"Qadišat Aloho, Qadišat Haylthono, Qadišat La Moyutho, d-estlebth methulothan etraham alayn."
(Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, who was crucified for us have mercy on us)
- Trisagion to Christ
Hello, thanks for reading it this far! Thanks for the comments, I'll start responding to them one by one.
Coment9 - Yes, thanks for reading!
Suhulsnow - Yep, Salarian stroke time. Not only that but for reasons you'll find out below, humanity will develop technology completely unlike prothean or citadel tech. Time for diplomatic heart attacks.
Asharzal - Nope, contrary to what you'd expect there's no pagan deities absorbed into the Church at all. Roles, terms and iconography yes, as a form of inculturalization but theological things like adopting Amaterasu or anything never happens. All those are just relegated to the history books. Keep in mind that pagan here is not a derogatory term at all, it's just a continuation of its original use. Pagan is not a christian term at all, it's a roman term that merely denotes religion practiced in the countryside as opposed to urban faiths like the Greco-Roman pantheon. It kept use since Christianity was largely an urban phenomenon in the Roman Empire.
Andrew Lee Houghtom - To summarize, the time from 1294 onwards is essentially technologically uplifting and converting the natives of the Americas. The general rule is that if you are friendly, they'll trade with you and convert you in the meantime but if you're hostile, they'll conquer you and if they can hold to you, you'll be less of a colony and more of another province.
Zandaino-Nova-Ari - Thank you for taking interest in this fanfic. About the Drell, their homeworld of Rakhana may be too far but perhaps a little FTL accident might let it happen.
Pop - Thank you for reading, Inshallah I can continue this fanfic.
[ Hey guys, comment on this chapter if you think the humans should find the Drell before the Hanar do and give us some awesome space bedouins. ]
Now, let us discuss the ramifications of Alien discovery and humanity's response. But before that, let's get a grasp on Modern Humanity as not too much will change once they pass the alien test and enter the stars.
The Earth had met quite a rapid development, reaching space centuries before its original counterpart would have. Uniquely, a global culture did not form despite being in a transition between modern and futuristic technologies. Internet is cheap and human infrastructure reaches as far as human settlement does. Though far from a perfect world, it is a very interconnected and interdependent one.
Trade flows all around the world, following established routes from the past and new routes as supply and demand of commodities changed with the times. Many states rise and fall but a few superpowers seemed to have developed an immortality that rises and falls in a dynastic cycle, like a phoenix who perishes into ash but also rises from the same ash. But as technology developed, cultures matured, trade grew and the Apostolic Faith was held by all, the various states of mankind gradually become longer lived and their borders more concrete.
In the age of alien contact, below is the state of humanity after the Prothean beacon's contents are disclosed to humanity at large.
Nations
Roman Empire / Hegemon of Europe
"In Christ, Basileus and Autokrator of the Romans."
The Roman Empire is a thoroughly hellenized continuation of the Roman Empire. Formed after the edict that split the Roman Empire into the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, the Eastern Empire would eventually reconquer most of the territories of the Western Roman Empire and make it clear that Rome remains as eternal as the God who conquered it.
In contemporary times, the Roman Empire is a transcontinental empire with the bulk of its territory located in the Mediterranean. The Roman Empire covers a land area of 6.3 million km and sports a population of 800.1 million. Its provinces can be found as far west as North America and Roman traders could be found virtually everywhere. As such, Roman diaspora can be found in almost every urban center and a Roman embassy is present in every nation.
Language
The lingua franca of the Roman Empire is Greek. However, regional languages such as Latin, Coptic, Syriac, Neo-Punic, Amazigh and Arabic enjoy popularity and similar status to Greek in different parts of the empire. As Greek is used for all administrative and public purposes, and the neighbors of the Empire may not necessarily speak Greek, all citizens of the Roman Empire are multilingual.
The general rule is that a Roman could speak Greek, a regional language and the lingua franca of a neighboring nation or continent. The cultural and political influence of the Romans on European powers are so large that Greek is the lingua franca for all European countries as well in the same way that English is the global language in our timeline but in a much more local setting. However, Romans do not call Greek as Greek but rather as Romeika.
Ethnicity
The distribution of language in the Empire also reflected the ethnicites that dwelt in it. The largest ethnic group of the Empire are the Greeks and their subtribes like the Cappadocians and the Pontic Greeks. This is followed by Latins, who like the Greeks contained subtribes but are united by a common identity which in this case is their Italian home. Latins in Sicily and Istria tend to have intermarriages with the Greeks, leading to the populations there having olive skin, large and dark eyes, strong jawlines, thick eyebrows, long eyelashes and prominent cheekbones.
The Latins are followed closely by the Visigoths, who live almost exclusively in the Iberian peninsula or in the Moroccan provinces of the empire. Then, the Copts in Egypt and Cyrenaica but also a significant community in the American provinces with fertile land as the Copts were commonly either farmers or astronomers. Arameans in Syria, the Levant and Eastern Anatolia followed behind.
Berbers, Punics, Arabs, Nubians and Jews number among the Roman citizens in noticeable amounts as well, mostly in North African territories or in the Levant. Foreign diaspora exists in large numbers as well due to the trades, international students and pilgrimages. In Jerusalem, Antioch and Constantinople, one could find almost every nationality and ethnicity making their pilgrimages to the birthplaces of the Apostolic Faith.
Government
The Roman Empire, true to its name, is a form of Semi-Constitutional Monarchy and to some degree can be called a Theocracy. The Roman Emperor exerts full power upon the Roman State from his seat at Constantinople, assisted by his ministers, exarchs, the reformed senate and the strategoi of the various themes. The advent of the printing press introduced democratic influences to the Roman state, with some processes being fully democratic while others are merely influenced by it.
