The cornerstone of the Abrahamic faiths, Jews were not always well treated on the various continents of both ancient, medieval, and even modern times. Their history was often one of being displaced from one nation to each other. This led to mass emigration to America, which in the industrial age, had more Jewish people living in it than any other nation save for Israel. (Which probably has its own story right now) There's roughly a million or so living on the continent now, mostly concentrated around the the Hudson river and its mouth; The Berkshires, Catskills and Long Island generally provide a cultural base and isolation. Manhattan is a territory of the United States of America, but is largely a port town with a fluctuating political climate. Although the USA Army makes laws that make life hard for them just like anybody else, the Jewish residents of New York City managed to make a niche by serving as ambassadors up the Hudson, bridging the political gap between the port town and the state of New York.
The Holy Land is far too distant for many Jews to make a pilgrimage to, however many try to make the far more feasible visit to the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, or in Charleston. Very few modifications have been made to the Torah, but "The Book of Clouds" exists as a quasi-apocryphal tome. Because of murky history, it's very mythologized, but it recounts the dark deeds of Adolph Hitler, and they hold a festival starting on roughly the last week of July.
There are a few settlements in Florida, as well. Because most of the Jewish people who lived in Florida in the 20th century tended to be older, and thus not create a great deal of lineages, the communities could provide a safety net and source of migrations as Jews, as usual, became scapegoats and targets when things went south. These communities also serve as a port stop for the United States Empire, helping pass along the goods in the long trade route that spans the Caribbean to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
They're also a sizeable minority in the Californias. Most of them have been driven out by the Scientologists, but live as Shepherds in the California desert, although Jews will sometimes be hired (or acquired) for servant positions, due to various restrictions by the Scientology faith. Due to the large Mexican-American population in the southwest, assimilation has created a new ethnic group, known as Shimishin. There are a few that have migrated the foothills, Northern Coastal Range, where they can exist as a buffer zone between the Scientologists and the Buddhists, the latter really not tending form schisms based on religious differences.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Entertainment in Medieval America
Tournaments
In times of peace, warlords will keep their skills sharpened with tournaments held in most major cities. Jousting is the largely the most popular, although melee will take a variety of forms. Around the Great Lakes, a common melee fight is is to try to grapple one's opponent with a guisarme, although these can get pretty rough and result in fisticuffs. The emphasis from melee to jousting gradients from east to west, as the flatter and more open lands give warlords plenty of practice with the horses. Although the port cities of the Northeast do not usually engage in mounted combat, as centers of trade they cannot pass up the opportunity to host events with such market potential. Their pool of nobles may often compete in fencing tournaments, and such homegrown heroes can be the crux of bitter rivalries. Suspected foul play in the battle between Michael Boniface of New York and Fred Connolly of Boston in 2823 was rumored to be the catalyst in a bloody war, and onlookers get nervous whenever fighters from those two cities compete with one another
The bluntness of technique also moves from north to south. In the more Northern regions, there's more of an emphasis on padding up and jumping straight in. Tournament fighting in the South is more about speed, since heavy armors can be uncomfortable in the hotter climate. It's for this reason the Southern nations will hold most of their major tournaments after the harvest season is over, in December and January. Although most of the competing knights are from below the Mason Dixon, everyone from Non-Denominational world is invited. Well-off knights from the north will gladly take a leave from their snow-ridden homes to test their skill in January's Super Bowl Tournament. (The at the behest of the Church, nobody performs on Sunday) The event is not only a big deal for competitors, but for merchants who can sample consumers from all over the continent. The tournament will even present theatrical shows.
Theater
The demands of labor, lack of wealth by most citizens, and religious concerns can often limit the performance arts in medieval society. However, the 20th and 21st centuries left people used to a steady diet of television and music, so performers were able to eke out livings here and there. In California, the major cities will have long-established theaters, paid for out of the government's coffers, as well as schools to train. Playwrights and actors even compete at bi-annual festivals in Hollywood. Because of this, the arts are more sophisticated, but also much more rigid. Playwrights often have to stick to long-established conventions, women are barred from acting, and only the most underground productions do not endorse current religious mores and established rulers.
