A Storm from the West: a Sunset Invasion AAR
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And I should have mentioned, I liked the attention to detail with the different divisions of Christianity.
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Great work so far! will we ever see a releash of this mod ? it looks like a very cool scenario for ck2
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I could try doing it after i finish this part of the AAR, i have little spare time and modding takes a lot of time for me
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Chapter 3.11 The Sick Man of the Mediterranean (385)
Chapter 3.11 The Sick Man of the Mediterranean (385)
K’awil Q’uk’umatz, the boy-Emperor
It was the first time the K’awil Q’uk’umatz, the current Ahau of the Mayan Empire was invited to a meeting of the Council of Regency that ruled in his name, it was decided that he would settle the dispute between them about the next step to be made regarding the Carthaginian crisis.
After the assassination of his father ten years ago, these men had ruled without opposition while he was busy playing with insects, studying the laws and history of the Mayans under the strict vigilance of the High priest and training to become a warrior like most Mayan children of young age, he had no ambitions about become the Ahau of the Mayan Empire nor wanted to be recognized as such. He just enjoyed his privileged childhood like all his noble friends.
His father reigned from 359 to 380, he added the territories of Algarve and Kabylia to the Mayan Empire and was assassinated because he didn’t wanted to give more power to the council. He was murdered just 8 years after taking the power from the Council that ruled 12 years in his name.
But this time the situation required his full attention and seriousness, even if he was a kid, he knew the importance of being summoned to this meeting.
The chancellor had prepared a great map on the table and the Marshall was positioning small figurines made of wood on certain parts of it, it looked like the war-games he played with his friends, but this time it was no game. After the protocol presentations, the Spymaster, a man of Phoenician descent that had a thick eastern accent spoke:
- The Egyptian fanatics have advanced towards Carthage -said the Spymaster pointing at the middle of the map-, if we don’t stop them now... they will control the trade routes to the east and we will lose our control over the imports of Greek wine and Sicilian grain, because our commercial treaties with Carthage will be annulled and the Egyptian zealots will not stop there as they want to expand west, only war and death will await us. That’s why some of us think that the best way to act is send military aid to them so they can resist the inevitable Egyptian invasion, our Phoenician brothers must be protected at all costs.
The current threat
The Chancellor raised his hand to speak:
- My Ahau, we have sent some of our best merchant-diplomats to settle the dispute between Carthage and Egypt, the Egyptian Pharaoh is a fanatic and said that he will not stop at Carthage, that our collective weakness will be purged from the earth and that the fact that Carthage is being ruled by a Christian boy-king has only increased Egyptian ambitions. War is absolutely inevitable only because Carthage is the literal sick man of the mediterranean, their weakness its a sickness that can doom us all!.
Then the High Priest raised his hand to talk:
- We have already taken some lands from Carthage in your name, my dear Ahau, they are weak after fighting many wars against the Germanic barbarians that have raided their coasts and the Egyptian attacks. My position in this crisis, our position, the correct position according to our faith and the stars is to declare a Holy war against the Carthaginian heathens, they have abandoned the old gods of our ancestors and embraced Christianity just like the effeminate Etruscans did- the High priest made a pause to see the reaction of the Phoenician Spymaster -a Christian- the man showed no signs of being offended- and... we must remember the old prophecy that said:
"After our descendants conquer the rich lands of Ishfania from the Turdetani, the Carthaginians traitors who abandoned our kin at their most desperate hour will be the next, we must show no mercy to these who abandoned us and caused our exile to these plague infested lands, and we must subjugate them so they pay for their crimes."
-Thus spoke Dido Yujnegi, the great Prophet, your ancestor -said the High Priest looking as his disciple- we must follow the prophecy my Ahau, as your ancestors did before you were even born from your beloved mother. The very existence of our Empire is thanks to her Prophecies, we must never ignore the Inspired words of that sacred woman that was an Ahau of our kind and ruled with justice like you must do when the time comes.
The Ahau looked at his council, the Spymaster was trying to conceal the fact that he felt defeated, the High Priest looked triumphant. But now...the young Ahau raised his hand to speak:
- We must follow the Prophecies like the High Priest says, but we cannot ignore the fact that we rule over the Phoenicians and that them, even being Christians, are citizens of our Empire. And Carthage is the greatest city on the Mediterranean even if they are weakened after decades if not centuries of decadence, but their great walls will be quite a challenge to our armies we will lose many irreplaceable men taking that city... we know that the Egyptians are right now the greatest threat to our very existence, because of that i advice sending a diplomat to Babylon, their eastern and most powerful enemy...
Until then, the Babylonian Empire was considered the enemy of all the Phoenician peoples and by extension of the Mayans, because of that no one on the council had considered sending diplomats to the cruel Assyrians since the foundation of the Kingdom of Ispania eight decades ago.
The council discussed for hours the implications of negotiating an alliance with the cruel Assyrians, but at the end the final choice would be made by the young Ahau who made clear his position:
- Well, after all that...discussion my conclusion is that we will invade Carthage but we will not conquer it, we need them to secure that trade is not disrupted to the east and to have a buffer state between Egypt and us, we could easily convert them into our tributary...but we need to declare the holy war so our priesthood see that Prophecy fulfilled. The most important thing of all this is that....
...Carthage must not be destroyed.
K’awil Q’uk’umatz, the boy-Emperor
After the assassination of his father ten years ago, these men had ruled without opposition while he was busy playing with insects, studying the laws and history of the Mayans under the strict vigilance of the High priest and training to become a warrior like most Mayan children of young age, he had no ambitions about become the Ahau of the Mayan Empire nor wanted to be recognized as such. He just enjoyed his privileged childhood like all his noble friends.
But this time the situation required his full attention and seriousness, even if he was a kid, he knew the importance of being summoned to this meeting.
The chancellor had prepared a great map on the table and the Marshall was positioning small figurines made of wood on certain parts of it, it looked like the war-games he played with his friends, but this time it was no game. After the protocol presentations, the Spymaster, a man of Phoenician descent that had a thick eastern accent spoke:
- The Egyptian fanatics have advanced towards Carthage -said the Spymaster pointing at the middle of the map-, if we don’t stop them now... they will control the trade routes to the east and we will lose our control over the imports of Greek wine and Sicilian grain, because our commercial treaties with Carthage will be annulled and the Egyptian zealots will not stop there as they want to expand west, only war and death will await us. That’s why some of us think that the best way to act is send military aid to them so they can resist the inevitable Egyptian invasion, our Phoenician brothers must be protected at all costs.
The current threat
The Chancellor raised his hand to speak:
- My Ahau, we have sent some of our best merchant-diplomats to settle the dispute between Carthage and Egypt, the Egyptian Pharaoh is a fanatic and said that he will not stop at Carthage, that our collective weakness will be purged from the earth and that the fact that Carthage is being ruled by a Christian boy-king has only increased Egyptian ambitions. War is absolutely inevitable only because Carthage is the literal sick man of the mediterranean, their weakness its a sickness that can doom us all!.
Then the High Priest raised his hand to talk:
- We have already taken some lands from Carthage in your name, my dear Ahau, they are weak after fighting many wars against the Germanic barbarians that have raided their coasts and the Egyptian attacks. My position in this crisis, our position, the correct position according to our faith and the stars is to declare a Holy war against the Carthaginian heathens, they have abandoned the old gods of our ancestors and embraced Christianity just like the effeminate Etruscans did- the High priest made a pause to see the reaction of the Phoenician Spymaster -a Christian- the man showed no signs of being offended- and... we must remember the old prophecy that said:
"After our descendants conquer the rich lands of Ishfania from the Turdetani, the Carthaginians traitors who abandoned our kin at their most desperate hour will be the next, we must show no mercy to these who abandoned us and caused our exile to these plague infested lands, and we must subjugate them so they pay for their crimes."
-Thus spoke Dido Yujnegi, the great Prophet, your ancestor -said the High Priest looking as his disciple- we must follow the prophecy my Ahau, as your ancestors did before you were even born from your beloved mother. The very existence of our Empire is thanks to her Prophecies, we must never ignore the Inspired words of that sacred woman that was an Ahau of our kind and ruled with justice like you must do when the time comes.
The Ahau looked at his council, the Spymaster was trying to conceal the fact that he felt defeated, the High Priest looked triumphant. But now...the young Ahau raised his hand to speak:
- We must follow the Prophecies like the High Priest says, but we cannot ignore the fact that we rule over the Phoenicians and that them, even being Christians, are citizens of our Empire. And Carthage is the greatest city on the Mediterranean even if they are weakened after decades if not centuries of decadence, but their great walls will be quite a challenge to our armies we will lose many irreplaceable men taking that city... we know that the Egyptians are right now the greatest threat to our very existence, because of that i advice sending a diplomat to Babylon, their eastern and most powerful enemy...
Until then, the Babylonian Empire was considered the enemy of all the Phoenician peoples and by extension of the Mayans, because of that no one on the council had considered sending diplomats to the cruel Assyrians since the foundation of the Kingdom of Ispania eight decades ago.
