In the summer of 1031 AD, a trading ship from the Chinese
Song Dynasty follows the currents north, past Japan, then east and south, down
the coast of western British Columbia. The captain, ZAHN, a hardboiled Chinese
trader seeking new markets, trades first with the Nisga'a and Haida, then on a
later voyage travels further south to the Musqueam (Rivergrass) lands around
what is now Vancouver.
There Zahn meets with KIAPELANEH, the Rivergrass Chief, and a delegation from the River
People (Sto:lo) from up the Fraser River, which includes Chief FISHEAGLE,
MIDNIGHT and HAWK. Zahn offers a trade of technology for furs and copper. Song
technology at this time includes gunpowder, metallurgy, tools, and medicine—far
more advanced than the local culture. When an agreement is reached, the Song
leave four advisors with the locals, to help them produce the trade goods that
the Song desire, and introduce the new technologies.
After
Zahn’s visit, and a war with a predatory band from the interior, the River
People and the Rivergrass tribe, form
an Alliance that will eventually develop into a new civilization encompassing
the West Coast of North America.
The experience of the Song with smallpox, which arrives in
bolts of cloth with Zahn's second visit, allows the people to mitigate the
effects of the disease. They spread their knowledge to all members of the
alliance, and further. But Zahn is devastated when he realizes that he is
responsible for bringing smallpox to the Haida, almost wiping out an entire village. He commits to guiding the initially naive
natives in shaping their Alliance, and dealing with the older cultures that
they come in contact with.
The
Alliance grows throughout North America, finding allies in the Arabs and at a
Norse settlement on the East Coast, which briefly becomes a refuge for
desperate Norse and Rus, including the Varangian Guard, who flee the corrupt
influence of the European Church that is going to destroy their culture.
Zahn,
now the Alliance Fleetmaster, is still a trader at heart. He sends BUWEI, a
senior captain, to expand trade south along the coast, in search of tobacco,
which has become a new trade item for the Alliance. Contacting new
civilizations as they go, they spread their influence south into Central and
South America where they find fascinating new cultures, and face desperate
conflict with unbelievable barbarism from the collapsing Mayan and Toltec
cultures.
The
Song Empire finally sends EMISSARY LIU, backed by heavily armed warships, to
find out first hand what this Alliance is all about. Are they a threat, or
vulnerable to expansion of the Empire? The envoy realizes that they are a
unique culture, valuable as an ally, and dangerous as an enemy. With Zahn and
the council negotiating for the Alliance, they strike a deal for a joint
venture, where the Empire will provide metallurgists and skilled workers to
build the infrastructure for a metalworking industry, for a share in the
profits.
In
the south, the Norse refugees begin to arrive, and the Mayans become an
immediate threat. The first battle is a slaughter, and has a devastating effect
on Buwei, his men, and the Norse.
The
Tairuna, a trade league in what is now northern Columbia, and Jocay, a large
trading center in modern Ecuador, are vulnerable to an influx of Mayans and
Toltecs fleeing the collapse of their civilizations. Both join the Alliance, as
the Norse refugees settle in to a toehold in their new home in southern Central
America, and prepare for all out war with the Maya and Toltec cultures to the
north.
Zahn,
content that he has guided the Alliance well on their path and established
strong trade ties that will support their expansion, retires to spend time with
his wife and children in Rivergrass, leaving Buwei in charge of Alliance trade.
