Worse. The Misian Empire was formed by the Illinois Confederacy, or rather their ancient ancestors, and their capital across from St. Louis in Cahokia. Which means… we’re dealing with a timeline where a world center of power and culture is Illinois’s Little Egypt region. The horror!
Where the River Flows: The Story of Misia: A Native American Superpower
- Thread starter JSilvy
- Start date
If the author goes full dystopic that sure could be a way to deconstruct "native americans winning = good outcome", though that would be very tragic
Much of the abolitionist territories IOTL are out of the empire, so whatever abolitionist/Marxist factions there will be, they can't wage industrialised warfare. And then consider Minnesotan slavery and the bit about the capital Cahokia...
If anything though, Misian slavery will mean that Marxist class struggle and Veblen's leisure class will be conceptualised earlier than IOTL, and can even be contemporary literature among those of ITTL's Adam Smith in the 18th century.
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A completely Indigenous equivalent of socialism would be awesome (dare I say-based), but I just hope that anything that springs up won't have an innate hostility to spirituality and culture, like ITTL Marxism-Leninism-Maoism did to various Indigenous cultures.
*Furiously take notes*
Funnily enough I remember Pol Pot had an interest on the indigenous communitarism of some cambodian tribes and pretended that what he was doing was implementing it while restoring the infraestructure of the Khmer Empire
Of course he was full of shit and we all know what his rule turned out to be, but it always left me wondering how it'd look like if that rhetoric was true, as ASB it might be, like a indigenous-communalist Imperial Cambodia of sorts
So I find your idea highly interesting
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It may be different this time owing to the different authors and contexts, but I doubt that the slaves and the underclass will still appreciate the Misian culture that they all toiled under. They may even be influenced by Meshican Christianity/Catholicism, which the native Misians won't appreciate one bit.
I can almost imagine a bloody and protracted civil war/insurgency between a Christian slave revolt in the South, and the Misian heartland in the North.
Christian socialist rebellion? Now you're spoiling me
I dont think the author is going for that, but a iroquois-flavoured Taiping succeeding in North America is such a badass concept
Personally? I would like it if one or more of these Native nations was a subversion of the modernized noble savage trope. To really reveal that anyone is capable of terrible deeds if they have the means to do so.
Rather, it's less the OTL four-year Civil War, or even the Taiping, and more like protracted conflict like the one in Myanmar against the African-descended slaves who can prove to be less acculturated than OTL. It's also more Meshican-influenced than Haudenosaunee; if they also included the sacrificial portions of the Christo-Meshican theology, then they can even be zealous and do Banzai charges rather than be recaptured.
If the Misian government proved to be rather decadent and impotent by the time of a general slave revolt, then it can even become the equivalent of the 30 Years' War in the North American continent, and make for a fractured American South, at least in OTL Texas.
That's only agreeable, and in this case, it actually makes sense for Misia to undergo that dark, dark path.
Now, we all realise how scary North American socioeconomics can be.
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Most colonies are out of the way from the traditional Misian heartland, which the imperial government still has to refill up. Aside from the Spanish Caribbean, there's not much room for a Native-European conflict considering that the English system in North America is actually stable. There's not much reason to be so angry about Takamcook and Bonasairs, after all.
Now, speaking of Bonasairs, I almost forgot, but don't you find the Amazon region and Brazil too empty? It used to be rather populated even IOTL, after all. Well, we can probably hand-wave that they didn't fare as well against the plague and never recovered, but still, there must be at least one surviving OTL Haudenosaunee-level state in the region.
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Chapter 21: The Rise of the Far West
Chapter 21: The Rise of the Far West
The Mulagi horsemen were wreaking havoc on lower Kutsan and the Kumeyai Coast. The Mulagi had succeeded to cross the Haquat River to raid the Kutsan port of Erkachit on the eastern bank of the river where it met the sea, and had even managed to seize Patai for about a week before Dinei forces arrived to push them back into the desert. In the south, the Mulagi adopted a strategy of simply withdrawing from a rebellious settlement and returning to raiding until they agreed once again to submit.
