Conquest of a New World (alt.hist fiction, NC-H, NC-Exotic)

[OldSchoolGamer]

Imagine Earth...only a little different.  Humans still rule.  Humans are as they always have been: noble and base, benevolent and malevolent, giving and taking, chaste and debased, charitable and greedy.

But some of the particulars turned out a bit differently.  In the first through the fifth centuries A.D., there was a cold snap, caused by a bit of cosmic dust the Solar System wandered through.  By 100 A.D. the Roman Empire's expansion had been brought to an abrupt end as long, cold winters forced the barbarians south into the Roman West, and the invasions from East Asia pushed further south into Judea and Asia Minor.  Christianity was stillborn, missing Europe entirely, holing up in the mountains of Sudan and Ethiopia, merging with Judaism in an odd, often tumultuous mix, little more than a chapter in history.
 

The Byzantine Empire never was.  Islam arose, but spread east across what is now Iraq, Iran, and into Pakistan.  Rather than being banished by Christianity, the worship of the gods of the Vikings and Norsemen flourished, and the pale-skinned peoples of the North conquered the British Isles, and most of Northern and Western Europe as the grip of the Little Ice Age waned and the sun warmed the land again.  Now, it is the 16th century, and there are the following principal powers in the world:

The Norsemen, who rule northern Europe, Iceland, and so forth down to the Alps.  Their source of power is their navy, which is the best in the world, nurtured by a robust maritime tradition and advanced navigation skills.  They are proud and arrogant...and, with gunpowder well-integrated into their fighting style, a formidable enemy.  Their ships with dozens of cannon are the bane of other navies and coastal settlements across the known world.

The Khanates, a collection of fiefdoms that stretch across Central Asia and into Eastern Europe, and encompass much of China and southeast Asia.  The Khans are the world's finest horsemen, with feared horse-archers, but their martial traditions and aggressiveness hobble their domain with endemic internecine conflicts.  Their refusal to integrate the newly-perfected black powder into warfare is also an incipient weakness...


The Aryans (not to be confused with the modern, Nazi bastardization of that term), who we would call East Indians today.  The Aryans practice Hinduism, and are the best organized society.  However, this organization comes at a cost: a rigid caste system.  The Aryans have been plagued by raids from the Khanates.  However, Aryan organization has served as a check on the often less-disciplined Khans.


The Abdulli, ruling Arabia and Persia, as well as Egypt, under the banner of Islam.  Education, commerce and zealotry form an odd but surprisingly effective mix here.  However, the Abdulli are certainly not above some piracy and plunder, as they attempt to build a navy to compete with the Norse!  The Moors are an offshoot of the Abdulli, sometimes cooperating with them, sometimes in conflict.

The Romans, who found their Empire truncated but not done away with.  In the chaos of the Little Ice Age, Roman order held firm, and it was that discipline that held Italy and Sicily under Roman control, along with Alexandria and parts of North Africa.

These powers, particularly the Norse, have now turned their attention to the rest of the world.  For there are the lands of Africa and the Americas, and those who control them, will control resources needed to advance the cause of Empire, and Sovereign!  This current thread, already in progress, chronicles the voyage of the Waverunner, a Norse schooner sent to scout out new lands to explore, and conquer. 

This is a work of alternate historical fiction, but it aims for realism, exploring issues of exploration and conquest, dominance and submission, politics and intrigue...and the camera's eye never goes shut.  There will be sex, consensual, less-than-consensual, and forced.  There will also be interracial sex, realistically depicted, and with no attention paid to political correctness (this being, after all, a work of fiction set in an alternate historical context).  Players will also gain the opportunity to help shape the world through their actions, and elements of economic, military and political simulation will likely enter the storyline as it progresses.


As of now, there are character openings for:

Native of the Black Panther tribe:


These are the first natives the expedition encounters


Member of the crew of the Waverunner


Note that the crew is exclusively male...or is it?  If you are really interested in playing a female Norse, you can either wait until later in the story when subsequent ships land, or give me a really creative rationale for a female sailor being onboard...

There are also the Snake People, enemies of the Black Panther tribe:


Of course, if you have a different idea, or a different human (or even humanoid) group you'd like to throw into the mix, let me know, as I do intend for this to be at least in part a player-driven story.

The current thread can be found here:
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=32328.0