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Blood Under Ice: A King Philip's War Game
Today is June 19, 1675. The days are hot, and the nights are humid in the forests and swamps of the southeastern corner of the Dawnlands. Every day it's getting warmer. Yet, it is not the heat that has made this New England summer unbearable. Eleven days ago, the Pilgrims hung three Wampanoags in Plymouth. All for the crime of killing another Wampanoag, an English favorite named John Sassamon. Now the drums of war beat with a steady rhythm. Their sound has begun to shake the Earth. A powder keg is about to explode. Only the strong will survive it.
Welcome to Blood Under Ice a grand strategy war game set during King Philip's War. This game takes inspiration from the work of some of SV's greatest GMs like @John7755 يوحنا and @Dadarian. I thank them both for their efforts to entertain the community and me over the past few years. I wanted to cover this topic because it's personal to me having grown up in the Connecticut River Valley and the history is under covered. I hope this game will encourage many of you to learn more about early colonial and indigenous history. I also hope you have fun. This game will be a mix of grand strategy with some Kriegspiel inspired battle simulations sprinkled in.
If you think that sounds fun please sign up by requesting a character from the list or creating one of your own. If you create your own please contact me on discord because I'd to help you develop your idea before you post.
Each character in this game will have an unlimited order count but will suffer from limited resources so keep that in mind. When we do battles, I'll take your orders over Discord, but for in-game turns please start a conversation with me here on the forums and title it BUI: [Insert Character Name]. Each turn will cover one month. Every faction will have statistics, but most of them will be a secret both to you and other players. I will pm you with any stats that pertain to you when you open your SV conversation with me.
If you're interested in joining Discord attendance is mandatory.
Plymouth Colony
The roots of England's first colony in the Algonquin "dawnlands" go back to a single congregation of a Protestant sect known as the Brownists. Their theology took much inspiration from Calvinism and they strongly rejected the Anglican church and its hierarchy. This led them to split off from the Church of England and adopt a democratic structure in which ministers, teachers, and church elders were elected by the adult men in their congregations. Each congregation was independent of the others and left to find its own exact interpretation of God's law.
The decision to split off from the Church of England drew the ire of the government of King James I. In 1607, the local Anglican Archbishop launched a crackdown on the Brownists that saw several prominent members of the movement arrested. This led the many members of the sect to relocate from the quiet Nottinghamshire village of Scrooby to the city of Leiden in Holland.
The Scrooby Congregation remained in Leiden until 1620. The decision to leave was not an easy one but seeing their children grow more Dutch and the eventual dissolution of their sect the Church elders decided to take a desperate move. They negotiated passage to North America through the aid of some English merchants who eventually lent them the Mayflower for their voyage.
In June 1619 they received a patent for their colony from King James and the following July the fittest and strongest among the congregation set sail from the Dutch port of Delshaven. Two months later they spotted the coast of Cape Cod. It was already November and with the weather starting to turn it took them about a month to find a proper place to build a colony.
During that month they made landfall several times. Their scouts encountered abandoned villages (recently cleared by plague or deserted by people who took the pilgrims for slave raiders) and Indigenous burial mounds both of which they looted for food stuffs like corn. This did little to endear them to the locals and in time they would have to repay this debt.
Before the Mayflower anchored at Plymouth it anchored at another site now named Providencetown at the very tip of Cape Cod. It was there that the pilgrims signed a compact agreeing to govern their new colony as they governed their church. All 41 male passengers would have a vote.
It took the pilgrims until December 21, 1620, to make landfall at Plymouth and start building their settlement. Working without shelter or sufficient fresh food disease and exhaustion claimed 45 out of 101 settlers who had undertaken the passage. Despite several small skirmishes with local bands of Native Americans it took until March for a formal meeting to take place.
Shortly after that the pilgrims met with and formed a defensive alliance with Sachem Massasoit of the Wampanoag. Working with an indigenous interpreter named Squanto who had lived for some time in England the pilgrims slowly learned how to live in North America. He taught them how to grow the three sisters and together in the fall of 1621 the Wampanoag and the pilgrims held a feast together.
Relations continued to grow closer over the next year as Massasoit agreed to sign an exclusive trade pact with the English. Yet, that July crisis struck the settlement when a young boy was captured by the Nausets who were angered by the Pilgrims' actions in stealing corn from their mounds and settlements several years before. Acting with an even hand the Pilgrims agreed to repay the corn they'd taken in exchange for the boy and this did much to maintain the peace in the coming years.
Throughout the remainder of the 1620s Plymouth Colony continued to grow slowly but steadily eventually reaching 300 souls by 1630. Many of these settlers were members of the Scooby Congregation who were still stuck in Holland. Yet, some of the settlers were also unaffiliated. In 1624 cattle arrived in the colony for the first time and would alongside other European livestock act to slowly inflame tensions with the local Native Americans.
Plymouth would take little part in the Pequot War and was quickly overshadowed by Massachusetts Bay Colony to its north. Yet, continued steady progress was made until the colony finally exploded jumping from 2,000 settlers to more than 5,000 between 1660 and 1670. This population boom helped set the stage for Metacom's war. However, an anti-English alliance among the Indians seems to have little concerned Governor Josiah Winslow when he was elected to office in 1673.
Born in Plymouth, the governor spent his life among the colony's Brownist elite and had risen from court officer to militia commander to governor over twenty years. He was party to many of the rotten land deals that so enraged Metacom and his people. Even turning to the colonial militia to coerce reluctant sellers when necessary. Metacom also hated Winslow personally because he believed the man was involved in the unsolved murder of his brother. Winslow's reaction to a different murder, that of the spy John Sassamon helped ensure war between the English and Native Americans. He arrested and executed one of Metacom's senior advisors for the act without attempting negotiations. Heading into the summer of 1675 Plymouth is like Pompeii sitting at the feet of Mount Vesuvius.
The decision to split off from the Church of England drew the ire of the government of King James I. In 1607, the local Anglican Archbishop launched a crackdown on the Brownists that saw several prominent members of the movement arrested. This led the many members of the sect to relocate from the quiet Nottinghamshire village of Scrooby to the city of Leiden in Holland.
The Scrooby Congregation remained in Leiden until 1620. The decision to leave was not an easy one but seeing their children grow more Dutch and the eventual dissolution of their sect the Church elders decided to take a desperate move. They negotiated passage to North America through the aid of some English merchants who eventually lent them the Mayflower for their voyage.
In June 1619 they received a patent for their colony from King James and the following July the fittest and strongest among the congregation set sail from the Dutch port of Delshaven. Two months later they spotted the coast of Cape Cod. It was already November and with the weather starting to turn it took them about a month to find a proper place to build a colony.
During that month they made landfall several times. Their scouts encountered abandoned villages (recently cleared by plague or deserted by people who took the pilgrims for slave raiders) and Indigenous burial mounds both of which they looted for food stuffs like corn. This did little to endear them to the locals and in time they would have to repay this debt.
Before the Mayflower anchored at Plymouth it anchored at another site now named Providencetown at the very tip of Cape Cod. It was there that the pilgrims signed a compact agreeing to govern their new colony as they governed their church. All 41 male passengers would have a vote.
It took the pilgrims until December 21, 1620, to make landfall at Plymouth and start building their settlement. Working without shelter or sufficient fresh food disease and exhaustion claimed 45 out of 101 settlers who had undertaken the passage. Despite several small skirmishes with local bands of Native Americans it took until March for a formal meeting to take place.
Shortly after that the pilgrims met with and formed a defensive alliance with Sachem Massasoit of the Wampanoag. Working with an indigenous interpreter named Squanto who had lived for some time in England the pilgrims slowly learned how to live in North America. He taught them how to grow the three sisters and together in the fall of 1621 the Wampanoag and the pilgrims held a feast together.
Relations continued to grow closer over the next year as Massasoit agreed to sign an exclusive trade pact with the English. Yet, that July crisis struck the settlement when a young boy was captured by the Nausets who were angered by the Pilgrims' actions in stealing corn from their mounds and settlements several years before. Acting with an even hand the Pilgrims agreed to repay the corn they'd taken in exchange for the boy and this did much to maintain the peace in the coming years.
Throughout the remainder of the 1620s Plymouth Colony continued to grow slowly but steadily eventually reaching 300 souls by 1630. Many of these settlers were members of the Scooby Congregation who were still stuck in Holland. Yet, some of the settlers were also unaffiliated. In 1624 cattle arrived in the colony for the first time and would alongside other European livestock act to slowly inflame tensions with the local Native Americans.