Meanwhile, from the west coast of Franco-Inca Mouisca, the French set out on an expedition in late 1600 led by Samuel de Champlain to travel up the West Coast of the North American continent. Central America was already held by the Spanish, who also wielded significant control by this point over the west coast of Meshica. As they stopped in these ports, Champlain’s expedition picked up several translators who knew both Spanish as well as several local dialects, the most famous of which being a Michwakeh man by the name of Tangachuri. From Tangachuri, the French learned of a tribe of wealthy seafarers who came bearing wool, plums, cherries, wine, bay leaves, salt, glass, and more from the northern lands, a people known as the Pericu. Under Tangachuri’s direction, Champlain’s expedition would set out to the northwest.
In 1601, Champlain arrived in Yenecami. Nearing the city, he noticed a number of small boats with colorful sails and of various sizes, casting nets out into the water to scoop up fish before returning to the harbor. Contrary to the cities of the Inca or the Meshica, he noticed that this port was more of a large town of rather simple sandstone and mudbrick architecture. It was surrounded by walls, walls which could still easily contain more people, but he could tell that the walls seemed to be crumbling in some parts with several bricks out of place. In the center was a rather tall conical structure that defined the skyline, but it did not impress Champlain as much as the types of structures he had seen in other cities. Still, disproportionate to the seeming lack of grandeur, the dock he stepped onto was rather lively. Some boats seemed to have fallen into disrepair, while others seemed ready to set sail. As he walked through the town, he noticed the buildings and streets were painted with colorful murals and writing in a language that was alien to him. As he made his way through, he was approached by two men with spears, who exchanged several words with Tangachuri. The men were then guided into a small inner set of walls, inside which was a large house and a man in a blue linen robe and a purple headwrap held in place by a black band with a small green jewel and several feathers sticking out.
Tangachuri spoke to the man and then turned back towards Champlain.
“This is King Pamil. He has heard of the legends of pale men from the east across a great ocean who were the ones to bring horses to the world. He also heard that they brought the fire bows that the Meshica used to build their empire. He asks you if you are one of the pale men.”
Champlain responded.
“We are not the same men who gave guns and horses to the Meshica, but we too come from the east from a land not too far away from them. Those were Spaniards. We are French.”
Tangachuri translated Champlain’s words to the king. The king responded.
“What is your purpose in coming to our city?”
“Our purpose is simply to trade.”
“I’m afraid we do not have much to offer to you. Our trade routes have been disrupted by the Cochimi. They control the entire peninsula, and they’ve been conquering and taxing and raiding the other Pericu cities. The Dinei to the north has been sending us support to rebel that we may come under their protection. It’s allowed us to fight back so far, but the Cochimi are still a threat.”
“The Dinei you speak of, what are they like?”
“I’ve never been there myself. They’re a great kingdom quite far to the north, but they are a holy people who accept the word of Tuparan just like us and live in his peaceful ways. They rule over the lands of the Kutsan and others with mines full of jewels and lush fields where they grow plenty of grain.”
“Are they rich and powerful like the Meshica?”
“They are indeed.”
Champlain thought for a moment.
“Let us then make a deal. We will provide you and your Dinei allies with weapons and aid in your fight against the Cochimi. In exchange, we would like to establish ourselves at the ports on your land and receive an alliance as well as favorable trade deals.”
After making a deal with the people of Yelamu and several other Pericu settlements, Champlain ventured north through the Aztlan Sea. He soon landed at Erkachit, a city significantly larger than those of the Pericu. He would also sail up the Haquat River through the land of Kutsan, passing the pyramids of Yuum and Paruk on the way. He would meet with the emperor at his palace in Natani Nez, agreeing to a weapons deal. By early 1602, the Pericu and Dinei, with French assistance, had already begun to push back significantly against the Mulagi kingdom. At the Battle of Cadacamme in Kadakaaman towards the end of the year, a combined Dinei, French, and Pericu force besieged the oasis, during which the king surrendered. The Dinei installed their own governor over the oasis, and the Mulagi kingdom was no more.
