Village of Orongo, seabird nesting season of 1539 CE
Everyone held their breath as a head appeared over the cliff. The figure pulled himself above to ground. He reached for his headband, feeling for the egg. Time slowed as he ran to the ivi-attua [1] waiting at the front of the crowd, his hands cupped.
Cautiously, he removed the egg from the pouch sitting on his gleaming forehead, and placed it in the recieving hands. The ivi-attua turned to the awaiting crowd and bellowed "Hopu [2] Atamu has brought us the first manu-tara [3] egg. Hitorangi is now tangata manu [4] for as long as Makemake [5] wishes him to live!"
The gathered crowd parted to allow the ivi-attua to place the headdress on the bald scalp of Chief Hitorangi. As soon as the human hair dangling from the headdress touched his head, wild cheers erupted from the congregation. The holy man then gave the egg to the new monarch, and the mass again parted to allow him through, with his arms outstretched, holding the egg as he led the procession down the gently sloping mountain to the settlement of Anakena.
Standing upon the shore later that afternoon, the king surveyed the moai [6] resting upon the stone platforms. He and the ivi-attua both knew what they meant to the people; they resembled the ancestors who they prayed to. His position existed only because the ancestors failed to help, letting us starve in the famines and destroying our forests, bringing us to war and cannibalism. The first ivi-attua over a decade ago reminded the people that they never returned our prayers, and showed them the truth. He brought peace to the warring clans, without which they would have never allowed him to become king.
If he didn't fulfill his promise to bring prosperity once again, they would kill him for sure and revert back to the old ways. But he could also be overthrown by the zealous chiefs if he didn't destroy the old ways. He came to a conclusion on what was his first order of business. He commanded to the rongorongo [7] master behind him to record the toppling of the moai by the first tanagta manu, Hitorangi.
The next day, he watched over as the statues were destroyed, one by one, but one beautifully crafted caught his eye. Just before the laborers were about to place the lever under it, he commanded "Save that one!" The ivi-attua present gave him a deathly glare before he added "We shall rededicate it to Makemake."
The PoD here is that the ceremonial Birdman position becomes a life-long absolute monarchy instead of the annually-changed religious office IOTL.
1.) A prophet. ITTL, there was originally one, but it expanded to all priests of the new Birdman cult.
2.) A chief's deputy.
3.) Sooty Tern, a sacred animal of the Rapa Nui
4.) Literally, bird-man.
5.) Rapa Nui goddess of fertility.
6.) The famous Easter Island statues.
7.) An Easter Island script. There aren't enough surving glyphs to even tell if it's actually writing or just mmenomic (about 15,000 surving characters) so for our purposes we are assuming it's real.
This is my first attempt at a TL, and constructive criticism is welcome.
Everyone held their breath as a head appeared over the cliff. The figure pulled himself above to ground. He reached for his headband, feeling for the egg. Time slowed as he ran to the ivi-attua [1] waiting at the front of the crowd, his hands cupped.
Cautiously, he removed the egg from the pouch sitting on his gleaming forehead, and placed it in the recieving hands. The ivi-attua turned to the awaiting crowd and bellowed "Hopu [2] Atamu has brought us the first manu-tara [3] egg. Hitorangi is now tangata manu [4] for as long as Makemake [5] wishes him to live!"
The gathered crowd parted to allow the ivi-attua to place the headdress on the bald scalp of Chief Hitorangi. As soon as the human hair dangling from the headdress touched his head, wild cheers erupted from the congregation. The holy man then gave the egg to the new monarch, and the mass again parted to allow him through, with his arms outstretched, holding the egg as he led the procession down the gently sloping mountain to the settlement of Anakena.
Standing upon the shore later that afternoon, the king surveyed the moai [6] resting upon the stone platforms. He and the ivi-attua both knew what they meant to the people; they resembled the ancestors who they prayed to. His position existed only because the ancestors failed to help, letting us starve in the famines and destroying our forests, bringing us to war and cannibalism. The first ivi-attua over a decade ago reminded the people that they never returned our prayers, and showed them the truth. He brought peace to the warring clans, without which they would have never allowed him to become king.
If he didn't fulfill his promise to bring prosperity once again, they would kill him for sure and revert back to the old ways. But he could also be overthrown by the zealous chiefs if he didn't destroy the old ways. He came to a conclusion on what was his first order of business. He commanded to the rongorongo [7] master behind him to record the toppling of the moai by the first tanagta manu, Hitorangi.
The next day, he watched over as the statues were destroyed, one by one, but one beautifully crafted caught his eye. Just before the laborers were about to place the lever under it, he commanded "Save that one!" The ivi-attua present gave him a deathly glare before he added "We shall rededicate it to Makemake."
The PoD here is that the ceremonial Birdman position becomes a life-long absolute monarchy instead of the annually-changed religious office IOTL.
1.) A prophet. ITTL, there was originally one, but it expanded to all priests of the new Birdman cult.
2.) A chief's deputy.
3.) Sooty Tern, a sacred animal of the Rapa Nui
4.) Literally, bird-man.
5.) Rapa Nui goddess of fertility.
6.) The famous Easter Island statues.
7.) An Easter Island script. There aren't enough surving glyphs to even tell if it's actually writing or just mmenomic (about 15,000 surving characters) so for our purposes we are assuming it's real.
This is my first attempt at a TL, and constructive criticism is welcome.
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