Ani Yun Wiya - A Cherokee AAR

[Velociryx]

Atalan Rising

Author’s Note – This bit of alternate history stems from a fascinating book I read recently on Atlantis (“The Last Atlantis Book You’ll Ever Have To Read” By Gene Matlock). To give readers some sense of where I’m heading with this story, I will provide a variety of snips and quotes, placing them below for contemplation. Note that the actual goals of the tale will only be revealed as the story progresses. I shall make no specific mention of them here, but the snippets below should at least provide some hints.

Game Particulars – Playing as the Cherokee, Very Hard, with normal aggression levels. Missions off, forced annexation on, 1.06 patch installed.

OoO

“1. Let it be granted that the names given to mountains, rivers and towns, have some meaning. 2. Let it be granted that the language of the name givers expressed that meaning. 3. Let it be granted that the language of the name givers will explain that meaning.”
~Edward Pococke; India in Greece)

OoO

1. Tal/Tala = “Top; Surface.” Atal/Atala = “Under the Surface.” Therefore, if America is “The Underworld,” India must be “The Upperworld.”

2. Talan is the Sanskrit word for “People of the Surface.” Atalan, logically, must be “People of the Underworld.” I must conclude that the Nahuatl-speaking peoples’ primordial fatherland was Talan, which they called Tollan/Tlan; i.e., Northern India.

Thus – “Atalan” (and the Atalantean peoples) = “People of the Underworld” (the opposite side of the world from whence they came….India)

3. The Vimanas or modes of transport of both Quetzalcoatl and the Indian Vishnu were an eagle and a raft of snakes.

4. Quetzalcoatl was said to have returned to a place called Tlapallan. Tal/Tala = “The Upperworld” or India. Pallan may refer to “People of Pala” or what is now the Indian state of Bihar. This is the province from where, after the Great Flood, the Pelasgo or Palacthon, considered the greatest builders and movers of giant stones in human history, left India for other parts of the world. Pallan may also be a derivation of Bolan, which lies in Beluchistan, a province of what is now Afghanistan. Talan, or “People of Tal,” once lay a short distance to the northwest of Bolan. They were inhabitants of Talan-Des/Talan-Tes (“Land of the Talan’). Naturally, the opposite land, which was in Mexico, would have been known in India as Atalandes/Atalantes.

5. A region in which Quetzalcoatl once traveled was Xicalanco, (pronounced “Shee-kah-LAHN-ko”). Although the Nahuatl meaning is “Place of Water Jars,” this word could have derived from the Sanskrit Shikar (Tiger Hunter) plus Lanka (Ancient Ceylon). The Nahua-speaking people could not pronounce “r.” They would have been forced to pronounce Shikar-Lanka as “Shika-lanka.” Ceylon was once famous for the fabrication of excellent pottery. Quetzalcoatl was often depicted as a jaguar; not only as a plumed serpent. The ancient Lankans were supposed to be descendants of male were-lions from India and Lankan women. The first foreign colonizers of Mexico were were-Jaguars and native Mexican women. This indicates strongly that these colonizers were from India.

6. Nahu-sha/Nahu-shka, a Naga and one of several Hindu equivalents of our Noah, went on a civilizing mission to various nations of the world after the Great Flood. Since this word is so nearly identical to the name of the Nahuatl-speaking tribes of Ibero-America, I am tempted to infer that they regarded Nahusha as their “Primordial Father.”

7. Even the word Quetzalcoatl (Plumed Serpent) announces its Indian origins from the housetops. The Quetzal is a beautifully feathered Meso-American bird. The feathers are so beautiful and resplendent that ancient Meso-American leaders used them as scepters or symbols of their authority. In Nahuatl, Quetzalli means “rich feather; beautiful; fine.” A symbol of kingly authority, the word is probably derived from the Sanskrit Ksiliza (King; Great Lord). Kashitl/Caxitl was the Nahuatl word for “scepter; kingly authority.” Hu/Khu was a North Indian or Phoenician word for “serpent.” Of course, Atal = “Under the surface.” Or, the ancient North Indian equivalent of Coatl, the Nahuatl word for snake, could have been Khu-Tala (Serpent Shiva). Even today, the snake is a symbol of Shiva.

The North Indian word for serpent, Khu, spread throughout both Americas. In Arizona, the O’odham name for “rattlesnake” is Koh or Ko’owi. The Zuñi term is Ko-lowi’zi. The most common term for “rattlesnake” throughout Northern Mexico and Arizona is Co-rua. The Mayans call it Kuh; Gu among the Incas. Two other O’odham words for “snake” hail from North India; also: Nah-Big, which in Northern India is Nag-Beg. Another North Indian word for “snake,” Veh-Mar, barely changed in the O’odham language: Vah-Mat. English and Spanish have almost choked O’odham out of existence, but there are still enough Sanskrit derived words in the language, leading me to believe that had the Europeans never conquered the Americas, immigrants from India would have had no trouble communicating with them. Grierson’s Dictionary of the Kashmiri Language defines Kta as “the name of deadly black-coloured poison said to have been drunk by the Hindu god Siva at the famous churning of the ocean.” Another word derived from Kta, Kotil, means “deadly.” Kotil could have evolved to Coatl (Snake) after the Naga or Phoenician Indian mariners and colonizers left the Americas.

