Chapter Summaries

Columbus's expedition came under attack from native archers, leaving Columbus wounded and Arana dead after Columbus ordered the ship to sail on without rescuing him. As poison spread from an arrow wound, Columbus realized De La Cosa might kill him and wept over the glory he would never achieve.

• Two Red Crow Guard archers shot at the Santa Maria, striking Columbus's ear and making him fall wounded.
• Columbus ordered Arana to attack the natives, but another arrow hit Arana and knocked him overboard.
• Columbus ordered the Santa Maria to keep sailing north instead of stopping to rescue Arana.
• De La Cosa approached Columbus with his hand on his blade, while Columbus appealed to their supposed bond as brothers.
• Poison from the arrow paralyzed Columbus, who feared De La Cosa would kill him as he lay helpless on the deck.

After Columbus was paralyzed by a poisoned arrow, Juan de la Cosa took command of the Santa Maria and ended the expedition, ordering the crew to return home. He kept Columbus alive but bound and silenced him, while a new storm gathered over the Caribbean.

• De la Cosa declared Columbus gravely wounded and maneuvered the sailors into accepting him as the ship’s leader.
• De la Cosa slashed Pedro’s coat for a bandage, ordered him to tend Columbus, and appointed him navigator for the return voyage.
• De la Cosa proclaimed himself acting Expedition Commander and ordered the crew to return to the Bahamas, promising royal rewards.
• De la Cosa put Columbus’s admiral’s hat on his own head and told the paralyzed commander that he would keep him alive for the return to Castile.
• De la Cosa tightly bandaged Columbus’s head and mouth, ordered Pedro to carry him to the cabin and tie his hands, and said Columbus would recover after they reached the peninsula.
• A new storm approached as De la Cosa and the crew prepared to sail home.

Mikui and Chabo recovered a European captive and his belongings after the sea battle, while Puapu examined the captured ship and questioned his men about the fighting. The captives were taken toward Iron Bay Town, where the warriors planned to sacrifice the priest, and Puapu ordered that the unusually hard iron armor be brought to him.

• Mikui and Chabo searched the unconscious Arana, found his fine steel dagger and other belongings, and knocked him out again when he awoke and cried out.
• Mikui and Chabo argued over the spoils, while Mikui prayed over the Copper Cross and Puapu’s men threw two Silver Cross necklaces into the sea.
• Puapu had Rodrigo gagged and decided that the silent Gutierrez might be a chief or noble, while Rodrigo would be sacrificed at Iron Bay Town.
• Puapu inspected the Caravel Pinta and learned that nine Taino rowing militia and three Kingdom Leather Armor Samurai had died, while the warriors killed thirty demons and captured eleven.
• A warrior reported that the demons’ weapons had pierced their armor and that they had seized a remarkably hard half-set of iron armor, so Puapu ordered it brought to him.

Grey Earth Puapu’s warriors looted the captured Pinta, taking armor, weapons, and documents while holding the surviving sailors captive. Puapu claimed the captured ships as trophies and named them the Grey Earth and the Stone Spear.

• The Kingdom’s Samurai searched the Pinta’s corpses, collected fifteen heads, and bound five wounded sailors, including Caro and Chachu.
• Grey Earth Puapu tested a captured steel breastplate with his Copper Axe, denting the armor and chipping the axe, then ordered all six sets saved as rewards for the most deserving warriors.
• Pulu reported the captured guns, cannons, gunpowder, blades, and documents, and Puapu set aside the ocean chart and royal letters for Priest Tomato to study.
• Puapu declared that he had captured the first ship and named it the Grey Earth, while he named the other ship the Stone Spear after Shi Damao, who had killed its leader.

The Mayari Tribe’s Great Chieftain Anani Water Splash prayed to Huitzilopochtli after seeing the captured Castile ships fulfill an old prophecy. Onboard, Chabo and Mikui mistook the captive Boatswain Chachu for a converted tribal traitor and began forcing him to accept the Main God.

