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Description
This was a commission for Agendark on ah.com with the prompt "So my request is vaguely based on what I used for inspiration for the White Goddess Scenario awhile ago.

Basically, turn the Album "The White Goddess, a Grammer of European Poetic Myth", by Atlantean Kodex into a map.

Supernatural elements are preferred
Bonus points for somehow have the city of Passau sunk beneath the waves."

After the Second Great Recession and the breakup of the EU, things spiraled into increasing chaos in what became known as the Collapse. Global warming made for unpredictable weather, for drought, for soaring food prices. New diseases ravaged a hungry world and spread to more advanced states where healthcare had been hollowed out by neo-neo-Liberalism and paranoia and superstition undermined what efforts to keep a population healthy still could be managed. Mad nationalisms arose again and nation strove against nation for what resources were left in foolish beggar thy neighbor policies. Rome burned, and the Papacy fled abroad. A strange dark man travelled across Europe, displaying wonders and miracles to amazed audiences, and left plague and madness in his wake. Still strong through sheer bulk if nothing else, China and the United States meddled and bought and sold desperate governments: many Europeans fought abroad as mercenaries for lack of anything better at home.

The Final War between China and the United States filled the skies with ash and winter fell across the world: too successful had been the unleashing of the new Chinese “superbomb” on the Yellowstone caldera. Summer was as winter, winter as cold as death. The Great Cleansing came, as the foreign, the alien, those of other faiths were sacrificed to stretch shrinking supplies and serve as scapegoats to turn wrath away from the rich and powerful: in the end, this was not enough to maintain social order. People fled south, Germans into France and Italy, Russians into the Ukraine, Britons all over, with much of Scandinavia and the north of Russia becoming almost abandoned: others things than people moved into the empty places. The Red Coat Army, whose anarchic purpose never became clear, marched across Europe, looting and raiding as they went in the wake of social collapse.

A light in the darkness, or perhaps a different sort of darkness. Some say the Old Gods had returned: some said they never left. In any event, while the hollowed out Christian faith of much of Europe or the new bellicose Protestantism of the American brand did not bring about salvation or surcease, increasingly there were reports of the strange, the miraculous taking place in old places, in ancient circles of stones, along ley lines, and even in ancient Churches dating back to the dim eras when Christianity was still feeding itself on the remnants of Paganism. Horned giants and fiery dogs were seen in the snowy woods. People recalled strange rites they had never performed in their lives before. New priests and shamans appeared, and channeled wisdom from before the coming of bronze. Great bonfires were lit, blood was spilled on ancient stones in the dead of winter, and dim, feeble sunlight began to return. Some claimed it was simply a natural return to normal conditions, but this did not explain why magic now seemed to bring far surer results, or the strange creatures which increasingly roamed at nights and in waste places.

From many small and local centers, power once again was consolidated. Rulers sold their swords, so to speak, to whatever God seemed to make them stronger. Wars, which had essentially become a matter of tiny localized savageries during the darkest days of the Long Winter became larger in scale as more resources fell into the hands of strongmen with ambition, and railways were rebuilt, although now running on steam and wood or coal again rather than oil. But at the same time there was a force seeking to end war and bind Europe together again: the Priesthood of the White Goddess, whose men and women claimed to serve the oldest Goddess, the one who had existed before the later male Gods, the triune virgin-mother-crone who had been worshipped by all Europe.

Many (including the few surviving academics) scoffed, but many others turned to the cult which proclaimed the unity of all Europeans and which called for an end to human sacrifice: the power of blood and sacrifice had been needed during the Long Winter, but kinder times were ahead, and although some sacrifice would always be needed to maintain the balance between man and Earth, She would never demand one third of all children born, as some of the darker Gods had during the Winter. [1]. A struggle between the followers of the White Goddess and the followers of other old Gods began, with ambitious empire-builders often siding with Gods less burdened with concern for the unity and peace of Europe, most notably with the Gods of the Dark of the Moon, the Goat with a Thousand Young, the Gods of the Outer Abyss and the mocking masked cultists who answered only to one of uncertain humanity, the one known as the Heresiarch.