8. An ancient Sanskrit word for “Buddha” is Put. A “Put” or “Buddha” is a god, demi-god, or saint who is reborn in human form, in order to continue the moral purification of mankind. In the state of reincarnation, a Put in human form becomes a Putara (Messiah). The Nahua-speaking peoples also called Quetzalcoatl by the exact name: Ishi-Putala/Ptla. (The Nahuas could not pronounce “r”.) The above Nahuatl expression translates as “Skin of a God.” Nearly all the Amerindian peoples worshiped Ish (Shiva) by his various names, almost exactly as in India. Even Shiva is another name of the Buddha.
These Sanskrit, Kashmiri and Nahuatl words are too nearly exact, both in meaning and in pronunciation, to be “coincidences.”

OoO

…I was surprised to discover a great analogy between ancient Peru and Michoacán. The two peoples had the same institutions, the same religious practices, similar legends, and the two adored the sun. In Peru, in Venezuela, in other regions of South America and the Antilles we find many Tarascan names…(Michoacán, by Eduardo Ruíz; p. 25.)

OoO

Sanskrit NAGA ("serpent"), in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, a member of a class of semidivine beings, half human and half serpentine. They are considered to be a strong, handsome race who can assume either human or wholly serpentine form. They are regarded as being potentially dangerous but in some ways are superior to humans.

They live in an underground kingdom called Naga-loka, or Patala-loka, which is filled with resplendent palaces, beautifully ornamented with precious gems. Brahma is said to have relegated the nagas to the nether regions when they became too populous on earth and to have commanded them to bite only the truly evil or those destined to die prematurely.

They are also associated with waters--rivers, lakes, seas, and wells--and are generally regarded as guardians of treasure.

The above description of the Nagas stated that because they had become too populous in India, they were sent to other parts of the world, especially to Patala. These Nagas were the ones who built the beautiful floating gardens in Kashmir. The Kashmiris produced the world's first great civilization, even antedating the Sumerians.

They brought their expertise to America. Originally, the Asuras or Nagas were not only a civilized people, but a maritime power, and in the Mahabharata, where the ocean is described as their habitation, an ancient legend is preserved of how Kadru, the mother of serpents, compelled Garuda (the Eagle or Hawk)

To serve her sons by transporting them across the sea to a beautiful country in a distant land, which was inhabited by Nagas, The Asuras (Nagas) were expert navigators, possessed of very considerable naval resources, and had founded colonies upon distant coasts." (The Encircled Serpent, by M. Oldfield, p. 47.)

End of Reference Material Snips

OoO

Prologue – India - Long Before Christ

The merging of Bolan and Bihar in the lands of India, to be ruled by the same enlightened and wise Sultan had marked the beginnings of a glorious Empire with a burgeoning population and a colonial spirit.

When the time came that there were simply too many Asuras (trading folk…merchants) in the Empire, a deal was struck with the powerful Phoenicians to convey them into uncharted territory. Thus, over time, as the Empire expanded, two new colonies were founded.

The first of these to be founded was Lanka, a series of Islands that connected India and continent she was on with a vast, new, sparsely populated land. The Phoenician sampans* (trading vessels) sailing beyond the Pillars of Hercules were never more than a day from shore, thanks to the abundance of these islands.

It was a perfect marriage. The Phoencians provided the maritime prowess (which the Asuras eventually learned from and copied) and the Asuras from India provided the manpower and expertise needed to establish far-flung trading posts.

And the riches poured in.

Generations later, as Lanka’s colonies expanded and became overcrowded, some of the hardy traders migrated from their new island homes to a “boundless continent” that Plato once wrote about, and new lands were settled. This “boundless continent” was vast indeed, but farther even than most men’s dreams. So far, that it was said to have been on the other side of the world (the world was, in those days, considered flat, and the people of the Empire of Bahir took to calling their land “Tollan” (which literally means “people of the surface” and their new, distant colony on the boundless continent became Atollan (“people under the surface”). Everywhere they went, these dauntless explorers, traders, and merchants named their new lands in honor of Shiva, and to glorify their forefathers. Splendid, wonderful cities sprang up in the new land. Shia-Pas (“Princes of Shiva”), Tamralipta (after the great port in Bengal), Kaul-Maha (“Great Brahman”), Sonita (the name given to a scorching desert discovered in their journeys….named after a Hindu Devil), Tapas-Koh (“Shiva’s Palace”), Com-Peshe (the name given to a small tribe of friendly natives on the new land who were adept at trading…the name in Sanskrit literally means “Trading Tribe”), Mishi-Khan (“Shiva’s Family”), Halys-Koh (“Place of the Sun”), Zaca-tokh (“Scythian-Land” – to describe a tribe of fierce natives that were eventually conquered and added to the Empire’s new, powerful, and growing colony), Devana-Tepec (“Divine Mountain”), Vashaka (“God Shiva”), and a great many other lands were discovered, settled and named.

