Calling [@Dinh AaronMk], [@Pepperm1nts], [@Chapatrap], [@Byrd Man], [@gorgenmast], [@Letter Bee], [@Nerevarine], [@AYoungWarthog], [@The Grey Warden], [@Nilesapa], [@gowia], and [@Thang]. Some of you received an unsolicited PM about this topic a month or two back, whereas others showed interest in the subject matter in a couple of interest checks recently, so I figured in either case you might be interested in seeing where this proposal.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/hDdYtk7l.png[/img]
[h1]I, Arabicus: Rome and the Rise of Islam[/h1]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/iyLysdy.png[/img]
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[u][b]So this is the pitch:[/b][/u] What if the Roman Empire survived mostly intact, allowing for the entire Empire to experience the effect of the Islamic invasions in the middle east? This would be an empire bloodied by all the near-collapses it had experienced, and no doubt still bloodied by war with Persia, but it would be a different experience all the same.

So I've been reading up on late antiquity quite a bit recently, and I've taken an interest in writing some stuff based on the time period. I've also wanted to experiment with the Nation genre and blur it into advanced character RPing a little more by adopting a smaller, more local-scale story. For reference, here is the base-map.

[hider=Warning: It's a map][img]http://i.imgur.com/oZyqOjzl.png[/img][/hider]

The first thing you will probably notice is that I am an uninspired map maker. The second thing you will notice is that the region is not divided the way it historically should be for an NRP. That is because i've chosen to scale down to local governments. In some cases, like in Africa, the traditional regional nation-states are still up for grabs in their full power. The three central empires however (Rome, Persia, Islamic Arabia) are divided into their respective types of regional government. The Roman Emperor will be a hands-off NPC who I will avoid using as much as possible, and this will be explained by wars in the west that keep him occupied. The Shahanshah of Persia will be handled much the same way, though I think I will most likely explain his absence by incapability, either through extreme youth or through extreme old age. The exception will be the Caliph, who will be RPed by Dinh AaronMk. That does not mean that Aaron will have absolute control of the Arabs, as others will be allowed to control smaller Arab tribes and clans either in support of Aaron's Caliph or in spite of him.

To further explain, here is a map clarifying borders.

[hider=Warning: It's also a map][img]http://i.imgur.com/PSildR5l.png[/img][/hider]

Africa, the Caucasus, and the Eastern Steppe nations will be one shade per country, whereas the shades in the three major empires represent their subdivisions. In the case of Rome, you will be RPing local appointed officials that belong to important families throughout the Empire. In Persia, you will RP the hereditary noble families and the lands they possess. In the case of the Arabs, as I said above, you will control a tribe or clan.

A third map for further explanation.

[hider=Warning: It's also a map too][img]http://i.imgur.com/TFSwmbQ.png[/img][/hider]

[h3]THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU WILL BE LIMITED TO THE SECTIONS ON THE MAP[/h3]
Rather, if you wish to be a governor or major regional political power you will be limited to those sections. If you want to play an individual, a lesser government official or local tribe, or a foreign army from somewhere else in the western world fighting as mercenaries in the east, you will be allowed to do so. If you want to be a Visigoth, or a Briton, or a Khazar, you can so long as your story remains in the middle east and you respect your limits as a stranger in a strange land. 

Also, if this RP succeeds, i'd be fine with expanding the map and the storyline to cover a larger area. Hell, if we reach Precipice of War level success, we could include the entire world.