Edgwyn

No, The Guns of the South is a completely separate work. The Southern Victory series follows the Alternate History conventions as opposed to Guns of the South and World War which do not.

I did not go as far as Mr. Turtledove did and have some slightly different assumptions. He had the North fighting multiple wars with the confederates, where our starting position was that the Civil War did not happen. He also had a revolution in Utah and the North flirting with socialism much sooner then in reality. In terms of the CIA's involvement in the development of Latin America, you are ignoring 100 years of US involvement/interference in Latin America prior to the creation of the CIA. I personally believe that in our scenario, both the USA and CSA would have pursued fairly isolationist policies towards Europe and been more focused on expansion in Caribbean and Central and South America, with the South engaging in those efforts first. Without a war between them, I do not see the US and CSA taking opposite sides likely in WWI and later too likely. I suppose one could write a novel about the US and CSA competing for influence and territory in the Western Hemisphere with lots of proxy wars, a cold war period and occasionally a hot war. To me though, given a peaceful withdrawal of the CSA from the USA, the fact that slavery was not that big of an issue for many folks in the North, I expect more of a peaceful coexistence like with Canada. Given that belief, I do not see that much difference in WWI. We played a fairly minor role and either half of the country could have done what we did. WWII is of course a different story. Both the USA and CSA had large cultural ties to Great Britain, but separately they would not have the resources that enabled the Allies to defeat the Axis. The CSA's ties to England may very well have been stronger, given that Great Britain would have been the first or at least one of the first countries to extend diplomatic recognition. The USA may still have been a rival against Japan. You could end up with a scenario where USA is drawn into WWII due to an attack on Pearl Harbor and the CSA is drawn into WWII to help Great Britain. USA would have beat Japan, CSA, GB and USSR would have beaten Germany, but it would have taken another year or so, due to the lack of industrial capacity unless the USA and CSA started working together. You could end this book with the USA and CSA deciding to become a single superpower. In terms of post WWII history, the CSA with its colonial empire would be less likely to push for the termination of the European colonial empires in Asia and Africa. The rise of communism in Europe and Asia would be relatively the same, though potentially all of German would be in the Soviet sphere. If the USA completely ignored the WWII in Europe, it might have been able to extend the civil war in China, but I do not think there would have been much change there. The big difference would be that Cuba would be part of the CSA as states along with potentially other nations in Central America that have experimented with Communism, so there would be less of a foothold in the Americas.

There are a fair number of them around, including three in Nicodemus's area on the main floor of Avadon.

Harry Turtledove covered a successful secession of the South better than I ever could, that said I will opine a little bit. Based on "US chooses to accept . . . rather than face a costly war", then the civil war did not happen. Without the war, I do not believe that West Virginia would have broken away from Virginia. The US would have retained the non-confederate states and territories, the CSA would have been very quickly recognized by Great Britain. Recognition by the other Western European states would have followed. With the population of the South limited in their ability to move into the Western US, they would have revised their plan to turn Cuba into three states and would either take Cuba, or since a portion of the CSA's leaders had experience with taking territory away from Mexico they would have done that. Which course of action would depend in part on who they were relying on for manufactured goods and how much influence Spain had versus France. In terms of the two countries getting along, the main source of tension would have been slavery. The CSA being pro slavery and part of the USA being anti-slavery and harboring run-aways. It is very unlikely that the USA would have adopted the emancipation proclamation or passed the 13th-15th amendments to the constitution without the Civil War. I believe that slavery would have remained a source of tension for a while, but I do not believe that it would by itself cause a new Civil War. The failure of the USA to return runway slaves to the CSA could be used to heighten emotions if the CSA decided that it needed to expand North instead of South. I believe that an expansion South would have been more likely with the CSA coming to dominate the Caribbean and eventually incorporating Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico and possibly Panama and Nicaragua. The USA would still have Alaska and Hawaii. The Philippines would not become a US possession if the US allied with Spain against the CSA. If relations with the CSA were good, than the US would seize the Philippines.

Maybe we can have all of the hands show up to the next council session in their Black Tower issued gear and see if Lyneaus has indecent exposure laws.

I to get frustrated when a cleave attack effects characters who are not next to each other and believe that it should be changed to only affecting characters who are in adjoining squares.

