Burton K Wheeler
Moderator
In what would be the center of a great continent-spanning empire somewhen, 500 years in the future and many steps sideways, a priest resplendent in feathered robes ascended the stone steps of the greatest of many earthen mounds to greet the dawn.
To the east he looked, his face turned to the rising sun like the sunflowers that grew around the fields. He sang thanks to the Sun for rising and shining forth upon his people and giving rise to the bounty which fed them. He cast a handful of red ochre into the gentle breeze.
To the south he looked, across the hivelike cluster of dwellings that housed 300,000 servants of the Sun. He prayed to Muskrat for the ability to dive deep for wisdom and that the Serpent might stay contained within the Earth. He cast black charcoal dust and turned his back to the Sun.
To the west he looked, across the great muddy river that served as a highway across half a continent and lifeblood for millions. He gave thanks to Red Hawk and Thunder Boy for defeating the Serpent and teaching the People how to live. He cast yellow cornmeal which fell and speckled his sandaled feet.
To the north he looked, across bottomland fields richly pimpled with mounds of maize, beans, and squash, the gifts of the Sun to his people. He prayed to the Thunderbirds in their lodge in the north. He gave thanks for the rain and for the power they generously shared with the People. He prayed that they would give strength to the warriors of the People as they faced the many enemies who envied their prosperity and power. He cast a final handful of azurite powder as the earliest rays began to warm the damp earth, and once again descended the steps.
In the four corners of the great country that would never be in his world, four men with more earthly concerns made greeting not to the Four Directions but to other men who the tides of history had cast in their path.
To the East, Quintus Fufius Dubnorus stepped from his ship onto a sandy shore to present an ultimatum to the dreadful VamBandu.
To the South, Chicomecozcacuauhtli, a pochteca of Mexico, met to trade with the Tuetinini Dineh in the dusty hills on the edge of their waterless plains.
To the West, Kwagwichad of the Squalliabsch approached a fort of the Aluutiiq on the fir-clad bluff above teeming mudflats.
To the North, the cousins Sigurd Ragnarsson and Einar Jaybeak paddled their birch canoe through a wilderness of rocks and trees, making their way to a thin column of smoke which could only barely be distinguished from the mist of the boggy forest.
A continent which in another time would have been freshly despoiled and depopulated by the sudden arrival of outsiders instead stands as part of the world, however distant the great empires of the Old World might have been from the stepped mounds on the Mississippi. Even so, the thousand nations of the New World face challenges as the Old World continues to encroach, both directly with traders and conquerers, and indirectly with horses, plagues, and iron.
To the east he looked, his face turned to the rising sun like the sunflowers that grew around the fields. He sang thanks to the Sun for rising and shining forth upon his people and giving rise to the bounty which fed them. He cast a handful of red ochre into the gentle breeze.
To the south he looked, across the hivelike cluster of dwellings that housed 300,000 servants of the Sun. He prayed to Muskrat for the ability to dive deep for wisdom and that the Serpent might stay contained within the Earth. He cast black charcoal dust and turned his back to the Sun.
To the west he looked, across the great muddy river that served as a highway across half a continent and lifeblood for millions. He gave thanks to Red Hawk and Thunder Boy for defeating the Serpent and teaching the People how to live. He cast yellow cornmeal which fell and speckled his sandaled feet.
To the north he looked, across bottomland fields richly pimpled with mounds of maize, beans, and squash, the gifts of the Sun to his people. He prayed to the Thunderbirds in their lodge in the north. He gave thanks for the rain and for the power they generously shared with the People. He prayed that they would give strength to the warriors of the People as they faced the many enemies who envied their prosperity and power. He cast a final handful of azurite powder as the earliest rays began to warm the damp earth, and once again descended the steps.
In the four corners of the great country that would never be in his world, four men with more earthly concerns made greeting not to the Four Directions but to other men who the tides of history had cast in their path.
To the East, Quintus Fufius Dubnorus stepped from his ship onto a sandy shore to present an ultimatum to the dreadful VamBandu.
To the South, Chicomecozcacuauhtli, a pochteca of Mexico, met to trade with the Tuetinini Dineh in the dusty hills on the edge of their waterless plains.
To the West, Kwagwichad of the Squalliabsch approached a fort of the Aluutiiq on the fir-clad bluff above teeming mudflats.
To the North, the cousins Sigurd Ragnarsson and Einar Jaybeak paddled their birch canoe through a wilderness of rocks and trees, making their way to a thin column of smoke which could only barely be distinguished from the mist of the boggy forest.
A continent which in another time would have been freshly despoiled and depopulated by the sudden arrival of outsiders instead stands as part of the world, however distant the great empires of the Old World might have been from the stepped mounds on the Mississippi. Even so, the thousand nations of the New World face challenges as the Old World continues to encroach, both directly with traders and conquerers, and indirectly with horses, plagues, and iron.
. Perhaps a Norse colonization of OTL (Canadian) Northwest Territory then? Or, perhaps more bizarrely, a scenario in which the Nordic culture became prevalent in Russia and they spread across Siberia, navigating along the White and Barents Sea to reach the Pacific American coast?