HOME | DD

Description

Castlepunk:
A sort of Medieval punk scenario. This is a world of alchemy, ‘little people’, fair folk and magic (mostly of European folklore in the case of the latter three) which, through all of these factors, stalled much of its social and hard technological development in the mid to late Medieval Era. This is a world where monarchs rule with somewhat observable divine blessing (miracles aren’t an everyday occurrence but they’re witnessed often enough to brush away a lot of doubts – and generate some new ones), armies rely on cores of elite, heavily armoured noble cavalrymen to conduct warfare and wars of faith tear up entire regions in the name of the Cross, Crescent Moon and Mandate of Heaven.

Of course the reality is not as simple as it first appears.

Though outwardly a mess of feudal fiefdoms the lands of Christendom are united under the Holy See and the throne of the Emperor of Rome (reunited at last). Of course there are many non-Catholic sects, Protestant* churches and outright heresies that still linger on in the ostensibly Catholic lands – and then there’s the special dispensation given to the Greek Orthodox Church – but, on the whole, Rome and the Papacy guard and decide the fate of Christian souls.

Effectively unchallenged – even though other denominations have emerged they are forced to cooperate with the Catholic and sheer temporal and spiritual power ultimately weighs in the Vatican’s favour – the Catholic Church has become the premier power of the Christian world. Changes have been made, particularly in the face of alchemy’s proliferation, bargains with fey creatures and the use of some sanctioned witchcraft but, on the whole, what the Pope says goes. Latin remains the official language of scripture even though illicit translation and printing is done by the other Christian sects and much of the upper echelons of the Church hierarchy remain in the tight grip of noble scions sent to join the clergy to remove loose ends to their older brothers’ inheritances.

Scandals and power-games prompted the emergence of the various heretical and dissenting churches but this failed to give Rome the wake-up call it needed. Suppression campaigns and pogroms still take place (and sweep up Jews on a regular basis) even after the Vatican granted these other denominations permission to practise as long as they do it in secret and don’t actively preach their specific beliefs about Christianity. Indulgences have been banned by Papal decree, at the very least, though some less scrupulous priests and deacons will offer them on the sly.

The Church’s foremost mission is the safeguarding of the souls of all Christians and those heathens and pagans that have yet to accept Christ’s word. To ensure this they have sanctioned the Roman Inquisition to hunt down any and all threats to the sanctity of Christendom and the followers of the Bible. A lot of these agents have proven to be overzealous in their hunt for witches, unholy fey beings, devils and demons and in a world where these things are real many of them have good reason to be. Even then a lot of innocent people have died at the hands of the inquisitors and many alliances with sanctified fey kingdoms have been jeopardised by the uninformed, insensitive or fanatical who see all deals as unholy and illegitimate. The power of the Inquisition has waxed and waned over the centuries but they have never faded into irrelevance.

In this world missionaries are often armed and trained for combat since the pagan gods they preach against can threaten them directly (even if its revealed that most of these indigenous deities are merely fey or devils pretending to be gods to the easily fooled).

Stretching across Europe, from the Atlantic to the Baltic, the Holy Roman Empire is the foremost secular power in Christendom. The traditional tumultuous collection of, mostly German, smaller fiefdoms does still sprawl across Central Europe but the current HRE is actually a larger entity that encompasses all of (Catholic) Christian Europe. The crown can only be granted to lords that don’t hold a title of kingship so nearly every candidate either comes from the traditional German lands or the Italian lands north of Sicily and Naples. Of course candidacy is also only really open to particularly powerful lords so lesser noble houses are forced to ally with these greater lineages if they want to be able to influence the Imperial Court – assuming the candidate from their faction wins the throne.

The Orthodox lands are officially vassals of the Holy Roman Empire but not direct subjects of the Roman Emperor. Where exactly this puts the Byzantines is difficult as they do still style themselves as Romans. Orthodoxy’s prominence and freedom from suppression by the Catholic Church is the biggest difference from the HRE’s domains. They do have to maintain their own inquisition, however and this organisation is subjected to inspection by the Papacy to ensure they uphold the required standards of sanctity.

Fey folk are an awkward factor in Europe’s political and religious landscape. Though there are still some crusades taking place to root out the hostile or capricious kingdoms of the ‘little people’ most significant kingdoms and communities have been strong-armed into a series of strict alliances and treaties. The papacy wasn’t happy with this decision but the ongoing costs of all of these wars was getting far too high, even for the Vatican. Now elves, sidhe and faeries are forbidden from kidnapping children and replacing them with changelings or stealing away lone wanderers unless they go too deep into the shadowy places where the veil between the mortal world and the fey’s lands thins. Gnomes, goblins and other worker types are often contracted by larger craftsmen guilds though most of what they produce is simply high quality rather than explicitly magical. There are also severe consequences for tricksters who fell like making booby-prize items. Boggles, bugbears, trolls and other more monstrous creatures usually just end up being hunted and most have been forced into the overly wild regions where few people live – and those who do are savage enough to be mistaken for one of these monsters, anyway. The leshy has been spotted but never actually found unless he wants you to find him. The woodwoses, on the other hand, are still being subjected to conversion missions but its difficult as they too are very good at disappearing into the forest depths.

Set apart from the Papacy’s rule but allied to it as a fellow brother in Christ, is the Empire of Abyssinia, the kingdom Prester John built. It is an Orthodox Christian state empire with Dar al-Islam surrounding them on three sides they have accepted a close alliance with their Catholic brothers in Christ. Abyssinia is much more willing to cooperate with inhuman creatures (that aren’t demons or devils) than Europeans are, going beyond tentative alliances with the fey folk and actually trying (and somewhat succeeding) to convert them to Christianity. The massive conversion missions sent by Abyssinia into central and western Africa are also much more successful than the Catholics though that’s mostly due to easier travel and close proximity to the heartland. Heading the Muslim proselytes off in the African interior is now Abyssinia’s primary contribution to the ongoing ‘Great War of Faith’ and helping to fight off Arabic and Berber slavers is really helping convince the people of these new conquests and vassals of their faith’s benefits.

