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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 9646363" data-attributes="member: 11760">Pre-revolutionary colonial Americans, transplanted to this fantasy world.Their initial advantage of gunpowder and 18th century scientific knowledge isn't as much of an edge as one would assume, as they quickly learned that scientific principles generally remained true, but the details have changed in this new universe. They've only recently discovered the new formula for gunpowder, for instance, and have discovered that a lot of the materials they need aren't in areas they control and the areas where the ingredients are present are held by robust civilizations they can't just steamroll over. So they need to exercise careful diplomacy and tradecraft without revealing exactly what they're up to.Meanwhile, Benjamin Franklin and others are delighted to discover that "magic" works here. It's viewed as another field of scientific study, and their innovative take (which other countries view as bizarre) has led them to discover new magical effects unknown by their neighbors.Another thing they brought from Earth, slavery, quickly fell apart, because there's no Triangle Trade to rely on. Faced with a hostile new world, the colonists ended up freeing their former slaves, viewing them as more natural allies than the elves, dwarves and others they found themselves surrounded by.The Age of Enlightenment has turned out to be a powerful cultural force in this new world. The notion of democracy in particular has been sending ripples through the nations surrounding the colonial Americans, with some nations embracing the idea, others cracking down on it as a dangerous challenge to existing power structures, and other nations grappling with it.On the other hand, the colonists have also brought with them the idea that, in our world, would come to be known as Manifest Destiny in the coming centuries, and the colonists are already looking at "vacant" (or lightly defended) neighboring areas that they can claim and make into new states.In the meantime, the colonists have carved up the area they initially arrived at, making them into several states, formed a federated nation state, complete with a constitution and a presidency, about 10 years before their counterparts on our Earth fought the War of Independence.</blockquote>

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