SkunkyArt | CHIPMUNKEN — To the Strongest

Macedon continues its expansion for another century and a half. Alongside the first two Alexanders, one of the greatest Emperors is Philip III, who has an obsession with conquering the Himalayas, which he does in the 250s, resettling the lands with Indian settlers. After 135 BC, the Empire begins to fall apart, though the Imperial core in Mesopotamia and the Near East will linger on for centuries. 1,000 years after the Empire’s peak, the lands that were once part of Macedon are still part of the Hellenic world; Zeus is worshiped from the Mediterranean to the Ganges, while Greco-Buddhist philosophy is known across Eurasia.

While Macedonia expanded, Judaism was on the rise in the Horn of Africa. Axumite Jews took control of the kingdom in the 3rd century BC, expanding outwards to the south and east. Axum became the center of a mighty empire that pioneered constitutionalism in the form of the Sanhedrin. Axumite Judaism took on a peculiar form that engaged in proselytization and Judaism was brought across Africa and east, across the waves, to Eelam, where Austronesian migrants from Sumatra had just overrun the island. The people of Theevu (the Austronesian name for Eelam) would give Judaism a nautical bent, bringing it to every shore along the Indian Ocean. The Judaic world is now quite large and has a number of strong powers, though Axum is regarded as the premier Jewish state. There are Jewish populations scattered across Europe and the Middle East, though they are very much on the periphery of the Axumite and Theevuite-dominated cultural sphere.

In East Asia, the Spring and Autumn Period went horribly wrong for the Chinese states and instead of the Qin the semi-Sinitic Baiyue were ascendant in the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC. The Yue would adopt the Chinese writing system and many of its words but remained a distinct people with a Kra-Dai language. The first Yue Empire dominated the Chinese states for several hundred years, ruling many of them outright for part of that period, but ultimately Tocharian hordes from the west caused the Empire’s downfall. In the last hundred years, a new Yue Empire has arisen, though this one is unlikely to ever be as powerful as the first. To the west of the Yue there is a string of Sinitic states and even a Han Confederacy, though the dominance of the Yue means there is no real concept of a single China. One of Yue’s major competitors is Joseon, which is a state with maritime capabilities to match the masterful Yue fleet. Yue influence extends deep into the southern islands and snatches of the Yue language as well as their Buddhism can be found in those parts.

While Macedon rose in the east, Carthage rose in the west. The sack of Rome and its subsequent occupation by Eturia brought an end to the state most likely eventually rival Carthage. Carthaginian traders sailed into the Atlantic and for centuries dominated the region. Though Carthage never tamed the Gauls, who united under the Celtac Empire, a Punic cultural sphere emerged, with fragments of religion and language shared up and down the Atlantic, from Britain to Biafra. There was considerable population transfer, with West Africans brought as slaves to Iberia, where they have since become a sizable people. Carthage managed to settle many colonies, which have turned into successor states of the old empire since its collapse. Carthage’s collapse was brought on by the arrival of an Iranic group that became the Sahrmatandis, whose invasion of Eastern Europe caused a chain reaction and mass Celtic migration across the Pillars of Hercules and the destruction of Carthage itself. Though Celts now rule the ancient city of Carthage, the Punic cultural sphere lives on as Tanit is worshiped across the Atlantic. The term Yammulkate is used commonly ITTL. It springs from the Phoenician words for ‘sea’ and ‘ruler’ and means “rule of the seafarers”

One of the strongest Yammulkates is the Gaeligh state. The Gaels originated in Eire and, after adoption Carthaginian maritime technologies, conquered all of Britain. Their sea lords conquered further afield, including spots along the continent. They faced a threat in teh form of the Inuuk, who migrated from further north into Britain, but the Gales repelled them and established an Inuk client state. The Gaels have become major players in the North Atlantic, establishing colonies in the New World and even spreading their monotheistic worship of the sea god Manannán..

The continents of the New World have no single names and are referred to as different things by the disparate groups that inhabit that half of the globe. North America is divided between several major empires in the Eastern Woodlands. The central part the continent was ravaged by horse hordes and now several successor states exist. The hill cities of the Mississippi Valley experienced dark years during the time of the horde, but have since recovered and are the center of massive trade. Mesoamerica was severely hurt by hordes from the north and only a rump Siouian state exists in the once-mighty Valley of Mexico. The Caribbean is a massive melting pot. Celtic, Punic, and Austronesian traders all mingle in the basin and combine their culture with that of the local Kawayuu thalassocracy, which dominates trade in the southern Caribbean from its bases on the northern coast of South America. The Austronesians have done well ITTL and the Americas is no exception. Here, the inhabitants of Rapa Nui continued onto the mainland and have carved out an empire for themselves that they call Maukkaraigaiga. European and African settlement on both continents has been limited and is restricted to the coast, except in parts of Tanisindrio’olonan South America.

An interesting difference ITTL is the lack of racism. The globe is divided into several “worlds”, including the Hellenic, Celtic, Punic, and Judaic. A Punic-influenced Basque would be much more comfortable interacting with a West African than the Basque would be interacting with a Central European Celt. This world is far from perfect and, indeed, there is considerable discrimination by cultural group, but there are some aspects of OTL that are just not seen here.

This world is much further along technologically than OTL. Scientific knowledge was massively advanced under the Macedonians and after their fall, much of Eurasia was plunged into a dark age. Recovery was, however, much quicker than OTL and at present, technology is at the level of 1500 or 1600, with gunpowder adopted across much of the world. Technology is much more evenly distributed ITTL with much of the old world at a similar level. Maritime technology is considerably more advanced and the compass is in common use globally, having been invented by the Somalis and distributed by the Theevuites and picked up by Gaels and Yue.