Map Thread XX
- Thread starter Balkanized U.S.A
- Start date
- Status
Siberia isn't so much a colony as a war prize: Japan and the Qing beat the Russians in a war and pushed them west of the Lena Basin, and the Qing let their allies take most of what they saw as largely useless land.
Still WIP, but it's that there hasn't been much of a Scramble for Africa at this point, and the interior is still mostly traditional kingdoms and nouveau land-rich gunpowder warlords. (Although Prussia-Sweden's ambitious venture may change things up)
Something along those lines. It's slowed American expansion west, leading to the independent existence of several post-Mexican-empire states.
Anyway, no more answers till I get around to finishing it. I've got three scenarios and four maps on my "do fairly soon" list as it is.
I notice that China has an arrangement in Far Eastern Russia. This territory is outlined with Russian color, is that indicating that it's occupied? China is also more involved in a few other places near their borders, not unrealistic if the USA has withdrawn from world politics. Chinese influence over New Guinea is interesting.
The red lines in Syria / Iraq suggest that ISIS or some later group is running things on the ground. Is that a Kurdistan in between Iraq and Iran?
America has some new states and some states in a different shade. Is this more extreme partisan politics at work?
I'd say that Quebecois independence isn't completely out of the question. It's a low probability event, but I'd give it odds of like 1 in 10 over the next twenty years. Not likely, in fact very unlikely, but in the realm of possibility.
Wait a second ....
>equal Earth projection
It's not occupied, but it's de facto under Chinese control, though still nominally Russian. In this timeline, the Russian state is broadly receding as China waxes, and some of the far-East places pay more attention to China than to the center! I may have them done in a light-gold color instead to avoid ambiguity.
The red lines indicate an area of militant activity. In this case, it's Sunni Islamists. The dark blue in between Iran and Iraq is a Kurdistan, and the militant activity is Khuzestan.
The Americans still have all 50 of our states, but there is an increasing rift between the Democrat and Republican ones because of worsening political polarization. There's no civil war, but lots of lawfare, nullifications, and political standoffs between both sides. The Democrats (dark blue) are the side with the Presidency most of the time. The striped areas in Republican states indicate dominance by extractive industrial conglomerates.
And yes, I use Equal Earth. Once you've used it, you just can't go back to Robinson Projection with its huge Eurasia and Siberia.
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Well, I started out with EqualEarth and then fell into World A. *bows head in shame* I am using Equal Earth for one of my maps-in-progress right now though.
1. Sick af
2. What is happening in the Americas, Why is Prussia-Sweden, Why is Russia vertical and what is this independent Nanyue
Also Big France I like
4 years since the previous installment, the World is starting to seemingly differ from ours.
- McKinley installs Mark Hanna as VP instead of Theodore Roosevelt following the death of Garret Hobart, which commutes to more protectionist laws in America and a much larger usage of Goldite currency, resulting in States to develop independent bimetallist or silver currencies, as a result State Rights movements are revived.
- This boils with the assassination of McKinley, where Mark Hanna survives, although shot. Mark Hanna, angered with grief by the death of his friend and his near death would organize the complete occupation of big cities via pinkertons to 'rid out anarchists', needless to say this ultimately fails with the persecution of minorities and news of rape and pillaging by pinkertons in cities. America enters complete turmoil, and the Democratic Party initiates a coup d'eat on Washington D.C
- The Washington D.C coup would ultimately fail and succeed. It would divide the nation and two, and completely weaken America
- The biggest issue would commence with the Venezuelan Coalition due to failed payment of debts to major european powers Britian, Germany and Italy, resulting in the occupation and annexation of territories in the Venezuela.
- This encourages a swift wave of colonization in America, and, a Scramble for it.
- By 1903, the upstarting of the Cotton Rebellion, made up by radical evangelicals and a false prophet would commence due to the opening of European concessions across the Americas and a European invasion of Mexico following the early death of Porfirio Diaz
-Meanwhile, in 1900, the Cotton Rebellion's inspiration, the Boxer Rebellion successfully overtook all of the Qing due to the failure of the Neutral provinces alliance, eventually resulting in the complete collapse of China into itself.
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soviet_killer
Banned
Dawn's Beauty
"At the edge of the world, a fabled wonderland is thought to exist. Inhabited by people of a beauty rivaling that of the gods, these lands are said to be full of riches, and every man has at least heard about the Ruby Crown of Xijing. For long, these tales have been thought to be only myth, but one day, a League sail ship stumbled upon an unknown wreckage. A huge ship with red sails fluttering in the wind, even as it was half-buried in the sand. Aboard, they found the bodies of exactly those people from the stories. The mages managed to bring the ship out of the sand, allowing the explorers to search it. Inside, they found tons of documents, not dissimilar to their own ways of record-keeping, but also a few maps of the fabled land that until then was known as 'Dawn's Beauty'. The ship was quickly repaired, and sailed back to the nearest League outpost, where it was anchored and maintained as a prized possession.
The maps, documents and charts found aboard were sent back to the Capital, where the most skilled of mages used their ways to translate them. The map presented here was used as a navigational aid, besides the compass found aboard the ship. It seemed to be still under work, related documents describing an attempt to map their entire continent and neighbouring lands. Among those, were also records detailing the League's "recent" change in government, prompting the librarians to believe this map was produced around the 870s. However, the state of the ship, suggesting at an at-most month-old crash, may lead to the conclusion that they were simply either using an outdated map, or it was separate from the records.
An interesting detail on the map was the seal. The mages attempted to translate it, however all attempts failed, further tests showing the seal was infused with magic. It is thought it may have been used to help the navigators find their exact location in accordance to the map, or that it can be used by someone in their capital to locate the map's location. Whichever it was, League ships in the area became much more alert, especially since, according to the map, their outposts were getting increasingly closer to the fabled land. After all, if they can make an accurate map, huge ships and magical seals, who is to say they won't be able to match the League's navy.
