• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
It's good to see this continuing.
 
  • 1
Reactions:
My goodness the Etruscans have done well
 
  • 1
Reactions:
Chapter 19: The Bastards 100-89 BCE
Chapter 19: The Bastards 100-89 BCE

Oq Yqayo, 100 BCE

After his victories over Chichen Itza and Tulum, Malchus Yujnegi was informed about the bad behavior of one of his daughters who sired a bastard child from an unknown man, the rumors said that she became pregnant from an enemy general who was taken prisoner on the war against Chichén Itza, he didn’t want these rumors to spread and jeopardize the stability of his dynasty and government, so he gave money to his spymaster so he could deal with this problem.

nnUjO0s.jpg

But after some time, he learned that the bastard child was alive and well, maybe because the kid was the result of an indiscretion between his daughter and his spymaster. He sent all of them exiled to New Gadir.

IK8aGrM.jpg

________________________________________________________________________________​
Oq Yqayo, 94 BCE

As the construction of the Great Statue of Zinnridi Yujnegi was finished, a messenger entered the courtroom of Malchus and reported troubling news from the frontier, the Mayans of Tulum and Chichen Itza were raiding the border villages, even after all the bloodshed and wars between them and the Odiq’e.

8r8VkzR.jpg

The Odiq’e didn’t wanted to wage war on their southern neighbors again, so Malchus proclaimed a raiding campaign on his southern neighbors, all the riches taken from them would be to the warriors who wanted to go with him to take retribution from the mayans.

5iqwkbB.jpg

The campaign lasted four years, and great riches were obtained, the royal house got enough resources to launch years of military campaigns, a beautiful axe and a strange sealed chest.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Oq Yqayo, 89 BCE

Ajy Yujnegi, his oldest daughter sired a bastard this time, and Malchus decided that the best course of action was to send she and her son exiled to New Gadir, were he had sent his another daughter and her bastard child too.

HcPMlu7.jpg

He wanted to legitimate both bastards and recognize as his own sons, but he died before he could do that and his son Bomical was elected by the nobles as the next Great Jawoh.

WhyOnec.jpg
 
  • 1Like
  • 1Love
Reactions:
Didn't quite have all the time he needed.
 
  • 1
Reactions:
Chapter 20: The Mayan invasions 89- 78 BCE
Chapter 20: The Mayan invasions 89- 78 BCE

CwU3XSl.jpg

Bomical Yujnegi , 7° Great Jawoh of the Odiq’e, 10° King of Ishfania in exile.

Son of Malchus, son of Mattos, son of Dido, daughter of Zinnridi, son of Hanno, son of Hannibal, son of Dido, daughter of Ayzebel, daughter of Yzebel, daughter of Similce, daughter of Sophonisba, daughter of Sophonisiba, daughter of Mago, founder of the Kingdom of Ishfania.

Bomical Yujnegi wanted to expand into the Mayan heartland, so he declared war to the remains of the old Kingdom of Chichen Itza and Tucum, they were raiding the borderlands and that was enough justification to launch a campaign, at least at the eyes of the noblemen under his rule.

XnJiblB.jpg

As a seasoned warrior, he was at the frontline leading his men to victory and died at the battle of Mayapan in 87 BCE. He was quickly succeeded by his sister, Tzun Yujnegi.

JRESXPy.jpg

______________________________________________________________________________
BBfv1ue.jpg


Tzun Yujnegi , 8° Great Jawoh of the Odiq’e, 11° King of Ishfania in exile.

Daughter of Malchus, son of Mattos, son of Dido, daughter of Zinnridi, son of Hanno, son of Hannibal, son of Dido, daughter of Ayzebel, daughter of Yzebel, daughter of Similce, daughter of Sophonisba, daughter of Sophonisiba, daughter of Mago, founder of the Kingdom of Ishfania.
Unlike her brother, she did not have great skills as a military leader, so the first thing she did was to join the great leaders of the Grand Republic in her council, Mayans, Phoenicians, Taino and Odiq'e.

G0cHfbf.jpg
The objective of her was to solidify her government in order to improve her economy, but shortly after her reign began, Kaan Pech's Ahau sent her men to raid the borderlands of the Great Republic, and for this reason she had to send her troops to drive the invaders away from their lands.


owvN2yN.jpg
But while that happened, the Ahau of Ma’ya’ab declared war, the strength of the Great Republic would be put to the test.

ovlbPBi.jpg

In the battles that continued, Tzun not only managed to defeat the powerful southern neighbors, but also declared war on Kaan Pech, capturing the enemy Ahau and taking possession of the territory.

cdHuaJW.jpg

Five years later, the enemy of the south returned to declare war on 78 BCE.

mkRj91r.jpg


It seemed that the mayans would not stop, war was something that was unavoidable, the enemy would not stop and diplomacy would not work, at least not with the Ma’ya’ab who were ruled by the best ruler of the time.

