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Description
Since fanfic obviously isn't my thing, back to maps!

Ok, a version of GURPS "Ezcalli" [1] with some of the more absurd paralellisms removed. In this TL, Carthaginians doing the circumnavigate Africa thing are blown off course, and finally manage to return with news of vast new lands to the west. Since in a no-compass world with shipbuilding skills of dubious reliability in Atlantic storms the round trip is rather more dangerous (and where you end up rather more uncertain) than in OTL 1492, this is not much followed up on until it becomes clear that the Romans intend to finish the job they started on Carthage, when it becomes a place of refuge.

The Romans cotton on to those refugees sailing west after a while, and eventually paranoia kicks in (they're conspiring with the inhabitants of the Blessed Isles and the sea-monsters to DESTROY ROME) but are even worse prepared for Atlantic navigation than the Carthaginians, and just manage to pull off a Lost Colony of their own when the Imperial Civil Wars kicks in and puts an end to any major logistical efforts overseas.

Less dirty and not as connected to the Eurasian disease pool as 16th century Europeans, Carthagianian germ warfare is less effective than OTL, but they do manage to wipe out or enslave the still largely hunter-gatherer peoples of the Caribbean: they are less successful on the mainland, although wars with the Romans of the eastern isles helps provide some push to move further west, north, and south. Mixed Carthagianian-Indian cultures spring up on the shores of the Caribbean: pigs, cattle, horses, peas, apples, wheat, and other European foostuffs spread, along with writing, some metallurgy (some is lost) and the practice of sacrificing kids to Baal (sometimes in place of the local deity). Contact with Europe and North Africa remains rather intermittent at best for a long time, but American foodstuffs filter back, including, eventually, the south American potato.

Rome falls harder than OTL, and earlier. Although Jesus Christ is butterflied away, a not entirely different sacrificed-redeemer God arises from the mix of Greek, Anatolian, and Jewish religious faiths: it is however somewhat less successful at spreading itself, and fails to reproduce itself in post-collapse Europe or compete very successfully with Persian Zoroastrianism or its future mutations in the east. (It will, however, have a later successful career in Africa).

There will be few Jews left by the 19th century: not due to persecution, but rather lack of it in polytheist societies that don't give a crap about the Jews odd faith and make it easy for them to assimilate.

The often-invaded Irish, hearing tales of this mysterious land to the west, made their way there by way of Iceland as early as the 8th century AD: as mixed Carthagian-Amerindian cultures sprang up around the Carribbean, mixed Irish-Amerindian ones sprang up on the east coast, although as latecomers the Irish were never as successful, and their heritage is nowadays a thin scattering of mostly mixed statelets along the coast, of which those of the isle of Mannannan (a cultural misunderstanding of sorts) are the most prosperous. The Olde Sod is currently independent and has royal family ties to Scandinavia, and a worrisome Totokanhuatl fortified trading post on the west coast, and the kingdom of Englavo breathing down their necks.

Without Christianity to provide a source of order, a shallower Roman heritage, and potatoes and other American foodstuffs increasing local autonomy and thereby decreasing trade, it takes longer for coherent states to emerge in Europe. Still, the Germanic, Slavic, Hunnic, etc. states of Europe were beginning to develop into more coherent empires by OTLs latter middle ages - only to be crushed as the Turkish hordes swept west to the Pyrennes.

The Genius Leader of this TL was a Turk, not a Mongol, and although the Mongols would serve as some of his most effective cavalry, they would in time be assimilated into the Turkic-speaking ruling class. Although the Khaguanates would have their ups and downs and civil wars, the western territories would not be Islamicized and therefore alienated from their eastern relatives, and generally if one Khaguanate was overthrown by locals, the other Khaguans would intervene to restore it: the Empire has lasted so far for over five centuries, during which the number of Khaguans has varied between three and eight (it is currently six). South China eventually broke away, but after centuries of seperation north and south became alienated enough from each other that there was no longer seen to be "true chinese" to liberate in the north, and after a couple centuries of off and on warfare a stable sort of balance was established in the East.

