Chapter Summaries

Miki recounted the fleet’s arrival at Thousand Island Bay, the founding of Divine Blood Bay Port, and the northern tribes’ way of life before the fleet encountered the Ancestral Peak of the Sky God. Inspired by the mountain, he sang a hymn describing creation and a prophecy that the Death God's Black Wolf would become the new The Sun, leaving Zuwaro shaken by the power of his song.

• The fleet established Divine Blood Bay Port on the eastern shore of Thousand Island Bay, leaving sixty warrior Sailors and one Longship to found the settlement.
• Miki described how the fleet recruited people from small Sugpiaq and Eyak People tribes around the bay, whose traditions helped them survive in the harsh north.
• The fleet reached the western side of the bay, where Miki and the others saw the distant Ancestral Peak of the Sky God and prostrated themselves in praise.
• Miki composed and sang a hymn about the Main God's creation of the world, the northern landscape, and the Death God's Black Wolf's future rise as the new The Sun.
• Zuwaro listened to Miki's hymn with wide eyes and trembling, sensing that Miki would become an exalted High Priest.

Scholar Miki’s fleet encountered the Long Bay Tribe, then reached Great Whale Island and recognized its abundant fisheries as a promising supply base. As the fleet gathered more northern tribal Sailors, Miki considered whether they would follow it west in search of the prophesied land, while Chakapu Shijian praised them as exceptional warrior recruits.

• Scholar Miki recorded that the fleet prayed at Ancestral Peak of the Sky God and met a Sugpiaq hunting party that told them about the powerful Long Bay Tribe.
• Miki and Zuwaro declined the Long Bay Tribe’s invitation, exchanged gifts with the hunters, and continued toward the southwestern coast.
• The five Longships reached Big Fish Island in mid-August, where Miki identified the whales and abundant fish and decided the fleet needed a supply port.
• Miki asked Gao Wa whether tribal Sailors would travel west to find the land of Divine Revelation, and she said tribes would migrate if they had food and warmth.
• Chakapu Shijian praised the northern Sailors’ strength and discipline, while Miki resolved to establish supply settlements and continue across the Western Sea.

Scholar Miki recalled and recorded the fleet’s four-month exploration of the far-northern coast, including the ports it established and its arrival in the Ancestral Island Chain. Zuwaro told him that storm damage and the need to send a report left only one seaworthy Longship to continue west, forcing them to decide whether to press on before the season ended.

• Scholar Miki remembered the fleet’s discoveries and recorded five ports established along the coast, ending with God High Mountain Port in the Ancestral Island Chain.
• White Bear Gao Wa noticed Zuwaro approaching and pointed out that his hair had turned white.
• Zuwaro told Miki that the storm-damaged Longship could not sail in the deep sea and that one ship had to return with news.
• Miki realized that only one Longship could continue west and worried the exploration might have to stop until the next year.
• Miki recalled the fleet’s departure from the Makah Whale Tribe and its early journey north along the coast.

Scholar Miki and Exploration Captain Zuwaro reviewed the sailing journal’s account of the fleet’s northern exploration, settlement efforts, and salt production. They disagreed over how to deal with local tribes, but Zuwaro accepted Miki’s insistence that the Kingdom follow its kingly way as the fleet continued its westward mission.

• Miki’s journal described Whale Port’s mild winters and concluded that the fleet should recruit northern tribesmen as sailors and warriors.
• Miki recorded that Zuwaro had explored the island northwest of Whale Port, found Snuneymuxw communities and a natural harbor, and used marriage alliances to expand the fleet’s influence.
• Miki praised Zuwaro for discovering the Salt Creek salt field and arranging for the Salt Creek Tribe to help boil salt in exchange for Kingdom goods.
• Zuwaro criticized Miki for delaying the support fleet by asking it to mediate the conflict between the Redwood Tribe and the Leaf Grass Great Tribe, and suggested selling weapons to both sides instead.
• Miki defended the Kingdom’s order to spread its faith and improve northern tribes’ lives rather than exploit their conflicts, and Zuwaro reluctantly agreed.

