Challenge To Heaven; Lord Weatherby's Militia

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January 10th, 2006

in 47,383 BCE, after her second rainy season with the Australian tribe she had married into, Telka the Speaker falls ill, and calls out for her great-granddaughter. Swikolay had been traveling around the continent, and it took several days for Telka’s tribesmen to find her. By the time she arrived, the Speaker was almost dead. “I will not touch the sky,” she told Swikolay. “Touch it for me.” Those were her last words; she lapsed into a coma and died within hours. Swikolay asked that she be burnt and her ashes thrown into the wind so that she might touch the sky in death.

in 1000 Post-Creation, Gabriel issues his challenge to Heaven.

in 704 AUC, rather than live with the ignominy of being named an Enemy of Rome, Julius Caesar surrendered to the Senate and disbanded his army. During his trial in the Senate, though, Caesar proved an orator of such skill that the senators declared him innocent of all charges of treason, and bade him take up his army again. Although Caesar led the Republic again as Consul, he was always wary in the uses of power, and future consuls followed his example.

in 12-7-19-10-17, Caohtchihuan of Tegucigalpa, renowned for his plain speech and rational thought, published the tome that has come to be known as Rationality. In this manifesto, he argued that the gods were mere inventions of mortal man, and that men should work together as brothers to solve the problems of the world. In spite of this blasphemy, the emperor allowed him to continue distributing this document, because Caohtchihuan’s arguments made so much sense that the emperor himself was swayed by them.

in 1779, Quebec's British governor attempts to rally what few loyalists remain in the province to the cause by issuing a call for a militia to defend the province from the Canadian nationalists. Lord Weatherby's militia is so shot through with spies that it quickly becomes of more use to the nationalists than to the British fighting to keep them down.

in 1889, Mikhail von Heflin battles the Tsombie, a man who had attempted to cross over the planes of existence and trapped himself in the area between. Its hideous powers were almost a match for von Helfin’s but the Baron of Death prevailed in the end, and banished the Tsombie from this dimension forever.

in 1904, a small fleet of ships from the Mlosh homeworld is seen approaching the outer solar system. The ships are completely unlike the Mlosh “beehive” colony ships; they have the sleek look of warships. The Congress of Nations braces the entire system for their arrival.

in 1920, the League of Nations formed in Geneva, Switzerland. The European-led organization has provided an alternative to war for over 8 decades, and has provided the framework for international trade and commerce that has made the world run so smoothly. Although the League could have been torn apart in its early days, its swift action against Japan and Germany in the 1930’s proved that it was capable of providing a voice for all nations, large and small.

in 1921, Zion City, Illinois, made smoking, drinking, and listening to jazz music mandatory for all citizens over the age of 21. The town fathers had grown very tired of Prohibitionists in their community.

in 1972, President Hubert Humphrey welcomes the last American soldiers home from Vietnam. Although the withdrawal was slow, the peace secured by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968 seemed to be holding. Humphrey had crushed his opponent in '68, former Vice-President Richard Nixon, and with America finally out of the conflict in southeast Asia, was cruising to reelection in November.

in 1980, Comrade Secretary George Meany, who had served since 1956 as Secretary of Labor, died at his home in Washington, D.C. Comrade Meany had been a young man when Comrade President Joel Rosenberg appointed him to the office, and the comrade grew into it as no man before or since ever had. American labor was unified and strengthened by his strong hand at the wheel.

Timelines in today's post: the Speaker, the Roman timeline, Canadian Independence, the Mlosh, the Oueztecan timeline, von Heflin, and Communist America.

Yet another AHN - today's post has something a little different about it. There are links to the real timeline source of 4 alternate entries as well as a long-form entry, and at the bottom of the post you will find links to the ongoing timelines that are written about in this post. This is extraordinarily time-consuming, so give us some comments about it to let us know if you would like us to continue doing that. Also, we are holding another contest! Please send us entries for an Alternate Valentine's Day, February 14th, 2006. You may send us up to three entries for the day, and we will choose the best 10 to appear on February 14th. Enter now - deadline will be February 10th!

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