Chapter Summaries

High Priest Ge Niao oversaw Leijin Town’s growing population of converts and planned to seize control of the Great Yoeme Tribe and its coal resources. As he looked north toward his ambitions, an escaped Feathered Serpent was heading toward the Northern Continent.

• High Priest Ge Niao led eight thousand converted tribesmen in prayer to Huitzilopochtli at Leijin Town’s pyramid Temple.
• Leijin Town absorbed refugees seeking food, clothing, and protection, while its society developed a hierarchy of priests and chiefs, craftsmen and warriors, and laborers.
• High Priest Ge Niao planned to build his power for two more years, then take control of the Great Yoeme Tribe and the northern Fire Stone Coal belt.
• High Priest Ge Niao also coveted the Opata Alliance’s Red Copper Mountain and its people.
• An escaped Feathered Serpent set out for the Northern Continent to find a place for his clan to settle.

The Leijin Great Tribe’s brick, bronze, and trade industries fueled the spread of Main God worship and kingdom influence across the Northern Continent. Farther north, salt routes, farming settlements, and the absorption of the Oak Tribe extended that expansion, while North Birdstone Village struggled to thrive.

• High Priest Ge Niao led the lighting of eight brick kilns in Leijin Town as the town’s workshops and trade prospered.
• Main God worship and amulets spread from the Great Yoeme and Guaymas Tribes to the Opata Alliance and peoples near the Colorado River.
• South Birdstone Village shipped guano fertilizer south, while Priest Sha Hongshu struggled to feed North Birdstone Village and refine its bitter salt.
• Priest Kuimu organized worship, crop planting, and salt transport among the Kumeyaay and Ipa Great Tribe, linking their salt lake to the kingdom’s coastal ports.
• Three Mountain Port grew through Chumash conversion, farming, and worship, while the Oak Tribe was absorbed and its totem site received a Sun Hummingbird carving and Black Snake banner.

Black Snake Tlilcoatl worked to establish his impoverished clan in California, capturing Salinan people and preparing new fields while seeking resources to support the settlement. When Nieka revealed a rich jade source called Jade Cove, Tlilcoatl set out to inspect it and pursue a new hope for the clan.

• Nieka reported that the Black Snake clan had defeated five Salinan tree-tribe clans, captured more than six hundred people, and suffered only light losses.
• Black Snake Tlilcoatl ordered the clan to focus on spring farming and considered how to build up its crops, housing, and population.
• Tlilcoatl asked Nieka whether the captured tribes possessed metal ore, but Nieka said they had found none.
• Nieka showed Tlilcoatl jade and gems taken from the camps and described their sources in the coastal mountains.
• Nieka told Tlilcoatl that the coastal jade source was called Jade Cove, and Tlilcoatl hurried northwest with Nieka and fifty warriors to see it.

West Mountain Port grew into a thriving kingdom settlement, using fishing, farming, shipbuilding, and trade to expand its influence around Golden Bay. After the North Bay Tribe converted to the Main God, Jia Shu looked forward to spreading the faith across the region and establishing a major city-state.

• West Mountain Port expanded to thirty-two hundred people, built a shipyard and temple, and began constructing longships with locally available materials.
• Miwok tribesmen caught the spring fish run, while women and children salted the catch for storage in the Big Fish Granary.
• The North Bay Tribe’s elders voted to convert to the Main God, and priests began settling in Napa Valley as other Golden Bay tribes followed its example.
• Jia Shu traveled to the market island with salted fish to trade for goods and attract Miwok tribes to the kingdom’s port.
• Jia Shu welcomed envoys from more than twenty tribes and envisioned Golden Bay becoming a major city-state and ecclesiastical province.

Priest Xi Feng oversaw the first iron smelting at Lake Bay Port and considered how to increase production despite the long, laborious ore transport and limited population. He planned to establish a mining village near the iron mountain and expand the Kingdom’s influence among the Kahosadi, while envisioning a future for his growing clan.

• Priest Xi Feng opened the Vertical Furnace with seven or eight thousand jin of pyrite ore, while the blacksmith apprentices protected themselves from the poisonous smoke with damp cloths.
• Xi Feng calculated that mining and transporting ore from the eastern mountains consumed hundreds of workers and months of labor, leaving the port short of people and iron.
• Xi Feng welcomed Kahosadi scouts with food and iron axes, heard their birdlike songs, and sent them home with requests for marriage alliances and trade.
• Xi Feng planned to negotiate for a permanent mining village near the iron mountain and to increase iron production by half before the end of the year.
• Xi Feng prayed for Lake Bay Port to prosper and for his two newborn sons to inherit and expand the stronghold he had established.

