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He wants to rule and be in charge of a China at the center of the world again. Can’t rule if there’s nobody to rule over.
Sometimes, running away is the best option.
Truth Dies In Darkness
Constantinople - September 12
“You’ve put me into a very tough spot, Vincent,” Jung said.
“I’m only doing my job, sir,” Vincent said.
“Look, I know the last couple years have been rough for you,” Jung said, “You lost Theresa, yes, I get it. But we’ve all lost people these last couple years. It’s been rough for all of us too. But we’ve tried to move on. You, on the other hand, have not. You are not a team player.”
“Really?” Vincent said. “This again?”
“You have been directly named as the primary person of interest in 9 of the 13 libel lawsuits the Kaiser himself has filed against us,” Jung said, “You’re lucky you’re still employed. Frankly, I don’t want to fire you. I’ve done everything I could to keep you employed, because you’re a good journalist, Vincent. I hate to waste such talent. I know you’re dedicated to the job, but let’s be real. The current climate does not like people like you.”
“So you’re firing me,” Vincent said.
“No, and I wouldn’t do that, even if I was asked to,” Jung said, “Not after what happened to the employees of Der Spiegel.”
“You’re putting yourself in danger too,” Vincent said, “Do you want to end up like the CEO of Frankfurter Zeitung?”
“That man had balls standing up for his own employees,” Jung said, “Unfortunately, I admit I am a coward. Which is why I want you to resign.”
“Resign?” Vincent said.
“It’s for the good of the paper,” Jung said, “And I promise you, when this is all over, I will put you at the top of my rehire list. You’ll get your job back. But for now, I need you to lie low and stop attracting so much attention to us.”
Vincent sighed. “Really, Jung?”
“I wouldn’t ask this of you if there was another way,” Jung said.
“There is always another way!” Vincent said. “Theresa would’ve found that way. And what if this never ends? What makes you so sure the committee will just…go away? It won’t, unless people like me and you keep speaking out while we still can. Truth dies in darkness. That’s been our motto since 1836. And the light is going out as we speak. If I go, then I’ll be as bad as the people putting it out. So no, I’m not leaving. I’m going to keep putting out papers as long as I’m still alive.”
Berlin - December 16
“The SWM rollout is going as planned,” Josiah explained, “We’re seeing results in Hamburg several weeks ahead of our benchmarks. At least five cities there have declared themselves free of the rainbow pest.”
“That’s good to hear,” Elias said.
“How soon can we expand it to leftist strongholds like Israel?” Theodor said.
“We’re working on it right now,” Josiah said, “A trial run in Golan Heights is about to conclude in two weeks. We’ll expand it to the rest of Israel after fine-tuning the program.”
“Anyways, moving on to the next order of business,” Elias said, “General Dandolo, I hear there have been tensions on the borders?”
“Yes,” Heinrich said, “Tawantinsuyu has conducted military exercises much closer to the border than we expected. They focused on the north, in the Kleinvenedig region bordering their Caribbean corridor. We have reason to suspect they may be gearing up for an invasion.”
“Increase border patrols and Folger, send a letter to Thordarsson,” Elias said, “I want an answer for this now.”
“Of course,” Brad said.
“Elias, if I may ask,” Jacob said, “What should we do about the death of Georg Mwenemutapa?”
“Oh, Mwenemutapa?” Elias said. “The equalist cop killer in Johansburg? I don’t think you should concern yourself with that. The local authorities are investigating the case.”
“I think we made a bad call calling a drone strike on him,” Jacob said, “Half of Sudafrika is up in arms because of it.”
“It’s nothing SWM can’t handle,” Josiah said.
“And they’re leftists, they deserve to burn in hellfire,” Theodor said.
“Our priority is on Europe,” Elias said, “Africa can wait until the heartland is pacified and realigned on our terms.”
“Really, Elias?” Jacob said. “Then what was all that ‘Africa will not be forgotten’ rhetoric you had me say on the campaign trail?”
“Standard campaign stuff, gets us support from Africa, which I guarantee you we will repay,” Elias said.
“No, you won’t,” Jacob said, “You just used them to get into power, and then you ignored the whole process when you shot up the Diet. You’re never going to remember Africa, because they’re not important to you.”
“This is about equality,” Elias said, “Something the party cartel forgot these last few decades.”
“This was never about equality,” Jacob said, “It was always about control. You always wanted it after your sister died and Thierry, rest his soul, welcomed you into OUR party, giving you an opportunity to do something about it. You never wanted to feel so powerless again, so you took it out on the entire nation! You’re just like the party cartel. Opportunistic and uncaring.”
Elias, Josiah, and Theodor all angrily stared at him.
“What…the…frak…did you just say?!” Elias said, pounding the table.
He took out a pocket knife and flicked open the blade, pointing it at Jacob.