The Nika riots demonstrated the need for an Emperor to please his people, even an Emperor as glorious and prosperous as Justinian the Great could be overthrown by enough unrest in the Capital. The already educated society must be pleased because the state functions through them. A good empire is a stable empire after all.
The strongest example of this is Imperial Succession. The Emperor can name who will be eligible candidates for succession but he must always name more than one required by law. This is instated so that the people, by popular acclaim, can choose to support candidates for Emperor.
Imperial Succession remains largely hereditary but the next Emperor is chosen through three equal votes: Selection, Merit and Popular Acclaim. The candidates for Emperor will gain the selection vote if the Emperor names a prince or princess as his successor. Then, Merit is based on an Imperial Examination that tests the candidates on multiple exams each with an aspect of governance to find out the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate. The results are made public on the government's website.
Popular acclaim votes are less black and white than real life democratic systems. One can choose more than one candidate when voting and voting options were: in favor or against; allowing the popularity of candidates among all walks of life to be assessed in greater detail. Recent expansions of quantum internet have made the last popularity contest entirely online.
Due to popular acclaim's well defined role in succession, all candidates to the throne aim to please the public opinion in a way not too differently than a presidential candidacy campaign. However, as succession dates are unknown, royal candidates live their entire lives building and maintaining their public image.
Now, if two candidates tie or an influential candidate lost, a cause for a co-emperorship can be raised. As it is common in Roman custom, candidates are motivated even more as they do not necessarily need to be the first to become Emperor. Uniquely, due to the co-emperorship arrangement after the turkish invasion, persian princes are eligible candidates should the current Emperor allow them to be nominated.
Roman society is quite militaristic, with about 10% of its citizens serving in the military including both active and reserve members. This is related to the Theme system, which divides the empire into many districts called themes. Each theme is a combination of both the civil and military governments of a district. The themes are led by the strategos, a military and civil official who is elected by the local populace with term limits unless the Emperor or his exarchs extend it on an individual basis.
The provincial system was also reintroduced in the form of exarchs, governors who are handpicked by the Emperor himself to oversee the provinces, also known as dioceses, of the empire. Exarchs exert the same authority as the Emperor himself within their dioceses and answer only to the Emperor.
The Emperor freely deposes and institutes exarchs as he pleases. The existence of dioceses also leads to an equivalent to the distinction between state and federal law, but unlike America, the authority of the exarchs meant that unless the Emperor disproves, any law may be instituted for a particular diocese. Laws to curb the power of dioceses are unecessary as the Emperor can simply depose and reverse any law that he opposes.
The Roman Empire has 11 dioceses, including a special diocese belonging to the Emperor encompassing the entirety of the Balkans and Anatolia. The reasoning for this special diocese is so that should exarchs rebel, the Emperor always possesses the largest amount of territory, military and urban infrastructure enough to reconquer the other dioceses autonomously. This results in a significant fraction of the Roman military being centered in this diocese, with most of its naval fleets being either in the Black Sea or the East Mediterranean.
Christianity
The Roman Empire is home to five indigenous rites, namely the Roman/Greek rite, the Latin rite, the Ambrosian rite, the West Syrian/Antiochian rite and the Alexandrian rite. Though each rite is overwhelmingly dominant in its area of origin, parishes of every rite can be found in cities or large towns everywhere. The most common rite used is the Greek rite, which is dominant in the Balkans, Anatolia except East Anatolia, and North America.
The Patriarchates in the Roman Empire are:
• Latin Ecumenical Patriarchate of Rome
• Roman Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
• Roman-Syrian Patriarchate of Antioch
• Roman-Syrian Patriarchate of Jerusalem
• Coptic Patriarchate of Alexandria
• Ambrosian Patriarchate of Cordoba
Government Website: https/okm.rhomaion.gov.rum
Persian Empire / Hegemon of Western Asia
"Shahanshah by the grace of Alaha and His Mshiha"
The Persian Empire or dynastically known as the Kurušid Empire is the modern state of the Persian Empires that started with Cyrus I the Great when he established the Achaemenid Empire. The current dynasty is a result of a dynastic change after the co-emperorship arrangement is gradually dissolved. Despite that, relationship between the Romans and the Persians are favorable as both sides engage in trade and friendly rivalry.
In contemporary times, the Kurušid Empire stretches across a land area of 5.4 million km and a population of 973.1 million. The Empire encompasses the lands of all nations east of Iraq, Iraq itself, 2/3rds of North India and the entirety of Madagascar. As a hegemonic state, the Kurušids enjoy political, economic and cultural status identical to that of the Romans, especially in the western half of Asia.
Language
The lingua franca of the Kurušid Empire is Syro-Persian, also known as Modern Persian. Syro-Persian is an evolution of sassanid Middle Persian that takes influences from East Syriac and Assyrian language due to their adoption of the East Syriac rite. As loanwords and slangs built up through cultural change, a script change occured under Shahanshah Ardashir.
Beyond Modern Persian, regional languages like Kurdish, Assyrian, East Syriac, East Armenian, Luri, Pashto, Arabic and other Iranian languages still play a significant role in day to day life. Like the Romans, they are typically multilingual as well. The average citizen could speak Syro-Persian, Greek and their ethnic/regional language.
However, not all is swell and actively preserved. Due to outcompetition and cultural assimilation, North Indian languages have practically become extinct within the Empire itself. All remaining native speakers of languages like Punjabi and Gujarati do not live in the Empire at all.
Like the Romans, the use of language also maps the ethnic makeup of the population.
Ethnicity
Much like Modern Iran, the Kurušid Empire is not a mono-ethnic state. Iranian peoples make up the majority of citizens including in North India. North Indians were gradually persianized, a process that began since the conquest of the North Indian states by the Sassanids. When the Turks arrived and the Sassanids split into two, the Indo-Persians blended the two populations more readily.