The council discussed for hours the implications of negotiating an alliance with the cruel Assyrians, but at the end the final choice would be made by the young Ahau who made clear his position:
- Well, after all that...discussion my conclusion is that we will invade Carthage but we will not conquer it, we need them to secure that trade is not disrupted to the east and to have a buffer state between Egypt and us, we could easily convert them into our tributary...but we need to declare the holy war so our priesthood see that Prophecy fulfilled. The most important thing of all this is that....
...Carthage must not be destroyed.
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I like how you referenced to the Roman "Carthage must be destroyed" This little things and your knowledge make these AAR true masterpiece ^^
But I want to suggest one thing. I want you to include more screenshots. If you are talking about spymaster you can show his card, we can then see how he looks like, his faith and character traits as well
This little things and your knowledge make these AAR true masterpiece ^^But I want to suggest one thing. I want you to include more screenshots. If you are talking about spymaster you can show his card, we can then see how he looks like, his faith and character traits as well
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I will add more screenshots on the next chapters, thanks !I like how you referenced to the Roman "Carthage must be destroyed"
But I want to suggest one thing. I want you to include more screenshots. If you are talking about spymaster you can show his card, we can then see how he looks like, his faith and character traits as well
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Chapter 3.12 The fall of Carthage (386 CE)
Chapter 3.12 The fall of Carthage (386 CE)
The Trade faction, currently led by the Spymaster and strong in coastal areas of the Empire and in the Phoenician lands that were subjects of the Empire, they wanted to strengthen the navy to control the seas and transform the Mayan Empire into the leading trade power in the Mediterranean. They preferred peace to war as it was more profitable and suited best the interest of the Merchant class, this faction was responsible for the spread of Christianity inside the Mayan Empire as they saw the new faith as the way to weaken the Mayan priesthood, after the Etruscan Conversion to Christianity they became interested on strengthening the ties between the two empires.
The Spymaster
And the Traditionalist faction, currently led by the powerful High Priest of the Mayan Empire, strongest in the countryside and Cadiz where the Great Temple complex that surrounded the Great Pyramid of Q'uk'umatz was the center of Mayan religion, science and general knowledge. They wanted to preserve Mayan Culture pure while strengthening the Empire keeping it in a state of constant warfare against the foreign enemies that they considered inferior. Their main goal was convert more people to the Mayan Faith and expand even more the influence of the priesthood until the Mayan Empire became a theocracy. They wanted to persecute the Christians but that was forbidden by the Muuk’naal Q'uk'umatz, the then Ahau of Ispania in the year 323 CE.
The Archpriest of Granada was the ultimate leader of the Mayan Faith.
These two factions coexisted in a fragile peace were political assassinations were a common practice, together they have ruled from decades from the Shadows, without the Emperors even knowing it.
The power of the Ahau of the Empire over the local Ahau that ruled over their respective dominions was not strong as it were in the times of the Fist Mayan Empire, the feudal nature of the second Mayan Empire and the political freedom it vassals enjoyed only gave more power to these two opposed factions, and only the foreign threat of the Egyptians and Etruscans avoided them to start a Civil war to decide who would rule the Empire without opposition for the years to come
Mayan troops were laying siege to the great white walls that surrounded the legendary city of Carthage. The Ahau was planning the next move in his command tent with his council and guards, even as he was too young to command troops because this was considered necessary as part of his education as the future Ahau of the Mayan Empire.
For centuries the white walls of the greatest city on the Mediterranean had been a monument to the enormous wealth it inhabitants had and the city had never experienced a siege as the Carthaginian army until recently never had been defeated in a war in North Africa and their massive fleet was uncontested on the Mediterranean Sea. The Great Port of Carthage was one of the few remaining Wonders of the World in this chaotic era and from there their war fleet protected their trade routes. That was the reason why the Mayans attacked from land and not by sea, the Ahau didn’t wanted to risk his fleet nor weaken even more the Carthaginians, his only interest was taking the city and put an end to the local crisis caused by the ambitious Egyptians.
The Carthaginians were unable to mount a decent resistance against the formidable Mayan armies but the walls of the city were inexpugnable. For that reason, the council decided that the Spymaster alone would enter the city after a truce was declared to negotiate with the Carthaginian Emperor after both parties declare a truce in hostilities, sending a man alone to negotiate was something uncommon and absolutely dangerous so this decision pleased the Traditionalists who believed this to be a plan of the High Priest to get rid of that shifty Phoenician thinking that of course, his death would weaken the Trade faction. In truth there was no plan behind this and Abimalek Akabid, the Spymaster, asked the Ahau for the honor to carry out this diplomatic mission alone and not even K'awil Q'uk'umatz knew the motive behind the choice made by the man.
Later that day…
It had been six hours since Abimalek Akabid had entered to negotiate the terms of the surrender of the Empire of Carthage to the Mayan Empire and many believed that the unfortunate man had already been executed by the city authorities, it was beginning to sunset and the sun was painting a beautiful orange color over the majestic white walls of Carthage, the birds of the coast began to fly towards their nests in the cliffs and due to the truce the Mayan troops took the time to rest or played ball on improvised courts in the camp, the guards of the walls seemed somewhat agitated, but silence reigned in the place that had become a battlefield during the last week, occasionally were heard the squawking of a bird or the celebrations of the warriors were heard Maya when they scored some point in the ball game ...
Pitz, the Mayan ballgame, a popular sport in the Empire
Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, the gates of Carthage were wide open and the Spymaster walked out from inside the majestic city surrounded by a group of frightened nobles and some city guards. The doors were closed once the entourage began to move towards the tent where the Ahau of the Mayan Empire and his council were ...
--
Six hours before ...
Abimalek Akabid was a cunning man and for a large part of his life he had dedicated himself to creating networks of contacts throughout the Phoenician world, he had not reached the important position of Spymaster inside the xenophobic Mayan Empire by being an innocent businessman, but for being a man capable of demonstrating the most absolute weakness at the right time and then jumping to the neck of his confident enemies when his plans required it, of course he had not entered the great city of Carthage to die .
For centuries, the noble houses of the great city had characterized themselves for fighting for insignificant quotas of power under the watchful eye of the different Emperors who had ruled the largest commercial empire in the Mediterranean ... many had already forgotten that power resided in those noble houses and not on the Imperial throne but there was a faction that for generations had struggled to restore the Miat, or the court of 104 suffetes who ruled Carthage before the Imperial era ...
And that was the game that Abimalek had been preparing for the last decade, as part of the powerful Council of the Mayan Empire ... he had tempted the expansionists of the Traditionalist faction with the weakness of the Carthaginians for years and now was preparing to restore the Miat together with several nobles willing to depose the Emperor of Carthage.
It had not been a difficult task, the demonic Mayan hordes were at the gates of the city and the religious authorities of the now Christian Carthage saw the horrifying pagans who lengthened their heads, adorned their teeth with jewels and sacrificed the prisoners to dark and unknown gods like minions of Satan out of hell itself. That made the arrival of Abimalek seen as the only hope of survival before the advance of the terrible pagans ... chaotic times were being lived and after the fall of the Lydian Empire and the atrocities that were committed in those lands by the barbarians nobody in their right mind would want to live the same.
After a short insurrection, the deposed Emperor fled to Corsica promising to return one day to expel and crucify the rebels and the first meeting of the Miat of Carthage was held. Abimalek was elected as the city's temporary leader to negotiate with the Maya barbarians. The ships of the Carthaginian fleet that could not evacuate the city to the islands still in the hands of Carthage were sunk.
--
Seven hours later
The feat of Abimalek had angered Kalan of Granada, the High Priest of the Empire and his greatest enemy, but had greatly surprised K'awil Q'uk'umatz, the young Ahau, who was listening to the story of how Abimalek had not only deposed the Emperor of Carthage, finished the war and saved the valuable lives of the Mayan warriors from a siege that might last for months, but had obtained great honor by recovering the ancient democratic tradition of Carthage.
K'awil Q'uk'umatz would rule a great Empire, the Pyramid of Q'uk'umatz in Cadiz had been extended under his mandate and although it was the Council that ruled and had achieved the expansion of borders and the great work of engineering that meant the continuation of the construction of the Pyramid ... he would be remembered for the pages of the history books as the Conqueror of Carthage.
Ignoring the complaints of the High Priest, who wanted to sacrifice some noblemen of Carthage to celebrate the victory and the requests to sack Carthage by his own troops, K'awil named Abimalek as the first Ahau of Carthage, from now on the only authority that he should recognize was the one of the Ahau of the Empire of Carthage and the city had been saved from being sacked to become the second most important city in the Mayan Empire behind Cadiz. The Mayan Empire recognized the right of Carthage to elect its own Suffetes but Abimalek would be the first of them, in the following months the second would be chosen and thus the mandate of two Suffetes on the Miat composed of 104 magistrates was restored.
The Traditionalists would not stand idly by this affront, although the Trade Faction was now more powerful than ever ...the High Priest had some tricks up his sleeve ...
