The Hohenzollern Empire 5: Holy Phoenix - An Empire of Jerusalem Megacampaign in New World Order

[CaptainAlvious]

Ryukyu was the only country to take the "formalize separation of powers" decision in the game, so I think constitutional limits on the monarchy's power are already a thing. I can see the kongsi republics and Ryukyu being the precursors and inspirations to the later Fuxingyundong and other Chinese democratic movements.

True, and I alluded to how the Guangxu emperor still held significant executive power despite China being a democracy, so I like to think those who don't like the idea of a powerful emperor would find Ryukyu's system attractive. Perhaps that could've been way Ryukyu managed to maintain independence from China, receiving help from pro democracy voleenters choosing to fight for Ryukyu instead of China, posting Ryukyu as a rival to China for the next couple centuries.

Catherine was born in 1616 and died in 1675. Her reign began in 1620.

How the hell did I write that question thinking of Julie d'Aubigny but forget to mention her?! I swear I'm stupid sometimes. Anyways, the question applies still applies, but I'll ask about Augstin Kommenos' years of activity as well to make up for that mistake.

 

[zenphoenix]

True, and I alluded to how the Guangxu emperor still held significant executive power despite China being a democracy, so I like to think those who don't like the idea of a powerful emperor would find Ryukyu's system attractive. Perhaps that could've been way Ryukyu managed to maintain independence from China, receiving help from pro democracy voleenters choosing to fight for Ryukyu instead of China, posting Ryukyu as a rival to China for the next couple centuries.

There were probably compromises made. I did say there were multiple factions within the Fuxingyundong which wanted various things, like a republic or more imperial power, so the system that was ultimately adopted left significant power in the hands of the emperor. That would've alienated many members who wanted more democracy, who went to Ryukyu.

How the hell did I write that question thinking of Julie d'Aubigny but forget to mention her?! I swear I'm stupid sometimes. Anyways, the question applies still applies, but I'll ask about Augstin Kommenos' years of activity as well to make up for that mistake.

It's fine. Happens to all of us.

Julie d'Aubigny was first recruited in 1680, but the save file doesn't record when she died. I'll have to check the screenshots later on.

Augustin Komnenos seems to have been an advisor, and the game didn't record him for some reason, or my search found nothing. There's another "Augustin Komnenos" in the save, but he's from 1814 and presumably Mittagsland from the colonial tag.

 

[zenphoenix]

Okay, so I'm going through the save file and screenshots right now and writing down a few interesting lore notes as I go.

Mittagsland's rulers seem to all have been from noble families, hence the duplicate "Augustin Komnenos" and even a few Habsburgs and Hohenzollerns, among other nobles. The same is true for Neurhomania. There's a lot I could do here with the colonial governments of both provinces and how they were set up. They both could have had noble-dominated governments, at least at first. In Mittagsland, nobles from the mainland—mainly second sons, minor nobles, and distinguished commoners—would share power with Maori chiefdoms who allied with the Romans. In Neurhomania, the nobles would attempt to establish large fiefdoms, only to be crowded out by commoner immigrants and indigenous societies. On a similar note, Gnupa I af Steinvikholm (the first king of independent Kanata) was a duke during the independence war and a colonial governor in New Vinland before rebelling, so the New Vinland colony was probably organized similarly, though with a more powerful nobility since Scandinavia doesn't run its colonies the way the Reich does.

In her lifetime, Julie ended up fighting the Mexica, Lithuanians, and Scandinavians within the span of one decade. She was probably close friends with King Gnupa I himself, since he had assumed field command during the Scandinavian war and they would have fought alongside one another.

Julie died in 1715, a few years after the above war:

This woman would have been Julie's contemporary, her event having popped up one year after Julie's.

However, I picked the option to not recruit her as an advisor, so she won't be recorded in the save. Looking more at my screenshots, I seem to have recruited a lot of female advisors and military commanders, so Julie wouldn't have been the only one. However, many of them would have been from noble families. For example, there's a "Xenia Doukas" around the 1730s.

Then I had this event, which I had retconned out but I'm thinking of recanonizing.

From the completely vanilla text, it seemed I hadn't even expected this event to fire, though I did rename Greece to Graecia. I believe that was so I could easily delineate internal provincial borders—I did something similar in Victoria 2 and NWO. I went through the rest of EU4 pretending this event never happened, but I could use this to explain why non-Roman Greek nationalism in the 21st century.

The Church got something called the Non-Possessor Movement in 1692.

I might have covered this back in EU4, but I feel like expanding on it as an aftershock of the Fifty Years' War. The in-game Counter-Reformation actually ends in 1746, long after the last of the Reformed Iconoclasts and Purists were converted or purged. There was an event removing the modifier, but two weeks before that one there was another one for a Synod like the one from the previous century that started everything. Three years later, there was a major liturgical reform.

Russia had a 6/6/4 empress named Sofia reigning between 1708 and 1730 (born 1687).

I could expand more on this event here.

After learning about stuff like the South Sea Bubble and Tulip Mania, I'd like to go over something similar here as a way of exploring how the Roman economy worked in the 18th century.

A month later, the Kaiserin dies and there's a minor succession crisis during Victoria III's regency. They occupy a few cities in Galicia but are crushed very soon after.

Augustin Komnenos dies in 1760, but Victoria III gets a lot of navy-oriented events in the next 20 years, some of them a result of me building up my navy for the Sunrise Invasion, so I could say she got that from Augustin. Her regency was very short, so she was already close to the age of majority when the succession happened. Perhaps she even had some experience commanding ships, which would lead into that mini arc I was thinking of where her flagship faces off against the Mexica flagship in the Atlantic.

No relation to Mittagsland's Augustin Komnenos 50 years later, at least at first, but it's possible the second one is this one's descendant.

It seems the Cherokee had somehow formalized separation of powers despite being in a personal union under the Meskwaki emperor.

I don't know how it's possible, but sure, it would allow me to explore OTL Cherokee political systems.

And to wrap things up, this woman is probably going to be retconned into Siegfried II's wife:

Perhaps she'd be an inspiration to the later Victoria Louise.

 

[CaptainAlvious]

Mittagsland's rulers seem to all have been from noble families, hence the duplicate "Augustin Komnenos" and even a few Habsburgs and Hohenzollerns, among other nobles. The same is true for Neurhomania. There's a lot I could do here with the colonial governments of both provinces and how they were set up. They both could have had noble-dominated governments, at least at first. In Mittagsland, nobles from the mainland—mainly second sons, minor nobles, and distinguished commoners—would share power with Maori chiefdoms who allied with the Romans. In Neurhomania, the nobles would attempt to establish large fiefdoms, only to be crowded out by commoner immigrants and indigenous societies. On a similar note, Gnupa I af Steinvikholm (the first king of independent Kanata) was a duke during the independence war and a colonial governor in New Vinland before rebelling, so the New Vinland colony was probably organized similarly, though with a more powerful nobility since Scandinavia doesn't run its colonies the way the Reich does.

Sounds about right. I did portray Roman indochina as a corporate/aristocratic oligarchy in Volkerschalt after all, so I guess most of the Roman colonies would've had an entrenched aristocracy influencing the local government.

In her lifetime, Julie ended up fighting the Mexica, Lithuanians, and Scandinavians within the span of one decade. She was probably close friends with King Gnupa I himself, since he had assumed field command during the Scandinavian war and they would have fought alongside one another.