As if the Aryan Conquest of the Indus valley happened once more, the people in North India gradually became persians. But this assimilation was not one way in any sense, as the northerners became persians, the persians adopted north indian traits both genetically and culturally.
East-Persians or Indo-Persians as they are called are known typically to have darker eye colors and instances of blue eyes noticeably rarer than other persians. More noticeable traits are their longer, thinner noses and for some of them, darker skin.
The cultural influence of these assimilated populations are quite huge, mainly centered around dance and subsequently music, then fashion. North indian and persian dances were similar, assimilation of the north indians introduced more complex footwork into persian dancing. Persian dances incorporated the complex and often euphoric footwork, balancing it over time to create a complementary fusion between elegance and sheer, raw expression.
This form of dancing became renowned worldwide and a cultural trendsetter in Asia. The euphoric, expressive dancing only accelerated syriac influences in persian music, leading it to be more expressive through regular use of microtuning. Unlike what one would expect of microtuning, these influences made the songs more upbeat and somewhat unexpected as tempo would change between parts of songs.
Fashion influences made persian jewelry more ornate and made the use of jewelry as a part of formal wear in Persia. Head coverings also become more common due to the sari's influence and the sari itself had not gone extinct all but rather continued in an influenced form. Sari and pants are common combinations among east-persian women.
In Madagascar, the Malagasy people frequently married with the Persian settlers and so adopted parts of their cultures and over generations appeared more Aryan. Their noses are more sharp, they are noticeably taller and their skin is olive colored. Malagasy fashion is influenced to have pants and persian design, but the color scheme and patterns are entirely unique to the Malagasy people.
Government
Kurušid government is a modified form of the previous Sassanid system. The empire is divided into satrapies ruled by shahrabs directly selected by the Shahanshah to act as his viceroys with a great degree of autonomy. In fact, each shahrab had their own court that was royal in everything but name, he/she is the administrator of his/her satrapy, all civil law in the satrapy answers to the shahrab and taxes are collected by the shahrab as well.
The Shahanshah simply requires a fixed tribute he sets every year for each of the satraps. Checks to ensure the shahrabs don't become corrupt or rebellious are in place. For example, the general that protects each satrapy is loyal and directly answers to the Shahanshah. Also, the governors are assisted by a council of democratically elected individuals who report directly to the Shahanshah and advise the shahrab in the matters of governance.
The Shahanshah wishes to portray himself as an absolute and wise ruler who listens to his people to retain the approval of God. As persian culture identified the Shahanshah as divine, a christianized form presented him as a mighty heavenly being sent by God to rule and protect the Iranian people. As both the Old and New Testament proclaims that all authority on the Earth is by God's providence or decree, the Shahanshah is frequently reminded by the Church that should he lose approval, he will be replaced as fast as he himself could depose a shahrab.
There are 20 satrapies and so the same number of shahrabs.
Christianity
The Kurušid Empire is home to only one indigenous rite: Persian rite, formerly known as the East Syrian rite. This rite is almost overwhelmingly in use, with the only notable minorities being the Armenian rite and the West Syriac/Antiochian rite, all of which are in Mesopotamia or the East Caucasus.
The Patriarchates of the Kurušid Empire are:
• Persian Catholicos-Patriarchate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon
• Persian Patriarchate of Gwadar
• Persian Patriarchate of Merv
• Persian Patriarchate of Ahurashah
• Persian Patriarchate of Arnarvih
Government Website: https/okm.eranshahr.gov.far
Aksumite Empire / Hegemon of Africa
"By the might of our Lord, Aksum remains undefeated!"
The Aksumite Empire is an Eastern African superpower centered in the city of Axum, its capital. In its original time, it would have declined until its eventual dark age and extinction due to a severe economic decline brought about by isolation. With the causes of decline never having occured, the Aksumites quickly grew into a hegemon. Not as mighty as the two other hegemons that it bordered, but mighty enough to be grouped as one of the Eternal Four; a group of civilizations that have rose to hegemony and continue to do so over dynastic cycles.
The Aksumites are an empire covering 6.08 million km of land with a population of 948.7 million, equivalent to a nation composed of the entirety of the Horn of Africa, all coastal nations in East Africa below it, South Africa and Yemen. Alongside Rome, Aksum is the economic hegemon and lifeblood of African trade. For Central, South and West African nations, Aksum is where the bounties of Africa are sold beyond the continent and where Eurasian wares enter Africa.
Language
The lingua franca of the Aksumite Empire is threefold: Oromo, Tigray and Amharic. Yemeni Arabic has potential to be the fourth but a lack of any desire to make it so results in South Arabian Arabic simply being a super-regional language. The many nations and tribes defeated by the Ethiopians spoke their own languages as well, which remain till contemporary times as regional languages.
The abundance of languages present result in Ethiopians being known as the world's most multilingual nation. Due to the triple language and role in Africa, the average Ethiopian can speak at least six languages: Oromo, Tigrina, Amharic, Greek or Syro-Persian, a neighboring African language and one's own regional language or Arabic. As such, Ethiopians often work as interpreters, translators and language teachers, the stereotype being that Aksumites can speak any language, including coding languages.
Ethnicity
The Aksumites are mostly made up of the Habesha people, also known as Abyssinians. Following as significant minorities are Oromo, Yemenis, Nubians, Semien Jews and Somalis. Unlike their neighbors, this dominance has nothing to do with cultural and ethnic assimilation of any kind. Instead, it is simply technological advantage.
As the Aksumites received agricultural technology far ahead of the rest, their population boomed much faster that by the time they conquered the land until their current extent and taught modern agriculture, most of the land became inhabited by the Habesha and those significant minorities.
