A Storm from the West: a Sunset Invasion AAR
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Welcome back...
I imagine that not everyone will be happy with the increased toleration of non-Mayan/Phoenician ways...
I imagine that not everyone will be happy with the increased toleration of non-Mayan/Phoenician ways...
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Oh noAm waiting for Maya-christians to take over
Good to have you back
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Chapter 3.20 Traitors and Loyalists Part II, 424 CE
Chapter 3.20 Traitors and Loyalists Part II, 424 CE
Two armies stood in front of each other in the desert valley surrounding the oasis of Menshke and if the first Mayan kings that conquered these lands saw the warriors preparing to fight the decisive battle on this war, probably they would not had recognized them as their own kin as each of them had developed their weapon and equipment following the styles of the people that they had conquered over more than a century, Southerners and Northerners were no longer Mayans in the traditional sense, but something else.
The southerners, led by the Houses of Oncan and Calakmul had expanded the Empire towards the south for the past century and adapted themselves to desert warfare, they don’t only spoke a language that mixed the Mayan with the Berber languages, they also looked like them, they were also better adapted to the hot desert climate and for that reason they had been fleeing towards this place, the Oasis of Menshke was a favorable terrain for their fighting style.
Meanwhile, the Northerners had begun to use the falcata, a sword typical of the Iberian peoples and no longer wore the Mesoamerican padded armor but one adopted after the fights that the Imperial forces had against the Germanic peoples that for almost 100 years had tried invade the Empire. The language of those loyal to the Jade Throne had also changed, adopting Iberian, Phoenician and Germanic loanwords.
Chac Oncan, leader of the rebel forces watched the scene from the safety of a hill, his men were about to deal the final blow to the decadent Q’uk’umatz dynasty and he had his messengers ready to carry out the orders of the day, alongside him were his allies.
The desolate dryness of the desert would be the tomb of House Q'uk'umatz and the decisive point from where House Oncan would rise to replace it. Chac Oncan had everything prepared, this war of independence would be followed by a war of usurpation ... for a long time the southern houses had endured the decline of the Q'uk'umatz and after Ixbalanque had given greater autonomy to the Phoenicians and allowed the continuous Mayan-Christian revolts of the east it was made clear, it was time for a stronger house to take the Imperial throne. It was either that or the total annihilation of the Mayans.
The Berber cavalry loyal to the Oncan threw themselves on one of the flanks of the Imperial forces applying a hit and run tactic then retreated a few dozen meters before launching a shower of projectiles on the exhausted Northerners. Meanwhile, in the center of the battlefield the Elite of the Imperial forces who were wearing chainmail and furs from Barbary lions shouted:
- For Buluc Chabtan, for the Kuhul Ahau and for the Empire !!! - While trying to penetrate the ranks of the Oncan without much success.
Chac saw how many of his men fell to the ground as if lightning had struck them but they resisted the attack and continued the fight without abandoning their position. The battle took hours and although he did not doubt about his victory, he knew that after this battle he would have to wait at least a month to continue his war, the men would need to rest, visit their families and recover for the long march to New Tikal to take the Jade Throne of the Mayan Empire for himself.
Suddenly he saw in the distance a scarlet-robed Imperial priest blowing a battle horn.
-Baaa tummmmmm baaaaa tummmmm!
The sound echoed in the desert sands and made his heart feel a little anguish without him knowing the reason for it. He soon learned why: a large Berber cavalry force appeared from the east charging towards his position, apparently Imperial gold had bribed the untrustworthy tribes that in search of their own freedom had betrayed the independence cause to support their oppresors. House Oncan had tried to rally the Berber tribes under their banner but these tribes only were loyal to themselves.
Numidians, Mauri, Berbers, the true lords of North Africa at this time even under Mayan rule.
Soon his forces had been outnumbered and the Empire's infantry tore through the ranks of the rebels like a hot blade slicing through butter, all the rebel nobles were captured and most of their forces routed towards the open desert trying to flee the massacre.
----
New Tikal, December of the year 424 of the Q'uk'umatz Era.
The last member of the House of Palenque a noble line that had ruled men since the old times, when the city-state of Palenque was founded in the Mayab and that was loyal to the Mayan cause even after the fall of the First Mayan Empire walked upwards guarded by two priests, he had betrayed his Kuhul Ahau because he believed that the Imperial line had been abandoned by the Gods and wanted to preserve his culture and faith in this tumultuous times, he failed, and now he would be one of the many nobles sacrificed on the top of the Pyramid of the Q’uk’umatz by the Kuhul Ahau himself. He had accepted his fate after the defeat of the revolt and was proud of being sacrificed to Buluc Chabtan after fighting for something he believed correct.
Ook’in of Palenque looked straight into the eyes of his Kuhul Ahau and he felt the regret of his enemy as he plunged the obsidian knife right into his chest like the Gods intended, his last words were:
Ixbalanqué would always remember the fire on the eyes of Ook’in of Palenque, a traitor to the throne, but someone loyal to their people until the last moments of his life.