• Anani Water Splash saw the captured Caravels and prayed to Huitzilopochtli, convinced that the prophecy had come true.
• The Taino warriors held an evening prayer and celebrated with a feast while prisoners remained aboard the ships.
• Chabo and Mikui opened a barrel of pickled herring, recoiled from its stench, and heard Boatswain Chachu snicker at them.
• Chabo and Mikui questioned Chachu, mistook his silence for evidence that an evil god had bewitched him, and decided to convert him.
• Chabo carved the Main God’s symbol into Chachu’s forehead and cut off his little finger, making him the first European to convert to the Main God.

Grey Earth Puapu considered whether to accept three captives who claimed to believe in Huitzilopochtli, hoping their skills would help the fleet sail its captured ships. He granted them a chance to surrender by ordering them to prove their conversion with blood.

• Grey Earth Puapu struggled to tow the deep-draft captured ships and heard from Pulu that a captive from Ao Island wanted to surrender.
• Chabo and Mikui brought Boatswain Chachu, Caro, and Antonio before Grey Earth Puapu, who could not understand their language.
• Chabo explained that Chachu could speak the demons’ language and knew their affairs, while Caro could make gold vessels and Antonio could repair ships.
• Mikui struck the captives and prompted them to praise Huitzilopochtli, and all three nervously complied.
• Grey Earth Puapu accepted their plea for a chance to surrender and ordered them to cut the demon Priest’s fingers as proof of conversion.

Boatswain Chachu, Caro, and Antonio cut off clerk Rodrigo’s fingers under Grey Earth Puapu’s command, and Chachu pledged himself to the chief. Puapu tested royal steward Gutierrez, who fainted before choosing, then ordered Chachu to lead the sailors and bring the ships back.

• Clerk Rodrigo condemned the sailors as they hesitated to cut off his fingers, until Chachu chopped off the first ones.
• Caro and Antonio each cut off one of Rodrigo’s remaining fingers, while Gutierrez watched in horror.
• Chachu knelt before Grey Earth Puapu and pledged to serve him, and Puapu ordered Rodrigo treated and tested Gutierrez with the dagger.
• Gutierrez fainted and wet himself instead of choosing whether to kill himself or Rodrigo, so Puapu had him carried away.
• Puapu praised Chachu as a fierce warrior, named him A-Gou, and ordered him to teach the Taino Sailors to sail the two ships back.

Boatswain Chachu sailed the captured caravels with the native crew while Arana pleaded for food and a chance to surrender to the lord of Cipangu. Chachu agreed to keep him alive if he followed him, then looked ahead toward the village and the wealth he hoped to find in the eastern land.

• Chachu and the other sailors demonstrated how to handle the caravels’ sails as Red-hair Chabo and Mikui discussed the ships and the coming conflict.
• Arana crawled toward Chachu and begged for food, but Chachu first scolded and slapped him before bringing him cassava mush and water.
• Arana praised Chachu and asked how he had joined the natives, then begged him to help arrange his own surrender.
• Chachu warned Arana to abandon his old ambitions and follow him if he wanted to survive, and Arana agreed.
• Chachu led Arana in praising Huitzilopochtli, then gazed toward the village and anticipated the riches of Cipangu.

After their capture, Antonio and Caro were brought to Iron Bay Town, where they mistook its settlement and ironworks for a poor Japanese fortress. High Priest Tomatl examined the captives and presented them to Prince Yanhu as the white-skinned demons foretold by the Main God, leaving Yanhu to confront the prophecy firsthand.

• Kingdom Warriors brought the captured Castilians ashore at Iron Bay Town, where Antonio and Caro marveled at the settlement and its inhabitants.
• Caro recognized the town’s furnaces as iron-smelting works, judged them crude, and complained that Columbus had deceived them.
• Boatswain Chachu struck Caro and ordered the captives to bow as Cuba High Priest Tomatl arrived with warriors.
• Tomatl questioned Puapu about the captives and learned that one could work metal and the other repair ships, and that both were willing to convert.
• Tomatl praised the Main God’s prophecy and asked Prince Yanhu whether seeing the white-skinned captives and their ships convinced him.