Dar al-Islam is the prosperous bridge between the east and west – in the Old World, at least – and goods and riches flow through their lands via the Silk Road that they now guard jealously. Losses have been suffered to All Under Heaven in Central Asia but this has more than been made up for in the Indian Ocean where Arabic merchants dominate the seas and the endless flow of goods that cross them.

At the centre of Dar al-Islam and what unites it (at least as much as it’s rivals are united as well) is the Caliphate. The title of Caliph has been passed between several dynasties but has generally been centred in Baghdad (and, on a couple of occasions, Cairo). It is, theoretically, a more centralised system than the Papacy’s control over Christendom but not as much as All Under Heaven, even in theory. As the dominant form of Islam, the Sunni appointment of caliphs has come to prominence and the election process is just as large, volatile and prone to stalls or minor civil wars as the election of the Roman emperors. There ahave been various false caliphs, most of which are political rivals that either eventually rejoin the Caliphate or are reconquered. Then there’s the followers of Shia Islam, which are a whole other issue.

Despite the alleged central power of the caliph the Caliphate’s territories are actually divided between a series of emir dynasties, most of whom provide the candidates for the ulama to appoint as caliph. These dynasties will trade and war with one another often, competing for land, vassals and riches though never to the point where they draw the ire of the caliph who can and will put down the biggest troublemakers. The larger emirs are also not above trying to influence the ulama into picking their preferred candidate when the time comes to choose a new caliph.

The dhimmi are a continuous issue for the Caliphate. Dar al-Islam is very tolerant of other faiths but enthusiastic and quite forceful in their attempts to convert these unbelievers (though not to the extent or brutality of the Christian inquisition). Conversion usually comes as a result of the jizya taxes, which can get quite heavy. In fact, some emirates and sultanates, particularly those not on the Silk Road, rely on the jizya for most of their local economies. The wars of faith are making things difficult for certain faiths in Islamic lands such as Christians and Buddhists/Taoists/Daoists and taxes that pay for the war efforts are more likely to fall on these people. Extending the dhimmi to fey beings is a controversial decision that some emirates have permitted and others have forbidden. No caliph has ever made a definitive decision on the matter.

Sitting on the edge of the conventional Caliphate is the Emirate of Cordoba. They actually claimed to be an independent caliphate at one point before they were forced back into the fold. With a higher degree of multiculturalism and more dhimmi in prominent positions of power than most other dynastic emirates, Cordoba is viewed with some suspicion. This is, of course, ridiculous considering the endless skirmishing that the Iberian Christians in the north subject their territories to. The endless battles in the north have served as a convenient means for Cordoba to dispose of some of their more fanatical factions or the North African ‘would-be rulers’ that arrive every now and then to try to dominate them.

Outside of the actual Caliphate are a number of Muslim empires that swear their own allegiance to the Caliph but not as subordinate emirs.

The Sultanate of Delhi is the largest of these semi-independent states within Dar al-Islam. Delhi is probably the most tolerant state in Dar al-Islam of non-Abrahamic faiths. In addition to Hindus and Buddhists there are a number of petty pagan faiths in their lands that are left alone, though they aren’t approved of practising in public. The court of the sultan is especially colourful and infamously decadent, even during the reigns of the more zealous sultans. More-so than any other Islamic war-front, even the battles in the Mediterranean, is the ongoing campaign to conquer the subcontinent. Delhi is often expanding at the expense of the Indian rajas, which worries the Caliphate as Delhi not only continues to get larger, wealthier and more powerful but also influenced by their non-Islamic subjects. The issues Delhi has with the local fey beings often depends on how the ruling sultan or civil servants feel about their Hindu population.

Though not exactly recent converts by any means, the various Muslim states of the Sahel are often rather peripheral, both geographically and politically. A lot of pre-Islamic practises are still observed in these lands due to the distance from Baghdad – and the fact that most of the Islamic heartland tends to ignore or forget about them. As Christian missions start to convert the coastal kingdoms of West Africa and Abyssinia expands in Central Africa the Sahel is beginning to receive more attention.

Indonesia’s Muslim sultanates are not ignored by the Caliphate but they are so very distant, even with modern magic speeding up sea travel. They also tend to be particularly Sufi in their perspective and, by necessity, have to be tolerant towards their non-Abrahamic demographics. Much like Delhi the local sultanates, particularly those directly on the Straits of Malacca, are fabulously wealthy and decadent but with many more unique features from the influence of abangan – the level of syncretism usually varies depending on region and the proportion of non-Islamic faiths and culture.

The Middle East has its own unique fey that the Islamic states still work with. Djinn consider themselves separate from the faeries of Europe (and much of the rest of the world but who’s counting) and don’t appreciate scholarly debates attempting to refute this claim. They don’t seem to be found anywhere outside of what are now traditional core lands of Dar al-Islam and are considered much more trustworthy than the fair folk. Ghuls, on the other hand, have been a persistent and worrying pest and the fact that they have spread into the rest of Eurasia and Africa is worrying for many people, especially as the extensive battlefields from the wars of faith seem to be feeding a population boom.

All Under Heaven is dedicated to making sure its empire lives up to its name. Grand Cathay is supposed to be the centre of the entirety of this empire but it is in a state of perpetual, almost ritualistic conflict between the two claimants to the throne of the emperor. Both the Latter Jin and Song Dynasties have agreed to cooperate to ensure that Cathay remains the unchallenged, supreme civilisation of the world but that doesn’t mean they have forgotten their ancient feud. In fact the wars of faith were what prompted a return to cooperation between the two after centuries of accepted division.

Cathay does not regard itself as a nation of faith like the barbarians that presume to challenge them. Instead of religion, which Cathay is generally tolerant of as long as it isn’t disruptive, Cathay focuses more on establishing their preferred social order. At the top is the emperor, who is supposed to also be the ultimate civil authority, even in Cathay’s vassals and other subjects that are considered a part of All Under Heaven. Even the rulers of these other nations are subordinate to the emperor though they are expected to be the supreme authority (other than the emperor, of course… and Cathay’s officials too) within their societies, in mimicry of Cathay’s social order. Despite some efforts, Cathay hasn’t managed to export their extensive bureaucracy culture to all of their vassals yet though some of their oldest satellites have been under Cathay’s thumb long enough to have basically been reworked into cultural copies of their masters.