“See?” Jacob said. “You also don’t like opposing viewpoints. You’ve always tried to gaslight and silence me for speaking out, because you won’t tolerate anything contrary to your vision. I’m done being gaslit.”
“Get out,” Elias said.
“I stand corrected,” Jacob said.
“GET OUT!” Elias stabbed the knife into the wood of the table.
Jacob defiantly stood up. “You can’t order me out, because I quit.”
He stormed out of the room, pushing away the Argus guards attempting to escort him out.
“Unlike the rest of you, I’m free!” Jacob said. “You’re all just tools to Elias. He will discard you when he’s done with you! Wake up!”
Nobody else said anything.
Berlin Imperial Cathedral - January 1, 2033
Jacob walked into the cathedral. A mass was in progress, as was tradition on New Year’s Day. He quietly sat in one of the pews and picked up a bible. One of the priests noticed him and walked over.
“Is there anything I can help with, sir?” he said.
“No, not really,” Jacob said.
“You don’t look happy,” the priest said.
“Well, I left my job two weeks ago,” Jacob said.
“Oh,” the priest said, “What happened?”
“Well, my boss was being kind of a control freak, and I couldn’t put up with him any longer,” Jacob said.
“You made the right call, getting out of a situation like that,” the priest said.
“Did I?” Jacob said. “Feels like I abandoned my coworkers to him. They’re all too scared of him to say anything.”
“Only God knows,” the priest said.
“Honestly, I’ve been very…doubtful lately,” Jacob said, “Things are crazy these days. Taurica’s building internment camps for kids, rioters are being shot in Cordoba, and half of Sudafrika is up in flames. Did God really want all this? Did he let this happen?”
“God works in mysterious ways,” the priest said, “He has a plan for all of us.”
“Did he have a plan for Mwenemutapa?” Jacob said. “A man who was blown up in a drone strike for no reason? Did he have a plan for my boss? Did he have a plan for all those kids in the Taurica camps?”
“I…I can’t give you your answers, sir,” the priest said.
“I…I know that,” Jacob said, “I’m just…conflicted. What is my legacy going to be like? I was responsible for so much suffering over the last couple years. I hurt so many people. Will they ever forgive me? Can I even change?”
“It’s never too late to seek redemption,” the priest said, “God will always forgive you.”
“If you knew exactly what I did, you would probably agree I don’t deserve forgiveness,” Jacob said, “But if it means my boss is condemned to hell along with me, then so be it.”
“Vengeance is not the path for you, sir,” the priest said, “Not if you want to avoid causing more suffering and pain. What you need is to look within yourself and find the person you were always meant to be. Ask yourself the hard questions. Make the change.”
Jacob thought for a moment.
“Yeah…maybe I will do that,” he said, “I’m going to go home and have a talk with my wife. We’ll figure something out. Get a new job somewhere.”
“That’s more like it,” the priest said.
“Thank you,” Jacob said.
“If you need anything else, we’re always here for you,” the priest said.
Jacob got up and headed for the door. A man in a trenchcoat blocked his way.
“Sir, could you please move?” he said. “I’m trying to leave.”
The man opened his trenchcoat to reveal dozens of sticks of C4 strapped to his body.
“THE GODS ARE AWAKE AND WE ARE THEIR SWORD!” he shouted, blowing himself up.
January 2, 2033
“This cowardly attack in the heart of our capital claimed the life of one of our greatest patriots, Jacob Baldouin,” Wilhelm Karl said, “Baldouin dedicated his life and career for the nation, serving with pride on the committee to bring us all back together as a people. He didn’t hesitate to make the tough calls necessary or provide corrective feedback to his peers when their policies didn’t go so well. He wasn’t scared at all, but he was brave in his line of work. He will be sorely missed by his family, both his blood family and the nation which has adopted him into a larger one. In his honor, I dedicate this new Nullification Act to him. Without further delay, I hereby declare the nullification of the following laws...”
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Damn, poor Jacob is never gonna see his wife again. He had balls, too bad his bravery lead to his death, no doubt due to so called 'terrorists.' Once again I say this, it's all going further downhill from here yet again, and it seems Vincent is right, the light is fast fading away. And what few people that might want to voice out the injustices are too afraid or are conveniently silenced. Well, at this rate I might actually root for Thoardsson and his Confederatiion, lord knows they're one of the few nations, as well as India that still have their heads on their shoulders.
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Rip Jacob, he finally got of Elias’ gaslighting, only to be blown up by him along with one of the Reich’s major cathedrals. And something tells me that his last act of f resistance will get Africa as a whole punished along with many minorities punished in the new nullification act mentioned at the end. Seems like the last memeber of the CB to believe in Thierry’s vision is gone. It seems the vultures are all that’s left.
