Alternate History Discussion Board

Azteca: Ranks of Bronze 1455-1525

1455 Christopher Columbus dies of a childhood disease a pity…

1478 Axayacatl leads a huge army of 30000 Aztecs and allies against the Tarascans to the west. In a ferocious two day battle Axayacatl’s army wins, they smash the Tarascans at their frontier and then keep pushing deeper into Tarascan territory.

This is not a Flower War, this is a war of conquest, the Aztec have already conquered many other nations and now they’re looking after wealth and power.

1480 The Tarascan emperor asks for peace. They know they are conquered and they submit to Aztec rule and offer tribute in the form of wealth, slaves, sacrifices, and whatever else the Aztecs want.

Axayacatl is hailed the greatest warrior and Emperor in ages. He takes the Tarascan warriors and expands the boarders of his domain, conquering all nearby nations and making the Aztecs the most powerful partner in the Triple Alliance.

1481 Axayacatl dies and is replaced by Ahuitzotl, Tizco dies in this universe, a victim of the Tarascan War.

1482 Ahuitzotl has a lot to surpass, his brother conquered the powerful Tarascans, and now Ahuitzotl looks to the rest of the world as his to crush and squeeze of tribute. Think of him as an Alexander the Great in the making, his need to outshine his brother pushes him to rapidly expand his empire. The Aztecs take control of the Triple Alliance and use their armies to conquer all nations that stand in their way.

1485 The Tarascans are suffering from bad harvests and can’t provide the necessary tribute to the Aztecs. Instead they come bearing a different tribute, on the backs of dozens slaves they carry strange weapons and artwork that gleam like beaten gold but are stronger than anything they have.

Ahuitzotl’s warriors are leery of the weapons. They scoff at it, saying that the obsidian swords are far better than these pathetic weapons the Tarascans send their way. Ahuitzotl isn’t impressed but he has a war to fight and if the tribute doesn’t bear out, then he can always crush the Tarascans again.

He gives these weapons to his most honored warriors, legends in their own right. One such is a Jaguar Knight called Blood Eagle, he is leery of the weapon, but is honored by the gift of a bronze sword and shield from the emperor. He becomes known as Blood Eagle the Invincible as he tears a hole in the ranks of a barbarian army, spreading fear and terror as the Gods Blessed Aztec warrior who’s blows smash through shields and bodies and who’s shield shatters wood and obsidian.

Ahuitzotl hears this news and in his mind dances the images of bronze armored warriors conquering the world for him. Immediately he orders the Tarascans to make as many of these bronze weapons as they can, exempting them from the honor of feeding the gods if they push everything to making more.

1499 Vasco da Gama returns to Portugal after successfully rounding Africa. He is richly rewarded and named as Admiral of the Indian Ocean.

1500 Pedro Álvares Cabral, heading for the Cape of Good Hope steers his ships too far west and spot land. They see nothing but deserts and move on, giving this barren land the name Hy-Brasil. Nothing interesting here, they head back east, they are on a mission to head for India and enforce Portuguese interest there.

1502 The known world lies at the Aztec’s feet from the northern deserts, to the Western Sea, to the boarders of the jungles to the south and the shores of the Eastern Sea. Most nations have fallen or surrendered to the might of the Aztec and the terror of their army keeps all nations in line. Ahuitzotl is hailed a great conqueror and dies happily. Montezuma is named the new ruler of the Aztec Empire

Note: With the advance of bronze the Aztec have begun major efforts to harness this new tech. Tarascan has been turned into a bronze making province, hundreds of slaves and smiths are sent there to make these weapons. To protect their interests, the Aztecs have completely taken control of the Tarascans lands. Ahuitzotl didn’t trust the Tarascans and bronze is a vital war asset. Aztec settlers and Aztec administrators take control of the Tarascan towns and villages, enforcing their law and their rules. This leads the Aztecs to begin establishing a centralized empire; Aztec law and religion are enforced in every land they conquer.

Tools of bronze are also being used, the technology is not under lock and key, the Mayans to the south get a hold of bronze tools and weapons, soon they are beginning to make their own, trading for the resources from the Aztec Empire and surrounding nations.

1505 Mayans begin setting up trade with Cuba. Using bronze tools they make ships large enough to sail to and from Cuba and still make a profit.

1508 A Portuguese ship crashes near the Yucatan Peninsula, three men survive. One, 18-year-old Pedro carries smallpox, the other two die of injuries.

The Great Plague: Pedro infects the family taking care of him, they in turn infect the village, which infects a passing trade caravan, which brings the disease to the Aztecs and hits them hard. Nearly a third of the population dies over the next two decades as smallpox tears through the Aztec Empire. The High Priests see this as a sign that Huitzilopochtli was angered with the small wars of expansion and conquest that Montezuma was doing. Montezuma is not driven to conquer and expand the empire; instead he focuses on running the empire. He is a holding pattern, where the old ways and the new ways are allowed to meld into one.

