The Tzaltec Empire
TheDarkDM
http://i.imgur.com/MX2Ivzd.jpg
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Xiuhtlatec Nezetkhamun
Diplomacy: 10
Military: 10
Curiosity: 10
Faith: 10
Teotlkan Senusret III
Current Stats [Round 29]:
Diplomacy: 10
Military: 10
Curiosity: 5
Faith: 7
Luck: 5
Original Stats:
Diplomacy: 3 (+7)
Military: 5 (+5)
Curiosity: 4 (+1)
Faith: 6 (+1)
Luck: 5 (+0)
Population: 3,854,000
Spoiler: Religion
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The central tenets of the Tzaltec religion revolve around the belief in four primal elemental dragons, each of which is believed to have shaped some fundamental aspect of the world. However, until recently only Tzetultep was personofied beyond a raw elemental force. The elemental dragon of earth and fire, Tzetultep is believed to have formed the first humans (the Tzaltec) from primordial clay, while at the same time inadvertently giving birth to the other races of man. He (for Tzetultep has been regarded as a male force since before recorded history) is the source from which the Tzalteca derive their right to rule, and it is his blood that is believed to flow through the Teotlkan. It is for this reason that the Teotlkan and their family are viewed as "Blood of the Dragon", blessed with divine insight. Tzetultep himself is believed to have ascended to the heavens and become the sun after creating life on earth, and thus Tzalteca religious events are primarily based on solar events. These events are always marked by human sacrifice, usually drawn from a class of slaves raised by the priesthood for the sole purpose of giving their lives to Tzetultep. Membership in this caste is considered a great honor, and sacrificial slaves are almost as respected as a true Tzaltec.
With the expansion of the Tzalteca beyond the confines of their home region, they have encountered differing faiths of immense strength for the first time. However, rather than falter at the existence of other divines, the Tzaltec priesthood as appropriated many foreign religions and incorporated them into the mythos of the Dragon Gods. Yphine is recognized as the elemental dragon of Air, for example, while the Silver Lady is seen as a lesser aspect of the elemental dragon of water respectively. The BUrning Avatar prestns a unique conundrum, but modern Tzaltec dogma accepts it as a lesser aspect of Tzetultep deprived of much of his potency. This elasticity makes the dragon cult remarkably resistant to the proven miracles of other, competing religions. After all, ignorance does not preclude the blessings of one of the great dragons.
Spoiler: Government
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The Tzalteca are organized primarily in a theocratic monarchy, with the Teotlkan regarded as the living incarnation of Tzetultep's will. The bureaucracy and the priesthood is thus very difficult to distinguish. The monarch is advised by the Circle of Twelve, a collection of twelve officials drawn from the military, the priesthood, and the artisans. The four representatives are elected by their respective peers, and serve for life.
Spoiler: Tzaltec Succession
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It is a truism in Tzalteclan that the blood of the dragon does not marry. While common Tzalteca engage in monogamous relationships, the Teotlkan is expected to maintain a harem of consorts drawn from the most esteemed houses of Tzalteclan. This, in turn, makes the idea of a direct hereditary succession something of a nightmare. Accordingly, the road to becoming Teotlkan is somewhat more involved.
Throughout the life of a Teotlkan, it is their duty to test their children, in both mind and body. These children are provided the finest tutors in the known world, and recieve an education ranging from Tzaltec law to civil engineering to military strategy. These tutors, in turn, report the gifted to the Teotlkan, and if they are very lucky they are named tlapepentli. Once so named, these individuals rise substantially in the hierarchy of the empire, and they work fiercely to maintain their status.
When the time comes for the Teotlkan to pass on, whether by unexpected disaster or the conscious decision of the aging Teotlkan, the tlapepentli are gathered together. They are sent into the jungle with naught but what they can carry, with a single mission - to return with the grandest prize within one week. The nature of the prize is intentionally open-ended, the better to foster creativity, and at the end of the challenge the surviving tlapepentli are judged by the Twelve. The winner ascends to become the new Teotlkan, invested with all the powers of a god, while the surviving losers are either eliminated by their paranoid sibling or given positions of authority within the empire.