The blood of the traitors slowly flowed downstairs and Ixbalanqué looked at the cheering crowd celebrating the death of those who had dared to defy him, but he was not happy, of course, he had eliminated another threat to his throne, but it was necessary for the gods to quench their thirst with the blood of men? Why not only with adoration and faith as the Mayan-Christian heretics said? Why his family was deemed unworthy to rule by these nobles?
Being the greatest religious leader of his faith, he now doubted the validity of acts that had been carried out for millennia, human blood allowed the balance to be maintained in the universe ... but what if that was false? the Etruscans, the Huns and many other peoples had existed for a long time without sacrificing humans and the world had not ended, maybe their ancestors were wrong ... maybe it was time to change ...
He sacrificed so many enemies that he gained a trait...
After appointing his beloved bastard brother Hunahpú as the new governor of New Calakmul and head of the new house named in his honor and forgiving the successors of the Oncan house for their betrayal, Ixbalanqué left power in the hands of his council and locked himself up for a few weeks in the library of the Main Temple of New Tikal to study ancient scriptures, perhaps there was a way to avoid sacrificing his own people again to satisfy the whims of the Gods…
The bastard son of the Ahau K'awil Q'uk'umatz and K'naabk'naab of the now defunct house of Palenque is the founder of a fist Imperial "cadet" house.
Meanwhile in the Temple-Complex of New Tikal (Cadiz) the priests were concerned because the stars indicated bad portents for the Empire, there were only ten years left until the end of the eighth Baktun and all the predictions pointed to great and catastrophic changes that would occur in the next decade.
Two armies stood in front of each other in the desert valley surrounding the oasis of Menshke and if the first Mayan kings that conquered these lands saw the warriors preparing to fight the decisive battle on this war, probably they would not had recognized them as their own kin as each of them had developed their weapon and equipment following the styles of the people that they had conquered over more than a century, Southerners and Northerners were no longer Mayans in the traditional sense, but something else.
The southerners, led by the Houses of Oncan and Calakmul had expanded the Empire towards the south for the past century and adapted themselves to desert warfare, they don’t only spoke a language that mixed the Mayan with the Berber languages, they also looked like them, they were also better adapted to the hot desert climate and for that reason they had been fleeing towards this place, the Oasis of Menshke was a favorable terrain for their fighting style.
Meanwhile, the Northerners had begun to use the falcata, a sword typical of the Iberian peoples and no longer wore the Mesoamerican padded armor but one adopted after the fights that the Imperial forces had against the Germanic peoples that for almost 100 years had tried invade the Empire. The language of those loyal to the Jade Throne had also changed, adopting Iberian, Phoenician and Germanic loanwords.
Chac Oncan, leader of the rebel forces watched the scene from the safety of a hill, his men were about to deal the final blow to the decadent Q’uk’umatz dynasty and he had his messengers ready to carry out the orders of the day, alongside him were his allies.
The desolate dryness of the desert would be the tomb of House Q'uk'umatz and the decisive point from where House Oncan would rise to replace it. Chac Oncan had everything prepared, this war of independence would be followed by a war of usurpation ... for a long time the southern houses had endured the decline of the Q'uk'umatz and after Ixbalanque had given greater autonomy to the Phoenicians and allowed the continuous Mayan-Christian revolts of the east it was made clear, it was time for a stronger house to take the Imperial throne. It was either that or the total annihilation of the Mayans.
The Berber cavalry loyal to the Oncan threw themselves on one of the flanks of the Imperial forces applying a hit and run tactic then retreated a few dozen meters before launching a shower of projectiles on the exhausted Northerners. Meanwhile, in the center of the battlefield the Elite of the Imperial forces who were wearing chainmail and furs from Barbary lions shouted:
- For Buluc Chabtan, for the Kuhul Ahau and for the Empire !!! - While trying to penetrate the ranks of the Oncan without much success.
Chac saw how many of his men fell to the ground as if lightning had struck them but they resisted the attack and continued the fight without abandoning their position. The battle took hours and although he did not doubt about his victory, he knew that after this battle he would have to wait at least a month to continue his war, the men would need to rest, visit their families and recover for the long march to New Tikal to take the Jade Throne of the Mayan Empire for himself.
Suddenly he saw in the distance a scarlet-robed Imperial priest blowing a battle horn.
-Baaa tummmmmm baaaaa tummmmm!
The sound echoed in the desert sands and made his heart feel a little anguish without him knowing the reason for it. He soon learned why: a large Berber cavalry force appeared from the east charging towards his position, apparently Imperial gold had bribed the untrustworthy tribes that in search of their own freedom had betrayed the independence cause to support their oppresors. House Oncan had tried to rally the Berber tribes under their banner but these tribes only were loyal to themselves.
Numidians, Mauri, Berbers, the true lords of North Africa at this time even under Mayan rule.
Soon his forces had been outnumbered and the Empire's infantry tore through the ranks of the rebels like a hot blade slicing through butter, all the rebel nobles were captured and most of their forces routed towards the open desert trying to flee the massacre.
