Xa'uatal

It was the worst place that I had ever been. All the witches, werewolves, and wisps of the Republic seem like a cushy dream in comparison. In one night, the same jaguar came back to the camp three times and took two of my men and savaged a third before we finally managed to kill it. I watched McClintock, the largest boiler-man I have ever known completely wrapped up in a massive snake. It had cracked 14 of his ribs and turned the bones in his arms to dust by the time we cut it off of him. My navigator had a small blue frog land on his shoulder. He picked it off with his hand and went about his business. Two minutes later, he had blood running out of his eyes and nose and convulsed until he never moved again... We had left port with fourty-three men. After we were marooned, we had thirty-eight. By the time we stumbled into Huitzilopochtli we numbered seven...Some of those men were with me from the very beginning of my days on the sea... to see them ended in such manners...It still keeps me up some nights.

-Gideon Caldwell, exert from Atezka Tlali's 'Compendium of the Nations of the World Stage'

Structure

• Speaker: Technically the de facto ruler of the nation, the position of Speaker has lost a lot of the power it once held. It once wielded total power, but is now beholden to a council of peers and other offices.

• Grand Serpent: Leader of the military arm of Xa'uatal.

• Archivist: While not intended to be a ruling position, the Archivists have none-the-less been raised up in recent centuries.

Public Agenda

The understanding of the natural world, and the sharing of that knowledge.

Assets

• The only access to Cuatl scales and feathers, which are powerful alchemical and arcane reagents.

• The Ziggurats, massive fortified structures intended to protect knowledge until the end of days

• Rare herbs and plants

• 900,000 Humming Bird Warriors

• 60,000 Hawk Warriors

• 10,000 Coatl Guard

• 1,200 war constructs, various sizes

• 330 airships, out of date

• 90 airships, lend-leased from the Iron Republic

History

Formed in the age of the divine by their gods, the Serpents of Feathers and Flowers, Xa'uatal was isolated from the Known World for a large portion of its life. It's pantheon preached understanding of the natural world, pushing their subjects to research and archive everything they could about their environment. They were stifled, however, by the dangers of their home continent. One might find it hard to study the plants just outside the city limits when one might be dragged off by any number of animals or left frothing at the mouth and convulsing by the light touch of a small blue frog or a stray whiff of the wrong flower.
Unable to turn to far to the earth, they instead looked to the sky, and to other realms. From the top of the Ziggurats they constructed to worship their gods, they stared at the stars and took meaning from their movements. Inside their stone temples, they carved the likeness of what they found outside on the walls and ceilings to create Starchambers to aid the other half of their examination. That of other worlds. They couldn't step through to them but would enter a trance-like state and through the aid of their gods, look through the partitions of reality. When the became lucid again, they would describe great wonders of magic and technology. Each one with so much detail that they could build them without a blueprint. With each new discovery, the fascination deepened. The Starseers as they came to be called, dove deeper and longer into their trances. Sometimes staying still for weeks to months at a time.
That all ended when the Realmshatter came. Records describe a great wail going up across the continent, as every Starseer who was looking in on another world pawed at their head and clawed at their own eyes. Gouging them out before they died. It is said that the Serpents of Feathers and Flowers, who had aided the Starseers, looked down in guilt. They saw the grand machines that had been built, collapse and break down without the knowledge the Starseers had provided. Within a few years, the nation had devolved by centuries. The gods could only weep.
When things had settled they looked upon their followers, now diminished from what they once were, and decided that it was best that they remain distant from their children. No longer guiding them by the hand. In their place, they left the Speaker, who would speak with the authority of all the gods. And so they left the mortal plane, and have not returned in avatar form since.
For centuries, Xa'uatal stagnated. Unable to overcome their surrounding jungle with the amount of Grave their gods now provided. Once metropolitan cities were slowly choked by encroaching jungle. So much so that the outside world had no idea they were there and might have gone a few more centuries before being discovered due to the unfortunate marooning of one Gideon Caldwell.
A normal sailor, Gideon Caldwell found himself captain of a steamship and faced a good amount of success in the years he sailed. Until a savage storm through his ship hundreds of miles off course, and onto the coast of Zarral. Down a handful of crew, and seeing signs of civilization, his only choice was to plunge into the jungle. By the time he made it to any sort of civilization, his remaining crew of 38 had been reduced to 7. Including himself. Lucky in the respect that the Quechal were not an inherently hostile person, they took great curiosity in this ragtag group. So much so, they offered to take their last airship (so archaic it was carved from stone) to bring Caldwell and the remnants of his crew to his home in the Iron Republic. In the year 992 of the Age of Exploration, the city of Bankshaw nearly had a collective heart attack when an unknown airship appeared in the clouds above. Landing in the fields outside of the city, the Xa'uatal quickly got to work learning everything they could about their new friends. The news quickly got out, and while other nations attempted to get in on the talks, they went mostly ignored by the Quechal (or perhaps were blocked by the Iron Republic). Since, Xa'uatal and the Iron Republic have cultivated a long and fruitful relationship. Modern technology has made its way into Xa'uatal, while the material resources of Xa'uatal have flowed outwards.
In the past few decades, the position of Speakers has lost a lot of the power it once held. The current holder of the position; Speaker Tlalxy has attempted to change that, gathering support from the citizenry and forming a sort of brothers militant. The Grand Serpent has done her best to check such growth, but it has led some of the Speaker's followers to form into bands and rove around the settled areas. Making people prove their devotion or 'teching' them the error of their ways.

