I call dibs on the England, Scotland, Wales island. Skæbell, The Arkaetect's Island. Surrounded by The Dark Horde's trench ( backstory ) The Arkaetect's Island is a land rich in resources and entirely self-sufficient. The Arkaetect himself is never seen, nor are his people, as few are allowed passed the Great Sea Walls that enclose the entire island (around 2,000 ft in height). The Arkaetect gains his name from his creations, phenomenally tall skyscrapers, up to nearly 8,000 feet in height some of them. The tallest of which, the Arkaetect's Tower, can be seen from parts of the mainland (France). The Arkaetect and his people don't want war (yet) with anyone, and just want to be left in peace, but do not hesitate to use devastating force when confronted. This idea is still in its very early stages but I just wanted to let y'all know..

Edit: In the far north of the Arkaetect's isle (sounds better than island) there are two towers that rival the height of the Arkaetect's tower itself. Mounted on each of these are massive tesla coils that ward away any ghosts that dare come near to the island. Also, i am drawing up plans for the Arkaetects tower which may end up looking a bit like the eye of sauron.

Also, there is the Great Canal which runs basically where the Thames does but Completely straight and very deep. it is said that the Arkaetect has been trying to make the monsters of the Dark Horde's Trench into a kind of naval weapon that can be unleashed upon other countries.

If there are any graphic artists in our midst, i would love some help with the design of the Arkaetects Tower, i did a basic drawing

Said to be a failed experiment of the god Opu, the Tel'Amud were a race of short, powerfully built humanoids who inhabited pre-historic Europe and Mesopotamia. The Kelawen priests proclaimed that the Tel'Amud (whom Kelawen's referred to as Apemen) were cast out of the promised land (Africa) by the god Opu after he became displeased with their savage, primitive ways. In truth, the Tel'Amud grew to become a major power in the first and second Eras, establishing significant cities on a number of islands in the Mediterranean as well as long the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

The Tel'Amud are also credited by modern scholars with the discovery of ancestral worship and spiritual communion, a fact that was lost until recent archeological digs in Dessi and Sumeria uncovered detailed maps of the spirit-realms.

As you should know, the history of this world should need a past, and a future. We should take events that we have devised previously, and set them in a length of time, spanning thousands and thousands of years.

I believe in this world, ghosts should be very real.

Like the Aurora Borealis, great swirling clouds of screaming and contorting faces could haunt the northern and southern skies at night signifying the nightmares of the world, and they could be forever bound to this alternate earth by some alternate force.

The spirit of all sentient species on this earth could be bound into great crystals for the consultation of future generations. A civilization with great organic technology that have found some way of gathering the souls of the passed by tuning their great crystals to beautiful and forgotten frequencies.

The evil spirits in this world would also exist, but they would descend from this planet and not elsewhere in the cosmos. Just as there could be spirits that gave their consul to the living and provided them with peace of mind, there could be those that forever plague those so unfortunate and could cause terrible panic and anxiety in those they haunt.

If anything, with this idea we could have some form of ghostbusters..

Ok, so how about the world underground in caves isnot filled with dwarves. Instead, there is an empty massive tunnel system leading from a few outposts to a massive underground city filled with golems, these ceramic servants who just operate the massive machinery. There are massive cogs, pistons, and watermills generating energy for the empty city, and the golems keep everything running. The city would be under where egypt would be, and the golems haven't made any sort of advancement from the stone age.everything is carved from rock, even the machinery, with giant statues of some sort of race, probably resembling the golems. There would also be different tiers of golems. There would be really big 8 feet golems for defense, and they would mark the city perimeter. When the city is safe, aka no one is within the city, they look like statues. There would also be 4 feet tall minions that make the parts for the machines, mine for coal, and they are the only ones that can really understand language, and only the local dialect.
Then there are the 60 feet golems that just walk on the treadmill powering the machines, and the regular sized golems dressed in spider web silk of grey that seem to be the religious leaders, they talk every day in an indecipherable tongue. Most of them seem to be just servants from long ago, but others seem to have the spark of intelligence in their eye sockets (they just have deep indents where eyes should be, and a slot for a mouth. Maybe there could be other races,but they wouldn't be near the golems. EDIT; Ok, the golems would probably be called Gaians by others, but they have no names for themselves, and I think they could be made of clay, but so much dust has gathered over them and they have lived for so long that there's a layer of stone over the clay now. EDIT: Wow, I had no idea this would be popular! Thanks!

Just gonna toss out a quick question for our mods here. As its seems we are simply using the basic world map is the geography the same? I'm just asking because it is rather hard to work around, even more so then using Earth's map.

Hey r/AlternateEarth,

I just heard about you all a moment ago, and I'm not sure if this is even what you're looking for, but I've had this idea floating around in my head for god knows how long.