--Context--
Since the Council of Regency began ruling the Mayan Empire when Tecun Uman, the former Ahau and father of K'awil, was 4 years old (24 years ago), two factions started fighting for total control of the Empire:
The Trade faction, currently led by the Spymaster and strong in coastal areas of the Empire and in the Phoenician lands that were subjects of the Empire, they wanted to strengthen the navy to control the seas and transform the Mayan Empire into the leading trade power in the Mediterranean. They preferred peace to war as it was more profitable and suited best the interest of the Merchant class, this faction was responsible for the spread of Christianity inside the Mayan Empire as they saw the new faith as the way to weaken the Mayan priesthood, after the Etruscan Conversion to Christianity they became interested on strengthening the ties between the two empires.
The Spymaster
The Archpriest of Granada was the ultimate leader of the Mayan Faith.
The power of the Ahau of the Empire over the local Ahau that ruled over their respective dominions was not strong as it were in the times of the Fist Mayan Empire, the feudal nature of the second Mayan Empire and the political freedom it vassals enjoyed only gave more power to these two opposed factions, and only the foreign threat of the Egyptians and Etruscans avoided them to start a Civil war to decide who would rule the Empire without opposition for the years to come
___________________________________________________________
Carthage, 2 September 386.
Mayan troops were laying siege to the great white walls that surrounded the legendary city of Carthage. The Ahau was planning the next move in his command tent with his council and guards, even as he was too young to command troops because this was considered necessary as part of his education as the future Ahau of the Mayan Empire.
For centuries the white walls of the greatest city on the Mediterranean had been a monument to the enormous wealth it inhabitants had and the city had never experienced a siege as the Carthaginian army until recently never had been defeated in a war in North Africa and their massive fleet was uncontested on the Mediterranean Sea. The Great Port of Carthage was one of the few remaining Wonders of the World in this chaotic era and from there their war fleet protected their trade routes. That was the reason why the Mayans attacked from land and not by sea, the Ahau didn’t wanted to risk his fleet nor weaken even more the Carthaginians, his only interest was taking the city and put an end to the local crisis caused by the ambitious Egyptians.
The Carthaginians were unable to mount a decent resistance against the formidable Mayan armies but the walls of the city were inexpugnable. For that reason, the council decided that the Spymaster alone would enter the city after a truce was declared to negotiate with the Carthaginian Emperor after both parties declare a truce in hostilities, sending a man alone to negotiate was something uncommon and absolutely dangerous so this decision pleased the Traditionalists who believed this to be a plan of the High Priest to get rid of that shifty Phoenician thinking that of course, his death would weaken the Trade faction. In truth there was no plan behind this and Abimalek Akabid, the Spymaster, asked the Ahau for the honor to carry out this diplomatic mission alone and not even K'awil Q'uk'umatz knew the motive behind the choice made by the man.
Later that day…
It had been six hours since Abimalek Akabid had entered to negotiate the terms of the surrender of the Empire of Carthage to the Mayan Empire and many believed that the unfortunate man had already been executed by the city authorities, it was beginning to sunset and the sun was painting a beautiful orange color over the majestic white walls of Carthage, the birds of the coast began to fly towards their nests in the cliffs and due to the truce the Mayan troops took the time to rest or played ball on improvised courts in the camp, the guards of the walls seemed somewhat agitated, but silence reigned in the place that had become a battlefield during the last week, occasionally were heard the squawking of a bird or the celebrations of the warriors were heard Maya when they scored some point in the ball game ...
Pitz, the Mayan ballgame, a popular sport in the Empire
--
Six hours before ...
Abimalek Akabid was a cunning man and for a large part of his life he had dedicated himself to creating networks of contacts throughout the Phoenician world, he had not reached the important position of Spymaster inside the xenophobic Mayan Empire by being an innocent businessman, but for being a man capable of demonstrating the most absolute weakness at the right time and then jumping to the neck of his confident enemies when his plans required it, of course he had not entered the great city of Carthage to die .
For centuries, the noble houses of the great city had characterized themselves for fighting for insignificant quotas of power under the watchful eye of the different Emperors who had ruled the largest commercial empire in the Mediterranean ... many had already forgotten that power resided in those noble houses and not on the Imperial throne but there was a faction that for generations had struggled to restore the Miat, or the court of 104 suffetes who ruled Carthage before the Imperial era ...
And that was the game that Abimalek had been preparing for the last decade, as part of the powerful Council of the Mayan Empire ... he had tempted the expansionists of the Traditionalist faction with the weakness of the Carthaginians for years and now was preparing to restore the Miat together with several nobles willing to depose the Emperor of Carthage.
It had not been a difficult task, the demonic Mayan hordes were at the gates of the city and the religious authorities of the now Christian Carthage saw the horrifying pagans who lengthened their heads, adorned their teeth with jewels and sacrificed the prisoners to dark and unknown gods like minions of Satan out of hell itself. That made the arrival of Abimalek seen as the only hope of survival before the advance of the terrible pagans ... chaotic times were being lived and after the fall of the Lydian Empire and the atrocities that were committed in those lands by the barbarians nobody in their right mind would want to live the same.
After a short insurrection, the deposed Emperor fled to Corsica promising to return one day to expel and crucify the rebels and the first meeting of the Miat of Carthage was held. Abimalek was elected as the city's temporary leader to negotiate with the Maya barbarians. The ships of the Carthaginian fleet that could not evacuate the city to the islands still in the hands of Carthage were sunk.
--
Seven hours later
The feat of Abimalek had angered Kalan of Granada, the High Priest of the Empire and his greatest enemy, but had greatly surprised K'awil Q'uk'umatz, the young Ahau, who was listening to the story of how Abimalek had not only deposed the Emperor of Carthage, finished the war and saved the valuable lives of the Mayan warriors from a siege that might last for months, but had obtained great honor by recovering the ancient democratic tradition of Carthage.
Ignoring the complaints of the High Priest, who wanted to sacrifice some noblemen of Carthage to celebrate the victory and the requests to sack Carthage by his own troops, K'awil named Abimalek as the first Ahau of Carthage, from now on the only authority that he should recognize was the one of the Ahau of the Empire of Carthage and the city had been saved from being sacked to become the second most important city in the Mayan Empire behind Cadiz. The Mayan Empire recognized the right of Carthage to elect its own Suffetes but Abimalek would be the first of them, in the following months the second would be chosen and thus the mandate of two Suffetes on the Miat composed of 104 magistrates was restored.
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Chapter 3.13 Scenes of the Mayan Empire (391 CE)
Chapter 3.13 Scenes of the Mayan Empire (391 CE)
New Tikal (Cadiz), 390 CE, Mayan Empire.
In the streets of the Great Temple Complex of New Tikal below him, the Mayan people were celebrating the spring equinox, a yearly celebration that linked the spirituality of the people with the cycle of nature in a festivity that was older than Mayan civilization itself. Some of the priests near the base of the pyramid were making the snake-dance ceremony to show their strength to the peoples while others of higher rank were preparing the fires for the descent of Qukumatz: the great serpent Deity of the Mayans and that was the patron of the Imperial Family, another customary celebration that had begun to be celebrated since the old days of the Olmecs in Mesoamerica more than six hundred years ago and that now were a fundamental piece of the religion of the Invaders on European soil as connected the old lands with the new ones, the only addition to the ritual was that the shadow of the Snake God was visible on the stairs of the Great Pyramid, something that was introduced a few years before the collapse of the first Mayan Empire on the Mayab (Yucatan).
The Mayan people felt timeless making these rituals, as they were doing something that their ancestors did from at least a millennia.
Kawil Q'uk'umatz stood in the top of the Pyramid accompanied by the high priesthood and observed his people from there, waiting until the shadow of his God descended into the upper part of the Pyramid, the people watched in silence until the shadow disappeared and then, after the priests lighted the ceremonial fires on every step of the Pyramid, he said:
- I, K’awil Q'uk'umatz known as “The Sword of Ixchel”, son of Tecun Uman, son of Chak Tok Ich’aak, son of Kaibil-Balam the first Emperor of the Second Mayan Empire, son of Muuk’naal Q'uk'umatz last heir of the First Mayan Empire, blood of Q'uk'umatz the heavenly Serpent, declare that I’m ready to take the Jade Throne and rule the Mayan people with wisdom and that I will fulfill the will of the Gods for the greater good of my people as the new Ahau of the Mayan Empire….
Then the young man made a hole on his tongue with an obsidian knife and then proceeded to pass a rope across it, then he burned it in front of his subjects so the people could see that everything he said would be also heard by the Gods themselves as the holy smoke ascended into the heavens. On every part of the crowd there were people repeating what the new Ahau said, and after a moment of sacred and silent connection between the Mayan peoples, their leader and their Gods… the crowd began to chant the name of K’awil, their new Emperor.
Bloodletting rituals are an ancient practice of Mesoamerican religions.
A 16 years old young kid.
Four years had passed since the conquest of Carthage and K’awil Q'uk'umatz, also known by “the Sword of Ixchel” for his early military exploits was not happy like his people because he was trapped into an unhappy marriage even if he was recognized as the Ahau of the Mayan Empire a few minutes ago.
