Insane_Panda
Deity
Julien geopolitique seems oh so much simpler, yet quite as effective
Wonderful read, das.
Alternate History Thread II...
- Thread starter Xen
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Julien geopolitique seems oh so much simpler, yet quite as effective
Wonderful read, das.
Oruc
Reactionary
Ok here is a Alt-hist for a game I have.
Disjunction.
In the year A.D. 1189, Pope Gregory VIII called for a Third Crusade to recapture Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the infidel. King Henry II of England and King Philip II of France agreed to stop waging war upon each other and take up the cross. As Henry and Philip gathered their armies, the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, marched from Europe with an army numbering some hundred thousand men. But Barbarossa met his fate at the river of Salef where he drowned. Broken by the loss of their leader, the German army disintegrated. And so the Crusades fateful beginning foretold the horror to come.
Henry II, king of England, died before he could begin his march to the Holy Land. His son, Richard Coeur de Lion, or the Lionheart, assumed the throne and answered the Popes call to arms. He joined with Philip of France, and their armies set sail in the summer of 1190. On the way, Richard conquered Sicily and Cyprus. Then, along with the French army, he laid siege to the city of Acre in the summer of 1191. After horrific battles, the Saracen army in Acre was forced to negotiate a truce with Richard and Philip. The terms of the truce were harsh indeedthe Saracens were to pay the crusading armies 200,000 gold coins and return plunder and prisoners.
But the siege had been hard, and the crusaders suffered from plague and a severe shortage of food. The kings themselves could hardly agree on a proper division the spoils. So even in victory the crusading armies were broken. It was not long before the German and French forces sailed for home, leaving Richard and the English army alone at Acre. When Saladin, the Muslim leader, failed to pay the tribute demanded by the crusaders, it is said that Richards trusted advisor called for the Muslims to be punished. He advised Richard to gather together several holy artifacts for a sacred ritual to bless Richards forces and curse their foes. Acting on his counsel, Richard brought these artifacts togetherrelics whose combined power began to weaken reality. As Saladins forces camped near Acre to again negotiate terms, Richard put to death 3,000 Muslim prisoners in a show of force and ferocity. It is said that this acted as a blood sacrifice for the catastrophic ritual the advisor had begun.
Within a day the fabric of the earth began to tear, and spiritkind and magic were un-leashed. Hordes of demons and strange, powerful beings sprang up in the streets of Acre, surrounding Richards army. After heavy losses, Richard and Saladin joined forces to wade trough the hordes. With incredible valor, the two heroes wounded the advisor, now revealed as a demon of considerable power. The advisor fled, along with a host of the evil creatures, ending the ritual before its completion. Although the battle lasted but a few hours, the Disjunction, as it would come to be called, unleashed vast forces across the entire planet.
During this time the new magics unleashed upon the world were first used by the devastated English. Used in the repair, communication, and defense of the nation, magic also begat the formation of a power group gone for centuriesthe Druids. During these early years following the Disjunction, hordes of magical creatures scattered across the earth. The most powerful of these creatures were the Storm Dragons, immense reptilian beasts capable of unleashing terrible destruction with their magical abilities to control weather and summon natural disasters. Territorial and vicious, the Storm Dragons swiftly spread across the planet and began to carve up the landmasses. Blizzard Wyrms flew to the icy reaches of northern Europe, Inferno Drakes plagued the hot deserts of Africa and the Middle East, Lightning Dragons soared to the Americas, and Tidal Dragons controlled the waters of the Pacific.
The Fourth Crusade.
The Fourth Crusade against the Storm Dragons was nearly lost as humankind found that conventional arrows, bolts, and ballistae were ineffective against the new menace. By this time, some purebloods had become hosts for alien spirits and began to comprehend the extent of their accursed powers. So, it was around this time, in the late twelfth century, that Wielders became the first human mages, capable of shaping a new form of energy channeled from the demons inside them. These Wielders would prove to be invaluable against the Dragons, as their defensive magic could protect troops against the scorching dragonfires and their offensive spells could pierce the tough dragon hides. By 1201, Richard and Saladin employed War Wielders to complement their forces.
Richard ordered the Wielders to invoke a mighty spell that would create a magical route through the earth. The Wielders combined their power and summoned magic crystals from the ground, a reckless spell that caused many such crystals to sprout randomly across the earth. Although the crystals were empowered with various effects, and some proved quite hazardous, the Wielders were able to form a few stable bridges between Europe and the Middle East, saving the crusaders months of valuable traveling time. By the year 1218, Germany and France had been liberated, and in 1220 England was also free of the Dragons. In 1222, the crusaders marshaled a vast navy to sail against the Dragons in Norway and attack the heart of the Dragons empire, the glacial fortress of Icingspire. However, the sea invasion proved disastrous, because the Blizzard Wyrms summoned their water brethren, the Tidal Dragons, to aid them. The devastating tidal waves and monsoons summoned by the Dragons sank the crusaders navy. The largest of the Tidal Dragons capsized and tore apart the fleets flagship, the vessel of King Richard the Lionheart. It was presumed the great crusader perished in the churning waters.
The loss of Richard proved so disastrous that the crusaders were not able to muster another fleet for another eight years. In 1230, the crusaders landed in Denmark and slowly captured Nordic territory. As they continued to rout the Dragons, the enslaved Nordic warriors broke free and battled against their captors. In 1239, the crusaders liberated Norway with the help of King Hakon IV and drove the Dragons into the sea. The final battle of the Fourth Crusade took place in Iceland in 1244 at Húnaflói, in what historians refer to as the Bay Battle. The crusaders brought ships from every coastal province to lay siege to Icingspire. Armed with magical ballistae forged by the Wielders, an enchanted siegecraft designed specifically to hunt Dragons, the fleet assaulted the fortress in a siege that would last two months and result in the extermination of Dragonkind.
