Quetzali

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> The Quetzali tribe worship the Bird Gods of the red soil and live in harmony with the natural symmetry of their cubistic jungles. They are commonly seen riding giant flightless birds.
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> –Tribe description
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**Quetzali** is the 11th regular tribe and the 12th tribe overall in Polytopia. Quetzali starts with the Strategy technology and a Defender unit.

Quetzali is typically considered to be a lower-mid-tier tribe. Defenders are not particularly useful early-game since they cannot effectively attack enemy units. Also, having a reduced crop spawn rate may hinder Quetzali's mid-to-late-game development. (Although Quetzali does have increased fruit spawn rates, fruit only provides one population each, while Farms provide two population each.)

## Lore

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> The Quetzali are a pious people devoted to the will of the Bird Gods and the defense of their cubistic jungles. Even though they adopt an outward policy of security and diplomacy, they are more than willing to lift their shields and ride their Qui-Qui birds into battle at a moment's notice!
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> –Zoythrus on Steam
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### Tribe Celebrations

* 2019 Tribe Day: The Quetzali found a special kinship with the birds of the jungle, since both Polytopians and their feathered friends are genderless, egg-laying, bipedal creatures.
* 2020 Tribe Moon: When the reigning Quetzali 'All-Feather' dies or resigns, a successor is chosen through the Tichitelxi Ceremony. With offerings of food in hand, Quetzali children hope for selection by the Bird Gods - a shimmer of light from the Pillar of Ixquezel at the Temple of Ixte'wop.
* 2021 Tribe Moon: The arrival of Quetzali diplomats is heralded by the blowing of horns, rattling of maracas, and the calls of a menagerie of birds! The Quetzali believe this awe-inspiring display will make diplomatic talks easier, but nothing can make up for the impending wave of their insufferable bird-related puns.
* 2022 Tribe Moon: Quetzali often hone their combat skills through a rousing game of Techi'wop'yali! The objective is to bounce a wooden bird off a bird-shaped shield into a moving hoop, which, of course, is also shaped like a bird.
	+ This lore blurb was originally shared in 2019, with the only difference being the spelling of *Techi'wop'yali* as *Techiwopnali*. This was changed because the letter N is not present in the Quetzali language.
* 2023 Tribe Moon: This aspiring athlete is Q'ich'ki, they're practicing for the "Wetek Ultal," a 5-day competition of speed, endurance, and devotion. Rigorous feats of sprinting, swimming, climbing, and competitive performance of religious rites are to be expected of all participants. Go, Q'ich'ki, go!

### Webshop

* Despite their sharp beak and leery eyes, the Qui-Qui birds are very friendly and love to snuggle with anyone who is passing by. That has made them the main ingredient in the most popular Quetzali dish, "Qui-Qualum."
* Once you've had Qorn juice, you’ll never go back! (To any kind of juice). Enjoy it, preferably in [a] traditional qorn juice jar, watching the sun set behind the cubistic mountains.

## Design

The Quetzali resemble Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Aztecs, Olmecs, Mayans, and Toltecs. The name "Quetzali" resembles that of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl and that of the Quetzal bird and Their mountains resemble Mesoamerican stepped pyramids and red soil like theirs is predominantly found in rainforests like the Amazon. Corn is also from Mesoamerica. The update in which Quetzali was added was named "New World."

### Appearance

* Fruit: Qorn (corn)
* Animal: Qui-Qui (brown flightless bird resembling a rhea)
* Field: Dark green grass and red soil, similar to rain forests
* Forest: "Cubistic jungles" of trees with pale trunks and light green leaves
* Mountain: Stepped pyramids, dark green at the bottom and white at the top
* City: Red, golden, and green clay blocks
* Helmet: Bird-shaped headdress

### City Naming Syllables

[space], el, ca, cho, chu, ex, ill, ix, ja, qu, tal, tek, tz, was, wop, ya

## City Buildings

### Music

Links to Quetzali's music are included below.

* Theme
* Nature Sounds
* Polytopia Music song: "Wopquchu Ca Talwas" by Cawas Talaya
* Iqaruz Theme

## Skins

### Iqaruz Skin

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> Some Quetzali have taken their devotion to the Bird Gods to new heights as they try to transform themselves into actual birds. They look pretty but unfortunately they cannot fly.
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> –Iqaruz skin description
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The Iqaruz skin was added in the fourth skin pack for Polytopia. Iqaruz wear an ornamented hood instead of the Quetzali headdress, white avian wings on their back, bird legs instead of Polytopian shoes, and shorter green garments with a red cloth.

* The animals are replaced by white birds with a red eye-strip and crest, known as the Aetheni Bird.
* The Iqaruz city buildings resemble bird nests.
* Defenders have round shields with golden bosses.
* Riders have a more detailed saddle.
* Knights have a unique saddle, round shield, and modified lance.
* Mind Benders have three stripes on their red cloth.

## Trivia

* The Quetzali tribe is community-named.
* During their beta phase, the Quetzali had the names "Manchillo" and "Manchilla" and had a crimson color (the same color as their dirt).
* Before update 2.0.20, Quetzali had --ore.

## References

1. ↑ Zoythrus on Discord.
2. ↑ Zoythrus on Discord.
3. ↑ Quetzali Tee
4. ↑ Quetzali Mug
5. ↑ Midjiwan on Instagram