Historical Fiction Story
As a part of the research we have been doing in Humanities about ancient civilizations, I got in a group with a bunch of other students, and we created interlinking stories about these civilizations. Also, as a part of our stories, we had to include the pillars of Civilization. These include: Art and Architecture, Culture, Religion, Economics, and Government. My story is about a god in llama form, working as a part of the people in Tiwanaku. If you want to read further, I have pasted the story below...
Flander, the Hauler Llama of Tiwanaku
Harrison Quick
During the early period of ancient Tiwanaku, there lived a medicine man, whose name was Tiwanaku. But this is not Tiwanaku’s story. This is the story of his medical goods hauler llama, named Flander. Not only was Flander the oldest of Tiwanaku’s hauler llamas, he was the most experienced. He knew his way all around Tiwanaku, the Amazon, the Andes and more.
Now, Flander was not the llama everyone ever thought he was. But instead, he was a majestic god in llama form, connected to the people of Tiwanaku through Tiwanaku himself. His main purpose in life now, is simply to help the people of Tiwanaku in any way he can, in this case being a medical llama. When he fulfills this lifestyle, he can return to god form. Also, the only living beings that could communicate with Flander were people, but not even other llamas.
Tiwanaku and Flander lived together in a small house, Flander posing as a pet; but the two were very poor. Although they were stocked with medical supplies, money was not an object to the civilization, and everyone lived entirely off of trade. The journeys the two were forced to accomplish in search of the drugs required many materials, and they always traded many drugs in return for important supplies. Farmers were usually the richest of the civilization, because they always had very abundant crops they could trade, but now was not a good time for them, because a draught had gone on for a while, and the only way the civilization knew to bring rain to its villages was through sacrifice.
Now, it all began one day, when the civilization of Tiwanaku lacked a serious amount of drugs. Specifically, the drug Harmine, a drug based off a vine found deep in the Amazon jungle, which was widely used back then, from rituals, to something as simple as a stimulant. The vines were located 300 miles away from Tiwanaku, which of course, was where the Amazon flourished, and Flander was chosen to lead the journey. He would go with Tiwanaku and a local architect named Sawanaku. But Flander did not want to go into the jungle, for his extensive knowledge of the kinds of things now living within the Amazon, and his history of terrible misfortune from visiting those areas. Also, his saddle bags could hold only a limited amount of food for the journey, which was never enough. But, for the sake of the Tiwanakans, he would have to go.
Once they set off on the journey, Flander’s saddle bags filled only with the food required for this stretching trip, it seemed as though there was nothing that could stop them. But that was just what they thought. Of course, this was not how it turned out at all.
After taking the long distance on into the Amazon, the three coworkers battled fiercely through all obstacles thrown at them, showing no mercy to whatever shifted in the forest. By the end of the day, they had killed several toucans, four butterflies, some fish and an Anaconda. With Flander’s extravagant spitting method, and the use of Tiwanaku’s stick wielding skills, they were able to battle through the forest for several days, living on what they had, until the fateful day they ran out of food. Nothing they killed seemed to turn out edible, and they could only eat the fruit Flander knew to be non-toxic, as he was a god. However, as they neared their destination, fruit was becoming less edible, and the three began to starve.
It was three days after they ran out of food completely that they all started hallucinating. Sitting with excitement and shock, Sawanaku peered around wildly, most likely losing his mind slowly. There seemed to be something bothering him, perhaps something that had happened back at Tiwanaku. Tiwanaku himself went wandering into the forest, looking very tired and loopy, and was not found ‘til later the next day. Sawanaku just chewed on some of the leaves and grass sitting around the area.
While water was abundant, the three were pretty much screwed when it came to food. With Flander tripping over everything, they set off again the next day. They only made it about two miles before they found all the vines needed for the Harmine. Flander bit a few off, but realized he was so hungry that he just swallowed without chewing. Sawanaku said,
“Oh crap, Flander! You just ate all the freaking vines! That’s enough to kill you!”
“Buh dey was fso goodsth! AmbI wah tho hungry!” said Flander. He had digested some bad grass the night before which he apparently had a severe allergic reaction to. “Bethides, they is muchth moa whea thoth come from! And who ah you tho go thellin me whath ta…”, and with that he passed out onto his back.
The morning after, Flander awoke refreshed, ready to go on, but still starving. His saddle bags were filled and compacted with the Harmine vines, but no one else was in sight, so he decided to go on alone.
The first few miles flowed quite smoothly, but he soon got lost. Flander looked all around, but nothing was in sight; nothing, actually, but a noticeable black spot showing through the leaves. He freaked out when he saw it move, but it was already too late when the jaguar pounced on him. Although he was bucking, it held a tight grip on Flander’s back, claws stretching into his skin, the fur split between the long, curved spikes. From the lack of food and extra weight, Flander gave out. It all seemed over. Flander was going to die without fulfilling his purpose. But then he got a great idea. When the cat lunged in for the bite, Flander shifted his fur. But the jaguar still got a good bite! It tore a very large chunk of meat from the helpless animal’s coat. Flander was screaming in agony as the large cat spat out the furry flesh. This time when it lunged at Flander, he shifted his skin perfectly, and the jaguar took a huge bite out of his saddle bag! When it then came up with a mouth full of vine, it instinctively spat them out, but the pieces left in its mouth did the job just right. Its face immediately took on a kind of vacant look, and it began falling sideways, and went wandering into the forest, tripping on everything. The jaguar was no longer a problem.
Soon enough, Flander found Sawanaku, and they made the journey for a while together. It wasn’t long before they found a village that was actually part of the Amazon forest. The leader of this village was named Anton. Anton took them into the tribe, and they feasted until they knew their bowels could barely take what was coming. Tiwanaku showed up that day, too. As it turns out, the villagers tied him up because he was still delusional, and was considered a threat to the village. But they fed him back to health, and he was soon able to join them.
Sitting, the group of Anton, Flander, Sawanaku and Tiwanaku discussed the purpose of the journey between bites of parakeet. Although Flander was hesitant, they agreed to share the vines with Anton, and they all became good friends. Even better, Anton’s village would become a part of the Tiwanaku civilization! See, Tiwanaku was considered a “predatory” civilization, meaning it engulfed other villages to thrive. Every city or village they could reach was taken. Usually, it was peaceful, and the new villagers usually actually adopted much of the Tiwanaku culture and religion into their own lives.
The group of three headed back to the city as soon as they could. When they got back to the city, Flander’s saddle bags were full enough for Tiwanaku to make eight gallons of the Harmine. Tiwanaku was also able to heal the pain throbbing from the pit in Flander’s coat of skin by feeding him Harmine. Finally, the civilization was able to flourish with the new drugs, and watch the ceremony the way they wanted to. The ceremony was for the sacrifice of a man named Abban, and it was a glorious day! After he was bloodily disemboweled, a few people went up to celebrate on the morbidly wet top of the Akapana. Created solely from stone shipped with reed boats from the far side of Lake Titicaca, the Akapana was a very ceremonial, large pyramid that was to the Giza pyramids like trees are to flowers. The stones were cut very precisely, and cemented together with carefully planned design.
While everybody celebrated, they took handful after handful of the drug, and the ceremony would be later forgotten. But Flander would always remember. With his purpose fulfilled, he returned to god form, and accepted the sacrifice. Flander gave much rain to the farms of Tiwanaku, making required crops finally abundant to everyone, and Tiwanaku flourished once again. Also, with help from the events of the journey, Flander outgrew his fear of the Amazon. It was only too bad he had just become a god, because he had no purpose, now, in the jungle.
Harrison Quick
During the early period of ancient Tiwanaku, there lived a medicine man, whose name was Tiwanaku. But this is not Tiwanaku’s story. This is the story of his medical goods hauler llama, named Flander. Not only was Flander the oldest of Tiwanaku’s hauler llamas, he was the most experienced. He knew his way all around Tiwanaku, the Amazon, the Andes and more.
Now, Flander was not the llama everyone ever thought he was. But instead, he was a majestic god in llama form, connected to the people of Tiwanaku through Tiwanaku himself. His main purpose in life now, is simply to help the people of Tiwanaku in any way he can, in this case being a medical llama. When he fulfills this lifestyle, he can return to god form. Also, the only living beings that could communicate with Flander were people, but not even other llamas.
Tiwanaku and Flander lived together in a small house, Flander posing as a pet; but the two were very poor. Although they were stocked with medical supplies, money was not an object to the civilization, and everyone lived entirely off of trade. The journeys the two were forced to accomplish in search of the drugs required many materials, and they always traded many drugs in return for important supplies. Farmers were usually the richest of the civilization, because they always had very abundant crops they could trade, but now was not a good time for them, because a draught had gone on for a while, and the only way the civilization knew to bring rain to its villages was through sacrifice.
Now, it all began one day, when the civilization of Tiwanaku lacked a serious amount of drugs. Specifically, the drug Harmine, a drug based off a vine found deep in the Amazon jungle, which was widely used back then, from rituals, to something as simple as a stimulant. The vines were located 300 miles away from Tiwanaku, which of course, was where the Amazon flourished, and Flander was chosen to lead the journey. He would go with Tiwanaku and a local architect named Sawanaku. But Flander did not want to go into the jungle, for his extensive knowledge of the kinds of things now living within the Amazon, and his history of terrible misfortune from visiting those areas. Also, his saddle bags could hold only a limited amount of food for the journey, which was never enough. But, for the sake of the Tiwanakans, he would have to go.
Once they set off on the journey, Flander’s saddle bags filled only with the food required for this stretching trip, it seemed as though there was nothing that could stop them. But that was just what they thought. Of course, this was not how it turned out at all.