The political power of the Ahau inside the Mayan Empire had diminished to critical levels during the long regency and some started to believe that the position was about to be abolished in favor of a theocracy. A few months ago the High Priest had diplomatically forced him (as his tutor and Imperial matchmaker) into a marriage with an arbitrary young woman from the Oncan House of Marrakesh, their most powerful subject in Africa and biggest ally of the Priesthood, after annulling his original betrothal with the love of his life, K’aak’naáb, a noblewoman from the rising House of Palenque that was in turn forced to marry the Ahau of Spal (Seville)…That was an huge political loss for the young Ahau and an humiliation that didn’t allowed him to sleep well in the nights…
His wife and his lover.
___________________________________________________
Kaah-há (Cordoba), 391, Mayan Empire
Luxino walked through the streets of Kaah-ha, which was one of the most important cities of the old Turdetan Kingdom, he had not been born yet, but his grandparents had told him about those peaceful times when his people ruled this land and where they were not slaves to these savages who had come from beyond the horizon to conquer their lands. But his grandparents had died years ago and now he was marching chained through the streets of that city with a group of slaves recently acquired by the Maya in an attack on one of the villages that the Lusitani had on their southern border, north of Kaah-há.
In the center of the city there was a large market where all kinds of products were sold, Luxino could see there dehydrated fish brought from the coasts, the expensive wine of the Hellenes, metal tools made in Etruria, the strange fruit with teeth that the Invaders cultivated with zeal, even Celtic beer ... he knew that he had to be another merchandise in that place with the group of people he was chained to, Lusitanian slaves ...and that he would probably be destined to die in the iron mines of the region.
Already on his twenties, Luxino had a good life in his native village, there he had a small farm at the foot of a hill, he was happily married and was preparing to have his first child when he was informed that the Maya were attacking nearby villages. Luckily, he had the good judgment to send his family north so that he could stay to defend their lands…. but he had the bad idea of facing the Maya raiders with a group of peasants like him, poorly armed and without much experience in combat they were quickly captured and transferred to the south.
After a brief haggling, the young Celtiberian was bought by a Phoenician merchant along with another group of slaves and from what he could understand, he would be sent south ... beyond the sea ...
Timbuktú, 391, Kingdom of Ghana.
Kin K'awilid de Spal (Seville) felt himself an important man, he had inherited the surrounding lands and the ancient great capital of the ancient Turdetani kingdom from his father, a great warrior who had impressed the Priesthood with his heroism… and now the Great Ahau had sent him to Timbuktu, a small commercial village south of the Great Desert, to search for plants that had the same properties needed to produce rubber, a products that did not grow entirely within the Mayan Empire and that was of great importance to his people, not only did they make the balls they played Pitz with ... but also several other applications (medicinal, footwear, etc).
Ahau Kin of Seville
The Maya had lost various medicinal and everyday use plants and herbs over the years, some plants refused to grow in the climate of the conquered lands and others simply died after growing a little, this was a major cultural shock during the first decades of the conquest and had led some to think that these lands were cursed ... the priests had taken it upon themselves to eliminate those ideas and did everything to reinforce the fact that the conquest of the lands of the ancestors of the Q'uk'umatz was a sacred duty of the Maya after the fall of the First Empire.
During the last decade rubber had become a very expensive rarity, the priests became increasingly wealthy because they were the only ones that had the knowledge to grow these plants on a small scale and carry out the process by which the Olmecs had discovered Rubber about a thousand years ago, therefore they had monopoly over the scarce amounts that were traded, the balls for the Pitz were ridiculously expensive despite the fact that they did not bounce in the same way that the old ones brought from the Mayab did and that over time they had become broken or started to disintegrate. This had pushed the Ahau to send its merchants accompanied by a group of priests to distant lands in order to search for plants similar to those they had brought from the Mayab ... some merchants returned frustrated since they had not managed to find anything similar, others returned with strange fruits, vegetables and animals to make up for the fact that they had failed in their mission ... others never came back.
But Kin had been the only nobleman sent on a mission of such importance and he had accepted because it was a direct request from his Ahau ... but his wife had stayed as a guest in New Tikal ... and the accompanying priests scoffed in front of him because of it.
It was obvious that K’awil Q'uk'umatz had sent him to the end of the world in search of something impossible to sleep with his wife.
The problem is that the nobleman had realized this after his first month in Timbuktu, a dusty town in the middle of nowhere where the only rare thing he could buy were a couple of giraffes (along with a slave who knew how to care for them) brought from lands even more exotic and distant.
New Tikal (Cadiz), 390 CE, Mayan Empire.
In the streets of the Great Temple Complex of New Tikal below him, the Mayan people were celebrating the spring equinox, a yearly celebration that linked the spirituality of the people with the cycle of nature in a festivity that was older than Mayan civilization itself. Some of the priests near the base of the pyramid were making the snake-dance ceremony to show their strength to the peoples while others of higher rank were preparing the fires for the descent of Qukumatz: the great serpent Deity of the Mayans and that was the patron of the Imperial Family, another customary celebration that had begun to be celebrated since the old days of the Olmecs in Mesoamerica more than six hundred years ago and that now were a fundamental piece of the religion of the Invaders on European soil as connected the old lands with the new ones, the only addition to the ritual was that the shadow of the Snake God was visible on the stairs of the Great Pyramid, something that was introduced a few years before the collapse of the first Mayan Empire on the Mayab (Yucatan).
The Mayan people felt timeless making these rituals, as they were doing something that their ancestors did from at least a millennia.
Kawil Q'uk'umatz stood in the top of the Pyramid accompanied by the high priesthood and observed his people from there, waiting until the shadow of his God descended into the upper part of the Pyramid, the people watched in silence until the shadow disappeared and then, after the priests lighted the ceremonial fires on every step of the Pyramid, he said:
- I, K’awil Q'uk'umatz known as “The Sword of Ixchel”, son of Tecun Uman, son of Chak Tok Ich’aak, son of Kaibil-Balam the first Emperor of the Second Mayan Empire, son of Muuk’naal Q'uk'umatz last heir of the First Mayan Empire, blood of Q'uk'umatz the heavenly Serpent, declare that I’m ready to take the Jade Throne and rule the Mayan people with wisdom and that I will fulfill the will of the Gods for the greater good of my people as the new Ahau of the Mayan Empire….
Then the young man made a hole on his tongue with an obsidian knife and then proceeded to pass a rope across it, then he burned it in front of his subjects so the people could see that everything he said would be also heard by the Gods themselves as the holy smoke ascended into the heavens. On every part of the crowd there were people repeating what the new Ahau said, and after a moment of sacred and silent connection between the Mayan peoples, their leader and their Gods… the crowd began to chant the name of K’awil, their new Emperor.
Bloodletting rituals are an ancient practice of Mesoamerican religions.
A 16 years old young kid.
Four years had passed since the conquest of Carthage and K’awil Q'uk'umatz, also known by “the Sword of Ixchel” for his early military exploits was not happy like his people because he was trapped into an unhappy marriage even if he was recognized as the Ahau of the Mayan Empire a few minutes ago.
The political power of the Ahau inside the Mayan Empire had diminished to critical levels during the long regency and some started to believe that the position was about to be abolished in favor of a theocracy. A few months ago the High Priest had diplomatically forced him (as his tutor and Imperial matchmaker) into a marriage with an arbitrary young woman from the Oncan House of Marrakesh, their most powerful subject in Africa and biggest ally of the Priesthood, after annulling his original betrothal with the love of his life, K’aak’naáb, a noblewoman from the rising House of Palenque that was in turn forced to marry the Ahau of Spal (Seville)…That was an huge political loss for the young Ahau and an humiliation that didn’t allowed him to sleep well in the nights…
His wife and his lover.
___________________________________________________
Kaah-há (Cordoba), 391, Mayan Empire
Luxino walked through the streets of Kaah-ha, which was one of the most important cities of the old Turdetan Kingdom, he had not been born yet, but his grandparents had told him about those peaceful times when his people ruled this land and where they were not slaves to these savages who had come from beyond the horizon to conquer their lands. But his grandparents had died years ago and now he was marching chained through the streets of that city with a group of slaves recently acquired by the Maya in an attack on one of the villages that the Lusitani had on their southern border, north of Kaah-há.
In the center of the city there was a large market where all kinds of products were sold, Luxino could see there dehydrated fish brought from the coasts, the expensive wine of the Hellenes, metal tools made in Etruria, the strange fruit with teeth that the Invaders cultivated with zeal, even Celtic beer ... he knew that he had to be another merchandise in that place with the group of people he was chained to, Lusitanian slaves ...and that he would probably be destined to die in the iron mines of the region.
Already on his twenties, Luxino had a good life in his native village, there he had a small farm at the foot of a hill, he was happily married and was preparing to have his first child when he was informed that the Maya were attacking nearby villages. Luckily, he had the good judgment to send his family north so that he could stay to defend their lands…. but he had the bad idea of facing the Maya raiders with a group of peasants like him, poorly armed and without much experience in combat they were quickly captured and transferred to the south.
After a brief haggling, the young Celtiberian was bought by a Phoenician merchant along with another group of slaves and from what he could understand, he would be sent south ... beyond the sea ...
_______________
Timbuktú, 391, Kingdom of Ghana.