The last great war was over a century ago, when the Khaguan of India (a fairly late conquest), Babur the White Elephant, a fervent convert to Hinduism, attempted to unify all the Khaguanates - with India as the center. The rulers of the restored Khaguanate of India - followers, as in Iran and North China, of an eclectic mix of Buddhist and Zoroastrian elements - remain (deliberately) alienated from their Hindu subjects. Currently, the Khaguanates have become a fairly sleepy and peaceful place, (although the laws remain hair-raisingly strict) and are falling behind Africa and the Americas without really noticing.

Currently the worlds greatest power is the Empire of Totokanhuatl. The peoples of Mexico's central highland were numberous and developed enough already in 200 BC that the Carthaginian refugees never were able to pull off a successful Cortez on them, although cultural influences were pervasive, and mixed cultures developed on the Mexican coast. Various literate, culturally sophisticated empires rose and fell, with the Totokanhuatl the latest. The Totokanhuatl religion has a well-organized pantheon including elements of the old Baal-worshipping polytheism of the Cathagianians, but is not a particularly tolerant one: foreign gods are to be subordinated to theirs, and in some cases eliminated entirely. For the Gods of the Totokanhuatl demand that their servants spread their faith by fire and sword to the ends of the earth.

The Totokanhuatl, who are lovers of art and beauty and literature and also human sacrifice and interesting design work involving human skins and bones, would probably fit in fairly well in Green Antartica. [2] Unlike the "flower wars" of the Aztecs, theirs are ones of brutal conquest, and, if resistance is prolonged, extermination: sacrifices come later. Allies and vassals are well treated as long as they do not betray their rulers: traitors deserve anything they get. Espionage, treachery, assassination: all are acceptable in the pursuit of the War of Four Horizons, which will never more than pause until all the earth sacrifices to the supreme Three Gods. (The cannibalism, at least, is pretty much purely symbolic and confined to the priesthood nowadays. They already have pork).

They also have a fairly well-developed technological package, mostly developed by trial and error but increasingly supported by a natural philosophy that holds that the Gods have made the material world understandable -and manipulable - to man, so he may better serve them. Roughly mid-19th century when it comes to steam and steel and ships but end of the 18th when it comes to, say, electricity, technological progress has been slow enough so far that other American states and the African Empire of Fulante' have been able largely to duplicate it, but Asia and Europe are probably boned if they don't make some quick changes.

Currently, the powerful-but-nervous League of the North, centered on the old Kwedatch confederation (an Iroquoian people, linguistically speaking, but with centuries of changed population movements, no American tribes really correspond to those of OTL) is thinking of allying with the great African empire of Fultante, which considers itself the true successor of Rome and the leader of all *Christians everywhere (mostly Africa and mediterranean Europe, although scattered communities exist as far east as India).

A major theatre of conflict will probably be Europe, most of whose backwards communities would be easy prey for the Totokanhuatl armies: Asia, OTOH, is a richer prize if a tougher nut, and a much worse logistical challenge for the Fulante' and the League, whose navies are inferior to those of the Totokanhuatl (they've been building a world-wide network of coaling stations and fortified "trading ports", often at cannon point over local objections). The Fulante' has been sending missions east to warn the Khaguans of the Totokanhuatl Threat, but the Khaguans don't really want to pay attention to the Fulante', which they know mainly as a source of annoying missionaries whose converts are always trying to stir up shit.

Organizing the lesser African *Christians kingdoms into an effective alliance is so far a job in cat-herding outside of those states right next to the expanding Totokanhuatl colony on the cape, who want Fulante' protection. Egypt, for all its wicked Zoroaster-y foibles, would be a better ally if it weren't for that pesky effort by Fulante' to conquer it thirty years ago. Englavo, speakers of an odd melange of Germanic and Slavic tongues, rich in coal and iron, and followers (so far) of a four-faced God, may become an important ally as they industrialize, if the Totokanhuatl give them enough time.

The world is entering the era of the Totokanhuatl Great Expansion, and for many nations, it will be all they can do to simply weather the storm and survive...

[1] [link]

[2] Lovecraftian cultures in an ASB continent: a fun read. [link]

Description
Since fanfic obviously isn't my thing, back to maps!

