Turn 6 | Year 6: To Mantis Eyes
Commonly Known as: Mantis Tribe
Capital: Mantis Village
Government Type: Tribal Triumvirate
Governing Document(s): (N/A)
Year Founded: Pre-Hallownest
Year ISOTed: After the Traitor Lord's exile
Territory ISOTed: All of it (Underground, approx. 2,000 sq km usable area)
ISOTed from: Hollow Knight
Head(s) of State: Sisters of Battle; Drosha, Nanai, Tsanga
Head(s) of Government: Sisters of Battle; Drosha, Nanai, Tsanga
Technological Level: Approx. 1900's mechanical knowledge, 1300's otherwise
Population: ~16,000
Languages: Mantid, Hallowspeak
Religions: Unorganized Animism
Special Traits: Lifeblood – The Lords have a very small, renewable supply of Lifeblood; A liquid substance which acts as a general vitality boost, most likely linked to the Lord's increased strength and long lives compared to their peers. Charms – The Tribe is capable of a limited degree of magic, slowly creating trinkets that augment a bug's abilities, whether in combat or otherwise. However, even the strongest Charms available to the Tribe are at most capable of things like extending the reach of one's weapon.
Brief History:
For as long as history has recorded, the Mantises have inhabited the harsh Fungal Wastes in what is now Hallownest. Their natural aggression combined with the constant grindstone of beasts emerging from the bordering Deepnest forged a culture of fiercely territorial warriors.
When the Pale Wyrm came and began carving His great city from the disparate tunnels, the Tribe stood tall, even as their neighbors knelt. Instead of submitting to the Wyrm's rule, they forged a truce with the new King; the Tribe would fend off the swarms of beasts from Deepnest, and the Wyrm's Kingdom would not encroach upon their borders. However, Hallownest's rise to power, and the corresponding growth of the Pale King's cult, would attract the ire of another.
An infection of the mind spread through the Kingdom, leaving bugs as little more than feral beasts. But the Tribe was strong in body and spirit, they could resist one Higher being, they could resist another; even if they didn't know it. All except one.
The Tribe was ruled by four siblings, and the youngest brother truly loathed the Kingdom of Hallownest and it's splendor. He came to think his sisters weak for upholding the peace with the Kingdom, and when they rebuffed his attempts to convince them so, he began to listen to the light in his dreams. The Traitor Lord gathered his followers, a full quarter of the Tribe bloated and filled with an unnatural strength, to challenge the Lords, and lost. The surviving traitors were exiled, and the Tribe set about the task of rebuilding; with the forth Lord's throne remaining shattered as a reminder of that struggle. Even in the face of this civil war and the infection ravaging Hallownest, the Tribe maintains it's vigil over the gate to Deepnest.
Or would, until a great rumbling echoes through the caverns and tunnels...
Other Notes: Pools of naturally-occurring acid dot their territory, alongside the generally hostile underground landscape. Their structures are clearly built with their locomotion in mind, with plentiful built-in handholds providing easy purchase for their claws, and rapid vertical movement. Alcohol is either rare or non-existent in Hallownest, and by extension the Mantises have no drinking culture. While physiologically very different from Humans, the Mantises appear fully capable of making all the same sounds humans do.
Capital: Mérida/Ti'hó
Government Type: Unitary Presidential Republic
Governing Document(s): Constitution of Yucatán
Year Founded: 1841
Year ISOTed: 1960
Territory ISOTed: All of it
ISOTed from: A Prospering Peninsula – Deviantart project by Mobiyuz
Head of State: President Siyaj Kan
Head of Government: National Congress of Yucatán, President Siyaj Kan
Technological Level: Late 1950's
Population: 9 Million
Languages Spanish, Yucatec Maya
Religions: Catholicism, Protestantism
Special Traits: N/A
Brief History:
In 1850, the Treaty of Campeche successfully secured the independence of Yucatán against Mexico following the assassination of then-Yucatecan President Santiago Méndez by the Mayans in 1848 and the subsequent capitulation of the Yucatecan government. However, this peace would prove tenuous at best. Ethnic conflicts between the Mayans and Hispanic Yucatecos in the form of the Caste War would continue for many years, even after the introduction of a new Constitution in 1849.
In the 1860's Yucatán would come to host freed slaves from the ongoing US civil war on the island, then Special Province of Cozumel, creating an enclave of Afro-Americans in the Nation.