Plymouth would take little part in the Pequot War and was quickly overshadowed by Massachusetts Bay Colony to its north. Yet, continued steady progress was made until the colony finally exploded jumping from 2,000 settlers to more than 5,000 between 1660 and 1670. This population boom helped set the stage for Metacom's war. However, an anti-English alliance among the Indians seems to have little concerned Governor Josiah Winslow when he was elected to office in 1673.
Born in Plymouth, the governor spent his life among the colony's Brownist elite and had risen from court officer to militia commander to governor over twenty years. He was party to many of the rotten land deals that so enraged Metacom and his people. Even turning to the colonial militia to coerce reluctant sellers when necessary. Metacom also hated Winslow personally because he believed the man was involved in the unsolved murder of his brother. Winslow's reaction to a different murder, that of the spy John Sassamon helped ensure war between the English and Native Americans. He arrested and executed one of Metacom's senior advisors for the act without attempting negotiations. Heading into the summer of 1675 Plymouth is like Pompeii sitting at the feet of Mount Vesuvius.
Character Slots: Governor Josiah Winslow @Greater Ale Perm, Major William Bradford, Benjamin Church @Thiccroy
Massachusetts Bay Colony
In 1623, a group of pilgrims led by a merchant landed at Weymouth about 16 miles (25.7 km) south of Boston. They were affiliated with Plymouth colony but their settlement failed after less than a year. Yet, some of the pilgrims remained and established independent homesteads in the region. At the same time, the settlers in Plymouth attempted to establish a fishing village near Gloucester on the Cape Ann peninsula north of Boston. This attempt would also fail but again several pilgrims remained in the vicinity and eventually established their own village without broader oversight.
In 1628, prominent Puritans still living in England managed to secure major backing for the latter settlement and formed the Dorchester Company. King Charles I granted them all the land between the Charles and Merrimack Rivers. That year 100 English Puritans arrived in the village and in 1629 another 300 arrived. They renamed it from Naumkeag (after a local tribe) to Salem.
In 1629 the board of governors of the company met and decided to leave for Salem themselves. This made their company the first chartered in England to not have its board of directors reside there. One of these directors was a prominent Puritan lawyer named John Winthrop and he was elected Governor of the colony. Setting sail from England in April 1630, he commanded the biggest fleet of English settlers yet seen in North America. That June, some 700 pilgrims arrived in Salem. They found the town unsuitable for such a large population and began surveying the area and establishing outposts. Over time these outposts would become the very heart of Massachusetts including settlements like Boston, Roxbury, Cambridge, and Dorchester.
Harsh debates ensued within the colony about where the capital would be established but Winthrop eventually prevailed insisting it be established around his residence in Boston. Over the next decade, about 20,000 people immigrated from England to New England. The vast majority of them settled in Massachusetts and many of them were Puritans driven out of England by the intolerance of the crown.
Yet, not all of those who arrived in Massachusetts were welcomed by the original settlers either. The colony was supposed to be a theocratic state and many of the Puritans who settled there would not tolerate other Protestant sects or even other Puritans who strayed too far from their ideas. In 1634 and 35 new waves of immigrants challenged the Brownists and elected two governors who were sympathetic to a rival Puritan sect known as the Antinomians. They believed that following religious laws was not required for salvation. This view clashed with the legalistic beliefs of men like Winthrop and mounting tensions between the two factions eventually led to the trial and exile of several prominent Antinomians. This act of persecution helped spur the development of new English settlements in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, and Connecticut.
The start of the British Civil Wars brought a temporary standstill to the growth of Massachusetts Colony and even some reverse migration as many Puritans were sympathetic to the Parliamentarian cause. Yet, Massachusetts endured, and in the 1640's the colony's economy began to significantly diversify with the fur trade, lumber, fishing, and shipbuilding taking center stage. A wealthy class of merchants started emerging in this period as well, yet the government of the colony continued to be dominated by conservative Puritans.
The restoration of Charles II brought tension to the relationship between the colony and the metropole. During the civil wars, Massachusetts Bay exercised its liberties going so far as to establish its own currency known as the Pine Tree shilling, and ignoring Navigation Acts meant to legislate who the colonists could trade with. Yet, this source of tumult did not cause big issues yet. Instead, at the start of the 1660s tensions within the colony started rising again because of a growing class of non-Puritan immigrants who wanted entry into the political class.
Relations with the Native Americans in this period were also extremely strained. Through sheer numbers, the settlers had managed to dominate the local indigenous nations such as the Massachusett eventually pushing them towards extinction through disease and the seizure of their lands. Yet, as the colony grew into Nipmuc and Pocumtuc lands in central and western Massachusetts and up the coast into the heart of Maine its frontiers became more exposed.
In the early years of the colony relations with the Indigenous people were largely peaceful but years of simmering tensions led to much bad blood between the two communities. Given their superiority in numbers, today many settlers in Massachusetts dream of wiping out the local Native Americans and claiming all their lands for themselves. Few care about the distinctions between praying Indians and none. They all must go. Recent martial victories such as the seizure of Fort Pentagouet from the French point to the strength of Massachusetts. With tens of thousands of residents, it has the most to gain by destroying the natives and the most to lose in a defeat.
In 1628, prominent Puritans still living in England managed to secure major backing for the latter settlement and formed the Dorchester Company. King Charles I granted them all the land between the Charles and Merrimack Rivers. That year 100 English Puritans arrived in the village and in 1629 another 300 arrived. They renamed it from Naumkeag (after a local tribe) to Salem.
In 1629 the board of governors of the company met and decided to leave for Salem themselves. This made their company the first chartered in England to not have its board of directors reside there. One of these directors was a prominent Puritan lawyer named John Winthrop and he was elected Governor of the colony. Setting sail from England in April 1630, he commanded the biggest fleet of English settlers yet seen in North America. That June, some 700 pilgrims arrived in Salem. They found the town unsuitable for such a large population and began surveying the area and establishing outposts. Over time these outposts would become the very heart of Massachusetts including settlements like Boston, Roxbury, Cambridge, and Dorchester.
Harsh debates ensued within the colony about where the capital would be established but Winthrop eventually prevailed insisting it be established around his residence in Boston. Over the next decade, about 20,000 people immigrated from England to New England. The vast majority of them settled in Massachusetts and many of them were Puritans driven out of England by the intolerance of the crown.
Yet, not all of those who arrived in Massachusetts were welcomed by the original settlers either. The colony was supposed to be a theocratic state and many of the Puritans who settled there would not tolerate other Protestant sects or even other Puritans who strayed too far from their ideas. In 1634 and 35 new waves of immigrants challenged the Brownists and elected two governors who were sympathetic to a rival Puritan sect known as the Antinomians. They believed that following religious laws was not required for salvation. This view clashed with the legalistic beliefs of men like Winthrop and mounting tensions between the two factions eventually led to the trial and exile of several prominent Antinomians. This act of persecution helped spur the development of new English settlements in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, and Connecticut.
The start of the British Civil Wars brought a temporary standstill to the growth of Massachusetts Colony and even some reverse migration as many Puritans were sympathetic to the Parliamentarian cause. Yet, Massachusetts endured, and in the 1640's the colony's economy began to significantly diversify with the fur trade, lumber, fishing, and shipbuilding taking center stage. A wealthy class of merchants started emerging in this period as well, yet the government of the colony continued to be dominated by conservative Puritans.
The restoration of Charles II brought tension to the relationship between the colony and the metropole. During the civil wars, Massachusetts Bay exercised its liberties going so far as to establish its own currency known as the Pine Tree shilling, and ignoring Navigation Acts meant to legislate who the colonists could trade with. Yet, this source of tumult did not cause big issues yet. Instead, at the start of the 1660s tensions within the colony started rising again because of a growing class of non-Puritan immigrants who wanted entry into the political class.
Relations with the Native Americans in this period were also extremely strained. Through sheer numbers, the settlers had managed to dominate the local indigenous nations such as the Massachusett eventually pushing them towards extinction through disease and the seizure of their lands. Yet, as the colony grew into Nipmuc and Pocumtuc lands in central and western Massachusetts and up the coast into the heart of Maine its frontiers became more exposed.
In the early years of the colony relations with the Indigenous people were largely peaceful but years of simmering tensions led to much bad blood between the two communities. Given their superiority in numbers, today many settlers in Massachusetts dream of wiping out the local Native Americans and claiming all their lands for themselves. Few care about the distinctions between praying Indians and none. They all must go. Recent martial victories such as the seizure of Fort Pentagouet from the French point to the strength of Massachusetts. With tens of thousands of residents, it has the most to gain by destroying the natives and the most to lose in a defeat.
