Chapter 1: The Great Kingdom
Thousands of years ago, civilization began to emerge on the Mississippian alluvial plain. Over time, the main center of civilization would shift north roughly to modern day Illinois and Missouri. During this time, the Midewin religion, originating from the northeast, would spread into Misia and throughout much of Eastern North America. From this region, known as the Inoka plain, the Hileni would conquer all of their neighbors and establish the Hileni Dynasty, the first imperial dynasty of Mihsiwahk ("The Big/Great Land/Kingdom), known as Misia in English. While sometimes people do travel by elk-pulled cart, the primary mode of transport is rivers. The Misians as a result become the world's greatest canal-builders, building canals connecting the Mississippi River system to the Great Lakes and the Mobile River system. Due to their emphasis on water transport, they spread seafaring around the South Misian Sea (Gulf of Mexico) and the Caribbean, leading civilizations in this area to become more advanced. More civilizations also develop along the eastern seaboard and to the west in the American Southwest and Pacific Coast, although these are less well connected. Although regimes change and division occurs, Misia tends to remained united both culturally and politically throughout much of history thanks to the Mississippi River. In 1492, Misia is ruled by Emperor Manawesquah of the Kilsu Dynasty from the capital in Cahoqua/Kahoquah (OTL site of the Cahokia Mounds across the Mississippi River from St. Louis).
Meanwhile, Columbus arrives in the Caribbean. He is convinced he is in the East Indies, and after hearing about Misia and Mesoamerica, is convinced that these nearby regions are descriptions of China and India. King Guanacari, King of Ayiti (Hispaniola) who rules from the city of Dujozemi (Cap-Haitien), allows Columbus to establish a small settlement right by the capital for trading purposes. After Columbus returns on his second voyage, tensions mostly caused by the desire to convert the native Tainos to Christianity boils over into fighting. After Guanacari offers peace, Columbus betrays him and has him executed. Columbus and his small group of men are able to easily control the city, whose native population is being ravaged by plague. The minor caciques who were previously subject to Dujozemi's rule begin fighting to kick the Spanish out, although Columbus, seeking after their gold and spices, slaughters and enslaves countless people. Columbus is killed in 1501 by a group of Taino rebels, although by that point all kingdoms had been defeated and the fighting mostly came down to a few rebel groups.
Disease quickly spreads throughout the continents. In the summer of 1494, plague brought over by the Spanish in Caribbean reaches Cahoqua. Among the dead are many members of the imperial family, including the emperor himself. His 19-year-old son, Mamantwensah, is crowned emperor. A power struggle breaks out as the rogue general Mikaquah, fighting the Ojibwe tribes in the north, decides to build up a larger force to attack Cahoqua and start his own dynasty. Despite the unpopularity of the Kilsu dynasty due to the plague, Mamantwensah promises to redistribute the land of the dead nobility to his loyal peasant followers and amasses a force that easily outnumbers that of Mikaquah, allowing him to retain power and prevent any other challengers to the throne. He then precedes with his land distribution program, resulting in the formation of a massive class of land-owning peasants.
In the north, John Cabot arrives in 1496 on the island of Takamkuk (Newfoundland), referred to the English as Takamcook, where he establishes the small town of St. John's. The local Beothuk people, with whom he enjoys positive relations, tell him that if he goes west and follows the Wepistook River (St. Lawrence River), he will be able to make it to the Great Kingdom of Misia, which Cabot also believes to be China. In his journeys, he meets the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). While the river to Lake Eriron (Erie) is not navigable due to Niagara Falls, the Iroquois say he will be able to pass through their land if he brings them more guns and horses. He does so on his second voyage, and the English are able to settle by the port of Cheektowaga (Buffalo, NY). He then goes inland to the Misian port of Sandusti (Sandusky, OH), where he first makes contact with the Misians. Pleased with his haul, which includes, silk, yaupon tea, honey, spices, local whines, and maple syrup, he returns to England. He also leaves behind another wave of diseases, which also cause significant harm. Between 1494 and 1500, Misia's population had fallen from 60 million to 16 million.
After word arrives of the English in Sandusti, Emperor Mamantwensah summons Guama to his court, a Taino merchant from Dujozemi who lost most of his family during the conquest of his home and fled with his daughter to Shawasha (New Orleans) before making his way to Cahoqua. He warns about the Spanish, who he describes as pale men from across the Eastern Ocean who ride giant antler-less deer and carry sticks that produce smoke and fire, which he realizes matches the description of the men who visited Sandusti. On his third voyage in 1498, Cabot brings more men to Takamcook with some being sent to the Haudenosaunee lands while he sets out to explore the east coast. That summer, the Haudenosaunee and their English allies work together to conquer the lands of the Wyandot with their advanced weaponry, which they accomplish in a month's time. With the new men and the goods the recent expedition from England brought as well as a passport sent from England, William Brampton, an Englishman settled in Cheektowaga, leads an expedition to explore Misia. He and his men travel to Shicaqua (Chicago), but are prevented by a bureaucrat working for the Sipikapia (river keeper) from passing through the canal to the river. The Sipikapia arrives with orders from the emperor that any "pale-faced" foreigners from across the Ocean must be disarmed and escorted under careful watch to Cahoqua. After two days following the Inokaspi River (Illinois River), they arrive in the capital city, where they meet the emperor. The emperor questions them, and he brings out Guama, dressed in the uniform of a Taino warrior, shouting Spanish phrases that he had heard from the conquistadors on his home island to try to intimidate them. Guama eventually realizes that these men were not the same ones who destroyed his home, and breaks down emotionally.
While Brampton is meeting with the Misians, Cabot journeys down the east coast, meeting a number of people in the port cities of the various societies along the eastern seaboard. He travels with Nutaq, a Beothuk from Takamcook, and is joined by Atemus, a Lenape merchant. In the land of the Calusa (Southern Florida), he stops at the city of Tekesta (Miami), a multicultural city home to Calusa, Tainos, Misians, and other peoples from all over the eastern seaboard. In Tekesta, he meets two Taino men, one of whom is shaken with trauma and initially mistakes Cabot fo a Spaniard. After hearing about what happened to the Taino, Cabot confronts Columbus and condemns his operation.
The Taino establish a large diaspora in a variety of coastal cities primarily in Misia and Mesoamerica. In the 1510s, a series of wars take place along the eastern seaboard as the many small states use their guns and horses to compete for control of the trade. The war ends with three survivors. The Haudenosaunee conquer many of the best ports from OTL Massachusetts to Delmarva. The Wabanaki control all of the territory northeast of the Haudenosaunee bound by the Wepistook to the north and the Atlantic to the east. Tsenacommacah is to the south, bound by the Chesapeake to the east and the Appalachians to the west. Meanwhile, the Spanish continue to expand throughout the Caribbean, colonizing much of Central America and beginning to move into OTL Venezuela. The Spanish also colonize the Pikate peninsula (Florida), converting the Calusa to Christianity and preserving the local nobility as their vassals.
After some border conflict between the Spanish and the Misians on the mainland, Hernan Cortes convinces Charles V to help him gather men for a crusade-like invasion of Misia. The invasion occurs in 1522, with brutal attacks on Mabila (Mobile, Alabama) and Shawasha. After a number of Spanish raids, the Misians use their vastly superior manpower and obliterate the Spanish invasion at Nicota (Wickliffe, KY).
