duck-foot wrote:i dont think there would have been a world war at all.
Entirely possible..though if only Russia had been affected, the Germans would have still cakewalked over the Tsarist Armies...or would have just concentrated on the Western Front, seeing as the Russians would be too busy dealing with the blast aftermath to join the Great Powers against the Kaiser...Germany might well have still lost the war to the Allies, and the post-war economic collapse that allowed the rise of the Nazi Party might have still arose, perhaps exacerbated by a flood of economic refugees fleeing Russia for greener pastures.. In with the Tsarist regime possibly annihilated, definitely shaken, the chaos on the ground could mean an early Communist uprising, or perhaps a succession of powerplays by various Russian aristocrats and military men to keep order and gain control... _IF_ a Fascist Germany arose, they might find a still-divided Russia easy pickings, though it's also likely that the Great Powers would have had an easier time of it landing troops and support in the 1910-1920 period and created stronger enclaves in Russia.
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
I still think that if the CS followed their plans, they may have won. Interesting idea about moving the Tunguska event. I like it. The part about the allies influencing is a very interesting one, because my Grandfather almost was sent to Russia with the expediationary force.
It is discovered that the knowledge of the universe has already been shown to us. All you have to do is read books and every single secret in the universe has already been recorded. All you have to do is to find them in the written word.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
The Golden Age was less about high tech and more about Eugenics and evolution/mutation/augmentation of the human body. The coming of the Rifts came on a very different world where the majority of the human population had some form of super powers or other augmentations.
"But you can't make an omelet without ruthlessly crushing dozens of eggs beneath your steel boot and then publicly disemboweling the chickens that laid them as a warning to others." -Order of the Stick #760
Interesting alternate universe! I'm glad that we don't live in that one!
After WW1 starts and lasts for over forty years. The use of chemical and biological weapons destroys much of Europe. It finally comes to and end when there just aren't enough men to man the fronts from all of the combatants. This in itself leads to the total collapse of literally ever single country on the planet. Other things plague the planet, disease stalks every continent. Mankind ravaged by the extended link of the conflict will never rise again. It'll continue it's slide towards obilivion.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
In 1945 the Russians invaded the Japanese Kurile Islands in a last minute land grab while the Allies are still rejoicing over VJ-Day and the ceasefire with Japan...Stalin's armies ignored Japanese efforts to surrender peacefully, and the Japanese desperately radioed for American intervention from the bomber bases in the Aleutians...The Americans gave no response...That's what really happened... What if the Americans, who'd been preparing Attu Island and the Aleutians as the staging grounds for the northern flank of the invasion of the Japanese islands HAD intervened?
(rather interesting subtext to this I cam across while reading about the Aleutians campaign...there was at least one American-born and raised Japanese soldier who considered himself 'drafted into the wrong navy'...he'd meant to return to the States and enlist before hostilities broke out, but Pearl Harbor happned too soon, ...he managed to get sent to a 'backwater' posting where he worked as a radio operator and served out the war in the Kuriles...where he was captured by the Soviets and managed to survive four years in a Siberian gulag under atrocious conditions)
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
That would be a very cool thing to have seen. I mean the Americans interceding on the Japanese benefits.