Over the course of the remaining century, Yucatán would find itself an exporter of henequen agave, trying to sate the nigh-endless American hunger for agricultural products. Oligarchs of both major ethnic groups would glut themselves on the profits, drawing in migrant workers for their plantations from Eastern Europe and Asia. The influx of immigrant labor would only serve to inflame the tensions of the Caste War, which would come to a head with the global turmoil of the early 20th century.
Revolution in Mexico followed by the Great War would prove a tipping point for the young nation, breaking out into Civil War. The conflict would last for five years, ending with the overthrowing of the Oligarchs and the instatement of reforms by newly-installed Mayan President Francisco May Pech. The reforms instituted in this era would see the nation move away from it's plantation-heavy agricultural economy, and a final end to the Caste War with the establishment of a firm Yucatecan national identity, separate from Mexico.
Years of peace and a growing economy focused on the production and export of rubber, fruit and tropical lumber alongside a booming tourism industry have lead to massive improvements in the standard of living in Yucatán. The recent discovery of oil in the Gulf of Campeche promises further growth for the young nation. While parts of the country still bear the scars of her early years, the atmosphere on New Year's Eve 1959 is a happy one, with a bright future ahead of Yucatán. Time will tell if it remains so, in this new world...
Other Notes: N/A
"It was a strange thing that, finding the real worn-down grave of a man I saw on the TV not too much more than a year ago, hell I can remember my Pastor going on and on about him..." - Zonian Sergeant Thomas Mclain, excerpt from a Washington newspaper after the discovery of the Billy Graham Library, February 20, 1868/1880/1980/1813/06.
A Zonian Patrol boat off the Jungles of the Yucatan peninsula captures the first color video of a shift; In it's totality as for reasons unknown the entire sequence finished in only an hour and thirteen minutes. Untamed Caribbean coastline is replaced by a thriving costal town, quite visibly modern. After a near-miss with a confused fishing boat, the Patrol establishes radio contact with the newcomers.
After a few rounds of confusion on both sides, the new arrivals establish themselves as the Republic of Yucatán, and agree to talks with UN representatives in Paris.
In Yucatán itself, the atmosphere takes a turn for the chaotic. Cargo ships in port at Chactemal, commercial airliners stuck on runways in Ku'kul'kan and Mérida, and thousands of tourists all without homes to return to. Taking charge of the situation, President Siyaj Kan signs an order offering Yucatecan citizenship to any foreign nationals caught in Yucatán during the shift, or failing that, free passage to any of the other nations in this new world willing to accept them.
Back north in the Holy Columbian Commonwealth, the American expeditions into the heart of Columbian territory find resistance to their advances growing scarcer by the day, even as Seddiki's force approaches the seat of the Emperor in Atlanta. At first it was believed that either most Columbian armies had already been shattered, or they had learned to avoid open engagements with the Americans. However, the real culprit was discovered when Ward's men came apon a village utterly defenseless, with every man of fighting age either dead or beset by an ailment all too familiar to the 19th century Americans; Smallpox.
Perhaps spread from Russell's ill-fated expedition, or even earlier with the pre-war skirmishes by the border; it mattered not. Young or old, noble or serf, the Pox cared not. The Commonwealth was devastated by a disease that had previously been extinct for almost seven centuries. This preceded an early Hurricane in May that raked across the southern reach of the Empire, contributing to a famine alongside the general manpower shortage. Ward's force went on to seize Charleston without a shot fired, Prince Algernon's levy having been starved out for two months by the time they arrived. A Pastor there attempted to raise a mob of zealots against the invaders and ultimately failed, claiming that Ward was the Horseman Conquest in the flesh, and worse, a Catholic.
Seddiki's men closed on Atlanta in mid-June, clashing with an army lead by Prince Orlando, the Emperor's second son. By this point the Columbians had learned to scatter their forces, focusing on small bands of Cavalry, limiting casualties from American field artillery and airstrikes to some success. But still, in the face of a manpower shrink from the Pox and the massed fire from Zonian automatic weapons, Prince Orlando would fall in a charge on the American lines, routing his men.
Behind the great walls of Atlanta, Emperor Julius Gee found himself losing two sons in as many weeks, with his nominal heir Prince Elijah succumbing to the Pox just days after his brother fell in battle. A full half his court lie dead either from the plague or ill-fated attempts to halt the American advance. He had become familiar with the roar of their steel Thunderbirds, somehow tamed to the bidding of their false-Prophet in Washington, and while they hadn't rained fire on the Imperial city quite yet, what would they do if they found themselves unable to breach the walls without them? Atlanta was hardly in a condition to weather the next winter, let alone a siege. And so, when the American forces appeared on the horizon, the Leonidan walls opened their gates, and the Emperor rode out on a lone horse bearing a white flag.