1509 the Mayan War begins as Montezuma and the Aztec armies push south and begin conquering the Mayans and any other tribes that they find. The Mayans do not fight ‘fair’ as the Aztec see it, they are fighting for their lives and they try to take as many Aztec as they can, this leads to the Aztec dealing with them harshly. Any Mayan city that submits will be allowed to survive, any that resists will be completely destroyed and all the population enslaved or killed. This is a time of great expansion; by 1516 the Aztecs control all the land south to the Columbian Mountains.

1514 Portuguese ships begin bringing setting up small outposts in south eastern Brazil, they are there to collect brazilwood. Portuguese ships begin exploring southern South America, the exploration is half hearted and occasional, they’re just there to collect the valuable wood and return home.

1515 Montezuma dies of Measles. Cuauhtémoc is named heir to the Aztec Empire, after Cuitlahuac dies in the Mayan Wars. Cuauhtémoc is a warrior of ample experience spending his whole life fighting for the Aztec Empire, he is also considered the best suited to be Emperor in this new age of conquest and expansion.

There is a problem now. All the lands that can be conquered easily have been conquered, there seems nothing left to conquer and the hunger of Huitzilopochtli needs to be satisfied. The Mayans point east and say there are large islands there. They offer them boats and guides, anything to make them look elsewhere for tribute.

Small scouting missions are sent east, they come back bearing tales of large islands and large populations. Cuauhtémoc decides that this is where they need to expand. The Empire is weakening as they sit still and the great armies are getting restless, they need to keep moving.

1516 A major ship building effort takes place. This is where Pedro comes into play, he was nothing more than a seaman, but his rudimentary knowledge of shipbuilding was greater than the Mayans. He has become assimilated to the Mayan/Aztec culture, married, had children, and fought against the Aztec. Now he protects his family by making ships for the Aztec to take their notice elsewhere.

1519 The invasion of Cuba begins as the New Fleet crosses the Eastern Sea. Pedro has managed to supply the Aztec Navy with primitive cogs and longships.

There has been a slight adjustment to religious doctrine, one that the High Priests aren’t happy with. There have been no real expansion in the last decade, the Mayans were the last and the smaller tribes aren’t worth the effort. Huitzilopochtli still needs to be fed, but Cuauhtémoc has seen the sudden drop in food production and wares begin produced, due to diseases and the fact that to soothe Huitzilopochtli’s anger, the Priests had been stepping up the pace of sacrifices. He a religious man, but he also has to make sure that his empire is running smoothly.

With a lot of soul searching and talks with various priests, Cuauhtémoc gives the announcement that they are easing back on the sacrifices. They say the Great Plague was sent because Huitzilopochtli was not happy that they were not going to war, not because of the lack of sacrifices. They need to go to war to satisfy the god and the only place left to them is the Carib Islands. Huitzilopochtli does not strike him dead and all goes well, the news is met with silent relief. Great human sacrifices will only be held after great victories, battles, and the holiest of holidays. For the remainder of the time they’ll be a fairly tolerable level of sacrificing, nothing extreme.

The Aztec use the tactics they have perfected against the Mayan, surrender and get a little sacrificed, resist and get slaughtered. The tribes of the Carib Islands are not prepared for the organized might of the Aztecs, plus they’ve been dealing with the effects of diseases and such.

1521 Enterprising merchants on the pacific side of the Aztec Empire build boats and sail south. Making contact with other tribes and trading. They come across the Inca, a nation that has been savaged by smallpox, measles, and other diseases. They are willing to trade. Regular trade routes begin to be established.

1523 A large Aztec raiding party comes across a strange ship near a Taino village in what would have been Haiti. The raiding party is lead by a glory hungry young noble, he sees a chance to do something great, so he jumps them and manages to capture the ship. The Taino village submits, they know what will happen if they resist, they even help in capturing the Spanish sailors who have been accepting Taino hospitality.

The Governor of the newly conquered lands hears of this strange vessel and he doesn’t know what to do with it, nor with the captured people. So he decides to send them onward. Cuauhtémoc is told of a great ship captured. Interested he heads out to the Eastern Sea and sees this ship first hand, in modern day Veracruz, Ahuitzotl Port. There he meets the thirty crewmen that have been captured with the ship.

Again this is where Pedro shows up. He’s become the foreman of the Aztec ship building center, master of Ahuitzotl Port and its surrounding area. He sees these men and is shocked to see more Europeans coming here. There is a discussion as to what to do with these men, the Priest are all for sacrificing them. Pedro steps in and tries to save the lives of fellow Christians.

He manages to convince Cuauhtémoc to forgo killing them; they are the crew of a working ship, something that the Aztec will need. They have knowledge that the Aztec lacks. Cuauhtémoc is not really sure, so he decides that he’ll kill one in three, just to satisfy the gods. With Pedro’s help, Cuauhtémoc keeps the skilled ones alive; the others are put to death. The remaining Spanish crew is terrified and they quickly fall in line, the Spanish carvel becomes the basis for all ships that are going to be built. The ship’s smith gets to work setting up a forge and Pedro manages to get people looking for iron ore.

1525 Iron ore is found and with Cuauhtémoc permission Pedro and his smith begin smelting iron. As a gift for the complete conquering of Carib Islands, Pedro sends Cuauhtémoc a long sword and a suit of chain mail.