----
New Tikal, December of the year 424 of the Q'uk'umatz Era.
The last member of the House of Palenque a noble line that had ruled men since the old times, when the city-state of Palenque was founded in the Mayab and that was loyal to the Mayan cause even after the fall of the First Mayan Empire walked upwards guarded by two priests, he had betrayed his Kuhul Ahau because he believed that the Imperial line had been abandoned by the Gods and wanted to preserve his culture and faith in this tumultuous times, he failed, and now he would be one of the many nobles sacrificed on the top of the Pyramid of the Q’uk’umatz by the Kuhul Ahau himself. He had accepted his fate after the defeat of the revolt and was proud of being sacrificed to Buluc Chabtan after fighting for something he believed correct.
Ook’in of Palenque looked straight into the eyes of his Kuhul Ahau and he felt the regret of his enemy as he plunged the obsidian knife right into his chest like the Gods intended, his last words were:
“Take care of our people”.
Ixbalanqué would always remember the fire on the eyes of Ook’in of Palenque, a traitor to the throne, but someone loyal to their people until the last moments of his life.
The blood of the traitors slowly flowed downstairs and Ixbalanqué looked at the cheering crowd celebrating the death of those who had dared to defy him, but he was not happy, of course, he had eliminated another threat to his throne, but it was necessary for the gods to quench their thirst with the blood of men? Why not only with adoration and faith as the Mayan-Christian heretics said? Why his family was deemed unworthy to rule by these nobles?
Being the greatest religious leader of his faith, he now doubted the validity of acts that had been carried out for millennia, human blood allowed the balance to be maintained in the universe ... but what if that was false? the Etruscans, the Huns and many other peoples had existed for a long time without sacrificing humans and the world had not ended, maybe their ancestors were wrong ... maybe it was time to change ...
He sacrificed so many enemies that he gained a trait...
After appointing his beloved bastard brother Hunahpú as the new governor of New Calakmul and head of the new house named in his honor and forgiving the successors of the Oncan house for their betrayal, Ixbalanqué left power in the hands of his council and locked himself up for a few weeks in the library of the Main Temple of New Tikal to study ancient scriptures, perhaps there was a way to avoid sacrificing his own people again to satisfy the whims of the Gods…
The bastard son of the Ahau K'awil Q'uk'umatz and K'naabk'naab of the now defunct house of Palenque is the founder of a fist Imperial "cadet" house.
Meanwhile in the Temple-Complex of New Tikal (Cadiz) the priests were concerned because the stars indicated bad portents for the Empire, there were only ten years left until the end of the eighth Baktun and all the predictions pointed to great and catastrophic changes that would occur in the next decade.
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Chapter 3.21 The Vandalic Invasion 425-429 CE
Chapter 3.21 The Vandalic Invasion 425-429 CE
Across the Mediterranean many peoples were fleeing the inexorable advance of the Hunnic hordes that not only invaded the Etruscan heartland and plundered the richest lands of the known world, they also had made the resurgent Kingdom of Etruria their tributary. Even the Assyrians and Armenians of the east had problems fighting the Huns, the greatest conquerors of this period.
Poor Etruscans, they were recovering so well from all their loses...and yes, that in Rome is the recently formed Fraticelli Papacy...
One of these peoples were the Vandals, a Germanic tribe that had been, like the Visigoths and other tribes, subject of the Etruscan Empire and because of that they had embraced Christianity and were allies of the Kingdom of Etruria, with the change of the political situation after the defeat of the Etruscans the Vandals had settled in Sardinia and part of Sicily and for some years had lived in peace.
In this timeline the Etruscans did not advanced into Germanic lands trough conquest, they colonized these lands. Vandals and Visigothics have some "Etruscan" characteristics.
But now, with the constant advance of the Hunnic Empire they were trying to settle eastwards into the prosperous Kingdom of Carthage, this was a complete invasion, not only had their men disembarked into Tripolitania, their women and children too.
The Carthaginians were not prepared to this invasion, and the eastern part of their Kingdom was quickly overrun by the Vandalic warriors, more used to warfare and trained in the decades of conflict between their former masters and the Huns. King Kekili of Carthage sent a letter to the court of New Tikal asking for help against this unexpected invasion.
The Mayans were still recovering from the civil war but promised to send help, the Kingdom of Carthage was their main source of income after all.
_____________________________________
The Battle of Bejaija, 427 CE
Ixbalanqué did not trust the Carthaginians and delayed the mobilization of his armies for a full year because he believed this invasion to be another minor Germanic nuisance and he was not willing to abandon his northern border to the constant threat represented by the Visigoths, he had not forgotten the defeat at the Battle of Grabangri less than a decade before and was paranoid about them invading his Empire from the north.
As the Imperial troops marched eastwards alongside the coast of North Africa, Ixbalanqué could see how those who were once proud and prosperous Carthaginians now lived as refugees in dirty and improvised villages on the outskirts of the Mayan cities, some of them had built small Christian churches and tried to live as before despite the poverty showing that even in these hard times the Phoenicians were proud and hardworking people. Many of the men who saw the Mayan troops advance towards their invaded Kingdom begged to join the army to avenge their fallen, the Kuhul Ahau allowed them to follow him but as Mayan citizens, which they and their families accepted.
