View attachment 905956
Tecnically this started as a remake of my "Venice of the East" scenario. However I have added and changed so much that it could be considered a separated work at this point.
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In our world, Erick the Red is a little-known figure. His accidental discovery of the American continent is mostly ignored, as it had no particular consequences for world history.
In this alternate timeline, things were decidedly different. Erik lived 30 years longer than in our reality, which led to more Viking exploration of North America (North Vinland in this timeline).
The discovery of a new continent on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean had significant consequences in Europe and the rest of the world. For the Vikings it was a real gift from the gods, a new opportunity to continue their plunder and conquests even after Christian Europe had organized and unified sufficiently to repel their attacks.
Of course, the pagans of Sweden and Norway were not the only ones who wanted to conquer the new lands across the sea. Christian and Muslim states rushed to launch their own explorations on the new continent. The Vikings obviously ended up conquering most of northern Vinland, while the various Christian and Muslim states focused on the less populated areas.
Unlike our reality, however, the European/African conquest of the new continent proved much more difficult than expected. Although the various European plagues had catastrophic effects on the natives, the Vikings, Christians, and Muslims lacked the technological superiority needed to conquer the more advanced local states.
In fact, the European and African invasion of North and South Vinland proceeded so slowly that even the Chinese Empire had time to send its soldiers across the ocean (the Emperor hoped to find the Fountain of Eternal Youth but at least the gold was a good consolation prize).
More than eight hundred years after Erik's arrival in Vinland, the world has changed drastically. There are a total of five native states that have managed to avoid colonization due to their geographical location and/or internal organization.
The Andes proved impossible to conquer by Arab and African colonizers, which allowed the Kingdom of Cusco and the Mapuche not only to survive but also to prosper. The chaos caused by overseas invaders allowed the two states to significantly expand their borders.
They currently have a complicated relationship with their neighbors and each other. While enjoying the gold, slave and drug trade, the two nations aim to further expand their borders to protect their interests. They are even searching for useful allies in North Vinland and Asia to improve their chances in an eventual war.
In Central Vinland the situation is decidedly different. The Maya of the Kʼicheʼ Kingdom have survived multiple invasion attempts by becoming, according to their own slogan, "stone-hearted men." Their methods of punishing war enemies and traitors are highly renowned for their brutality, especially when it comes to maintaining the internal unity of the kingdom.
After defeating the Toltec Empire and extending its borders to Yucatan, the kingdom's rhetoric also took on a decidedly racial tone. The Maya are apparently destined to control all of Vinland, and every one else can either submit or die.
The Toltec Empire is simultaneously terrified by the actions of its neighbors and envious of its successes.Although the Toltecs managed to avoid colonization and partially expand their borders between the 12th and 14th centuries, by now the state is in decline. The last three or four emperors have been particularly incompetent, which has allowed China and Al-Andalus to impose trade treaties and territorial concessions at will.
The recent military defeat of the Toltecs at the hands of the Maya is not improving the situation. Despite numerous human sacrifices, the gods seem to have abandoned the empire and its rulers forever. Many intellectuals and generals in the Empire think it is time to replace the current dynasty with a more competent one or to replace the monarchy with a new form of government.
The misi-ziibi League is the latest addition to the native states that have managed to avoid colonization. For centuries the Indian tribes along the misi-ziibi River were left alone, as the Christian and Muslim colonies in North Vinland needed one or more buffer states to keep their distance.
In recent decades, the various tribes have been able to put aside their differences and create a more or less centralized government so as to prevent the loss of further territory at the hands of overseas invaders.
The League is one of the few republics in this world, and its rapid modernization is causing neighboring states to worry.
The League's ambitions could be facilitated by the many internal divisions and rivalries among the various European powers.
The discovery of a new continent ushered in a new golden age for the Vikings. The North Sea Empire and the Kingdom of Gutarland possess the world's largest colonial empire, whose riches have enabled the ancient Norse religions to rise from the ashes and survive the growing power of Christianity.
Odin, Thor and the other Viking gods are now worshipped in every corner of the world, from the cold lands of Greenland to the deserts of South Africa. Of course, this means that many other nations of the world also had the misfortune of knowing the terror of sudden pillage by the Vikings.
In Europe it was mainly England and Russia that suffered the consequences. The British Isles were invaded even more brutally by the North Sea Empire during the 11th and 13th centuries, as Ribe wanted to control the sea routes to Vinland as much as possible.
Although England managed to repel the Viking invasion after more than a hundred years of war, the conflict left the country completely devastated. Although London owns a small colony in southern Vinland, England is as powerful as our Belgium in the foreign affairs of this world.