Compared to the Kilsu and the Meshica who ruled over vast fertile lands, the Dinei land was much more sparse. Although its population regrew, without the introduction of Old World crops, technology, and animals, this growth was not as fast as that in the east or in Mesoamerica, and it was a much emptier landscape to begin with. Large populations existed around rivers oases and in the montane forests, but between them was empty desert roamed by nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes. However, they still had plenty to offer in the form of minerals, with copper, gold, silver, and jewels scattered across its vast mountains, which filled the French coffers in exchange for weapons. Some of the land was also ideal for growing more of the rare Pericu pepper, allowing the formation of a Franco-Dinei trade partnership and alliance. France would also introduce a number of crops into the region, such as he potato and several Old World crops like wheat and chickpeas that thrived in more arid climates, and would even come up with the idea to introduce camels, which arrived in the region in 1617.
Throughout the early 1600s, the Dinei pushed north in a campaign of conquest, seeking out new lands in which to construct mines. To the north of the Oasis lands lay an even harsher landscape– similar to the one that existed to its south, but colder. The northern regions were dominated primarily by hunter gatherers such as the Nuchus and Sosonis, who had also since adopted the horse. During a particularly bad winter in 1605, a Nuchu army attacked south, raiding the Dinei’s native land directly. In the ensuing Nuchu Wars, the Dinei pushed north along the Upper Haquat and Sidskidiagi Rivers and into the mountains.
One of the most important of these conquests was that of the Piapa basin. Historically, the fertile lands surrounding the salty Lake Piapa served as an oasis for the Nuchus and Sosonis. Around the late 10th or early 11th Century, a group of missionaries made their way north and settled in the basin. Although this group was likely of mixed-origin, they likely originated somewhere around the Hopi lands, since the religious practices in the region are most similar to those in Hopi country. Introducing agriculture, they turned the oasis into farmland alongside the locals, most of whom were Sosoni with a significant Nuchu majority, although over time the people would come to simply refer to themselves as the Newe Piapa, meaning the “People of Piapa”, more commonly referred to as Piapans. The most important of these agriculture settlements coexisting peacefully in the region was Masohna at the southern end of the lake, meaning “Place of Maasaw”. The region also became important for its mines in the surrounding mountains, trading their minerals to become wealthy. When the Papians came under attack from surrounding Sosoni and Nuchu tribes, Dinei Emperor Dighin rode with his armies into the city of Masohna in 1611, seizing the nearby mines as part of his empire.
To the east, the Upper Haquat and Sidskidiagi and the Upper Kotsui had a similar history of initially being entirely nomadic until Maasawists migrated into the land bringing their religion and agriculture, although the migrations occurred more naturally and the farming would occur on a much smaller scale, with the locals still relying in large part on shepherding. Conquering this vast mountainous region, the Dinei established the settlement of Dzilola to the east of the mountains as a mining colony in 1625. In much of the land that was taken, the Dinei enslaved some of the conquered nomadic peoples to work the mines, but would also end up buying African slaves to work the mines, leading to the presence of a significant black population in the Assinwatis.
Meanwhile in the west, Champlain had also made contact with the Dadacians to the north in 1606. After arriving at Yelapu, he turned south towards Socoisuka and met King Arkeh. By this time, the Dadacians had experienced a long period of peace, expanding throughout the entire valley since the days of Daraten I. The French were pleased to find out that the region possessed even more mountains with gold to mine, and they would bring the Dadacians gold, slaves, and a number of Old World goods.