The Empire’s power and wealth grew, and it seemed that things would go on forever.

At their peak, Lanka and Atollan contributed more riches, by far, than the Empire which spawned them, and over time, they took offense at their subservient position in the Empire, and relative lack of voice over their own governance.

In their arrogance and short-sightedness, the wealthy Sultans of Bihar paid no heed to the complaints of their colonies, and in time, those complaints grew violent. A bloody uprising in Lanka threw off the government of Bihar, and that land proclaimed its independence, sending the Empire into an uproar. Fleets were assembled and armies boarded massive numbers of ships to bring the unruly Lankans to heel….

But disaster struck on the eve of the attack to crush the rebellion in Lanka. Scholars would later write that the disaster was foretold by a great fire streaking across the sky, but if this was seen as a warning by the Sultans of Bihar, it was a warning that went unheeded, and on the day the attack was to occur, a great storm rose up and smashed the greater part of the fleet, sending much of the army of Bihar to its doom.

The Islanders of Lanka had weathered many a storm, it is true, but none so great and so fierce as the one that shook their island homes then. It is said to have lasted for some forty days, and forty nights, though the exact duration is, of course, impossible to determine, having been lost in the pages of ancient history.

What is known, however, is that the portion of the fleet that survived the great storm, led by brave Kurus tribesmen of the Bihar Empire, went from attempting to destroy Lanka, to attempting to save as many people as possible.

Ships were dangerously overloaded, pulling as many islanders off of their sinking homes as possible, and lashed together, those ships made a fool’s voyage to Atollan in hopes of finding safety.

According to legend, they made safe to their destination, only to find Atollen nearly as ravaged by the great storm as Lankan had been. The gates of the shining cities were closed to them, and the ships were not allowed entrance into the ports.

Dispirited and broken, they continued south, looking for a place to land.

In time, they discovered a place, somewhat south of Com-Peshe, and settled there, spreading out as they could in this new land, the survivors of the Lankan calamity. One of the cities so founded was called “Vira-Kurus” (which, translated from Sanskrit means “The Hero Kurus” in honor of those brave soldiers sent to destroy them that became their saviors).

No more ships came from Bihar, and what became of the Empire remained unknown to the survivors of Lanka, and to those remaining in Atollan. No troops to crush the rebellion….no trading fleets….nothing.

And without the support and continual contact from the land that spawned them, and in the face of a disaster that shattered the colonies, sinking a great many of Lankan’s islands beneath the waves for all time, and submerging more than half of Atollan as well, the survivors fell into anarchy.

Bihar became memory, and then legend. The Asuras, hardy merchants and traders became “Nagasuras” and later “Nagas,” half serpent, half man….the guardians of vast riches.

Language changed as local dialects emerged, and local history took on greater importance than their collective history as a common people. Their Hindu traditions were cast aside in the face of the grim struggle for survival, and they began to turn on each other. The nation devouring itself in fits and starts. Slowly sinking into oblivion.

Shia-Pas became known as “Chiapas” as the dialect changed. Tamralipta as “Tamaulipas.” The desert of Sonita became “Sonora”, Tapas-Koh was mutated by local dialects into “Tabasco.” The “Trading Tribe” of Com-Peshe became known as “Campeche,” and the dreaded “Scythian Land” of Zaca-tokh came to be called “Zacatecas” in time.

And a great may other names changed as well, as their history was forgotten. Kaul-Maha became Colima, Halys-Koh became Jalisco, Devana-Tepec came to be called Tehuantepec, and Vashaka became known as Oaxaca. Local dialects and changes in the language that resulted also touched the city named after the saviors of the Lankan people “Vira-Kurus” escaped unscathed, becoming with the ravages of time, known as “Veracruz.”

Even the name for the colony itself underwent a change. Atollan became simply “A’Tlan”(“underworld”) and with everything the brave colonists had known began disintegrating around them, that new name surely must have seemed fitting.

Hell.

Those who maintained their loyalty to Bihar were forced out of their homeland in Atollan by masses of local tribesmen (led by the “new Scythians,” it is said), and by tens of thousands of disaffected laborers (some free, some slaves) who had been brought over from Bihar to hack a new civilization out of the wilds of Atollan.

The loyalists fled north, and then east (getting at least as far as the territory of “Hindua” (a name which clearly indicates that the Bahir loyalists remembered at least a portion of their heritage for a time), and beyond, following the natural contours of the “boundless continent,” trying to escape from the madness of Atollan as it gasped its last, dying breath.

In the end, the center did not hold.

Everything fell apart.