Scholar Miki recorded the arrival of the Kingdom’s powerful support fleet at Whale Port and debated with Zuwaro over how far west to sail. After hearing that the Ancestral Island Chain lay far to the west, the explorers prepared to continue their island-by-island search and seek the prophesied Juneau gold mine.

• Miki described the Kingdom’s new longships, including the flagship Great Snow Wolf, and praised the Kingdom’s shipbuilding efforts.
• Zuwaro proposed using the Great Snow Wolf to sail directly west, but Miki insisted they first follow the island chain and secure resupply points.
• Miki recorded that he and Zuwaro had been promoted to third-level Divine Inspiration Priests and that Zuwaro had gone north to seek the Tsimshian people.
• Zuwaro returned from the Tsimshian with a wife and an elder’s legend that the Ancestral Island Chain lay far to the west.
• The second support fleet arrived at Whale Port, and Miki planned to resume westward exploration and search for the Juneau gold mine.

Scholar Miki recalled the second support fleet’s arrival at Whale Port and described the northern settlements and resources it encountered on its voyage. The fleet reached North Birdstone Village, while Miki looked ahead to the west coast developing enough to help it flourish.

• The second support fleet arrived at Whale Port under Keyuan and Kejie, who reunited with Miki and Zuwaro, their former classmates from Shenwei University.
• Keyuan and Kejie told Miki and Zuwaro about the prosperous southern ports and how the fleet recruited and stationed people along its route north.
• The fleet visited Tin River Village and Fish Mountain Town, where it traded with local tribes, recruited Huierqiao sailors, and replenished food and salt.
• At Leijin Town, Ge Niao urged Keyuan and Kejie to conquer the Great Yoeme Tribe, but they declined and continued their exploration after loading more than two hundred tons of Fire Stone.
• The fleet reached South Birdstone Village and North Birdstone Village, where it collected information about Guano, local populations, and the settlements’ prospects.

Scholar Miki recorded the Ipa Great Tribe’s conversion and the Kingdom’s growing influence, while Exploration Captain Zuwaro argued that the Kingdom should eventually take control of the tribe. The fleet traded for more than ten thousand jin of Green Salt, and the chapter ended with the Great Salt Sea emerging as a strategic target for the Kingdom.

• Scholar Miki recorded that the Ipa Great Tribe had more than five thousand people and that ordinary tribesmen and warriors were converting to the Main God’s faith.
• Kuimu told Keyuan and Kejie that farming guidance and the promise of advancement through divine war had encouraged conversions.
• Zuwaro explained to Miki that the new faith and improved resources were disrupting the tribe’s balance of power, and proposed taking control of the Ipa Great Tribe when the time was right.
• The fleet spent ten days at the Ipa Great Tribe, attending ceremonies and replenishing supplies before trading bronze weapons for more than ten thousand jin of Green Salt.
• Miki recorded that the Great Salt Sea supplied the Salt Sea Great Tribe and could give the Kingdom control over an important salt source and trade routes inland.

Keyuan and Kejie surveyed the growing western-coast ports and discussed the kingdom’s plans to develop the region through farming, conversion, and settlement. At West Mountain Port, they learned that Cedar Shaman planned to travel south, meet the king, and formally convert, potentially bringing the North Bay Tribe into the Lake Kingdom as an independent fief.

• Keyuan and Kejie found that Three Mountain Port had grown to more than eight hundred people, and Ke Bao asked them for boatbuilders and scouts to expand the port’s fishing and exploration.
• Keyuan and Kejie left warriors, sailors, weapons, tools, and farming implements at Three Mountain Port as they considered how the western coast could be developed and settled.
• Miki decided to draft rules governing colonization, exile, tribal alliances, and assimilation along the western coast.
• Keyuan and Kejie saw that West Mountain Port had grown beyond thirteen hundred people and that Cedar Shaman’s North Bay Tribe had become the kingdom’s strongest local ally, cultivating potatoes and training carpenters and shipwrights.
• Miki told Zuwaro that Cedar Shaman had learned Nahua and the kingdom’s teachings and intended to travel to the Lake Kingdom to meet the king and convert.
• Zuwaro and Miki concluded that Cedar Shaman’s conversion could earn him a high priestly rank and allow the North Bay Tribe, and possibly other tribes, to join the kingdom peacefully.

