Timelines: What if Spain Failed to Control the World?

[Judas Maccabeus]

Geneological tables of the Spanish Rulers

900s to Today

When canonized approached me with the opportunity to add something to this AAR, I was very overjoyed. Having done geneological tables for the alternate dynasties of my English AAR, I thought of how much easier it would be to do it for dynasties where the names and dates are the same? Of course, consideration had to be made of the potential differences of an alternate timeline (What titles might they retain? What happens with Maria Theresa and the Pragmatic Sanction?) but after a couple days of research and work, here is the line of descent through Castilla, Spain, and the later Imperial dignity from the early Reconquista period to the present:

(As a note, please excuse the haphazard use of titles. I could not possibly fit them all, so I used whichever ones felt important for that specific ruler.)

[thrashing mad]

Wow! bonuses by JimboIX and Juddas Maccabeus - I`ll have to finally catch up with this AAR, to fully enjoy them

[JimboIX]

Great family tree- I particularly like the conversion of German names to Spanish. Oton Francisco, for example. Gives it a nice alternative-history twist.

[Fiftypence]

I've finally caught up - really excellent stuff, canonized! Can't wait for season 2 to begin.

Also, good work JimboIX and JM on the bonuses.

[canonized]

First I wanted to thank Judas Maccabeus for being so kind as to do this for us . It may not look it , but he actually did a lot of research for this bonus of his checking the monarchs from before until now . One of the challenges of a more realistic succession line is that you have to get your facts straight and JM has shown his finesse at doing so . Jimbo really put it well that different contributors are bringing their A game to the fore and it's easy to see why JM's speciality is in his adroit management of historical data even though he still only has a 56k connection ! So thank you again , JM , and I hope this continues to encourage anyone out there who would like to contribute !

thrashing mad: It's good to hear from you again , tm ! hope you enjoy catching up !

JimboIX: Actually it's the Spanishized names that really did it for me as well . In fact , I'm so impressed by JM's scholarship that I'm going to retro-edit all the instances of "Otto" and put in "Oton" ! Well done both of you for contributing !

Fiftypence: Hooray ! Glad to see you catch up ! If you'd like to participate in our week of celebration please let me know ! There's still a little over a week left to put up new stuff !

Also just to update everyone , tonight I DO have a new interview but problems with SEG-CISR's interview means that I'll have a new guest tonight so look forward to a little surprise there !

[canonized]

You’ve Been Canonized!: Avernite

Good evening , everyone and welcome once again to our weekly interview segment here on Timelines ! Usually we interview patron authors who’ve been to the thread ! However , today , we have a special guest today . Today’s guest is Avernite , one of the best Werewolf players on the boards ! We’ll have a wonderful time seeing this facet of the boards as well as the usual questions we’ll be asking ! If you’re new to the programme , I’m your host canonized author of Timelines: What if Spain Failed to Control the World? Let’s get to the questions !

Part I: The Man from Avernum … (Or is he ?)
Avernite and I have a little talk about himself !

canonized: First , welcome on being on the programme on such short notice ! Could you introduce a little bit about yourself and how long you've been on the forum ?

Avernite: Well, I'm a Dutch poster from the renowned 2003 group, although admittedly early 2003. I joined after having read a bit earlier forEU1, but then joined for EU2 eventually. I don't know why anymore; think it was a bug report

canonized: Haha , I see . How long have you been browsing AARs ?

Avernite: hmm.. I think almost since the beginning, although when I started reading AARs, the Timurid Scientists were already finished, but I don't actually remember when that was

canonized: As someone who's been here for about four years , how would you say AARland has changed or evolved ?

Avernite: Heh, well, not too much. CK, Vicky and HoI all added a new group of AAR writers, but the EU3 AARs are remarkably similar to the EU2 AARs when I joined. Except that there are many more writers, so also many more good AARs to read. One change is also the length and speed of updates. EU3 definitely upped the pace of updating...

canonized: Have you yourself thought of writing an AAR ?

Avernite: Yeah, in fact I wrote in several Multiplayer AARs, among them the Olympian Rebirth AAR which I think was pretty good. I also once started one together with ForzaA, but we got bored of the game, so the AAR died too

canonized: As someone who also dabbles in other activities of the board , how do you think AARland fits into the organism that is the Paradox Community ?