Kin K'awilid de Spal (Seville) felt himself an important man, he had inherited the surrounding lands and the ancient great capital of the ancient Turdetani kingdom from his father, a great warrior who had impressed the Priesthood with his heroism… and now the Great Ahau had sent him to Timbuktu, a small commercial village south of the Great Desert, to search for plants that had the same properties needed to produce rubber, a products that did not grow entirely within the Mayan Empire and that was of great importance to his people, not only did they make the balls they played Pitz with ... but also several other applications (medicinal, footwear, etc).
Ahau Kin of Seville
The Maya had lost various medicinal and everyday use plants and herbs over the years, some plants refused to grow in the climate of the conquered lands and others simply died after growing a little, this was a major cultural shock during the first decades of the conquest and had led some to think that these lands were cursed ... the priests had taken it upon themselves to eliminate those ideas and did everything to reinforce the fact that the conquest of the lands of the ancestors of the Q'uk'umatz was a sacred duty of the Maya after the fall of the First Empire.
During the last decade rubber had become a very expensive rarity, the priests became increasingly wealthy because they were the only ones that had the knowledge to grow these plants on a small scale and carry out the process by which the Olmecs had discovered Rubber about a thousand years ago, therefore they had monopoly over the scarce amounts that were traded, the balls for the Pitz were ridiculously expensive despite the fact that they did not bounce in the same way that the old ones brought from the Mayab did and that over time they had become broken or started to disintegrate. This had pushed the Ahau to send its merchants accompanied by a group of priests to distant lands in order to search for plants similar to those they had brought from the Mayab ... some merchants returned frustrated since they had not managed to find anything similar, others returned with strange fruits, vegetables and animals to make up for the fact that they had failed in their mission ... others never came back.
But Kin had been the only nobleman sent on a mission of such importance and he had accepted because it was a direct request from his Ahau ... but his wife had stayed as a guest in New Tikal ... and the accompanying priests scoffed in front of him because of it.
It was obvious that K’awil Q'uk'umatz had sent him to the end of the world in search of something impossible to sleep with his wife.
The problem is that the nobleman had realized this after his first month in Timbuktu, a dusty town in the middle of nowhere where the only rare thing he could buy were a couple of giraffes (along with a slave who knew how to care for them) brought from lands even more exotic and distant.
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Chapter 3.14 What is love? (392 CE)
Chapter 3.14 What is love? (392 CE)
The lovers had passed the past weeks together on the residence that the Ahau had in the outskirts of New Tikal, the capital of his Empire, K'awil had ignored his duties as ruler of the Mayans and gave all the responsibility of power and leadership to his council arguing that they had being doing that since the death of his father years ago and that continuing doing exactly the same was part to their sacred duty to the Empire, so a few more weeks without an Ahau would not bring problems to his Empire ... after all, they were highly capable men and had more experience than him...and they agreed because the High priest considered that most likely his presence at the council meeting would only hinder the work of those who had held true power in the Empire for the past few decades.
This didn’t go unnoticed to the noblemen who were already distrustful of a young kid leading the Empire after all these years of peace of stability that the council of regency imposed over their people, the fact that the Ahau decided to abandon his duties demonstrated his weakness of character and tendency towards hedonistic acts, something considered very improper of a descendant of Q'uk'umatz… but as long as the supreme authority of the Empire were on good hands, they were satisfied with the situation.
K’aak’naáb now rested completely naked on the arms of K'awil they had had a very passionate afternoon and both were exhausted, she looked at the sleeping Ahau and smiled as it seemed that nothing could interrupt the idyll they were living for the past weeks, and because the Imperial coffers provided them with all the comforts that two young lovers could need and they possessed all the time in the world to enjoy each other and not worry about anything else in this world she felt as almost the most happy woman in the world…
... after all ... if the Ahau i decided to live with her on this residence forever and leave the council to rule for an indeterminate amount of time nobody could say anything against their forbidden love. The Council of Regency was used to have all the power on their hands and K’awil could just step aside and enjoy life with her.
But at that moment she realized that she was not the Ahau but only a woman already married with duties to fulfill for her family and her husband who was about to return from his long journey to distant lands ... K'aak'naáb knew that the happiness of these days could not last forever and that a boring life with a boring man that she never loved and could never respect awaited her... at this point in her life she had two options: she could flee from this situation to a distant land, or she could embrace her fate as an unhappy political tool ...…she got out of bed and started to dress, she wanted to flee as far as possible and forget these two men, the one she loved and the one that was about to return to her life.
She was about to exit the room when K’awil woke up and stopped her:
- What..what is happening my love?. I was dreaming about the day we discovered our love…was a good night, that one…
K’aak’naáb remembered that night as it were yesterday because she fell in love with K’awil on his wedding night, the most improper moment and the most improper place…
The young woman's eyes lit up as she walked towards the love of her life, took his hands and spoke the words that would change their lives forever while looking directly at his eyes:
- “Marry me”.
Six decades had passed since he was abandoned a few days after he was born outside one of the many temples in New Tikal, adopted and educated by the priests. Over the years he was taken as the disciple of the anterior high priest and as the most brilliant student of his generation was elected as the new High Priest when his mentor passed away.
Once he took the mantle he discovered a shocking truth, the Q'uk'umatz family had become corrupt and had allowed the heathens to be independent from their leadership, and because at the time most of the Empire was ruled by native noblemen who followed the local religions, the income of the Priesthood was far from what it could be. Not only that troubled Kalan, he felt that the freedom the locals had under the Empire was a threat to the existence of his people, something had to be done to fix this situation.
The Mayan faith cornered by the local religions, i started to use WTWSMS as its the best mod for this time period, i will expand on that later.
That was why Kalan tried in several ocasions to convince Kaibil-Balam Q'uk'umatz, the former Ahau, to persecute, convert or eliminate the infidels to the true faith without success. Luckily for him the Ahau was mysteriously assasinated soon after only to be replaced by his infant son on the Jade Throne, he displaced the mother of the new Ahau as regent and guardian of the kid and since then he was the most powerful man on the entire Empire thanks to a complex network of political alliances, and even with all that influence he could not change the laws protecting the "freedom of religion" enacted when Muuk'naal conquered the Turdetani without risking war against the Phoenicians and Berber inside the Empire. He had educated K'awil Q'uk'umatz to impose his will on the Empire...but after the Conquest of Carthage it was clear that the boy would never persecute the Christians or do anything to advance the political agenda of the High Priest because he was too friendly to the Phoenicians and considered himself to be a distant relative of the former Spymaster and now ruler of Carthage. Even if the Ahau didnt wanted to rule for now he could try to do that in the future.... a risk that he did not wanted to take considering his own old age and future vulnerability.
Something must be done to ensure the survival of the Mayans in the future, he had prepared his successor and the priesthood in a way that his vision could survive the generations...but in the short run, he considered the elimination of the Ahau as his top priority... and he had the ideal man for that task right now in front of him.
Kin was telling a story about how the Mayan merchant caravans crossed the Great Desert of the south, the boring nobleman talked for two hours and of course the High Priest didn’t care about what the man had to say, he already knew everything about his travel with even more details thanks to the priests he sent to spy and protect Kin in the case the Ahau tried to get him assassinated to keep the wife of the clueless nobleman at his side.
When the nobleman ended his story Kalan ordered a servant to bring more cocoa to their table and when the two men were alone he asked something to Kin as if he considered him an old friend and not a political tool to murder K'awil Q'uk'umatz:
- Do you will like me to organize a Great Hunt to celebrate your return to the Capital and invite the Ahau and most Mayan nobles of the region? That would bring great prestige to your house...and of course ...to your name...
Kin, being the man he was… of course could not refuse such an opportunity.
The lovers had passed the past weeks together on the residence that the Ahau had in the outskirts of New Tikal, the capital of his Empire, K'awil had ignored his duties as ruler of the Mayans and gave all the responsibility of power and leadership to his council arguing that they had being doing that since the death of his father years ago and that continuing doing exactly the same was part to their sacred duty to the Empire, so a few more weeks without an Ahau would not bring problems to his Empire ... after all, they were highly capable men and had more experience than him...and they agreed because the High priest considered that most likely his presence at the council meeting would only hinder the work of those who had held true power in the Empire for the past few decades.
This didn’t go unnoticed to the noblemen who were already distrustful of a young kid leading the Empire after all these years of peace of stability that the council of regency imposed over their people, the fact that the Ahau decided to abandon his duties demonstrated his weakness of character and tendency towards hedonistic acts, something considered very improper of a descendant of Q'uk'umatz… but as long as the supreme authority of the Empire were on good hands, they were satisfied with the situation.
K’aak’naáb now rested completely naked on the arms of K'awil they had had a very passionate afternoon and both were exhausted, she looked at the sleeping Ahau and smiled as it seemed that nothing could interrupt the idyll they were living for the past weeks, and because the Imperial coffers provided them with all the comforts that two young lovers could need and they possessed all the time in the world to enjoy each other and not worry about anything else in this world she felt as almost the most happy woman in the world…
... after all ... if the Ahau i decided to live with her on this residence forever and leave the council to rule for an indeterminate amount of time nobody could say anything against their forbidden love. The Council of Regency was used to have all the power on their hands and K’awil could just step aside and enjoy life with her.
