The Emberverse Series - Post-Change World

Post-Change World

Due to the difficulties in communicating across the world caused by the Change, information about the world outside North America is scant.

In Great Britain, the royal family and others were evacuated to the Isle of Wight to protect them from the starving rioters of the cities. Elizabeth II died early during the events of the Change (c1998-1999) and was succeeded by Prince Charles as "Mad King Charles" or Charles III, and later his elder son Prince William of Wales as William V. Resettlement later began from Wight and other islands, and farmland was reestablished in England and continental Europe. Contact was made with other parts of the world, including Iceland, which removed a substantial portion of its population to Britain in order to survive. Gibraltar, Ulster, and Prince Edward Island all survived and swore loyalty to the British government; along with the new British colonies in Europe and North Africa, this led to a rebirth of the British Empire. Tasmania and the South Island of New Zealand also recognized British sovereignty, but due to distance, this was only a symbolic gesture (and it is implied that mainland Australia and the North Island of New Zealand did not survive the Change).

Other parts of Europe also survived the Change and prospered. Surviving parts of Scandinavia formed the nation of Norrland and divided Western Europe with Britain along the old German border. Parts of Ireland besides Ulster survived, including the Republic of the Shannon and, in the north, the Republic of Ireland (Provisional), called "Provoland"—a fanatical Republican entity. In Italy, two nations arose out of the Change: Sicily and the Umbrian League. Not much is known of Eastern Europe, though it has been reported it had a better survival rate than Western Europe. Comments by the author suggest that Greek survivors from Cyprus become a power in the region, repopulating the fertile Egyptian Delta and the Levantine Coasts. Russia apparently regressed into a handful of rural kingdoms, including one based around Belograd, with the Cossacks and Tatars thriving.

Pope John Paul II died in the Vatican at the time of the Change, instead of surviving until 2005, as in our timeline, but Cardinal Ratzinger fled to Umbria, where connections with the worldwide Roman Catholic church were reestablished and he was still elected Pope, as in our timeline – and his pontificate lasts until 2022. Perhaps the greatest post-Change success of the Roman Catholic Church was reunification with the Church of England, which led to the crowning of the British monarch (William V) as Emperor of the West.

For a time, Europe was threatened by raids from pirates out of the Canary Islands, supported by the Emir of Dakar. A coalition of European nations joined together to retake the Canary Islands and destroy their bases on mainland Africa.

Merchants from Astoria and Newport traded at several ports in Asia, including one named New Singapore. Areas of China that survived came under attack by mounted hordes from the Mongolian steppe. India devolved to a fervently nationalistic northeastern state called Hinduraj, with smaller populations surviving south in the Deccan. Parts of South America apparently survived, given that Cardinals from there participated in the election of the new Pope. Sicily colonized Libya, while Greater Britain established colonies along the coasts of Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania. A scattering of African city-states survived along the coast of the continent including Cape Town.