High Priest Kejie used North Port to convert Tolowa captives into followers and recruit them as auxiliary fighters, while expanding the kingdom’s influence along the Colombia Great River. He aimed to lead the River Mouth Alliance and build a lasting position for his family and the Main God’s faith.

• Three kingdom Longships brought salt, coal, and sixty Tolowa captives to North Port, where High Priest Kejie converted them to the faith of Huitzilopochtli.
• Priest Keshu had intercepted more than twenty captives at South Port, where his cornfields and Tortillas helped sustain the fleet and its warriors.
• Kejie tolerated Keshu’s capture of recruits because North Port lacked grain and relied on the Kingdom Warriors’ support.
• Kejie explained that North Port had two thousand people and an alliance with more than thirty thousand tribespeople, which was fighting the Kalapuya tribes upstream.
• Kejie had traded weapons for experienced Tolowa captives to strengthen his forces and planned to use the conflict to expand North Port’s population and influence.
• Kejie resolved to lead the River Mouth Alliance and spread the Main God’s faith, hoping to secure a lasting place for his family in the West Coast priesthood.

Makah Whale Port caught its first gray whale of the spring, strengthening its role as the main supply hub for the Far North Coast. Priest Zu Yu considered how his control of the port supported Zuwaro’s expedition, while Zuwaro endured the winter on the Kamchatka Peninsula with an Ezo girl.

• Jinghai heard a whale approaching, and the Makah hunters lured it into the strait and harpooned it.
• After a day-long hunt, the gray whale stranded and died, and the fleet began processing its meat, oil, and bones.
• Zu Yu celebrated Whale Port’s first whale catch of the year and reflected on the port’s importance to the northern supply route.
• Zu Yu prayed for Zuwaro as he considered how little news could cross the frozen northern sea.
• Zuwaro stood beside his icebound longships on the Kamchatka Peninsula and held an Ezo girl in his arms.

The chapter described the Far North route’s ports and their populations, resources, and hardships as spring approached. It ended with High Priest Chimer in the frozen north, asking Sukeichiro when two pregnant mares would give birth.

• Chief Priest Changyu surveyed Divine Shellfish Port, where a surviving Heiltsuk group had joined the settlement and residents prepared to fish and expand potato farming.
• At Divine Eagle Wing Port, Priest Pineapple struggled to catch fish while his wife Qinyan watched, and tribespeople joked about secretly giving her their catches for him.
• At Divine Gold Creek Port, Priest Marigold grew angry that High Priest Chimer had given his gold-rich port no additional Longships and threw a Gold Talisman into the snow.
• High Priest Chimer had strengthened Divine Blood Bay Port with Longships and kingdom settlers because of its rich fishery, waterways, and potential for expansion.
• High Priest Chimer asked Sukeichiro when two pregnant mares would give birth, and Sukeichiro warned him not to approach them.

At Divine Whale Port, High Priest Chimer examined two pregnant Yakut mares and learned about their temperament and breeding cycle. He calculated how the Kingdom might build a horse herd and hoped for news from Zuwaro’s expedition to the Western Sea mainland.

• Chimer approached the pregnant mares, but Sukeichiro warned that his wolfdog scent frightened them, so Koubao pulled the dogs farther away.
• Sukeichiro explained that the mares were Yakut horses traded from the Sanda tribe and described how they could be bred and cared for.
• Chimer learned that mares could foal once a year and that young mares could begin breeding at three or four years old.
• Chimer calculated that a herd of a thousand horses would take about a decade to build and decided the Kingdom should transport more mares from the mainland.
• Chimer reflected on the far-northern ports’ growth and prayed that Zuwaro’s expedition would bring back skills, livestock, and crops from the Western Sea.

Zuwaro led the Kamchatka tribes through winter as they built up the Bird Tribe's harbor camp, tended reindeer, and prepared weapons and boats for spring. At the shore's stone tower, he mourned the sixty-two people lost in last year's storm and sea of fog, while Chishima Shell comforted him.

• The Deer Tribe tribesmen praised the Main God and the Black Stone that had helped them keep their reindeer through winter.
• The Bird Tribe members tended nearly a thousand reindeer, processed hides into leather armor, and made composite bows for the coming fighting.
• The captured Ainu tribesmen built fishing boats and fished along the shore as the tribes prepared for spring.
• Zuwaro prayed at the stone tower tomb for the sixty-two northern tribesmen, Kingdom Samurai, and Purepecha priests who had died in last year's storm and sea of fog.
• Chishima Shell comforted Zuwaro, and he told her that the dead would find peace in the Divine Kingdom.