IsvfwNH.jpg
 
Last edited:
  • 1Love
Reactions:
It's a kill or be killed world, or so it seems.
 
  • 1
Reactions:
Chapter 22: Tzun’s Counterattack 78-70 BCE
Chapter 22: Tzun’s Counterattack 78-70 BCE

CIZ1zZ9.jpg

riZhyj9.jpg

Meanwhile Tzun’s generals were defeating the mayan forces at the decisive battle of Popolango, the Odiq’e of Tucum were fighting a rivalry war against the Phoenicians of Cubanacan, weakening the islanders as the continental forces of the Odiq’e proved to be more effective on the battlefield.

Y7jIK0C.jpg

The internal war between the Phoenicians and the Odiq’e under the rule of the Great Republic made the Great Jawoh consider alliances with Kaminaljuyu and Nohol, two enemies of the Ma’ya’ab, her southern rival.

MyygMSy.jpg

kLrPJwF.jpg

She was guaranteeing that the mayans of Kaminaljuyu would not intervene on her next action, that was declaring the invasion of the Ma’ya’ab.

To do this, she ordered the mobilization of all her subjects and the end of the Tucum-Abdalon rivalry war because he needed all her spears pointing to their mayan enemies and an internal war could benefit their common enemies. Something that she never expected was the Taino overthrowing their Phoenician overlords after 43 years under the rule of the Abdalon family who were weakened after that useless rivalry war against Tucum.

FnyDRmX.jpg

Amanex Guamaíd, the leader of the Taino uprising and the new Jawoh’ of Cubanaban pledged his support to the Odiq’e war effort against the Ma’ya’ab, so nobody wanted to depose him in favor of the fallen Abdalon family.
For the next eight years, the Odiq’e forces conquered nearly all the territories of the Ma’ya’ab after the battle of Mahahual, where most of the military strength of the mayans were defeated.

Tzun would not live to see the final victory of her people, because she died a natural death at the young age of 49 years old.

xakx6iN.jpg

Maybe some people are not meant to be remembered as conquerors, after all.

She was succeeded by Ri’gual, her oldest son.
 
Last edited:
  • 1Love
Reactions:
Is it better to be remembered as a poet than a conqueror? Or was conquest her poetry?
 
  • 1
Reactions:
Is it better to be remembered as a poet than a conqueror? Or was conquest her poetry?

I guess that when most of your people dont know how to read, its better to be remembered as a conqueror. Maybe as you said, conquest was her poetry.
 
  • 1
Reactions:
Chapter 23: Feathered Serpent 70 - 50 BCE
Chapter 23: Feathered Serpent 70 - 50 BCE

slLyyu4.jpg

Ri’gual Yujnegi 5°Ahau of the Ma’ya’ab 9° Great Jawoh of the Odiq’e, 12° King of Ishfania in exile. Conqueror of Tikal, also known as Q'uk'umatz and the Last Yujnegi".

Son of Tzun, daughter of Malchus, son of Mattos, son of Dido, daughter of Zinnridi leader of the Exiles in the new world, son of Hanno, son of Hannibal, son of Dido who lost the Kingdom of Ishfania, daughter of Ayzebel, daughter of Yzebel, daughter of Similce, daughter of Sophonisba, daughter of Sophonisiba, daughter of Mago, founder of the Kingdom of Ishfania.


70 BCE, The conquest of Tikal

vSyipb9.jpg

Rigual Yujnegi entered the old city of Tikal, it was one of the biggest mayan city-states at the time alongside with Kaminaljuyu, another mayan city-state that had become a center of the mayan civilization. The Great Jawoh was amazed by the beauty of the city, a few big pyramids dotted the landscape while colorful temples dominated the high places of the capital of his defeated enemies. Now Tikal was under his control, and he was proud of that fact.​

Ri’gual now ruled over the biggest extension of territory ever dominated by anyone from his bloodline, so he was ecstatic, not only he was chosen by the Odiq’e nobles to rule over them, also he was one of the most powerful rulers of his time on this part of the world and because of that, he wanted to consolidate his power.

PpxfxU9.jpg

So he changed his capital from Oq Ykayo to Tikal, and made the Ahauil of the Ma’ya’ab his primary title.