OoO

* Note
A Sampan is a seaworthy flat-bottomed sailing barge that was once common in China, Japan, India, and the South Seas. The word is derived from the Sanskrit Sam (Association; Company) plus Pan (Trade). The South American Indian coastal tribes called it Mayu (Skt: “Wealthy”) Chimpana. For the Nahuatl speakers it was Chan-Pan (Moving House). The Mayans used the East Asian version: Sam-Pan (Moving House). The Sanskrit term for “floating wooden vessel” was Van-Plu, also Va-Plu (“Floating Transport”). The Hawaiians and other South Pacific islanders’ word for “rowboat” was Wa-Apa; the Incas called it Wam-Pu. The similarities are….astonishing, and in my opinion, certainly add credence to the notion that “Atlantis” was founded by tribes in India, in and around what is today known as North, Central, and South America.

More to come....

-=Vel=-

[Hajji Giray I]

Wow! Great start...you must have done a TON of research! (I never do any for my AAR. It shows.)

[Velociryx]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the beginning....there's a good deal more setup work that needs doing yet, but I was looking for some "hook" that really captured my imagination, and I think I finally found it!

-=Vel=-

[Director]

Very nice setup. Settles in, pops popcorn.

So you start with the end of the old world and the founding of a new one? Can't wait to see where you go from here!

[stnylan]

Excellent intro.

Are you enjoying EU2?

[Velociryx]

The Nagasura Find a New Home
“Ashim, we must stop….the women and children cannot keep this pace!”

Ashim scowled. “We shall stop when we are out of harm’s way! Those who cannot bear up, we either leave where they fall, or carry them ourselves….better that than to lose all present on account of stopping for a tired few.”

Illyan was quiet, although he disagreed. Ashim’s station was higher, and it was not his place to disagree. The Master had spoken, and it would be done.

Some weeks ago, they had settled in a land that had seemed like paradise. Green, gently rolling hills, an abundance of trees….it was heaven on earth.

They had named the new land “Hindua” in honor of their homeland, now lost to them forever, it seemed.

The reports of the destruction of many of the Islands that made up once mighty Lanka meant that the Sampans could very likely no longer reach Atollan at all. They were well and truly stranded then.

That would have been tolerable if not for the uprisings at home.

The vast bulk of Atollaneans (or Atalanteans as they were calling themselves after the calamity, representing a marked change in attitude about their homeland….the former being simply a statement of location remarking on the fact that Atollan was on the other side of the world from Tollan….the land of Bihar, from whence they had come, while the latter carried with it the understanding that this was nothing short of Hell on Earth), were hostile toward Bihar, and by extension, any who showed loyalty to the old Empire.

The Asura were wealthy merchant folk, who had grown all the wealthier thanks to their time in Atollan, and their mastery over the vast craft and trade markets there. With the upheaval, the Asura had gone from being at the top of the social ladder in Atollan, to playing the role of social pariah. The threats of physical violence were thinly veiled at first, and then not veiled at all, and in the weeks before his group’s departure, an increasing number of Asura were simply hauled from their homes in the dead of night and never seen or heard from again.

Seeing the wisdom in seeking greener pastures, it was not difficult to convince a large number of Asuran households to join him. They, their families and retainers, bodyguards, and trusted employees gathered in secret just outside of the great city of Shia-Pas and headed north as soon as all were assembled.

It did not take long for their flight to draw the attention of the Zaca tribesmen with whom they shared the lush valley. Every bit as fierce and ferocious as the Scythians of the land of his birth, they had been instrumental in turning the conflict that followed the upheaval toward violence, and they wasted no time sending scouting parties out to harass the Asura as they tried to flee.

Fortunately, they had guards with them in sufficient number to prevent the attacks from being more than mere harassments. He had heard rumors that other groups had not been so lucky, and that for the alleged mistreatment of the Zaca at the hands of the Asura traders, the punishment had been to have their hearts carved out of their bodies and eaten while they were still beating.

Ashim grimaced at the thought, and unconsciously put a protective hand over his chest.

Although the tribesmen of the land they had recently dubbed “Hindua” had not been quite as eager for blood as the Zaca, they made it more than clear that Ashim and his band of refugees were not welcome, and that if they pressed the issue and demanded to stay, violence would likely erupt.

So they were on the move again, with rumors spreading through the whole of their number that the Zaca raiders were not far behind, and intent on killing them to the last while they slept.

If he pushed them hard (and truth be told, he was), he hoped that they understood that it was for their own safety.

Days turned to weeks, and the leaves began changing. The seasons, and especially the autumn always impressed Ashim in this new land. The sea of brightly colored falling leaves, especially when they were caught up by a draft of wind and swirled around like a dancing girl….it was almost beautiful enough to make him forget the chaos and misery of Atollan.

Almost.

There were natives here as well. Relatively few in number, though numerous enough that they could easily overwhelm his guards if they decided to press the issue.

Fortunately, all the native dialects were rather similar, and within an hour, he and the painted scout that led the party that had found them were talking back and forth and mostly understanding each other.

Progress.

Even better was the fact that this small tribe, the Cherokee, as they called themselves, were open to outsiders, and a good deal more kindly disposed to harboring strangers inside their tribal lands than the folk of Hindua had been.

They called their home “Alleghany” although Ashim could not discern quite what that meant due to the language barrier. He and the native could communicate, yes, but their words painted such vivid pictures that sometimes the translation was hopeless. Concrete concepts were one thing, but something as abstract as the subtle meaning behind the name of their tribal lands….that was quite another.