Yan Hu witnessed the Highland Sun God of War’s prophecy and the Caravel’s power, then secretly converted to the Main God and offered to help the Highland Alliance take control of Yan Island. Priest Tomatl accepted his offer and promised the Alliance’s support for Yan Hu’s rise as clan chief.

• Yan Hu panicked over the fulfilled prophecy and came to believe that the Sun God of War was the Main God of a new era.
• Priest Tomato assigned Chabo and Mikui to manage eighteen captives and extract their skills before the sacrificial rite, warning that captives with no useful skills would be sacrificed.
• Priest Tomatl took Yan Hu aboard the captured Caravel, where both men marveled at the ship’s size and construction.
• Yan Hu decided that he had to replace his aging father and the conservative elders to secure his clan’s future.
• Yan Hu offered to secretly convert and ally Yan Island with the Highland Alliance, promising to overthrow the elders if the Alliance lent him five hundred warriors.
• Priest Tomatl accepted Yan Hu’s proposal and began a secret conversion ceremony aboard the ship, promising support for his rise to clan chief.

High Priest Tomatl urged the Maya noble Yan Hu to convert the Yan Island tribes and seize power for the plateau kingdom, promising military support and directing him to Marshal Black Wolf Toltec. Yan Hu then revealed that a shocking, divisive piece of news had kept the Lowland Maya chiefdoms from forming a united coalition against the kingdom, but he had not yet explained what it was.

• Taino celebrants honored Huitzilopochtli alongside their traditional gods as the Sun Lord God took the highest place in their temple.
• Yan Hu described the Maya pantheon and the wealth and influence of the honey god’s temple, then carefully calculated the trade owed for honey, warriors, and transport.
• Tomatl rebuked Yan Hu’s focus on commerce and urged him to seize Yan Island, capture Tulum’s Great Temple, and place the Lord God above the Maya gods.
• Tomatl gave Yan Hu a letter and token for Marshal Black Wolf Toltec, promising enough warriors to help him take power across the Ekab Chiefdom.
• Yan Hu reported that Maya clans were mobilizing militia but had not formed a coalition because a shocking news item had divided the Lowland Maya; he said it had helped inspire his conversion.

Yan Hu told High Priest Tomatl that Tiakin had invoked the Skull of the Ancient Sage to justify the Mayapan royal house’s conversion to the Highland Main God and its campaign to restore the kingdom. The chapter ended with Yan Hu reciting the legend of the ancient sage, whose skull and divinity remained in the human world after the gods departed.

• Yan Hu reported that Tiakin had declared himself K’uhul Ajaw and presented the Highland solar God of War as the Maya’s present-world Main God through the Skull of the Ancient Sage.
• Yan Hu explained that Tiakin had formed a marriage alliance with Toltec divine descendants, borrowed their troops to restore Mayapan, and called the Maya clans to oppose the Xiu Clan.
• Yan Hu said the Pudun, Boa, and Canul clans had pledged support for the revived Mayapan Kingdom.
• High Priest Tomatl recognized the theological maneuver as useful to the Main God’s missionary efforts, though he suspected a clever adviser had devised it.
• High Priest Tomatl questioned Yan Hu about the skull, and Yan Hu answered by chanting an ancient song about the sage who remained after the gods departed and whose skull endured.

Priest Tomatl examined how Mayapan’s rulers used the Skull of the Ancient Sage and Maya traditions to legitimize their conversion and planned restoration. After analyzing the alliances and political strategy behind the campaign, he asked Yan Hu how the other Maya clans had responded.

• Priest Tomatl questioned whether Maya clans would accept Tiakin’s claim that the Skull of the Ancient Sage authorized the Highland God of War as their Main God.
• Yan Hu explained that the skull represented the sacred appearance and divine legitimacy of Maya nobles, making it difficult for the clans to reject.
• Priest Tomatl concluded that the skull could support Mayapan’s religious and political authority, and analyzed the royal marriage, military intervention, and effort to rebuild a covenant against the Xiu Clan.
• Priest Tomatl identified the Pudun, Boa, and Canul clans as supporters of Mayapan’s restoration and suspected Eastern Sea Marshal Bertad had shaped the political strategy.
• Priest Tomatl asked Yan Hu whether any other Maya clan chiefdoms had publicly supported Mayapan’s restoration.