But at that moment she realized that she was not the Ahau but only a woman already married with duties to fulfill for her family and her husband who was about to return from his long journey to distant lands ... K'aak'naáb knew that the happiness of these days could not last forever and that a boring life with a boring man that she never loved and could never respect awaited her... at this point in her life she had two options: she could flee from this situation to a distant land, or she could embrace her fate as an unhappy political tool ...…she got out of bed and started to dress, she wanted to flee as far as possible and forget these two men, the one she loved and the one that was about to return to her life.
She was about to exit the room when K’awil woke up and stopped her:
- What..what is happening my love?. I was dreaming about the day we discovered our love…was a good night, that one…
K’aak’naáb remembered that night as it were yesterday because she fell in love with K’awil on his wedding night, the most improper moment and the most improper place…
The young woman's eyes lit up as she walked towards the love of her life, took his hands and spoke the words that would change their lives forever while looking directly at his eyes:
- “Marry me”.
______________________________________________________________________________
The horror
When Kin reached the plaza were the High Priest and his entourage were awaiting for him. He could see that the true ruler of the empire was smiling with pleasure, but not at the animals, but at him.
Kalan, the High Priest and true ruler of the Mayan Empire, had been waiting for months for his arrival, he had so many plans in mind for this ambitious nobleman ...
______________________________________________
Kin walked the streets of New Tikal accompanied by some African merchants, the priests who had accompanied him on his journey and of course the Giraffes he had bought in Timbuktu, he was happy and satisfied due to the success of his mission to the south of the Sahara desert. Perhaps he had not been able to find the plants that the Ahau had entrusted him to find, but he had brought these exotic animals as a gift to his sacred Majesty and he knew that this would not only please him, but also would give him great prestige at court, perhaps he could even adopt these animals as the totemic animal of his family line ... just thinking about it made a big smile decorate his face. The Q’uk’umatz had the sacred Feathered Serpent, the Oncan had a Black Wolf that represented the bravery of their founder…and he would have the most unique and strange creature a Mayan could even dream of having as the totemic animal of his family line: a mythical horned horse with a long-serpentine neck.
As he slowly walked towards the palace where the Council of Regency awaited him the people of the city stopped in amazement to watch such a fabulous procession ... no one in the city had ever seen such wonderful animals and Kin knew that people would speak of his arrival by for generations, that is why he had ordered some of his slaves to carry large banners with the shield of his family and others to spread the word about the arrival of animals throughout the port, no one could miss such a remarkable display of greatness. His greatness.
As he was arriving at the district where the great Complex of Temples surrounding the Qukumatz Pyramid began, he realized that the High Priest and the wife of the Ahau were waiting for him in the middle of the road, surrounded by some nobles who stared in amazement at the great creatures that surrounded him. they had accompanied from so far.
People crowded on both sides of New Tikal's main street to see the strange creatures, some children cried and clung to their mothers' skirts, trying to hide their faces from so fearsome creatures but looking at those horse-snakes anyway…
As he slowly walked towards the palace where the Council of Regency awaited him the people of the city stopped in amazement to watch such a fabulous procession ... no one in the city had ever seen such wonderful animals and Kin knew that people would speak of his arrival by for generations, that is why he had ordered some of his slaves to carry large banners with the shield of his family and others to spread the word about the arrival of animals throughout the port, no one could miss such a remarkable display of greatness. His greatness.
As he was arriving at the district where the great Complex of Temples surrounding the Qukumatz Pyramid began, he realized that the High Priest and the wife of the Ahau were waiting for him in the middle of the road, surrounded by some nobles who stared in amazement at the great creatures that surrounded him. they had accompanied from so far.
People crowded on both sides of New Tikal's main street to see the strange creatures, some children cried and clung to their mothers' skirts, trying to hide their faces from so fearsome creatures but looking at those horse-snakes anyway…
The horror
When Kin reached the plaza were the High Priest and his entourage were awaiting for him. He could see that the true ruler of the empire was smiling with pleasure, but not at the animals, but at him.
Kalan, the High Priest and true ruler of the Mayan Empire, had been waiting for months for his arrival, he had so many plans in mind for this ambitious nobleman ...
______________________________________________
Six decades had passed since he was abandoned a few days after he was born outside one of the many temples in New Tikal, adopted and educated by the priests. Over the years he was taken as the disciple of the anterior high priest and as the most brilliant student of his generation was elected as the new High Priest when his mentor passed away.
Once he took the mantle he discovered a shocking truth, the Q'uk'umatz family had become corrupt and had allowed the heathens to be independent from their leadership, and because at the time most of the Empire was ruled by native noblemen who followed the local religions, the income of the Priesthood was far from what it could be. Not only that troubled Kalan, he felt that the freedom the locals had under the Empire was a threat to the existence of his people, something had to be done to fix this situation.
The Mayan faith cornered by the local religions, i started to use WTWSMS as its the best mod for this time period, i will expand on that later.
That was why Kalan tried in several ocasions to convince Kaibil-Balam Q'uk'umatz, the former Ahau, to persecute, convert or eliminate the infidels to the true faith without success. Luckily for him the Ahau was mysteriously assasinated soon after only to be replaced by his infant son on the Jade Throne, he displaced the mother of the new Ahau as regent and guardian of the kid and since then he was the most powerful man on the entire Empire thanks to a complex network of political alliances, and even with all that influence he could not change the laws protecting the "freedom of religion" enacted when Muuk'naal conquered the Turdetani without risking war against the Phoenicians and Berber inside the Empire. He had educated K'awil Q'uk'umatz to impose his will on the Empire...but after the Conquest of Carthage it was clear that the boy would never persecute the Christians or do anything to advance the political agenda of the High Priest because he was too friendly to the Phoenicians and considered himself to be a distant relative of the former Spymaster and now ruler of Carthage. Even if the Ahau didnt wanted to rule for now he could try to do that in the future.... a risk that he did not wanted to take considering his own old age and future vulnerability.
Something must be done to ensure the survival of the Mayans in the future, he had prepared his successor and the priesthood in a way that his vision could survive the generations...but in the short run, he considered the elimination of the Ahau as his top priority... and he had the ideal man for that task right now in front of him.
Kin was telling a story about how the Mayan merchant caravans crossed the Great Desert of the south, the boring nobleman talked for two hours and of course the High Priest didn’t care about what the man had to say, he already knew everything about his travel with even more details thanks to the priests he sent to spy and protect Kin in the case the Ahau tried to get him assassinated to keep the wife of the clueless nobleman at his side.
When the nobleman ended his story Kalan ordered a servant to bring more cocoa to their table and when the two men were alone he asked something to Kin as if he considered him an old friend and not a political tool to murder K'awil Q'uk'umatz:
- Do you will like me to organize a Great Hunt to celebrate your return to the Capital and invite the Ahau and most Mayan nobles of the region? That would bring great prestige to your house...and of course ...to your name...
Kin, being the man he was… of course could not refuse such an opportunity.
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Oh, hey, another update.
And if you hadn't noticed, one of the members of the converter team recently created an alternative to the CK2 to EU4 converter DLC. When you get close to the point of conversion, I would be happy to help adapt it to your mod. Though yeah, it'll be a while.
And if you hadn't noticed, one of the members of the converter team recently created an alternative to the CK2 to EU4 converter DLC. When you get close to the point of conversion, I would be happy to help adapt it to your mod. Though yeah, it'll be a while.
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I have noticed it and i have tested some "normal" saves, its a good converter (i havent made it work with this mod because it dont uses the same tables that the "pdx" converter does). I was thinking about starting the AAR in ck3 once i reach 1066...but thats only a crazy idea of mine.
Still i appreciate your offering.
I hope these kids dont get nightmares after seeing these monsters.
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Taking to acount how slowly (unfortunately) you are publishing these chapters, it's possibile
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Taking to acount how slowly (unfortunately) you are publishing these chapters, it's possibile
Well, i must explain myself
, between April-May i was having a competition with a e-friend about who got all the CK2 achievements, i did like 50 and while doing that i did the Aladdin achievement:
Because i was doing "unvoluntary" quarantine and was absolutely bored with everything else i started to write a second AAR about this fantastic Han immortal Zunist god-Emperor of Mankind
, then i deleted by error the folder with this AAR (and some important documents i luckily had backed up on a pendrive.), i still had some screenshots in another folder that ended the 4th century of "Storm from the West", but even my saves were lost.Thats why im doing this now with a modified version of the mod WTWSMS and with some save editing im ready to advance more steadily on this AAR.
I returned to work last week and as my commute on the company bus its like 2 hours/day i started to write again on a more regular basis, im currently finishing the 20th chapter of this AAR and i will post the chapter 14 tomorrow, and then every 2 days.
I will try my best to not get sidetracked again, anyways if Idhrendur and his team gets a working CK3-EU4 converter once i reach 1066, i will continue there, if not, i'll end this AAR in CK2.
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WOW! Did you reform Zunism, united India and invaded Middle East and North Africa as Han Chinese in Ironman?! That's Impressive :O
But honestly playing as one ruler is kind of boring...
I recently get my first immortal ruler after almost 2000 hours of gameplay and I feel rly bored with the same guy all over again.