Julie died in 1715, a few years after the above war:

This woman would have been Julie's contemporary, her event having popped up one year after Julie's.

However, I picked the option to not recruit her as an advisor, so she won't be recorded in the save. Looking more at my screenshots, I seem to have recruited a lot of female advisors and military commanders, so Julie wouldn't have been the only one. However, many of them would have been from noble families. For example, there's a "Xenia Doukas" around the 1730s.

Julie had a very eventful carrer didn't she, her exploits must be akin to Saint Gunhilda at this point, especially with her campaigns against the Norse. When you brought up Piscopia as a contemporary to Julie, I wonder if she would be a romantic interest to Julie assuming you write story content for Julie? I was somewhat inclined towards the idea of Victoria II and Julie in a relationship before, because I don't think you went over or mentioned an LGBT Kaiser/Kaiserin before.

he Church got something called the Non-Possessor Movement in 1692.

I might have covered this back in EU4, but I feel like expanding on it as an aftershock of the Fifty Years' War. The in-game Counter-Reformation actually ends in 1746, long after the last of the Reformed Iconoclasts and Purists were converted or purged. There was an event removing the modifier, but two weeks before that one there was another one for a Synod like the one from the previous century that started everything. Three years later, there was a major liturgical reform.

I guess it would make sense that the church remained pretty reactionary until 1746 and supported the Inquisition’s continued crackdowns in places like Illyria and the Africa colonies, with liturigical reforms after that representing the Church adopting a more progressive policy and depowered the Inquisition. Still, that would make sense why a significant portion of the clergy supported Jerusalem, especially when remembering Constantinople was sacked during the Fifty Years War by Orthodox zealots.

Then I had this event, which I had retconned out but I'm thinking of recanonizing.

From the completely vanilla text, it seemed I hadn't even expected this event to fire, though I did rename Greece to Graecia. I believe that was so I could easily delineate internal provincial borders—I did something similar in Victoria 2 and NWO. I went through the rest of EU4 pretending this event never happened, but I could use this to explain why non-Roman Greek nationalism in the 21st century.

Yeah, showing more instances of the Greeks being feed up with having to play second fiddle to the Germans would make sense, especially with how you mentioned Greeco-German tensions during the Maximist Wars in Vicky 2.

Russia had a 6/6/4 empress named Sofia reigning between 1708 and 1730 (born 1687).

Fitting that Russia would have an amazing ruler during the Commonwealth Wars named after Sophia, considering the original's Sophia's stay in Russia during the Anarchy.

I could expand more on this event here.

After learning about stuff like the South Sea Bubble and Tulip Mania, I'd like to go over something similar here as a way of exploring how the Roman economy worked in the 18th century.

That would be fitting. I also remember Jean-Baptiste Colbert being an adviser during EU4, so I guess you could flesh out Roman mercantism a bit considering Josiah's revitalization of mercantism under Jerusalem.

A month later, the Kaiserin dies and there's a minor succession crisis during Victoria III's regency. They occupy a few cities in Galicia but are crushed very soon after.

Augustin Komnenos dies in 1760, but Victoria III gets a lot of navy-oriented events in the next 20 years, some of them a result of me building up my navy for the Sunrise Invasion, so I could say she got that from Augustin. Her regency was very short, so she was already close to the age of majority when the succession happened. Perhaps she even had some experience commanding ships, which would lead into that mini arc I was thinking of where her flagship faces off against the Mexica flagship in the Atlantic.

Perhaps you could depict that revolt as the result of inter service rivalry, with nobles in the Roman army rebelling against and killing Augustin because they feared the navy getting more prominence and attention from Victoria III and overshadowing the army.

t seems the Cherokee had somehow formalized separation of powers despite being in a personal union under the Meskwaki emperor.

I don't know how it's possible, but sure, it would allow me to explore OTL Cherokee political systems.

That's interesting and also fitting, since the Cherokee adopted US style democracy in OTL. Maybe the Meskwaki government would've been like Austria Hungary, with the Cherokee maintaining their own government under the Meskwaki emperor.

And to wrap things up, this woman is probably going to be retconned into Siegfried II's wife:

Perhaps she'd be an inspiration to the later Victoria Louise.

Interesting, I like the idea of being a major supporter of her son Sigismund II during the Maximist wars, sorta like Anna Dalassene, Ida, and Victoria Louise.

Neat breakdown all around, learned about a lot of cool lore that can be fleshed out in DE, can't wait to see it.

 

[zenphoenix]

Sounds about right. I did portray Roman indochina as a corporate/aristocratic oligarchy in Volkerschalt after all, so I guess most of the Roman colonies would've had an entrenched aristocracy influencing the local government.

The aristocracies of the colonies would have had both European nobles and local nobles and other political figures depending on the region. In Southeast Asia, I could even see a few kongsi republics and Chinese merchants participating in the colonial governments.

Julie had a very eventful carrer didn't she, her exploits must be akin to Saint Gunhilda at this point, especially with her campaigns against the Norse. When you brought up Piscopia as a contemporary to Julie, I wonder if she would be a romantic interest to Julie assuming you write story content for Julie? I was somewhat inclined towards the idea of Victoria II and Julie in a relationship before, because I don't think you went over or mentioned an LGBT Kaiser/Kaiserin before.

According to the save, Victoria II was born in 1645, and by my estimation Julie would have been born around 1660-65, since her exploits began in her teenage years. I'm not going to use the OTL Julie's birth year since that's 1673 and that would mean she would be 7 when she became nationally known (which means I'll probably change her last name like most people). As a result, even though the idea crossed my mind, Victoria might be too old for Julie, but Piscopia probably would work. I'd like to write story content for her, starting off as its own arc but becoming intertwined with the gameplay because she goes up against almost every major Roman enemy within the span of 10 years and becomes close friends with people like Gnupa I and Victoria II.

I guess it would make sense that the church remained pretty reactionary until 1746 and supported the Inquisition’s continued crackdowns in places like Illyria and the Africa colonies, with liturigical reforms after that representing the Church adopting a more progressive policy and depowered the Inquisition. Still, that would make sense why a significant portion of the clergy supported Jerusalem, especially when remembering Constantinople was sacked during the Fifty Years War by Orthodox zealots.

I looked at the screenshots after posting the above and found that this seems to be a recurring event since game start. I could probably explain it as such a movement gaining steam over the centuries, filling in a similar role as indulgences and other Catholic Church policies and institutions that led to the Reformation, before ultimately being addressed after the Fifty Years' War.

Yeah, showing more instances of the Greeks being feed up with having to play second fiddle to the Germans would make sense, especially with how you mentioned Greeco-German tensions during the Maximist Wars in Vicky 2.

It does make sense. For centuries, the Greeks had always considered themselves Romans, naming themselves Rhomaioi and their language Romaike. So when the Germans want to do the same thing (not to mention bring others with them without demanding their assimilation or even religious conversion in some cases), it would be natural for some Greeks to take offense. On the other hand, the greater cultural diversity within the Reich would lead to a Greek identity separate from the Rhomaioi emerging, because some Greeks would want a new way of making themselves special once everybody else in the Reich can say they are Romans. The early non-Roman Greek identity, then, wouldn't exactly be non-Roman but rather a "Roman from Greece" identity, which from the 19th century on becomes influenced by nationalism and the political divides of the Maximist Wars, Angeloi, Soviets, and finally Jerusalem until it evolves into a distinctly "Greek and not Roman" identity, along the lines of how OTL Greek national identity draws from classical and Hellenistic Greece and not Byzantium.