During the intervening the years between the first and second world wars certain prominent Americans see that certain ways of thinking of the Japanese have to be changed. Of course at the same time certain Japanese notice that America is trying to treat them as humans. Because of this mutual respect that is being generated by select people on both sides. The Washington naval treaty is actually different (equality between the big three). The Japanese enter WW2 on the Allies side.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
Somehow, despite massive strategic blunders and poor organization on the part of the Russians, the Japanese FAIL to intercept the Russian Baltic Fleet on its way to reinforce the Far Eastern ports(particularly Port Arthur) during the Russo-Japanese War....the decisive Battle of Tsushima does NOT take place, and the inferior Russian navy manges to hold off the superior Japanese Imperial fleet by playing defensively and not coming out to play on Japanese terms(Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky SOMEHOW getting a clue that such would be disaster), despite admonishments from Moscow to go out and fight the Japanese...The war grinds on for longer than expected, allowing Moscow time to ship troops eastward and reinforce the defenses....Despite efforts to beard the Russian fleet and kill it in-port with destroyers and torpedo boats, the Russians show a tenacity and ingeniousness with mines and other defenses that blunts the Japanese technological edge... The Treaty of Portsmouth that emerges isn't nearly as harsh as it would be, with the Russians preserving their dignity and holding on to their claimed territory...both sides go back to evaluating what went right and what went wrong, the Japanese to ponder how they didn't win as decisively, and the Russians get a new appreciation for how CLOSE it was(and subsequently redouble their efforts to build a modern fleet)...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
Now that is a very interesting alternate universe! The Russians might entered both WW1 and WW2 with a significant naval presence. They might have been part of the Washington Naval treaty if they had.
Tesla makes a profit on his inventions. He continues his research and continues to develope even more outlandish devices. An admiral of the USN witnesses a test of Tesla's death ray. The USN backs Tesla's research into prefecting this device and it's spin offs. As WW2 begins the USN makes plans for the next generation of Battleships will be equiped with these Tesla devices. After Pearl Harbor occurs the US builds the Iowa's with Tesla's improved death rays included in their armaments. The weapon makes the Iowa's immune to any weapon system the Japanese can throw against it. The Battleship in the universe is still a viable fighting ship.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
THe Eastern Roman Empire, based in Constantinople, doesn't fall back into decadence and impotence fighting the rise of Islam in the East, due to even more violent divisions and civil war among the Jihadists, who'd rather fall on each other than the infidels to the west and north....Taking advantage of the division of the Italian States and the fluid situation regarding the Pope(s), the ERE successfully invades Italy, bringing Greece, the Balkans, and Italy back into the Reformed Christian Roman Empire, re-unifying much of the original Roman Empire...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
That is a great one! Since I love the Roman Empire. One of my favorite periods of history. I think they actually did some of that. They just didn't hold on to it very long.
The great roman general Belasarius actually managed to repture the entire territory the Roman Empire actually once controlled. The Roman Empire is actually rearmed during this period of conquest. The Romans use updated technology like stirups for their cavaly.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
The North Koreans are onto something; they're brainwashing their population to use belief to warp space/time around them to essentially take their entire country out of reality and into their own pocket dimension/alternate world...Totalitarian Mass-Belief Hyperdrive...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
Yeah, we saw that they have their populace brainwashed. Just look at their new underwater satellite. Since they told their people it was working fine. Anyone have any idea on how deep that water is where their satellite fell is?
The world skips a beat once every thousand years. The world literally jumps a heard in it's orbital path. But no one in the past witnessed it. And it occurs on Dec 2012. Talk about world changing.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
Every 50 or so years our planet passes through alternate universes in the courseof its path around the Sun...most of the time the universes the Earth passes into are so similar(lifeless, barren, cosmos,,,or the neighbors too far away to notice our planet, let alone visit it), nobody notices, but occasionally we pass into universes where our planet can be visited....this explains, for instance, Big Foot, and the UFO flap, having occured during times when our Earth was passing through a magic-rich environ(allowing for lake monsters and yeti to visit Earth, as well as working witchcraft) and one whose properties allowed for FTL travel(and thus neighboring civilizations came a'calling), before, from their perspective, Earth just disappeared from their sight....
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
Once every 100,000 years the entire solar system actually teleports enmasses to a new universe. Since it's never happened in recorded time the universe the world is shocked and not sure how to react to the situation. Faiths around the world are terrified that they lost contact with their deities.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
August 1st, 1798....Admiral Nelson defeats the French fleet supporting Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Egypt, in the Battle of the Nile. During the battle, Nelson has to retire to the cockpit early, certain he is dying, after he is struck in the head by French shrapnel...he lives...
What if that shrapnel had hit a few inches closer? And Nelson had NOT survived the day?
