Synopsis

Synopsis: WHISPERS

            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. 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, the River People and the Rivergrass tribe form an Alliance that develops 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 won, but has a devastating effect on both Buwei and 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, and 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 is content that he has guided the Alliance well on their path, and established strong trade ties that will support their expansion. With Captain BUWEI in charge of Alliance trade, Zahn retires from all but the council to spend time with his wife and children in Rivergrass.