In American Kingdoms, American history is re-imagined as an Arthurian medieval epic – an age defined not by musket and cannon, but by knightly honor and courtly intrigue. This alt-history project is a collaborative worldbuilding effort: anyone can join our wiki to add their own character or fief to the strange but familiar setting of American Kingdoms. Join a medieval pastiche where the Natives fight on equal footing with conquistadores, and where Asian, European and American cultures clash for control of the New World.
“Thirteen hundred, four score and seven years ago, on this continent, a covenant was struck between a free people and their God.”
The year is 1377. After years of unrest, the Outremer Kingdoms of the eastern coast rise against their British overlords, igniting a rebellion that will engulf a continent.
As the perfidious Redcloaks are driven from American cities, thirteen sovereign dukes forge an audacious new order: a Union of equals, bound by charter and crowned as the Union of American Kingdoms. Its High King will reign not by birthright, but by the consent of his peers, elected from among them to defend the ancient liberties of the realm.
Part feudal compact, part republican experiment, this fragile Union promises freedom from the Old World. It may yet tear the New World apart.
The American Revolutionary War has begun.
In American Kingdoms, collaborative wiki writers create their own feudal lords and fiefs. Visit the Wiki
After rebelling against their Anglo-Saxon overlords, the free American kingdoms united in a Holy Roman Empire-style American Union. This union of 13 realms is governed by an elected High King - strong in ideal, fragile in practice, and beset on all sides by the machinations of the old European empires.
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The first nations of the continent, who meet the newcomers as equals in war and in council. Proud and unbroken, they defend ancestral lands against every crown that would claim them.
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The British crown and its loyalists, driven from the continent twenty years ago. The perfidious Redcloaks have not forgotten the New World, and scheme to bring the American Kings to heel once more.
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Proud chivalric realms of the warm South, where courtly honour, the tournament and the bloodline rule as surely as any law. Fierce keepers of tradition and the old codes.
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Norse-blooded settlers of the frozen north, raiders and seafarers whose claim to the New World runs deeper than any crown's. Bound to the sea, the saga and the old gods.
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As settlers spread inland, free cities and trade republics took root far beyond the reach of both the Redcloaks and the Union. Ruled by councils of coin, they answer only to profit and their own hard-won liberty.
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Along the western shores rises the Dragon Coast: colonies of Ming-descended settlers who crossed the great ocean generations ago, bringing the steel, silk and statecraft of the Middle Kingdom to a new frontier.
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Roman mariners reached America around the year 0, founding distant colonies and leaving traces of their language, craft and law among the Native peoples. Their settlements vanished centuries ago; today, Rome’s American heirs survive only in disputed ruins, tribal memory and legend.
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Explore the factions, lore and collaborative worldbuilding of American Kingdoms in bite-sized videos.
KCC artists Yana and Vincent create original artworks and art prints to help fund the creation of new projects in the world of American Kingdoms. Discover our top-rated merchandise store to get your own and support the project.
From the Making Of dev diary: “The Kaiser Cat Collective team is proud to present the world's first American Kingdoms 'propaganda poster'! For the American Kingdoms project, me and Yana developed a new series of posters that play up the unusual iconography of medieval American knights. Because a traditional propaganda poster would not really fit the setting, we are developing alternate ideas such as museum exhibition posters, travel posters and other art prints that add lore to the alt-history universe.”
In this medieval American world, who would you be? A Southern Gallant, a fierce Vinlandian viking, a shrewd councilman of a free Trade Republic, or perhaps a loyalist of the British Empire, plotting to overthrow the independent American Kings?
Any contributor may add their own fiefdom and characters through the AK Wiki. We reserve special slots and art commissions for our Patreon backers, who donate monthly to the KCC art team in return for special perks and a behind-the-scenes look at the project.
Backers' characters, illustrated by the KCC art team.
American Kingdoms is a cross-media project by the Kaiser Cat Collective (known on YouTube as Kaiser Cat Cinema). KCC is a group of alt-history content creators, born from the modding scene of the early 2000s and united by a passion for the alt-history genre. Since our founding in 2016, we've built alt-history worlds through crowdfunding and cross-media content: music covers, animations, YouTube videos, and even a live-action short film set in the great "what ifs" of alt-history worldbuilding.
Founder and art director of the Kaiser Cat Collective, the alt-history team behind American Kingdoms. A Belgian graphic designer and concept artist, Vincent is also the founder of the custom flag making company Flagmaker & Print. More about Vincent.
Jordan Penelle is a Chicago-based director. A graduate of the Flashpoint School of Film in Chicago, he went on to direct The Rival, Obligations and Changes, and now directs film content for The Divided States.
Berlin-based filmmaker Marcus Jorgensen splits his time between Europe and his family home in Vietnam. Passionate about telling and sharing stories, Marcus is an independent director of original indie films and currently leads several projects at the Collective.
Nicholas is a Ukrainian-American filmmaker born in Chicago, IL. After film school at Flashpoint Chicago, he worked on several short films with fellow students. Inspired by their passion, he founded his own production company, Glimpse of Gold Pictures.
A collaborative platform where anyone may add fiefdoms, houses and characters to the universe, and claim their own corner of the Americas.
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KCC founder Vincent De Nil builds the world of American Kingdoms in public through his dev diaries and worldbuilding posts. Follow the creative process and receive new entries through the KCC newsletter.
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American Kingdoms is built by the Kaiser Cat Collective, an international team of alt-history worldbuilders, artists and developers. Connect with us across every social channel, or sign up for our newsletter at kaisercatcinema.com: a monthly digest called State of the Cinema, with behind-the-scenes content, project updates, and exclusive webshop sales.
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