Yes, this map is still a WIP, but really all that's left to add is some cities. I got inspired by some chinese/japanese maps I saw. The green stuff are plains, places where one can grow food and make big cities. I used Chinese here for 2 reasons:
1. The elves are meant to represent this world's Asia, more exactly: East Asia. They have fancy names, wear fancy robes that make the Europeans look like peasants, and can do increasingly huge engineering feats.
2. The elves are, in actuality, the descendants of former Chinese colonists on the planet. After contact was lost with Earth, and the AIs went all "i see no good up here except for me", they gene-modded themselves (yes, I'm stealing this 'cliche' from my Angevine TL, heck at first the 2 TLs were to be one but that's booooring) to survive. As a side-effect they now master magic, and they managed to keep the AIs out. Beacause I love the slight mysterious vibe we Westerners (compared to Asia) get from Asia, imma keep other details short.
The title is, if you can't tell, Tamriel. I started this map because I found an old encyclopedia of mine I gifted to a close relative, about travelers. In it I saw Zheng He's voyages. I did some more reading, especially on his big ships and thought: "Hmm what if the elves began doing voyages." Original idea was to make a huge, nice globe showing the voyages of some explorer, then found that it wouldn't really work that well. Then, I found a map of China made by a French missionary, that had names in French and Chinese. That served as stylistical inspiration. This map took a while to get the shape of, originally all islands were to be in the same "box", then I decided I'd have too much blank space, and cut off the small one. Then, I thought I don't want to have non-related landmasses inside, because I want to keep the rest of the world a mystery, lore-wise. So I cut off the big isle as well. What other landmasses didn't matter, I simply kept the coastlines of. This sort of gives the vibe that they know they are there, but don't care/know much else.
Oh yeah the Chinese is google translated. It's there to be filler and to fit the aesthetic. Heck, one of those texts isn't even lore. It's just some ramblings. I'll let y'all find which one tho
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Indonesia's independence day has arrived, so i have decided to make this.
A1. Popular Republic of Indonesia (1969)
As the final day of September '66 began, the sun rose above the horizon and people began to scurry about through the streets that criss-crossed the cities, dusk arrived and the lanterns set alight as the dark of night fell onto the cities like a blanket. As the next morning came, it became immediately clear that something was off, vehicles were clogging up the streets, as the seemingly fluid nation stood frozen, but the suspicions of many were confirmed as broadcasts were blared down to the masses, a successful coup that held a firm objective to preserve President Sukarno's administration against a plot organised by the "Council of Generals" which sought to overthrow it. In a twist of fate, their rule was ultimately short-lived as a cabal group of generals immediately rallied to depose them, but failed and destabilized the country in the process, in the chaotic chain of events that followed soon after eventually led to the ignition of the fires of revolution among the masses. At last, a new red order dawned upon the people of the nation, Indonesia now leaves the darkness of it's past, towards it's future under the sun.
When the transition began to set into motion, radical restructuring was done towards the state apparatus, sweeping political purges were made, private property was seized, non-compliant assets in the armed forces were liquidated, as the newly cemented Communist Party of Indonesia began to carry out its mission of the major reconstruction and reshaping of Indonesian society. By the end of this process, the Communist Party of Indonesia stood as the sole party of the nation, and as the vanguard of the proletariat carried out brutal methods to root out any resistance that dared threaten their grip on the country. Surviving political dissidents are forced to leave the country altogether, spending the rest of their lives outside of Indonesia. Despite this, one question still persists in the air, and one that still remains unanswered, is the question of West New Guinea. Following independence, the region remained under the heel of the Dutch, the CPI supported then President Sukarno's attempts at integrating it into the republic, which it used to its advantage as a way to rebuild its power base post-war. Today, the votes of a popular referendum held in the region are beginning to trickle down, and the final results will decisively put the answer to the question.
Sometimes, history needs a push.
A2. Governorate of Bruney (1911)
Spanning the entire island of Bruney, which is known as Brunei[1] to non Russian tongues, having its periphery flanked by the South China Sea to its north and northwest, the Governorate of Bruney stands as the crown jewel of the Russian Empire's colonial possessions in Asia, and harbors stunning wonders; from the mighty streams of the Kapuas River, to the ancient sprawling jungle canopies of the interior and the bustling marketplaces of Ayyersk[2], the Venice of the East. Bruney is a colony that hosts great amounts of wealth, almost as plentiful as what other colonies harbor such as Alyeska in the North American continent. Initially, these lands were formerly occupied by various squabbling states vying for control over the region, before they were eventually subsumed by the Bruneian Empire, which itself was brought low by internal strife and eventually conquered by the Spanish as a dominion, which was then finally transferred into the hands of the Russian Empire as a governorate.
In a move to replicate the successes that were first seen in Alyeska, the successes that turned it culturally into a part of the empire, the Russian government has encouraged large scale immigration to the area, which led to peoples from every corner of the Russian Empire flocking to the lands and eager to make it their new home, which is accompanied by an explosion of missionary activity, with liturgies and texts being translated into the many mother tongues of the native folk. Although initially wasn't a very profitable region, the administration has grown to fully exploit the island's natural resources, which inturn has resulted in the development of a native logging and mining industry, supplemented further by an agriculture industry built off the production of rubber, cacao, and vegetables. Due to its strategic location, it would prove to be an important component in the Pacific Military Flotilla, with it's large ports harboring many ships belonging to that branch of the Imperial Russian Navy.