In the forest zones of the east, performing is a much more amorphous, even sloppy trade. Only one out of two thousand people can make a living this way, and a single person is unable to create an entire retinue by oneself. The peasant class also rarely has the time, never mind the wealth, to be steady customers. Therefore, minstrels and theatrical troupes in medieval times often travel from place to place, which may contain a wide variety of jugglers, singers, dancer, actors and comedians--and very often these performers are jacks of all trades and masters of none. Because half the troupe may consist of people who aren't even very good actors, show have more of a broad and "variety" feel, and popular roles are familiar, cartoonish characters like Spiderman, Casper the Ghost or Mickey Mouse, so pratfalls and acrobatics can take the place of more heady, dramatic pieces. It also ensures they can have a paying audience. Larger cities can boast more specialized casts and bigger productions, but they still often have that caravan flavor.
Rodeos
Out on the plains, the cowboys are not one for dramatic representations. They find it a wasteful display of idolatry that breeds thievery and promiscuity. They also do not engage in the jousting style tournaments, as there is no noble class. What the herdsmen have rather, are rodeos. Here, cowboys can test their practical skills at herding, which include steer-wrestling, roping, bronc-riding and horse racing. Here, competing means more than just for riches or glory, but a very deep honor. Feats of being an excellent cowboy essentially mean one has the essential qualities of being a man. Leadership, livestock and women are awarded to rodeo champions. It can also be a somewhat less fatal means of issuing challenges for a slight. It's also sometimes tradition to have a prisoner of war dressed up in clownish outfits and facing the wrath or one or more angry bulls. For all the stakes and gruesomeness, however, rodeos are a festive affair, full of feasting, dancing and music.
Music is actually still an important part of cowboy culture, and the only art form one can portray religious and historical figures. Musicians are considered the guardians of history by the tribe, passing down lore and playing at wedding and funeral services. Because many instruments are made of wood and metal, they are invaluable family heirlooms
In times of peace, warlords will keep their skills sharpened with tournaments held in most major cities. Jousting is the largely the most popular, although melee will take a variety of forms. Around the Great Lakes, a common melee fight is is to try to grapple one's opponent with a guisarme, although these can get pretty rough and result in fisticuffs. The emphasis from melee to jousting gradients from east to west, as the flatter and more open lands give warlords plenty of practice with the horses. Although the port cities of the Northeast do not usually engage in mounted combat, as centers of trade they cannot pass up the opportunity to host events with such market potential. Their pool of nobles may often compete in fencing tournaments, and such homegrown heroes can be the crux of bitter rivalries. Suspected foul play in the battle between Michael Boniface of New York and Fred Connolly of Boston in 2823 was rumored to be the catalyst in a bloody war, and onlookers get nervous whenever fighters from those two cities compete with one another
The bluntness of technique also moves from north to south. In the more Northern regions, there's more of an emphasis on padding up and jumping straight in. Tournament fighting in the South is more about speed, since heavy armors can be uncomfortable in the hotter climate. It's for this reason the Southern nations will hold most of their major tournaments after the harvest season is over, in December and January. Although most of the competing knights are from below the Mason Dixon, everyone from Non-Denominational world is invited. Well-off knights from the north will gladly take a leave from their snow-ridden homes to test their skill in January's Super Bowl Tournament. (The at the behest of the Church, nobody performs on Sunday) The event is not only a big deal for competitors, but for merchants who can sample consumers from all over the continent. The tournament will even present theatrical shows.
Theater
The demands of labor, lack of wealth by most citizens, and religious concerns can often limit the performance arts in medieval society. However, the 20th and 21st centuries left people used to a steady diet of television and music, so performers were able to eke out livings here and there. In California, the major cities will have long-established theaters, paid for out of the government's coffers, as well as schools to train. Playwrights and actors even compete at bi-annual festivals in Hollywood. Because of this, the arts are more sophisticated, but also much more rigid. Playwrights often have to stick to long-established conventions, women are barred from acting, and only the most underground productions do not endorse current religious mores and established rulers.