Russia was even more unfortunate, as it does not exist in this universe. In 1019, Gutarland forces invaded Kievan Rus' during a civil war between two different claimants to the throne. The end result was the collapse of the country into different factions, at least two centuries earlier than in our timeline.
Russia's nonexistence was particularly advantageous for Gutarland. In addition to expanding its borders in Eastern Europe, the Viking state could explore Siberia at will. The Kingdom of the Far East is a state in personal union with Gutarland, ruled by a cadet branch of the royal family. Through it, Gutarland controlls part of the trade flows between Asia and Europe and prevents Novgorod from having ideas of further expansion or stopping paying tribute.
However, some nations prospered as much as the Vikings through the discovery of Vinland.
With England reduced to a paranoid and impoverished absolute monarchy, France did not fall victim to its various internal divisions or foreign pretenders to the throne. On the contrary, Paris succeeded in creating a unitary state and was one of the few Christian powers that managed to expand abroad.
Similarly, the revitalization of pagan raiders in the north and the urgency to conquer new lands overseas and in Eastern Europe led to the political centralization of the Holy Roman Empire. Technically the monarchy is still elective, but practically for centuries members of the same noble family have been elected every time an Emperor dies.
Obviously, the presence of two absolute and expansionist monarchies has not benefited the internal stability or religious unity of the continent in any way.
There are currently two popes in Europe, one supported by the Holy Roman Empire (Burgundy) and the other by France (Rome). In 1314, the Roman pope had refused to condemn Paris's expansionist ambitions for Burgundy after the beginning of a dynastic crisis in the country, and so the Holy Roman Emperor appointed his own antipope, giving him the failing kingdom as a new Papal State.
In general, Western Europe is remarkably reactionary and regressive, since in this universe the Catholic world has not experienced the various victories against the Muslims during the Crusades or the Reconquista, while much of the world still follows the old pagan customs. Many think that Christianity is facing a deadly struggle and that mass destruction of all external and internal enemies is the only way to win.
There are two exceptions.
The first is Venice.The port city has expanded considerably thanks to the internal problems of other Mediterranean states, and its diplomatic ties with Egypt enabled it to control European trade routes to Asia.
Venice is a moderately tolerant state toward its religious minorities, and neither papacy has any particular influence on its political decisions. Venice is loyal to the Burgundian papacy, but could abandon it in favor of the Roman one if it meant expanding its territories at the expense of the Holy Roman Empire.
The second is the Kingdom of Hungary. The Arpad dynasty still rules the country and maintains a strongly neutral diplomatic and religious line, as it has reason to fear and hate both the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Poland. This has had the side effect of transforming the Eastern European state into one of the most religiously tolerant nations in the world, greatly benefiting its economy and culture.
The Muslim world was obviously shaken by the discovery and colonization of Vinland as much as the Christians and Vikings, although only three Muslim states managed to colonize part of Vinland.
The Sultanate of Al-Andalus can boast of having defeated the Christians in both Europe and Vinland. The Iberian state managed to colonize much of the Caribbean (known as the Sun Islands in this universe) and north-central Vinland. Today the Iberian state is renowned for its religious tolerance both in the motherland and in the colonies (it is currently home to the largest number of Jews in Western Europe), the production of homoerotic poetry, and the huge number of slaves transiting its ports.
Although the country has officially banned slavery in its territories, many of its merchants continue to trade slaves and transport them to Vinland's various mines and plantations on behalf of other countries. For now, the government of Al-Andalus has ignored the problem. However, the future heir to the throne aspires to completely eliminate this cruel institution so that he will have a pretext to act against his kingdom's main enemy.
The enemy in question is, of course, the kingdom of Bejaia, diametrically opposed to Al-Andalus politically and religiously. Bejaia is an absolute monarchy, firmly convinced that it must purify the world with iron and fire. The kingdom is one of the most oppressive colonizers in South Vinland, to the point that three-quarters of the natives in their colonies have been enslaved (even those who follow the Islamic religion).
Kingdom propaganda speaks openly of the inevitable war that will allow the state to regain the lands of the Umayyad Caliphat, cleansing them of Jews, Christians, pagans, and the wrong kind of Muslims. Needless to say, the neighboring countries are very paranoid against a potential invasion by the North African state.
The Ghana Empire is one of the richest states in this world, thanks to its colonies and gold reserves . Unfortunately, the empire is extremely divided internally. Since 1250, the office of Emperor has been elective. While this electivity facilitated the expansion of the Empire and its system of alliances, it also greatly strengthened the nobles and weakened the authority of the central government.
Gathering and organizing all the necessary troops is almost impossible because of internal rivalries among the various noble families, forcing the state to hire many (perhaps too many) mercenaries. Then there is the problem of slaves and how a revolt at the wrong time could facilitate an invasion by Bejaja.