Avernite: I feel it's the most interconnected. Sure, EU2 and 3 are connected, Hoi 1 and 2 to the extent that HoI1 still exists, and the OT has some links to other forums, but only in the AAR forums is there actual linking between the games. Although it is as open as the Off-topic, it's a lot more connected to the games, so much more linked to the other forums

canonized: An interesting insight ! I know that you're an avid supporter of different writers and also have sampled your own fair share of AARs . How would you rate AARland's literary contribution as a whole as far as entertainment and also as literary works in themselves ?

Avernite: Well, almost all are good entertainment, if they manage to finish the story... Which I'm not particularly good at. Still, I think only few reach truly the height of literary works. That's only logical, with authors writing in their spare times without editors, so maybe I should say it's amazing that some reach the level of reasonably good books.

canonized: What kind of message would you like to leave the writAARs you’ve subscribed to out there ?

Avernite: ehm... Do I get bonus points for answering harder questions? Well: think about the story, and be sure you have some course for it, some deeper reason why you should finish it than 'just because'. That way, the AAR will almost certainly be a success.

Part II: Avid Reader
Avernite shares some thoughts about Timelines.

canonized: So you've read through Timelines and we've just ended our first season . What're your thoughts so far ?

Avernite: Your mind has more twists than mine. Do you even keep track of what you are doing, or do you simply have five complete books that you are just weaving together? Sometimes, it's extremely hard for me as reader to follow what’s going on, yet somehow the story always ends up coherent again. It's almost miraculous. Also, I think the dual-time concept works very well to give cliffhangers, and a lot of depth in the story

canonized: Haha well it's almost felt like a miracle going on for this long . How are your thoughts on the length so far of the work ?

Avernite: I love it. At the rate you keep updating, the story can't be long enough for me

canonized: Over the course of Season I , we've seen many characters in many different areas of the world . Do you have any favourites among the current cast or places they've been to ?

Avernite: I felt so sad for poor Antonio. But really, I like those guys like Renault and Isabella best, the ones solving the problems rather than the ones getting into trouble

canonized: As you also know , we have a plethora of added bonuses which include pictures or other works by myself and by other authors although this is a primarily narrative AAR . How do you like the bonuses added on ?

Avernite: I like the pictures, especially the ones giving tiny clues to decipher. I prefer book series that are dozens of books long, that foreshadow in book 1 what happens in book 7

canonized: Speaking of foreshadowing , the end of Season I left some mysteries still yet to be solved . After over 50 chapters , how effective do you think has the suspense been so far ?

Avernite: IT IS KILLING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, it's been pretty good, the right amount for an internet AAR. It'd be a bit on the low side or a book, but the internet has different standards

canonized: As you know , this interview segment has been part of Timelines for a while and , including your interview , we're continuing to expand and reaching out to even non-writers so that we can showcase the different personalities of the board . What might your comments be on the interviews we do here on Timelines ?

Avernite: Well, they are pretty nice. Especially the ones for relatively known people, who I had read about earlier. I admit I skipped a few by people I don't know, just not as interesting

canonized: Lastly , as we round out season I , do you have any guesses on what the Timepiece is or what it does ?

Avernite: Well, something with antimatter in it seems a bit conservative, but a black hole sounds silly. SO I guess it's exotic matter, maybe the type that opens wormholes, or bends light so you can see nothing in it. Maybe even 'dark energy'...

Part III: Lycanthropy
In his element , Avernite and I discuss his board past time.

canonized: It's actually kind of funny because the first time you came to say hi to us on the thread , a few days later I released a chapter where Jakob invited the game of Werewolf amongst his friends , haha . Tell us how you got into the WW scene on the Paradox Forums , please .

Avernite: Ehh... I joined the second ever WW game on the OT forums, because it seemed a bit fun, and heck. No one needs to be in anything to join, you just post saying you join. And since I did that a lot, I got to be part of the scene

canonized: WW and WW Lite seem to be some of the more enduring games played on the forum ; I remember when I looked into it , the gameplay reminded me a little of the psychological games played in Diplomacy . What makes WW fun for you ?

Avernite: The treachery, the backstabbing, and the horrible mistakes you figure out at the end. Especially the horrible mistakes that you could have prevented, like someone saying 'HE is evil, not I!' and then, after you kill him and later lose the game, you find out that said he was in fact evil

canonized: You yourself have been quite notorious in the game as having won the most out of anyone . Could you share with us some of your secrets for success ?

