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I wonder how the Pensuke files is in this universe
(It’s a cartoon/comic book series you can see in my YouTube channel, Orror SANESS!)
(It’s a cartoon/comic book series you can see in my YouTube channel, Orror SANESS!)
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Looking into it, Misi-ziibi comes from Anishinaabe, which is spoken in the Great Lakes region, so while the name could still be used for the river, it wouldn't work for the larger region. I'll change it to a generic "Southern" instead, which would be culturally neutral.
I'll check that out, but I might just fudge the German names into their closest 16th-17th century equivalents from what I can find on Wikipedia regarding the German of that time. The majority of the placenames I currently have are the ones I remember directly naming in the game in EU4, like New Berlin and the cities around it. Then in the south there are some Nsoralan towns where I used Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, and other West African languages to come up with some names. Now that I think about it, I should probably add that town that was set up by ex-Angeloi where Anne had her final showdown with Hoffmann. I'll post a map tomorrow.
Yeah, I think I forgot that one. It was supposed to be for Jersey City. Looking it up now, I think the most geographically appropriate is Communipaw/Gamoenapa. But I might look for other important Lenape settlements as well.
Yes, yes, I can see from the page itself. As a word of advice, it would make the page more readable if you make one post instead of several at the same time.
Here's what I currently have of Neurhomania.
Willahelminasland (Wilhelminasland in EU4) was changed to use Old High German as I couldn't find anything newer despite the name Wilhelmina not being attested to in that era. Niuwebremen uses Middle High German for the "Niuwe" part. As for the others, they stay because they're based on European placenames or non-German names, or their older names were standardized in modern German due to being major cities (New Berlin). Engelstadt in the south is where the ex-Angeloi went, but it's since distanced itself from that heritage. On the southern coast you have various Nsoralan and Quechua towns, and at the eastern tip of the continent there's even a Cherokee town since they briefly colonized there in EU4.
- 1
Republic of Newrhomania intensifies
I would say in the Hohenzollern empire, instead of my series being called “The Pensuke Files”, I would see the inspiration of The Pensuke Files in 2014 instead of 2018, and will probably name it into something different. I would only see the movie and not the series
it’s my head canon that in this Hohenzollern timeline I am “Woke” and “Progressive” (This is not true in OTL), and Pensuke will be written as a good guy (In my alternate universes Roman head, most people including Gen would see Pensuke as a villain. This isn’t the case in my series, IRL, cause in real life Pensuke is the bad guy.)
it would probably be a long title, but it would be simplified in “President Pensuke, and his Magica” or whatever the translation in German is.
I would say in the Hohenzollern empire, instead of my series being called “The Pensuke Files”, I would see the inspiration of The Pensuke Files in 2014 instead of 2018, and will probably name it into something different. I would only see the movie and not the series
it’s my head canon that in this Hohenzollern timeline I am “Woke” and “Progressive” (This is not true in OTL), and Pensuke will be written as a good guy (In my alternate universes Roman head, most people including Gen would see Pensuke as a villain. This isn’t the case in my series, IRL, cause in real life Pensuke is the bad guy.)
it would probably be a long title, but it would be simplified in “President Pensuke, and his Magica” or whatever the translation in German is.
Could the reason be that they were held back by that one anti-Roman member of the Persian Government?
Would this "Herem Doctrine" be like Jezebel's?
Me: Wow. It appears that the Committee has truly unleashed hell on earth.
I had wondered if the Ainu were still around or were conquered like the rest of Japan.
Is this a reference to OTL's Welsh Argentines?
I love the discussions you and @CaptainAlvious have been doing. Since much of Penglai was settled by mostly Cantonese people one idea that that I had was you could use for early skyscrapers could be a version of the Fujian tulou in were you just add multiple layers on top of one another.
Fujian tulou - Wikipedia
Sorry it took so long to review this update. I was busy working on the Central Europe update for Tianxia which I bilive will be done by the end of the week.
We'll see.
The Herem Doctrine was discussed in previous chapters, but basically all males over a certain age are killed, the rest are sent away for brainwashing, and all women of childbearing age or young are sent to the heartland to be "assimilated into the melting pot" and eradicate their ethnicities and cultures. There's also a cultural vandalism component to it where local cultures are eradicated, and this extends not only to destroying books, artifacts, and landmarks but also entire cities and landscapes, rendering them not only uninhabitable but also unrecognizable. As we'll see in 467.