Spoiler: Technologies
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The Tzaltec Empire possesses:
- Ocean-Faring Ships
- Plate Armor
- Tzaltec Fire
- Black Powder
- Hovercrafts
- Clockwork
- Ultralight Materials
- Prosthetic Limbs
- Printing Press
- Advanced Lenses
- Magnets
- Sewage Systems
- Kralax-Riding
- Berunda-Riding
- Pitch
- Raaneki Diplomacy
- Zepplins
- Griffon Riding
- Medicine
Spoiler: Tzaltec Fire
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Resource Requirements: Dragon's Blood, Goldfire (pending an answer to the above question), lack of conscience :smalltongue:
Effect: +2 to Military Rolls
By combining raw Dragon's Blood with powdered Goldfire and a host of minor alchemical ingredients, the Tzaltec priests have discovered Tzaltec Fire. A liquid so deeply red as to be almost black, in its dormant state Tzaltec Fire has the consistency of thick syrup. Due to this, one might think it to be relatively stable, but the opposite is true. Any impact more severe than being poured a few inches will excite the Goldfire speckled through the liquid, igniting it into a hellish inferno (assuming the presence of an oxidizer). Fueled by its own liquid mass, Tzaltec fire burns black and as hot as a blacksmith's crucible. Though sticky, the substance regains some of its liquid nature once afire, allowing it to spatter the area around a blaze and set an even greater area alight. Water has little effect on the flame, unless the substance is completely immersed. In such cases, it will either drown immediately or float to the surface and burn until it has consumed itself. Burial in earth can also extinguish it, but such methods are rarely close at hand. If allowed to burn unimpeded, Tzaltec fire burns through whatever it touches, be it wood, metal, or flesh, igniting surrounding flammable materials and burrowing ever deeper into whatever surface it sits upon. The sole material that can withstand Tzaltec fire with no ill effects appears to be obsidian, which the substance flows across like water without leaving so much as a scar.
Spoiler: Tactics
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Winning Tactic (Mountains)
Tzalteclan (#86)
Region Details
Population: 950,000 [Including +22,000 Population Growth, -3,000 Holy War pre-boom; +10,000 post-boom]
Military: 3 Land, 2 Naval
Spoiler: Terrain
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Tzalteclan is a coastal region nestled in the remains of a long-extinct supervolcano. The caldera serves as a large natural bay, known as the Bay of Stars for the quartz infused black sand that coats the floor. The bay is encircled by barrier cliffs called the Walls of Enlightenment, and is only accessible via a comparatively narrow inlet. Past the bay, the interior of the region is thick jungle fed by a twisting, crocodile infested river. However, a columnar basalt plateau rises near the bay, and this is where the Tzalteca have established their capital city of Tzalteclan. The majority of the Tzalteca live on the plateau, working farmland that has been carved out of the surrounding jungle and fishing the Bay of Stars to support their burgeoning population.
Spoiler: People
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The Tzalteca are a breed of human that has long dominated the area. Predominantly bronze skinned and black haired, they stand around six feet tall on average with a proud bearing. The Tzalteca believe themselves to be descended from the great dragon Tzetultep, who tore the earth asunder and forged them from fire and mud. The other races of man sprouted forth from the light cast by the birth of the Tzalteca, making them forever inferior to the blood of the dragon. This endemic sense of superiority colors all Tzalteca interactions, and explains the deep hypocrisy inherent in their society.
Among the Tzalteca, men and women are regarded as equals. Women can own and inherit property, and serve in the military, the government, and the priesthood. Meanwhile, members of other tribes are fit only for enslavement, and are often regarded in the same way as one might a favored dog. This rarely manifests as malice - rather, the Tzalteca see it as their duty to guide and safeguard lesser beings. The desires of these "lesser beings" are rarely taken into consideration.