I’m glad Vincent still fighting to keep make sure the truth still shines bright in the world and keeping Theresa’s legacy alive, but it will be hard to keep it alight when the Reich under the Committee doesn’t really care about freedom of press. Plus Diana did say that Vincent is doomed to be killed by Josh along with his Theresa and the X-Division team.
I’m glad Vincent still fighting to keep make sure the truth still shines bright in the world and keeping Theresa’s legacy alive, but it will be hard to keep it alight when the Reich under the Committee doesn’t really care about freedom of press. Plus Diana did say that Vincent is doomed to be killed by Josh along with his Theresa and the X-Division team.
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Jacob's death is quite tragic, I wonder what terrorist group the guy belonged too. "Gods" plural obviously brings to mind the Norse, but there's no shortage of polytheistic religions that are getting repressed by the Reich.
The destruction of the Berlin cathedral also gives Elias a prime opportunity to construct a new replacement with suitable aesthetics for the New Order. "A grand cathedral reborn for a grand state reborn!"
The number of people we can actually root for is rapidly going down...
His final act of defiance has been twisted around to serve the committee and go against everything he wanted. Quite an ironic legacy he ended up with.
Who knows? Maybe the future can still be changed.
His quote is frequently used by Mexicanist terrorists to proclaim their faith in the Mexica gods, with some variations as the years go on.
Oh no, the cathedral itself is fine. The explosion wasn't destructive enough to take down such a large building. But I guarantee you, if it was destroyed, Elias would certainly take the opportunity to rebuild it in his image.
I am currently at page 212 starting on “The Truth''. Meaning that I am currently 72 pages away. I am about to read the story arc titled “THE TRUTH” which I believe you said on page 211 that it would be the last story arc of the X-Division. In a way this is really bittersweet because on one hand I am excited to start reading about new characters. I am very interested in the story arc you mentioned involving Wilhelm Karl because as much as he is already ticking me off from this point (he isn't even Kaiser for me yet) I find myself more interested in evil characters. This is true in both fiction and in real life historical figures because it is always interesting to learn about how good people became evil as opposed to learning about the stereotypical good guy. It is sad because even though I have not seen the shows that these arcs are based on, you still get attached to these characters and it is sad to see them go.
A part of me is wondering if the Annionaverse was infiltrating the Hohenzollern universe. My theory being that every time the Smoking Man came back from the dead he could have been a shapeshifter.
I know the X-Division story is most likely over but a part of me hopes that if the X-Division appears again the younger members like Annie and Anna and the main characters' kids like Anders and Diana’s son whom I believe is called Alex or Max. I also hope that the original members like Anders, Angela, Diana, Uncle Walther, and Olga, get to live out the rest of their lives in peace like they deserve at this point due to saving the world multiple times up to 2013 alone. Also I took another sneak-peek on one of the latest updates ``Defending the Heimat” and saw that at least Anders was still around. This got me thinking if the other original characters are still around in the 2030’s they have to be somewhere between 60 and 70 years old by now since they look like they are in their 20’s to 30’s in the snippets of the show that I have seen (I am not the best at determining someone's age).
Lastly I have noticed that for most of the story arcs since HOI3 have been like the season title “THE STORM” followed by the episode “Transparency” followed by parts like 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. But in the latest arcs starting with “THE FORUM (PART 1)” you only have an episode name like “The Drivers of Change” and the time it covers and I was wondering why the change? Did you do it to make it more in line with the gameplay updates?
I have not forgotten about the Cyberpunk updates. I still plan on doing those but I want to wait until TTL enters its own 2070’s. I am also unsure what format to do those updates. For example I don’t know if I should just do an edited version of the database entries for the countries and megacorps that you see in the game, the beginning of the wiki page in were it summarizes the faction like how on Wikipedia if you look up the USA it gives you a summary of the country including its history before the meat of the article, or just the history of the country/corporation, or rewrite the entire wiki page and include the services the corps provide? Part of me doesn't want to do the last one because I feel like they would provide the same services just and just have a different history.
So in the meantime I was wondering if I could post some country bios for Tianxia (KR mod) like CaptainAlvious did for the Volkerschlact (KR mod), that is, if he doesn't plan on doing some himself for Tianxia? I currently have about six countries so far. I recently read the discussions about Tianxia on pages 196, 200, 201, and 202 and liked what I read. I was wondering if I can use those discussions and throw in ideas that I got from HOI4 mods like the upcoming Fraternité en Rébellion mod? It is a mod that tries to answer the question “What if the French Revolution never happened?”.
Also I was wondering what the Victoria 2 mod Divergences of Darkness world would be like in TTL’s 1836? A Mod in which the English win the Hundred Years' War. along with other things like the Duke of Burgundy not dying the way he did leaving Burgundy split up between France and Austria. The Kalmar Union servicing and forming Scandinavia and taking over Scotland in a political marriage leading to House of Stewart becoming the rulers of Scandinavia instead of Great Britain. You also have Zheng He continue his voyages leading to the discovery of Australia and California called Zhourao and Qingqiu respectively. You also had Japan unite by 1836 under the Oda clan with a colony in Alaska called Kita Kaigan.