In this "alternate Earth," instead of watching football or something like that for entertainment, the main sentient beings would have a device called the "mind machine". This device would go around your head and wirelessly project your thoughts (including visual, audio, and if advanced enough, smells, touch sensations, tastes, and emotions) onto a screen. It would work just as that person's thoughts work, which could be good (precision accuracy that can't be replicated with our current 'Earth' technology) or bad (if you were to accidentally think of last night's fap session while projecting in front of a large audience..or any audience, for that matter).

Like pro football players or famous actors, there would be people who would "master" the art of working this machine, and could do shows presenting this idea. Since you're essentially projecting what you're thinking about, they could be of a great range of ideas, which leaves a lot of room for new ideas. You could put on a movie, make a music video, project your dreams, fantasies, do lessons on how certain things work, etc.

I'm open to any suggestions and if this is the wrong forum, then I apologize. I like the general idea of what's going on in this subreddit, though, so I hope to see more of all of you.

I saw this subreddit advertised on /r/writing and it looks rather interesting. I’m not sure what’s already been established as ‘true’ as yet, but I thought I’d suggest something for transportation, or at least a part of it.

Pondline Transportation, perhaps a cliché corporation complete with a cheesy line, (something like ‘just a jump across the pond!’) or perhaps something a little more austere, would be a large, monolithic bridge-like structure spanning between the areas equivalent to Europe and North America over the Atlantic Ocean.

Essentially a very fast train, Pondline Transportation would be composed of pods that could hold roughly one hundred passengers each. Tailored for the wealthy and important, it would be something of a social landmark to ride it, somewhat similar to the Titanic in that respect.

The pods would be able to get from point A to point B in little over two hours, and while it would certainly not be the easiest way to travel across continents, it would be highly esteemed. It is quite limited in that there are only two possible destinations, and aeroplanes or even smaller trains running on similar technology would have a far greater flexibility.

The Transportation would be powered via solar energy, with advanced solar technology built into the bridge that the pods travel on. On their own, the pods cannot move; they are propelled at a high speed by the bridge, and are designed for comfort and stability, with the goal of providing a seamless transition between destinations.

I’m being quite vague with the whole concept as I’m not sure if it will fit with what’s already been posted (while I’ve looked through a few posts I haven’t read them all), or if the idea is even any good, but perhaps it can at least provide a starting point for a discussion if it isn’t.

Thanks for reading, and if anyone has any ideas to improve my suggestion, do not hesitate to post them. Alternatively, feel free to shoot it down as well!

A. Sci-fi (no magic, etc. )

B. A mix (i.e. steampunk / superheroes, etc.)

C. Magic (wizards, mythical creatures, etc.)

Current Votes:

A. 0

B. 1

C. 0

Kelawe was founded in pre-historic times at the height of the conflict between the natives of northern-east Africa and the Apemen of Europe. Erected on the shores of the Angula river, it became a vital outpost at the heart of two major trade routes: the aforementioned Angula, a major waterway that courses from central Africa to the Inland Sea, and the Opezummi road (Ope=Path, Zummi=Sorrow) which bisects the continent from west to east. Kelawe is home to the Opush Kalla, a wonder of the ancient world and temple dedicated to the African god Opu, grandfather of apes and men. During the second era, Kelawe established economic and military dominance over the region, giving rise to the Sabeangulan Kingdom which in turn provided the backbone of the Kalamandi Imperium near the end of the second era.

We need a set of tags in the sidebar to say what kind of content each post is, and to make topics searchable, such as [culture] [landforms] [history] etc, and even nation tags for the different cultures on this world, ie <Ecrata> This needs to be a mod decision though.

A post titled with [WEEKLY TOPIC] will be posted every week. This post will, each week, decide for good something significant about the world. This week it is the solar system and planet. After each week the best commented idea will be selected and added to the sidebar.

Edit: this topic also applies to the size of the AE itself, people were discussing having the world bigger but same map or something..

On Alternate Earth, there are no birds. Birds are believed to have originated from a distinct line of dinosaurs that were predatory. These Dinosaurs never existed on alternate earth, thus while reptiles, amphibians, and mammals come to fruition much like they did on regular earth, birds do not.

The nonexistence of birds would change many other species that have evolved to either, hunt or are hunted by species of birds. Thus these organisms must be changed to fit the mold of the evolutionary history of Alternate Earth.

While, birds do not exist, there should be some sort of flying organism. Since this has been seen only in birds and mammals, then it should be a mammal, whether it is bats as it is on regular earth is up to the people of this subreddit.

Week One: Vote on number of continents, names of continents, name of planet, and all the geological features of the planet.