Spoiler: Resources
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The mountains surrounding Tzalteclan are rich in precious minerals, gold chief among them. While they also provide an ample supply of more common metals, most importantly iron. However, the most important resource of the Tzalteca, and the backbone of their society, are slaves. Culled from the less advanced tribes in the interior, Tzalteca slaves are owned by the state, and are assigned tasks according to their abilities. These range from menial laborers in the farms and mines to bureaucrats in the government and the priesthood, and each is marked with a facial tattoo denoting their rank and position. Harming a slave is seen as the destruction of government property, and is swiftly punished. It is even possible, through great effort, for slaves to be recognized as mahurat, or ascended ones, and be granted their freedom and full citizenship. Meanwhile, slaves who are recalcitrant or disobedient are sentenced to imprisonment in the Walls of Enlightenment. Shallow cells have been dug into the cliff side, exposing slaves to the elements and the ceaseless crash of waves on the rocks below. It rarely takes more than a few weeks of such treatment for them to accept their fate.
With the arrival of foreigners from across the sea, stories have begun to circulate of vast herds of docile animals useful in both farming and for food, leading to a demand for draft animals. Already the Council of Twelve is pressuring the God King to arrange for trade with one of the lesser nations, and it seems inevitable that Tzalteca gold will soon be on offer.
Spoiler: Dragon's Blood
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Discovered in the deep jungle of Tzalteclan, Dragon's Blood is a deep red liquid that bubbles from the ground, most commonly in the cave networks that pepper the region's rocky interior. Warm to the touch, Dragon's Blood is both extremely flammable and extremely long lasting. Burning with a deep red flame, it produces black, coppery smoke in its natural form. However, if refined it becomes far less noxious and has a number of uses.
Spoiler: Trade
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GOLD (1/3 USED)
SLAVES (2/3 USED)
- True Ice - Sympolemou
- Coal - Glazfell Hegemony
IRON (2/3 USED)
- Fulfilling Resource Requirement - Elomaoli
- Fulfilling Resource Requirement - Axiquahitl
DRAGON'S BLOOD (3/3 USED)
- Plate Armor and Ocean Faring Ships Technologies - Glazfell
- Poison - Guilder
- Cedar Wood - Bordeaux
Spoiler: Great Projects
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The Gates of Nezetkhamun
A project intended to safeguard the Bay of Stars from foreign aggressors, the Gates of Nezetkhamun are a pair of massive cylindrical fortresses carved into the cliffs that border the bay's inlet. Built upon a foundation of sunken gravel, the exterior walls arc outwards from the cliff face to a distance of eighty feet, narrowing the channel to less than one thousand feet wide. The bottom fifty feet that rise above sea level boast walls twenty feet thick, pierced by a lone tunnel barely three feet in diameter. These tunnels hold the underwater chain that connects the two fortresses, and can be raised to prevent access to the bay proper. Despite its height, this portion of both fortresses contain only four stories, due to the first ten feet above sea level being solid stone. The lowest of these stories holds the winch room, while the second is a fortified hall containing the fortresses' entry point and the third and fourth are the rooms of the garrison. The three stories above those feature much thinner walls, scarcely eight feet thick, but those are riddled with alcoves holding ballistae and arrow slits. Their interiors are occupied by vast armories. However, for their impressive size the real wonder of the Gates rests above the them. Mounted on the roofs of both fortresses are a pair of towering stone statues, rising almost one hundred feet into the air. The right statue is set to bear the likeness of Nezetkhamun when complete, while the left will bear the face of his predecessor.
Elomaoli (#87)
Region Details
Population: 505,000 [Including +10,000 Population Growth pre-boom; +5,000 post-boom]
Military: 2 Land
Spoiler: Terrain
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Elomaoli's north is dominated by the same thick jungle that covers Tzalteclan. However, the jungle begins to thin halfway down the coast, eventually giving way to lush plains atop gently rolling hills. It is this open area, and to a lesser extent the jungle edge, that the people of Elomaoli chose to make their homes, relying on the plentiful timber and rich soil to support themselves. While some of these tribes supplement their diet with fishing, the majority of the coast is blocked by sheer cliffs in the south and volcanic mountain ranges to the north.