Character Slots: Governor John Leverett @VaneEerus, Captain Walter Gendall, John Pynchon @Skeleton Dandy, Samuel Mosley
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
The history of Rhode Island starts in 1622 when several members of Plymouth colony sailed around Cape Cod and established four trading posts along Narragansett Bay. They maintained decent relations with the local Native Americans but these settlements did not grow much over the next decade. Instead, English settlement only started picking up when the Puritan theologian Roger Williams arrived in the region with a handful of exiles and bought a tract of land from the local Narragansetts.
Of all the Pilgrim founders, Roger Williams is one of the most exceptional. Having grown up in England he was raised Anglican but converted to Puritanism in his youth. As he grew older he became more radicalized and eventually took the Brownist position of separation from the church of England. This led him to leave his homeland for Massachusetts and in February 1631 his ship anchored at Boston harbor.
When he arrived Williams was offered a job preaching for a local church but he believed it was too close to the Church of England so he refused the job. Then a congregation based in Salem offered to make him their teacher only to rescind the offer after pushback from Puritans in Boston. This led Williams to leave Massachusetts Bay and sail for Plymouth. He lived quietly there for a few months but eventually concluded that the Puritans there were not sufficiently separate from the Church of England.
During this period he also began to develop unorthodox ideas like that colonial charters were invalid if the settlers did not legitimately purchase Native American lands. He eventually wrote a tract condemning the king's charters and questioning the right of Plymouth to their land since it had never been properly paid for. He even accused King James of a "solemn lie" for his claim to be the first Christian monarch to discover the land.
These actions discord between him and Puritans in Plymouth and he eventually moved back to Salem in 1633. The authorities in Massachusetts Bay were not pleased to see Williams again and they eventually convicted him of sedition and heresy and sentenced him to death. Yet, the sentence was delayed because of Williams's ill health and the bitterness of the winter.
Using this time to his advantage the theologian managed to escape his captors and he walked 55 miles (89 km) through deep snow until he reached the winter camp of Sachem Massasoit of the Wampanoag. He stayed there for three months until the spring and got to meet Metacom and his brother when they were still children.
When the thaw came, Williams rallied together a small group of followers and left the confines of the Plymouth Charter eventually reaching Narraganset lands. There he bought land from the Narragansetts and established a settlement he called Providence Plantations. He and his followers agreed to a constitution that provided for majority rule in all things and freedom of religion.
The colony became a hub for exiles from the more Conservative Puritan communities in Massachusetts and Plymouth and in 1637 and 38 new waves of exiles established the settlements of Newport and Portsmouth.
During the British Civil War, Connecticut and Massachusetts Colonies attempted to snuff out the independence of Rhode Island but this attempt was violently rebuffed. After the wars ended Charles II granted Rhode Island a royal charter and the colony became a hub for many oppressed religious minorities such as Baptists, Quakers, and Jews.
Throughout Williams' lifetime, he strove to maintain good relationships with the local Native Americans. His linguistic skills aided him greatly in this task and he maintained decent relations with his neighbors up to the years immediately preceding King Philip's War. When war did come it was the actions of Rhode Island's colonial neighbors that sparked it.
Of all the colonies in New England, Rhode Island has the most to gain from charting a neutral path. Its population is small and its settlements are isolated and exposed. Only time will tell if walking such a path is possible.
Of all the Pilgrim founders, Roger Williams is one of the most exceptional. Having grown up in England he was raised Anglican but converted to Puritanism in his youth. As he grew older he became more radicalized and eventually took the Brownist position of separation from the church of England. This led him to leave his homeland for Massachusetts and in February 1631 his ship anchored at Boston harbor.
When he arrived Williams was offered a job preaching for a local church but he believed it was too close to the Church of England so he refused the job. Then a congregation based in Salem offered to make him their teacher only to rescind the offer after pushback from Puritans in Boston. This led Williams to leave Massachusetts Bay and sail for Plymouth. He lived quietly there for a few months but eventually concluded that the Puritans there were not sufficiently separate from the Church of England.
During this period he also began to develop unorthodox ideas like that colonial charters were invalid if the settlers did not legitimately purchase Native American lands. He eventually wrote a tract condemning the king's charters and questioning the right of Plymouth to their land since it had never been properly paid for. He even accused King James of a "solemn lie" for his claim to be the first Christian monarch to discover the land.
These actions discord between him and Puritans in Plymouth and he eventually moved back to Salem in 1633. The authorities in Massachusetts Bay were not pleased to see Williams again and they eventually convicted him of sedition and heresy and sentenced him to death. Yet, the sentence was delayed because of Williams's ill health and the bitterness of the winter.
Using this time to his advantage the theologian managed to escape his captors and he walked 55 miles (89 km) through deep snow until he reached the winter camp of Sachem Massasoit of the Wampanoag. He stayed there for three months until the spring and got to meet Metacom and his brother when they were still children.
When the thaw came, Williams rallied together a small group of followers and left the confines of the Plymouth Charter eventually reaching Narraganset lands. There he bought land from the Narragansetts and established a settlement he called Providence Plantations. He and his followers agreed to a constitution that provided for majority rule in all things and freedom of religion.
The colony became a hub for exiles from the more Conservative Puritan communities in Massachusetts and Plymouth and in 1637 and 38 new waves of exiles established the settlements of Newport and Portsmouth.
During the British Civil War, Connecticut and Massachusetts Colonies attempted to snuff out the independence of Rhode Island but this attempt was violently rebuffed. After the wars ended Charles II granted Rhode Island a royal charter and the colony became a hub for many oppressed religious minorities such as Baptists, Quakers, and Jews.
Throughout Williams' lifetime, he strove to maintain good relationships with the local Native Americans. His linguistic skills aided him greatly in this task and he maintained decent relations with his neighbors up to the years immediately preceding King Philip's War. When war did come it was the actions of Rhode Island's colonial neighbors that sparked it.
Of all the colonies in New England, Rhode Island has the most to gain from charting a neutral path. Its population is small and its settlements are isolated and exposed. Only time will tell if walking such a path is possible.
Character Slots: Governor William Coddington @SultanArda, Roger Williams @Graf Tzarogy
Connecticut Colony
The origins of this colony go back to 1635, when John Winthrop the Younger, son of the founder of Massachusetts, established a fortified tradepost at the mouth of the Connecticut River. His goal was to counter the Dutch presence in the region. In recent years they'd grown close with the Pequot Nation and this alliance had allowed them to dominate trade on the river.
Hoping to block the Dutch out and contain the Pequot, the colonists made alliances with their local rivals such as the Mohegans and the Narragansetts. They also began establishing outposts going up the Connecticut River as far as Hartford. Many of these were inhabited by Puritans who disagreed with the theocratic government in Massachusetts and voluntarily went into exile seeking to enact their own (slightly more tolerant) vision of heavenly governance on Earth.
When war came the settler's diplomatic work paid dividends and despite a months-long siege of Fort Saybrook and raids on many Connecticut River towns the Puritans successfully broke the Pequot after killing hundreds of civilians during the Mystic Massacre. Puritan victory in the war cleared the way for more settlers and in 1638 another independent colony was established at New Haven.
Both colonies grew steadily over the following decades but regarded each other as rivals. New Haven ran on a Puritan theocratic model in which only that church was allowed to exist while in Saybrook and along the Connecticut River they accepted all Protestant denominations including Quakers. In the early 1660s, a series of disasters in New Haven led King Charles II to merge the colonies. One of the most interesting these issues is that two of Charles I's regicides fled to New Haven and remained fugitives in New England until their natural deaths decades later.
By the time Connecticut Colony was properly formed relations with the Indigenous communities around them were complicated. Several tribes including the Quinnipiac, Wagunk, Tunxis, and Paugusett were allies of the colony and lived on reservations established by Connecticut. Meanwhile, the Mohegans remained steadfast allies of the colony due to their aid against the Narragansett in generations past. This means that unlike Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Rhode Island, Connecticut's frontier is relatively secure enabling it to project offensive power outward with the aid of its native allies.
Hoping to block the Dutch out and contain the Pequot, the colonists made alliances with their local rivals such as the Mohegans and the Narragansetts. They also began establishing outposts going up the Connecticut River as far as Hartford. Many of these were inhabited by Puritans who disagreed with the theocratic government in Massachusetts and voluntarily went into exile seeking to enact their own (slightly more tolerant) vision of heavenly governance on Earth.
When war came the settler's diplomatic work paid dividends and despite a months-long siege of Fort Saybrook and raids on many Connecticut River towns the Puritans successfully broke the Pequot after killing hundreds of civilians during the Mystic Massacre. Puritan victory in the war cleared the way for more settlers and in 1638 another independent colony was established at New Haven.