Fitting that Russia would have an amazing ruler during the Commonwealth Wars named after Sophia, considering the original's Sophia's stay in Russia during the Anarchy.

They sorely needed such a ruler to survive the early Commonwealth Wars.

That would be fitting. I also remember Jean-Baptiste Colbert being an adviser during EU4, so I guess you could flesh out Roman mercantism a bit considering Josiah's revitalization of mercantism under Jerusalem.

Yeah, I found his event during my research, so I could expand a bit on him.

Perhaps you could depict that revolt as the result of inter service rivalry, with nobles in the Roman army rebelling against and killing Augustin because they feared the navy getting more prominence and attention from Victoria III and overshadowing the army.

Good idea. Their rebellion in Galicia could have been a result of assassinating Augustin while he was inspecting shipyards in the area.

That's interesting and also fitting, since the Cherokee adopted US style democracy in OTL. Maybe the Meskwaki government would've been like Austria Hungary, with the Cherokee maintaining their own government under the Meskwaki emperor.

It would fit with my previous characterization of the Opeatako-Osceola dynasty as being stand-ins for the Habsburgs.

Interesting, I like the idea of being a major supporter of her son Sigismund II during the Maximist wars, sorta like Anna Dalassene, Ida, and Victoria Louise.

Good point.

 

[zenphoenix]

Okay, while I was looking through and reorganizing my screenshots to be more accessible, I think I ran into a major problem. I can't find screenshots from 1901-1936 and then 1939-1946, which is the back quarter of Victoria 2 and the entirety of the war in HOI3. There's a good chance that I'm not looking close enough and past me was just that messy, but there's a possibility I lost over forty years' worth of screenshots and have to fall back on what I uploaded here, which isn't a lot. For HOI3 it isn't that bad, because nearly everything that happened in the game was uploaded in one chapter or another, but Vicky might be an issue.

 

[CaptainAlvious]

Okay, while I was looking through and reorganizing my screenshots to be more accessible, I think I ran into a major problem. I can't find screenshots from 1901-1936 and then 1939-1946, which is the back quarter of Victoria 2 and the entirety of the war in HOI3. There's a good chance that I'm not looking close enough and past me was just that messy, but there's a possibility I lost over forty years' worth of screenshots and have to fall back on what I uploaded here, which isn't a lot. For HOI3 it isn't that bad, because nearly everything that happened in the game was uploaded in one chapter or another, but Vicky might be an issue.

Oh that’s unfortunate. At least you still have access to your save files and the screenshots you’ve already included in the HOI3 and Vicky 2 chapters. Hope you’re able to find them tho, that would be nice, but hopefully it won’t be too bad if you miss them.

 

[zenphoenix]

Oh that’s unfortunate. At least you still have access to your save files and the screenshots you’ve already included in the HOI3 and Vicky 2 chapters. Hope you’re able to find them tho, that would be nice, but hopefully it won’t be too bad if you miss them.

Right now, I'm leaning towards past me being horribly messy and inconsistent when transferring files between local drives, external drives, the cloud, and different computers, resulting in zip files scattered in random directories and drives and mixed in with unrelated stuff. I don't remember outright deleting anything, and when I checked my old computer I confirmed I had taken everything off it. Still, there's a decent chance I may have accidentally overwritten or deleted them at some point, though it's more likely they're still on the drive I think they're on, just randomly scattered in 2-3 archives in 5-6 subdirectories. I already spent most of my free time today digging through the drive, and the best I could do was find the 1936-39 screenshots, so until I work up the energy again in the future I'll just consider this a loss.

 

[zenphoenix]

I did a minor overhaul for Indian East Africa yesterday, mainly in Indianizing two placenames. I temporarily removed the borders and colors because I'm working on another map right now.

​

Nairobi is now Sitanadi, which is a Sanskrit translation of the city's etymology. Dar Es Salaam is now Prastaranegara, which is a Sanskrit translation of "Stone Town," from one of the historical districts of the city. The region itself also gets a new name, Pascimabhumi or "western land." That will be the official name of both the Indian colony and the general region, specifically the area between Usumbura, Prastaranegara, and Sitanadi that was heavily Indianized during colonization. Pascimabhumi will finally clear up the constant confusion I have between the Indian colonial government (previously "Indian (East) Africa"), the post-colonial nation ("Indian/East African Dominion"), and the supernation ("East Africa (Con)federation"). Now both the colonial government and the independent nation will be known as Pascimabhumi.

I did something similar with Daksina Jamina. After trying to find why I settled on "Jamina," I decided it would be better if I used "bhumi" instead like with Pascimabhumi. Wiktionary can't find anything for "Jamina" itself outside of Nepali either. So it will now be Daksinabhumi for the general region and "Daksinarastra" ("southern nation") for the name used by independence movements.

 

[CaptainAlvious]

I did a minor overhaul for Indian East Africa yesterday, mainly in Indianizing two placenames. I temporarily removed the borders and colors because I'm working on another map right now.

View attachment 1023182
​

Nairobi is now Sitanadi, which is a Sanskrit translation of the city's etymology. Dar Es Salaam is now Prastaranegara, which is a Sanskrit translation of "Stone Town," from one of the historical districts of the city. The region itself also gets a new name, Pascimabhumi or "western land." That will be the official name of both the Indian colony and the general region, specifically the area between Usumbura, Prastaranegara, and Sitanadi that was heavily Indianized during colonization. Pascimabhumi will finally clear up the constant confusion I have between the Indian colonial government (previously "Indian (East) Africa"), the post-colonial nation ("Indian/East African Dominion"), and the supernation ("East Africa (Con)federation"). Now both the colonial government and the independent nation will be known as Pascimabhumi.

I did something similar with Daksina Jamina. After trying to find why I settled on "Jamina," I decided it would be better if I used "bhumi" instead like with Pascimabhumi. Wiktionary can't find anything for "Jamina" itself outside of Nepali either. So it will now be Daksinabhumi for the general region and "Daksinarastra" ("southern nation") for the name used by independence movements.

I see, makes sense to give India East Africa its own name and change a few of its placenames. Wasn't expecting Daksina Jamina to get a name change, but if you can't anything for "Jamina" aside from Nepal, then I guess this name change is warranted and makes more sense.

As for Nusantara, I don't ideas for Indian names aside from "Yavadvipa" which seems to refer to Java, but perhaps the pro Chinese regime during the Cold War could've renamed Nusantara to "Nanyang", after the Chinese term for Maritime Southeast Asia.

 

[zenphoenix]

I see, makes sense to give India East Africa its own name and change a few of its placenames. Wasn't expecting Daksina Jamina to get a name change, but if you can't anything for "Jamina" aside from Nepal, then I guess this name change is warranted and makes more sense.

As for Nusantara, I don't ideas for Indian names aside from "Yavadvipa" which seems to refer to Java, but perhaps the pro Chinese regime during the Cold War could've renamed Nusantara to "Nanyang", after the Chinese term for Maritime Southeast Asia.

Yeah, I don't know how I got "Jamina" in the first place. Probably just put "land" into one of the Indian languages on Google Translate and didn't cross-reference it with Wiktionary. Which is weird because I do that now and don't get it anymore.

The Chinese names would probably be limited to the eastern part of Indonesia, around Sulawesi, since that's where the Ming colonized. Also Papua. There's an Indian name there currently, but I think I'll Sinicize it. Maybe Borneo or at least its political subdivision could be renamed to Kutai, because it controlled most of the island before India conquered it. As in the old Kutai monarchy remains as a constituent state within Nusantara, like the four kingdoms of Qiandao. I don't know about naming the whole country Nanyang. If anything, the pro-Chinese faction would still have a large ethnic Nusantaran membership in addition to the Chinese Nusantarans, and they'd want to maintain legitimacy by keeping the old name. I'll probably retcon out the name changes to "Indonesia" as a result, just like I deleted post-Cold War East Indonesia (I might keep it around as a Chinese satellite during the Cold War, since it does make sense to keep it separate from Roman/Indian-aligned Nusantara in that era).

 

[CaptainAlvious]

The Chinese names would probably be limited to the eastern part of Indonesia, around Sulawesi, since that's where the Ming colonized. Also Papua. There's an Indian name there currently, but I think I'll Sinicize it. Maybe Borneo or at least its political subdivision could be renamed to Kutai, because it controlled most of the island before India conquered it. As in the old Kutai monarchy remains as a constituent state within Nusantara, like the four kingdoms of Qiandao. I don't know about naming the whole country Nanyang. If anything, the pro-Chinese faction would still have a large ethnic Nusantaran membership in addition to the Chinese Nusantarans, and they'd want to maintain legitimacy by keeping the old name. I'll probably retcon out the name changes to "Indonesia" as a result, just like I deleted post-Cold War East Indonesia (I might keep it around as a Chinese satellite during the Cold War, since it does make sense to keep it separate from Roman/Indian-aligned Nusantara in that era).

Interesting. Well since you have Kutai as a constituent state within Nusantara, why not have Nusantara be a federation of different states like Qiandao is?

 

[zenphoenix]

Closing Moves, Part 2​

Takomaan

The sun dipped below the mountains, their long shadows engulfing the village in shade. As the day wound day, the villagers made their way to the dining ger in the central square. Alexandra’s group sat at one of the tables to discuss their plan over plates of lamb.

“Thanks for the meal!” Gulichi said. “My compliments to the chef, as always. Dig in, guys!” Without hesitating, he grabbed the meat with his hands, letting the juices get all over, and stuffed it into his mouth. “That hit the spot! Oh, how I missed you, khorkhog!”

Next to him, Leyla picked up one piece of meat, but she instantly dropped it. “Ow! Too damn hot!”

“Yeah, that happened to me the first time I ate khorkhog as a kid.” Gulichi slowed down his eating. “The trick is to hold the bone. That’s easier to hold, in my experience.”

Leyla cautiously picked up the meat again, this time by the bone. “Like that?”

Gulichi nodded. “Yep. Try it now!”

Leyla put the meat in her mouth. As soon as it hit her tongue, Gulichi saw her expression change. She closed her eyes and smiled, savoring each bite. Just like me back then.

“I…I’ve never eaten meat this good before!” Leyla said. “What did you put in it?”

“Nothing, we let it cook for an hour or so in the jug with some rocks to suck out the fat,” Gulichi said, “No need for spices or sauces, just as Father Tengri likes it.”

“Ahem.” Samir cleared his throat. “We have a mission to discuss?”

“Oh, right,” Gulichi said, “Go ahead.”

“So, Magnus and I surveyed the island earlier today, and I drew myself a map.” Alexandra opened a notebook to show them a pencil sketch. “We found few signs of people being on the island before, which tracks with the elder’s statement. There are shrubs and plants and roots all over the place, with barely anywhere to step.”

“So how do we find this…Sampo thing?” Leyla said.

“Our legend specifically says the Sampo was buried on the island, inside the forge that made it,” Gulichi said, “So we should be looking underground. Hopefully not underwater as well.”

“Which was why I specifically brought a portable ground-penetrating radar unit,” Alexandra said.

“I got a high-power metal detector too,” Magnus said, “If the stuff’s made of metal, we’ll see it. And then Samir comes in.”

“I brought some digging equipment,” Samir said, “The helicopter can airlift it to us on the island, but we need to clear an area for it first.”

“We’ve got tools for that in the militia storage,” Gulichi said, “Intended for forest maintenance, but we can use it for the island. Though I’m not keen on explaining this to Ol’ Piru.”

“I’m sure Commander Kettu will understand,” Leyla said.

“Yeah, I think he will,” Samir said.

“That’s not reassuring!” Gulichi said.

“Okay, then,” Alexandra said, “Can you get the tools first thing tomorrow morning? I was thinking of starting work as soon as we can.”

“Alexandra, I can’t wake up that early,” Magnus complained.

“Well, go to sleep earlier tonight,” Alexandra said, “The elder gave us a deadline, so we have to make the most of our time.”

“Speaking of sleep, we should really get to eating!” Gulichi picked up another bone. “Your dinner’s getting cold. Can’t work tomorrow on an empty stomach.”

“Alright, then,” Alexandra said, “Not like we can work right now. Let’s eat!”

They continued eating their khorkhog.


Isfahan

The door creaked open, and light spilled into the dark cell. Alex cautiously opened his eyes, seeing two guards standing in the doorway. One approached Josh and unchained him from the wall, while the other kept his gun pointed at Alex.

“What’s going on?” Alex said.

“You don’t need to know, criminal,” the first guard said.

“Oh, cut it out.” The second guard rolled his eyes. “What difference is it going to make?”

“It’s classified information.”

“But he’s going to…you know.”

Alex had an idea what they were getting at.

“That’s true,” the first guard said, “We were going to inform him, weren’t we?”

“I totally forgot about that,” the sceond guard said, “Listen up, criminal. Mozaffar’s decided to make things easier for all of us. You’re going to be executed tomorrow.”

“What?!” Alex’s suspicions were spot on, but it was still shocking to hear. “Where’s my trial? Where’s my lawyer?”

“You were tried in absentia by a military court, which has found you guilty on all charges. You do not get a lawyer, as you are considered an enemy combatant.”

“That makes no sense! Persian law states—”

“The regent understands that some liberties have to be suspended in times of total war, for the survival of the nation and the long-term preservation of our rights. You are an enemy combatant, so you do not deserve the same rights as Persian citizens.”

Alex sighed. “I can’t believe it. You guys are as bad as Jerusalem, you know that?”

“At least we didn’t nuke our own cities twice and kill over a billion people, like you did.”

“How many times do I have to say this? I’m not with Jerusalem! I fled that damn regime!”

“Makes no difference, you still tried to turn us into Jerusalem.” The first guard helped Josh to his feet and snapped handcuffs on his wrists. “Prisoner is secure for transport.”

“Where are you taking him?” Alex asked.

“Since you’re going to be executed, there’s no harm in telling you, I guess,” the first guard said, “We’re prepping him for surgery. Theodor said he could extract the data on his Panopticon, so Mozaffar wants it done ASAP.”

“You can’t be goddamn serious!” Alex hadn’t as much as moved, but his raised voice only got him a kick to the gut, knocking him onto his cot. “You’re letting him and Theodor go but not me?! You let out a literal war criminal and an actual regent of Jerusalem, but I’m the one you’re executing? The civilian scientist who fled Jerusalem five years ago?! How messed up is this country?!”

“It’s not messed up, it’s pragmatism,” the second guard said, “The Panopticons have valuable data that will help incriminate and convict future Jerusalemite war criminals, as well as provide the Artesh with intel on Crusader tactics. And Regent Tesla has been nothing but helpful in providing all of his expertise in technology and Jerusalem’s inner politics. You, on the other hand, are a criminal and a murderer, and the people demand justice be served. We intend to provide that justice.”

“You…monsters…” Alex panted. “How could you…”

“Cry all you want. Because this will be the last time you can.” The guards escorted Josh out and slammed the door behind them, leaving Alex alone in the darkness.

Alex stared at the rusty metal door for what seemed like a whole minute, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Then he slammed a fist against the cot. “DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU ALL!”

And he thought his week was going well.

---

“With forty percent of examiner assessments calculated, Royal Persia News is ready to declare Mazandaran has overwhelmingly chosen…”

“…with the last results having been processed an hour ago, Simurgh Media is calling Yazd for…”

“With half of all assessments received in Fars, we can conclude that the victor here is…”

“…Collection of assessments has concluded in Tehran Province.”

“…Assessments are still being processed in Qom and Hormozgan.”

“The port city of Bandar Lengeh has suspended assessment collection in the wake of the Chinese missile strikes earlier today, which resulted in five dead. However, enough assessments have been processed that National Broadcasting can safely declare the city for…”

It was examination night in Isfahan. As in all other meritocracies, the selected examiners were provided with their materials at the beginning of the month—profiles, platforms, backgrounds, public opinion polls, a nonpartisan collection of relevant news articles, and anything else needed to form the most accurate and comprehensive profile of every candidate. The examiners then spent the rest of the month filling out forms where they chose the candidate they felt was best qualified. It wasn’t as simple as just writing a name. To prevent people from skipping the profiles and just choosing based on popularity, there was a short randomized quiz on certain facts listed in the profile, which examiners had to pass in order for their assessment to be considered valid. The rest of the assessment was also like, just as the overall name suggested, an exam. Multiple choice questions aimed to quantify each candidate’s proficiency and experience in certain fields, also randomized to prevent other examiners from leaking correct answers. Short answer questions were to show how a candidate’s platform resonated on a personal level. There was an optional essay section at the end which was given extra weight, where examiners were encouraged to write their own thoughts.

Once the assessment was completed, it was sent in for processing. Persia’s Ministry of Qualifications operated similar to the Roman Bureau of Qualifications. However, instead of the Reich’s system of two sub-bureaus encouraged to compete against each other as a way of incentivizing impartiality, the Persian ministry had each assessment be stripped of all examiners’ identifying information, looked over and approved by two different civil servants with no ties to each other, and then scanned through a computer which fed the multiple choice answers through an impartial algorithm. As a result, the Ministry of Qualifications was the largest Persian government agency, with its assessment processing duties taking up a significant portion of the budget due to the large amount of personnel and equipment involved. Another large portion of the budget was strictly devoted to education, to ensure that all potential examiners had the knowledge (and attention spans) to properly assess candidates. For foreign observers coming from democracies like Ryukyu and democratic-meritocratic hybrids like Abyssinia, all this would probably seem like a needlessly complicated and expensive method of choosing political leaders that made no sense. Asking the average examiner to take what amounted to a comprehensive high school-level civics test just to choose the next chancellor, instead of just giving them a list and getting it done in a day? If not for the Reich being the premier example of meritocracy in action, the whole of the free world would probably have adopted democracy. There still was a chance for that, now that Jerusalem had finished picking the Reich’s corpse clean.

“Mozaffar.”

“Mozaffar.”

“Mozaffar.”

“Mozaffar.”

A radio tuned to Royal Persia News was set up on his desk, while his phone was playing a stream from Simurgh Media, and a TV in the corner played ongoing coverage by National Broadcasting. They were all saying his name now. They threw it out so often that it was starting to lose all meaning in his mind. M-o-z-a-f-f-a-r. What a funny string of letters put together, assigned to his identity. Or rather, to the identity the people believed in. He felt like he was being pulled in two directions. There was the Murad Mozaffar that he personally knew. Murad the patriot. Murad the historian. Murad the boy Abbas Jaberi saw potential in. And then there was the Murad Mozaffar the people had created. Mozaffar the nationalist. Mozaffar the military mastermind. Mozaffar the war hero. Mozaffar, the man who crushed Jerusalem and sent it into its current death spiral. Mozaffar, who slew one Regent, captured another, and slaughtered over a hundred thousand Crusaders in Persia. Mozaffar, he who would remake Persia in his own image and lead it to its rightful place in the sun, as the leader of the free world, liberating humanity from the totalitarian shackles of Roman and Chinese hegemony.

That Mozaffar didn’t exist, and yet he was due to become chancellor on July 1, once the processing was completed tomorrow.

So where was Murad? Who was Murad? Did he ever exist? He looked down at himself. His trembling hand held a glass of wine, half empty. His usual business suit was slightly creased, its tie slightly askew. His hair was starting to fall into his eyes—he wanted to get a haircut, but Parviz had always said it could be put off as long as he had a campaign to run. He noticed a few gray strands here and there. Too many for his age. Perhaps the stress was getting to him. One arm was sore, from all of the waving he did to supporters at an event earlier today. Tomorrow, it would be his legs, as he had a victory gala to attend. Yes, they already had a victory gala organized since last month, and it had already been fully booked three weeks ago. All that stuff on the news? All that procedure by the Ministry of Qualifications? That needlessly complicated and expensive exam? That was a godsdamn waste of money, spent to maintain the illusion that the man known as Mozaffar, who never existed, was chosen by the people as the most qualified man to run Persia. When in reality, they chose based on fear and hatred and anger. They chose based on a name repeated thousands of times. Based on platitudes and fiery speeches that gave them an outlet for their hate, a direction for it. Based on the suffering of those less fortunate than them. They may have gone the legally required steps for the meritocratic process, but it lacked the spirit. They were poised to crown a man who never truly existed outside their hearts—their scared and worried hearts, yearning for a parent to put themselves at ease—a man who would no doubt cast aside the shahbanu herself as yet another pawn to be sacrificed on the altar of progress. A progress that would be paid for in blood and not even lead anywhere meaningful.

He had to stop it. But he couldn’t. Mozaffar was beloved by millions across Persia. Murad was known only to himself, kept under lock and key. He had no influence. He had no power. He sat in the chair, but it was Mozaffar’s. It was as if he was a captive in his own body, like all those old stories with mind control or what the Panopticon reports said, according to Parviz. As another example of his powerlessness, all contact with Theodor Tesla was done through Parviz. He had never met the man in person. There was a certain irony in Mozaffar being known as the man who captured one of Jerusalem’s Regents, but also freeing him and employing his services. An irony that only Murad saw. What was the country coming to? All of Mozaffar’s talk about the Romans becoming a new aristocracy over Persians, and yet here they were, inviting an actual Regent into Ali Qapu just three months after that same man attempted to storm that same building by force. Was Murad the only one who saw through the lies? The dishonor they were committing? Mozaffar always said Persia was a nation of laws. But Murad knew it was also a nation of honor. There was no honor in what they had done. Oh, merciful Ahura Mazda, please forgive us for tarnishing your name in our march into Duzakh.

So who was Murad, if not Mozaffar? Who was he really? And what could he do, he asked himself. It had been almost three months since Operation Slaying of Zahhak. That name was something only Mozaffar could come up with, but he could only have known that through Murad. As much as he had made himself out to be the victim, he was still to blame. He did draw up the plans for the operation. He did withhold them from the Roman forces, Operation Huma, and the shahbanu herself. That was all his doing. And after the battle, he went along with everything Parviz Zakaria and Javid Afshar and the others suggested. His signature was on the order confining Wilhelmina and Gunduz to the hospital and imposing the total and indefinite lockdown on them. He had even given it a name, Operation Gilded Birdcage. He was complicit in that. Everything he did as regent was done out of his own free will. There were plenty of times he could have resisted. Called out and denounced Parviz on live television. Dismissed Afshar from his post. Relieved the soldiers permanently stationed at that hospital. Worked with Uncle Abbas to stop the rising tide of xenophobia. There was so much he could have done differently about the deportation of the Romans. But in the end, he and Abbas caved. They signed their names to the order. Mozaffar went on television and smiled victoriously as he consigned twenty thousand Romans to death in the wastes of Mesopotamia, while Murad cried in the back of his mind as he learned that some things could never be forgiven. Parviz’s involvement was not relevant. The fact was, he was as complicit as the others. In light of that, he didn’t want forgiveness. He didn’t want redemption. He didn’t want people to feel sorry for him. He deserved it. Mozaffar was a monster, and Murad was right there with him. They were the same person in the end. The people shaped Mozaffar into a monster as bad as Jerusalem and condemned Murad to a fate he never wanted, a destiny he wanted no part in. The destiny of a villain.

A villain… He focused on those words. Villain, like Angra Mainyu, the wicked one. He had long since been forced onto the path of evil by everyone around him. It mattered not that he had been forced to begin with. He had gone down this path too far to back out, so as much as he did not want to admit it, he had come to choose it of his own free will. Perhaps it was his destiny to be consigned to the fires of Duzakh, along with all those who put him there. Angra Mainyu… He dwelled on that for a moment. A thought emerged. The wicked one is always opposed by Ahura Mazda, he who embodies all that is good. If I am akin to the wicked one, then perhaps there is one who embodies the benevolent one. Or perhaps more than one.

But what if they had not yet emerged? What if they had, but they lacked the power and the support they needed to defeat him? Then there was only one thing left to do: become the villain who would inspire a hero to rise up against them, as the Angra Mainyu to their Ahura Mazda, or the Zahhak to their Kaveh. A villain so cruel and harsh that a hero had no choice but to rise up. If that was what it took to save Persia from the hell he and the people had willingly walked into, then he would gladly bear the burden. He had always been a patriot, and what better way to serve the nation than by sacrificing himself to save it, just as the soldiers of the Artesh did?

If the people want Mozaffar, I’ll give them Mozaffar. You better be ready, Julian Anniona.

 

[zenphoenix]

Interesting. Well since you have Kutai as a constituent state within Nusantara, why not have Nusantara be a federation of different states like Qiandao is?

After I posted that response, I actually thought of doing just that. There’d be Kutai and the kongsis in Borneo, the remains of Majapahit and direct Indian rule in Java, and then various local rulers on the smaller islands. Chinese Indonesia would do the same thing, like Ternare and Tidore being kept as local protectorates, Papua remaining effectively self-governing due to the mountainous jungle terrain, and direct Chinese rule established in Sulawesi. These would then pass over to Nusantara when the Cold War ends, while Papua gains full independence.

 

[Orror SANESS]

​

So who was Murad, if not Mozaffar? Who was he really? And what could he do, he asked himself. It had been almost three months since Operation Slaying of Zahhak. That name was something only Mozaffar could come up with, but he could only have known that through Murad. As much as he had made himself out to be the victim, he was still to blame. He did draw up the plans for the operation. He did withhold them from the Roman forces, Operation Huma, and the shahbanu herself. That was all his doing. And after the battle, he went along with everything Parviz Zakaria and Javid Afshar and the others suggested. His signature was on the order confining Wilhelmina and Gunduz to the hospital and imposing the total and indefinite lockdown on them. He had even given it a name, Operation Gilded Birdcage. He was complicit in that. Everything he did as regent was done out of his own free will. There were plenty of times he could have resisted. Called out and denounced Parviz on live television. Dismissed Afshar from his post. Relieved the soldiers permanently stationed at that hospital. Worked with Uncle Abbas to stop the rising tide of xenophobia. There was so much he could have done differently about the deportation of the Romans. But in the end, he and Abbas caved. They signed their names to the order. Mozaffar went on television and smiled victoriously as he consigned twenty thousand Romans to death in the wastes of Mesopotamia, while Murad cried in the back of his mind as he learned that some things could never be forgiven. Parviz’s involvement was not relevant. The fact was, he was as complicit as the others. In light of that, he didn’t want forgiveness. He didn’t want redemption. He didn’t want people to feel sorry for him. He deserved it. Mozaffar was a monster, and Murad was right there with him. They were the same person in the end. The people shaped Mozaffar into a monster as bad as Jerusalem and condemned Murad to a fate he never wanted, a destiny he wanted no part in. The destiny of a villain.

A villain… He focused on those words. Villain, like Angra Mainyu, the wicked one. He had long since been forced onto the path of evil by everyone around him. It mattered not that he had been forced to begin with. He had gone down this path too far to back out, so as much as he did not want to admit it, he had come to choose it of his own free will. Perhaps it was his destiny to be consigned to the fires of Duzakh, along with all those who put him there. Angra Mainyu… He dwelled on that for a moment. A thought emerged. The wicked one is always opposed by Ahura Mazda, he who embodies all that is good. If I am akin to the wicked one, then perhaps there is one who embodies the benevolent one. Or perhaps more than one.

But what if they had not yet emerged? What if they had, but they lacked the power and the support they needed to defeat him? Then there was only one thing left to do: become the villain who would inspire a hero to rise up against them, as the Angra Mainyu to their Ahura Mazda, or the Zahhak to their Kaveh. A villain so cruel and harsh that a hero had no choice but to rise up. If that was what it took to save Persia from the hell he and the people had willingly walked into, then he would gladly bear the burden. He had always been a patriot, and what better way to serve the nation than by sacrificing himself to save it, just as the soldiers of the Artesh did?

If the people want Mozaffar, I’ll give them Mozaffar. You better be ready, Julian Anniona.

dang, that was intense

Yup, it was

Looks like someone's gonna help Julian's cause!

Also, dang, they were so close!

Who will find the technology now? Persia? Yadvi? China? Jerusalem?

 

[GhostRider124]

I saw that too, including this map I found online. I'm interested in what settlements would be established on Venus, but I guess we have to wait until Stellaris for that.

I found a couple terraformed Venus maps before, but I don't have plans for making actual maps for a while now. I probably won't even terraform Venus in the Hohenzollernverse. It doesn't have the same appeal as terraforming Mars.

