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What happened to Britain in the end?
In particular, my proud city of Birmingham?
Britain survives much as it does in our world. Anglicanism is Orthodox by our standards, which is different. The Irish aren't quite so rowdy, so the UK controls all the British isles with the exception of the Normandy Islands. The English language is much the way it is in our timeline as well, given that the French influence that creates Anglo-Norman is already set up in game. However, there is a stronger Saxon influence in the north, though multilingualism dies out in many countries around the world as standardized spelling and dialects appear. The big difference for england is that instead of eventually uniting with Scotland peacefully, there are a long, drawn out series of wars between England and its Gaelic neighbors. Meanwhile, Cornwall decides to be a pest as well (and manages to get its flag on the Union Flag). The Union Flag is a combination of the Cross of St. George (Red on Green) for England, Cross of St. Piran for Cornwall, and the Cross of St. Patrick (White on Green) for the Gaelic nations. Wales, as usual, is left out.

Birmingham sat in a major battle region for the Gaelic Nations and England. However, England spent most of its time trying to hold itself together once it had united the Islands. Something which at times was only possible because of Prussian intervention. What England didn't do was have many wars with Continental Europe until the modern age. I think there was at least one, but I cannot think of it off the top of my head.

I mean RL Quebec
with the separatists and all
Well, they are just Breton instead. ;)


So close to done with update...
 
Bastions
Chapter Forty Two: Twilight in the East
Part 1


Prelude:
The succession of Tarnovo under Prince Constantine was followed by the leader of the Serbian rebels, Stefan Dušan, declaring himself Tsar of the Serbs. The Bulgarians used this to their advantage and slipped out "unnoticed" while the Roman Empire faced invasion from two sides. In the east, Armenia quickly made huge gains, including capturing the ever important island of Cyprus. In the west, Serbia marched southwards, conquering the core of Hellas. Emperor Æthelstan was left vulnerable, retreating from the public eye and leaving more and more power in the hands of his sister Isabel and his wife Helena. The two women essentially ruled the Empire, starting a period known as the "Haremocracy". Isabel was the most powerful woman in the world, and one of the most powerful people over-all. But there was a light in the distance for Isabel; she was still of child bearing age, and if she could forge a marriage with a powerful neighbor, she could unite Rome with another state, usurping her brother and securing her own standing in the world. However, Rome was surrounded by only by enemies. There was no state that would think of forging such bonds with Isabel. But there was one state that could use an ally and was looking for an excuse to invade Armenia: the Seljuk Empire. In the past, the once might Seljuks would have simply stated their intentions to invade and would have quickly received a writ of surrender. Now they had to find allies like any other nation at war. Within, their political structure was crumbling as the power shifted away from the monarchy and toward powerful warlords that controlled the territories.

SiegeofRome.png

Rome's military situation in 1365.

February 20th, 1365

The stench of sweat and shame hung heavily over Isabel as she clawed around the bed sheets for her clothes. Warlord Afzal bin Yaqub watched with a smile, sweat still running down his bare chest. "You know," he started, thoughts of a round four growing in his head, "The Egyptians have paid me greatly for my loyalty. I am not sure you have earned my trust. I command the army of Syria; I surround the lands of Jerusalem; I am worth more than this, am I not?" Isabel looked at him wearily: her shoulder sore from several bites and her legs drained of their normal strength from hours of convincing. But her weariness, her shame fed Afzal's glee. He wanted to see the most powerful woman in Europe naked and crying in front of him. It made him think of metaphors for his poetry later. But most of all, when the Seljuks collapsed, he wanted to know he could quickly gobble up Armenia and guarantee his dominance over the Near East. He would be a slave no more. And if he could, he'd snatch this Roman up and make her his bride, and then he would usurp the crown of the Seljuks for his future sons. The possibilities were endless.

"What would you have me do, Warlord?" she asked.

"Join me; bear my sons so that I might rule the world with you at my side. Convert to the light of Islam and together we shall rule East and West." As he spoke he but his hands on her hips and tried to force her around. Isabel knew she was too far gone, her methods had backfired. But she had put much into this mission, so she nodded as she lowered herself on to him.

"But you shall owe me a dowry," she said.

"Anything for the Queen!"

"I want the Queen of Cities: the whole of Rome to bow before us!"

But in Constantinople, Emperor Æthelstan was none the wiser, believing his sister had left to secure trade and peace with the Seljuks. Lord-Protector Doyvát had remained through the winter, despite the encroaching of the Serbians. He planned to understand the Romans thoroughly before he left. It meant working with them as a sort of advisor, despite his own treacheries he was the best thing going for the Romans. Rome needed to have its fat trimmed. The Prussian Prince watched as Æthelstan ate honey smothered fruits off a plate of solid gold. "How long do you think you have with your sister working behind your back?" he asked honestly.

