Struck by a randomized ISOT event- when and where do you end up? And how do you feel that you'd fare

[SinghSong]

In this hypothetical scenario, as of right now, you're at the epicenter of an Assiti Shard-style 'Ring of Fire' ISOT event; sent back in time to the same time of day on a random historical date, along with everything and everyone within a 5km radius of you, to a random location (on land; so if the random location generator places you in the ocean- unless you'd rather be on a newly-created circular 78.54km² 'island in the sea of time'- you can keep trying again until you make landfall. The average elevation of your ISOTed area also automatically gets adjusted to match the average elevation of the land it displaced, though its topography remains unchanged. Unless you choose the island option- in which instance, the average elevation of your ISOTed area automatically gets adjusted to place the lowest point within a 5km radius at sea level, if it isn't already).

Let's also say that, for the purposes of this scenario, who/whatever ISOTed you has also bestowed upon you (along with everyone else caught up in the event) the ability to perfectly speak and understand the language of the first 'downtime' individual you (/they) make first contact with in the past; and that any and all endemic pathogens (i.e, not only those harmful to humans, but also those which afflict animals or plants) in the ISOTed area also got insta-killed by the ISOT event itself. So then, when and where do you, and your surrounding area, wind up getting ISOTed to? How do you feel that you and your community would cope with your new situation, having been ISOTed back then and there? And how radically do you feel that the ISOT would alter the course of history of your new parallel world?

[SinghSong]

To kick things off, for my part, I wound up getting ISOTed back to Monday, 12 August 1613 (along with most of the Slough Urban Area in the UK, and a fair bit of the adjacent areas, including Eton and a decent portion of Old Windsor, including Windsor Castle and the British Royal Family); to the Comunidade Intermunicipal da Região de Coimbra in Portugal, situated almost perfectly atop the archaeological site of the long-abandoned Roman settlement of Conímbriga.

So, all in all, about as well as I could have hoped for, climate and geography-wise (with the ISOTed section of the River Thames coincidentally closely aligning with the ISOTed section of the Rio Mondego, albeit set to flow in the opposite direction post-ISOT); certainly better than the next two alternatives on land that the random location generator tossed out, one deep in the Australian Outback close to the trisection between NSW, Queensland and South Australia, and the other deep in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest. But still, a pretty large population (c.200k+, in the ISOTed 5km radius), a pretty long way back (over 400 years) into the past. And a majority non-white, majority non-Christian (but majority religious) population at that. Along with (most of) the Slough Trading Estate, a fair few farms, and Pinewood Studios (including the respective casts and production teams for forthcoming MCU movies The Marvels and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania as well as that of the Star Wars: Andor Disney Plus series, all of which are currently in production there right now).

Only just missed out on bringing the Army Reserve Centre in Windsor along, by a few hundred metres- but we'd still have the Royal Guard and their resident cache of firearms to count upon for some form of military power projection/protection. Which we'd probably need to call upon pretty soon, since who knows how the downtime Portuguese would react to our arrival. This could be interesting... (and/or utter chaos. Which would still be interesting, IMHO...)

[lordroel]

Jun 29, 2021 14:03:50 GMT SinghSong said:

In this hypothetical scenario, as of right now, you're at the epicenter of an Assiti Shard-style 'Ring of Fire' ISOT event; sent back in time to the same time of day on a random historical date, along with everything and everyone within a 5km radius of you, to a random location (on land; so if the random location generator places you in the ocean- unless you'd rather be on a newly-created circular 78.54km² 'island in the sea of time'- you can keep trying again until you make landfall. The average elevation of your ISOTed area also automatically gets adjusted to match the average elevation of the land it displaced, though its topography remains unchanged. Unless you choose the island option- in which instance, the average elevation of your ISOTed area automatically gets adjusted to place the lowest point within a 5km radius at sea level, if it isn't already).

A well stocked fort would be a good thing, something in the period where the fort had everything to make and repair stuff.