Despite the endless warring, Cathay – both parts of it – is the wealthiest nation on the planet. They don’t like to trade, preferring to rely on their own resources and showing disdain for the supposed goods that the barbarians outside of All Under Heaven offer them. Their own unique goods, such as silk and jade are sought after by the western cultures and a lot of trade takes place along the Silk Road but it is not appreciated by Cathay’s imperial court. Several emperors have cracked down on trade, particularly in the Song’s southern ports where Muslims have been persecuted many times due to the influence they spread through their merchants. Normally when one of Cathay’s dynasties suppresses trade in their territories the other will reopen it in their own lands, just to keep the competition between the two going.

The issue of the missionaries and proselytes from both Christendom and Dar al-Islam is a difficult one. Cathay usually applies their “live and let live, as long as they don’t cause trouble,” approach on both faiths, especially the local denominations but they’re usually forced to practise in private or outlying, rural communities. Despite many emperors trying to suppress both faiths – and having success in Cathay itself – they always bounce back in the rest of All Under Heaven. The wiser rulers and ministers have mostly realised that this what they will likely expect when All Under Heaven eventually encompasses these religions’ heartlands.

The other lands in All Under Heaven are ruled in a fashion that would boggle the minds of administrators in feudal Christendom and dynastically decentralised Dar al-Islam (though still not on the level of modern bureaucracy, of course). Cathayan ministers are present in all of the empire’s vassal states, managing these lands and interfering with the local governments regularly to make sure they match the goals and ideals of Cathay’s court. The degree of control these ministers have – and the number of them present in local leadership – often depends on how geographically close to Cathay they are, how long they have historically been a vassal and how loyal they have been historically. The newer or more distant lands in All Under Heaven are treated with a lighter touch until they have paid homage to Cathay long enough for Cathay to start flooding their ruling courts with Cathay trained ministers.

Grand Tartary, though diminished from their glory days, is one of Cathay’s mightiest vassals. There have been several steppe empires, with the Mongol one forming an ‘oceanic khanate’ but they all declined. Tartary is what emerged in the aftermath and it ended up under Cathay’s thumb. Tartary is divided between its sedentary, urban culture which is rather thoroughly Sinicised – with plenty of cultural remnants, of course – and the more traditional rural nomads that maintain the old ways. Though there are a lot of Muslims and Christians (the latter being mostly local Nestorians) in Tartary, particularly in the west where the majority of Tartary’s cities are, most of the population are still traditional pagans. Tartary continues to produce some of the deadliest mobile cavalry in the world. In fact the value of these auxiliaries have allowed Tartary to leverage some autonomy from Cathay’s bureaucracy despite being an old and close vassal.

Oceanic travel is something that Cathay has frequently ignored but, at the same time, they’ve built one of the most sophisticated navies in the world. Cathay may have conceded many seas that All Under Heaven borders when their fleets do go to war they are formidable. Massive junks that dwarf any Christian or Muslim ship that isn’t built with fey power take up vast space in Cathayan harbours and are feared by seamen of the other two faiths should they ever slip their mooring and set sail.

All Under Heaven’s relationship with the fey is also complicated. For most people in All Under Heaven but especially in Cathay these beings are divine (or semi-divine) and are appeased even more than they are in rural Europe. Even compared to Europe’s vast varieties of ‘little people’ East Asia has a colourful assortment of minor fey that they often see as sharing their lands with rather than tolerating them like the westerners. The cynocephali are one of the more notable beings because they lack the ephemeral nature of most other fey and are actually worryingly (for the Abrahamic faiths) physical and almost mundane – if it weren’t for the dog features. There’s also the various fox-spirits who are as active in East Asia as elves and sidhe are in Europe and almost as troublesome. The only saving grace for All Under heaven is that unlike elves, the fox-spirits aren’t prone to forming warbands, armies or kingdoms. Scholars who do enter All Under Heaven are starting to cause some trouble with Cathay’s own scholarly community for pointing out any similarities between the local spirits and Europe’s fey and how the Europeans may or may not have more reliable lore about them. don’t get them started on the demons and devils and Cathay’s attitude towards them.

The greatest complication to the great wars of faith was the discovery of the New World.

The unknown western lands (or eastern, from the perspective of All Under Heaven) are a mysterious place that all three great faiths are eager to explore, claim and, in the case of the local peoples, convert. Diseases, both mundane and born of Hell, are spreading throughout these lands as sick and sinners arrive in the land and interact with the local people. Exiles from all three powers also flee to these lands and sadly, amongst the innocent are plenty of followers of the Lord of Lies who have brought his attention to these lands with much greater frequency.

The fey are also present in these lands as well. In fact, there’s an even greater presence here than anywhere in the Old World (except, maybe the British Isles and possibly Siberia) though the many fey kingdoms are still mostly separated from the mortal world. The New World has its own unique beings but, as in East Asia and Africa, the fey largely look familiar to European scholars.

Colonies are being established in the New World by all three powers and as riches are found in these lands – though quite a lot of it is already in the hands of the local peoples – these ventures are getting larger and more well funded. Christendom, which always had to look to the Atlantic for overseas trade, has made the most efforts to claim and colonise land in the New World and convert the locals. Dar al-Islam has started some colonies of its own but most of their attention is still focused on the Indian Ocean where things are much more certain and they don’t have to start from scratch in establishing wealthy outposts. Since slavery is forbidden in Christendom (and they do, in fact, have to worry about how sinful they are) they’re having much more difficulty establishing a plantation economy and are trying to transport serfdom over to their new colonial territories. All Under Heaven, due to their general disinterest in sea travel, are also lagging behind but things are beginning to change.

Science in this world – or scholarship, as its known here – is as mystical and philosophical as it is scientific.