A photograph of the Emperor signing the peace treaty in his own throneroom would appear in news publications across the world. With the sheer population gulf involved between the two states, it was decided that Julius Gee would remain in place for the time being, operating a 'provisional monarchy' under the close scrutiny of American observers, much to the chagrin of the National Democrats, while a more comprehensive integration plan was put together by a special Congressional Committee.
Word of the Emperor's surrender spread quickly, but some would see opportunity in the collapse of Imperial authority. Bandits stalked roads across the country where patrols, whether they be American or Columbian, were scarce. The Dukes of Carolina north of Ward's path to Charleston attempted to declare that Julius had abdicated his duties as Emperor, electing one of their own in his stead – Later felled by a mixture of American veterans and Southron knights still loyal to the Emperor.
To the eastern reaches of the Empire, with the peasantry there less impacted by war and Pox both, the Duke Huey Latimer of Birmingham would declare that God himself had seen fit to strike down the Commonwealth for it's hubris, and crown himself King of Alabama. He would attract the surrounding counts to his vassalage with promises of protection from the 'Americanist Heathens' in the rest of the Empire, rumors of a Revelationist Tongue-talker in his court notwithstanding. Even with Lincoln authorizing more forces to be mobilized to occupy the comparatively vast Commonwealth, and the nominal cooperation of remaining Southron troops, the American forces found their manpower stretched thin, and the new King Latimer would find his rule unchallenged for the time being.
France, Yucatán and Cymru agree to supply Humanitarian aid, ameliorating the worst of Columbian instability, though by the time the Smallpox epidemic is brought under control it is estimated that at least a half million Columbians lie dead, though the true number will likely never be known.
Once the initial shock was over in Yucatán, the government chose to nationalize it's orphaned airliners, purchasing the aircraft for the newly-formed Yucatec Air corporation; though a handful of American and French aircraft would choose to 'return' to their home countries instead. A plant for producing spare parts for it's 707 and DC-8 craft was established outside Calkini in Ah Canul, with the first Trans-Atlantic passenger flight in this world from Mérida to Marseille occurring between August 7th and the 8th. In one of his later acts as President, Lincoln would negotiate a deal with Yucatán to supply sorely-needed rubber, precision tools and oil for the States' burgeoning Air Force, in exchange for a limited number of F-14s for Yucatán's own military once the US was able to produce them, accelerating the American air program greatly.
In the United States itself, the nation geared up for perhaps it's most unusual election cycle in the histories of any of it's constituents. Wesley toured in Borinquen and Antillia, and made visits to Paris and Jerusalem, seeking closer ties with the NCI, while the Liberal party ultimately chooses Samuel Huntington for the ballot, with Snyder as his running mate owing to his popularity in Pennsylvania. The NDP's John J. Jacob forwards a policy of rapid integration for Columbia in his campaign.
To the surprise of many in the November election, Wesley only won in his home state of Appalachia, narrowly beaten out by Jacob in Antillia and Washington. In the end however, the old Appalachian rivalry would be come to be overshadowed by the landside victory of the Liberal party, taking Pennsylvania, Delmarva, Ohio and Borinquen.
Wary of growing tensions with Oceania, President-Elect Huntington's policies favor a distancing from European affairs outside Cymru, and increased internal investment into domestic development; most notably a focus on greater ties with Yucatán and a comprehensive electrification program to bring the US up to speed with the other powers of the world.
Africa:
A sudden, sharp earthquake came to the Mantis Village, greater than any in the Tribe could remember, but so brief as to cause little actual damage. Or so was thought, until they found the tunnel to Deepnest collapsed, just past the Lord's gate. Scouting parties were sent to ascertain the effects on the rest of the Tribe's territory, thankfully finding very few injuries from the quake, but discovering that the only surviving passage out of their realm was the uppermost tunnel to the rest of the Wastes. The group sent there soon found that the infection was gone, fungal fauna returned to a relatively docile state. They continued on, stopping when they saw a great, almost blinding ray of light shining clearly down from where the intersection leading to the City of Tears should be above them. Much of the party hesitated, knowing nothing that could possibly produce a light so bright without smoke, wanting to turn back and report to the Lords before proceeding. But a young warrior named Yakai, who had not yet lost the use of his wings, volunteered to brave the light.