Æthelstan put his next fruit down and looked at his guest quizzically, "What do you mean?"

"Really? You do not sense that you are in terrible danger with her running things?" Doyvát said in a very matter-of-fact tone. He scratched at a week of beard growth and watched the Emperor shrug and continue with his lunch. "Indrátsak! My lord, this is idiotic. I am literally watching you sleep through the destruction of the Roman Empire. You are not Caesar! You are not Augustus! Those men had to work to make Rome safe, the Serbians and Armenians are not just going to stop because you want them too. They will march on this city and then what will you do?"

Æthelstan finished his fruit and then sat there blankly. "I don't know," he said after a brief pause.

"You... you don't know? Your plan thus far has been eat fruit, wait for sister to solve everything, and then resume collecting taxes as normal? Do you get how stupid that is?"

"Please," a voice from behind said, "Leave my husband alone, you put so much stress on him... It does him no good." Helena walked over to her husband and draped her arms around him. She glared at Doyvát who just continued stroking his stubble.

"Helena, I have to ask you. Why listen to Isabel? What does she know? She whores herself out for power, but forgets that puts her at the mercy of others. She turns to the Seljuks for help overthrowing the monarchy, but where does that leave you?" Doyvát said. Then after a brief thought he said, "Safe... actually. The Seljuks are on the verge of collapse and civil war. The Turkish Sultan shall be no more, her Warlords forced to fend for themselves. Egypt will make its move. Her deals witll yield nothing."

Helena shook with anger, but Æthelstan seemed to wake, "What do you mean 'overthrow the monarchy?'" Doyvát took out a folded piece of parchment, the seal broken but still intact enough to be identified as Isabel's. He handed it to the Emperor who read over it briefly and then turned in horror to his wife. "This says you are supposed to keep me distracted and that she'd be returning in a month or so. 'If you can let the Serbians take Athens so Constantinople is cut off from Morea'?" He pushed her off of his shoulders and stood up.

"It is a fake, that damn Prussian has stolen your sister's seal! I have seen him poking around in places he does not belong, speaking to those who should be left alone!" She pointed an accusing finger at Doyvát who just shrugged.

"I am only a knight, my lady. Not a spy master. You give me far too much credit." Doyvát could not stop a malicious smile from spreading across his face. "Æthelstan, I strongly suggest that you surrender to the Serbians before they get too many visions of grandeur in their heads. Then you can focus solely on Armenia again."

"That is exactly what a Prussian would say! Husband, he is trying to weaken Rome! Weaken you!"

"What about Isabel and the Seljuks?" Æthelstan asked.

"Forget about them. Don't send a ship to pick her up, and the Seljuks will dissolve soon enough anyway," Doyvát said. Æthelstan nodded and then, pushing Helena away, sat back down. Failure hung about him as if it was a dark cloud. "Once they do, they will be no threat to Rome. Cut your losses in the Balkans. They are Christian and can be brought back in the fold. Don't lose to Armenia."

Æthelstan nodded and he turned to his wife, "Leave... while I still care for you enough not to have you killed." Doyvát watched as Helena slowly turned and then ran from the room.

"There is much to be done, my lord, and I cannot promise Rome will emerge unscathed. But it will emerge under your rule," Doyvát said sternly.

The Emperor dismissed his plate holder and fanners with a flick of his wrist and then turned to face Doyvát directly, "Then what should I do?"
 
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Thanks for the maps! The world is fascinating.

Watching the Emperor wake up is certainly a change. Now to see what he will do, and if he can become an actual ruler.
 
The Emperor dismissed his plate holder and fanners with a flick of his wrist and then turned to face Doyvát directly, "Then what should I do?"

What Only Romans would do: DANCE!
 
Thanks for the maps! The world is fascinating.

Watching the Emperor wake up is certainly a change. Now to see what he will do, and if he can become an actual ruler.
No problem, more maps to come. ;)

What Only Romans would do: DANCE!
He might, but his troubles are far from over.

Poor Æthelstan... I'm sure that the Lord Protector will save him however. A big Rome is a rival, but a Rome that is only a regional power could be a great friend.
Maybe. Rome's people and leaders still resent Prussia something fierce.

Why would a Prussian want Romaion to survive? :p
Rome makes a good wall between the soft underbelly of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Muslim invaders. Prussia isn't fond of being on the wall, so to speak.
 
Your present day maps got me wondering; what happens to Montana in this timeline? It looks like western Montana got settled from California, or at least conquered by it, but I recall that whites only make up around 10% of the population, so is it mostly natives there? Eastern Montana looks like it's aligned with the GNI, so I'm guessing it got mostly western European immigration. In general though, what's life like in both parts of the State, how did it get like that, and does my hometown of Bozeman exist there?