Also sorry for the wall of text if it gets annoying just tell me.
A part of me is wondering if the Annionaverse was infiltrating the Hohenzollern universe. My theory being that every time the Smoking Man came back from the dead he could have been a shapeshifter.
I know the X-Division story is most likely over but a part of me hopes that if the X-Division appears again the younger members like Annie and Anna and the main characters' kids like Anders and Diana’s son whom I believe is called Alex or Max. I also hope that the original members like Anders, Angela, Diana, Uncle Walther, and Olga, get to live out the rest of their lives in peace like they deserve at this point due to saving the world multiple times up to 2013 alone. Also I took another sneak-peek on one of the latest updates ``Defending the Heimat” and saw that at least Anders was still around. This got me thinking if the other original characters are still around in the 2030’s they have to be somewhere between 60 and 70 years old by now since they look like they are in their 20’s to 30’s in the snippets of the show that I have seen (I am not the best at determining someone's age).
Lastly I have noticed that for most of the story arcs since HOI3 have been like the season title “THE STORM” followed by the episode “Transparency” followed by parts like 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. But in the latest arcs starting with “THE FORUM (PART 1)” you only have an episode name like “The Drivers of Change” and the time it covers and I was wondering why the change? Did you do it to make it more in line with the gameplay updates?
I have not forgotten about the Cyberpunk updates. I still plan on doing those but I want to wait until TTL enters its own 2070’s. I am also unsure what format to do those updates. For example I don’t know if I should just do an edited version of the database entries for the countries and megacorps that you see in the game, the beginning of the wiki page in were it summarizes the faction like how on Wikipedia if you look up the USA it gives you a summary of the country including its history before the meat of the article, or just the history of the country/corporation, or rewrite the entire wiki page and include the services the corps provide? Part of me doesn't want to do the last one because I feel like they would provide the same services just and just have a different history.
So in the meantime I was wondering if I could post some country bios for Tianxia (KR mod) like CaptainAlvious did for the Volkerschlact (KR mod), that is, if he doesn't plan on doing some himself for Tianxia? I currently have about six countries so far. I recently read the discussions about Tianxia on pages 196, 200, 201, and 202 and liked what I read. I was wondering if I can use those discussions and throw in ideas that I got from HOI4 mods like the upcoming Fraternité en Rébellion mod? It is a mod that tries to answer the question “What if the French Revolution never happened?”.
Also I was wondering what the Victoria 2 mod Divergences of Darkness world would be like in TTL’s 1836? A Mod in which the English win the Hundred Years' War. along with other things like the Duke of Burgundy not dying the way he did leaving Burgundy split up between France and Austria. The Kalmar Union servicing and forming Scandinavia and taking over Scotland in a political marriage leading to House of Stewart becoming the rulers of Scandinavia instead of Great Britain. You also have Zheng He continue his voyages leading to the discovery of Australia and California called Zhourao and Qingqiu respectively. You also had Japan unite by 1836 under the Oda clan with a colony in Alaska called Kita Kaigan.
Also sorry for the wall of text if it gets annoying just tell me.
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And so ends Jacob, probably one of the most complicated (at least in terms of his legacy) characters of this entire arc. I wonder if any of his coworkers, his former friends, even stop to consider how convenient his death was for Elias after Elias' temper tantrum.
So, like the Nazi Germania plan for Berlin in OTL then. I wouldn’t be surprised if Elias and the Comitee weren’t too fond of post-modernist architectural styles in many Roman cities and favor more traditional styles.
That sounds fun. I might be able to share some notes I have lying around depending on what countries you plan to do, but for the most part I haven’t fully developed the lore for that universe so you’re free to write up your own take. It honestly might take awhile before I finish my final Volkerschalt update, so you can go ahead with the Tianxia updates. That said, I think there a few more discussions from pages 226-237 that might interest you.
I kinda imagine this internal map of the Reich’s vassals in Chapter 45 of CK2 plus the list of provinces in both Chapter 155 and Chapter 228 to be close to what the divided Tianxia Reich would look like, particularly in Germany, with a few exceptions that I and Zen might have mentioned and implied in previous Kaisereich discussions on this thread (like the Schweinfurt “African” holdings being split apart and Italy balkanized, Greece and Syria being combined into a theocratic Byzantine state under the Ecumenical Patriarch, the Arabian lands of Israel possibly being split off into its own country (with Southern Arabia/OTL Yemen, Oman and the UAE being under a Republic of Socotra,) and the Hohenzollern personal demense being absorbed by surrounding states.)
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Yeah, I definitely felt the same way when writing them. In a way, over the two years I spent writing their story, they slowly evolved into completely original characters instead of just the name-swapped homages many of them started out as.