A3. Islamic States of Malaya (1982)
As the tumultuous 1940s came to close and the 1950s opened up, the world saw itself divided in two, where it was between the Federation of European Nations and the European Bloc, contrasting against the communalist power of the Workers' Federation and the Rose Bloc in the Frozen War, where these two titans began to raise their swords, Malaya stood in the middle and soon found itself in an impasse. As the 1950s materialized, the nation sought to nationalize its oil industries, but instead it set into motion a complicated standoff with the Europeans and ended with the overthrowing of the popular and relatively liberal Prime Minister in 1953 with a European organized coup that strengthened the monarchy relative to the government, and in its wake the country has emerged as a firmly European-aligned absolute monarchy. However, the fruits of this event would come to surface in the form of long standing discontent with the new system, coupled with reforms that disproportionately affected many, this discontent would come to reach its climax in the late 1970s and the nation found itself eclipsed in a revolution that enveloped it's cities, in it's the aftermath the Islamic States of Malaya enters existence.
Emerging as theocracy, contrasting against the despotic absolute monarchy that came before, some espoused a mixed rhetoric of populist, nationalist and leftist ideals, while the theocrats espoused a revolutionary vision of theocratic government that revolves around the idea of rule or supervision by Islamic jurists in the nation. In the wake of the revolution, a new constitution was formulated and the new government began to transform the disarrayed economy by nationalizing much of the industries that were tied into it, and in effect signalled a move away from the policies that defined the previous economic era of the nation. The nascent nation would come to be marred in numerous hurdles. The unity between the revolutionaries had broken down and conflicts bloomed, but ultimately it did not end fatally and the revolutionary ideology espoused by the theocrats prevailed and the theocracy consolidated power as the opposition found themselves in a sounding defeat. As the nascent revolutionary state was mired in internal issues, these opened an avenue for an external entity to exploit it, the State of Brunei, which exploited the issues as a conduit to assert its long desired hegemony over the region, but the direction of the war has begun pointing to a stalemate and from that point could easily go south for both.
A4. Sunda Confederacy (1977)
When that day arrived, the wealth of the earth disappeared and diminished, the fires of the Last War burned between the old world powers of the United States and the Soviet Union. The story of the old world ends there, but in the former lands of the Republic of Indonesia, the story of the new begins to unfold. Prior to the Last War, the political status quo of the former nation was dominated by the New Order, yet with the advent of the cataclysm, it would soon come to meet its violent downfall. Its final days were marked by the emergence of dozens of groups that adhered to philosophies of all stripes, trying to reunite and reshape the shattered Nusantara in their image, but the most peculiar of these that took root is the Sunda Confederacy, a group that modeled itself after the thalassocracies of times bygone, and found itself led by a man proclaiming himself to be the emperor of the "Sunda Confederacy", who claims to be distantly related to an ancient government official in the Majapahit, nothing else is known due to murky origins and many can only make guesses; but his seeming divinity has successfully gathered popular support.
Upholding his ambitious promises of bringing the Nusantara together under the fold of the Confederacy, his form of government, rules with a somewhat benevolent fist, and contrasts from the style of governance seen in the New Order, and likewise the nation is kept afloat by his economic policies which curiously contain Marxist trappings. Word of this regime has begun to trickle outside the confines of the regime and hopping to the other islands of the archipelago and beyond, much to the chagrin or confusion of outside observers. Though for one, it does uphold one aspect that has become important in the days following the Last War: authority. Perhaps, this is one of the few ways that some sense of normalcy will return to these lands once more, with it's conduit being the diametric opposite of normal. With the future and present destroyed in the Last War, the time has arrived for the people to look to the past for solutions. In the makeshift imperial palace pinned in the heart of the Confederacy, grand plans are conceived and drawn, the armies begin to assemble and the drums of war are beginning to be heard.
The time for waiting is over.
B1. Blue Khanate (1369)
A wide array of peoples have arrived at the region, ranging from the Indians from the northwest, the Chinese from the north, and more recently Arab merchants from the west that have begun to propagate a new faith into the islands, but a new people has come knocking on the doorstep of the islands, the Mongols. Although news from the north aren't of much significance to the people inhabiting the Dwipantara[3], that notion has changed with tales of the great conqueror of worlds began swirling around, his empire nearly spanning the entire continent of Eurasia, from the lands of Europe to the islands of Nippon, the deserts of Middle East and now encroaching the fertile islands of the Dwipantara. With their arrival and later splintering of the Great Mongol State which allowed for the surfacing of new successor states in its place, the western quarter of the Dwipantara now forms the bedrock of such a state, the Blue Khanate.
Initially, not unlike many of the successor states scattered throughout Eurasia, the Blue Khanate adhered to Tengrism, but soon after the Mongol Khan adopted Buddhism, under its umbrella there were many different adherents of other religions, such as Muslims, Hindus, folk religions that still persist in some regions of the nation and animism that remains in others. The bureaucratic system instituted in the Blue Khanate factored in the various cultures in the empire, and the bureaucracy took elements from the previous bureaucracies of the native regimes such as the Sriwijaya and the Singhasari thalassocracies that once inhabited the islands of Dwipantara before the arrival of the Mongols. The bureaucracy fielded native advisers, who worked alongside local governors that levied taxes and would organize responses to popular discontent against the administration, of which is seated in the former capital of the Sriwijaya, Palembang. While the Blue Khanate was of Mongol origin, and Mongol remains the mother tongue of the ruling dynasty, Old Malay and Sanskrit are used as the lingua franca of the nation's administration.