I believe that the Sunni's were dominant at the time, at least in the Mediterranean basin, so I would go with them as there will be enough problems dealing with the crusaders and mongol hoards. May be start in the Nile Delta region.

I am sure that it only costs 100 coins a month after advertising that the first month is only 10 coins. Maybe Redbeard will turn the pylons into towers as well.

I'll take a big slice of the third one.

It all depends on how many of the Japanese were willing to die. At Iwo Jima, we had a three to one advantage in personnel and a huge advantage in equipment. US KIA were 1:3 Japanese Empire KIAs. Okinawa, US KIA were 1:6 enemy KIAs, with at least one third of the enemy force being minimally equipped and trained civilians. If just the remaining Japanese military units had fought to the death, then a 1:10 ratio of KIAs would have resulted in 100,000 US dead. If 5,000,000 civilians had fought (certainly possible), at a 1:50 ratio would have meant another 100,000 US dead. The official estimates by folks who studied it more than I have were 200K-600K US KIA. My WAG of 200K US dead, would mean around 500,000-1,000,000 US WIA. Japanese losses in the millions of KIA. And all of that is assuming that there would have been a surrender at some point, not a guerrilla war.

I suspect that it will be a balance between his health and how he feels versus sales. If he can remake the Exile/Avernum and Geneforge Series' and get good sales numbers that is a lot easier than creating a new series.

Here is my stab at it. The war lasts until late 1946 or early 1947. The USSR mainly stays out of the fight for the home islands and concentrates on territory in mainland Asia. At the end of the War with Japan, the US has taken a lot higher casualties then we of course did in real life and is not in a position to object when the USSR ignores the dividing line for the occupation of Korea and maintains control of the entire peninsula through the establishment of a Communist puppet government. The ROC falls a little faster but still successfully evacuates to Formosa. Without a divided Korea, there is not a Korean war. UN peacekeeping activities occur at a dramatically smaller rate than in real life. The US economy is weaker in the late 1940s and early 1950s due to the loss of an additional 2-3% of the productive workforce due to WWII KIAs being 2-3x as high as in reality. While still a small percentage compared to Germany and the USSR, this results in another wave of isolationism. While the US does join and host the UN as the only country capable of doing so, the Marshall plan is greatly scaled back and US support of NATO is less. The Berlin blockade succeeds in causing the evacuation of the UK, France and US occupation forces from West Berlin, but results in the reinforcement of US forces in the remaining area of West Germany and a falling out between the US and USSR. USSR support for "revolutionary" and "anti-colonial" groups in the 1950s increases, US support for "democratic" groups is initially low, but increases as the 1950s continue. The successful elimination of French Forces from Vietnam emboldens the USSR and PRC even more. 1. The US successfully developed at Atomic Bomb but did not use it. While the USSR is familiar with the results of the Trinity tests, developing Atomic and Nuclear bombs of their own is less of a priority, delaying their program several years. The US nuclear weapons program is slower as well. This does not have much effect in the US, but in the USSR, more resources are put into the space program and their lead over the US increases. The UK, French and PRC weapons programs are delayed even more substantially. Without the Korean War, no US intervention in the fall of Indochina but little USSR/PRC involvement in the revolutionary groups in the Philippines, there is not any direct Superpower confrontations until the Cuban crisis. That confrontation in this scenario is more likely to have gone nuclear and to have resulted in serious damage to both the USSR and the US. If the nuclear exchange happened, then a nuclear arms race in Europe would have ensued while the US and USSR would have been less active cleaning up their own countries. The PRC would take over the lead for exporting communism. Without the nuclear exchange over Cuba, then first use could very well have been Israel in 1967 or more likely 1973. It is likely that Iraq, Iran, South Africa, Argentina and Brazil would be nuclear powers by the end of 1980s. 2. The US did not successfully develop an Atomic Bomb and did not develop atomic energy. It probably would have taken into at least the 1980s for another country to decide to pursue and apparently blind alley for research, with the USSR being the most likely, possibly followed by the FRG. The potential superpower flashpoint remains Cuba. With the USSR using Castro's Cuba as a stepping point to export revolution into the Western Hemisphere, mid 1950s America possibly gets concerned enough to launch an invasion of Cuba. The USSR is not able to effectively intervene since it does not have Atomic weapons or the power projection apparatus for conventional forces and so Cuba falls to the US.