The Annionaverse only started sending shapeshifters in the 90s and early 2000s, chiefly as sleeper agents in low level roles to gather intelligence. Walternate was unaware of both universes’ Syndicate/Sentinel conspiracies (despite the shapeshifter designs being implied to have been indirectly derived from Jotun shapeshifters) and stuck to easier targets like random civilians. All shapeshifter operations stopped after Anna created the bridge.
Annie was born in 1960 and is Anders’ older sister, while Anna was born around 1972-3 and is his younger sister. They are pretty much the same generation as Anders. Annie, Anders, and Angela have almost the same birthdates as Samantha and Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in X-Files (retconning Anders’ first appearance in the moon landing update), so yes they were in their 20s-30s in the 90s just like Mulder and Scully were in the original run of the show (as a result, they do not have the same ages as the cast of Fringe). Anna, though, is a few years older than Peter Bishop to fit with the timeline of the Humboldt/Mulder family, and I moved the year of the first crossing up from 1985 to 1977 both to accommodate this and because I thought it would be more realistic for Anna to forget the incident if she was 5 when it happened.
Anders’ and Diana’s son is named Alex, and we focus more on his story later on.
The X-Files and Fringe episodes I covered had a lot of dialogue, so I split them into 2-4 parts as overall they would have been too long even after deleting or rewriting several scenes for better continuity (as the alien conspiracy arc in X-Files is barely consistent within itself, especially in later seasons, and has almost no crossover with non-conspiracy stories). I did have multi part updates before then, but those were my own decision. Since I’m no longer working with existing scripts (although I do incorporate some scenes or dialogue from stuff like Korra if it fits), for subsequent arcs I set the length and pacing of each update, and they tend to be much shorter than professional scripts from a 45-minute episode of a network TV show. There are still multi part updates, but only if I decide they are appropriate, so basically I’m going back to the old structure.
Wiki summaries sound great. If you can write different services, then by all means go for it, but it’s okay if you just use OTL ones.
I think CaptainAlvious has already gotten back to you regarding the KR mods, but as for Fraternité en Rébellion, I think a good starting premise would be “What if the Persian Revolution succeeded.” Since the revolution failed as we know and that led to later waves of revolution and the emergence of Roman meritocracy and united Chinese democracy, having it succeed could cause the Reich and other empires to stay firmly absolutist in opposition to the strange and hostile Persian republic. From there all sorts of things could happen, like we could have a Persian Napoleon, or one of the Chinese dynasties becomes a republic, pan-Eimericanism takes a different course, and so on.
I never thought about Divergences, as the European points of divergence are irrelevant due to happening after 1066 and the Chinese point of divergence ended up happening in some form between the 1200s and 1500s. You would then have to move the European PoDs back to before 1066, but the further back you go the more Europe and its political powers become undefined and ambiguous. Possible PoDs aside from the required “Reich never restored” could be like Islamic conquests not stopping in Iberia or Byzantium entering a wave of conquests and expansion in the Balkans, Italy, and the Middle East. Alternatively, you could possibly do post-1066 points of divergence like the Mexica taking Britannia and possibly more provinces, political intrigue causing some Roman vassals to break free (or maybe a regent kills the Hohenzollern they are ruling for), the Mongols taking Taurica and invading Eastern Europe, and so on (which I believe are more interesting). As for China, points of divergence could include turning inward and not reaching out to find the other exiled dynasties, Shah Rukh going east to establish a Chinese dynasty for himself, and Mali’s colony of Nsorala surviving (possibly as a democratic republic).
Either they don’t care he’s dead, are happy he’s gone, are too scared to say otherwise, or were in on it all along.
They have a very narrow view on what those traditional styles may be.
Also, I think you double posted.
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@CaptainAlvious
In terms of what the divided Reich could look like in Tianxia at least for Europe I was thinking more along the lines of the Regions in Eu4 like this since I believe Zen said the Reich's Provinces were based on the Eu4 Regions and those mentioned in the EU4 parts of the story (Origins of Modernity: The Imperial Provinces 1, 2, and 3) on pages 23, 24, and 24 respectively. But I could be wrong.
I already have China, Scandinavia, Tawantinsuyu, Lithuania, and Russia ready to go. I am thinking of doing the ones on Germany, Italy, Hispania and India in one update for each region like how the devs of the Fraternité en Rébellion mod on Reddit did for the nations of their divided Italy ( )
And the HRE,
( ), ( )
This way I am not posting to many updates.
I looked at page 155 and did not see anything related to Tianxia but I could be blind and not see it. As for page 228 I read that Mittagsland is still around in Tianxia. That confused me because while I understand them being a country in Volkerschalt I thought all of the Reich's Pacific and Oceania including Mittagsland was made into an integral part of China like the Jin/Fusang and Song/Penglai were
I collected as much of the discussion as I could and categorized them by region of the world like Europe, Central Asia/Middle East etc and I will try and make a map in Eu4 using custom nations and take a world screenshot to show both what I think the world would look like along with what you guys think it would look like.
