Knots and Ink

The Americas were first glimpsed not by Europeans, but by Ming explorers, reshaping the course of history. The Incan Empire thrives under the watchful Sapa Inca, wielding wheellock rifles to unify its vast realm, while the Aztecs and Mayan city-states wage endless flower wars, enriched and armed by Chinese commerce. Across the Pacific, China rides the tide of a proto-industrial revolution, producing firearms, porcelain, and paper that flow into the New World long before Europe can reach it. In this world of anachronistic technology, ink, gunpowder, and silver collide, while whispers of distant ships from the east hint at dangers and discoveries yet to come.