Avernite: Not being notorious. I myself was a bit surprised when the rankings came out, I had simply acquired that score by simply being around a lot. After the scores were published, I promptly got killed early a lot of times, the same as had happened after I blew up the village from the evil side and won that way. Notorious=dead in WW.

canonized: Do you have any particular opponents that you consider rivals ?

Avernite: YAKMAN! ARRR! We both slew each other dozens of times, to both our detriments. But I usually won out, because he was nuts

canonized: Do you also see any WritAARs participating in WW games ?

Avernite: ehh... I think some of them wrote AARs, especially among the more casual WW gamers who play 1 or 2 games, but most are off-topic junkies

canonized: Although there is usually a divide between the OT games and AARland , what can you say to WritAARs and ReadAARs out there to encourage them to participate in other Paradox Community activites ?

Avernite: Don't join the OT! It kills your life, sucks up your time, and is generally much less relaxed than AARland. Though it's a fun place to be, and has some really cool discussions too. If you think you can stomach it, do hop by

canonized: And lastly , as a forumite , what might your future plans be ? Perhaps an AAR is on the horizon or are you going to be an eligible readAAR for a good while longer ?

Avernite: I keep planning AARs, I once had a nice idea for terra universalis (a discontinued EU2 mod), but somehow I never quite manage to get something done or keep it going. But maybe, someday, I will figure it out and make one.

canonized: Well we wish you luck in the future ! Thank you once again for being on the programme today ! I wanted to thank our readers for tuning in again for this week’s interview ! We hope you all enjoyed it ! We hope you all tune in again next week when we’ll have our newest friend English Patriot on the programme !

[Avernite]

Well, the first time ever anyone wishes to know MY Werewolf strategy

The rest just hangs me if I have a too good one.


But it was nice to get interviewed

[coz1]

Yet again, great interview canonized. Really enjoy this series.

[JimboIX]

Nifty interview

[Judas Maccabeus]

I've been in a couple of the WW games (plus a few lites) and always ended up dead early. I think one time I was the first one killed. My sort of luck, eh? Wish I still had time for that...

[canonized]

Avernite: Glad to have had you on the show !!

coz1: thank you , sir !

JimboIX: thanks it was a fun one with Avernite and his Lycanthropic ways .

Judas Maccabeus: Wow ! did not know that about you , JM !! how exciting , any horror stories ? XD

[Lotus-6]

Nice family tree!

[canonized]

Nice family tree!

Yeah , JM did a great job on it ! Very well researched !

[Murmurandus]

Murmurandus: And how about you , young man ! Where's that parody I asked for XD . Just kidding , no pressure !

...

No, really, maybe, I find the time when things slow down at work... Just maybe... maybe...

[Murmurandus]

Loved the family tree, I really love to see it in CK2 for example...

Nice interview once again indeed...

[canonized]

Loved the family tree, I really love to see it in CK2 for example...

Nice interview once again indeed...

Thanks Murmy , I'm very glad for guest authors and also guests for the interview for livening up this Showcase Week . Speaking of Guest authors another one will be posting today in just a few moments !

[Woody Man]

Gentlemen, it is my honour to write a small piece for Canonized. I decided to write an alternative version of Gunpowder plot in a Catholic England to fit it into the Timelines world.

I do hope you all enjoy,

English Patriot.


Richard stepped out of the tavern and into the cold London air, the sky was unrepentantly dark, clouds covered the moon and stars. There was shouting from across the street and in the distance a dog barked. Tall silhouettes spiked up against the night sky and it was at that moment Richard decided that he preferred Ireland, not just for the freedom, but for the rolling hills and valley’s, the quiet towns, and most of all, the absence of London. Richard had always hated London, noisy, brutish and dangerous above all. He had spent his youth in a Kensington townhouse drinking, whoring and fighting. After years in a self-imposed exile, he never expected, nor wanted, to return to Catholic England.