In terms of what the divided Reich could look like in Tianxia at least for Europe I was thinking more along the lines of the Regions in Eu4 like this since I believe Zen said the Reich's Provinces were based on the Eu4 Regions and those mentioned in the EU4 parts of the story (Origins of Modernity: The Imperial Provinces 1, 2, and 3) on pages 23, 24, and 24 respectively. But I could be wrong.
I already have China, Scandinavia, Tawantinsuyu, Lithuania, and Russia ready to go. I am thinking of doing the ones on Germany, Italy, Hispania and India in one update for each region like how the devs of the Fraternité en Rébellion mod on Reddit did for the nations of their divided Italy ( )
And the HRE,
( ), ( )
This way I am not posting to many updates.
I looked at page 155 and did not see anything related to Tianxia but I could be blind and not see it. As for page 228 I read that Mittagsland is still around in Tianxia. That confused me because while I understand them being a country in Volkerschalt I thought all of the Reich's Pacific and Oceania including Mittagsland was made into an integral part of China like the Jin/Fusang and Song/Penglai were
I collected as much of the discussion as I could and categorized them by region of the world like Europe, Central Asia/Middle East etc and I will try and make a map in Eu4 using custom nations and take a world screenshot to show both what I think the world would look like along with what you guys think it would look like.
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I primarily based them on the CK2 duchies required for each “province restored” event, actually, with some changes based on EU4 regions (at least In the version when I was still playing). So the Carpathia province ends at the Carpathian Mountains, and everything east of the mountains is the province of Dacia. Germania includes everything from Germany proper to Poland, Bohemia, and Austria. Gallia is pretty much just France without Alsace-Lorraine and a good chunk of its eastern regions.
Links are nice and all, but be careful with Reddit links because the mods don’t particularly like them, at least from my experience.
Sounds good.
Oh. Thanks for the heads up. Would it have been better to have just said Reddit and the title of the page like "The Italian Peninsula in 1933! Fraternité en Rébellion" as apposed to a link?
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I think you can just put the subreddit name (r/fdrmod) and describe what it is (dev diary about Italy).
I actually was referring to Chapters from previous sections in this this mega-campaign, like EU4 and Vicky 2 respectively, that had list of provinces and smaller duchies listed, but I didn’t post the links to those chapters probably, I fix them tomorrow. In the meantime, you should be able to find them on the table of contents on the first page here through “the Road so Far” chapters. As for Mittagsland, I think that was for Volkerschalt, not Tianxia, as Mittagsland and all the other Roman (and Central Powers in general) pacific colonies were indeed absorbed into the Chinese empire in the Tianxia after their victory.
That is pretty much accurate, tho I thought Normandy was under Britannia’s administration due to the de’ Normandie family governing there and occasionally becoming viceroys of Britannia.
Edit: I edited them to at least take you to the page of those chapters, I’ll try to get direct links to those posts tomorrow.
Edit 2: I got the links to the chapters to work @GhostRider124 , hope they are usefully for inspiration for your own ideas for Tianxia.
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I believe it was, but it is still considered part of the Gallia province.
Little Friedrich
Berlin - February 18
Wilhelmina sat on a chair, holding a newborn baby in her arms. Little Friedrich was very quiet for a baby. Joseph and Lisa were concerned something was wrong with their son. After all, Joseph himself was very fussy when he was born, and Elisabeth Alexandra always told said Wilhelmina herself was quite the aggressive baby. Seemed to run in the family. Well, he seemed to be healthy, even if he was a little premature. Wilhelmina couldn’t believe she was a grandmother now. She was only 51. She thought she would have another few years.
“Uh...hey, little boy,” she said, “I’m your grandmother. I never thought I’d be saying that this soon, but here we are. Anyways, welcome to the family. Your parents and grandparents are so excited to have you. I know I am. Wonder what your first word will be? First memory? I know mine was being in my great-grandmother’s arms at my grandfather’s place in Constantinople, asking where my mom was when she was stuck in Vienna during the war. Hopefully your life gets off to a happier start. Though with how things are right now, I doubt it.”
So far, so good. Just think of it like the parent-child support conversations in Fire Emblem Warriors, she told herself. The ones that changed depending on what Awakening or Exalt's Duty save data was imported. Yeah, something like that. She took a deep breath and rocked Friedrich in her arms. The infant looked up at her, eyes wide and unknowing.
“I always imagined myself in this situation being a lot older and wiser,” Wilhelmina said, “Like my great-grandmother was when I was a kid. She would always give me some great pieces of wisdom to live by. Like, ‘the worst lies are the ones we tell to ourselves’. But no, now that you’re here, I’m not like her at all. I didn’t even keep to that proverb. I’ve lied to myself over and over again.”