Demography and Population

567 million Xa'uatal, who live primarily in urban centers.

Territories

Xa'uatal controls the whole of the continent of Zarral, though it would be hard to judge whether or not another power had moved into the jungles, considering the gaps between what could be considered civilization.

Military

The Humminbird Warriors are the standard soldier. Equipped with modern kit, their uniform takes after that of the Iron Republic; replacing the cap with their traditional feathers/flowers and trading the blue uniform for a vermillion one. The most numerous unit of the Xa'uatal military, they are made up from the warrior caste.

The Hawk Warriors are the eyes and ears of the military. Picked from the fleetest of the Hummingbird Warriors, they act as scouts and sharpshooters. Again issued modern equipment, they put their rifles to deadly use.

Technological Level

Highly advanced in arcane techniques, mathematics, and astronomy.

Religion

Worshiping the pantheon known as the Serpents of Feathers and Flowers, Xa'utal had a very close relationship with their gods and goddesses. Entire families would dedicate themselves to specific deities, and their priests held great power, the highest-ranking of which is referred to as the 'Speaker'. In the Age of the Divine, the Speaker had a direct line to the gods and relayed their messages and instructions to the people. In the modern era, they still are considered the head of state, though much of their power and respect is gone.

While the Serpents once walked the streets of Huitzilopochtli in their human forms, they have not taken an avatar form in several millennia 

Foreign Relations

The only real political connection the Xa'uatal have is with the Iron Republic, which is the first nation that they encountered. They have developed a few relations with other powers, but none could be concidered allied with them.

Agriculture & Industry

Primarily Agricultural, using the floodplains that tend to surround settlements to grow watercorn and tal rice. After harvest, those two plants make up a large portion of the Xa'uatal diet, being processed into different forms that find their way into almost every meal.

Trade & Transport

Almost all goods have to be flown by airship if you want any guarantee that they will arrive at their destination on time, or at all. The jungle is far too dangerous to try and move goods through, and the rivers are no safer.

Education

Formal education is nearly nonexistent, though a few schools have been opened in recent years. It has become common practice to send children to the Iron Republic to be educated.

Infrastructure

Paved roads and rudimentary sewers are present in cities, though there is no infrastructure in between settlements. Ancient roads do exist, built high above the trees and during the Age of the Divine, but are now overgrown and crumbling.

Mythology & Lore

The Serpents of Feathers and Flowers are a pantheon born, opposed to arriving from another realm or plane. It is said that Tonameycoatl, the firstborn, was a coatl like any other. The mind of an animal limiting his divine form. However, he looked to the sky, saw the golden orb of the sun, and was instantly entranced. Flying as high as he could, even as the light burned his scales and feathers, he wrapped his body around the circle of light. With the golden hue of the sun suffusing through his body, he was enlightened and realized his divine potential. Picking out his godly brothers and sisters from the flocks of coatl in the sky, he plucked them from the sky and enlightened them to their true nature.

A popular story of the pantheon, is the 'Tonameycoatl's search for Huexocoatl', in which Tonameycoatl realizes that he is enamored with Huexocoatl, and seeks to court her. When he approaches her, he is immediately rebuffed, for she did not think that he truly has feelings for her, and merely wished to bed her. Tonamey wondered to himself about what he could do to prove himself. Looking across his kingdom, nothing under his light seemed fitting. He searched and searched until the sun started to set, and the stars started to come out. That's when he spotted the perfect way to prove himself. The triplet moons, floating as seren discs of silver, would be the perfect gift to prove himself. Once again taking flight, he arced towards the moons. This time was different, however. He didn't feel the heat that his golden sun had burned into his feathers and scales. Instead, he felt the heat being drawn from his body. Frost formed across his skin, and the air felt like it burned around him. His wings even started to seize up, every flap of his wings feeling like they were filled with glass.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, He reached the bottom curve of the moon. Tonamey moved to fly higher looking to land on the surface but found that he could not. His wings had frozen solid. Falling away, he reached out and grabbed a fistful of the moons silver, before plummeting from the sky. The world shook when he impacted, but his divine form was uninjured. Distraught at his failure to claim the moons, he looked at the silver in his hand and found that it was melting. Not wanting to lose what little he could give Huexocoatl, he grabbed a nearby orchid and let the silver melt onto its petals, imbuing it with the essence of the moon. Shyly, he returned to the city of the gods, and found Huexocoatl. He approached, looking down and shuffling his feet, and explained his failure to seize the moons. Holding out the flower and saying that was all that he had managed to grab. He only looked up when he heared Huexocoatl giggle. when he glanced up, she took the flower from his hand

The Learned Inherit the World

Founding Date

568, Age of the Divine

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Government System

Theocracy

Power Structure

Unitary state

Economic System

Market economy

Currency

Yet to create their own currency, Iron Notes are accepted everywhere.

Major Exports

• Coatl scales and feathers

• mercury

• Silver

Major Imports

Many modern products are brought in from the Iron Republic, such as modern firearms and artillery pieces.

Although not technically imports, Republicene engineers have been working to install plumbing, lighting, and other modern amenities.

Legislative Body

The Speaker, A role based in the religious beliefs of the Xa'uatal, dictates the laws of the country. They are, however, reduced from the status that they once held.

Judicial Body

The Grand Serpent, a title that denotes the highest rank one can achieve in Xa'uatal's military. While responsible for military matters, they also act as judge, jury, and executioner for what could be considered the judicial branch of the country.

Official State Religion

The Serpents of Feathers and Flowers

Neighboring Nations

• The Iron Republic