Aztlan

Aztlan

Introduction

On the southern coast lies the main city of Aztlana, with broad harbors that stretch out along the shore for the fishing and naval fleets that ply the waters and ultimately defend the Sea of Tears from invasion by water. Aztlan is a land of bright colors, huge festivals, and rich, spicy food that fills. Warm, humid, and bustling, it is a traveler’s welcome respite from the Wylde.

North, across the Sea, lies Sibola, with whom Aztlan has an abiding rivalry. Where Sibola is the Father, Aztlan is the Mother, and the difference between the two is the stuff of bard’s tales throughout the Bright Lands. Aztlan is a realm of sharp contrasts, from the opulent wealth of the plutarchy to the abject poverty of the poorest.

Aztlan
Official Name	The Queendom of Aztlana		Flag
Motto	For All People
People	Aztani
Goods	Aztic		Symbol
Crafts	Azlian
Honorifics	Missus, Mon
Greeting	Hausa!		Symbols	Tree		Sun
Parting	Fair Weather!		Colors	Green	Yellow		Pink
Temples	Tamasin	Lamia	Shrines	Antelle		Gaea
Towns	Arisan	Arilan	Secrets	Urisha		Belial
	Andalan	Atahur	Known For	Amber	Cinnamon		Textiles
Rivals	Sibola		Foes	Lemuria		Thule
Weapons	Cutlass, Knife	Shortbow	Weather	Tropical, Hot		Wet, Humid
Armor	Aztani Scale	Shield	Wealth	+35
Languages	Aztic	Trade	Literacy	Aztic (Women only)
Respect Shown	You crouch or kneel before someone of higher standing.
Folkways	You remove your shoes before entering a house.
	All houses have a small shrine to House Numen that is thanked at meals.
Virtues	Be Fruitful	Be Mindful	Know Thyself	Bring Honor
Vices	Thoughtlessness	Carelessness	Shame	Cowardice
Skills
See Others	Oppressed, brainwashed, trapped
Others See	Wealthy, fierce, independent

Aztlan is known for the spice trade, as the home of tea and coffee and chocolate, and is where most of the medicines come from. It is a land where the jungle has been carved back only temporarily and is one of the few areas said to be free from the Dreadnaughts.

Famous for amber, which is also a major symbol and found on display everywhere. There are massive sheets of amber mined from the forests and mountains. The Sultana’s home is built of amber, and the Amber Throne is the dream of all.

Aztlan broke away from Sibola following a successful coup but chose to leave rather than stay. After many legendary adventures, the founders – all strong women, came upon the island that houses Aztlana today, and began a new kingdom.

Towns

Alisan: Originally a fortress built to protect the early expansion, the oldest and largest town of Aztlan is still very much military minded and serves these days as the mint, primary base for the Army of Sibola, and protector for the major road and merchant caravans traveling along it.

Andalan: Only Sibola proper and perhaps Durango compete with the wealth in agriculture of Andalan, which is easily described as a farming town, but doing so hides the immense variety of goods grown around it. Coffee, tea, grapes, and more – it is the heart of Aztani food trade.

Arilan: a sleepy town mostly concerned with fishing and seacrafts but having an incredible natural harbor and reliable shipyards. They were very angry about losing the build of the big ship.

Atahur: The southernmost seaport of the Empire proper.

Features

Aztlan is considered blessed to have one of the largest areas of fertile land around, protected by the high mountains that dart toward the south, leaving a massive and wide valley of constant beauty and unmatched fecundity.

Legacy

The Mother of Cities, source of the eternal grumbling, and land of women – Aztlan and the Aztani people are very different from elsewhere and perhaps the most likely to take over the Empire should the Emperor fall.

Often described as the opposite of Sibola, it is a woman ruled by women that is often reactionary to whatever it is that Sibola does. They are more militaristic, however, and as they share control of the major route to the Seven Seas, they have a stranglehold on commerce and a cutthroat attitude about business.

Aztlan is generally held to be the richest of the realms, primarily from the massive farms that fill the well-protected interior. It is close to the Sea Realms and Qivira, politically, and even closer to Qivira now that the Shaga has changed.

Outlook

Aztlan is a land where everyone is proud of what they have done, where machismo is a way of life, and where women control everything.

From Aztlana proper to Atahur and even among the Chromite mines of the mountains, everyone dreams of making it big, of making that one thing that lifts them into the upper classes, of becoming a Matrician in their own right. The Aztani people are a fierce and gracious bunch, quick to laugh, fond of music, dance, and food – not always in that order.

