SkunkyArt | RvBOMally — Not One with Nineveh

The PoD is during Assyria's invasion of Phoenicia. The Phoenicians manage to escape their cities and set up shop around the Mediterranean, eventually becoming the Ken'ani Confederation.

Butterflies ensue. Rome is destroyed by the Ken'ani and the Etruscans. The Celts in Gaul become the hegemonic empire of Europe, conquering Germany, Italy, Iberia and the British Isles, although they never manage to pacify Scandinavia or the Slavic tribes. Famines in Turkestan lead to a series of migrations during the 6th century CE, with Turkic tribes pushing out the Slavs, and the Slavic Hakate destroys the Celtic empire in 589 CE. The Vendians, the ancestors of the modern Venedes, displace the Germanic tribes and establish themselves in Central Europe.

The Celtic world fractures into several different cultures, and they are under constant threat from the Vendians and the Scandinavians. In the modern era, the Celtic world will form the Celtic Association, an attempt to restore the unity and glory of the old Celtic empire.

The Scandinavians, dominated by Goetia and thus called by that name, are known for being militaristic and xenophobic, even to this day.

The Kingdom of Rasenna, the modern successor to the ancient Etruscans, was heavily damaged by centuries of Celtic, Slavic, and Turkic domination. It is very concerned about its continued survival and has thus turned into an isolationist, militaristic, chauvinistic state that has few if any relations with the outside world. Ironically, they have warm relations with the Venedic Union, a policy pursued because the Venedes would be the most dangerous to the Rasennans.

Oguzarg, the dominant Magyar state, became a republic in 1695 and invaded all of its neighbors in an attempt to establish republics there as well. The Oguzarg were defeated by a coalition of their neighbors and the monarch was reestablished.

Greece is only momentarily unified throughout the centuries, and a Greek national identity never forms. There is a Hellenic Union, which is a defensive alliance of culturally Greek states against neighbors such as the Huns and Kemet, but the Greek states hate each other just as much as they did in antiquity.

Although the Venedic Union did lose its war in an attempt to conquer Europe, unlike OTL Nazi Germany it was not destroyed. In the face of total annihilation, the Venedes threatened to use their considerable nuclear arsenal to destroy every major population center on Earth, even if it meant their own destruction. This forced every warring party to the negotiating table and the restoration of a shaky status quo ante bellum. The Venedes have, naturally, been expelled from the international community of nations and are very much a rogue state, albeit one that still has a powerful economy.

The Americas, known as Utlas-Ani in this world, were absolutely devastated by plague. The worst of this hit South America, which killed over ninety percent of the population. This fortunately allowed the plagues to burn out before reaching North America, where native populations are much higher. Settler colonies were established by the Celts, Huns and Phoenicians from the east, and the Chinese from the West.

African slavery became far more prevalent than OTL due to the lack of indigenous population in South America. After multiple slave revolts, slavery was finally abolished. Some powers, particularly New Pictia, New Galnia, and Docaria, all established "Ifristans" for these newly-freed populations. In the case of New Pictia and New Galnia, they did not have large slave populations, but they received them from Kerokia, which had expelled their freed slaves. Since conditions in Ifristans are abhorrent and the locals are treated as little more than slaves, many have turned to the Liberation Army of Equalists, which are *communist rebels that receive support from the Ken'ani, Hunlu Eternar and Kemet.

Through trade with the Ken'ani, Africa received far more technology than IOTL, allowing them to resist colonization. Some areas on the coast were heavily influenced by the seafaring powers, particularly Hunluafar on the East African coast.

Kemet remains the dominant power in the north of Africa, and while its influence has ebbed and flowed, it is one again hegemon of the Middle East. Kemet abandoned polytheism and adopted a monotheistic version which holds that Ra is the only god, and the rest of the gods are subordinate entities, akin to angels in OTL Christianity. This monotheistic Ra worship has been adopted by the Arabs.

The Prolean Republic of Africa is a radical Equalist state that originated from *Angola and *Katanga. Everyone is forced to speak Prolean, an artificial language made up of all of the different languages within the Prolean Republic. Although a democratic federation, the fact that the Prolean Republic want to take over all of Africa as part of its "liberation" means it is treated like an international pariah.

The Darianid dynasty in Persia was overthrown by the Porovids, an army of Indian invaders which established militant Hindu rule over Persia. The Porovids were themselves overthrown by Uighur invaders, and after their restoration, the Zoroastrian population, which established a Zoroastrian theocracy.

The Saha Empire is established by TTL's Yakuts, acting in a Genghis Khan-esque role. They once had control over China under the Yongheng Dynasty, from 845 CE to 1495 CE. The Yongheng were overthrown by the Xin Dynasty, which in turn were overthrown by the Jiu Dynasty, which enforced Tengrism on China and made that the dominant religion. In 1839, Baalists in Guangzho revolted and created the Blessed Empire of Peace, a totalitarian Baalist theocracy.

Industan is a relatively new empire, formed from the various Hindu empires of the subcontinent. Governed by the principles of Bharatiyan Revivalism, Industan is run by a council of Hindu clerics and enforce a strict caste system on the entirety of their society. Industan is the most populated country on Earth and is a technological and political powerhouse, power which has only increased when it managed to transform the more backwards Chinese Nan Dynasty into a junior partner rather than equals; building dams in Tibet and controlling the flow of water into China helped.

The Blessed Empire of Peace have been causing issues in the Indies, supporting Guangzhouan Baalist groups, who in turn have cultivated fanatics that attack Industani vessels and leading to conflict between the Blessed Empire and other groups. As a side effect, the Eternal State of Papua, a terrorist state that is on a conquering spree throughout the Indies, such that even the Blessed Empire opposes them, have conquered Sulavasi and are moving against more islands in the Indies. The Ken'ani are angered as they are targeted frequently for their cargo, and are seen as "Violators of the Faith," and "Blasphemers of the Holy Sites" of Baalism, which are Tyre and Byblos.

Neo-nomadism is a ideology and lifestyle for certain African and American societies who wish to escape from modern settled societies. Notable examples include the Free Peoples of Utlas-Ani, the Saan, and the Xhosa.

Technology is about fifty years ahead of OTL. Artificial gravity exists in the form of centrifugal space stations, and permanent settlements exist on the Moon.