Roman style adoption would be a sensible option. Actually pick out a capable successor and avoid all the pitfalls of genetic inheritance. Obviously adoption has its own problems but it would bring a certain degree of direly needed meritocracy.
Another great update. I want to mention that you have kept up a pretty firm effort that keeps all of the events of this TL incredibly easy for me to keep track of, understand, and picture. It makes it that much more enjoyable.
As crude as it is, presuming an uptime medic/obstetrician or five are available "Lying Back & Thinking Of Knossos" is a valid option considering that there would be no question about Heirs of the Body.
Alright, I'll bite. Some form of Sperm Donation, especially with deliberate anonymity of the biological father makes a lot sense to me for a path she would take. That way the successor(s) is explicitly and solely hers without any mitigating factors.
If she were smart she'd take a Downtimer as her Baby-Daddy if she goes down that route. Either that or force her brother to marry a downtimer with the explicit intention of making their firstborn son their heir.
Just as I thought, with ancient understanding of divinity, I'm not surprised. There is a Minoan faction that believes uptime conquest to be divine. You surely could discretely encourage these downtime trends and allow them to create some sort of a Cult of Rachel, without supporting them openly (and alienating uptimers even more).
Just as I thought, with ancient understanding of divinity, I'm not surprised. There is a Minoan faction that believes uptime conquest to be divine. You surely could discretely encourage these downtime trends and allow them to create some sort of a Cult of Rachel, without supporting them openly (and alienating uptimers even more).
A Cult of Rachel would admittedly be very dangerous since it would give the impression to the uptimers that she's gone nuts and even the Downtimers aren't really saying she's Divine so much as "Well clearly something Divine brought her here".
The last time when some sect considered imperial authority to be divine was not so long ago. During XX century there were people who thought that the Ethiopian Emperor is the Second Coming of Christ. What is funny is the fact that said religion started on Jamaica, and the Emperor in question never recognized their claims. Still, he allowed some of them to settle in Ethiopia ( Rastafari - Wikipedia ).
In a 1967 interview when a Canadian interviewer mentioned the Rastafari belief that he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, he responded by saying: "I have heard of this idea. I also met certain Rastafarians. I told them clearly that I am a man, that I am mortal, and that I will be replaced by the oncoming generation, and that they should never make a mistake in assuming or pretending that a human being is emanated from a deity."[73] His grandson Ermias Sahle Selassie has said that there is "no doubt that Haile Selassie did not encourage the Rastafari movement".[74] For some Rastas, Haile Selassie's denials are taken as evidence was that he was indeed the incarnation of God.[48]
The Former King of Knossos had been living in a manor in Knossos basically under house arrest since he'd surrendered the city to Wilson. He had proved a surprisingly useful source for advice on how to run the city. He hadn't been the most popular before the conquest, as most who dealt with him quickly realized just how much he was under the thumb of the High Priestess Rusa, but he had his supporters and Wilson generally found the idea of murdering him for the sake of politics distasteful. She had hopes to eventually win over his loyalty and integrate him into her new nobility, which left her rather shocked one morning when he was found in his bed with his throat slit.
The priesthood was quick to blame Wilson for the murder, Rusa personally used it as justification for claiming that there was nothing divine about Wilson's rule. Rachel Wilson in turn immediately suspected Rusa and tried to have her arrested, at which point the Priestess promptly fled with most of the Knossos Priesthood. The thing about the Minoan Religion was that the palaces were only one part of the religious structure, most of the important rituals and festivals involved the use of peak sanctuaries and cave shrines, both of which gave the priestesses plenty of places to hide and plan. The priesthood's abandonment left the city enraged, with many citizens fearing that the goddesses had abandoned them. Protests rocked the city for days.
