Sundered Veil

In the world of Sundered Veil, British occultists in the 15th century tear a hole in the barrier between the Natural and Supernatural, unleashing mystical forces into the world.

Point of Divergence

In 1325 John of Nottingham is hired to kill several people including the Prior of Coventry, King Edward II, and Hugh Despenser the Younger using magic. After testing his methods on a local man, his assistant betrays him to the authorities. In this timeline, his assistant does not betray him, but neither does he kill his targets using magic. He uses the money he was paid to hire assassins to kill the men in ways that make them look like they are killed supernaturally, so as to increase his reputation. This results in the deaths of Hugh Despenser the Younger, his father, the Prior of Coventry, and King Edward II. King Edward III discovers the source of the plot and John of Nottingham is arrested. The trial concludes that he used sorcery to eliminate the men and he is burned as a witch. Much of history continues as it happened OTL. During this time however, John of Nottingham's reputed success in eliminating multiple unpopular figures using magic fuels an increased interest in sorcery amongst many of the remaining conspirators in Coventry. As the years go on, the Order of John is formed, devoted to researching magic and the occult in secret. In 1403, several members of the order discover what they referred to as The Veil, a barrier between our world, and the supernatural world. Sometimes, areas of the veil become thin, allowing miracles or disasters depending on the nature of the supernatural beyond the veil at that time. The order postulated that if they could tap into the world beyond the veil, they could gain powers unheard of besides the legendary Merlin. On October 25th, 1415, the highest members of the order gathered together in their sanctum in Coventry to perform a ritual they believed would allow them to access the power beyond the veil. What happened next would shake the world.

The ritual completed and at first the order believed they had failed, but one by one they could feel power flowing through them, they achieved what they desired, they had become conduits to the power beyond the veil. Unfortunately they underestimated that power. As the power flowed into them it began to eat away at their bodies, and eventually they were simply not enough to contain it. Their bodies evaporated into nothing. With no conduits to contain the essence of beyond, it began to flow uncontested through the tap in the veil and much like air escaping a balloon with a small hole, the escaping energy simply tore apart the veil flooding into our world. The resulting rush of energy caused the sky across the world to light up with a flash of silver light. The English forces at the Battle of Agincourt saw this as God showing his favor, other areas saw otherwise

Results of the Sundered Veil

Several things happened immediately as a result of the veil's destruction and the flood from beyond into our world.

World Map with OTL borders

Historical Results

• The French are entirely demoralized by the Battle of Agincourt and the Silver Sky, and unity breaks down even moreso than OTL. France collapses.
• The rain of fire that destroys Bursa is taken by the Ottomans as a sign that their occupation of Christian Europe is against God's will. They pull back to Asia Minor and Anatolia, leaving their holdings to the Byzantines.

Physical Results

• In Coventry a column of crystal 300 meters wide and 900 meters high stood where the veil was torn.
• Fire rained from the sky over several areas including Bursa, Riga, and Cairo, wiping out the cities.
• Significant volcanic activity causing destruction in Iceland, Japan, The Philipines, and across the west coast of North and South America. The southern California coast is now a chain of islands, Iceland is split in two, North and South America are separated by a strait.
• Seismic activity causes several island chains to rise, most notably the Azores and Cape Verde, and several new chains were created, such as the Amperes off the coast of Portugal, and the Jaseurs off the coast of OTL Brazil, and the Nazcas off the coast of OTL Chile.

Long Term Results

With the supernatural energies released into our world, there were some drastic alterations to the way the world worked.

• The ambient enegies now flowing through the world can be tapped by those of enough will or those who's bloodline was touched by supernatural phenomenon during the sundering. These energies can be manipulated into a variety of effects through practice, instinct, or faith.
• Some animal life was corrupted creating new species of beasts
• With magical abilities, healing, etc. this has made belief in a higher power much easier, resulting in a vast reduction in Atheism from OTL. The belief that the right to rule is inherent in nobility because of an edict from God is more accepted in modern day resulting in far more monarchies, and of those existing monarchies, most have a monarch which actually exercises their power.
• Technological development in some areas stagnated. With Magical healing, medical research wasn't a priority. With people able to cause destruction with a gesture, weapons technology suffered.
• With alchemical processes succeeding, the value of precious metals has declined dramatically. Silver, the only precious metal that cannot be created alchemically, and with its naturally magic resistant properties has become the standard by which most currencies are backed.

Principal Content

Timeline - General timeline of events of this ATL

Nations - List of nations of the ATL

Maps - Maps of the world and countries.

Flags - Flags of nations and organizations

Coats of Arms - Coats of Arms of nations and organizations