Chapter Summaries

A night attack by the Mexica’s fire arrows and fireball-throwing Wooden Beasts routed Chichica’s gathered tribes and left the Red Dog chieftain weighing retreat against the danger of disintegration. Chichica agreed to withdraw after dawn and ordered Uman to hold off the Cactus Tribe, swearing revenge if Uman died.

• Fire and chaos caused the Flamingo and Red Salamander tribes to attack each other, while most of Chichica’s gathered warriors fled or scattered.
• Chichica questioned Priest Zuma about the enemy’s weapons, but Zuma admitted he could not counter them and went to calm the warriors.
• Uman urged Chichica to abandon the camp and retreat, and endured repeated lashes before Chichica accepted that the position could not be held.
• After scouts reported the tribes’ losses, Chichica decided to wait for dawn, gather the routed troops, and leave men behind to slow the Cactus Tribe.
• Uman volunteered to lead the rearguard, and Chichica gave him six hundred warriors and fifty Red-hairs, promising revenge if Uman died in battle.

Xolotl’s forces crushed the Dog-kin rearguard at the mountain stronghold, where Tupa killed their leader Uman. After learning Uman’s identity, Xolotl assigned Caca to arrange a new funeral rite and ordered Red Frog warriors to pursue and gather the routed tribes.

• Xolotl left Bertad to finish off the remaining Dog-kin defenders while the Jaguar Regiment slowly fought its way up the mountain.
• Bertad sent Tupa and two hundred Longbow Guards to kill Uman, whose men were holding the rear camp so the Dog-kin main force could keep marching.
• Tupa’s archers killed Uman, broke the defenders’ resistance, and captured more than a hundred Dog-kin warriors after the remaining Red-hair fighters were killed.
• Tupa brought Uman’s head to Xolotl, and Caca identified him as Chichica’s chief guard commander and a renowned Red Dog Tribe warrior.
• Xolotl ordered Caca to arrange a lavish funeral blending wasteland traditions with the faith of the Main God.
• Xolotl ordered a thousand Red Frog warriors reassigned to pursue the routed Red Dog tribes and accept their surrenders, promising to replace the transferred men with captives and provide army priests.

Chichica rallied the fleeing Dog-kin tribes and ordered an ambush against the Otomi and Red Frog pursuers. As Mespa’s forces advanced, Mespa reveled in the Dog-kin’s defeat and urged his army to press on.

• Amoxi reported that the Cactus Warriors had not caught up, while a small force of Otomi and Red Frog pursuers harried the Dog-kin rearguard.
• Chichica, Ozoma, and Amoxi regrouped their scattered forces and assessed the losses among the tribes.
• Chichica decided to stop retreating and buy time for the valley’s preparations by ambushing the pursuers.
• Chichica ordered Ozoma to circle around and attack from the rear, Amoxi to hide archers in the mountain forests, and his own men to strike once the ambush began.
• Mespa kicked and killed a captured Red-hair warrior, then ordered his army to pursue the fleeing Dog-kin.

Amoxi and Alan’s ambush killed Great Chief Mespa and shattered the pursuing Pamus Legion, allowing Xolotl to reshape the northern campaign and grant Balamo authority over Pamus City and a new Northern Legion. Xolotl then studied the Red Dog coalition’s leaders and gave Balamo a test, while resolving that the war would serve the kingdom’s rule over the north.

• Mespa ordered the Pamus Legion to pursue the retreating Dog-kin despite his warrior’s warning, hoping to secure battle honors and protect the nobles’ fiefs.
• Amoxi and Alan ambushed Mespa’s party, and Alan shot Mespa as Amoxi’s fighters drew the guards into combat.
• Bertad reported Mespa’s death and the Pamus Legion’s heavy losses to Xolotl, who ordered the Pamus Legion to the rear and the Guamare Legion to harry the Dog-kin.
• Xolotl declared Pamus Valley masterless and appointed Balamo lord of Pamus City and commander of a new Northern Legion.
• Xolotl questioned Balamo about his work among the Guamar tribes, then ordered him to face a small test and asked Bertad to summon the recovered Chipa.
• Xolotl reflected that the northern campaign aimed to establish the kingdom’s rule, preserving useful Guachichil tribes while eliminating obstructive Otomi nobles.

Amoxi prepared the Red Crow Tribe to withdraw north toward the Huastec while he answered Chichica’s summons and received orders to scout and harass the Otomi. Chichica gathered the Dog-kin forces at the valley mouth, planned a mass sacrifice to bind the tribes to the fight, and vowed to resist the advancing Mexica People.