Following their crushing defeat, the Spanish decide to try to make new allies in the Americas. In 1524, Francisco Pizarro landed in Zempoala, leading the Spanish to forge an alliance with the Meshica (Aztec) Empire. Supplying them with horses and weapons, the Meshica conquer all of their nearby rivals and invade the Mayans, successfully uniting all of Mesoamerica under one banner. Christianity also slowly begins to spread in Mesoamerica, causing Meshica to brutally crack down on the foreign religion while the Spanish look the other way for economic and geopolitical purposes. Dominating the spice trade, the Meshica capital of Tenochtitlan is able to become one of the richest cities in the world.
To the north in Oasisamerica, various tribes live scattered across the desert around rivers and oasis, farming irrigated land and herding bighorn sheep. The people known by the Misian exonym "Ashipes" (the Puebloans) live in a variety of competing tribes and smaller states, while the Kutsan to the west have established what can only be described as an American Egypt around the lower Haquat (Colorado) River. The Hopi people, who tend to do their best to stay above the violence of the other Ashipes, gain a reputation as respected peacemakers and thrive off of the trade able to peacefully pass through their land, and their religion, Maasawism, spreads across the OTL southwest and through the West Coast. However, due to the harsh arid and mountainous terrain, building a large unified empire is difficult. Following the Great Plague, political turmoil ensues. Starting in the 1530s, Ahiga the Great leads the Dinei (Navajo) and his Indei (Apache) allies in uniting Oasisamerica under his empire, using the horse. To the west, the wars resulting from the turmoil caused by the Great Plague resulted in the Ohlone, Yokuts, and Miwoks uniting as the single kingdom of Dadacia with its capital in Socoisuka (San Jose) ruled by Ohlone King Daraten and Miwok Queen Tukuli.
To the south, the French begin to arrive in the New World, establishing Port Francois (Barranquilla) and forming relations with the Muisca. The Muisca are shortly after conquered by the Spanish-aligned Incas, although the French are able to maintain their sphere of influence and trade activities in the region.
In North America, the French begin to establish a presence in the Misian ports of Yamacraw (Savannah, GA) and Kiawah (Charleston, SC). This is to the objection of the English, but the Misians demand that the English not disrupt their trade. In Haudenosaunia, the construction (utilizing slave labor) of a canal linking the Great Lakes to the port of Manhattan causes the Lenape city to grow increasingly important. As the Spanish Inquisition arrives in the Caribbean, a number of secret Jews flee to the mainland, as well as a number of other Sephardic exiles from Europe. The Sephardic Jews of North America come to be known as the Maaravim (Westerners), and form two major communities– the Shavashim based around Shawasha and the Monsayim based around Manhattan. A number of Jews and Tainos also become pirates, harassing the Spanish on the Southern Seas, and are joined by a number of Misians, Englishmen, and freed slaves. Several notable pirates include the fearsome Taino Captain Guarocuya Paharona, or "Captain Enriquillo", who popularized the Black Huracan flag, and the Jewish Captain Daniel Leon, who established the famous pirate hideaway of Nueva Masada. A number of prairie tribes would begin using the horse to attack settled peoples, leading the Misians and Meshica to divide the lands of the Karankawa along the coast of OTL Texas.
The Anglo-Spanish War begins in 1585, with England, France, the Netherlands, and Misia on one side with the Iberian Union and the Meshica on the other. The pirates band together to attack the Spanish, who then responds by destroying Nueva Masada, killing Paharona and Leon. Misia fights both on land and at sea with the Spanish and the Meshica. Francis Drake also attacks Iberian holdings in South America, seizing Buenos Aires and southern Portuguese Brazil With the signing of the Treaty of London in 1593, the Netherlands is united (including the entirety of the Spanish Netherlands), Henry IV remains the Huguenot King of France, England annexes the seized territory in South America, Misia annexes the Pikate peninsula, and the Meshica annex Misian Karankawa. Spain also agrees to allow a small community of 1000 Tainos to live in Duhozemi, forming a small community known as "the Aragua" in exchange for recognition and trade with the Misians. The opening of relations with the Spanish anger many Tainos who begin to riot, causing them to face increased persecution in Misia, leading some of them to flee elsewhere, with as substantial amount ironically going into Spanish lands, although Misia still remains the largest center of the Taino diaspora. Misia also begins to crack down on Calusa Christians, forcing them to convert back to Midewiwin or be expelled. Many Spaniards and Calusa flee to the Bahamas and Jamaica.
Meanwhile, the French from their outposts in South America arrive in Far West of North America in an expedition led by Samuel Champlain. In 1601, they first encounter the Pericu, a maritime and mercantile people of the Pacific coast from the southern tip of the Cochima Peninsula (OTL Baja California). Both they and the Dinei are fighting a nomadic horde controlling the remainder of the peninsula known as the Mulagi. Through the Pericu, they establish relations with both the Dinei and the Dadacians, both of which expand rapidly. The French trade with both of them for the variety of resources they possess, especially mineral wealth. Throughout the early 17th Century, both states push north. The Dinei absorb what is IOTL referred to as the Salt Lake Basin and the Snake River Basin, while the Dadacians move north into OTL Oregon, inhabited by the Kalapuya people. In the south, the Dinei and Dadacians fight over OTL Southern California until peace is brokered by the French, with the area around OTL Los Angeles going to the Dadacians and OTL San Francisco going to the Dinei.
Meanwhile, the worst years of the Little Ice Age are impacting the entire globe. Coldsnaps of the early 1640s caused many of the nomadic raids that led the Dinei to expand north. Bad harvests in the Meshica Empire lead to a Christian peasant revolt known as the Josephan Rebellion, led by Yosep of Mayapan and his force known as the Salvation Army, which is defeated, but not before Yosep prophesies that Jesus will return to deliver the people himself. In Europe, the 30-Years-War ends in only a few years, establishing peace on the continent. As a result of the lack of ongoing war and the altered balance of power, the English Civil War never happens, and King Philip of Spain never takes actions that cause the Portuguese to rebel. However, now population pressures are increased in Europe. Many leave Europe for British Argentina. Jews in the HRE and Poland are targeted with pogroms, prompting many to flee elsewhere, including many moving to Ottoman Palestine. Meanwhile, the Dutch and Portuguese divide the East Indies.
This cold snap also coincides with the reign of Maquah the Mad Bear in Misia. Maquah ascended to the throne after his father was killed in a plot of northern governors and Anishinabes and after his brother was killed fighting the Chatiks on the plains, causing him to have a grudge against both. He descends into madness after his wife cheats on him with a childhood friend, causing him to execute the wife and torture the friend as a eunuch while making a harem out of his female relatives and former lovers. He eventually falls in love with one concubine, Wahpimohsa, who warns him of a plan in the harem to have him killed, leading to his abolishing the harem with Wahpimohsa as his only wife. As the cold snap of the early 1640s comes, the Anishinabe and Dakota raid the northern frontiers of the empire while rebellions occur in the Mississippi alluvial plain in response to taxes designed to feed the north. The result is the governor's war, in which several local governors align with the northern raiders to overthrow Maquah, but end up assassinating each other. Maquah gains support from many of the former rebelling peasants by promising political reforms to establish a parliamentary system, which he does. In 1644, he finds that the eastern states have once more descended into war around fur-hunting grounds and intervenes. Some minor border changes occur, and Maquah also declares in the Treaty of Sandusti that the European powers are forbidden from monopolizing trade at any North American port and must allow other European nations to trade at those ports as well. That same year, Misia has its first elections. In the following decades, Maquah begins to commit genocide against the Anishinabe, Dakota, and Chatiks. After an assassination attempt against him leads to the death of his wife in 1664, Maquah completely descends into madness, executing his staff, hunting down the children from his harem, and torturing captives from his genocidal campaigns in the palace until he himself his killed by his and his wife's daughter Mimia in the spring of 1666.