The influence of the Wielders and the long war against the Dragons had their effect upon the population. Alarmed by the rapid spread of magical taint across the world, the people of Europe looked to their rulers and the clergy for protection. In 1231, the Western kings and the Papacy agreed to the formation of the first Inquisition, an organization of holy investigators trained to seek out and deal with the evils wrought by the Disjunction.
The combined forces of the Inquisition and the Knights Templar began to drive the organized tribes of monsters away from the cities and into the shadows. But as the Knights Templar continued to expand their influence outward for greater security, the Inquisition turned its attention inward to root out evils that had infiltrated society. With the Dragons driven from Europe, and the Inquisition and the Knights Templar driving the forces of darkness away from cities, there was a brief period of peace. In 1241 this ended with the invasion of Batu Khan and the Mongol army.
As this army surged west, Batu gathered a vanguard of monstrous warriors, hideously cruel goblins formed from the union of dark spirits and humans. These creatures adapted quickly to the Mongol style of warfare, mastering the use of short bows while riding swift beast-mounts into battle. Batus Golden Horde swelled with goblinoid forces as he cut a wide swath through the territories of eastern Europe. Batus progress alarmed the nations of the West, already weary from their war against the Storm Dragons. In 1243, the Fourth Crusade against the Storm Dragons ended, allowing the Knights Templar and the forces of the West to join the Eastern forces against the Mongol horde.
The coalition succeeded in slowing the advance of the Golden Horde for several years, yet Batus forces continued to gain ground. In 1249, the coalition finally halted Batus advance in Italy, but not before many Italian provinces had felt the savagery of the Mongol horde. The situation appeared so desperate that the Holy See fled west to Spain, where it has remained ever since.
In 1250, the European armies finally defeated the Mongol forces through terrible attrition, with both sides sustaining heavy casualties. Batu cleverly dispersed his goblin tribes against the Europeans, sending the monsters through the ranks of the Europeans to cover his escape. The Mongols retreated as swiftly as they arrived, and a few of the goblin tribes managed to break through the European forces to race toward the western lands. The furious march erased several powerful forces from the earth, including Byzantium and the Teutonic Knights. Although they fought valiantly against the Mongol horde, many Inquisitors died. The few Inquisitors who survived fled west to Spain to regroup, but the order did not recover its influence for many years.
By 1260, an alliance of ambitious Wielders moved boldly to consolidate their influence in these ravaged areas. Some of the more powerful and audacious Wielders proclaimed themselves to be dukes or governors and established minor duchies or provinces within the Western kingdoms. Using their magical abilities to expand their influence, by 1263 these Wielders ruled nearly a quarter of Spain and parts of France.
In 1268, the rulers of the Western nations and the surviving leaders of the Inquisition convinced the Knights Templar of the need to contain the Wielders in order to ensure the hegemony of the pureblood race. The Inquisition passed a series of edicts to protect citizens against the abuses of magic and to punish those who wielded magic illegally. While some of the War Wielders loyal to the Knights Templar accepted and understood the Inquisitions edicts, many other Wielders openly attacked Inquisitors to defend their accursed existence and corrupt positions of power.
The Spanish Inquisition was formed to reclaim the lands of Spain taken by the Wielders. The Inquisitors launched the Reconquista, also known as the Reconquest, an incredible series of magical battles that engulfed Spain and France in civil war. The rogue Wielders summoned terrible elemental forces, while the Inquisitors invoked mighty divine magic against the rebels, resulting in a staggering loss of pureblood and tainted human lives. The Reconquista lasted six years, and by 1275, the Inquisition had vanquished the rogue Wielders. The War Wielders still loyal to the Templars quickly distanced themselves from the evil wizards that had controlled parts of Europe. However, the Inquisition still regarded all wizards with deep suspicion and would never again allow them to gain influence over the public.
Fourteenth Century.
In 1316, the Inquisition declared the practice of magic to be heresyeven when used to offset nations food shortages. This edict, combined with an ever-increasing population, caused a terrible famine. By the winter of 1316, almost the entire population of Europe was starving. The prices of grain fluctuated greatly and many farmers switched to more dependable cash crops, worsening an already bad situation. After another poor winter in 1317, the Inquisition reversed its edict and allowed the practice of magic to increase the harvest as long as it was supervised by the clergy.
The Inquisition placed the blame for the famine on Wielders and many years of continuous scrutiny followed. Slowly, more and more edicts passed that restricted the movements of wizards and the tainted races. In 1343, the Spanish Inquisition decreed that a union with any non-divine spirit was a heretical offense. To escape persecution, some Wielders once loyal to the Knights Templar fled to England, where restrictions against the use of magic were far less severe.
Not long after that, the Inquisition declared that magic generated by divine spirits would be acceptable to those within the ranks of the Inquisition and to certain select others. Conditions would never improve for those born with visible marks of the Taint, and races would be subjected to night-time raids of their homes by the Inquisition, and countless trials and interrogations. Eventually, many would integrate into society, but those visibly tainted by magic would at best be treated as second-class citizens.
The Black Plague struck Europe in 1347, but the Inquisition held fast to its 1343 decree forbidding magical association with spirits or otherwise. Many Wielders appealed to the courts to allow them to practice their magic and to cure the diseased population only to find themselves imprisoned or worse. The Divine Wielders within the Inquisition were either swamped or too busy ferreting out rogue Wielders to assist the population, and as a result, many thousands of people died. Ironically, many of the imbued were more resistant to plague, so while purebloods died around them, the population of the tainted grew. Between 1347 and the end of the 14th century the plague struck Europe many times. Until this time tainted births had accounted for only a small percentage of the population, but by the beginning of the 15th century there were enough tainted births that the variations in human bloodlines had taken on their vernacular names of feralkin, demokin, and sylvant.
The Fifth Crusade.
In 1336, a group of powerful dark wizards stole from the risen pharaohs of Egypt a magical tome containing the secrets of life and death. The Book of the Dead detailed the art of necromancy, the magic of the afterlife and death. After studying the book, these Necromancers bound dark spirits to dead bodies, creating a powerful army of mindless undead warriors.