Alchemy is of paramount importance to every nation that wants to survive and thrive in the modern world. Damascined Steel and Greek Fire used to be considered part of this field of study but have since been discovered to be made by wholly mundane processes. They’re actually rather common now that skilled alchemists have figured out the crafting processes and learned how to alchemically recreate the necessary ingredients. Transmutation of natural substances is probably the most well known and studied form of alchemy and has produced some strange substances (such as the substance known simply as “green,”) but those who have figured out how to transmute base metals into gold are keeping the secret to themselves. Most are smart enough to realise just how worthless gold will become if they let the process become widely known.

Alchemical transmutation isn’t just confined to physical substances. The spirit can also be transformed and purified but it is a much more difficult process. It is disliked in Christendom because it is seen as a simple and easy path to absolution of peoples’ sins and is a bastardisation of the spiritual journey in Christianity. Medicine has been advanced tremendously by the purification process and is already boosting birth-rates even further in the increasingly overcrowded European continent.

Dar al-Islam is roughly equal to Christendom in alchemical knowledge but they have pioneered the creation of artificial life, as controversial as that decision is. Muslim scholars also study the many elemental and intrinsic qualities and have begun to produce purer forms of material substances through the transmutation of their intrinsic opposites.

After transmutation of gold, the most legendary alchemical substance is the Universal Panacea, Elixir of Immortality, or Philosopher’s Stone, though whether they’re the all same thing or not is a matter of debate. All Under Heaven supposedly knows the secret but the sages that discovered it have kept it strictly secret, even from the emperor for fear of it being abused. They have released the process of making a much weaker – and cheaper – version that can cure all ailments, which has led to a population boom in East Asia. The number of people who have ignorantly quaffed improperly prepared ingredients for the Elixir of Immortality, such as unaltered mercury or molten gold and died has ended the reputation (and often the life) of many an alchemist.

Homunculus are a very controversial product of the alchemical research into creating artificial life. The fact that they observably lack souls has repeatedly vindicated the religious authorities in Europe and West Asia who denounce them as unholy and the Cathayan philosophers that consider them a disruptive force to societal harmony. they’re also not that useful as they tend to be rather ungainly a less responsive than actual living beings. The human variants are useful as sources of organs and body grants that serve as alchemical/magical ingredients. For the worshippers of the Lord of Lies homunculus aren’t that useful for their rituals as they lack souls but can serve as especially convenient hosts for possession by devils and demons. They fey can also easily influence them, though their poor responses and reflexes make them even more ungainly than humans they subject to their influences.

Technologically the world does rely on alchemy to improve what has existed for centuries. Thanks to alchemical improvements, steel plate now verges on invulnerable whilst being as light as a feather, except to weapons that have been treated the same way. All manner of dangerous chemicals are now loaded into catapults to be launched at castle walls, enemy ships or opposing armies, wherever such weapons are needed. The war fronts between the three great faiths are now almost irreversibly scarred by the supernatural substances that have been used to try to decide the endless battles that are waged in these contested lands. There have been efforts to transmute stone to render castles as supposedly impregnable as plate armour but the costs of building an alchemically improved castle/fortress would be prohibitive, even for the most vital strongholds.

Spiritual purification has also been applied to certain animals, usually horses and dogs, to make them stronger, surer of purpose and often more compliant. Unfortunately most alchemical processes are too expensive for the common folk to access the actual quality products but cheaper versions are available – as are an assortment of knock-offs from charlatans – such as the simpler alchemical medicines.

Ship building has been influenced heavily by the lessons learned from the shipwrights of Venice and is actually a wholly mundane process. This standardised construction of ships has been incredibly useful to Christendom and has allowed them to spread their influence in the New World and coastal West Africa more effectively than their Muslim rivals.

Magic is a more complicated issue. All Under Heaven has few issues with it and has even dedicated vast philosophical texts to the study of various magic. At the same time they prefer that it remain in its particular societies and not interact with the majority of the populace. Christendom and Dar al-Islam are much less tolerant and officially oppose the very idea of magic as unholy. The realities of the global situation mean they have been forced to sanction some magic and accept it as a necessary evil, at least. The Catholic Church are the ones who sanction accepted witchcraft but they keep a very, very close eye on their practitioners and usually have them monitored by agents of the Inquisition. Its not uncommon for many courts in Europe to have court magicians, particularly in the Orthodox lands, however. Dar al-Islam have more formalised magical societies but they’re much more monastic, collaborating in special and exclusive academies when they’re not serving as court magi.

All lands have hermit magicians, hedge-witches and other loners of mystical power. They’re often the surest means that common-folk can interact with magic.

Though most of their possessions in the mortal world have been subverted by humanity the fey are far from truly being their vassals. The fey have plenty of hidden places but they don’t exactly share them, preferring that their specific kingdoms and communities keep to themselves. Even the increasing expansion of human influence over their peoples hasn’t changed this attitude. Most fey that aren’t simply sticking their heads in the proverbial sands are either cutting their hidden realms off from the mortal world, strengthening the illusions that protect them or, strangely enough, pre-emptively making deals with humanity, ones where they write the fine-print.

Dragons have seen better days. The smartest in western Eurasia, who don’t let their greed and arrogance override their intelligence, have mostly fled to the New World, the Arctic wastes and the depths of Africa. The others have almost been completely hunted to extinction. They’ve done much better in East Asia where they are much more respected- it helps that the local culture amongst the eastern dragons (they’re not exactly ‘Chinese Dragons,’ mind you) is much more disciplined. Some eastern dragons have even joined All Under Heaven’s ministries.

The greatest threat to the world is the influence of Hell and the diabolical Lord of Lies. Cabals are scattered around the world, conducting dark rituals that mock the services of Christianity, spreading plague and summoning demons and devils (the difference between the two being rather academic) to possess their neighbours. The fey are connected to the Lord of Lies and many of the humans they steal away are offered to him as sacrifices, either in return for being otherwise left alone or for further magical favours that they cannot already accomplish by themselves. All of these followers work towards several goals: first, the corruption of society in the mortal world, second, the reduction of the influence of God and the righteous and, three, prepare the world for the End of Days and the final battle for the souls of mankind…. which they intend to win.