With a tentative jaunt, he exited the cave and saw. The cavern now opened to the top of a small hill of blackstone rubble, overlooking a vast expanse of low grass, interspersed by islands of tall green-leaved plants resembling those of Greenpath. A herd of strange creatures drank from a muddy pool near to the hill, clearly soft-shelled but standing proud on thin legs, with a set of small horns jutting out low from their brownish snouts. Flocks of strange, elegant flying beasts that looked to be made of silk strips flit through the air; some small enough to be held in a claw, others casting great shadows as they soared high above, flying together like a great point. But what was most brilliant of all were those which ruled over all in this new land.
A vibrant blue sky, bereft of clouds and without wind was occupied by a great burning disk of light, accompanied by a dimmer pale crescent, though no less grand for contrast with it's neighbor. The burning-disk hurt to look at, but cast long shadows across all that lay in it's sight, and had the warmth of a fire in spite of the vast distance. Yakai called for his fellows once the awe faded enough. It was clear; Hallownest was gone, and this new land was in it's place.
After the scout's return the Lords and wise-bugs of the Tribe went to the surface and attempted to commune for days with the Higher beings dominating the blue sky- for what else could they be, with such visible power and presence? –to no avail. Bereft of a response, the Tribe came to name the pale one that journeyed between the times of dark and light in this land as Wanderer, and the greater as Radiance, after a forgotten dream.
The Lords called the other leaders of the Tribe to meet, and convene about their new situation. While some urge caution with these strange creatures, the loss of the Tribe's hunting and foraging grounds ultimately force them to explore the surface. While bands of warriors venture out into the savanna, the Tribe builds a fort over the exit to the surface, disassembling the former Deepnest gate and installing it there. One of the Sister-Lords always stays at the fort, that the Tribe will not be caught off guard if the only entrance to their territory is besieged. With the frequency of travel and a sort of adventuring fever coming over the younger members of the Tribe, the camp established to construct the fort grows into a village of it's own by the years end with more permanent structures both beneath the surface and above it.
The Mantises learn many things about their new world over those months; how the burning Radiance can steal away a bug's water, of Wanderer's changing shape in a regular cycle, and of rain that comes and goes as it pleases. The new beasts are slain with claw and nail, a trend emerging of juveniles blooding themselves against the soft-shelled yet fierce creatures. Hunting parties venture far away from the village for months at a time, regularly bringing tales of things equal parts wondrous and dangerous.
Of course, all of this is witnessed from afar by the Tribe's new neighbors, who share stories of the upright-bugs among the clans.
Late in the year a French researcher in Morocco would work extensively in furthering communications with the Forktails, transcribing some of a Windspeaker's stories for the first time. Among these were ancestral tales of Serina from multiple independent sources; sparking fierce debate among the researchers as to whether Serina was some version of Earth with a divergence many millions or billions of years ago, or a world completely separate from their own.
A few Forktail clans in Morocco, perhaps emulating the structures built by the Human research teams, would come to experiment with wattle and daub, creating permanent structures in the high branches of trees shielded from occasional rainfall by the canopy.
Europe and the Levant:
The appearance of another technologically advanced nation, this time a decidedly capitalist one in the Americas is met with mixed reactions from Europe. Oceania of course remains outwardly silent, assuming they are aware of the new arrivals at all. The New Comintern are wary, especially given the rise of the Liberal party administration in the US. The increasingly-modernized population of Cymru finds itself fascinated, with a small number of Academics making the trip across the Atlantic to study the Maya religion in detail.
Worldwide:
The realization came slowly with the end of the war in America, and the dawning conclusion that the HCC came not from some strange past, but from a future in which the world as it was known came to an abrupt end. It was a sign that this new world was not immune to the follies of Man, that the mistakes could be made again. Blood had been shed in anger, and all the power of all the nations of Earth could not put it back.
A French-Palestinian expedition was organized in an attempt to locate the suspected new arrivals in West Africa, but those plans were put on hold after an encounter by the French navy off the coast of Iberia, with the cruiser De Grasse engaging in the pursuit of an unknown sonar contact. The chase lasted long enough to force the craft to surface, revealing a diesel submarine, a single familiar eye emblazoned on the side of the tower.
Year 6, January 1st
Year 6, December 31st
A/N: Look upon my sleep-deprived nonsense ye mighty, and enjoy! (Hopefully, will do another lookover tomorrow when I am actually awake.)