5sJod6p.jpg

Ma’ya’ab means “few, not many” (ma means "not", and ya’ab means "many") and was the original name of the Yucatan peninsula, also called the “Mayab”.


Feathered Serpent
Ri’gual was the name that his mother choose for him, it meant “valiant son” in Taino.

But was the name of a foreign conqueror, and he didn’t wanted to be seen or remembered as that, he wanted his mayan subjects to accept him as their legitimate ruler, because he was by the divine right of conquest.

So he ordered his court to adopt mayan culture, religion and customs, and also ordered that all records would mention him as Q'uk'umatz, (or “Feathered Serpent” in quiche mayan), the rightful Ahau (or King) of the Ma’ya’ab. And that in the future all references made about the Yujnegi would be replaced with “the Q'uk'umatz, the mayan sons of the bearded people who came from where the sun its born”.

lZVyUrB.jpg


The conquest of Tikal was the biggest cultural change ever experienced by the exiles, as they intermixed even more with the local population, in part because they were a tiny minority ruling over a great number of mayans, and in part because after nearly 200 years, most Phoenician customs had begun to be forgotten.

Only the priest of Dido in the lands now ruled by the taino would preserve the old knowledge, as the policies of Q'uk'umatz forced most Odiq’e noble families to adopt mayan culture and customs.

The Ahauil of Coatzalcoalcos
In 68 BCE Q'uk'umatz married Bacaanda’ of Mitla, the daughter of the leader of the Ben’zaa peoples (or Zapotecs), a minor noble of the Ahauil (Kingdom) of Ajaw.

y6UdvNX.jpg

Surprisingly, in 58 BCE the father-in-law of the Ahau of the Ma’ya’ab overthrowed the mayan nobles and created the Ahauil of Coatzalcoalcos, now under Ben’zaa leadership.

HujrYQW.jpg

zDLlXmY.jpg

This opened trade between the two Ahauil, as guaranteed peace between the Ma’ya’ab and the other mayan city-states.

50 BCE, The Revolt of Chichen Itza.
In 50 BCE, some nobles that were unhappy about the rule of this so called Q'uk'umatz, banded together under the banner of Saasil-uj, the Ahau of Chichen-Itza, she demanded more political power for the nobles, and when that was negated by the ruler, most mayan nobles rose up in rebellion, starting the “Revolt of Chichen Itza”.

GeM1ezv.jpg

So, after twenty years of peaceful rule, Ri’gual Yujnegi, or how he called himself, Q'uk'umatz, faced a challenge to his rule, but this was also an opportunity to consolidate his power over the mayans once for all.
 
Last edited:
  • 1Love
Reactions:
Challenges are often opportunities - a true opportunity to stamp his authority on the realm.
 
  • 1
Reactions:
Challenges are often opportunities - a true opportunity to stamp his authority on the realm.

This its a new age, full asimilation, but to assert his dominance, Q'uk'umatz maybe will need to cross some lines...
 
  • 1
Reactions:
I only just now caught up. This AAR is delightful, as always.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions:
Chapter 24: Feint and Counterattack 50-47 BCE
Chapter 24: Feint and Counterattack 50-47 BCE

The Ahau of Kaan Pech, Uaymil, and the Odiq’e allied with Saasil-uj of Chichen Itza to demand more power for the nobles, and of course the mighty Q'uk'umatz said no to that insolence. Every Ahau of the realm knew that this only can mean one thing: war, so they called their men into service, the revolting nobles argued that this was a war to diminish the tyrannical power of the Ahau of the Ma’ya’ab, while the loyalists said that the insolence of the rebels was a crime, and that the nobles wanted more power just to be as decadent as they were before Q'uk'umatz got into the throne of Tikal and that many good mayans would die because of the stupidity of these petty nobles.

The fact that the Odiq’e leaders choose to fight under the banner of the rebels made Q'uk'umatz angry, yes, he had adopted the mayan culture and religion as his own, but they were still his own people. He promised to the gods that he will make these betrayers pay for this treason.

Q'uk'umatz summoned all his troops to Tikal, there he organized them into a single army commanded by himself and his sons Muuk’náal and Kalan, he said that he put them in charge because he wanted his heirs to become more experienced in battle, but the truth was that he don’t trusted the Mayan nobility, even if they apparently were loyal to his throne.

In the spring of 50 BCE the Loyalist forces marched north, but as they were closer to the border between the Loyalist and the rebels the scouts discovered that the enemies had more men than the forces commanded by Q'uk'umatz and his sons, so he ordered a tactical retreat to Tikal. He could never risk the lives of his loyal subjects in vain.