For the Hohenzollernverse Venus you could go with the proposal that some have suggested. That being floating habitats in the atmosphere like Cloud City from Star Wars?

Right now, I'm leaning towards past me being horribly messy and inconsistent when transferring files between local drives, external drives, the cloud, and different computers, resulting in zip files scattered in random directories and drives and mixed in with unrelated stuff. I don't remember outright deleting anything, and when I checked my old computer I confirmed I had taken everything off it. Still, there's a decent chance I may have accidentally overwritten or deleted them at some point, though it's more likely they're still on the drive I think they're on, just randomly scattered in 2-3 archives in 5-6 subdirectories. I already spent most of my free time today digging through the drive, and the best I could do was find the 1936-39 screenshots, so until I work up the energy again in the future I'll just consider this a loss.

I know it sounds bad but since you said in future chapter updates and entirely in the DF that you were gong to use your own political and battle maps would it really be that bad?

Dar Es Salaam is now Prastaranegara, which is a Sanskrit translation of "Stone Town," from one of the historical districts of the city.

I fell like you could have a lot of Germans move to Prastaranegara during its occupation after WWII and I can see some Germans call it Dar Es Salaam?

I have between the Indian colonial government (previously "Indian (East) Africa"), the post-colonial nation ("Indian/East African Dominion"), and the supernation ("East Africa (Con)federation"). Now both the colonial government and the independent nation will be known as Pascimabhumi.

I'll admit that it was very confusing as to what East Africa you were referring to at times so thank you for changing the name of the post-colonial nation of East Africa.

That being said are you going to keep the name East Africa for the supernation?

I did something similar with Daksina Jamina. After trying to find why I settled on "Jamina," I decided it would be better if I used "bhumi" instead like with Pascimabhumi. Wiktionary can't find anything for "Jamina" itself outside of Nepali either. So it will now be Daksinabhumi for the general region and "Daksinarastra" ("southern nation") for the name used by independence movements.

Since you alluded to @CaptainAlvious being right in regards to Penglai being divvied up you could have Daksinarastra be the name for an Indian Penglai?

I know you said that Daksinarastra means "Southern nation" but what does Daksinabhumi mean?

In the last round or map redo's you gave the name Cheungwan to the South Island of OTL's New Zeeland and I was wondering it that name applied to the North Island as well and what it meant?

“I totally forgot about that,” the sceond guard said, “Listen up, criminal. Mozaffar’s decided to make things easier for all of us. You’re going to be executed tomorrow.”

Well dang. Julian better work fast.

It was examination night in Isfahan. As in all other meritocracies, the selected examiners were provided with their materials at the beginning of the month—profiles, platforms, backgrounds, public opinion polls, a nonpartisan collection of relevant news articles, and anything else needed to form the most accurate and comprehensive profile of every candidate. The examiners then spent the rest of the month filling out forms where they chose the candidate they felt was best qualified. It wasn’t as simple as just writing a name. To prevent people from skipping the profiles and just choosing based on popularity, there was a short randomized quiz on certain facts listed in the profile, which examiners had to pass in order for their assessment to be considered valid. The rest of the assessment was also like, just as the overall name suggested, an exam. Multiple choice questions aimed to quantify each candidate’s proficiency and experience in certain fields, also randomized to prevent other examiners from leaking correct answers. Short answer questions were to show how a candidate’s platform resonated on a personal level. There was an optional essay section at the end which was given extra weight, where examiners were encouraged to write their own thoughts.

Once the assessment was completed, it was sent in for processing. Persia’s Ministry of Qualifications operated similar to the Roman Bureau of Qualifications. However, instead of the Reich’s system of two sub-bureaus encouraged to compete against each other as a way of incentivizing impartiality, the Persian ministry had each assessment be stripped of all examiners’ identifying information, looked over and approved by two different civil servants with no ties to each other, and then scanned through a computer which fed the multiple choice answers through an impartial algorithm. As a result, the Ministry of Qualifications was the largest Persian government agency, with its assessment processing duties taking up a significant portion of the budget due to the large amount of personnel and equipment involved. Another large portion of the budget was strictly devoted to education, to ensure that all potential examiners had the knowledge (and attention spans) to properly assess candidates. For foreign observers coming from democracies like Ryukyu and democratic-meritocratic hybrids like Abyssinia, all this would probably seem like a needlessly complicated and expensive method of choosing political leaders that made no sense. Asking the average examiner to take what amounted to a comprehensive high school-level civics test just to choose the next chancellor, instead of just giving them a list and getting it done in a day? If not for the Reich being the premier example of meritocracy in action, the whole of the free world would probably have adopted democracy. There still was a chance for that, now that Jerusalem had finished picking the Reich’s corpse clean.

I do like this explanation on how different meritocracy is to Ryukyuan democracy but a part of it does sound like meritocracy or at least the Persian version of it is similar to the Electoral College system in the US.

Speaking of the US I know that in the last part of the update you have everyone being certain that Mozaffar is going to in but I wonder if you are taking inspiration from both the 1948 and 2016 US Presidential Elections in were both times you had someone every one thought was going to win like Thomas E. Dewey and Hillary Clinton to the point that it was already in the news that they won before all the votes were counted and I believe in the case of Clinton's campaign they even were popping champagne bottles only for the other side to pull off a stunning victory?

 

[CaptainAlvious]

Damn Persia is growing more authoritarian by the day. Julian better be ready if he wants to save Alex and the royals in the hospital and stop Persia’s meritocratic backsliding tomorrow.

Persia still can’t be let off easy for this, I feel like they should be made to pay repairations to the Romans once the war ends, effectively being treated as aggressors in this war like Jerusalem and China.

“The port city of Bandar Lengeh has suspended assessment collection in the wake of the Chinese missile strikes earlier today, which resulted in five dead. However, enough assessments have been processed that National Broadcasting can safely declare the city for…”

I guess the Iron Dome system is starting to fail. Kinda a good thing honestly as bad as that sounds, we don’t want Persia to make any further gains in the former Reich’s territory.

Once the assessment was completed, it was sent in for processing. Persia’s Ministry of Qualifications operated similar to the Roman Bureau of Qualifications. However, instead of the Reich’s system of two sub-bureaus encouraged to compete against each other as a way of incentivizing impartiality, the Persian ministry had each assessment be stripped of all examiners’ identifying information, looked over and approved by two different civil servants with no ties to each other, and then scanned through a computer which fed the multiple choice answers through an impartial algorithm. As a result, the Ministry of Qualifications was the largest Persian government agency, with its assessment processing duties taking up a significant portion of the budget due to the large amount of personnel and equipment involved. Another large portion of the budget was strictly devoted to education, to ensure that all potential examiners had the knowledge (and attention spans) to properly assess candidates. For foreign observers coming from democracies like Ryukyu and democratic-meritocratic hybrids like Abyssinia, all this would probably seem like a needlessly complicated and expensive method of choosing political leaders that made no sense. Asking the average examiner to take what amounted to a comprehensive high school-level civics test just to choose the next chancellor, instead of just giving them a list and getting it done in a day? If not for the Reich being the premier example of meritocracy in action, the whole of the free world would probably have adopted democracy. There still was a chance for that, now that Jerusalem had finished picking the Reich’s corpse clean.