Government
The Aksumites are a hybrid of an absolute monarchy and a federation ruled by the Ethiopian King of Kings from Aksum. Many client states exist within the empire's borders essentially as provinces of the empire itself. These client states behave like semi-independent kingdoms and turkic tribes within khaganates. However, their sedentary nature and the king of king's absolute legal power and prestige prevents the rise of factors that would typically dissolve khaganates within a hundred years since its formation.
Modern technology has made the client system much easier as the internet, cars, roads, turbine powered ships, bullet trains and planes allow rapid communication and transportation from anywhere in the country. Any suspicion is just one call away and his armies are spread out all over the client states so that any rebellion can simply be quashed then and there. Distrust, diversity and hostilities between the client states are the main reason why these arrangements are merely backup plans.
Despite the decentralized provincial system, the imperial palace was very much organized and tightly controlled. Most of the highest positions of the palace are dominated by the extended Imperial family, back then by favor but now by merit. Princes and princesses who don't become Emperors or Empress regnants would work as the highest ministers of the Emperor. Unlike western monarchies and their generally more "laid-back" life unless you're king or a wannabe king, king or not you work in the court and run this nation.
As such, the Imperial family is tight knit and hostilities between cousins and siblings are nipped in the bud for the harmony of the Aksumite Court. In the contemporary world, it's common to spot the Imperial family working on their laptops or tablets while outside the palace in their favorite establishments.
Christianity
There are no native rites that developed in Ethiopia, however they possess an inculturized version of the Alexandrian rite. Like the Persians, they almost exclusively use the Alexandrian rite. However, their Patriarchates are not styled as Coptic ones but rather Tewahedo ones, to signifiy their distinction.
The Patriarchates of the Aksumite Empire:
• Tewahedo Patriarchate of Aksum
• Tewahedo Patriarchate of Mombasa
• Tewahedo Patriarchate of Berbera
• Tewahedo Patriarchate of Sofala
• Tewahedo Patriarchate of Ch'afi
Government Website: https/okm.manguesta.gov.axm
Jing Dynasty / Hegemon of Eastern Asia
"Emperor of the Middle Kingdom, by the mandate of Aluohe."
The Jing Dynasty is the contemporary dynasty of China as the successor of the Jiu Dynasty. The Jiu Dynasty is a Han-ruled dynasty but members of the Imperial family frequently marry Uyghur, Mongol, Jurchen and Manchu princesses. Interbreeding with Uyghurs have become common enough that even the Imperial family tend to have larger eyes and sharper noses. But thanks to the Jiu Dynasty's integration of Uyghurs, all Chinese except for southern Chinese have almost noticeably different facial features.
The Dynasty encompasses traditionally Han areas, Gansu, East Turkestan, Mongolia and Manchuria. It administers to an Empire covering 9.38 million km of land area, with a population of 1.53 billion people.
Language
The lingua franca of the Jing Dynasty is Middle Chinese, which never developed into the modern Mandarin we've known in our timeline. Many local dialects exist and the uyghurs even have their own language using modified Perso-Syrian script. Their language influenced the shapes of the pictograms in the Jiu Dynasty to be more smooth and curly as opposed to the geometric tendency of chinese characters.
Ethnicity
Most Chinese are of the Han ethnicity and its subtribes, accounting for approximately 73% of the Chinese population. The rest are made up mainly of Uyghurs, Manchus, Mongols and then by other minorities such as the Yao, Miao, Tujia, Yi and other peoples. Uyghur genetic traits are common amongst the Han population, especially among Western and Northern sub-ethnicites of Han.
Government
The Chinese Government is ruled by the Emperor, an absolute monarch. The government divides itself into three departments and six ministries, a trend kept from the Tang Dynasty. The Imperial Examination has developed to become the main factor in the promotion and selection of government officials, as opposed to democracy or selection by higher officials. But of course, the examination isn't the only qualification.
Background checks and a preliminary interview is done to see who is eligible for the examination in the first place. If multiple candidates tie, a second interview is done and a tiebreaking question is given. As education is widespread, social classes generally reflect the merit of the individuals who possess them.
Christianity's adoption in the past had abolished the Imperial Harem and as the Church will only conduct up to four marriages ever, Imperial politics takes a different turn. Candidacy for Empress becomes a much more competitive event as clans could no longer install concubines to represent their interests to the Emperor. Thus, the Empress becomes the sole ruler of the Imperial Household and the clans must earn her favor to gain soft influence over the Emperor.
Christianity
China is home to the Tang-rite, more commonly known as the Middle-rite. The Patriarchates mainly using the Middle-rite use the prefix "Most Luminous" as a reference to the name Christianity took in Tang China: Jingjiào, translated as, "Luminous Religion"
• Most Luminous Patriarchate of Chang'An
• Most Luminous Patriarchate of Ordu-Baliq
• Most Luminous Patriarchate of Harbin
• Most Luminous Patriarchate of Kunming
• Most Luminous Patriarchate of Guangzhou
Beyond the Eternal Four, important powers exist in each continent, some of which rival the hegemons themselves in one or multiple aspects. As many identities that would have formed did not form at all, many countries that would have existed did not. Below are a list of notable states, divided into multiple categories.
Legend
Superpower - States possessing the ability to exert influence or sustainably deploy armies beyond its territories on a global scale. These states are not hegemons but are all comparable to one. This classification includes potential superpowers.
Great Power - States possessing less than global but still multi-continental influence whether by soft (cultural/economic/religious) or hard power (military). Their influence is significant enough that states within their influence generally consider their opinion before making a move.
Middle Power - States that are not Great Powers but not Small Powers either. Middle powers are self sufficient in terms of security and are influential enough to play major roles in diplomacy in both regional and global scales.
Small Power - Typical states who tend to be dominated or merely instruments of other powers. However, their sovereignity is recognized enough that one cannot ignore them.
