History Literature / LandsOfRedAndGold

* DividedStatesOfAmerica: One of the most interesting changes in this timeline outside of Australia is that due to a variety of factors all linked directly or indirectly to the presence of the Aururian civilizations, the English colonization of mainland North America is slowed such that rival powers such and the Dutch, French and Swedes are never displaced, and the United States and Canada never come into being.

The premise behind ''Lands of Red and Gold'' is that the [[ForWantOfANail serendipitous mutation of a native Australian plant]] during the Neolithic enabled the development of agricultural and later urban civilizations on the Australian landmass, similar to those in ancient China, the Middle East and Mesoamerica.

* ForWantOfANail: The mutation of an existing species of humble Australian tuber plant into a more productive offshoot species changes the history of an entire continent. And since the 17th century onward, the altered history of Australia changes the rest of the world as well...

* AccidentallyCorrectWriting: When designing the religion of the Atjuntja [[WordOfGod Jared]] was mostly thinking of Myth/ChineseMythology and UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}} for the dualistic aspect of this religion. As it turns out, most native Australian societies do have a light goddess and a dark god, albeit representing literally the sun and moon rather than moral concepts (some, like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bila_(sun) Bila]], [[LightIsNotGood are pretty bad]]).

* LifeImitatesArt: The fictional plague Marnitja ("the Waiting Death") was based on the real-world Hendra virus, a disease which infects humans via horses. The author described the fictional-analogue disease Marnitja as infecting humans via dogs, since alt-Australia lacked horses. At the time, the real Hendra was only known to infect horses. Scarily, a couple of years after this was described in the timeline, Hendra was also discovered to infect dogs.

* KillEmAll: After the Aururian plagues strike the Old World, a large percentage of the historically important figures of the 1620s drop dead, from King Charles I of England to Cardinal Richelieu to almost the entire House of Hapsburg. This will obviously have significant effects in the long run.

* DeathWorld: Amazingly, Australia becomes [[UpToEleven even more of a Death World]] (at least, for Europeans) than it is in our universe. Not only are all [[UsefulNotes/AustralianWildlife the usual suspects]] still there, but native diseases that the Aururians have built up resistance to are fatal to the Europeans. When the explorers bring them back home, they cause the equivalent of the European arrival to the New World, in reverse.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: And not only individual characters (fictional and historical alike), but also [[CastHerd at least a dozen or so native Australian cultures/civilizations]].

You can find the TL [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=110941 here]] and [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=286304 here]] (in two parts) and also [[https://www.alternatehistory.com/wiki/doku.php?id=timelines:lands_of_red_and_gold on the AH.com wiki]] (complete with a handy [[http://wiki.alternatehistory.com/doku.php/timelines/lands_of_red_and_gold#chapters chapter guide]] and additional factoid subpages). You can also download it in Word or RTF format from [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/decadesofdarkness/ Jared's website]] (LORAG section).

* HorseOfADifferentColor: Averted. Despite some minor [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=2419941&postcount=367 lighthearted joking]] from other AH.com members, Jared has confirmed that there is simply no way of having believable beasts of burden or cavalry animals even in this alternate Australia. Kangaroos are impractical and are nearly untamable, while emus aren't strong or intelligent enough to pull carts or act as horses. This also [[RealityEnsues ties into]] the timeline's fictional history: An early great empire spanning much of southeastern Australia starts becoming unmanageable due to having grown too big. Since there are no beasts of burden or land vehicles available, even the mighty and skilled armies of the empire have a problem of being constantly overstretched, despite there being garrisons and foot messengers in every province. In short, it's an massive [[InvertedTrope inversion]] of EasyLogistics. The native cultures can only rely on boats and dog-drawn [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travois travois]] (making their situation reminiscent to that of Native Americans). During the 12th-14th century, simple wagons are finally invented in one of the empires in the southeastern part of the continent - however, this invention doesn't really spread to other Australian cultures, due to the protectiveness of its originators.

* CoolBoat: Thanks to their propensity to travel and trade by sea and increased contact with Maori sailors, the Nangu and Kiyungu are one of the few native nations that have highly developed, large and varied types of seagoing vessels. They even invent pintle-and-gudgeon fin rudders for their largest ships independently of Europeans, making said sailships more advanced than the usual oar-rudder types.

* HornyVikings: The Maori in alt-New Zealand go through a long period of overseas raiding, looting, pillaging, and colonisation. Much like Vikings of the southern hemisphere, though with bonus ceremonial cannibalism. They even call these raiders Pakanga.

* ProudMerchantRace: The native Nangu or "Islanders" [[IstanbulNotConstantinople from what we know as]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_Island Kangaroo Island]], become a whole nation of prosperous coastal sea traders once more advanced sailing and ship-building techniques are introduced to native Australians (thanks to increasing contact of the continent's east coast with Maori sailors from New Zealand). Also, in the later chapters, a European example occurs in the form of the Dutch explorers and merchants who set foot in Australia/Aururia. Humourously, both the Nangu and the Dutch seem to recognise a certain commonality of purpose, despite their different cultures.

* SeaStories: The chapters focusing on the Dutch, Nangu, Kiyungu and Maori exploratory voyages certainly fit this trope. Of particular note is a chapter focusing on the exploits of Nangu captain [[BadassBookworm Werringi]] (later known as [[RedBaron Kumgatu the Bold]]) and his BadassCrew.

* ShownTheirWork: Impressive amounts of research have gone into this timeline, and the author isn't afraid to let it show. For one, he actually gives a well-researched rebuttal of the common argument that "native Australians didn't develop agriculture because there are no domesticable Australian plants". In reality, a lot of Australian plants have been domesticated in our history, but none of them are good "founder crops" - i.e. crops that are easy to plant and harvest and are vital to learning the basics of proper agriculture. The fictional red yam (a cousin of real Australian yam plants that gives higher yields than them) serves as the founder crop that never occurred in our history. The natives learn how to repeatedly farm it, and gradually learn to farm and harvest other domesticable species as well. Their efforts are later boosted by the adoption of another native ethnicity's idea of raising fish in simple man-made ponds. Later, they domesticate various kinds of waterfowl (raised in the same fish ponds), raise emus on pastures and tame [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quoll quolls]] to hunt smaller pests in a manner similar to cats. Eventually, several civilizations crop up all over Australia thanks to the exchange of ideas and resources and make discoveries in metallurgy, architecture, warfare and astronomy. The later etablishment of contact with the Maori helps boost knowledge of seamanship as well (in exchange, the Maori get new agricultural knowledge, crops and livestock).

* AnachronicOrder: A lot of the chapters,particularly the earlier ones, but most of them do flow together chronologically once you finish them and continue further reading.

You can find the TL [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=110941 here]] and [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=286304 here]] (in two parts) and also [[http://wiki.alternatehistory.com/doku.php/timelines/lands_of_red_and_gold on the AH.com wiki]] (complete with a handy [[http://wiki.alternatehistory.com/doku.php/timelines/lands_of_red_and_gold#chapters chapter guide]] and additional factoid subpages). You can also download it in Word or RTF format from [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/decadesofdarkness/ Jared's website]] (LORAG section).