Oltecs
by Marco Dalmonte English translation by Gary DaviesOtzitiotl (Ixion) - Sun, light, fire, strength, war, heroism, knowledge, preserving the balance and the universal order
Kalaktatla (Ka) - Protection of life, healing, preservation of knowledge, prosperity, wisdom
Ninsun - Fertility, agriculture, prosperity, magic, knowledge, wisdom
Notes:
1. The Oltecs are the second of the three original civilisations from which all the modern human ethnic groups evolved. They have Amerindian traits (copper or dark skin, prominent cheek bones and dark hair) and are originally from Brun. Thanks to their discovery of the making of copper and bronze, the Oltec have managed to distinguish themselves from the other Brunian tribes and in short time formed alliances that allowed the Oltec ethnic group to dominate a large area of present day Sind (at that time a fertile plain and rich with woods). Afterwards, the Oltecs founded a kingdom and conquering the tribes of similar ethnicity that lived at their borders, shared with them their own artistic and technological discoveries, and proceeded to a more cultural than military assimilation. Only one tribe remained particularly irritated by the Oltec domination, the so-called Sons of Azca (the name that this Oltec tribe gave to Otzitiotl, King of the Sun): in the course of five centuries that followed their conquest, opposing with such a gruelling resistance that in 3500 BC ended up with them gaining their independence from the Oltec Empire and founded the Azcan Kingdom, constantly vying with the neighbouring Oltecs. Furthermore, the Oltecs were the first among the civilisations of the Blackmoorian period in the field of exploration, founding colonies in every part of Mystara even without being proven navigators, probably using the magical portals created by the most expert Oltec spellcasters and thanks to the Rainbow Path, a magical phenomenon of planetary that is thought to have been created by the greatest mage of Oltec history in his journey to Immortality, that is Ninsun. Among the most important colonies are remembered those of the Savage Coast (ancestors of the modern Los Guardianos), of Oceania (from which derived the Oceanians that at the moment live in Cestia), of Arypt (that gave life to the glorious Katapeca civilisation, which later became extinct and is probably conserved somewhere in the Hollow World - see PC2: Top Ballista) and of Skothar (ancestors of the Jennites arrived in western Skothar a few years before the cataclysm). In 3000 BC the Great Rain of Fire also threatened among the others the Oltec civilisation, and in order to protect their favourites, Ixion and Ka magically transported them into the Hollow World, positioning them in a rich area of wooded hills to the south of the Neathar plain and near to the northern mountainsides of the World’s Spine, the imposing mountain range which perfectly divides the two hemispheres of the Hollow World. Here the Oltecs have continued to live peacefully and to prosper, despite the pressures and the sporadic raids of the Azcans that live beyond the forests and the swamps of Malpheggi. At the moment they are an extremely advanced bronze age civilisation from the cultural and magic points of view, which bases its own prosperity on agriculture and on both internal and external trade (with the Kogolor and the Neathar) of the precious minerals extracted from the hills and mountains, both manufactured and finished with the mastery of the Oltec craftsmen. The Oltecs are governed by a monarch called simply the Oltec, which live in the capital Manac and is assisted by the Great Priest of Otzitiotl. Each community is instead governed by a Prince (an inherited noble title), who enjoys a great autonomy and also acts on the basis of the advice of the priests of Otzitiotl, who have pledged to send to the Oltec once a year as a sign of submissive tributes, labour, and their own inhabitants so that they learn to lend service in the royal army. The power is in the hands of the Oltec men, even if the women aren’t treated as inferiors and can rise to prestigious positions both as nobles and as priestesses or mages (a career for which they are extremely regarded and appreciated).
2. Pax (called perhaps Paxculli) was also once present among the Oltec Immortals that formed the triad together with Otzitiotl and Kalaktatla, but following her disappearance her cult decayed, and her functions were attributed in part to Kalaktatla and Ninsun, and especially to Otzitiotl, who therefore became the uncontested leader of the Oltec religion (the Oltecs in this aren’t considered the Sons of Otzitiotl, that is Sons of the Sun, the same title that was given to the first Azcans).