B2. Javanese Empire (1570)
Emerging out of it's cradle, the island of Java, the Javanese Empire has successfully asserted itself to be the dominant power in the region. Having its roots with the initial arrival of Islam in the islands, which would give rise to the first Islamic kingdoms of the Nusantara. Islam would come to surpass both Hinduism and Buddhism, both of which have formerly dominated the Nusantara, in terms of the sheer numbers of it's adherents. Forming after crushing the various squabbling and petty kingdoms that formerly resided on Java, the Javanese Empire began to expand outwards outside the boundaries of it's cradle, onwards into the other islands of the Nusantara. Eventually, the fold of the empire would come to reach nearly every corner of the Nusantara, which made itself known far and wide. During the initial expansion outwards, Javanese sailors gained sight of a vast land that lies to the south of the Nusantara, this land would come to be known as Wororan[4], and it's northern reaches would eventually become a component of the empire.
The landfall of the Javanese in Wororan would come to have a threefold effect, with the first being the introduction of devastating Eurasian diseases, and the second being the introduction of new technologies and the third being the introduction of Islam. The latter two would eventually be useful as the foundations of the later Wororanese nations, the formation of which is also seen as a reaction to Javanese expansion in the area. Expansion into Wororan was slow, with the current Javanese territory clinging onto the northern coasts, which are now dotted with various trading cities. Religiously, the Javanese Empire is predominantly Islamic, though Buddhism and Hinduism remained as the religion for many even after the end of the last Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms; Kejawen, a Javanese religious belief that syncretizes elements from other religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism and animism, and more recently Islam, is prevalent in some areas of the nation. The existence of Kejawen can be seen as a reflection of Javanese society through the ages, and a reflection of Java's position as a cultural melting pot. In the bustling port cities, people from nearly all corners of Asia arrive here to trade, while in another corner of the nation, a ship departs from it's dock in the port city of Sunda Kalapa[5], it now ventures towards the other corners of the world.
B3. Republic of Indonesia (1962)
For the last 350 years, the status quo was defined by the Londo's[6] tyranny over the peoples of Indonesia, it was only in recent times that this came to be broken. Arising in a fiery crusade to expel the imperialists out of Asia, the Empire of Japan saw an opportunity in the face of increasing chaos in Europe, the liberation of Indonesia from the chains of colonialism. With the arrival of the Empire of Japan, it would come to be seen by many as a new beginning for the nation, a feeling of optimism soared among the masses and it was common to see the lofty Red and White waving alongside the flag of the sun. The advances of the Japanese army would come to expel the last of the Dutch authorities from the nation, with the nation later formally granted its independence in the mid-1950s, emerging as equals with Japan and many other nations in the newly created Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The lofty Red and White can now be seen flying from Sabang to Moresby. Ever since the days of the war, the spirit of Pan-Asianism remains steady and fervent. Today, the future is now in grasp, and the people of Indonesia would not let it slip through their hands.
If only.
It wouldn't be entirely wrong to say that the brief period of Japanese occupation in the country was no different from what it was under the Dutch, many still plow the fields, and pave the way for roads. Under the brutal system of rōmusha, millions of Indonesians found themselves recruited as forced labourers, who were often forced to work in harsh environments, and deployed in the construction of military facilities and in economic projects, and many even found themselves spirited away from the country altogether to the other domains of Japan. Although the fact that rōmusha were paid was an improvement over the unpaid corvee slavery practiced in the colonial era, but their wages failed to keep pace with inflation. Very few rōmusha managed to survive to see the end of the war, and let alone managed to see the disbanding of rōmusha. In the time since those first few weeks after the lifting of the Japanese military occupation in the mid-1950s, the nation has gained its reputation as the quaint backwater that lies to the southern reaches of the Sphere, and how truly independent Indonesia is remains as an ambiguous question for many. Today, the winds of change have begun blowing over the continent of Asia once more, and in the presidential palace in Djakarta, a man overlooks the situation rocking the nation, he begins biding his time. Sooner or later, he will have to make a choice.
B4. Empire of the Orient (1283)
Though it was inevitable that the word of Zoroaster would spread outside out from it's cradle in Iran, in hindsight it was also inevitable that it would spread through a new medium, ocean trade. Traveling the trade routes that circulated around the Indian Ocean, it would eventually arrive in the archipelago of Samudera[7] near the Orient, where new fires began to light up outside of Iran. Upon landing on the island of Lambri[8], it began to take root and began to spread outwards, and would eventually form the foundation of the Great Lambrian Empire, or largely known by it's exonym, the Empire of the Orient. Expanding outwards from it's cradle in the island of Lambri towards the nearby island of Jabadiu[9] and onto the other islands of the archipelago, it has manifested itself as the premier Zoroastrian power in the islands of Samudera and a new center of Zoroastrianism in the Orient outside of the lands of Iran and the subcontinent of India.
From that point onwards it was able to become a naval empire dominating the seas of the Samuderan archipelago, a thalassocracy. It aggressively promoted Zoroastrianism and used it's naval prowess to project its ambitions throughout the archipelago of Samudera. In the aspect of religion, adherents of Hinduism and Buddhism are just as common as adherents of Zoroastrianism, while local religions still remain somewhat significant in some areas. It's arch-rival is the Kingdom of Samudera Perak that resides on the island of Jabadiu, which has begun to expand outwards and has made several attempts to establish colonies on the island of Tamuran[10]. Founded not long after the formation of it's arch-rival, through a series of campaigns it has managed to drive the Lambrians out of Jabadiu, though through a series of constant mutual defeats that followed, it has left them confined to opposite quarters of the archipelago, unable to gain the upper hand over the other.
C1. Nusantara Port Authority (2510)
Earth is mankind's cradle, but as the 21th century began to reach its tail end, the climate crisis unfolded, the oceans swelled and acidified, swallowing the great coastal metropolises, displacing millions of people and killing off marine habitats, conflicts brewed over dwindling resources, the deserts were bloating in some areas while others instead saw massive floods, it was a trying time, and these problems ought to propel mankind's advance towards the stars escaping the confines of Earth's atmosphere. As the 21st gave way to the 22nd, the crisis began to subside as mankind learned to ride and eventually fight back the storm, in these conditions the foundations of a unified Earth began to take shape, a one-world government which later became known as the United Nations of Earth, which itself remains one of the greatest turn of events in human history. As that time came, the old nations ceded their sovereignty one by one, though some remained skeptical about the stability of the new order. This category included the pre-unification nation of Indonesia, but later successes managed those nations and today the Earth is officially one nation, under one banner.
