Leon marched even further north. His sword had been used for two things: killing angry natives and hacking through the dense jungle growth. He had hoped to find diamonds, but the "diamonds" were actually quartz. In his rage he ordered the native village that led him to the quartz burned down and all combat-age men executed (the elderly, women, and children he spared). Then he was captured by another tribe, where a local princess convinced the native king to spare his life. Despite his men demanding that he raze this village too, he spared them, vowing to not show mercy should this happen a second time. The Mayans thanked him for his infinite mercy, with some even converting to the true faith.
Another woman named Sacajawea appeared, and Miguel decided to let her join the expedition. He consulted the journals of the late conquistador Montségur and realized that he was basically doing exactly the same thing the other man had done years ago in the south.
He didn't think it was a coincidence until he ran into another "Amazon" tribe.
That tribe was completely annihilated.
In order to take his mind off this strange repetition of events, Miguel began drawing a map of the lands he charted. It took several weeks of hard work, but when he had completed it to the best of his ability he sent it back to Hispania. He did quite well, as eager men and women read the map and then decided that they wanted to see what Miguel charted in person, signing up to be colonists.
He had a faithful dog accompanying him the whole time. This dog had gone through all of the hardships that Miguel had, and all of them would be devastated if something happened to that dog. So when local Nahuas captured the dog, Miguel ordered the expedition to turn around and destroy the village the Nahuas came from. The dog was recovered intact.
None of that mattered, for after a series of freak storms and natural disasters basically everybody except Miguel, a slave named Estevanico, and two other soldiers died slow and painful deaths. Luckily they managed to return to a Mayan tribe which had sheltered them in the past, recuperating from their wounds there.
The four survivors were then hit by scurvy just weeks after leaving the tribe, and Miguel decided to trade for native medicine, which actually worked. They could learn something from these natives before the other Europeans destroyed them, he thought.
A month later...
"Gold!" shouted one of the soldiers.
"GOLD?!" shouted the other soldier.
"GOLD!!!!" shouted Estevanico and Miguel.
They all swarmed the mine where the soldiers had found gold, killing any natives which got in their way. After years of death and suffering, their prize was just in their reach. Nobody would stop them from getting rich.
Miguel arrived in the room where the two soldiers stood, staring at the pile of gold that was simply lying on the ground. Apparently this was a local Nahua stash, as evident from the elaborate idols and jewelry the gold was shaped into.
"Take everything!" shouted Miguel. "We're rich, boys!"
The other three men eagerly scooped up the gold.
"Wait," said a soldier, "Why is the gold just lying here? This is too easy."
"IT'S A TRAP!" shouted the other soldier.
Nothing happened.
They waited for another five minutes.
"Nope, not a trap, just stupid natives," said Estevanico.
All of them laughed and resumed stashing the gold into their bags.
"Hey, Estevanico, for your help, I'm granting you your freedom," said Miguel, "And as much gold as you can carry!"
All of them cheered and whooped, not noticing the large war party of natives gathering outside the mine.
((I would be fine with updating to 1.14/Cossacks.))
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