Mantis TriumvirateCapital: Mantis Village
Government Type: Tribal Triumvirate
Governing Document(s): (N/A)
Year Founded: Pre-Hallownest
Year ISOTed: After the Traitor Lord's exile
Territory ISOTed: All of it (Underground, approx. 2,000 sq km usable area)
ISOTed from: Hollow Knight
Head(s) of State: Sisters of Battle; Drosha, Nanai, Tsanga
Head(s) of Government: Sisters of Battle; Drosha, Nanai, Tsanga
Technological Level: Approx. 1900's mechanical knowledge, 1300's otherwise
Population: ~16,000
Languages: Mantid, Hallowspeak
Religions: Unorganized Animism
Special Traits: Lifeblood – The Lords have a very small, renewable supply of Lifeblood; A liquid substance which acts as a general vitality boost, most likely linked to the Lord's increased strength and long lives compared to their peers. Charms – The Tribe is capable of a limited degree of magic, slowly creating trinkets that augment a bug's abilities, whether in combat or otherwise. However, even the strongest Charms available to the Tribe are at most capable of things like extending the reach of one's weapon.
Brief History:
For as long as history has recorded, the Mantises have inhabited the harsh Fungal Wastes in what is now Hallownest. Their natural aggression combined with the constant grindstone of beasts emerging from the bordering Deepnest forged a culture of fiercely territorial warriors.
When the Pale Wyrm came and began carving His great city from the disparate tunnels, the Tribe stood tall, even as their neighbors knelt. Instead of submitting to the Wyrm's rule, they forged a truce with the new King; the Tribe would fend off the swarms of beasts from Deepnest, and the Wyrm's Kingdom would not encroach upon their borders. However, Hallownest's rise to power, and the corresponding growth of the Pale King's cult, would attract the ire of another.
An infection of the mind spread through the Kingdom, leaving bugs as little more than feral beasts. But the Tribe was strong in body and spirit, they could resist one Higher being, they could resist another; even if they didn't know it. All except one.
The Tribe was ruled by four siblings, and the youngest brother truly loathed the Kingdom of Hallownest and it's splendor. He came to think his sisters weak for upholding the peace with the Kingdom, and when they rebuffed his attempts to convince them so, he began to listen to the light in his dreams. The Traitor Lord gathered his followers, a full quarter of the Tribe bloated and filled with an unnatural strength, to challenge the Lords, and lost. The surviving traitors were exiled, and the Tribe set about the task of rebuilding; with the forth Lord's throne remaining shattered as a reminder of that struggle. Even in the face of this civil war and the infection ravaging Hallownest, the Tribe maintains it's vigil over the gate to Deepnest.
Or would, until a great rumbling echoes through the caverns and tunnels...
Other Notes: Pools of naturally-occurring acid dot their territory, alongside the generally hostile underground landscape. Their structures are clearly built with their locomotion in mind, with plentiful built-in handholds providing easy purchase for their claws, and rapid vertical movement. Alcohol is either rare or non-existent in Hallownest, and by extension the Mantises have no drinking culture. While physiologically very different from Humans, the Mantises appear fully capable of making all the same sounds humans do.
Republic of Yucatán | República de Yucatán | República u Beeta'al Weye
Commonly Known as: YucatánCapital: Mérida/Ti'hó
Government Type: Unitary Presidential Republic
Governing Document(s): Constitution of Yucatán
Year Founded: 1841
Year ISOTed: 1960
Territory ISOTed: All of it
ISOTed from: A Prospering Peninsula – Deviantart project by Mobiyuz
Head of State: President Siyaj Kan
Head of Government: National Congress of Yucatán, President Siyaj Kan
Technological Level: Late 1950's
Population: 9 Million
Languages Spanish, Yucatec Maya
Religions: Catholicism, Protestantism
Special Traits: N/A
Brief History:
In 1850, the Treaty of Campeche successfully secured the independence of Yucatán against Mexico following the assassination of then-Yucatecan President Santiago Méndez by the Mayans in 1848 and the subsequent capitulation of the Yucatecan government. However, this peace would prove tenuous at best. Ethnic conflicts between the Mayans and Hispanic Yucatecos in the form of the Caste War would continue for many years, even after the introduction of a new Constitution in 1849.
In the 1860's Yucatán would come to host freed slaves from the ongoing US civil war on the island, then Special Province of Cozumel, creating an enclave of Afro-Americans in the Nation.