Both colonies grew steadily over the following decades but regarded each other as rivals. New Haven ran on a Puritan theocratic model in which only that church was allowed to exist while in Saybrook and along the Connecticut River they accepted all Protestant denominations including Quakers. In the early 1660s, a series of disasters in New Haven led King Charles II to merge the colonies. One of the most interesting these issues is that two of Charles I's regicides fled to New Haven and remained fugitives in New England until their natural deaths decades later.
By the time Connecticut Colony was properly formed relations with the Indigenous communities around them were complicated. Several tribes including the Quinnipiac, Wagunk, Tunxis, and Paugusett were allies of the colony and lived on reservations established by Connecticut. Meanwhile, the Mohegans remained steadfast allies of the colony due to their aid against the Narragansett in generations past. This means that unlike Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Rhode Island, Connecticut's frontier is relatively secure enabling it to project offensive power outward with the aid of its native allies.
Character Slots: Governor John Winthrop Jr. @Potato Anarchy
Mohegan Confederacy
The Mohegan are the most important native allies of the English in the Dawnlands. Yet, their Confederacy is only 40 years old. Their leader, the aged Sachem Uncas founded the Mohegans when he split his clan off of the Pequot Confederacy in the 1630s. Before then the history of the two nations is the same.
Although their origin has long been debated, the Pequot Confederacy likely originated in New England. During the 16th century, they dominated the region, ruling over numerous tributaries and controlling the wampum trade from their homeland which once stretched out along the Thames River Valley and the Atlantic coast east of the Connecticut River estuary. Their network of tributaries stretched from Long Island in the south to the lands of the Pocumtuc and the Wagunk in the north and west. Their main rivals were the Narragansetts.
The Pequot prospered for a long time under this arrangement but the geopolitical conditions that underwrote their supremacy began to shift in the 1620s. During that decade Dutch merchants operating out of New Amsterdam began probing up the Connecticut River searching for new trade contacts and in 1622 they established a permanent outpost near Hartford. The Pequot saw this change as a challenge to their power because it gave their tributaries direct access to European tools and weapons. Therefore, they moved quickly to monopolize the trade and threatened to close the Connecticut to the Dutch if they did not comply. The Dutch were annoyed with this move but seeing no other alternative agreed to an exclusive trade deal and alliance with the Pequots.
For a decade their agreement secured Pequot power but in 1633, the English built a fortified outpost at Windsor which shut the Dutch out of the upper Connecticut River Valley altogether. The Dutch hoped the Pequot would reverse this situation for them but instead, division paralyzed the Confederacy. Under the Dutch alliance, Pequot living near the coast had enjoyed better access to merchant traffic and therefore enjoyed lower prices than their kin located along the upper Thames.
The outpost at Windsor offered inland Pequot better access to European goods than the Dutch could and so they argued the Confederacy should seek to monopolize the English trade rather than wipe it out. This dilemma eventually became a crisis when the pro-Dutch faction refused to compromise and therefore the divisions grew more bitter.
Two years before the English established themselves at Windsor, the Grand Sachem of the Pequot died leaving two Sachems named Uncas and Sassamus to fight over the succession. The Confederacy's council chose Sassamus, yet Uncas refused to accept the decision. Hailing from the inland communities along the Thames River, Uncas became the Pequot's staunchest advocate of an English alliance and eventually started working with the newcomers to overthrow the extant political order.
Throughout 1633 and 34, the disputes between Sassamus and Uncas became more heated and violent. Uncas refused to recognize Sassamus's authority and eventually abandoned the Confederacy. Instead, he founded his own, leading fifty warriors and their families off to establish a village in the north of the Pequot lands. Uncas called this group the Mohegans (meaning Wolves) after the clan he was part of. At the same time, partisans of both the Pequot and Mohegans started attacking merchants aligned with the other side. This contributed to mounting tensions across the region as a trade imbalance also began exacerbating the situation. By the early 1630s, the English had taken control of the wampum trade much to the chagrin of the Narragansetts and Pequots.
This combination created a tinder box and in 1634 the killing of an English pirate and slaver at the hands of the Western Niantic (a Pequot tributary) almost led to war. That winter smallpox hit both the Mohegan and Pequot killing many but no reconciliation occurred. Instead, both factions remained at odds with each other six months later when the pilgrims established Fort Saybrook.
That action proved pivotal as it cut the Pequot off from their main European trading partner and ally making them more vulnerable than ever. The Narragansett were the first to seize on the opportunity. During 1635 they seized a tract of disputed hunting land from the Pequot without much trouble. Perhaps picking up on their weakness the English made war on the beleaguered Confederacy the following year and quickly destroyed them. Sachem Uncas proved pivotal in the conflict, with his Confederacy providing hundreds of warriors who served as scouts for the English.
In the fallout of the war, the Mohegans emerged as the strongest tribe in Connecticut. They occupied the majority of the Pequot land and Uncas forced about 1,500 survivors (many of them western Niantics) to join his burgeoning Confederacy. At this point, the Mohegans were about 3,000 strong and emerged as one of the most powerful tribes in New England.
Going into the 1640s, the only remaining rival of Uncas were the Narragansetts who continuously attempted to push into Mohegan lands. Their efforts culminated in a sneak attack on the Mohegan capital in 1644, yet with the English solidly backing Uncas every Narragansett effort was in vain. During that decade, Uncas also aided the Dutch in the Wappinger War, dispatching his warriors with an English expedition meant to aid them.
During the late 1640s going into the 1650s, English colonialism went hand in hand with Mohegan expansion. With English support, Uncas subjugated many bands of Pocumtucs and subdued the Mattabesic Confederacy completely. He tended to incorporate members of the defeated nations into his Confederacy and sell their lands off to the English. These actions eventually led to a shortlived war between the Mohegan and Poctumuc but under pressure from the Iroquois and the English, the Pocumtuc made peace.
As Metacom's War now approaches Sachem Uncas still rules the Mohegans. Yet, he is advanced in years and thus relies on his three sons to help lead his people. Despite the growth of English settlements in all corners, the Mohegan remain staunchly fixed to their old allies. In many ways, they are the shield that guards Connecticut helping it maintain its prosperity as one of the most peaceful English colonies in the "New World".
Although their origin has long been debated, the Pequot Confederacy likely originated in New England. During the 16th century, they dominated the region, ruling over numerous tributaries and controlling the wampum trade from their homeland which once stretched out along the Thames River Valley and the Atlantic coast east of the Connecticut River estuary. Their network of tributaries stretched from Long Island in the south to the lands of the Pocumtuc and the Wagunk in the north and west. Their main rivals were the Narragansetts.
The Pequot prospered for a long time under this arrangement but the geopolitical conditions that underwrote their supremacy began to shift in the 1620s. During that decade Dutch merchants operating out of New Amsterdam began probing up the Connecticut River searching for new trade contacts and in 1622 they established a permanent outpost near Hartford. The Pequot saw this change as a challenge to their power because it gave their tributaries direct access to European tools and weapons. Therefore, they moved quickly to monopolize the trade and threatened to close the Connecticut to the Dutch if they did not comply. The Dutch were annoyed with this move but seeing no other alternative agreed to an exclusive trade deal and alliance with the Pequots.
For a decade their agreement secured Pequot power but in 1633, the English built a fortified outpost at Windsor which shut the Dutch out of the upper Connecticut River Valley altogether. The Dutch hoped the Pequot would reverse this situation for them but instead, division paralyzed the Confederacy. Under the Dutch alliance, Pequot living near the coast had enjoyed better access to merchant traffic and therefore enjoyed lower prices than their kin located along the upper Thames.
The outpost at Windsor offered inland Pequot better access to European goods than the Dutch could and so they argued the Confederacy should seek to monopolize the English trade rather than wipe it out. This dilemma eventually became a crisis when the pro-Dutch faction refused to compromise and therefore the divisions grew more bitter.
Two years before the English established themselves at Windsor, the Grand Sachem of the Pequot died leaving two Sachems named Uncas and Sassamus to fight over the succession. The Confederacy's council chose Sassamus, yet Uncas refused to accept the decision. Hailing from the inland communities along the Thames River, Uncas became the Pequot's staunchest advocate of an English alliance and eventually started working with the newcomers to overthrow the extant political order.