Blachernae Palace, Constantinople - 1985
“Stop here, that’s fine, thank you,” Kaiserin Mother Zita said.
The driver pulled up to the curb and got out to open the door. Zita held up her hand and opened the door herself.
“No, it’s okay,” Zita said, “You don’t get to live to my age without doing things yourself.”
She turned to three-year-old Wilhelmina, who sat in a booster seat in the back. Wilhelmina looked back up at her great-grandmother, trying to count all of the wrinkles on her face but failing to count above ten. Zita quickly unbuckled Wilhelmina and hoisted her out.
“Come on, let’s go, my little Willie,” she said, “You don’t want to keep your grandfather waiting, do you?”
“Where’s Mommy?” Wilhelmina said.
“Mommy’s busy right now,” Zita said, “You’ll understand when you’re older.”
She set Wilhelmina down on the ground. Wilhelmina felt the ancient cobblestones under her feet give off a satisfying feeling of roundness. Taking Zita’s hand, they walked up to a palace side door and entered. The Varangians inside snapped to attention and saluted with such unison and speed Wilhelmina almost recoiled.
“Ma’am,” one of them said, “Sorry for the state of the place, we weren’t expecting you.”
“Where is my son?” Zita said.
“In his office,” the Varangian said, “As he has been since last afternoon.”
“It really is that bad, is it?” Zita said.
“I’m not sure this is a good time for him,” the Varangian said.
“Nonsense,” Zita said, “If he can’t take a meeting with his own mother, how can he fight that mad Varennikov? Take me to him, now.”
“As you wish, ma’am,” the Varangian said, “Follow me.”
Wilhelmina followed Zita and the Varangian down the hallway. Her focus was on the Varangian’s helmet. She would learn later it was called a pickelhaube and it was used in World War I, but at the time she just found it funny how the helmet had a spike.
“Have you tried everybody?”
“Yes, everybody. The reporters are getting suspicious, and I don’t think the senators and representatives can hold out for much longer. We might have a crisis on our hands.”
The voices grew louder as Zita and Wilhelmina approached the office.
“Thank you, Commander,” Zita said, “That will be all. You may return to your post.”
“As you wish, ma’am.” The Varangian saluted and left.
“We haven’t asked everybody yet,” Mihailo Princip said.
“Who do you have in mind?” Helmut Kohl said. “His sons aren’t close to him, but if even they and his brothers can’t get through to him, who can?”
They rounded a corner, and Wilhelmina saw two old men talking behind a half open door and in front of another. One wore a business suit, and the other wore a general’s uniform.
“That would be me,” Zita said.
She pushed aside the half open door for herself and Wilhelmina. Now with the two very confused men in full view, Wilhelmina couldn’t help but stare at these strangers while hiding behind Zita’s dress.
“Chancellor, General,” Zita said, retaining her iconic elegant poise, “It’s good to see you two. You must be desperate if you’re asking for my support. What has my son done this time?”
“The General Secretary angered him so much he won’t talk to any of us,” Kohl said.
Zita raised her eyebrows. “That’s a new one. Last time it was the Angeloi. Kidnapping his wife does that to him, you know.”
“Yeah, can you help us out?” Mihailo said. “We’re concerned about him. The press is starting to ask questions, and we’re worried about the effect on the war effort.”
Wilhelmina tugged on Zita’s dress. She didn’t feel comfortable here. These men were talking about complicated things she didn’t understand. All she wanted was her mom back. She spent so many months at home with just her dad, who did the best he could, but she missed her mom.
“Willie, dear, we’re going to see Grampa soon,” said Zita, “Be quiet and he’ll be out soon.”
Wilhelmina crossed her hands and made a face.
Kohl sighed. “We tried everything to get him out. What makes you think he’ll listen to—”
The door swung open, and Otto appeared.
“Mom?!” he said. “What are you doing here?”
Wilhelmina’s face lit up, recognizing her grandfather.
“Grampa!” she said, hugging his leg.
Otto chuckled and patted Wilhelmina on the head. He lifted her up in his arms.
“Oh, hello, Mina,” he said, “My, you’ve grown a lot!”
Wilhelmina smiled. His arms were strong and comforting, much like her mom’s.
“Otto, we have to talk,” Zita said.
“About what, Mom?” Otto said.
“What that Russian said,” Zita said.
Who was the Russian? Wilhelmina knew there were some bad people who didn’t like her grandfather and what he did. But that was it.
Otto sighed. “I told him to shut up. It’s over.”
“You call locking yourself in your office for several hours ‘over’?” Zita said.