Also stemming from this event.... Then-General Bonaparte would spend the next year holding on to a crumbling position in control of Egypt, holding off the British and their allies, while terrorizing the locals, then abandoning his disgruntled troops to run the British blockade to return to France, wher far from the evidence of his defeat, he is lauded as a hero, and commences his climb to power...
What if he HADN'T made it out of Egypt(assassinated by the locals, killed by a mutiny of his own troops, felled by disease, or sunk/captured by the British as he tried to escape)?
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
Now that would have been a heck of change in history! Something that should be exploited!
The cast of the British show "Top Gear" accidently discover a basic fundamental new law of physics during one of their shows when they are testing a Ford Focus. Jeremy C. (The primary host) is testing the car while assualting the beach with the British Royal marine Corp. when the new law is discovered.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
The Pilgrims get slaughtered by the Indians during their first winter in the New World... (for one thing, a result of this is I likely don't exist...)
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
When they actually settle North America, it turns out that the natives are cannibals. The natives have a first Thanksgiving and there are no more settlers in North America.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
During the Revolution, the southern Colonies declare for Merry Old England and NOT to revolt...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
Henry Ford never becomes the bigoted, anti-semite, industrialist he normally does(Hitler was a great admirer both of Ford's industrialism, auto-design, and personal politics)...Instead, he actually converts to Judiaism...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
Yamamoto after going to Harvard and the US Naval Academy successfully signs for the USN. The USN actually inducts him into the navy. So instead of leading Japan he becomes an officer in the USN which never developes racial prejudices against other races. WW2 in the pacific happens, but the US never is in desperate straights.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
Aramanthus wrote:Yamamoto after going to Harvard and the US Naval Academy successfully signs for the USN. The USN actually inducts him into the navy. So instead of leading Japan he becomes an officer in the USN which never developes racial prejudices against other races. WW2 in the pacific happens, but the US never is in desperate straights.
Yamamoto studied the RNAF's success in torping the Italian Navy at Taranto as inspiration for the Pearl Harbor attack...were he a USN officer, he might well have suggested a beefing up of Pearl's defenses, just in case any of his contempories in the IJN got the same idea...
There have been several takes on the 'What if Pearl Harbor hadn't happned?' by dint of better defenses or somewhat (Jimmy Doolittle in one story) had aggressively sought out and attacked Yammato's fleet before it could launch its attack...the result typically being a later entry of the USA into the war, largely because of the lack of outrage at the sneak attack and its losses, and the reinforcement of American complacency in the Pacific 'moat'...the end result being Japan being able to snap up more of the Pacific, and eventually able to negotiate a conditional surrender, rather than giving in to the Potsdam Declaration(that dictated unconditional surrender for Japan).
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
I remember about Japan studing the British air raid on Taranto.
The Japanese begin a crash atomic bomb program long before Pearl Harbor. They actually test their bomb months before Pearl Harbor occurs in our world. When the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor they use Japan's first atomic bomb. Now if you think the real Pearl Harbor pissed off the US, imagine how bad it would have been if this had occurred.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
The Japanese tested germ warfare in Manchuria...what if they had used weaponized microbes in the island fighting, hitting Allied forces with germ warfare canisters and insect vectors(like fleas)?
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
Now that would have been a very nasty version of WW2. I could see them going head with the full blown attack on Mainland Japan. I could see a huge numbers of casualities during the war. No clue on the number, but a heck of a lot more.
On the eve before Hitler takes power he has a premonition that he'll fail if he attacks Russia without the support of the people he'd presecutes. He decides not to persecute those peoples. He makes his targets the French, since they were the ones who imposed horribly unfair sanctions on Germany after WW1.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
Aramanthus wrote:Now that would have been a very nasty version of WW2. I could see them going head with the full blown attack on Mainland Japan. I could see a huge numbers of casualities during the war. No clue on the number, but a heck of a lot more. .
