Mendebaldean Euskaldunak: Basques in the West

All written while listening to this song.

90th Day of Our Journey
The Year of Our Lord 1183

Inigo is dead.

Last night, we could hear him raving and the priest muttering his incessant prayers throughout the ship. When the moon was just over the horizon, and I was taking my watch, Inigo suddenly burst out of his quarters, screaming "Death! Death awaits all Euskaldunak if we continue west!" His words sent a chill down my spine, and I was rising from my seat at the rudder when he turned towards me, mad, staring eyes looking into my eyes. I was paralyzed by his insane look. Then, he turned away and leapt into the sea; the riptide soon dragged his body away. The priest, who had followed him out of the crew quarters, quickly crossed himself as the rest of the awakened crew began leaving. The damnable thirst-madness has claimed another of our number.

But there is good news. This morning, the boy Endika, who was sitting in the crow's nest, suddenly yelled down to me, "Andoni! Andoni! I can see land!" I scaled the mast and looked as well; there, in front of us, lay a beautiful green island, hanging low over the sea. The crew below us cheered as I joyfully proclaimed, "We are saved! The Lord has saved us!" Captain Eizaguerre yelled, "Plot a course for the green land!"

We should arrive tomorrow.

91st Day of Our Journey
The Year of Our Lord 1183

We dropped anchor today, off of a glittering beach, with sand so white it looked like bone. There was a stream just within the jungle, and we drank happily and ate strange multicolored fish that swam just off the beach, in the deep blue lagoon. But all is not well here in paradise. When we landed, we saw a line of footprints leading off into the jungle....
 
I wonder if the author is going for a one-off influential contact or if this is the start of a sustained period of contact
 
whoa!!! i like this a LOT!!!

I will make this my new favorite thread if you keep it up. It's a very original idea and extremely plausible.

IIRC, the Basques were notorious for raiding the viking settlements in Greenland in the 15th century, and it was a Basque fishing expedition that informed the western world of the demise of the last settlement in Greenland. "One un-burried body left." I think was all they found. They did fish off Baffin Island, and Labrador i think.

However, I'm not sure if they ever made it into tropical America. Is the land they found tropical, or just swampy?
 
93rd Day of Our Journey
Year of Our Lord 1183

This island, I think, is not an island, or if it is, it is a very large one. We have penetrated deep into the strange trees beyond the beach, and have found only more trees. We shall likely not be able to explore further while we are here. The priest has been behaving strangely since we arrived; yesterday, he took me aside and told me, in hushed tones, that he believed we had arrived in Eden. Though I laughed him off and went back to my work, he has planted a seed of doubt in my mind. And more, something happened to convince me of his correctness.

Today we met the people of this land.

I was alone, roasting a fish for noon-day meal. The rest of the men had gone off to gather wood for primitive shelters. As I stoked the fire, there was rustling in the jungle. I pulled out my fishhook and prepared to do battle with whatever animal had decided to attack the camp. But lo, it was no animal. Instead, two short, brown-skinned men stepped out of the jungle. They each wore nothing except for a few shell necklaces and a triangular, woven bunch of leaves over their groin. One of them also held a sharpened wooden stick, burned at one end. I assume it was for hunting. One also held a large, folded leaf in his hand.

They did not seem surprised to see me, and approached the campfire slowly. I stood up and held out my fishhook defensively. One of the men seized his spear with both hands and seemed to be about to stab me, when the other stayed his hand with a pat. This man walked slowly towards the campfire, and held out the leaf, unrolling it as he did. A middling-sized fish lay in the leaf, along with several dark berries, the names of which I did not know. He smiled and gestured at the fish. Hesitantly, I retied my fishhook to my belt and reached forward, taking a berry. He gestured towards his mouth. I put it in my own mouth and chewed. To my surprise, it was delicious.

They stayed at the camp until my friends returned, the food-man and I striking up a rudimentary conversation. He gestured to his friend and himself, and said the word, "Ais." I take this to mean that his people are known as the Ais. I gestured to myself and the nearby ship and said, "Euskaldunak." He seemed confused by my gesture towards the ship, but did not ask. When the rest of the crew arrived, I told them what had happened, while the Ais looked on passively. The priest, Indalecio (I cannot believe I have forgotten to mention his name!), took this as further proof that we were in Eden; these, in his eyes, were uncorrupted. Privately, I disagree. I remember how the first Ais raised his spear to me.