The Ainu were conquered along with northern Japan, but their navy, like the northern Japanese navy, was integrated into the Ryukyuan armada.
No, it was because the Cherokee AI genuinely colonized that bit of Brazil on its own and I then bought it from them once I noticed, to get cleaner borders.
I was thinking more like Republic City, but sure. That would be a great idea for early skyscrapers before industrialization.
No worries, I was spending most of this week working on Empire Strikes Back character posts and background lore. I just spent a couple days helping update the placenames, among other things.
I was reading a few of those lately and I was wondering how much they would end up tying up with the Hohenzollernverse, because the stuff with Wihelm/Gavrilo and the Cult of Chernobog seem to include implied references to the Worm Cult?
I should also point out that there’s some debate about whether or not Chernbog was an original Slavic deity or even early Christainization figure from what I find, with the earliest sources mentioning him being centuries after Christianization.
Oh jeez, that’s horrifying. Basically extending Tabula Rasa outside Jerusalem. Also, whole landscapes? So you’re basically saying if, for a hypothetical example, the Crusaders took the area around Lake Titicaca and manage to hold it they would not only destroy cultural sites like Tiwanaku, but would completely drain the lake to make the region uninhabitable because of the religious significance the lake has to Twantinsuyu? The Committee has really fallen far from Thierry’s environmentalist movement if that’s the case.
Good job on the Neurhomania map btw. I think you could add some Nahua settlements in the North since you mentioned how that area has significant Mexica communities, so perhaps you could rename cities in Guyana/Suriname/French Guiana to have Nahua names.
Also, if you were to make that failed Al-Andalus colony that we discussed before canon, where do you think they were settled. My current idea was they could have landed in Marajó Island and interacted with the Marajoara until the island was abandoned around 1400.
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I’m trying to plug a hole in Wilhelm's timeline because I had him leave HOI3 to go to other AARs 6 years ago, only to realize everybody operates on different upload schedules. So TESB went on hiatus soon afterward without me really resolving Wilhelm's arc there. On top of that, I then put him into other AARs which have varying states of completion, with the final bit before he comes home implied to be ROTCE2. So Wilhelm appearing in TESB right now is more like a continuation of where he was in this megacampaign's HOI3 part to bridge the gap and fill in the holes in his timeline. I can flesh out who he was in HOI3, add more character development for Gavrilo himself, and effectively do a test run for how I'd remake the HOI3 part in a definitive edition. I'm not going to put in anything important that you'd miss if you didn't read TESB (I myself forgot a lot of what I wrote for him in the Victoria 2 part at first), but I will hint at things that are still to come in Wilhelm's future relative to both HOI3 and NWO. And who knows? Maybe once Wilhelm's arc in TESB wraps up, I might mention a few TESB events in the main story as easter eggs. After all, Hohenzollern Empire does have its own Theodora and Irene Doukas...
I know, but this was a legacy of me from 8 years ago (when the Cult was first introduced) making a homage to The Peshawar Lancers, which had a similar cult. Then again, I did reference Chernobog much later on in a family prayer during Olga's childhood, so I think I assumed Chernobog was real. Or at least he was added to the pantheon during the Slavic reformation by incorporating Christian elements.
More like they'd drop all sorts of sewage, chemical weapons, nuclear waste, and literally the most toxic things they can get their hands on to render the lake and the surrounding area completely uninhabitable. then maybe fill it in with concrete to make it unrecognizable. They'd raze any settlements nearby so thoroughly it would be as if nobody had ever lived there.
I could do that. I distinctly remember directly naming a Mexica province in that area "Acatltown."
That would have put them at the mouth of the Amazon River, where Eimerich landed and New Berlin was founded. Either Eimerich or the first settlers of New Berlin would have at least reported some infrastructure left behind by the Al-Andalus colony, if not any remaining Andalusians or natives who knew them. I like to think they settled in what ended up as Nsorala, and the Malians met a few remaining Andalusians and either absorbed them into their colony or destroyed them in a minor war for whatever reason. I guess their settlements and a few placenames could have remained.