In truth neither Wilson or Rusa had anything to do with the murder of the former King, rather his murdered was orchestrated by one Donald Norton, a former Chemistry teacher and the then-governor of Anafi island. Donald had joined this venture with the general assumption that Wilson would eventually stumble and fall from power, allowing someone older and wiser to take her place. That none of her missteps had yet removed Wilson from power frustrated the man until he decided to take more direct action to ensure her downfall. He was able to form an alliance with the new Under-King of Phaistos and together they convinced Rusa to ally with them. Their plan was relatively simple, use Phaistos as a base to organize a series of protests and small revolts around the island, forcing Wilson to spread her military forces thin. Ideally that would give them an opportunity to storm Knossos and take out Wilson along with her main supporters. Ideally with Wilson gone, Norton could force his way onto the throne to prevent chaos from consuming the island. From there he wouldn't be able to roll back Wilson's agenda completely but it would be enough to shift things back more towards how the Priesthood preferred things. Norton would be in charge but the priests would regain much of their old authority. Unfortunately, Rusa would have to go into Exile, but that was unavoidable at this point.
The plan went well at first with the numerous riots stretching the Minoan military to the breaking point. But things hit a snag when it came to the raid on palace itself. Jessica Kilpatrick feared someone pulling something similar to what Wilson did at Troy, and so when Rusa left Knossos she began preparing for the worst. As a result the men hired by Rusa and Norton found the palace more heavily defended than expected- the fighting was vicious and would last most of the night. By daybreak the battle was over and the coup had failed, but not without cost. The biggest loss for Wilson and Kilpatrick personally was the death of their friend Clark Brown, a close friend of Rachel's. Grief left her nearly catatonic for the next few days, during which Jessica acted quickly and began preparing a manhunt to find whoever hired the thugs who attacked the palace. Luckily for her the failure of the coup fractured the alliance in Phaistos.
One of the priestesses, a minor one who knew some details of the coup but was only tangentially involved, revealed the involvement of Phaistos and Rusa in exchange for immunity and power. Norton fled with his family before anything could be tied to him. (He disappeared completely, though years later there were rumors of a strange looking family of five taking control of a Terramare village along the Po River.) The rest would not be so fortunate. Rusa, the Underking, his sister and a number of other priestesses and nobles had their throats cut and their bodies mounted to the posts around the palace of Phaistos. The palace had it's autonomy revoked and was place under the rule of Clark's brother.
The priesthood quickly learned to fear Jessica and began worrying Rusa had led them into a war. But a war was the last thing either Wilson or Kilpatrick wanted. A war with the priesthood would devastate the island and cripple Wilson's plans. But, the priesthood could not be trusted. they had to be restrained somehow. After weeks of discussion and debate, Wilson, Kilpatrick and Kitani (the Priestess who turned on Rusa) came up with a risky solution.
The New God
Roughly a month after Clark's death Wilson finally left the Palace. Striding out courtyard with a bronze spear in her left hand she announced to those gathered that her Patron, the goddess who had brought her here and made her conquest possible, had finally revealed herself and told her what needed to be done for the Minoans to face the future. The Goddesses' name was Aphrodite Areia, or Aphrodite the Warlike, goddess of love, beauty, sex, war, justice, and political power. Very quickly a new priesthood was formed with Kitani at it's head, and it was made clear to all that Aphrodite Areia was the new paramount goddess of the islands. The old ones weren't gone, but she was now in charge.
Aphrodite Areia was modeled on both the Aphrodite of pre-event history (As Aphrodite in any form did not exist in Mycenaean Greece) mixed with elements of her little known Spartan incarnation, along with elements of Athena and the Assyrian Goddess Ishtar. Her stories were taken largely from the first two, though modified to fit the Minoan religion and make her seem wiser than Aphrodite tended to come across in Classic Greece. She was also given tales that involved her having female lovers. The intent was clear, while the Minoan gods didn't give the new Anax the right to rule, Aphrodite supported her completely. Centers of her worship were kept near the palaces and her new priesthood would be firmly under the thumb of the Anax. Worship of the other goddesses didn't stop, but it was weakened.
