Tales from the Six Nations

[krc]

The Iroquois army entered winter quarters in the woods and fields around Teotihuacan, where they waited for spring. Training exercises continued throughout the winter. New recruits trickled in slowly to fill the gaps in the regiments left by the wounded.

Spoiler :

Spring came early that year. Daffodils and crocuses peeked out of the snow, which soon melted. The cherries bloomed, and the dogwoods. The Iroquois army, back at full strength, collected their supplies and set out on a new campaign. They extended their lines in a long arc north of the Aztec capital at Tenochtitlan. The Aztec army clustered around the city. Their morale was extremely low; they had suffered a string of major defeats. In spite of their best efforts, they were unable to stop the steady Iroquois advance.

Spoiler :

Faced with his disspirited army, Montezuma offered to negotiate a peace treaty. Hadawa'ko asked Thayendanegea to accompany him to the negotiations. In turn, Thayendanegea brought along a staff officer, Donehogawa, to draft the document that would establish the conditions for peace. Montezuma agreed to pay reparations. He also surrendered control of the city of Tlatelolco. Hadawa'ko instructed Donehogawa to accept the surrender offer. The war against the Atecs was over.

Thayendanegea's role, however, was not yet ended. Tlatelolco occupied a strategically difficult position. It was separated from the rest of the lands of the Six Nations by Tenochtitlan. On its far side, it bordered Mongol territory. Thayendanegea knew that it would be difficult to administer the city, and the close borders were likely to cause friction between the Iroquois and the Mongols. After pointing out the dangers, Thayendanegea and Donehogawa were dispatched to negotiate a treaty with the Great Khan. The Iroquois agreed to transfer control of Tlatelolco over to the Great Khan in return for a substantial payment of gold and gems.

Montezuma was left with only a shell of his dreams of world conquest. He controlled only one city. His army was reduced in size and power; he would never again pose a threat to his neighbors. He was surrounded by powerful foes; the Iroquois to the north, the Mongols to the south and west. And those foes were fully prepared to cooperate against him if he so much as thought about taking aggressive action. As spring turned into summer, Tenochtitlan remained in gloom. Montezuma brooded silently in his empty throne room, bereft of friends or allies, completely alone.

 

[Pieman]

Very enjoyable read, keep it up

 

[krc]

With the successful completion of the Aztec war (and the diplomatic maneuvering that followed), Thayendanegea left the military and returned to his home in the forests west of Akwesasme.

Spoiler :

He lived there, quietly, for many years. He planted corn and other crops to supplement the game that he still hunted successfully. He still traveled, but less frequently and less extensively than he had in his youth. He stayed at home, "alone with his memories", as he told visitors.

And he had many visitors. Akwesasme had grown substantially. With its position on the major north-south trade route in the prosperous Iroquois empire, Akwesasme was becoming a center of trade. Veterans of the Aztec War made it a point to detour off the main route to visit Thayendanegea. As the city grew, more and more veterans built homes near Thayendanegea. They brought their children along to visit and, later, their grandchildren. Thayendanegea humored them with stories and tales of his adventures: the journeys alone when he mapped the unknown forest trails, the face-to-face meetings with Montezuma, the great battles. The veterans wives stopped by, bringing casseroles and soups and cakes, checking in on the aging hero, making sure he was comfortable and had enough to eat. Thayendanegea still thought of himself as the one who walked alone, even as he lived at the center of a thriving community.

Shortly after his 93rd birthday, Thayendanegea fell ill. Word spread rapidly across the Six Nations. People traveled from every corner of the empire to see the great man one last time. In the late fall, on the very anniversary of the capture of Teotihuacan, Thayendanegea died. He died in his sleep, in his own bed, utterly alone -- except for the hundreds of friends and neighbors who filled his house, and his yard, and his fields, and the trails leading out to the rest of the world, still waiting to be explored.

The End.

 

[Heerlo]

Great story.I enjoyed reading that.