Over the course of the remaining century, Yucatán would find itself an exporter of henequen agave, trying to sate the nigh-endless American hunger for agricultural products. Oligarchs of both major ethnic groups would glut themselves on the profits, drawing in migrant workers for their plantations from Eastern Europe and Asia. The influx of immigrant labor would only serve to inflame the tensions of the Caste War, which would come to a head with the global turmoil of the early 20th century.
Revolution in Mexico followed by the Great War would prove a tipping point for the young nation, breaking out into Civil War. The conflict would last for five years, ending with the overthrowing of the Oligarchs and the instatement of reforms by newly-installed Mayan President Francisco May Pech. The reforms instituted in this era would see the nation move away from it's plantation-heavy agricultural economy, and a final end to the Caste War with the establishment of a firm Yucatecan national identity, separate from Mexico.
Years of peace and a growing economy focused on the production and export of rubber, fruit and tropical lumber alongside a booming tourism industry have lead to massive improvements in the standard of living in Yucatán. The recent discovery of oil in the Gulf of Campeche promises further growth for the young nation. While parts of the country still bear the scars of her early years, the atmosphere on New Year's Eve 1959 is a happy one, with a bright future ahead of Yucatán. Time will tell if it remains so, in this new world...
Other Notes: N/A
Winds o' Change
Sixth Year
North America:
"It was a strange thing that, finding the real worn-down grave of a man I saw on the TV not too much more than a year ago, hell I can remember my Pastor going on and on about him..." - Zonian Sergeant Thomas Mclain, excerpt from a Washington newspaper after the discovery of the Billy Graham Library, February 20, 1868/1880/1980/1813/06.
A Zonian Patrol boat off the Jungles of the Yucatan peninsula captures the first color video of a shift; In it's totality as for reasons unknown the entire sequence finished in only an hour and thirteen minutes. Untamed Caribbean coastline is replaced by a thriving costal town, quite visibly modern. After a near-miss with a confused fishing boat, the Patrol establishes radio contact with the newcomers.
After a few rounds of confusion on both sides, the new arrivals establish themselves as the Republic of Yucatán, and agree to talks with UN representatives in Paris.
In Yucatán itself, the atmosphere takes a turn for the chaotic. Cargo ships in port at Chactemal, commercial airliners stuck on runways in Ku'kul'kan and Mérida, and thousands of tourists all without homes to return to. Taking charge of the situation, President Siyaj Kan signs an order offering Yucatecan citizenship to any foreign nationals caught in Yucatán during the shift, or failing that, free passage to any of the other nations in this new world willing to accept them.
Back north in the Holy Columbian Commonwealth, the American expeditions into the heart of Columbian territory find resistance to their advances growing scarcer by the day, even as Seddiki's force approaches the seat of the Emperor in Atlanta. At first it was believed that either most Columbian armies had already been shattered, or they had learned to avoid open engagements with the Americans. However, the real culprit was discovered when Ward's men came apon a village utterly defenseless, with every man of fighting age either dead or beset by an ailment all too familiar to the 19th century Americans; Smallpox.
Perhaps spread from Russell's ill-fated expedition, or even earlier with the pre-war skirmishes by the border; it mattered not. Young or old, noble or serf, the Pox cared not. The Commonwealth was devastated by a disease that had previously been extinct for almost seven centuries. This preceded an early Hurricane in May that raked across the southern reach of the Empire, contributing to a famine alongside the general manpower shortage. Ward's force went on to seize Charleston without a shot fired, Prince Algernon's levy having been starved out for two months by the time they arrived. A Pastor there attempted to raise a mob of zealots against the invaders and ultimately failed, claiming that Ward was the Horseman Conquest in the flesh, and worse, a Catholic.
Seddiki's men closed on Atlanta in mid-June, clashing with an army lead by Prince Orlando, the Emperor's second son. By this point the Columbians had learned to scatter their forces, focusing on small bands of Cavalry, limiting casualties from American field artillery and airstrikes to some success. But still, in the face of a manpower shrink from the Pox and the massed fire from Zonian automatic weapons, Prince Orlando would fall in a charge on the American lines, routing his men.
Behind the great walls of Atlanta, Emperor Julius Gee found himself losing two sons in as many weeks, with his nominal heir Prince Elijah succumbing to the Pox just days after his brother fell in battle. A full half his court lie dead either from the plague or ill-fated attempts to halt the American advance. He had become familiar with the roar of their steel Thunderbirds, somehow tamed to the bidding of their false-Prophet in Washington, and while they hadn't rained fire on the Imperial city quite yet, what would they do if they found themselves unable to breach the walls without them? Atlanta was hardly in a condition to weather the next winter, let alone a siege. And so, when the American forces appeared on the horizon, the Leonidan walls opened their gates, and the Emperor rode out on a lone horse bearing a white flag.