Richard hated the papists, and the Spaniards that had defeated them so badly in the late 1560’s. It was this hatred and the love of a free country that brought him back to the cesspit of London. A plot, a gunpowder plot, it had been named, was brought to Richards knowledge by a man called Francis O’Donnell, a committed protestant in Ireland, he in turn had heard it from a Gentleman named William Somerset who seemed to be the ringleader. The plan? Even Richard had no love for it, it was foolishly ambitious, to lay gunpowder among the foundations of Parliament, and blow it up, along with the Catholic King and his family. Somerset would then, with other freedom fighters, liberate the Royal Children and place a suitable protestant on the throne of England.

Richard had been chosen to lay and light the gunpowder. A perilous job no doubt, but he had experience. For the previous three years he had fought as a military engineer in Ireland fighting the immigrant Catholics. The wars had been ruthless, more raid and pillage than pitched battle, Richard had lost his own family in the war, murdered by the catholic backlash. It was with revenge he would light the gunpowder and break England from Spain’s grasp. Richard checked his watch, three in the morning, he whispered the three out loud over and again before placing his watch into his doublet and making his way down to Westminster.

Richard had posed for the past two months as a workman named John Johnson for the past few months and had gained access to the Parliament undercroft where, as the days went by he stored more and more barrels of gunpowder were stored in preparation of the opening of Parliament. Richard had decided to spend the early hours of the morning there to make sure it went off without a hitch. The other conspirators had left for Warwickshire and the midlands to incite a protestant revolt against the Spanish sponsored papist monarchy. Tomorrow would be the big day, Richard wasn’t nervous, or tense, only a strange sense of a loss of control presided over him, his feet seemed to walk him to the Parliament cellars and into the undercroft.

The undercroft was dark and the stone foundations cold to the touch, Richard could vaguely make out the 36 barrels of gunpowder spread throughout the cellar disguised under winter fuel and other sundries. All it required was the fuse and Richard to light it.

“Good Morning Mr Shakeshaft” Came a clear voice cutting through the cellar air

Richard didn’t move, he kept his eyes fixated on the barrels ahead of him, his hands half way in his doublet.

“I cannot commend you on your choice of cover names, John Johnson is not very imaginative” The man continued as he began to descend into the undercroft.

Richard straightened his back and pulled his hands out of his doublet and placed them at his sides, his fingers itching to curl round his Rapiers handgrip.

“Who are you sir?” Richard finally spoke, it wasn’t one of his fellow freedom fighters, he knew them by the sound of their voice, this man was not one of them.

“Fawkes, Guy Fawkes at your service, Captain of the Guard” The Captain stopped behind Richard, three other soldiers swarmed around Richard tugging his Rapier from its scabbard and pulling his touch paper and matches from his now unsteady hands. Richard kept silent, his head held low as the soldiers bound his wrists in Irons and began to drag him from the undercroft. More soldiers arrived, their cuirasses shining brightly against the torchlight which now illuminated the previously dim cellar.

“We Loyalists can thank the Imperial Spanish Intelligence network for your capture Mr Shakeshafte” Fawkes mocked.

Once again, Richard was dragged out into the cold air of London, his feet dragging on the cobblestones underneath him. The streets were empty, but for one man, Francis O’Donnell, hidden in the pitch black shadows of Westminster he watched Shakeshafte dragged from the undercroft and into the cold winter night. The plot had failed, the soldiers had found the gunpowder. Francis slipped away and began to run down the dark alleys, he was half tempted to run to Denmark or Muscovy alone and not tell the others. But loyalty got the better of Francis. Richard would only last for so long in an interrogation and when he broke, everyone would be in mortal danger. Francis ran down into the empty streets of London and towards his waiting horse. Spanish spies are everywhere, he despaired. Francis hauled himself onto his horse, his body weak from running and fear, he sat for a moment, gasping for air, his body reeling as if assailed by invisible blows. Poor Richard, Francis thought before spurring his horse northwards to Dunchurch.

*****

Richard couldn’t sleep, he hadn’t slept for days, only lingering in a state of semi consciousness, if he had a mirror he could see how ill he looked. At the sound of footsteps Richards eyes flashed open and he pushed himself upright. Iron keys knocked into one another as the Gaoler rammed the correct key into the lock and pushed open the caged door. Fawkes strolled in, as casual as he was the night of the arrest.