Using legions of animated corpses and undead horrors, these Necromancers conquered Egypt and many of the surrounding African nations by 1336. As they continued to wage war, the bodies of fallen warriors increased and so did the armies of the undead. The Ottoman Empire and the Knights of Saladin gathered their forces to try to stop the Necromancers. For several years, the Ottoman Empire and the Knights of Saladin slowly lost ground to the advancing undead horde.
By early 1344, the Necromancers expanded their campaign of terror by sending their massive bone barges across the Mediterranean and attacking European nations directly. While the undead armies attacked human forces in Asia, Africa, and Europe, the Necromancers sent their most powerful undead creatures to find the hidden artifacts guarded by the Knights Templar and Knights of Saladin.
The Inquisition and the Knights Templar relentlessly hunted down and destroyed every last Necromancer to ensure that the black arts would never be practiced again. In 1389, the knights killed the last Necromancer, Lord Amonsil. Although the exiled pharaohs were innocent of the crimes perpetrated by the Necromancers, the Inquisition viewed them as abominations and dispatched them without mercy, allowing the Ottoman Empire to control northern Africa.
Fifteenth Century.
By the early 1400s, during the Hundred Years War, much of northern France was under control of the English, and southern France was separated into duchies with little allegiance to the king. Famine and plague had taken a greater toll on the kingdom than on its neighbors, and the continuing wars left the populace greatly burdened. When Charles VII took the throne in 1422, France was in turmoil. Things worsened as the threat of the Necromantic armies to the south and east began to threaten all of Europe. In 1429, just when it seemed as if France might lose any remaining European authority, a young girl of 17 named Jehanne DArc (Joan of Arc) managed to gain an audience with Charles. She convinced the king to give her titular command (acting as a figurehead) over one of his armies.
Jehanne soon assumed full control and with a sword in one hand and a banner in the other, led her army sweeping across France. Her abilities as a strategist and a leader were remarkable; within a year her soldiers and most of the populace believed she was a saint. Her army grew in size as she returned one territory after another to the crownalthough it should be noted that most regions were easily captured due to the extended Fifth Crusade. By 1431, she had reclaimed lands across northern and southern France and had recaptured Paris. Frances royal authority once again stretched from the Mediterranean to Guienne and north to Flanders.
Jehanne and her armies shifted focus in 1432 and joined the Fifth Crusade against the Necromancers. Jehanne and a vanguard of her men clashed with a massive force of undead at the resting place of a relic, in a series of caverns in southern France. It is said that the army and the magic-wielding forces of the undead caused the cave to collapse, killing her and the rest of her men.
Jehannes death made her a martyr to the people of France, and their support buoyed the armies of France. The French forces played a pivotal role in the defeat of the Necromancers and continued to consolidate French holdings. The nation of France returned to the world stage, and the French people united under their king for the first time in history.
With the threat of the Necromancers neutralized, the knightly orders returned to their home territories to help rebuild the cities, while the Inquisition moved to establish its unequivocal power. Those who spoke out against the Inquisition risked being charged with heresy.
The Sixth Crusade.
In 1461, a respected official of the Spanish government was accused of practicing magic and was brought before the Inquisition. The prisoner confounded the four Inquisitors, resisting their attempts at exorcism, demonstrating inhuman endurance, and speaking in ancient languages to confuse them. After days of arduous proceedings, two of the four Inquisitors collapsed from exhaustion. The third Inquisitor fell prey to a strange malady after the prisoner asked to speak with him privately so that he could confess his sins. When other Inquisitors returned, they found the interrogator babbling about the Fell Spirits while the prisoner laughed.
Learned bishops and high-ranking Inquisitors came to examine the man and were equally frustrated by his openly hostile and resilient attitude. Though these Inquisitors were no closer to exorcising the prisoners demon, he spoke proudly of ages past, when the Fell Spirits were known as demons to many of the old religions. To the Hindus, they were known as the terrible Daityas; to the Persians, the Daevas; Buddhists knew them as the hungry Pretas; the Hebrews called one of the Fell Spirits Asmodeous, and the Christians feared Lucifer above all else.
Although the official record of the final interrogation with the first Fell Spirit has never been released, it is widely believed that the Grand Inquisitor visited the Fell Spirit and concluded the interrogation. Some historians have recorded that Torquemada summoned and bound a divine spirit, one who had opposed the Fell Spirit on many occasions in the past. According to these historians, Torquemada did not emerge from the chambers for several days, but eventually succeeded with the exorcism. It is rumored that Torquemada imprisoned the Fell Spirit deep within the chambers of the Inquisition so that its evil could not corrupt others again.
Word of the incident with the Fell Spirit spread quickly. It was widely believed that demonic forces had infiltrated the governments of other kingdoms.
The Inquisition initiated a widespread campaign to ferret out others in positions of power who were possessed by the Fell Spirits. The resulting hysteria crippled the capitals of Europe, as the Inquisition restricted travel and trade between cities. Communities turned on each other, and hundreds, possibly thousands, of innocents found themselves facing the harsh interrogations of the Inquisition.
In 1463, the Inquisition sent representatives to London to ensure the sanctity of the English monarchy. When the Inquisitors requested an audience with Queen Elizabeth, they were allowed to meet her in the presence of her honor guard. While exact details of the encounter are not known, it is evident that the Inquisitors attempted to interrogate the queen. Offended, Elizabeth had the Inquisitors put to death. The incident severely damaged relations between England and the Inquisition, and the two nearly went to war. However, in 1464, diplomacy prevailed and an unsteady truce ensued.
By this time, the Inquisition had also started to curtail the search for more Fell Spirits. Though many dark creatures were found hiding in the shadows of the cities of men, they could find no evidence of any other dreaded Fell Spirits infiltrating the governments of Europe. The crusades success could be measured only by the hysteria it induced and the innocents who suffered.
