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Alternate Earth: "Mayflower to Sokotra ..."


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A few days ago I was looking at a map of the Indian Ocean, and there was this island, Sokotra.

Almost desert, 80 km long, 25 km wide, mostly plains, but with a mountain 1,500 m high, lots

of caves, a very unusual vegetation, bats as the only native mammals - a very strange and ex-

tremely remote place.

Remote, but in a fascinating location. To the south west is the Swahili Coast, to the west is Ara-

bia with the ports of Aden and Muscat, to the north west is Persia, to the north east and east is

India, and to the south east are the Maldives. Lots of different, fascinating cultures, just close

enough to visit, but still far enough to be no immediate threat for the island's inhabitants.

Sokotra could be perfect for an alternate earth setting. Historically the island was inhabited by

Christian Arabs (must have surprised the first European visitors somewhat), but for a possible

alternate earth setting I would not hesitate to remove the natives and turn Sokotra into an un-

inhabited island, with perhaps only some ruins left by the previous inhabitants. Well, there could

also be the occasional pirate crew visiting the island for fresh water ...

The setting's main ingredient could be European settlers, either intentional colonists like the Pu-

ritans of the Mayflower, or unintentional ones like the mutineers of the Bounty who settled Pit-

cairn Island. They would have to explore the island, start their settlement there, and finally to

contact their various neighbours (the pirates would contact them ...) to trade with them for the

goods their new home does not offer to them.

The best time period for a setting of this kind would probably be around 1600, when ships from

Europe could reach the region, but the Europeans did not yet control the entire region - a few

Dutch, English and Portuguese outposts would add some more colour and opportunities for di-

plomacy to the setting. The ships could be European caravels and carracks and native dhows,

the weapons would be musket and rapier - the usual swashbuckling outfits.

The players could start with a ship and crew, a few dozen settlers, some money to buy what

they consider necessary to build their small colony, and a convincing reason to leave Europe be-

hind and search for a new home. Perhaps they did hear rumours of a remote island inhabited

by friendly Christians ...

Well, this is where I am right now. I am not yet sure whether to write this setting, but the basic

idea seems interesting to me.

Comments and ideas are most welcome. :)

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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Sokotra could be perfect for an alternate earth setting. Historically the island was inhabited by

Christian Arabs (must have surprised the first European visitors somewhat), but for a possible

alternate earth setting I would not hesitate to remove the natives and turn Sokotra into an un-

inhabited island, with perhaps only some ruins left by the previous inhabitants. Well, there could

also be the occasional pirate crew visiting the island for fresh water ...

The setting's main ingredient could be European settlers

You forget all the Chinese left there by the sinking of one of Zheng He's ships :)

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You forget all the Chinese left there by the sinking of one of Zheng He's ships :)

I doubt that he would have left them behind, it seems he cared quite well for his crews. ;)

However, Chinese traders should indeed be a part of the setting. I am not sure how far or

how often they travelled the real world's Indian Ocean, apart from the Treasure Fleet, but

in an alternate earth setting Chinese junks en route to Arabia may well be normal - they

had all the necessary technology and skills, just not the Emperor's permission, if I remem-

ber it right.

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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A few days ago I was looking at a map of the Indian Ocean, and there was this island, Sokotra.

Almost desert, 80 km long, 25 km wide, mostly plains, but with a mountain 1,500 m high, lots

of caves, a very unusual vegetation, bats as the only native mammals - a very strange and ex-

tremely remote place.

Comments and ideas are most welcome. :)

If you wanted a more fantasy edge to your island you could have your bats have become the bizarre night stalkers from the After Man book by Dougal Dixon(scroll down this page for the creature illo).

http://stevyncolgan.blogspot.com/2008/05/all-about-flies-and-tubesharks.html

http://www.basicrps.com/core/BRP_quick_start.pdf A sense of humour and an imagination go a long way in roleplaying. ;)
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If you wanted a more fantasy edge to your island you could have your bats have become the bizarre night stalkers from the After Man book by Dougal Dixon

Thank you, a very nice idea. ;t)

The settlers will be in for quite a shock when they discover what is killing their goats, and since

bats usually prefer caves, there is an opportunity for a very special kind of "dungeon crawl" ... >:>

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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However, Chinese traders should indeed be a part of the setting. I am not sure how far or

how often they travelled the real world's Indian Ocean, apart from the Treasure Fleet, but

in an alternate earth setting Chinese junks en route to Arabia may well be normal - they

had all the necessary technology and skills, just not the Emperor's permission, if I remem-

ber it right.