Using their new weaponry, the Dadacians began to expand deeper into the mountains that surrounded their territory. The subdued smaller tribes and establishing mining colonies in the Wappin Mountains to the east, bringing slaves with them to work the mines. Soon after, the Dadacians turned their attention south, pushing south along the coastal range, down into the Chumash territory south of the Valley of Dadacia, and further south into the land of the Kish, seizing the shipping village of Yanga.
In 1632, a Dinei expeditionary force from the Kumeyai coast set out north unknowingly into Dadacian Kish country, leading them to be attacked by the Dadacian force. Angered, the Kumeyai governor ordered more troops be sent north, resulting in a conflict over the border region. Both Emperor Dighin II of the Dinei and King Heyeshmin of Dadacia sent extra troops to the Kish and Kumeyai lands to defend their territory. In the battle of Cabazon pass in 1633, the Dadacians won a pyrrhic victory over the Dinei, losing far more men, but were now able to push east through the mountains towards the Kamya Sea and the Haquat delta to the south. The Dadacian army successfully torched much of the city of Ahawitk at the south end of the lake, but were quickly surrounded by the Dinei force and destroyed. In the battle of Yanga in 1634, the Dinei attacked the important Kish coastal town, but were ultimately pushed back south. As the war was beginning to arrive at a stalemate that autumn, France ordered the fighting to stop and called on the two sides to hold peace talks or else it would intervene on whichever side transgressed. Dighin II invited Heyeshmin to come to Orayvi for peace talks overseen by the French, which he accepted. In the end, the two sides formalized their borders to where they had previously been.
The winter of 1641-2 was one of the most brutal in North American history. That spring, the waters frozen in the montane glaciers melted much later into the season, delaying the flooding of the Haquat and Kotsui Rivers and resulting in excessive flooding once they did melt, causing damage especially to Kutsan. The excessive flooding led to more available farmland afterward, but in a shorter growing season. Similar flooding also occurred in Dadacia. Meanwhile in the north, large numbers of people starved in the mountain settlements, which were being even more frequently attacked by nomads. In an offensive that began that spring, Dighin II led another push north, this time taking the Yampapa River Plain. Similar to the Piapa Basin, the river plain was home to a diverse Maasawist population of mostly Sosoni practicing small-scale agriculture, seizing the region. Up until this point, Kutsan had remained the primary breadbasket of the empire, with other significant agricultural areas along the upper Kotsui and in the Piapa basin. With the seizure of the Yampapa, a new area ideal for the cultivation of potatoes had opened up, allowing the Dinei to feed more people more easily from a greater variety of sources.
That same winter, Dadacian King Daraten III fought off a number of invaders as well, and soon after received a letter from a Maasawist Kalapuya chieftain from Chifin asking for support in a war that had broken out among the peoples of the Wilamut Valley to the north as a result of the poor winter conditions. The Kalapuya and other less populous related peoples of the Wilamut were a relatively primitive farming people, not unlike the Celts who lived on Rome’s northern frontiers, and had populations that were both Maasawist and non-Maasawist. Daraten marched with his army through the redwood forests and mountains to the north, seizing control of the region in a five-year campaign. During that time, Daraten united the entire valley under his rule, and would spend the next several years establishing garrisons to force the people of the surrounding mountains into submission. Daraten declared that all political decisions in the valley would have to be made in Chifin, due to its proximity to the lands of Dadacia that would allow them to maintain a degree of control, and mandated that all residents must convert to Maasawism. Having brought peace to the valley, Daraten III declared himself King of Dadacia and of the Kalapuya.
The French presence was to the benefit of the major powers on the west of the continent. Yenecami became a thriving port, and the Pericu were even integrated into the French system, being able to operate as merchants. Despite hardships here and there, the population of West America was able to grow quickly with the introduction of new crops, and previously underdeveloped areas like the Wilamut Valley, the Yampapa Plain, and the Piapa Basin also saw particularly rapid growth. Of course, the 17th Century and the worst years of the Little Ice Age would also have a profound impact on the Great Kingdom to the east.