Ever since borders have been redrawn and where the former nation of Indonesia once stood, today lies the Nusantara Port Authority, a region where millions of souls, every single day, from all corners of the solar system arrive to visit Earth, mostly for tourism, the region also sees the opposite, millions of Earthers disembarking for the stars. The Port Authority also processes the incredibly massive influx of cargo coming to Earth, such as precious metals streaming from the mines in the Belt. The region is home to the first space elevators and Lofstrom loops that were built in the former half of the 22nd century, and some still continue to be operational even to this day, but they are outshined by the true giant of Earth, the Halo, a massive orbital ring wrapping around the entire planet's equator, which was constructed in the mid-23rd century. From the bustling lava-tubes of Luna, to the terraformed fields of Mars, to the floating cities of Venus, and the flying mass drivers of Jupiter and Saturn, mankind has learned to fully take advantage of the bounties that space has to offer, which today is mostly streamlined to Earth, in order to keep the needs of the still growing population accommodated. For many today, Earth remains their home in a spacefaring humanity.
C2. Democratic Union (2013)
As the beginning of the 2010s arrived in Asia, the days went by without a hitch, and business continued as usual, but until then tragedy shook the nations. In the wake of an economic crisis that gripped the continent, the Oriental Economic Community or ORECOM began a series of relief programs to help the national economies to recuperate. But for some of its members residing in the Indian subcontinent and the Malay archipelago, it never arrived in as great of an extent seen elsewhere, although brushed aside by some as a miscalculation, but for others it signalled something else, a shortcoming, a sabotage, a betrayal. As their nations continued to be shaken to their cores, the people came to act, resentment began to grow, and when it became clear that help wasn't arriving, they began to save their nations themselves. What started small swiftly escalated as the fires of revolution burned engulfing the nations, in the ashes lies nascent revolutionary states that began implementing policies that often directly opposed the policies of the ORECOM. In the end, the ORECOM found them too costly to reel them in, nor attempted the very risky option of direct intervention on these states, and so they were largely left on their own accord.
Lying among these revolutionary states scattered throughout, the Democratic Union rises like a red star. Officially known as the Democratic Union of Sumatra, it ties its roots to the initial wave of revolutions that swept the former ORECOM-aligned states of Palembang, Lampung and Minangkabau, the post-revolutionary states would formally band together under the banner of the Democratic Union and the ideological torch of communalism, and the brand of communalism that the Democratic Union adheres to, tackles issues such as feminism and social ecology while leaning towards municipalism and anarchism, unlike the more vanguardist forms of socialism seen elsewhere as the communalists of the Democratic Union hold municipalism as the means to achieve a rational society, and its structure the standard for the organization of society. The revolutionary states of the archipelago occupy a wide array of ideologies, from the Christian anarchists of the Papuan nations, to the idealistic sailors of the states of Maluku, and to the anarcho-syndicalists of the Javan and the Philippine states. As the days pass, these states begin to march forwards, all the while outside observers watch closely from afar, and then...
C3. Majapahit Empire (1786)
Known for their grandiose religious festivities held annually in the capital city of Trowulan, the crown jewel of the nation, alongside their refined taste for art and literature and their elaborate system of religious rituals. The Majapahit Empire or known by its Sanskrit name, Wilwatikta, was able to survive against the obstacles that posed a serious threat to it. With the arrival of merchants from the far away land of Arabia, who propagated a new religion into the lands of the Nusantara, and would have its role as the religion of new emergent thalassocratic nations in the Nusantara archipelago that began to rival the Majapahit in power. It's golden age ended and it's influence began to wane in the face of new powers in the concert of the Nusantara, but it endured as a somewhat major regional power and the nation would survive in the centuries that followed after, though not in a extent as it was during the reign of Tribhuwana and later his son Hayam Wuruk, but regardless it has survived in one form or another.
Today, it still persists as a nation of continued importance in the region and continues to attract foreign merchants from far and wide, with some even taking up semi-permanent residence in Java, so long as they paid the special tax for that of course, and all taxes and fines are paid in cash. The Javanese economy, which had been partly monetised since at least the late 8th century, utilized an indigenous coinage system that used gold and silver coins, but this system was completely replaced by imported Chinese copper cash, which remains in use today. Java, with its numerous and intricate irrigation systems, holds its status as the breadbasket of the nation, providing the food that keeps the nation afloat. The numerous ports scattered throughout Java provide nearly all of the commodities from Asia, as an effect of the extensive shipping prevalent inside the Majapahit Empire. In the field of religion, Buddhism, Shaivism[11] and Vaishnavism[12] were all practised in the nation, alongside Kejawen and notably Islam, which has also grown noticeably within the nation in recent years, with Muslim courtiers and mosques being a normality. In a corner of Trowulan, as the annual festivals begin anew, some begin to ponder what the future holds, if only the future was so mysterious and enigmatic.
C4. Free State of Java (1855)
The Dutch, who have exploited the people for far too long, have been forced into humiliating surrender and retreat from the island of Java, in their absence stands the Free State of Java. The tumultuous years of suffering that have befallen over Java and its inhabitants have come to a close. This event, which occurred in 1825, which later became known as the Javanese War of Independence, marked a turning point in the history of the region, the colonial system that had been solidified many decades ago was overthrown and dismantled. This war was coordinated by the prince Diponegoro and his supporters, who were composed of peasants, aristocratic groups and some allied princes. The prince was widely believed to be the Ratu Adil, a messianic figure predicted in the Pralembang Jayabaya, a being that is predicted to bring universal peace and justice; this belief helped him in mustering popular support for the war against the Dutch, likewise further amounted up by an eruption of Mount Merapi and a cholera outbreak occurring prior to the war that emanated a feeling of an seemingly encroaching cataclysm.