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Counterattack, Part 11
“Four-eyes, you ahmagh!”
Wilhelmina heard Gunduz’s voice as clear as day. She looked around the emptiness surrounding her, trying to see where it came from. Finally, she found Gunduz standing in front of her, hands crossed. She was angry—more angry than usual.
“Gunduz? What are you doing here?”
Gunduz jabbed a finger in Wilhelmina’s face. “You frakking ahmagh! You think you can just give up like that?!”
“It’s not that,” Wilhelmina said, “I just…miscalculated. I paid the price. I lost.”
“Kos e sher! You gave up and ran! Ran away to the afterlife!”
“I didn’t run!” Wilhelmina held up her hands defensively. “Please! You have to understand, I was trying to save you!”
“But when Kaveh exploded, you just stopped!”
“Because…what’s the point? You’re gone.”
Gunduz narrowed her eyes. “See, this is what I’m talking about. It’s that cynicism that got us all into this frakking mess! People gave up at the first sign of trouble and handed their rights and freedoms over to Elias Anhorn. You did the same! Once you thought I was gone, you just gave up! You told me you tried fighting back at the bunker, even though it was pointless, because you wanted to save Friedrich. Well, where’s that spirit now?!”
“Gunduz—”
“Don’t ‘Gunduz’ me, Willie! Save your frakking breath! Stop rolling around in the frakking mud, you vintage gamer, or you're gonna be sorry! What would be a good motivation, huh? Ah, maybe I should erase your save files! Throw our old SpeilBanh in the frakking furnace!” She grabbed Wilhelmina’s shoulders. “How can someone with such a big heart get defeated like a little ǰende, huh?! ‘Oh, Anhorn! I love you, Anhorn! Come here and give Willie a big ol’ stab in the frakking back!’ ”
“It was because—”
“No excuses! You fell because you gave up! And until you acknowledge that, you’re not going anywhere! Now frakking pull yourself the frak off the frakking ground and frakking help us!”
Gunduz vanished. Wilhelmina blinked, confused. “Gunduz? Gunduz, come back! Please!”
“She’s gone.” Wilhelmina spun around and saw Sophie. “Or maybe she wasn’t really here to begin with.”
“Sophie?”
“Hey, Willie,” Sophie said, “You disappoint me.”
“Wow, almost as blunt as Gunduz,” Wilhelmina said.
“But it’s true,” Sophie said, “I thought you would be different. The first Hohenzollern in centuries to do what you did. You unlocked the power within you and claimed Enonon. You turned the tides of the war at Samarkand and Hamadan. But you fell here in Isfahan, when it came down to it. All you’ve done is run away, like you did in the Reich and Tsarberg.”
“Sophie, I didn’t. I got beaten.”
“Against a man in a heavy suit of mechanical armor armed with two wrist blades?” Sophie scoffed. “You should have wiped the floor with this guy, easily!”
“But Enonon’s energy was too—”
“You’re making excuses, Willie,” Sophie said, “Your power doesn’t come from Enonon. It comes from you. You already knew that. I mean, you didn’t use Enonon before Gunduz showed up. You don’t channel your power from Enonon, you channel it into Enonon. It’s just a conduit. You’re in control here.”
“But Elias still…” Wilhelmina began.
“Still beat you?” Sophie said. “That man is no Malcolm Bethune. He’s been off the battlefield for 30 years. He’s the same age as you, I wager. He’s past his prime, and he relies on that exosuit to keep up. But that’s his weakness. That exosuit is no match for your power. And without it, he is nothing.”
“But how am I supposed to get up? My hand…my arm…my back…”
“More excuses to give up, huh?” Sophie said. “I found a way to keep fighting, no matter what happened to me. Even though all seemed lost, I had no choice but to push on. Bethune had to go. You understood that in the bunker. Why not now?”
“Did I sacrifice myself for nothing, in the end?” Olga crossed her arms.
“No, Olga, it’s not like that—”
“It IS like that! Did I die for nothing, protecting someone who goes and offs herself five months later?!” She vigorously shook Wilhelmina’s shoulders. “What do you have to say to me? To Jessica? To all of Russia, which made the same sacrifice? What will you say to my people?”