A brief light of reason sputtered into being around Passau, Bavaria. The rulers of the region had through ruthless triage and scientific methods managed to keep a functioning state through the Long Winter without sacrifice to Gods or spirits, and attempted to expand their rule into the rest of Bavaria and Austria with a similar approach. The Heresiarch came like a thief in the night and sought to seduce them with strange sciences and a mask of reason hiding screaming madness. In the end, Passau revolted against their corrupted government, and slew the priests of the God of the Sevenfold veil. In the end, they trusted only in themselves when only the White Goddess might have saved them: the lake which stands where Passau once was does not seem to have a measurable bottom.

The followers of the White Goddess, under their blue banner decorated with silver stars, had powers and allies of their own, to match those of the Heresiarch, at least here beneath sun and stars and on green and growing Earth. The scattered remnants of the old Catholic Church, also seeking peace and a restoration of order, allied with them, many proclaiming that the White Goddess was simply another face, another appearance, of the Virgin Mary, and that in due course a Son would arise to save everyone. And when the forces of the White Goddess marched north in search of a New Land on which to build their temple, and the earth quaked and shuddered and the bottom of the English Channel arose to meet the light of day: well, when the forces of the White Lady marched across the new land bridge into former England, the forces of the Tyrant of Luton either fled or knelt in worship before the banners of the White Goddess. Soon, boats crossed a narrow channel to the new Island of Doggerland, which would become the center of the new faith.

Of course, things were never going to be simple. There were further wars and struggles, and old Gods of corn and stone and wood to be bound or placated and fitted into new pantheons, and monsters to be fought, and order remained elusive, and witchcraft of the unhallowed sort (to be carefully distinguished from witchcraft of the hallowed sort, which was plentiful). Islam, meanwhile, had struggled with the awakening of old magics in their lands, as well, but in the end the faith of the Prophet had prevailed, and from the ruins of the Middle East a new Jihad emerged, seeking to drive back the new paganism and take vengeance for all those of the faith who had perished during the Cleansing. For a while Europe’s border was on the Danube again: although this, too, would aid in its way, as it joined many Europeans together against a common foe.

The forces of the Heresiarch, meanwhile, proved too deeply rooted to be wiped out: even with the final expulsion of Islam from the Balkans, in the wreckage of that unhappy land the Cult of the God of Seven Veils coming to take control of the “new roman empire” that arose north of Greece and south of the Danube. In the end an uneasy coexistence came into being, and aside from the White Goddess many local deities continued to be worshipped,[2] while strange new inter-twinings of Christianity and Paganism arose. Jews, which are considered to be in some way Very European, are tolerated, and have increased in numbers thanks to refugees from the Middle East. A still disunited, but slowly healing Europe began to emerge under the Aegis of the White Goddess, and the Five Realms of Britain, Francia, Allemania, Poland, and Hispania blessed and supported by the Goddess.

There is a strange new normality. Technology has generally failed to get back to 20th, much less 21st century levels, but it’s better than the largely pre-industrial state into which things had fallen during the Long Winter. There are trains and even alcohol-fueled cars for the well off, and together radio (crystal sets mostly) and the telegraph are slowly binding Europe back into something like an accessible place rather than a mess of tiny survivor states. There is a serious shortage of metals due to the regression of mining technique and lack of trade with the rest of the world, and a lot of scavenging goes on. Partly by the beneficent aid of Gods of sea and sky and partly due to the rather lower population, nobody is starving anymore, although once again most work the land and produce food by the sweat of their brows. Many of the larger cities have fallen into ruin due to inability to maintain them, and are being plundered for raw materials, but a number of smaller centers are again growing. Politics are fairly regressive, with a return to monarchs with genuine divine and priestly backing, but a fair amount of local democracy has revived, and the number of pocket-sized tyrannies, strong-man regimes, and presidencies-for-life has been steadily declining. Things tend to be decentralized, with many local regimes only weakly under the rule of central courts (Poland, interestingly, has not seen a revival of kingship: they are a Very Holy Republic, and the confusion between the White Goddess and the Virgin is frankly baffling to most outsiders).

Magic is once again everywhere, with most people seeing (or at least claiming to see) ghosts, spirits or monsters at a distance at some time in their life, and miracles (admittedly usually not very big ones) occurring daily at temples and holy sites. Although the personal experience of Divinity is rare, most have met people who have encountered Gods (the holy, insane, and holy/insane ones. The third likely result of an encounter with one of the more primordial deities doesn’t leave one fit for company, and often just gone). Everyone is usually all decked out in protective amulets, etc., since curses really do seem to work as long as you call on the right spirits and make some sacrifice of blood and/or other bodily fluids. Skeptics do still exist, although those who both annoy priests and mages and ignore all precautions do have a tendency to turn up one day swollen, black and smelling really nasty (or worse). People lock up very carefully at night, and certain desolate spots are posted as magical menace sites. Forests have expanded, and cutting down mature trees requires the permission of various priests and/or shamans. The animal population has also rebounded, and even a few species thought extinct have returned. Most blood shed at altars is now animal blood, but there are some sacrifices which require volunteers, and some places consider necessary the occasional kidnapping of someone broadly disliked by their neighbors. (One should carefully avoid mummers at certain times of year). Things tend to be hairier in the northern lands worst hit by the Long Winter, or in some small mountain states: if someone asks if you want to be King For A Day, plead other religious commitments.

The Island of Doggerland is the center of the White Goddess’s cult, an island of priests and priestesses and wise men and mages. From here directives and divinely inspired messages go abroad, as do missionaries who seek to convert those who still persist in keeping the Goddess from their hearts. It is a place of miracles, it is said, and many have seen the Goddess in one incarnation or another. It is also a place of death, for the Goddess is the end of all things as well as the bringer of life: to achieve ultimate communion with the Goddess is also to achieve nirvana, and to end ones individual existence. Indeed, keeping Her worshippers from seeking to incinerate themselves like moths to a flame is one reason the Inner Mysteries are kept surrounded by many layers of ritual BS of various sorts.

The White Goddess is also known as Europa, and is portrayed in her virgin aspect riding a bull: she tends to associate herself with the continent. Some think she has an agenda, and not one of those notebook planner thingies, either.

Things remain uncertain at present. Strange beings emerge from the seas and mate with men and women. Corn demons snatch children out after dark. Various cults in underground caves or remote mountain villages worship divinities not agreeable to the White Goddess, and who knows what happens in the lands where dictators who follow the Heresiarch prevail? Many hard-line Christians still claim that the new Gods, even the White Goddess, are but demons, and should be fought against, although generally in private out of fear of being nailed to an oak. Some of them have made unknowing pacts with unpleasant powers pretending to be angels, and in some cases in full knowledge in a “the enemy of my enemy” mode of thinking. Strange rumors arise of terrible things taking place in the ruins of North America and East Asia, and the Muslims remain hostile, while the Five Realms jockey for position: will one of the Kings become Emperor and truly unify Europe? There are some limited contacts with South America, where old faiths and powers have also revived, and the White Goddess is apparently worshipped under a different name.

It is said that a child, a child of a virgin mother, has been born somewhere in the east of Europe. Some say he will be the Holy Emperor that will truly unify Europe. Some say he is the Christ-Child returned and will return Christianity to its former glory. Some say his mother was an incarnation of the White Goddess, others say she was just a normal woman. Others say he will bring an end to the need for sacrifice. Some say he is Christ and Mithras and the King-Priest of Nemi, all at once, all those who sacrifice themselves for the sake of mankind.

Where is he? The search has started, even as some cry nonsense and say this is all mere rumor. Some say that the servants of the Heresiarch are seeking the child, perhaps to kill, perhaps to raise Him as a servant of the Outer Gods and the dark of the Moon. Some say the Heresiarch already has the child, or even that he is the child’s true father. Rumor goes up and down the roads of Europe, and there is as yet no clear message or direction from Holy Doggerland.

[1] Some claimed that was not so much the fault of the Old Gods but of the loss of modern contraceptive methods and too many mouths to feed…
[2] As long as large-scale human sacrifice is not taking place.

Description
This was a commission for Agendark on ah.com with the prompt "So my request is vaguely based on what I used for inspiration for the White Goddess Scenario awhile ago.

Basically, turn the Album "The White Goddess, a Grammer of European Poetic Myth", by Atlantean Kodex into a map.

Supernatural elements are preferred
Bonus points for somehow have the city of Passau sunk beneath the waves."

After the Second Great Recession and the breakup of the EU, things spiraled into increasing chaos in what became known as the Collapse. Global warming made for unpredictable weather, for drought, for soaring food prices. New diseases ravaged a hungry world and spread to more advanced states where healthcare had been hollowed out by neo-neo-Liberalism and paranoia and superstition undermined what efforts to keep a population healthy still could be managed. Mad nationalisms arose again and nation strove against nation for what resources were left in foolish beggar thy neighbor policies. Rome burned, and the Papacy fled abroad. A strange dark man travelled across Europe, displaying wonders and miracles to amazed audiences, and left plague and madness in his wake. Still strong through sheer bulk if nothing else, China and the United States meddled and bought and sold desperate governments: many Europeans fought abroad as mercenaries for lack of anything better at home.

The Final War between China and the United States filled the skies with ash and winter fell across the world: too successful had been the unleashing of the new Chinese “superbomb” on the Yellowstone caldera. Summer was as winter, winter as cold as death. The Great Cleansing came, as the foreign, the alien, those of other faiths were sacrificed to stretch shrinking supplies and serve as scapegoats to turn wrath away from the rich and powerful: in the end, this was not enough to maintain social order. People fled south, Germans into France and Italy, Russians into the Ukraine, Britons all over, with much of Scandinavia and the north of Russia becoming almost abandoned: others things than people moved into the empty places. The Red Coat Army, whose anarchic purpose never became clear, marched across Europe, looting and raiding as they went in the wake of social collapse.

A light in the darkness, or perhaps a different sort of darkness. Some say the Old Gods had returned: some said they never left. In any event, while the hollowed out Christian faith of much of Europe or the new bellicose Protestantism of the American brand did not bring about salvation or surcease, increasingly there were reports of the strange, the miraculous taking place in old places, in ancient circles of stones, along ley lines, and even in ancient Churches dating back to the dim eras when Christianity was still feeding itself on the remnants of Paganism. Horned giants and fiery dogs were seen in the snowy woods. People recalled strange rites they had never performed in their lives before. New priests and shamans appeared, and channeled wisdom from before the coming of bronze. Great bonfires were lit, blood was spilled on ancient stones in the dead of winter, and dim, feeble sunlight began to return. Some claimed it was simply a natural return to normal conditions, but this did not explain why magic now seemed to bring far surer results, or the strange creatures which increasingly roamed at nights and in waste places.

From many small and local centers, power once again was consolidated. Rulers sold their swords, so to speak, to whatever God seemed to make them stronger. Wars, which had essentially become a matter of tiny localized savageries during the darkest days of the Long Winter became larger in scale as more resources fell into the hands of strongmen with ambition, and railways were rebuilt, although now running on steam and wood or coal again rather than oil. But at the same time there was a force seeking to end war and bind Europe together again: the Priesthood of the White Goddess, whose men and women claimed to serve the oldest Goddess, the one who had existed before the later male Gods, the triune virgin-mother-crone who had been worshipped by all Europe.

Many (including the few surviving academics) scoffed, but many others turned to the cult which proclaimed the unity of all Europeans and which called for an end to human sacrifice: the power of blood and sacrifice had been needed during the Long Winter, but kinder times were ahead, and although some sacrifice would always be needed to maintain the balance between man and Earth, She would never demand one third of all children born, as some of the darker Gods had during the Winter. [1]. A struggle between the followers of the White Goddess and the followers of other old Gods began, with ambitious empire-builders often siding with Gods less burdened with concern for the unity and peace of Europe, most notably with the Gods of the Dark of the Moon, the Goat with a Thousand Young, the Gods of the Outer Abyss and the mocking masked cultists who answered only to one of uncertain humanity, the one known as the Heresiarch.