Throughout 1633 and 34, the disputes between Sassamus and Uncas became more heated and violent. Uncas refused to recognize Sassamus's authority and eventually abandoned the Confederacy. Instead, he founded his own, leading fifty warriors and their families off to establish a village in the north of the Pequot lands. Uncas called this group the Mohegans (meaning Wolves) after the clan he was part of. At the same time, partisans of both the Pequot and Mohegans started attacking merchants aligned with the other side. This contributed to mounting tensions across the region as a trade imbalance also began exacerbating the situation. By the early 1630s, the English had taken control of the wampum trade much to the chagrin of the Narragansetts and Pequots.
This combination created a tinder box and in 1634 the killing of an English pirate and slaver at the hands of the Western Niantic (a Pequot tributary) almost led to war. That winter smallpox hit both the Mohegan and Pequot killing many but no reconciliation occurred. Instead, both factions remained at odds with each other six months later when the pilgrims established Fort Saybrook.
That action proved pivotal as it cut the Pequot off from their main European trading partner and ally making them more vulnerable than ever. The Narragansett were the first to seize on the opportunity. During 1635 they seized a tract of disputed hunting land from the Pequot without much trouble. Perhaps picking up on their weakness the English made war on the beleaguered Confederacy the following year and quickly destroyed them. Sachem Uncas proved pivotal in the conflict, with his Confederacy providing hundreds of warriors who served as scouts for the English.
In the fallout of the war, the Mohegans emerged as the strongest tribe in Connecticut. They occupied the majority of the Pequot land and Uncas forced about 1,500 survivors (many of them western Niantics) to join his burgeoning Confederacy. At this point, the Mohegans were about 3,000 strong and emerged as one of the most powerful tribes in New England.
Going into the 1640s, the only remaining rival of Uncas were the Narragansetts who continuously attempted to push into Mohegan lands. Their efforts culminated in a sneak attack on the Mohegan capital in 1644, yet with the English solidly backing Uncas every Narragansett effort was in vain. During that decade, Uncas also aided the Dutch in the Wappinger War, dispatching his warriors with an English expedition meant to aid them.
During the late 1640s going into the 1650s, English colonialism went hand in hand with Mohegan expansion. With English support, Uncas subjugated many bands of Pocumtucs and subdued the Mattabesic Confederacy completely. He tended to incorporate members of the defeated nations into his Confederacy and sell their lands off to the English. These actions eventually led to a shortlived war between the Mohegan and Poctumuc but under pressure from the Iroquois and the English, the Pocumtuc made peace.
As Metacom's War now approaches Sachem Uncas still rules the Mohegans. Yet, he is advanced in years and thus relies on his three sons to help lead his people. Despite the growth of English settlements in all corners, the Mohegan remain staunchly fixed to their old allies. In many ways, they are the shield that guards Connecticut helping it maintain its prosperity as one of the most peaceful English colonies in the "New World".
Character Slots: Head Sachem Uncas
Wampanoag Confederacy
Before the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth, the Wampanoag Confederacy was a large nation numbering approximately 40,000 people. They controlled all the lands from Weymouth, just south of Boston, to Martha's Vineyard in the south, Cape Cod in the east, and were well established at Narragansett Bay in the west. Their people relied on fishing, hunting, gathering, and farming for subsistence. The three sisters, ie. maize, beans, and squash were the main crops they farmed and relied upon. The political system of the Wampanoag consisted of several tiers. At the top was a Head Sachem. Settlers often referred to this individual as a King but Head Sachems did not possess limitless power. They were beholden to the landholders of the nation who were all women and to regional sachems who were picked by the elderly women of their region just as the Head Sachem was picked by the elderly women of the nation. Both men and women could become regional and Head Sachems. A successful Sachem could only rule with the consent of their peers.
When Europeans started arriving in the early 17th century, they brought diseases with them for which the Wampanoag had no defense. Between 1616 and 1619, a strain of smallpox or leptospirosis killed off as much as 90% of the tribe. The pilgrims of the Mayflower sailed into this apocalyptic landscape in 1620 and immediately struggled to survive in the foreign conditions of the "New World". The Wampanoags viewed the foreigners as potential allies who could help them against the larger and more aggressive tribes to their west, such as the Narragansett, so they helped them survive, giving rise to the story of the first Thanksgiving and the colony at Plymouth.
Over the next several decades, the colonists maintained their alliance with the Wampanoag, yet the balance increasingly tilted towards the settlers over time as they came to outnumber the natives on their own lands. As the settlers grew more powerful, the Wampanoag maintained their alliance with them, and Puritan missionaries spearheaded by John Eliot began establishing "praying towns" to speed along the westernization of the local Native Americans.
At the time, the Massasoit Head Sachem of the Wampanoag was so taken in by these peaceful efforts that he asked the Puritans to give his two sons' Christian names. The older Wamsutta was called Alexander, while the younger Metacom, was named Philip. After Massasoit died in 1661 Wamsutta became Head Sachem. His tenure was brief though and he died in Plymouth after a meeting with the colonists. The English said he died of disease but many Wampanoag believed he was poisoned. Metacom was next in line and took his brother's place.
Under Metacom, the alliance between the English and the Wampanoag slowly began to unravel. The English already numbering approximately 35,000 individuals, were always hungry for more land and Metacom was forced to watch as the English ate up his nation bit by bit. Determined to resist these encroachments, he began to secretly build an alliance against the English. Making contact with leaders among the Narragansett, Nipmuc, and Pocumtuc, but almost a year before Metacom's war was supposed to start his English language translator leaked his plans to the governor of Plymouth. A week later he was found dead under the ice of a local pond. Within a month all of New England was at war.
When Europeans started arriving in the early 17th century, they brought diseases with them for which the Wampanoag had no defense. Between 1616 and 1619, a strain of smallpox or leptospirosis killed off as much as 90% of the tribe. The pilgrims of the Mayflower sailed into this apocalyptic landscape in 1620 and immediately struggled to survive in the foreign conditions of the "New World". The Wampanoags viewed the foreigners as potential allies who could help them against the larger and more aggressive tribes to their west, such as the Narragansett, so they helped them survive, giving rise to the story of the first Thanksgiving and the colony at Plymouth.
Over the next several decades, the colonists maintained their alliance with the Wampanoag, yet the balance increasingly tilted towards the settlers over time as they came to outnumber the natives on their own lands. As the settlers grew more powerful, the Wampanoag maintained their alliance with them, and Puritan missionaries spearheaded by John Eliot began establishing "praying towns" to speed along the westernization of the local Native Americans.
At the time, the Massasoit Head Sachem of the Wampanoag was so taken in by these peaceful efforts that he asked the Puritans to give his two sons' Christian names. The older Wamsutta was called Alexander, while the younger Metacom, was named Philip. After Massasoit died in 1661 Wamsutta became Head Sachem. His tenure was brief though and he died in Plymouth after a meeting with the colonists. The English said he died of disease but many Wampanoag believed he was poisoned. Metacom was next in line and took his brother's place.
Under Metacom, the alliance between the English and the Wampanoag slowly began to unravel. The English already numbering approximately 35,000 individuals, were always hungry for more land and Metacom was forced to watch as the English ate up his nation bit by bit. Determined to resist these encroachments, he began to secretly build an alliance against the English. Making contact with leaders among the Narragansett, Nipmuc, and Pocumtuc, but almost a year before Metacom's war was supposed to start his English language translator leaked his plans to the governor of Plymouth. A week later he was found dead under the ice of a local pond. Within a month all of New England was at war.
Character Slots: Metacom @Dadarian , Weetamoo @Theaxofwar
Narragansett Confederacy
Traditionally one of the strongest powers in the northeast, the Narragansetts were once infamous for their fierce warriors and their control over the Wampum trade. In the time before colonization, they extracted tribute from most of their neighbors including the Nipmuc, Wampanoag, Niantics, and Manisseans. This martial power ensured their control over most of modern Rhode Island, the Elizabeth Islands, and parts of southeast Connecticut and southern Massachusetts. However, their burgeoning empire was traditionally bound to the west by the fierce Pequots who could usually beat them in an all-out war.
Although the Narragansett's first encountered Europeans in 1524 it was not until the epidemic of 1616-1619 that these strange foreigners started to directly shape the geopolitical landscape around them. While tribes such as the Wampanoag suffered an attrition rate as high as 90% the Narragansett managed to escape the pandemic without taking such grievous losses. Although this left them relatively empowered compared to their native neighbors the arrival of the colonists at Plymouth prevented them from extracting their traditional tribute from the Wampanoag.
At the same time, the Narragansett came under pressure from the West as unrelenting Pequot raids put them on the backfoot throughout the early 1620s. This made it important for them to find new allies and in 1636 they allowed the Puritan theologian Roger Williams to settle on their lands. He established Providence Plantation and shortly thereafter they cooperated with the colonists against the Pequots aiding them mightily by dispatching a contingent of 200 warriors to assist in their assault against Fort Mystic.