Notably, the Anax made it very clear Aphrodite Areia was nothing more than her patron and she specifically avoided claiming any divine heritage. Rachel had caught wind of a few more out there priestess taking to worshiping her directly, and that terrified her. Both because even with her growing ego that was more than she ever wanted from anyone, and because she firmly realized such a cult could spread out of control in dangerous ways and make her allies think she'd gone mad. (More so than they already had at least.)
Aphrodite was controversial with both downtimers and uptimers. For downtimers she was a foreign god forced upon them, and while some were quick to accept her, others hated her with a passion. For uptimers many accused the Anax of being mad, or of wasting people's time with what they saw as little more self indulgent mythological fan-fiction. But Wilson was not willing to budge, if people questioned her right to rule it would not be because some god told them, and few wanted to risk Jessica's wrath at this point. Though a number of uptimers would acknowledge the new cult could be a useful way to keep the population placated, Aphrodite Areia would remain conversational for the decades to come.
The Kingdom Between Wars
Peace would come to the Kingdom after those chaotic first months. Trade flourished, temples and numerous schools were built. While the Anax wanted to preserve the Minoan Language and Linear A she realized English would dominate the region if not the world eventually, and so the people needed to learn it. She even introduced a new calendar; albeit a modified version of the old pre-Event calendar that just used the Event as it's starting point. Now history would be defined by whether it was B.E (Before the Event) or A.E (After Event).
Then a year after her Conquest, the Anax announced she was marrying her longtime partner Jessica. Only a few short months after the ceremony, she revealed she was pregnant, to the shock of her Minoan subjects.
Rachel would remain evasive on who the father was, answering with anything from a shrug to "Jessica". Most of the uptimers were aware however, that she had tracked down and hired an uptime doctor a few months before and several Minoan men had been bribed for "donations" and placed under a vow of secrecy upon pain of exile. Rachel laid down a clear succession rule in case the pregnancy took a turn for the worst. If the baby lived, Jessica would serve as regent for them until they came of age. If it didn't, then Jessica would serve as Regent for her brother's young son Mark (As her brother had made it clear he would refuse to be on any throne) until he came of age.
This turned out not be needed as Rachel survived and give birth to a healthy baby girl who was given the Minoan name of Ariiniros, which both her parents general shortened to Ari. Between Ari and her brother's three kids with his Minoan wife, Rachel felt the matter of succession was finally secure.
For five years, the Anax focused the Minoan Kingdom on trade, improving technology, and building up both their navy and their army. She prepared for the next phase of her plan- dangerous expeditions to Tucson and the Invasion of Mycenaean Greece. For five years Rachel spent every day worrying that this would be the day Thera erupted and her kingdom suffered She needed more land to feel secure and Mycenaean Greece seemed the best place to start expanding. And after five years she felt she was ready.
Unfortunately others had already beaten her to the punch.
The Mycenaean Invasion and the Later Years.
The Minoans were not blind to the outside world, quite the opposite in fact. Trade kept them well informed of current events in the region. Anax Wilson heard the Second Wave of American Migration was beginning, that dozens of groups numbering in the hundreds if not thousands were beginning to expand in all directions, and carve out new states. Some of their efforts were born out of frustrations similar to what Wilson had experienced in Troy, other were motivated by simple desperation. So news of triple invasion of the Mycenaeans didn't come as a terrible shock when it first arrived, although it was certainly annoying. Wilson looked at those invading Greece; Socialists, Neo-Nazis, and thugs calling themselves New Sparta, and she wasn't impressed. Sure they had modern weapons and ammo, but those would run out soon enough. By now the Minoans had an army carrying flintlock muskets and even a few experimental breech loaders, while their naval was composed of fast warships armed with cannon. She assumed the 'Spartans' would prove easy enough to deal with and after that it would just be a matter of wiping up what remained of the other invaders and the Mycenaeans.
This proved to be a gross misjudgment.
