009

"What have you got for me, Chief Tannabok?" Jaguar asked, slinking up to the side of the much larger man from behind.

The chief jolted, then exhaled.

"Lord Jaguar... You've returned earlier than I expected." he said, rubbing his chest for a moment. "It's lucky, since the runners made good time too. I was starting to think that I would have to keep the guests occupied with another emergency welcoming feast so that they didn't realize they were being kept waiting."

"Guests?" Jaguar questioned.

"Yes, that's... well. You asked me to find potential 'Jaguar Warriors', but when it comes down to it... El Dorado is not a particularly warlike city." Tannabok pointed out. "We have guards to defend ourselves and some hunters, but neither are... particularly skilled. Rather, our farmers and artisans produce trade goods which we exchange with nearby tribes if we need more meat, or for mercenaries to act on our behalf. I've sent word to a tribe we have worked with before, a small group of mobile raiders along the great river. It seems like this season's campsite is closer to us than I thought, as the runners could make it in less than a day."

"Excellent. That's even better than I had expected." Jaguar said with a grin.

"Ah... How so?" Tannabok replied tentatively.

"Long term goals. After the conquistadors. I'll explain later." Jaguar said, waving it off. "For now, there is a demonstration to make, of the sort of benefits I can offer. I've stolen a very useful trick from the gods of another world. Bring something that you can only just barely lift off the ground, and that will show the effect very nicely."

Tannabok seemed puzzled, but slowly nodded after a moment.

...

The tribe that he had contacted was a group of women warriors of the sort that had resulted in the great South American river being dubbed 'the Amazon'. This was also good for Jaguar! But he needed to focus on the pageantry, since the runners didn't seem impressed with him, or with Tannabok's grunting heave to lift a golden monkey statue off the ground before he put it back down to catch his breath.

And then Jaguar called upon his divinity, creating a sound like a snarling cat as energy rippled around him... not because he needed to, but for the effect and to spark widening eyes from the tribal runners. If they believed in his identity after this, then it was worth the minor flashy expense.

Rather than using a tool to break his skin, and give the impression that just anything could, Jaguar lightly cut the tip of his thumb open with a canine before smearing a droplet of Ichor to inscribe a Falna on Tannabok's back, with spots and an image like a stylized feline maw gaping wide open.

It would have been better if the first was someone more attractive to Jaguar, but needs must. In any case, the golden statue that had taken multiple men to bring over, and that Tannabok had struggled to lift before the Falna was now easily raised up over his head with both arms. One arm was more of a struggle, but he could still lift it off the ground.

The genuine surprised amazement at the result of the blessing Jaguar had bestowed was an important part of the show. There didn't need to be any further demonstration, as the pair of runners quickly whispered between themselves before making a firm declaration on behalf of their small tribe that they would indeed be interested in forming the core of El Dorado's Jaguar Warriors.

They would be here within the day, they declared.

It was good news. And it gave Jaguar the time to outline the greater plan as they scrambled off to inform their sisters that a god was handing out superpowers in exchange for their independent status. Jaguar imagined that some of them might decide freedom was more important, but their loss if so... and if they got any bright ideas about taking over, well, then he would have an opportunity to demonstrate that what he gave could also be taken away.

For now... Jaguar sketched out a crude world map in the sand, showing the seven continents, before he began to talk.

"Our enemies come from around here." he said, circling Europe and drawing an arrow from it to their general as Tannabok watched. "A voyage across this sea takes months. A great endeavor, and a risky one. It's not unknown for their vessels to sink along the way, and have everyone aboard them that cannot swim to another passing nearby die afterward. You might think that this means that if Cortes and his underlings disappear in the jungle, the Spaniards will decide that sending people was a bad idea and not risk the expense of another voyage. That isn't what will happen."

"People don't like to think they have made a bad decision, or got the bad end of a deal. So, they'll try again?" Tannabok said.