Ok, a version of GURPS "Ezcalli" [1] with some of the more absurd paralellisms removed. In this TL, Carthaginians doing the circumnavigate Africa thing are blown off course, and finally manage to return with news of vast new lands to the west. Since in a no-compass world with shipbuilding skills of dubious reliability in Atlantic storms the round trip is rather more dangerous (and where you end up rather more uncertain) than in OTL 1492, this is not much followed up on until it becomes clear that the Romans intend to finish the job they started on Carthage, when it becomes a place of refuge.

The Romans cotton on to those refugees sailing west after a while, and eventually paranoia kicks in (they're conspiring with the inhabitants of the Blessed Isles and the sea-monsters to DESTROY ROME) but are even worse prepared for Atlantic navigation than the Carthaginians, and just manage to pull off a Lost Colony of their own when the Imperial Civil Wars kicks in and puts an end to any major logistical efforts overseas.

Less dirty and not as connected to the Eurasian disease pool as 16th century Europeans, Carthagianian germ warfare is less effective than OTL, but they do manage to wipe out or enslave the still largely hunter-gatherer peoples of the Caribbean: they are less successful on the mainland, although wars with the Romans of the eastern isles helps provide some push to move further west, north, and south. Mixed Carthagianian-Indian cultures spring up on the shores of the Caribbean: pigs, cattle, horses, peas, apples, wheat, and other European foostuffs spread, along with writing, some metallurgy (some is lost) and the practice of sacrificing kids to Baal (sometimes in place of the local deity). Contact with Europe and North Africa remains rather intermittent at best for a long time, but American foodstuffs filter back, including, eventually, the south American potato.

Rome falls harder than OTL, and earlier. Although Jesus Christ is butterflied away, a not entirely different sacrificed-redeemer God arises from the mix of Greek, Anatolian, and Jewish religious faiths: it is however somewhat less successful at spreading itself, and fails to reproduce itself in post-collapse Europe or compete very successfully with Persian Zoroastrianism or its future mutations in the east. (It will, however, have a later successful career in Africa).

There will be few Jews left by the 19th century: not due to persecution, but rather lack of it in polytheist societies that don't give a crap about the Jews odd faith and make it easy for them to assimilate.

The often-invaded Irish, hearing tales of this mysterious land to the west, made their way there by way of Iceland as early as the 8th century AD: as mixed Carthagian-Amerindian cultures sprang up around the Carribbean, mixed Irish-Amerindian ones sprang up on the east coast, although as latecomers the Irish were never as successful, and their heritage is nowadays a thin scattering of mostly mixed statelets along the coast, of which those of the isle of Mannannan (a cultural misunderstanding of sorts) are the most prosperous. The Olde Sod is currently independent and has royal family ties to Scandinavia, and a worrisome Totokanhuatl fortified trading post on the west coast, and the kingdom of Englavo breathing down their necks.

Without Christianity to provide a source of order, a shallower Roman heritage, and potatoes and other American foodstuffs increasing local autonomy and thereby decreasing trade, it takes longer for coherent states to emerge in Europe. Still, the Germanic, Slavic, Hunnic, etc. states of Europe were beginning to develop into more coherent empires by OTLs latter middle ages - only to be crushed as the Turkish hordes swept west to the Pyrennes.

The Genius Leader of this TL was a Turk, not a Mongol, and although the Mongols would serve as some of his most effective cavalry, they would in time be assimilated into the Turkic-speaking ruling class. Although the Khaguanates would have their ups and downs and civil wars, the western territories would not be Islamicized and therefore alienated from their eastern relatives, and generally if one Khaguanate was overthrown by locals, the other Khaguans would intervene to restore it: the Empire has lasted so far for over five centuries, during which the number of Khaguans has varied between three and eight (it is currently six). South China eventually broke away, but after centuries of seperation north and south became alienated enough from each other that there was no longer seen to be "true chinese" to liberate in the north, and after a couple centuries of off and on warfare a stable sort of balance was established in the East.

