Atilla-4

Key Information

Quantum
4
Status
Relatively Open: low-key researchers and traders
Divergence Point
Unknown
Local Year
1783
Summary
Mongol hordes destroy Europe - except for Japan, world mired in uncivilized dark age.

Description

In general, this worldline is very easy to describe: tribes, and sets of tribes, vie for control of the Earth's surface using very early Iron Age technology at best. This seems to be the result of a vast conflagration in Western civilization caused by rampaging Mongol barbarians around the time of Attila the Hun, however, differences have been discovered further back than that.

The exception is Japan. Though more or less trapped on its island holdings, Japan has progressed more or less in time with its Homeline counterpart to approximately 1500 (retarded about 200 years from the "standard date", chiefly because of the lack of meaningful trade and interaction with the rest of Indonesia and China, according to Homeline historians and economists). It is on the verge of learning to use gunpowder and cannonry and may expand out onto the continent if their crushing numerical inferiority can be offset by this new technology. Already "island-hopping" through northern Indonesia has been attempted with lucrative results.

Points of Interest

There are some interesting alliances and politics between the various tribes of the world, of course, but most remain nomadic and have no real central points to be of much interest. Other than Japan, there isn't much of interest on this world at all in terms of geography.

Big Four Influence

Most Big Four nations regard Attila as a sort of backwater, "savage" place to be treated more or less in that way. So far, nobody has evinced much of an interest in accelerating Japan's progress, though they have protected Japan from disaster once or twice. (Once, a Homeline zaibatsu sent jets to 'seed' a hurricaine to bypass northern Japan. The jets were accidentally spotted by the fishermen of a northern tribe, who now worship the 'metal dragon fire birds'.)

Centrum Influence

None known.

OOC Origin

Attila is mentioned briefly in Steve Jackson Games' "Time Travel" book, though I wrote all the details you see here.

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