42

You emerge in late afternoon, with the sun sinking behind jungle-clad mountains to the west and the False Icon still hanging fixed in the air. Its presence turns the sky silver-gray even with the approach of dusk.

The village consists of about thirty circular houses that slope down toward a broad brown river. Several people—tall and well formed like Kothis and Keimia, with the same ocher skin and glossy black hair, though not so richly attired—turn to stare at you, not bothering to hide their curiosity.

This is not an isolated tribe, however: a small dock along the river holds canoes and small craft of varying design, and different-looking people speak to the locals there, haggling over fish or fruit. You see stone knives, cured leather, a potter coiling a pot (they have no pottery wheels), bows and nets for fishing, and jewelry of scrimshaw, amber, and polished agate. Chief Kothis alone seems to possess metal, and then only soft, beaten gold.

Like the River People, the people of Mexihco did not work metal except gold and soft alloys for thousands of years, until the people of the northern continent arrived with iron. Of course, if the Specular's chronometer is correct, this is not merely "thousands" of years before recorded civilization. You can't help but notice that though the River People know how to cure hides and weave nets, they have not yet considered woven clothing, despite the plentiful natural materials.

You brim with energy after your long convalescence. After the shock of your arrival and long nights of fever dreams, you now have a goal—the Apostolic Mound—but your ignorance about this place is astonishing. You need to learn more. But from whom?