But in time….in time. And it appeared that the Cherokee would take them in.

Ashim closed his eyes for the briefest of moments and said a prayer of thanks to Shiva for delivering them, and he vowed not to make the same mistake as his forefathers. The natives here were not like the men of his native India….they simply were not ready for all the advancements his own civilization could offer, and because of that, he vowed to hide away the secrets of their civilization, and introduce them gradually to these new people. One step at a time, and when they were ready….

He talked for the scout a while longer, and made arrangements to meet with the Cherokee Chief.

Less than a week later, everything was settled, and Ashim’s band had found a new home. Their future was now bound to that of the Cherokee Nation, and Ashim vowed that he and his would become blood-brother to the Cherokee, taking Cherokee husbands and wives….not living as outsiders among them, but merging with the tribe. Binding them together for all time.

This resulted in a feast and celebration that lasted an entire seven-day, and culminated in a splendid Buffalo hunt (the first Ashim had ever participated in, but much to his pleasure, it would not be the last).

Ashim was paired with the Tribe’s Medicine Man, and taught those mysterious ways, and soon, was a Medicine Man in his own right. And once he had gained some weight among the community, he hand-picked a dozen braves to accompany him on a secret journey into the wilderness.

Sixteen bearers accompanied them, carrying what wisdom and relics remained in their possession after their flight from Atollan.

They wandered until they were in lands foreign to the Cherokee, and until none were entirely certain of the way home.

The land was mountainous, much like their home of Alleghany, and in that desolate, majestic, unpopulated land, Ashim found what he was looking for.

A natural limestone cavern, large enough to house the wisdom of his people.

He led the bearers inside, and they arranged the treasures.

He and the braves sacrificed the sixteen bearers to the Great Spirit, to sanctify the ground and mark it as holy with their blood.

Then he and the braves took pains to completely seal off the cave’s entrance with stone, chiseled from the mountain above it, so that none could enter.

The cave’s location was marked by the sign of Shiva, and the task was complete.

As some point, no doubt long after he was dust, the tribes would be ready to receive the civilizing wisdom of his people, and when they were ready, he would see to it that some means was available to point to at least the general direction of the cave.

On the way back, he and the braves mapped the path they took to return to Cherokee lands, but because they were lost, the route they took was circuitous and meandering.

The map was drawn with no legend, and no direction markers so that it would be difficult to follow.

Upon their return, Ashim sealed the map in a bone scroll tube, and entrusted it to the Cherokee Chief, saying only that it contained a powerful magic, and that on the day one of the Chiefs had a vision of the winged serpent, come to deliver a message, should the scroll case be opened, and its contents revealed.

The Chief of the Cherokee ordered that a hole be bored into the scroll case, and fastened a length of leather, adored with crow feathers through it. It was to be worn as a talisman by the Tribal Leader of the Cherokee, and it became an emblem of respect. A symbol of the Authority of the Chief.

The task was done, and the knowledge safely preserved.

Ashim and his followers had found a new home, and the Cherokee tribe was strengthened by their blood. In a few scant generations, it became impossible to tell where the Nagasura ended and the Cherokee began, and that was exactly as Ashim wished it to be.

As to the scroll case, it was never opened, for no Chief of the Cherokee ever had a vision of the winged serpent, and its contents became the stuff of legend.

OoO

-=Vel=-

[Velociryx]

As to EU2....*loving it!*

-=Vel=-

[Languish]

Ha, different to what i was initially expecting

Good luck my friend.

[Velociryx]

Not to worry, a Lorraine game is *definitely* in the works (and a Brunei game!)....but....this one really got my attention....

-=Vel=-

[stnylan]

Originally posted by Velociryx
As to EU2....*loving it!*

-=Vel=-

We'd never have guessed

[Velociryx]

Ani Yun Wiya

To outsiders, we are called and call ourselves the Cherokee, and are known as a fierce warrior-tribe. To each other….to ourselves, we are simply called Ani Yun Wiya, the Principle People. This is not meant as a display of arrogance, rather, it speaks to the truth of our history.

Long ago, a powerful Medicine Man, Ashim the Brown, traveled across the vastness, and before that, across a distant sea from the lands of Tolan to strengthen our tribe with the blood of his line. It was a gift given to no other tribe in the Council of Nations, and the wisdom of Ashim, and the strength of his family’s blood are that which has made the Cherokee Ani Yun Wiya.

Blessed with the wisdom of Ashim the Brown, Ani Yun Wiya developed a code of laws and honorable behavior that set us apart from the other tribes. The other tribes lived as simple hunter gatherers, where as we made semi-permanent, and then permanent settlements, governed by a set of laws put to writing on buffalo hide. The concept of the blood-debt was (and is) central to our laws, and retribution against wrong-doers was given a high priority in our society. We became a People of Laws, in addition to being a Warrior-People, and it made us stronger.