Though the crusade against the Fell Spirits ended, the relations between England the Inquisition had suffered irreparable damage. Both the English and Spanish nations built up their navies to protect their trade routes and overseas interests. Over the years, occasional skirmishes flared up, slowly fueling the fires of discontent on both sides. In the 15th century, Spain sent out navigators to explore the seas and search for new trade routes. One such explorer, Christopher Columbus, set sail in August 1492 and barely survived a harrowing voyage across the treacherous Atlantic Ocean. He sailed along the north coast of Hispaniola and returned to Spain in 1493, telling the king about the wealthy and powerful tribes of the New World.
Impressed with his discovery, King Ferdinand funded a second voyage in 1493, granting Columbus a small army to establish a settlement in the New World. Blown off course by terrible storms, Columbus fleet finally landed in North America. Columbus ordered his army to clear a swath of overgrown jungle to create a settlement for Spain, La Isabela. Two weeks later, indigenous tribes, riding monstrous reptilian mounts, attacked and butchered the colonists, killing Columbus and most of his troops. The few survivors of the expedition sailed back to Spain in 1494, and spoke of the horrors.
Sixteenth Century.
Determined to tame these savage new lands, King Philip funded several conquistadors to explore and claim them for Spain. One such conquistador, Hernán Cortés, was given a fleet of ships to conquer the New World. During his first expedition, Cortés established a minor foothold in southern Mexico and learned of the Aztecs, a powerful tribe that possessed vast riches. Cortés returned to Spain with treasures from the New World and requested more troops and resources to attack the Aztecs. In 1521, Cortés received a larger fleet and sailed back to the New World. Joined by other tribes, enemies of the Aztecs, Cortés marched against Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. When Cortés laid siege to the great city, the Aztecs unleashed a host of terrors never before seen by western eyes. Massive feathered serpents swept down from the city and destroyed the Spanish siege weapons as old Aztec gods walked among the fierce warriors, devouring the invaders. Cortés himself was severely wounded in the battle, but managed to retreat to Spain with only a single damaged vessel.
The utter defeat of Cortés army was the last recorded attempt by European forces to gain a stronghold in the New World.
In 1587, a naval engagement between Spanish and English forces resulted in the loss of many Spanish lives, including several influential Inquisitors and Spanish nobles. Unlike the conflict a hundred years before, no diplomats were exchanged to prevent the war.
A year later, in the current time of 1588, it is known that the Inquisition has spent many months preparing for an inevitable conflict stemming from the miserable Sixth Crusade. As the Inquisition prepares lengthy articles detailing heretical charges against England, the Spanish Armada has continued to grow, becoming one of the largest naval fleets in history. Because of its fight against this heresy, the Inquisition does not allow the casting of magic, save divine healing spells, within the bounds of Barcelona.
I didnt make this so dont go complaining to me.
Disjunction.
In the year A.D. 1189, Pope Gregory VIII called for a Third Crusade to recapture Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the infidel. King Henry II of England and King Philip II of France agreed to stop waging war upon each other and take up the cross. As Henry and Philip gathered their armies, the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, marched from Europe with an army numbering some hundred thousand men. But Barbarossa met his fate at the river of Salef where he drowned. Broken by the loss of their leader, the German army disintegrated. And so the Crusades fateful beginning foretold the horror to come.
Henry II, king of England, died before he could begin his march to the Holy Land. His son, Richard Coeur de Lion, or the Lionheart, assumed the throne and answered the Popes call to arms. He joined with Philip of France, and their armies set sail in the summer of 1190. On the way, Richard conquered Sicily and Cyprus. Then, along with the French army, he laid siege to the city of Acre in the summer of 1191. After horrific battles, the Saracen army in Acre was forced to negotiate a truce with Richard and Philip. The terms of the truce were harsh indeedthe Saracens were to pay the crusading armies 200,000 gold coins and return plunder and prisoners.
But the siege had been hard, and the crusaders suffered from plague and a severe shortage of food. The kings themselves could hardly agree on a proper division the spoils. So even in victory the crusading armies were broken. It was not long before the German and French forces sailed for home, leaving Richard and the English army alone at Acre. When Saladin, the Muslim leader, failed to pay the tribute demanded by the crusaders, it is said that Richards trusted advisor called for the Muslims to be punished. He advised Richard to gather together several holy artifacts for a sacred ritual to bless Richards forces and curse their foes. Acting on his counsel, Richard brought these artifacts togetherrelics whose combined power began to weaken reality. As Saladins forces camped near Acre to again negotiate terms, Richard put to death 3,000 Muslim prisoners in a show of force and ferocity. It is said that this acted as a blood sacrifice for the catastrophic ritual the advisor had begun.
Within a day the fabric of the earth began to tear, and spiritkind and magic were un-leashed. Hordes of demons and strange, powerful beings sprang up in the streets of Acre, surrounding Richards army. After heavy losses, Richard and Saladin joined forces to wade trough the hordes. With incredible valor, the two heroes wounded the advisor, now revealed as a demon of considerable power. The advisor fled, along with a host of the evil creatures, ending the ritual before its completion. Although the battle lasted but a few hours, the Disjunction, as it would come to be called, unleashed vast forces across the entire planet.
During this time the new magics unleashed upon the world were first used by the devastated English. Used in the repair, communication, and defense of the nation, magic also begat the formation of a power group gone for centuriesthe Druids. During these early years following the Disjunction, hordes of magical creatures scattered across the earth. The most powerful of these creatures were the Storm Dragons, immense reptilian beasts capable of unleashing terrible destruction with their magical abilities to control weather and summon natural disasters. Territorial and vicious, the Storm Dragons swiftly spread across the planet and began to carve up the landmasses. Blizzard Wyrms flew to the icy reaches of northern Europe, Inferno Drakes plagued the hot deserts of Africa and the Middle East, Lightning Dragons soared to the Americas, and Tidal Dragons controlled the waters of the Pacific.