[stevep]

Jun 29, 2021 14:49:28 GMT SinghSong said:

To kick things off, for my part, I wound up getting ISOTed back to Monday, 12 August 1613 (along with most of the Slough Urban Area in the UK, and a fair bit of the adjacent areas, including Eton and a decent portion of Old Windsor, including Windsor Castle and the British Royal Family); to the Comunidade Intermunicipal da Região de Coimbra in Portugal, situated almost perfectly atop the archaeological site of the long-abandoned Roman settlement of Conímbriga.

So, all in all, about as well as I could have hoped for, climate and geography-wise (with the ISOTed section of the River Thames coincidentally closely aligning with the ISOTed section of the Rio Mondego, albeit set to flow in the opposite direction post-ISOT); certainly better than the next two alternatives on land that the random location generator tossed out, one deep in the Australian Outback close to the trisection between NSW, Queensland and South Australia, and the other deep in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest. But still, a pretty large population (c.200k+, in the ISOTed 5km radius), a pretty long way back (over 400 years) into the past. And a majority non-white, majority non-Christian (but majority religious) population at that. Along with (most of) the Slough Trading Estate, a fair few farms, and Pinewood Studios (including the respective casts and production teams for forthcoming MCU movies The Marvels and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania as well as that of the Star Wars: Andor Disney Plus series, all of which are currently in production there right now).

Only just missed out on bringing the Army Reserve Centre in Windsor along, by a few hundred metres- but we'd still have the Royal Guard and their resident cache of firearms to count upon for some form of military power projection/protection. Which we'd probably need to call upon pretty soon, since who knows how the downtime Portuguese would react to our arrival. This could be interesting... (and/or utter chaos. Which would still be interesting, IMHO...)

  SinghSong,

  If I recall correctly at this point Portugal was under Spanish rule between 1580 and 1640.  Also its in the run up to the 30's Years War and with Spain pretty possibly slightly passed the height of its power.  I have the feeling that their not going to be friendly to a heretical English presence suddenly appearing in their homeland.  Let alone all the social and cultural values differences.  As such expect a lot of hostile actions.

  Also if members of the royal family are at Windsor and brought along that could make you less than popular with James I and his court as their potential rivals for his crown.

  Steve

[stevep]

   Well just looked at the options and the 1st combination would be an island a little east of southern Madagascar in the Indian Ocean and the date 13-6-1987 which would be interesting as I would be able to meet my younger self.  I live in a small town in the Thames valley with some farmland nearby and the major location in the 5km range would be AWE Aldermaston.  Could be interesting seeing some of the interactions between them and their predecessors in 1987.   Not sure how quickly we could link up with the 1987 world but likely to have a lot of political impacts.  Most dangerous possible butterfly that comes to mind is that Thatcher is persuaded not to go with the Poll Tax so she stays in power longer.

  2nd test run is 10-7-1896, i.e late in Victoria's reign and again an island, this time Latitude: 45.02593, Longitude: -137.96854 which is a few hundred miles west of Washington state in the NE Pacific.  Could be a hell of a lot of butterflies there with the information passed to the down-timers.  Hopefully avoid WWI although how quickly and widely new knowledge and technology would spread and what impact 2021 ideas would have!

  3rd run is again at sea, this time a bit NW of the northern tip of New Zealand, Latitude: -32.23235, Longitude: 169.47155, in 2-1-1842.  Now early in Vicky's reign and going to have even more butterflies.  Could have a hell of an impact on world history again.

  I notice the page for the link says the date is "It was picked randomly out of 160,235 possible dates between Friday, 15 October 1582 and Tuesday, 29 June 2021".

[gillan1220]

I'd probably die of anxiety.