A brief light of reason sputtered into being around Passau, Bavaria. The rulers of the region had through ruthless triage and scientific methods managed to keep a functioning state through the Long Winter without sacrifice to Gods or spirits, and attempted to expand their rule into the rest of Bavaria and Austria with a similar approach. The Heresiarch came like a thief in the night and sought to seduce them with strange sciences and a mask of reason hiding screaming madness. In the end, Passau revolted against their corrupted government, and slew the priests of the God of the Sevenfold veil. In the end, they trusted only in themselves when only the White Goddess might have saved them: the lake which stands where Passau once was does not seem to have a measurable bottom.

The followers of the White Goddess, under their blue banner decorated with silver stars, had powers and allies of their own, to match those of the Heresiarch, at least here beneath sun and stars and on green and growing Earth. The scattered remnants of the old Catholic Church, also seeking peace and a restoration of order, allied with them, many proclaiming that the White Goddess was simply another face, another appearance, of the Virgin Mary, and that in due course a Son would arise to save everyone. And when the forces of the White Goddess marched north in search of a New Land on which to build their temple, and the earth quaked and shuddered and the bottom of the English Channel arose to meet the light of day: well, when the forces of the White Lady marched across the new land bridge into former England, the forces of the Tyrant of Luton either fled or knelt in worship before the banners of the White Goddess. Soon, boats crossed a narrow channel to the new Island of Doggerland, which would become the center of the new faith.

Of course, things were never going to be simple. There were further wars and struggles, and old Gods of corn and stone and wood to be bound or placated and fitted into new pantheons, and monsters to be fought, and order remained elusive, and witchcraft of the unhallowed sort (to be carefully distinguished from witchcraft of the hallowed sort, which was plentiful). Islam, meanwhile, had struggled with the awakening of old magics in their lands, as well, but in the end the faith of the Prophet had prevailed, and from the ruins of the Middle East a new Jihad emerged, seeking to drive back the new paganism and take vengeance for all those of the faith who had perished during the Cleansing. For a while Europe’s border was on the Danube again: although this, too, would aid in its way, as it joined many Europeans together against a common foe.

The forces of the Heresiarch, meanwhile, proved too deeply rooted to be wiped out: even with the final expulsion of Islam from the Balkans, in the wreckage of that unhappy land the Cult of the God of Seven Veils coming to take control of the “new roman empire” that arose north of Greece and south of the Danube. In the end an uneasy coexistence came into being, and aside from the White Goddess many local deities continued to be worshipped,[2] while strange new inter-twinings of Christianity and Paganism arose. Jews, which are considered to be in some way Very European, are tolerated, and have increased in numbers thanks to refugees from the Middle East. A still disunited, but slowly healing Europe began to emerge under the Aegis of the White Goddess, and the Five Realms of Britain, Francia, Allemania, Poland, and Hispania blessed and supported by the Goddess.

There is a strange new normality. Technology has generally failed to get back to 20th, much less 21st century levels, but it’s better than the largely pre-industrial state into which things had fallen during the Long Winter. There are trains and even alcohol-fueled cars for the well off, and together radio (crystal sets mostly) and the telegraph are slowly binding Europe back into something like an accessible place rather than a mess of tiny survivor states. There is a serious shortage of metals due to the regression of mining technique and lack of trade with the rest of the world, and a lot of scavenging goes on. Partly by the beneficent aid of Gods of sea and sky and partly due to the rather lower population, nobody is starving anymore, although once again most work the land and produce food by the sweat of their brows. Many of the larger cities have fallen into ruin due to inability to maintain them, and are being plundered for raw materials, but a number of smaller centers are again growing. Politics are fairly regressive, with a return to monarchs with genuine divine and priestly backing, but a fair amount of local democracy has revived, and the number of pocket-sized tyrannies, strong-man regimes, and presidencies-for-life has been steadily declining. Things tend to be decentralized, with many local regimes only weakly under the rule of central courts (Poland, interestingly, has not seen a revival of kingship: they are a Very Holy Republic, and the confusion between the White Goddess and the Virgin is frankly baffling to most outsiders).

