Tzonaxiquan

Banner of the Tzonaqi

Luna Over The Great Pyramid

*"The Eternal City is a place of both incredible beauty and unspeakable horrors. Sazutzonakxel has stood since the dawn of time, and will remain even when all else turns to dust. Gold, spice, and blood sustain the city of Tzonaxiquan, fueling sinister machinations and casting a permanent shadow over a land where even angels fear to tread." - Aryn Kiawa, traveler and writer.*

**Tzonaxiquan** (literally "*Empyrean Place*") is an ancient and prosperous city located in the Far West of the Known World. Its history stretches far back and is poorly documented, some say by design. It is a densely populated metropolis, home to many monuments, companies, and institutions.

it is said that the city was created at the dawn of time. At this time, legends say that no sapient beings existed; all creatures were grotesque and beautiful, neither Man nor Animal nor Plant, children of the Spider-Moon Goddess Sazonqixka. One day, the Earth-Bear Goddess, Lishikawa, and the Sun-Eagle God, Tzonaquakxa, joined as one to copulate, producing the mountain Sazutzonakxel, who is said to be the very same Great Pyramid which looms over the city to this day. Sazutzonakxel transformed the creatures around her, enlightening them, gifting them language and fire, creating the first Tzonaqi people. Sazonqixka, however, was infuriated that the other gods would toy with her children so, and convinced the Orca-Sea God, Huhxyeo, to wipe out the new city in a great flood which only a handful survived by taking shelter on Sazutzonakxel's head. The survivors were allowed to live on the condition that they mate with the gods of their realm, ensuring that all of the gods had a stake in their survival (and that the Tzonaqi were bound to the gods). Despite the legends, however, no verifiable records of the city exist from before roughly 2300 years ago, and these are harvest records, albeit in-depth ones.

The city's people, the Tzonaqi, are typically a tall, lithe, dark-skinned folk with black or red hair and irises ranging anywhere from brilliant golden to deep violet. Tzonaqi are known for their colorful clothing, intricate iridescent artwork, and deep spirituality; throughout the Known World, they are renowned for their skillful sailing and shrewd negotiating. Blood of the gods is said to flow through their veins, gifting many with abilities and magicks said to be signs of their holy heritage. Religion plays a great role in many Tazonaqis' lives; sacrifices to the gods, frequently in the form of live animals or sapient beings, is believed to satiate their gods and bolster the city's innate magical nature; song, dance, and festivals also play incredibly important parts in both their religion and everyday life. The family, and moreso the clan, are integral to life and social hierarchy, in which there are three distinct classes: the exalted, who are (frequently magical) nobles of ancient, powerful clans; the citizens, who generally have fluid economic and political mobility and can vary greatly; and the slaves, who are frequently brought, sold, and captured, but may buy their freedom after a certain amount of time and be elevated to the citizenry.

Tzonaxiquan itself is a city-state, exerting great control over the forested region and sparse islands for many kilometers around it. Its influence, however, extends much farther through a vast, intricate trade network of private companies (operated by the various Exalted Clans) dealing in virtually any product that can be found in the Known World. The Exalted Clans frequently jostle for economic and political control over both faraway trading posts and the city itself, with a Tzoqa Awa ("*Highest Empyrean"*), frequently called an Emperor or Consul by other peoples, being given near total power by the Exalted Council, which consists of one representative from each family which can prove its blood relation to one of the central Exalted Clans; the Tzoqa Awa typically serves until their death or abdication. The search for slaves for hard labor and domestic servitude and sacrifices for its gods shapes much of Tzonaxiquan's foreign policy; a polity can expect great riches and stalwart support should it prove a lucrative ally, or economic ruin and frequent raids by a heavily armed mercenary army and sophisticated ocean-going navy should it prove a useless enemy.

Life for the lower classes - the Citizenry and the Slaves - is usually quite good, all things considered. Slaves take care of most menial labor, freeing up citizens for better paying jobs in better conditions. Citizens typically have freedom to speak as they wish, move throughout the realm, and run their own business (so long as its influence does not extend outside of the city's territory). Slaves, meanwhile, are guaranteed a series of basic rights by the Exalted Council (likely due to a series of rebellions which occurred early in the city's history), such as enough food to not be malnourished, to not be unjustly beaten or otherwise harmed by their masters, and to eventually buy their freedom through labor; in essence, slaves are indentured servants whose contracts may be bought and sold.

## Geography

The city of Tzonaxiquan itself sits on the hilly coastline of the continent of Lishikatz'an, featuring a wet oceanic climate surrounded by a towering mosaic of conifer and hardwood trees - a forest called the Brookwood ("*Nequi'sebi*") which extends northwards, ending where the vast Agaideka Sea, large flat plains home to the nomadic, horse-centric Agaideka peoples. Favorable climate and winds ensure both excellent conditions for extensive agriculture and swift trading throughout the Huhx'yitan Ocean.