Like any good traveler does. Unfortunately putting it over my face does not seem to stop the wretches or ogres from attacking.

The problem with settling down somewhere quiet is that Lyneaus is falling apart. I prefer happily ever after endings, and I am hoping for one at the end of Avadon 3, but right now in the story settling down and enjoying the quiet life doesn't seem possible.

I suspect that relationships are tolerated for the Hands and Eyes, but that being a Heart or part of Redbeard's inner circle, you are supposed to be totally devoted to Red Beard. The life expectancy of the Hands seems to preclude much in the way of relationships there, and I think that the Black Tower is kind of isolated (geographically, not just every other way). Really, your best shot at having a normal life with a family seems to be if you are an eye in a long term posting away from Avadon.

5 Hungry (similar to Finnish) 7 Venezuela 13 Chile 14 Sicily

In one of the dialogs when you are getting to know her, you think to yourself that she cannot be more than 17.

#8 Southern US #12 reminds me of places in the Azores and the sign on the left in #15 does not look like english to me, but I can't blow it up much

Randomizer, will Avadon 3 be between Avernum 2 and Avernum 3?

I thought that I saw something on here about A:CS or Avernum 2 ver 2 or Exile 2 ver 3 or whatever we are supposed to call it with a guesstimate of late 2014.

It was primarily a joke, but it would have allowed for the romance to build up over the duration of the game versus just the opening as several folks have suggested. I did not think that the PC in Avadon 1 was that much older than Nathalie (2-3 years tops), though I just re-read the introduction and my impression was likely mistaken. Maybe in the remake, she could be 18 and so is finally allowed out on missions instead of 16 and finally allowed out on missions. And as to the female Shaman in Avadon 1, she had a boyfriend. A relatively quick romance developed during her loyalty quest. Of course taking this thread even farther off of the subject. If the PC in Avadon 1 was an experienced warrior of the Pact, and if your companion Hands in both games are experienced Hands, why are they sent out on missions with just daggers? I know budgets are tight, but come on, Avadon could really cut back on its recruiting and training bill by sending its people out with something better than the game equivalent of a pocket knife. Maybe RedBeard is part of the conspiracy and wants all of his Hands to die.

There is really not enough detail in these photos to get very far with this. 1. Western US 2. Tropics 3. Central/South America 4. US MidWest or Western Europe 5. Europe Without a whole lot more cultural content, we might as well stick to locations like the Great Wall of China, Sydney Opera House, Eifel Tower, etc

I thought that the PC in Avadon 1 was pretty young also. I don't remember seeing any of the characters (PC, Silke/Rainer, etc) actual ages

Had romance been an option in Avadon 1, you could have bought the wizard's tower and settled down with Nathalie. An ostentatious tower and the chance to burn creatures to a crisp periodically would, I am sure, have been the way to her heart. Maybe in the Avadon 1 remake in ten or so years.

If Nixon wins, then yes, I think Watergate still happens. Of course in my previous post, I am biased in that I do not get the veneration of the Kennedy clan. I therefore focused more on what I consider LBJ's two biggest pushes (escalation of the Vietnam War and the increase of entitlements in the "Great Society") then what JFK would have done had he remained alive. A big question is if the American people would still be as fascinated with JFK had their been eight years of him instead of his assassination. Would the public ignored his vices (after all, Clinton was just a cheap knockoff of JFK) for eight years? How far would LBJ and J Edgar Hoover gone to prevent an RFK presidency (I am not talking about assassination, just revealing what they knew about the Kennedy's personal lives)? The whole Camelot thing was based on the myth of a handsome, young, energetic president with his beautiful wife and wonderful family. Many people choose not to believe the mild rumors at the time about what his personal life was really like. I believe in a SF book (I think it was Number of the Beast) one of the parallel worlds had at least six successive terms of Kennedy's as president (presumably JFK, RFK then Teddy). The Goldwater versus Nixon campaign would have been interesting. With a smaller Vietnam war, the public might have found a more confrontational approach to the Cold War acceptable, though I tend to doubt it.