“Grandma…” Friedrich wrapped his arms around Wilhelmina’s legs and looked up at her with puppy eyes. “Grandma, you promised you’d protect me. Why aren’t you?”
“What Ricky said.” Ilyana stood next to Friedrich. “Why aren’t you fighting the new dragon of darkness?”
“You said you would save the world!” Franz said. “Why are you stopping now?”
“Mom, you promised!” Joseph said. “Did Dad and I die in vain, just so you could follow us four months later? What is the point of it all, then?”
“Because…because…” Wilhelmina didn’t know what to say. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“It’s okay, my dear.” Wilhelmina felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She looked to her left and saw Kaiserin Mother Zita, her great-grandmother. She looked just like she did when Wilhelmina was a child.
“Great-Grandma?” she said, her voice reverting to an almost childlike tone.
“Hello, my dear.” Zita gave Wilhelmina a matronly smile that warmed her heart.
“I’m sorry, Great-Grandma,” Wilhelmina said, “I failed you.”
Zita wasn’t disappointed, like Sophie was. “It’s okay. We all make mistakes. We all stumble and fall. That’s who we are. But we always get back on our feet and try again.”
“Like I did.” Another hand, a little more firm than Zita’s, rested on her other shoulder. Otto smiled in the same way his mother did. It was a smile Wilhelmina fondly remembered seeing every time she saw him.
“Grandpa?” The voice coming out of Wilhelmina’s mouth was almost like that she had as a child.
“Hello, Willie.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t stay away when I learned my granddaughter was in trouble,” Otto said, “I know things have been rough for you for a while, and I’m sorry I didn’t show up sooner. I wish I did.”
“It’s okay, Grandpa,” Wilhelmina said, “I should be the one apologizing. I failed you. Everything you stood for has been destroyed by Elias Anhorn, and I failed to stop him.”
“How can you say that?” Otto said.
“I’m dead,” Wilhelmina said, “So is everyone around me. Gunduz, probably Alexandra and her friends…we lost this battle.”
“How can you say that?” Otto said. “You can still fight.”
“I can’t,” Wilhelmina said, “I lost the fight. I’m dead. Gunduz is dead. Our plan to entrap the enemy in Isfahan fell apart, and now they’re going to take this city. Persia’s going to fall, and our last hope of defeating Jerusalem will fall with it! It’s all my fault! I was supposed to turn it around, but I didn’t! I failed!”
Otto patiently listened to everything Wilhelmina said, like he always did.
“Are you going to tell me I disappointed you?” Wilhelmina asked. “Like Sophie and Gunduz did?”
Otto shook his head. “No. I’m not. But I believe you can do better.”
“But it’s over,” Wilhelmina said, “It’s all over. It’s done.”
"That's what everyone thought in ’41 when Constantinople fell,” Otto said, “I was reduced to a couple villages and a few thousand men. The Angeloi had effectively won. But I refused to give up. I knew that if I did, I would be abandoning the world to the Angeloi. I couldn’t allow that to happen. Even if death was imminent, I had to keep fighting. As long as I still had the chance to change things, I would fight for our freedom to survive.”
“But you were Otto the Great, Grandpa! You knew how to rally the troops and plan the right strategy to take Constantinople back from the Angeloi. Me? I’m just a woman who likes her video games. A woman who was in way over her head, thinking she could ever be a hero.”
“You think too highly of me, Willie,” Otto said, “I was a scared boy who didn’t know what to do as Markos Angelos took over the nation. But I trusted in myself and in my colleagues. I believed in what we stood for, and we fought for it with everything we had, even though the odds were against us. So I gave a speech to the troops.”
“Decades later, he told me what he had said.” Prince Horst said, coming into view. “‘Should fate hand us defeat, still we cannot stay our march, for it is neither fate nor glory for which we fight, but for the freedom of humanity’. That is what a true hero of justice is.”
“Uncle Horst…” Wilhelmina said. “What do you think I should do?”
“You gave up too soon,” Horst said, “In my book, as long as you’re still breathing, you can still stand up again. Even if everything’s stacked against you, you have to keep doing what’s right.”