By the time they landed in Peloponnese, the Minoans found that Spartans had dug in at the Mycenaean cities they had conquered, turning each into a fortress, and what Wilson expected to be a quick victory turned into a series of bloody sieges. To further complicate things, someone had armed the Mycenaean cities with cannons and muskets, giving the downtime powers in the region some considerable teeth. After a year of fighting Wilson ordered an end to all offensive operations on the mainland, and refocused efforts on claiming and holding as many Aegean Islands as possible. A few more invasions over the years would give her chunks of the mainland but nothing resembling the total conquest she had hoped for. The sea would belong to her, but the mainland largely proved elusive.
During the invasion of Sparta the Minoans came in contact with the Catholic-dominated Republic of Baja Arizona. Despite their different ideologies, the two nations quickly became close as the Minoans provided Baja with desperately needed food after a failed harvest, and Baja provided the Minoans with a reliable path to Tucson.
Twenty years after The Event, the Minoan Kingdom is a prosperous power, but an uneasy one. Thera is going to erupt sooner or later, nothing they can do will change that. The Minoans have riches, they have their hands in almost all the trade in the region, their children read books printed in both Linear A and English, and they even have a few steamships in their harbors. But how much of that wealth and power will survive the eruption? The now graying Anax is determined to ensure that whatever happens, her kingdom will endure what is to come, what she cannot answer is how to achieve that.
The Minoans are divided on how best to press forward. Wilson still dreams of invading Greece but is doubtful if that is even possible. Her daughter wants to push west, expand the settlement on Malta and begin colonizing Sicily. Others lobby for an invasion of Egypt, or even a return to Anatolia.
Soon enough the Minoans will return to war, the only question is where.
During the invasion of Sparta the Minoans came in contact with the Catholic-dominated Republic of Baja Arizona. Despite their different ideologies, the two nations quickly became close as the Minoans provided Baja with desperately needed food after a failed harvest, and Baja provided the Minoans with a reliable path to Tucson.
As an aside, I am forced to ask how much (Post-)Christian preaching/worship/proselytism the Anax is willing to permit in her domains... and to what degree her cult has spread beyond them.
Understimating the "Spartans" was a really dumb move. Wilson got into power by luck and first-mover-advantage. Her education allowed her to identify a political opportunity and to seize it.
She should have realized that she isn't a warrior. All the preppers, police officers and soldiers* are on their home turf if it comes to a genuine war among technological peers.
5 years are not nearly enough to gain the kind of economic advantage you need to win against far superior leadership and fanaticism*.
*I would argue that this sort of person is most likely to gravitate towards an ideological group that tries to reenact historical Sparta.
*Assuming that Wilson was careful enough to not recruit this sort of people for reasons of internal stability. Or at least smart enough to severly curtail their number.
This is something I'll cover more when I have an eventually get to another Wilson story update but basically Ari is closer to Jessica than she is to Rachel. Largely because Rachel has issues balancing "Raising her to be a proper heir" with being a parent. She's not terrible and she's trying but she's struggling to ensure that she's both better than her own parents and making sure Ari becomes a good ruler. She's also more interested in exploring and going west than even Rachel was.Basically why fight over something dozens of others are fighting over when there's plenty of Europe to conquer.
She also believes in Aphrodite Areia. Rachel specifically told her she basically made Aphrodite Areia up by combining pre-event myths, Ari countered by suggesting she may had been unknowingly 'inspired" and by pointing out Rachel doesn't really have a better explanation for why the event happened.
Understimating the "Spartans" was a really dumb move. Wilson got into power by luck and first-mover-advantage. Her education allowed her to identify a political opportunity and to seize it.
She should have realized that she isn't a warrior. All the preppers, police officers and soldiers* are on their home turf if it comes to a genuine war among technological peers.
5 years are not nearly enough to gain the kind of economic advantage you need to win against far superior leadership and fanaticism*.
*I would argue that this sort of person is most likely to gravitate towards an ideological group that tries to reenact historical Sparta.
*Assuming that Wilson was careful enough to not recruit this sort of people for reasons of internal stability. Or at least smart enough to severly curtail their number.