I'm thinking maybe when I create Catholic Umayyad Holy Roman Empire, (currently I'm Hispania and have Italian Isles) I will make him immortal satanist leader (he's next in line already) and install him as pope and I will play another character from my dynasty (I'm not playing Ironman so I can do it)
I don't know why I wrote this, but I really wanted to share it with someone xd
But honestly playing as one ruler is kind of boring...
I recently get my first immortal ruler after almost 2000 hours of gameplay and I feel rly bored with the same guy all over again.
I'm thinking maybe when I create Catholic Umayyad Holy Roman Empire, (currently I'm Hispania and have Italian Isles) I will make him immortal satanist leader (he's next in line already) and install him as pope and I will play another character from my dynasty (I'm not playing Ironman so I can do it)
I don't know why I wrote this, but I really wanted to share it with someone xd
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WOW! Did you reform Zunism, united India and invaded Middle East and North Africa as Han Chinese in Ironman?! That's Impressive :O
But honestly playing as one ruler is kind of boring...
I recently get my first immortal ruler after almost 2000 hours of gameplay and I feel rly bored with the same guy all over again.
I'm thinking maybe when I create Catholic Umayyad Holy Roman Empire, (currently I'm Hispania and have Italian Isles) I will make him immortal satanist leader (he's next in line already) and install him as pope and I will play another character from my dynasty (I'm not playing Ironman so I can do it)
I don't know why I wrote this, but I really wanted to share it with someone xd
That game surprised me a lot (thats why im intending to write about it), to make it happen i swore allegiance to Tibet, eated them from the inside like a parasite and then declared independence, then proceeded to do the same to the Abbasids, when i was big enough i converted to zunism (a then dying religion), reformed it, and began my slow conquest of Sindh... at that moment i formed an Empire and started to play tall...micromanaging vassals with the viceroyalty system and improving my demesne...my vassals began to aggresively eat India and that made me wonder if i could unite them, i did, and changed my faith to jainism, became the Samrat chamaasdasda....and then... i had HUGE factions against me ready to tear my Empire into pieces....then.... the gods saved me because the Black death appeared!!! with all my vassals dead (i had to eat some people to survive the plague) i changed my religion back to zunist.
Then the immortal event fired and i was like...whatever, i dont think i will get the immortal trai... and i got it. From then on i only went to war every 40+- years on GHWs to get territories i needed to get the Aladdin achievement... and i stopped playing after getting it. It was a lucky run.
It depends on your gamestyle, this is my second immortal character and as i always try to play tall...yes..it gets boring, but with aggresive vassals who will try to conquer everything on their path like the ones i have on that save and some roleplaying... for example, my Han Immortal Zun Emperor has a concubine who is....the same woman that converted him into an immortal and she is the commander of his forces, i like that story and how it can evolve over time.
I want to see an screenshot about your future HRE caliphate haha
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Chapter 3.15 The Duel, 392 CE.
Chapter 3.15 The Duel, 392 CE.
Mayan children were trained since childhood to hunt snakes and other dangerous species with their bare hands, tradition considered that doing that from a young age improved their reflexes and depending on the species being hunted and the danger involved the younger generations were taught a valuable lesson about teamwork, Mayan nobility was no exception to this rule and since the dawn of their civilization they hunted deer, jaguars, even other men. Since the invasion of Ispania they changed their prey to wolves, Barbary lions amd other dangerous beasts (and humans), the Great Hunt organized by the High Priest was special because it was the first one were a Q'uk'umatz Ahau would participate and also because of the snake-horses Kin brought from Timbuktu were something all the nobles wanted to see, and if possible, ride.
K'awil was bored with the event, he felt that hunting with his subjects was way below his dignity and lineage, also, he felt that participating in a celebration for the return of the man he sent to the far side of the world to have more time to be with his wife was not correct but he could not refuse the invitation made by the High Priest to be with his lover. In the second day of the hunt he sucessfully saved his beloved K’aak’naáb from a hungry wolf that attacked her group and was celebrated as an hero for that... but killing a savage animal was no challenge for him, in fact he was there only he was trying to get close to his now pregnant lover, they were separated for almost a month since Kin returned from his voyage and he missed her so much...
He craved the affection of the wife of his host, that was the reason why he pretended to be injured by the beast so he could be with the women and later, in the middle of the night, he went to her tent...K’aak’naáb was pregnant at the time (he suspected the unborn child was his son) but that was not an obstacle for them...
The next morning he heard the noise made by a single horse when approaching, K'awil quickly dress up and got out of the tent of his lover just to be approached by Kin, who was furious.
-"I knew it!" Screamed Kin furiously pointing a finger to the face of the Ahau.
-"You knew what?", said K'awil while calmly closing the door of the tent and making as it nothing happened.
-"You have been sleeping with my wife all this time!, i tried to ignore the rumors but now...now im certain about that! -.... said Kin with a bitter tone of voice
-" Thats simply not true Kin, i wasnt sleeping with your wife" - said K'awil smiling malisciously and trying to walk past him, they were being sorrounded by more and more people attracted by the angry screams of Kin.
-"You liar!!! - screamed Kin furiously and trying to search for a weapon on his horse to attack the Ahau.
- Wait...you dare questioning my honor? Kin Kawilid, Ahau of Ispal, I challenge you to a duel to the death to decide who of us its speaking the truth! - K'awil made a gesture to one of his servants that was in the middle of the crowd, this was his chance to eliminate his rival and fulfill the promise he made to Kbaab to matry her- ...if you let me get my weapon we can settle this right here, right now...
Both men were facing each other and armed with their Jatz'ab (the Mayan name for the Macuahuitl) ready to start to fight when the High Priest appeared with his guards into the scene.
- Stop both of you - said the gigantic man with a firm but loud, authoritarian voice -only i can arrange legal duels and we can end this nonsense tomorrow, you both must have a time to reflect before the declaration of the duel and the act itself... you both know our law!.
Both men agreed to what the High Priest said. They retreated to their tents to ponder about what happened earlier and what could be the outcome of their duel.
It looks like an easy victory for the Ahau
K'awil felt extremely confident about his victory against Kin because for much of his life he had been trained in the art of dueling by the Empire's most talented warriors, so he ordered his servants to cook for him the night before Mourning a pork seasoned with chili, pulque, accompanied by white corn bread stuffed with iberian cheese, he intended to
spend the night celebrating with his legitimate wife as if she were the love of his life, he planned to make K’aak’naáb his official wife after beating Kin in the duel the next day and he wanted to enjoy the last night with the old one.
Kin, meanwhile, was more of a politician than a warrior and therefore apparently had no chance of winning the duel ... however the High Priest had promised him revenge and had told him to make a generous sacrifice to Buluc Chabtan and that in his prayers he offered the soul of the Ahau and his victory to the God, such an act of piety would not go unnoticed by the Mayan God of war ... that would perhaps earn him divine blessing and increase his chances of success to win. He went to a local shrine and made what Kalan said with all his heart.
The next morning both men were facing each other half naked and adorned with arrangements made with colorful bird feathers, the priests made them choose between 12 different Jazt'ab especially concecrated to the gods, K'awil took the heavier one because according to his technique and preference he wanted to defeat his rival with a single blow, in the past he had decapitated a horse of a Germanic raider using a weapon like that. Kin on the other hand picked a more balanced one, ideal for an inexperienced duelist.
An illustration of a Macuahuitl lost to a fire on a museom in Spain in the XIX century.
The weapons for the duel would be the traditional Jazt'ab but made from iberian iron instead of wood as was the norm from millenia, like serrated maces that could cut through the flesh, an ideal weapon for a duel to the death. The weapon had evolved since the Mayans arrived on Europe, some of them retained the characteristics of the ones from the Mayab, others looked like two handed swords..
After the High Priest finished a small ceremony to concecrate the duel and validate the duel as a legal act of justice to solve a dispute approved by the gods -after all the legal power was exercised by the priests inside their religious jurisdictions- both men started to attack each other.
The more experianced K'awil parried with ease all the blows that his frenetical rival throwed at him, he was like a cat playing with his prey, his strategy was let the poor man tire himself out so he could finish him with only one perfect and messy blow, a good way to demonstate his superiority and to silence the entire Empire if possible..he planned to take his throne after this easy victory and begin to rule as his ancestors did before him, he needed a show of strenght to start this new stage of his life.
But something was wrong, very wrong...he began to feel dizzy and started to move erratically on the field, Kin still was trying to hit him without success, suddenly the face of K'awil turned pink and he dropped his weapon...he could barely breathe and fell to his knees to the horror of everyone watching the duel... then Kin finished him with a clean blow.
According to the game, he killed himself, xd.
The High Priest looked at Kin surprised and with genuine horror, he didnt expected this outcome even if was that he desired, still, even if he suspected the current wife of the Ahau as the true murderer...the death of the Ahau by the hands of Izamal of House Oncan could start a civil war between the houses and the Throne...the worst outcome possible on times like this...on the other hand...blaming a minor noble could defuse the entire situation and bring stability to the Empire.