The Fourth Crusade.
The Fourth Crusade against the Storm Dragons was nearly lost as humankind found that conventional arrows, bolts, and ballistae were ineffective against the new menace. By this time, some purebloods had become hosts for alien spirits and began to comprehend the extent of their accursed powers. So, it was around this time, in the late twelfth century, that Wielders became the first human mages, capable of shaping a new form of energy channeled from the demons inside them. These Wielders would prove to be invaluable against the Dragons, as their defensive magic could protect troops against the scorching dragonfires and their offensive spells could pierce the tough dragon hides. By 1201, Richard and Saladin employed War Wielders to complement their forces.
Richard ordered the Wielders to invoke a mighty spell that would create a magical route through the earth. The Wielders combined their power and summoned magic crystals from the ground, a reckless spell that caused many such crystals to sprout randomly across the earth. Although the crystals were empowered with various effects, and some proved quite hazardous, the Wielders were able to form a few stable bridges between Europe and the Middle East, saving the crusaders months of valuable traveling time. By the year 1218, Germany and France had been liberated, and in 1220 England was also free of the Dragons. In 1222, the crusaders marshaled a vast navy to sail against the Dragons in Norway and attack the heart of the Dragons empire, the glacial fortress of Icingspire. However, the sea invasion proved disastrous, because the Blizzard Wyrms summoned their water brethren, the Tidal Dragons, to aid them. The devastating tidal waves and monsoons summoned by the Dragons sank the crusaders navy. The largest of the Tidal Dragons capsized and tore apart the fleets flagship, the vessel of King Richard the Lionheart. It was presumed the great crusader perished in the churning waters.
The loss of Richard proved so disastrous that the crusaders were not able to muster another fleet for another eight years. In 1230, the crusaders landed in Denmark and slowly captured Nordic territory. As they continued to rout the Dragons, the enslaved Nordic warriors broke free and battled against their captors. In 1239, the crusaders liberated Norway with the help of King Hakon IV and drove the Dragons into the sea. The final battle of the Fourth Crusade took place in Iceland in 1244 at Húnaflói, in what historians refer to as the Bay Battle. The crusaders brought ships from every coastal province to lay siege to Icingspire. Armed with magical ballistae forged by the Wielders, an enchanted siegecraft designed specifically to hunt Dragons, the fleet assaulted the fortress in a siege that would last two months and result in the extermination of Dragonkind.
The influence of the Wielders and the long war against the Dragons had their effect upon the population. Alarmed by the rapid spread of magical taint across the world, the people of Europe looked to their rulers and the clergy for protection. In 1231, the Western kings and the Papacy agreed to the formation of the first Inquisition, an organization of holy investigators trained to seek out and deal with the evils wrought by the Disjunction.
The combined forces of the Inquisition and the Knights Templar began to drive the organized tribes of monsters away from the cities and into the shadows. But as the Knights Templar continued to expand their influence outward for greater security, the Inquisition turned its attention inward to root out evils that had infiltrated society. With the Dragons driven from Europe, and the Inquisition and the Knights Templar driving the forces of darkness away from cities, there was a brief period of peace. In 1241 this ended with the invasion of Batu Khan and the Mongol army.
As this army surged west, Batu gathered a vanguard of monstrous warriors, hideously cruel goblins formed from the union of dark spirits and humans. These creatures adapted quickly to the Mongol style of warfare, mastering the use of short bows while riding swift beast-mounts into battle. Batus Golden Horde swelled with goblinoid forces as he cut a wide swath through the territories of eastern Europe. Batus progress alarmed the nations of the West, already weary from their war against the Storm Dragons. In 1243, the Fourth Crusade against the Storm Dragons ended, allowing the Knights Templar and the forces of the West to join the Eastern forces against the Mongol horde.
The coalition succeeded in slowing the advance of the Golden Horde for several years, yet Batus forces continued to gain ground. In 1249, the coalition finally halted Batus advance in Italy, but not before many Italian provinces had felt the savagery of the Mongol horde. The situation appeared so desperate that the Holy See fled west to Spain, where it has remained ever since.
In 1250, the European armies finally defeated the Mongol forces through terrible attrition, with both sides sustaining heavy casualties. Batu cleverly dispersed his goblin tribes against the Europeans, sending the monsters through the ranks of the Europeans to cover his escape. The Mongols retreated as swiftly as they arrived, and a few of the goblin tribes managed to break through the European forces to race toward the western lands. The furious march erased several powerful forces from the earth, including Byzantium and the Teutonic Knights. Although they fought valiantly against the Mongol horde, many Inquisitors died. The few Inquisitors who survived fled west to Spain to regroup, but the order did not recover its influence for many years.
By 1260, an alliance of ambitious Wielders moved boldly to consolidate their influence in these ravaged areas. Some of the more powerful and audacious Wielders proclaimed themselves to be dukes or governors and established minor duchies or provinces within the Western kingdoms. Using their magical abilities to expand their influence, by 1263 these Wielders ruled nearly a quarter of Spain and parts of France.
In 1268, the rulers of the Western nations and the surviving leaders of the Inquisition convinced the Knights Templar of the need to contain the Wielders in order to ensure the hegemony of the pureblood race. The Inquisition passed a series of edicts to protect citizens against the abuses of magic and to punish those who wielded magic illegally. While some of the War Wielders loyal to the Knights Templar accepted and understood the Inquisitions edicts, many other Wielders openly attacked Inquisitors to defend their accursed existence and corrupt positions of power.
The Spanish Inquisition was formed to reclaim the lands of Spain taken by the Wielders. The Inquisitors launched the Reconquista, also known as the Reconquest, an incredible series of magical battles that engulfed Spain and France in civil war. The rogue Wielders summoned terrible elemental forces, while the Inquisitors invoked mighty divine magic against the rebels, resulting in a staggering loss of pureblood and tainted human lives. The Reconquista lasted six years, and by 1275, the Inquisition had vanquished the rogue Wielders. The War Wielders still loyal to the Templars quickly distanced themselves from the evil wizards that had controlled parts of Europe. However, the Inquisition still regarded all wizards with deep suspicion and would never again allow them to gain influence over the public.