"Yes, and worse. There is not one nation in this area, but many." Jaguar said, tapping Europe. "Spain will be incensed that their conquerors were defeated, and prepare another, larger fleet for an invasion. Perhaps worse is the risk that other nations over the sea will see what happened, laugh, and attempt to demonstrate that they can succeed where Spain failed. These lands are wealthy in poor and desperate souls willing to do terrible things for those who are willing to pay them and give them food. It is likely that a year or two at most after dealing with Cortes, we will see a stream of ever more invaders come to plant a flag in the ground, build small towns along the coast, and claim our lands as their lands."

"Can we win?" Tannabok asked, before correcting himself. "That is... surely we can win, lord Jaguar."

"We probably could. It would be hard fought, bloody, and likely as not create an eternal enmity between nations as they bitterly seethe that foreign tribes of barbarians dared to not roll over and show their belly... but we could probably win. As I bring more advantages from other worlds, that becomes more likely still." Jaguar said. "But... it would be better if they can be convinced that they should not be fighting at all."

Jaguar made a few more X marks on the crude map in the sand, at Africa and in the general region of India and China.

"These are where tribes of men with skin dark as coal can be found. About as far away over the ocean as we are, though the vessels can remain in sight of shore for the whole voyage. They similarly have the intention to make colonies in these lands, trading where they must, but generally preferring to claim the land and every resource upon it as their own, as they make the native tribes their slave workers and whip them to death in the fields." Jaguar said, before tapping India and China. "Here, though... Here, they do not bother attempting to make colonies. Here, they simply trade. Dare you venture a guess as to why?"

"... It would be much further away." Tannabok mused aloud, and Jaguar nodded.

"Just so. That is one reason, and a simple one. It's much further away, and they lose many vessels on the trips there and back to raiders and the dangers of the sea." Jaguar said. "But their ships can carry much more in their holds than a small trade caravan in their carts, and so it is worth the danger. Also, the people here are not scattered tribes that make war on each other very often, but united and strong empires beneath clear rulers. As such, even if the peoples of Europe attempted to mount an invasion over the sea, they would lose many of their forces along the way, whether they died or lost the taste for blood over the many months of travel, and once they arrived tired and dispirited they would be quickly disposed of by fresh armies eager to defend their homelands."

He shrugged.

"There is nothing to be done about distance. The world's shape is not so easy a thing to change, and the sea between us will not grow wider. But there are other things to be done." Jaguar said.

"You intend to unite all the tribes into an empire that everyone agrees to follow." Tannabok realized, in first amazement and then trepidation. "There are many kings that will not be pleased at the idea."

"They must be brought under our control, either by diplomacy... or by war. If the Europeans come and can stir the tribes up against one another, make us bleed each other while they wait for us to tire and then pounce? Then we fall, and all the peoples of this land become nothing but the beaten dogs and bitter servants of the invaders, sculptor and king toiling side by side in the dirt of their farms." Jaguar said. "If the tribes present a united face, however, enough to make the Europeans question if war is worth the cost, then they may be repelled with far less death and bitter grudges."

Jaguar snapped his fingers and smirked.

"Which leads to the next part of the plan." he continued. "Once they begin to feel that it might not be worth trying to invade us for what we have, the next step is to make them want friendly ties. Make it more beneficial for them to keep up ties, and make it so that interruptions to national relations are a great loss for them. Fortunately, we already have a pretty good idea of what they want, and want enough to gladly risk hundreds of lives at sea over a course of potentially years for every voyage, if something goes wrong. More importantly, we know where to get it, much faster than they can."

Jaguar drew another arrow, one with two heads, connecting the far side of the Americas with China and India.

Tannabok hummed thoughtfully, eyes glinting as Jaguar's teeth gleamed in reflected sunlight.

"How fortunate for us, that Cortes has brought an example of the European style of ocean-faring ships to be investigated and studied." Jaguar said, voice a deep and throaty purr. "It will take hard work, but once we have people who understand enough of how they work to build ocean-faring vessels of our own? We will be well on our way to an economic victory."

"So once they find out they can't just raid us for what they want... We become their best trading partners, delivering the treasures from the Empires across the other ocean, and they might even go to war against people bothering us without anyone needing to lift a finger." Tannabok mused aloud. "Now this is a plan I like!"