In the forest zones of the east, performing is a much more amorphous, even sloppy trade. Only one out of two thousand people can make a living this way, and a single person is unable to create an entire retinue by oneself. The peasant class also rarely has the time, never mind the wealth, to be steady customers. Therefore, minstrels and theatrical troupes in medieval times often travel from place to place, which may contain a wide variety of jugglers, singers, dancer, actors and comedians--and very often these performers are jacks of all trades and masters of none. Because half the troupe may consist of people who aren't even very good actors, show have more of a broad and "variety" feel, and popular roles are familiar, cartoonish characters like Spiderman, Casper the Ghost or Mickey Mouse, so pratfalls and acrobatics can take the place of more heady, dramatic pieces. It also ensures they can have a paying audience. Larger cities can boast more specialized casts and bigger productions, but they still often have that caravan flavor.
Rodeos
Out on the plains, the cowboys are not one for dramatic representations. They find it a wasteful display of idolatry that breeds thievery and promiscuity. They also do not engage in the jousting style tournaments, as there is no noble class. What the herdsmen have rather, are rodeos. Here, cowboys can test their practical skills at herding, which include steer-wrestling, roping, bronc-riding and horse racing. Here, competing means more than just for riches or glory, but a very deep honor. Feats of being an excellent cowboy essentially mean one has the essential qualities of being a man. Leadership, livestock and women are awarded to rodeo champions. It can also be a somewhat less fatal means of issuing challenges for a slight. It's also sometimes tradition to have a prisoner of war dressed up in clownish outfits and facing the wrath or one or more angry bulls. For all the stakes and gruesomeness, however, rodeos are a festive affair, full of feasting, dancing and music.
Music is actually still an important part of cowboy culture, and the only art form one can portray religious and historical figures. Musicians are considered the guardians of history by the tribe, passing down lore and playing at wedding and funeral services. Because many instruments are made of wood and metal, they are invaluable family heirlooms
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Lakes
The Great Lakes operate as a their own de facto sea. In fact, throughout America, it's often referred to as "the fourth coast", or the "drinking sea", or the "glass sea", due to the icing over at wintertime, and the light skin of its inhabitants. The Lake states are on good terms with each other largely due to the mutual partnerships influenced by the merchants of the shoreside cities like Buffalo, Chicago and Detroit. Winters are too harsh and enemies to fierce to want to throw away their advantage on war.
The premiere power is Michigan. It has the highest population, and it stands as the major water-gateway from east to west. As something of a peninsula, it overseas trade from Canada to much of the west. Its sister nation Wisconsin has claimed the the vestigial rump of Minnesota, where it now sits at the top (and much easier traveling point) of the Mississippi river.
The counties of the east are frequently embroiled in bitter warfare with New York, as they jealously yearn for eerie canal that connects the lakes to the Atlantic. Allegheny is currently the most powerful, with its all-but ownership of Lake Eerie, and the city of Pittsburgh at the mouth of the very busy Ohio River. The tough conditions and access to resources have made the Alleghenyians renown metalsmiths, and few wish to take its knights class head-on.
Though never part of the "United States" empire, Ontario has blended in with the rest of the Lakes culture it participates with, and as a result has largely "Americanized", or at least "Midwesternized". It even established a Non-Denom church in its capital of Toronto, in order to connect better with its southern neighbors. However, Canadian folk tradition still permeates from the rustics of Ocean Sound.
The premiere power is Michigan. It has the highest population, and it stands as the major water-gateway from east to west. As something of a peninsula, it overseas trade from Canada to much of the west. Its sister nation Wisconsin has claimed the the vestigial rump of Minnesota, where it now sits at the top (and much easier traveling point) of the Mississippi river.
The counties of the east are frequently embroiled in bitter warfare with New York, as they jealously yearn for eerie canal that connects the lakes to the Atlantic. Allegheny is currently the most powerful, with its all-but ownership of Lake Eerie, and the city of Pittsburgh at the mouth of the very busy Ohio River. The tough conditions and access to resources have made the Alleghenyians renown metalsmiths, and few wish to take its knights class head-on.
Though never part of the "United States" empire, Ontario has blended in with the rest of the Lakes culture it participates with, and as a result has largely "Americanized", or at least "Midwesternized". It even established a Non-Denom church in its capital of Toronto, in order to connect better with its southern neighbors. However, Canadian folk tradition still permeates from the rustics of Ocean Sound.