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All I’m gonna say is that I may be taking this part in a different direction than you’d expect.
Chapter 22: The Mad Bear
TRIGGER WARNING: Castration, abuse, and other nasty stuff.
Chapter 22: The Mad Bear
The young man sat in the dungeon, in a puddle of his own urine and feces. He could barely see anything, but he could feel his ribs on his chest and the long hair growing down his back. He had no idea how long he had been in there. There was little light from the outside and there was a rather consistent stench. It could have been days. Maybe weeks. Maybe months. At this point he had more or less lost track of time. The only sounds he heard were those of the guards and of the rodents who scurried about in the dark.
All of a sudden, there were three loud bangs on the metal door.
“The time has come. The emperor wishes to see you.”
The door opened, and the candlelight hit his face. Two burly guards, faces covered in dark hoods, marched into the cell. They each picked him up by his brittle arms and marched him up the steps out of the stone seller. He reflexively shut his eyes upon being brought into a bright hall with stained glass windows. In the middle was a copper wash basin filled with soap bubbles. His moldy tunic was ripped off, and he was thrown naked into the water.
“Scrub yourself all over. The Emperor wants you squeaky clean.”
The water was cold, but he did as he was told. It was the first bath he had received in who knows how long. As he stepped out to dry himself, he was once again picked up by the guards, who trimmed all of the hair on his body from his head down to his genitalia without a single cut. He was lifted onto a wooden X-shaped cross and had each of his limbs tied to each branch– splaying out his arms and his legs. In this position, he was lifted up and carried down the hall and through the palace.
Through a pair of great wooden doors, he was carried into the throne room. In the front was his long-time friend since childhood, Emperor Maquah, glaring him down sternly from the throne in a black satin robe with gold trimmings. Surrounding the throne were a number of women dressed in a similar robe all seated on cushions, clearly indicating their status as wives and concubines– something that seemed bizarre to the young man, considering how both his friend and recent predecessors had since scorned the idea of forming a harem. The motive for the creation of this harem was clear– it included the young man’s mother, sisters, aunts, female cousins, and even a few former lovers. In the middle of the throne room was a low wooden table around which a number of people in satin robes of various colors sat on crimson silk cushions. Tied up naked to a wooden stake on the other side of the room and staring back silently at the young man was the Emperor’s now former wife.
“My old friend,” said the Emperor, “for years, we were raised alongside each other. For years, I considered you another brother. After the loss of my older brother Lenaswa, you were there for me, and when your father died, I was there for you. Of all of the people to go behind my back and sleep with the women to whom I was married, you were the last I would expect. I would never expect this treason from my close friend or from my beloved, and now I am left with a traitor and a whore. To my former beloved, the last thing that you shall see before you die will be the punishment of your lover.”
The cross, still held up by the guards, was lowered onto a wooden board. A bag was placed over the young man’s head. It was the end of the line. He could not see, but he could feel the axe being raised above him.
“Drop the axe!”
There was a thud. The axe sliced through flesh and splattered the board with blood. But the young man was still alive.
***
The Peponki Festival occurred every winter solstice, and all across the Great Kingdom and surrounding lands, Hileni Misians and non-Hilenis alike were free to join in the fun. Tainos, Jews, Englishmen, Frenchmen, and even newly arrived Dutchmen, referred to as “Netelantiaki” were part of the fun, exchanging gifts, lighting colorful candles all over town, and feasting on large roasts. In Cahoqua, European representatives were invited annually to take part in the festivities. In the banquet hall, several large fatty roasted geese were laid out onto the large tables. They were served alongside freshly baked cornbread, peppered beans, mushroom and manoomin stew, cranberry sauce, paw-paw custard, strawberry maple cakes, and a sort of pumpkin souffle. As was typical, the meal was accompanied with two drinks– one being a rich musky wine and the other being warm yaupon sweetened with maple syrup and raspberry. The people all told stories and jokes as they ate and drank merrily, going onto their second, third, and fourth cups of wine.