The Aztani worship Paramour in her great Temple, where the Clerics are generous with Mead and always welcoming the hurt, the sick, and the orphaned. In the villages, towns, hamlets, and as always, the sea, Lamia is given her due, especially when it comes to the times for the rains to stop or start, the storms and wind to give you good journey, and the harvest or the catch to bring in for the best price.

Worship of any of the Dread Gods is the only crime punishable by death that is known – and trial is not usually something anyone worries about. Despite the pejorative often assigned to them, few people are as devoted to work as the Aztani are – their world revolves around money, and so they know it is what will save them.

Lifestyle

Aztlan is a mercantile realm. They say that an Aztani knows two things, and she knows them well: Money and War, and for an Aztani those are not very different. Most of the most successful women Vanguards in the Great Games have been Aztani women. Trading with an Aztani is an art form in and of itself, as they are canny and notably greedy people, as no Aztani worth her salt is going to lose money on a deal. It helps that Aztani coffee is the better choice that Qiviran, that Aztlan is the only source for Cinnamon, and that many Spices are easily found here, and that if you want certain Medicinal Plants you must go to them eventually.

Aztlan also exports its culture to a degree. The music of the Aztani is distinctive and highly structured, and usually played by a group with both stringed instruments and horns, the beat held by the dancers with sharp and stylized and traditional dance moves that many find erotic. The most loved is called the Flamenko, a dance only found in Aztlan, and considered nigh on pornographic outside the realm with the way the seduction-based dance goes.

Aztani wool is prized for its careful blend of alpaca and llama into a strong and weather resistant fabric. Lastly, Cinnamon is the Sacred Spice of Paramour, and nowhere else does it grow save for the well-guarded fields of a few families. It commands a high price, for it is used in ceremonies to honor the patron deity of Aztlan. When combined with Sea Realm nutmeg and Antillian allspice, it becomes something impossible to resist for many.

Most folks, though, are poor. Exceptional artisans and craftsmen and such may make more, but generally it is the merchant class that changes the rules, by being sneakier and tougher and inspiring the rule of money over the rule of law.

Serfdom is usually the result of a punishment. Children are an extra burden on a serf, increasing the costs they must pay off to their debtors, and the children inherit the burden of the parents.

Aztani culture adores wine, and wine is the single greatest import they have, for they cannot grow grapes in the humid and hot tropics that are the realm’s lands. There is a strong preference for Lyonese over Durangan or Doradan wines, as well.

Family

The Aztani are intensely matriarchal. To be the head of a family one must be a woman in life. Men are charged with defense and provision, and a woman with many husbands is often very wealthy indeed. Women are expected to spend a significant amount of time pregnant, however, and produce many children, though there is no shame in being unable to do so, and often women who cannot bear children aid those who do in large collective families.

Men in Aztlan marry up if they can, and often look for ways to help their family while proving their value and prowess. When there is a marriage, the family of the bride pays the family of the groom a price that is agreed on when the families arrange the marriage.

It is women who do the courting and men who are the courted in Aztlan. Aztani women usually know their minds, and Aztani men are almost universally the most macho of men, convinced of their ability to please a woman and ensure that she is well taken care of.

Government

The government of Aztlan is a matriarchal plutocracy, led by the 11 women of the Tribunal, headed by The Sultana, which is the only hereditary position. The seats of the Tribunal are open and bid upon every year during the week-long Festival of Paramour. The bids are not refundable, and are deposited in the Bank of Aztlan, owned and operated by the Tribunal. The bids, called Franchise Fees, are used to fund the government. There are many requirements for a seat –able to afford it, have a staff, have land, be distaff (a woman), and only one member from a given family can sit on the Tribunal.

The Tribunal makes all laws in Aztlan. The Tribunals appoint Tribunes over Towns and smaller settlements. They are enforced by the Marshalls, an arm of the military charged with keeping the peace and enforcing the laws.

In Aztlan, one must prove one is innocent, and the rules for an accusation are tough. There is one day in Court, and appeal is to the local Tribunal or the High Tribunal, neither of which tend to take them. Punishment is swift, and usually in the form of property and fines. The one prison that Aztlan has is considered a death sentence. More common than jail is as a punishment is serfdom, where the individual charged is essentially fined an amount that requires them to serve as serfs for those they owe – indentured servitude after the stripping of all other assess.

The Azlian Navy has a vast fleet, and they are considered the greatest naval power in the Bright Lands, though few will say it openly. Usually a third of its power is at sea at any given time. They are sail, oar, and Arcane powered, with rams and ballistae in place.