“To give in and resign yourself to the flow…that’s when evil truly wins.” Prince Georg said.
“Uncle Georg…you’re here too?”
Georg nodded. “Willie, you need to remember that evil wins when good people stop caring enough to do the right thing. When the good don’t care enough to protect what they love, evil comes in to burn it all down. That’s how we all got into this mess to begin with.”
“I am the prime example of that,” Wilhelm Karl said.
Wilhelmina instinctively cringed when she saw her uncle. He no longer wore the medal-studded military uniform he always appeared in at the end of his life, but rather a regular business suit, like he did before Bloody Tuesday.
“I’m sorry if my presence anguishes you,” Wilhelm Karl said, “I know what I’ve done to you is wrong, and no apologies I say can ever make up for it. But please, hear me out, because I was a fool. I was an idiot who thought I was in control, but Elias Anhorn strung me up with his lies. The role of the Kaiser is to maintain balance, but I was completely out of balance. I didn’t see what was happening until it was too late. By then, I thought it was over. I gave up, and the world fell out of balance.”
“I’m sure you tried resisting in your own way,” Wilhelmina said.
“I did,” Wilhelm Karl said, “But it was too little, too late. If only I had acted sooner, maybe I could’ve spared you…Willie, please don’t end up like me. If you can still fight back, then do so. Restore the balance.”
“But can I really do it?” Wilhelmina said. “I’m not sure I have what it takes now.”
“Don’t sell yourself short.” Familiar voices called out to her. “You’ve always had the potential to be much more.”
She turned and saw her mother. Elisabeth Alexandra smiled, just like Otto did. One of her hands was clasped with Karl Eugen’s, who also smiled.
“…Mom?” Wilhelmina was like a child again. “Dad?”
“Hello, my little Wombat,” Elisabeth Alexandra said, “What a fine woman you’ve become.”
Wilhelmina ran across the empty void and threw herself into her parents’ arms. Her tears flowed freely. “MOM! DAD! I missed you so much!”
Elisabeth Alexandra ruffled Wilhelmina’s hair. The feeling was very nostalgic, putting her at ease—Wilhelmina remembered when her mother did that while reading her a bedtime story. Then Karl Eugen ruffled her hair as well. Wilhelmina couldn’t help but giggle like she was five.
“Willie…I know things have been rough for you,” Elisabeth Alexandra said, “And you’ve lost so many along the way. But I’m here for you now.”
“We’re here,” Karl Eugen said.
“What for?” Wilhelmina said. “To tell me I’m a disappointment? A failure?”
“I never said that,” Elisabeth Alexandra said, “You haven’t disappointed us.”
“You’ve more than exceeded our expectations,” Karl Eugen said, “My little girl tore up the battlefield in Samarkand. I couldn’t be more proud.”
“My Wombat led the charge into Hamadan,” Elisabeth Alexandra said, “You drew Enonon and unlocked the power within you, a power that hasn’t been seen in centuries.”
“You were right, Willie. You can change things.”
“You have this power for a reason, my daughter. You can use it to forge a better future, like your ancestors once did.”
“But I can’t!” Wilhelmina said. “I’m dead! Elias defeated me!”
“No, you’re not dead,” Elisabeth Alexandra said, “You’re still on that field, still alive. How else are you talking to us?”
“Listen, Willie,” Karl Eugen said, “Everyone here has already told you the same thing, but I suppose it’ll help to hear it from your parents.”
“It’s not over yet,” Elisabeth Alexandra said, “You can still win this. You can’t give up. The hopes and dreams of billions are riding on you. The world is at a tipping point. Humanity’s future lies at a crossroads.”
“All of your friends have their role to play,” Karl Eugen said, “You trust that they can fulfill their part in the plan. But don’t forget that they also trust in you. Just as the character of the Kaiserin reflects on that of the people, so too does the character of the people reflect on that of the Kaiserin. You are not separate from the people, just as they are not separate from you. You are but one part of many, and only together will you claim victory. You must stay humble, no matter what. You alone did not save Hamadan or Samarkand.”