- System of Government: Feudalism
- Head of State:
- Michigan: President,chosen by and from the warriors of the ruling Bauer family
- Allegheny: Count, chosen by and from the warriors of the ruling Strater family
- Ontario: Governor, chosen by and from the warriors of the ruling Campbell family
- Head of State:
- Population:
- Michigan: 2,500,000
- Allegheny: 1,230,000
- Ontario: 740,000
- Religion: Non-Denominational
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
New Jersey
Much of the Northeast tends to run by Republics; Either Merchant City States, territories administrated by the Church, or just a few peasant towns making their way in the world, New Jersey is a feudal state. New Jersey is one of a few feudal kingdoms found between Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound. The Pine Barrens have largely kept them off the coast, where the concentrate on the fertile fields within. Jersey is perhaps the most prominent due to the more fertile inland, and the Delaware River, one of the highways that connects the Northeast and Midwest.
This also owes largely to the presence of the Families. In some ways, they're different from the knights found in the heartland, as the warlords are not mounted knights for the most part, but hold pikemen armies. Their origins are a little different as well. the New Jersey warlords are a class that used to be a lower class, often underworld and secretive in their wars. But the tactics were essentially the same as the other warlords: Intimidation of the peasants, blood ties and a very organized hierarchy. In fact, the Non-Denominational Church found them to actually be more reasonable and easier to neogitate with than the petty knights throwing their weight around. It was just a matter of finding a family who was on the same page as them, faith-wise, since most of the families still practiced Catholicism.
One of the more respected clans was the Giaccino family. The Giaccino has aspirations of royalty, and were on relatively good trading terms with the United States. Also, Don Michael Giaccino really saw little point in sticking to a Church who's influence in the region was disappearing by the generation. The Giaccinos had eventually converted to Non-Denom, gaining the Church's blessing and allies from surrounding areas. Wiping out rivals like Martones and the Demasias, the Giaccino family was now out in the open and legitimate.
This also owes largely to the presence of the Families. In some ways, they're different from the knights found in the heartland, as the warlords are not mounted knights for the most part, but hold pikemen armies. Their origins are a little different as well. the New Jersey warlords are a class that used to be a lower class, often underworld and secretive in their wars. But the tactics were essentially the same as the other warlords: Intimidation of the peasants, blood ties and a very organized hierarchy. In fact, the Non-Denominational Church found them to actually be more reasonable and easier to neogitate with than the petty knights throwing their weight around. It was just a matter of finding a family who was on the same page as them, faith-wise, since most of the families still practiced Catholicism.
One of the more respected clans was the Giaccino family. The Giaccino has aspirations of royalty, and were on relatively good trading terms with the United States. Also, Don Michael Giaccino really saw little point in sticking to a Church who's influence in the region was disappearing by the generation. The Giaccinos had eventually converted to Non-Denom, gaining the Church's blessing and allies from surrounding areas. Wiping out rivals like Martones and the Demasias, the Giaccino family was now out in the open and legitimate.
- System of Government: Feudalism
- Head of State:
- Don, chosen by the head of the ruling Giaccino family
- Head of State:
- Population: 1,200,000
- Religion: Non-Denominational
- Totemic Symbol: Bald Eagle
- Map
Sunday, May 30, 2010
New Mexico
The arid territories of New Mexico are the last stop before the lands of Mexico. Between the vast cities of Southern Mexico and the kingdom of New Mexico is a wide and blistering desert where only the most daring and hardened nomads live. To the west is the even more blistering Death Valley. To the North are craggy Rocky Mountains. Because of this, New Mexico usually only has to death with the nomads of Texas.
Much activity happens on the Rio Grande, New Mexico's best access to the sea. It was very early on the state was able to reclaim most of the rest of the river, as western Texas is largely unpopulated. The early New Mexico Governor sought this pivotal crossroads of the continent, and for fifteen years battled with the herdsmen for control. After they claimed it, the great river was essentially theirs.
The other major irrigated river is the Gila, extending into the former Arizona. Because it's not as much as a trading crux, the communities are much smaller, and mostly sustience communities and mines. Many of the farmers are descended from American Indians who had access to the larger parts of the Gila, and were able to sustain agricultural communities while the cities on the Salt River withered away. Though the Gila residents live under an iron rule as all desert societies do, the disconnect from the Rio Grande, and the lack of perceived importants, allow the peasants to enjoy their own culture.