Nations
Republic of the Franks
Rank: Superpower
Region: Europe
Type: Parliamentary Republic
Counterpart(s): France Germany Switzerland
Description: An economic superpower rivaling Rome in Europe, the Frankish Republic was born after a revolution overthrew the Carolingian Empire and united its former territories. The Frankish Republic emphasized the democratic aspects existent in the organization of the germanic tribes, leading to their current parliamentary republic.
Ezo
Rank: Small Power
Region: East Asia (Japanese Archipelago)
Type: Semi-Presidential Republic
Counterpart: Japan (Hokkaido Aomori Iwate Prefectures)
Description: Ezo is the contemporary form of the Ainu tribes, forming their own state as one of the two nations of the Japanese Archipelago. Without the subjugation of the Ainu by the Japanese in the 14th century, the Ainu people developed into their own independent state with a friendly relationship with the Japanese Empire south of them. A significant industry in Ezo is tourism and Ainu roast is a popular international dish for East Asians and North Americans.
Japanese Empire
Rank: Great Power
Region: East Asia
Type: Reformed Imperial Shogunate
Counterpart: Japan (Except Hokkaido, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures)
Description: The Yamato Dynasty of Japan underwent a reformation of the Shogunate system similar to but not as extreme as the Meiji Restoration. The reformation increased the Emperor's power beyond merely nominal control over the shogun and weakened the rights of the shogun to ensure the puppetry of the Emperor that has been occuring for a while is fully curbed. Now, the shogun is selected through a combination of Imperial nomination and democratic vote, and the Emperor takes direct control for International affairs.
On a somewhat satisfying note, anime does actually still get invented. Albeit a lot of genre changes and how it came to be is quite different. The styles and themes of animation that exist are also markedly different, but take anyone who commonly watches anime in the original timeline here and it'll be recognized.
Kingdom of Middag
Rank: Middle Power
Region: East Asia
Type: Elective Monarchy
Counterpart: Taiwan
Description: The name Taiwan has never existed in this timeline, the island off the coast of China is known instead as Middag or Dadu. Middag is ruled by many elected chieftains who in turn elect their king. Chieftains and kings both have their offices until death but if the king chooses so, he may depose or replace a chieftain.
Middag is known for its gold mines and steel, and its far eastern location is the origin of the term "Middag Gold", which refers to distant treasures. Both in ancient and contemporary times, it is an important trading stop, being the bridge of a direct route between Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia.
Majapahit Empire
Rank: Superpower
Region: Southeast Asia
Type: Centralized Mandala
Counterpart: Indonesia Malaysia Brunei Darussalam Papua New Guinea Timor Timur Australia (Coasts of Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland)
Description: Southeast Asian polities functioned differently from East Asian and European unitary states where a state's size and prestige depended upon its borders. Rather, it was dependent on the influence and power projection of the central state. The central state functions much like the sun in a solar system, a gravitational field that pulls in other, lesser states into its orbit and thus its control. These lesser states would pay tribute and be reciprocated by the central state by a much larger gift.
The farther you are from the central state, the less obligation you have. At maximal obligation, a state is entirely a puppet to the central state while at minimum the state merely supports the central state politically and provides regular tribute according to their mutual relationship. However, the source of gravity in a central state is not the state itself but rather specifically its ruler. The system depends on the ruler of the central state, not the state itself so if a ruler was weak, the mandala would disintegrate but if a ruler was strong, the mandala could expand rapidly.
The Centralized Mandala modified this system by having multiple capitals that will be inhabited by the Emperor over a cycle of 8 years and requiring that the heads of state of every subordinate state enter a marriage with the Imperial family. Unitary influence from Rome and China sparked this development, forcing subordinate states to now only have one overlord rather than the previous multiple obligations.
As such, what is called the Majapahit Empire is actually 45 different states under the periodically waxing and waning control of the alternating capitals and the core state. When it comes to foreign affairs and war, the central state holds absolute representation and control. Its Superpower status is owed to its impressive fleet that rivals the fleet of the Jing Dynasty, its exports of precious metals, significant sway in the global trade and its globally renowned turret systems.
Joseon
Rank: Great Power
Region: East Asia
Type: Hereditary Monarchy
Counterpart: South Korea North Korea Russia (Primorsky Krai)
Description: Joseon is the Korean Monarchy that rules over the Korean peninsula and the Manchurian coast. It is a highly developed economy that prospers on trade. The lack of ideologically conflicting North and South halves results in national service not existing, however, the frequent Manchurian raids and migrations in the past necessitates a more militarized state which continues until today. Joseon is a pioneer in naval technology, rivalling the quality of the Majapahit fleets and frequently being compared in military circles.
Chola
Rank: Superpower
Region: India
Type: Hereditary Monarchy
Counterpart: India (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal) Bangladesh
Description: The Chola Dynasty is the longest historically recorded dynasty, existing since 300 B.C. until contemporary times. It sports an incredible navy and huge economic power, being the main meeting point between the Far East and Europe, and Africa. The flow of goods through their ports meant that almost any commodity can be bought in Chola and international corporations would always have a major branch in the empire.
Transcontinental cruises in Asia and Africa would always pass through their ports, whether in Malabar or in Coromandel. Despite being the origin of the Mandala system, the Chola soon transitioned into a unitary system where all the states were absorbed into the dependent officials of the Emperor. Though another hereditary monarchy, the Chola government is unique in that the Imperial treasury acts as a bank as well.
Loans can be given by the government and the government also invests in independent companies that its finds as profitable to the economy. As such, many companies compete to achieve these investments and those that succeed also gain status among investors worldwide. Conversely, if the Cholas do not like a particular industry, worldwide economic decline of those industries would normally occur, making them a potent force and trendsetter for the world economy.