After a few months in which many towns were liberated, the Mayan forces finally encountered the main Vandal army outside of the city of Bejaija, Germanic and Mayan steel clashed and at first seemed like the Vandals were about to win, but the heavy infantry of the Imperial army broke the lines of the invaders and obtained a decisive victory.
Believing that the Vandals would not recover from such a defeat, Ixbalanqué ordered the fortification of some of those cities to continue marching eastwards he liberated more towns and returned these lands to their legitimate owners. To achieve this he divided his forces in two armies, the first one will hunt what remained of the Vandalic army and the other would liberate towns, the war was almost finished.
Some months later the Kuhul Ahau received the alarming news of a revolt led by the Visigoths who had recently been conquered by their brother Hunahpú, if he did not send his troops to quell the insurrection, it could grow and become a real problem. He knew that this would happen and was angry at the weakness of the Carthaginians; they were incapable of defending their own lands and always required the help of the Empire, he considered that maybe giving them autonomy was a mistake after all.
He retired all his forces from Carthaginian territory believing the war finished and trusting the Phoenicians to finish with what remained of the Vandals. It would be a long travel by land.
The Visigothic rebels conquered the town of Badajoz and had executed many Mayan priests accusing them of witchcraft and crimes against Christianity, their bodies were impaled at the gates of the city to scare the Mayan elite that until recently had ruled over them, regardless of that the Imperial armies liberated the town and after a short chase they fought the Visigothic forces outside the city, it looked like an easy battle against an inferior foe.
But as before, the Visigoths proved to be great warriors, and even with numeric superiority they almost killed the Kuhul Ahau, who resulted heavily wounded after the battle, aside from that it was a complete victory for the Mayans.
I sent the crippled Kuhul Ahau into battle, he almost died.
Following orders of Ixbalanqué, the surviving rebels were crucified alive on the northern border to show to the rest of their kin that the Mayans will show no mercy towards them, meanwhile the Kuhul Ahau was recovering from his wounds in the town of Badajoz he received a letter from the King of Carthage.
Imagine losing to a bunch of defeated Vandals, these Carthaginians deserved to lose
The Carthaginians had surrendered to the Vandals, Ixbalanqué almost had a heart attack.
Across the Mediterranean many peoples were fleeing the inexorable advance of the Hunnic hordes that not only invaded the Etruscan heartland and plundered the richest lands of the known world, they also had made the resurgent Kingdom of Etruria their tributary. Even the Assyrians and Armenians of the east had problems fighting the Huns, the greatest conquerors of this period.
Poor Etruscans, they were recovering so well from all their loses...and yes, that in Rome is the recently formed Fraticelli Papacy...
One of these peoples were the Vandals, a Germanic tribe that had been, like the Visigoths and other tribes, subject of the Etruscan Empire and because of that they had embraced Christianity and were allies of the Kingdom of Etruria, with the change of the political situation after the defeat of the Etruscans the Vandals had settled in Sardinia and part of Sicily and for some years had lived in peace.
In this timeline the Etruscans did not advanced into Germanic lands trough conquest, they colonized these lands. Vandals and Visigothics have some "Etruscan" characteristics.
But now, with the constant advance of the Hunnic Empire they were trying to settle eastwards into the prosperous Kingdom of Carthage, this was a complete invasion, not only had their men disembarked into Tripolitania, their women and children too.
The Carthaginians were not prepared to this invasion, and the eastern part of their Kingdom was quickly overrun by the Vandalic warriors, more used to warfare and trained in the decades of conflict between their former masters and the Huns. King Kekili of Carthage sent a letter to the court of New Tikal asking for help against this unexpected invasion.
The Mayans were still recovering from the civil war but promised to send help, the Kingdom of Carthage was their main source of income after all.
_____________________________________
The Battle of Bejaija, 427 CE
Ixbalanqué did not trust the Carthaginians and delayed the mobilization of his armies for a full year because he believed this invasion to be another minor Germanic nuisance and he was not willing to abandon his northern border to the constant threat represented by the Visigoths, he had not forgotten the defeat at the Battle of Grabangri less than a decade before and was paranoid about them invading his Empire from the north.
As the Imperial troops marched eastwards alongside the coast of North Africa, Ixbalanqué could see how those who were once proud and prosperous Carthaginians now lived as refugees in dirty and improvised villages on the outskirts of the Mayan cities, some of them had built small Christian churches and tried to live as before despite the poverty showing that even in these hard times the Phoenicians were proud and hardworking people. Many of the men who saw the Mayan troops advance towards their invaded Kingdom begged to join the army to avenge their fallen, the Kuhul Ahau allowed them to follow him but as Mayan citizens, which they and their families accepted.
After a few months in which many towns were liberated, the Mayan forces finally encountered the main Vandal army outside of the city of Bejaija, Germanic and Mayan steel clashed and at first seemed like the Vandals were about to win, but the heavy infantry of the Imperial army broke the lines of the invaders and obtained a decisive victory.