“Never forget all of the friends you’ve made, all of the people you’ve helped. You must always cherish them, know their hopes and dreams. You owe that much to them. Unless you know their pain, these long nine years of suffering will have been for nothing. Think of everything you’ve done so far, and everything that’s led up to this moment. Even if all seems lost, and you seem alone…remember, you’re never alone. That’s how the Reich came to be, and how it has persisted. People wanted to change things, and against the odds, they fought to make that change a reality. Today is no different.”
Wilhelmina heard footsteps. She looked away and saw familiar faces, both living and dead, walking away from her: Izinchi, Julian, Gebhard, Alex, Alexandra, Thea, Magnus, Tania, Angelica, Billy, Ruby, Samir, Gulichi, Leyla, Frederica, Justin, Lisa, Yulia, Shayan, Boris, Jayasimha, Tsai, Kahenta, Anders, Angela, Diana, Olga.
“Even after their deaths, their spirits will always remain with you, and their hopes and dreams will live on in you,” Elisabeth Alexandra said, “As long as you continue to believe in what is right and have the will to fight for it, you will never be alone. There will always be those who believe in the dream of Romanitas. But the living are the only ones who can still protect it. They need a leader.”
“Am I the right leader, though?” Wilhelmina said.
Karl Eugen smiled. “I have no doubt you are.”
“I…I’m scared,” Wilhelmina said.
“I know you are,” Elisabeth Alexandra said, “But that’s part of being human. We all must confront our fears eventually. Only then can we emerge stronger.”
“Face your fears…” Wilhelmina steadied her breathing.
“You can do this, Willie,” Karl Eugen said, “We know you can.”
Wilhelmina calmed her mind and dwelled on her parents’ words. Could she do it? Could she still turn it around?
Well, stranger things have happened.
“So, what is your decision?” Elisabeth Alexandra asked. “Are you going to pass on and be free of your suffering? Or will you get back up and fight for what is right?”
Wilhelmina said nothing at first. Then she nodded quietly. “I can’t fall here. If everyone’s saying that I have to get up, that they’re counting on me, that I can still fight…then I’ll fight. That’s a heroine’s destiny. That is my duty.”
Her mother smiled with understanding. “That’s my girl. Let’s get started.”
“Started with what?” Wilhelmina suddenly found herself in an ethereal version of Berlin Cathedral. She was standing at the altar as if it were her wedding, although her wedding didn’t take place there. She looked down and saw she was wearing a beautiful purple gown and a thick cloak emblazoned with the Hohenzollern coat of arms. A choir was singing Bach. Nobody sat in the pews. No, not a wedding, but a…
“Behold, the people sent forth their champion…” Zita read.
The most important people in her life gathered around her. She knew exactly what this was for.
“Will you defend Romanitas?” Franz asked.
“I will.”
“Will you defend meritocracy against those who seek to destroy it?” Joseph asked.
“I will.”
“Will you defend the Reich and its people at all costs?” Horst asked.
The words came naturally to her. “I will protect the lives and rights of the innocent and helpless, be they Roman or otherwise, with all my being.”
“Will you protect the Augustinian Code?” Georg asked.
Almost as if she was speaking from her heart. “I will maintain and guard laws that uphold justice and fairness and strike down all else.”
“Will you maintain balance within the Reich and around the world?” Wilhelm Karl asked.
Like she had already made up her mind long ago. “I will.”
“Will you show submission to the Pope?” Karl Eugen asked.
Wilhelmina giggled. “No.”
Otto nodded. He moved on to the next part. “Bless, O Lord, this empress…” Wilhelmina knelt, and Otto lightly tapped her head and shoulders, leaving smudges of holy oil behind. “I anoint you, Kaiserin, with the oil of sanctification, in the name of the people of the Reich and the values they stand for. Amen.”
“Amen,” Wilhelmina whispered.
Zita rubbed holy oil on her palms, and Wilhelmina felt her great-grandmother’s ancient callused hand go over her smoother yet still middle-aged hands. “Let these hands be anointed, as emperors and heroes were. May you be blessed and established as empress in this empire, whom your people have graciously permitted you to rule and govern, and may your reign be long and prosperous.”