In time, and many battles later, our strength allowed us to conquer the Alabaman tribes south of us, and then to peacefully incorporate the Tennessee and Kentucky Indians into our tribe, making them blood brother to the Cherokee, and after a time, indistinguishable as our tribe merged with theirs, in the way Ashim the Brown taught us when he arrived many seasons past.

Ani Yun Wiya are a tolerant People. After the Great War in the west country, when the mighty Dakota drove the Shawnee from their ancestral hunting grounds, it was the Cherokee who welcomed them onto our lands (granting them Kentucky, and our vow that they would remain a free people), and taught them the ways of this part of the great land we all live on together.

Ani Yun Wiya are an innovative People. It was we who built the first fortifications seen anywhere in any of the tribes that made up the Council of Nations (Huron, Dakota, Lenape, Iroquois, Shawnee, and of course, the Cherokee), based on a sketch of Ashim the Brown’s homeland. The other tribes saw the wisdom in this, and began to emulate our ways.

We are Ani Yun Wiya. We are the Cherokee.

OoO

[Velociryx]

1396 – Alabama Territory
It was a fearsome dream, and the boy trembled as he slept.

The serpent glided through the air, borne up by feathered wings, its mouth open wide as it approached, revealing deadly fangs dripping with poison that glistened as the sun’s rays hit it.

The boy whimpered as the serpent drew closer, and each time its wings beat the air, he heard something that sounded like….language….but it was like no language he had ever heard, and he could make no sense of the half-whispered sounds.

He shrank away from the terrifying creature as it bore down on him, and when its shadow fell over him, he sat up with a start, stifling a scream.

Soaked with sweat.

Heart beating so fast…thundering in his chest so fiercely that it threatened to beat its way right out of his body.

He fought off a shiver and sought solace in the music of the night. Cicadas and crickets….the hoot of an owl nearby. Normally those sounds wove together to form a tapestry of sound that soothed, but not tonight.

Not after dreaming of the serpent again.

“What’s wrong, Two-Feathers?” His mother asked as she approached him, stroking his forehead in concern.

“I….it was the dream again…..the winged va mat (snake/serpent) ....it frightens me.” He blushed in embarrassment for allowing his foolish dreaming to awaken his mother. He was eight summers old, and with his father recently killed by Dakota raiders, it was his place to look to his mother’s safety! Such childish dreams had no place in his mind!

His mother bit her lip as she contemplated. Such strange dreams for a child to have.

She made a point to speak with Grey Owl, the local Medicine Man, in the morning. Perhaps he would know what to make of it.

OoO

Three weeks later, in the Cherokee capitol of Alleghany

“Great Chief Onea….the Medicine Man Grey Owl would speak with you.”

The Chief of all the Cherokee nodded thoughtfully, and Grey Owl was shown into the tent.
Onea read the troubled expression on the Medicine Man’s face and motioned for him to sit, as he reached beside him and drew forth his peace pipe. “You look like a man in need of a smoke with your leader.” He said warmly as he lit his pipe, drew the acrid smoke in deeply, and then passed it over before exhaling. “What is the news from the Alabama territory?”

Grey Owl smoked for a moment, trying to decide how to begin. In the end, he decided that there was no good way except the direct approach, so he pointed to the amulet around the Chief’s neck with the pipe. “A boy in our village….Two-Feathers, has had the Serpent-Dream.”

Onea’s eyes widened in surprise. Of all the things he had been expecting to hear from his guest (crops failing, excellent crops, some regional political matter that needed his attention, or perhaps an invitation to a hunt), that had simply not been on the list. The day was truly one of surprises.

“And you have spoken with him? You know he speaks the truth?” He asked after he had composed himself and recovered from the initial surprise.

The Medicine Man nodded, and the great Chief was quiet for a very long time.

“For as long as I have been Chief,” he said at last, “I have wished for the Serpent-Dream….and now it has come.”

“But you wished it for yourself.” Grey Owl said matter-of-factly.

Onea nodded his agreement. “Yes….is it prideful to wish it? To be The Discoverer?

“Not so prideful, I think….who would not want the honor?”

“And now it has come….to a fatherless man-child.”

There was quiet between them again….this time stretching out for several long moments, and finally the Chief sighed. “I would meet the man-child Two-Feathers then….I will go with you to the Alabama territory.”

“When do you wish to leave?”

Onea stretched and stood. “If he has had the Serpent-Dream, then we should begin our journey this day….this moment.”

Grey Owl stood with his Chief, and marveled at his character. It could very well be that this journey would mark the end of his rule over the Cherokee, and yet….it did not seem to trouble him at all.

They walked out of the tent together, and into the glorious sunshine.

OoO

En Route to the Alabama Territory

“Your thinking-face gives you away.” Onea said good-naturedly as the two men walked together. “What thoughts trouble you so?”

During their journey together, Grey Owl had come to understand and appreciate Onea’s perception. It was no wonder that he had made an excellent Chief. “I….You just seem….” He truly did not know where to begin, and Onea smiled at his jumbled beginning.

“You are wondering at how I can be making this journey with such a light heart….knowing that if the boy has had the Serpent-Dream, then he must become Chief of all the Cherokee.”