While all the desert nations enjoy herdsmen as vassals, New Mexico is the only one where half the population of shepherds. While the New Mexican tribes are not particularly feared, they are generally free to do what they wish, they are protected from molestation from enemy tribes.
Much activity happens on the Rio Grande, New Mexico's best access to the sea. It was very early on the state was able to reclaim most of the rest of the river, as western Texas is largely unpopulated. The early New Mexico Governor sought this pivotal crossroads of the continent, and for fifteen years battled with the herdsmen for control. After they claimed it, the great river was essentially theirs.
The other major irrigated river is the Gila, extending into the former Arizona. Because it's not as much as a trading crux, the communities are much smaller, and mostly sustience communities and mines. Many of the farmers are descended from American Indians who had access to the larger parts of the Gila, and were able to sustain agricultural communities while the cities on the Salt River withered away. Though the Gila residents live under an iron rule as all desert societies do, the disconnect from the Rio Grande, and the lack of perceived importants, allow the peasants to enjoy their own culture.
While all the desert nations enjoy herdsmen as vassals, New Mexico is the only one where half the population of shepherds. While the New Mexican tribes are not particularly feared, they are generally free to do what they wish, they are protected from molestation from enemy tribes.
- System of Government: Hydraulic Empire
- Head of State: President, elected by and from the elders of the ruling Nervaiz family.
- Population: 900,000
- Religion: New Age
- Totemic symbol: Winged Sun
- Totemic symbol: Winged Sun
- Map
Quebec
The most Northern power in Medieival America is Quebec. starting at the end of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, although it's never been a part of the United States, the fractured feudal states means that it could never quite sit out on politics. The rest of America will tell stories of stories of axe-wielding Barbarians. Although darker times have made the nation fearsome, it's also a rich warrior culture. It has also in recent times become wealthy due to the fur trade, and deposits of gold.
The Quebecois French has largely been kept intact. This comes from a relatively small and consolidated populace along the St. Lawrence. The language has always been a distinctive part when it was a province of greater Canada, and in the medieval age, the Quebecois look at it something that marks themselves as a race. Therefore, any major breaks from the tongue have been considered as good as heresy. A french language makes up the court, as well as the Catholic Church. The Non-Denominational Church was looked at as an American, Anglo institution, and was thus never embraced in these parts. In fact, the Quebecois are the only sizable population not to practice Non-Denomination east of the Mississippi.
Because the land itself is so cold, and because their uniqueness has given it a sense of superiority, Quebec has long waged expansionist wars on the continent. New England has largely had little to fear from the kingdom. The rugged terrain of the Appalachians, particularly the Green and White mountains, have kept Quebec's knights at bay. Therefore, most attacks have been at the westward countries. Every couple of centuries, attempts will be made to conquor New York, for its warmer and fertile fields and vineyards. Access to the Hudson River is also a benefit, as the Hudson is a pivotal gateway between east and west. Quebec will also try to absorb its Canadian neighbors, feeling the lands of Canada were always rightfully Acadian. Invasions peter out or hit a brick wall at Toronto, and even though Quebec's empire is at a vestigial point, it did have the effect of breaking up the Province of Ontario, and eastern Canada is now a spectrum between Anglo and Franco cultures.
The Quebecois French has largely been kept intact. This comes from a relatively small and consolidated populace along the St. Lawrence. The language has always been a distinctive part when it was a province of greater Canada, and in the medieval age, the Quebecois look at it something that marks themselves as a race. Therefore, any major breaks from the tongue have been considered as good as heresy. A french language makes up the court, as well as the Catholic Church. The Non-Denominational Church was looked at as an American, Anglo institution, and was thus never embraced in these parts. In fact, the Quebecois are the only sizable population not to practice Non-Denomination east of the Mississippi.
