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الرحلة

A'Rilah: A Tale of the Great Voyages

Al-Andalus, 889

"Emir! Emir!" the eunuch cried. "What?" growled Abdullah ibn Muhammad. "Didn't you see me meditating?"

"Begging your pardon, sir, I meant not to infringe upon your faith. But there's a man here to see you. He wouldn't tell me what it is, but he said it's very important."

"Oh, very well. Send him in." Probably it was some affair of state. The sultan wasn't too fond of those. Didn't those fools see that it was the afterlife that counted, not the tedium of ruling a kingdom? That was what governors were for. Never mind the fact that they had taken power in everywhere but Cordoba. That was their right. But he supposed he would hear this man. It couldn't hurt, and they needn't listen to him.

The eunuch bellowed, "Announcing Khashkhash Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad, the famed navigator!" He opened the door. Inside came a little man, with a wisp of a beard. He did not seem old, but he gave off the impression of being so. "Your majesty," he said, bowing his head the slightest bit. He ushered a large group of men, some Nubians, some Arabs, some Maghrebi, to carry a large bundle into the room. It was to big to properly deduce what was contained within, but the thing it carried was certainly cylindrical. The sultan was, at least, amused. He'd see this fellow, for a while.

"What's in there?" asked the sultan. "I shall tell you, your eminence. I am a traveler, a trader, you see. That is my profession. And I had ideas of exploring." The sultan tried to remember his geography. "Well, to the east, there's," and he paused, "Roum, the Abbasids, of course, Siin, and I don't know what else." The navigator smiled kindly, if a bit irritatedly. "Not east, m'eminence. West."

The sultan was confused. "West? I suppose logic would dictate there to be something there, but what?" Ibn Aswad, nodded, pleased. "Yes, exactly. It would be preposterous for it to be otherwise. Well, I mounted an expedition west." The sultan was awed. "What?" The navigator smiled. "Yes, an expedition. I call it Ard Majoohla, but that's a placeholder. I'll come up with something better than 'the unknown territory.'"

"Did you bring anything back?" asked the sultan.

"Well, it's funny you should ask...." said ibn Aswad. He snapped his fingers, and the porters behind him unwrapped their cargo. Straining, they just barely were able to place it back down. It was a massive, garishly painted totem, depicting some kind of man, perhaps a warrior, wearing a bizarre sort of armor, and a feathered headdress. "What is that?" asked the sultan. "I honestly have no idea. But the people who live there-"

"WHAT? There are people there?" The navigator nodded sheepishly. "And there is this, too." Each of the porters opened up another satchel, smaller, filled with silver, and laid it on the floor.

The eunuch said, "Khashkhash, would you mind going back?"

"Not at all."

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Hello! This is a new TL of mine, in which America is discovered in 889 by the fellow you just read about, Khashkhash ibn Aswad. (He'll be called Ibn Aswad for continuity's sake.) The only real historical background for him is the writings of Al-Masudi, a historian of the era, which might be fictional, but for the purposes of this TL, it won't be. So come, comment, and relax, and watch America colonized six centuries early.
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