The Azlian Army is led by General Jung, who has three standing divisions at her call, plus another five divisions she has the power to call up by fiat from the population, which is trained and required to serve if called on. Of those Divisions, three are Cavalry, well-armed and mounted on trained chargers.

The Marshalls use the same structure, with two Divisions, all of which are mounted for Patrols of the Realm.

There is no air group. Though the Tribunal is mulling it over in relation to cost.

Every Aztani man is required to serve in the military for at least two years starting at the end of their Apprenticeship, and they cannot apprentice to the military (though women can).

Every Aztani woman is given a choice to either serve or produce two children in that time. The fine for failure is 5000 pence.

Commerce

Without any exception, the finer luxuries of life come out of Aztlan. Grapes for wine, tea, coffee, fruits and grains and foods. These are the backbone of Aztani power, for they are farmers to a point that everyone has at least some idea how farming or gardening works.

This is, of course, in addition to Amber, the in-demand thing widely sought. Aztani crops are the envy of the world, but Aztani Amber is strong, durable, and used even in the Halls of Sibola.

What Aztlan lacks, and imports, is clay, brick, and metals.

Education

Aztani Tanjins are incorporated into every facet of life, and once one is an apprentice, they are still expected to go to Tanjin at least once a week, to learn and share their knowledge, to ensure the success of all.

Women and Girls are required to go to Tanjin, men if their families can afford are encouraged to go, but not required. However, success in life is often dictated by such, so most do.

The Tanjins also serve as the Heralds in Aztani life, producing broadsheets that share all the news, but never rumor or gossip, and they avoid speculation like it was the curse of the powers itself.

Aztani Tanjins teach Aztani script and Azlian language to women, but merely the language to men.

Culture

Values

Aztani have some fairly simple values:

Be Fruitful, Be Mindful, Know Thyself, and Bring Honor are their virtues.

Thoughtlessness, Carelessness, Shame and Cowardice are their sins.

Arts

Aztani prize dance as their most revered arts, including a very ritualized, heavily stylized way of performing stories and tales in much the same way that Durango does it – only for them I tis all through music and dance, with the dancers performing incredible feats of motion and movement, sometimes even standing on their toes!

Noble Fashion

Aztani Fashion is usually positioned in opposition to whatever is going on in Sibola at the time. The degree of seeming competition cannot be understated there.

The current popular colors are a seafoam green and white in flowing, draping lines that highlight the form, capped by a shawl with lace trim.

Women often wear some form of covering to keep their hair from burning or frizzing in the sun and humidity.

Culture Heroes

Nala Usher: The First Queen, the Swiftedge Princess, the Conqueress of Sibola, who founded Aztlan and made real the Aztani people.

Alana Ombre D’Scarif: She singlehandedly slew a hundred and twenty men in a day long battle to defend her tiny village from Sibolan Treachery, and then went on to become the Queen’s Champion and an undefeated Vanguard for over 15 years.

Helena Tidewarden: A common sailor whose love of family and ships became legendary when she forged peace between Aztlan and Islandia and changed the world with a smile.

Cultural Weapons

Aztlan is famous for being extremely good at the use of the traditional weapons of an Aztic warrior. They are also quite well known for their creation, inspired by the work of Islandian and Kerisian armorers, of strong armor called Aztic Scale.

It is a series of small “scales”, interlocked and overlapping, thousands of tiny metal scales backed by a supple, layered leather and silk material. Essentially a copy of the Seascale worn by Sea Realm folks, it is flexible, protective, and gloriously decorative. On some it shimmers like tiny sparkles. Theirs is assembled into a tunic form, and then joined by other pieces. The Aztic style incudes a bustier of some sort as well, giving it a greater weight but more protection, and from the bustier hangs several wide strips of the scale backed by a set of woven thin metal leaves. This split skirt hangs to about the mid-thigh and provides for a very dramatic profile of a well armored woman.

With this, they carry a short bow that unstrung seems to curve towards the front of the bow, but once strung is no taller than the warrior’s torso and is capable of powerful draws. Every member of the Aztani military carries one and is proficient in its use. Aztani bows are often inlaid with precious stones, but not gems.

For close personal defense, they turn to the Aztic Knives that all carry, usually at the small of the back. As a knife, it is a single edged weapon, but quite useful.

Finally, there is the Aztic Cutlass. Heavier than folks realize, it is an effective weapon with a length of 32 inches and a narrow blade that curves slightly at the end with the backside top quarter as sharp as the leading edge, the Aztic Cutlass is very popular among those who would prefer to master a weapon with style – such as Corsairs. A knuckle guard and a two-post cross guard mean the wielder is well protected.