Music
Music is not dominated by western artists and multiple international styles top music charts all around the world. These can roughly be divided into large spheres with their own unique traits. Notable spheres are:
Antiochian
Antiochian music is greek, egyptian, arabian and persian music, characterized by the expressive microtuning in the melody of their songs, typically homophonic songs, and an emphasis on melody and rythym. As such, they tend to make very hypnotic and cathartic music. Antiochian music is strongest in the Roman Empire, Kurušid Persia, Aksumite Nubians, Western Uyghurs and Northern parts of Chola.
Western
Western music is music as found in non-Roman and non-Bulgarian europe alongside American nations influenced by those european states. Western music is characterized by emphasis in polyphony and harmony alongside a more systematic style of music. The use of many different instruments are a hallmark of western music, that tend to be more melody follows the song as opposed to the song follows the melody as in Antiochian music.
Majapahit
Majapahit music is the sphere of music dominant in the Majapahit Empire, Southern parts of mainland Southeast Asia, North Australia and Southern parts of Chola. It is characterized by indianized styles of singing, songs that sound spiritual and meditative, slower tempos, and heavier use of metal instruments, particularly the gamelan set.
Steppe
Steppe music is a style of music found most commonly among the nomadic tribes in the eurasian steppes. This style of music is characterized by the imitation of animal sounds, throat singing and an ambience that takes one straight to the Eurasian steppe. In real life, Khusugtun is a good representative as to what steppe music sounds like.
Fashion
Unlike in our timeline where formal wear is almost overwhelmingly dominated by suits and western attire, formal attire varies depending on ethnic population and distinctions between casual wear and formal wear are not too clear cut due to this. Based on one's attire, you can easily tell their ethnicity or at least what culture catches their eye the most. General global friendship between countries or at least strong attempts by the Church to make it that way, makes workers from all occupations appear with their proper and full cultural attire.
It's not odd at all for a business meeting to be filled with all sorts of different outfits and foreign dignitaries are always received by officials wearing the traditional wear. Due to the variety of cultural attires, improper clothing tends to be very contextual in nature. Judging people by their fashion taste as a result is very rare and almost exclusively occurs in more homogenous parts of the world.
Language
As there are no single dominant culture, the world communicates through regional lingua francas rather than the current english being essentially the world language in popular culture. This drives a very multilingual society since what you can understand online and the people you meet online will inevitably be speaking entirely different language, the digital and global age pushes many to be able to speak and write in many different languages at once. There are biological and cognitive consequences to this as well: dementia is a lot rarer among the elderly, people remember relevant things better, people have much stronger self control and have an easier time with counterintuitive information.
These advantages form a much more critical and disciplined society. People are less emotionally driven and hold both themselves and other people to a much higher standard, standards that people could more easily hold themselves to. Crime is lower, monarchs are more competent and elderly participation in society is much greater as their cognitive decline is weakened by biological changes brought about by multilinguality.
Technology
Due to humanity's quicker advancement, the Earth was never as polluted as it was originally in our timeline. What greenhouse effect that occured simply enhanced the Middle Ages warming and made the cold reaches of Russia habitable much earlier, something promptly taken advantage of by the Kievan Rus in expanding east.
In contemporary times, human technology has expanded to great heights. The Quantum Internet has become standard international encryption and communications, forcing certain types of hackers into near extinction. Advances in superconductivity allow cheap travel using magnetic levitation trains, whose shapes are further augmented to hit much faster speeds.
Nanomaterials and metamaterials find themselves in common albeit relatively expensive use. Adaptive clothing is a growing part of the fashion industry as corporations create clothes that can adopt to weather and seasons through materials science. Solid state drives defeat their own fundamental limits by modifying the very materials they are using, allowing breakthroughs to be made with record speed. In contemporary times, metamaterial solid state drives can hold a million times more data and perform data transfer a million times faster.
The average metamaterial non-intensive SSD can handle 256 Petabytes of data, read 200 Terabytes of data each second and write 550 Terabytes of data each second. The intensive versions of these metamaterial SSDs are what the Prothean Archives data was downloaded into.
On the topic of electronics, Quantum Computing has become staple for even things like phones. Moore's law didn't slow down due to these technological revolutions. A phone from contemporary Earth has a million times more RAM than the phone you're using to read this fanfiction.
Things like Weather Simulation, AR and VR, Genetic Simulation and Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Holograms have advanced so far that sometimes you can even do it from the comfort of your own phone or laptop if it needs more computing power. Video calls were supplanted with holographic projections which could actually be touched as well as if they were solid objects. The resolution is so high that the only difference is the fact that they carry no smell, taste like nothing and sufficiently strong impacts, different materials or small objects will be able to ignore them.
Biweekly global weather predictions are given, accurate to 95% worldwide thanks to sufficient computing. As such, climate modelling on other planets like Mars and Venus managed to be accomplished with high accuracy and climate science has advanced to the point that humans can reliably predict long term impacts of climate change for their own benefit. Artificial lakes to greenify surrounding deserts or alter weather patterns are an example of this technology in use.
Unlike what one would expect, the Church is actually is in quite favorable support of Genetic Engineering. Though designer babies are forbidden by the Church citing that God must always have first position in the formation of mankind, modifying one's genetics post-birth is not an issue especially if it's for removing diseases. Church-run hospitals would often recommend what genetic modifications are appropriate for the newborn or for an adult, who has gained the right to alter one's own genetics provided that the change is reversible by another procedure.
The reason for this support is that the Church views human nature as being altered by sin, so the human DNA can be altered if it would be used for better purposes and fix the more material defects of the Fall. The Church explains it that in the same way that through repentance, metanoia, and labor a man can change himself to conform to Christ, so can man labor for God to alter his own body to better serve the cause of Christ. As such, the Church does not oppose genetic engineering for human flourisihing but rather endorses it as an ascetic feat, as a way of striving and conforming to Christ Himself.