By contrast, Maquah was not in the same cheerful mood he was known to be in during previous years.
“Sire,” asked his close advisor. “Is everything to your liking?”
“The meal is fine.”
“That is not what I asked.”
There was a pause.
“Is this still about–”
“Don’t say their names,” the Emperor said, still humiliated and left broken inside from the betrayal.
“Would you like it if we, perhaps, brought in the eunuch?”
Upon hearing this suggestion, he grinned ear to ear.
“Why, not? Let’s present him to the crowd.”
Maquah turned to a servant nearby that was pouring a pot of yaupon into someone’s cup.
“You! Summon the eunuch!”
The emperor’s voice boomed through the hall. Most of the foreign dignitaries in the hall were by this point fluent in Inoka Misian. Still, only a few were familiar with the word. Even those who did were confused. Human castration was not typically practiced in Misia.
“My friends, as you are gathered here, you may wonder as to the whereabouts of a certain friend of mine who used to frequently appear at these gatherings. Well, he is now about to arrive, and will provide an example as to what we do here to those who betray and violate the marriage of their fellow man.”
In walked a hairless man in a plain white silk robe escorted by guards. What happened next shocked many of the guests, as he was forced to fully disrobe and a number of important individuals were invited to help torture and humiliate him. Afterward, he would be escorted out of the banquet hall.
“May this be a reminder to you all. During this most important of festivals, we all must remember to act in ways that are in line with the spiritual healing and betterment of ourselves and of all people, lest we stray and subject ourselves from the wrath of Keshiwia.”
Several of the guests were no longer hungry. The rest continued to eat and drink into the night, laughing about the spectacle they had witnessed.
***
There are a number of famous Misian Emperors throughout history that changed the fate of the Great Kingdom. Tetinshua I of Ileni is known for being the first great emperor and uniting the vast realm. Mamantwensah I is known for managing first contact with the Europeans and asserting Misian power and sovereignty in a rapidly-changing world. The next Emperor to have an equally profound impact would be Maquah I, also known as Maquah the Mad Bear.
Mamantwensah the Great was born in 1475 and reigned from 1494 until his death in 1543. His son, Manawesquah II, was born in 1502 and reigned from 1543 until his death in 1575. His son, Mahsitaqua, was born in 1531 and reigned from 1575 until his death in 1601. His son, Palawonsa, was born in 1555 and reigned from 1601 until succumbing to illness in 1610 at the age of 55. His son, Apekonit, was born in 1578, and took over the throne in 1610. Prior to his ascendance to his father’s throne, he would have two sons. Lenaswa the Bison, born in 1601 shortly after Palawonsa became emperor, was the eldest. His younger brother, Maquah the Bear, was born two years later in 1603.
Lenaswa was a strong, charismatic, and outgoing young man, who spent most of his time playing sports and hunting, and was overall a popular child. Maquah was described as also being playful and kindhearted, although he had fewer friends than his brother and often spent more of his time inside reading. He was also described as being a bit of a hothead when he was young, although as he grew he appeared to soften and grow more kind-hearted. The relationship between Leni and Maki, as they were called, was rather complex. Lenaswa and his friends would frequently tease and belittle Maquah, although at the end of the day the two brothers ultimately cared about each other’s well being. In one incident, a group of children from an elite family tease Maquah calling him fat and stupid compared to his brother, and Lenaswa would show up with the very same friends with whom he belittled his brother to beat up the bullies.
Maquah would read anything he could get his hands on, and one book that appealed to him strongly was Tafit Sacuto’s With Regards to Federation and Democracy. The Monsaic Jew’s text described in detail the nature of democratic federalism in Haudenosaunia, where decisions were made by sachems elected by the people. Maquah was somewhat jealous of the fact that his older brother was in line for the throne and was viewed as the more important of the two brothers. The idea that men were meant to control their own destinies was an appealing idea to young Maquah. It was also appealing to many outside the palace– the book had become popular among literate commoners, being spread in large part by Jews and Tainos, and even local governors liked the idea of greater amounts of local autonomy.