Because the land itself is so cold, and because their uniqueness has given it a sense of superiority, Quebec has long waged expansionist wars on the continent. New England has largely had little to fear from the kingdom. The rugged terrain of the Appalachians, particularly the Green and White mountains, have kept Quebec's knights at bay. Therefore, most attacks have been at the westward countries. Every couple of centuries, attempts will be made to conquor New York, for its warmer and fertile fields and vineyards. Access to the Hudson River is also a benefit, as the Hudson is a pivotal gateway between east and west. Quebec will also try to absorb its Canadian neighbors, feeling the lands of Canada were always rightfully Acadian. Invasions peter out or hit a brick wall at Toronto, and even though Quebec's empire is at a vestigial point, it did have the effect of breaking up the Province of Ontario, and eastern Canada is now a spectrum between Anglo and Franco cultures.
- System of Government: Feudalism
- Head of State:
- King, oldest male heir of the ruling Frechette family
- Head of State:
- Population: 1 million
- Religion: Roman Catholic
- Totemic Symbol: Fluer De Lis (Lily Flower)
- Totemic Symbol: Fluer De Lis (Lily Flower)
Friday, May 28, 2010
District of Columbia
The District Columbia is a unique feature in Medieval America. Located between the Cascade range and the rest of the Rocky Mountains, it's the only feudal state in the continent's west. It's also the only feudal state state which isn't Christian in denomination. There are no large cities in Columbia, but rather a group of estates and fortresses. The Columbian warlords hold a tight grip on the peasants, as there's on-stop war on every side.
The rivalry of the Pacific Northwest city-states were coming to fierce and bloody heads. The Buddhist priests convened, and in an attempt to create solidarity, declared Holy War on the Empire of Deseret, who's heathen kings had raped the land and showed no respect for the Earth. It was every Cascadian's duty to vanquish the Mormons. The elites would finance these wars, and once Deseret fell, people began setting up colonies. These fiefdoms were at times, a strange mishmash of cultures. They would include Lords with out of town estates, warrior-monks with their own garrisons, and even a few herdsmen who were converted to Buddhism and set up settled communities. Columbia was seen as the future of the continent. The Cascadia way of life and faith would expand further.
However, a hardened Deseret regained control of Snake River. Their hopes of establishing a new world order were vanquished, and Pacific Republics abandoned this new project and went right back to squabbling with one another. While its size was drastically reduced, the warlord estates which had been there for generations remained. Loyalties and chaos would likely have seen the new nation collapse, however the armies of warlord Aiden Lang were able to unify the populace into a single state.
Columbia's relationship with its coastal neighbors to the west is tense and complicated. On one hand, the merchant-cities see the District as a bunch of country bumpkins with swords. On the other, it makes a good buffer against the Mormons. For its part, the District of Columbia seas the the cities of Cascadia as a neglectful parent which needs new blood.
The rivalry of the Pacific Northwest city-states were coming to fierce and bloody heads. The Buddhist priests convened, and in an attempt to create solidarity, declared Holy War on the Empire of Deseret, who's heathen kings had raped the land and showed no respect for the Earth. It was every Cascadian's duty to vanquish the Mormons. The elites would finance these wars, and once Deseret fell, people began setting up colonies. These fiefdoms were at times, a strange mishmash of cultures. They would include Lords with out of town estates, warrior-monks with their own garrisons, and even a few herdsmen who were converted to Buddhism and set up settled communities. Columbia was seen as the future of the continent. The Cascadia way of life and faith would expand further.
However, a hardened Deseret regained control of Snake River. Their hopes of establishing a new world order were vanquished, and Pacific Republics abandoned this new project and went right back to squabbling with one another. While its size was drastically reduced, the warlord estates which had been there for generations remained. Loyalties and chaos would likely have seen the new nation collapse, however the armies of warlord Aiden Lang were able to unify the populace into a single state.
Columbia's relationship with its coastal neighbors to the west is tense and complicated. On one hand, the merchant-cities see the District as a bunch of country bumpkins with swords. On the other, it makes a good buffer against the Mormons. For its part, the District of Columbia seas the the cities of Cascadia as a neglectful parent which needs new blood.
- System of Government: Feudalism
- Head of State:
- Chief-Lord, chosen by and from the warriors of the ruling Lang family
- Head of State:
- Population: 700,000
- Religion: Buddhist
- Totemic Symbol: Eco Ying Yang
- Totemic Symbol: Eco Ying Yang
- Map
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