Other medical advances beyond genetic engineering include immune memory transplants, customized 3D printed organs, stem cell injections and seamless bionics. Even with the poor and underpriviliged still existing, genetic changes and highly advanced medicine estimates that in a few generations, existing human diseases will be eradicated on a species level and new diseases can be eliminated quickly so long as at least one person develops an immunity.
All in all, it is a technologically advanced society.
The Ecumenical Council of Bethlehem
Upon the complete deciphering of the Prothean ruins and download of the entire archive, humanity braces for a shock as its contents are published. The ecumene runs wild as social media posts, government announcements and podcasts discuss the recent discoveries. From protheans experimenting on the Cro-Magnons to their outpost at Mars containing technologies and minerals that allow them to manipulate mass.
Scientists of all nations begin petitioning access to this "element zero", interested in the revolution of physics it would bring upon, setting more existential concerns to the side for now. Governments begin preparing meetings and drafting laws should things like the Protheans as they call themselves be discovered as humanity spreads across the stars. Philosophers and theologians dialogue and go public with the implications of the existence of these aliens. Do we convert them? Do we simply prevent them from converting us? Are aliens sinless? or have they fallen as well?
What data that could be found in the Prothean archives indicate that they are not exactly virtuous or well-meaning people. Cultural figures critique what can be concluded about them as, "barbarians, in every sense of the word." Conquest is not treated as exactly a bad thing in human cultures, even by subjugated cultures but conquest for simply the sake of conquest is bestial behavior, only fitting of barbarians. Virtuous kings do not relinquish their crown unless they know that their people will be taken care of.
The ensuing weeks and months began to shape public opinion, with doctrinal implications echoing throughout the public sphere. Monastery podcasts and Pandidakterion halls become rallying points for various attitudes and ideologies. From things like Xenoskepticism, which says that it is most likely that humans will not encounter aliens at all considering the Protheans' period of activity was tens of thousands of years ago, to fringe theories like Panhumanism, which says that all sapient aliens are actually humans who evolved due to where they were displaced to after the exile from Eden. As speculation ran wild, people gradually turn to the Church for answers, not content with mere conjecture.
As the consensus of Holy Fathers is the answer of the Holy Spirit, an ecumenical council to address it is petitioned. First by laity then as months pass and practical concerns are relayed from the various governments who hold their own separate meetings on alien contact, clergy begin to support the council's convoking. Once heads of state begin declaring that a Council will occur, the Church begins preparations to hold it right after Christmas in Bethlehem, where the Origin of the faith was born.
Churchbells ring out throughout Jerusalem to mark the end of Divine liturgies at midnight. Stars twinkle in the background as the ornate stone doors of the churches in Jerusalem gradually opened widely. Men in ornate robes of white, red and gold march out in threes, a central man to raise a golden cross on a pole and two beside him that carry lanterns with three or two candles within.
They marched silently down the stone paved streets of Jerusalem, forming a procession. The poles then began to carry brass depictions of the cherubim or the seraphim as the procession grew in length. The candle-lights of the lantern dimly illuminated the streets of Jerusalem, where onlookers nodded and made the sign of the cross when the processions passed. Others silently recorded in respect, lowering the brightness of their devices to not outshine that of the lanterns.
The ambience of a largely asleep city was all the sound in the world save for the occasional winds that blew and the jingle bells of the censers. All the processions of churches of Jerusalem marched solemnly towards the Church of the Holy Nativity, marked with the exact spot where God had been born as a man. Monks fully veiled in black opened the majestic gates of the ancient church, where dignitaries, Emperors and Marutha await within to observe and preside over the Ecumenical Council.
As the processions arrive, only the bishops in walked in. According to ritual customs, the bishops would quickly prostrate or bow while making the sign of the cross as they enter the spacious hall of the limestone church. One hundred and fourty four titanic columns of black marble line up from the entrance till the Holy Manger, decorated with geometric lines of gold and four golden seraphim in the cardinal directions at each base.
Seats for the nearly thirty five thousand attending bishops have been prepared, marked and arranged according to the geographic placement of the dioceses. Ushers help organize the crowd of incoming bishops and camera drones record the event, flying dozens of meters above the bishops so to not disturb them as they take their seats. Once all the bishops have taken a seat, a hologram of burning star appears on the center of the hallway atop a podium.
"Greetings." Said the fiery star in a deep, booming voice. All chatter fell to silence and all in attendance look to the star in anticipation.
"Peace and blessings to the successors of the Apostles: all the bishops of the Church of Christ, and to the kings, emperors and heads of state in attendance."
The star paused for a few moments before introducing itself, "I am Shemsha, the construct assigned to serve this Ecumenical Council. It is an honor."
Shemsha gave way to the Pope of Rome to rise upon the podium, exchanging greetings and blessings with the attendees of the council. To open the council, the Pope calls upon the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Seleucia-Ctesiphon, Aksum and Chang'an to come up to the podium and lead the Lord's Prayer in each of their own language.
One by one they pray, and those who can pray in the same language follow their lead while the rest await for their turn. Once the opening prayer has been said, the Pope of Rome declares that the council is in session.
The chatter returns to life as bishops whispered to one another and held conversations. Soon, a chinese bishop tapped on his tablet and alerts the council of his intention to speak. The bishops turn to him as he stood up, greeting the pope and the council.
"Your Holiness and esteemed bishops." said the Jing bishop, bowing characteristically like a minister in the emperor's court. "I speak for the Church in the Middle Kingdom that we must bring these extraworldly barbarians to the luminous faith."
A hologram of the Protheans appear, depicting reconstructed scenes of them performing distasteful acts. "These Protheans are barbarians, unenlightened and unvirtuous. They tresspass upon our ancestors, subdue without authority and see us as no more than beasts of burden!"