Meanwhile, Columbus arrives in the Caribbean. He is convinced he is in the East Indies, and after hearing about Misia and Mesoamerica, is convinced that these nearby regions are descriptions of China and India. King Guanacari, King of Ayiti (Hispaniola) who rules from the city of Dujozemi (Cap-Haitien), allows Columbus to establish a small settlement right by the capital for trading purposes. After Columbus returns on his second voyage, tensions mostly caused by the desire to convert the native Tainos to Christianity boils over into fighting. After Guanacari offers peace, Columbus betrays him and has him executed. Columbus and his small group of men are able to easily control the city, whose native population is being ravaged by plague. The minor caciques who were previously subject to Dujozemi's rule begin fighting to kick the Spanish out, although Columbus, seeking after their gold and spices, slaughters and enslaves countless people. Columbus is killed in 1501 by a group of Taino rebels, although by that point all kingdoms had been defeated and the fighting mostly came down to a few rebel groups.
Disease quickly spreads throughout the continents. In the summer of 1494, plague brought over by the Spanish in Caribbean reaches Cahoqua. Among the dead are many members of the imperial family, including the emperor himself. His 19-year-old son, Mamantwensah, is crowned emperor. A power struggle breaks out as the rogue general Mikaquah, fighting the Ojibwe tribes in the north, decides to build up a larger force to attack Cahoqua and start his own dynasty. Despite the unpopularity of the Kilsu dynasty due to the plague, Mamantwensah promises to redistribute the land of the dead nobility to his loyal peasant followers and amasses a force that easily outnumbers that of Mikaquah, allowing him to retain power and prevent any other challengers to the throne. He then precedes with his land distribution program, resulting in the formation of a massive class of land-owning peasants.
In the north, John Cabot arrives in 1496 on the island of Takamkuk (Newfoundland), referred to the English as Takamcook, where he establishes the small town of St. John's. The local Beothuk people, with whom he enjoys positive relations, tell him that if he goes west and follows the Wepistook River (St. Lawrence River), he will be able to make it to the Great Kingdom of Misia, which Cabot also believes to be China. In his journeys, he meets the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). While the river to Lake Eriron (Erie) is not navigable due to Niagara Falls, the Iroquois say he will be able to pass through their land if he brings them more guns and horses. He does so on his second voyage, and the English are able to settle by the port of Cheektowaga (Buffalo, NY). He then goes inland to the Misian port of Sandusti (Sandusky, OH), where he first makes contact with the Misians. Pleased with his haul, which includes, silk, yaupon tea, honey, spices, local whines, and maple syrup, he returns to England. He also leaves behind another wave of diseases, which also cause significant harm. Between 1494 and 1500, Misia's population had fallen from 60 million to 16 million.
After word arrives of the English in Sandusti, Emperor Mamantwensah summons Guama to his court, a Taino merchant from Dujozemi who lost most of his family during the conquest of his home and fled with his daughter to Shawasha (New Orleans) before making his way to Cahoqua. He warns about the Spanish, who he describes as pale men from across the Eastern Ocean who ride giant antler-less deer and carry sticks that produce smoke and fire, which he realizes matches the description of the men who visited Sandusti. On his third voyage in 1498, Cabot brings more men to Takamcook with some being sent to the Haudenosaunee lands while he sets out to explore the east coast. That summer, the Haudenosaunee and their English allies work together to conquer the lands of the Wyandot with their advanced weaponry, which they accomplish in a month's time. With the new men and the goods the recent expedition from England brought as well as a passport sent from England, William Brampton, an Englishman settled in Cheektowaga, leads an expedition to explore Misia. He and his men travel to Shicaqua (Chicago), but are prevented by a bureaucrat working for the Sipikapia (river keeper) from passing through the canal to the river. The Sipikapia arrives with orders from the emperor that any "pale-faced" foreigners from across the Ocean must be disarmed and escorted under careful watch to Cahoqua. After two days following the Inokaspi River (Illinois River), they arrive in the capital city, where they meet the emperor. The emperor questions them, and he brings out Guama, dressed in the uniform of a Taino warrior, shouting Spanish phrases that he had heard from the conquistadors on his home island to try to intimidate them. Guama eventually realizes that these men were not the same ones who destroyed his home, and breaks down emotionally.
While Brampton is meeting with the Misians, Cabot journeys down the east coast, meeting a number of people in the port cities of the various societies along the eastern seaboard. He travels with Nutaq, a Beothuk from Takamcook, and is joined by Atemus, a Lenape merchant. In the land of the Calusa (Southern Florida), he stops at the city of Tekesta (Miami), a multicultural city home to Calusa, Tainos, Misians, and other peoples from all over the eastern seaboard. In Tekesta, he meets two Taino men, one of whom is shaken with trauma and initially mistakes Cabot fo a Spaniard. After hearing about what happened to the Taino, Cabot confronts Columbus and condemns his operation.
The Taino establish a large diaspora in a variety of coastal cities primarily in Misia and Mesoamerica. In the 1510s, a series of wars take place along the eastern seaboard as the many small states use their guns and horses to compete for control of the trade. The war ends with three survivors. The Haudenosaunee conquer many of the best ports from OTL Massachusetts to Delmarva. The Wabanaki control all of the territory northeast of the Haudenosaunee bound by the Wepistook to the north and the Atlantic to the east. Tsenacommacah is to the south, bound by the Chesapeake to the east and the Appalachians to the west. Meanwhile, the Spanish continue to expand throughout the Caribbean, colonizing much of Central America and beginning to move into OTL Venezuela. The Spanish also colonize the Pikate peninsula (Florida), converting the Calusa to Christianity and preserving the local nobility as their vassals.
After some border conflict between the Spanish and the Misians on the mainland, Hernan Cortes convinces Charles V to help him gather men for a crusade-like invasion of Misia. The invasion occurs in 1522, with brutal attacks on Mabila (Mobile, Alabama) and Shawasha. After a number of Spanish raids, the Misians use their vastly superior manpower and obliterate the Spanish invasion at Nicota (Wickliffe, KY).
Following their crushing defeat, the Spanish decide to try to make new allies in the Americas. In 1524, Francisco Pizarro landed in Zempoala, leading the Spanish to forge an alliance with the Meshica (Aztec) Empire. Supplying them with horses and weapons, the Meshica conquer all of their nearby rivals and invade the Mayans, successfully uniting all of Mesoamerica under one banner. Christianity also slowly begins to spread in Mesoamerica, causing Meshica to brutally crack down on the foreign religion while the Spanish look the other way for economic and geopolitical purposes. Dominating the spice trade, the Meshica capital of Tenochtitlan is able to become one of the richest cities in the world.