Believing that the Vandals would not recover from such a defeat, Ixbalanqué ordered the fortification of some of those cities to continue marching eastwards he liberated more towns and returned these lands to their legitimate owners. To achieve this he divided his forces in two armies, the first one will hunt what remained of the Vandalic army and the other would liberate towns, the war was almost finished.
Some months later the Kuhul Ahau received the alarming news of a revolt led by the Visigoths who had recently been conquered by their brother Hunahpú, if he did not send his troops to quell the insurrection, it could grow and become a real problem. He knew that this would happen and was angry at the weakness of the Carthaginians; they were incapable of defending their own lands and always required the help of the Empire, he considered that maybe giving them autonomy was a mistake after all.
He retired all his forces from Carthaginian territory believing the war finished and trusting the Phoenicians to finish with what remained of the Vandals. It would be a long travel by land.
____________
The Battle of Badajoz, 429 CE
The Battle of Badajoz, 429 CE
The Visigothic rebels conquered the town of Badajoz and had executed many Mayan priests accusing them of witchcraft and crimes against Christianity, their bodies were impaled at the gates of the city to scare the Mayan elite that until recently had ruled over them, regardless of that the Imperial armies liberated the town and after a short chase they fought the Visigothic forces outside the city, it looked like an easy battle against an inferior foe.
But as before, the Visigoths proved to be great warriors, and even with numeric superiority they almost killed the Kuhul Ahau, who resulted heavily wounded after the battle, aside from that it was a complete victory for the Mayans.
I sent the crippled Kuhul Ahau into battle, he almost died.
Following orders of Ixbalanqué, the surviving rebels were crucified alive on the northern border to show to the rest of their kin that the Mayans will show no mercy towards them, meanwhile the Kuhul Ahau was recovering from his wounds in the town of Badajoz he received a letter from the King of Carthage.
Imagine losing to a bunch of defeated Vandals, these Carthaginians deserved to lose
The Carthaginians had surrendered to the Vandals, Ixbalanqué almost had a heart attack.
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Finally map's changing, but Carthage still exist tho in exile. Wonder what Ahau is planning right now...
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Chapter 3.22 Baktun 10 and the comet of Q’uk’umatz 431- 451 CE
Chapter 3.22 Baktun 10 and the comet of Q’uk’umatz 431- 451 CE
After the shameful and unexpected surrender of the Carthaginians Ixbalanqué started a quick campaign to conquest what remained of his former tributary before the Visigoths or the Vandals realized that these lands were up for another invasion, the conquered land was given to some of the loyal Carthaginians that had accompanied the Mayans in the past war so the Phoenicians could continue to be ruled by their own people according to their own customs.
Many of the Carthaginian refugees who fled the Vandal rule and religious persecution settled in the eastern part of the Empire, mainly in the Balearic Islans.
______________________________
Wheels of time within the wheels of time, that’s how the Mayans explained their complex calendar system to foreigners that were interested on learning how they measured time and understand how the study of the stars, math, faith and time were deeply interwoven in the life of the Atlanteans, as they were known in the east.
Mayans had integrated a complex systems of overlapping calendars that were the basis of all ceremonial rituals in their religion and even being a millenary tradition that predated the First Mayan Empire the Calendar system was influenced by the Imperial Family that had their own ceremonial calendar integrated inside the whole system, this calendar started after the death of the first of the Q’uk’umatz line, also known as Rigual Yujnegi the first King of the Mayab (Yucatan), 435 years had passed since that time and a lot of things had happened to the Mayans and to the Phoenicians that had united long ago under the banner of the dynasty founded by Q’uk’umatz.
But the most important aspect of the Mayan Calendar was the Baktun, or Long Count Calendar, with it the Mayans measured time in a bigger scale of 144.000 days or roughly 394,4 years of the Q’uk’umatz Calendar, since the dawn of time a great ceremony was performed every time the big wheel of time finished the long cycle…there the best astrologers of the Mayan world made their predictions based on the behavior of the stars and the beings from the spirit realm about what would happen in the next Baktun.
The Kuhul Ahau Ixbalanqué Q’uk’umatz was one of the few men that had the knowledge and the authority to study the stars and time itself and because the year 435 of his era coincided with the end of Baktun 9 and the start of Baktun 10 he ordered the construction of many new cities and temples to make his Empire prosper even more, and a full month of celebrations to welcome the new period that would last until the year 830 CE.
Ten years before he had ordered his scribes and priests to write a full chronicle of the Mayan peoples and the story of the world, detailing what happened in every Baktun to achieve this he gave all the resources available to them to travel to distant locations in order to know more about the history of mankind.
In November of 435 CE he showed this finished work to his court and had three copies made, the first was sent to the distant islands of the west were the reclusive priests of Itzamna the God of the heavens and knowledge lived, the second was buried deep beneath the Great Pyramid of the Q’uk’umatz as a tribute to the Gods in a solemn ceremony and the third copy was stored in the library of the Palace of New Tikal so the future generations could enjoy this knowledge.