## Politics

Exalted Clans are groups of families whose status in the city is ancient, and that trace their lineage back to the original offspring of the First Tzonaqi and the Gods, usually through demonstration of magical ability throughout the family line and paperwork stretching back millennia. These clans tend to be led by the wealthiest, most powerful family within them, meaning that there is constant politicking within as well as between clans. Only Exalted may operate *nuxali*, private businesses, outside of the city-state's borders, and thus have a stranglehold on all trade coming into and going out of the city. Exalted Clans are very proud, and frequently field mercenary armies to defend both their profits and their honor. Several sacrificial temples built and owned by Exalted Clans exist throughout Tzonaxiquan, used to display wealth and holiness.

While each clan's internal structure and politics are different, they frequently choose a single patriarch or matriarch (often styled *Awa* like the city's leader) to guide their course and represent them in the Great Council, an assembly of hundreds of clan leaders who create legislation and, upon the death of the city's leader, the *Tzoqa Awa*, elect a new one for life.

While theoretically a neutral head of government, the position of Tzoqa Awa is frequently fiercely contested, just short of civil war in many cases. Whichever clan holds the title will surely be given exceptional power within the city and abroad.

## Religion

While, due to the cosmopolitan nature of the city, many religions are actively practiced in Tzonaxiquan, the religion of the Tzonaqi people, called Txzoqan or Txzoqanism, is by far the mostly widely held and practiced, being the official state religion sponsored by the government.

Txzoqan holds that the soul, the metaphysical embodiment of a sapient being, is immortal, and that through a complex system of karmic actions, one ascends or descends on a "ladder of life", ascending for good karma, descending for bad. The ladder, as standardized by the state church (it varies in some circles), holds that humans exist somewhere in the middle of the ladder, more specifically Tzonaqi, who, due to their shared blood with the gods, are believed to exist somewhat higher than other humans. Going in reverse, bad karmic actions will give a person a worse next life, filled with more poverty, grief, and suffering; going forward, good actions will give a person a better next life, filled with more happiness, wealth, and prosperity. Eventually, humans reach a threshold on either side in which they cease being human in their reincarnations.

Descending the ladder, the worst, most loathsome humans are reincarnated as animals, first as predators, then as prey, and finally as lowly insects, if a soul's actions do not move towards the karmic good (theologians have some theories about what constitutes "good" for an animal, but it is ultimately unknown). If a soul still does not redeem itself, it will be further demoted to a plant. If a soul continues its bad actions, it will be sent to an even lower level, that of the hungry ghosts, which suffer from extreme hunger and thirst; they wander constantly in search of food and drink, only to be miserably frustrated any time they come close to actually getting what they want; On the rare occasions that they do manage to find something to eat or drink, the food or water burns their neck as it goes down to their belly, causing them intense agony. From this level, sometimes, an *axtuwa* can emerge, oftentimes from killing a god (through immense, Herculean effort and impossible hatred and anger); axtuwas go on wreak havoc on the natural world until they ultimately run out of the dead god's strength and return to their loathsome selves. Further down, at the absolute bottom, are the Twenty-Three Hells, of which each inflicts a different type of torture for eons at a time until a soul repents and apologizes for its actions. Theoretically, if a soul were truly rotten to its core and could not be redeemed even at the lowest stage of the ladder, it could be simply thrown out into the *Ibxa,* the vast void which the World is said to float through, never to be seen again.

Moving upwards on the latter is considerably harder, as it is easier to be rotten than it is to be truly pure. The Lesser Gods exist above humans, imbued with supernatural powers and long lives, but also overcome with intense jealousy and anger at the Greater Gods. The Lesser Gods frequently go to war with each other, or with *axtuwas* which threaten them for their power. Above the Lesser Gods are the Greater Gods, beings of immense power which are virtually immortal, but when killed are often cast down to the lower dredges of the ladder for their actions as gods.

Finally, above even the gods, are the Judgements (*txoshaqali*), which exist in the far heavens, completely unreachable by other beings, These are the stars which populate our skies, completely perfect and incomprehensible in their sheer power. When they come to our world, which is exceedingly rare, the wreak unheard of destruction and suffering to punish evil souls. Nothing escapes their gaze, and they are the ones who determine was karmic actions are good or evil, what is living or dead, what is natural or unnatural. Txzoqan pyramids are used for ceremonies for this very purpose - to be closer, even if just marginally, to the Judgements. Theologians theorize that there is an "evil" counterpart to the Judgements, a force so powerful and dark that it overwhelms the natural laws of our world and prys it from the Judgements' control; these claims have been dismissed.