To the north in Oasisamerica, various tribes live scattered across the desert around rivers and oasis, farming irrigated land and herding bighorn sheep. The people known by the Misian exonym "Ashipes" (the Puebloans) live in a variety of competing tribes and smaller states, while the Kutsan to the west have established what can only be described as an American Egypt around the lower Haquat (Colorado) River. The Hopi people, who tend to do their best to stay above the violence of the other Ashipes, gain a reputation as respected peacemakers and thrive off of the trade able to peacefully pass through their land, and their religion, Maasawism, spreads across the OTL southwest and through the West Coast. However, due to the harsh arid and mountainous terrain, building a large unified empire is difficult. Following the Great Plague, political turmoil ensues. Starting in the 1530s, Ahiga the Great leads the Dinei (Navajo) and his Indei (Apache) allies in uniting Oasisamerica under his empire, using the horse. To the west, the wars resulting from the turmoil caused by the Great Plague resulted in the Ohlone, Yokuts, and Miwoks uniting as the single kingdom of Dadacia with its capital in Socoisuka (San Jose) ruled by Ohlone King Daraten and Miwok Queen Tukuli.
To the south, the French begin to arrive in the New World, establishing Port Francois (Barranquilla) and forming relations with the Muisca. The Muisca are shortly after conquered by the Spanish-aligned Incas, although the French are able to maintain their sphere of influence and trade activities in the region.
In North America, the French begin to establish a presence in the Misian ports of Yamacraw (Savannah, GA) and Kiawah (Charleston, SC). This is to the objection of the English, but the Misians demand that the English not disrupt their trade. In Haudenosaunia, the construction (utilizing slave labor) of a canal linking the Great Lakes to the port of Manhattan causes the Lenape city to grow increasingly important. As the Spanish Inquisition arrives in the Caribbean, a number of secret Jews flee to the mainland, as well as a number of other Sephardic exiles from Europe. The Sephardic Jews of North America come to be known as the Maaravim (Westerners), and form two major communities– the Shavashim based around Shawasha and the Monsayim based around Manhattan. A number of Jews and Tainos also become pirates, harassing the Spanish on the Southern Seas, and are joined by a number of Misians, Englishmen, and freed slaves. Several notable pirates include the fearsome Taino Captain Guarocuya Paharona, or "Captain Enriquillo", who popularized the Black Huracan flag, and the Jewish Captain Daniel Leon, who established the famous pirate hideaway of Nueva Masada. A number of prairie tribes would begin using the horse to attack settled peoples, leading the Misians and Meshica to divide the lands of the Karankawa along the coast of OTL Texas.
The Anglo-Spanish War begins in 1585, with England, France, the Netherlands, and Misia on one side with the Iberian Union and the Meshica on the other. The pirates band together to attack the Spanish, who then responds by destroying Nueva Masada, killing Paharona and Leon. Misia fights both on land and at sea with the Spanish and the Meshica. Francis Drake also attacks Iberian holdings in South America, seizing Buenos Aires and southern Portuguese Brazil With the signing of the Treaty of London in 1593, the Netherlands is united (including the entirety of the Spanish Netherlands), Henry IV remains the Huguenot King of France, England annexes the seized territory in South America, Misia annexes the Pikate peninsula, and the Meshica annex Misian Karankawa. Spain also agrees to allow a small community of 1000 Tainos to live in Duhozemi, forming a small community known as "the Aragua" in exchange for recognition and trade with the Misians. The opening of relations with the Spanish anger many Tainos who begin to riot, causing them to face increased persecution in Misia, leading some of them to flee elsewhere, with as substantial amount ironically going into Spanish lands, although Misia still remains the largest center of the Taino diaspora. Misia also begins to crack down on Calusa Christians, forcing them to convert back to Midewiwin or be expelled. Many Spaniards and Calusa flee to the Bahamas and Jamaica.
Meanwhile, the French from their outposts in South America arrive in Far West of North America in an expedition led by Samuel Champlain. In 1601, they first encounter the Pericu, a maritime and mercantile people of the Pacific coast from the southern tip of the Cochima Peninsula (OTL Baja California). Both they and the Dinei are fighting a nomadic horde controlling the remainder of the peninsula known as the Mulagi. Through the Pericu, they establish relations with both the Dinei and the Dadacians, both of which expand rapidly. The French trade with both of them for the variety of resources they possess, especially mineral wealth. Throughout the early 17th Century, both states push north. The Dinei absorb what is IOTL referred to as the Salt Lake Basin and the Snake River Basin, while the Dadacians move north into OTL Oregon, inhabited by the Kalapuya people. In the south, the Dinei and Dadacians fight over OTL Southern California until peace is brokered by the French, with the area around OTL Los Angeles going to the Dadacians and OTL San Francisco going to the Dinei.
Meanwhile, the worst years of the Little Ice Age are impacting the entire globe. Coldsnaps of the early 1640s caused many of the nomadic raids that led the Dinei to expand north. Bad harvests in the Meshica Empire lead to a Christian peasant revolt known as the Josephan Rebellion, led by Yosep of Mayapan and his force known as the Salvation Army, which is defeated, but not before Yosep prophesies that Jesus will return to deliver the people himself. In Europe, the 30-Years-War ends in only a few years, establishing peace on the continent. As a result of the lack of ongoing war and the altered balance of power, the English Civil War never happens, and King Philip of Spain never takes actions that cause the Portuguese to rebel. However, now population pressures are increased in Europe. Many leave Europe for British Argentina. Jews in the HRE and Poland are targeted with pogroms, prompting many to flee elsewhere, including many moving to Ottoman Palestine. Meanwhile, the Dutch and Portuguese divide the East Indies.
This cold snap also coincides with the reign of Maquah the Mad Bear in Misia. Maquah ascended to the throne after his father was killed in a plot of northern governors and Anishinabes and after his brother was killed fighting the Chatiks on the plains, causing him to have a grudge against both. He descends into madness after his wife cheats on him with a childhood friend, causing him to execute the wife and torture the friend as a eunuch while making a harem out of his female relatives and former lovers. He eventually falls in love with one concubine, Wahpimohsa, who warns him of a plan in the harem to have him killed, leading to his abolishing the harem with Wahpimohsa as his only wife. As the cold snap of the early 1640s comes, the Anishinabe and Dakota raid the northern frontiers of the empire while rebellions occur in the Mississippi alluvial plain in response to taxes designed to feed the north. The result is the governor's war, in which several local governors align with the northern raiders to overthrow Maquah, but end up assassinating each other. Maquah gains support from many of the former rebelling peasants by promising political reforms to establish a parliamentary system, which he does. In 1644, he finds that the eastern states have once more descended into war around fur-hunting grounds and intervenes. Some minor border changes occur, and Maquah also declares in the Treaty of Sandusti that the European powers are forbidden from monopolizing trade at any North American port and must allow other European nations to trade at those ports as well. That same year, Misia has its first elections. In the following decades, Maquah begins to commit genocide against the Anishinabe, Dakota, and Chatiks. After an assassination attempt against him leads to the death of his wife in 1664, Maquah completely descends into madness, executing his staff, hunting down the children from his harem, and torturing captives from his genocidal campaigns in the palace until he himself his killed by his and his wife's daughter Mimia in the spring of 1666.