Tribes gathered in Kapok City to decide whether to recognize Tiakin and the restored Mayapan royal house, while the Lake Kingdom pressed its claim with military force and the Skull of the Ancient Sage. The Xiu Clan rejected the alliance and departed with three allied clans, while Chel condemned the highland god but offered the Cocoms support and coastal passage.

• Eastern Sea Marshal Bertad used the Kingdom’s cannons and a new temple to intimidate the gathered Maya envoys.
• Tiakin declared the restoration of the Mayapan royal house, and Snake King Kanul asked the envoys to respond to the proposed alliance treaty.
• Xiuwa denounced the skull and Tiakin’s claim, swore the Xiu Clan would fight the invaders, and drew Tiakin’s oath of vengeance.
• Bertad ordered Xiuwa expelled; envoys from the Weiyu, Deer Worm, and Lishu clans left with him, confirming their hostility.
• Amuchel recognized the skull and the Cocom lineage but rejected the highland god, urging Tiakin to return to the Heavenly Snake God while promising Chel’s military aid and coastal passage.

Tiakin and Bertad heard the Maya clan envoys declare their positions on restoring the Mayapan royal house, but none pledged troops to its war against the Xiu Clan. The Corn Clan offered only conditional allegiance, leaving the royal restoration dependent on the Highland Legion’s campaign.

• The Chel Chiefdom’s envoy declared friendly neutrality and allowed military passage, while Tiakin recognized its strained relationship with the Cocom remnants.
• Jinmu Kap affirmed the divine object and the Cocom descendants’ royal legitimacy, but said the Cupul Clan would remain neutral until it consulted the gods and ancestors.
• Taisituan left with Jinmu Kap, while Baixing Ixi declared that the Ekab Alliance would join the Xiu Clan against the Highland forces.
• Tikalo challenged Baixing Ixi’s claim to speak for the Ekab Alliance, but the envoy insulted the Cocom Clan and departed without changing his position.
• Suiyu recognized Tiakin’s identity and offered to renew the Corn Clan’s vassal covenant if its autonomy remained intact, but refused to send troops.
• Tikalo accepted the Corn Clan’s proposed terms in principle and said the covenant would be signed after the royal army defeated the Xiu Clan and returned to Mayapan.

Reed Sea Clan envoy Ewehai claimed his people descended from the Heavenly Snake Divine Descendants and offered support for Mayapan’s restoration in exchange for recognition as a branch line. Tiakin rejected that claim but secured the clan’s allegiance by promising his infant daughter Tizi in marriage to its heir, and Ewehai accepted the alliance.

• Ewehai recited the Reed Sea Clan’s origin story and claimed it was a hidden branch of the Heavenly Snake Divine Descendants, enraging Tikalo.
• Ewehai offered ships, warriors, grain, and jade to Mayapan in exchange for recognition as a Heavenly Snake branch line, threatening to approach the Xiu Clan otherwise.
• Tiakin refused to recognize the Reed Sea Clan’s bloodline claim but offered his youngest daughter, Tizi, in marriage to the clan’s heir.
• Ewehai learned Tizi was not yet two years old, then confirmed her auspicious birth date with Tiakin.
• Ewehai knelt before Tiakin and pledged the Reed Sea Clan as Mayapan’s vassal, agreeing to send troops when Tizi arrived in Reed Sea City-State.

After Ewehai departed with news of a marriage alliance, Red Bird Huoyan pledged his clan’s support to Tiakin but warned that the Canul Clan threatened the Chikin Chiefdom. Bertad offered protection in exchange for conversion to the highland main god, and Red Bird accepted, pledging the Huoyan Clan to the highland God-descendants.