When we cover the Spartans I'll explain the fight more in detail but basically Wilson thought the Spartans were a bunch of thugs who were just invading with homemade firearms and pre-event weapons and would run out of ammo soon enough. The Spartan name gave her the impression these would alt-right types dudebros leading the invasion. Not help by one of the other invasions being lead by Neo-Nazi Bikers
I've seen a shockingly large number of bikers around Tucson with Nazi tattoos or other imagery. I'm not sure why it's a thing.
She also believes in Aphrodite Areia. Rachel specifically told her she basically made Aphrodite Areia up by combining pre-event myths, Ari countered by suggesting she may had been unknowingly 'inspired" and by pointing out Rachel doesn't really have a better explanation for why the event happened.
It's complicated. There's not really any hate but Ari definitely thinks she can and maybe already is better than her mother. Which honestly Wilson does want, though some of what Ari believes and wants is not exactly thrilling Rachel.
She's also more interested in exploring and going west than even Rachel was. Basically why fight over something dozens of others are fighting over when there's plenty of Europe to conquer.
Actually the smart thing in my oppinion. Sure, the thalassocracy is threatened by the eruption but Europe is a huge goldmine in terms of ressources. People tend to forget that Europe is full of all the good stuff you need for a proper industrial civilization. Settling the Balkans and exploiting the various oilfields is a great idea which would allow the Minoans to slowly crawl towards Central Europe and its riches. Italy also is a great candidate for such an endeavour. Greece and Anatolia are yesterdays game.
She also believes in Aphrodite Areia. Rachel specifically told her she basically made Aphrodite Areia up by combining pre-event myths, Ari countered by suggesting she may had been unknowingly 'inspired" and by pointing out Rachel doesn't really have a better explanation for why the event happened.
Oh the pitfalls of dynastic inheritance Being the designated heir and being heavily influenced by downtime ideas is guaranteed to screw with your head. I rest my case that adoption would have been a better model.
When we cover the Spartans I'll explain the fight more in detail but basically Wilson thought the Spartans were a bunch of thugs who were just invading with homemade firearms and pre-event weapons and would run out of ammo soon enough. The Spartan name gave her the impression these would alt-right types dudebros leading the invasion. Not help by one of the other invasions being lead by Neo-Nazi Bikers
I mean I also wouldn't understimate Neo-Nazi Bikers tbh. Nazis (sadly) tend to be fairly competent when it comes to organizing themselves for combat and they also don't lack fanaticism. I get why Wilson underestimated them but her whole plan was not playing to the strengths of her newly acquired Empire. Controlling trade and colonization is simply a much easier and profitable way to create a lasting heritage.
IIRC the Hells Angels were racist from the start and that probably affected the whole scene. Speaking for Germany I can also say that certain parts of Neo-Nazi imagery are uncritically used by certain subcultures so that might also play a role.
PS: I hope I am not coming off as critical. I really enjoy your ISOT. Keep up the good work !
"We thought them beasts, little more than animals whose only strength came from their weapons. What attacked our walls were not beasts, but men, men who had thousands of years of war to learn from. If they ever united they would be unstoppable." -King Alektruon, Mycenae
"The first wave destroyed what we once where. The second wave was when we started to figure out what we had become." -Consul Sophia Maddox, New Roman Consulate
The Second Wave
The Second Wave of American Migration began either in late 1 A.E (After Event) or around 5 A.E with the Sanford Expedition, depending on if one counts the Minoan Conquest as part of the Second Wave or not, and is arguably still ongoing as of 20 A.E. The Second Wave saw the uptime Americans expand in all directions away from the area surrounding the ruined city of Tucson, dozens of groups determined to forge their own paths. Most of these nations we will cover in detail later, so for now we will only look at the basics of the event.
