Saturday, January 21, 2006

Death In The 12th Century; Ralph Shephard Sworn In

ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE: 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! By entering, you grant TIAH the right to electronically print your writing on February 14th, 2006, maintain your writing in our archives, and reprint your entry should we decide to reuse it in the future. TIAH only maintains full copyright over material it has originated that has been used by contestants in writing their own entries. And, another cool thing - Let us know where you are on Frappr!

January 21st, 2006

in 1000 Post-Creation, Gabriel takes the human woman Eve again, and one of his female angelic cohort, Lilith, takes the male, Adam. The Creator sends His arch-angel Michael down to them to punish this further transgression, and Michael casts Gabriel and Lilith down to the Abyss. Lucifer, angered at their willful disregard for his sacrifice, leaves the Abyss and, with all the might he has been given by Yahweh, seals the opening to the lake of fire, trapping Gabriel and Lilith there.

in 902, Lebuin's Christian forces, now down to less than a hundred, break down the defenses of Rhonwen's fortress by the sea and storm into the castle. Their numbers are further reduced by deadly traps inside the fortress that have been devised by the wizards of Wales, and the pitiful handful that manage to stumble out of the keep alive are driven off by the combined forces of Merlin's dragon and Atticus' golem. Lebuin vows to return with a stronger force and destroy the wizards.

in 1077, the Tuscan Bishop Hildebrand begged forgiveness of Pope William I for his heresy in challenging the Pope’s directive that all clergy in the Holy British Empire should be approved by him. Bishop Hildebrand continued to defy Pope William, even declaring himself the Pope once, until His Holiness had him arrested and executed by the Papal Guard.

in 1183, Velma Porter and Mikhail von Heflin emerge from the swirling rip in the time/space continuum of the coast of Bermuda. They manage to swim to the shore, but both quickly realize that they are no longer in 2008. “That's the last time I let you plan our vacation,” Porter tells von Heflin. They begin walking inland from the coast to see if there is any civilization on the island.

in 1862, British police arrest a man in Marbury for trafficking in explosives illegally. During interrogation, it is revealed that he is the source for most of the conventional explosives that have been used by the Human League. This is both good news and bad news for the British authorities; the good news is that they have cut off that supply of explosives to the terrorists. The bad news is that they move up to more powerful weapons from there.

in 1926, strongman and actor Steve Reeves was born on his family’s farm in Montana. After gaining popularity in Italian films playing Hercules, he made a move to more sophisticated roles as the spy James Bond in Dr. No. He retired from the role after 4 feature films and from acting in general afterwards, occasionally making cameo appearances in television and film in the 70’s and 80’s. After spending the 90’s raising horses and promoting drug-free body-building, he returned for one last role as a gladiatorial mentor in the Ridley Scott film Gladiator. He died the day the film premiered in 2000.

in 1969, Astrid Pflaume gave her first report about her operation to the neo-Nazis financing her. Although she had only been gone 4 days by their time, she has been in the field for 5 years. She is surly during the debriefing, more to used to giving commands now than obeying them. Wilhelm Schoemann begins to suspect that her heart is no longer on their side.

in 1985, conservative activist Ralph Shephard begins his first term of office. He had delayed his swearing in until the 21st because he refused to conduct state business on a Sunday. In his inaugural speech, he promised to end the dishonor that had gripped the nation since the loss of the Vietnam War, declaring, “A year of great decisions is approaching. A historical task of unique dimensions has been entrusted to us by the Creator which we are obliged to carry out.

in 2001, the breakaway soviets of the northwest, the People’s Republic of America, invade the California Soviet and occupy San Francisco. They hold the northern portion of the soviet until the Soviet States of America cut them off by invading Washington Soviet, forcing the P.R.A. to withdraw their troops in order to defend their own territory.

in 2004, the Soviet Union’s Martian colony is hit by a gigantic sandstorm. Their underground facility is saved, but the above-ground facility is totaled. They are forced to request aid from the American and European colonies, who escaped the worst of the storm. The destruction of the facility marks the end to an era – it had stood since the Soviet Union had first landed on Mars in 1975.

in 2005, Jeanna Best and Dave Lange, after a couple of days of observing people's use of their hands, get together at his apartment and compare notes. They have both become decidedly paranoid, because they have actually witnessed the “claw-like” behavior that they had been warned about in the Save Earth meeting. Best plaintively asks, “What's going on?”

Timelines in today's post: the Wizards of Wales, the Holy British Empire, the Fall, von Heflin, the GZR, the Ralph Shephard timeline, and Communist America.

We still have our standard offer - everybody who donates $10 or more through our Paypal link will become alternate history entries on the site. When you donate, I will email you asking your preference for a day & timeline; if you don't reply to me, I'll place you in a day that seems to fit your name :) Thanks for your continued support!


The Forum lives again! My esteemed Co-Historian has brought the forum back to life, and in spite of the issues we've had with the forum in the past, we think that this time, it'll stay up!
Fresh New Poll - Shall we use future dates in our entries?


Buy my stuff at Lulu!
Warp and Protocols still available; also, see the script I submitted for Bravo's Situation: Comedy. Speaking of which, the winning writers have been announced; not the ones I voted for, but you can see the one I did at http://www.marktreitel.com

Help the Alternate Historian get a better day job!
My email address for contacting me with your good news, or for more direct goodness, go to the web site and leave a comment, buy a book, or leave a Paypal donation! Remember, it's only 6 degrees of separation between you and anyone else - and thanks again!

No comments:

TIAH Editor says we'd like to move you off the blog, if you're browsing the archives - and most people are - more than half of them are already on the new site. We need to be sure the new web site accomodates your archive browsing needs because we don't want to lose any readers. Please supply any feedback or comments by email to the Editor and please note the blogger site is shutting on December 1st.