of public buildings) and domestics as they are for crops. Mining, at least, will probably continue to be a major source of non-employment for quite a while.

In terms of crops, the early ones are simply the cash crops which the Atjuntja already grow: spices (sweet peppers, Aururian ginger etc) and dyes (Aururian indigo). Others would also be feasible as slave crops, such as kunduri. Sugar in the tropical northeast, of course. In the longer-term, wildcards such as cotton are also possible - Australia grows a lot of cotton in OTL - although this would require good transportation links, since the good areas for that are a long way inland.

Food crops, while not impossible, are unlikely, simply because Aururia's not well-positioned to export them to any likely targets in Europe. Sure, it's possible to grow wheat, rice etc profitably in Aururia, but the transportation costs probably nullify any opportunity to export them.



Different parts of Aururia probably would be comparable to different analogues. For the agricultural areas, though, at least the equivalent of the Valley of Mexico, rather than Mexico's northern provinces.

The best case is probably some kind of Siam/Thailand analogue, although that would require some luck on the part of the peoples in question.



ITTL, the "south-western corner" of Aururia has a pre-contact agricultural population of 1.75 million people. They get hit worst than most with diseases, war and famine, but still, at their lowest point their population is going to be 500,000+ in 1740-1750. At which point they are going to rebound reasonably quickly.

No number of European immigrants are going to overwhelm those numbers. Particularly since it's likely that the Dutch will be the ones ruling *Western Australia, and in OTL the Dutch were not noted for sending large numbers of immigrants to their colonies.

The former slave population may be considerably higher than the European population, of course, though even then I'm not sure that the Dutch would be capable (or find it economically viable) to ship in enough slaves to outnumber the indigenous population. (Possibly European+former slave together may be the majority).

All of that said, it's entirely possible that ITTL there will be a war fought across the Nullarbor - though the participants may not be the obvious ones.



Quite. The Nullarbor is just too much of a desert climate, even discounting the problems of growing crops on limestone that drains water very quickly. Whatever the Nullarbor turns into ITTL, it won't be Aururia's food bowl.

Looking at these numbers, I'm pretty confused about the ratios. What percentage of the Population of Aururia is in OTL Western Australia? For example, in OTL 1965, Western Australia had less than 10% of the Australian population, but the numbers that you've got here put it up close to 20% precontact. I'd expect the population percentage of WA to be lower rather than higher due to the greater agriculture in the Murray Basin...

The other thing about the Dutch getting to Western Aururia is that the Dutch (obviously) have no tradition of Mining. You'd have to have a concept change like the Boers in OTL. Hmm. Forgot to include OTL South Africa as a model for Aururia. Hope not...


Yeah Kunduri could definitely be a slave crop...

 

[Jared]

JOHANNES CHIMPO sounds like a great character, I hope we get to see more of him

You never can tell. At least writing dialogue for him is pretty easy...

Indeed. Cici also intrigues me, especially this war.

Please don't bring that up! My scars still aren't fully healed from the last time I made that mistake.

I'm embarrassed at how few I managed to work out.

Some of them are more obscure than others, but they're all based on active AH.com posters, often from those who post within the LoRaG thread. How many did you spot?

Looking at these numbers, I'm pretty confused about the ratios. What percentage of the Population of Aururia is in OTL Western Australia? For example, in OTL 1965, Western Australia had less than 10% of the Australian population, but the numbers that you've got here put it up close to 20% precontact. I'd expect the population percentage of WA to be lower rather than higher due to the greater agriculture in the Murray Basin...

Going by the OTL population figures is misleading. In OTL, Western Australia was settled late and never got much in the way of immigration, so it's population is much lower than its carrying capacity.

For instance, the West Australian wheat belt produces about 10 million tonnes of wheat a year, close to half of Australia's total wheat harvest. Most of this is exported, of course, but that amount is enough to feed ~4.5 million people per year. Granted, Atjuntja farming methods aren't that high yielding, even with the red yam, but then wheat is not WA's only OTL crop, either.

Also, the reason that *WA has such a high proportion of the pre-contact population is because they were the first to develop ironworking, which in turn means the greatest amount of iron tools, farming implements, land clearing for agriculture, etc.

The other thing about the Dutch getting to Western Aururia is that the Dutch (obviously) have no tradition of Mining. You'd have to have a concept change like the Boers in OTL. Hmm. Forgot to include OTL South Africa as a model for Aururia. Hope not...

The Dutch don't need any tradition of mining. They're drawing off what the Atjuntja already know about mining gold - that was the main place they already used slaves even before Dutch contact.

Yeah Kunduri could definitely be a slave crop...

Not necessarily just in Aururia, either. The Dutch are already growing it at the Cape.

 

[Doctor What]

Thoughts?

You're weird.

I also must buy you a drink one day.

 

[Archangel]

After rereading twice, I think I can only identify nine characters.

 

[altwere]

I noticed that Alloanthro didn't have a catch phrase, How about something like, "This won't hurt a bit. Would I lie to you".
I think that I figured out who a couple of the posters are.

 

[Jared]

You're weird.

Weird people are much more interesting than "normal" people.

Did you think the Cthulu or the Harry Potter references were worse?

I also must buy you a drink one day.

If I'm ever in Canada, or if you ever visit Oz, we may have to see about that.

After rereading twice, I think I can only identify nine characters.

Hmm. Brother Uno, Straw Man, Pasture, Johannes Chimpo, Lady Potter, A_Munoz, Quasar6000, Monty, and The Light Scoundrel? How many did I get of the ones you got?

More broadly, how many have others figured out?

I noticed that Alloanthro didn't have a catch phrase, How about something like, "This won't hurt a bit. Would I lie to you".
I think that I figured out who a couple of the posters are.

Good idea. That really fits with the guy. It's as if you know him. Added to the original post.

 

[Archangel]

Hmm. Brother Uno, Straw Man, Pasture, Johannes Chimpo, Lady Potter, A_Munoz, Quasar6000, Monty, and The Light Scoundrel? How many did I get of the ones you got?

I figured Brother Uno, Calculation Machine, Johannes Chimpo, Cang, A_Munoz, Doublealeph (I think), Quasar6000, Monty and The Light Scoundrel. I think I now know who Guunama, Lady Potter and Cici are.

 

[Harald Sigurdson II]

Why would the ship have two computers active at the same time?

 

[Jared]

I figured Brother Uno, Calculation Machine, Johannes Chimpo, Cang, A_Munoz, Doublealeph (I think), Quasar6000, Monty and The Light Scoundrel. I think I now know who Guunama, Lady Potter and Cici are.

Well, some of the people have posted in this thread since the original chapter went up, which may help.

For some of the others, they are puns on their actual usernames. Is Pasture or Straw Man that hard to guess, for instance?

Why would the ship have two computers active at the same time?

It's a Red Dwarf reference, to an episode where the Red Dwarf ship was taken over by Queeg 500, the ship's "battle computer" aka "back-up computer".

Of course, pretty much the whole chapter was chock-full of Red Dwarf, Blackadder, and Terry Pratchett references, with smaller numbers of other references thrown in.

 

[Archangel]

Well, some of the people have posted in this thread since the original chapter went up, which may help.

For some of the others, they are puns on their actual usernames. Is Pasture or Straw Man that hard to guess, for instance?

Based on your reference to the original thread, I figured who is Straw Man, but can't guess who Pasture is.