As Maquah grew, he would continue to struggle with his social awkwardness, but become more handsome, charming, and outgoing, and would begin to gain the attention of young women. In 1624, at the age of 21, he married out of love to a woman whose name is now lost to history.
One year prior in 1623, an event would occur known as the Makina Plot. Following particularly cool winter temperatures, demand for furs increased in Europe, so several northern governors and generals would attack several Ashinabe tribes to the north, attacking them and demanding tribute in the form of furs. In turn, Emperor Apekonit placed extra taxes on the northern governors, hoping to profit from the fur trade. As a result, two of the northern governors hatched a plot to have Emperor Apekonit assassinated. When he was on a pilgrimage to Makina, the governor who ruled over the Menomini Peninsula was expecting him, and so he sent a group of Anishinabe Great Lakes pirates to attack and kill him. The assassination was a success, and the new emperor Lenaswa declared a new campaign against the Ashinabe raiders, a campaign which he went out on himself. Maquah, as the effective regent, called for an investigation into the events that had transpired. The governor’s son confessed to his father’s actions. As a result, the governor was executed, and Lenaswa allowed the governor’s son to take over as the new governor. Although the emperor technically had control over who the governor was, the emperor typically allowed the position to pass from father to son, something which enraged Maquah.
Lenaswa’s reign as emperor was short-lived. In 1625, Lenaswa went out directly on a campaign against the Chatiks on the Great Plains. While out on a hunt in the area, several Chatiks captured and killed him, sending his head back to the Misian forces, who wound up suing for peace. Lenaswa’s head was brought back to Cahoqua. Maquah was angered by the decision of the generals on the field to make peace without consulting him, but he ultimately listened to his advisors and agreed to keep the peace.
Perhaps this desire to keep the peace was one that was driven by his own declining mental state and inability to handle a war at the time. While the loss of his father and his brother had a profound impact on him, the moment that seemed to change Maquah the most was in 1626 when he found out about his wife’s affair with one of his few friends from childhood. By this point, Maquah had already been struggling with grief over his father and brother, and this was the point where he completely snapped. Both his wife and his friend were imprisoned in isolation and separate from each other. During their imprisonment, he would gather all of his friend’s female relatives– mother, sisters, aunts, cousins– as well as several of his friend’s former lovers and gather them together as concubines in his new harem. He then tied up both his former friend and former wife in the throne room. In front of everyone, he had his friend publicly and brutally castrated and then executed his former wife. The names of both were stamped out of all available records, and he would simply from that point on refer to his former wife as “the whore” and his former friend as “the eunuch”.
The eunuch was treated as a spectacle in the imperial court as part of his ongoing punishment and humiliation. Maquah would frequently have intercourse with each of his concubines in front of the court– including his eunuch, and would often invite guests to assault and sodomize the eunuch. After six years of torture, the eunuch was finally able to commit suicide after breaking a glass window and cutting himself with a shard.
Perhaps the height of his madness was in 1631. After several of his concubines plotted to kill him, he was warned by his favorite wife Wapimohsa. He had about half of his concubines murdered, and the rest scattered across the empire where they could pose no threat, leaving only him and the empress.
Maquah had grown resentful– resentful of the imperial system, resentful of the governors, resentful of the Ashenabes, resentful of the plains tribes, and unable to trust anyone else, eager to put anyone who might challenge him in their place. And he would also be remembered as one of Misia’s greatest emperors.
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Every culture needs their controversial leader who was actually a massive piece of shit but at the end of the day was ultimately beneficial to society as a whole despite his glaring issues and ends up being remembered as a hero of sorts.