Or they might not have...the toll on the Navy from infected casualties coming back aboard ship could have been horrendous until they started DDT'ing everything...Aerial bombardment of Japan and any suspected military facilities would have been much more intensive, though, and depending on how much germ warfare was used, the US might have lifted its own reluctance on using chemical weapons(they had, after all, moved supplies of phosgene shells into Italy, ready to use if the Germans had deployed nerve gas...as was learned when the transport ship caught fire in port)...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
I could see that! It'd be an amful war. Probably make the one they fought here look like a dance in the park by comparison.
Germany invades Russia, but only after having full preparitions for war with Russia. Including new tanks, fighters, heavy bombers, and more ships for the navy. It's a different war.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
The Catholic Church ACCEPTS Gallileo's discovery of celestial mechanics, and the Pope publicly praises the man for showing that 'the realm of God is even greater than imagined'...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
The Romans never divide up the Empire. They watch for and utilise new technology for their military. The tech then migrates to the civilians after a period of time. Due to the facts taht the Roman military is never stagnant helps to preserve the empire for several dozen centuries. It is a change of government at the bequest of it's civilians that brings an end to the roman empire.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
April 12 1865,USA and the south get téléport to 1492 only a Month before Cristopher Columbus would have discovered America. Also John w,Booth dies the same day in a accident.
Mongols acquire gunpowder weaponry and perfect it enough to sweep across Asia and into Europe with cannon and rocket artillery....
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
I think the US would put aside it's own problems and then go and conquer Europe!
When John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln the bullet just flattens out on his indestructible body. Lincoln easily captures Booth. This is the first appearance of a super power in world history. It starts showing up more and more often. Later scientist will ascribe it to industrial revolution.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
Librarians, as the guardians of knowledge, acquire priestly powers...including the power to zap all transgressors within the library premises, irregardless of local law...... (this is rather self-serving; I just got robbed by a pair of teenagers while one distracted me, and the other lifted our envelope of print money...)
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
ROFLMAO!!! I whole heartedly agree! Let those prepatrators pay with their souls!
LIbrarians are gifted with godly powers to execute their task with the snap of a finger. This includes punishing those who deserve it. Although these powers only work within the bounds of the Library.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
Extension of the above....All professions acquire powers, and their places of business become 'places of power' where these powers are strongest...while elsewhere these powers are greatly diminished or nonexistant...Sort of like 'sacred ground' for churches...So, for instance, a mechanic cannot go into a hospital and use 'Intuit Mechanical Problem' as he would in his shop(unless he were VERY skilled and experienced) whereas a doctor at that hospital could easily 'diagnose illness with a glance', or some other minor medical miracle... Of course, not all workplaces are equally powerful...the age and activity of a place factor into it, as well as the time people spend working there.. By extension, in this world, most people try to find the profession that 'calls to them' and the 'place of power' they are comfortable at...It's not as easy as it sounds; most people let theri desires, rather than their feelings, dictate theor profession, and much of the populace is either in the wrong profession for them or work at mediocre places(just as is in real life)..There's a lot of pressure to get hired/employed at known 'sweet spots', in the belief exposure there will rub off on the novice... The idfeal plan is to be mobile in one's profession, until one finds the perfect place to be, and generally people will only develop one set of professional 'powers' in their lifetime, settling in long enough in a profession to become dedicated to it...but there are a few who multi-class wirth succcess, and rumors of 'raw talents'...people who are born with alreafy advanced 'powers' in a profession(like infant Mechanics)...
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
Battle of Midway goes the way the Japanese envision it. America looses two of it's three carriers. The Enterprise actually eludes the Japanese carriers. America and it's allies eventually win WW2 but at a higher cost in men and materials. And it adds another 4 years on the whole war.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
THat's very similar to how I see the Pacific island chains....And after reading several books on Krakatoa and the formation of its 'child' island, Anak Krakatoa, quite realistic.... I'd given some thought too to Islander-based OCCs, like Mystic Map Makers and Mask Makers(think TWizards or Barbarian Shamans working with mud, stone, clay, and bone masks and other artifacts)
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
Sounds like a cool concept Taalismn. When would you ever have the time to do those new things with everything you are already doing? And yes I'm including real life too.
