370AD marked the beginning of a new era in the history of the Republic of Carthage. Our researchers had developed the study of Monotheism, our first step into the Middle Ages. After two short wars, all of Egypt had been subdued, and was being developed. (For details on those wars and the Ancient history of Carthage,
click here .) Construction of the Forbidden Palace had begun in Cirta (just west of the Egyptian lands) in 340AD, and would take approximately 300 years.
It was now time once again to look outward, beyond our local archipelago, and discover new lands and new peoples to trade with. Since we had discovered a thick bank of fog to the south of Incense Island, that seemed like a logical place to begin. After all, most of our earlier islands had been shrouded in fog, why else would it be there? However, that galley had died in the attempt, and it would be too risky to try and cut through the fog one at a time, especially in treacherous waters where speed was of the essence. Remembering the legends of Hanno an dhis journey, it was thought there would be safety in numbers. Therefore it was determined to assemble a Great Expedition. This group, gathered near Sabratha, included 5 galleys, carrying 2 swordsmen and 2 horses to explore any lands they might find.
They left sight of land in 390AD, fighting their way into the first layer of fog. Two of the five galleys did not survive, lost in treacherous waters, but the other three pressed on south. The elite galley pushed into the second layer, and seeing a third layer of fog, waited for another galley to push forward until he saw sunlight once again. However, there was no land on the other side of the fog!!! After muttering some curses only a sailor could understand, they pressed further south, but still saw nothing.
The year 410AD began with all three galleys still afloat! With no fog in sight, they decided to split up in the hopes of finding land. The lead galley continued due south, a second went southeast, and the third went southwest, where just over the horizon they saw a whale spouting out of the sea! Unfortunately, that was the last we heard from them, as they and the galley to the south were both lost in the treacherous waters. Now we were faced with a quandry, as the remaining galley had seen nothing, but would take it decades to reach the whale spotted by the southwestern galley. Instead they pressed on, going SW then S, hoping to find some more land, while back home several ports were scrambling to outfit more galleys to follow up on the whale sighting. 430AD was another tense year, as our sole surviving galley stayed afloat in the deep ocean, then sailed due south again, but was still met with nothing but ocean. Amazingly, they survived yet again, and continued south, and just when their voyage seemed to end, they caught sight of a seacoast, and the markings of a new people:
America!
Having trouble uploading the screenshots to the server, but here is the first, as the survivors of the Great Expedition break through the fog!