“I needed time to collect myself,” Otto said, “I can’t believe we were all so stupid. All of us knew that Vienna would fall weeks ago, we knew people we cared about were trapped there, but what did we do? Who did we send? Nothing. Just some Imperial Guardsmen without backup. And what happened to them? They’re all dead. They swore an oath to me to defend our country and our people, and they ended up dead. Because I didn’t do more to help! I sent them to die, and when they died—”
Wilhelmina had never seen her grandfather so angry or confused. It was a little worrying.
“Calm down, Otto,” Zita said, “You’ve been here before. Remember the Angeloi?”
“What are you getting at?” Otto said.
“You can get past this,” Zita said, “You defeated the Angeloi before. The Russians aren’t any different from them. They can still be beaten.”
“We were too proud,” Otto said, “Mihailo said it was either Berlin or the Balkans…”
“Hey!” Mihailo said.
Oh, the strange man in the uniform was still here. He was scary.
“…And we chose Berlin,” Otto said, “Just like last time. We left Austria and the Balkans exposed so we could go after Berlin. A hundred thousand dead in Ruse, and we’re no closer to retaking Berlin.”
“That is the generals’ problem, not yours,” Zita said.
“I’m still here, you know!” Mihailo said.
The other man in the suit said nothing. He was also scary. She felt worried, even in Otto’s arms. All she wanted was her mom back. Wasn’t that why she was here?
“Where’s Mommy?” asked Wilhelmina.
The adults stopped talking, and Otto looked down at his granddaughter.
“Honey, Mommy is busy right now,” he said.
Otto hesitated. Zita looked at him with an expectant look. Wilhelmina looked at both of them with wide and innocent eyes. She wouldn’t understand anything they would try to say, but she at least wanted something to answer her question. She was scared. Otto saw that. He knelt and patted her head again reassuringly.
“Soon, honey,” he said, “I promise.”
Berlin - 2033
“I kept telling myself I’m not that scared girl anymore,” Wilhelmina said, “i’m not like when I was three and wanted my mother when she was trapped in Vienna. But the truth is, after all these years I still scared. I’m still that scared little girl who wants her mom. The world is falling apart again and I don’t know what to do or who to turn to. Fact is, my mom is dead. I’ll never see her again, along with my dad. But hopefully, you’ll keep seeing your mom and dad much longer than I did. And I’ll make sure of that. I’ll probably always be scared. I can’t tell myself I’m not. It’s time I accepted that for who I am, and move on.”
Friedrich cooed happily. He smiled and closed his eyes. Wilhelmina smiled back.
“Someday, I hope you remember this as fondly as I remember my grandfather holding me,” Wilhelmina said, “I hope you grow up in a world far more peaceful than the one I grew up in. You deserve that, at the very least.”
Brandenburg Palace
The second “O” in Enonon flashed.
The committee - May 27
Heinrich handed each of the committee members satellite photos.
“These were taken a few hours ago,” he said, “Indian troops in Hyderabad conducting an unscheduled military exercise with tactics I recognized as those of Contingency Plan Purple.”
“Purple?” Josiah said. “That’s for if we go rogue.”
“They really think we’re going rogue?” Theodor said, leaning back and casually putting his feet on the table. “If anything, India’s the rogue nation. The All India Party is unashamedly equalist, and so is Chancellor Jayapal. We can expect to see Naxalites 3: Electric Drei-galoo soon.”
“What do you think they’re planning with this?” Elias said.
“Well, Jayapal campaigned on a platform of removing our military bases in India and deporting our brave men in uniform,” Josiah said, “It’s reasonable to assume they may make such a demand of us and soon. Especially after we sent Argus into Brunei to crush those equalists last week.”
“Hey, it was a successful test of my new drone AI, and we killed some equalists, so I’d call that an absolute win,” Theodor said, “If the troops in India need them, I’m sure we can spare a few.”
“What about the Samrat Chakravartin?” Josiah said. “Has he said anything?”
“No,” Elias said, “I don’t expect him to.”
“So what do we do?” Heinrich said.
“Put the troops in India on high alert,” Elias said, “Give them authorization to fire in self-defense if it comes to it.”
“Elias, I’m not sure it’s wise to escalate the situation more than it already has,” Heinrich said, “Maybe we should just send the troops home. General Hansen, the man in charge of the bases, seems to agree. It would save us a lot of money and…”
“And bow to foreigners?” Elias said. “Bow to equalists? Might as well go the full mile and shoot the Kaiser and start singing the Soviet anthem. No! The world is laughing at us. They think we’ll just roll over and shoot ourselves in the foot. No. Unlike the party cartel, we actually support our troops. I know because I’m a veteran. If I abandon those men, I’ll be no better than the terrorists who killed my sister, took my eye, shot up the Diet, and killed Jacob. We’re not backing down. India will be put in its place.”
- 1
That's a good moment for Wilhelmina. It's okay to be scared, to accept that you're going to be scared.