Inspired by B.Munro/Quantumbranching's: www.deviantart.com/quantumbran…

Description

Castlepunk:
A sort of Medieval punk scenario. This is a world of alchemy, ‘little people’, fair folk and magic (mostly of European folklore in the case of the latter three) which, through all of these factors, stalled much of its social and hard technological development in the mid to late Medieval Era. This is a world where monarchs rule with somewhat observable divine blessing (miracles aren’t an everyday occurrence but they’re witnessed often enough to brush away a lot of doubts – and generate some new ones), armies rely on cores of elite, heavily armoured noble cavalrymen to conduct warfare and wars of faith tear up entire regions in the name of the Cross, Crescent Moon and Mandate of Heaven.

Of course the reality is not as simple as it first appears.

Though outwardly a mess of feudal fiefdoms the lands of Christendom are united under the Holy See and the throne of the Emperor of Rome (reunited at last). Of course there are many non-Catholic sects, Protestant* churches and outright heresies that still linger on in the ostensibly Catholic lands – and then there’s the special dispensation given to the Greek Orthodox Church – but, on the whole, Rome and the Papacy guard and decide the fate of Christian souls.

Effectively unchallenged – even though other denominations have emerged they are forced to cooperate with the Catholic and sheer temporal and spiritual power ultimately weighs in the Vatican’s favour – the Catholic Church has become the premier power of the Christian world. Changes have been made, particularly in the face of alchemy’s proliferation, bargains with fey creatures and the use of some sanctioned witchcraft but, on the whole, what the Pope says goes. Latin remains the official language of scripture even though illicit translation and printing is done by the other Christian sects and much of the upper echelons of the Church hierarchy remain in the tight grip of noble scions sent to join the clergy to remove loose ends to their older brothers’ inheritances.

Scandals and power-games prompted the emergence of the various heretical and dissenting churches but this failed to give Rome the wake-up call it needed. Suppression campaigns and pogroms still take place (and sweep up Jews on a regular basis) even after the Vatican granted these other denominations permission to practise as long as they do it in secret and don’t actively preach their specific beliefs about Christianity. Indulgences have been banned by Papal decree, at the very least, though some less scrupulous priests and deacons will offer them on the sly.

The Church’s foremost mission is the safeguarding of the souls of all Christians and those heathens and pagans that have yet to accept Christ’s word. To ensure this they have sanctioned the Roman Inquisition to hunt down any and all threats to the sanctity of Christendom and the followers of the Bible. A lot of these agents have proven to be overzealous in their hunt for witches, unholy fey beings, devils and demons and in a world where these things are real many of them have good reason to be. Even then a lot of innocent people have died at the hands of the inquisitors and many alliances with sanctified fey kingdoms have been jeopardised by the uninformed, insensitive or fanatical who see all deals as unholy and illegitimate. The power of the Inquisition has waxed and waned over the centuries but they have never faded into irrelevance.

In this world missionaries are often armed and trained for combat since the pagan gods they preach against can threaten them directly (even if its revealed that most of these indigenous deities are merely fey or devils pretending to be gods to the easily fooled).

Stretching across Europe, from the Atlantic to the Baltic, the Holy Roman Empire is the foremost secular power in Christendom. The traditional tumultuous collection of, mostly German, smaller fiefdoms does still sprawl across Central Europe but the current HRE is actually a larger entity that encompasses all of (Catholic) Christian Europe. The crown can only be granted to lords that don’t hold a title of kingship so nearly every candidate either comes from the traditional German lands or the Italian lands north of Sicily and Naples. Of course candidacy is also only really open to particularly powerful lords so lesser noble houses are forced to ally with these greater lineages if they want to be able to influence the Imperial Court – assuming the candidate from their faction wins the throne.

The Orthodox lands are officially vassals of the Holy Roman Empire but not direct subjects of the Roman Emperor. Where exactly this puts the Byzantines is difficult as they do still style themselves as Romans. Orthodoxy’s prominence and freedom from suppression by the Catholic Church is the biggest difference from the HRE’s domains. They do have to maintain their own inquisition, however and this organisation is subjected to inspection by the Papacy to ensure they uphold the required standards of sanctity.

Fey folk are an awkward factor in Europe’s political and religious landscape. Though there are still some crusades taking place to root out the hostile or capricious kingdoms of the ‘little people’ most significant kingdoms and communities have been strong-armed into a series of strict alliances and treaties. The papacy wasn’t happy with this decision but the ongoing costs of all of these wars was getting far too high, even for the Vatican. Now elves, sidhe and faeries are forbidden from kidnapping children and replacing them with changelings or stealing away lone wanderers unless they go too deep into the shadowy places where the veil between the mortal world and the fey’s lands thins. Gnomes, goblins and other worker types are often contracted by larger craftsmen guilds though most of what they produce is simply high quality rather than explicitly magical. There are also severe consequences for tricksters who fell like making booby-prize items. Boggles, bugbears, trolls and other more monstrous creatures usually just end up being hunted and most have been forced into the overly wild regions where few people live – and those who do are savage enough to be mistaken for one of these monsters, anyway. The leshy has been spotted but never actually found unless he wants you to find him. The woodwoses, on the other hand, are still being subjected to conversion missions but its difficult as they too are very good at disappearing into the forest depths.

Set apart from the Papacy’s rule but allied to it as a fellow brother in Christ, is the Empire of Abyssinia, the kingdom Prester John built. It is an Orthodox Christian state empire with Dar al-Islam surrounding them on three sides they have accepted a close alliance with their Catholic brothers in Christ. Abyssinia is much more willing to cooperate with inhuman creatures (that aren’t demons or devils) than Europeans are, going beyond tentative alliances with the fey folk and actually trying (and somewhat succeeding) to convert them to Christianity. The massive conversion missions sent by Abyssinia into central and western Africa are also much more successful than the Catholics though that’s mostly due to easier travel and close proximity to the heartland. Heading the Muslim proselytes off in the African interior is now Abyssinia’s primary contribution to the ongoing ‘Great War of Faith’ and helping to fight off Arabic and Berber slavers is really helping convince the people of these new conquests and vassals of their faith’s benefits.