Zuwaro recounted the deadly voyage that established the Kingdom’s western sea ports and explained his burden to Chishima Shell, who offered her people’s help. Shell began describing the Ainu homeland and its guardian spirits, leaving Zuwaro’s questions about the southern island unanswered.

• Zuwaro told Chishima Shell how storms, cold, and shipwrecks killed many sailors as Tami-kusa’s fleet established ports across the western island route.
• Zuwaro said he was responsible for stabilizing the sea route and bringing artisans, livestock, and crops back from the western continent.
• Chishima Shell assured Zuwaro that the Utari People trusted him and the Fire Divine Bird, and asked how they could help.
• Zuwaro asked Shell about the Ainu people and their conflicts with the Wajin on the southern island.
• Shell explained that the Ainu were divided into many branches and began telling how the Mountain, Ocean, and Village spirits once blessed their homeland.

Zuwaro listened as Chishima Shell recounted the Ainu creation myths and learned about the tribes of Hokkaido. After Shell revealed that the Ishikari Ainu Tribes had killed her father, Zuwaro vowed to avenge him and turned his attention to the island and its people.

• Chishima Shell explained that Kotan-kar was the highest Sky God, while animal guardian spirits watched over the Ainu tribes.
• Shell sang how the Fishing Owl Spirit made land, the Orca Spirit raised the island and created the tides, and the Bear Spirit gave birth to the Ainu ancestors.
• The Ainu tribespeople joined Shell's song, which described the spirits guiding people through life and carrying their souls to the Sky God.
• Shell told Zuwaro that her father had been killed during a migration, and Zuwaro promised to avenge him.
• Shell named the Ishikari, Sumunkur, Menasunkur, Yoichi, and Uchiura Tribes and explained their ties to the Wajin and her own tribe.
• Zuwaro learned of Hokkaido's Ainu population and resources, bringing the island under his attention.

Zuwaro decided that the Ainu were the Kingdom’s best prospects for spreading faith in the Main God and establishing power on the southern islands. Chishima Shell explained that the Wajin could not expand farther north because their rice crops could not grow in Ainu territory, which she believed the guardian spirits protected.

• Zuwaro concluded that the Ainu were more promising converts than the nomadic Mountain and Deer Tribes, and planned to sail south after the thaw to meet them and the Wajin.
• Zuwaro learned from Chishima Shell that the Ainu of the southern island were divided into five major tribal alliances, with the Buyo among the smallest and weakest.
• Shell said the powerful Ishikari Tribe had recently demanded snow ferret and snow fox pelts, apparently to trade with the Wajin.
• Zuwaro wondered why the Wajin had not conquered the remaining Ainu lands despite their greater numbers and their expansion across the islands.
• Shell insisted that the Wajin could not advance farther north because their rice and other crops could not grow there, a limit she attributed to the Ainu guardian spirits.

Zuwaro realized that cold-resistant potatoes could support agriculture across North Asia, where existing crops failed, and used the crop’s survival to tell Chishima Shell that the Rubber People’s god surpassed the Wajin rice god. After Musona arrived with a summons from the old grandmother, Zuwaro decided to visit her in May and negotiate tribal borders and marriage alliances.

• Zuwaro studied the snow-covered potato field and recognized that potatoes could grow where rice and other crops could not, potentially transforming North Asia.
• Zuwaro told Chishima Shell that the Main God protected the Ainu and that the Ainu were scattered kin of the Rubber People, and she responded as if his words were a romantic promise.
• Musona arrived by sled and told Zuwaro that the old grandmother wanted to see him before the spring thaw and the tribe’s northward migration.
• Zuwaro asked about the old grandmother’s health and Mu Quan’s position as her successor, then said he would travel north in May with Musona and two hunters to settle pasture and camp borders.
• Zuwaro planned to ask the old grandmother for a tribal noblewoman to marry Tami-kusa and proposed that future Sea Tribe fleets also form marriage ties with the Mountain Tribe.

The High Priest Council examined the strange heads and possessions brought from the Eastern Sea and faced the political consequences of Xolotl’s prophecy coming true. High Priest Uger avoided making a decision and sent Acap to seek the Divine King’s judgment.