After taking the long distance on into the Amazon, the three coworkers battled fiercely through all obstacles thrown at them, showing no mercy to whatever shifted in the forest. By the end of the day, they had killed several toucans, four butterflies, some fish and an Anaconda. With Flander’s extravagant spitting method, and the use of Tiwanaku’s stick wielding skills, they were able to battle through the forest for several days, living on what they had, until the fateful day they ran out of food. Nothing they killed seemed to turn out edible, and they could only eat the fruit Flander knew to be non-toxic, as he was a god. However, as they neared their destination, fruit was becoming less edible, and the three began to starve.
It was three days after they ran out of food completely that they all started hallucinating. Sitting with excitement and shock, Sawanaku peered around wildly, most likely losing his mind slowly. There seemed to be something bothering him, perhaps something that had happened back at Tiwanaku. Tiwanaku himself went wandering into the forest, looking very tired and loopy, and was not found ‘til later the next day. Sawanaku just chewed on some of the leaves and grass sitting around the area.
While water was abundant, the three were pretty much screwed when it came to food. With Flander tripping over everything, they set off again the next day. They only made it about two miles before they found all the vines needed for the Harmine. Flander bit a few off, but realized he was so hungry that he just swallowed without chewing. Sawanaku said,
“Oh crap, Flander! You just ate all the freaking vines! That’s enough to kill you!”
“Buh dey was fso goodsth! AmbI wah tho hungry!” said Flander. He had digested some bad grass the night before which he apparently had a severe allergic reaction to. “Bethides, they is muchth moa whea thoth come from! And who ah you tho go thellin me whath ta…”, and with that he passed out onto his back.
The morning after, Flander awoke refreshed, ready to go on, but still starving. His saddle bags were filled and compacted with the Harmine vines, but no one else was in sight, so he decided to go on alone.
The first few miles flowed quite smoothly, but he soon got lost. Flander looked all around, but nothing was in sight; nothing, actually, but a noticeable black spot showing through the leaves. He freaked out when he saw it move, but it was already too late when the jaguar pounced on him. Although he was bucking, it held a tight grip on Flander’s back, claws stretching into his skin, the fur split between the long, curved spikes. From the lack of food and extra weight, Flander gave out. It all seemed over. Flander was going to die without fulfilling his purpose. But then he got a great idea. When the cat lunged in for the bite, Flander shifted his fur. But the jaguar still got a good bite! It tore a very large chunk of meat from the helpless animal’s coat. Flander was screaming in agony as the large cat spat out the furry flesh. This time when it lunged at Flander, he shifted his skin perfectly, and the jaguar took a huge bite out of his saddle bag! When it then came up with a mouth full of vine, it instinctively spat them out, but the pieces left in its mouth did the job just right. Its face immediately took on a kind of vacant look, and it began falling sideways, and went wandering into the forest, tripping on everything. The jaguar was no longer a problem.
Soon enough, Flander found Sawanaku, and they made the journey for a while together. It wasn’t long before they found a village that was actually part of the Amazon forest. The leader of this village was named Anton. Anton took them into the tribe, and they feasted until they knew their bowels could barely take what was coming. Tiwanaku showed up that day, too. As it turns out, the villagers tied him up because he was still delusional, and was considered a threat to the village. But they fed him back to health, and he was soon able to join them.
Sitting, the group of Anton, Flander, Sawanaku and Tiwanaku discussed the purpose of the journey between bites of parakeet. Although Flander was hesitant, they agreed to share the vines with Anton, and they all became good friends. Even better, Anton’s village would become a part of the Tiwanaku civilization! See, Tiwanaku was considered a “predatory” civilization, meaning it engulfed other villages to thrive. Every city or village they could reach was taken. Usually, it was peaceful, and the new villagers usually actually adopted much of the Tiwanaku culture and religion into their own lives.
The group of three headed back to the city as soon as they could. When they got back to the city, Flander’s saddle bags were full enough for Tiwanaku to make eight gallons of the Harmine. Tiwanaku was also able to heal the pain throbbing from the pit in Flander’s coat of skin by feeding him Harmine. Finally, the civilization was able to flourish with the new drugs, and watch the ceremony the way they wanted to. The ceremony was for the sacrifice of a man named Abban, and it was a glorious day! After he was bloodily disemboweled, a few people went up to celebrate on the morbidly wet top of the Akapana. Created solely from stone shipped with reed boats from the far side of Lake Titicaca, the Akapana was a very ceremonial, large pyramid that was to the Giza pyramids like trees are to flowers. The stones were cut very precisely, and cemented together with carefully planned design.
While everybody celebrated, they took handful after handful of the drug, and the ceremony would be later forgotten. But Flander would always remember. With his purpose fulfilled, he returned to god form, and accepted the sacrifice. Flander gave much rain to the farms of Tiwanaku, making required crops finally abundant to everyone, and Tiwanaku flourished once again. Also, with help from the events of the journey, Flander outgrew his fear of the Amazon. It was only too bad he had just become a god, because he had no purpose, now, in the jungle.