Fourteenth Century.
In 1316, the Inquisition declared the practice of magic to be heresyeven when used to offset nations food shortages. This edict, combined with an ever-increasing population, caused a terrible famine. By the winter of 1316, almost the entire population of Europe was starving. The prices of grain fluctuated greatly and many farmers switched to more dependable cash crops, worsening an already bad situation. After another poor winter in 1317, the Inquisition reversed its edict and allowed the practice of magic to increase the harvest as long as it was supervised by the clergy.
The Inquisition placed the blame for the famine on Wielders and many years of continuous scrutiny followed. Slowly, more and more edicts passed that restricted the movements of wizards and the tainted races. In 1343, the Spanish Inquisition decreed that a union with any non-divine spirit was a heretical offense. To escape persecution, some Wielders once loyal to the Knights Templar fled to England, where restrictions against the use of magic were far less severe.
Not long after that, the Inquisition declared that magic generated by divine spirits would be acceptable to those within the ranks of the Inquisition and to certain select others. Conditions would never improve for those born with visible marks of the Taint, and races would be subjected to night-time raids of their homes by the Inquisition, and countless trials and interrogations. Eventually, many would integrate into society, but those visibly tainted by magic would at best be treated as second-class citizens.
The Black Plague struck Europe in 1347, but the Inquisition held fast to its 1343 decree forbidding magical association with spirits or otherwise. Many Wielders appealed to the courts to allow them to practice their magic and to cure the diseased population only to find themselves imprisoned or worse. The Divine Wielders within the Inquisition were either swamped or too busy ferreting out rogue Wielders to assist the population, and as a result, many thousands of people died. Ironically, many of the imbued were more resistant to plague, so while purebloods died around them, the population of the tainted grew. Between 1347 and the end of the 14th century the plague struck Europe many times. Until this time tainted births had accounted for only a small percentage of the population, but by the beginning of the 15th century there were enough tainted births that the variations in human bloodlines had taken on their vernacular names of feralkin, demokin, and sylvant.
The Fifth Crusade.
In 1336, a group of powerful dark wizards stole from the risen pharaohs of Egypt a magical tome containing the secrets of life and death. The Book of the Dead detailed the art of necromancy, the magic of the afterlife and death. After studying the book, these Necromancers bound dark spirits to dead bodies, creating a powerful army of mindless undead warriors.
Using legions of animated corpses and undead horrors, these Necromancers conquered Egypt and many of the surrounding African nations by 1336. As they continued to wage war, the bodies of fallen warriors increased and so did the armies of the undead. The Ottoman Empire and the Knights of Saladin gathered their forces to try to stop the Necromancers. For several years, the Ottoman Empire and the Knights of Saladin slowly lost ground to the advancing undead horde.
By early 1344, the Necromancers expanded their campaign of terror by sending their massive bone barges across the Mediterranean and attacking European nations directly. While the undead armies attacked human forces in Asia, Africa, and Europe, the Necromancers sent their most powerful undead creatures to find the hidden artifacts guarded by the Knights Templar and Knights of Saladin.
The Inquisition and the Knights Templar relentlessly hunted down and destroyed every last Necromancer to ensure that the black arts would never be practiced again. In 1389, the knights killed the last Necromancer, Lord Amonsil. Although the exiled pharaohs were innocent of the crimes perpetrated by the Necromancers, the Inquisition viewed them as abominations and dispatched them without mercy, allowing the Ottoman Empire to control northern Africa.
Fifteenth Century.
By the early 1400s, during the Hundred Years War, much of northern France was under control of the English, and southern France was separated into duchies with little allegiance to the king. Famine and plague had taken a greater toll on the kingdom than on its neighbors, and the continuing wars left the populace greatly burdened. When Charles VII took the throne in 1422, France was in turmoil. Things worsened as the threat of the Necromantic armies to the south and east began to threaten all of Europe. In 1429, just when it seemed as if France might lose any remaining European authority, a young girl of 17 named Jehanne DArc (Joan of Arc) managed to gain an audience with Charles. She convinced the king to give her titular command (acting as a figurehead) over one of his armies.
Jehanne soon assumed full control and with a sword in one hand and a banner in the other, led her army sweeping across France. Her abilities as a strategist and a leader were remarkable; within a year her soldiers and most of the populace believed she was a saint. Her army grew in size as she returned one territory after another to the crownalthough it should be noted that most regions were easily captured due to the extended Fifth Crusade. By 1431, she had reclaimed lands across northern and southern France and had recaptured Paris. Frances royal authority once again stretched from the Mediterranean to Guienne and north to Flanders.
Jehanne and her armies shifted focus in 1432 and joined the Fifth Crusade against the Necromancers. Jehanne and a vanguard of her men clashed with a massive force of undead at the resting place of a relic, in a series of caverns in southern France. It is said that the army and the magic-wielding forces of the undead caused the cave to collapse, killing her and the rest of her men.
Jehannes death made her a martyr to the people of France, and their support buoyed the armies of France. The French forces played a pivotal role in the defeat of the Necromancers and continued to consolidate French holdings. The nation of France returned to the world stage, and the French people united under their king for the first time in history.
With the threat of the Necromancers neutralized, the knightly orders returned to their home territories to help rebuild the cities, while the Inquisition moved to establish its unequivocal power. Those who spoke out against the Inquisition risked being charged with heresy.
The Sixth Crusade.
In 1461, a respected official of the Spanish government was accused of practicing magic and was brought before the Inquisition. The prisoner confounded the four Inquisitors, resisting their attempts at exorcism, demonstrating inhuman endurance, and speaking in ancient languages to confuse them. After days of arduous proceedings, two of the four Inquisitors collapsed from exhaustion. The third Inquisitor fell prey to a strange malady after the prisoner asked to speak with him privately so that he could confess his sins. When other Inquisitors returned, they found the interrogator babbling about the Fell Spirits while the prisoner laughed.