• Amoxi ordered Alan and Moqi to return to the old camp with grain and five hundred warriors, telling Alan to lead the tribe east if he failed to return.
• Amoxi joined Chichica and Ozoma, who reviewed the scattered tribes’ losses and learned that Uman had died holding the rear.
• Chichica ordered the Dog-kin army to march north and defend the valley mouth, while conscripting five thousand more men and arranging a sacrifice of Otomi slaves and captives.
• Ozoma suggested withdrawing toward the wasteland, but Chichica insisted the Alliance hold together and assigned Ozoma’s Red Monkey Tribe to the forward camp.
• Chichica ordered Amoxi to scout south, harass the enemy, and rescue scattered tribes, promising to incorporate them into the Red Crow Tribe.
• Chichica remained alone and declared that he would never submit to the Mexica People.

Xolotl managed the northern campaign from the camp outside Pamus valley, responding to a Red Crow raid and preparing to pressure the Dog-kin defenders into surrender. He left the valley's fate to negotiations backed by trebuchets and Heavenly Fire, then ordered cactus cooked for dinner.

• Xolotl reviewed noble genealogies and army records while the allied forces besieged the Pamus valley mouth.
• Red Crow warriors attacked a captive camp, and four palms of captives escaped before the attackers were driven off; Xolotl ordered a thousand Otopan warriors to escort four thousand captives south.
• Chalki reported that twelve Wooden Trebuchets had been assembled, and Xolotl ordered tests to continue before the planned attack.
• Chalki told Xolotl that the remaining Guamare nobles were willing to convert, so Xolotl ordered a prayer ritual to the Main God that night.
• Xolotl ordered Bertad to tell the enemy camp to surrender within two days or face an assault with Heavenly Fire and the slaughter of everyone inside.
• Xolotl ordered his guards to prepare the cactus in the camp by frying it with turkey eggs.

Ozoma uncovered Zukata’s apparent betrayal and, fearing that Great Leader Chichica would discover his secret contact with the Mexica People, chose to defect. He offered Balamo silver and began discussing an alliance that could decide who controlled the northern lands.

• Ozoma doubted whether the valley defenses could withstand the Mexica People and considered the danger of remaining at the forward camp.
• Ozoma learned that Zukata had secretly left for the north with several Spear Guard warriors, apparently carrying gifts to the Red Deer Tribe.
• Ozoma realized Zukata might expose his secret communication with the Mexica People and decided to betray Great Leader Chichica to survive.
• Ozoma summoned the confined poet Balamo, welcomed him as a brother, and gave him a basket containing one hundred jin of silver.
• Balamo accepted Ozoma’s offer, and the two began discussing their shared future and the fate of the northern lands.

Zukata led Chipawa and the other deserters north, deciding to join Red Crow and seek safety in the east. At dawn, they saw the Mexica army advance and learned that the Red Monkey Tribe had surrendered, then ran toward Red Crow’s camp.

• Chipawa asked whether they were abandoning the Red Monkey Tribe, and Zukata explained that staying would not change its fate.
• Chipawa lamented the money he had left behind and the family lost to conscription, while Zukata reflected on how the kingdom’s collapse had erased the old divisions between nobles and commoners.
• Zukata revealed that he planned to join Chief Amoxi and Red Crow, whose eastward migration toward Huastec territory offered a chance to survive.
• Zukata’s group passed the Red Dog camp using a Red Monkey token and reached a hill overlooking Pamus Valley at dawn.
• Zukata spotted the Mexica army marching north and recognized its banner in the Red Monkey camp, confirming that the Red Monkey Tribe had surrendered.
• Zukata led the group toward Red Crow without looking back.

Xolotl’s Mexica Legion attacked the Red Dog Main Camp, where Chichica’s warriors resisted fiercely despite losing the palisade. As the battle stalled, Xolotl ordered Miwa and Red Monkey hunters to seize the eastern ridges, while Ozoma proposed sending troops to obstruct the Red Crow reinforcements.

• Chichica ordered the Red Dog Tribe to defend its camp, killed the Red Monkey hostages, and rallied his guards to fight to the death.
• Bertad’s forces used crossbow volleys, Otopan charges, and Divine Power Spheres to break through the camp’s palisade.
• Chichica rallied his reserves and halted the Mexica advance in a bloody fight inside the camp.
• Xolotl asked Ozoma how to avoid further losses, and Ozoma revealed a hidden mountain path leading to the ridges above the camp.
• Xolotl ordered Miwa to lead Red Frog and Red Monkey hunters along the path, while keeping Ozoma at his side.
• Ozoma persuaded Xolotl to send five hundred Red Monkey soldiers to obstruct the Red Crow reinforcements, then renewed his oath of loyalty.

Amoxi rallied the Red Crow camp to march south, but Priest Zuma’s divinations redirected the warriors east to join the earlier migrants and abandon the doomed valley. As the column departed at dusk, Amoxi revealed that he had only pretended to faint and addressed Alan, declaring his return.