A devout Muslim at heart, Diponegoro was displeased with the slack religiosity present in the former Yogyakarta court, in addition to the pro-Dutch policies that were issued by the palace, and among his followers, the war was perceived as a jihad war against the Dutch and the Javanese apostates. Reports issued after the war detailed that Dutch POWs received death threats if they refused to convert to Islam. This war created knock on effects that rippled throughout the region, at the onset of Diponegoro's war, the Dutch were facing against the Padri in Western Sumatra, with the onset of the war, a truce was signed, but was immediately ended following the surrender at Java, the Padri War resumed and would end in the Padri triumphing over the allied Adat forces, striking yet another defeat for the Dutch. 30 years have passed since the beginning of the war, and the Free State stands unwavering. Today, Diponegoro, now in his twilight years, has chosen a successor, who has already taken steps to ensure Java survives as a sovereign nation on the world stage, and hopefully leads the nation on a path towards a brighter future.
"A finger of the head an inch of the ground is defended to death"
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[1] Borneo. The name Borneo is derived from Brunei, or more specifically it's namesake, the Bruneian Empire.
[2] What OTL would recognize as Kampong Ayer.
[3] The Malay archipelago. Derived from the Sanskrit word Dvipantara, which itself was derived from the term Cakravala Mandala Dvipantara which was used by the Kertanegara of Singhasari to describe the Southeast Asian archipelago. Its usage predates the first usage of the word "Nusantara" in the Palapa oath by Gajah Mada.
[4] Australia. Name is derived from the Worrorra peoples of northwestern Australia.
[5] A port city that lies where Jakarta stood in OTL and it's oldest such predecessor. In OTL it was the main port of the Sunda Kingdom. Name translates into "Coconut of Sunda" in Sundanese.
[6] The Netherlands. A corruption of the word Walanda, a Javanese spelling of the word Belanda, a term which is the Indonesian name of the Netherlands and its people.
[7] The Indonesian archipelago. The name stems from Samudra, a Sanskrit word that generally refers to a large body of water such as an ocean.
[8] Sumatra. Name is derived from an OTL kingdom that existed in northern Sumatra which was also known as Lamuri.
[9] Java. Derived from Iabadiu, a great island mentioned in Ptolemy's Geographia. The name of the island is said to translate to "barley island", and is predicted to be rich in gold.
[10] Australia. Derived from the ancient name Tamraparni that used to refer to Sri Lanka that can be translated as "copper-coloured leaf".
[11] A major denomination of Hinduism. Shaivism and it's adherents, Shaivites, worship Shiva, also known as Rudra, as the Supreme Being.
[12] Similar to Shaivism, being another major denomination of Hinduism, Vaishnavism, also called Vishnuism, is centered around Vishnu as it considers him to be the Supreme Being.
Nice work! The Japanese learner in me got somewhat distracted through by the Chinese (not that it's a bad thing, that just means it's a job well done).
Dawn's Beauty
"At the edge of the world, a fabled wonderland is thought to exist. Inhabited by people of a beauty rivaling that of the gods, these lands are said to be full of riches, and every man has at least heard about the Ruby Crown of Xijing. For long, these tales have been thought to be only myth, but one day, a League sail ship stumbled upon an unknown wreckage. A huge ship with red sails fluttering in the wind, even as it was half-buried in the sand. Aboard, they found the bodies of exactly those people from the stories. The mages managed to bring the ship out of the sand, allowing the explorers to search it. Inside, they found tons of documents, not dissimilar to their own ways of record-keeping, but also a few maps of the fabled land that until then was known as 'Dawn's Beauty'. The ship was quickly repaired, and sailed back to the nearest League outpost, where it was anchored and maintained as a prized possession.
The maps, documents and charts found aboard were sent back to the Capital, where the most skilled of mages used their ways to translate them. The map presented here was used as a navigational aid, besides the compass found aboard the ship. It seemed to be still under work, related documents describing an attempt to map their entire continent and neighbouring lands. Among those, were also records detailing the League's "recent" change in government, prompting the librarians to believe this map was produced around the 870s. However, the state of the ship, suggesting at an at-most month-old crash, may lead to the conclusion that they were simply either using an outdated map, or it was separate from the records.
An interesting detail on the map was the seal. The mages attempted to translate it, however all attempts failed, further tests showing the seal was infused with magic. It is thought it may have been used to help the navigators find their exact location in accordance to the map, or that it can be used by someone in their capital to locate the map's location. Whichever it was, League ships in the area became much more alert, especially since, according to the map, their outposts were getting increasingly closer to the fabled land. After all, if they can make an accurate map, huge ships and magical seals, who is to say they won't be able to match the League's navy.
Yes, this map is still a WIP, but really all that's left to add is some cities. I got inspired by some chinese/japanese maps I saw. The green stuff are plains, places where one can grow food and make big cities. I used Chinese here for 2 reasons:
1. The elves are meant to represent this world's Asia, more exactly: East Asia. They have fancy names, wear fancy robes that make the Europeans look like peasants, and can do increasingly huge engineering feats.
2. The elves are, in actuality, the descendants of former Chinese colonists on the planet. After contact was lost with Earth, and the AIs went all "i see no good up here except for me", they gene-modded themselves (yes, I'm stealing this 'cliche' from my Angevine TL, heck at first the 2 TLs were to be one but that's booooring) to survive. As a side-effect they now master magic, and they managed to keep the AIs out. Beacause I love the slight mysterious vibe we Westerners (compared to Asia) get from Asia, imma keep other details short.