The bishop spreads his arms, looking around and continued, "How can this be the behavior of holy beings?"
"How?" Silence, no one answered. Some nodded, some merely paid attention.
"Clearly this must be the work of a fallen race, a race cursed by the Evil One as well." Raising his phoenix crozier, he declares, "Then, it is our duty to preach the gospel and spread the virtues of the Eternal Tao to all beyond the sky."
In response, another bishop rose, "Brother, the Protheans may be heathens in need of the Lord but surely not all in other worlds have fallen. What shall we do if we behold truly luminous beings? Who comprehend the truth of the Lord more than we do?"
"Shall we pollute their perfection in a mistaken fervor for the Lord?" Said the second bishop.
The Patriarch of Chang'An nodded to the chinese bishop and answered in his stead. "Honorable brother, if the Protheans had fallen surely they have spread their pollution as well. Did they not come experiment upon our ancestors?"
"We have no indication of what world they have come from but from what little we could tell, they have come from distant stars. How many others have they corrupted?" Said the Patriarch.
"It is reasonable to assume that the fall of other creatures may have been through agents like these. Fallen from one world to another, perhaps the corruption runs deep." The Patriarch concludes.
"Almost fourteen billion years and for billions of years could life have developed by the Tao, and the evil one to corrupt." The Patriarch pauses, and then speaks, "Does this display reason brother?"
"Yes, I can see your intention." replied the bishop. Another bishop rose, raising a different question. "If indeed all have fallen, should that not mean Christ had died in every world?"
"For scripture says that Christ will unite all things, Heaven and Earth, into himself."
A Syrian bishop rose, pounding his serpent tipped crozier to the floor for attention. He objected, "Scripture also says that Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. How could he assume the nature of all material creatures when we are so different to one another as to make Christ fail to be fully human?"
Another bishop echoes support while another raises another concern, "Do we not sing: More Honorable than the Cherubim, even more Glorious than the Seraphim? Is the Most Holy Theotokos not above the angels and all the saints?"
"There is only one Mother of God, one Walidatulillah, one Theotokos. Do we dare say that she is but one of many women who have given birth to many Christs?" The murmurs and whispers increase in volume at this question. The many Christs position begins to weaken but similar sentiments speak out within the Council.
"Even so, don't all in the other worlds require redemption and the recapitulation? The Word to save them from the Evil One?" Said another bishop.
Some bishops rose and responded with an exposition, "Only humans have the image of God, the microcosm that reflects the Glorious Image of our Lord. Angels do not have it, scripture has never spoken of it beyond humans."
"We were made to be One with the Lord, angels cannot have communion and yet they participate in our liturgies as well. We have prayed for the salvation of demons and the answer of God was nothing more than the mocking faces of the demons."
"Brethren, we are the only ones whom Christ had come down to commune with. We have been called for deification, for union. We declare that there is only one Christ and one Communion, for mankind by the God who became man."
The Council continued as bishops debated and prayed for a consensus of the faith. Very few of the holy fathers of old had anything to say about those beyond the Earth. As for the holy text for mankind, references to worlds beyond are ambiguous at best.
As the Council went on, Marutha demonstrated his oddly specific knowledge on the Protheans and the galaxy beyond. With not much in the archive to go for and in the spirit of trust with the seemingly immortal Marutha, the bishops listened to his words. The source of his knowledge eludes discovery but mankind had learned to respect its mysterious origins, seeing as it has been entirely benevolent so far.
"Holy successors of the Apostles, I, Marutha, must speak of the aliens we shall encounter." He shifts his position on the podium, his large size making him easily identified from afar. Holograms appear one by one, depicting various artists' impressions of different races of aliens.
"By my memory, I identify that there are multiple sapient races related to the Protheans. Like mankind, they have been tampered." Marutha's eyes shift in color and low volume chitters emit from his head.
"I..." He pauses. "Have forgotten their names and their roles, but I do know what they appear like and that their technology had been derived solely from that of the Protheans." Marutha continues to describe to the bishops present their tendencies and that the mass relay mentioned in the archives would eventually lead to encountering them.
Once Marutha's knowledge has been exhausted, the Council continues forth to draft a statement of clarity and doctrine. By the end of the Council, the Church authoritatively speaks of its initative and teachings to alien life:
• Theantrophos
The Church declares the uniqueness of the Incarnation, never to happen ever again. Only One Messiah, One Incarnation and thus One Theotokos. Only humanity shall inherit deification and sonship as mirrors of God but all other races will inherit immortality and a restoration of their original glory in the world to come should they repent.
• Broken Cosmos
The Church declares, based on analysis of the Protheans and Marutha's testimony on other races, that for practical reasons the Church will assume that all sapient races in the cosmos have fallen from grace and are in need of restoration to immortality in Christ. Though only humans may take communion and be ordained, aliens will be treated as no different in any other regard dependent on their biology that would reveal certain hints of their original roles.
As the Council's canons are produced and governments corresponding with the Church to further sort out the details about interacting with alien life, a worldwide initative has been established. Though man is of many kingdoms, empires, republics, and hegemons, mankind will agree on a universal alliance solely when dealing with the alien.
Starfleet commisions find their roots here and joint colonization initatives are formed. The terraformation of Mars is deemed impossible without sufficiently altering its mass, leading to plans to impact Mars with other celestial bodies to both move its orbit closer and enlarge its mass. As decades or even centuries would it take to perform this extreme terraformation, explorers begin fully mapping out mars, selecting things to remove and preserve while plans are drafted to crash the inhabitable Jovian and Saturnian moons to Mars.
With humanity preparing for space, wary of other races and Marutha's information giving them a glimpse of what they must prepare for, humanity begins to expand rapidly into space while avoiding mass relays until they feel confident enough to pass through it. Thanks for reading! See you next chapter!
Next Chapter: First Contact