Endika started to try and communicate using the sign-language methods I had used. The rest of the crew began constructing shelters, though they were all still surprised at the Ais' arrival. Meanwhile, Eizaguerre took me aside. "Andoni, tell me. What think you of these men?" I shrugged and said, "The taller one seems nice enough. But the other one, he tried to attack me when they first arrived." Eizaguerre frowned and did not speak for a few moments. "Tonight, I think, I will ask the crew if they want to leave or not yet. But listen to me; no matter what, we leave the priest behind." Surprised, I merely stared. "He has been sowing mutiny among the sailors, telling them that since we have arrived in Eden, it would be foolish for us to leave." Eizaguerre snorted. "It is foolish poppycock. We have families!" Then he walked away, leaving me to ruminate on what he had told me...
 
I like the new post. I'm curious if the almost act of aggression will hold significance. A raid perhaps?

So I'm going to guess they have landed in either Florida, Cuba, Hispaniola, or Brazil.

Can't wait for more! :D
 
Very interesting. I'm very curious about what happens after they get back from the New World. I'm sure the Pope will want to send missionaries to this "Eden".

Please, continue!
 
6th Day of Life in Eden
The Year of Our Lord 1183

I have decided to stay behind with the priest and his group. Eizaguerre put it to a vote last night and, surprisingly, almost half of the crew wanted to stay here in Eden. After a moment of thought, I, too, raised my hand. After all, I have nothing in Navarre to go back to; my father and mother are both dead, my brother and I have not spoken for years, and I have no wife. Endika is the closest I have to family, and he has also decided to stay here. I can build a new life here, in the land Adam and Eve forsook. Still, I almost changed my mind when Eizaguerre looked at me as the ship prepared to set off. His eyes were filled with the anger of betrayal. Then the ship set off and I was given peace.

The Ais returned this morning, after the ship set off. There were five more of them than last time, and a woman, too! I could not help but stare; I have not seen a woman in many a week. The one who gave me food (I have established that his name is Tanak, or something similiar) still appears to be their leader. He questioned me in sign language about the absence of the ship, and I explained as best I could, but he still seemed confused. After breaking bread with us, Tanak gestured to me and to himself. I understood that he wanted me to follow him. Endika followed me into the jungle with Tanak; I was grateful for the boy's presence. We trudged through the jungle slowly, none of us saying a word. Finally, after crossing a small swamp and stepping through a grove of tall white trees, we suddenly came into a clearing. I was surprised to see a group of long cabins, made of some sort of strange greenish reed. Tanak motioned at the village and said, "Jece." I take this to mean that this was the name of his place. A short woman came out of the cabin closest to us, and kissed Tanak on the cheek happily. Tanak communicated to me that this was his mate. After this, he gestured to the entire village, then tapped his own chest. I realized that he must mean that he is their leader, then realized that he thought of me as my people's leader, which may have been why he brought me here.

We ate with Tanak and his people (there were many of them, some who appeared out of the jungle during the meal and simply joined in) and then he presented us with several gifts; beads, weapons, and several roasted animals. We were helped by a tall, powerful Ais named Jafan. When we returned to the camp and Jafan disappeared into the jungle, I discovered that there were several primitive buildings on the beach already. One had a cross tied to the door; a church, I assume. In front of the church, all of the group was gathered, with Indalecio in front of them. Indalecio was making a speech to the people; he declared that here was to be established the "Free Land of Eden", where every man is equal in the sight of God and the only laws we follow are the Ten Commandments. Sounds good enough to me.

. . .

There is a consensus among historians today that without the priest Indalecio, the Basques never would have returned to Eden, except to fish. But the captain Eizaguerre felt responsibility towards his men, and felt the need to make sure they survived in the new land. As such, he spoke to his brother about the lands to the west, who just happened to be the great Navarrese statesman Trinite Guitterez (1), lord of Trevino. Guitterez was a close confidant of King Sancho the Wise, King of Navarre, and he told his ruler of the new lands. Immediately, King Sancho opted to keep them a secret known only to the Navarrese government, but still send men and ships to Eden. And so, on May 12, 1184, four large ships set forth from Pamplona, under the overall command of Eizaguerre Guitterez; in their hulls were many gifts for the natives, as well as weapons, horses, and even two cows....

Notes:
(1) A fictional character. The lists of Trevino's lords is rather sketchy, so I had to make this up. Also, there is a shady "Lord Trinite" who was one of Sancho's advisors.
 
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