The title is, if you can't tell, Tamriel. I started this map because I found an old encyclopedia of mine I gifted to a close relative, about travelers. In it I saw Zheng He's voyages. I did some more reading, especially on his big ships and thought: "Hmm what if the elves began doing voyages." Original idea was to make a huge, nice globe showing the voyages of some explorer, then found that it wouldn't really work that well. Then, I found a map of China made by a French missionary, that had names in French and Chinese. That served as stylistical inspiration. This map took a while to get the shape of, originally all islands were to be in the same "box", then I decided I'd have too much blank space, and cut off the small one. Then, I thought I don't want to have non-related landmasses inside, because I want to keep the rest of the world a mystery, lore-wise. So I cut off the big isle as well. What other landmasses didn't matter, I simply kept the coastlines of. This sort of gives the vibe that they know they are there, but don't care/know much else.
Oh yeah the Chinese is google translated. It's there to be filler and to fit the aesthetic. Heck, one of those texts isn't even lore. It's just some ramblings. I'll let y'all find which one tho
Somebody compiled a list of the largest incorporated city in each 10-degree-by-10-degree graticule and plotted it on a map. I saw it shared here sometime this (Northern Hemisphere) summer.
EDIT: Oh, it was Lottie who posted about it. That makes sense.
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Crosspost from my ongoing TL, The Pale Horse: The Northwest Montana Insurgency and its Aftermath (1987-2002)
I don't know If there's another place for stuff like this, but I'll post it here. I ran a little experiment some weeks ago. Basically I tried to create a map based on a description partially written by AI (specifically a Russian-speaking text completing bot analogous to Talk to Transformer, called Porfirevich). I say "partially" because I added new prompts after each 1 or 3 generated pieces to keep it from losing focus, so it's not really a fully AI-generated text, but more of a mosaic of alterating human and AI's writing. But the result is interesting nontheless.
And very cursed.
Here's the text, translated to the best of my abilities. My prompts are written in normal font, the AI's writing - in bold.
The year is 2030. After yet another controversial elections, the US president was deposed, and the country plunged into a civil war. The Democrats fought against the Republicans, but there were many marginal groups as well - communists, anarchists, White and Black nationalists, Indians, and others. After 4 years of combat, the peace treaty was signed, and the USA officially ceased to exist, splitting into several independent countries. The largest of them is the so-called Rebulic of Texas, which includes such cities as Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The capital of this state is the city of Austin. This country lost more than half of its population during the war. The republic is ruled by radical Catholics that pursue policies of Indian genocide and support of urban gangs. The most famous political leader of the Republic of Texas is Ricardo Blanco. East of the Republic of Texas lies another fragment of the former US - Louisiana. It differs from Texas considerably in its population structure, but on the surface is the same kind of country. This territory is controlled by the French government, and politically is under considerable French influence. There are two large Black communities in this territory, whose lands are in constant conflict. All the while the French administration and local tribal elite practically don't intervene and allow these lands to resolve their issues on their own. Further to the west, in the lands of Deep South, there is a state known as Land of the Black Dogs. The territory of this country is controlled by Blacks, who pursue radical and very aggressive policies towards Whites, maintly - the southerners. The political regime here is characterized by extreme clericalization and violence. Currently the most prominent political forces are several Black gangs that control several cities. There is an active White militia in the country, but it's getting weaker. North of the Land of the Black Dogs starts the territory known as the Country of Good. It occupies a vast area, reaching the state of Utah in the west, Ohio and Tennessee river in the east, and has its capital in the city of Denver. This country has almost no Blacks, but strong nationalist and religious militias still exist in its eastern parts. As evident by its name, the Country of Good is ruled by sectarians who strive for revival of man's primal forms of mystic perception of the world, as well as eradication of civilization's superficial achievements and Christianity, which they see as orthodox. North of it lie the so-called North Steppes - a territory populated mostly by Indians. White people are almost non-existent in the Steppes, and the national economy was reduced to hunting and bartering. This was done in order to give northern barbarians the opportunity to keep their old shamanism and art of combat, that White people have lost, in their pure form. The North Steppes cover the area around the state of Wisconsin and the northern part of the Great Plains, and, obviously, don't have a capital. West of the Country of Good there is the state of Utah, now called the Middle State. This name is no coincidence - this state, ruled by a small group of White aristocrats who favor the Middle Ages, is a buffer between the Country of Good and a no smaller state occupying the former USA's west coast, that quickly mastered the method of direct biological hybridization with the use of genetic modification, and eradicated almost all human population, and turned into an aggressive rival. This state is called the Steel Shed for some reason. Instead of people, it is populated by various incomprehensible mechanisms - like those that populate Dante's Hell. They don't act by themselves, but are subordinate to several creatures called the Big Brothers, who constitute something like a pantheon of gods and take turns to govern deeds and words, spirit and flesh. The first of them is named Dress Uniform of Justice, the second - Sphere of Abundance, the third - Seven Supreme Teachers, and the fourth - Helm's Manifested Image. All listed deities periodically change, and so does the Steel Shed: one leader replaces another. This complicated system is called "ABSURD". The
origins of the Big Brothers are not completely clear. It is thought that they were intellectual mutants who studied from genius creators and changed themselves in order to gain knowledge and power. On the peak of the civil war they went public and created the Great Architectural Order, the goal of which was to build the Shed and "ABSURD" in their modern forms. The anomalous mechanisms that destroyed all people on the conquered lands, were apparently projections of so-called "philosophical cores" - relatively small radio transparent bubbles that Evenkian shamen built their dymanic illusions from. (A similar technology, by the way, is used by the Nothern Steppes Indians for defence against invaders - with the help of rituals they create an analogous hallucination, transfer an item from the imaginary into the real, and this "item", moving along the paths of the higher forces, becomes a real battering ram for the enemies). In order to stop the Steel Shed, Canada, Mexico, Texas, and the Country of Good jointly developed a technological scheme that allows to project material objects and matter from one type to another with the help of "philosophical cores" and gamma-and neutron accelerators. It is intended to create stationary projections of the mechanism (basically propped from within by the new fundamental illusions) and use them as theoretical models to create new hallucinatory chains... (next is a text that lists several fundamental principles of manipulating material objects, incomprehensible to the common human). Simply put, it is a gun that can send a missile through physical matter. Anyways, in New England there is a country named Massachusetts, that has won its independence, but now coexists with Canadian army and Canada. West of the Tennessee river there is a state named Trans-America, where battles are still going on. Alaska is almost a sovereign state, but currently there is a company from Okinawa and Osaka stationed there, and Hawaii is a part of Japan according to the treaty...