A photograph of the Emperor signing the peace treaty in his own throneroom would appear in news publications across the world. With the sheer population gulf involved between the two states, it was decided that Julius Gee would remain in place for the time being, operating a 'provisional monarchy' under the close scrutiny of American observers, much to the chagrin of the National Democrats, while a more comprehensive integration plan was put together by a special Congressional Committee.
Word of the Emperor's surrender spread quickly, but some would see opportunity in the collapse of Imperial authority. Bandits stalked roads across the country where patrols, whether they be American or Columbian, were scarce. The Dukes of Carolina north of Ward's path to Charleston attempted to declare that Julius had abdicated his duties as Emperor, electing one of their own in his stead – Later felled by a mixture of American veterans and Southron knights still loyal to the Emperor.
To the eastern reaches of the Empire, with the peasantry there less impacted by war and Pox both, the Duke Huey Latimer of Birmingham would declare that God himself had seen fit to strike down the Commonwealth for it's hubris, and crown himself King of Alabama. He would attract the surrounding counts to his vassalage with promises of protection from the 'Americanist Heathens' in the rest of the Empire, rumors of a Revelationist Tongue-talker in his court notwithstanding. Even with Lincoln authorizing more forces to be mobilized to occupy the comparatively vast Commonwealth, and the nominal cooperation of remaining Southron troops, the American forces found their manpower stretched thin, and the new King Latimer would find his rule unchallenged for the time being.
France, Yucatán and Cymru agree to supply Humanitarian aid, ameliorating the worst of Columbian instability, though by the time the Smallpox epidemic is brought under control it is estimated that at least a half million Columbians lie dead, though the true number will likely never be known.
Once the initial shock was over in Yucatán, the government chose to nationalize it's orphaned airliners, purchasing the aircraft for the newly-formed Yucatec Air corporation; though a handful of American and French aircraft would choose to 'return' to their home countries instead. A plant for producing spare parts for it's 707 and DC-8 craft was established outside Calkini in Ah Canul, with the first Trans-Atlantic passenger flight in this world from Mérida to Marseille occurring between August 7th and the 8th. In one of his later acts as President, Lincoln would negotiate a deal with Yucatán to supply sorely-needed rubber, precision tools and oil for the States' burgeoning Air Force, in exchange for a limited number of F-14s for Yucatán's own military once the US was able to produce them, accelerating the American air program greatly.
In the United States itself, the nation geared up for perhaps it's most unusual election cycle in the histories of any of it's constituents. Wesley toured in Borinquen and Antillia, and made visits to Paris and Jerusalem, seeking closer ties with the NCI, while the Liberal party ultimately chooses Samuel Huntington for the ballot, with Snyder as his running mate owing to his popularity in Pennsylvania. The NDP's John J. Jacob forwards a policy of rapid integration for Columbia in his campaign.
To the surprise of many in the November election, Wesley only won in his home state of Appalachia, narrowly beaten out by Jacob in Antillia and Washington. In the end however, the old Appalachian rivalry would be come to be overshadowed by the landside victory of the Liberal party, taking Pennsylvania, Delmarva, Ohio and Borinquen.
Wary of growing tensions with Oceania, President-Elect Huntington's policies favor a distancing from European affairs outside Cymru, and increased internal investment into domestic development; most notably a focus on greater ties with Yucatán and a comprehensive electrification program to bring the US up to speed with the other powers of the world.
Africa:
A sudden, sharp earthquake came to the Mantis Village, greater than any in the Tribe could remember, but so brief as to cause little actual damage. Or so was thought, until they found the tunnel to Deepnest collapsed, just past the Lord's gate. Scouting parties were sent to ascertain the effects on the rest of the Tribe's territory, thankfully finding very few injuries from the quake, but discovering that the only surviving passage out of their realm was the uppermost tunnel to the rest of the Wastes. The group sent there soon found that the infection was gone, fungal fauna returned to a relatively docile state. They continued on, stopping when they saw a great, almost blinding ray of light shining clearly down from where the intersection leading to the City of Tears should be above them. Much of the party hesitated, knowing nothing that could possibly produce a light so bright without smoke, wanting to turn back and report to the Lords before proceeding. But a young warrior named Yakai, who had not yet lost the use of his wings, volunteered to brave the light.