Spoiler: People
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People of lean stature and very bright eyes, the Elo retain traces of their hunter culture even now that their society is firmly agricultural. Endurance running is both apoint of pride and a measure of maturity, and it is rare for settlements in the area to lack for fresh meat. With the arrival of the Tzalteca, the Elo find themselves unified under a central government for the first time, and while many look askance at the slaves of the Tzalteca, the benefits of membership in the empire outweigh any misgivings.
Spoiler: Resources
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The southern fields of Elomaoli are extensively cultivated, and rich in corn. In addition, the volcanic mountains ringing the northern coast are rife with the strange metal known as goldfire. Sadly, any iron veins are located in areas too unstable to exploit, consigning the people to work with substandard.
Spoiler: Trade
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CORN (1/3 USED)
- Fulfilling Resource Requirement - Nezetkharras
GOLDFIRE (1/3 USED)
Amocuallan (#85)
Region Details
Population: 906,000 [Including +2,000 Population Growth, -1,000 Military Losses pre-boom; +6,000 post-boom]
Military: 4 Land
Spoiler: Terrain
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The southern jungles quickly give way to savanna the further north one travels in Amocuallan, until becoming arid plains at the extreme edges of the region. Scattered throughout the savanna are stands of broad-trunked black trees, their deep blue leaves weeping thick sap almost constantly. These trees, known as Iceheart trees by the inhabitants, are the source of the regions unique ngath philungf, and are the focal point around which settlements are established. While there is very little in the way of flowing water, there are numerous watering holes and oases dotting the plains, the largest of which serve as the permanent homes for the regions frightful turtles.
Spoiler: People
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Termed the Cuallan by Tzaltec explorers, the people of Amocuallan have been forever changed by their constant exposure to the ngath philungf and the Iceheart trees that spawn it. Their skin is universally shades of grey, ranging from slate to absolute black. While their general shape is human, they stand almost six and a half feet tall on average, and have parallel lines of stubby horns growing from above their eyebrows that continue to the midpoint of their heads. The eyes of the Cuallan are universally icy blue, in both iris and sclera, while their hair is most commonly shock white. Despite this fearsome appearance, however, Cuallan society is little different from other human tribes in the region, though physical violence is a more common means of resolving disputes.
Spoiler: Resources
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The Iceheart trees of Amocuallan constantly produce ngath philungf, a potent painkiller that possesses other properties. Areas treated with ngath philungf are rendered totally numb, allowing even the most extreme of medical procedures without causing any discomfort. However, when ingested this anesthetic potency is diluted throughout the whole body, making ngath philungf a potent narcotic.
In addition, Amocuallan is notable for its roaring turtles, massive shelled beasts the size of rhinoceroses. Fiercely territorial, they take their name from their warning cries, bellowing screeches that carry across the empty plains. Despite their aggression, the Cuallan have managed to domesticate a number of them, using them as draft animals and, rarely, as beasts of war.
Due to its position on the plains, Amocuallan lacks stone of any quality with which to build the structures expected of the Tzlatec Empire.
Spoiler: Trade
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NGATH PHILUNGF (0/3 USED)
ROARING TURTLES (1/3 USED)
- Fulfilling Resource Requirement - Tzalteclan
Nezetkharras (#106)
Region Details
Population: 462,000 [Including +12,000 post-boom]
Military: 3 Land
Spoiler: Terrain
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The lands to the east of Amocuallan mark the end of the verdant southlands of the eastern continent, as the earth cracks like broken glass into jagged cliffs and tumbledown peaks. Though it is but a prelude to the true range that marks the end of the known world, the Razor Peaks are still a formidable obstacle to travel, a fact that greatly complicated the Tzaltec invasion of 431. To this day, the mountains remain an impediment, though their jagged passes have been expanded through forced orcish labor and proper roads now lead to the region's capital.