Dar al-Islam is the prosperous bridge between the east and west – in the Old World, at least – and goods and riches flow through their lands via the Silk Road that they now guard jealously. Losses have been suffered to All Under Heaven in Central Asia but this has more than been made up for in the Indian Ocean where Arabic merchants dominate the seas and the endless flow of goods that cross them.

At the centre of Dar al-Islam and what unites it (at least as much as it’s rivals are united as well) is the Caliphate. The title of Caliph has been passed between several dynasties but has generally been centred in Baghdad (and, on a couple of occasions, Cairo). It is, theoretically, a more centralised system than the Papacy’s control over Christendom but not as much as All Under Heaven, even in theory. As the dominant form of Islam, the Sunni appointment of caliphs has come to prominence and the election process is just as large, volatile and prone to stalls or minor civil wars as the election of the Roman emperors. There ahave been various false caliphs, most of which are political rivals that either eventually rejoin the Caliphate or are reconquered. Then there’s the followers of Shia Islam, which are a whole other issue.

Despite the alleged central power of the caliph the Caliphate’s territories are actually divided between a series of emir dynasties, most of whom provide the candidates for the ulama to appoint as caliph. These dynasties will trade and war with one another often, competing for land, vassals and riches though never to the point where they draw the ire of the caliph who can and will put down the biggest troublemakers. The larger emirs are also not above trying to influence the ulama into picking their preferred candidate when the time comes to choose a new caliph.

The dhimmi are a continuous issue for the Caliphate. Dar al-Islam is very tolerant of other faiths but enthusiastic and quite forceful in their attempts to convert these unbelievers (though not to the extent or brutality of the Christian inquisition). Conversion usually comes as a result of the jizya taxes, which can get quite heavy. In fact, some emirates and sultanates, particularly those not on the Silk Road, rely on the jizya for most of their local economies. The wars of faith are making things difficult for certain faiths in Islamic lands such as Christians and Buddhists/Taoists/Daoists and taxes that pay for the war efforts are more likely to fall on these people. Extending the dhimmi to fey beings is a controversial decision that some emirates have permitted and others have forbidden. No caliph has ever made a definitive decision on the matter.

Sitting on the edge of the conventional Caliphate is the Emirate of Cordoba. They actually claimed to be an independent caliphate at one point before they were forced back into the fold. With a higher degree of multiculturalism and more dhimmi in prominent positions of power than most other dynastic emirates, Cordoba is viewed with some suspicion. This is, of course, ridiculous considering the endless skirmishing that the Iberian Christians in the north subject their territories to. The endless battles in the north have served as a convenient means for Cordoba to dispose of some of their more fanatical factions or the North African ‘would-be rulers’ that arrive every now and then to try to dominate them.

Outside of the actual Caliphate are a number of Muslim empires that swear their own allegiance to the Caliph but not as subordinate emirs.

The Sultanate of Delhi is the largest of these semi-independent states within Dar al-Islam. Delhi is probably the most tolerant state in Dar al-Islam of non-Abrahamic faiths. In addition to Hindus and Buddhists there are a number of petty pagan faiths in their lands that are left alone, though they aren’t approved of practising in public. The court of the sultan is especially colourful and infamously decadent, even during the reigns of the more zealous sultans. More-so than any other Islamic war-front, even the battles in the Mediterranean, is the ongoing campaign to conquer the subcontinent. Delhi is often expanding at the expense of the Indian rajas, which worries the Caliphate as Delhi not only continues to get larger, wealthier and more powerful but also influenced by their non-Islamic subjects. The issues Delhi has with the local fey beings often depends on how the ruling sultan or civil servants feel about their Hindu population.

Though not exactly recent converts by any means, the various Muslim states of the Sahel are often rather peripheral, both geographically and politically. A lot of pre-Islamic practises are still observed in these lands due to the distance from Baghdad – and the fact that most of the Islamic heartland tends to ignore or forget about them. As Christian missions start to convert the coastal kingdoms of West Africa and Abyssinia expands in Central Africa the Sahel is beginning to receive more attention.

Indonesia’s Muslim sultanates are not ignored by the Caliphate but they are so very distant, even with modern magic speeding up sea travel. They also tend to be particularly Sufi in their perspective and, by necessity, have to be tolerant towards their non-Abrahamic demographics. Much like Delhi the local sultanates, particularly those directly on the Straits of Malacca, are fabulously wealthy and decadent but with many more unique features from the influence of abangan – the level of syncretism usually varies depending on region and the proportion of non-Islamic faiths and culture.

The Middle East has its own unique fey that the Islamic states still work with. Djinn consider themselves separate from the faeries of Europe (and much of the rest of the world but who’s counting) and don’t appreciate scholarly debates attempting to refute this claim. They don’t seem to be found anywhere outside of what are now traditional core lands of Dar al-Islam and are considered much more trustworthy than the fair folk. Ghuls, on the other hand, have been a persistent and worrying pest and the fact that they have spread into the rest of Eurasia and Africa is worrying for many people, especially as the extensive battlefields from the wars of faith seem to be feeding a population boom.

All Under Heaven is dedicated to making sure its empire lives up to its name. Grand Cathay is supposed to be the centre of the entirety of this empire but it is in a state of perpetual, almost ritualistic conflict between the two claimants to the throne of the emperor. Both the Latter Jin and Song Dynasties have agreed to cooperate to ensure that Cathay remains the unchallenged, supreme civilisation of the world but that doesn’t mean they have forgotten their ancient feud. In fact the wars of faith were what prompted a return to cooperation between the two after centuries of accepted division.

Cathay does not regard itself as a nation of faith like the barbarians that presume to challenge them. Instead of religion, which Cathay is generally tolerant of as long as it isn’t disruptive, Cathay focuses more on establishing their preferred social order. At the top is the emperor, who is supposed to also be the ultimate civil authority, even in Cathay’s vassals and other subjects that are considered a part of All Under Heaven. Even the rulers of these other nations are subordinate to the emperor though they are expected to be the supreme authority (other than the emperor, of course… and Cathay’s officials too) within their societies, in mimicry of Cathay’s social order. Despite some efforts, Cathay hasn’t managed to export their extensive bureaucracy culture to all of their vassals yet though some of their oldest satellites have been under Cathay’s thumb long enough to have basically been reworked into cultural copies of their masters.