Grey Owl nodded.

“I have been the Great Chief for many long seasons.” He said slowly. “I have brought prosperity to our People, and if I am not to be The Discoverer, the perhaps I can be known as the one who ushered in a new age for Ani Yun Wiya.” He stopped for a moment to survey a lush valley, his spirit buoyed by the sight and majesty of it.

“Two-Feathers may be our future,” he said at last, “and if so….then I will be the father of our future.”

There was wisdom in his words, and Grey Owl smiled inwardly as they continued.

OoO

The Alabama Territory

It seemed as though the whole of the tribe, and certainly every Cherokee in the Alabama Territory was gathered ‘round the sweat tent, waiting to see what would happen with the three emerged.

More than six hours ago, their Medicine Man, Grey Owl, the Great Chief himself, and a small boy from their village, Two-Feathers, had gone into the tent to commune with the Great Spirit. Immediately after sealing themselves off, the tent was filled up with the sounds of chanting, and the smell of the blue smoke that the Medicine Men said helped them commune with the Great Spirit.

The tension was so thick it was almost unbearable, but no one stirred.

No one so much as blinked unless they absolutely had to, and the sense that ran through the crowd was that the Cherokee were on the verge of something new…..a dramatic discovery….a change in direction….something.

And so they waited.

In time, the chanting stopped, and the silence that rushed in to fill the gap was a deafening roar, and still no one stirred.

Finally, Grey Owl emerged, and held the tent flap open for the other two.

Onea looked….older. Worn. The lines in his face seemed deeper.

And Two-Feathers had the Amulet of Leadership around his neck.

Nothing was said. No announcement was made that proclaimed the change of leadership ‘round the lands of the Cherokee, it simply was.

That was the way of the Cherokee.

OoO

* Historical note – On a warm summer’s day in June of 1396, the Cherokee made Two-Feathers the youngest Chief they had ever had. He was advised by the former Chief, Onea, and by the local Medicine Man from his village, Grey Owl. Because of the boy’s young age, and the fact that the village of his birth was all he had ever known, the capitol of the Cherokee was moved to Alabama at the start of Two-Feather’s leadership.

[stnylan]

Excellent update.

I don't think I need to day any more.

[Velociryx]

Thank ya! Ahhh, and I should make mention of the one "cheat" I made use of in this game.

In March of 1500, I gave myself a conquistadore. I did so because I needed to make sure I "got one" cos he's my method of furthering the particular plot I have in mind, and I needed him early enough so that the Spaniards would not have thrown up a barrier of TP's that I could not get through.

Other than that one small boon, there was nothing in the way of cheats used, and I hope that readers will forgive the one small deviation from the game rules for the sake of the plot....

-=Vel=-

[Languish]

Originally posted by Velociryx
Not to worry, a Lorraine game is *definitely* in the works (and a Brunei game!)....but....this one really got my attention....

-=Vel=-

That's re-assuring

Nice going so far!

[Velociryx]

The Leadership of Two-Feathers

If the Serpent-Dream was mystifying, then the contents of the Amulet of Leadership were even moreso.

Two items, and nothing more. The first, a map drawn on fine parchment, the likes of which had never been seen by anyone living among the Cherokee. What made the map mystifying was the peculiar, circuitous, meandering route the map’s author (obviously Ashim the Brown) had taken, and second, because there was no key or legend on the map….no directional markers, no indication even which would be the proper way of *holding* the map (for all Two-Feathers and his sage advisors, Grey Owl and Onea knew, they could have been pouring over the map upside down!). And the second, a letter, penned in an elegant and flowing hand. It read:

To my beloved brothers of the Cherokee Tribe:

I put these words to parchment in the hopes that one day you, my new family, will be ready to receive the wisdom of my native people.

Be it known that I arrived among you as a refugee. Leader of a band of Nagasura from A’Tlan, a colony of the Sultanate of Bihar who rose up and claimed her independence along with her sister colony Lanka (composed of hundreds of islands leading to your great land in a chain).

Our freedom was short-lived, as the Sultanate sent a large armada and army to crush our rebellious spirits, and were in turn, beaten back by a savage storm, the likes of which have never been seen before, and, Shiva willing, will never been seen again.

While the storm proved to be our saving grace against the armies of the Sultan, it also proved our undoing. Many of the islands that made up the land of Lanka were reported sunk beneath the sea, and more than half of A’Tlan was likewise lost.

The native tribes of the area, led by the fierce Zaca (who took to calling themselves Zapoteca) rose up and began a massacre of their former masters, the Nagasura (of which, I was a member).

All is lost.

I fled my home in A’Tlan knowing that she would not survive the ensuing chaos, but hoping that one day, a new A’Tlan could be born from the ashes.

Mistakes were made before, and one of the most glaring of these was in attempting to move too quickly with the merging of the culture of Bihar and the native cultures we encountered. Learn from that….from our mistakes.

Use the trappings and advancements of our civilization at your own pace, and in your own way, but do not let them override your own. Speak with your own voice, and you have the opportunity to create a new A’Tlan….an Empire of united peoples that will succeed in every way that we failed.