The Capital, which shares a name with the region, was raised in the ruins of the orc citadel that was destroyed during the war with the Tzalteca. The orc citadel, its name lost to history, was carved into the side of one of the Razor Peaks' most imposing mountains, and in its place is a massive crater, a cave burned from solid rock with cannon and Tzaltec fire. The new construction is a jarring shift, its buildings secure masonry painted red, its streets broad and airy. The outer walls still bear the iron crosses that crucified the last remnants of orcish resistance, and the flags that ripple in the mountain wind send a clear signal of Tzaltec dominance. Despite its grizzly foundations, it plays host to more than ten thousand subjugated orcs, and is a city of vast industry, where the precious gold of the mountains is brought to be smelted and shaped.
At the base of the mountain that holds Nezetkharras lies the one true marvel of the region, a lake of rippling fire with neither apparent source nor fuel. The Livefire Font was once the center of religious life for the orcs of the region, and is now the subject of extensive study by Tzaltec priests and scientists. The unique properties of Livefire promise to be of great use to the empire, and a more permanent fortress-laboratory is being erected to best exploit the unique resource.
Spoiler: People
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The land that would become Nezetkharras was once home to more than one hundred thousand orcs, possessed of a warlike spirit and a lust for conquest. Appropriate, as they stand six feet tall on average, with dark mustard skin and grey eyes, making them a physically formidable race. Though their armies were broken by the might of the Glazfell, they remained defiant as the Tzalteca marched on their strongholds. They were confident that they would outlast any siege, that aid would arrive from the other orc strongholds of the mountains. They expected diplomacy, hesitation, and curiosity. Put simply, they did not understand the Tzaltec.
When the last of its armies was crushed, the orcs retreated to their mountain fastness, leaving only a narrow stone bridge for the Tzaltec to attack over. But rather than charging the gates or sending emissaries, the Tzaltec simply surrounded the mountain fortress and began their bombardment. Iron balls launched from bombards tore through the orcs walls, leaving holes for the trebuchet-launched orbs of Tzaltec fire to ignite the inner rooms. This bombardment proceeded unabated for more then three months, driving the orcs deeper and deeper underground, destroying their stores of food and water even as it claimed the lives of thousands. Eventually, their citadel had been reduced to naught but the foundations and the deepest dungeons, and they were forced to surrender. They were herded into camps, forced to reveal the location of the lesser villages throughout the region, but still they remained defiant. That was when the Teotlkan gave the order to decimate the population. In the space of a week, one out of every ten orcish men and women were put to the sword, their bodies dumped ignominiously in mass graves. Every orcish child was ripped from the arms of their mothers, relocated to massive Tzaltec work camps where every shred of their culture was stripped from them over a decade. A resistance sprang up, as was inevitable, and was met by even greater brutality on the part of the province's military government. Between the years 433 and 437, it is estimated that no less than eighteen thousand orcs were captured, tortured, and crucified. The rest were ground under the iron boot of Tzaltec slavery, forced to mine the rich gold deposits beneath the mountains for the pleasure of distant Tzalteclan. By the time the region was firmly under Tzaltec control, only forty-five thousand orcs remained, most of them from a generation that knew nothing but Tzaltec dominance.
Today, Nezetkharras remains a slave-state, its population bred to serve and to die at the whims of the Teotlkan. Unlike the generational slaves of Tzalteclan, which are treated as befits livestock or favored pets, the orcs of Nezetkharras are attack dogs, taught to be fiercely loyal to Tzalteclan and allowed to bear arms as part of fanatical infantry units.
Spoiler: Resources
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Tzaltec prospectors discovered rich veins of Gold within the Razor Peaks of Nezetkharras, and wasted little time in putting the orcs to work in vast and dangerous mine pits. Still, the greatest discovery in the region was the vast supply of Creeping Livefire. However, the near genocide of the initial invasion and shift towards industrialization has left very few orcs to tend to the business of gathering Food, making that a top priority.
Spoiler: Trade
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GOLD (0/3 USED)
CREEPING LIVEFIRE (0/6 USED)
Spoiler: Creeping Livefire
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Neither truly flame nor truly magma, livefire bridges the gap between the two, an ever burning liquid that flows like water. That alone would be enough to label it a curiosity, but livefire is made so much more by its other properties - whether due to the violence that surrounded it or the murderous actions of the Tzaltec, livefire hums with the ghosts of the dead, trapping some faint thread of the soul in its fiery blaze. The whispers of thousands of voices can be heard in the livefire's roar, and it reacts to the presence of living beings. More than that, it reacts to their emotions, and seems to project that reaction onto mundane fire that is close enough to it. More research is needed to unlock the full potential of these properties, but the highest echelons of the Tzaltec government are keeping a close eye of their newest region.