Despite the endless warring, Cathay – both parts of it – is the wealthiest nation on the planet. They don’t like to trade, preferring to rely on their own resources and showing disdain for the supposed goods that the barbarians outside of All Under Heaven offer them. Their own unique goods, such as silk and jade are sought after by the western cultures and a lot of trade takes place along the Silk Road but it is not appreciated by Cathay’s imperial court. Several emperors have cracked down on trade, particularly in the Song’s southern ports where Muslims have been persecuted many times due to the influence they spread through their merchants. Normally when one of Cathay’s dynasties suppresses trade in their territories the other will reopen it in their own lands, just to keep the competition between the two going.

The issue of the missionaries and proselytes from both Christendom and Dar al-Islam is a difficult one. Cathay usually applies their “live and let live, as long as they don’t cause trouble,” approach on both faiths, especially the local denominations but they’re usually forced to practise in private or outlying, rural communities. Despite many emperors trying to suppress both faiths – and having success in Cathay itself – they always bounce back in the rest of All Under Heaven. The wiser rulers and ministers have mostly realised that this what they will likely expect when All Under Heaven eventually encompasses these religions’ heartlands.

The other lands in All Under Heaven are ruled in a fashion that would boggle the minds of administrators in feudal Christendom and dynastically decentralised Dar al-Islam (though still not on the level of modern bureaucracy, of course). Cathayan ministers are present in all of the empire’s vassal states, managing these lands and interfering with the local governments regularly to make sure they match the goals and ideals of Cathay’s court. The degree of control these ministers have – and the number of them present in local leadership – often depends on how geographically close to Cathay they are, how long they have historically been a vassal and how loyal they have been historically. The newer or more distant lands in All Under Heaven are treated with a lighter touch until they have paid homage to Cathay long enough for Cathay to start flooding their ruling courts with Cathay trained ministers.

Grand Tartary, though diminished from their glory days, is one of Cathay’s mightiest vassals. There have been several steppe empires, with the Mongol one forming an ‘oceanic khanate’ but they all declined. Tartary is what emerged in the aftermath and it ended up under Cathay’s thumb. Tartary is divided between its sedentary, urban culture which is rather thoroughly Sinicised – with plenty of cultural remnants, of course – and the more traditional rural nomads that maintain the old ways. Though there are a lot of Muslims and Christians (the latter being mostly local Nestorians) in Tartary, particularly in the west where the majority of Tartary’s cities are, most of the population are still traditional pagans. Tartary continues to produce some of the deadliest mobile cavalry in the world. In fact the value of these auxiliaries have allowed Tartary to leverage some autonomy from Cathay’s bureaucracy despite being an old and close vassal.

Oceanic travel is something that Cathay has frequently ignored but, at the same time, they’ve built one of the most sophisticated navies in the world. Cathay may have conceded many seas that All Under Heaven borders when their fleets do go to war they are formidable. Massive junks that dwarf any Christian or Muslim ship that isn’t built with fey power take up vast space in Cathayan harbours and are feared by seamen of the other two faiths should they ever slip their mooring and set sail.

All Under Heaven’s relationship with the fey is also complicated. For most people in All Under Heaven but especially in Cathay these beings are divine (or semi-divine) and are appeased even more than they are in rural Europe. Even compared to Europe’s vast varieties of ‘little people’ East Asia has a colourful assortment of minor fey that they often see as sharing their lands with rather than tolerating them like the westerners. The cynocephali are one of the more notable beings because they lack the ephemeral nature of most other fey and are actually worryingly (for the Abrahamic faiths) physical and almost mundane – if it weren’t for the dog features. There’s also the various fox-spirits who are as active in East Asia as elves and sidhe are in Europe and almost as troublesome. The only saving grace for All Under heaven is that unlike elves, the fox-spirits aren’t prone to forming warbands, armies or kingdoms. Scholars who do enter All Under Heaven are starting to cause some trouble with Cathay’s own scholarly community for pointing out any similarities between the local spirits and Europe’s fey and how the Europeans may or may not have more reliable lore about them. don’t get them started on the demons and devils and Cathay’s attitude towards them.

The greatest complication to the great wars of faith was the discovery of the New World.

The unknown western lands (or eastern, from the perspective of All Under Heaven) are a mysterious place that all three great faiths are eager to explore, claim and, in the case of the local peoples, convert. Diseases, both mundane and born of Hell, are spreading throughout these lands as sick and sinners arrive in the land and interact with the local people. Exiles from all three powers also flee to these lands and sadly, amongst the innocent are plenty of followers of the Lord of Lies who have brought his attention to these lands with much greater frequency.

The fey are also present in these lands as well. In fact, there’s an even greater presence here than anywhere in the Old World (except, maybe the British Isles and possibly Siberia) though the many fey kingdoms are still mostly separated from the mortal world. The New World has its own unique beings but, as in East Asia and Africa, the fey largely look familiar to European scholars.

Colonies are being established in the New World by all three powers and as riches are found in these lands – though quite a lot of it is already in the hands of the local peoples – these ventures are getting larger and more well funded. Christendom, which always had to look to the Atlantic for overseas trade, has made the most efforts to claim and colonise land in the New World and convert the locals. Dar al-Islam has started some colonies of its own but most of their attention is still focused on the Indian Ocean where things are much more certain and they don’t have to start from scratch in establishing wealthy outposts. Since slavery is forbidden in Christendom (and they do, in fact, have to worry about how sinful they are) they’re having much more difficulty establishing a plantation economy and are trying to transport serfdom over to their new colonial territories. All Under Heaven, due to their general disinterest in sea travel, are also lagging behind but things are beginning to change.

Science in this world – or scholarship, as its known here – is as mystical and philosophical as it is scientific.

