Aymara

**Religions** | Khapaq

# History

21CF Founding of the 3 separate Suyu independently from one another. In Sipan, a metalworker named Khapaq lives and dies, remembered for his innovations and contributions to metallurgy.

72CF in Tambo, a farmer named Khapaq lives and dies, sparking a revolution in agriculture during his time.

118CF First great war erupts after a series of border disputes between Tambo and Sipan. Coatl takes advantage of the chaos to raid the other two. Differences are put aside and Coatl is pushed back.

139CF Second Great War. Sipan invades Coatl to reclaim the last of the land lost in the first war. Tambo attempts diplomacy, but it doesn’t work and the entire nation becomes a battlefield. A Coatl warrior named Khapaq lives and dies, holding the line against all odds.

165CF Khapaq finally manifests in his current form, and forces the war to stop.

170CF the first Envoy. All 3 governments start finally working together, the Yachay Wasi is established to teach the best minds of each generation.

424CF Coatl rebellion. They make a bid to invade Sipan, but are stopped by reinforcements from Tambo. The Fortress of Gold is built by the current Envoy.

518CF Trade contracts established between Aymara and Al’Dina. Crops and mining goods traded for spices and luxury goods.

652CF Coatl-Yuve border skirmishes end after diplomacy between Tambo and the Alan Ghoa.

760CF Formal Naval Trade routes established with other nations.

812CF The current Envoy, Garcilaso, is chosen.

# Religion

To a fault, the people of Aymara at least respect Khapaq. After all, you’d have to be obtuse to bite the hand that feeds you. While all respect him, some resent his almost unitary support, and instead worship foreign gods or lesser spirits.

The Envoy.

Every 10 years, Khapaq chooses an Envoy. This person from among all Aymara serves a term for 10 years as the nominal ruler above all 3 Lords. In reality, they’re just granted wisdom and act as a mediator between the 3 rulers, and generally outline the policy to follow. After these 10 years, they move into retirement at the Yachay Wasi, where their granted wisdom helps them teach the younger generations.

# Geography

The coasts of Sipan have been described by poets and writers from around the known world in many ways. From the Idyllic beaches protected by a cove, to the rocky shores constantly battered by the indefatigable ocean. Settlements are dotted around the coast, linked by a long road, known only as the Way. Deeper inland, mining towns near the border with Tambo delve deep into the ground, finding ores and gems to be refined and worked on.

Tambo, the mountainous center of Aymara, rises high above the rest of the nation, with snowy peaks and mountain systems making it a very defensible location. The most famous part of Tambo, however, are the great valleys that lie in between the peaks, where towns and villages work the land producing the richest crop yields in the country, and perhaps the entire world.

To outsiders, the entirety of Coatl might as well be jungle. Not a single settlement, city, or person in sight. That is all the work of Tipoca’s battery, hiding the people from anyone who might come in and attack them. To those native, or those who follow the carefully designated trade routes, they will find clearings in the jungle, where small towns thrive deep amongst the trees, or sometimes even atop them.

# Places of Interest

When people speak of Tambo, most think of the Valley of the Clouds. Most of Tambo is high above sea level, around 1500m, yet the Valley of the Clouds is nestled far above. Between the shadow of two peaks, Yuraq Picchu and Yana Picchu, it serves as the capital of Tambo, a city hidden in the border of the sky. It’s quite literally breathtaking, and most visitors have to spend some time acclimating to the heights.

Sipan: Fortress of Gold. Classified.

If you follow the trade routes properly, and aren’t taken by the Jungle, eventually you will reach the capital city of Coatl, Tipoca. This city holds a unique symbiosis with nature, the greenery of the jungle an indispensable part of the landscape. This is even evident within the Battery of the city, an overgrown dome emerging from the ground, and empowering the greenery and Coatl’s defensive magic. However, these sights all seem to pale in comparison, if not in size, to the three Feathered Pyramids. Three stone constructs from the very founding of Coatl. Each of these pyramids is decorated with exquisitely carved, titanic feathers made from all manner of gemstones, providing soft light even in the darkest night, and allowing all under Coatl’s protection to find their way home, no matter where they are.

During one of Khapaq’s lives as a mortal before ascension, he was but a simple farmer, tending to the fields of Tambo. When he ascended, the land that he worked with his own two hands became more than it was, and became the most fertile land in the entire world. A drop of water does for ten, the nutrients in the soil only growing ever richer with earth. Aymara is the world’s breadbasket, and the First Field is at the heart of it all, guarded with a zeal bordering on the insane.

# People

While the 3 Suyu have different cultures and ways of thinking, there are some traits considered almost universal to Aymara. The first of these is their family oriented nature. Large families are the norm, and are generally tight knit, though exceptions of course exist. Another trait shared is the skill at stonemasonry each culture has produced, between the Fortress of Gold, the Valley of the Clouds and the Feathered Pyramids, Aymara’s skill at bending stone to suit their needs is second to none.

Led by the Halach Uinic, The people of Coatl seem to stand out from the rest of Aymara due to their more martial inclination, as well as with their intimate relationship with the greenery that surrounds them. To them, the animals and plants of the jungle hold great power, and as such shamans and totem barbarians are common. The population is over 50% human, but there are significant numbers of Sylphs, Jaguar Catfolk and Iruxi among them.

Led by the Kuraka, the people of Tambo embody the saying of “it takes a village to raise a child.” and the bonds of community are hard to break, for better or worse. Said communities subsist around agriculture, and while the earth of Tambo is fertile, its people have always been able to get the absolute most out of it, which is the main reason they are able to support a large population, and still have a surplus for trade. To this end, clerics and shamans tend the land, teaching from a young age how it should be treated so it returns that treatment. Most of the population is human, but standing out among them are a great number of Sunsoul Ifrit. These children are thought to be blessed by Khapaq himself, and often rise to important positions, yet none among them have ever been the Envoy.

The people of Sipan, led by the Lord of Sipan, are miners and metallurgists without peer, able to perform works titanic or minuscule from the rich ores available to them in their homeland. With their coast, they don’t rely on agriculture, they roam the seas and fish. Aymara is not a naval power, however, and the docks they have are for trading vessels, generally speaking. Most of their casters are wizards and alchemists, who study metals to discover and alter its properties. It does stand to reason then, that Sipan has the highest concentration of Oreads in the world.

# Current Events

The yearly harvest festival, the Pachacamac, will take place in 3 months in the Valley of the Clouds.

Reports from Coatl write about increased activity in the jungle’s fauna, far beyond anything ever seen before.

The yearly Chaski race, from the peak of Yana Picchu, going around the entire circumference of the valley of the clouds, will take place soon, attracting competitors from all over the world.

Aymara has always been a tectonically active area, but lately the tremors have been intensifying for reasons even the best mages haven’t yet been able to figure out.

Hylocephone’s followers are causing problems all along the coast, for reasons unknown.