The Second Wave was caused by a number of factors, the largest being general unrest with in many of the early survivor states. New America's collapse was only the most extreme example of the problems most of the early states near Tucson faced. Leaderships unprepared for the challenge of running a nation, religious unrest, territorial strife between groups, banditry, and farming difficulties plagued these ephemeral countries. Despite the advantages Tucson provided, the area around the field of bones had become too crowded and infested with bandits and raiders. This combined with the fact that many found themselves being ruled by people they felt were inadequate, the growing unhappiness for many at their new living conditions, and the looming possibility of famine with every harvest, drove many to simply leave the first survivor states, sometimes departing in groups of hundreds . Many of the early survivor states ended up collapsing simply because there weren't a lot of people left living there.
The Second Wave of American Migration differed from the first in numerous ways. Whereas the First Wave had been a chaotic affair borne of desperation that had turned the Tucsonians into little more that a starving horde, the second one was a series of endeavors that were generally well-organized and well-planned. It was rather spread out as well, taking place over decades instead of months as early expeditions inspired later ones. Fortunately the fighting was also far more restrained compared to the First Wave, with only the most extreme groups trying to kill downtimers outright. Most instead sought to rule over the natives of the region and integrate them into new states, as Rachel Wilson had done. The second wave of conquerors also used different weapons than the first, pre-event firearms were largely either held in reserve or used black powder ammunition that required far more cleaning. Most had been replaced with muskets and home-made firearms, and cars were all but gone as the remaining pre-Event gas had long since expired, replaced with downtime horses and wagons. And while the First Wave had created its fair share of ideological factions, almost every invasion of the Second Wave was motivated on some level by ideology, from the far left to the far right and everything in-between.
The largest expeditions of the Second Wave headed north, stabbing at the wounded heart of the Hittite Empire. Many others went west instead, towards what would have been Istanbul, only to discover elements of the Air Force had survived their last flights out of Tucson and had claimed part of the strait. Mycenaean Greece suffered three invasions in a short period of time, with a fourth one landing in the northern part of the region a few years later. Others pushed south towards Cyprus and even traveled as far afield as Egypt.
Unlike the First Wave, the Second Wave had decidedly mixed results. On the one hand the Hitties were all but destroyed by the Sanford invasion , pushed out of their own capital and reduced to a weakened remnant barely surviving in the south. On the other hand the invasions of Greece, Cyprus, and Egypt did not conquer as much as their participants hoped. Mycenaean Greece proved a tough nut to crack as the invaders found themselves fighting each other and the Minoans and the native Mycenaean city-states. Despite repeated efforts many of the Mycenaean states remained standing, including Mycenae itself. The invasion of Cyprus was also be a rather chaotic affair, as the invaders were pitted agasinst fighting settlements formed during the First Wave and the forces of Mycenaean and Minoan nobles who had fled their respective homelands.
But it was in Egypt where the Americans would first taste real defeat. Two major and three minor invasion attempts targeted Egypt, the first major one a religious group determined to take what would have been pre-event Israel. The second was aimed at Egypt itself, hoping to copy what Anax Wilson had done with the Minoans. Both the Crusaders and the Man-Who-Would-be-King found themselves utterly defeated after being outnumbered and outfought by the Egyptians under the reign of the Hyksos-born Pharaoh Khyan. The smaller invasions suffered similar fates as well. Like many of the Mycenaeans, the Pharaoh had an additional advantage the invaders had not expected, modern technology in the form of cannons. People had left Anatolia long before the Second Wave proper, lone wanderers or people traveling in small family groups, looking to find a new life. Many of these uptimers wound up in royal courts across the Mediterranean, and some brought with them knowledge of gunpowder and iron forging. The uptimers still held a tech advantage over the downtimers by a considerable margin, but the playing field had become noticeably less unbalanced.
The Bronze Age was all but over and something new was starting to take its place.
I don't know if this is viable. Horses back then were still smaller compared to modern horses, and at 1600 BCE the Chariot is reletively new, and while horses used in warfare aren't, evidence dates back to around 2500 BCE, horses are still a rare and expensive tool. I'm not sure there are enough horses to make it a viable method of transportation, for many people.