Alchemy is of paramount importance to every nation that wants to survive and thrive in the modern world. Damascined Steel and Greek Fire used to be considered part of this field of study but have since been discovered to be made by wholly mundane processes. They’re actually rather common now that skilled alchemists have figured out the crafting processes and learned how to alchemically recreate the necessary ingredients. Transmutation of natural substances is probably the most well known and studied form of alchemy and has produced some strange substances (such as the substance known simply as “green,”) but those who have figured out how to transmute base metals into gold are keeping the secret to themselves. Most are smart enough to realise just how worthless gold will become if they let the process become widely known.

Alchemical transmutation isn’t just confined to physical substances. The spirit can also be transformed and purified but it is a much more difficult process. It is disliked in Christendom because it is seen as a simple and easy path to absolution of peoples’ sins and is a bastardisation of the spiritual journey in Christianity. Medicine has been advanced tremendously by the purification process and is already boosting birth-rates even further in the increasingly overcrowded European continent.

Dar al-Islam is roughly equal to Christendom in alchemical knowledge but they have pioneered the creation of artificial life, as controversial as that decision is. Muslim scholars also study the many elemental and intrinsic qualities and have begun to produce purer forms of material substances through the transmutation of their intrinsic opposites.

After transmutation of gold, the most legendary alchemical substance is the Universal Panacea, Elixir of Immortality, or Philosopher’s Stone, though whether they’re the all same thing or not is a matter of debate. All Under Heaven supposedly knows the secret but the sages that discovered it have kept it strictly secret, even from the emperor for fear of it being abused. They have released the process of making a much weaker – and cheaper – version that can cure all ailments, which has led to a population boom in East Asia. The number of people who have ignorantly quaffed improperly prepared ingredients for the Elixir of Immortality, such as unaltered mercury or molten gold and died has ended the reputation (and often the life) of many an alchemist.

Homunculus are a very controversial product of the alchemical research into creating artificial life. The fact that they observably lack souls has repeatedly vindicated the religious authorities in Europe and West Asia who denounce them as unholy and the Cathayan philosophers that consider them a disruptive force to societal harmony. they’re also not that useful as they tend to be rather ungainly a less responsive than actual living beings. The human variants are useful as sources of organs and body grants that serve as alchemical/magical ingredients. For the worshippers of the Lord of Lies homunculus aren’t that useful for their rituals as they lack souls but can serve as especially convenient hosts for possession by devils and demons. They fey can also easily influence them, though their poor responses and reflexes make them even more ungainly than humans they subject to their influences.

Technologically the world does rely on alchemy to improve what has existed for centuries. Thanks to alchemical improvements, steel plate now verges on invulnerable whilst being as light as a feather, except to weapons that have been treated the same way. All manner of dangerous chemicals are now loaded into catapults to be launched at castle walls, enemy ships or opposing armies, wherever such weapons are needed. The war fronts between the three great faiths are now almost irreversibly scarred by the supernatural substances that have been used to try to decide the endless battles that are waged in these contested lands. There have been efforts to transmute stone to render castles as supposedly impregnable as plate armour but the costs of building an alchemically improved castle/fortress would be prohibitive, even for the most vital strongholds.

Spiritual purification has also been applied to certain animals, usually horses and dogs, to make them stronger, surer of purpose and often more compliant. Unfortunately most alchemical processes are too expensive for the common folk to access the actual quality products but cheaper versions are available – as are an assortment of knock-offs from charlatans – such as the simpler alchemical medicines.

Ship building has been influenced heavily by the lessons learned from the shipwrights of Venice and is actually a wholly mundane process. This standardised construction of ships has been incredibly useful to Christendom and has allowed them to spread their influence in the New World and coastal West Africa more effectively than their Muslim rivals.

Magic is a more complicated issue. All Under Heaven has few issues with it and has even dedicated vast philosophical texts to the study of various magic. At the same time they prefer that it remain in its particular societies and not interact with the majority of the populace. Christendom and Dar al-Islam are much less tolerant and officially oppose the very idea of magic as unholy. The realities of the global situation mean they have been forced to sanction some magic and accept it as a necessary evil, at least. The Catholic Church are the ones who sanction accepted witchcraft but they keep a very, very close eye on their practitioners and usually have them monitored by agents of the Inquisition. Its not uncommon for many courts in Europe to have court magicians, particularly in the Orthodox lands, however. Dar al-Islam have more formalised magical societies but they’re much more monastic, collaborating in special and exclusive academies when they’re not serving as court magi.

All lands have hermit magicians, hedge-witches and other loners of mystical power. They’re often the surest means that common-folk can interact with magic.

Though most of their possessions in the mortal world have been subverted by humanity the fey are far from truly being their vassals. The fey have plenty of hidden places but they don’t exactly share them, preferring that their specific kingdoms and communities keep to themselves. Even the increasing expansion of human influence over their peoples hasn’t changed this attitude. Most fey that aren’t simply sticking their heads in the proverbial sands are either cutting their hidden realms off from the mortal world, strengthening the illusions that protect them or, strangely enough, pre-emptively making deals with humanity, ones where they write the fine-print.

Dragons have seen better days. The smartest in western Eurasia, who don’t let their greed and arrogance override their intelligence, have mostly fled to the New World, the Arctic wastes and the depths of Africa. The others have almost been completely hunted to extinction. They’ve done much better in East Asia where they are much more respected- it helps that the local culture amongst the eastern dragons (they’re not exactly ‘Chinese Dragons,’ mind you) is much more disciplined. Some eastern dragons have even joined All Under Heaven’s ministries.

The greatest threat to the world is the influence of Hell and the diabolical Lord of Lies. Cabals are scattered around the world, conducting dark rituals that mock the services of Christianity, spreading plague and summoning demons and devils (the difference between the two being rather academic) to possess their neighbours. The fey are connected to the Lord of Lies and many of the humans they steal away are offered to him as sacrifices, either in return for being otherwise left alone or for further magical favours that they cannot already accomplish by themselves. All of these followers work towards several goals: first, the corruption of society in the mortal world, second, the reduction of the influence of God and the righteous and, three, prepare the world for the End of Days and the final battle for the souls of mankind…. which they intend to win.

Inspired by B.Munro/Quantumbranching's: www.deviantart.com/quantumbran…