- " Are you serious Kin!!??, you know that poisoning the other party of a consecrated duel is considered an act of treachery to the Gods themselves and its an action pubished by execution!?"- Kalan acted as if he was outraged and surprised, the idea behind this was that everyone would think that Kin was the one who had murdered the Ahau even if the poor man presented evidence of having spent the whole previous day praying at the nearby Shrine of Buluc Chabtan.- "Guards!!, seize this traitor and throw him in the dungeon, where he belongs, tomorrow he will be prosecuted for his crime against the Empire!"
- Wai...wait! i never poisoned the Ahau, even if he deserved it!!! - shouted a confused Kin, who until that second still thought that the High Priest was his greatest ally.
The duel was declared void and Kin screamed on his way to the dungeons that he had done nothing wrong, that somebody else had murdered the Ahau...but nobody would believe him because all the other nobles and the priests knew about the affair that K'awil had with the wife of the poor man and believed that the ambitious noble had all the reasons to commit the murder.
Hours later, Kin was suspisciously "found dead" on his cell and the High Priest issued a proclamation about the death of the Ahau:
"To all the Great Noble Houses of the Mayan Empire:
Our beloved Ahau K'awil Q'uk'umatz was murdered by the treacherous Kin Kawilid while they were hunting together, the traitor killed himself in prison and with no legal heir...all his lands would be taken over by the Priesthood and his name will be forever damned by the Gods, i will continue to lead the Council of Regency and in a time of great need we need all the houses together until the one years old son of our murdered Ahau comes of age we will continue the work of the Sacred Bloodline of Q'uk'umatz.
ALL HAIL THE MAYAN EMPIRE"
The council of Regency would continue to rule over the Mayans for the next decades...
Mayan children were trained since childhood to hunt snakes and other dangerous species with their bare hands, tradition considered that doing that from a young age improved their reflexes and depending on the species being hunted and the danger involved the younger generations were taught a valuable lesson about teamwork, Mayan nobility was no exception to this rule and since the dawn of their civilization they hunted deer, jaguars, even other men. Since the invasion of Ispania they changed their prey to wolves, Barbary lions amd other dangerous beasts (and humans), the Great Hunt organized by the High Priest was special because it was the first one were a Q'uk'umatz Ahau would participate and also because of the snake-horses Kin brought from Timbuktu were something all the nobles wanted to see, and if possible, ride.
K'awil was bored with the event, he felt that hunting with his subjects was way below his dignity and lineage, also, he felt that participating in a celebration for the return of the man he sent to the far side of the world to have more time to be with his wife was not correct but he could not refuse the invitation made by the High Priest to be with his lover. In the second day of the hunt he sucessfully saved his beloved K’aak’naáb from a hungry wolf that attacked her group and was celebrated as an hero for that... but killing a savage animal was no challenge for him, in fact he was there only he was trying to get close to his now pregnant lover, they were separated for almost a month since Kin returned from his voyage and he missed her so much...
He craved the affection of the wife of his host, that was the reason why he pretended to be injured by the beast so he could be with the women and later, in the middle of the night, he went to her tent...K’aak’naáb was pregnant at the time (he suspected the unborn child was his son) but that was not an obstacle for them...
The next morning he heard the noise made by a single horse when approaching, K'awil quickly dress up and got out of the tent of his lover just to be approached by Kin, who was furious.
-"I knew it!" Screamed Kin furiously pointing a finger to the face of the Ahau.
-"You knew what?", said K'awil while calmly closing the door of the tent and making as it nothing happened.
-"You have been sleeping with my wife all this time!, i tried to ignore the rumors but now...now im certain about that! -.... said Kin with a bitter tone of voice
-" Thats simply not true Kin, i wasnt sleeping with your wife" - said K'awil smiling malisciously and trying to walk past him, they were being sorrounded by more and more people attracted by the angry screams of Kin.
-"You liar!!! - screamed Kin furiously and trying to search for a weapon on his horse to attack the Ahau.
- Wait...you dare questioning my honor? Kin Kawilid, Ahau of Ispal, I challenge you to a duel to the death to decide who of us its speaking the truth! - K'awil made a gesture to one of his servants that was in the middle of the crowd, this was his chance to eliminate his rival and fulfill the promise he made to Kbaab to matry her- ...if you let me get my weapon we can settle this right here, right now...
Both men were facing each other and armed with their Jatz'ab (the Mayan name for the Macuahuitl) ready to start to fight when the High Priest appeared with his guards into the scene.
- Stop both of you - said the gigantic man with a firm but loud, authoritarian voice -only i can arrange legal duels and we can end this nonsense tomorrow, you both must have a time to reflect before the declaration of the duel and the act itself... you both know our law!.
Both men agreed to what the High Priest said. They retreated to their tents to ponder about what happened earlier and what could be the outcome of their duel.
It looks like an easy victory for the Ahau
K'awil felt extremely confident about his victory against Kin because for much of his life he had been trained in the art of dueling by the Empire's most talented warriors, so he ordered his servants to cook for him the night before Mourning a pork seasoned with chili, pulque, accompanied by white corn bread stuffed with iberian cheese, he intended to
spend the night celebrating with his legitimate wife as if she were the love of his life, he planned to make K’aak’naáb his official wife after beating Kin in the duel the next day and he wanted to enjoy the last night with the old one.
Kin, meanwhile, was more of a politician than a warrior and therefore apparently had no chance of winning the duel ... however the High Priest had promised him revenge and had told him to make a generous sacrifice to Buluc Chabtan and that in his prayers he offered the soul of the Ahau and his victory to the God, such an act of piety would not go unnoticed by the Mayan God of war ... that would perhaps earn him divine blessing and increase his chances of success to win. He went to a local shrine and made what Kalan said with all his heart.
The next morning both men were facing each other half naked and adorned with arrangements made with colorful bird feathers, the priests made them choose between 12 different Jazt'ab especially concecrated to the gods, K'awil took the heavier one because according to his technique and preference he wanted to defeat his rival with a single blow, in the past he had decapitated a horse of a Germanic raider using a weapon like that. Kin on the other hand picked a more balanced one, ideal for an inexperienced duelist.
An illustration of a Macuahuitl lost to a fire on a museom in Spain in the XIX century.
The weapons for the duel would be the traditional Jazt'ab but made from iberian iron instead of wood as was the norm from millenia, like serrated maces that could cut through the flesh, an ideal weapon for a duel to the death. The weapon had evolved since the Mayans arrived on Europe, some of them retained the characteristics of the ones from the Mayab, others looked like two handed swords..
After the High Priest finished a small ceremony to concecrate the duel and validate the duel as a legal act of justice to solve a dispute approved by the gods -after all the legal power was exercised by the priests inside their religious jurisdictions- both men started to attack each other.
The more experianced K'awil parried with ease all the blows that his frenetical rival throwed at him, he was like a cat playing with his prey, his strategy was let the poor man tire himself out so he could finish him with only one perfect and messy blow, a good way to demonstate his superiority and to silence the entire Empire if possible..he planned to take his throne after this easy victory and begin to rule as his ancestors did before him, he needed a show of strenght to start this new stage of his life.
But something was wrong, very wrong...he began to feel dizzy and started to move erratically on the field, Kin still was trying to hit him without success, suddenly the face of K'awil turned pink and he dropped his weapon...he could barely breathe and fell to his knees to the horror of everyone watching the duel... then Kin finished him with a clean blow.
According to the game, he killed himself, xd.
The High Priest looked at Kin surprised and with genuine horror, he didnt expected this outcome even if was that he desired, still, even if he suspected the current wife of the Ahau as the true murderer...the death of the Ahau by the hands of Izamal of House Oncan could start a civil war between the houses and the Throne...the worst outcome possible on times like this...on the other hand...blaming a minor noble could defuse the entire situation and bring stability to the Empire.
- " Are you serious Kin!!??, you know that poisoning the other party of a consecrated duel is considered an act of treachery to the Gods themselves and its an action pubished by execution!?"- Kalan acted as if he was outraged and surprised, the idea behind this was that everyone would think that Kin was the one who had murdered the Ahau even if the poor man presented evidence of having spent the whole previous day praying at the nearby Shrine of Buluc Chabtan.- "Guards!!, seize this traitor and throw him in the dungeon, where he belongs, tomorrow he will be prosecuted for his crime against the Empire!"
- Wai...wait! i never poisoned the Ahau, even if he deserved it!!! - shouted a confused Kin, who until that second still thought that the High Priest was his greatest ally.
The duel was declared void and Kin screamed on his way to the dungeons that he had done nothing wrong, that somebody else had murdered the Ahau...but nobody would believe him because all the other nobles and the priests knew about the affair that K'awil had with the wife of the poor man and believed that the ambitious noble had all the reasons to commit the murder.
Hours later, Kin was suspisciously "found dead" on his cell and the High Priest issued a proclamation about the death of the Ahau:
"To all the Great Noble Houses of the Mayan Empire:
Our beloved Ahau K'awil Q'uk'umatz was murdered by the treacherous Kin Kawilid while they were hunting together, the traitor killed himself in prison and with no legal heir...all his lands would be taken over by the Priesthood and his name will be forever damned by the Gods, i will continue to lead the Council of Regency and in a time of great need we need all the houses together until the one years old son of our murdered Ahau comes of age we will continue the work of the Sacred Bloodline of Q'uk'umatz.
ALL HAIL THE MAYAN EMPIRE"
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