Wasteland. Most of the European mainland, along parts of the Middle East and Asia had became a battered wastes after "The Divergence". The environment was hostile but could be made liveable. Or so the people of New Babylon thought. For 10 years after "The Divergence", many of people left near the arid deserts of what was the Persian Empire were left to wander and survive it's harsh lands till a redeemer came. A man stepped up and said no more to nomadic life. King Nephous I, an old man from the empire before, gathered enough people to rebuild the former capital Ctesiphon and with it, an empire. Elected as king, he reunited many tribes and expanded the new empire to near the borders of the first Persian Empire. But he knew his age was ailing him. He stepped down and appointed his son, Nephous II, to rule in place of him for the remainder of the his life long term. Nephous had served in the young empire's Immortal Army. Being more ambitious, he drove his scouts out farther and farther in the Asian main lands and European wastes. But, his empire widened, he turned his attention to the old desire his father had during his youth: To see a new city of Babylon. Workers and architects were summoned to the Euphrates river as the long construction began. It's now 295CE, years after event but long before Nephous would see New Babylon built, but his scouts reached out as far as the outskirts of Roma's ruins and Delphi. Many were surprised to see few roman bodies among the ruins. Granted, there were still mass graves, but for how many Romans there were during the event, many the piles seemed lacking. The scouts pushed onwards, looking for artifacts and civilization.
The New World. While its east coast hit as hard as the European wastelands, a mass exodus of Roman survivors that headed east discovered an entire world untouched by the devastation that destroyed the rest of the world. The landscape was alien in nature, but held limitless potential. Ten years after the great crisis known as The Divergence, the former Roman Empire was completely obliterated. The Eternal City took multiple direct hits on that fateful day, all that remains are nothing but isolated ruins on the outskirts. Rome didn't exist anymore, nor did the surviving Romans consider themselves to be 'Roman' anymore. If they were going to survive in the long run, they were going to adopt a new identity. Thus, the Roman survivors paved the foundations of Sonia. A new society which retained some customs of its humble Roman origins, such as a Caesar and its newest capital being born as Neo Roma. While the rest of the world went to chaos, the Sonians believed they were safe. Untouched by the rest of the world, they had a whole new frontier to expand across. Leading this new society was the newest Caesar since the collapse of civilisation, Caesar Darius. Formerly a Roman General later turned politician, then Caesar for the new civilisation, the white haired man had a level of authority that surrounded him. He had just turned seventy, but was wise well beyond his years. He was ready to lead Sonia to greatness.
It had been says since the New Babylonian scouts entered what remained of Roma, scouring the ruins of once great city. What humanity remained were barbaric or nomadic but were of little issue to the scouting party. The scouts felt the city was useless before they came upon something big. Something that would change the fate of an empire. As the scouts moved and searched the ruins, one story continued to pop up through moth eaten diaries and worn stone tablets: Many Romans left on giant ships to a land far west of Europe. While at first it was dismissed as fable, many nomadic travelers said the same thing about ships sailing to the west. It was still dismissed as a fantasy. Then, one day, the scouts were moving along the ruins of the harbor before entering a large building, larger than most others. Inside was workshop with plans, naval charts, and a massive half-built ship. On the carts, all pointed to a land far to the west. The party left Roma later that night, carrying all the plans and charts they could for journey back to Ctesiphon.
Neo Roma was an enormous settlement, likely the largest in North America unless they encountered other signs of civilized life. Pacifying the newest Sonian territory wasn't very difficult, especially since the Sonians had an enormous advantage when it came to military tactics and armament against whatever tribal resistance survived. While many were hostile to Sonia, some actually sided with Sonia and helped provide invaluable knowledge of the environment. Any tribal resistance against Sonia was put down quickly and with the force of a hammer coming down onto them. Whoever survived were put to work as prisoners of war, or life imprisoned criminals were put up as slaves. While the Sonian's held an impressive amount of territory for a nation that was only recently established, expansion wouldn't occur for another ten to fifteen years due to not having the manpower to do so and for being unable to hold their new territory. The split of the former Roman Empire had taught them that. For now, it was self preservation. Darius looked around Neo Roma, which was set to undergo a name-change due to a popular vote in the Senate and amongst the citizens themselves. Sonia wasn't the Roman Empire, which was why reforms were occurring far and wide across the nation to remove the identity of what a popular senate member said was "A dead man". The flag was being redesigned, the military system was being modified and plenty other important changes were occurring. However, the title of Caesar would remain to remind the Sonian's or their origins and to never forget who they were. The Caesar looked about the city, which was growing at an alarming rate in terms of population and architecture. Not only was he pleased with his progress, but he was ultimately stunned about how fast the new nation was growing without outside interference. By the time that any contact would have been made with the rest of the world, the newest scouts would have discovered an economic and militaristic powerhouse.