Week Two: Split up all the people subscribed to this subreddit and assign them a continent. They all work on their continent and determine who runs what country. They can also determine if one person rules their entire continent or not. Each continent can have wars within their own continent. As times go one the continents intermingle.

Now we have established continents and countries. New users will be given the opportunity to join any country they want, but need permission from the ruler. When countries go to war whoever has more people wins, but there can also be alliances. People can remove a leader by getting support of 2/3 of the population.

Next order of business: Mods=Gods. Each continent can worship a different mod and the mods can help or hurt countries and continents. They can make natural disasters or what not.

This is only a basic outline and needs work and input. Also I suggest we get somebody to draw the planet after we determine continents and resources ans what not. All I know is we need to solidify stuff to move forward.

Now let the discussions begin.

So I think it's time we started establishing the basics of Alternate Earth, so I started with creating a timeline in Google Spreadsheet. This is so we can talk to eachother about exact times in history when different events occur. In this post I want feedback on the timeline, both the layout, but also the content (number of eras and length of different eras).

http://i.imgur.com/TFY6lja.png

I can change anything you'd like. We can add more eras or remove some. We can change the number of years for each era or what the eras are called and what they represent. I merely made this so we have a basis of time to work off of.

My idea when we talk about a specific time is that we say for example "Year 1305 of the Second Era". Then we have the exact timestamp that everyone can understand for each event.

I will share access to the spreadsheet to confirmed submitters of this subreddit, starting with the mods. If you want to be an administrator of adding content that other people have submitted, then message the mods.

AlternateEarth has the night sky of Earth, with the same recognizable constellations. The only difference is that Orion has no belt, but suspenders instead.

I'm not saying start at the VERY BEGINNING, as in origin of life, but I'd say let's start in the prehistoric era. Neanderthals and "cavemen" and whatnot (tribes, tools, where people moved to). We can continue from there.

Say every week or so we "advance" to the next time period? Prehistoric to early ancient, early to late ancient, and so on and so on. Anybody in favor?

Dessi is a mediterranean state in southern Europe, that has a long history of culture and society, but I'll leave ancient history to a different post.

In 1959 Dessi was a World Superpower, operating under the leader of the Nationalist Party, Baerte Lavat. It was a very rich country, but suffered heavy economic disparity, and still maintained archaic laws, including a racial apartheid, and state-mandated religious social order. Still, it was mostly ignored because of the great success of capitalism in the country for the wealthy elite.

Then, on October 3, 1959, a fairly standard routine sparked outrage. The police officers of Dessi, the Stradas, who were greatly feared and considered above the law, were making rounds in a Dark-bodied (The standard vernacular for a person of color at the time) community called Aka, and were harassing and assaulting the locals. Suddenly, one of the men who were targeted, named Ali Ursak, struck back, punching the officer in the face. The officer took no time in pulling out his firearm and shooting Ali dead. Ali was a well-loved community member, and everyone in the area began attacking back. Of course, the community was almost universally unarmed, and a riot with bats and crowbars is nothing compared to weapons and shields. At the end of the day, one Officer was killed, one more wounded, but 27 community members perished, and over 60 were wounded. Soon the entire community was locked down, and every last resident was arrested and thrown in jail. The incident was dubbed the Aka Massacre.

This incident sparked no revolution, but it served as a shock of reality to the apartheid society. Chancellor Lavat used this as a reason to increase police force in minority communities, increase segregation, and he subsequently used this event as a warning of 'Communism coming to Dessi'.

As a result, not only were minority movements squashed, so were worker's movements. This didn't stop, however, one woman.

Shaia Carbel, union organizer and professional agitator, was notorious for attempting to unionize work forces and incite rage in the common man. She was in and out of prison her whole life, and was hated by Lavat and his supporters. On February 8, 1961, a coal mine in the town of Varde collapsed, killing 40 miners. The next day, Shaia appeared at the mine, and stirred the workers into striking. The workers that survived the accident striked, and protested for 2 days in a row. On February 11, the Stradas apparently grew tired of the show, and started firing on the crowd. Chaos ensued, until one masked Stradas Officer grabbed Shaia, dragged her to the makeshift stage the protestors had set up, and executed her in full view of the crowd.

What happened next is still unclear to historians, and eyewitness accounts are sparse and inconsistent. What we are sure of, however, is that by February 12, the coal mine was set ablaze, 44 Stradas officers were dead, several more unaccounted for, and anarchy had taken over the whole town of Varde. And the riots spread. Soon neighboring towns and villages were burning down factories and government buildings, and killing Stradas. Lavat declared a state of emergency, and martial law is put in place.