Franz and Joseph helped Wilhelmina into another set of heavy purple robes. Ilyana approached her with a pillow bearing an ancient ring. It was a ring forged from the shattered pieces of Friedrich the Great’s brooch. Wilhelmina put it on. It fit neatly.
“Receive this ring of imperial dignity,” Sophie said.
Friedrich handed Wilhelmina the imperial scepter and orb. They felt cold to the touch.
“Receive this scepter and orb, symbolizing fairness and justice,” Zita said.
The crowd made way for Elisabeth Alexandra, who carried the imperial crown on a pillow. She stopped in front of her daughter. Setting the pillow down on the altar, she picked up the crown and handed it to Wilhelmina. “Receive this imperial crown.”
Wilhelmina nodded. She took the crown off her mother’s hands and placed it on her own head. It fit perfectly. Olga raised a fist to the others in attendance. “FOR THE SENATE AND THE PEOPLE!”
“FOR THE SENATE AND THE PEOPLE!” everyone shouted.
“VOLK ERHALTE UNSERN KAISERIN!”
“VOLK ERHALTE UNSERN KAISERIN!”
May the people save our Kaiserin.
Wilhelmina thought they had skipped a step. From what she remembered of her uncle’s event, there was supposed to be a step in between the scepter and the crown. Her suspicions were confirmed when Gunduz approached her, an unsheathed Enonon lying in his hands.
“Rise, Wilhelmina, fourth of your name.” Gunduz held out Enonon. “Rise, Kaiserin of the Romans, and seize your destiny.”
Without hesitation, Wilhelmina reached for the sword, and a bright light surrounded her.
---
Elias knelt down and reached for Wilhelmina’s neck. “We’re not done yet, girl. We still have a long way to—”
Suddenly, a pulse of energy rippled out from Wilhelmina and became a roaring tempest of wind and light, blowing Elias’ hair back and forcing him to shield his eyes. “GAAAH! What is this?!”
Energy swirling around her, an unseen force levitated Wilhelmina several feet off the ground and righted her, gently setting her on her feet. Wilhelmina’s intact left hand reached out, and Enonon flew into it. Its energy blade reignited with a new intensity as wisps of energy rose off from the Damascus steel and the surrounding energy like smoke. She opened her eyes and beheld her enemy—her shocked and confused enemy. Everyone else on the battlefield likewise stopped fighting, if only to watch with awe—and terror—at what Wilhelmina was doing. She swept Enonon around her, dispelling the excess energy.
“Y-You can’t just rewrite the script now!” Elias said, jabbing a fist at her. “It’s over! I’ve won!”
Wilhelmina pointed Enonon back at him. “You should never declare victory early.” Just as I should never admit defeat early.
Elias rolled his eyes and tried walking away. “You want to go again? Oh, please, I don’t have time to deal with you.”
“You might think that, but you’re mistaken. I will not stop until I defeat you. In the name of my parents, my uncles, my grandparents, my husband, my son, my friends, and the countless citizens of the world you’ve slaughtered…” She pulled Enonon into an attacking stance. “I’M NOT DONE YET!”
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Last week I said I reorganized everything to maximize cliffhanger potential. Ironically, this resulted in this part being pushed up by one week. It originally happened in Part 12. How ironic.
The name “SpielBanh” is “GamePlatform” in German but through some fudging on my part could be loosely interpreted as the recognizable “PlayStation.” I don’t know why I decided to put this here, but sure. I was looking at the history of video games recently. In OTL, the PlayStation began as a collaboration between Nintendo and Sony to make a CD-ROM add-on to the SNES, but Nintendo backed out of the deal and left Sony to hang, so Sony made the PlayStation on their own. Here, the deal went through, so Nintendo and Sony remain partnered. The SNES got the add-on, and a later Nintendo console would succeed the SNES with roughly the same technical specs as the OTL PS1. There wouldn’t be an N64, GameCube, Wii, or later Nintendo consoles as Nintendo console games would instead be made for the PlayStation equivalent. On the PS and later generations of consoles, Nintendo games would enjoy better graphics and processing power. This has the side-effect of retconning mentions to later Nintendo consoles in my Fire Emblem lore series
Gunduz’s saltiest lines at the beginning come from Kainé from Nier: Replicant, while Wilhelmina’s conversation with her parents takes elements from a secret event conversation in Fire Emblem 4.