Magic is once again everywhere, with most people seeing (or at least claiming to see) ghosts, spirits or monsters at a distance at some time in their life, and miracles (admittedly usually not very big ones) occurring daily at temples and holy sites. Although the personal experience of Divinity is rare, most have met people who have encountered Gods (the holy, insane, and holy/insane ones. The third likely result of an encounter with one of the more primordial deities doesn’t leave one fit for company, and often just gone). Everyone is usually all decked out in protective amulets, etc., since curses really do seem to work as long as you call on the right spirits and make some sacrifice of blood and/or other bodily fluids. Skeptics do still exist, although those who both annoy priests and mages and ignore all precautions do have a tendency to turn up one day swollen, black and smelling really nasty (or worse). People lock up very carefully at night, and certain desolate spots are posted as magical menace sites. Forests have expanded, and cutting down mature trees requires the permission of various priests and/or shamans. The animal population has also rebounded, and even a few species thought extinct have returned. Most blood shed at altars is now animal blood, but there are some sacrifices which require volunteers, and some places consider necessary the occasional kidnapping of someone broadly disliked by their neighbors. (One should carefully avoid mummers at certain times of year). Things tend to be hairier in the northern lands worst hit by the Long Winter, or in some small mountain states: if someone asks if you want to be King For A Day, plead other religious commitments.

The Island of Doggerland is the center of the White Goddess’s cult, an island of priests and priestesses and wise men and mages. From here directives and divinely inspired messages go abroad, as do missionaries who seek to convert those who still persist in keeping the Goddess from their hearts. It is a place of miracles, it is said, and many have seen the Goddess in one incarnation or another. It is also a place of death, for the Goddess is the end of all things as well as the bringer of life: to achieve ultimate communion with the Goddess is also to achieve nirvana, and to end ones individual existence. Indeed, keeping Her worshippers from seeking to incinerate themselves like moths to a flame is one reason the Inner Mysteries are kept surrounded by many layers of ritual BS of various sorts.

The White Goddess is also known as Europa, and is portrayed in her virgin aspect riding a bull: she tends to associate herself with the continent. Some think she has an agenda, and not one of those notebook planner thingies, either.

Things remain uncertain at present. Strange beings emerge from the seas and mate with men and women. Corn demons snatch children out after dark. Various cults in underground caves or remote mountain villages worship divinities not agreeable to the White Goddess, and who knows what happens in the lands where dictators who follow the Heresiarch prevail? Many hard-line Christians still claim that the new Gods, even the White Goddess, are but demons, and should be fought against, although generally in private out of fear of being nailed to an oak. Some of them have made unknowing pacts with unpleasant powers pretending to be angels, and in some cases in full knowledge in a “the enemy of my enemy” mode of thinking. Strange rumors arise of terrible things taking place in the ruins of North America and East Asia, and the Muslims remain hostile, while the Five Realms jockey for position: will one of the Kings become Emperor and truly unify Europe? There are some limited contacts with South America, where old faiths and powers have also revived, and the White Goddess is apparently worshipped under a different name.

It is said that a child, a child of a virgin mother, has been born somewhere in the east of Europe. Some say he will be the Holy Emperor that will truly unify Europe. Some say he is the Christ-Child returned and will return Christianity to its former glory. Some say his mother was an incarnation of the White Goddess, others say she was just a normal woman. Others say he will bring an end to the need for sacrifice. Some say he is Christ and Mithras and the King-Priest of Nemi, all at once, all those who sacrifice themselves for the sake of mankind.

Where is he? The search has started, even as some cry nonsense and say this is all mere rumor. Some say that the servants of the Heresiarch are seeking the child, perhaps to kill, perhaps to raise Him as a servant of the Outer Gods and the dark of the Moon. Some say the Heresiarch already has the child, or even that he is the child’s true father. Rumor goes up and down the roads of Europe, and there is as yet no clear message or direction from Holy Doggerland.

[1] Some claimed that was not so much the fault of the Old Gods but of the loss of modern contraceptive methods and too many mouths to feed…
[2] As long as large-scale human sacrifice is not taking place.