(work in progress)
Ahawatik– city at the southern tip of the Kamya (Salton) Sea
Airapi– La Paz, Baja California Sur
Apalachiqua– Apalachicola, FL
Ashipewahk– Misian exonym for the Puebloans of Oasisamerica; literally means "Cliff Land"
Aspa– Mexicali, Baja California
Assinwati Mountains– Rocky Mountains
Awaa Cala– Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur
Awansachi Mountains– Appalachian Mountains
Awnichma Isles– California Channel Islands
Aztlan Sea– Gulf of California
Cadeskit– Bangor, ME
Cahoqua– Cahokia Mounds, across the river from St. Louis, MO
Cheektowaga– Buffalo, NY
Chesapeake– Norfolk, VA
Chifin– Eugene, OR
Chimasha– Morgan City, LA
Chinquia– Evansville, IN
Duhozemi– Cap-Haitien, Haiti
Dzilola– Denver
Eelsetcook– Bear River, Nova Scotia
Erkachit– city on the eastern bank of the mouth of the Haquat (Colorado) River
Haquat River– Colorado River
Ileni/Hileni– First imperial Misian dynasty, similar to the Han of China
Inoka Plain– Plains of Illinois and surrounding area
Kaaman Kagaleha– Mulege, Baja California Sur
Kadakaaman– San Ignacio, Baja California Sur
Kakinampo River– Tennessee River
Kamya Channel– artificially-maintained canal connecting the Kamya (Salton) Sea to the lower Haquat (Colorado) River from Paruk
Kamya Sea– salt lake on the site of the OTL Salton Sea
Kawanoteh– Montreal, Quebec
Kawila– Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Kekionga– Fort Wayne, IN
Kiawah– Charleston, SC
Kikoqua– Keoka, IA
Kilsu– Current imperial Misian dynasty ruling since European contact; meaning "Dynasty of the Sun"
Kosai– San Diego, CA
Kotsui River– Rio Grande
Kumeyai Coast– coastal region of southernmost portions of California and northernmost portions of Baja California
Kutsan– Egypt-like civilization based around the lower Haquat (Colorado) River
Lake Michigami– Lake Michigan
Lake Piapa– Great Salt Lake
Mabila– Mobile, AL
Machigon– Portland, ME
Makina– Mackinac, MI
Manhattan– if you’re looking this one up please get help
Mashowomuk– Boston, MA
Masohna– Salt Lake City, UT
Mayalamsen– Kansas City, MO
Milioke– Milwaukee, WI
Minohiyo– Pittsburgh, PA
Minowasi– Nashville, TN
Minutaliw– Cincinnati, OH
Misia– Derives from Mihsiwahk, meaning "The Great Land/Kingdom"; includes the OTL American midwest and much of the south as its traditional heartland (basically the regions that were part of the OTL Mississippian culture)
Nicota– Wickliffe, KY
Nipafsaqua– Columbus, MO
Ongniara River– Niagara River
Osachit– Jacksonville, FL
Paruk– near Ejido Hermosillo, Baja California
Patai– Ensenada, Baja California
Pateota– Minneapolis, MN
Patoka– Paducah, KY
Peorua– Peoria, IL
Peskotoma– Pleasant Point, ME
Pikate Peninsula– Floridian Peninsula
Potapskut– Baltimore, MD
Sakimauchin– Philadelphia, PA
Sacuqua– Houston, TX
Sandusti– Sandusky, OH
Satapo– near Vonore, TN
Shawasha– New Orleans, LA
Shicaqua– Chicago, IL
Socoisuka– San Jose, CA
Takamcook– Newfoundland
Talula– Tallulah, LA
Tanpa– Tampa, FL
Tashaka– Tuscaloosa, AL
Tekesta– Miami, FL
Tipiwik– Memphis, TN
Tiwan– Tijuana, Baja California
Tsenacommacah– federation/region based out of Virginia and Maryland based on the OTL Powhatan; one of the major powers of the Eastern Seaboard
Tuf Shur Tia– Sandia Pueblo/Albuquerque, NM
Tumbikbi River– Tombigbee River
Wabanakik– federation spanning Northern New England, the Maritimes, and parts of Quebec bordering on expanded Haudensaunee
Washtanoqua– Detroit, MI
Wasioto River– Cumberland River (Kentucky and Tennessee)
Watumka– Montgomery, AL
Wepistuk River– St. Lawrence River
Wilamut River– Wilammette River
Yamacraw– Savannah, GA
Yampapa River– Snake River
Yanga– Los Angeles, CA
Yelapu– San Francisco, CA
Yenecami– Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur
Yuum– Yuma, AZ
Ahawatik– city at the southern tip of the Kamya (Salton) Sea
Airapi– La Paz, Baja California Sur
Apalachiqua– Apalachicola, FL
Ashipewahk– Misian exonym for the Puebloans of Oasisamerica; literally means "Cliff Land"
Aspa– Mexicali, Baja California
Assinwati Mountains– Rocky Mountains
Awaa Cala– Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur
Awansachi Mountains– Appalachian Mountains
Awnichma Isles– California Channel Islands
Aztlan Sea– Gulf of California
Cadeskit– Bangor, ME
Cahoqua– Cahokia Mounds, across the river from St. Louis, MO
Cheektowaga– Buffalo, NY
Chesapeake– Norfolk, VA
Chifin– Eugene, OR
Chimasha– Morgan City, LA
Chinquia– Evansville, IN
Duhozemi– Cap-Haitien, Haiti
Dzilola– Denver
Eelsetcook– Bear River, Nova Scotia
Erkachit– city on the eastern bank of the mouth of the Haquat (Colorado) River
Haquat River– Colorado River
Ileni/Hileni– First imperial Misian dynasty, similar to the Han of China
Inoka Plain– Plains of Illinois and surrounding area
Kaaman Kagaleha– Mulege, Baja California Sur
Kadakaaman– San Ignacio, Baja California Sur
Kakinampo River– Tennessee River
Kamya Channel– artificially-maintained canal connecting the Kamya (Salton) Sea to the lower Haquat (Colorado) River from Paruk
Kamya Sea– salt lake on the site of the OTL Salton Sea
Kawanoteh– Montreal, Quebec
Kawila– Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Kekionga– Fort Wayne, IN
Kiawah– Charleston, SC
Kikoqua– Keoka, IA
Kilsu– Current imperial Misian dynasty ruling since European contact; meaning "Dynasty of the Sun"
Kosai– San Diego, CA
Kotsui River– Rio Grande
Kumeyai Coast– coastal region of southernmost portions of California and northernmost portions of Baja California
Kutsan– Egypt-like civilization based around the lower Haquat (Colorado) River
Lake Michigami– Lake Michigan
Lake Piapa– Great Salt Lake
Mabila– Mobile, AL
Machigon– Portland, ME
Makina– Mackinac, MI
Manhattan– if you’re looking this one up please get help
Mashowomuk– Boston, MA
Masohna– Salt Lake City, UT
Mayalamsen– Kansas City, MO
Milioke– Milwaukee, WI
Minohiyo– Pittsburgh, PA
Minowasi– Nashville, TN
Minutaliw– Cincinnati, OH
Misia– Derives from Mihsiwahk, meaning "The Great Land/Kingdom"; includes the OTL American midwest and much of the south as its traditional heartland (basically the regions that were part of the OTL Mississippian culture)
Nicota– Wickliffe, KY
Nipafsaqua– Columbus, MO
Ongniara River– Niagara River
Osachit– Jacksonville, FL
Paruk– near Ejido Hermosillo, Baja California
Patai– Ensenada, Baja California
Pateota– Minneapolis, MN
Patoka– Paducah, KY
Peorua– Peoria, IL
Peskotoma– Pleasant Point, ME
Pikate Peninsula– Floridian Peninsula
Potapskut– Baltimore, MD
Sakimauchin– Philadelphia, PA
Sacuqua– Houston, TX
Sandusti– Sandusky, OH
Satapo– near Vonore, TN
Shawasha– New Orleans, LA
Shicaqua– Chicago, IL
Socoisuka– San Jose, CA
Takamcook– Newfoundland
Talula– Tallulah, LA
Tanpa– Tampa, FL
Tashaka– Tuscaloosa, AL
Tekesta– Miami, FL
Tipiwik– Memphis, TN
Tiwan– Tijuana, Baja California
Tsenacommacah– federation/region based out of Virginia and Maryland based on the OTL Powhatan; one of the major powers of the Eastern Seaboard
Tuf Shur Tia– Sandia Pueblo/Albuquerque, NM
Tumbikbi River– Tombigbee River
Wabanakik– federation spanning Northern New England, the Maritimes, and parts of Quebec bordering on expanded Haudensaunee
Washtanoqua– Detroit, MI
Wasioto River– Cumberland River (Kentucky and Tennessee)
Watumka– Montgomery, AL
Wepistuk River– St. Lawrence River
Wilamut River– Wilammette River
Yamacraw– Savannah, GA
Yampapa River– Snake River
Yanga– Los Angeles, CA
Yelapu– San Francisco, CA
Yenecami– Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur
Yuum– Yuma, AZ
Chapter 1: The Great Kingdom
It was a bright summer day in the city of Kahoquah. It was the a type of day where the warmth was cooled by a soft summer breeze that soothed the soul and refreshed all those who felt it; the type of day where merchants and vendors would gather at the markets to sell everything from yapa and fruity wines to soft silk blankets that shimmered in the light with their colors to cocoa and spices and mysterious knicknacks from far off lands to the south; the type of day where farmers would reap a bountiful harvest of maize and manoomin and other delightful crops to be sold in the city; a type of day where the people would gather joyfully in the cobbled streets and by the docks as the children run to play in the river. Yet today was not that day. It couldn’t be that day. Over the past moon or so or however long it had been, Kahoquah had gone quiet. The entirety of Mihsiwahk, the entire Great Kingdom had gone quiet, except perhaps for the sound of the occasional weil or moan as another life cries out to the Great Spirit, only to be snuffed out. It starts with a fever, then fatigue, then headaches and back pains. Before you knew it, your entire body would be covered in a red rash and blisters and boils, and then death was on its way.
And now it was quiet. As Mamantwensah walked through the cobbled streets, passed by the market square, looked into the sorrowful faces of the fewer people there as before, saw that half the amount of riverboats stopped by the dock, he knew that the world had changed, and he knew that more were still yet to die. His world had changed. But that wasn’t why it was so silent today. Today wasn’t the day to mourn commoners.
An almost blood red wooden carriage, pulled by four wapiti bulls, made its way down the cobble street. On either side and in front of the carriage marched a melancholy parade of soldiers forced to endure the heat in suits of iron. Closer to the carriage marched nobles and priests, dressed in red silk robes. Closest to the carriage marched the last consort who remained of the Emperor’s harem of three. For whatever reason, the disease hit the ruling family extra hard. And there, marching alongside his father, was Mamantwensah, the last remaining and newly orphaned son of the emperor and the empress.
The carriage and the surrounding parade made its way down the artificial mound atop which sat the wooden palace to the east. Smaller palaces gave way to crowded streets, which eventually gave way to greenery. On all sides, the people of Kahoquah healthy enough to appear stood quietly and respectfully with blank expressions, albeit with perhaps a hint of fear. The carriage approached a great stone wall, surrounding a great mound not unlike the one upon which sat the palace. Passing through a gated archway into the green enclosure, the procession approached a great marble block, in front of which lay a humble flame. A group of servants dressed in ceremonial silk lifted the coffin made of the same blood red wood from the back of the carriage and set it onto the marble platform. A priest stood over the coffin as everyone else kneeled. In front of the coffin and next to the flame, Mamantwensah and his consort step-mother kneeled facing the rest of the crowd.
“Emperor Manawesquah, head of the Kilsu Dynasty, ruler of all of the Great Kingdom, protector of the Great River, master of the heavens and earth, keeper of the ways of the ancestors, and earthly son of the Great Spirit, has now left from this world to join his forefathers. Today, after a reign of 16 years, his body will be laid to rest here in the Heavenly Mound of Kings with those who ruled before him. As was his dying wish, he shall now be succeeded by his last remaining son.”
Another priest approached Mamantwensah with a silver bowl of water from the Mihsisipi River and a light blue silk cloth. Taking the cloth, he dipped it in the water and wiped his face, starting above his deep brown eyes, then down to his nose and cheeks and lips. He then stood up before the crowd in front of the flame.
“All hail Emperor Mamantwensah!” shouted the priest.
The crowd of priests, nobles, soldiers, and others on their knees bowed fully in respect, arms down to the floor. Mamantwensah, only 19 years old, stood looking at his people, people who were hoping for leadership to guide them through these difficult and confusing times. He knew that lives would continue to be snuffed out by this mysterious ailment. He knew that the growing instability would surely lead to war in the near future. He knew that he was still young and still had a lot to learn. What he didn’t know, however, was just how eventful his reign would be, and how his reign would completely change the future of his nation, his continent, and the entire world.
And now it was quiet. As Mamantwensah walked through the cobbled streets, passed by the market square, looked into the sorrowful faces of the fewer people there as before, saw that half the amount of riverboats stopped by the dock, he knew that the world had changed, and he knew that more were still yet to die. His world had changed. But that wasn’t why it was so silent today. Today wasn’t the day to mourn commoners.
An almost blood red wooden carriage, pulled by four wapiti bulls, made its way down the cobble street. On either side and in front of the carriage marched a melancholy parade of soldiers forced to endure the heat in suits of iron. Closer to the carriage marched nobles and priests, dressed in red silk robes. Closest to the carriage marched the last consort who remained of the Emperor’s harem of three. For whatever reason, the disease hit the ruling family extra hard. And there, marching alongside his father, was Mamantwensah, the last remaining and newly orphaned son of the emperor and the empress.
The carriage and the surrounding parade made its way down the artificial mound atop which sat the wooden palace to the east. Smaller palaces gave way to crowded streets, which eventually gave way to greenery. On all sides, the people of Kahoquah healthy enough to appear stood quietly and respectfully with blank expressions, albeit with perhaps a hint of fear. The carriage approached a great stone wall, surrounding a great mound not unlike the one upon which sat the palace. Passing through a gated archway into the green enclosure, the procession approached a great marble block, in front of which lay a humble flame. A group of servants dressed in ceremonial silk lifted the coffin made of the same blood red wood from the back of the carriage and set it onto the marble platform. A priest stood over the coffin as everyone else kneeled. In front of the coffin and next to the flame, Mamantwensah and his consort step-mother kneeled facing the rest of the crowd.
“Emperor Manawesquah, head of the Kilsu Dynasty, ruler of all of the Great Kingdom, protector of the Great River, master of the heavens and earth, keeper of the ways of the ancestors, and earthly son of the Great Spirit, has now left from this world to join his forefathers. Today, after a reign of 16 years, his body will be laid to rest here in the Heavenly Mound of Kings with those who ruled before him. As was his dying wish, he shall now be succeeded by his last remaining son.”
Another priest approached Mamantwensah with a silver bowl of water from the Mihsisipi River and a light blue silk cloth. Taking the cloth, he dipped it in the water and wiped his face, starting above his deep brown eyes, then down to his nose and cheeks and lips. He then stood up before the crowd in front of the flame.