“The King has given his consent that you be tortured in so far that you reveal the whereabouts of these other traitors to the crown”

Fawkes waited as if expecting a reply from Richard, he gave none, only stared into Fawkes searching eyes. Fawkes seemed disappointed at the silent reply and nodded to the soldiers standing at the doorway. Richard was dragged once again from the cell and down the stone corridors. The journey wasn’t long and soon enough Richard was seated upon a small wooden chair, the room was strangely warm, the stone floor covered in damp hay as if it had been raining inside. Richard was tied to the chair, only Fawkes and another soldier remained, Fawkes kept his eyes on Richard while the other began to clean various tools at a darkened corner of the room.

“Just tell us Richard, who were the other traitors?” Fawkes asked, his voice was even and calm, perhaps even calm.

Richard cleared his throat, it was dry and his body ached from hunger and sleeping on a cold stone floor. “We’re not traitors, we did it for England, we must be free, England must always be free”

“Do you realise what you would have done Richard? England is catholic, would you want another religious war? Another Spanish invasion? Spain are our friends now, with them protecting us we know peace and prosperity, we are richer than we ever could have been”

“I do not measure peace in pounds and Guineas” Richard spat

“I do not measure it in lives lost Richard, remember that” Fawkes sighed. The Captain stood up and left before turning to the soldier, “I’ll return in half an hour”

*****

“Richard for gods sake man!” Fawkes shouted “Tell us who employed you to place those gunpowder barrels in the undercroft!”

Richard kept silent, it hurt to talk anyway, his jaw was swollen and probably bruised, his face and chest were wet with blood and he had passed out three times already over the past two days. Fawkes turned from Richard and dragged his hand across his face. He struggled to regain his composure, Fawkes wasn’t an executioner, he was a soldier like Shakeshafte.

“Parliament and the King want you dead Richard, at the very least make it easy on yourself, tell us who you worked with, tell us where they are and you can die a painless death, I promise you.” Fawkes pleaded with Richard.

Richard’s head swayed, his body would collapse if he wasn’t still tied to the chair, he didn’t want to talk, he knew where it would all lead, hung drawn and quartered was the penalty for treason, but Richard didn’t want to be remembered as a traitor, he did it for England he told himself.

“Warwickshire” A breathless voice gasped out, Richard recognised it as his own. “Somerset, O’Donnell” Richard carried on, the words tumbling from his mouth like water from an upturned bucket. Fawkes was taking it all down. Richard slumped against the chair as colours danced in front of his eyes and he began to faint again.

*****

Epilogue

Richard Shakeshafte died in torture, legend tells that Captain Fawkes killed him in mercy. As was expected of a traitor his head was cut off and placed on a spike at the Tower of London. Shakeshafte though was luckier than the other conspirators. Somerset, O’Donnell, Robert Summer, James Barrett, Henry Percy, John Haye, William Rochefort, Robert Kirkham, Sir Richard Travers, Henry Fitzwilliam and Somerset's servant, Thomas Bates were caught at Dunchurch and the surrounding area and brought back to London. All were summarily tried and executed as traitors to the crown. All were hung drawn and quartered and their heads placed on display with Richard Shakeshafte’s. As Fawkes predicted the attempted coup only heightened religious tensions leading to fights between protestant minorities and catholic authorities and a full scale protestant rebellion in Ireland. The 5th of November, the date on which Shakeshafte was discovered and arrested became, by Papal law, a day of rejoicing, God had clearly revealed the terrible plot to the true catholic rulers of England.

As centuries passed historians analysed the events closely, and theorised on what a Protestant England would have looked like, some argued that Spain would not allow a Protestant England in Europe and would seek to invade again, the English fleet was too weak to defend against such an attack and the country would fall again to the Spanish forces. Some modern historians even proposed that the attempted coup was encouraged by the Spanish intelligence network and the English monarchy as a way of strengthening support for the Spanish sponsored monarchy and bringing to light Protestant agitators.

[coz1]

Nice job, English Patriot. I did not mention earlier and should have, but I very much enjoy these further bits of audience participation canonized has instituted. Of course, it also reminds me that I need to get caught up on your AARs, so there is that added bonus.

[ColossusCrusher]

Nice bonus, but I'd rather wear a Guy Fawkes mask than a Richard Shakeshafte mask.
Too much of a mouthful to say.

[Avernite]

That was a nice story indeed, I blame the Spanish intelligence Service! Bunch of SiSsies, the lot of them