Ghana also looks with considerable concern toward the other side of its borders. After centuries of invasions and raids by slavers from Ghana, the Yoruba have developed a bizarre unitary state. The Federation is one of the few states in the world to have outlawed all forms of slavery, and the communal ownership of arable land and other livelihoods would make our Karl Marx proud.
The government is also particularly obsessed with the elimination of any internal division. Yoruba culture is the only culture allowed within the state and anyone else can convert, leave or be violently re-educated.
Because of the various threats along its borders, the Sultanate of Egypt is paradoxically both the most militarized and the most religiously tolerant state in Africa. The Sultan is the self-proclaimed defender of all faiths, to the point that anyone can (or rather must) serve in the army regardless of their religious faith.
Cut off from the Atlantic Ocean, Egypt has also turned its attentions to Africa to find new allies and/or colonial subjects to exploit. This policy has produced several contradictory results including the creation of a shiny canal in the Suez.
The Sao and Sudan converted to Islam a couple of centuries ahead of our timeline, and Madagascar has also adopted the teachings of Muhammad.
However, only the latter two countries are actually allied with the Cairo, while the Sao are still neutral.
Muslims are not the only ones proselytizing on the African continent. The Kingdom of Congo is the Holy Roman Empire's main ally in Africa since the conversion of the royal family in 1462.
Thanks to support from Prague, the Congo has greatly expanded its borders over the past three hundred years. While religion had so far been used only as a pretext by the Congolese monarchy, the current king believes he is the second coming of Jesus.
The kingdom is currently involved in a new war of expansion, although orders to destroy any monuments or buildings contrary to the king's Christian ideals are proving counterproductive.
However, the brutal Congolese invasion has facilitated the internal unification of the Kitara kingdom. While the various tribes and city states were initially only theoretically under Mubende's control, they have now accepted to pledge allegiance to the central government to stem the invasion.
Kitara is also getting quite a bit of unexpected help from its neighbors. The Kiwa Empire fears that further Kongo expansion could damage its trade interests and is assisting the neighboring state militarily in every way possible. Mapungubwe is rather reluctant to become directly involved in the conflict, partly because it fears that the Vikings might take the opportunity to expand the borders of their African colonies.
All of three countries hope to persuade the Soba to open a new front against the Kongo, since the Christian state has expansionist ambitions toward them as well. Unfortunately, the Soba fear that this will allow the Kanem to invade them treacherously, especially with the support of the Bejaja.
Of course, there are many nations not directly involved in the various conflicts between Muslims, Christians, and Vikings but who have an interest in seeing one side triumph over the other.
The Chinese Empire considers all followers of the above religions to be a bunch of barbarians, but its territorial ambitions are mainly directed against the colonies of the North Sea Empire in Vinland and Asia.
China is a semi-constitutional monarchy, still led by the Song Dynasty, and has one of the largest fleets in the world. For centuries its focus was on expanding and modernizing its overseas colonies, but in recent decades the state has also begun to concern itself with the states on its borders.
Goryeo wisely took advantage of the Chinese distraction, modernizing and expanding its territories during the 14th and 16th centuries. The nation is technically an absolute monarchy, but for years now generals have controlled the government while the king merely signs the decrees placed before him. Currently the asian state directly controls most of Manchuria and has managed to impose its various puppet leaders in the Hokkaido Empire and Western Siberia.
In addition to the Koreans, China has to worry about the Turks as well. With China more focused westward and the absence of Genghis Khan, the great migrations of the Turks to Europe occurred differently in this timeline
So there are three great Turkish empires and none of them are in what we call Turkey.
The Khanate of Altishahr is the strongest of the three. The Khanate is in a strategic position that allows it to control trade between China and other states in Asia and Europe.
In contrast, the Cuman Khanate is on the verge of collapse. Unlike Altishahr, the country has never been able to fully unify politically, allowing many tribes and city states to act independently of the central government. The recent loss of Dacia at the hands of Constantinople has only worsened the situation to the point that by now the state is crumbling into a civil war between various warlords.
According to some rumors, Altishahr is ready to invade the neighboring country to protect the trade routes connecting Central Asia with the European continent.
The Ghaznavid Empire is in a middle ground. Until a few decades ago the empire controlled much of northern India and Persia but has now lost quite a bit of territory at the hands of Indian rebels and the Persian Buyids. It is unlikely that the Buyids will be satisfied with the lands so far taken from the neighboring country, as the Persian dynasty claims to be the direct continuation of both the First Emirate and the ancient Persian kingdom.