A version of earth where everyone (everyone is mentally very stable) accomplishes what they want. And this has allow earth to reach some of the most distant stars before the 21st century.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
A plague starts in one of the primary industrial countries. It quickly spreads to the other industrial nations. During this time it is discovered that the virus orginated as a computer virus, and can be transmitted via any electronic device. So it reaches the third world very slowly. It is later discovered by medical researchers and quantum physicists that this disease was aactually from a parallel universe.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
The reason for the Coalition's massive resources appearing just before the Emporer declares war is finally revealed.
It turns out that Dr. Bradford got the dimensional platform in Lonestar working. A parrallel earth is discovered where mankind never evolved. What's more, time is accellerated there. For every hour that passes here, a day passes there.
A duplicate of the Lonestar facility was secretly built over there. Resource gathering versions of the Skelebots proceeded to mine this other world of it's resources. People were secretly cloned and trained there. All that new gear was designed and manufactured there.
And that is how Prosek was able to pull a whole army outta his butt.
* * *
A time traveller goes public in modern times and is able to prove he is in fact a time traveller.
In an interview he is asked, "Why don't you go back in time and kill Hitler?"
"Kill Hitler?!" He exclaims, "Do you know how hard it was to keep that little bastard alive long enough to take power? We went through over a thousand potential German leaders before we found one that was tolerable.
If Hitler was tolerable, how bad were the others?
* * *
A number of things just before, during and right after the Great Cataclysm changes things significantly for Rifts Earth.
The timing of the nuclear exchange is offset by half an hour either way, lessening the magical impact.
The Yellowstone volcano never blows (or not nearly so bad). Winter lasts for only two years in the Northern Hemisphere instead of 80.
NORAD is not destroyed and the American President makes it to safety.
Contact with the Orbital Community is never lost. The counter-debris ring is never started and the destruction of the Sino-Japanese Space Station never occurs.
Atlantis does reappear and China is invaded by the Yama Kings (although they fail to bring their hells to earth, only opening gates instead).
The destruction is still massive but Civilization manages to barely hold on.
In Japan, the cities that were flung forward in time were only flung 25 months forward. Enough to avoid the worst of the Catastrophe but soon enough to start making a difference nearly right away.
By nearly global consensus, the Post Apocolyptic Calander is started on 01 Jan 2099 (now 01 Jan 00 P.A.) It is now 109 P.A.
In North America, the USA, Canada and the Mexican-Government-in-exile have banded together to form the North American Coalition (NAC). They are preparing to move south of the Rio Grande to retake Mexico and Central America from the Vampires. They are backed with a century worth of experience fighting the blood suckers along with Pre-Rifts technology and Space based assets.
Meanwhile, attempts to reclaim the west is meeting resistance from resurgent native tribes. There is talk of bringing the natives into NAC as equal partners.
Some areas, such as Detroit, St. Louis and Calgary are isolated no-mans lands. They are quaranteened by the military.
In South Amercia, the area is severely Balkanized and there is a great deal of warfare. The Archon's aren't there nor is the Kingdom of Lagarto or the Megaversal Legion. The three El Dorado's, Columbia, the vampire kingdom and the Silver River Republics are pretty much the same.
Atlantis was immediately reclaimed by Atlanteans when it reappeared. For the last hundred years the clans have been returning to their homeland to rebuild. Most feel that their penance is done although there is a strong movement to aid the other nations of the world.
In Africa, little has changed except that the Phoenix Empire does not have the support of Atlantis. They do have some extra-dimensional allies and are supporting the Gargoyle Empire to the North with technology.
England is involved in a Civil war between the Parlimentry forces and those loyal to a psychic descendent of the Royal family. There is much talk on both sides of unitiing the Isles once more. They have been expelled from the European Union.