That's correct. At first, there was a policy of reaching out that led to Zheng He's ventures, and then a change in policy that forbid precisely that sort of venture. If I'm not mistaken, Chinese merchants nonetheless were sailing around the Indian ocean; I think Singapore was settled fairly early by some number of Chinese merchants. In an alternate Earth, you could even have a Singapore-like trading base set up on Sokotra; or even reverse the historic flow: Instead of Dutch and English East India Companies, have an Imperial Western Barbarian Company that sends fleets all the way to Europe and back.

Another interesting twist is that the Ming Dynasty -- a native Chinese dynasty -- fell to the Manchus in 1644. You could make the struggle part of the politics of any merchant base on Sokotra.

My avatar is the personal glyph of Siyaj K'ak' a.k.a. "Smoking Frog."

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If I'm not mistaken, Chinese merchants nonetheless were sailing around the Indian ocean; I think Singapore was settled fairly early by some number of Chinese merchants.

Thank you very much, I like this idea. :)

Meanwhile I settled for about 1625 as the starting date of the setting, but my little research

showed that most of the important ports around Sokotra were already under foreign control

at that time - Aden by the Ottomans, Surat by the English of the East India Company, Goa by

the Portuguese, and so on.

These nations would probably not welcome another bunch of Europeans on Sokotra, especial-

ly the Portuguese might well decide to eliminate this potential competition immediately. There-

fore it would by prudent for the colonists to avoid such contacts and search for other trading

partners and potential allies, and the Chinese would be a very interesting and colourful option.

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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Meanwhile I settled for about 1625 as the starting date of the setting

the Chinese would be a very interesting and colourful option.

Nice. I love the Seventeenth Century, and during the Thirty Years' War is a fascinating, if particularly inhumane, time.

One suggestion for research I would make is to look at the Chinese from Fujian province. While most Chinese didn't seem to like traveling around, the Fujianese couldn't stop sailing places. Most of the "overseas" Chinese until recently were from Fujian. Also, there are some very interesting unique cultural aspects of Fujian: such as a type of round, fortified house you don't find anywhere else in China. (My father-in-law's family were tea merchants from Fuzhou, so this area has a special place in my heart.)

Good luck with this setting; it sounds like a beauty!

My avatar is the personal glyph of Siyaj K'ak' a.k.a. "Smoking Frog."

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With the location, the island of Sokotra, determined and the general background sketched, I

would build the actual setting around some personalities. Here is an example:

Charles Ferguson

The leader of the expedition to Sokotra is Captain Charles Ferguson, the owner of the merchant

ship Orkney Lass. He knows the Indian Ocean region quite well, as he took part in the siege of

the Portuguese fort at Hormuz in 1622 and found and explored Sokotra on his voyage back to

Scotland.

Soon after his arrival there, he met and joined a protestant sect, the New Covenant, and also

befriended their leader, Alan Docharty. Together they developed the plan to found a colony on

Sokotra, both to escape the expected re-introduction of Catholicism by the new king Charles

and to build a community that can follow its religious ideals without outside interference.

Ferguson and Docharty convinced most of the other members of the New Covenant of their plan

and began to prepare the voyage to Sokotra. The Orkney Lass was modified, the few experien-

ced fishermen among the sect's members were trained as the ship's crew, and the necessary

equipment for the new colony was purchased.

In early 1625 the Orkney Lass left Scotland with 58 men, 51 women and 31 children, hoping to

arrive at Sokotra within about 90 days.

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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One suggestion for research I would make is to look at the Chinese from Fujian province.

Thank you very much for the tip, I will do that. :)

I also hope that Gianni Vacca's Tian Xia supplement will be published in time to give me a few

more informations on Chinese culture and history, which I do not know very well.

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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In several books there are adaptation for bats, the Chiropti from Manhunter, imagine bats evolving all sorts of things. There is a cool book out there, iirc, done by the Guy that done the TTA that had a giant bat attacking a female human savage as she protects a wounded astronaut. What I guess I am trying to say is that evolution, especially fantasy evolution could fill all sorts of gaps.

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In several books there are adaptation for bats, the Chiropti from Manhunter, imagine bats evolving all sorts of things. There is a cool book out there, iirc, done by the Guy that done the TTA that had a giant bat attacking a female human savage as she protects a wounded astronaut. What I guess I am trying to say is that evolution, especially fantasy evolution could fill all sorts of gaps.

A good idea, but for this setting it would be "overkill" to introduce more than one or two such

species, the island is simply too small to keep this plausible.

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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