Wilhelmina’s closing words come from Elincia’s dialogue with Ashnard in the final battle of Path of Radiance.
Google Translate of all things told me unser in the proclamation is probably grammatically incorrect, so I changed it to unsern.
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Considering the last big congregation similar to this happened right before Wilhelm Karl died, glad to see it going a bit smoother. Speaking of, I perfectly understand Wilhelmina not exactly being psyched he's present but I am glad to see Wilhelm Karl included in this group. Feels like the bookend to his arc.
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More like she wasn’t dead yet to begin with. She just thought she was.
He goes from wanting control to realizing how much he went out of control and lost it in the end, then makes amends by helping Wilhelmina take back control in a balanced way. His redemption is finally complete.
THE KAISERIN
THE KAISERIN IS REAL
Welp, I'm hyped. Time to wait for the next part after that cliffhanger lmao. Also I agree with AnguishedOne, having Wilhelm Karl there too, it's good to know that he got his redemption in the end. And that coronation part, truly a sight to see that again.
THE KAISERIN IS REAL
Welp, I'm hyped. Time to wait for the next part after that cliffhanger lmao. Also I agree with AnguishedOne, having Wilhelm Karl there too, it's good to know that he got his redemption in the end. And that coronation part, truly a sight to see that again.
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And so Wihelmina gets the motivation needed to defeat Elias. It was nice seeing her interact with her friends and family there, lots of standout moments and character development there.
Since you're going to cover Nepal in the next gameplay chapter, I'm curious how much you go into depth about the Paulluist regime there? I'm curious because in real life the ruling Rastriya Prajatantra Party is currently a constitutional monarchist party, but it does have history with advocating for either a secular or Hindu republic, so I’m wondering if there‘s a split between in the regime between those that want a Hindutva Republic or monarchy.
Also, the fact that Sony and Nintendo remained partnered and Sega is still a major competitor in the console industry is interesting. I take it Xbox exclusives like Halo would instead be on Sega consoles in this timeline.
Since you're going to cover Nepal in the next gameplay chapter, I'm curious how much you go into depth about the Paulluist regime there? I'm curious because in real life the ruling Rastriya Prajatantra Party is currently a constitutional monarchist party, but it does have history with advocating for either a secular or Hindu republic, so I’m wondering if there‘s a split between in the regime between those that want a Hindutva Republic or monarchy.
Also, the fact that Sony and Nintendo remained partnered and Sega is still a major competitor in the console industry is interesting. I take it Xbox exclusives like Halo would instead be on Sega consoles in this timeline.
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CAN WE GET MUCH HIGHER
I loved writing the next part, and the music choice I decided on. Get hyped, it’s going to be awesome.
“Together we ride” indeed.
I didn’t focus too much on the Paulluists as I focused on both another popular political movement in Nepal and what Nepal is doing in the war at the moment (hint: not much).
My gut reaction to realizing Halo would be on Sega was to instead say the exclusives would go to Playstation, but then Sony/Nintendo would effectively corner the market and drive Sega out of business, so yeah, I guess the exclusives are on Sega consoles.
Should Neurhomania ever become independent at this point, I feel like it would want to change its name as well to distance itself from the Reich and Jerusalem at this point. After looking for some names that a potentially independent Neurhomania could use instead of "Brazil" or "Brazilla," I came across the indigenous name for Brazil, Pindorama, and I feel like that could work for Neurhomania should it ever become independent and join the Eimerican Federation after Jerusalem's defeat. What are your thoughts on this?
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Funny enough, I actually came across Pindorama when doing research for alternate placenames in Empire Strikes Back last week. It could work here as well.
Since we are discussing Neurhomania, I also came across Afro-Brazillian syncretic religions like Candomblé and Umbanda while reading up on Brazilian culture awhile ago, and while I don't think their names would work for West African paganism as a whole, perhaps their beliefs and practices could influence Nsoralan Malian Paganism, especially Candomblé which was inspired by West African religions.
If you ever do country/region specific lore updates again, I feel like the Reich's overseas provincies like Neurhomania and Mitagsland would make for intriguing topics for lore updates.