“All hail Emperor Mamantwensah!” shouted the priest.
The crowd of priests, nobles, soldiers, and others on their knees bowed fully in respect, arms down to the floor. Mamantwensah, only 19 years old, stood looking at his people, people who were hoping for leadership to guide them through these difficult and confusing times. He knew that lives would continue to be snuffed out by this mysterious ailment. He knew that the growing instability would surely lead to war in the near future. He knew that he was still young and still had a lot to learn. What he didn’t know, however, was just how eventful his reign would be, and how his reign would completely change the future of his nation, his continent, and the entire world.
***
Historians generally consider there to be six thousand years of recorded human history. For most of this time, human history was completely divided. In what Europeans would know as the “Old World”, civilization emerged in four places– the banks of the Nile, between the Tigris and Euphrates, in the Indus Valley, and along the Yellow River in the North China Plain. Over time, these civilizations would give rise to countless others. The many great kingdoms and empires of Europe, Africa, the Near East, India, and East Asia that followed in the wake of these original civilizations would trade, battle, and spread ideas between each other, creating a divided albeit connected world of continuous civilizations. And yet, despite how vast this world was, and despite the seemingly impassable distance between the Western Europe and the East Indies or between Japan and Songhai, not a soul was aware of the vast land that lay across the ocean.
This so-called “New World” remained all but entirely isolated from the old for centuries. The exception to this is in 1000 AD when the Vikings made a brief landfall at the island of Takamkuk, a harsh and at the time mostly uncivilized landmass, with the first Beothuk kingdoms not yet rising for another hundred years or so. What these Vikings didn’t know, however, was if they had ventured further south, they would find great civilizations that existed in complete isolation from their own world, civilizations that rose and grew entirely separately, all from three original cradles of civilization. First were the fertile river valleys that flowed through the mountains of the Central Andes, mountains that would give rise to the Wari, the Chimor, and eventually the great Inca Empire. Next were the Olmecs who lived along the fertile eastern coast of Anawak by the South Misian Sea, who would eventually give rise to the Mayans, the Toltecs, and the mighty Aztecs. However, arguably the most influential of these cradles would be one that rose in the alluvial plains of the Mississippi River.
Misian Civilization began on the alluvial plain of the lower Mississippi some time before 2000 BC. The massive fertile floodplain with its rich sediments proved to form excellent farmland for crops like manoomin, little barley, goosefoot, sunflower, sumpweed, knotweed, maygrass, and squash. Corn, beans, and other crops arriving from Anawak would also come to be cultivated around 1000 BC, allowing the three sisters of corn, beans, and squash to productively be planted and harvested together. Grapes, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, paw-paws, and other fruits were grown in vineyards and groves, and the yaupon plant was cultivated for tea. The people collected honey from stingless bees, and silk from giant silk moths, two insects which the Misians had begun to keep early on in their history. Rather than hunt for meat, the locals kept domesticated turkeys, ducks, geese, and rabbits, and later discovered that they could keep whitetail deer and wapitis in pens, the latter of which would eventually be used to pull plows to further increase agricultural productivity. In manoomin paddies, fish were used to fertilize the soil with their waste as well as providing an additional source of protein. Of course, if a local wanted to eat something other than the typical domesticated meats, wild game in the form of deer, bison, and other animals was plentiful, as was fish in the Mississippi river.
However, agriculture and fishing were only the beginning of the Mississippi’s usefulness. The Mississippi was a massive navigable river with branches stretching north towards the Great Lakes, east towards the Awansachi Mountains, and west towards the Great Plains and the Assinwati Mountains. Misian Civilization quickly spread over the course of a few centuries in all directions, and through the flat land and many rivers connecting these regions, trade, travel, and communication between all of these groups was easy, and larger kingdoms were able to form. It was in this period prior to the formation of the first imperial dynasties that the Inoka plain occupying much of the middle and some of the upper Mississippi came to become the most dominant center of Mississippian culture, when Mississippian cultures further came to displace the old southern Great Lakes cultures, and when Midewiwin would come to be the dominant religion in the north, putting an end to human sacrifices. As kingdoms grew in size, warfare became increasingly frequent.
In around 100 BC, Misia would be fully united for the first time under the Ileni Dynasty. Based around the Inoka plain, the Ileni expanded in all directions, creating a vast empire, connected by a network of rivers and shaping Misian identity. At its height around 150 AD, the empire controlled land from the Awansachis and Atlantic to the east, the South Misian Sea to the south, the Great Lakes to the north, and the Great Plains to the west. The dialect of the Inoka plain came to be standardized across the land, and to this day, the Misian people still ethnically identify themselves as Hileni. The Midewi fatih, practiced in the north, also came to be adopted universally by the Misians, and the Emperor would use the religion to claim that his rule was divine.
Perhaps the greatest innovation of the Hileni that allowed them to maintain such a massive and closely connected state despite the lack of horses was the construction of highly advanced canals using systems of powerful dams and locks. The Tumbikbi River to the southeast, for example, was connected to the Mississippi watershed through a canal to the Kakinampo River to the north. In the north, canals at Shicaqua and Milioke connected the river to Lake Michigami. However, the river was not the only highway for this great empire. All along its coastline, a chain of barrier islands formed a safe and easily navigable intracoastal waterway, allowing them to dominate the entire southeastern coastline of their continent. The one exception to this was the swampy Pikate peninsula, which was not conquered until later dynasties, although they did succeed in establishing a small colony at the tip. The Hileni Dynasty were masters at navigating their coastline, and soon found themselves venturing further away into the South Misian and Caribbean Seas, coming into contact with the civilizations of Mesoamerica and the chiefdoms of the Caribbean, trading their silk, tea, wine, iron tools, and other goods for cocoa, spices, and more, making Misia incredibly wealthy.
Exploring the coastline led them to discover the Kotsui River. While the lower portions of the river would come to form the southwestern borderlands of the empire, expeditions up the river led the Misians to make contact with the disunited cultures of Oasisamerica, an area they came to know as “Ashipewahk”, meaning “land of cliffs”. It would be developments in agriculture, technology, and navigation that would help the so-called Ashipes form larger, more advanced kingdoms, albeit ones that were still kept small due to the mountainous geography. Still, these people built massive cities on mesas, canyons, and cliffsides, and over time, their civilization would spread to the Kutsan people of the Haquat River Delta. The first united Kutsan Kingdom was established around 300 AD, and would remain stable for over a thousand years as the mountains and desert shielded the life-giving river from foreign intruders. Over the following thousand years, settled civilizations would slowly make their way up the west coast with the most advanced ones being those closest to the Kutsan in the south.
Meanwhile, closer to the Misian heartland, other civilizations rose and fell. Along the Atlantic coast east of the Awansachis and to the north of the Great Lakes lay a variety of kingdoms, federations, and other native states that were closely influenced by the Misians with similar architecture, writing, cuisine, and religious beliefs. While not benefitting from the massive extensive watershed of the Mississippi, these civilizations made use of their coastlines and relatively flat land to build their own well connected albeit less vast civilizations.
Along the Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes, various states were in constant struggle with one another. In the Caribbean, different tribes fought one another for control of islands large and small. In Mesoamerica, kingdoms and empires came and went. In the Oases, the different Ashipe peoples struggled for control over rivers and trade routes to the east. Centuries passed and times changed, and only the Great Kingdom that stood at the center of the continent was eternal. Some dynasties collapsed and there would be warfare as other dynasties fought to take over, but for over a thousand years, Misia remained supreme. The entire order of this New World (barring the people who lived far south in the Andes) revolved around Misia. Every king, every chief, and every consul of every federation sought to win over the support of the Misian Emperor for the sake of power.