• Amoxi invoked his appointment by Chichica and his battle record to win the camp warriors’ support despite objections from a Red Salamander chief.
• Priest Zuma declared that the Earth Mother had chosen Amoxi as leader, and the warriors and tribal chiefs knelt to him.
• After Amoxi drank the divination powder and collapsed, Zuma announced that Chichica would die and urged the camp to migrate east.
• Three thousand warriors abandoned the camp and headed east, while messengers set out to inform the valley tribes.
• Zukata joined the migrating column and praised Amoxi’s leadership as the unconscious chief was carried on a wooden frame.
• Amoxi opened his eyes on the frame, wished Chichica peace, and told Alan that he had returned.

Xolotl’s forces defeated the Red Dog Tribe, and Chichica died fighting beneath his flag. Xolotl arranged a sacrifice and a poetic account of Chichica’s final wishes to win over the Guachichil tribes, then accepted Ozoma’s offer to persuade the scattered tribes to surrender.

• Xolotl arrived at the ruined Red Dog camp and confirmed that Chichica had died with his heart pierced by a Copper Spear.
• Bertad explained that Nekawal had killed Chichica, and Xolotl ordered rewards for Nekawal’s family and a statue for him in the Warrior Grove.
• Xolotl invented last words for Chichica and planned a ceremony honoring him according to both kingdom and wasteland customs.
• Ozoma offered to summon the scattered tribes to surrender, and Xolotl accepted his service and promised not to sacrifice tribes that surrendered willingly.

After the Guachichil tribes surrendered, Xolotl reached Pamus City and prepared to turn it into a royal territory and a center for spreading the Main God's faith. He ordered the Guachichil tribes to migrate south across the great river, leaving their chiefs uneasy as the northern expedition drew to a close.

• Ozoma returned with Masat and offered Pamus City to Xolotl, who entered the valley with his personal troops.
• Xolotl surveyed Pamus City and considered the Rio Grande route for future contact with the tribes of North America.
• Xolotl ordered the Main God's banner raised and combined the conversion ceremony with the grand sacrifice, while declaring that the six thousand captives would be restored to commoner status.
• Xolotl told Ozoma that the surrendered Guachichil tribes would be spared sacrifice but must migrate south across the great river.
• Ozoma and Masat reluctantly accepted Xolotl's command, and Xolotl ordered Bertad to arrange supplies, comfort the captives, and summon tribal headmen to pay homage.

Xolotl concluded the northern expedition by sacrificing Chichica, converting the Guachichil tribes, and arranging their resettlement and the governance of the conquered Otomi states. After the migration south began, Xolotl left Pamus City with the Royal Banner, promising to return to the northern wasteland in his lifetime.

• Xolotl held a sacrificial ceremony, burned Chichica's body, and oversaw the conversion of tens of thousands of Guachichil tribespeople to the Main God.
• Xolotl assessed the expedition's losses and gains, then planned to reorganize the surrendered Guachichil tribes into military units and resettle them across the kingdom.
• Xolotl assigned Balamo to govern Pamus City, chose Miztli to lead the Guachichil population there, and arranged garrisons and settlement plans for the Otomi states.
• Xolotl scattered Chichica's ashes into the wasteland, and Ozoma and the other chiefs led the Guachichil tribes in acclaiming him as their great chief.
• Three days later, the first migration groups began traveling south, and more than ten days afterward Xolotl departed Pamus City with the Royal Banner.
• Xolotl looked toward the northern wasteland and promised the sunset that he would return in his lifetime.

Captain Diogo Cao continued his deadly voyage up the Congo River while suppressing sailors who wanted to turn back. Bruno agreed to monitor the crew for Diogo, but he was lured into a hold where several sailors confronted him.

• Diogo reviewed the nautical chart of the Congo River and received Martin Behaim’s latest latitude and hydrological records.
• Martin warned Diogo that sailors were gathering privately, and Diogo sent him away and summoned Bruno.
• Bruno told Diogo that the crew feared the spreading illness and that some sailors wanted to return.
• Diogo invoked Bruno’s wife and unborn child, then persuaded him to continue the voyage and secretly identify the sailors organizing against him.
• A trusted sailor directed Bruno to the cargo hold, where Martim, Diego, Haroldo, and Ivo waited for him before the hatch slammed shut.

Bruno joined the officers’ conspiracy to force Captain Diogo Cao to turn back, while insisting they spare his life. The conspirators counted their supporters and began plotting how to silence a powerful young noble aboard the ship.