Wanderers
There are Uptimers who for one reason or another never settled down in one country or tribe, either because they couldn't or didn't want to for various reasons. Some of these wanderers would rise to fame or infamy, changing the Mediterranean world in various ways. For now we will look at a few of them and the impact they've had.
Alpha to Omega
The World's Last Band. That's how they bill themselves at least. In truth they're more an alliance of various bands, each band named after a letter in the Pre-event Greek Alphabet. Alpha to Omega has traveled around the Mediterranean, first appearing New Washington around 7 A.E. Formed from a collection of out of work friends who decided to try and revive their pre-event music careers. The bands playing a mix of covers to their own original work, with various bands covering different genres from Korean Pop music to Country. At first many of the sub-bands were only considered to be of moderate talent with only a few real stars mixed in. Still the group proved popular, though never really profitable as most of their funds went towards expeditions to Tucson to get more supplies to repair their equipment and the various generators and Solar Panels used to power them, on more than one occasion they only survived because of patronage from one of the survivor states . 13 years on and the group has reached the height of their popularity but is likely soon facing it's end. Most of the bands have retired for one reason or another; mostly age, new families, illness and equipment breakdowns. Some have been replaced by their children or successors, such as Eta; which is now an all-girl, all Mycenaean Rock Band. But only four bands remain as of 20 A.E; Alpha, Eta, Pi, and Omega. Still they continue to draw crowds, both among those trying to recapture some part the world they lost, and among the newer generation who are trying to get a glimpse of a world they would never know.
Elicia Baxter
The self proclaimed Herodotus of the New World, a title that has earned her some mockery among former Academics. Elicia, a former classics major at University of Arizona, is on a mission to record as much as she can about what happened during and after the Event. To ensure future generations know the truth of what happened, both the good and the bad. This has earned her a fair number of enemies and twice nearly got her executed. Despite this she has been able to travel all across the region, speaking everyone from Merchants to Pharaohs. Her work, The World Since the Event, is finished and currently being printed in Globe. She is already preparing for her next project, a trip east to study the Indus Valley Civilization.
Corbin Armstrong
Depending on who you believe, Corbin is either a master storyteller or a man pushing his own fanfiction upon an unsuspecting world. Corbin had been an Bus Driver before the Event but after the chaos event he was able to focus on his passion, storytelling. He traveled mostly among native cities, being the first contact many of them had with an uptimer. He picked up languages quickly and soon became to tell stories in public, acting as a oral storyteller. Some of his stories were little more than retellings of pre-event works such as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, modified to fit his audience and his personal taste. But as time went on he's gained a passion for creating whole new stories or taking current events and spinning them into Epics. His most famous being Wilusan and The Fall of Knossos. Retellings of the Fall of Troy and Conquest of the Minoans, with numerous liberties taken such making Troy seem like a pitched battle with both sides nearly matched, the gods directly intervening at several moments. These stories have greatly frustrated both Troy and the Minoan Kingdom.
Constantino Cole
Cole and his husband Andrew have one of the most dangerous careers around, recovering books from Tucson. Several times a year they and their heavily armed escorts brave the journey with a small homemade wagon pulled by an uptime horse. Once there they'll hit whatever bookstores haven't been picked clean and load up as many salvageable books they can find. Then they travel around the Mediterranean looking for buyers. They mostly stick to fiction and less useful non-fiction these days. While more technical works, particularly those on steam engines, farming and firearms, had proven to be very profitable, they were also very risky to obtain and quickly came to attract the wrong sort of attention as faction backed expeditions started targeting them. Still even works of pure entertainment can fetch a fair price. The two have tried to retire several times but each time the thrill of braving the dangers of Tucson draws them back in.
/
Author's Note: Now that I'm up to the Second Wave I'm occasionally going to wander off and do updates like this that are focused less on specific nations or events.
Author's Note: Now that I'm up to the Second Wave I'm occasionally going to wander off and do updates like this that are focused less on specific nations or events.