Time had passed since the ancient days of the Hileni Dynasty. Now, the Kilsu Dynasty, the Dynasty of the Sun, ruled over all of Misia. The arriving Europeans would bring new crops, new animals, new technology, new powerful weapons, and new diseases. Despite how much the world was about to change, it would only be a matter of time before the interests of the European powers too came to revolve around the Great Kingdom where the river flows.
This so-called “New World” remained all but entirely isolated from the old for centuries. The exception to this is in 1000 AD when the Vikings made a brief landfall at the island of Takamkuk, a harsh and at the time mostly uncivilized landmass, with the first Beothuk kingdoms not yet rising for another hundred years or so. What these Vikings didn’t know, however, was if they had ventured further south, they would find great civilizations that existed in complete isolation from their own world, civilizations that rose and grew entirely separately, all from three original cradles of civilization. First were the fertile river valleys that flowed through the mountains of the Central Andes, mountains that would give rise to the Wari, the Chimor, and eventually the great Inca Empire. Next were the Olmecs who lived along the fertile eastern coast of Anawak by the South Misian Sea, who would eventually give rise to the Mayans, the Toltecs, and the mighty Aztecs. However, arguably the most influential of these cradles would be one that rose in the alluvial plains of the Mississippi River.
Misian Civilization began on the alluvial plain of the lower Mississippi some time before 2000 BC. The massive fertile floodplain with its rich sediments proved to form excellent farmland for crops like manoomin, little barley, goosefoot, sunflower, sumpweed, knotweed, maygrass, and squash. Corn, beans, and other crops arriving from Anawak would also come to be cultivated around 1000 BC, allowing the three sisters of corn, beans, and squash to productively be planted and harvested together. Grapes, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, paw-paws, and other fruits were grown in vineyards and groves, and the yaupon plant was cultivated for tea. The people collected honey from stingless bees, and silk from giant silk moths, two insects which the Misians had begun to keep early on in their history. Rather than hunt for meat, the locals kept domesticated turkeys, ducks, geese, and rabbits, and later discovered that they could keep whitetail deer and wapitis in pens, the latter of which would eventually be used to pull plows to further increase agricultural productivity. In manoomin paddies, fish were used to fertilize the soil with their waste as well as providing an additional source of protein. Of course, if a local wanted to eat something other than the typical domesticated meats, wild game in the form of deer, bison, and other animals was plentiful, as was fish in the Mississippi river.
However, agriculture and fishing were only the beginning of the Mississippi’s usefulness. The Mississippi was a massive navigable river with branches stretching north towards the Great Lakes, east towards the Awansachi Mountains, and west towards the Great Plains and the Assinwati Mountains. Misian Civilization quickly spread over the course of a few centuries in all directions, and through the flat land and many rivers connecting these regions, trade, travel, and communication between all of these groups was easy, and larger kingdoms were able to form. It was in this period prior to the formation of the first imperial dynasties that the Inoka plain occupying much of the middle and some of the upper Mississippi came to become the most dominant center of Mississippian culture, when Mississippian cultures further came to displace the old southern Great Lakes cultures, and when Midewiwin would come to be the dominant religion in the north, putting an end to human sacrifices. As kingdoms grew in size, warfare became increasingly frequent.
In around 100 BC, Misia would be fully united for the first time under the Ileni Dynasty. Based around the Inoka plain, the Ileni expanded in all directions, creating a vast empire, connected by a network of rivers and shaping Misian identity. At its height around 150 AD, the empire controlled land from the Awansachis and Atlantic to the east, the South Misian Sea to the south, the Great Lakes to the north, and the Great Plains to the west. The dialect of the Inoka plain came to be standardized across the land, and to this day, the Misian people still ethnically identify themselves as Hileni. The Midewi fatih, practiced in the north, also came to be adopted universally by the Misians, and the Emperor would use the religion to claim that his rule was divine.
Perhaps the greatest innovation of the Hileni that allowed them to maintain such a massive and closely connected state despite the lack of horses was the construction of highly advanced canals using systems of powerful dams and locks. The Tumbikbi River to the southeast, for example, was connected to the Mississippi watershed through a canal to the Kakinampo River to the north. In the north, canals at Shicaqua and Milioke connected the river to Lake Michigami. However, the river was not the only highway for this great empire. All along its coastline, a chain of barrier islands formed a safe and easily navigable intracoastal waterway, allowing them to dominate the entire southeastern coastline of their continent. The one exception to this was the swampy Pikate peninsula, which was not conquered until later dynasties, although they did succeed in establishing a small colony at the tip. The Hileni Dynasty were masters at navigating their coastline, and soon found themselves venturing further away into the South Misian and Caribbean Seas, coming into contact with the civilizations of Mesoamerica and the chiefdoms of the Caribbean, trading their silk, tea, wine, iron tools, and other goods for cocoa, spices, and more, making Misia incredibly wealthy.
Exploring the coastline led them to discover the Kotsui River. While the lower portions of the river would come to form the southwestern borderlands of the empire, expeditions up the river led the Misians to make contact with the disunited cultures of Oasisamerica, an area they came to know as “Ashipewahk”, meaning “land of cliffs”. It would be developments in agriculture, technology, and navigation that would help the so-called Ashipes form larger, more advanced kingdoms, albeit ones that were still kept small due to the mountainous geography. Still, these people built massive cities on mesas, canyons, and cliffsides, and over time, their civilization would spread to the Kutsan people of the Haquat River Delta. The first united Kutsan Kingdom was established around 300 AD, and would remain stable for over a thousand years as the mountains and desert shielded the life-giving river from foreign intruders. Over the following thousand years, settled civilizations would slowly make their way up the west coast with the most advanced ones being those closest to the Kutsan in the south.
Meanwhile, closer to the Misian heartland, other civilizations rose and fell. Along the Atlantic coast east of the Awansachis and to the north of the Great Lakes lay a variety of kingdoms, federations, and other native states that were closely influenced by the Misians with similar architecture, writing, cuisine, and religious beliefs. While not benefitting from the massive extensive watershed of the Mississippi, these civilizations made use of their coastlines and relatively flat land to build their own well connected albeit less vast civilizations.
Along the Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes, various states were in constant struggle with one another. In the Caribbean, different tribes fought one another for control of islands large and small. In Mesoamerica, kingdoms and empires came and went. In the Oases, the different Ashipe peoples struggled for control over rivers and trade routes to the east. Centuries passed and times changed, and only the Great Kingdom that stood at the center of the continent was eternal. Some dynasties collapsed and there would be warfare as other dynasties fought to take over, but for over a thousand years, Misia remained supreme. The entire order of this New World (barring the people who lived far south in the Andes) revolved around Misia. Every king, every chief, and every consul of every federation sought to win over the support of the Misian Emperor for the sake of power.
Time had passed since the ancient days of the Hileni Dynasty. Now, the Kilsu Dynasty, the Dynasty of the Sun, ruled over all of Misia. The arriving Europeans would bring new crops, new animals, new technology, new powerful weapons, and new diseases. Despite how much the world was about to change, it would only be a matter of time before the interests of the European powers too came to revolve around the Great Kingdom where the river flows.
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