Romani World

Enter an Eastern culture who lives as a part of nature. Romani World offers us a glimpse into a reality where the oft-persecuted Roma found a home in North America.

Parallel History

Roma, or “gypsies” to the layman, are a long-lived traveling civilization that dates back to at least 400 BCE. One of the greatest modern tragedies is their all but total extinction at the hands of the Nazis during the Second World War. Percentage-wise, the Romani suffered a Holocaust far worse than European Jews — fewer than 1% of their pre-1920s levels survive today, and the current political client isn’t very favorable to tribes of wanderers.

1492 didn’t just see the beginning of Western colonization in the New World, it also saw an uprising in gypsy persecution all across Europe. Spain passed anti-gypsy laws in 1492, 1493 saw the expulsion of gypsies from Milan and in 1496 through 1498, the Reichstag in Landau and Freiburg continuously declared Roma traitors to the Christian countries, spies in the pay of the Turks, and carriers of the plague.

So when four Roma accompanied Columbus to the New World on his third voyage in 1498, they were amazed at the cultures in the Carribean who so closely exemplified their nomadic lifestyle and immediately began organizing a fleet to take any Roma who wanted across the Atlantic to the a new home.

Roma quickly became staunch allies of the native tribes and used their Western influence and technology to rebuff conquistadors searching for loot and slaves. After decisive victories against the Spanish thanks to Roma alliances, the Aztec ceded present-day California to the Roma. The territory has expanded eastward since, and a majority of the bloodshed seen in the 16th century on our world never existed here.

The result is a gypsy culture that has been given the chance to grow and thrive across the country, unafraid of visitors or outsiders. It’s the perfect chance for you to see what symbiosis between earth and man can be from a Western point of view.