Scholar Miki’s sailing log recounted the kingdom’s expanding ports, trade, conversions, and intermarriage along the western coast as its fleet continued north. He and Zuwaro worried that the kingdom could not keep sending loyal settlers indefinitely, but Zuwaro remained confident that control of the fleet would secure the coast and carry the Main God’s faith farther west.

• The fleet strengthened West Mountain Port, left kingdom Sailors and Miwok Sailors there, and continued north.
• At the Bear Hunter Tribe, the fleet traded for supplies, left Nolan and Assistant Priests to preach and teach farming, and recruited Pomo hunters.
• At Lake Bay Port, Kejie left metal tools and persuaded Tujing and the Lake Garden Tribe to convert to the Main God.
• The fleet established trade and safe passage with the hostile Tolowa tribes but failed to mediate their conflict or recruit their warriors.
• At South Port, the kingdom’s people intermarried with Coos women, drawing nearby tribes toward the port.
• Miki questioned whether the kingdom could keep sending loyal settlers to the western coast, while Zuwaro argued that its fleet would preserve its control and spread its faith.

The Kingdom fleet secured the Rising Sun Tribe’s alliance and conversion, then continued north, building ties through missions and marriages. Scholar Miki and Captain Zuwaro considered the possibility that these northern settlements could form a distinct priestly faction, while the fleet reached North Port and met envoys from the Chinookan Confederacy.

• Priest Kejie’s fleet forged a blood-oath alliance with the Rising Sun Tribe, and Shaman Chinook accepted the solar Main God’s amulet and invited missionaries and crop specialists to stay.
• The fleet replenished its supplies with food and recruited Siuslaw sailors, while Miki and Zuwaro discussed the value of kelp, Sun beans, and Fern Vegetables.
• At the Timo Tribe, Chief Tila accepted the Main God’s faith, and Kejie left Mibolo, assistant priests, and twenty warrior-sailors to marry into and integrate with the tribe.
• Miki worried that the northern priests’ intermarriage and connections could grow into a separate faction, while Zuwaro defended their mission and both men recognized the potential benefits of leading such a faction.
• The fleet reached North Port, where it encountered envoys from the northern Chinookan Confederacy.

Scholar Miki and Zuwaro discussed Priest Kejie’s plans to develop North Port by exploiting conflicts between the river tribes, while the support fleet continued north and strengthened the Kingdom’s presence along the coast. At Whale Port, the fleet prepared to merge with the Whale Tribe and hold its conversion ceremony before resuming exploration.

• At North Port, the Kingdom declined the river-mouth confederacy’s invitation to join but offered an equal alliance and trade in bronze goods for grain, timber, and captives.
• Priest Kejie stationed warriors and ships at North Port, prompting Miki and Zuwaro to suspect he intended to expand the Kingdom amid the rival confederacies’ wars.
• The support fleet visited the Chinook tribe and Xia River Tribe, declared friendship, recruited sailors, and left Pei Huoguo to preach and teach potato farming.
• The fleet reached Whale Port after replacing ships and crews, bringing together warriors and sailors from numerous tribes and ports.
• The Kingdom prepared to intermarry with the Whale Tribe, conduct a mass conversion ceremony, and incorporate the tribe into the Kingdom before continuing its northern exploration.

Zuwaro and the support fleet continued exploring the far northern coast, establishing ports and converting or allying with local tribes. At Divine High Mountain Port, Zuwaro and Miki counted eight ports along a voyage of seven or eight thousand li as they prepared to push farther north.

