Azuposi The Azuposi were a race of human s living in the Pasocada Basin in Maztica . Their existence was built upon agriculture and cultivating the harsh land of the basin , but they revered sophisticated culture . Society . Azuposi society was matriarchal , meaning that the female was the owner of property , and it was passed down through the females in the family . Men worked the land but acted as caretakers rather than owners . Myths dictated that this system may have originated from a decree of one of the War Twins or may have come about because Sus ' sistinako ( the Spider Woman ) was instrumental in the creation of the Azuposi . The Azuposi spoke the Azuposi language . Tribes . The Azuposi lived in six separate tribal societies . Each tribe was named after one of six directions significant to the Azuposi due to the solstices . These directions were up , down , northwest , northeast , southwest and southeast . The respective tribes were eagle , shrew , mountain lion , badger , bear , and wolf . Spirituality . There was no concept of the afterlife in Azuposi culture , and they did not believe that they would be reincarnated or continue to exist after death . This meant that they saw their deities as figures to be bargained with , rather than to impress or appease . They were not a materialistic people , since they believed that material wealth should be shared so that everyone could benefit in the current life , rather than hoarding things for individual benefit in the next life . In daily life , the Azuposi regarded many personal ceremonies that they believed would bring them good will from the spirits they worshiped . In addition to this , there were major festivals at the winter and summer solstices , although the winter solstice ( Soyal ) was more important . The gods of the sun were worshiped , in an attempt to bring about longer days and warmer weather . During the festivals on the solstices , a pipe was lit at dawn and passed around the various community members , where secret rituals were performed in the " kivas " , or ceremonial rooms , consisting of exercises in concentration and meditation . When the pipe had finished being passed around , the entire community gathered together to place offerings of maize to the gods , to pray and sing , and to create a procession . Music and dance continued on into the night around large open fires . Ceremonial herbs used regularly included black cohosh , cedar , corn meal , gourd , horsetail , mallow , mesquite , ragweed , sagebrush , and wild jalap . Diet . Bread was the staple food in the Azuposi diet . It was made by hand from corn flour , and was usually made into " piki " bread , which was created by placing very thin sheets of corn dough on heated rocks , folding them over , and then cooking them further . The Azuposi enjoyed meat in the form of birds , bison , deer , gopher , mountain sheep , prairie dog , pronghorn antelope , rabbit s , or turkey , ( which were sometimes domesticated , ) and fruits and vegetables such as beans , beeweed , calabashes , goosefoot , juniper , maize , melon , pigweed , pinyon pine , prickly pear and squashes . Turkey eggs were also harvested from the domesticated turkeys and eaten . The farming conditions in the lands occupied by the Azuposi were tough , and Azuposi farmers often planted more than they needed , in the knowledge that some crops would simply not make it . They would also store certain foods , like maize , in the event of some years not producing any crops at all . Farmers used tools like shovels and hoes , made from bone , stone , or wood . Clothing . The Azuposi dressed in cloths and hides that had been dyed in bright colors and adorned with beads or intricate embroidery . Males wore only loincloths in warm weather but also blankets in the cold . Women wore cotton shirts and long loose skirts , covered in blankets , held into place at the waist with an embroidered belt . They usually embellished their hair and tied it in braids or buns . Shoes were worn by both genders , and these consisted of buffalo skin soles and deer skin . Pottery . Pottery was an important part of Azuposi society , and the products made useful everyday items . The pottery skill was held by the females and was passed from generation to generation . This led to slight variations in style emerging between households and larger regional variations . It was possible to tell where a pot was made by examining its style . Settlement . The Azuposi had settled in the Pasocada Basin . The City of Gold , Michaca , sat at the center of their civilization . Numerous other settlements surrounded it , such as Nozoma and Mitzlato , and their infrastructure branched out from this one central hub . Their roads were sturdy stone constructions , which was uncommon even on Faerûn . Signal towers were laid out along the roads , so that they were all connected by line of sight , and could be lit and used to transmit smoke messages quickly across the land . Architecture . For everyday buildings like homes , usually wood , earth , and mud would suffice . For more permanent or significant buildings , like ceremonial buildings , stone was used . Stone might also be used for simpler buildings in areas closer to a quarry , because the transportation of the materials was not too difficult . Thin slabs of stone were raised as walls , between which rubble was placed to bulk out the structure . Mortar might be used to seal the stone , and plaster made from crushed stone might be applied to the outside of buildings to form a whitewash . Logs were laid horizontally for upper floors and roofs , and on top of these , a lattice of branches was placed . The branches were set with stone to form a solid structure . The wood for this task was usually sourced from the Dunobo Springs . Many Azuposi settlements were pueblos , which consisted of just one building split into many rooms for different families and expanded upon when more room was needed . Doorways between individual houses were trapdoors in the floor or ceiling , so as to make it possible to join these buildings into one , sharing walls and saving on building costs . This also had the benefit of being more easily defensible . The habitation rooms typically contained a cooking fire and were where food was prepared and eaten and also where the family sleeps . Occasionally , adult males would eat their food in the " kiva " instead . " Kivas " served as rooms of ceremony and ritual function and were normally round . They also acted as social centers for men while they wove or created weapons . There were usually a few " kivas " in each pueblo . Storage rooms were also frequently found in pueblos , where the Azuposi preserved dried corn , beans in ceramic pots , squashes sliced and dried , and meats that had been cured . Hunting and farming items might also be stored here . History . Due to their illiteracy , the Azuposi had no written history . Their history was passed down the generations by word of mouth , and this led to some factual inaccuracies creeping in , where details had been changed to better favor the Azuposi or even to create better rhymes in poetry or song . Mythical origins . The Azuposi believed that the world ' s land was created by Sus ' sistinako ( the Spider Woman ) and the Sun , two spirits who were somehow parents of one another , by pulling it from the ocean . Sus ' sistinako then created Alosaka and Iyatiku by singing them into existence , and they in turn created living beings . Humans were brought into existence underground , but their lives were filled with chaos and corruption , and they were unhappy , so they sent the bird Motsni to find them a better place to live . Motsni flew out of the underground at Shipapu , an exit point , and found Masauwu ( the Skeleton Man ) . Masauwu informed Motsni that life was hard on the surface but that a bearable humble existence was possible . The Azuposi decided that this would be a better life , and left the underground at Shipapu to begin their lives on the surface . Masauwu remained their patron deity . True origins . Although not a certainty due to their lack of written history , it is likely that the Azuposi were ancestors of the inhabitants of Kara - Tur , because of the similarities in their appearance and their language , especially that of the Wu - haltai people . War with the Metahel . At some point during their past , the Azuposi and the Metahel were at war with one another . Appendix . Inspiration . The Azuposi were based on the Native American culture .