The last great war was over a century ago, when the Khaguan of India (a fairly late conquest), Babur the White Elephant, a fervent convert to Hinduism, attempted to unify all the Khaguanates - with India as the center. The rulers of the restored Khaguanate of India - followers, as in Iran and North China, of an eclectic mix of Buddhist and Zoroastrian elements - remain (deliberately) alienated from their Hindu subjects. Currently, the Khaguanates have become a fairly sleepy and peaceful place, (although the laws remain hair-raisingly strict) and are falling behind Africa and the Americas without really noticing.

Currently the worlds greatest power is the Empire of Totokanhuatl. The peoples of Mexico's central highland were numberous and developed enough already in 200 BC that the Carthaginian refugees never were able to pull off a successful Cortez on them, although cultural influences were pervasive, and mixed cultures developed on the Mexican coast. Various literate, culturally sophisticated empires rose and fell, with the Totokanhuatl the latest. The Totokanhuatl religion has a well-organized pantheon including elements of the old Baal-worshipping polytheism of the Cathagianians, but is not a particularly tolerant one: foreign gods are to be subordinated to theirs, and in some cases eliminated entirely. For the Gods of the Totokanhuatl demand that their servants spread their faith by fire and sword to the ends of the earth.

The Totokanhuatl, who are lovers of art and beauty and literature and also human sacrifice and interesting design work involving human skins and bones, would probably fit in fairly well in Green Antartica. [2] Unlike the "flower wars" of the Aztecs, theirs are ones of brutal conquest, and, if resistance is prolonged, extermination: sacrifices come later. Allies and vassals are well treated as long as they do not betray their rulers: traitors deserve anything they get. Espionage, treachery, assassination: all are acceptable in the pursuit of the War of Four Horizons, which will never more than pause until all the earth sacrifices to the supreme Three Gods. (The cannibalism, at least, is pretty much purely symbolic and confined to the priesthood nowadays. They already have pork).

They also have a fairly well-developed technological package, mostly developed by trial and error but increasingly supported by a natural philosophy that holds that the Gods have made the material world understandable -and manipulable - to man, so he may better serve them. Roughly mid-19th century when it comes to steam and steel and ships but end of the 18th when it comes to, say, electricity, technological progress has been slow enough so far that other American states and the African Empire of Fulante' have been able largely to duplicate it, but Asia and Europe are probably boned if they don't make some quick changes.

Currently, the powerful-but-nervous League of the North, centered on the old Kwedatch confederation (an Iroquoian people, linguistically speaking, but with centuries of changed population movements, no American tribes really correspond to those of OTL) is thinking of allying with the great African empire of Fultante, which considers itself the true successor of Rome and the leader of all *Christians everywhere (mostly Africa and mediterranean Europe, although scattered communities exist as far east as India).

A major theatre of conflict will probably be Europe, most of whose backwards communities would be easy prey for the Totokanhuatl armies: Asia, OTOH, is a richer prize if a tougher nut, and a much worse logistical challenge for the Fulante' and the League, whose navies are inferior to those of the Totokanhuatl (they've been building a world-wide network of coaling stations and fortified "trading ports", often at cannon point over local objections). The Fulante' has been sending missions east to warn the Khaguans of the Totokanhuatl Threat, but the Khaguans don't really want to pay attention to the Fulante', which they know mainly as a source of annoying missionaries whose converts are always trying to stir up shit.

Organizing the lesser African *Christians kingdoms into an effective alliance is so far a job in cat-herding outside of those states right next to the expanding Totokanhuatl colony on the cape, who want Fulante' protection. Egypt, for all its wicked Zoroaster-y foibles, would be a better ally if it weren't for that pesky effort by Fulante' to conquer it thirty years ago. Englavo, speakers of an odd melange of Germanic and Slavic tongues, rich in coal and iron, and followers (so far) of a four-faced God, may become an important ally as they industrialize, if the Totokanhuatl give them enough time.

The world is entering the era of the Totokanhuatl Great Expansion, and for many nations, it will be all they can do to simply weather the storm and survive...

[1] [link]

[2] Lovecraftian cultures in an ASB continent: a fun read. [link]