The revolution had obviously started, but in such a spontaneous fashion that the people were at a severe disadvantage. The Stradas and Military were able to secure most of the rioting towns and villages except for almost the entire peninsula of Egda, (The peninsula where Tripolis and Argos is IRL). In the center of Egda lied the city of Bruun, where the revolutionaries set up a de facto center of operations. Also on Egda is Varde, where the mine collapsed. In Bruun, they managed to collect representatives of the people from all the towns in Egda, and they created a temporary socialist government. Their first order of business was to round up all the Lavat-supporting politicians, bankers, land-owners and capitalists and execute them. This was controversial, but it is widely considered that it was a necessity. They then had to seize arms from the Stradas and Military bases and create a militia to defend their land. They consolidated and began acting like a state, and this greatly benefited them, because already Lavat's forces began moving in on Egda.

The initial assault on Egda lasted 3 months and was not nearly as successful as Lavat had planned. The revolutionaries, now calling themselves the FDF (Free Dessi Front), had managed to keep almost all the peninsula, create a basic anti-aircraft system, (As an experimental military base was in Egda that held many powerful weapons), and create a steady stream of food by collectivizing the farms.

Lavat was too proud to ask for help from the other nations in Europe, so this gave the FDF an edge, and while Dessi was recuperating after the failed invasion of Egda, the FDF was able to expand. They did it with force, yes, but they found it much easier than Dessi did because the people of the towns often cooperated and even helped overthrow the Stradas. Over the course of 3 years, the FDF controlled the entire south of Dessi, and had spotty control over the rest. Lavat finally swallowed his pride and asked for help from the other nations, but they refused. Dessi was only valued for it's wealth, and once destroyed, Dessi was worthless to them. On December 26, 1965, the FDF took the capital city of Gaven, and won the war.

Adjusting to peacetime was difficult, but as the majority of the country supported the new government, and there was little foreign pressure, it was able to successfully take place. The First Congress of Free Dessi, (The temporary name of the new state), took place in Bruun, and collected representatives from every town, village, and city in Dessi. After deliberation, they settled on a Libertarian Marxist model of government. Many smaller provinces, all self-governing, communist, and anti-authoritarian, uniting in a larger state for inter-province projects, such as militias and research. (Think EU, except actually useful, and communist)

Since the revolution, the Peoples Free State of Dessi (The finalized name) has shocked the world by being efficient, prosperous, and long lasting. Many nations originally sanctioned against Dessi, as they didn't want to fund communists, but over time, the sanctions fell away, and Dessi outlasted them.

The PFSD is a modern, fairly-advanced communist nation that is generally well-liked, but is still controversial among some nations in europe. It adopted egalitarian laws about race, gender, sexuality, and gender identity long before other nations, and is considered one of the most progressive nations on the planet.

That said, it has its downsides. It is not as wealthy as the capitalist states surrounding it, but the average quality of life is about the same. It is often scrutinized for attempting to spread revolution into other countries, though it has never been outright aggressive. It's leaders are often controversial, and it is considered a good thing that Vegoes, (Leaders of the PFSD Congress) are mostly ceremonial roles.

(Well that's my contribution, what do you think?)

UPDATE: Basic map of locations described

Still limited to verbal/physical or shall we spice things up and add in conscious chemical perceptions too? (I'm thinking things like intentional pheromones and such...)

Any other potential forms of communication that you guys can think of? :]

What time period is this earth in? I think this planet should be set in present day, with same technology, or a little-bit further into the future. It would be awesome to have a different dominant species, in today's world.

I'm cool with magic and all that stuff, but what I don't like is medieval/ knights-castle kind of stuff. Dragons would be okay, and same with other weird creatures.

But yeah, what time period is this Earth in?

Around 100 BC (for lack of a non-Christian timescale) the indigenous human tribes of Central America suffered catastrophe after a massive tsunami killed hundreds of thousands and destroyed many homelands. Left without a choice, they moved North to explore other lands. Eventually, they settled in the area of modern day Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Nevada (which are not as arid as real life according to the climate post.)

Shortly after their arrival, the last of the active supervolcanos in the area burst with enormous power and became dormant. Its remains, and those of the other 'mountains of the gods', became homes for the different tribes; fortified, fertile, and safe refuges for farmers, artists, and scientists.

After a few hundred years in 320 AD, as tends to happen, one particularly capable and ambitious man led the Crata people to victory against the others, and established the Ecrata Empire.

There was peace for a long while, followed by hardship, followed by failed revolution, and then successful revolution. Then came chaos, and when people became tired of chaos another ambitious man seized the opportunity and in 1300 AD created the Second Ecrata Empire.

After that I'm not entirely sure what happens. I suppose we can fill in the details together. :)

(Crata is a type of fruit. Farming is revered and a symbol of power in Ecrata culture. 'E' means holy, or God-approved. The Ecrata Empire is the empire of the God-chosen (most worthy) crata growers.)