[SinghSong]

Jun 30, 2021 15:21:13 GMT stevep said:

   Well just looked at the options and the 1st combination would be an island a little east of southern Madagascar in the Indian Ocean and the date 13-6-1987 which would be interesting as I would be able to meet my younger self.  I live in a small town in the Thames valley with some farmland nearby and the major location in the 5km range would be AWE Aldermaston.  Could be interesting seeing some of the interactions between them and their predecessors in 1987.   Not sure how quickly we could link up with the 1987 world but likely to have a lot of political impacts.  Most dangerous possible butterfly that comes to mind is that Thatcher is persuaded not to go with the Poll Tax so she stays in power longer.

  2nd test run is 10-7-1896, i.e late in Victoria's reign and again an island, this time Latitude: 45.02593, Longitude: -137.96854 which is a few hundred miles west of Washington state in the NE Pacific.  Could be a hell of a lot of butterflies there with the information passed to the down-timers.  Hopefully avoid WWI although how quickly and widely new knowledge and technology would spread and what impact 2021 ideas would have!

  3rd run is again at sea, this time a bit NW of the northern tip of New Zealand, Latitude: -32.23235, Longitude: 169.47155, in 2-1-1842.  Now early in Vicky's reign and going to have even more butterflies.  Could have a hell of an impact on world history again.

  I notice the page for the link says the date is "It was picked randomly out of 160,235 possible dates between Friday, 15 October 1582 and Tuesday, 29 June 2021".

Yeah- wanted to go back further (from 0CE onward) but it'd only let you pick from dates in the Gregorian Calendar (with Friday, 15 October 1582 being the earliest it could go). Still, what can you do, eh? Out of interest though, what's the first option you get that isn't in the middle of the ocean?

[stevep]

Jun 30, 2021 17:15:31 GMT gillan1220 said:

I'd probably die of anxiety.

  A lot of people in the affected areas probably would in most cases, especially if it was before say 1950 or even 1900.  The loss of a lot of modern facilities and resources.  For instance I have an under-active thyroid so have supplements for it.  Doubt that could be produced in the ISOT area so would run out quickly I fear.  In which case at the very least I get very lethargic - even more than usual. For people who need other medication or support for say heart problems and the like it would be a lot worse.

[SinghSong]

Jun 30, 2021 17:15:31 GMT gillan1220 said:

I'd probably die of anxiety.

Before even finding out when and where you'd been ISOTed to?

[gillan1220]

Jun 30, 2021 17:34:05 GMT stevep said:

A lot of people in the affected areas probably would in most cases, especially if it was before say 1950 or even 1900.  The loss of a lot of modern facilities and resources.  For instance I have an under-active thyroid so have supplements for it.  Doubt that could be produced in the ISOT area so would run out quickly I fear.  In which case at the very least I get very lethargic - even more than usual. For people who need other medication or support for say heart problems and the like it would be a lot worse.

Especially since I am used to the comforts of the 21st Century. So even if I'm ISOTed to 1950s Philippines which is just after the war, I would have a hard time adjusting to the culture.

Jun 30, 2021 17:34:26 GMT SinghSong said:

Before even finding out when and where you'd been ISOTed to?

That depends. If I'm ISOTed alone to let's say to 1950s Philippines by myself, then I would definitely be in panic mode. Remember my present-day relatives may not be ISOTed with me and I do not know what will happen if I meet my grandparents in this 1950s. It might result in some butterflies alone. Worse, while we are related by blood, they do not know me.

[SinghSong]

Jun 30, 2021 17:34:05 GMT stevep said:

Jun 30, 2021 17:15:31 GMT gillan1220 said:

I'd probably die of anxiety.

  A lot of people in the affected areas probably would in most cases, especially if it was before say 1950 or even 1900.  The loss of a lot of modern facilities and resources.  For instance I have an under-active thyroid so have supplements for it.  Doubt that could be produced in the ISOT area so would run out quickly I fear.  In which case at the very least I get very lethargic - even more than usual. For people who need other medication or support for say heart problems and the like it would be a lot worse.

Yeah, fair enough. Do you reckon there'd be any chance of the people in the affected area, in your instance, banding together like those of Grantville in the RoF series? Or would it effectively be a post-apocalyptic scenario, with modern society breaking down in short order, and bands of survivors spreading outwards from the ISOTed area Mad Max style?