Although the Ghaznavids have begun a series of major political reforms and are attempting to adopt a neutral foreign policy, the situation in the Indian subcontinent is greatly complicating their situation.The kingdom of Jaisalmer has taken advantage of the chaos caused by the Turkish withdrawal to greatly extend its borders. The royal dynasty has gone from being a tiny state paying huge tribute to the Turks to controlling much of West India. Its main concern is obviously not to be invaded by what remains of the Chalukya Empire. Before the Turkish invasion, the Chalukya controlled much of the Indian subcontinent, and now the monarchy wants all its former territories back.
The Ganga Empire is in a similar situation to Jaisalmer. The Ganga survived the Turkish invasion by paying large tributes to the Ghaznavids but betrayed them at the first opportunity, significantly expanding their borders. Perhaps for this reason, they are allied with the West Indian kingdom to stem the revanchist ambitions of the Chalukya.
The situation has been further complicated by Bengali expansion into the Indian Subcontinent, particularly its tedious tendency to support Muslim and/or lower caste rebellions in the Indian states.
The Chola Empire has other priorities, as they have no interest in unifying the Indian subcontinent under its control. Similarly to China, the interests of the Asian country are mostly directed toward overseas colonization and control of trade routes between Asia, Vinland, and Africa.
It was the Chola who introduced gunpowder to Africa and later to Europe. Their ships by now can safely reach East Africa (where their supplies have proved crucial in the war against the Kongo) and many European ports (including Venice). However, the Chola's ambitions are hampered by the alliance between the two oligarchies of the Sriviaya and the Khmer empire.
The two states block the Chola ships' direct access to the Pacific Ocean, forcing them to proceed through the longer and more dangerous circumnavigation of Varjor (Australia).
Despite themselves, the Chola have thus found themselves allied with China. Of course, Goryeo in turn allied with the Chola's enemies to curb Chinese influence in the Pacific Ocean.
In general, the technology of this timeline is about two hundred years behind ours during the same time period. It does not appear that the Industrial Revolution is about to begin, although the Venetians and Cusco have begun experimenting with the use of steam and boilers to make ships go faster or to use hot air balloons for war purposes.
This universe never had anything like our own Great War, but the various alliance systems and recent international developments are about to change that.
Many believe that the main cause of the conflict will probably be the foreign policy of the Roman Empire (don't call them Byzantines if you value your life, your eyes or your nose). Internal divisions in the Arab world and the failure of the Turks to immigrate to Anatolia helped Constantinople a lot in this timeline.
The Roman Empire has gone through many ups and downs, lost and regained many territories, but is now a major Mediterranean power (as well as one of the few Christian powers to have diplomatic relations with its Muslim neighbors). Currently the empire is in an expansive phase: Constantinople has freed the Orthodox in Dacia from Turkish rule (of course they are now ruled by a younger son of the Roman emperor) and its Georgian allies have been able to expand their borders into the Caucasus.
Unfortunately, for some members of the court and army this is not enough.
The armed forces of the empire think it's time to expand even more in the name of God (it doesn't matter which one, since a surprisingly large number of Muslims are part of the armed forces) and booty. Only internal disagreements between the fleet admirals, convinced that Venice should be the next target, and the generals, more interested in exploiting Turkish weakness, have so far prevented a coup and/or civil war.
Continued Georgian incursions into the Caucasus obviously do not help. The Georgian government must demonstrate its independence from Constantinople to avoid a coup (after all, that is how the current king came to power ten years ago).
In any case, further Roman expansion is frowned upon by the Holy Roman Empire and Egypt. Many fear that the Romans will bite off more than they can chew, with disastrous consequences.
These people are wrong and should turn their attention to the Novgorod Republic. Since the collapse of Kievan Rus, the Slavic republic has been a tributary state of Gutarland. Its strategic geographical location, however, enabled it in a short time to become a major trading center and to expand its influence to parts of Eastern Europe and Siberia.
Novgorod is thus one of the most democratic and revanchist countries in this timeline. All citizens can vote and the favored candidates are always those who want to exterminate the Vikings (or at least the ones in Gutarland).
The current leader thinks it is time to realize the country's dream. His government is already several weeks late for the customary tribute to Gutarland, and the Viking nation is increasingly ready to declare war on Novgorod.
What Gutarland cannot imagine is that Novgorod has more allies than expected. In Asia, the Chinese Emperor is already preparing his troops to expand his dominion over all of Siberia. The North Sea Empire also has great interest in seeing Novgorod triumph. Once Gutland is eliminated, Ribe and Novgorod could control the rich trade routes between Europe and China without any problem.
Gutarland does not know that when it will send its troops against Novgorod, its fleet will suffer a surprise attack by the North Sea Empire. At the same time, the North Sea Empire does not know that its attack will start a chain reaction that will culminate in a war this world has never seen before.