• The demon heads and belongings arrived at the Main God temple, where the elders inspected them and confirmed they came from an unknown people.
• Yazar reminded the council that Xolotl had predicted the white-skinned demons and asked whether they should recognize him as a Great Prophet and proclaim a holy war.
• Several elders considered how Xolotl’s growing religious authority could threaten their power and possibly lead him to become a new Elder.
• Uger recalled an earlier Alliance prophet whose predictions had strengthened the royal house and helped members of the priesthood rise to power.
• Uger asked Acap to visit the southern campaign battlefield and seek the Divine King’s decision about Xolotl’s fulfilled prophecy.

Acap and the High Priest Council agreed to send him south to inform Divine King Avet about the demon prophecy, while Acap privately resented the Divine King's plan to elevate Xolotl. At Yodzocahi, Xolotl assessed the formidable Mixtec strongholds and divined a bloody omen for the siege.

• Acap agreed to travel to the Mixtec front and formally seek the Divine King's decision about the demon prophecy.
• Tonatiuh suspected the Divine King was using the prophecy to increase his influence, while Acap brooded over Xolotl's planned rise within the High Priest Council.
• High Priest Uger ended the meeting, postponed other political matters, and ordered the four demon heads displayed beneath the temple pyramid.
• Xolotl arrived with the southern expedition at Yodzocahi and surveyed the city's defenses and the Cloud Altar temple above it.
• At the Divine King's request, Xolotl divined that the assault would bring mass death and bloodshed, and compared the expedition to Qin's conquest of Chu before reaching Yue.

The Mexica army besieged Yodzocahi while Cloud God Mountain waited for reinforcements and prayed for the rainy season. Far across the ocean, De La Cosa and his battered crew reached Portugal, but still faced the danger of Portuguese patrols.

• The Mexica priests invited Yodzocahi’s defenders to a pledged duel, but Cloud God Mountain refused, fearing the loss of his warriors.
• The Mexica army split its forces to raid the southern valley, encircle the city, and cut off its eastern mountain escape route.
• Cloud God Mountain sent messengers to seek aid, prayed for heavy rains, and ordered eighty weeping women sacrificed to the Rain God.
• Cloud God Mountain anticipated that Zapotec Bat Warriors would join the fighting in the eastern mountains.
• Captain De La Cosa reached the Portuguese coast with his battered carrack, and he and his crew prayed with relief before worrying about the patrol fleet.

Captain De La Cosa realized his exploration fleet had anchored in a Portuguese royal domain and feared the Portuguese would seize their valuable news of a new sea route. After Little Paulo revealed that the manor head had ridden east, De La Cosa ordered the ship to flee south through the night.

• Luis reported that the village lay near Coimbra and that royal tax officials had visited the area, leading De La Cosa to suspect it was a royal domain.
• De La Cosa ordered Luis to investigate further while the crew repaired the ship, loaded supplies, and kept Columbus and two natives below deck.
• Luis brought Little Paulo aboard, and De La Cosa promised to take him along if his information proved useful.
• Little Paulo said the manor head had watched the ship before riding east overnight, and recalled that tax collectors had arrived by the same road.
• De La Cosa concluded that the manor head had gone to report them to the Portuguese royal authorities and ordered the crew to raise sail and flee south.

Royal knight Faige mistook the unflagged ship that had visited the fishing village for a Castilian spy vessel and set off an urgent Portuguese naval pursuit. Portuguese fleets from Lisbon and Porto mobilized to search for the battered Santa Maria as it struggled at sea.

• Faige arrived at the fishing village, where his retainers interrogated villagers and took grain for the cavalry’s horses.
• A retainer reported that an unflagged, two-decked ship had given villagers cotton thread, asked about local news, and taken a serf aboard.
• Faige concluded that the ship was Castilian, then rode to Coimbra to report the suspected espionage to the Royal Steward.
• The Royal Steward ordered men to alert Porto and sent Faige to Pena Palace to request the deployment of the southern navy.
• Royal envoys delivered the king’s decree to Lisbon, and Bruno Cao led more than ten Caravels out of the harbor to pursue Santa Maria.

Bruno’s Portuguese ships pursued the damaged Santa Maria toward the western Atlantic, and their numbers grew as they encircled it. With supplies dwindling and capture imminent, Captain De La Cosa decided to kill the imprisoned Columbus and discard the evidence of the voyage.

• Bruno chased the flagless Santa Maria and called on nearby Portuguese ships to help intercept it.
• The Portuguese captains agreed to search together, hoping to capture the carrack and divide its wealth.
• By the next night, five Portuguese ships had surrounded the Santa Maria, while De La Cosa failed to shake them off.
• De La Cosa feared the Portuguese would discover the new sea route and the cargo from Cipangu if they captured the ship.
• De La Cosa took his cutlass and silently headed to the lower hold to kill the imprisoned Columbus.