• Ewehai left after paying homage to Tiakin and the divine relic, carrying news of a God-descendant marriage alliance back toward the Reed Sea Clan.
• Red Bird Huoyan, chief of the Huoyan Clan, knelt before Tiakin and declared loyalty to the Mayapan royal house.
• Red Bird promised warriors, grain, salt, and ships, but said the Canul Clan might seize the Chikin Chiefdom before the aid could reach Kapok City.
• Red Bird asked Tiakin to send two thousand divine Samurai to Fire Salt Village to deter the Canul Clan and secure the northern Salt Pools.
• Bertad offered the Huoyan Clan protection and a marriage alliance if it converted to the highland main god, warning that clans opposing the highlanders would be destroyed.
• Red Bird accepted the offer, claimed the Huoyan Clan descended from highland Samurai, and swore allegiance to the highland main god.

Bertad questioned whether the Skull of the Ancient Sage was genuine, while Tikalo and Tiakin revealed that the relic was a carefully aged imitation created to legitimize the Mayapan Royal Family. Tikalo explained the Cocom Clan’s political strategy, then fell silent when Tiakin asked whether the true skull was in their possession.

• Bertad reviewed the Maya clans’ alliances and enemies, then confronted Tikalo about whether the Skull of the Ancient Sage was real.
• Tikalo claimed the relic was genuine and offered it to the Mexica royal family, but Bertad warned him not to act independently and left the temple.
• Tiakin told Tikalo that he had recognized the skull’s resemblance to bone pottery produced by the clan, and Tikalo admitted that it was an imitation aged with secret techniques.
• Tikalo explained that the false relic helped the Mayapan Royal Family win the tribes’ acceptance and that the Cocom Clan hoped to regain power through political maneuvering.
• Tiakin asked whether the genuine Ancient Sage’s skull was in the Cocom Clan’s hands, and Tikalo told him to continue the conversation in the side hall.

Old Fox Tikalo revealed the legend and lost history of the Skull of the Ancient Sage to Tiakin, explaining that its true power had long been inaccessible. He said the original artifact was likely buried in Teotihuacan, leaving Tiakin with a possible means of survival against the Mexica People.

• Tiakin asked Tikalo to reveal the secret of the Skull of the Ancient Sage, and Tikalo warned him that rule depended on people, military strength, food, and weapons rather than divine objects.
• Tikalo sang the ancient account of the skull’s powers, which had once let the Snake Ancestor hear the gods and the voices of ordinary people.
• Tikalo explained that later Heavenly Snake Divine Descendants could not use the skull’s power, and that the true artifact had been lost when Teotihuacan captured Tikal.
• Tikalo said the Teotihuacans took the skull and other sacred objects, then their empire collapsed, which the Maya ancestors believed was the Ancient Sage’s curse.
• Tikalo revealed that the skull was likely buried in Teotihuacan, the sacred city revived by the Mexica People.

Tikalo told Tiakin that Xolotl’s divine inspiration and the Mexica People’s rapid rise came from the Skull of the Ancient Sage, which he believed lay beneath the Pyramid of the Moon. He warned Tiakin not to pursue the relic, but to keep the secret as a last resort to protect the Maya royal house.

• Tiakin questioned whether the Mexica People had uncovered the Skull of the Ancient Sage and gained its power.
• Tikalo recounted his investigations in Teotihuacan and explained how Xolotl’s unusual childhood convinced him that Xolotl had contacted the sacred relic.
• Tikalo attributed the Mexica People’s inventions, Divine Script, and conquests to knowledge Xolotl received from the Skull of the Ancient Sage.
• Tiakin reacted with fury at the thought that the Maya sacred object had fallen into Mexica hands, and Tikalo cautioned him to remain allied with them.
• Tikalo revealed that he had tested the Mexica People with an imitation relic and believed Xolotl did not know the Skull’s true source or location.
• Tikalo advised Tiakin to reveal the secret only if the Mexica People threatened the royal house, then sang mournfully about the lost Ancient Sages and the rise of Xolotl.