Also, since this is my first post in the thread I feel obliged to tell you that this is the finest worldbuilding I've ever read, with a damned good narrative too. The amount of work that must have gone into it is pretty mindblowing.
 
Interesting, I would be a Frandist Iberian in this world. The maps look great by the way.
 
Your present day maps got me wondering; what happens to Montana in this timeline? It looks like western Montana got settled from California, or at least conquered by it, but I recall that whites only make up around 10% of the population, so is it mostly natives there? Eastern Montana looks like it's aligned with the GNI, so I'm guessing it got mostly western European immigration. In general though, what's life like in both parts of the State, how did it get like that, and does my hometown of Bozeman exist there?

Also, since this is my first post in the thread I feel obliged to tell you that this is the finest worldbuilding I've ever read, with a damned good narrative too. The amount of work that must have gone into it is pretty mindblowing.
Welcome to the thread, and I am glad you have enjoyed it thus far. The work has been plentiful, but it has never really seemed like it. I usually work on it when I have little else to do, or when I've had some ideas and I need to put them down before I forget them.

Montana, as you stated, is split between California in the west and GNI in the East. In California settling of the region by whites was only opened up in the late 1990s. Most whites, though, do not want to leave white-majority regions like in the south and the northwest corner. In GNI the region is a reserve, meaning it can only be inhabited by natives. Both California and GNI have had major issues with the natives. Especially in the western regions of the GNI's open territories, most people are of the Métis People, or mixed-race. Most of the interior of North America is still pagan, still speak local native languages. Natives were less susceptible to disease due to earlier contacts with Icelandic traders and settlers.

Bozeman is part of California and speaks one of the Great Basin languages, though there are large Blackfoot populations. Life quality has been improving since the end of Segregation, though the city's economy is still mostly in whole due to years of essentially enforced poverty. California is the South Africa of our world, and is facing many of the same issues with racial inequality and tensions.

I wanna know what happened in the Pacific. I mean, the islands. From Malaysia to Micronesia, up to Guam and Hawaii.
is Hawaii Prussian?
Hawai'i is a Federal Republic and was Dutch for its short period under colonialism. There is still a large Pagan presence there, despite Franda Islam being the official religion of the Republic. Most islands in the pacific were divided between France and the Netherlands. Though Japan also played a large role, to a lesser extend Sweden and England too. The Netherlands, Sweden, England and France all had colonial empires in the western ends of the Pacific, usually near the Indian Ocean. The Netherlands held the New Netherlands (Australia + Papua New Guinea); France controlled New Bretony (New Zealand); Sweden controlled Gustavia (Indonesia); England had Georgia (Philippines).

It is kind of hard to give the Pacific Islands much history because not much happened to them. Many still speak native languages, many are still pagan. Those that are not usually took the religion and language of their colonial power. Since neither World War took place in the Pacific the islands never became anything important. Their resources were never all that important. Some are still under local or even European powers. Most have formed up into Federal Powers, but essentially act as independent nations.

Gustavia, the Swedish colony, suffered a major break up. Its independence was mandatory following the end of World War Two, along with all other Swedish colonies. Essentially went through a period of White rule from the White and Frandist regions of the colony, and then slowly broke up along ethnic and religious lines. There are still a few regions in Gustavia that are not white. There are also several city-states scattered through former Swedish colonies that are not Muslim or White. However, this is a more recent thing. They were part of Gustavia with special status, though eventually grew tired of losing much of their income to fight wars with local rebels, so eventually left the former colony and set up their own governments.

Gustavia.png



Interesting, I would be a Frandist Iberian in this world. The maps look great by the way.
Thanks.
 
So did Prussia even do anything historically significant in the late 20th century? I was hoping Prussia would be a major power or at least be a major influence in world affairs.
 
So did Prussia even do anything historically significant in the late 20th century? I was hoping Prussia would be a major power or at least be a major influence in world affairs.
Very much so, it fought in both World Wars, was the head of the Communists during the cold war, and a major player in the EU after it is created. However, since the story deals with Prussia, I want to leave something for the story to tell, so I avoid Prussia during some of the smaller updates.

Wait. I'm French? AND PROBABLY CATHOLIC?

LEGASP

Also is that Brunei?

France and the French people are Frandist, Catholicism died during Homelands. Yes, there is an independent Brunei. Brunei is one of the Swedish City States that I mentioned.
 
So the Emperor finally comes to terms with his ineptitude. Surely this bodes well for Prussia. Yet, none of this really matters when Timur arrives.
Bwuhahaha!

Are you gonna continue this into Vicky? Or even HOI? Or wait, didn't you say you didn't like HOI?
Already have. I have the story through 2012 mapped out as of now.

What happened to India after the Yuan? Was it colonized like our timeline? Or what?
India has its day, colonialism is not as strong so it avoids European rule. I'll elaborate tomorrow.