And very cursed.
Here's the text, translated to the best of my abilities. My prompts are written in normal font, the AI's writing - in bold.
The year is 2030. After yet another controversial elections, the US president was deposed, and the country plunged into a civil war. The Democrats fought against the Republicans, but there were many marginal groups as well - communists, anarchists, White and Black nationalists, Indians, and others. After 4 years of combat, the peace treaty was signed, and the USA officially ceased to exist, splitting into several independent countries. The largest of them is the so-called Rebulic of Texas, which includes such cities as Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The capital of this state is the city of Austin. This country lost more than half of its population during the war. The republic is ruled by radical Catholics that pursue policies of Indian genocide and support of urban gangs. The most famous political leader of the Republic of Texas is Ricardo Blanco. East of the Republic of Texas lies another fragment of the former US - Louisiana. It differs from Texas considerably in its population structure, but on the surface is the same kind of country. This territory is controlled by the French government, and politically is under considerable French influence. There are two large Black communities in this territory, whose lands are in constant conflict. All the while the French administration and local tribal elite practically don't intervene and allow these lands to resolve their issues on their own. Further to the west, in the lands of Deep South, there is a state known as Land of the Black Dogs. The territory of this country is controlled by Blacks, who pursue radical and very aggressive policies towards Whites, maintly - the southerners. The political regime here is characterized by extreme clericalization and violence. Currently the most prominent political forces are several Black gangs that control several cities. There is an active White militia in the country, but it's getting weaker. North of the Land of the Black Dogs starts the territory known as the Country of Good. It occupies a vast area, reaching the state of Utah in the west, Ohio and Tennessee river in the east, and has its capital in the city of Denver. This country has almost no Blacks, but strong nationalist and religious militias still exist in its eastern parts. As evident by its name, the Country of Good is ruled by sectarians who strive for revival of man's primal forms of mystic perception of the world, as well as eradication of civilization's superficial achievements and Christianity, which they see as orthodox. North of it lie the so-called North Steppes - a territory populated mostly by Indians. White people are almost non-existent in the Steppes, and the national economy was reduced to hunting and bartering. This was done in order to give northern barbarians the opportunity to keep their old shamanism and art of combat, that White people have lost, in their pure form. The North Steppes cover the area around the state of Wisconsin and the northern part of the Great Plains, and, obviously, don't have a capital. West of the Country of Good there is the state of Utah, now called the Middle State. This name is no coincidence - this state, ruled by a small group of White aristocrats who favor the Middle Ages, is a buffer between the Country of Good and a no smaller state occupying the former USA's west coast, that quickly mastered the method of direct biological hybridization with the use of genetic modification, and eradicated almost all human population, and turned into an aggressive rival. This state is called the Steel Shed for some reason. Instead of people, it is populated by various incomprehensible mechanisms - like those that populate Dante's Hell. They don't act by themselves, but are subordinate to several creatures called the Big Brothers, who constitute something like a pantheon of gods and take turns to govern deeds and words, spirit and flesh. The first of them is named Dress Uniform of Justice, the second - Sphere of Abundance, the third - Seven Supreme Teachers, and the fourth - Helm's Manifested Image. All listed deities periodically change, and so does the Steel Shed: one leader replaces another. This complicated system is called "ABSURD". The
origins of the Big Brothers are not completely clear. It is thought that they were intellectual mutants who studied from genius creators and changed themselves in order to gain knowledge and power. On the peak of the civil war they went public and created the Great Architectural Order, the goal of which was to build the Shed and "ABSURD" in their modern forms. The anomalous mechanisms that destroyed all people on the conquered lands, were apparently projections of so-called "philosophical cores" - relatively small radio transparent bubbles that Evenkian shamen built their dymanic illusions from. (A similar technology, by the way, is used by the Nothern Steppes Indians for defence against invaders - with the help of rituals they create an analogous hallucination, transfer an item from the imaginary into the real, and this "item", moving along the paths of the higher forces, becomes a real battering ram for the enemies). In order to stop the Steel Shed, Canada, Mexico, Texas, and the Country of Good jointly developed a technological scheme that allows to project material objects and matter from one type to another with the help of "philosophical cores" and gamma-and neutron accelerators. It is intended to create stationary projections of the mechanism (basically propped from within by the new fundamental illusions) and use them as theoretical models to create new hallucinatory chains... (next is a text that lists several fundamental principles of manipulating material objects, incomprehensible to the common human). Simply put, it is a gun that can send a missile through physical matter. Anyways, in New England there is a country named Massachusetts, that has won its independence, but now coexists with Canadian army and Canada. West of the Tennessee river there is a state named Trans-America, where battles are still going on. Alaska is almost a sovereign state, but currently there is a company from Okinawa and Osaka stationed there, and Hawaii is a part of Japan according to the treaty...
- Status