What the Narragansetts witnessed next shocked them. When the English attacked the Pequot town at Fort Mystic they did so without mercy slaughtering men, women, and children wholesale. Out of a population of 500 only 14 are known to have survived. This act disgusted the Narragansett who were accustomed to the traditional practice of taking war captives as slaves or replacements for those lost to disease, childbirth, or war.
The Narragansett war party returned home in bewilderment and their alliance with the English did not long outlive the Pequots. In 1643 the Narragansett Grand Sachem Miantonomoh led a massive army of 1,000 warriors east to fight the Mohegans who had also worked with the colonists in the war against the Pequot. This expedition ended in disaster and the colonists turned on the Narragansett, siding with the Mohegans in the dispute and aiding the Mohegan Sachem Uncas in killing his Narragansett rival.
Discontented with this outcome talk grew within the Narragansett nation of forming an indigenous coalition against the settlers and their allies. Within a year war between the Narragansetts and Mohegans resumed and the settlers once again sided with the Mohegans this time sending large numbers of troops to their aid. Without support from the tribes around them, the Narragansett were forced to sue for peace. For thirty years the tribe licked its wounds and recounted ugly memories of past defeats.
In the 1660s as English colonialism reached a new fever pitch talk inside the Narragansett tribe increasingly turned towards resistance. Spearheaded by a Grand Sachem named Canonchet the Narragansetts openly rebuked many of the English ways and gladly received the envoys of King Phillip. Through him perhaps the colonists can finally be repelled and the great Narragansett Confederacy restored.
Although the Narragansett's first encountered Europeans in 1524 it was not until the epidemic of 1616-1619 that these strange foreigners started to directly shape the geopolitical landscape around them. While tribes such as the Wampanoag suffered an attrition rate as high as 90% the Narragansett managed to escape the pandemic without taking such grievous losses. Although this left them relatively empowered compared to their native neighbors the arrival of the colonists at Plymouth prevented them from extracting their traditional tribute from the Wampanoag.
At the same time, the Narragansett came under pressure from the West as unrelenting Pequot raids put them on the backfoot throughout the early 1620s. This made it important for them to find new allies and in 1636 they allowed the Puritan theologian Roger Williams to settle on their lands. He established Providence Plantation and shortly thereafter they cooperated with the colonists against the Pequots aiding them mightily by dispatching a contingent of 200 warriors to assist in their assault against Fort Mystic.
What the Narragansetts witnessed next shocked them. When the English attacked the Pequot town at Fort Mystic they did so without mercy slaughtering men, women, and children wholesale. Out of a population of 500 only 14 are known to have survived. This act disgusted the Narragansett who were accustomed to the traditional practice of taking war captives as slaves or replacements for those lost to disease, childbirth, or war.
The Narragansett war party returned home in bewilderment and their alliance with the English did not long outlive the Pequots. In 1643 the Narragansett Grand Sachem Miantonomoh led a massive army of 1,000 warriors east to fight the Mohegans who had also worked with the colonists in the war against the Pequot. This expedition ended in disaster and the colonists turned on the Narragansett, siding with the Mohegans in the dispute and aiding the Mohegan Sachem Uncas in killing his Narragansett rival.
Discontented with this outcome talk grew within the Narragansett nation of forming an indigenous coalition against the settlers and their allies. Within a year war between the Narragansetts and Mohegans resumed and the settlers once again sided with the Mohegans this time sending large numbers of troops to their aid. Without support from the tribes around them, the Narragansett were forced to sue for peace. For thirty years the tribe licked its wounds and recounted ugly memories of past defeats.
In the 1660s as English colonialism reached a new fever pitch talk inside the Narragansett tribe increasingly turned towards resistance. Spearheaded by a Grand Sachem named Canonchet the Narragansetts openly rebuked many of the English ways and gladly received the envoys of King Phillip. Through him perhaps the colonists can finally be repelled and the great Narragansett Confederacy restored.
Character Slots: Grand Sachem Canonchet @bookwyrm, Queen Sachem Quaiapen
The Nipmuc People
Unlike many of their neighbors the Nipmuc never existed as a unified political block. Instead, the term refers to an ethnic and linguistic group that existed in separate villages and bands scattered across central Massachusetts. In the days before the arrival of the pilgrims, local Nipmuc Sachems made agreements with neighbors such as the Pequots, Narragansetts, Abenaki, and Massachuset exchanging protection for tribute.
The arrival of the Europeans disrupted this balance by unleashing diseases upon the region which killed off the majority of the Nipmuc and left traditional protectors like the Pequots and Massachuset reeling from the mass die-off. In 1630, the first recorded contact between the Nipmuc and the English occurred when a Nipmuc merchant brought maize to Boston to sell to the starving colonists.
In the years that followed the Nipmuc would become extremely reliant on the settlers trading their foodstuffs and land for European trade goods. By the 1640s they became so reliant on the English that several Nipmuc sachems welcomed Puritan missionaries onto their lands and assisted them in establishing "Indian Plantations" or praying towns where the Native Americans were instructed in European farming methods, language, culture, and religion.
By 1675 at least fifteen of these towns were established on Nipmuc lands. The melding of English and Nipmuc culture that resulted disrupted many traditional norms and by the 1670s, English settlers moved to sever all ties between these "praying Indians" and their non-converted brethren by passing laws banning Indigenous powwows, Indigenous healers, and non-converted Indians from praying towns on the Sabbath. Furthermore, incursions by ravenous land-hungry settlers onto Nipmuc lands increased during this time with many incidents caused by European livestock to boot.
These changes created a rising tide of resentment among the Nipmuc and many bands rallied behind the Metacom when approached about an alliance to boot out the foreigners. Opinion in many of the mission towns was mixed though.
The arrival of the Europeans disrupted this balance by unleashing diseases upon the region which killed off the majority of the Nipmuc and left traditional protectors like the Pequots and Massachuset reeling from the mass die-off. In 1630, the first recorded contact between the Nipmuc and the English occurred when a Nipmuc merchant brought maize to Boston to sell to the starving colonists.
In the years that followed the Nipmuc would become extremely reliant on the settlers trading their foodstuffs and land for European trade goods. By the 1640s they became so reliant on the English that several Nipmuc sachems welcomed Puritan missionaries onto their lands and assisted them in establishing "Indian Plantations" or praying towns where the Native Americans were instructed in European farming methods, language, culture, and religion.
By 1675 at least fifteen of these towns were established on Nipmuc lands. The melding of English and Nipmuc culture that resulted disrupted many traditional norms and by the 1670s, English settlers moved to sever all ties between these "praying Indians" and their non-converted brethren by passing laws banning Indigenous powwows, Indigenous healers, and non-converted Indians from praying towns on the Sabbath. Furthermore, incursions by ravenous land-hungry settlers onto Nipmuc lands increased during this time with many incidents caused by European livestock to boot.
These changes created a rising tide of resentment among the Nipmuc and many bands rallied behind the Metacom when approached about an alliance to boot out the foreigners. Opinion in many of the mission towns was mixed though.
Character Slots: Sachem Muttawmp @Aristo, Sachem Matoonas
Pocumtuc Confederacy
Settled on some of the most fertile land in all of New England the Poctumtuc were some of the most renowned farmers of the eastern Algonquins. Using seasonal flooding to fertilize their fields and yearly fish runs to stock up on protein their bands were self-sufficient and possessed a great deal of autonomy. Yet, they were organized into a tribal confederacy that coordinated on matters of diplomacy and defense, otherwise leaving individual communities to their own devices.
At the turn of the 17th century, the Pocumtuc domain stretched out along the Quinnitukqut (or Connecticut meaning "Long River") from southern Vermont to just north of Hartford. Yet life in their confederacy was far from ideal. Warfare was constant and Pocumtuc villages were renowned for their extensive defensive works.
Related by culture and language to the Mohicans to their west the Pocumtuc found themselves constantly at war with the Iroquois Confederacy or "the Great League of Peace and Power". For a long time, these wars had been fought on relatively equal terms with a coalition of Algonquian-speaking tribes including the Mohicans, Sokoki, and Penacook uniting their might against the powerful Iroquois. Yet, the arrival of Dutch merchants in 1610 disturbed this balance.
At first, the Dutch favored the Mohicans and for about a decade they dominated the Mohawks but when the Dutch started trading with both parties the Mohicans lost their advantage and began to lose ground. This put increasing pressure on the Pocumtuc who found themselves confined east of the Berkshire Mountains.
