The Fall of Empires
Background
The Old World
The year is 1500, but the world is radically different from the one we know. In the Roman Empire, Commodus' death before that of his father, Marcus Aurelius, meant that Aurelius' selection for next Emperor had to be changed, and so he adopted someone from outside his immediate family, causing the reign of the Good Emperors to continue for hundreds of years. Consequently, Rome never entered decline, Constantine never came to power, and Christianity (nor Islam, nor any other Abrahamic faith) never became very popular. The Dark Ages never occurred and Rome eventually conquered much of the western world. By the year 1174 AD the Mongol Empire had accomplished much the same in the east. The two superpowers finally clashed in the early 1200s, leading to one of the longest and bloodiest conflicts in history. Both empires rapidly improved their technology to meet the threat of the other, reaching Napoleonic levels of technology by the mid 1300s and Gilded age technology by the mid 1400s. Both Empires finally collapsed after centuries of intermittent conflict in the late 1400s. The once massive superpowers shrunk to their ancestral homelands as new nations rose in their former territories. Now, twenty-five years after the collapse, dozens of nations compete in the world created by the fall of empires
The New World
An Age of discovery began with the Mongols setting up small settlements and trading posts on the west coast while the Romans did the same in the east. However, by the time large scale settlement could take place the powers became embroiled in the great war so they were rendered unable to advance past the coast. The only major Roman areas were the American Northeast and the Canadian Maritimes. The only Mongol Areas were the Pacific Northwest and the California area. Meanwhile the Iroquois and Mississippian Culture were armed and taught by the Romans to counter their Mongol rivals who do the same with the Inca and Aztecs. Eventually the Inca conquered South America, the Aztecs Central America, the Iroquois Canada and parts of the midwest, and the Mississippians the American South and Midwest. Whether these empires flourished or collapsed is up to you.
The Rules
1. Don't flame, troll, or generally be mean-spirited.
2. Don't godmod.
3. Be prepared for the possibility of losing a battle, or even a war.
4. If you have questions or concerns, ask.
5. Don't tech-rush.
6. Please try to be active.
7. Use your head and research when determining what would be a likely action for a given nation.
8. One-line posts should be avoided at all costs.
OOC
