Tenoch

A Tenoch Blood Priestess

The **Tenoch** are Humans that occupy the Jungles of Ahuehuetl, the most southern section of the East Twin. The Tenoch are known for their savagery. Some consider them more barbaric than the Tieflings of the Lone Isle. They are often called White Legs due to how pale they appear during a battle.

The Tenoch are part of the Third Empire of Man. Their representative is the god-king, Itzcoa. He has been the representative since the inception of the Third Empire.

## Region

The Tenoch occupy the entirety of the southern jungles of Ahuehuetl. Most of the Tenoch reside in the inland waterways and swamps of the southern interior. There are few roads, and the principal method of travel is by boat. It is said that only a small portion of the Ahuehuetl have been mapped by the Empire. Most of the mapped areas are of the coasts and where the Yamato territory meets the Tenoch's.

### Mapped Sections

* Chult
* Canadia
* Mawl Coast
* Red Coast
* Kyokai

## Appearance

The Tenoch are a short and muscular people. They are comparable in height to the Yamato. The Tenoch are born pale and they try to maintain their paleness by marking themselves in white ash paint. It is said that the only time you see a Tenoch's true skin color is when they bathe after a battle to get the blood off. Tenoch hair color range from blond to light brown with the occasional red. Their eyes are various hues of orange or yellow.

### Clothing

Due to the high heat of the jungle, the Tenoch people wear minimal clothing. The paints they use to cover their skin are an effective form of insect repellent as well as coolant. The clothing that they do wear is made of cotton or furs.

For warriors, they wear armors made of hide and padded cotton painted with blood. It is generally considered cowardly to wear full armor as it does not appease the gods.

## History

The history of the Tenoch is not well understood outside of Ahuehuetl. The Tenoch do not freely share their customs or history to outsides. From what the Empire's historians do know, oral history puts the Tenoch people being established in the beginning of the Era of Night.

### Era of Night

It is said in the beginning Era of Night that a powerful force impregnated the first Tenoch and whispered in her ear to give birth in the jungles to the East. She led her people to the East Twin and named the jungles around her after her son, Ahetl. Ahetl became known the hero king of the people and established many cities in his clan's name.

### Era of Heroes

The budding kingdom of the Tenoch remained largely undisturbed in this era, even if it was troubling times for the other inhabitants of Tellusvir. Due to their habitat, most of the other races chose not to try to settle in the inhospitable region. The Tenoch did have to wage yearly wars with the several of the reptilian races such as the Yuan-ti and the Lizardfolk that were pushed into the jungles by the Yamato and the Seara. The wars eventually stopped when the Yuan-ti were pushed to the western coasts of the region, many of which fled into the Chult peninsula and the Lizardfolk were enslaved.

### First Era of Man

The Tenoch was not part of the First Empire of Man. The Kojin Blight did not directly affect the Tenoch as the Blight could not make its way through the dense jungles. The Kojin forces did eventually penetrate the jungle due to the forces of the Empire pushing them further into the jungle; claiming land in the process. The Tenoch forces had to fight both the Kojin and the Yamato. Due to the leadership of Kokaku, the military forces of the First Empire managed to sandwiched the Kojin forces between the Tenoch forces along with the Empire's. The areas that the Blight did penetrate, became known as the Silent Plains. The plains are considered cursed and the Tenoch observe the edge of the areas to make sure it doesn't spread.

Tensions between the Empire and the Tenoch rose during this era as the Empire constantly pressured the Tenoch people to join. Eventually, the Empire's forces starting cutting off trade routes in an attempt to starve the few villages and towns that were in the northern areas of the jungle. The Tenoch retaliated by assassinating the leader of the Empire,

### Second Era of Man

The Dragon Inquisition's forces attacked from the south and the north so the hardest hit area was Ahuehuetl and Eb'lon. The Tenoch joined the new alliance the Yamato had formed due to the extensive damage caused to their people and the region. With the new Empire's forces, the region and all of the East Twin was cleansed of the Dragon threat.

It was during this time that the Lizardfolk revolted causing even more losses to the Tenoch people. The Dragons swayed the Lizardfolk to overthrow their masters and they captured many Tenoch cities. After the Dragons left, the two groups were at constant war with each other. It was not until the Empire's forces forced a treaty between the two groups that the fighting finally stopped. The two groups have grown to tolerate each other.

### Era of Fractured Kingdoms

The Empire's presence eventually waned in the region and the established roads and infrastructure were reclaimed by the jungle. The Empire did keep several legions within the coastal cities but the interior of the region was ruled by the Tenoch once more. When the Empire fell, the coastal cities were attacked by the Tenoch forces in an attempt to reclaim lost land. The cities became city-states that ruled large portions of the known region with many fighting among each other.

### Third Era of Man

Resentment for the other Human clans grew to the point that the Tenoch people declared on the other clans. The people never truly recovered from the devastation the Dragons and the Kojin before had caused. Due to desperation and anger, Acalan the wise declared war on the Yamato in an attempt to reclaim land that was lost during the First Era of Man. Acalan attempted to unify the many kingdoms in the region but the cities had become too bitter and resentful of even their own kind that the war was short lived with a Yamato victory.

The Yamato claimed the jungles as theirs and proceeded to try to spread to the rest of the East Twin. Soon after, the rest of the other Human clans joined and the Third Empire of Man was born. Due to outdated maps and the region's natural resistance to invasion, the Ahuehuet region is part of the Empire in name mostly. The coastal cities, as well as the few Great Cities that are found further inland, are manned by the Empire.

The Tenoch was given representation in the Trinity due to them being the third largest clan of the Humans.

## Society

From what the Empire knows about the society of the Tenoch people, is that it is certainly an extremely religious kingdom ruled by a "God-King." From the few and short interactions that the Empire has had with Tenoch traders that come from further inland of the region, Tenoch society is split into two basic layers; the Pipiltin or noble class and the Macehualtin or commoner class. The two layers seem to be separated further but exactly how is unknown.

The Tenoch are said to be extremely religious and the devout are said to sacrifice their families or even themselves to appease their gods. Their rituals of sacrifice are not well understood outside of Ahuehuet.

### Sacrifice

What is understood about the rituals is that each god has a different ritual and each ritual can last years to properly complete. The sacrifices are of usually accomplished warriors wishing to appease the god they follow and wanting to fight for them in the afterlife. Though not common, the Tenoch capture those of the other races for use in very specific rituals that call for outsiders. These captured are usually Lizardfolk or Saera that wander too far north.

The rituals are orchestrated by Tlamacazqui or Blood Priestesses. Each sacrifice has their own priestess that oversees a particular god's requirements for the ritual.

### Yaquqeh

Most Tenoch have basic military training the exception being the smiths as they are not allowed to touch a weapon for battle. For those that decide to continue to become warriors, become known as the Yaquqeh. These individuals are said to be blessed by the gods of war. These warriors paint themselves white with ash and go to battle for their gods and people. When a Yaquqeh wins a battle, he baths in his enemy's blood. It is believed that the blood of the enemies are a source of power to the warriors and more will make them stronger.

## Religion

It appears that religion affects all aspects of Tenoch life. The ruling party organizes large festivals that involve the sacrifice of the Tenoch themselves or any of the other races depending on the ritual.

It appears that the Tenoch worship a plethora of gods. Most seem to be a corrupted or skewed version of gods of the other races. Some gods remain mostly the same whereas others are combined and transformed to be others. A full list of known Tenoch deities can be found here.

 Lir
 Drautina