A Medieval America? The alt-history World of American Kingdoms

"The most important step a man can take. It’s not the first one, is it? It’s the next one. Always the next step."

— Dalinar Oathbringer, Stormlight Series by Brandon Sanderson

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The World of American Kingdoms

"In 1376, 13 banners rose against tyranny. In 1376, 13 declared independence and a new kingdom was born."

https://american-kingdoms.com/

What if the Americas had already been settled in the Dark Ages? This will be the big 'what if' question of the new 'WoAK' series, that will be a successor to the World of Kaiserreich series. For the first time ever, we are working on writing a universe from the ground up, based on a fresh new PoD. While there will be no mod associated with American Kingdoms directly, I would definitely recommend folks check out the After The End mod for Crusader Kings 3 - which is the closest you can get to a medieval American setting.

The Kaiser Cat Collective: Original worldbuilding, community projects and standalone videos

Part of the reason we’re starting a new universe, separate from Kaiserreich, is because I want to explore some original stories. Many of these are based on sketches from my old drawers - loose drafts and 'wouldn't it be cool if' ideas. As many of you know, I’ve been dealing with serious health issues these past two years, including a spinal fracture. These challenges have made me reflect deeply on how I spend my time, and what stories I still want to tell while I can. At 34, working from a bed, one realises they are not getting any younger 😱.

Going forward, you’ll see more standalone projects from Kaiser Cat Cinema. While American Kingdoms is being made as a series of videos in the KRDOC and WoK fashion, we will also do some more experimental standalone stuff. Right now, I have plans for a Germany in Vietnam video, which will stand in as our stab at the classic 'three-way cold war'.

The American Kingdoms Wiki

A large new thing we are trying with American Kingdoms is making it a collaborative wiki project. In practice, this means anyone can come in and add their own lords, fiefdoms and feudal states to the world. The medieval setting of the universe allows us to fragment the world much further, with feudal dependencies, duchies, counties and much more acting as independent 'states. This allows folks to fold into the larger video series neatly by creating mid-level and lower-level duchies to our bigger factions.

The initial response for this has been awesome, with a lot of really cool people joining the new #american_kingdoms_worldbuilding channel on Discord. I've seen some absolutely wild ideas, like the Malian Empire expanding to the coasts of Brazil, Byzantine remnants in the Carribean, and much more. It's a great time frankly, hanging out with my friends on Discord, writing lore and thinking about cool alt-history universes.

The factions of American Kingdoms

Ultimately, a 'World Of' series of videos is about the factions - the larger conflicts and nations shaping the timeline. In American Kingdoms, we are aiming for a 'medieval pastische', or a homage to the greatest eras in the high medieval era. What if the Chinese Ming Empire, the Mayans and Aztecs, the great Native Republics, the Thirteen Colonies, Vinlandian Vikings, etc... all co-existed on the same continent? This is the main plotline of 'American Kingdoms' as a universe.

The Union

I would venture, your grace, that this Union of ours is not a Union, not Holy, and barely American at that!

- Eric, speaker of the House

The Union is a colloquial term used for the 'American Union'. As the name suggests, this is a Holy Roman Empire-esque federation of the original Thirteen Colonies, reimagined as medieval kingdoms. In this High Medieval Era, each state has much more of its own cultural heritage and identity - but for now, all are bound by honor to the rule of the elected High King, with the capitol in York-Upon-Hudson (New York)

In the timeline of American Kingdoms, an early British Empire conquers much of the Eastern Coast by the late 1200s. By 1376, however, the colonies declare their independence and defeat the British Emperor in a medieval Revolutionary War. With the British monarch thrown from the coasts of the Americas, the continent is now free to forge its own path. But can there ever be peace for a land built on original sin? The territory of the Union, after all, was stolen from the Native people of the Americas, and other European imperial powers eye the independent Kingdoms with hunger.

The Natives

Our depiction of the Natives is going to have to be a bit of a balancing act. An alt-history universe based on the colonisation of the Americas cannot ignore the atrocities that happened there, of course. At the same time, I don't want the universe to revel in such themes. Suffice to say, the Natives have regrouped West of the Appalachias and are now pushing back against the borders of the Union. The Native nations of this timeline will have adopted metalworking and building techniques from the first Byzantine and Roman settlers on the continent, so the current concepts I have for them mix traditional Native outfit with things like lamellar light plate and cuirass.

Aside from that, various Native nations have built a string of fortifications to hem in the Union at their borders. I also have a bunch of notes to depict some of the great cities of the era - Cahokia, the Pueblean rock cities - in the universe as well.

Meso-America: The Aztec Empire, The Mayan States

Honestly, I am a huge fan of the aesthetic of the Meso-American civilisations. I definitely want to spend some time exploring a 'medieval epic' depiction of Tenochtitlan as the capitol of the Aztec Empire. The Aztecs and Mayans are both much more powerful in this timeline, expanding all the way to the North of Mexico as they fight back against Spanish and Moorish invaders.

The Californian Ming ('Dragon Coast')

To round off our 'everyone is in America' concept, we have the Ming arriving in the Californias in an event similar to Zheng He's Treasure Fleet. Having spent several hundreds of years expanding their territory on the West Coast, the Chinese have now established massive cities and monuments.

Keen eyes will notice I am playing around with typical Southern Californian vistas, such as a fusion between the Golden Gate Bridge and the Chinese Great Wall. Aside from that, I have notions of dropping a huge castle on Alcatraz Island.

The community has suggested Zhōngjīng ('Central Capitol') as the name for San Francisco - a bold declaration that the new capitol is central, and that the true borders of Chinese America extend much further to the East. It is not just Manifest Destiny... it is the Mandate of Heaven!