Oztotla (#104)
Region Details
Population: 573,000 [Including +3,000 post-boom]
Military: None
Spoiler: Terrain
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The western edge of Oztotla marks the end of the southern jungle, as the trees thin and the ground rises into foothills. This rolling landscape, the Black Hills makes up the bulk of the region's land, and takes its name from the rich black soil that covers it. It is on these hills that the native people carved their terraced communities and grew the region's native staple, potatoes.
Further east, the land continues to rise, eventually transitioning from hills into the mountains of the Earth Spine, the range that continues north and south to the edges of the continent. The mountains are nigh-impassable, with only a few jagged passes providing a route further into the range.
The the majority of the mountains remain unexplored, a single region is well traveled by the native peoples. This collection of peaks stretches further west than the others, a finger of towering rock that is laced through with natural caverns and canyons. The sound of the wind passing through the various openings produces a ceaseless cry that carries for miles. The local people believed their gods to reside there, and called the holy site the Wailing Labyrinth.
Spoiler: People
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The people of Oztotla, who called themselves the Azoca before their integration into the empire, are short for humans, with men averaging only five feet six inches and women two inches below that. They are a ruddy complexioned people, exposure to the elements having deeply weathered the faces of most adults. Absent any appreciable building material, they largely contented themselves with huts dug into their native hills, the better to preserve their scarce supplies of lumber for roofs only. Their rich supply of stone ensured these recessed dwellings were well insulated, and turned their communities into collections of grass-covered mounds surrounded by stone fences. Needless to say, the Tzalteca had little difficulty in swaying them to join the empire. Prior to their annexation, they worshiped the spirits of the air, and while the Cult of the Dragon grows in prominence there remain many holdouts.
Spoiler: Resources
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The soil of Oztotla lends itself well to the cultivation of Potatoes, so much so that a bumper crop is the rule rather than the exception. In addition, the clearing of terraces for their crops and the nearby mountains ensure a ready supply of Stone, and indeed the regions largest settlements are built around quarries.
Sadly, the scrubland that covers the hills holds few trees, making Wood a luxury few can afford. Indeed, prior to their acceptance into the empire a pallet of wood for a roof was considered a generous dowry.
Spoiler: Trade
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Potatoes (0/3 USED)
Stone (1/3 USED)
- Fulfilling Resource Requirement - Amocuallan
Axiquahitl (#102)
Region Details
Population: 458,000 [Including +8,000 post-boom]
Military: 1 Land
Spoiler: Terrain
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East of Elomaoli, the verdant hills grow progressively more wild, becoming tangled highlands on which grow a towering redwood forest that has stood since time immemorial. Dead trees on the periphery suggest it endured even the Cataclysm, and on its discovery Tzaltec explorers christened it the Progenitor Forest. Beneath those towering boughs, an abundance of life flourishes.
Eventually, though, the forest ends. The ground becomes rocky and jagged, and the hills rise sharply to join the southern expanse of the Earth Spine. It is in these mountains that the largest mountain in the range sits, and in defiance of its local name Tzaltec maps mark it as Mount Nezetkhamun.
Spoiler: People
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The native people of Axiquahitl were never properly identified before their integration into the empire. Living in the boughs of the larger redwoods, they concealed their faces behind pained wood masks and considered the trees themselves to be holy. They therefore reacted poorly with the initial team of Tzalteca surveyors took cuttings from a living tree. The surveyor camp was attacked, and despite the natives' lack of iron weapons they inflicted several casualties and forced the expedition to flee to the safety of Elomaoli. However, this only strengthened the Tzaltec commitment to integrating the region.