After weeks of traveling across the lands, the scouting party returned to Ctesiphon and presented the young King Nephous II. The king convened with his small council of officials elected by the people from several growing settlements. Several hours of arduous debating later, the council had decided and several teams of architects and builders were redirected to work on building a smaller version to send over. A special group of ambassadors and explorers were put together and within a week, a small ship left through Mediterranean and out into the Atlantic and too the unknown.
By the end of the week, the flag had undergone a name change to resemble a white and yellow flag with a golden wolf. Neo-Roma was renamed to Captania, and some other reforms took place. Life continued in the highly prosperous city, isolated from the rest of the world. Many wanted this isolation in order to truly begin again, many never wanted it to end. However, it soon seemed that the rest of the world found them.
As the first seagulls came into the sight, the small ship could see a massive city approaching on the horizon. As they approached, they could see the pristine city of marble. The ship carefully slipped into the harbor and docked at one of piers as the crew of explores and ambassadors gazed upon the city with awe.
Darius was in his palace as a messenger rushed towards him. "Lord Caesar, we have visitors from across the ocean. They wish for an audience with you." Darius instantly kneeled forwards, this sounded like irrefutable proof that civilisation existed across the ocean. He looked at the messenger and waved his hand at them. "Ambassadors, no doubt. Send them here immediately." The messenger only saluted before running off.
The group of well dressed ambassadors were escorted up the Caesar's palace. During the trip, several of less well-dressed and noticeable people veered off into the crowds to scout out the city. The rest continued on without notice, observing the advance city. As the group of ambassadors, they filed into the Lord's throne room before one of them, a woman in a blue dress stepped out from them. "You must be the Lord Caesar Darius of the... Sonians?" she said before bowing, with the rest of the group following her lead. "It is an honor to meet you. And please forgive my hesitation, we were expecting to come in contact with the Romans."
"We were Roman decedents, although the empire died many moons ago. We decided to continue our own legacy instead of following in the long dark shadow of Rome." Darius replied. "I'm Aulus Calva Darius, also known as Caesar Darius, 1st Caesar for the People and the Senate of Sonia. How might I be of your service?"
"I am Ambassador Melcha of New Babylon, my fellow ambassadors and I are here on behalf of King Nephous II, King of New Babylon and Chef Architect of the reconstruction of Babylon." she replied in a matter-of-factly way. "I am here to properly introduce the New Babylonian Empire and insure that future diplomacy occurs as smoothly as possible. It's my job to be of service to you."
Darius nodded in response. "I can already assure your empire that we can both have a successful relationship. Of course, I'm sure we will have nothing to worry about unless we feel directly threatened and on the verge of war. This is the first time that we have had contact with the outside world for over thirty years, many feel that they are nervous about the prospect of invasion. Some of the young have never seen anyone from Europa."
Melcha nodded as looked back to her fellow ambassadors before back the Caesar. "I can assure you, we have no intention of invasion. Especially not from across such a large ocean. Though, we've also yet to run in much civilization since the event beside nomads and barbarians..." Meanwhile, out on the streets of Neo Roma, one the explorers broke off from the crowd before scaling up the side of one the buildings. As he reached the top, he down to see a bustling market before looking to see a towering Colosseum. He gazed at it, never having seen one before. He smiled before making his way to it, one roof top at a time.
"We are set to do the same. This new land is believed to be larger then anything we've previously encountered before, perhaps larger then all of Europa. It might be possible that other large society's exist to the far south of north. Society does exist however, but in a tribal form of the indigenous inhabitants." Darius replied before coughing at the end. "But we can find this answer in due time, Sonia is underpopulated as it is. It might take a decade or so until we can begin to establish some new settlements and expand our horizons."
-Suddenly, a very tall figure with blonde hair and green eyes, and clad in a black cloak, approached Darius and Melcha, crossing his arms when he is close enough to them to stop approaching them- (???) *looks down at Darius and Melcha* Excuse me. You wouldn't happen to be the representatives of Sonia and New Babylon, would you?
Melcha turned to face the new figure. "We're all representatives of own empires. Which do you represent?" She casually speaks, watching the new figure as the group of ambassadors reached into their ornate cloaks and dresses for something. Elsewhere, the young explorer looked over the crowed entrance to the Colosseum. He could hear cheering from inside but couldn't see anything from his position. Frowning, he hopped down and ran around, looking for a way to climb up before finding a small ladder for workers who maintained the Colosseum. He quickly and scaled before sneaking around the maintenance levels and slowly ascending up.
(???) *in a german accent* I am the Chancellor of the Germanic Republic, which is the unification of the Germanic Tribes of old. My name is Heinrich von Verkoffen.
"I do not know how you've managed to evade security, nor how you've managed to enter the palace undetected. But it seems to be of peaceful intentions, so i shall let it slide." Darius responded. "This is evidence that civilisation exists across the ocean, this is just proof."
Elsewhere, a tall, blonde woman observed these events. Her name: Natalia IV. She led the Amazon Empire, a land run by women. She had heard about this "land across the ocean" and thought to herself, "If anyone takes this new land, it must be me, for the glory of the Amazon Empire!" Sent from my Nokia 3310 using Tapatalk 2