To make matters worse from 1633-1635 a major smallpox epidemic swept through New England and killed hundreds of Pocumtuc leaving the tribe extremely depopulated. Just as the illness started to subside English settlers arrived from the south and began establishing settlements along the Connecticut River. In 1636 a band of Pocumtuc known as the Agawam sold some land near their village to a Puritan merchant named William Pynchon. He established a trading post near their village which he named Springfield and it quickly grew into the largest English settlement along the Connecticut north of Hartford. The Pocumtuc were interested in tightening this potential alliance and one year later their maize saved Hartford from famine.
Yet, the newcomers soon took actions harmful to Pocumutuc interests. After the Pequot were destroyed by the English in 1637 the Pocumtuc joined with the Narragansett and Tunxis in their attempt to contain the ascendant Mohegans. Yet, due to the Anglo-Mohegan alliance, this attempt failed, and the Pocumtuc were forced to watch their geopolitical position erode further as the Dutch started exclusively supplying arms to the Iroquois in reaction to emerging competition with English merchants.
From the 1640s onward the Iroquois began expanding in all directions, forging an empire that would last more than a century. The Mohicans were among the first victims of this push and were eventually forced out of the coalition against the Iroquois. This left Pocumtuc villages directly on the frontline and in December 1663 the Seneca and Mohawk led a massive assault on the main Pocumtuc town. This attack was repulsed with more than 200 casualties and resulted in a short ceasefire, yet it forced the Pocumtuc to abandon the settlement.
When war resumed the Iroquois were again ascendant and unable to ignore the reality of the Iroquois English traders began doing business with them too which only further reinforced their advantage. Renewed Iroquois offensives forced the Pocumtuc to abandon most of their villages in the Connecticut River valley. Survivors clustered near English settlements for safety and left with little choice some bands of Pocumtuc started paying tribute to the Iroquois. This strategy prolonged the life of the Confederacy somewhat but during the 1660s English settlers began moving into areas that had recently been vacate giving rise to many new settlements.
Seeing the English who had done so much to aid their enemies take over their land angered many of the remaining Pocumtuc and when Metacom's envoys arrived speaking of war against the foreigners many of those who could still fight listened.
At the turn of the 17th century, the Pocumtuc domain stretched out along the Quinnitukqut (or Connecticut meaning "Long River") from southern Vermont to just north of Hartford. Yet life in their confederacy was far from ideal. Warfare was constant and Pocumtuc villages were renowned for their extensive defensive works.
Related by culture and language to the Mohicans to their west the Pocumtuc found themselves constantly at war with the Iroquois Confederacy or "the Great League of Peace and Power". For a long time, these wars had been fought on relatively equal terms with a coalition of Algonquian-speaking tribes including the Mohicans, Sokoki, and Penacook uniting their might against the powerful Iroquois. Yet, the arrival of Dutch merchants in 1610 disturbed this balance.
At first, the Dutch favored the Mohicans and for about a decade they dominated the Mohawks but when the Dutch started trading with both parties the Mohicans lost their advantage and began to lose ground. This put increasing pressure on the Pocumtuc who found themselves confined east of the Berkshire Mountains.
To make matters worse from 1633-1635 a major smallpox epidemic swept through New England and killed hundreds of Pocumtuc leaving the tribe extremely depopulated. Just as the illness started to subside English settlers arrived from the south and began establishing settlements along the Connecticut River. In 1636 a band of Pocumtuc known as the Agawam sold some land near their village to a Puritan merchant named William Pynchon. He established a trading post near their village which he named Springfield and it quickly grew into the largest English settlement along the Connecticut north of Hartford. The Pocumtuc were interested in tightening this potential alliance and one year later their maize saved Hartford from famine.
Yet, the newcomers soon took actions harmful to Pocumutuc interests. After the Pequot were destroyed by the English in 1637 the Pocumtuc joined with the Narragansett and Tunxis in their attempt to contain the ascendant Mohegans. Yet, due to the Anglo-Mohegan alliance, this attempt failed, and the Pocumtuc were forced to watch their geopolitical position erode further as the Dutch started exclusively supplying arms to the Iroquois in reaction to emerging competition with English merchants.
From the 1640s onward the Iroquois began expanding in all directions, forging an empire that would last more than a century. The Mohicans were among the first victims of this push and were eventually forced out of the coalition against the Iroquois. This left Pocumtuc villages directly on the frontline and in December 1663 the Seneca and Mohawk led a massive assault on the main Pocumtuc town. This attack was repulsed with more than 200 casualties and resulted in a short ceasefire, yet it forced the Pocumtuc to abandon the settlement.
When war resumed the Iroquois were again ascendant and unable to ignore the reality of the Iroquois English traders began doing business with them too which only further reinforced their advantage. Renewed Iroquois offensives forced the Pocumtuc to abandon most of their villages in the Connecticut River valley. Survivors clustered near English settlements for safety and left with little choice some bands of Pocumtuc started paying tribute to the Iroquois. This strategy prolonged the life of the Confederacy somewhat but during the 1660s English settlers began moving into areas that had recently been vacate giving rise to many new settlements.
Seeing the English who had done so much to aid their enemies take over their land angered many of the remaining Pocumtuc and when Metacom's envoys arrived speaking of war against the foreigners many of those who could still fight listened.
Character Slots: Sachem Sangumachu @Tyrell
Penacook Confederacy
The Penacook were an Algonquin-speaking confederation that was closely related to the Abenaki nations (Sokoki, Cowasuck, Pequawket, Missiquoi, Androscoggin, Odanak, Wolinak, Kennebec, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet) to their north and west. Unlike the Iroquois and the Wampanoag their society was patriarchal, yet their means of subsistence was the same. They hunted, farmed, and migrated with the change of the seasons to make ends meet. Based along the Merrimack River in southern and central New Hampshire they inhabited approximately 30 villages at the turn of the 17th century.
Early histories of the Penacook indicate that despite their close affiliation with the Abenaki frequent wars were often fought between them and their cousins. In 1607 the Penacook were dragged into one such war when the Mi'kmaq and Penobscot locked horns over control of the French fur trade. The Penacook sided with the Penobscot and suffered many raids from the Mi'kmaq who raided down the coast all the way to Massachusetts in search of loot and captives.
Around 1617, Mi'kmaq raiders came into contact with Wampanoag plague victims and brought the disease back north with them. The resulting epidemic killed thousands of Penacook and in combination with the war led to a sharp decline in their numbers. Within five years they came into direct contact with the English and tired of war they made an alliance with the newcomers and began selling them treks of land along the coast.
As contact between the settlers and the Penacook increased tensions arose between the two communities, yet the leadership of the Confederacy took pains to maintain good relations with their neighbors. For example, in 1632 they surrendered a Penacook who had killed an Englishman to colonial authorities. Yet, after the conclusion of the Pequot War, the Englishmen became more high-handed in their dealings with the native communities surrounding them.
This attitude led the English to launch a punitive expedition against the Penacook in 1642. Lacking the will to resist the leaders of the Confederacy fled their villages only to eventually sign a treaty of submission with Massachusetts Bay Colony. Early in the expedition, the English captured a son of the Head Sachem a boy named Wanalacet. They took him back to Massachusetts where he lived for two years and was eventually converted by the Puritan missionary John Eliot to Christianity.
Submission to the English did not protect the Penacook from Iroquois raids however and in 1651 they joined a coalition of Abenaki tribes sponsored by the French that attempted to contain the Iroquois. Despite English mercantile ties with their enemies the Penacook remained close to the settlers and sold even more of their land off in an effort to help supply the war effort. This policy eventually culminated in the sale of their capital to an Englishman named Richard Waldron.
Despite the best efforts of the Abenaki, the Iroquois could not be stopped and by the 1660s the Penacook were receiving a regular stream of refugees pouring out of the west and south including many Pocumtuc. Eventually, the French dispatched 1,200 troops from Europe to fight the Iroquois and the ensuing stalemate resulted in a peace signed in 1667.
A few years after that the Head Sachem of the Penacook died and was succeeded by his son Wanalancet. In the final years leading up to Metacom's war, the tribe became bitterly divided. A Christian who had lived through the ravages of conflict his whole life Wanalancet preferred peace for his people and did everything he could to maintain good relations with the English. Yet, many in the tribe were angry at the dispossession of their lands and the Anglo-Iroquois alliance and a bitterly anti-English faction rallied around a talented warrior named Kancamagus. The fate of the Penacook hands in the balance.