• The support fleet completed its resupply at Whale Port, where the Makah Whale Tribe converted, Jinghai remained its leader, and the fleet gained provisions from a successful whale hunt.
• The fleet left Whale Port in late April, with Zuwaro and Miki setting out to explore farther after Priest Kejie returned south.
• Zuwaro said the Salt Creek Tribe had allied with the fleet, nominally converted, and accepted Ta Yumi as its missionary priest, opening communication with tribes around the Bay of Hundred Lakes.
• Zuwaro and Miki counted the eight ports established along the northwest coast, each supplied with a longship and warrior-sailors.
• Zuwaro recalled that the fleet had established Divine Shellfish Port at 51 degrees north after sailing around the southern end of the long island of the Snuneymuxw.

Scholar Miki recorded the fleet’s journey along the northern coast, describing the Coastal Salish, Heiltsuk, and Tsimshian tribes and the alliances they formed. At the Eagle Island Tribe, Great Chieftain Qin Ying swore a blood oath with Miki and Zuwaro and gave Miki an inherited carving taken from a Haida chieftain.

• Zuwaro established Divine Shellfish Port on Long Island, where the fleet annexed a Snuneymuxw fishing village and left sixty warrior sailors and supplies.
• The fleet reached the Heiltsuk village of Waglisla, whose people welcomed the sailors as friends from afar.
• Miki and Zuwaro discussed Miki’s hymn about the northern coast before Miki recorded his observations of the Tsimshian people.
• The fleet arrived at the Eagle Island Tribe, where Great Chieftain Qin Ying swore a blood oath with Miki and Zuwaro and accepted a Sun Main God Amulet.
• Qin Ying gave Miki an eagle carving inherited from the Haida people, which he had taken as a war trophy from a Haida chieftain.

Scholar Miki and Exploration Captain Zuwaro searched the northern coast for the gold promised in the king’s divine revelation, founding Divine Eagle Wing Port and locating the Raven Tribe. After the Raven Tribe’s elder directed them north to Wolf Island, the fleet found the Juneau Gold Mining District, leaving Miki and Zuwaro to marvel at its vast riches.

• Miki described the Haida and the fleet’s founding of Divine Eagle Wing Port with a small Tsimshian tribe.
• The fleet traveled north through Tlingit territory and sought news of golden mountains and creeks from local elders.
• Miki and Zuwaro met Black Raven Mother, who directed them more than five hundred li north toward Wolf Island.
• The fleet searched the coast around Wolf Island and discovered the Juneau Gold Mining District.
• Miki and Zuwaro celebrated the gold’s potential, joking about how many sacks of gold could buy houses for their families.

At Divine High Mountain Port, Miki and Zuwaro weighed the expedition’s supplies and the risks of waiting for support before deciding to continue west. Zuwaro set out with an exploration ship while Miki stayed through the winter to manage supplies and preserve the expedition’s records.

• Miki read the diary’s account of the Juneau gold mine, the nearby Tlingit, and the differences between Tlingit and Tsimshian traditions.
• Zuwaro calculated that the flagship could carry only the first thousand jin of gold west, leaving the remaining gold and Silver Family at Divine High Mountain Port.
• Miki learned that waiting for the next support fleet could delay the westward journey by as much as two years, so he agreed they should continue exploring that autumn.
• Miki proposed taking two longships with 160 people, then dividing them into an exploration ship and a supply ship after gathering provisions farther west.
• Miki chose to stay at Divine High Mountain Port for the winter, while Zuwaro prepared to sail west and urged the crew to proceed with resolve.

Scholar Miki, Exploration Captain Zuwaro, White Bear Gao Wa, and their fleet sailed west through the Aleutian Islands with Unangax guides, stopping at islands named for ancestral giants. At a sheltered island, old guide Wu Baiya sang of a final grandmother and the tomb of the ancestral giants beyond it, startling White Bear Gao Wa as the fleet prepared to sail toward Mother Island.

• Scholar Miki and the fleet prayed and rowed west from Atka toward Adak during the brief autumn sailing season.
• Scholar Miki named volcanic Adak God Twin Peaks Island, and Zuwaro joked that its two peaks suited a sleeping giantess.
• The fleet visited Unangax settlements and continued past the interlaced Kanaga and Tanaga islands, which Scholar Miki named God Twin Sisters Island.
• The fleet acquired the elderly guide Wu Baiya on Eldest Daughter Island and followed him to a small sheltered island before the crossing to Mother Island.
• Wu Baiya sang an ancestral song about the final grandmother and the tomb of the ancestral giants, and White Bear Gao Wa cried out in surprise.