A second survey team was sent, this one accompanied by a detachment of Tzaltec regulars equipped with Tzaltec fire. As soon as they entered the forest, they sought out the nearest native village and brokenly informed them through a translator that they had called down the wrath of heaven. Then, with only a few fist-sized jars, they set the village ablaze.
While the natives were well acquainted with the occasional forest fire, the speed and ferocity of the Tzaltec weapon took them completely by surprise. As the survey team watched from a safe distance, the natives fought desperately to save their homes and their sacred tree, and were eventually reduced to tearfully chopping off burning limbs. Eventually the fire died out, but not before half the village was dead and their home was gutted. The survivors were allowed to flee to other villages, carrying a message from the Tzaltec: submit, or suffer the same fate. Faced with a power they did not understand, a council of village elders came together and surrendered to the leader of the expedition.
Reorganization of the region followed swiftly. While the largest settlements were allowed to remain untouched, smaller settlements were evacuated from their homes and consolidated into Tzaltec communities, forced to begin logging select sections of the forest to feed far-off Tzalteclan's lust for timber.
Spoiler: Resources
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The vast forest that spans much of Axiquahitl proves an almost inexhaustible supply of Wood, the only obstacle being the locals' continued reverence of the trees. In addition, the Progenitor Forest is the home of a unique form of fungus. Semi-sentient, this Predator Fungus serves as a natural scavenger on the forest floor, spreading and devouring dead organic material of any kind. The natives have long used this fungus in their medicines, much as another culture might use maggots to clean away dead skin.
However, due to its forest culture, Axiquahitl is devoid of smithing, making Iron, for all its uses, a virtual unknown.
Spoiler: Trade
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Predator Fungi (0/3 USED)
Wood (1/3 USED)
- Fulfilling Resource Requirement - Oztotla
Maztpoala (#84)
Region Details
Population: 639,000
Military: None
Spoiler: Terrain
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The terrain of Maztpoala is largely flat and desolate, its wide and rolling plains intersected by a few majestic, thundering rivers and creeks. These rapids burst into flood during the rainy season, and have carved out grand Canyons across the landscape, often reaching a half a mile deep, and many more miles long. Even long after the rivers themselves may have dried up, there are rock formations, mesas and plateaus.
The largest of these, Dead Man's Gulch is so massive that it has a canyon hidden inside its apex. The four-mile long almost sheer side of Gulch's mesa is a common place to shelter cattle, scrawl graffiti, or even dig mines.
Those last are another notable feature of Maztpoala. [Abandoned Mines] litter the countryside, dangerous, old, and often about to collapse. Since the most lucrative and easy mining for gold or goldfire is always at the surface, there are hundreds of shallow mines scattered across the territory.
Spoiler: People
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When it was the Frontier, the men (and occasionally women) were some of the wildest lot you'll see on this side of the drink. They smoked, cussed, gambled, shot, boozed, and danced like no one else in the world could possibly try... well, at least, that's what they thought, until the day that Guilderene sailors rolled into town. With their integration into the Tzaltec Empire, that anarchic frontier spirit has been somewhat repressed, replaced with a buzzing tension that is only released behind closed doors or during feast days.
The Frontier was an uncivilized place. Now, as Maztpoala, it is a region in transition. Adventure in the wilderness is still there to be found, though the unknown becomes smaller every year through the actions of Tzaltec surveyors and engineers. Faced with this change, the remaining population of Maztpoala finds itself forced to change, though some still remain who resist. They know well enough, though, to resist quietly.
Spoiler: Religion
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Maztpoala's native worship is not centralized at all. They have little wood-plank "temples" and "churches" with steeples and all, but little regard for them. The people of Maztpoala live in a rough-and-tumble lifestyle, and they let it take them over. Just surviving the incursion of Lacertals or other reptiles from land, earth, or sky, is more than enough to keep their eyes off of their hearts.
[Majority] None
[Minority] Pagan "gods" of money.