(EDIT: Which would be fitting, since all of the random locations on land I've gotten since the first try have coincidentally all been in the middle of deserts, and mostly in the Australian outback...)

[stevep]

Jun 30, 2021 17:31:17 GMT SinghSong said:

Jun 30, 2021 15:21:13 GMT stevep said:

   Well just looked at the options and the 1st combination would be an island a little east of southern Madagascar in the Indian Ocean and the date 13-6-1987 which would be interesting as I would be able to meet my younger self.  I live in a small town in the Thames valley with some farmland nearby and the major location in the 5km range would be AWE Aldermaston.  Could be interesting seeing some of the interactions between them and their predecessors in 1987.   Not sure how quickly we could link up with the 1987 world but likely to have a lot of political impacts.  Most dangerous possible butterfly that comes to mind is that Thatcher is persuaded not to go with the Poll Tax so she stays in power longer.

  2nd test run is 10-7-1896, i.e late in Victoria's reign and again an island, this time Latitude: 45.02593, Longitude: -137.96854 which is a few hundred miles west of Washington state in the NE Pacific.  Could be a hell of a lot of butterflies there with the information passed to the down-timers.  Hopefully avoid WWI although how quickly and widely new knowledge and technology would spread and what impact 2021 ideas would have!

  3rd run is again at sea, this time a bit NW of the northern tip of New Zealand, Latitude: -32.23235, Longitude: 169.47155, in 2-1-1842.  Now early in Vicky's reign and going to have even more butterflies.  Could have a hell of an impact on world history again.

  I notice the page for the link says the date is "It was picked randomly out of 160,235 possible dates between Friday, 15 October 1582 and Tuesday, 29 June 2021".

Yeah- wanted to go back further (from 0CE onward) but it'd only let you pick from dates in the Gregorian Calendar (with Friday, 15 October 1582 being the earliest it could go). Still, what can you do, eh? Out of interest though, what's the first option you get that isn't in the middle of the ocean?

  Sorry, was writing as you wrote this so missed until checking back today.  I did a few more locations, without checking for dates and I think the 1st one was in Russia between the Volga and the Urals.  Can't see that ending well for me and the other up-timers whatever time we were moved to.  You start off with the area contested between the rump Khanates and the rising power of Miscovy, then have several centuries of Czarism, which is unlikely to welcome an enclave of foreigners with radically different views on things like human rights or be willing to share any of the tech they bring with others.  While what would happen to a region centred around a major MOD establishment, let alone a nuclear one, in Soviet times I would definitely like to avoid.

  Pity about the date limitations but I assume they just found it not worth the bother of trying to code for earlier Julian calendar dates.  Would have been interesting, but also very risky going back to even earlier times.

[lordroel]

Well my date would be October 20th 1692 in Östersund, Sweden.

Checking the date it seems i can offer my service to Charles XII of Sweden in the Great Northern War.

[SinghSong]

Jul 1, 2021 13:52:25 GMT lordroel said:

Well my date would be October 20th 1692 in Östersund, Sweden.

Checking the date it seems i can offer my service to Charles XII of Sweden in the Great Northern War.

What sort of service would you offer to him, though? And how do you reckon that all the other people in a 5km radius who got ISOTed (to Östersund, Sweden on October 20th 1692) along with you would feel about it?

[lordroel]

Jul 1, 2021 16:08:27 GMT SinghSong said:

Jul 1, 2021 13:52:25 GMT lordroel said:

Well my date would be October 20th 1692 in Östersund, Sweden.

Checking the date it seems i can offer my service to Charles XII of Sweden in the Great Northern War.

What sort of service would you offer to him, though? And how do you reckon that all the other people in a 5km radius who got ISOTed (to Östersund, Sweden on October 20th 1692) along with you would feel about it?

Well I would tell him what I know regarding the war and other stuff I might think off.