Or the world as it may have been had arcane power played a part in global proceedings. This world could be classed as something of an alternate history mashed in with fantasy - the point of divergence was the time of King Solomon. An Israelite king who held something of a fascination with the arcane arts. In his endless and insatiable quest to commune with demons he tore open the veil between our world and an ethereal realm beyond through sheer force of will.
In so doing, he allowed the beings that inhabit this other realm to look upon ours, and to interfere with it at their will. Some of the ether's energy leaks through and corrupts both man and beast alike, but the beings across the veil can themselves alter according to their will. Yet these beings who, for want of a better word, might be termed 'gods', are fickle creatures. They may addle a man's mind, yet give another untold power for reasons no surer than their own amusement. No mortal in our world has communed or parleyed directly with them, save for Solomon himself, yet this is not for lack of trying. Sometimes, the gods do see fit to answer their prayers, though they do so not with words but with a minor plucking of the web they spin throughout the world. They may perform the odd benevolent act to engineer their chosen prophet or puppet to look like the true Messiah, but it is mere circumstance; they are meddlers. Our world is as insignificant to them as a colony of bacteria in a Petri dish is to the scientist.
The additional variable of these outside entities and the magic they use or bestow has led to a number of historical events having never happened, or happening different, over the course of the last five thousand years. Wars were often bloodier due to the use of magic, counter-magic and magical technology. Religions hold a more prominent role in thinking - it is much easier to convince people that your god is the real one if you can exert a supernatural and inexplicable power upon them yourself.
Science has advanced separately than in our world. Quartz crystals can hold a magical 'charge', and become a wondrous material known as 'magite'. This clean, efficient energy source powers grand machines and has permitted advancements centuries ahead of their time. The most obvious example of this is the Skyship, huge flying machines carrying hundreds of people and defying gravity itself. Weaponised skyships form the core of a new three-dimensional war theater in which the doctrine is new and not yet entirely set.
Religion is, naturally, greatly affected throughout history, as are the ascendant nations as a result. The Catholic Church, and later the Protestant Church, have managed to wrest a serious grip on the world through magical (and as a result, political) influence. All clergymen are extremely powerful magic users and miracle-performers. And all have their fingers in the cookie jars of the world's nations and empires, who either have throughout history kept their positions through appeasement of the Church, or have otherwise cast in their lot with the clergy in return for powerful magical aid. This has had the knock-on effect of Christianity (in both Roman and Orthodox flavours) becoming the dominant religion of the world through a combination of military might, empire-building and forcible conversion. Its rivals in this universe are not Judaism or Islam (though they do exist in small sects in some areas, they are nowhere near as prominent), but instead other forms of spiritism and other worships that have come to pass as a result of a number of groups of magically-affected persons with like abilities form. The Churches see these as heretical and try to expunge them on occasion when they get too vocal and public, but so long as they remain in the shadows the Churches often see them as beneath their attention. Religious faith is, by and large, stronger and less disputed in this world due to the fact that the churches have a greater level of ‘proof’ to present to followers and unbelievers.
The Far East is perhaps the only other holdout against Christianisation; Buddhism and Shinto in Japan, Mongolia and Korea, Confucianism and Taoism in mainland China.
But religion is not the only area where magic has had a profound effect on lives. The political map is
likewise very different.
The Empire of Great Britain is at its zenith, and is easily the world's most prominent superpower. The sun never sets upon Queen Caroline's dominions and her army is well trained, well disciplined and well equipped enough to protect them.
The Kingdom of France, having undergone several revolutions has emerged once more as yet another absolute monarchy. A succession of weak monarchs across the border in Spain led to a voluntary political union, granting France control over all of Spain's possessions in the New World, giving her perhaps the only territorial contest to her eternal rival, Britain. France's noble class enjoy a much greater degree of power over their plebeians, and slavery is commonplace. France's armies are expansive, yet led more by privilege and title than by merit.
The Holy Roman Empire, a fanatically devout dominion with an immensely powerful military born of paranoia, is run by a theocracy under the Pope out of the great holy city of Rome. Though German is the language spoken throughout much of the Empire, they see themselves as the successors of Augustus himself. They dream of restoring the Latin world to its former glory and probably have the might to do it were it not for the enemies waiting at every gate. In particular they covet the Holy Lands controlled by their sister-Empire in the east, and the temple of Solomon.
The Eastern Roman Empire, sometimes referred to as the Byzantine Empire, are truly a relic of a past age.
Like their more religious namesakes to the West, the Easterners dream of a reunified Empire. Their armies are small and defensive in nature under a more peaceful Grecian administration, though they have a greater deterrent than any other army combined - the soldiers of the Order of Heaven's Wrath reside deep in the Holy Land, and all peoples across the globe know that a handful of these near-invincible warriors can change the fate of the world. Indeed, they already have a number of times.
The northern peoples from the Empire of Russia have long known hardship. Theirs is a crude land, ruled much as France is by decadent nobles while peasants scratch a living in farms or dirty cities. Yet none who have dared to assault Russia have ever succeeded, and all who have dared have faced the fury of a people fanatically loyal despite their being downtrodden.
I hope you'll join us on our adventures through this world, and bring it to life with your contributions to it.