Most graphics i found about the Baktun wheel were new age versions of it, so i made this one in paint
Every Baktun had its own series of scrolls detailing many legends, myths and tales about how the peoples of the Mediterranean lived and how their ancestors built their nations.:
The enormous effort Ixbalanqué made during his reign to make the Mayan Empire more prosperous than ever did not went unrewarded, and he earned the sobriquet “The Arquitect” for the many cities he built during his reign.
An unexpected Bloodline with a nice 5% city tax bonus
----
The subjects of the Mayan Empire lived an unexpected age of peace and prosperity for the next decades while the entire world around them fell into pieces under the hooves of the horses of the Huns.
The economic/cultural growth continued under the rule of Ixbalanqué without interruption after the Kuhul Ahau recognized the “Icon cult” of the Maya-Christians as legitimate and added the worship of Christ to the Mayan Pantheon and banned human sacrifice inside his the mainland of the Empire replacing it with the sacrifice of domestic animals and banishing anyone who dissented this religious reform to the outer islands of the west. But there was just a few who were exiled, as most of the local population had already converted to the Icon Cult.
I messed up the Localization files in some unknown way and the Maya Christians are now "Old Icon", still sounds like a Christian heresy to me
Life was peaceful in the Empire and seemed like the Kuhul Ahau would rule for many years more, but there was predicted that in 451 CE the Comet of Q’uk’umatz (Comet Halley) would appear on the skies and Ixbalanqué obsessed over it.
I do not know if its a VIET thing, but this event fired precisely in 451, so i rolled with it, Mayans had an incredible ability to predict comets, eclipses and other phenomenon without modern instruments.
Great celebrations were made to celebrate the passing of the comet in most of the Mayan cities, the Christian priests condemned this as an act of idolatry but they were ignored, the people only cared about celebrating the passing of the star of the great conqueror that gave rise to the First Mayan Empire and for weeks rituals were performed, the poor were fed and great dances were held in the great squares of the cities. The Priests burned offerings and spoke to their gods, connecting with their ancestors in the process.
Ixbalanqué understood that this was the best moment to depart to the other world and ascend towards the star that turned the cosmos every almost a cycle and a half (a Mayan cycle or century amounts to 52 years), for that reason he consumed poison in a ceremony held at the top of the Great Pyramid and asked his Priests to burn his remains while his people continued this the festivities. That would be the only way in which his spirit could ascend to the heavens to accompany the spirit of Q'uk'umatz within his star.
Mayan priests would tell the story of the First Kuhul Ahau with great pride, as he was the first Q'uk'umatz to restore the glory of the Empire after a series of decadent Emperors, he accepted Christ even if he continued with the adoration of the traditional Mayan Gods and banned human sacrifice. The tale of how his body ascended to the skyes in February of 451 will be remembered with every passing of the Comet of Q'uk'umatz with great celebrations.
The conquest of the Kingdom of Carthage, 431 CE
After the shameful and unexpected surrender of the Carthaginians Ixbalanqué started a quick campaign to conquest what remained of his former tributary before the Visigoths or the Vandals realized that these lands were up for another invasion, the conquered land was given to some of the loyal Carthaginians that had accompanied the Mayans in the past war so the Phoenicians could continue to be ruled by their own people according to their own customs.
______________________________
Baktun 10, the new era.
12 December 435 CE. New Tikal, Mayan Empire
12 December 435 CE. New Tikal, Mayan Empire
Wheels of time within the wheels of time, that’s how the Mayans explained their complex calendar system to foreigners that were interested on learning how they measured time and understand how the study of the stars, math, faith and time were deeply interwoven in the life of the Atlanteans, as they were known in the east.
Mayans had integrated a complex systems of overlapping calendars that were the basis of all ceremonial rituals in their religion and even being a millenary tradition that predated the First Mayan Empire the Calendar system was influenced by the Imperial Family that had their own ceremonial calendar integrated inside the whole system, this calendar started after the death of the first of the Q’uk’umatz line, also known as Rigual Yujnegi the first King of the Mayab (Yucatan), 435 years had passed since that time and a lot of things had happened to the Mayans and to the Phoenicians that had united long ago under the banner of the dynasty founded by Q’uk’umatz.
But the most important aspect of the Mayan Calendar was the Baktun, or Long Count Calendar, with it the Mayans measured time in a bigger scale of 144.000 days or roughly 394,4 years of the Q’uk’umatz Calendar, since the dawn of time a great ceremony was performed every time the big wheel of time finished the long cycle…there the best astrologers of the Mayan world made their predictions based on the behavior of the stars and the beings from the spirit realm about what would happen in the next Baktun.
The Kuhul Ahau Ixbalanqué Q’uk’umatz was one of the few men that had the knowledge and the authority to study the stars and time itself and because the year 435 of his era coincided with the end of Baktun 9 and the start of Baktun 10 he ordered the construction of many new cities and temples to make his Empire prosper even more, and a full month of celebrations to welcome the new period that would last until the year 830 CE.