A good point Mozaffar is making here. No country is in any shape for a meritocracy with elaborate and expensive bureaucracies and education systems after this war. Also Persia isn’t a good look for meritocracy either, which makes all that bureaucracy and checks on corruption in the face of mob rule and authoritarianism pointless in the eyes of some.

Who will find the technology now? Persia? Yadvi? China? Jerusalem?

Right now it’s the loyalists with access to experimental tech taken from the Battle of Isfahan like that tank Julian used in Mosul, and the loyalist are the only ones that know about the island in Yavdi full of Ancient Human tech.

I know you said that Daksinarastra means "Southern nation" but what does Daksinabhumi mean?

Daksina Bhumi (I’ll render it with a space for convenience) means “Southern land” from what I can tell. Bhumi is a more accurate word for land than Jamina is.

Also recently I found that Iran tolerated homosexuality until the Qajar period and modernization in OTL, so I wonder what TTL’s Persia LGBT policies would be?

 

[zenphoenix]

For the Hohenzollernverse Venus you could go with the proposal that some have suggested. That being floating habitats in the atmosphere like Cloud City from Star Wars?

Yeah, the idea did cross my mind since I’ve seen several ideas for them on r/worldbuilding, but the best idea came from the Expanse hater, so I hesitate to do it. I’ll probably stick with orbital habitats.

I know it sounds bad but since you said in future chapter updates and entirely in the DF that you were gong to use your own political and battle maps would it really be that bad?

Yeah, that’s my current plan. I can use the leeway to improvise more in that era since I was already planning to retcon a lot of stuff.

I fell like you could have a lot of Germans move to Prastaranegara during its occupation after WWII and I can see some Germans call it Dar Es Salaam?

Dar Es Salaam’s name from an Islamic ruler though, so I don’t think Germans would call it that on their own.

I'll admit that it was very confusing as to what East Africa you were referring to at times so thank you for changing the name of the post-colonial nation of East Africa.

That being said are you going to keep the name East Africa for the supernation?

Yes, the supernation will retain the current name.

Since you alluded to @CaptainAlvious being right in regards to Penglai being divvied up you could have Daksinarastra be the name for an Indian Penglai?

I went with “rastra” for the proposed political name because I already have a city called “Varsabhumi” and it might sound weird if I used “bhumi” for both a city and a proposed country. On a related note, I removed the space in Lokhandanegara.

In the last round or map redo's you gave the name Cheungwan to the South Island of OTL's New Zeeland and I was wondering it that name applied to the North Island as well and what it meant?

No, it’s only for the South Island.

I do like this explanation on how different meritocracy is to Ryukyuan democracy but a part of it does sound like meritocracy or at least the Persian version of it is similar to the Electoral College system in the US.

Both the Roman and Persian systems have similarities to the Electoral College, mainly so I can draw parallels between their examination cycles and the US election cycle. For example, the Reich’s system requires the victor to win a majority of Länder in addition to a majority of examiners, which led to several upsets in the past and incentivizes the Diet to hew closely to a two-party system much like Congress. Persia has a similar system, which is why the news in this chapter refers to results from specific provinces and cities.

Speaking of the US I know that in the last part of the update you have everyone being certain that Mozaffar is going to in but I wonder if you are taking inspiration from both the 1948 and 2016 US Presidential Elections in were both times you had someone every one thought was going to win like Thomas E. Dewey and Hillary Clinton to the point that it was already in the news that they won before all the votes were counted and I believe in the case of Clinton's campaign they even were popping champagne bottles only for the other side to pull off a stunning victory?

You’ll have to wait and see.

Damn Persia is growing more authoritarian by the day. Julian better be ready if he wants to save Alex and the royals in the hospital and stop Persia’s meritocratic backsliding tomorrow.

Don’t worry, he has a plan.

Persia still can’t be let off easy for this, I feel like they should be made to pay repairations to the Romans once the war ends, effectively being treated as aggressors in this war like Jerusalem and China.

The problem, though, is who they’d pay such reparations to. The only options are either uninhabitable wastelands or totalitarian regimes.

I guess the Iron Dome system is starting to fail. Kinda a good thing honestly as bad as that sounds, we don’t want Persia to make any further gains in the former Reich’s territory.

On the other hand, more innocents are going to die.

A good point Mozaffar is making here. No country is in any shape for a meritocracy with elaborate and expensive bureaucracies and education systems after this war. Also Persia isn’t a good look for meritocracy either, which makes all that bureaucracy and checks on corruption in the face of mob rule and authoritarianism pointless in the eyes of some.

The issue with the supposedly impartial qualifications system is that the people running it are still human with their own biases. Even if two unrelated people look over and record a result, if both of them are independently biased then the result will be as well.

Right now it’s the loyalists with access to experimental tech taken from the Battle of Isfahan like that tank Julian used in Mosul, and the loyalist are the only ones that know about the island in Yavdi full of Ancient Human tech.

To be fair, Persia still has some of the experimental tech from seizing the lab team’s blueprints, although they’re at a disadvantage because most of the actual prototypes and equipment were taken with the refugees.

Daksina Bhumi (I’ll render it with a space for convenience) means “Southern land” from what I can tell. Bhumi is a more accurate word for land than Jamina is.

Yes, this is correct.

Also recently I found that Iran tolerated homosexuality until the Qajar period and modernization in OTL, so I wonder what TTL’s Persia LGBT policies would be?

Probably falls into the same category as the Roman policy, aka “we don’t exactly recognize it, but we don’t criminalize it either.”

 

[CaptainAlvious]

I also noticed the previous Indian Africa map focuses on the core of the country in on the Shaii coast and not, say, the Mutapa territories to the south, through I’m not sure how you would Indianize settlements there. Maybe you could still have Great Zimbabwe still be inhabited like Cahokia is here and given an Indian name? Then again, I think the locals would push against such a name change, especially after fighting for independence in the civil war, which probably resulted in Prastaranegara being decentralized and all its constituent parts getting autonomy to avoid another civil war.

 

[zenphoenix]

I also noticed the previous Indian Africa map focuses on the core of the country in on the Shaii coast and not, say, the Mutapa territories to the south, through I’m not sure how you would Indianize settlements there. Maybe you could still have Great Zimbabwe still be inhabited like Cahokia is here and given an Indian name? Then again, I think the locals would push against such a name change, especially after fighting for independence in the civil war, which probably resulted in Prastaranegara being decentralized and all its constituent parts getting autonomy to avoid another civil war.

I tried Indianizing Usumbura/Bujumbura, but I found almost nothing to work on. In the south, I had the opposite problem because there were organized states there like Mutapa and Kilwa which would resist Indianization. I internally do consider Great Zimbabwe still inhabited, but I don't think I'll Indianize it. If anything, it would be one of the major cities within Mutapa, since Mutapa did control that area prior to its conquest.

The civil war most certainly did lead to greater decentralization within Pascimabhumi, as a way of appeasing the non-Indian majorities. It would also give a good reason for the East Africa supernation to exist. As it stands right now, it feels like it's just a union between Abyssinia and Pascimabhumi, which isn't really that impressive. But if Pascimabhumi granted autonomy to the non-Indian regions, if not outright independence, then that would justify a supernation that would in effect replace the colonial and post-colonial structure. Though that would come at the cost of increasing Abyssinia's relative power within the supernation.