• Diego confronted Bruno about what Diogo had told him, and Martim stopped the officers from drawing their weapons against one another.
• Martim proposed turning back from the cursed lands, and Bruno agreed to join the plan but refused to kill the captain.
• Ivo and Haroldo supported sparing Diogo, and the five officers agreed to force him to return while Martim privately considered how to overcome their reluctance.
• Bruno reported that the ship’s fighting sailors and the crews of the two trailing ships were likely to support the mutiny, while Diego threatened Navigator Reynaldo.
• Diego proposed abusing and killing the noble scholar aboard, but Haroldo suggested using devil worship to obtain leverage over him.

Boatswain Diego and the other mutineers seized control of Diogo Cao’s ship and forced the sick captain to hand over his royal seal. Bruno ordered the Portuguese fleet to return down the Congo, while Haroldo warned him that gaining the seal’s power meant becoming the only seafaring noble left aboard.

• Diego and two sailors killed Diogo’s guards, while Ivo confined navigator Reynaldo and a scholar and the mutineers secured the ship.
• Bruno, Diego, Martim, Ivo, and Haroldo confronted Diogo and demanded that he turn the fleet back.
• Diego beat Diogo, but Bruno and the others stopped him from killing the captain and demanded his seal.
• Diogo surrendered the royal seal, and Bruno ordered the crew to return while asking Ivo to arrange care for the captain.
• Haroldo told Bruno that he would need to be the ship’s only seafaring noble to obtain the seal’s full power.
• The Portuguese fleet turned west down the Congo River, with just over a hundred sailors remaining from the more than 250 who had departed.

As the fleet sailed west down the Congo River, Bruno visited the imprisoned Captain Diogo and offered to help restore his command in exchange for a chance to become a royal knight and continue exploring. Diogo accepted Bruno’s oath and sent him to prepare to put down the mutiny.

• Boatswain Diego plotted to recruit sailors from the other ships, plunder villages, and avoid returning to Portugal.
• Bruno told Diogo that the fleet would soon reach the Congo River’s mouth and that Diego and Quartermaster Martim wanted to take the ships north.
• Diogo offered Bruno a dagger to end his life, but Bruno urged him to continue exploring south and pledged his loyalty.
• Bruno admitted that he wanted Diego killed and Martim stripped of power, and revealed that he could enlist sailors from the other two ships.
• Bruno swore to become a royal knight and carry on Diogo’s explorations, and Diogo accepted his promise and ordered him to prepare.

Boatswain Diego’s massacre and attempted mutiny ended when Captain Diogo’s men seized the ship and killed Diego and his confidants. Diogo spared the other sailors, then ordered the fleet to continue south in search of an eastern sea route, while privately revealing that the coin toss had actually condemned Martim.

• Boatswain Diego and his sailors massacred a fishing village near the Congo River and seized food, valuables, and women.
• Quartermaster Martim and Bruno helped Captain Diogo’s forces ambush Diego aboard the flagship, and musketeers wounded Diego before the soldiers captured him.
• Diogo offered Martim a rigged coin toss for redemption, then ordered him to execute Diego and his four confidants; Martim strangled them.
• Diogo declared the other sailors forgiven and ordered the fleet to continue south, while the sailors killed the captive women and threw them into the river.
• After the ships set sail, Diogo revealed that the coin had landed with the royal emblem facing up and praised the Lord.

Bruno and the Portuguese expedition sailed along the Namibian coast as Captain Diogo Cao succumbed to tropical disease. Before dying just after midnight on the Feast of the Holy Innocents, Diogo Cao entrusted the fleet and his final instructions to his companions.

• Bruno and the sailors prayed as the fleet passed blue whales and searched the endless southern desert for the continent’s edge.
• Bruno visited Diogo Cao, who was gravely ill and learned that the expedition had sailed more than four thousand li south of the Congo River.
• Diogo Cao asked Bruno to bring olive oil and summon the others for his final rites.
• Diogo Cao named Pero da Costa commander, entrusted Pero Anes with a chart and his will, and gave Bruno command of the flagship and charge of Martin.
• After midnight, Diogo Cao received the final prayer, asked whether the Feast of the Holy Innocents had begun, and died as his companions wept.

After Diogo Cao died, Bruno became captain and led the battered Portuguese fleet north from Cape Cross. Before the fleet sailed home, Bruno’s men tattooed Martin Behaim with 666, leaving him convinced that devils were aboard the ship.

• Pero da Costa ordered the fleet to return home and named the burial site Cape Cross.
• The sailors celebrated the new year and the end of their deadly voyage as the three ships sailed north.
• Bruno, Martim, Haroldo, and Ivo restrained Martin Behaim and carved a tattoo into his lower abdomen to keep him from revealing their secrets.
• Martin woke, recognized the tattoo as the beast’s number, 666, and prayed for deliverance from the supposed devils aboard the ship.