Ten years before he had ordered his scribes and priests to write a full chronicle of the Mayan peoples and the story of the world, detailing what happened in every Baktun to achieve this he gave all the resources available to them to travel to distant locations in order to know more about the history of mankind.
In November of 435 CE he showed this finished work to his court and had three copies made, the first was sent to the distant islands of the west were the reclusive priests of Itzamna the God of the heavens and knowledge lived, the second was buried deep beneath the Great Pyramid of the Q’uk’umatz as a tribute to the Gods in a solemn ceremony and the third copy was stored in the library of the Palace of New Tikal so the future generations could enjoy this knowledge.
Most graphics i found about the Baktun wheel were new age versions of it, so i made this one in paint
Every Baktun had its own series of scrolls detailing many legends, myths and tales about how the peoples of the Mediterranean lived and how their ancestors built their nations.:
Baktun 1 detailed the myths about the creation of the world according to the Hellenes, the Egyptians, the Assyrians and the Mayans and tell the stories of the Mayan Gods.
Baktun 2 It is about the eastern civilizations and the construction of the first Pyramids in Egypt.
Baktun 3 It’s a collection of eastern and Mayan legends about lost heroes and cities.
Baktun 4 Tells the story of horse domestication according to the Assyrians and the astronomical models used by the Egyptians since this era, many eastern tales like the story of Abraham and the Epic of Gilgamesh was added at the end.
Baktun 5 Is a detailed account of the high point of Olmec civilization that was preserved by the Yujnegi, also explain the story behind a group of people that came from the west to invade the Eastern Kingdoms, destroying many of them and how Egypt survived. Also has many chapters making fun of the tale of Atlantis and how the Q’uk’umatz used that Hellenic story to explain their origin to the easterners.
Baktun 6 This is a collection of many scrolls took from Carthage before the Vandal Conquest; the story of Carthage and the voyages of exploration made by them around Africa and even to the cold islands of the north. Also has a collection of ancient alphabets taken from the Library of Thebes in Egypt.
Baktun 7 Tells the story of the Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Ishfania, the legend of the Hannonia and the rise of the Etruscans and Carthaginians. Also has a collection of Turdetani tales and legends.
Baktun 8 Tell the story of the rise of the Yugnegi, the conquest of the Mayan heartlands and the rise of the First Mayan Empire.
Baktun 9 It’s the biggest collection of scrolls of the story of the Golden era and fall of the First Mayan Empire and the techniques used by the Mayan to cross the Great Ocean into Europe, with the position of the stars and legends about the sea. Also details the rise of the Second Mayan Empire and the fall of the Etruscans, and also adds many horrible tales about the Huns taken before their capital, Ravenna, fell to the nomads.
Baktun 10 was a collection of predictions made following the behavior of the stars, also had many treatises about astrology made by Etruscan soothsayers, Mayan Astrologer-priests and Egyptian Mystics.
Baktun 2 It is about the eastern civilizations and the construction of the first Pyramids in Egypt.
Baktun 3 It’s a collection of eastern and Mayan legends about lost heroes and cities.
Baktun 4 Tells the story of horse domestication according to the Assyrians and the astronomical models used by the Egyptians since this era, many eastern tales like the story of Abraham and the Epic of Gilgamesh was added at the end.
Baktun 5 Is a detailed account of the high point of Olmec civilization that was preserved by the Yujnegi, also explain the story behind a group of people that came from the west to invade the Eastern Kingdoms, destroying many of them and how Egypt survived. Also has many chapters making fun of the tale of Atlantis and how the Q’uk’umatz used that Hellenic story to explain their origin to the easterners.
Baktun 6 This is a collection of many scrolls took from Carthage before the Vandal Conquest; the story of Carthage and the voyages of exploration made by them around Africa and even to the cold islands of the north. Also has a collection of ancient alphabets taken from the Library of Thebes in Egypt.
Baktun 7 Tells the story of the Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Ishfania, the legend of the Hannonia and the rise of the Etruscans and Carthaginians. Also has a collection of Turdetani tales and legends.
Baktun 8 Tell the story of the rise of the Yugnegi, the conquest of the Mayan heartlands and the rise of the First Mayan Empire.
Baktun 9 It’s the biggest collection of scrolls of the story of the Golden era and fall of the First Mayan Empire and the techniques used by the Mayan to cross the Great Ocean into Europe, with the position of the stars and legends about the sea. Also details the rise of the Second Mayan Empire and the fall of the Etruscans, and also adds many horrible tales about the Huns taken before their capital, Ravenna, fell to the nomads.
Baktun 10 was a collection of predictions made following the behavior of the stars, also had many treatises about astrology made by Etruscan soothsayers, Mayan Astrologer-priests and Egyptian Mystics.
The enormous effort Ixbalanqué made during his reign to make the Mayan Empire more prosperous than ever did not went unrewarded, and he earned the sobriquet “The Arquitect” for the many cities he built during his reign.
An unexpected Bloodline with a nice 5% city tax bonus
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The return of the comet of Q’uk’umatz
New Tikal, Mayan Empire, 451 CE.