Early histories of the Penacook indicate that despite their close affiliation with the Abenaki frequent wars were often fought between them and their cousins. In 1607 the Penacook were dragged into one such war when the Mi'kmaq and Penobscot locked horns over control of the French fur trade. The Penacook sided with the Penobscot and suffered many raids from the Mi'kmaq who raided down the coast all the way to Massachusetts in search of loot and captives.
Around 1617, Mi'kmaq raiders came into contact with Wampanoag plague victims and brought the disease back north with them. The resulting epidemic killed thousands of Penacook and in combination with the war led to a sharp decline in their numbers. Within five years they came into direct contact with the English and tired of war they made an alliance with the newcomers and began selling them treks of land along the coast.
As contact between the settlers and the Penacook increased tensions arose between the two communities, yet the leadership of the Confederacy took pains to maintain good relations with their neighbors. For example, in 1632 they surrendered a Penacook who had killed an Englishman to colonial authorities. Yet, after the conclusion of the Pequot War, the Englishmen became more high-handed in their dealings with the native communities surrounding them.
This attitude led the English to launch a punitive expedition against the Penacook in 1642. Lacking the will to resist the leaders of the Confederacy fled their villages only to eventually sign a treaty of submission with Massachusetts Bay Colony. Early in the expedition, the English captured a son of the Head Sachem a boy named Wanalacet. They took him back to Massachusetts where he lived for two years and was eventually converted by the Puritan missionary John Eliot to Christianity.
Submission to the English did not protect the Penacook from Iroquois raids however and in 1651 they joined a coalition of Abenaki tribes sponsored by the French that attempted to contain the Iroquois. Despite English mercantile ties with their enemies the Penacook remained close to the settlers and sold even more of their land off in an effort to help supply the war effort. This policy eventually culminated in the sale of their capital to an Englishman named Richard Waldron.
Despite the best efforts of the Abenaki, the Iroquois could not be stopped and by the 1660s the Penacook were receiving a regular stream of refugees pouring out of the west and south including many Pocumtuc. Eventually, the French dispatched 1,200 troops from Europe to fight the Iroquois and the ensuing stalemate resulted in a peace signed in 1667.
A few years after that the Head Sachem of the Penacook died and was succeeded by his son Wanalancet. In the final years leading up to Metacom's war, the tribe became bitterly divided. A Christian who had lived through the ravages of conflict his whole life Wanalancet preferred peace for his people and did everything he could to maintain good relations with the English. Yet, many in the tribe were angry at the dispossession of their lands and the Anglo-Iroquois alliance and a bitterly anti-English faction rallied around a talented warrior named Kancamagus. The fate of the Penacook hands in the balance.
Character Slots: Sagamore Wonalancet @Cosmo Rat, Sagamore Kancamagus @Red Robyn
Penobscot Confederacy
Located on the eastern fringe of the Abenaki world, the Penobscot lived in lands that were too cold and rocky for agriculture on the same scale as in the land to their south. Therefore, the Penobscot relied on hunting and gathering to a greater degree than many of their neighbors and often struggled to find enough food to subsist through February and March near the end of winter.
Early in the history of the French colony of Acadia their merchants made contact with the Penobscot and began trading furs with them. In 1607 they fought the Mi'kmaq for control of this lucrative trade but ultimately lost that war along with much of their population. Despite this defeat, they continued to be an active part of the fur trade yet this commercial activity eventually brought French and English settlers to their lands.
Many of the Englishmen settled on the islands off the southern coast of Maine forming fishing communities that helped keep Boston fed. Yet, this put a strain on one of the main resources the Penobscot relied on for their subsistence and gave rise to a spate of anti-English sentiment. This brought the nation closer to the French and they let Jesuits begin establishing missions on their lands. Some Penobscot converted and in the early 1660s the French moved to tighten this alliance by dispatching an army officer named Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin to serve as a direct liaison with the Penobscot.
He successfully married a daughter of the Head Sachem Madokawando and yet was humiliated when a Dutch fleet captured the strategic French settlement at Fort Pentaguoet. After the conclusion of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, this fortress was given over to the English who now are able to establish a permanent presence on Penobscot lands. As the date of Metacom's rebellion approaches the French and the Penobscot are considering ways to contain their foe.
Early in the history of the French colony of Acadia their merchants made contact with the Penobscot and began trading furs with them. In 1607 they fought the Mi'kmaq for control of this lucrative trade but ultimately lost that war along with much of their population. Despite this defeat, they continued to be an active part of the fur trade yet this commercial activity eventually brought French and English settlers to their lands.
Many of the Englishmen settled on the islands off the southern coast of Maine forming fishing communities that helped keep Boston fed. Yet, this put a strain on one of the main resources the Penobscot relied on for their subsistence and gave rise to a spate of anti-English sentiment. This brought the nation closer to the French and they let Jesuits begin establishing missions on their lands. Some Penobscot converted and in the early 1660s the French moved to tighten this alliance by dispatching an army officer named Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin to serve as a direct liaison with the Penobscot.
He successfully married a daughter of the Head Sachem Madokawando and yet was humiliated when a Dutch fleet captured the strategic French settlement at Fort Pentaguoet. After the conclusion of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, this fortress was given over to the English who now are able to establish a permanent presence on Penobscot lands. As the date of Metacom's rebellion approaches the French and the Penobscot are considering ways to contain their foe.
Character Slots: Chief Sachem Madockawando @Zincvit, Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin @Zorakov
The Pawtucket Confederacy
Before colonization, the Pawtucket were not an organized tribal confederacy or nation of any kind. Instead, they were a group of immigrants from the Abenaki lands in the north who shared a distinct dialect and common ancestry. Organized into bands of 10-50 people they migrated the whole of southeastern New England never settling down in villages like their neighbors.
Yet, with the arrival of European plagues and colonists, the Pawtucket began to become more organized for purposes of defense. In 1617, they suffered serious losses at the hands of Mi'kmaq raiders from the north and soon formed into a confederacy led by a woman known as the Squaw Sachem of Mystic.
She administered the Pawtucket in peace for a time and with the aid of her three sons kept the once disunited people together. They settled in northern Massachusetts along the Charles, Piscataqua, and Concord Rivers inhabiting an area with easy access to the ocean. This quickly brought them into contact with the English and in the winter of 1633 a smallpox epidemic swept through the Pawtucket, killing two sons of the Squaw Sachem and permanently disfiguring the third one. His name was Wenepoykin but he eventually took the Christian name George and his nickname became George No Nose.
The survivors, much reduced in number settled into a small domain between Concord and Ipswich. It was there that the Squaw Sachem died in 1650 and her place was inherited by her son Wenepoykin. He maintained peaceful relations with the English but they quickly took over much Pawtucket domain that had been abandoned after the smallpox outbreak of 1633.
Wenepoykin attempted to push back against the settlers by suing for his nation's land in Massachusetts General Court but had his petition denied. Instead, the Pawtucket's position continued to erode as Puritan missionaries began converting some of the survivors and resettling them in praying towns with Nipmuc and other converted Native Americans.
Hoping to reverse his nation's decline Wenepoykin is sympathetic to the arguments made by Metacom and his followers. Yet, only time will tell if war is the right decision for his people.
Yet, with the arrival of European plagues and colonists, the Pawtucket began to become more organized for purposes of defense. In 1617, they suffered serious losses at the hands of Mi'kmaq raiders from the north and soon formed into a confederacy led by a woman known as the Squaw Sachem of Mystic.
She administered the Pawtucket in peace for a time and with the aid of her three sons kept the once disunited people together. They settled in northern Massachusetts along the Charles, Piscataqua, and Concord Rivers inhabiting an area with easy access to the ocean. This quickly brought them into contact with the English and in the winter of 1633 a smallpox epidemic swept through the Pawtucket, killing two sons of the Squaw Sachem and permanently disfiguring the third one. His name was Wenepoykin but he eventually took the Christian name George and his nickname became George No Nose.
The survivors, much reduced in number settled into a small domain between Concord and Ipswich. It was there that the Squaw Sachem died in 1650 and her place was inherited by her son Wenepoykin. He maintained peaceful relations with the English but they quickly took over much Pawtucket domain that had been abandoned after the smallpox outbreak of 1633.
Wenepoykin attempted to push back against the settlers by suing for his nation's land in Massachusetts General Court but had his petition denied. Instead, the Pawtucket's position continued to erode as Puritan missionaries began converting some of the survivors and resettling them in praying towns with Nipmuc and other converted Native Americans.
Hoping to reverse his nation's decline Wenepoykin is sympathetic to the arguments made by Metacom and his followers. Yet, only time will tell if war is the right decision for his people.
Character Slots: Wenepoykin @FatLeek
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