Germany is still the power house of europe along with the help the Triax. They are the leaders of the European Union.
Other European nations such as France, Italy and Scandanavia are also more prominent.
Recently, there have been clashes with both the rising Gargoyle Empire and the Brodkil Empire.
Western Russia and the Ukraine have survived relatively intact although large areas of the east have fallen to regional warlords and demonic hordes.
China is in a desperate life and death struggle against the invading demonic hordes. If they lose, then the hells may well be brought to Earth.
Japan is one nation that is primarily tech based although there is an increasing move towards mysticism and magic.
Australia's population is divided between the cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. They are working at reclaiming what's left of their continent together.
In Orbit, the attitudes of international co-operation are going strong. They are the lynch pin giving their cousins on the planet below a fighting chance.
Colonization of the new Martian habitible zones has been ongoing for a century. Insect genetic research never takes place.
This last alternate history was inspired by an early Rifter article that presented the original ideas for Chaos Earth. I've taken it in a slightly different direction. It's a setting I've used in one game before and one I've been thinking of developing a little more.
Personally, I would like to see a series of Rifter articles devoted to alternate timelines for different Palladium worlds. Or a new line of Rifts Dimension Books. they wouldn't have to be very big, maybe even 48 pages or so each like the Chi-Town Burbs series we saw back in 2003. Heck, they could even be published as PDF's only. They could be called "Alternativerses" or "Alternaties" or something similar.
I was raised to beleive if you can't say something nice about a person, say nothing at all. This has led to living a very quiet life.
Someone who tells you what to think is trying to control you. Someone who teaches you how to think is trying to free you.
Tesla builds his power broadcast tower, but when activated, it inadvertantly rips a hole in space/time, essentially creating a region of Rifts-style nexi activity....with the limited technology they have, the authorities cordon off the area, and then attempt to start exploring the regions beyond the 'Tesla Door'...
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"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
WOW That was one heck of a long one. Very cool! Keep posting alternate universes like that one here. Nice one Taalismn! I guess I'll follow suit.
The first atmoic bomb rips open a tear in the fabric of space and time. Due to WW2 going on the US and it's allies can not explore beyond the the opening. Once WW2 ends they start to explore it, but do not include the Russians in this act. Causing the cold war to accelerate.
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
gaby wrote:I doing a game where the Hawaiian Islands 1941 where rifted in time,and just reappear in 109.pa and the New Navy will make contact with them.
What do you think this will changed?
These folks will be WAY out of their league...going from arming to fight the Japanese to fighting off monsters coming from their shores...SERIOUS futureshock, plus a lot will be perturbed by racial equality in the ranks of the NN....Subsequently, a lot of them will die trying to reach the mainland to make sure these New Navy folks are telling the truth; the survivors will be assimilated into New Navy culture(none of their SDC technology will be very useful in a megadamage environment), and they'll quickly become another base for the New Navy....
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
In 1919, a brutal Chekist thug by the name of Iosef Stalin lead the massacre of hold-out White Russians at the island fortress of Kronstadt, protecting the approaches to Petrograd...Hours later, British torpedo boats, delayed by weather and mechanical troubles, finally made an attack that sank the armored cruiser Oleg, whose heavy guns had pounded open Kronstadt's defenses...
What if the British CMBs had attacked on schedule as they'd planned....and Stalin had been aboard the Oleg, confering with its officers? Or better yet, below decks, taking a nap?
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"
It would have been a better world! At least that is what I think.
Instead of taking the bear for their symbol, the Russian's take the vicious and frightening.............. Cottontail rabbit. Imagine if you will the ultimate counter symbol.............. Elmer Fudd!
"Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled or dead?"
"My Lady," the protector of Grayson told his Champion, "I do not wish him to leave this chamber alive."
In year 2000 the Continents of North America and Europe are exchange with ther counterparts of a Healthy earth that was never inhabited by Humans before.
What do you think will be the reaction of the people of the two Continents?