Learned bishops and high-ranking Inquisitors came to examine the man and were equally frustrated by his openly hostile and resilient attitude. Though these Inquisitors were no closer to exorcising the prisoners demon, he spoke proudly of ages past, when the Fell Spirits were known as demons to many of the old religions. To the Hindus, they were known as the terrible Daityas; to the Persians, the Daevas; Buddhists knew them as the hungry Pretas; the Hebrews called one of the Fell Spirits Asmodeous, and the Christians feared Lucifer above all else.
Although the official record of the final interrogation with the first Fell Spirit has never been released, it is widely believed that the Grand Inquisitor visited the Fell Spirit and concluded the interrogation. Some historians have recorded that Torquemada summoned and bound a divine spirit, one who had opposed the Fell Spirit on many occasions in the past. According to these historians, Torquemada did not emerge from the chambers for several days, but eventually succeeded with the exorcism. It is rumored that Torquemada imprisoned the Fell Spirit deep within the chambers of the Inquisition so that its evil could not corrupt others again.
Word of the incident with the Fell Spirit spread quickly. It was widely believed that demonic forces had infiltrated the governments of other kingdoms.
The Inquisition initiated a widespread campaign to ferret out others in positions of power who were possessed by the Fell Spirits. The resulting hysteria crippled the capitals of Europe, as the Inquisition restricted travel and trade between cities. Communities turned on each other, and hundreds, possibly thousands, of innocents found themselves facing the harsh interrogations of the Inquisition.
In 1463, the Inquisition sent representatives to London to ensure the sanctity of the English monarchy. When the Inquisitors requested an audience with Queen Elizabeth, they were allowed to meet her in the presence of her honor guard. While exact details of the encounter are not known, it is evident that the Inquisitors attempted to interrogate the queen. Offended, Elizabeth had the Inquisitors put to death. The incident severely damaged relations between England and the Inquisition, and the two nearly went to war. However, in 1464, diplomacy prevailed and an unsteady truce ensued.
By this time, the Inquisition had also started to curtail the search for more Fell Spirits. Though many dark creatures were found hiding in the shadows of the cities of men, they could find no evidence of any other dreaded Fell Spirits infiltrating the governments of Europe. The crusades success could be measured only by the hysteria it induced and the innocents who suffered.
Though the crusade against the Fell Spirits ended, the relations between England the Inquisition had suffered irreparable damage. Both the English and Spanish nations built up their navies to protect their trade routes and overseas interests. Over the years, occasional skirmishes flared up, slowly fueling the fires of discontent on both sides. In the 15th century, Spain sent out navigators to explore the seas and search for new trade routes. One such explorer, Christopher Columbus, set sail in August 1492 and barely survived a harrowing voyage across the treacherous Atlantic Ocean. He sailed along the north coast of Hispaniola and returned to Spain in 1493, telling the king about the wealthy and powerful tribes of the New World.
Impressed with his discovery, King Ferdinand funded a second voyage in 1493, granting Columbus a small army to establish a settlement in the New World. Blown off course by terrible storms, Columbus fleet finally landed in North America. Columbus ordered his army to clear a swath of overgrown jungle to create a settlement for Spain, La Isabela. Two weeks later, indigenous tribes, riding monstrous reptilian mounts, attacked and butchered the colonists, killing Columbus and most of his troops. The few survivors of the expedition sailed back to Spain in 1494, and spoke of the horrors.
Sixteenth Century.
Determined to tame these savage new lands, King Philip funded several conquistadors to explore and claim them for Spain. One such conquistador, Hernán Cortés, was given a fleet of ships to conquer the New World. During his first expedition, Cortés established a minor foothold in southern Mexico and learned of the Aztecs, a powerful tribe that possessed vast riches. Cortés returned to Spain with treasures from the New World and requested more troops and resources to attack the Aztecs. In 1521, Cortés received a larger fleet and sailed back to the New World. Joined by other tribes, enemies of the Aztecs, Cortés marched against Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. When Cortés laid siege to the great city, the Aztecs unleashed a host of terrors never before seen by western eyes. Massive feathered serpents swept down from the city and destroyed the Spanish siege weapons as old Aztec gods walked among the fierce warriors, devouring the invaders. Cortés himself was severely wounded in the battle, but managed to retreat to Spain with only a single damaged vessel.
The utter defeat of Cortés army was the last recorded attempt by European forces to gain a stronghold in the New World.
In 1587, a naval engagement between Spanish and English forces resulted in the loss of many Spanish lives, including several influential Inquisitors and Spanish nobles. Unlike the conflict a hundred years before, no diplomats were exchanged to prevent the war.
A year later, in the current time of 1588, it is known that the Inquisition has spent many months preparing for an inevitable conflict stemming from the miserable Sixth Crusade. As the Inquisition prepares lengthy articles detailing heretical charges against England, the Spanish Armada has continued to grow, becoming one of the largest naval fleets in history. Because of its fight against this heresy, the Inquisition does not allow the casting of magic, save divine healing spells, within the bounds of Barcelona.
I didnt make this so dont go complaining to me.
das
Regeneration In Process
Julien geopolitique is done from a position of far greater power and stability; you never really had to deal with the Perfidious Albion as such, after all.
Alright I won't although it is simply horrible, even worse than what I thought it was when you first mentioned it.
EDIT: But I couldn't resist. The utterly absurd thing is Spain in this world. Somehow it manages to ascend to a great position of power despite all - that's bad enough. The Pope sees it fit to flee to the backwater Spain as opposed to the most Catholic monarchy - that's very bad. But the Inquisition is beyond me. Spain (Castille, incidentally) sponsored it not out of superstition, but for very simple pragmatical reasons. The Jews and the Muslims were in the same situation as the Japanese in America were during WWII - and to a lesser extent in a situation similar to that of Jews in Germany or Nicholas II's Russia, i.e. scapegoats.