Scholar Miki and Exploration Captain Zuwaro followed Wu Baiya west across the Unangax ancestral islands, hoping to find the prophesied new continent beyond Grandmother Island. After reaching Mother Island and visiting Wu Baiya’s birth tribe, they learned that Grandmother Island was distant and perilous, and its ancient songs described a voyage of seven days and nights.

• Gao Wa translated Wu Baiya’s song, revealing that the islands west of the fleet led toward a giant’s tomb that Scholar Miki believed was the prophesied New Continent.
• Zuwaro decided the fleet would rest, replenish its water, and row west at first light to search for Mother Island.
• Wu Baiya guided the two longships to Mother Island, where he returned to his birthplace and mourned his family and tribespeople.
• Scholar Miki named Mother Island Divine Snow Maiden Island, and the fleet visited local tribes while Wu Baiya found that none of his relatives remained alive.
• Miki reported that no one on the island had recently reached Grandmother Island, and Wu Baiya sang that the journey took seven days and nights through dangerous seas.

Exploration Captain Zuwaro sailed west from Divine Snow Maiden Island to fulfill His Majesty’s revelation of a New Continent, while Scholar Miki returned east to prepare for winter. After battling storms, drift ice, and an unexpected cold current, Zuwaro’s crew spotted land and reached the western continent, where he declared himself its first discoverer.

• Zuwaro and Miki agreed to split up, with Zuwaro sailing west and Miki returning east to manage the island chain and prepare a future port.
• Zuwaro left ten men and half the gold on Divine Snow Maiden Island, then departed with ninety crewmen aboard the Great Snow Wolf.
• After searching unsuccessfully for Grandmother Island, Zuwaro turned southwest to escape approaching drift ice and used the wind and a cold current to speed westward.
• Zuwaro’s crew spotted a Mountain Eagle, and he ordered them to furl the sails and row toward it.
• The Great Snow Wolf reached a vast coastline, and Zuwaro and his crew prayed in celebration as he claimed to be the first person to discover the New Continent.

Exploration Captain Zuwaro and his expedition reached a bay on the Kamchatka Peninsula, where he celebrated their arrival and named the harbor Divine Twin Smoke Port. Nearby, Itelmen hunters spotted the smoke and sent a hunter back to warn their tribe as Mu Quan and Mu Lu went to investigate.

• Zuwaro found two active volcanoes above the bay and named the natural harbor Divine Twin Smoke Port.
• Zuwaro inferred that the peninsula’s winter was dangerously cold and urged his crew to find local tribes or hot springs.
• Zuwaro led the warriors and sailors in prayers and a celebratory feast on the shore.
• Itelmen hunter Mu Lu spotted smoke from the bay, and the hunting team heard many distant human voices.
• Mu Quan sent Mu Tu and the other hunters back to warn the tribe, then took Mu Lu south to identify the newcomers.

Two Itelmen hunters secretly watched the Kingdom Warriors and Tribal Sailors feasting, mistook them for a powerful enemy Island Tribe, and debated whether their Mountain Tribe should attack. After the newcomers caught them, Exploration Captain Zuwaro invited them to share dinner and talk.

• Mu Lu and Hunting Captain Mu Quan watched the newcomers feast and wondered what tribe they belonged to.
• Mu Quan identified their copper weapons and enormous ship, feared they would threaten the Mountain Tribe’s hunting grounds and winter camp, and decided to call the tribe to prepare for battle.
• Mu Quan and Mu Lu argued over whether the strangers might be peaceful as they watched the large force gathered on shore.
• Kingdom Warriors and Unangan hunters surrounded the two Itelmen hunters and fired arrows near them.
• Exploration Captain Zuwaro stepped forward, called the hunters friends, and invited them to dinner and a conversation.