Who Can Number The Clouds By Wisdom?

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March 9th, 2006

in 1123 Post-Creation, Lucifer walks among the inhabitants of Eden, who all look at him with a strange new reverence. He is troubled by this, and tells them, “I am a child of the Creator, just as all of you are. I am not worthy of worship; I was merely a tool of the Maker in the Creation. It is He who should be worshiped, He who commands both stars and waters, He who has made us all. Worship Him, not me.”

in 1451, Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci is born in Florence. He corrected the mistaken assumption that Columbus had discovered a new route to India, and had in fact stumbled upon a pair of continents previously unknown to Europeans, for the most part. In his honor, Europeans named the twin continents after him, North and South Vespuccia.

in 1562, a public ban on kissing is proclaimed in the city of Naples, Italy. It lasts for about a day before the local nobleman is forced to rescind it because so many in his own palace are violating the law.

in 1684, experiments with the submarine show the Speaker’s Line that air can be transported in a vehicle into places that have no air. This breakthrough, which should have advanced the Speaker’s Dream, is instead lost because of the Secret War between the two main factions in the Speaker’s Line.

in 1862, the battle of the Ironclads, a new class of warship invented by the North American Confederation, takes place over the moon as the Lunar separatists of Brahe fight off an invading fleet from The Netherlands.

in 1943, Greek fighters for the Greater Zionist Resistance liberate Salonika briefly, and manage to evacuate a few thousand former G.Z.R. citizens before the German Underground cuts off the city and lays siege to it.

in 1954, his fellow Communists criticize Comrade Senator Ted Astley of Washington, saying he was “doing his best to shatter that party whose label he wears.” Comrade Astley had become overly zealous in hunting reactionary capitalists in the Soviet States of America, and his own party members had to step in and restrain him.

in 1996, African forces begin carpet-bombing Pretoria, South Africa. With their American allies consumed with protecting their own borders, South Africa is left to defend itself. After conquering half of the southern hemisphere, they no longer even control their old borders, and the end is written on the wall for them.

in 2004, Jacob and Livinia Sheridan locate the Huygens, which looks remarkably intact for a vessel that crash-landed in the Pacific Ocean from outer space. They are in a large enough sea-going ship, the Athena, to carry the Huygens, so they put it into the cargo hold. “Quarantine the hold,” Jacob suggests to the captain, “and we’ll open it when we get back to Darwin.” The captain should have followed the good doctor’s prescription.

in 2005, after Chelsea Perkins agrees to turn over Morris Perkins' spell book to the Council of Wisdom, Alma May Watson asks them for a counterspell to the one that has so affected young Miss Perkins' vision. The Council promises to work on it and get back to them. Meanwhile, Chelsea has some fun watching television – on the other side of the continent.

Timelines in today's post: the Fall, the Speaker, the Mlosh, the GZR, Communist America, the Ralph Shephard timeline, the Chelsea Perkins timeline and The Sheridans

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