Spoiler: Resources
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Resources: Maztpoala's wide, flat mesas are full of the strangest deposits, littered in the ground and filling its rare streams. Its rocky ground makes the perfect home for ores of all sorts, often used decoratively just as mined. However, their main exports are famously [Gold], a metal as radiant as the sun and as malleable as the hearts of men, as well as [Goldfire]. Goldfire is an odd metal-like substance, yellow just as gold, and found in many of the same places. However, when broken down or mixed together, its powers grow dangerously. Goldfire cannot be used for forming objects. Instead, it accelerates the energy of reactions. When mixed with a torch, it becomes a beacon; with a campfire it becomes an pyre, with a kettle Goldfire makes an explosion. It is believed to be a type of Sulfur, but its properties are far more powerful, and far more strange. Campfire stories say it fell from the scales of Thunder Dragons from far away north, in Maos.
Sadly for Maztpoala, its rocky outcroppings of ores offer little to no protection from the shade. For them, they desperately need [Cooling Items]. Without ice from the north, most meat that's out in the open begins to grow foul within a day, sometimes even a few hours.
Imports:
Good: Gold
Good: Goldfire
Import: Cooling/Refreshing Items
Spoiler: Trade
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Gold (0/3 Used)
Goldfire (0/3 Used)
Nanacatlon (#101)
Region Details
Population: 765,000
Military: None
Spoiler: Terrain
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Located in the southernmost edge of the Earth Spine, Nanacatlon is almost devoid of habitable land above ground. What little there is is located inside the Green Fingers, and array of valleys in the region's south that form the rough shape of a pair of hands reaching up into the mountains from the green lands of the coast. It is here where most of the hunting is conducted, but there are few settlements.
The reason for this seemingly sparse population is the region's most notable feature, a vast array of catacombs and tunnels running through the mountains from sea level almost to their peaks. Called the Great Maze by the people of Nanacatlon, it is in these sprawling, insulated chambers that the greatest of their settlements were founded. Though much of the Maze remains a mystery, the largest and most direct thoroughfares and caverns have been extensively explored.
While this underground habitation may seem a poor life, it is made far more palatable by the presence of Glittering Walls. Fed by the snow banks high above, these natural waterfalls and small rivers eventually wind their way either deeper into the Maze or to feed waterways on the surface. In so doing, they provide the heartbeat to the region's industry and drinking water to its people.
Spoiler: People
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The people of Nanacatlon are surprisingly developed for their situation, and were it not for the grand empires to their north they might be regarded as relatively advanced. Standing at an average height of five feet seven inches, they are universally pale from live spent underground. This has extended to their hair, which is most commonly blonde or even pure white, making them easily mistaken for albinos were it not for the deep, inky blue of their eyes.
Cave explorers without compare, the lives of the maze dwellers have not allowed for great ease, and the majority of their art and music remains tied to their beloved caves. Intricate cave paintings retelling a settlement's history cover long-inhabited caves, and even the rarely visited areas of the Maze have a few fading images painted on their walls. The music of the Maze is most comparable to the sound of water in motion, chimes and wood flutes put to use in replicating the intricate harmonies of the waterfall.
Before the Tzaltec, the people of the Maze were organized in a loose confederation of towns, sharing the largest caverns used as fungus farms and the rare natural reservoirs. While war existed it was infrequent and brief, the warriors more often called upon to fight off interlopers from the dark of the Deep Maze.
Spoiler: Religion
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Before the coming of the Tzaltec, the people of the Maze worshiped the stone fathers, whose voices could be heard in the winds of the Maze. That belief remains, though for how long none can say.
Spoiler: Resources
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Thanks to the abundant supply of copper and tin in the Great Maze, Bronze has become the primary metal of war and industry. Produced in some capacity by every settlement, it is in abundant supply. However, far more enticing is the unique fungus of the Maze - Violet Manzer. Possessed of miraculous regenerative properties when properly prepared, the medicinal fungus is the primary thing of worth found by the Tzaltec expedition.
However, for their abundance of staple items the people of the Maze are woefully bereft of anything the outside world might consider a luxury. Enraptured of the bangles and coins brought by the Tzaltec for trade, they have developed a deep, some would say unhealthy, fascination with Gold.
Spoiler: Trade
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Bronze (0/3 Used)
Violet Manzer (0/3 Used)