The Wielders were also a potential threat of this kind, but Castille, in its geopolitical situation, could not as a matter of fact reasonably avoid from taking the lead in the "magic-race". That it needs them is without doubt - firstly there is the gap with England, secondly there are the threats everywhere around it against which any weapon is good - if they could employ Muslim turncoats and even their own knights, they WOULD employ the Wielders. And Castille was close enough to Toledo, which, for the sake of popular culture and cult of Islamic knowledge, might as well be considered the magical capital of Europe. Andalusia was too decadent to use this properly, and is likely to lose Toledo anyway. Meanwhile, the Castillians would employ the Wielders in a campaign for world conquest. There would be no attempts to discover the New World - because Castille will simply run over all of its neighbours, including Portugal, and go on to conquer France and establish Mediterranean hegemony, the long-term goal being the restoration of the Roman Empire in alliance with various Wielders that would only prosper from such a contract and the restoration of a centralized absolute power, because such power, unlike local-minded feudals, tends to be more tolerant to minorities until/unless they cross it.
I like making long rants on the topic of althistory, even if its not really althistory but silly pseudoalthistorical fantasy.
das
Regeneration In Process
Incidentally - having finished writing about a naval battle, I have begun pondering on my althist and the way I will post it here. What would you preffer - one lenghty update for the entire war, or a temporary return to the more detailed and suspense-filled "1797 Style", with several shorter updates for this war, ending with cliffhangers and semi-cliffhangers?
Insane_Panda
Deity
True, true. But we had to deal with Spaniards! (not quite the same, but...)
I'd prefer one longer update, but thats just me.
das
Regeneration In Process
Very well then. While I work on the althist, here's a guess-the-PoD map, year 1715.
The Baltic state's central capital is Visby, the East European state's central capital is Prague - however, both states are very decentralized, so I kept the other capitals as well.
The Baltic state's central capital is Visby, the East European state's central capital is Prague - however, both states are very decentralized, so I kept the other capitals as well.
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North King
blech
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PoD in the 1500s?
Oruc
Reactionary
Pod people?
das
Regeneration In Process
As such, much earlier, though I'd accept the first obvious consequence as a PoD instead (hint: someone or his close analogue was born in a slightly different region than OTL).
alex994
Hail Divine Emperor!
Alexander Nevesky?
das
Regeneration In Process
No, this has nothing to do with him at all, although the Baltic state - Visby League - is predominated by the Republic of Novgorod (and the Hansa - everybody else is lesser partners in the alliance that have been forced there by threats of military defeat and economic collapse).
Insane_Panda
Deity
Christopher Colombus is born in Piedmont/Provence instead of Genoa?
das
Regeneration In Process
*blinks* Huh?
No, France didn't discover the New World here neither, although being stronger, richer and less distracted than in OTL it was capable to exploit the discovery very efficiently indeed. The PoD hasn't anything to do with the New World directly.
No, France didn't discover the New World here neither, although being stronger, richer and less distracted than in OTL it was capable to exploit the discovery very efficiently indeed. The PoD hasn't anything to do with the New World directly.
North King
blech
- Joined
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You said much earlier. But with the overpreponderance of post-Mongol changes, it would have to be 1300s or later...
das
Regeneration In Process
Well that was quick, wasn't it?
das
Regeneration In Process
Actually it didn't survive at all...
In any case, indeed, his ancestor Qarachar Barlas campaigned on the Itil instead of Central Asia in the days of Genghis Khan. Instead of destroying the Golden Horde, Tamerlane caused its final reinvigoration, so it went out with something more resembling a boom this time. Though he had died from aclohol poisoning during the Siege of Dresden, he destroyed all the Russian states but Novgorod, and generally rampaged through Eastern Europe. In this world, the Ottoman Empire was his ally, and thus managed to ascend quicker; though it had failed to conquer Hungary, it was able to instead become the foremost power in the Mediterranean (as Novgorod - in the Baltic). Some more stuff, due to the Holy Roman Empire's distraction the Hundred Years War went differently. On one hand France seemingly won harder than in OTL, on the other it later had to defeat, due to butterfly effect, an initially-triumphant Richard III, King of England, Duke of Burgundy. By then, ofcourse, the world was so changed that the rest shouldn't surprise one too much.
(Although I must mention such developments as the greater power of the Steppe in this world - the Kalmyks have recently succeeded the Golden Horde, a new Turkomongolic Central Asian empire arose with a considerable delay, but with greater stability, and lastly, Goldan Khan has checked Qing northwards expansion, whereas in OTL he was defeated with some Russian assistance).
In any case, indeed, his ancestor Qarachar Barlas campaigned on the Itil instead of Central Asia in the days of Genghis Khan. Instead of destroying the Golden Horde, Tamerlane caused its final reinvigoration, so it went out with something more resembling a boom this time. Though he had died from aclohol poisoning during the Siege of Dresden, he destroyed all the Russian states but Novgorod, and generally rampaged through Eastern Europe. In this world, the Ottoman Empire was his ally, and thus managed to ascend quicker; though it had failed to conquer Hungary, it was able to instead become the foremost power in the Mediterranean (as Novgorod - in the Baltic). Some more stuff, due to the Holy Roman Empire's distraction the Hundred Years War went differently. On one hand France seemingly won harder than in OTL, on the other it later had to defeat, due to butterfly effect, an initially-triumphant Richard III, King of England, Duke of Burgundy. By then, ofcourse, the world was so changed that the rest shouldn't surprise one too much.
(Although I must mention such developments as the greater power of the Steppe in this world - the Kalmyks have recently succeeded the Golden Horde, a new Turkomongolic Central Asian empire arose with a considerable delay, but with greater stability, and lastly, Goldan Khan has checked Qing northwards expansion, whereas in OTL he was defeated with some Russian assistance).
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