New Tikal, Mayan Empire, 451 CE.
The subjects of the Mayan Empire lived an unexpected age of peace and prosperity for the next decades while the entire world around them fell into pieces under the hooves of the horses of the Huns.
The economic/cultural growth continued under the rule of Ixbalanqué without interruption after the Kuhul Ahau recognized the “Icon cult” of the Maya-Christians as legitimate and added the worship of Christ to the Mayan Pantheon and banned human sacrifice inside his the mainland of the Empire replacing it with the sacrifice of domestic animals and banishing anyone who dissented this religious reform to the outer islands of the west. But there was just a few who were exiled, as most of the local population had already converted to the Icon Cult.
I messed up the Localization files in some unknown way and the Maya Christians are now "Old Icon", still sounds like a Christian heresy to me
Life was peaceful in the Empire and seemed like the Kuhul Ahau would rule for many years more, but there was predicted that in 451 CE the Comet of Q’uk’umatz (Comet Halley) would appear on the skies and Ixbalanqué obsessed over it.
I do not know if its a VIET thing, but this event fired precisely in 451, so i rolled with it, Mayans had an incredible ability to predict comets, eclipses and other phenomenon without modern instruments.
Great celebrations were made to celebrate the passing of the comet in most of the Mayan cities, the Christian priests condemned this as an act of idolatry but they were ignored, the people only cared about celebrating the passing of the star of the great conqueror that gave rise to the First Mayan Empire and for weeks rituals were performed, the poor were fed and great dances were held in the great squares of the cities. The Priests burned offerings and spoke to their gods, connecting with their ancestors in the process.
Ixbalanqué understood that this was the best moment to depart to the other world and ascend towards the star that turned the cosmos every almost a cycle and a half (a Mayan cycle or century amounts to 52 years), for that reason he consumed poison in a ceremony held at the top of the Great Pyramid and asked his Priests to burn his remains while his people continued this the festivities. That would be the only way in which his spirit could ascend to the heavens to accompany the spirit of Q'uk'umatz within his star.
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So if I understand correctly Mayans are not Pagan nor Christian now and their faith is syncretism of both of these. Can we consider this faith belonging to the Abrahamic family alongside Christianity, Islam and Judaism? Or is it entirely different thing?
P.S.: Are you plan to use CK 3 in this Megacampaign? Maybe when the true Medieval Era will start (i.e. 867/1066)?
P.S.: Are you plan to use CK 3 in this Megacampaign? Maybe when the true Medieval Era will start (i.e. 867/1066)?
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The religious part will be explained in the next chapter when we explore the First Ecumenical Council, i will try to "mod" the main Christian faith (Fraticelli) according to the historical reality of this alternate timeline and show what has happened in an Europe dominated by the Huns (Northern Italy was completely ravaged by the nomads), also how are the relations between them and the "Old-Icon" faith (and the Carthaginian Nestorians)
And yes, i'm planning to use CK3 and even tried some modding there, the religious depth of that game is just good, the problem with CK3 atm its that i do not know how mod-breaking the first DLC will be. That part would start after 830 (the end of the tenth Baktun) but i dont know what will happen next, will the reformed Tengri Huns remain a problem until then? or will be the Muslims be the dominant eastern faith at that part of the game?...the Ck3 part will be about the Crusades as the CK2 uses WTWSMS as the main mod to represent the chaos of the Migration Period so it could easily start at 1000 CE +-.
I'm trying to be faster at posting the chapters anyways.
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So you are going to use WTSWMS before CK3? Which year you finish this part and start WTSWMS? Or maybe it's flexible depending on situation? Sorry I'm just curious
Great work as always
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I started using WTWSMS a while ago, the Vandals and other Germanic peoples migrating west and the rise of Islam are part of that mod and i have tested that script to see how the AI behaves to expand Islam and they can easily take Persia but struggle to take Egypt and they lose steam if they are not helped in some way to prevent them from dividing into small realms that could be easily destroyed by their neighbors .So you are going to use WTSWMS before CK3? Which year you finish this part and start WTSWMS? Or maybe it's flexible depending on situation? Sorry I'm just curious
Great work as always
That is one of my favorite mods and i wanted to start this AAR with it but they did not finished their HF version before i ended the second part and i could not continue waiting for it to start the third (this one)
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Sry I haven't played that much of WTSWMS myself XDI started using WTWSMS a while ago, the Vandals and other Germanic peoples migrating west and the rise of Islam are part of that mod and i have tested that script to see how the AI behaves to expand Islam and they can easily take Persia but struggle to take Egypt and they lose steam if they are not helped in some way to prevent them from dividing into small realms that could be easily destroyed by their neighbors .
That is one of my favorite mods and i wanted to start this AAR with it but they did not finished their HF version before i ended the second part and i could not continue waiting for it to start the third (this one)
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Its not one of the more popular mods anyways, i like it because this time period its one of the less known but most fun to read about.
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Quite a significant legend growing up around him - the touch with the star is a nice detail.
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