With a tentative jaunt, he exited the cave and saw. The cavern now opened to the top of a small hill of blackstone rubble, overlooking a vast expanse of low grass, interspersed by islands of tall green-leaved plants resembling those of Greenpath. A herd of strange creatures drank from a muddy pool near to the hill, clearly soft-shelled but standing proud on thin legs, with a set of small horns jutting out low from their brownish snouts. Flocks of strange, elegant flying beasts that looked to be made of silk strips flit through the air; some small enough to be held in a claw, others casting great shadows as they soared high above, flying together like a great point. But what was most brilliant of all were those which ruled over all in this new land.
A vibrant blue sky, bereft of clouds and without wind was occupied by a great burning disk of light, accompanied by a dimmer pale crescent, though no less grand for contrast with it's neighbor. The burning-disk hurt to look at, but cast long shadows across all that lay in it's sight, and had the warmth of a fire in spite of the vast distance. Yakai called for his fellows once the awe faded enough. It was clear; Hallownest was gone, and this new land was in it's place.
After the scout's return the Lords and wise-bugs of the Tribe went to the surface and attempted to commune for days with the Higher beings dominating the blue sky- for what else could they be, with such visible power and presence? –to no avail. Bereft of a response, the Tribe came to name the pale one that journeyed between the times of dark and light in this land as Wanderer, and the greater as Radiance, after a forgotten dream.
The Lords called the other leaders of the Tribe to meet, and convene about their new situation. While some urge caution with these strange creatures, the loss of the Tribe's hunting and foraging grounds ultimately force them to explore the surface. While bands of warriors venture out into the savanna, the Tribe builds a fort over the exit to the surface, disassembling the former Deepnest gate and installing it there. One of the Sister-Lords always stays at the fort, that the Tribe will not be caught off guard if the only entrance to their territory is besieged. With the frequency of travel and a sort of adventuring fever coming over the younger members of the Tribe, the camp established to construct the fort grows into a village of it's own by the years end with more permanent structures both beneath the surface and above it.
The Mantises learn many things about their new world over those months; how the burning Radiance can steal away a bug's water, of Wanderer's changing shape in a regular cycle, and of rain that comes and goes as it pleases. The new beasts are slain with claw and nail, a trend emerging of juveniles blooding themselves against the soft-shelled yet fierce creatures. Hunting parties venture far away from the village for months at a time, regularly bringing tales of things equal parts wondrous and dangerous.
Of course, all of this is witnessed from afar by the Tribe's new neighbors, who share stories of the upright-bugs among the clans.
Late in the year a French researcher in Morocco would work extensively in furthering communications with the Forktails, transcribing some of a Windspeaker's stories for the first time. Among these were ancestral tales of Serina from multiple independent sources; sparking fierce debate among the researchers as to whether Serina was some version of Earth with a divergence many millions or billions of years ago, or a world completely separate from their own.
A few Forktail clans in Morocco, perhaps emulating the structures built by the Human research teams, would come to experiment with wattle and daub, creating permanent structures in the high branches of trees shielded from occasional rainfall by the canopy.
Europe and the Levant:
The appearance of another technologically advanced nation, this time a decidedly capitalist one in the Americas is met with mixed reactions from Europe. Oceania of course remains outwardly silent, assuming they are aware of the new arrivals at all. The New Comintern are wary, especially given the rise of the Liberal party administration in the US. The increasingly-modernized population of Cymru finds itself fascinated, with a small number of Academics making the trip across the Atlantic to study the Maya religion in detail.
Worldwide:
The realization came slowly with the end of the war in America, and the dawning conclusion that the HCC came not from some strange past, but from a future in which the world as it was known came to an abrupt end. It was a sign that this new world was not immune to the follies of Man, that the mistakes could be made again. Blood had been shed in anger, and all the power of all the nations of Earth could not put it back.
A French-Palestinian expedition was organized in an attempt to locate the suspected new arrivals in West Africa, but those plans were put on hold after an encounter by the French navy off the coast of Iberia, with the cruiser De Grasse engaging in the pursuit of an unknown sonar contact. The chase lasted long enough to force the craft to surface, revealing a diesel submarine, a single familiar eye emblazoned on the side of the tower.
Year 6, January 1st
Year 6, December 31st
A/N: Look upon my sleep-deprived nonsense ye mighty, and enjoy! (Hopefully, will do another lookover tomorrow when I am actually awake.)
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