Find and tame the Zapoteca and whatever sister tribes may have sprung up when A’Tlan fell. You are the heart, they are the soul.

With love and respect for my new family,

Ashim

OoO

Two-Feathers began his time of leadership with a proclamation that the wealth of Ani Yun Wiya would be spent in pursuit of whatever treasure Ashim the Brown’s map led to, in the hopes that, once found, it would usher in a new era of prosperity that would render the cost of its discovery a scant expense indeed, and this proclamation was greeted with great energy and enthusiasm as Cherokee scouting parties set out in all directions, scouring the countryside for landmarks that looked familiar in hopes of picking up on Ashim’s trail….wherever it might be, and whatever it might lead to.

The problem was with the time involved.

Explorers were sent to the farthest reaches of the territory known to the Cherokee, in search of landmarks resembling those on the maps, but to no avail.

Years passed, and the continuous expeditions became increasingly more costly to send and maintain.

The Cherokee were a patient People, but their patience had limits, and when a full ten-year had passed with no signs of progress, they began to doubt the wisdom of this course of action, and by extension, the wisdom of their young Chief, who had, in that time, grown to become a strapping young man of fine character, who managed to walk the fine line between making his own voice heard, and listening to the wisdom of his elders, who still served to advise him.

OoO

“We must consider that the treasure will never be found.” Onea said wearily. “We have searched so long, and found not the first trace.”

“It is so.” Agreed Grey Owl as he shook his head in disappointment. “Few would be happier than I if we could find the treasure, for surely it contains powerful magic indeed, but either Ashim was too clever, or we are not clever enough, for the riddle of the map has puzzled us for ten years, and shows no signs of revealing its mysteries.

“Bring me a copy of the map.” Two-Feathers commanded, and it was done.

When they had first opened the scroll case, his elder advisors had been charged with keeping the map safe, and with making copies of it to hand out to the exploration parties that were sent out. Two-Feathers had not been much interested in it then, and once he had taken on the mantle of Chief of all the Cherokee, he quickly became immersed in the day to day running of the Tribe, and so, had little time for such things as pouring over treasure maps.

It wasn’t that it had slipped his mind, exactly….rather, he had others looking at the map for him, and simply had little reason to.

But after ten years of failure, perhaps a new approach was needed.

The original map was brought in, and Two-Feathers sat beneath the light of a candle fashioned from animal fat, studying it.

Something about it rang….familiar to his blood, but he could not put his finger on it immediately.

Still….it was on the tip of his brain, and he knew if he just…..

He knew the place!

In a moment of the clearest, most abstracted thinking he had ever done, the mystery of the map fell away, and the location of the treasure trove crystallized in his mind.

“Onea….Grey Owl….we have been looking too far afield.”

His elders approached him with curious eyes, and when he looked up at them, his own were shining with excitement.

“Long ago, in the day of Ashim, Alleghany was the territory of the Cherokee….the only territory of the Cherokee….if he wandered from there to an area similar….that would put him…..here. Alabama is similar to our neighboring territory of Alleghany, and these markings….I know them! If I am right, my father took me hunting here!”

The elders were stunned. If Two-Feathers was right, then the child-who-became Chief of all the Cherokee was the key to their future in more ways than one.

A new exploration party was assembled, with more excitement for the idea than had been seen in years, with the young Chief at its head.

“I will return with Ashim’s treasure or I am no longer the Chief!” He proclaimed boldly as they set out.

All the tribe wondered what the outcome would be, for surely Two-Feathers would stay true to his word, and he had been an able leader, the (in some people’s minds) misguided quest to find Ashim’s treasure notwithstanding.

So it was with curious eyes that the Cherokee nation watched the exploits of their young Chief unfold.

They waited for the story to continue.

-=Vel=-

[stnylan]

I certainly don't begrudge you a Conquistador

Nice sense of excitement in the last post. What will he find I wonder?

[Velociryx]

I shall begin working on the next installment at work tomorrow, and I should note that I'm quite a long ways from finishing this game out, too! (I'm playing it pretty slowly, both so I can take the needed notes in sufficient detail, and also because I'm having to play *very* carefully. The Cherokee are probably the weakest nation I've ever attempted a game with....they make Lorraine look positively strong at game start! True, they've got some crushing disadvantages, but my hope is that I can weather the storms and difficulties well enough to at least survive till the end-game.

Despite the fact that they get off to a punishingly slow start, tech wise (they start with no tech whatsoever, and all their tech costs are heinously expensive!), there's been a surprising lot of action and stuff to report....good story material that'll I'll be getting to as soon as I bring the story up to 1419!

-=Vel=-

PS: And just because I liked the trend that NotaLlama started, at some point, if they're still around if/when I have contact with Europe, I shall declare war on Baden on general principle!

-V.

[heagarty]

Whoa.

Great angle you're taking on this. I can't wait to see where it goes from here.

[Warspite]

Welcome back to the writers forum Vel, i remember your Lorraine AAR from two years ago and man was it good. Your a great writer! Best of luck with this new one