F1xO03n.jpg

He knew that an army that big would suffer attrition marching into his position, even more if the retreated as far as his capital, so he had ordered his men to interrupt the supply lines of the enemy, and several villages had been burned and abandoned to diminish the ability of the rebels to supply their troops, the rainy winter of his lands would be a real hell for the rebels, then he could end his enemies in the first days of spring.

The Loyalist forces waited in Tikal while the rebels took city-state after city state, losing men as they had to garrison every place they conquered, some enemies died to hunger, others because of winter diseases…

But the rebels somehow managed to supply their men... so Q'uk'umatz waited for the next spring, and then the next one after that…

Meanwhile Tikal was a city full of warriors, so his sons Muuk’náal and Kalan organized a tournament of Pitz, an old game played in the mayan heartland since the times of the Olmecs, this had a special meaning as the brothers could trace their lineage to the last Olmec Ahau. And when the team led by the brothers won the competition their reputation was strengthened as good leaders, and of course their father was very proud of them.

DsqBDME.jpg

Pitz was the variant of the game played for millenia in Mesoamerica.
Then, in the spring of 47 BCE, nearly three years later, the scouts reported that the enemy forces were occupying the city-state of Calakmul, that was the opportunity that Q'uk'umatz was waiting for, so he marched north to deal with the rebels once for all.

1TkF3Wf.jpg

But even if they were weakened, the rebel forces were a good match for the Loyalists, and after 15 days of battle, his forces were victorious at the Battle of Calakmul, the enemies that didn’t died in combat fled north and now he ordered his men to chase them.

ZU9KtCL.jpg

This was a bittersweet victory as his heir Muuk’náal lost a leg in the battle and was sent back to Tikal, Q'uk'umatz was sad for the loss of his son as he knew that a good warrior and sportman like his son, without a leg could feel like a blade without edge, completely useless.

TfhdSqQ.jpg

But now was the time to strike at the very heart of the enemy, after achieving victory he could deal with the tragedy experienced by his oldest son and heir.
 
  • 1Love
Reactions:
Well now, is this strike at the enemy also going to be a case of vengeance?
 
  • 1
Reactions:
Chapter 25: The Battle of Mayapan 47-46 BCE
Chapter 25: The Battle of Mayapan 47-46 BCE

The Loyalists troops had spent months chasing an enemy that was biting and fleeing into the jungle every time, but in the spring of 46 BCE the troops from Tikal had arrived in Mayapan, the rebel capital and the enemy could not flee this time without sacrificing their own people in the process, was the moment expected by Q'uk'umatz, so he ordered an all-out attack on the enemy position. This started the Battle of Mayapan.

Even with his forces having a numerical advantage, Q'uk'umatz knew that everything could be lost if he made a mistake so he ordered his son to stay back with his men until the enemy routed, then they could pursue them to capture valuable prisoners to sacrifice to the gods, the common people loved these ceremonial acts of cruelty, even more in the midst of a war like this one.

The battle was short and as he charged at the enemy with his men and broke into the enemy lines, he saw Chief Ek from Chichén Itza one of the leaders of the revolt, quickly he challenged him to a duel to gain more glory on the battlefield.

But this was a trap, and Q'uk'umatz was surprised to see himself surrounded by enemies, luckily his son Kalan was nearby and chased the enemy away, maybe even killing Chief Ek in the process. That was good, he thought, more glory for his family name.

29IO0bI.jpg

The victory was secured and his men looted Mayapan, that was the only way to do things after all and his forces deserved the price, as they had fought hard in this war. He ordered a celebration to be made in the capital of the enemy, even if the war still wasn’t won.

As his men celebrated and the people of Mayapan suffered the consequences of the stupidity of their leaders, he summoned his heroic son and probable new heir, Kalan, the boy had done well in the battle and even saved the life of his father, he deserved to be glorified alongside the Ahau of Ma’ya’ab.

No one could find Kalan or his men in the city, and for some days Q'uk'umatz believed that his younger son was still on the jungle chasing Chief Ek of Chichen Itza…

…then he remembered… that he killed that mayan noble in single combat a few days after Kalan saved him from certain death…

A few days later one of his men found the remains of his son, he was taken captive and sacrificed on one of the pyramids of Mayapan a few hours before the victory of the Loyalist forces in the battle.

vks2XyA.jpg

Enraged, Q'uk'umatz ordered the enemy city of Mayapan to be burned to the ground and its populace to be put to the sword, then they would be marching back to Tikal.

He had to recover the lands taken by his enemies and rest…his enemies would learn over time to fear his name.
 
  • 1Love
Reactions:
I believe that is called an object lesson.
 
  • 1
Reactions: